Ordinary Hero

by Ellis Michaels

  I countered, throwing an uppercut at the man's chin. Like me, he narrowly escaped getting hit, throwing his head back at the last possible second. We both paused briefly, then he lunged at me, trying to grab my neck. I flailed my arms up and out, knocking his hands off my neck and slicing his arm with the jagged glass sticking out of the coffee pot handle. It started bleeding but only a little bit and he took a step back. He flashed me another look but this time it wasn't an evil smile – it was just evil.

  “I wasn't gonna kill you,” he said, “but now I am.”

  I saw his right hand start moving behind his back and I knew that he was about to pull out either a gun or a knife. I already knew how much it sucked to get shot and I couldn't imagine that getting stabbed would feel much better. If I wanted to avoid either of those things happening, I knew that I needed to neutralize him right then and there.

  Hoping that a hand-to-hand combat score of six out of ten would be enough to take him down, I charged at the massive thug. Leaning down, I grabbed him by the legs and picked him up a few inches off the ground as high as I could. He went flying backwards, just as the arm that had reached behind him was coming back around. The large goon landed flat on his back with me on top of him and the impact knocked what I then realized was a gun out of his hand.

  Bang!

  The gun went off as it hit the floor. The sound it made was incredibly loud, especially in the small apartment. It slid a few feet away from us, just out of both of our reach. I tried to hop up and run over to pick up the gun but he grabbed me by the ankle and I fell to the ground. Reaching out as far as I could, my fingers were just inches from the handle of the gun. Still on his back, he pulled my ankle, preventing me from reaching it. I tried to extend my arm as far as possible but it wasn't far enough.

  “Come on, James!” Amber cheered. “You can do it!”

  Taking my eyes off the gun for a second, I looked down at the thug holding my ankle. He was in the process of turning over, getting off his back. With my other leg free, I saw an opportunity and I took it.

  Crack! Crack!! Crack!!!

  I kicked him in the face not once, not twice, but three times in a row, each one harder than the one before it. I'll give him credit: He managed to hold onto my ankle throughout the first two kicks. But as soon as the third face kick landed, his grip loosened and I got free.

  As soon as I started kicking the guy I'd put on his back, the man holding Amber let go of her and darted at the gun. Once my leg was free, I crawled as fast as I could to close the last few inches needed to pick it up. I got to the gun a split second before he did and, as soon as I picked it up, I pointed it right at him.

  “Stop right there,” I said with actual authority.

  This time, my voice didn't crack. It's hard not to be confident when you're holding a loaded forty-five in your hand. Or thirty-eight. Or twenty-two. Or whatever it was. I don't really know one gun from the next. All I knew was that, if he didn't do what I told him to, I was going to pull the trigger.

  “Okay. Okay. Take it easy,” he said, putting his hands in the air.

  “Over there,” I said, motioning toward the couch. “And keep your hands up or I'll end you. Do you understand?”

  He didn't say anything.

  I cocked the hammer back – I think that's what it's called, anyway – and took a step toward him. Between the adrenaline pumping through my veins and the lethal firearm I had in my hand, I'd never felt more powerful and I demanded respect from that low-life criminal. I pointed the gun right at his face and asked again.

  “I said: Do. You. Un. Der. Stand?”

  “Yes,” he finally answered, his voice cracking like mine had earlier. “Yes, I do.”

  “Good,” I said, flashing him a quick evil grin of my own.

  He slowly walked over to the couch and sat down, keeping his hands in the air. I looked around the room to make sure the other bad guys were still on the ground, then looked at Amber.

  “Are you alright?” I asked.

  “I am now that you've saved me,” she replied and smiled, though I could tell she was still quite shaken up.

  Keeping the gun aimed at the guy on the couch, I walked over to Amber. She threw her arms around me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

  “I want you to go into my bedroom and go in my closet,” I said to Amber, my eyes glued to the guy on the couch. “There's a duffel bag on the floor. Take it and fill it up with as much of my clothes as you can stuff in there. Then, take my backpack, which should be on the floor next to my bed, and put everything from my top dresser drawer in it. Would you do that for me?”

