The Story of Blood and Roses

"As I said before, this location has more than half of the stock stored inside its premises. We need all the manpower than we can get, but we cannot let too many people try to enter because the guards will become cautious and may call for more people." I took in a deep breath. "The more crowded it is, the more complicated and ill-coordinated the mission will become." Several people started murmuring. "To help with the scarcity of resources, I propose that we attack this building the day before we attack the other two." Gasps filled the room.

A disappointed look passed Ethan's face. Anthony, on the other hand, seemed curious.

"Would that not inform them that we are coming?" he reasoned. Everyone agreed with him.

"He already knows that we are coming and he gave quite a present for that reason, didn't he?" His eyes narrowed at the comment and he grudgingly listened on to my reasoning. "It would be our present to him. We take away a major share of the shipments, making his loss larger and then the next day ambush the other two locations. In that way, we will be able to recover most of the goods. If we try to be at too many places at once, we will end up winning nothing. We don't and won't do that."

"But why would we risk our lives for some silly reason?" I could only imagine the sneer that came over my face. The man who had suggested the thought curled back, almost in fear.

"Do you not see? You will be hopelessly outnumbered if you split the group in three. If it is two, then there are high chances that we will have a better chance at coming out alive. For once, don't think from the point of view of a prejudiced man, but from one who wants to survive the shit storm." The men flinched and shrink back, knowing full well that I had caught them in their hateful act.

I had known full well that it was how me rising in the ranks as fast as I had would impact the image that I would project to the other people. People who knew how hard I worked, didn't doubt my accelerated rate of climbing the ranks, but people who didn't always assume the worse. What else could they do but form opinions?

"Forgive me," he stuttered and looked away from me. I saw his gaze flicker towards Michael and I did the same. He, though, was looking straight at me. I could see from the crinkle at the corner of his eyes that he was trying his best to control his laughter. After a while, he seemed to have regained his composure. He went on to comment on how my plan was something we would keep in mind for further consideration.

"Who do you think should go into each of the locations? We need to plan ahead so that we don't waste time at the last moment." Anthony diffused the tension in the room. Many people seemed to look anywhere but at us, while others cleared their throats and agreed to the offer.

"We should nominate people for the first day first," I advised. Everyone seemed to be pleased with the suggestion. Quite a few people volunteered, Ethan, being one of them. Anthony, on the other hand, frowned with each person who put their hands up and was backed up by the approval of other people. He didn't like the people who were volunteering, obviously.

I looked at the people who were standing and concluded that most of them were hard-headed males who would probably not be as inconspicuous as we wanted to be in the mission. Knowing full well that what I was about to say next would put me on the shit-list of most people in the room, I proceeded.

"We need people who can work flawlessly on both days." I voiced. Anthony turned to look at me, his frown still set in place. The disappointment still carved on his face. I mentally urged him to back me up so that my argument was stronger.

"Mia is right." It was Ethan who spoke. I was surprised at that. He, too, was staring at Anthony, who seemed somewhat placated with where the conversation was heading. "We need people who will not jump first and think later. I need volunteers who can patiently wait to pounce." Instantly, around half of the group huffed and sat down. Ethan's men had extreme respect for him and knowledge of what they were good at. Some of them were there because of how brutally they could plough through a scene, it helped to keep both lithe as well as bold people on the team. It confused the enemy. The other half that still stood were not as confident as they had seemed before.

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