Midnight Meeting
Another commission for strangleddragons on FA, featuring his character Ivan.
Midnight Meeting
"Glad ya could meet me here, boys" Ivan said, pulling another drag from his cigar as he leaned against the freight train trailer.
"No problem, Ivan" a nervous crested gecko responded. "Although... I'm still trying to work out why you wanted to meet here."
"Ah, calm down Randal. It's a good spot, this late at night. Ain't no one out here at the end of shift. Just the driver, and he's 20 trailers away. Means we can have a proper talk for once"
"What you wanna talk about, Ivan?" a muscular dragon said, rolling his shoulders and crossing his arms again.
Ivan took one more mouthful of smoke from the rich cigar before flicking it off into the night.
"I got word that someone's been ratting my crew out for some of our... recreational activities. Saying all kinds of crap about bullying and intimidatin' the furries. The kinda stuff that can get a man fired. You heard about that?"
Randal coughed as the smoke from Ivan's last drag washed over his face. The assembled crowd murmured with grunts and half-held growls.
"I know it's not what we wanted to hear, but the important thing is we stick together, don't want anyone going for the weak link", Ivan said, waving his hands to quieten the group of truckers. He stepped away from the train, moving to the centre of the circle to stand facing Randal and beckoning the gecko towards him as if to whisper a secret.
"See Randal, just between us, I know far worse than the rat that's squealing about this."
"Shit, really?" the gecko replied. His tails till twitched nervously.
"Yeah... bullying ain't the half of it. I can name at least five greenhorns that've been raped or run off by the things our gang does. I swear to you. And that's not even counting what happened to the other bastards that tried to sneak their way in. But that's just what managed to reach HR. The bigger concern is about our little 'night-time fun' with the weaklings on the road."
Randal struggled to keep his tail and body still, a cold sweat breaking out down his back. The gecko was startled by the sound of the train's horn blasting into the night as the engine roared to life and slowly started pulling the long line of freight.
"But now we come to the real reason for our night-time meeting" Ivan said, as the rest of the truckers closed ranks around the clearly frightened gecko. Ivan leaned in, moving face-to-face with the smaller lizard until their snouts almost touched.
"See, I know it was you. And that means yer trying to stab me in the back. I'd expect it from one of those furry puppies, but not a proper cold-blood like you."
Randal backed away from the imposing trucker - only to bump into the large red figure of the dragon; suddenly realising he was surrounded, in the dark night, next to colleague that was more dangerous than he thought.
"Ivan, what the fuck? You wanted me out here so you could intimidate me? Why would I rat out our posse?"
"Ha! Wow, I guess yer just too dumb to understand. Lemme spell it out for ya"
Ivan lunged at the smaller lizard, quickly overpowering Randal and dragging him towards the slowly moving trailer of the nearby train - slamming the small lizard into the metal siding before shoving him down to the ground.
"Yer cop buddy is an old friend of mine. Yer little report about how I emptied that magazine into someone's head won't be there next time someone checks. As for you, well... accidents happen"
Grabbing the struggling gecko by the back of his coat, Ivan threw him between the rolling wheels of the train's carriage, taking hold on the lizard's legs to keep him from wriggling away. Ivan snarled in victory as the metal disk of the wheel easily cut through Randal's flesh, the legs and tail spasming and twisting grotesquely in the dominant trucker's arms. A couple of the other gang members started laughing at the flailing legs and tail of the terrified gecko.
Randal screamed out in terror as he was flung over the train track. Instinctively, he twisted and kicked - trying to free his legs from the powerful grip of the lizard trying to kill him. But it wasn't enough. What felt like a red-hot bar tore its way into his side just above his hip, then continued to his spine and beyond as a horrific squelch was audible over the sound of the rolling train. After a white-hot flash of agony, he lost sensation in his legs and tail, but that small mercy did not dull the pain that raged from his midriff. His eyes went wide, unable to breathe properly or shout out. The seconds stretched out as his body went into shock from the trauma, noticing the sensation of wetness spreading up his belly. His brain tried to shut down as the cacophony from the train over his head continued.
As the final wheel ran over the blood stained patch of rail, the trucker gang could stare down at the upper half of the gecko - still alive and in shock. Stepping over the rail, Ivan kicked the torso over so he could stare into the Randal's pain filled face, enjoying the way viscera slowly plopped out of the gaping wound that existed at the belly of the bisected gecko as the rest of the gang moved closer, the large red dragon spitting onto the dying gecko's chest.
"Just in case it wasn't clear, lemme spell it out fer ya, Randal. You cross me or my gang, and yer not gonna live for long. A piece of shit like you gets this: a slow and painful death, where no one'll find ya until I'm long gone."
Randal couldn't hear the taunts of his murderer, as his body tried in vain to keep him alive, his arms moved down to the fire that burned in his stomach, grasping at the entrails seeping out onto the wooden sleepers between the rails as his shirt soaked with blood and other fluids. Tears ran down his cheeks as his uncoordinated flailing slowed - the blood loss dulling his mind and clouding his vision. His arms and head fell back limp, his gaze meeting the black silhouette of one of the powerful truckers standing over him.
"W- why?" was the last word to pass his lips, but the only response was a gob of spit that landed on his forehead, falling from the scowling gang leader above him.
Ivan picked up the cigar he had tossed away, re-lit the dull cherry, and took another mouthful of the potent tobacco. He didn't enjoy smoking, but it was the perfect way to scare his prey on a dark night like this.
"Not even worth pissing on a piece of shit like you. Fucking whistleblowers... Go ahead boys. For once, I'm too angry to fuck him"
Ivan paced away into the dark train yard, his ears picking up the wet sounds behind him as his gang marked their latest kill.