Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

After just a couple days hanging out with his new 'friends', Oliver was more and more certain that these were the assholes that firebombed the church. While none of them had mentioned the attack directly, the subtle comments, and not so subtle racist vitriol, had nearly convinced him.

But without confirmation, he wouldn't make a move. As unlikely as it seemed, there was still the chance they were innocent. Well, innocent in regards to the attack. They were definitely scumbags.

He was almost confused by the conflicting impressions he got from the group. On the one hand, they were smart enough to keep clear of social media. The fact that they managed not to leave any evidence behind when committing the arson was almost impressive.

On the other hand, they were complete idiots, loudly- and publicly- spouting off with racist and derogatory comments about almost anyone and anything they despised. He had expected them to brag a little if they had done it, or at least make a few comments about it. The fact that they hadn't mentioned the church at all was a bit suspicious, at least to Oliver. It was simply to big of a topic to avoid without it being obvious, especially for hate mongering fools like them.

But it made sense when he realized that the bald asshole, Lewis, was riding herd on the lot of them. Any time the conversation drifted towards dangerous territory, he would quickly redirect it, though not as subtly as he thought. All while directing pointed looks at his friends behind Oliver's back that he would have missed if he hadn't been looking for them. But every group has a weak point, and Oliver found it.

Peyton.

As tightly knit as the group was, Peyton and Lewis constantly butted heads. Lewis kept everyone on a tight leash, often bullying them into place when they stepped out of line or spoke out of turn... and Peyton chaffed under the restrictions. Two self proclaimed alphas who thought that they knew better than the other.

Oliver had to admit that, if they had done it, Lewis had done a decent job of keeping them in line. And that Peyton was the idiot who would likely screw it up for them.

So, when the group invited him around for a couple beers and to shoot some guns, he accepted readily. Hopefully it would make a good opportunity to dig for more information.

Oliver looked at the ranch style home a little ways outside of town with a smile, hopeful that today would get him what he needed and wrap up this bounty. Three weeks wasn't all that long, but he was ready to move on and get away from this group of idiots. One more night of playing pool while listening to their vile commentary and he was tempted to just kill them and hope for the best.

“Yo, Oscar! Glad you made it. Why the hell did you ride a bike all the way out here?”

Pulled from his thoughts, Oliver turned to where Peyton was rounding the corner of the house. With a glance down at the bicycle he had been riding for the past few weeks to keep his truck out of sight, he shrugged casually. “Hey, it's what I've got man. If I knew you were this far out, I would have weaseled a ride out of one of the guys.”

Peyton chuckled and waved him to follow. “Well, come on man. We've got a cooler full of drinks and some targets set up. Nothing fancy though, we're just shooting cans as we empty them.”

“Don't need fancy when simple works, right?”

Oliver listened to Peyton's usual boisterous bullshit as they rounded the corner to find the rest of the group hanging out in the backyard with beers already in hand. His eyes scanned the yard as one of them walked over to a table twenty feet away that was absolutely loaded down with guns. Pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns... At least a dozen of each, and more for the pistols. A small smile flitted across his face as he eyed them, considering what he could get from them at auction.

“Nice little collection ain't it?”

Oliver nodded appreciatively at the guns, ignoring Peyton's smug look. “Hell yeah. I recognize some of them, but not all. Is that seriously an AK?”

The conversation paused as Billy finished loading a pistol and started popping off shots at the beer cans lining the back of the property. The group cheered with each hit, and teased him mercilessly with every miss. With his shooting done, he returned the gun to the table and grabbed a drink before rejoining the group.

“You're up newbie. Or do we need to teach you how to hold a gun?” Lewis growled, his suspicious glare still present.

“Ah, fuck you Lew. Come on Oscar, let's see what you got.” Peyton responded for him before leading the way to the table. When the got close to the table, he lowered his voice so the others wouldn't overhear.

“You have shot before, right?”

“Dude, my dad first took me shooting when I was nine. I can manage.”

Peyton held up his hands in surrender even as he laughed. “I hear ya man. But you said you didn't recognize all of them, so I can give to a run down if you want. And yeah, it's an AK-47. Modified for full auto, if you want to give that a go. We even got a couple MP5s.”

He dropped a hand on Oliver's shoulder and leaned in conspiratorially. “I got a cousin in the army that hooks us up with a lot of good shit. If you want, we can make a deal a get you hooked up too.”

