The Payne Diaries - Max Payne 1- Part 2

One way or another, I was going to have to deal with it…

I peeked around the corner to see that what the two gentlemen were guarding had been a rusty door, not exactly the most prestigious of jobs but who was I to criticize. Making my way through the door, I ended up in a hallway with a couple of twists and turns. Funny thing is, the twists sort of reminded me of how my life had been going thus far. I didn’t have too much time to think back, however, as I was snapped out of my train of thought by a pair voices at the other end of the hallway. Thinking quickly, I positioned myself against a wall and waited till the voices grew louder. Then, assuming that the time was right, I leapt out from behind and managed to gun down one of the thugs. The only thing now was figuring out where his partner had run off to...

One of the many crates laid about the hallway shattered into several pieces as a shotgun blast sounded off out of nowhere. Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to get up and move. Heading over to another crate, I plugged the other individual after waiting for him to take another shot. What else could this day throw at me? I moved quickly to the exit and found a stairwell that was littered with even more thugs. I suppose that answers my question. Making my way through them, I found train tracks at the bottom of the stairs. Not knowing what to expect, I hopped onto them and followed the tunnel, hoping to see Alex on the other side.

No such luck I’m afraid, after following the tracks a ways down, I could hear two gentlemen on the approaching platform. The topic of their discussion was none other than Jack Lupino. Lupino, the whole reason I got into this mess, and the reason I need to find Alex soon. Sneaking along the tracks, I was fortunate enough to get the jump on the small-timers, despite them using the crates as cover. Hopping onto the platform, I made my way through the entrance point and into a hal-

*BOOM!*

What the hell was that?! It sounded as if someone just tried to blow up the entire train station! I ran as fast as possible, flying up the stairs. I wondered if Alex was alright. I finally reached the top… a bit confused at the sight in front of me. A couple of individuals were standing around and arguing who was going to hit the detonator next. Clearly oblivious to my being there, I fired at them, nabbing both targets with one buckshot. Before moving on, I took a minute to think over things. Nothing could possibly get weirder, could it? The station was a demolition site, thugs had taken over the area, and I was still no closer to my objective. To my dismay, though, I trudged on…

There were two exits where the men had been, I tried the first with no success. It looks like it had been welded shut. Strange. I took the second exit that led downstairs, still pondering all the while. A shot rang out as I came around the corner. Ducking back in, I breathed heavy. That was way too close. I took the opportunity to do the same trick that I pulled earlier, leaping from behind the wall I was able to do both shooters in. Standing up, I noticed something interesting. It wasn’t the dead bodies of the men that had tried to kill me which caught my eye, but the rubble behind them that I found intriguing. The explosion, the one that had me in a panic earlier, had created a hole in the wall. One that I was headed towards. Sure enough, it was an entrance point. An entrance point that led to the interior of a bank. These men, the ones who had caused so much death and destruction... were bank robbers. Petty, disgusting, lowlife bank robbers. Well, they weren’t going to be for long.

Moving into the bank, I entered into a firefight. Around ten robbers were waiting for the police and instead, I was the one who had shown up. The fight itself felt like it was instantaneous. A brief second where their eyes meet with mine, only to end up barrels pointed at each other instead. It was intense, the lead, the blood, the bodies flying across the room. Hot metal flying from corner to corner only to be a messenger for death, it was a miracle I survived. Once the fight was all said and done, I walked into a room with multiple vaults and a ringing phone. Thinking about what happened last time, the ringing phone had me on edge but I answered it. It was the Deputy Chief, Jim Bravura. Not knowing how to explain to him that I was attending a bank robbery without an invitation, I quickly hung up on the Deputy.

Moving on, I checked out the vaults themselves, one of which contained detonators. These would probably make short work of the welded door. The other vaults didn’t have much, except for Aesir bonds. Aesir being the new all-star corporation, an overnight success story if you will. It was uncommon for a company to rise that fast, something was off there. Regardless, I passed it off and made my way back to the welded door. More robbers had made their way there but the advantage of surprise was mine this time around. Firing a barrage of rounds, the three fell as quick as I had fired. I looked around for any other criminals to make their appearance but none did. Planting the detonators, I threw myself firmly behind a wall. I clicked the detonator…

The door came off its hinges and flew into the wall behind it. After the ringing in my ears finally passed, I could hear a voice beyond the hole screaming to put my hands up. I walked through the debris and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Alex. I had finally found him after this exhausting ordeal. We met up on opposite sides of a locked gate and started discussing the Jack Lupino case and the incident going on around us. We both couldn’t make heads or tails of it, it was as strange as it was dangerous. And it was plenty dangerous. We started to form a plan for the two of us to meet on the same side of the gate when I heard it, a gunshot from Alex’s side.

Alex collapsed before me. His blood sprayed across the wall. His corpse now lying there… Just laying there… In the stillness of it all… Time slowing faster and faster to a point where you could hear a pin drop. That’s when I felt it...

That rage from three years earlier had resurfaced...