Agent finds a Warrior (13 page)

Elon had never stopped, but had continued on
towards the bar. Before the bouncer knew what was up Elon leaned
over the counter and hauled the bouncer arms flailing
over-the-counter to then beat the muscled oaf completely
senseless.

Zora swallowed as she watched the raw
display of Elon’s capabilities come to the forefront. He’d just
beaten the roughest meanest looking man in the room to a bloody
senseless pulp inside of 30 seconds. He’d made it look as easy as
buttering a piece of bread.

The other toughs in the bar didn’t look so
tough now and as one their hands started drifting for concealed
weapons. Zora shucked the shotgun loudly that she had just brought
out from under her long leather coat and the drifting hands stopped
as eyes swiveled to her and then back to Elon as he began to
talk.

“So which one of you wants to be next? I’ll
beat everyone of you if I have to.”

An older man who looked smart enough to be
one of the ones who’d kept himself out of prison over the years
more than most spoke up, “What is it that you be wanting to
know?”

“September Dawn. Where are they and where
are the kids?”

The demeanor of those in the room grew
slightly less hostile. One man spoke up, “September Dawn broke up
three months back. I should know because I was one of them. Must be
a fragment of the group trying for some money or somebody using it
as a front. My money is on the latter of the two.”

A second speaker spoke, “Someone bought
access to uncontested coming and going from the Ninth Ward sewer
lot. They bought protection for three months. That was two months
ago now. Don’t want to see no kid getting their head cut off. Bad
for business that is.”

Elon walked toward the second speaker even
as Zora ached to pull the trigger and put a shell into the man for
connotating the priority of business higher than the lives of
children. Elon was staring at the man harshly and it was clear that
he doubted the man’s story.

The man went for his gun.

Zora blew his head off without a moment’s
hesitation.

The man’s compatriot at the table was
staring in horror at the headless occupant of the seat next to him.
Zora’s shucked another shell in and the man’s fearful gaze went to
her before it refocused on Elon, who had begun to talk, “There is
no Ninth sewer Ward. There is an Eighth and a Twelfth, but no
Ninth, 10th, or 11th.”

“Old warehouse down by Itasca Boulevard!
That’s where they are I swear!” The man cried out in fear.

Elon nodded, “Okay, I believe you, but tell
me what should I do with someone who would let little kids get
slaughtered for his own gain?”

“Let me go! I won’t do it ever again I
swear!” The man cried out in desperation.

“We’ll make sure of it to be sure.” Said the
older man who had spoken first.

The scared informant glanced around at the
hard faces in the room with fear, who were all staring at him
now.

Elon gave him one last dismissive glance,
“Enjoy your drink.”

Elon headed for the door and Zora backed out
of the bar after him, shotgun at the ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The older man addressed the room at large,
“Take him out back with the rest of the trash.”

Several of the patrons of the establishment
got up to drag the sniveling man begging for his life out the back
way as they picked up clubs and bats along the way. For some,
killing kids may have turned into a business, but for others
children were still something priceless that should be
protected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zora caught up with me, “How did you know
the man I shot was lying? Did you read his mind?”

I shook my head no, “Didn’t have to. His
kind is only in it for themselves and he had a month of protection
money yet to collect. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize
receiving payment for services rendered.”

“What are you going to do now? Call the
police?”

“I’ll hold off on that for a little while. I
want to be in place before they come storming onto the scene and a
hostage negotiator becomes necessary.”

I felt no remorse for the man I eased to the
ground, who struggled feebly against my hand at his mouth as he
bled out. He stopped struggling and I wiped my knife off on his
shirt and moved on to the next sentry. He made his way to the great
beyond more quickly, as I wasn’t as concerned if he got a partial
cry out, as he had been the last sentry alive to deal with.

I waited for Zora and she soon ghosted up
beside me having finished with her allotment of the sentries around
the warehouse. I had to admit it was rather handy having her
around.

