Page 78 of Pirate

Only a fool would think having a gun rightfully gave you the upper hand.

Pirate kicked out with his right leg, connecting the boot of his prosthetic leg to the gunman’s kneecap. As he went down, Pirate lifted the AK-47 out of his hands. He immediately dropped the weapon and swiped it across the wet pavement under the cage with the side of his boot.

The man made to lunge at Pirate, but Pirate sidestepped him. His back to theHummer, the man tackled empty air and landed in a splash on the road. Pirate dropped down, hard. Putting his knee to the man’s back, he gathered him up in a chokehold.

The man struggled and kicked. He managed to get one leg up and smacked his heel against Pirate’s right knee. Grunting in pain, Pirate only doubled his efforts rather than releasing the man as he desired.

He was not trying to get the man to fall into unconsciousness though. As soon as the gunman started to slump down from lack of oxygen, Pirate released his arms’ hold around his neck. Upon reflex, the man gasped in air and was not paying attention to defending himself. Pirate placed his hands strategically on the man’s jaw and the back of his head. He turned the man’s jaw to the right, releasing the tension much like a chiropractor would, and then snapped the man’s head in the opposite direction.

The loudcrackof bone filled the air like a clap of thunder.

Neck broken, the man toppled to the ground. There was a slim chance he was still alive but, if he was, he would be paralyzed.

Pirate leaned forward, hands on his thighs. It took several seconds of remaining like that in the pouring rain to get his heart rate and breathing under control. It had been years since he’d had to fight for his life. There was nothingcoolorfantasticabout taking a life. Why humans were so fascinated by the concept was a flaw in their design. No species that was capable of such potential should be so wont to kill each other.

Gathering himself, he picked up his M18. Despite the rain, it would still function. He had to check if the first man he’d shot was dead.

Keeping his gun trained in the direction of the passenger door, he called out, “Pumpkin!” There was no response. Pirate worked his way over to the front of theHummer. His right knee was throbbing from getting donkey-kicked during the second gunman’s takedown. “Pumpkin!” Still nothing. “Talk to me, brother!”

Just as Pirate laid eyes on the still form of the first gunman, he heard the echoing calls of sirens.Thank fuck!

It had seemed like such a long time from when the first bullet hit the hood of his cage, but adrenaline always skewed with one’s sense of time. In reality, it had been maybe ten minutes.

Pirate knelt in the rainwater, feeling for a pulse. It was too dark for him to get a visual on the man. They’d turned off their headlights before they’d plowed into Pumpkin’s sled.

“Pumpkin!” Pirate shouted once more.

The scream he heard chilled Pirate to his core. Because it wasn’t masculine or close by. It came from the top of the bridge.

Whirling in that direction, Pirate fought through the pain to make his legs work faster. “Sophia!”

Soaked in a matter of seconds,Sophia crouched down by the side of Pirate’s car. Someone wasshootingat them. Fuckingshootingat them. What the hell? They were on their way to a celebration dinner, not traveling through a war zone! What the hell was going on?

Pirate worked his way out of the car too. He would have had to crawl over the center console to get out. What if he’d been hit?

But of course, Pirate’s first priority wasn’t himself. It was her. After checking she was unharmed, other than some minor scrapes, he brushed off getting fuckinggrazedby a bullet on hisearlike it was nothing. Did he not fucking realize he could havedied?

Sophia couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Her heart was hammering so loudly that she barely heard the continuous pinging of the bullets or the splatter of the heavy rain.

And Pumpkin! Poor Pumpkin. Sophia desperately searched the side of the road for him but could find no sign of his body through the downpour. Was he even still alive? Her mind went to his baby boy. Pumpkin was a single father. Who would take care of his son if he died? Sophia didn’t even know who SJ’s mother was. One day, it was just announced that Pumpkin had a son. The baby looked too much like Pumpkin to not be biologically his, but there’d never been a mom in the picture as far as Sophia knew.

Sophia barely heard Pirate as he pushed her towards the back wheel. Something about it being safer there. Was that even true or was that a load of horseshit to help keep her calm? Either way, itwasn’tkeeping her calm. How the fuck could hethinkat a time like this? She felt like her muscles had turned to putty and stone all at the same time.

It took her a second to realize Pirate had climbed backinsidethe car. What the fuck was he doing?

Sophia opened her mouth to ask but the air caught in her throat. There was a pungent smell that thickened the air and made her crinkle her nose in disgust.

Pirate suddenly fell out of the car. He landed hard on the wet ground, splattering Sophia with even more water. Not that she cared. It was just water.

He quickly sat up. He placed a metal box on the road in front of him. It wasn’t fair how evenly he was breathing, how calmhelooked. She supposed he was used to this sort of situation when he’d been in the Marines, but he’d been out for years. Was it one of those muscle memory things? Did soldiers retain combat memory?

He turned to her. His voice was loud over the rain, steady. How the fuck was he not panicking? She felt like she was going to throw up any second. “You’re not going to like what I have to say but we don’t have time for you to argue with me. My cage is onespark away from going up in flames. I’m going to draw their fire. As soon as I start shooting, you make a run for the bridge. Do not look back, Sophia! You run as fast as you can. That’s more important than staying low. Do you understand?”

The bridge? Her eyes looked to the bridge directly in front of where she knelt and then back at Pirate. She knew immediately what hewasn’tsaying. “You’re not coming with me, are you?”

As if by some signal he understood that she didn’t, Pirate suddenly stood and raised his gun. “I can’t! Go! Go now!”

Sophia stared up at him in horror. He wanted her toleavehim? She couldn’t do that. What was the military saying? No man left behind? How could he expect her to do that to him?

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