A Long Road to Fortune/Issue 14

This is the second issue in Volume 3 of A Long Road to Fortune.

14 years ago...
Ciudad Altamirano is usually a zone of commotion, moreso now that Pacheco Mora, one of Don Tucan's capos, is now the biggest druglord in the area. In the outskirts of the city, where a green field had been salvaged is where a big fancy mansion stands. Bachata, salsa, corridos, all kinds of music filled the air in the mansion's backyard where Pacheco Mora alias "La Muerte" was celebrating the death of a police informant, with the police officer that gave him up. "This is life, Mauricio. You see? Give all the weasels to me and I will have my men chop them to pieces and feed them to some zoo animals. In return, you keep getting fat pockets amigo!" Pacheco said. He had a bloody mary on his right hand as he sat on a white lawn chair, watching his escorts swim in pool. "You fat bastards had me hooked from the start! This beats any kind of police work. I'd give up my own mama if I had to!" Mauricio replied. He was one of the many police officers who were corrupted by greed and desire. Mauricio was a special case however, as he was a lieutenat. "Haha fat? Hijo de puta, you are one to talk!" Pacheco replied. Both men laughed and drank while Pacheco's bodyguards watched over them. At the mansion's doorstep, a team of soldiers was making their stand. "The door goes down NOW," the general ordered. Leading the soldiers were none other than Gustavo and Joaquin. "Hey Texta, if you get more kils than me, I'll give you a couple of my Playboys" another soldier said. "You're on cabron. Those lewd women are going to be mine for the viewing," Gustavo replied. "You fuckers are mules. You only shoot in self-defense," Joaquin said. "Maricon, what do you say you get in on it too huh? Playboys, man", the soldier said. Joaquin face palmed in response. Six years of military service and he was still trying to change his co-worker's attitudes. As Gustavo moved along, he gunned down anything that moved. Pacheco's wife, mother, and a lot of his sub-capos. This of course alerted Pacheco and Mauricio outside but it was too late for the capos to react, as they too were gunned down by the soldiers. "Son of a bitch...Lieutenant Mauricio," the general said. "Men, take care of them. Both of these cabrones are needed alive," he ordered. Joaquin watched the situation from afar with Gustavo. "13 kills, I'm getting some me time for sure. Maricon, you should have gotten in on it," Gustavo said. Joaquin ignored Gustavo's words and aimed his gun. "What are you...?" Gustavo asked. Joaquin came forward and unloaded on both Lieutenant Mauricio and Pacheco Mora, catching everybody completely by surprise. "What the hell Murrieta? You killed both of them!" the general said. "Just one," Joaquin replied. "What the fuck do you mean just one?" the general yelled at Joaquin. "Gustavo took out the Lieutenant," Joaquin replied. Gustavo's mouth widened in shock. "The fucking fuck? I didn't do shit," Gustavo said, desperately. "You son of a bitch Gustavo, you finally went too fucking far on these motherfucking killing sprees of yours! When we get back both of your asses are mine!" the general said, yelling at them from the top of his lungs.

Issue 14
Many people from within the marketplace were still awake to welcome Mr. Chet and the rest back. Everybody was gathered around the center of the marketplace, in the northern section. The same section where Mr. Chet had given his infamous speech 2 days earlier. "See, what did I tell you all? Mr. Chet is too tough to die," Jose said, with a merry tone of cheeky joy. "Man, you all should see our old Mr. Chet. He put their leader in a hostage situation an got us all out of there!" Jaime said. "Damn man. I knew you were tough but that is some Pantera stuff right there," Mario said, acknowledging his respect for Mr. Chet. "Again, just did what I had to do,". Jacobo Barrera and the Galeana twins watched Mr. Chet, idolizing him as if here were some kind of super hero. "Where's Mendoza? I have important stuff to tell him," Mr. Chet asked. Valdez emerged from his room, clearly very tired and a little crabby. "What is all the commotion about? Some of the "important" people are trying to sleep!" Valdez said. "Mendoza is back, you punk," Mario replied. "So why don't you show some fucking respect for the man who escaped his damn kidnappers," he added. Valdez immediately changed his angry exsression to one of shock and amazement. "No way, Ashton is not going to believe this!" Valdez exclamied. "I'm going to go look for him!" Valdez ran off after that, to look for Ashton. He ran by his usual spot but didn't find him. "Where did that guy go?" Valdez thought to himself. "He's probably with Liza, in her room. Dang, about time those went at it," Valdez thought himself. In about 20 seconds, he reached Liza's hut and peeked in. Liza was still awake, wearing her white, sleeveless nightgown. She was trying not to cry but could not help making a few sobbing noises. She did however, notice Valdez moments later. "Eh, Valdez, mind explaining what you're doing?' Liza asked, wiping a tear off of her face. "So, Ashton isn't with you?" Valdez asked. "I mean, he's not in his spot..." Liza's expression changed from a worried maiden to an annoyed, blushing schoolgirl in less than a nanosecond. "So just because he's not in the spot where he sleeps you automatically assume he's in here with me?" Liza asked, clearly annoyed. "Well, I mean, it's just that you guys..." "Us what, Valdez?" After a moment of silence from Valdez he asked Liza. "Do you know where he is?" Liza sighed and sat up. "He went after Mr. Chet. He's been gone for about 4 hours..." Liza replied. "You mean, the same Mr. Chet that just returned along with Daniel, Aguila, and Jaime. Without Ashton? That Mr. Chet?" Valdez asked. Liza's expression changed yet again, this time to complete shock. "Wait, what?!"

