Jaws of Death

Chapter 25

The men had spotted them. There was a sudden rush of shouts and footsteps and a few men ran to attack the intruders. Some alerted the distant patrollers while some, with long range guns, hid behind crates and took aim. Frank Castle dragged The Daredevil behind the nearest set of wooden crates. Bullets made contact with the earth, where they had stood just a moment before. The crates shook with the impact of bullets but, thankfully, they were thick and strong enough.

Daredevil opened up. "Frank?"

"Yep. It's me." Frank tried to shove his head slightly beyond the crates and took aim. He fired. The bullet caught a man in his leg and he buckled over. It wasn't good enough. With almost fifteen men in the neighbourhood, he needed more. He needed headshots but the crates wouldn't allow for a proper aim.

The night was aloud with gunfire. Frank realised that they won't do good staying in the same place. "Hey, Red. I'll cover for you. You take the side emergency entrance and make your way in, you got that."

The Daredevil nodded and they split. Just as The Daredevil sneaked off towards left, Frank Castle exploded into a quick run to the other set of crates placed on the right. As he ran, he held the gun in his right hand and open-fired on anything and everything he could spot. He heard screams and guessed that he shot someone down, as soon as he reached his new hiding spot. This stack of crates were big but they were arranged awkwardly, giving a lot of peepholes to aim.

Holding his left arm gingerly, Frank kept his gun in position with the right arm and fired through the makeshift peepholes. A man's head exploded in a gush of blood from his forehead. There goes one!

He fired again. Two.

That did the trick. The attention of the henchmen were drawn to the gunfire that they barely noticed the figure in red suit slither towards the side of the warehouse. Most of the men tried to just blindly shoot at the crates. It didn't budge but they kept trying, as if hoping it would somehow burst into a million pieces like stuff did in the video games.

Amateurs, Frank realised. These men were here just as temporary guards. He had something that they didn't. Training. It was going to equalise the odds. Even without a proper use of his left arm, he still had the military training to help him.

He peeped through the holes again. A sudden silence had fallen around the warehouse. A sudden thump sounded as an object was thrown against the crates Frank was hiding behind. He swivelled around for a view and saw the object, rolling on the ground with horror.

A Grenade!

He sprinted for his life and leaped mid-sprint as long as he could.

The grenade exploded as he was in mid-air. The force pushed him a few more distance farther and he collided bodily onto the compound wall, busting his teeth open. Blood trickled out of his mouth. His left arm throbbed hard as his body fell onto the ground.

He turned over.

The crates had exploded, burning. His hiding place was exposed. Men were running towards him in the distance. The three men closest to him were already taking aim.

They were going to shoot him.

He tried to get himself to his feet with just one good hand. But he was slow.

I'm not going to make it. Frank's mind was roaring as it tried to figure out a possible way to save his life. Think, Goddammit, Think!

He was sure the men had fired but something incredible happened.

Frank was staring in horror and shock as the firearms in their hands were yanked high into the air. A thin strand of some fabric held the gun at a teasing height well above their heads. The men tried to jump to get the guns but they couldn't. That's when everyone spotted what had happened and began pointing at the sky, alerting everyone.

Frank stared into the sky, coughing out blood. Jesus! What the fuck is that?!

There, waving and spinning in the night sky, was a human figure dressed in red and blue spandex. Just as he stared, two of the men were hauled feet first into the air by the figure and they dangled upside down in mid-air.

Spiderman!

Frank didn't wait. Seizing his opportunity, he exchanged the gun into the ginger fingers of his left hand and sprinted at his maximum speed, pulling out the two knives. He threw them at his distracted opponents. The knife found its mark. Two men dropped clutching their throats as the knife tore into their Adam's apple. Frank reached them and yanked the knives out of their throats, causing the blood to spurt out. He pulled out the grenades from the dying men's belts and dashed to the next set of crates near-by.

All within six seconds. The men, busy with the sighting of Spiderman hadn't realised anything. Using the distraction, Frank took deep calming breaths, assessing the situation.

There were six men remaining, out of which two men were hanging upside down in the air. That meant four remaining threats. They were all gathered near at the entrance to the warehouse, trying to find an aim to take down Spiderman. The amateurs had been completely distracted that they seemed to have forgotten about Frank temporarily. It was the best shot Frank was going to get.

He eyed the grenades in his hand.

The men were a second too late to recognise the two objects that rolled out near their feet. As they started to scurry, the grenades exploded in a huge burst of fire. The blast knocked the sliding door of the warehouse out of its hinges and every single of the men were lying on the floor, writhing in agony, hurt or burned beyond recognition.

Frank expected some more henchmen to pour out from inside the warehouse. But none did.

Breathing hard and holding the gun with his injured left hand delicately, Frank Castle sneaked into the warehouse.