Page 49 of Bastard

“How’s it feel to be back here again?” Riddick asked.

“Like I’m living a fucking time loop.”

“I’d like to get off this ride!” Home Run hopped from foot to foot now.

Inside the arena the crowd erupted in cheers. Outside it was hot and humid. The mosquitos were thick and in the swamp the sounds of dozens of animals hunting were as easy to hear as the fights inside.

Riddick chuckled. “You know, I get why this place is out here in the swamp. Ain’t no one coming around who don’t want to be here, but it’s so easy to dump bodies. Do you think they ever think about that?”

It was an interesting point about human nature. It wasn’t that long ago we put a few bodies in this ground. And yet the crowds still came. Perhaps it was the “it’ll never happen to me” mentality. Humans were stupid.

The fighters tonight came from five clubs. None of the fighters would be here alone and we expected several more to be taking in the entertainment. It was an all-hands-on-deck call for Devil’s Wrath. The Chubbies took the north side of the building. We took the south. To the east was pure swamp and slough. The only way out was to the west, and that was where the fencing was installed. It would bottleneck nicely.

A few people began trickling out. There was still at least one more fight on the ticket. We needed to take care of them quietly. “Riddick, take the big guys. Home Run, let the women leave. If they make a noise, gag ‘em.”

“You got it boss.”

Riddick nodded at his group, letting them know this was round one. Home Run did the same.

The first group were all women so we let them leave. A few prospects ran by. Not worth the effort. The next group had three Scavengers and one woman. Riddick's crew snatched them with minimal effort.

Home Run assured the woman she would be let go. “Stay quiet or things will change real fast.” The woman was led away to wait in safety.

A couple more groups wandered through the gravel. All of them wound up carefully bound and gagged, piled up in the shadows by the trees.

Then the fights ended.

I shot one last look at Riddick and Home Run. Everything focused down. The lights were just a little brighter, the sounds sharper, and the blood pumping through my veins hotter. Men and women—mostly men—poured out of the building. The Chubbies must have been closer because the screaming came from their side of the building first.

Riddick struck next. Using a club, he knocked a man out in one stroke. It was like he had a machete in his hand the way he went after a whole group. I followed behind him. Each time my bare knuckles struck bone I changed the follow-through so the energy would keep going instead of stopping and shooting back up my arm.

Shots rang out next as our targets realized what was happening and fought back. It’s part of why we chose the shadows. It’s a lot harder to hit a target you can’t see. Our goal was to use brute force first, weapons later.

A man froze in front of me. I didn’t recognize him, so I punched him. Kicked, sending him backwards. And then suddenly I was covered in blood as his face disappeared. Behind him a Shadow Ghost had the barrel of his gun pointed right at me.

“Fuck.” I hit the ground and rolled. The shot missed by a mile and now he couldn’t track me in the dark the way I could track him. I killed him with a single shot. “Shit’s getting real, Riddick.”

“Agreed. Time for firepower?”

“Don’t see why not.”

Riddick drew his Glock. “Fire away.”

It was like an ambush, only we’d been fighting for a while already. Our enemies dropped to the ground. Some hurt, some dead.

It was hours of work to dispose of the dead and tie up the wounded.

“Hey boss?” Home Run looked as exhausted as I felt.

“Yeah?”

“The Chubbies were a little more enthusiastic than we were.”

Fuuuck. “How bad?”

“It’s a goddamned horror movie over there. Knife had a lot of fun carving up bodies.”

“How much longer do they need to clean up?”

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