Apocalypse Fighter

Chapter 52: Richard Counts Down From Ten

Richard smiled at Billy and said, “My name is Richard Williams, and if I were you, I would drop that cocky little attitude. I hold your life in my hands, and the lives of all your friends, so listen up closely. I am giving you two choices. You can walk away on your own volition, or I can kill your asses and drag your corpses out one by one. You have ten seconds to decide. Ten… Nine… Eight...”

As Richard passed seven, two gigantic men with knives appeared and tried to kill him. They obviously doubted his resolve. “No!” Jacky shouted, but it was too late.

Richard put a bullet through the chest of the man closest to him. The man fell to his knees and blood spilled from his mouth. “You k-k-k-killed me,” he stammered.

This show of forced slowed the other attacker, but it did not put him off his course. When Richard looked up, the man's knife was less than 10 centimeters away from his face. The man was ferocious and full of excitement. Had Richard looked up two seconds later, he would have been killed.

Richard’s hands were a blur, and before the man knew what was happening, Richard had the gun’s muzzle pressed against his forehead.

The man froze and his whole body began to tremble. He let his knife fall to the floor and his eyes helplessly searched for his boss. Once he finally had Jacky’s attention, Jacky stepped forward and said, "Wait! Let’s talk. There is no need for anyone else to die.”

Jacky assumed that Richard was a sophisticated person. Thus, he did not expect that Richard would have a malicious side, or that he would want to kill anyone.

Richard nudged the man that he had shot, and the man groaned as he fell over. “Who are these fools?” he asked.

 “That’s was Kim Lee,” Jacky replied. “He was my right-hand man. The man that you’ve got your gun pointed at is Simon Jason. He is one of my important helpers. I would appreciate it if you didn’t kill him…” Jacky was trying to put Richard off his guard while he looked for an opportunity to use his mutant abilities.

Richard smirked and pulled the trigger. The sound was deafening, and nearly everyone jumped. “Why did you do that?” Jacky squealed. “I asked you nicely…”

Richard shrugged. “He was warned. Anyway,” he said. “Where was I? Oh, that’s right… Counting… Nine… Eight… Seven…

    Billy stared at Richard angrily, but his rage went unnoticed.

Jacky had Richard’s full attention. He was reading Jacky in a way that nobody ever had before, and it was unnerving. With his Magic Eyes Skill, Richard could see everything that he needed to know. Thus, even if he tried to use his mutant powers against Richard, he would still be at a disadvantage.   

Even though Richard had targeted Jacky for death, the man fascinated him. After all, so far, he had not come across many mutant humans. If it were not for his deviant anti-social tendencies, he would have welcomed Jacky into his fold.

It hadn’t taken long for Richard to figure out that halo colors represented the quality and quantity of a person’s bio-energy. Only recently, he discovered that it also revealed moods and levels of threat. A dark halo, for example, suggested that there was a threat. Furthermore, if a mutant human or creature was getting ready to fight, their halo would get very bright.

 Thus, when Jacky’s halo began to get very dark and very bright at the same time, he knew what to expect. At any moment, his bio-energy levels would be uncontrollable. Then he would attack.

Richard was not afraid. He kept his expression calm and he continued to count: “Six… Five…”

Richard was intrigued by Jacky’s arms. He watched as they got bigger, and he thought – Is O’Brien a mutant walker, or is he an incomplete mutant human? In his previous life, mutant walkers had not appeared until the third month after the Doomsday event. A mutant walker was someone whose legs had been changed into those of a lizard.  

Jacky’s hair began to grow in, dark and thick, and it occurred to Richard that, instead of becoming a mutant lizard walker, which was the only kind he’d ever seen, Jacky was becoming a mutant bear walker. This was disconcerting to Richard because it was inconsistent with what he remembered from his previous life.

Dr. L’s explanation about the Doomsday event had also been inconsistent with what Richard remembered, and that bother Richard. He sighed as he aimed his gun at a woman against the door, and he  said, “Three… Two…”

“Wait!” Jacky shouted. “I have an idea. Why not settle this mano a mano? What do you say? That way, we can reduce the amount of people that have to die. Furthermore, we should be trying to keep the noise down anyway, right? We both know how the gunshots have a tendency to attract mutant creatures. We could deal with this in a mature way. Put your gun aside and fight me. Man, against man. If I lose, me and my men will be at your disposal. If you lose, you and your men will get the Hell out of here, and I will act like nothing ever happened.” 

Richard frowned and said, “I have the upper hand. All I need to do is say ‘One,’ and start shooting…”

Jacky looked at Richard’s gun. He was thinking about how many bullets he could take before he died. He sighed and said, “Be reasonable. If it is a bloodbath you want, go outside. Take out a pack of mutants. While it is within us to be civil, though, let’s be civil.”

Suddenly, Billy stepped forward. He spat at Richard’s feet and said, “Grow some balls, already. Put away your gun and put up your dukes. Real men don’t need weapons. Real men should be able to deal with things with their bare hands!”

Jacky turned to Billy and said, “I think he’s to much of a chicken to accept my proposal. He knows that I could kill him with my bare hands!”

  When Richard didn’t respond, Jacky’s men began to laugh and cluck like chickens. Before they could get too rowdy, though, Richard said, “One!” The sound from his gun echoed in the small space, and nobody dared say a word. The woman that, only second before, had been leaning against the door, was now lying on the ground. She was as dead as a doornail. There was a small hole in her forehead and blood was oozing out of it and onto the floor.

“How about a little bit of respect for the guy with the gun?” Richard hissed.