Without words we both squeezed through the
narrow side access door of the warehouse. We slinked through the
old boxes and refuse laying around, as we headed toward the sound
of voices.

Peering around a rack of old crates I took
in the scene. The children were all lined up against one wall tied
to a rope with plastic zip ties. Hatred for those who had done this
burned within me at the sight of the children being treated so.

I whispered to Zora, “I want you to stay
here and cover the children, while I try to lead these last three
off somewhere else so the children don’t see any more violence than
they already have.”

Zora looked reluctant to do as I asked, but
she didn’t say anything. She pulled her pistol out ready to take
out anyone in play against the children.

“Police will be here in a half hour.” I said
patting her on the shoulder as I went back a ways to start up a
second aisle that ran parallel to where the children were. Soon I
got close enough to overhear the conversation taking place.

“They’ve only got two more hours until I get
to chop little necks.” The speaker said as he laughed in a way that
clearly signified that he didn’t have it all together upstairs.

The other two men just shook their heads.
One spoke, “If you have to start whacking at little heads Zeke it’s
a bad thing!”

Zeke looked dumbly at him and asked, “What’s
bad about it?” He seemed to be at a complete loss as to why
something enjoyable sounding to him could be bad.

“Because it means we haven’t been paid yet
you idiot!” Said the other of the two men testily.

Zeke grinned big, “Oh don’t you worry. I’ll
make such a mess of the first couple of kids that they’ll pay us
double and then I’ll whack the rest of them up for fun.”

Zeke laughed again at his words, but then
stopped as a thought appeared to penetrate his thick head. “Hey I
better go practice on something!”

He wandered off swinging away at the air
with his big machete, as the two remaining men shook their heads
while sharing a look between themselves as to the other man’s
cluelessness.

I scraped a knife off the shelf before me
and both men stood up grabbing at their guns. I did it again, only
more faint in sound and both men started forward toward my
concealed position.

Two ropes hung down from the ceiling and I
pulled myself up one of them hand over hand swiftly. Getting high
enough I reached over and grabbed the second rope and then tensing
I hung between both ropes and stilled the movement of the
ropes.

The two men came around the corner and
ambled down the aisle as they searched the ground floor of the
warehouse. They came to the two ropes and I wiggled them slightly.
Dumbly they looked up and I let go.

My feet landed on their shoulders and I
drove them both face first to the floor and before either of them
could even begin to recover I swept a knife down into their backs
were their hearts should of been. They both immediately became
still beneath me.

I heard a loud grunt and glancing to the
left I saw wacko boy. He started running for me grunting and
screaming like a maniac, as he waved the large machete around in
the air overhead.

I glanced to the side and saw a broom
leaning up against some crates. I reached out for it and swung the
broom end upwards and calmly said, “Cut the top of this broom off
for me would you.”

Zeke came to a tottering halt as he stared
at me wildly and then obediently he swung the machete cleanly
taking off the top of the broom leaving me with just the handle in
my hands.

“Thank you.” I said before sweeping the
handle of the broom upwards to crack against Zeke’s already
crackpot head.

Woozy from the realignment of his senses he
tottered on his feet as I smashed upward again with the broom
handle at the hand holding the machete. The machete went flying
upwards into the air and I dropped the broom handle as I stepped
closer to Zeke.

The machete fell into my open palm and I
swung hard cleanly severing Zeke’s head from off his shoulders. I
stared down at the head on the floor, as the headless body fell
away from me.

“That’s how it’s done Zeke.” I said before
tossing the bloody machete to the floor and making my way back
through the warehouse towards the children.

As I approached the teacher stood up. I
hadn’t noticed her before. I went to her first.

She was blubbering all over about her
gratitude and thanking me profusely.

I nodded, as I held her zip tied wrists up
in order to cut through the plastic with my knife. My knife sliced
through and I handed it to her, “Help me get these kids cut
free.”

