The New Prospects WIP

**The New Prospects**

*Miami, December of 2019*



The Sky King apartment complex was a decrepit hellhole hardly befitting human life, overflowing with pests and dotted with mold and structural failings. Only through the negligence of the Miami municipality was the building allowed to remain standing. Few sought shelter in the Sky King, the denizens of the dilapedated property were either extremely down on their luck or hiding from something. In Anna Lebedev's case, it was both.

In her bold efforts to make some form of business and support herself, the young girl had accumulated a significant debt and had numerous run ins with law enforcement. Loan sharks, bounty hunters and cops alike had it out for her. The closest thing she had to some form of income was her side job cleaning tables at a friend's bar, a bar that saw a grand total of five patrons a month and was rapidly bleeding money.

At five in the morning, Lebedev woke up. The traffic outside, a couple fighting in the room across the hall and the scratchiness of her blanket all combined to make any further sleep impossible. Anna groaned, kicking away the sheet and rolling off the couch onto the dirty carpet below. "Fuck America." The woman rose to her feet and began a groggy stumble over to the nearest window. Dismissive and impassive, Anna unlatched the window and pulled it open. A cool morning breeze thrust right through her tank top and into her apartment, diluting the ingrained stench of poverty and despair that filled her living room.

"Hey," a familiar voice called to her. She turned around to see her roommate, Pavel Smirnov, standing in the bedroom doorway. The man was tall and broad, his wide size occupied the majority of the space in the threshold. He wore a hastily thrown-on blue hoodie that was caked with dirt, grime, dried blood and stains older than the Cold War.

"I gotta head down to the bar, got some dudes doing renovations." Pavel's tone was dreary and groggy but contained a certain yearning to it "Hopefully we're gonna see more business once the place isn't an eyesore."

The blonde raised an eyebrow at this comment "And where'd you find the money for that?"

"Don't worry," he extended out a hand to placate her "friend of mine hooked me up. You wanna come with?"

She sighed, her thin shoulders slack with discontent "Anything to get outta this shithole..."

Pavel gestured for her to follow and she quickly did, obviously eager to leave the squalor of their residence.



Though Lebedev would have preferred anything to the destitution of the Sky King complex, the truth was that Pavel's bar was perhaps the furthest thing from an upgrade there could be. Boarded windows and makeshift curtains made from patchwork tarps blocked any view inside, which obviously made it unattractive to any prospective customers. Inside, the floorboards were rotten, structurally unsound and littered with holes. Paint on the walls was chipped revealing fungus, rot and exposed piping and circuitry. The bar and tables were decayed, broken down and in disrepair.

The bar was also less empty than it was usually as a trio of men in blue overalls went about redoing the walls and replacing the floorboards. Though they hadn't gotten much done, what little refurbishment they'd done was positively wonderful. And that worried Anna, because a good job requires money that they simply didn't have.

"I'm sorry Pav but this place is a slum," the young girl's voice was laced with remorse. She sauntered over to the counter and took a seat in the nearest stool "We shouldn't keep dumping money into it, We'll be lucky to even sell the property at this rate"

Pavel pushed aside a small makeshift barricade he used to keep the rabble out. The bulky man chuckled heartily while reaching under the rotten counter in search of something. After several moments of pushing aside miscellaneous items and bits of trash he finally procurred what he reached for: an unopened bottle of bourbon."I know shit's been rough Anna. but this guy Anton told me about..." his voice trailed off wistfully "he's gonna change everything." He placed down a trio of large tin cups and filled each of them with as much liquor as they could take.

Anna leaned back, resting her right leg on the moldy plywood of the bar. She shrugged, took a sip of her bourbon, looked at him with a skeptical eye. There was an uneasy pause. After a moment, both the man and the woman turned their gazes to the three workers who were making themselves busy by redoing the northern wall.

Finally, Pavel relented. "Friend of mine, Anton, hooked me up with a... 'businessman'..." his voice seeped of deception "a guy by the name of Vladimir Rusakov."

