“Okay, last chance,” I say. “Let her go and walk away — tell whoever sent you that me, and this town, are off-limits. Then maybe, maybe, I’ll forget all about this.”
Another ripple of laughter. The man holding Tori speaks again.
“I can see why he wants you. But what makes you so confident? You’re outnumbered seven to one.”
“Very true, but from where I’m standing, you boys don’t have weapons, whereas I have three.”
He frowns, and the rest of them look at each other. “Three?” he asks.
I hold my hands up one at a time and ball each one into a fist.
“There’s two…” I say, gesturing with my hands. “And the third is standing next to me, looking at your throats.”
It’s funny, but they hadn’t paid any attention to Styx. He’s a wild-eyed wolf that’s almost six feet tall when he stands up on his back legs. Whether you’re scared of dogs or not, Styx is an impressive beast, and is definitely cause for concern if he’s snarling.
They stop laughing. I think they’re finally taking me seriously. About time!
The trick with a large group of attackers like this, usually, is to hit the one doing the talking. Whoever talks first is the leader, and if you crush their strongest member emphatically, the rest tend to back down quickly.
Problem I have is the one doing the talking is the one holding Tori, and I imagine he’s smart enough to keep her next to him, too. Which leaves me with the other six.
In this particular situation, I need to hit hard, hit fast, and hit first.
I look at Tori. I hold her gaze until I’m sure she’s thinking about nothing else beside me. Then I wink at her. She visibly relaxes, and I feel better knowing she knows I’m about to save her.
Then I take a step forward. Just one. It’s always enough to prompt an attack in these situations. Someone will always step to meet you, like an instinct, to maintain the appearance of strength and control.
This time, the two guys on the left step to meet me.
Now I know I’m going to win. These idiots just showed me their hand. If they had any training, or any common sense, whatsoever, the guys at each end would’ve come forward, immediately surrounding me, creating two separate targets, and making it harder for me to fight. But they didn’t. Two guys standing side by side came at me. Giving me one, very easy, target.
Merry Christmas, me!
“Styx… lunch time!” I shout and step toward the two men on the left. He barks and sets off charging behind me. The first guy, on the far left, goes straight for my throat, but I grab his wrist and twist it away from me to my left. As he moves his body with it, I jab him twice on the nose, breaking it and causing his eyes to water, which impairs his vision.
I whip my right leg forward, kicking the guy next to us hard in the groin, before smashing my right elbow into the first guy’s throat. Both are down for the count in a matter of seconds. I quickly glance behind me to see Styx clamping his jaws on the left thigh of the man on the far right.
That’ll keep him busy…
The two on the right of the guy with Tori step forward next. Their lack of organization and tactics baffles me, but I’m not complaining.
As the first one gets within reach, I thrust my left hand into his throat, and then step into him, bringing my right elbow into his face. He drops to the floor, and I start to spin counterclockwise, crouching as I do. I turn around and punch the second guy in the gut. Then, I stand, using my elbow to smash him in his face. He crumples to the floor next to his friend.
I look over again to see how Styx is doing; he’s sitting staring at me with shreds of flesh hanging from his fangs. The guy he went for is on the floor, unconscious with blood pouring out of his leg.
The remaining guy, on the left of Tori, hesitates and looks at his leader, who looks back and shouts at him in a foreign language, gesturing at me with his head. The other guy sighs and reluctantly walks toward me.
I let him throw the first punch, because I almost feel sorry for him. I block it easily, knocking his arm away with my left hand, before punching him hard in the sternum with my right. I step into him, using my right elbow to hit him again, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the floor in a heap.
I look back at the one remaining guy, who’s moved Tori directly in front of him. He’s peering over her shoulder, looking very shocked and concerned.
“Let her go,” I say.
He moves his hands, positioning one on her jaw and the other at the base of her skull. I look him in the eye, searching for a sign that he’s bluffing, and that he doesn’t really intend breaking her neck.
“Fuck you!” he shouts.
He’s not bluffing… shit!
I can’t rush him, because he’s standing a good ten feet away from me — he’ll snap her neck before I can get close enough.
Styx starts growling again, but he holds steady.
I’m running every outcome through my mind. I keep eye contact with Tori to reassure her she’ll be fine.
A few tense moments silently pass, but noises sound outside and distract me. I look out the window and see two more cars screech to a halt outside the bar. Eight men get out, forming a line. They’re all holding assault rifles…
The guy holding Tori smiles, like he knows he’s just beat me.
I look at her. “Tori… I’m so sorry,” I say, as the shooting starts…
7
As the bullets start flying, I race over to Tori, keeping as low as I can. The guy holding her moves, dropping for cover, but I get to him first. I grab his hand from around Tori’s jaw and break two of his fingers. As his grip loosens, I push Tori to the floor.
“Stay down!” I shout over the noise.
I watch as she moves into a fetal position, covering her ears with her hands, and screaming in fear. I feel terrible that she’s been dragged into all this, but I stay focused on the guy. I punch him hard in the stomach, and across the face, before grabbing his collar and spinning him round, launching him into the center of the bar. I dive for cover behind the bar and look over as he stands, disoriented for a brief second, before being riddled by the bullets peppering the building from outside. He flails backward, landing a few feet away, looking like Swiss cheese. Blood escapes from his lifeless body, quickly forming a large pool around him.
I sit on the floor with my back to the side of the bar, looking at Tori and thinking about how we’re going to get out of this in one piece. I guess I should accept the fact that I’m not going to be able to hide my past from her after this. She’s just seen me take out seven guys, and she’s about to see me take out eight more…
I crawl behind the bar and reach under the counter, retrieving the custom Beretta 92FS with the engraved butt that I have taped under there. Now isn’t the time to think about how much I’d actually moved on. I’m just glad I still keep some of my old habits. Like preparing for every eventuality. As I check the mag’s full and flick the safety catch off, I briefly contemplate what it says about me that I must have subconsciously known that something like this would happen at some point, regardless of how much I try to move on.
I sigh and lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees, and my forehead on the barrel of my pistol, thinking about what comes next. Tori seems to momentarily overcome her fear, as she opens her eyes and crawls toward me.
“You can’t stay here,” I shout to her. “It’s not safe.”
“What about you?” she yells back. “And where did you get that gun?”
“Don’t worry about me — I’ll be fine. Just get into the back and go upstairs. Get in the bathroom, barricade the door shut, and lie down in the tub with the cover from the bed over you. Stay there until I come and get you. I’ll shout to you, and I want you to shout back and ask for the code word. Do you understand? The code word is hellbound, and if I don’t say it, don’t let me in.”