  “I'd do anything for you, baby,” Amber replied and gave me another kiss on the cheek.

  She disappeared into my bedroom while I stayed in the living room. The two guys that I'd knocked out were starting to come to. The one in the kitchen was first, followed by the one in the living room. As soon as they each picked their heads up, I told them to put their hands in the air and join their friend on the couch. Both of them did what I told them to, but not happily.

  “You're gonna pay for this, you know,” the one I'd thrown coffee all over said.

  His face looked awful. If he hadn't been trying to abduct Amber, I would've actually felt bad for the guy. But I did what I had to do.

  “As soon as Carter hears about this, he's gonna come at you with everything he's got,” the biggest one said.

  I knew that the massive monster of a man was right: Carter was gonna come at me hard when he found out what happened in my apartment. A scary thought popped into my head, but I dismissed it immediately: Kill them all. That way, Carter wouldn't find out what'd happened there. Not only was the thought itself scary but the fact that I even had it in the first place kind of scared me. But I wasn't a killer. Not a cold-blooded killer, anyway. And even if I had killed all four of them, with the police in his back pocket, Carter likely would've found out anyway.

  “All set,” Amber said, lugging the duffel bag out of my bedroom, wearing my backpack.

  “All three of you,” I said, looking at the men on my couch, taking a few steps toward them. “Close your eyes.”

  “You're gonna kill them?” Amber asked.

  “Only if they force me to,” I replied, then addressed the three men. “You're all to keep your eyes closed. I want you to count to a hundred, one at a time, taking turns, going slowly. Coffee Face will start with one, then Andre the Giant in the middle says 'two,' the guy on the right who I don't have a clever nickname for says 'three,' then back to Mr. Dark Roast on the left with four. If you open your eyes before then, I'll shoot you. If you get up before then, I'll shoot you. If you do anything other than count to one-hundred, guess what I'll do?”

  “Shoot us,” all three said at the same time.

  “That's right. Once you count to one-hundred, you're free to get the hell out of my apartment. And the next time you come after me or someone I care about, I won't hesitate to kill all of you. Now start counting.”

  “One,” Coffee Face said.

  “Two,” the man who could've been Shaq's twin brother said next.

  “Three,” said the guy on the right.

  “Four.”

  “Come on,” I whispered to Amber, taking the heavy duffel bag from her. “Let's get out of here.”

  14.

  Amber and I left my apartment, heading for the nearest T stop as quickly as possible. Once we got outside, I had Amber turn around and I put the handgun in my backpack after making sure the safety was on. As luck would have it, the T was just pulling up as we got to the stop. We got on the mostly-empty train and had a seat. Within a few seconds of sitting down, the following popped up in front of me:

  Quest Complete: Damsel In Distress 3

  750 Exp.

  Congratulations! You've reached level 4!

  Stat Increase

  50 Max HP

  1 Defense

  Skill Increase

  [Physical]
Hand-To-Hand Combat: 7/10 (+1)

  [Social] Intimidation: 3/10 (+2)

  “Awesome!” I thought to myself – and accidentally blurted out loud.

  “What's awesome, baby?” Amber asked, looking over at me.

  “That we were able to get away in one piece,” I replied, thinking quickly.

  “Yeah, that is pretty awesome. You're pretty awesome,” she said and cuddled up to me, putting her head on my shoulder.

  If I'd told her that I was referring to the level I'd just gone up, she probably would've thought I was crazy. Amber wasn't in my philosophy class and was just part of the game or simulation or whatever it was. She wouldn't have understood.

  With her head on my shoulder, Amber closed her eyes. I wanted to take a look at my stats so I simply thought to myself, “stats.” The following appeared in front of me:

  Character Type: Hero

  Level: 4

  Hit Points: 200/200

  Exp: 1450

  To Next Level: 550 exp.