She nodded quickly and I turned to the
children.

Something was wrong. What was it?

The teacher hadn’t been in the kidnapper’s
video!

“Elon!!!”

I wheeled back to the teacher even as Zora
cried out in alarm, but I was too late.

My eyes met the triumphant eyes of the
teacher. I felt my own knife stabbed deeply into my stomach not
once, but twice. She twisted the knife hard the second time with an
evil sneer.

My hands grasped her head and I broke her
neck.

She fell away from me already dead still
clutching at my bloody knife, even as I fell to my knees my hands
trying to stop the flow of blood. I couldn’t fix this. No matter
how hard I concentrated.

It was over.

My long life was over.

Someone pressed me down to my back and tore
my shirt away. Focusing my eyes I saw that it was Zora. She was
sobbing her heart out and although panicked she looked determined.
Determined to do what?

I saw my bloody knife in her hands. Oh God
no!

I tried to speak, to cry out to protest, but
she’d already slashed both of her palms deeply with my knife.
Pushing my hands away she pressed her hands hard against my twin
wounds. I heard her say, “Oh Jesus I need you now! I don’t know how
to do this! Oh please!”

Zora jerked hard as her hands fused to me
even as at the same time her blood began to pour into me through
one wound, even as she cycled my remaining blood through her system
out the other wound. I felt her efforts on a cellular level to
repair the worst of my internal hemorrhaging in the second knife
wound.

Finally my mind gave voice to words, “No
Zora! You can’t! You’ll give me too much blood or weary yourself
past the point of survival trying to fix me! You’ve got to stop or
you’ll die!”

Her eyes opened and they reflected the
intense concentration she was under. Her words were almost angry,
“Do you think I care! Don’t you get it?”

Her eyes searched mine and with emotional
fervency she said, “I love you Elon! There isn’t anything I
wouldn’t do for you!”

I swallowed with emotion even as I felt
tears sheet down the sides of my face. I reached a bloody hand up
toward her face and she pressed her cheek into it lovingly.

“When did you know?” I asked.

“Somewhere in between you rubbing my fingers
to keep me from peeing all over the place, because I was too stupid
to just use the restroom and you masterfully leading me on the
dance floor in the best experience of my life.”

Her eyes were probing as she asked, “Do you
love me Elon?”

“Yes! Somewhere in between holding your hair
back while you puked into the sink of the men’s restroom and
imagining where your birthmark could be.”

She smiled radiantly as tears of her own
fell, but there was tiredness behind her smile. Her energy was
fading fast, but she’d done enough and I started to take over for
her in the healing process. She’d saved my life.

She looked at me puzzled as she felt pushed
off from her task and I quickly assured her, “It’s all right. I’ll
be okay now.” I affirmed, even as her hands came away from the
mottled scars on my stomach. She seemed to collapse against me and
I pulled her down against me holding her tight.

“I’m so tired!” She whispered against my
throat.

“Shhh. It’s okay. Rest now Zora.”

Just before I heard her breathing even out
into sleep I heard her whisper, “I so wanted to experience making
love with you tonight.”

She was asleep now and I held her to me. I
brought one of her hands up and kissed the pink enflamed scar that
ran across the width of her palm. I couldn’t stop crying. I had the
gift of one more day to experience life with the woman I loved.

“Thank you God!” I whispered out as I
nuzzled my face into her hair loving the smell of it and the feel
of her against me. What more could one ask for than one more day
with the one you loved?

Zora blinked and then blinked again. Where
was she?

Saving Elon came back to her in vivid
relief, but that didn’t explain the florescent light bulb she was
staring up at or the bars surrounding her.

She sat up slowly feeling very thirsty and a
bit stiff. Her eyes found Elon in the cell across the aisle from
hers.

“Good morning my love.” Came his gently
loving thoughts into her mind and she smiled and responded in kind,
as she rose to stand at the bars across from Elon.