At the center of the marketplace, Sgt. Mendoza had gotten every single bit of information from Daniel and Mr. Chet. Jaime and Aguila just stood there like tools. "Gustavo Texta eh? He's definitely after the marketplace, I have no doubt in my mind about that," he commented. "Knowing him, he'll be back tomorrow with all of his people to try and take it," Mr. Chet added. "We need to prepare ourselves. He's the most dangerous man I know. And not only, he has the number of able bodies and weapons needed to take this place," Mr. Chet had gone on to say. "That so? Jose, grab Ashton, Valdez and everyone else you might need to help you barricade the walls a bit more. "Ok. But I haven't seen Ashton all night, sir," Jose said. "I'll go look for him. Shouldn't be too hard, he should be with Valdez and the girl," Mr. Chet took special interest to what Jose had said. "Has anyone seen Ashton?" he asked everyone with a gentle scream. Sandra and Max walked over to Mr. Chet to give him his desired answer. "Nobody has seen him since this afternoon," Sandra told Mr. Chet. Mario lit up a smoke and let out a sly remark. "Maybe the groseros got him,". Mario's remark got a neutral response from everyone except for Mr. Chet, Sandra, and Max. "Hey, that's not funny! Ashton is cool! He saved me!" Max said, yelling at Mario. Mario simply rolled his eyes continued smoking. "Kids these days..." he said in low voice. Just then, Valdez returned to the center. "Mr. Chet, Liza told me that Ashton went out after you," Valdez said. "I would have gone with him but he left without telling anyone, not even me. Liza didn't even try to stop him!" he added. Mr. Chet suddenly raged. "What? I have to go after him right now!" he exclaimed, with anger in his tone of voice. "Hell no. We just got back from that place," Daniel said. "I'm not asking any of you to come with me!" Mr. Chet yelled. Daniel, Aguila, and Jaime attempted to restrain him but he broke free until Daniel got him in a bearhug. "Damn it Mr. Chet, think this shit through", Daniel said. "He's right Joaquin. You can't go back out there now", Mendoza said. "Don't tell me what I can't do!" Mr. Chet replied. "Look, if Gustavo has him, he'll turn up when he comes to try and take us tomorrow," Mendoza said. After a few minutes of cooling down, Mr. Chet gave up and Daniel let him go. "That boy better turn up well tomorrow, for our sake." Mendoza said. After that, Mr. Chet retreated to his room. Mendoza then walked over to Jacobo Barrera and Marco Suares. "You two are burning the bodies tomorrow. They're stinking up the place." Mendoza ordered. After he walked off, both men murmured "Asshole...,".

Hours before dawn, Ashton was finally sleeping well until the lights in the storage room turned on. Yuri, Francisco, and 2 other men came into the room. "Hey, we know you're hiding here somewhere. If you don't want us to shoot, you better come out with your hands over your head," Francisco yelled, loudly and clearly. Ashton knew he had to give himself up. He hid his gun in his backpocket and revealed himself from behind some of cardboard boxes and some empty containers. "Alright, don't shoot," Ashton said. "Who are you?" Yuri asked. "My name's Ashton. I lived here in Tecpan before all of this," he replied. "Fair enough. Then tell us why you're here!" Francisco demanded. Ashton took a deep breath. "I'm here because," Ashton quickly pulled his gun out and caught Yuri and Francisco by complete and utter surprise. He then proceeded to shot the lightbulb that illuminated the room, leaving it pitch dark.