  Strength: 9

  Speed: 7

  Intelligence: 7

  Stamina: 8

  Defense: 9

  Charm: 8

  I was happy to see that my hit points were full. Just like in some of the RPGs I'd played, it seemed like hit points were restored to full when going up a level. It dawned on me that my arm hadn't been hurting too badly, not since I'd picked up the coffee pot with my left hand. Looking over at my shoulder, the stitched-up wound looked like it had healed up quite a bit – certainly more than I would've expected.

  “Hey, baby?” Amber asked, her eyes still closed and her head still resting on my shoulder.

  “Yes?”

  “Where are we gonna go?”

  I honestly hadn't thought about it. I was just so relieved to be out of the apartment and away from those goons that I let myself relax for a minute. But, even though we weren't in any immediate danger, it wasn't the time to be relaxing. The Southie Soldiers would be coming after us in full force as soon as the three surviving thugs told Carter what had happened. I needed to figure out somewhere to go where they'd never find either one of us. Then, I recalled how they found Amber in the first place.

  “Where's your phone?” I asked.

  “Oh my God: I'm so stupid. It's in my pocket. Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Amber said, picking her head up off my shoulder and smacking herself in the forehead several times.

  “Stop that!” I said and grabbed her arm. “You're not stupid. But you need to get rid of your phone. Actually, as much as I don't want to, I think it'd be a good idea for me to get rid of mine, too. Now that they know you were staying with me, they'll come after both of us.”

  I picked my backpack up off the floor and dug through the smallest front pocket. I always kept a pen and some paper in there in case, for whatever reason, I needed to write something down. With a pen in my hand and a piece of paper on my lap, I took out my phone and opened up my contacts. One by one, I wrote down the numbers to anyone who I might need to get in touch with. When I saw Kasie's name, my heart nearly stopped.

  “Oh no!” I yelled, drawing the attention of the few other passengers on the T with us.

  “What is it?” Amber asked.

  “Kasie!” I replied, lowering my volume. “I have to warn her – tell her that she can't go back to the apartment.”

  “Oh, right. She should be getting out of work soon.”

  I dialed her number and held the phone up to my ear. With every passing ring that she didn't answer, I felt my stomach twisting more and more. Game or not, the thought of anything happening to Kasie made me feel physically ill. Finally, on the eleventh ring – I was counting – she answered.

  “Hi James!” she said in her typically-enthusiastic tone. “What's up? Everything alright?”

  “No, it's not. Where are you, Kasie? Are you still at work?” I asked.

  “Yes, I am. But I'll be out shortly. What's going on?”

  “Listen to me very carefully: You can't go back to our apartment. The Southie Soldiers found out that Amber was staying there and they came after her. Now they know where I live and that I was helping Amber. It's just a matter of time until Carter sends the whole gang after us.”

  “Whoa, slow down. How did they find her? And what does Carter have to do with that street gang? I'm so confused.”

  “I'll explain everything later,” I said. “But, whatever you do, do not go anywhere near our apartment. I'll text you the address I want you to meet me and Amber at in a few minutes once I figure out where we're going myself. When you get out of work, I want you to go straight there. Okay?”

  “Okay. Sure,” Kasie replied.

  “Good. Keep your phone on you. I'll message you an address in a few minutes. Then, I'm getting rid of my phone. That's how they tracked Amber.”

  “Okay, James. Be careful! See you soon.”

  We hung up and I dialed Melissa. She picked up after only two rings.

  “James, what a pleasant surprise!” Melissa said. “Is your arm bothering you?”

  “My arm's fine,” I replied. “You know how you said you'd do anything for me?”

  “Yes.”

  “I have a favor to ask. Me and a couple friends need a place to stay tonight. Can we crash at your condo?”

  “Of course!” Melissa replied.

  “Excellent,” I replied. “Thank you. We'll be there shortly.”

