The afternoon arrived in New Raven. On South East Starlight Lane Street, the sunset began to appear along with the gentle afternoon breeze.
The cold wind rattled the bells and decorative ornaments, their sounds filling the surroundings, yet strangely creating an even deeper sense of silence on the street. Most of the windows along the street were dark, as many of the buildings were abandoned.
The trio finally arrived in this sparsely populated area, which was said to be the first area where the disease virus appeared, eventually causing a deadly city outbreak, making it the place most avoided by city pedestrians even after the outbreak ended.
"It's quiet as usual," Donny muttered as he walked to match the pace of his taller colleagues.
"What did you expect? Rumor has it that many buildings here are being sold cheaply, but there are still no takers," said Nino with the information he had. "Besides, isn't this debtor belong to Lawrence's crew? Why should we be the ones to bother collecting the debt, and this is the third time."
"What? You're scared?" Donny teased, he also started grinning.
"Who said I'm scared? You piece of shit!"
Tired of his subordinates' constant complaining, Nucky ignored them and their many questions. In Nucky's mind, the task given to him was given directly by his mentor, so he felt obliged to complete it.
Finally tired of his subordinates' grumbling, Nucky was grateful that he had eventually arrived at the location, which made his subordinates calmer than before.
Stopping in front of the vine-covered building with the slightly tilted sign that read "Doyle Grocery Store," the trio paused for a moment. The store looked even worse up close. Dust clung to the glass windows, and the paint on the wooden frames had begun to peel.
Although the store was classified as a grocery store, it looked like a building that stood there without a purpose. There were no visitors to be seen anywhere around it. There might have been a few customers before, but they were all people who still lived in the neighborhood, and even then, there were very few of them.
Donny was the first to step forward. He knocked on the door three times, not too hard, but loud enough to be heard inside.
"Doyle my friend," he called out, his tone somewhere between casual and impatient. "We're here to talk."
Feeling that his gentle knocking had no effect, Donny began to change his tone and what was initially a knock on the door became a very loud banging on the door.
"Doyle! Open up!" Donny called out once again. "Collection day!"
Nino shifted his weight and looked around the street as if expecting someone to peek through a curtain, but in the end not even slight movement appear from the curtain.
"Maybe they ran," Donny muttered.
"Ran where?" Nino replied. "They barely make enough to eat."
Once again receiving no response, Donny glanced at Nucky for a solution. Nucky, realizing this, immediately signaled Donny to step aside, then motioned to Nino to break down the door, considering that Nino was the largest of the trio physically.
Without asking any questions, Nino nodded to Nucky. He began to move his body closer to the shop door, which looked fragile, so Nino thought it would be a piece of cake. When he grabbed the door handle, the door suddenly opened slowly even before he had a chance to slam his body against it.
Nino immediately turns his vision back to Donny, and with an annoyed look on his face, he shouts, "What the fuck, Donny? It's not even locked!"
"How the fuck should I know that!?" replied Donny.
Ignoring his subordinates' debating, Nucky immediately entered the store without hesitation, leaving the duo behind. However, the duo, who finally realized that Nucky had entered the store, immediately stops their debate and follows his tail without too much thinking.
Now they were in the room where all the products in this grocery store were sold. However, the scene was quite gloomy, with many spider webs decorating every side of the room. There were also many products displayed on the shelves that looked as if they had never been touched or neglected.
Donny briefly considered reaching for a tomato on one of the shelves, but ultimately couldn't do so after Nino stopped him.
The three men moved further inside. Their footsteps echoed faintly against the wooden floor. Nino walked toward the counter and looked behind it. Donny peered toward a narrow hallway that led deeper into the building.
"Check upstairs," Nucky finally said.
Before either of them could take a step toward the staircase, a strange sound came from above. It was faint at first, like wood slowly bending under pressure. The sound made them freeze for a moment, wondering where it had come from.
Now there was another sound, but this time it wasn't just the sound of wood creaking under the weight; now a loud groaning sound also began to reach the ears of the three young men.
Donny looked up, where the sound was likely coming from. "Did you two hear that?"
Nino just nodded slowly, his body seemingly starting to shiver with fear. Nino was known to be the most superstitious and believed in such things.
On the other hand, Nucky started walking with his hands now on his back waist, where he kept his revolver, ready for any possibility ahead.
Seeing Nucky take the initiative to walk first, Nino and Donny once again followed his lead, almost mirroring Nucky's actions as they both positioned their hands behind their waists, where they kept their daggers.
The wooden stairs creaked softly as the three of them began to climb. The one in front stepped carefully, his hands pressed against the wall to maintain his balance. Behind him, the other two followed without saying much, only the sound of breathing and footsteps could be heard in the narrow hallway.
One by one, they carefully climbed the stairs. A door appeared at the end of the stairs leading to the upper floor, and the trio fixed their gaze on that single door.
"Slowly," whispered Nucky, almost inaudibly.
But suddenly, as they were walking stealthily, a loud noise came from the door, as if something had collapsed inside the room. The sound was so loud it startled Nucky and his friends.
Then, unexpectedly, Donny, who was in the middle, suddenly sped up and pushed Nucky. "They're definitely trying to escape!"
Donny reached the door first and immediately twisted the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked," he muttered under his breath as another scraping sound dragged itself across the floor inside the room, followed by something heavy hitting the ground hard enough to make the door tremble slightly on its hinges.
"Shit," he added, stepping back without taking his eyes off it.
Nucky moved up beside him, his hand already resting on the grip of his revolver. "Again," he said firmly, not raising his voice but making it clear he didn't want hesitation.
Donny threw his shoulder against the door, the impact sending a loud bang through the narrow hallway. The frame shook, dust falling from the upper corner, but it still held. From inside, another thud answered them, louder this time, as if whoever was in there had stumbled into something.
Nino pushed past them with visible irritation. "Move," he said, planting his feet a few steps back to get enough distance. The hallway suddenly felt too tight for his size. He exhaled once, then charged forward with his full weight. The collision cracked the wood with a sharp, splitting sound.
The hinges screeched, and the lock finally gave way under the force. The door burst inward violently, slamming against the wall and bouncing slightly before hanging crookedly from one hinge.
Without waiting, Donny rushed in first, followed closely by Nucky with his revolver now fully drawn, and Nino right behind them, the dust still swirling in the dim light as they tried to locate whoever—or whatever—had been making those sounds inside the room.
After waiting for a while, the dust that had previously filled the room finally cleared and opened up the view again. It was as if a stage curtain had been opened to reveal what was behind it.
When everything became clear, what was behind it was a tragic scene that the trio could never have imagined.
They saw the bodies of the couple they had been looking for, now lying on the wooden floor, with ropes tied around their necks. The position of their necks made it easy to guess what had happened.
"Oh my God..." said Nino, still in shock.
As if that weren't enough to shock them, suddenly the girl with shoulder-length silver hair who had been lying between the two bodies began struggling to get up.
"Help..." she said, pleading for assistance before collapsing back to the floor, having lost consciousness.