Forester looked away from Regan in disgust. The room was splattered with blood and worse. The bodies of Dieter and the two enforcers looked like piles of garbage discarded amongst the debris and destruction. More than half of the metal benches were overturned or in pieces and there were chunks of broken tiles scattered across the floor.
He watched Gareth carefully. He looked like a man about to make his last stand. Forester saw him cautiously slip a hand into his pocket. When he pulled it out, he was clutching a set of brass knuckles. Forester knew he needed to act before Gareth was able to use them.
He started to run before he even knew what he was doing. He ignored Gareth and sprinted towards Eva, still sitting on the floor completely oblivious to the horror around her. Gareth must have had the same idea. Forester reached her as Gareth turned around. A look of anger flashed across his face.
'Nice try kid.'
Forester scooped Eva up and jumped back as Gareth's fist whipped past his face. He stumbled as he adjusted to carrying her weight, and Gareth reached out to try and grab her foot. Forester wasn't even thinking anymore; he moved with instinct alone, pulling Eva away from Gareth's grasp and falling against the door of the freezer. Gareth was tenacious though. He advanced on Forester with murder in his eyes.
Forester was about to lash out with a foot, when suddenly Regan was there. She landed between them in a crouch and turned on Gareth. Gareth jumped back to escape her knife, and Forester lost his balance as he tried to pull back from his kick. He stumbled and bumped into Regan. When he looked up, she was staring back with a demonic expression.
'Get out of the way.'
Regan put her hand on his face and pushed him back with a vicious shove. He twisted to shield Eva with his body, and his shoulder hit the door of the freezer. Eva struggled like a kitten in his arms. She stretched out and twisted around to watch what was going on without any fear that he might drop her. When she saw Regan, she giggled and bounced in Forester's arms.
'It's the blue haired lady!'
'I know.'
'She beat you up.'
'I know.'
Gareth started to circle around Regan to block off Forester's avenue of escape, but she followed him with relaxed, deliberate steps.
Forester watched the two of them gauge one another. It was like a slow, elaborate dance. Regan blocked Gareth again and sighed.
'Could you be any more useless?'
It took a second for Forester to realise that she was speaking to him.
'I've got Eva.'
'The door isn't just there for decoration.'
Forester looked from Regan to Gareth and realised that she was deliberately giving him a free run at the exit. He held Eva tighter and ran towards Sarafina. He reached her with his heart thundering in his ears and thrust Eva into her arms. Sarafina held her sister with one arm and hugged him fiercely.
'You stupid fool,' she whispered.
Forester looked back at Regan. Somehow, she was still holding Gareth at bay. He took a deep gulp of air and coughed.
'I thought he was going to go after us the instant I turned my back.'
'He can't with her blocking him like that,' said Sarafina. 'Every move she makes is like a threat.'
Forester watched Regan's movements, and tried to look at them like a fighter. Every time Gareth moved, she positioned herself so she could easily intercept him. Gareth was being careful with his distance. He'd seen what Regan could do, and he was trying not to be caught off guard. Regan was using that to her advantage. It was like she had an invisible forcefield around her that let her manipulate his movements. She stepped around a table and forced Gareth to retreat. He glanced over her shoulder at Sarafina and shrugged in disgust.
'Fine. The happy family gets to be together. Super. What happens after that? You just kill me?'
'That's the general idea.'
Gareth shook his head. 'You uncompromising types, you're all the same. Dieter was just like you.'
Regan glanced at the bloody mess next to Gareth's feet.
'Apparently not.'
'So he lost. It doesn't change what he was. He was a tool. He didn't have to be, but in the end, that's all people like you can hope for.'
'Is that your excuse for weakness?'
'Like it or not, the world is build on compromise. That's why people like you inevitably end up turning to people like me to make the decisions for you.'
'Are you offering me a job?'
'What if I am?'
'Then I'd say you've just made a very poor gambit for survival.'
Gareth ran his fingers over the ridges of the brass knuckles on his hand. 'It won't change anything, you know.'
'You'll be dead, when before you were alive. That's likely to be a fairly monumental change for you.'
'Will it make the world a noticeably better place?'
'Who said anything about making the world a better place?'
Gareth threw a pleading look at Sarafina. 'Is this what you want?'
'Regan,' said Sarafina. 'Eva's safe. There's no reason for more killing.'
'She can't help you now,' said Regan. 'If you wanted to live, you should have tried to make sure you were more valuable alive than dead.'
'That high handed attitude of yours is starting to seriously rub me the wrong way,' said Gareth.
For the first time Forester could hear a tinge of anger in his voice.
Gareth punched the palm of his hand. 'What the hell do you know? You're some jumped up kid with a knife and an attitude problem. You think I'm underestimating you? Well guess what? You've just underestimated me. I'm not dead yet. Not by a long shot!'
Gareth sprang towards Regan with a vicious swipe. It looked like a wild, uncontrolled swing, but as she moved to the side, he suddenly flicked out with a kick. Regan danced backwards with a look of irritation.
'I didn't have my eyes closed when you were fighting, girly. I know your tactic is evasion.'
Gareth stayed close to Regan. As she retreated, he followed, lashing out with fast, light strikes.
'What's he doing?' said Forester. 'None of those hits will do any damage if he catches her.'
Sarafina shook her head. 'He's tying up her hands. As long as she's busy blocking, he doesn't have to worry about her surprising him with an attack. The instant she drops her guard, those strikes will stop being so light.'
Regan matched Gareth's speed as she blocked his lightning fast strikes. She didn't seem bothered by them, but Sarafina was right -- there were no openings for her to attack. Gareth was staying uncomfortably close, crowding her in with short, sharp attacks.
'You didn't bet on me being trained, did you?' said Gareth. 'In my world, a man doesn't rise to the top without having the strength to take what he wants.'
Regan leant back as his knuckle dusters swept past her eyes.
'You're a brawler.' she said. 'A skilled street fighter, but ultimately flawed.'
'Save your breath, girly.'
'You've modified the basic protector style to make it more offensive. It's a good idea, but your moves are untried.'
'I don't see you coming up with anything.'
'You won't.'
Regan slipped past Gareth's fist as he struck out with a light jab. Forester saw him hesitate momentarily as Regan suddenly appeared where he hadn't expected.
Regan side stepped and her blade caught Gareth across the kidneys. He stumbled forward with a gasp of pain and clutched his back.
'She got him!' said Forester.
'No,' said Sarafina. 'Gareth is tougher than that.'
'What?'
Gareth held his back with both hands and arched his spine.
'That hurt,' he said. 'You almost broke the skin there, and that's saying something.'
Regan looked down at her blade.
'I thought that cut felt strange.'
Gareth let go of his back and stretched up to the ceiling. Forester could see a long cut in his shirt just above his belt. There was a thin red line on his skin like the mark of a whip.
'My skin and flesh are like kevlar. Your little knife won't work against me, no matter how many times you catch me.'
He brought his hands down in a slow circle and rolled his head from side to side.
Regan massaged her wrist. Her hand was still wrapped in bandages. Forester wondered if hitting Gareth's unexpectedly hard flesh had hurt her. She gave the knife a few experimental swings, then lifted it and looked at Gareth down its length.
'No wonder your defence is sloppy. When you don't have to worry about being cut, you don't have to worry about defensive technique. I wonder though, has anyone ever put that body of yours to the test?'
'I've been in hundreds of fights, and I've knocked heads with all types. I've faced off against enforcers, protectors and transporters. Hell, I've even taken out a few investigators in my time. My flesh has stood up to swords, knives and broken bottles without ever letting out a single drop of blood. You think I should be worried by that little toothpick?'
'Let's find out.'