"Call NCPD! Sobody call NCPD, now!"
The mont gunfire erupted, most of the restaurant's custors dove for cover, scrambling toward the back of the establishnt.
This was Night City—they all knew what happened when gangs started shooting.
It wouldn't be long before this whole place beca a warzone.
"Mom, we need to go! Now!"
David grabbed his mother, shielding her as they rushed toward the back.
Their table was right in the line of fire—they had to move.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
The mont they left their seats, gunfire ripped through their forr spot.
A Tyger Claw had unleashed a full-auto spray inside the restaurant, sweeping his gun across the room.
They had spotted the 6th Street mbers and had no intention of holding back.
"Fuck! Fucking Valentinos! Fucking Tyger Claw bastards!"
The 6th Street soldier in the corner imdiately ducked behind the closest cover—using an overturned table as a makeshift barricade.
He raised his Ajax assault rifle, returning fire through the shattered window.
At the sa ti, he barked orders into his comms, calling for backup.
He emptied his entire mag, suppressing the outside shooters.
As soon as the rifle clicked empty, he pressed himself against the table, reaching for a fresh clip.
That's when he noticed sothing—
The black-haired custor who had been hiding in the corner earlier…
Was gone.
"Guess he ran for his life… Can't bla him."
The 6th Street soldier reloaded, ready to fire again—
But before he could peek out and return fire—
Sothing rolled across the floor.
An oval-shaped object.
"GRENADE!"
Without a second of hesitation, the soldier threw himself backward, diving toward the rear of the restaurant.
"BOOM!"
The shockwave hit his back, launching him forward.
His entire torso felt like it had just been punched by a sledgehamr.
His lungs burned.
His vision blurred.
For a mont, he was barely aware of his surroundings.
When his head cleared, he realized sothing—
His roll had landed him right at David's feet.
David, who was desperately dragging his mother toward the kitchen.
Outside, the Tyger Claw who had thrown the grenade noticed his target was still alive.
He raised his rifle.
Arasaka HJSH-18 Masamune: A fully automatic assault rifle, developed by Arasaka in the 2050s.
Simple, reliable, and deadly.
Capable of switching to three-round burst fire with the flick of a switch.
Without hesitation, the Tyger Claw pulled the trigger.
The 6th Street soldier, still recovering, didn't stand a chance.
His back was torn apart by a dozen high-velocity rounds.
The bullets shredded through his armor, turning his body into nothing but at and blood.
But the Tyger didn't stop firing.
His adrenaline-fueled brain kept his finger locked on the trigger.
He wildly jerked his rifle toward the next 6th Street mber.
But—
His gun wasn't under control.
The recoil was too much for him.
The barrel of his weapon kicked upward.
Bullets sprayed toward David and his mother.
To the Tyger Claws, they were just random civilians.
Collateral damage didn't matter.
They never cared about who got caught in the crossfire.
From the mont the first shot was fired—David knew this was a bad situation.
Now, his worst fear was coming true.
The mont he saw the Tyger Claw's rifle rising toward him, a sharp, piercing instinct scread in his mind.
"Mom! GET DOWN!"
David tackled his mother, forcing her to the ground.
But in that split second—
He felt it.
A violent jolt in his left arm.
Then—numbness.
Then—pain.
A hot, burning sensation blood in his upper arm.
He had been hit.
But—
It was just a graze.
If the bullet had landed directly, his entire arm might have been torn off.
"David! David!"
Gloria's eyes widened in horror as she saw blood spraying from David's arm.
His shredded Arasaka Academy uniform fluttered in the air.
She had seen this before.
Her husband had been gunned down in front of her eyes.
A stray bullet from a gang war.
Now—
Her son was bleeding right in front of her.
"I'm fine, Mom!"
David endured the pain and forced a smile, just as he was about to comfort his mother—only to notice how pale she had beco.
The bullet had grazed his left arm—so where had it ultimately landed?
The answer was Gloria's shoulder.
David's eyes turned red as he looked at his mother's shoulder—already a bloody ss.
Through the torn fabric of her jacket, bone was visible.
"David… As long as you're okay… that's all that matters…"
Gloria had no idea she had been shot.
The panic, the chaos—it had numbed her to the pain.
When she saw that David was still standing, her breath eased.
But as that breath left her body, her vision began to blur.
And then—she collapsed.
The mont of seeing her son injured overlapped with the mory of her husband's death.
Her mind—already stretched to its limit from endless overti shifts—finally snapped.
And combined with the shock of being shot, Gloria's overworked body shut down the mont she confird that David was safe.
"Mom! Mom!"
David dragged his mother behind the cashier's counter, trying desperately to wake her up.
But no matter how much he called out, she didn't respond.
And as he struggled to move her, he only made the bleeding worse.
"Shit! Fuck!"
David's mind spiraled into chaos.
His rage told him to pull his gun and kill the Tyger Claw that shot her.
But his last shred of reason reminded him—
She needed help.
He needed to save her first.
At that mont—
"Here, take this, David."
Karl was there.
"Huh?"
David froze, staring at the man now crouching in front of him, handing him a Revitan 3 injector.
"Karl?! What—"
"What are you staring at? You an idiot?"
Karl shoved the Revitan 3 into David's hands.
"Neck injection. You know how to use it, right?"
"Of—of course!"
David was still dazed, but the mont he saw his mother's wound, he snapped back into focus.
He gripped the Revitan 3 and imdiately administered the injection.
As he did, he heard Karl apologize.
"Sorry. I was in the shop this whole ti.
Didn't want to et your mom, so I kept my head down.
When the shooting started, I moved to the kitchen, didn't think too much of it.
Then I realized—fuck, you guys were right in the middle of it.
I turned back and saw that Tyger Claw spraying the place down.
I drew my gun, but he wouldn't stop firing.
I only managed to shoot down nine bullets—one still got through.
That one… hit you and your mom."
Karl's expression darkened—
He was frustrated with himself.
Sowhere in the back of his mind, he had treated David differently.
They had done a job together before.
And in that job, Karl had protected David—but he had also treated him like an equal.
Like he would treat Mann or any other rc.
And because of that—
When the gunfire started, Karl's instinct told him David would be fine.
What was so random gangbanger going to do?
Nothing that could actually threaten David, right?
But David wasn't like Mann.
David wasn't Karl.
By the ti he realized that—
It was already too late.
"I should've reacted faster," Karl muttered.
"This isn't your fault."
David, seeing his mother's breathing stabilize, did sothing unexpected.
He comforted Karl instead.
"I wanted to protect my family.
But when things really went bad, I couldn't do anything.
I was too scared—
And in the end, I could only think about you.
It's my fault.
I let down your training.
I let down Jackie.
I let down Oliver.
I wasn't strong enough."
David's grip tightened around the Masamune at his waist.
He drew it.
"That's why—
At the very least—
I have to prove I learned sothing."
David still rembered Oliver, Jackie, and Karl's lessons.
Two hands on the gun.
Don't grip too tight—just like turning a doorknob.
And then—
David leaned out from cover.
Aid.
And pulled the trigger.
"BANG!"
The Tyger Claw's head exploded.
The bastard who shot his mother—was dead.
.
.
.
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