John Wick - Chapter 97: First Battle in Rome (Patreon)

“Stop the car! Stop!”

Nate shouted as he hurriedly buckled his seat belt.

“What...” Cassian sensed that something was wrong too and slammed on the brakes.

But it was already too late.

BANG!

A Jeep came barreling out from the side and slammed directly into the lead car Nate was riding in, flipping it over.

Nate felt the whole world spin around him as if he had been thrown into a washing machine.

The sedan rolled across the road from the force of the side impact.

The bodyguard in the passenger seat was unconscious, blood covering his head. Cassian had been hit by the airbag and was clutching his head, clearly not in great shape either.

Nate instinctively reached for a gun from his equipment slot, but hesitated.

This was Rome. He was unfamiliar with the place, so it was better to keep his trump cards hidden for now.

He quickly unbuckled his seat belt, leaned forward, and pulled a handgun from the unconscious bodyguard’s waist.

A Beretta 92F.

Four masked men jumped out of the Jeep. They fired several probing shots at the car, but the vehicles were bulletproof, so they started advancing with submachine guns in hand.

Nate could sense that those four weren’t the only threats.

The other two cars behind them had also been blocked in, and there were gunmen inside the buildings on both sides of the road, pouring fire into the two vehicles at the rear.

Several bodyguards climbed out of the car carrying John and Elena. They barely managed to fire a few shots before multiple gunmen above riddled them with bullets.

John was pinned down.

He couldn’t even open the door. If he got out to fight back, Gianna could be shot the moment the door opened.

Elena was in the middle car, and she wasn’t wearing any bulletproof gear, so she couldn’t risk getting out either.

Looks like I’ll have to handle this myself.

The airbag had gradually deflated.

Nate tapped Cassian’s face with the gun, finally bringing him around a little.

“Buddy, time to work.”

Nate didn’t wait for Cassian.

He shoved the door open, climbed out, raised one arm to protect his face, and used the door as cover as he pulled the trigger on the four men approaching from the Jeep.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

In less than a second, Nate fired three rapid shots from left to right, blowing through the heads of three men.

The last man had only just started raising his weapon when Nate shot him in the chest.

The impact knocked him back a step, but he immediately tried to bring his gun up again.

This time, Nate put a bullet through his head.

Nate’s heart sank.

Damn it. Their clothes were bulletproof.

Cassian had only just managed to undo his seat belt and climb out of the overturned car.

“Cassian, grab their guns! Their clothes are bulletproof, aim for the head!”

Nate gestured toward the submachine guns lying beside the dead men.

A gunman in one of the buildings on Nate’s side spotted him getting out of the car and raised his weapon to suppress him.

The instant Nate locked onto him with killing intent, [Intimidation] kicked in.

The gunman’s aim faltered.

Nate’s didn’t.

That familiar sensation returned.

He raised his weapon and fired a single shot.

The gunman dropped immediately.

But another shooter had already pulled the trigger.

A stream of bullets swept toward Nate.

He moved quickly. Several rounds struck him, but his bulletproof suit and Level 6 Gear armor stopped them without causing any real harm.

Nate fired twice in return.

The bullets crossed more than fifty meters and struck the gunman squarely in the face.

There was still one shooter left in the building on Nate’s side, but the angle was bad. Nate couldn’t see the man himself, only the barrel of his gun.

He crouched behind the car instead and opened fire on the gunmen in the building across the street, forcing them to keep their heads down.

After several shots, he hit the nearest one in the neck.

That man was already roughly seventy meters away. Hitting targets at that distance with a handgun was getting difficult.

“Nate, catch!”

Cassian shouted and tossed him a suppressed MP5.

Nate fired two more rounds at another enemy, then caught the submachine gun out of the air without even looking back.

The moment it landed in his hand, he braced the stock against his shoulder with one hand and began firing as he moved toward John’s car.

Only three enemies remained.

Two were in the building across the street, while one was still in the building on Nate’s side.

Cassian used the car for cover and laid down suppressive fire on one of the gunmen across the street.

The other noticed Cassian and shifted his aim to return fire.

The instant he exposed himself, Nate put two rounds into his face.

Two enemies left.

Cassian continued firing single shots through the window, keeping the last gunman in the opposite building pinned down.

The door of John’s car opened.

John stepped out, pulling up his suit jacket to shield his head before quickly closing the door behind him.

“John!”

Nate tossed him the Beretta 92F.

John caught it cleanly and immediately fired, taking out the remaining gunman in the building on Nate’s side.

The final shooter spotted John and started leaning out to fire at him.

But Cassian had already reloaded and had been waiting for exactly that opportunity.

He fired several rounds into the man’s head and neck.

The last gunman disappeared from the window.

The fight was over.

John searched the bodies of the dead bodyguards from his car, collecting their handguns and magazines as Nate and Cassian walked over.

John stood up and looked at Cassian.

“How much farther to the hotel?”

Cassian was looking down as he changed the magazine in his weapon.

“At our previous speed, about fifteen minutes.”

“Gather whatever gear we can. The rest of the way isn’t going to be easy.”

Nate removed the MP5’s magazine and checked it.

About half the ammunition remained.

“John, stay with Gianna. Keep your car in the middle.”

“Cassian, take the rear. Check whether our car can still move. If it can’t, use their Jeep.”

“I’ll go with Elena and take the lead. Everybody move. Fast.”

Nate turned to Cassian.

“And give me your handgun.”

Cassian nodded and handed Nate the pistol at his waist along with two spare magazines.

It was an AF-1 Strike One.

“Be careful. The rest of the trip isn’t going to be easy,” Nate warned.

Both men nodded.

Cassian went to check the vehicles while John continued searching for ammunition.

Nate got into Elena’s car and handed her the submachine gun.

“Know how to use this?”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?”

Elena rolled her eyes, then skillfully removed the magazine and checked how many rounds were left.

“Alright.”

Nate looked ahead.

Sure enough, the car that had been rammed was finished. One of its wheels had been destroyed, and the wrecked vehicle was sitting sideways across the road, blocking the way.

Nate stepped on the gas and rammed the front of Elena’s car into the wreck, shoving it aside and clearing a path.

He would take point.

He could sense danger faster than anyone else, and his reaction speed was just as quick.

As Nate drove past Cassian, their eyes met.

Cassian was sitting inside the Jeep. He gave Nate a small nod.

Nate continued forward at a slow pace.

Along the way, he used a throwing knife to punch a small hole through the bulletproof glass, just wide enough for him to stick the barrel of his handgun through.

They drove for another five or six minutes.

“You were pretty impressive back there.”

Elena complimented him from the back seat.

Her car had been positioned in the middle during the ambush, giving her a clear view through the windows of Nate tearing through the attackers.

“If you want to praise me, save it until we reach the hotel. Then keep it coming. Don’t stop. I like hearing it.”

Nate chuckled.

“Tch. Show-off.”

Elena pursed her lips and turned to look out the window.

“Keep your seat belt on. If anything happens, stay in the car. You’re not wearing bulletproof gear,” Nate warned her.

“Fine. So you’re going out there alone?”

“Yeah. I’ll handle it...”

Before he could finish, Nate’s expression suddenly changed.

“They’re here!”

At the far end of the road, two SUVs appeared one behind the other, charging straight toward Nate’s car.

Nate had sensed them coming in advance.

He slowed his own car first, then quickly pushed his handgun through the small hole in the window.