Chapter 203: Chapter 202: You're the Hero
To save someone, he chose the spot closest to the criminals to hide, waited for the right moment, and then leaped out fearlessly to subdue the criminals.
If that's not what a man is, then there are no men in this world!
Elizabeth would never forget this day for the rest of her life.
"It's over, I'm doomed," Blake had become the ultimate sucker, inwardly screaming, "He's got looks, physique, capability, and he's so MANLY!"
She secretly overturned her previous beliefs: "What is Leonardo compared to Martin? At best, just a pretty vase! Martin is my ultimate idol!"
As everyone knows, super suckers have only one thought towards their idols.
The others were also full of gratitude for Martin; without him, they might have died.
Only journalist Helen was different. She picked up her DV, rushed out of the convenience store, and went after Martin.
Helen had realized that today an explosive nationwide super news story would break.
She even saw the Pulitzer Prize waving at her.
If not now, when was she going to give it her all?
Many journalists have a touch of craziness.
Sirens wailed in Burbank as the shootout began, chaos erupted on school campus, countless people fled in panic, and a flood of police cars blocked every entrance to the campus.
A number of helicopters belonging to news agencies and the LAPD were hovering at low altitude.
The SWAT's armored vehicle from the LAPD had entered the campus.
Inside the basketball gym.
Bruce leaned against the corner, holding off Victor with a broken handgun, but the AR gunfire from the other side worried him about Martin's safety.
Just as he was preparing to move, the booming sound of a shotgun rang out.
Bruce immediately turned his gun towards the sound.
From the corner, Victor stopped shooting and shouted loudly, "Sergey, get over here, there is a bastard in the corner, let's sandwich him from both sides."
"I'm coming!" The voice that came was manic, and Sergey sprinted along the curved corridor.
Victor raised his rifle and fired while shouting, "I'm going in!"
Bruce had to turn back and fire at Victor to keep him suppressed.
Martin, carrying a gun, sprinted all the way. Old Cloth was his true brother in life and death!
The sound of the wind was in his ears, the corridor receding behind him. Martin ran with the speed of a hundred-meter sprint, finally seeing the figure ahead, holding a shotgun and wearing a tactical vest.
He didn't even glance at the bloody corpses on the ground.
At this moment, Martin only had Old Cloth on his mind!
Sergey was running forward, not paying attention to what was behind him.
Martin stopped, knowing he did not have the shooting skills to hit a target while sprinting.
So, he leaned against the outer wall, the stock of his AR resting on his shoulder, his breathing barely evened out, aiming at the person ahead.
Just as Sergey was about to raise his shotgun, Martin pulled the trigger.
Bang bang bang—
Three shots, each hitting Sergey in the back!
Even though Sergey wore a bulletproof vest, at such a close distance, the tremendous kinetic energy of the bullets made him fall to the ground, bleeding from his mouth and nose.
Martin shouted, "Old Cloth, it's me, leave the backside to me!"
"Damn it, don't freaking die on me!" Bruce's unique greeting rang out.
Hearing Old Cloth's voice, Martin was relieved, "You dumb pig, if I hadn't come, your ass would've been blown up by now!"
Bruce turned to deal with the gunman ahead: "Then you'd better keep it secure for me!"
"I only smell something stinky!" While Martin spoke, he remained utterly focused, his gun pointed at Sergey on the ground as he approached cautiously.
He wasn't a professional cop or soldier, after all; he couldn't do the magazine dump.
"It's me, Helen!" Inspired by Martin's words, Helen rushed over and identified herself before showing her face.
She carried her DV and slowly turned the corner.
Martin glanced quickly, didn't bother with her any further, approached Sergey, kicked away his shotgun, and threw away his pistol.
Having seen too many counter-kills in movies, even though Sergey was seriously injured and unconscious, Martin still unlaced Sergey's shoes, twisted his hands behind his back, and tied them up.
"Sergey, Sergey!" Hearing the AR gunfire, Victor called for Sergey to no response, infuriated by the two disgusting bastards flirting and cursing at each other, "You two bastards, we are carrying out a shooting, show some respect for chrissake!"
Martin joined Bruce and without caring if he could hit or not, fired three shots towards the sound.
After the gunfire, the other side fell silent.
It was then Victor realized something awkward, the corner he was in was indeed good for cover but offered no escape. Once he came out, he would be immediately exposed to the enemy's firing line.
Bruce took the AR rifle from Martin's hand, looking for a chance.
Martin took over the pistol, guarded the rear, and said to Helen who followed, "Call 911, the cops are probably on their way."
Helen held the DV in one hand and dialed 911 with the other. After a brief exchange, the call was quickly transferred to the highest commanding officer of the LAPD at Burbank Middle School.
"This is Bill-Bratton of the LAPD, please identify yourself."
