As Jamal sat back in one of the lobby seats, he continued to stare at the city map provided to him. Pinned to the wall, it provided the group with an accurate representation and view of the current city and its changes. All the better for him though, as he had several key markings and locations they had to get established and under their control, once the hopeful citizens rebelled against Youden.
Just as he was getting up, Sera came through the door with another person behind her. In the last few days, he had the woman start attempting to grow an inner circle of those willing to start up the city resistance, and it seemed that it was successful so far. They've already got a gunsmith that worked for the military with a surplus of weapons, a printer for posters and counterpropaganda, and several other civilians planning to get as many people as possible to prepare for the inevitable. They had to succeed, regardless of the cost, because if they didn't and lost, the world would not be safe and who knew what Youden was planning?
"Jamal," Sera announced as Jamal looked at the pair. "This is Bercoff. He has a proposal for you."
"Is that so?" Jamal approached them, taking a good look. "I'll like to hear it."
The man was extremely buff, Jamal had to say, while Bercoff stared him down. He had multiple tattoos across his entire body, from his face to his legs, which were visible based on the short-sleeved articles of clothing he was wearing. While to most people he would look quite intimidating, Jamal wasn't the very least frightened. The only thing he feared wasn't even Youden, but rather those he could lose and actually cared for. Of course, that wouldn't happen under his watch, but he was a cautious man too.
"I remember you." Bercoff pointed towards him with an unnaturally deep voice. "You caused that rock to explode."
"I did do that, that was me," Jamal assured him. "Now, what brings you here today."
"It's rather simple. I want to be guaranteed to have complete access of 20th Street to Palm Tree Bay, in exchange for my gang's assistance for the city."
"Wait, you're a gang leader?!" Jamal stared at Sera, "Who did you bring here!"
"Jamal, listen to him fir-" Sera started to say, before Bercoff coughed aloud.
"I understand, you weren't expecting someone like me in the first place. But let me remind you, that if you accept this offer, you'll have three thousand men at your disposal, as well as access to all of our weapons and sections of the city we mainly have control over at the current moment."
That would be quite the offer, Jamal couldn't resist, except he didn't know the exact quantity of items or "controlled" land this gang had. But if it was going to be such a high risk, surely a high reward could possibly come out of it as well? This was coming out harder than he thought it would.
"What type of weapons do you guys have per say, and how much do you really "control" here?" Jamal had to inquire some more.
"All types of taboons. We got old rifles, new rifles, pistols, even our own configurations. One of our dealers is actual the gunsmith that talked with y'all, and we got a taboon that fires hundreds of rounds in several seconds."
"Sera, this isn't a spy, is it?" Jamal looked back in the woman in embarrasement.
"He's not joking around. I've seen it all that he has to offer. It's the real deal." Sera seemed geniune of honesty.
"Alright then, go on." Jamal had Bercoff continue.
"Besides our abundance of weaponary, my men are mainly focused in the southwestern section of the city, which is what I wish to have under my control completely. The territory is only about one percent of the entire city. It should be reasonable enough."
"That's all you ask for?"
"Yeah?"
Jamal took a deep breath, as he sat back down into his seat. Obviously, he already had an answer to his proposal, but was stalling the inevitable. They needed all the men they could get and waiting wasn't going to help them out in the slightest. Plus, he knew persoanlly, that he could remove them at any given moment without any hesistation or challenge to his command. It would be done.
"We have a deal. Prepare your men to start occuping the city on October 15th at exactly 12 P.M. No sooner and no later. On time. That's ten days from now." Jamal extended his hand out.
"Just what we like to hear. You made the right move. Youden's been hurtin' my business and my former plugs can safely come back to help fund my operation again. Let's do this." Bercoff shook it rather quickly, before pulling back. "You'll know when we've started."
Sera was just surprised at how quick the deal went, as she watched Bercoff leave with swagger and Jamal barely cracking a smile. Was there something she missed while all this happened?
"I feel like you're gonna-" Sera attempted to speak again, before getting interuppted.
"Kill them if things go out of favor? I will, sooner or later. Just a matter of time if they act up at all or not." Jamal shrugged.
Sera could do nothing but just nod. They couldn't afford to be playing around with fire (no pun intended in her mind), and waste it like a child's game. Every decision they made against Youden was going to have an impact, with the city's forces still attempting to find their every move. It was all about who played their cards right and who was going to first. Those people had to be them, regardless of whatever happens.