"And have you actually met this Rusakov?" She hoisted the metal cup to her mouth and took a sip, the powerful flavor assaulted her tastebuds.

"No," his reply was blunt and forward.

"What does he have you doing?"

"Uh..." Pavel chuckled wryly "... it's complicated, y'see... look, Anton will explain." As the words left Pavel's stubble-laden mouth, the bar's doors flew open with a gnarly groan. "Speak of the devil, there he is now." Anna turned to the doorway and took in the strange sight before her.

Anton was a lanky clean-cut man grasping a large black duffel bag in his hand. The man's face was clean shaven, his light brown hair was carefully combed and his white dress suit and black vest were both well-tailored and high quality. Anna could not deny how he looked positively out of place among the assorted stains and filth of Pavel's business, strutting through the doorway with a commanding confidence befitting someone of stature. Indifferent to the young woman, the stylish figure strolled right past her and walked over to the man behind the bar.

"Pavel!" Anton greeted, extending a cheery hand over the moldy countertop while his free one took the tin cup "My god this place is still a mess. The workers give you any trouble?"

Smirnov took his hand and shook it, chuckling heartily. "Nope," he replied simply "they're doing a good job. Just started this morning. Not a peep."

"Good, good..." Anton's voice trailed off as he turned from him to the young woman sitting nearby "Who's this?"

"This is Anna," he said, gesturing to his blonde haired compatriot. With that simple phrase, Anton's eyes narrowed in the direction of the woman. His face, previously alive with joy  and glee, turned stony An uneasy silence hung in the air between the trio.

"Does she speak Russian?" he finally asked. His sharpened features were plastered with skepticism.

"Of course," she replied in her native tongue. The suited man's eyes softened immediately and he slapped himself gently.

Anton turned to Pavel then back to Anna in a quick gesture, laughing heartily. "My mistake," he replied through haggard breath "my mistake, I presumed- I thought you were an American." A firm hand reached out to the woman and Anna took it, shaking it gingerly. Once again Anton took a sip from his tin cup "So sorry for the rude introduction, Anna..."

"Lebedev."

"Anna Lebedev," he pointed at her as if visually associating his name with the woman's features. He relinquished his grip from hers and gestured to himself "Anton Gustavich, at your service. I'm a humble representative of Mister Rusakov's business. I'd like to... introduce you two to our intrepid enterprise, given your rough economic situation."

Pavel raised his glass and took a long sip before slamming it on the countertop. The sudden impact took the attention of Gustavich and he turned to face the hooded man. Pavel rested both hands on the counter, his eyes drifting from the blonde to the suited man as if expecting them to continue the conversation. "I assume you didn't come here just to chat, did you Anton?"

"I mean I kind of did," Anton shrugged and took another sip of bourbon. "But no, I won't leave you two waiting. I have a proposition for you two, a simple job if you don't mind getting your hands... dirty."

Anna and Pavel looked to each other. The duo shared a mutual feeling of confusion, skepticism and slight worry. In unison they looked back at Anton who seemed perplexed at their worrisome reaction.

"A man by the name of Henry Schmidt saw fit to steal from the Rusakov family." His voice turned sour with disdain "He fronts as a union manager but he's nothing more than a common mobster. Today him and his goons will be visiting one of his more recent projects, and you're going to pay him a visit." As soon as the final word left his lips, Anton dropped his duffel bag to the floor and kneeled down. After a brief moment the clean cut Russian placed a large AK74u on the moldy countertop.

"Beautiful gun, Anton," Anna whistled.

Gustavich pushed the carbine in the direction of Anna's large comrade "This is for you, Pavel. A gift for this assignment. I'll need it back." The hooded man smiled devilishly and took the rifle. "You can use my van to drive to the place," the man took a sip from his cup, his voice disturbingly nonchalant "it's the construction site on 336 Jefferson Ave."