In a solitary church far from the city center, there was a large plot of land surrounding it. More than twenty men and women were either standing or sitting in the open hall at that moment. They all glanced around their surroundings, yawning occasionally, bored as if they were waiting for something.
"They've already attacked two safe houses, and we still don't know who they are," said a long-haired man named Rodrigo, one of the key coordinators of the Jiménez cartel in this city.
Another man named Juan, who wasn't particularly desperate while waiting, stood up from the sofa. He had a strong build and a fierce appearance. He walked to the window, looked out at the night, and said, "Damn it, listen up, everyone. It's been a while since the reinforcements left—why haven't they come back?"
"Rodrigo, why are you in such a hurry? Even though most of those people lack combat experience, they're smart about protecting themselves. Considering the chaos in the city, how can they possibly move quickly?"
Looking at the impatient and fierce man, a middle-aged man with a gaunt frame and a worn-out expression, who was also sitting on the sofa, took a deep drag from the cigarette in his hand. He spoke with a relaxed expression: "We're being attacked. What we need to figure out for our bosses is where the attack is coming from before we make a move. But until we know which cartel is hitting us, we have to wait."
Hearing this, Juan turned around and glared at the older man. A look of disdain flashed in his eyes as he said, "Rodrigo, Jack hasn't contacted our group since he left. Erick called you when the attack began and mentioned the possibility that he's dead. How can you say we should wait when the chances of Melvin being dead are so high?"
"Listen, idiot… Can you use your brain?"
Without looking at the noisy man, a woman named María clenched her hands, took a deep breath, and said, "Did you forget that Erick mentioned attacks happening abroad? Maybe it's them hitting back."
"How did you come to that conclusion?"
"Enough!"
Crack!
At that moment, a series of strange sounds came from outside.
"Huh? Strange noises?"
"Check the perimeter!"
But before anyone could react, the church windows shattered, and objects flew in, soon exploding into curtains of smoke. Rodrigo didn't need to be a genius to realize they were under attack.
"Run!"
With a scream of terror, the hearts of everyone in the church trembled. They were all stunned by what was happening and looked at one another in dismay. Knowing they were being attacked, they quickly understood they had to escape as soon as possible. Everyone followed Juan toward a back door.
Boom! Boom!
Just as Rodrigo, who was leading the way, was about to enter the hallway toward the back, two loud bangs echoed from both sides. A blast of gunpowder smoke filled the air, and explosions were heard at the main entrance, which was breached.
But Rodrigo wasn't about to let the enemy waltz in freely. He couldn't allow them to attack without retaliation. Raising his rifle, he fired toward the church doors.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Shoot! Shoot, damn it!"
Rodrigo took cover and began leading a counterattack against their attackers. But when his eyes fixed on the church entrance, he saw green lasers and black-clad figures with ballistic shields at the front. It immediately became clear this wasn't just a simple attack.
As the lasers targeted the people inside the church, bullets rained down on them. In no time, they were being massacred. There was no comparison between their attack and the defense mounted by the cartel members. No one inside could harm the figures entering the church.
"Damn it! Come on, shoot them!"
But just when Rodrigo thought they might hold out a little longer, he suddenly heard glass shattering and terrified screams from behind.
Rodrigo turned his head to look. The acrid smell of gasoline filled his nostrils, and he saw furious flames igniting along the church walls. The fire quickly spread, cutting off the windows and doors on both sides, trapping them in a blazing inferno.
Amid the chaos, as Rodrigo and the others became distracted, a flaming Molotov cocktail flew in through one of the windows. Before anyone could react, it crashed into a pile of debris they were about to climb over. The flames immediately engulfed the area, reflecting off their terrified faces.
Cold sweat poured down Rodrigo's forehead as his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor, staring at the sea of fire before him. If he had climbed through that spot, he would have been burned alive. It wasn't just the supplies they would lose but also their own lives.
"They're at the windows! Shoot! Shoot them!"
Realizing most exits were blocked, the remaining cartel members retreated toward the back door while resisting the advancing black-clad figures entering through the main entrance. Those who hadn't escaped fired frantically in all directions.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Boom!
Suddenly, the gunfire inside the church intensified, mixed with terrified screams and cries of pain. Although the attackers were still unidentified, it was clear that if they didn't take down the figures at the door, they would eventually suffocate from the smoke.
