WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE

Clyde handed David another hook and loaded the gun.

"So remember you got to pull this..." was instructing Clyde as he loaded the gun for David, who took it on his own.

"Yes, I remember. I saw you do it the first time," said David eagerly loading the gun by himself.

"Ok, OK, you got it," said Clyde as he backed off and let David do it on his own.

There is something about a young person taking initiative and getting back up after they fall and showing their resolve to try again, that fills the older person with joy. David was ready to take his second shot when Clyde interrupted.

"Hold on!" He said gathering some boxes and ply wood crates to create a landing zone.

"What are you doing? That's not going to help much," said David amused by the concern displayed by Clyde.

"Maybe, but at least I can cover up your corpse with it easier," said Clyde.

"Thanks!" replied David.

Once done, the compressor full, David readied his stance. He was more comfortable and at least aware of the vibrating gun. He backed away further from the building to take a better shot. They both watched the spear again travel, followed by the short flash of the exploding tip. They tested the anchor again and set up the motor.

"Ready?" said Clyde once again. David nodding in approval - the determination in his eyes masked away by the helmet.

"When you are ready," said Clyde.

David once again took a deep breath and started up the wall and begun to climb.

"Steady, easy does it," said Clyde as he watched on intensely. David kept walking up slowly. He made it to the point of failure and passed past it.

"OK, good! You can come down now!" yelled Clyde in anxiety.

"No! Just a little further," shouted back David who continued to climb.

"Boy, you get your ass down from there!" said Clyde growing more and more anxious with each step.

"Just a bit further," said David who became braver and braver with each step. Clyde could not help but put his hands up to his head as David continued to climb higher.

"This boy is going to get himself killed," is all Clyde could think off.

Finally as he saw David near the top, his anxiety turned to excitement.

"Come on, come on! Just a few more steps!" said Clyde to himself in quiet thrill so to not distract or jinx the performer in front of him.

"Eeeeee, Yes!" shouted Clyde once David reached the top of the building and - with great effort and strength - pulled himself over the edge of the edge of the building.

"Oh my god this kid is crazy!" said Clyde with a sense of pride, both in his own work and David's determination.

David walked up to the edge and raised his hands in triumph.

"Yes!" he yelled out.

Clyde walked up to the truck and picked up the walky talky. The height of the building made it so even shouting the two could not hear each other well. David picked his walky talky from the bag and talked to Clyde.

"Hell yeah baby! What did I say! Woooh!" said David over the talky.

"Alright, alright. Good job. Now since you are up there, let's test one more thing. This won't be difficult," said Clyde.

"Sure! Bring it on big man. I'm pumped!" replied David.

"If you take the helmet off, you will see a red switch at top on the inside. Turn it on and put it back on," said Clyde.

David did so and put the helmet on.

"OK done," said David.

"Can you hear me?" said Clyde through the helmet.

"Whoa! How you do that?" said David surprised.

"There is a small head piece on the ears of the helmet and a microphone by your mouth. Try to say something," said Clyde.

"Wow, this old man's got some nice tricks."

"Funny guy, I heard that."

"So what's the range on this thing?"

"Around two hundred yards."

"You tested it before?"

"No, not yet."

The city looked peaceful and busy from the rooftop. The lights of the houses David could see in the distance, as well as the skyline downtown, looked like small toys he could reach out and touch. He felt he was on top of the world, where nobody could touch him as he looked over the city.

"Let's go for walk then," said David.

"Take the line with you. We'll practice setting up by hand further up," said Clyde.

"How do I release?" asked David.

"If you can reach the anchor, you can press a release button that opens the hooks. Pull up the line and roll it up," said Clyde.

David did so and went his way. The trek through the roof with is backpack on reminded him of his scouts when he was on patrol. The suit move well enough and with minor adjustments should be even better. Even the backpack and motor with batteries were not that big of a deal. On a long trek David realized these could be a problem though. He did start to breath hard and sweat after a couple of minutes.

"If you are getting hot open up the vents," said Clyde almost reading David's mind.

"Oh yes, much better," said David.

"This rooftop is a pretty good obstacle course actually. There's some stairs I'm going to try to up," said David. He did so and had to take a quick breath as he was feeling dizzy.

"I have to stop. This is getting hot," he told Clyde.

"Do you want to call it night?" Clyde replied.

"Not yet. Five more minutes," said David.

He was having too much fun to turn back now. He took another deep breath and took one more look at the city and relaxed. The cool night air rushing though the vents, refreshing him as he took the helmet off.

The relative silence of the night was broken by a repertoire of shots nearby.

"Did you hear that?" said David to Clyde through the helmet he had in his hands.

"Probably a car or something," said Clyde.

"No. Those were gunshots. I know it!" said David heading in their direction.

Two more loud pops rang out.

"There it is again!" said David.

"Where are you?" asked Clyde.

"I'm down the street," replied David.

"I'm going to check it out," he continued.

"Stop where you are! What do you mean down the street? There are two streets here," said Clyde trying to make sense of the direction.

"I'm going south! Just keep going straight where we drove in!" said David as he continued in the direction of the gun shots. Now he could hear a car screeching.

