I grab my sidearm, cock it and aim, ready to fire. The first guy grabs me from behind and tries to pull me down; I fight him, throwing elbow hits to his already damaged ribcage. He can’t hold on to me, he loses grip. I turn around, he kicks my weapon-holding hand. The gun flies out of my hand. I heel kick him in the solar plexus, leaving him gasping for air.
A chair breaks on my back.
Guy number two makes sure I feel that one. He’s going to regret that. I guess I should be thankful he didn’t reload his weapon. He picks up one of the chair legs. He swings once, I dodge. Twice, I deflect with my forearm and kick him in the nads. I step back and circle behind him, waiting for the pain to sink in. His legs are shaky; he bends a little. I run forward ready to kick this bearded motherfucker in the face. I trip with the rubble that not so long ago was a wall. I lose balance and he punches me in the face.
“You punch like a kid,” I say, smiling.
“You kick like a girl.”
“How do your nuts feel about that?” He looks pissed.
Bearded guy screams and lunges at me using the same technique I used with his buddy a minute ago, only this time there’s no wall to stop us. We hit the rail and go over it. We fall one story down to the ground level. Landing on a car roof is not pleasant at all. We both grunt in pain. I grab him and take it down to the asphalt. I deliver three punches to his face, before hearing a car door opening.
Shit. Another one?
“What the hell are you doing? We need to bounce!” A trembling voice says. I look up and I see a young man, scared shitless, standing next to the driver’s door of a van.
“Shut up and help me!” Bearded guy says while hitting me in the mug. I lose balance and he’s on top of me now. I really should put an end to this.
“I can’t. I mean, how!? What do you want me to do!?” The scared driver yells.
I’m done listening to these two.
I dodge his next punch, push him sideways, go on my knees, grab his neck and snap it.
One down, two to go.
Sarah.
I look up towards the room and see guy number one pointing his gun at me.
“Come on, shoot him already!” The driver says.
“Leon says hi.”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I hear three shots. I can’t feel any pain, but that could be the adrenaline. I look down to check myself. I find no wounds. I look up again. Guy number one falls over the rail. Behind him, Sarah’s standing with my gun.
Sarah’s naked, shaky and crying.
She’s looking down, but I can’t tell if she’s looking at me or the body of the man she just shot. That doubt quickly dissipates— she has a horrified expression on her face. She just realized someone is dead for something she did.
“Fuck this shit!” The driver jumps back in the van and drives away.
I run upstairs to Sarah.
“Babe, give me the gun,” I say calmly. She shakes her head. “Come on, babe. Hand over the gun.” She raises the gun and points it at me. “Sarah, it’s me. Put the gun down.”
“Bruno?” She asks confused.
“Yes, it’s me. You can relax now.” She looks back at the gun and throws it as if it’s made of fire.
“What have I done?” She says.
“Come here.” She throws herself into my arms for the first time. She holds me tight and cries like never before. “Easy, it’s all over. You were brave. I’m proud of you. If it weren’t for you, I could be dead.”
“I saw him get up. He picked up his gun and walked towards the door. I knew he was going to shoot you, but I… I couldn’t let him do that.” She tries to explain while still sobbing.
