I snatch the gun and head up afterher. At the top of the stairs, a long hall stretches across the building. Doorsline one side of the hall. The other is a rail that overlooks another roombelow.
I listen for my female nemesis,but I just hear shuffling farther away, where I imagine Tad and his captor noware.
I make my way slowly down thehall. When I come to the first room, I peek inside.
A shaft of light from a window onthe other side of the room floods across the concrete floor.
No sign of her. I head to the nextroom. The door’s closed. I turn the knob and kick it open, aiming the pistol.
As I do, I see a figure step outof the next door. The woman comes at me fast and shoves her body against me,thrusting me against the doorframe behind me.
She snatches me by the hair andtosses me across the hall so that I slam against the wooden rail. Crackingsounds fill the air as the wood snaps apart.
“Fuck!” I cry out.
Sixty-One
Tad
It’s Bryce’s voice.
I’m relieved to hear him and thecommotion that sounds somewhat nearby. It gives me hope that we might have achance after all.
I stand before the man, who holdshis knife out as he blocks me from Bryce’s gun. I keep my arms before me.Better he stab me in an arm than in the gut, I figure.
He jabs at me, and I jump out ofhis path and arc around the room, making my way for the door.
He springs at me and stabs…gettingme right in the arm.
I take the blow and use theopportunity to move toward him. I ram my head into his, grab the handle of the knife,and shove him to the floor. I whirl around and dash for the door before I feelhim slam against my leg. I tumble forward like I would during a tackle. I hitthe floor on my wounded arm. I howl as I roll onto my back while the man crawlsup my body. He has something in his hand, and before I have a chance to figureout what, a mist fills the air and covers my face, followed by a powerful burnin my eyes.
Pepper spray. Fucking asshole.
I scream out as I’m temporarilyimmobilized.
I feel a punch in my gut, but itonly takes me a minute to realize the pain is too acute for a punch. He musthave another weapon.
I flail about and stab before me.I get him in his arm. As I pull the knife out to stab again, he rolls off me.
Crawling desperately in theopposite direction, I scramble to my feet.
I reach down to the spot where hestabbed and feel a rush of warmth where blood is spilling.
Fuck.
I struggle to force my resistanteyes to open, but they war against me. I have to see to keep him from comingback at me, especially now that I know he still has another weapon.Fortunately, so do I. I swing my arm with the knife before me, hoping it willat least keep him away from me.
Sixty-Two
Bryce
The rail before me splits in two, and I fall through thefresh crack. With what little footing I still have on the floor, I whirl aroundand snatch one of the broken halves of the split rail and pull. I manage tomaintain my footing, but as I hear another crack from the rail I’m now holdingonto, I realize it won’t do me much good. I release it and reach for the otherhalf of the rail, releasing my gun so that I can grip the rail. The gun fallsto the floor, and the woman dives for it, as I assumed she might.
I pull on the rail hard so that Iswing forward. I kick the gun out of her path. She hits the floor, and I dropdown on top of her. Hard.
“Fuck!” she screams as I twistaround, grip the back of her ski mask, and bash her face into the floorrepeatedly.
I keep on with my work until shestops resisting my attempts. Knowing she’s weak, I get up, grab my gun, and aimit at her head.
