Surprisingly, the thin man is the first to rush me. As soon as he moves, Bandana takes a step forward, but stops, nearlystumbling as he realizes that no one else has moved and looks around to see what the others are going to do.
As Skinny closes in on me, I tilt my head to the side, watching him and trying to understand what his plan is. Considering the panic I see in his eyes, I’m wondering if he’s going to draw the knife that’s still sheathed in his belt or if he just plans to tackle me.
Imagine my surprise when he shouts and jumps into the air, making like he’s going to kick me into next week. He’s got these long-ass legs and maybe he’s practiced whatever Kung Fu crap it is he’s attempting in the past, but I’m pretty sure his boot would have swung over my head even if I didn’t bend my knees.
At the last second, mainly because it takes me a moment to close my gaping mouth, I stab Thunder’s long blade upward into Skinny’s thigh and it’s more his momentum than my strength that savagely shreds through his muscles and arteries, just before he drops like a stone.
“What the fuck was that?” My question isn’t directed at anyone in particular, but I swear the old guy snorts.
Gripping the neck of the broken liquor bottle, Bandana comes at me next, with the older man steps behind him. Bigfoot is taking his time, I think as that one steps closer to the Hispanic man.
I easily step sideways and avoid the jagged edge of Bandana’s weapon, but the old guy is holding his knife like he knows how to use it and is looking forward to having a reason to.
While Bandana continues to slash through the air, the old guy is focused on getting behind me. Smart, using his cohort as a distraction. Trying to keep the wall to my back, I nearly trip when Skinny reaches up from the ground to grab the back of my boot. Catching myself, I stomp down hard on his fingers, just so he’ll go back to hollering and trying to hold his leg together.
That only took a second, but it was enough for Bandana to get in a swipe across the top of my arm.
“Motherfucker,” I growl, taking a step toward him as he’s running a victory lap in his own mind. Lifting the axe, I swing it down on top of his right shoulder and feel the man’s collar bone giving way.
Extending the axe just a little more, I hook the back of his neck with its head and use it to swing him in the direction of the old guy. I’m more than a little grateful when Bandana intercepts the blade that the old guy is slicing through the air, on it’s way toward me.
He takes that steel to the hilt and the rattle of his breath as he exhales tells me he’ll never draw air into his lungs again.
“Thanks for that,” the words are barely off my tongue when the old guy reaches behind him for whatever he’s got hidden back there.
“Fuck this playtime shit,” he snarls, swinging a gun on me.
There’s nowhere to hide and for lack of a better idea, I throw myself at him. I don’t know what I thought would happen, but he fires immediately and I feel the burn of the bullet as it creases my side.
Hitting his torso, we go down and I quickly grab his arm, trying to get the gun as he heaves for the air that was knocked out of him. Squeezing his arm just above his elbow, I slam it down on the cement a couple of times before the gun goes skittering off into one of the dark sections of the barn.
“Guess I should have known better than to give any of you a fighting chance,” I growl, smashing the end of my knife against his temple.
One man is dead, another is fixing to bleed out, but with three others standing, knocking him out is the only thing I have time for right now.
Standing behind the Hispanic man, Bigfoot gives him a shove in my direction, but instead of running toward me, he breaks around the bigger guy and while I expected him to run, that wasn’t his play at all.
Instead, he reaches for a length of chain that had been coiled up under the table. For fuck’s sake, Bull was right. I should have just come in here and shot them all to hell, but, nope, I needed to prove a point.
I look over my shoulder into the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of that gun right about now.
As he approaches me, he twirls the chain like it’s a lasso, building momentum and that motherfucker hurt like hell when it wound around me hitting my damaged ribs and shoulder blade.
The second time it makes contact, it opens a gash on my forehead and thankfully I don’t lose consciousness when I go down. I keep blinking my eyes, but it takes me another moment to realize they’re stinging so much because of the blood slowly moving down my face; aggravating my eyes before seeping into my mouth.
Rolling to the side, I leave my axe behind, standing up to try to grab the chain in an attempt to pull my adversary off balance. Except I get walloped by it again even as my palm catches on a loose piece of metal, tearing away a chunk of my flesh.
Those two victories gets the guy swinging the chain faster, stepping to the side as he prepares to strike me again, just as Bigfoot finally decides he’s missed too much of the action.
Bigfoot roars and charges between his associate and myself. I smile at him, tracking his trajectory, I move deliberately. Unlike him, rage doesn’t make me reckless, it sharpens me. His metal bar whistles through the air and I duck, sliding under it and sweep the big guy’s ankle with my boot. As he starts toppling, I reach out grip his knee in both hands, wrenching it in the opposite direction of the rest of his body.
As he screams in pain, I reach for his discarded weapon and throw it at the Hispanic man. The howl he lets out doesn’t sound like he’s too traumatized but I use the split second to look around and see what Davis is up too.
Fuck if I can spot him, but there is a lantern within reach, so I pick it up and hurl it at one of the long walls, smiling when the flame is set loose and instantly ignites the wooden panels; smoke instantly filling the air, dark and hungry.
“Genius,” Bigfoot snaps and I hear the rattle of the chain as he picks it up. “You gonna burn us all alive?”
Not bothering with a reply, I ignore the thickening smoke and the groan of the fire as I turn to face the man with the chain only to be grabbed by one of the others. I’m not even sure who it is at this moment, but I turn my body into deadweight; bringing him to the ground with me.