"Get in the van Clyde! There's a car moving. I don't know where to, but it's getting closer," said David.

"Jesus Christ!" said Clyde.

As David got to the corner of the building he saw a car headed his direction down the street.

"It's coming towards me from the east side of the building. How do I get down from here?" said David.

"Why do you want to get down? Just let it go," said Clyde.

"We are here to stop criminals. There is a criminal. I'm not letting them go," said David.

"We are not fishing here. You are not ready," said Clyde.

"He's going to pass me. I need to do something," said David.

"David!" yelled out Clyde to get his attention.

Just then, David threw out the motor and backpack full of batteries as hard as he could at the car barreling in his direction. He managed to throw it in time to have the heavy bulk crash through the windshield of the speeding car.

"Oh Shit! I got them!" said David in exultation.

"David! What did you do?" asked Clyde not aware of what had just happened.

The car careened and crashed into the side of the building. Clyde heard the screeching and crash up the street from where he was.

"What did you do?" asked Clyde again.

"I need to get down ASAP!" said David.

"No! You stay right there," said Clyde.

"I can jump," said David.

"What?!" said Clyde shocked.

"On to the car. I can make it," said David.

"Damnit boy! Listen, use one of the explosive tips stored in the butt of the gun. Put it on the hook and smash it hard on the ground. That'll drive the hook into the ground. Just make sure not to impale your hand with it!" said Clyde.

David did as he was told setting of the explosion and driving the hooks in.

"OK I'm going down. How do I brake?" asked David.

"Brake?" replied Clyde.

"Yes! Brake my descent, control it?" asked David.

"I don't know," said Clyde puzzled.

"What do you mean you don't know!" asked David in a hurry beginning to see movement in the car and voices coming out.

"I didn't think we were getting this far! Maybe you can use your hands? Grip the muzzle and hold on tight?" suggested Clyde.

"With my broken hand! Are you crazy!" shot back David.

"Well I don't know. You was gonna jump six stories down anyway!" shot back Clyde.

"I don't think well under pressure!" said Clyde.

"They are getting away! God damnit!" said David as he went over the edge and used his gauntlets to repel down the side of the building.

As he did, the passengers of the car started to leave the inside of the vehicle to see what had happened since the car could not start right away. They came out, guns drawn, waiting for someone to ambush them. One of the occupants looked up with puzzlement at the sight of a strange figure, incredibly flying down the side of the building in an in-human way.

"Yo! What the hell is that?" the thug shouted in horror as the rest looked on, frozen in fear. The group remained transfixed at the sight as their brains scurried to make sense of the terrifying sight of this unnatural being defy logic.

"It's a freaking alien, man!" said someone else as the group begun to retreat.

Just then, David in his semi-controlled descent lost his grip on the cable and free-fell the remaining three stories in a very human way.

"Fuck!" yelled out David crashing down.

The thugs in a brief moment of composure, still did not understand what was going on.

"This aint no alien you goofs," said one of the thugs.

"Well, I don't care what it is. I'm blasting it the hell out of here," said another.

David struggled to get up from the crash to see four guns trained on him.

"Oh shit. Here we go," he managed to say as they opened fire on him. He had just enough time to huddle into a ball and cover himself with the coat.

It was a quick few seconds, with some of the shots missing him; but David could still feel the full force of many of the shots hitting him. Like a hail storm hitting on a thin cardboard box.

"Shit! I hope this holds up!" said David under the intense, and loud volley.

Once the thugs unloaded they stood convinced they had killed the thing. But David peaked from under the bullet riddled coat, and upon seeing his shooters looking curiously on, rose like a titan of Greek mythology. The thugs were left speechless, and in shock.

"Man! That's the motherfucker that put the hurting on the War Dogs!" said one of the thugs.

"Screw this! I'm not messing with that!" said another as they started to scatter.

"He's just one dude. Don't bitch out!" said the initial shooter, but it was no use. Everyone scattered as David made his slow, labored way to them, which made him look more surreal.

"Fuck that!" said the last man as he too ran.

At that moment a van speed into the street coming out of nowhere. It charged towards David who only saw it at the last possible minute and was struck by it, landing him ten feet away. The thugs got into the van and left, just as the sound of police sirens wailed in the distance.

"David! David! What was that? What's going on?" yelled Clyde through the ear piece having heard indistinct sounds through his receiver.

"Arg! I'm OK," groaned David struggling to get up for the third time that night.

Clyde arrived with the van and saw the wreckage first hand.

"Geez-Louse! What did you do?" said Clyde.

"Come on we gotta go!" urged Clyde as the sirens got closer.

"The bag Clyde. Get the back pack from the car," said David as to not leave anything behind to incriminate them.

The two got into the van and fled the scene.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Everyone!!

How is everyone doing? Hope you enjoyed the latest installment of Viper! :D 

How long do you think Clyde will survive with crazy David around? 

For that matter how long do you think David will make it with a death wish? 

I really want to thank you all for keeping on with the story! It means so much to me! 

Like always please feel free to comment and vote if you'd like. :D 

Love you all and here is to good reading! :D 

Roge. 

eYdOpӛ0