Savior
Page 34
FOUR OF THE STRANGERS THAT STOOD BEFORE US WERE carrying assault rifles, but none of them were aiming at us. I could tell that the fifth Stranger that stood the closest to us was probably the one calling the shots. Instead of the typical black body armor and plain white mask, he wore a dark brown, full-length duster coat over jet-black body armor along with a red Greek Comedy Mask and a black cowboy hat that was slightly tipped forward. Instead of an assault rifle, he had a gigantic magnum revolver holstered on his right hip.
None of them were aiming their guns, so I tried to soften my posture as the Stranger wearing the red mask tipped his hat and nodded at Howie.
“Evenin’, gentlemen,” he said with a thick southern accent.
“Hello, Charlie. I didn’t realize you were stopping by tonight,” Howie replied.
“Well, I happened to be in the neighborhood, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt much if I dropped in. So how’s everything comin' along, Hoss? You take care of that pesky virus yet?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah, we're actually almost done. I just need to install the hardware, and it should be smooth sailing from there.”
“Is that a fact?” Charlie asked, mockingly. “Well, I'm afraid that equipment's gonna have to wait, Hoss. You see, the big wigs just arrived upstairs, and there's one in particular who wants to make your acquaintance. Now I don't want to go and spoil the surprise, but I suspect he doesn't want to be waitin' all night.”
It smelled like a trap. For all we knew, they had captured and killed Jason and were luring us to our deaths as well. But I didn't know that for sure. He was obviously implying that The Suspect was on the premises and, if he was, then I would gladly go quietly to him if it meant that I would get the chance to wrap my hands around his neck.
I gave Howie a subtle nod as he glanced at me for guidance.
“Certainly. We wouldn't dream of keeping him waiting,” Howie finally replied.
“Alright then. After you fine gentlemen,” Charlie said gesturing toward the exit. As I headed toward the exit I could tell he was smiling beneath the sinister smirk of the Greek Comedy mask that he wore upon his face.
THE BAD FEELING I HAD BECAME A LOT WORSE AS WE exited the elevator on the roof and I noticed that The Suspect was nowhere in sight. The moon had risen high in the cloudless night sky as Howie and I proceeded forward with Charlie and his fellow Strangers just a few feet behind us. They still had not yet aimed their weapons at us, but it still felt like we were being led away at gunpoint.
“That's far enough,” Charlie said as we reached the center of the roof.
I stiffened as I anticipated an imminent attack. I wondered if they would shoot us in the backs like cowards or line us up execution style.
“What’s going on here, Charlie?” Howie demanded without facing him.
“You tell me, Hoss,” Charlie replied from behind us. The hints of humor and sarcasm that I detected in his voice earlier had vanished. Playtime was apparently over.
“I'm not sure what you mean,” Howie replied, convincingly.
“Where's Bravo?” Charlie demanded.
Howie and I stood in silence as The Strangers walked in front of us and finally aimed their rifles at us. A tremor shot down my spine as I thought of Howie. I suddenly wished that I had his mind in order to calculate my odds of taking them all out before they got a shot off.
“Bravo is standing right beside me. What’s the meaning of this, Charlie?” Howie asked. He was hiding his fear well, but I could tell that he was still afraid. I kept telling myself that he didn’t need to be scared. Whatever they were planning probably didn’t account for the fact that I was strong enough to hoist a 6000-pound truck above my head.
“You think you're pretty smart, don't ya, Hoss?” Charlie mocked.
“No, I’m just having trouble understanding what’s going on here. I was brought in to do a specific job and whatever this is, isn't helping,” Howie retorted.
“Well I reckon I should clear thangs up for ya, Hoss. You see, you're not the only wiz kid on the block now, partner. Some of your former comrades were excited to have a valued asset like yourself decide to come out of retirement, but The Suspect figured the timin’ of it was a little too odd for his likin’. Now, Bravo was supposed to bring you back here, that much is true. But you weren't supposed to actually to be alive when you got here, Hoss.”
“Enough talk,” I snapped. “I'm only gonna give you one chance to walk away from this! If you leave now-”
With almost unnatural speed, Charlie had drawn his pistol and aimed it at my head before I finished my sentence. My heart rate tripled as I stared down the barrel of the silver Magnum revolver.
“I'm sorry, Hoss, did I break your concentration?” Charlie asked, smugly.
“Hardly,” I growled.
“That mouthful of sass is fixin’ to get you a mouthful of lead, boy. This ain't no peashooter, Hoss. If I squeeze this trigger once, you can kiss that melon goodbye. Now, I expect the next thing outta that mouth of yours to be the whereabouts of Bravo.”
The sight of Charlie’s enormous pistol was making me nervous, but I was relieved that he was aiming at me instead of Howie. I wasn’t sure how my dense molecular composition would deal with a gunshot, but I hoped it would hold up similar to when that mugger tried to stab me and his knife broke on my skin.
“What's it gonna be, Princess?” Charlie asked.
I suddenly grabbed Howie by the back of his collar before any of them could react. I figured he would be pretty sore in the morning, but getting him out of the way was the only way that I could really cut loose.
I hurled Howie’s body over the group of Strangers and leapt into action just as they turned to see where he had landed.
Charlie slithered away as I caught the closest Stranger with a devastating right hook to the back of his head. I flattened the next two Strangers with vicious right and left hooks before the first one had even hit the floor. I heard a thundering gunshot just as I pummeled the last one to the floor. Before I could dive away, something slammed hard against my left shoulder with so much force that I was instantly knocked off my feet. Charlie stood fifteen feet away from the battle, brandishing his smoking gun when the dust settled.
The bullet didn’t break the skin but the pain was excruciating. It felt like someone had just driven a semi-truck into my arm. Just as Charlie aimed the smoking hand cannon at my head, a sudden dark blur appeared and forced him to leap backward before he could fire another shot.
For a moment I forgot about the pain throbbing in my left shoulder as I noticed Jason standing between Charlie and me aiming one of the Stranger’s M16s at Charlie. The joy of knowing that he wasn't dead was enough to keep the pain in my shoulder at bay long enough for me to pull myself to my feet.
“Drop it, dirt bag!” Jason ordered as his long headband fluttered in the cool night air.
“You know what the funny thing is? I was just about to say the same thing to you, Hoss!” Charlie replied.
“If you think that six-shooter can stand up to an M16, you’re kidding yourself. Don’t be stupid, Charlie. I don't want to have to shoot you, but if you don't lower your weapon, that's exactly what's going to happen!” Jason's rifle was aimed for Charlie's chest. I had no idea if Jason had ever held a gun before then, but he sure seemed to be a natural.
I balled my fists as I prepared for the impending firefight. The pain in my left shoulder was still throbbing to the tune of my overactive heartbeat, but I had to ignore it. I was worried about Jason. Not only was Charlie quick enough to hit me while I was moving in overdrive, but if his revolver packed enough punch to cause me that much pain, I didn’t want to think about what it would do to Jason.
“Last chance, buddy. You’ve got five seconds,” Jason said firmly.
Jason and I both flinched as Charlie quickly placed his pistol back in its holster in less time than it took for us to draw a single breath. It was obvious that he could have gotten off a shot if he had wanted to and it bothered me that I didn’
t know why he chose not to.
“All right, Hoss,” Charlie finally said. “Suit yourself. But just know that I was gonna go easy on you. Now, just in case you forgot, the elevator is that way,” he said as he pointed to the elevator behind us.
My stomach did a summersault as I glanced at the elevator. Jason had seen it too. We both looked at each other as we realized that we had just laid eyes on the last thing either of us wanted to see in that moment.
36. GAME CHANGER