He ran around the back corner and leaped to the ceiling and braced himself with one arm and two legs while he ripped the camera out of the fixture. He managed to drop back to the floor in time to meet the charge of eight big armored prison-cops behind a steel push-shield.
He had never felt more primed for combat. He heard Mamma Wolf roar in the background as he heard Sarge say, “Point of the spear, Bracken,” and among his echoing memories of commands past was Sensei Hansen shouting, “Power!”
He executed a running front thrust kick that split the steel shield down the middle, causing the shield-bearing cop’s wrists to snap like broom handles. He then stepped in and crushed an instep and back-blasted a knee with two alternating inside stomp kicks. He ducked the thrust of a riot stick and sunk a spear-hand into the wielder’s throat and stripped the stick from his hands as the man who was too slow to live in Jay Bracken’s space gurgled to death.
Good kill, Bracken.
Flanking right, Sarge.
He leaped to the side and ran around the wall above the fallen and pushing men and came down behind them in front of the steel door that was now firmly shut and—by the sound of the steel bar slamming down—securely barred.
You have a thirty-six inch weapon, and they do not. One dead, three wounded, one psychologically disabled; one hesitant; one stupid; one good man—about to die.
On him, Sarge!
He had made a nice intertwined carcass stack in front of the door, with the live ones on top.
That was the polite thing to do.
After all, they were feeding me.
He kept only the stick, preferring nakedness to wearing discarded meat-puppet hides. He also kept the broken push-shield and barricaded himself in a far-corner while fresh meat-puppets came and dragged off their dead and wounded. The sounds of their leaving were haunting; as it was both businesslike and infused with melancholy.
There, boy. You were a good fellow and didn’t eat any of them.
Well, the paste is better. I hope they send more chocolate flavored ones. How about orange! Ma made such good orange pudding!
These enemies are powerful.
They sure are—should definitely have lots of orange pudding.
Yes, you should form an alliance.