Some of the bullets hit the church windows, shattering potential escape routes. The broken glass fragments fell to the ground with a loud crash.
Crack!
As the crowd continued firing, their guns began clicking one after another, signaling they were out of bullets.
"Stop shooting! Those bastards at the entrance are making us waste all our ammo!"
As time passed, some of the sharper individuals among the group gradually regained their senses and shouted reminders to their companions.
But just as one of them spoke, a molotov cocktail was thrown from above. The blazing flames instantly engulfed those nearby, turning them into human fireballs, silencing the speaker mid-sentence.
"Help me, help me!"
"Ahhh!!!"
An unimaginable pain was pouring into the brains of those being burned alive. Like delirious psychiatric patients, they emitted a miserable, heart-wrenching moan, frantically chasing their companions, begging them and grabbing them, to save them, but they could barely save themselves.
Right now, trying to put out the fire on their companions would only increase the casualties. The few remaining hitmen couldn't take it anymore and raised their guns toward their comrades as an act of compassion, killing them with a few shots.
After the first Molotov cocktail fell, more Molotov cocktails were thrown from above and landed in the open space in the center with a crackling sound.
"Move to the sides and let's get out through the corner door! Dodge the fire, you damn idiots!"
However, these survivors, who had spent the year surviving as hitmen, dealing with many fierce confrontations, surviving terrifying wounds, were not being attacked by mere inexperienced hitmen. Everyone knew that these people were not civilians wielding weapons.
As time passed and some incendiary bombs were thrown to their sides, there were fewer and fewer places to escape, leaving them increasingly in the center of the church, with the surroundings engulfed in the thick smoke of the fire. Several people's minds were going into a trance, forgetting to keep shooting.
Everyone knew that if they didn't escape in the next few minutes, they would all die here today.
"Damn it!"
"Cough* Cough* Cough*" A bald, overweight man in the crowd cursed angrily, throwing the unloaded weapon in his hand, reaching into his arm, and pulling out two grenades.
He looked at the grenade in his hand, and his eyes gleamed with pain. Originally, it was a weapon he planned to use later, but in this situation, he had nothing else to do.
The man, with a suffocated expression, quickly looked around and fixated on the escape route, the door blocked by fire.
He pulled the pin of the grenade and threw it toward the door, hoping to create an opening.
Boom!
The grenade landed in the pile of flaming debris at the entrance, igniting the door. Then, a loud explosion rang out, and the debris was blown to either side. Although flames still blocked the way, a passage was now visible!
"Follow me!"
The man quickly ran toward the side of the rug they had just placed on the floor, grabbed several blankets that had not been burned by the flames, draped them over his body, and ran toward the gap.
And those who had looked at him after hearing his cry a moment ago saw the brave appearance of their companion. They looked at the sea of flames surrounding them and followed without thinking.
"Ah!"
Waving the blanket in his hand, the man threw himself to the side, with the flaming debris in front of him, and opened a path vigorously.
Even though they were stepping on flames, burning their soles and some parts of their bodies, compared to their own lives, this little pain was nothing at all!
Throwing the blanket over the last wooden box blocking the way, temporarily suppressing the flames burning on it, in the face of life or death, the man instantly became a fast and flexible guide.
The people behind him followed closely, quickly passing through the flaming door, and everyone managed to escape the church.
"Keep running, once we get out of the church, we can hide in the city."
Just as Rodrigo was focused on leaving the burning church while shooting at the enemies at the church's main entrance, he felt something was wrong when he saw everyone stop ahead after passing through the flames surrounding the church.
Rodrigo unconsciously looked forward, his weapon falling to the ground as he stared at the dozens of people pointing different types of weapons at him. On one side, Juan was being dragged like a dog, and soon, they all shoved them into a car.
Under the firelight, a steel cable that had been kicked fell at his feet. Slowly, he lifted his head, looked forward, his eyes filled with despair, and cursed, "Shit!"
Removing his mask, the man said, "I'm William, my dear friend. You know, my boss has some questions for you. That's why we captured some of your comrades and that's why you're not dead."
Without saying anything more, William turned his weapon and struck Rodrigo's head with it without saying another word.
Crack!
"Take these out of here, and also the young woman. You know what to do with the others!"
"Yes, sir!"
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Under the terrified screams of the people who surrendered, many were killed mercilessly. Their bodies fell to the ground, a bullet between their heads.