"Warner Television Network journalist Helen Conner." As soon as Helen finished, Martin took over the phone and said, "Martin Davis, yes! The actor who's holding the promotional event here today."
"What's the situation on your end?"
"My bodyguard and I are in a standoff with a gunman?" Martin asked, "Do you know how many gunmen there are?"
The other side replied, "Three confirmed."
Martin truly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Aside from the one we're facing off against, we've subdued one and severely injured another. The last one is at the junction in the player's tunnel, at the angle facing off against us."
The response from the other side was one of surprise. The LAPD hadn't yet taken action, and you've taken care of more than half? Bill-Bratton asked, "Are you sure?"
Martin said solemnly, "Positive!"
Bill-Bratton said, "Don't hang up the call, stay in contact."
He immediately called over the head of SWAT and ordered them to assault immediately. If they didn't go in now, they wouldn't be able to claim the last of the credit and the heads.
Soon, Bratton's voice came through the phone again, "We're going to assault in three minutes, help by distracting the criminals' attention."
Bruce held the AR firmly at the corner of the wall.
With no immediate danger, Martin, who would be living in Los Angeles for a long time, recognized the need to foster a good relationship with the LAPD, and readily agreed, "I'll find a way to draw the gunman's attention. Be careful, he's got a fully automatic AR rifle."
Victor was about to burst out when several shots from Bruce sent him scurrying back.
Faced with an automatic rifle, neither Martin nor Bruce wanted to take risks.
Timing it right, Martin shouted, "Hey, buddy, three of you came, right? I've got some good news for you. Those two bastards are down, all taken out by me! Do you know why they couldn't shoot better than me? Because I'm the Sect Hierarch of the Cola Cult, I can control cola to attack."
Bad guys opting for bad tactics, "The one with the biggest build using the AR, he actually tried to shoot me, but with a simple gesture, dozens of cola bottles took flight, blowing heads off tops and rears off bottoms, sending him straight to the street! And Sergey, do you know what happened to him?
He's got a bottle of cola stuck in his mouth and another shoved up his rear, happy as if he's ascended to heaven!"
Even Helen was stunned. What on earth is the Cola Cult? She did see Martin use a cola bottle to smash the head of a convenience store robber...
Martin shouted again, "Protect your mouth and rear. The cola is coming!"
"Sergey! Andre!" Victor yelled desperately, but no one answered. In near madness, he shouted, "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
Bang, bang, bang—
Gunshots erupted from within the player's tunnel, and Victor, holding the rifle, ended up riddled like a hornet's nest by the SWAT.
Bruce said, "The LAPD is here, let's cooperate with them."
Martin discarded the handgun, wiped the blood off his face, and said through the speakerphone, "Your operation was successful. My companions and I are hiding just around the left corner, don't shoot us by mistake."
Bratton said, "Don't worry, they're on their way over."
At that point, Helen turned off the DV, removed the small storage disk, and slipped it vertically into her front, tucked between her breasts.
Then, she took out a new storage disk from her pocket, attached it to the DV, and resumed filming.
She noticed Martin looking her way and winked at him.
Martin gave her a thumbs up from off-camera as if he hadn't seen anything, then turned his head back around.
Bruce disposed of the AR rifle and raised his hands.
The sound of dense footsteps grew closer as several SWAT members turned the corner.
Martin, with the speakerphone on, called out, "I'm Martin Davis…"
One of the Masked Men said, "Pal, thanks."
Martin pointed behind him, "There's a wounded criminal back there, he's not dead, I've tied him up. Further ahead there's a convenience store, another robber is tied up inside."
The Masked Man was quite surprised, "You did this?"
Martin shrugged, "Just lucky."
More LAPD officers and paramedics rushed in, and some came to check on Martin and his companions.
Martin only had a small cut from a piece of glass on his hand with no other injuries.
Bruce was unscathed.
Helen had some minor bumps and bruises, not even worth calling wounds.
An LAPD superintendent came over, courteously escorted Martin and the others outside.
The entire campus was now under strict LAPD lockdown, preventing criminals from escaping and keeping journalists from entering easily.
Helen stuck by Martin, her DV taken by the LAPD as evidence.
Martin sat in the back of a vehicle, with a paramedic offering to treat his wound.
"Thanks, but I'm fine, it's just a superficial wound." Martin pointed towards the gymnasium, "There are many others inside who need help more than I do."
The paramedic nodded, picked up the medical kit, and ran towards the gymnasium.
Bruce brought over cotton swabs, purified water, and iodine, and disinfected Martin's wound.
As stretchers carried bodies out, Helen, watching the scene, couldn't help feeling the terror, "Survived against the odds!"
She turned to Martin, "Because of you, I got a second lease on life."
Martin unapologetically responded, "In that case, Helen, I expect some good press from you."
But Helen replied earnestly, "Martin, you're a hero!"