ZERO (Complete)

Chapter Twelve

In that instance, Allie's lighting fast reflexes sprang into action. She used a Krav Maga technique to remove the gun from the man's hand, point it at him, and fire off a round in his chest at point-blank range. The bullet blasted a hole straight through him, sending his lifeless body crashing to the ground with a thud.

She immediately took aim on the rest of the group and let off several rounds. The men scattered in every direction. Two of them were shot, but not fatally. Conserving ammo, Allie walked confidently like a hunter stalking its prey.

"Come on, you cowards!" she yelled. "Not so tough now!"

Before she could get off another round, one of the men charged forward from behind a scrap heap and tackled her to the ground. The gun she was holding became dislodged from her grip.

This was Dane's moment to act. Without hesitation, he came charging out from his hiding spot with a fury. With his mouth agape like a lion attacking a group of wildebeests, he jumped on one of the attackers and shoved the four-inch blade into the his ribs. The man had no idea what hit him.

The attack slowed the guy down, but did not stop him completely. There was a scramble and Dane was now in his first fight. Waving the bloody knife, Dane was hoping his opponent would surrender and concede defeat, but the man was determined.

In his heightened state of emotion, Dane was feeling braver than usual. He charged at the man and shoved the knife blade into his stomach repeatedly. The whole time, Dane was screaming like a savage warrior. The man fell over and began choking on his own blood. Dane focused his attention onto his next target.

With the gun no longer a threat, the men who had initially run away had since returned to fight. It was now Allie and Dane against four angry men.

"Dane, what are you doing here?" Allie asked.

"What do you mean? I'm saving you."

The four men surrounded Dane and Allie and began taunting them. As two of their friends lay dead in front of them, they had even more reason to enact revenge.

As skilled a fighter as Allie was, her energy was not where it needed to be to take on such adversaries. She had no idea where the gun went, but thought that may be a good thing. That meant the men didn't know where it was either. She wanted to take Dane's knife from him, but that would leave him completely defenseless.

The four men circled like vultures, each of them carrying deadly weapons. One of them had a baseball bat, another had a long chain, which he swung around as an act of intimidation. The other two men's weapons were even more deadly. One had a large machete and the last one held two large knives.

"So what's the plan?" Dane uttered quietly.

"Stick together. Conserve your energy. Maintain your distance. Defense before offense. And always watch your back."

"That's a lot to remember," Dane complained.

"Fine. Don't die. Is that simple enough for you?"

Dane was a master with his words and figured that was his best line of defense. "Gentlemen, let's make a deal, shall we? Our friends are on their way and they all have guns. Leave now and no one else has to die. Deal?"

"You're lying. Nobody else is coming," one of them said.

"Okay, look. I have a confession to make. I don't actually like killing, but I will if I have to. All of you have witnessed that. But I would rather not, you know? So how about we all just put down our weapons and walk away?"

All of the men gritted their teeth, snarled, and shook their heads. "It's too late for words or deals. The only thing left is for us to kill you and eat you."

"Oh, so you're cannibals? Okay, cool. Good to know. I guess that makes this a little easier then," Dane said, pulling out the gun from the back of his jeans. "You can't say I didn't warn you. I gave you all the option to walk away. You should have taken that deal when you had the chance. Toss your weapons over the fence... now!"

The men looked at each other and then begrudgingly obliged. They hurled their weapons over a large gate and into some tall weeds.

"Good. Now, who wants to die first?" Dane asked, sounding as though he had done this before. On the inside, he was terrified, but he had a good way of not showing his fear.

Choosing someone at random, Dane aimed his weapon, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger. The gun went off and kicked back, nearly falling out of his hand. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see four men still standing. He had missed.

Feeling embarrassed, Dane took aim once again, this time with his eyes open, and squeezed the trigger. Something even more embarrassing happened — the gun didn't fire. It was empty.

Click.

Click.

Click.

"What the hell?" Dane said, trying again multiple times.

Click.

Click.

Click.

"Looks like we're feasting tonight after all, boys," one of the men said, licking his lips with a sinister grin.

"Allie... what do we do now?"

"Run."