  I hung up the phone and finished writing down the numbers of everyone I might need to call. Amber and I took the T to the nearest stop to Melissa's condo. As soon as we got off the train, we each dropped our phones down a sewer drain. It killed me to do so, getting rid of all my saved games and whatnot, but it was necessary. We couldn't have the Southie Soldiers tracking us down again.

  Amber and I stopped at a store on the walk to Melissa's condo. I bought each of us a new, cheap phone – a burner, as they're apparently called. We sat down outside the store and set up our new phones. I messaged Kasie, Krystal, and Melissa, letting them know that I had a new number. Then, Amber and I continued walking to Melissa's condo.

  We got there a little while later and Melissa greeted us at the door. She eyed Amber up and down suspiciously but then smiled and introduced herself. Melissa seemed happy when I introduced Amber as a friend. She invited us inside and the three of us sat down on the couch, me in the middle. I sent Kasie another text, letting her know what Melissa's address was. She said she'd be there in about an hour, maybe less. I explained a little bit about our situation to Melissa and the three of us talked for a while.

  “So,” Melissa asked right off the bat, “how do the two of you know each other?”

  I was trying to think of the best way to answer her question, but Amber jumped in and answered it for me.

  “It was so heroic,” she replied, putting her hand on my knee. “James and his friend Kasie, who you'll meet in a little while, were walking down the street. They saw my then-boyfriend roughing me up and James jumped in and stopped him. We hit it off and have been spending time together ever since. Then, this evening, he saved me from being abducted by four big thugs. How do you know James?”

  “He was my hero, too,” Melissa answered, putting her hand on my other knee, running it up my leg a little bit. “I got into a car accident and he saved me from the burning wreck.”

  “Oh, you're that Melissa. He told me about how you 'thanked' him for saving his life at his work,” Amber said, using air quotes every time she said thank. “I like your style. I've been 'thanking' him for saving me in a similar fashion over and over again ever since it happened. I just can't 'thank' him enough.”

  At first, the two women seemed a little standoffish. But once they started talking, they both seemed to warm up to each other quickly. Amber was sitting to my left wearing a large Bruins tee shirt of mine with a pair of flip flops. It was what she was wearing when those thugs broke into my apartment. Amber's hair was still a bit disheveled from the
incident but she looked incredibly hot. Her legs were crossed toward me and her hand was on my leg.

  Melissa was on my right. She was wearing sweatpants and a tee shirt with nothing on her feet – the same thing she was wearing when I was there earlier in the day. Like Amber, Melissa's legs were crossed and she was leaning toward me with one hand on my leg. Both women looked incredible and, now that I was beginning to relax, I was starting to get turned on a little bit.

  “I don't think he can be 'thanked' enough,” Melissa replied. “I told him that. James saved my life and it sounds like he may have saved yours, too. A hero like that deserves to be thanked over and over again. And he deserves to be thanked in ways that most other guys can only fantasize about.”

  “I completely agree,” Amber said, putting her hand on top of Melissa's and looking her in the eyes. “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

  “That we both 'thank' James right here, right now?”

  “Yup. That's exactly what I'm thinking,” Amber replied and looked at me, running her hand up my chest, under my tee shirt. “Would you let us both show you how thankful we are? You've had a crazy day and totally deserve it.”

  I didn't respond – not with words, anyway. I swallowed hard and looked back and forth between the two beautiful women at my sides, smiling and nodding my head, yes. Being with two women – especially two as attractive as Melissa and Amber – had always been my biggest fantasy. Threesome porn was my favorite and the thought of it happening in real life had me getting harder by the second.

  “This is going to be fun,” Melissa said, pulling my shirt off over my head and tossing it on the floor.

  “So much fun,” Amber added, unbuckling my belt.

  They worked as a team to take off my shorts and boxers, each pulling them down from the side they were sitting on. Just like that, I was sitting naked on the couch between the two incredibly-sexy women. They both kissed my neck, face, and chest while running their fingers gently all over my body, touching me everywhere but there. It felt amazing and, before long, I was as hard as a rock. All of the things on my mind drifted away and I just relaxed, enjoying every single second of it.