Schism

Chapter 10 part 2

They obeyed automatically.  The one with the baton, tallest of the three, came right at William, chopped down on a diagonal toward William's head.

It came fast, with barely any warning, even in the fog, but The Hunter was ready.  He crouched, and instead of moving away, he circled toward the skinhead with the knife.

William followed The Hunter, pivoted away from a stab, then stepped in tight as the man with the knife came in with a backhand slash.

The targets were there, both on the wrist.  William grabbed, stopped the slashing arm.  Then, following The Hunter’s motions, he slid his hands down to circle the man's wrist and fingers, taking control of the hand that held the knife.

William gave a sharp jerk and the knife's point moved away from him, the tip rotated to face the attacker's stomach.

The Advisor reached out, pointed at the man with the Beretta.  The gun came up, the barrel straight and steady.

And behind you, The Hunter said.

William felt the fog pressing down from behind him, a vertical swipe through his head and back.

He spun, brought Knife around with him.  Baton's strike came down fast again as William circled.  Instead of hitting William, the metal rod slipped past Knife's ear, came down hard onto Knife's shoulder.  The shock of it shoved the man forward, directly onto the upturned point of the blade that William controlled.

William relaxed his grip as Knife's breathing became shallow and fast, his diaphragm punctured.  The wound oozed color into the fog.

The gun, The Advisor said.

He turned, saw the red paths of bullets erupt from the muzzle as the gun's owner, Beretta, stepped forward.

He dropped the bleeding man and ran forward, across the path of the bullets.  One step, another.  The red paths of the bullets followed, crossed through the baton-wielding skinhead.

As the physical bullets followed along the red paths, William followed The Hunter, turned toward Beretta, dashed in close and grabbed the gun.  He pulled it low, muzzle down and away.

Baton staggered back.  Two wounds in his chest began to pump blood in slowing spurts.

The Advisor stood next to The Hunter.  Behind them, The Caretaker stood apart.

Flip the switch, The Hunter said, pointing to the side of the handgun.

William's thumb circled over, flicked the safety to on.

The man jerked at the gun as he threw a heavy overhand punch at William's head.  William let go and sidestepped the strike.

The gun floated up.  William watched Beretta ease the trigger in.

Nothing.

Beretta looked down at his gun, saw the safety.

Grab it, The Hunter said.

William shot his hands forward, slipped a finger inside the trigger guard, over Beretta's on top of the trigger.

The Advisor studied the man.  Reached inside with a long arm.  William looked at him as well.  He saw the confusion on the man's face change to anger.  His thumb went to the safety switch, tried to flip it up, but William stopped him.

He has used it before, The Advisor said.

Point it at him. Switch it back, The Hunter said.

William rotated the gun to point up into the man’s chest, then stopped.  They wanted him to kill the man.  Just like last night.

The smallest part of his mind came up to conscious control.  His voice was only a whisper.  "No."

He will do it again, The Advisor said.

He struggled against the direction, but his will faded back under the fog.  He flipped the safety off.

Beretta looked down at the gun.  "No."

The Advisor pointed an arm down at a green pickup truck parked down the street.  He needs to see this. 

William looked, saw the outline of a man in the truck's cab.  Why did that man need to see?  Why did the voices want this?

Beretta jerked his arms against William's grip, couldn't move them.  William saw the man look over his shoulder, at the truck.  "Help."  No answer came from the truck.

Squeeze, The Advisor said.

William's finger tensed.

The bass rumble and crack from the gun filled the air.  As the sound drifted off, it was replaced by the wail of sirens.

Beretta fell to the ground.  Motionless, the gun lay still in his hand.

All three of the voices moved as one.  Their eyes turned to the green pickup truck.

Now he is focused on you, not those he hates, The Advisor said.

William stared at the truck.  "Who?"

The Hunter turned to him.  You must leave.

He knew he wouldn't get an answer from them, not there in the street, probably not ever.

You cannot stay here.  The Caretaker pulled at his arm and William followed the voices down the street.

As he did, he saw the pickup truck turn on its lights and pull away.

 *

(Author’s note: Thank you all for all the great comments and likes!  Please keep them coming.  I love talking to everyone and when you click on the star at the top right corner of the page, you really help Schism get noticed.  If you can take a moment to tell a few friends about Schism, that would also be a huge help!  And be sure to drop by my website www.bruce-elgin.com for links to the audio podcast and more information (including posts to help you write your own book!).  Finally, I've got to tell ya...there's a lot more action coming up soon and also a meeting between two characters that I think a lot of you have been waiting for…(and it just might be Bryan and William, maybe))