Sorry, pal. I am still here.
To top it all off, the pain was so sharp, he felt a couple of tears dribble down his face. It took him a few seconds to pull himself together. He pushed himself into a sitting position and wiped his eyes with his sleeves. “Well, that was embarrassing.”
It is all right. Thinking you lost me is worth crying over.
“I cried because it hurt so much.”
Nice excuse. I plan to make fun of you for the rest of your life. For now, get yourself together and check on Roen.
Cameron found his rifle on the ground and picked it up. He tried to reload the magazine and struggled to pull it out. He finally yanked it out, and then found that the new one wouldn’t go in. Flipping over the rifle, he found a large dent, probably where the Genjix’s bullet had hit it.
Cameron reached for his pistol and found his holster empty. Crap, he had dropped it up at the platform when he was battling that crazy ninja woman. He ran to the body of the dead Genjix. The Genjix – a large heavyset man – was lying on top of his rifle. Cameron tried to roll him over, but struggled with the limp body. He looked and saw Jacob pinning Roen against a stack with his left elbow at Roen’s neck, both struggling for the pistol that was in his right hand. Roen had both his hands on Jacob’s wrist, trying desperately to keep the pistol from pointing at his head. He was slowly losing that battle.
Screw it. No time. Go help Roen!
Cameron charged at full speed and rammed Jacob in the side. The two of them flew into the air and skidded across the floor. Roen collapsed, choking and grasping his neck.
Roen seems to be injured. Take Jacob out before he recovers. This could be your only chance.
“While he’s down?”
Images of a medieval battle flashed in his head. In it, the men-at-arms were stalking the field of bodies, using maces and clubs to finish off the remaining wounded enemy. It was a gruesome sight and more than a little uncomfortable. Part of Cameron objected to nailing a downed opponent in the back like that. Then he saw an image of one of the wounded surprising one of the careless man-at-arms, reaching up and stabbing the guy in the gut as he walked over to club him. The last thing he saw was Tao’s host running over and stomping on the guy’s head.
Screw battlefield ethics. This is war. Go stomp on his head!
“Okay. Point taken.”
Cameron somehow managed to get up first, though Jacob wasn’t far behind. The Adonis Vessel was on his hands and knees when Cameron ran at him again, trying to imitate that fading image of the head stomp. Jacob was fast, though. He caught Cameron’s foot as it was coming down and flipped it aside. Then he swept Cameron’s feet out from under him.
Before Cameron could recover, Jacob was towering over him. He picked Cameron up like a rag doll and punched him first in the gut, and then in the face. Cameron got flashbacks of the beating he had received earlier. He took a lazy swing that Jacob brushed aside. Then Jacob spun and threw Cameron head-first against a stack of boxes. Dazed, Cameron blinked and fell back down.
“You bastard,” Roen said, rising unsteadily to his feet.
Cameron watched his father attack Jacob with a newfound fury. Having seen him in action before, Cameron knew how good Roen was. Only Lin and maybe Uncle Marco were better, but the difference in speed and skill between Roen and Jacob was noticeable, and not in a good way.
Get up. Get up! Roen is not going to last long.
It seemed Roen knew that as well. “Get out of here, Cam,” Roen yelled while eating several punches to the face. “Hurry!”
“Screw that.”
Cameron. Let me take control. You are too worked up right now. Relax.
As much as he tried, Cameron couldn’t put his head in the right state for Tao to make that connection. The more he watched his father take a beating, the worse he became. Finally, unable to sit still anymore, he decided to jump in and help. With a roar, he charged Jacob from behind. This time, the Adonis Vessel was ready for him. He engaged Cameron effortlessly, even while he fought off Roen, making sure to keep moving so that they couldn’t attack at the same time or flank him.
Watch his legs. Very high-level Shotokan. He will dart in and out.
Cameron tried to keep the spacing between them, but Jacob was just too fast. The guy had a way of closing the distance before he could react. He jabbed Cameron in the face and then got out of range before Cameron could retaliate. Slowly, the Adonis beat both Roen and Cameron’s faces into bloody messes.
Cameron’s legs were the first to give as a devastating kick caught him in the midsection and sent him tumbling to the ground. He gasped for air and tried to get up, but had trouble finding his bearing. He watched helplessly as Roen took the full brunt of Jacob’s attention and was soon sent crashing to the ground. He could tell by the way his dad landed awkwardly on the floor that he had broken his arm.
Jacob stood over them and smirked. “Father and son. Both weak losers. I shall relish my final justice.”
You have to find the calm, Cameron. It is our only chance.
“I’m trying, Tao. I can’t.”
Roen picked himself up again. Cameron was amazed at how his dad could still be standing after taking such a beating. Jacob had done a number on his face, and with the way his arm hung at his side, there was no way he could protect himself, let alone attack an Adonis Vessel. Still, Cameron watched with amazement and worry as his father stumbled toward Jacob.
“Get out of here, Cam!” Roen cried, and attacked once more.
To Cameron’s horror, the one-armed Roen whiffed on several left-handed swings only to take a couple more smacks to the face that staggered him. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he lunged forward and clocked Jacob hard, hitting him with a really solid punch across the chin that knocked the Adonis to the ground. Instead of pressing his advantage, Roen stopped and looked Cameron’s way.
Their eyes locked and Roen communicated volumes with his stare. As the blood dripped form his smashed nose and large gash on his brow, as it poured out of the side of his mouth, his father said goodbye. With that one look, he told Cameron that he loved him. That his sacrifice had better not be in vain. He told Cameron to find his mother, to say goodbye for him. To tell her that he loved her. Finally, Roen told Cameron that he was proud of him, more than anything in the world. That he could die knowing how his son had grown up. Most of all though, Roen was telling Cameron to just get the hell out of there.
And then the look was gone, and Roen focused back on Jacob, who was still picking himself up off the ground. Roen growled, a low guttural snarl, ran forward and kicked Jacob in the ribs, eliciting a grunt from the Adonis Vessel. Then he punched down, clocking Jacob across the face, followed by another kick to the midsection. His dad continued to press, cutting Jacob’s scalp open with his knuckles and hammering at Jacob’s face with his one good arm. This turning of the tide was brief as Roen tired, and Jacob tossed up a spectacular kick out of nowhere that snapped Roen’s head to the side. Roen stumbled a few steps more and collapsed in a heap.
I hate this, but your father is right. Better one survives than neither.
Using the side of the pallets for support, Cameron clawed his way back to his feet and dragged himself away from the scene. He looked back one more time at his father, probably the last time he ever would. Roen saw him leaving and actually smiled through the blood and swelling on his face. “You made the right choice, son,” he was saying. Then a kick from Jacob flashed across his face, and he collapsed again. Cameron couldn’t look anymore.