Chapter 26
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I hear the booms of Holliday’s guns. All attentions turns to him for a second and I leap.
I turn on the speed and plow through the crowd, knocking people aside left and right. But moving through the crowd is too slow, so I jump and use my momentum to do one or two bounces off the giant pipes. Within seconds I am over Carston and his red shirt.
I land right in front of Carston. He is another big man. I would put him at 6.6 and 300 pounds. He has dirty blond hair that is styled and trimmed with an inch of it’s life. But what really gets me is the fact that his eyes are hollowed sockets of murderous rage. and I think to myself This guy is really nuts.
“Hi there, ” I say as Carston’s face turns from confusion to one of shock.
“Get them!,” He yells to the 4 bodyguards around him.
I give Swanson a sharp look as he starts forward with the others.
He pauses and lets the other men pass him by. Swanson’s express mirrors his every thought, the terror in seeing his leader so close to death. the relief in not having to caterer to a mad man anymore. And greed, how can he make this work for him.
“Three on one,” I scoff as I lash out with my foot and kick the closest one in the knee cap. He goes down and in his flaying around takes out the one behind him.
The third stops for a moment to look at his fallen friends.
“KILL HER!!!” Carston yells as he realizes his guards are not going to stop me in time.
I punch the last guard in the face and he jerks back in to Swanson’s arms. now that I have that out of the way I can concentrate on Carston.
I grab Carston by the neck and lift. He starts to claw at my arm, too bad it is my right arm and all mechanical. I lighten the gravity and make Carston’s mass more reasonable, then I toss him over my head and into the tanker. The is a satisfying splash that makes me grin. I give Swanson a wink then I am off and moving again.
I do my bouncing ball routine around the basement again and see that Holliday is holding his own and Mable is still in hiding. Good. I can use the time to finish this and get Saul out of here.
I give one last leap and jump onto the edge of the tanker. From there I can see what is going on. The Monster is indeed like the one we faced earlier. Only this one seems to be confused and mad as well as hungry. It looks like Saber and Seattle had been holding it off with old bones as spears. Well done guys, I think to myself.
Much of the monster’s confusion now comes from the noise and movement that Carston is causing as he splashes around trying to get out.
The alligator monster has broken off attacking the Kindred. Saber has everyone holding still while the monster’s attention has shifted elsewhere. I leap but this time I lighten the gravity around me so that I can land softly. I almost bounce off the water.
I land next to Saul.
“Chronos!” he cries out. I touch his arm and he grabs me into a full body hug. He kisses me deeply. “I knew you would come. I knew you rescue us.”
“I would follow you anywhere,” I say. “I will be your Orpheus to your Eurydice, I would gladly go to any underworld just to have your breath upon my neck to feel your touch once more.”
“That’s great, but how are we supposed to get out of here?” Saber says.
“We go over the top.” I say dryly.
“yeah, Great idea, but what about the twisters?” Seattle says doubt creeping into his voice.
I look over at Carston’s struggle with the monster. Carston seems to be losing.
“New leadership, I think.”
The men turn to see what I am looking at. Saul sucks in his breath in horror. Saber and Seattle watch in stoic silence.
“Now can we go?” I say as the monster has Carston pinned down and is chomping on his arm.
“Yes please,” Saul quickly agrees with me.
“you weren’t serious, about going over the top, were you?” says Seattle as he looks around squirming.
“No,” I say with a grin.
With that I walk over to the nearest side of the tanker and awaken my sword. She hisses with life and defiance. I tame her, as always. I make 4 wide swipes and push out. A large piece of the metal wall falls out and the foot of water in the tanker goes gushing out.
“Your exit gentlemen,” I say and gesture to the new door I have made.
“Have I mentioned lately how much I love you,” Saul says as he steps by me and hops down.
“Have I mentioned how much you annoy me,” Seattle says as he follows Saul but he slants me a wide grin.
“Have I mentions how much I think you are nuts,” Saber says. He too is grinning.
“So I did something right hu?” I ask as I follow all three men out.
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