Chapter 10
The men in the living room didn't even bother to come to the kitchen knowing that their other colleagues would check in through the kitchen door. I was still concealed on the side of the kitchen island when two other men passed over the other side. Either they weren't that good or they left my side to be checked by another man who would be coming in shortly.
I hated that I was right about another man coming to check my side as I saw a flashlight shining it's way towards me. I had to do something and I had to do it fast. Holding the knife in my right hand, I advanced towards the very corner of the kitchen island, the light slowly approached me but abruptly stopped before it could reveal my hiding spot. Gunfire was coming from upstairs. That must have been the source of his distraction because he never bothered with my side again instead he went through the opposite side. Big mistake I came out of my hiding spot and leapt over the island to land directly behind him my feet made noise as I landed but it didn't matter either way.
As the man turned to face me, I already jabbed my knife in the side of his neck. Then I wrapped my hand around the arm that held his weapon and before he could shout I twisted the knife together with the arm. There was a cracking sound as his lifeless body slumped to the ground.
That was one down but the problem was that I had no idea how many of them they were.
I heard someone coming behind me. They were approaching the kitchen door. I ripped the knife from the dead man's neck and threw it at the door. The moment the figure emerged was the moment the knife had stuck itself in his heart. Kevlar was good at repelling bullets but they had some soft material along the sternum that even a knife thrown with enough force could penetrate the vest and barrow through to the wearer's heart. The man dropped dead at the door.
I quickly picked up the assault rifle from the first man's dead body and aimed at the door waiting for someone to walk through. Five seconds. Ten seconds. No one came I turned and proceeded towards the stairs. And was surprised to see a man crouched along the stairs facing my direction.
"Shit," was all that escaped my mouth as I backed away from the stairs as fast as I could. We fired at the same time and before I could find cover behind the living room wall his bullet hit me in my lower thigh. "Damnit!" I groaned and heard the man upstairs curse too. The bullet missed my bone as well as any artery because the bleeding wasn't that excessive. Didn't mean it couldn't kill me if I left it unchecked for a long while. I steadied my breath as I held the gun to my chest and crouched as low as possible. I heard footsteps approaching, probably from the man I had encountered upstairs. I focused my ears and launched myself across the floor just as the man appeared. My move caught him by surprise and he just didn't react in time. The barrel of my commandeered rifle was directly in front of his belly and I squeezed the trigger. A volley of bullets went into his belly even with his Kevlar on at such a close distance, it couldn't hold off the bullets.
The man screamed in agony as he dropped to his knees and dropped dead. The pain in my thigh was dissipating thanks to the adrenaline rush. Using the nozzle of my gun to haul my self some one else had come in through the front door aiming his rifle directly at me.
I made a dash towards the kitchen table and as I slid over its top surface bullets were flying around me. I felt heat as a bullet passed right over my ear and I was glad it had missed my head. The table had turned over to provide some cover. It wouldn't hold out for long but at least it would buy me some time to get my shit together. Crouching behind the table I aimed and fired towards the man who almost killed me. The man ducked towards the right and found shelter under the couch.
I had him pinned down but not for long. My rifle decided to betray me and make a clicking sound. Indicating that my clip was empty. I had to cover the distance and reach the shooter before he realized he was no longer pinned. I hauled myself over the overturned table and run towards the man's hiding spot.
The man raised his head and aimed his rifle at me but not before I aimed my empty one. The man's eyes widened and he ducked his head. He fell for my ruse he must have realized that too. He reappeared after a few seconds and I let my empty gun drop to the floor as it was nothing more than dead weight. I threw my body at the man before he could steady his aim.
I knocked him over and landed on top of him with my hands around throat. I begun to squeeze.
The man below me grunted as he jabbed his fist into my ribs knocking me off him. I was getting back up when he knocked me back down and now he was the one pinning me down and squeezing my throat. In a frantic attempt to free myself I punched him in his side as hard as I could but he didn't barge, instead he just tightened his grip.
My lungs were now burning and my mouth was agape as I tried to take in some air but to no avail. Damnit if I didn't do something fast I was going to die.
I wiggled under and tried to find anything that could be of use but I only managed to find Nelson's car keys. I dug them out of my pockets and clenched it between my fingers like the wolverine and in a last ditch effort I jabbed at his ribs. The pointed end of the keys penetrated his skin and drew blood.
The man was knocked off me and he collapsed to my side letting go of my neck. I took a breath so deep that I actually choked on the air and coughed as I stood up. I had barely even recovered from the previous assault and the man had already stood up ready to pounce only that this time his right hand went to his utility belt and he pulled out a KA-BAR military grade knife.
He smiled manacingly and I just gulped holding nothing but car keys stained with blood in my left hand.
The man swung the knife at my abdomen and I Ieapt back to avoid the strike. Then he slashed at my throat but I ducked and grabbed his right hand and slammed it against the wall the first time. He still held the knife.
Again I slammed it. He still held the knife. Again I slammed it and this time the knife went sliding across the floor. Once that was done I threw my knee in his gut and pushed him back, his hand held onto my shirt. Before we both realized it we were crashing through the window and we landed on the front porch. We were lying side by side on our backs and before he could stand I hit him with a karate chop on the throat pushing his Adam's apple inside.
I rolled on top of him and his mouth was open gasping for breath but I shoved the keys down his throat and held his mouth shut. The man was twisting aggressively under me but I held him down. A few moments later he stopped moving and I fell on the floor with my back panting heavily.
I heard a car horn nearby and I stood up to see Harriet and her team in Nelson's Renault. Harriet was behind the wheel while her team was in the back. She honked the horn again and this time I bent over the window and picked up the deceased man's rifle before painfully jogging towards the car. I sat in the front passenger seat with my leg probing in pain now that the adrenaline was wearing off.