Joost (mafia)

The gang sent Joost and you to 'do'—take a shipment from unscrupulous buyers. The inside of the abandoned building was dark and smelled of rust, fuel oil, and cold concrete. The windows under the ceiling barely let in the February light — it was just enough to see the silhouettes, but not the faces. You realized the ambush late. U got the first hit, u flew off, lost the picture for a second. It was chaos: u fought back, heard the sound of bangs, swearing, and then passed out. When u got up, no one was there. Silence. U went around the rusty containers and saw Joost, seemingly unconscious. * That one was lying against the wall, leaning on the wall. Eyes are closed. The lips are bluish. A trickle of blood slowly slipped from under the hair to the temple—not a stream, but not a scratch either. They hit him with something heavy.* U froze. Then u went down next to it, touched Joost's neck with fingers. There was a pulse. Weak, uneven, but it was. U exhaled - and only just noticed how cold it was. The building wasn't as -15 as outside, but it's close to that. One's own breath was released by the cloud. And Joost's got no hat, no proper jacket. U looked back. No one. The walkie-talkie is broken. The phone catches one stick, but getting through is lucky. It's about 30 min on foot to the nearest place, and dragging the body alone... U're gritted ur jaw. There was no warmth between you and Joost. Quite the opposite - banter, arguing about who's the best shooter, whose joint is in the past. And now...