David Robbins - Seattle Run

Blade shuffled toward the center. His feet felt slippery and he wobbled as he moved.

Rikki was watching with worry in his eyes.

Fabiana sidled next to the man in black.

Gar edged closer to the balance beam, his finger on the trigger of his shotgun.

The Sharks were vociferously encouraging their leader.

Blade took all of this in out of the corner of his eyes. He concentrated on maintaining his balance as he neared Tiger.

The Shark leader was waiting with an amused expression.

Blade stopped when he was three feet away. He held the Bowies in front of him.

“Finally,” Tiger said sarcastically. “I was beginning to believe you might have become lost!” He cackled.

“Do you fight with your daggers or your mouth?” Blade retorted.

Tiger scowled and crouched.

Just as a commotion erupted at the entrance to the chamber. There was a lot of yelling and shoving.

A lean, bedraggled figure burst through the crowd and raced toward the beam. He halted, inhaling deeply, out of breath from his strenuous exertion.

Tiger straightened. “Collins! What are you doing back? I sent you to investigate that fire.”

“We did!” Collins mumbled, having difficulty in speaking. “We’re under attack!”

“What? By the Brethren?”

“No,” Collins said, doubling over.

“Look at me, you fool!” Tiger roared.

Collins unfolded with a grunt. Sweat caked his face.

“If it’s not the Brethren, then who?” Tiger inquired angrily.

“Don’t know,” Collins replied breathily.

“How many are there?” Tiger questioned urgently.

“One,” Collins said.

Tiger’s slanted blue eyes narrowed. “One? Did you say one?”

Collins nodded.

“How dare you! You violate the sanctity of the contest because of one man!”

“You don’t understand!” Collins exclaimed. “We can’t stop him!”

“Tell me everything!” Tiger commanded.

“We went to north Seattle,” Collins detailed. “And we found the cause of the fire. Someone had piled paper and a lot of other flammable junk in the street, then lit it. That’s when we saw him.”

“Who?” Tiger queried.

“The big guy in the dark blue clothes,” Collins said. “He came out of an alley and told us to take him to our leader.”

“You refused?”

“Yeah. He said he was looking for his friends, and he suspected we knew where they were,” Collins detailed.

“What happened then?” Tiger inquired.

“I told him he was coming with us and to drop his weapons,” Collins answered.

“And?”

“He refused,” Collins said. “We tried to take him! We did! But he killed all the others!”

Tiger’s eyes widened. “I sent fifteen Sharks with you. He killed them all?”

Collins nodded, looking as if he wanted to cry.

“How is it you are alive?” Tiger asked.

“He… he stuck his machine gun to my head and made me bring him here!” Collins declared. “I didn’t want to do it! Honest!”

Tiger’s jaw muscles twitched. “If I wasn’t on this beam…” He glanced toward the doorway. “Where is this man in blue now?”

“Outside. Can’t you hear it?”

Tiger raised his head.

Man in blue? There was only one man in Seattle answering that description. Blade cocked his head, listening. From the distance arose the faint chatter of automatic gunfire.

“The guards tried to stop him from entering,” Collins went on. “He blew them away. Reinforcements showed up, but I don’t know how long we’ll be able to hold him! I got away when he was fighting the others.”

“This is only one guy!” Tiger remarked.

“You haven’t seen him!” Collins responded. “He’s not human! He just wades into us like we don’t even exist! He’s not afraid of anything! And he’s even taking guns from those he kills and using them against us!”

“Calm down!” Tiger directed. “I’m certain you are exaggerating to cover your miserable failure.”

“I’m not lying!” Collins cried.

“Then show your mettle! Take twenty others with you and stop this bastard!” Tiger instructed.

“Can’t I take more than twenty?” Collins asked.

“Certainly not,” Tiger stated. “It’s bad enough the twenty you take will miss this contest. I don’t want to deprive the rest of the spectacle of my victory.”

Collins frowned. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He turned and hastened to the entrance, indicating Sharks with a jab of his finger. He departed with 20 armed men and women on his heels.

“The fool!” Tiger hissed. “The miserable cur! First Oakes and now Collins! Cowardice must be contagious.”

“You don’t believe him?” Blade asked.

Tiger snorted. “How stupid do you think I am? He probably fled back here at the first sign of your friend in blue, and your friend simply followed him. I will tend to this man in blue after I deal with you.”

“You’re lucky you’re dealing with me instead of him,” Blade said. “You wouldn’t last two seconds against him.”

Tiger sneered and crouched. He inched forward, his daggers extended.

Blade held his right Bowie next to his abdomen and his left out from his chest.

“I’m going to enjoy this!” Tiger said wickedly.

“You’re going to enjoy your own death?” Blade rejoined.

Tiger was within two feet of the Warrior when he went into action. He suddenly spun, his right leg flicking up and out, his instep catching Blade’s left wrist and jarring the arm aside. As the Warrior’s arm was deflected, Tiger stabbed inward with his right dagger.

Blade threw himself backwards to evade the stroke, his left foot slipping out from under him. He tottered on the beam, his arms waving, trying desperately to regain his footing.

Tiger pressed his advantage, closing, slashing at the Warrior with his left dagger.

Blade felt the dagger bite through his right thigh. He swayed to the right, about to go over.

Tiger speared both daggers toward the Warrior’s chest.

Blade did the unexpected. He deliberately dropped from the beam, releasing his Bowies, and twisted his body toward the beam as he fell. His hands closed on the narrow rail, clamping with all of his prodigious power, and he wrenched himself upward, tucking his body against the underside of the rail. His legs swept up and around, his left leg wrapping over the beam, his right driving into the Shark leader’s midriff.

Tiger almost went over. He stumbled backwards and dropped to his left knee, clutching at the rail with his fingers.

Blade scrambled on top of the beam, his arm muscles bulging. He managed to perch his body on the rail, but with one problem.

He was facing away from Tiger!

Blade glanced over his right shoulder. The Shark leader had recovered and was slowly rising.

“You really are clever,” Tiger muttered.

Blade crawled a few feet from the Shark, then gingerly stood. He turned on the rail, knowing he was dead if he kept his back to his foe.

Tiger was advancing with his daggers at the ready.

Blade tentatively retreated, wishing he hadn’t let go of his Bowies.

“I must admit,” Tiger said, “you’ve put up a better fight than I expected.”

Blade didn’t respond, focusing his energy on backing to his end of the beam.

“In honor of your prowess, I’ll have your body buried instead of fed to the animals,” Tiger offered.

Blade looked over his left shoulder. The end of the beam was six feet off.

Time for his big move.

Blade halted.

Tiger also stopped, eyeing the Warrior suspiciously. “What are you up to now?”

“Nothing,” Blade lied.

“Why don’t you jump and make this easy on yourself?” Tiger asked.

“Why don’t you shove those daggers up your ass?” Blade countered.