Oliver's eyebrows rose in surprise. He wasn't sure how this cousin got his hands on the guns, or got them out without getting caught. But he also wasn't sure it was his business. He wasn't here to investigate every crime that popped up, after all. Even if it was a bit alarming.

Oliver looked over the guns carefully. While he had some experience shooting, he actually recognized more of them thanks to first person shooter video games rather than real life. He quickly locked on to one, his personal favorite from a number of games. “How the hell did you get your hands on a FN FAL?”

Peyton shrugged awkwardly. “No idea where my cousin got it. It's not full auto, though. Single shot only. I don't know much about it otherwise.”

Oliver ran his hand over the gun for a moment before picking it up and began to load it eagerly. “Its use by more than ninety countries around the world earned it the title of 'the right arm of the free world'. Belgian made, it fires 7.62 NATO rounds. Accurate, reliable... Yeah, I'm a fan.”

Oliver shot an excited grin at Peyton, who flinched at the almost feral look. “Never fired it in real life though. Just on Call of Duty and stuff.”

Stepping up to the line, he shoulder the rifle and took aim. His first shot missed, but within seconds he corrected and started hammering beer can after beer can. While not the most trained shooter, his higher coordination thanks to increasing his agility so much made the whole thing feel smooth as he tagged a dozen cans in succession.

He stared lovingly at the gun after emptying the magazine. It was everything he had hoped it would be. Peyton clearing his throat brought Oliver back to reality, and he ambled back to the table.

“I guess you like it, man. That was some serious John Wick shit!” Peyton laughed as he clapped Oliver on the back. “If you want, I can sell you that one. No one else seems to care for it.”

Oliver suppressed the rioting emotions shooting his favorite gun had brought about and smiled at the other man. “Definitely. I don't think I could let this thing go. I wanted to ask you something, though.”

“We're buddies, man. You want to know something, just ask.”

Oliver glanced back at the rest of the group drinking and lowered his voice. “What's the deal with the church? The whole town has been going crazy over it for weeks, but you guys never talk about it. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that strikes me as odd. You know?”

Seeing the look of hesitation on Peyton's face, Oliver quickly waved the question away. “Never mind man. I'm probably just jumping at shadows, you know? I just don't want to get fucked over by cops or something. And I sure as shit don't want to end up face to face with some FBI asshole.”

Several emotions flashed across Peyton's face for a moment as the man wavered, then nodded. “Yeah, I feel you on that. I'm not suppose to say shit or Lewis will fucking freak. Dude is kind of an asshole, you know?”

While not direct confirmation, Oliver felt that it was enough and started reloading even as Peyton leaned I closer with a vicious smile on his face.

“But your cool, so I'll let you in. It was mostly my plan, though Lewis had to jump in and dictate shit. Said he didn't want us to fuck it up and bring the cops down on our heads.”

“But man, the party we had after we burned those fucks! Maybe that will teach those damn-”

Oliver's face went cold at the confession, and at the slurs that spewed forth in a stream of filth from Peyton's mouth.

But the asshole didn't seem to notice the change. Until Oliver took a couple steps away, turned, and shot him in the chest.

The others sat stunned for a moment as there friend collapsed with a hole in his chest, and that was all the time Oliver needed. Pivoting quickly to face them, he started with the ringleader, Lewis, and double tapped him. He made sure to aim for center of mass, even though he was unlikely to miss from just twenty feet away.

The moment broke as the others scrambled out of their chairs and tried to run, but Oliver didn't hesitate. He switched fluidly from one target to the next, double tapping each of them in turn. The last to fall, Billy, made it to the corner of the house before a pair of bullets ripped through him.

With all of them down, Oliver took his time to put an extra shot into each just to be sure. Except for Peyton, who was trying to drag himself away on his hands and knees. He strolled casually over to the wounded man, gun still in hand, before kicking him roughly in the side to roll him over.

Staring up at his killer, Peyton struggled to speak even as blood bubbled on his lips. “W-why man? Wha-”

He flinched at the raw fury directed his way before Oliver spoke.

“All that bullshit you've said, and you ask why? My girlfriend is Hispanic. She's kind, intelligent, beautiful... A good person. And a cop. She would have just arrested you assholes and trusted the justice system to punish you properly.”

“But, as much as I love her... I'm not a good person. And I wasn't just hired to get justice here.”

A devilish smile played across Oliver's features as he pulled the trigger one more time.

Bounty: Justice for the lost... and Vengeance for mama – Completed.