Page 63Mis calculation

There were a few options, but none of them felt satisfactory to me. One of the stranger ones was expecting that I would be able to move fast enough to let go of the box, knock the guard out and be back before the box hit the floor. Now, while the first part felt plausible, actually turning around and being back felt unlikely. Another was to scream really loudly.

I didn't exactly know how I came up with that one. But, something I'd never really tried out, if everything in me was stronger, so should be my voice. If I screamed very loud, it would surprise and deafen the guard. A normal scream, however, didn't feel very menacing to me and I'd never tried to use my voice outside of it's normal range. Never had I tried to use my voice beyond it's limits.

The most plausible option that felt right to me was to put the box down gently, but in front of my foot so it wasn't fully visible, with the markings away from the guard. Then dashing backwards to where he stood, trying to knock him out with my strength.

The major limit of that move was that I needed to know exactly where he was and, if I missed, that I'd be up close with him and completely visible. All he knew now was that I was female. Even my age should be indeterminate from behind, in the dark, with generic clothing on.

I gave it a try and it was mostly a success. Mostly.

The guard was becoming impatient, but he didn't step towards me yet. He felt there was something strange about all of this. One thing suddenly occurred to me. He'd seen my backpack. If he had a decent memory, it wouldn't be that hard to trace. Perhaps I was lucky enough to have bought it a month ago. Anyway, I tried to focus on all I knew, heard, felt and saw. The angle of his flashlight, the beat of his heart, the smell of his body. All together I had a good notion of where he stood.

Confirmed when he spoke. "Put it down!"

There was almost a sigh when I slowly bend forwards to put the box on the ground. The feral part in me grinned for showing my bottom to him in such tight pants. It wasn't that that part of me was ashamed of it. Quite the contrary, it almost wiggled my behind at the man if I hadn't suppressed it. This required focus, though the distraction it might have caused could have been useful.

I'll never know.

All of this had gone through my head in only a few seconds, I felt. When I straightened my back again, standing up fully, the man spoke again.

"Now, turn around."

This was the moment.

His voice was clear to me, I knew exactly where he stood; four and a half steps almost exactly backwards and a little to my right. It felt best to try and do the whole thing backwards, using my elbow on the side of his head to knock him out. It was a good plan.

Mostly a success.

Four steps were needed for my elbow to be in reach, they were so fast he couldn't even have seen it. Then the swift curve of my elbow, already starting on the third step, connected perfectly. Just next to the ear, he barely made a sound when I hit him.

The gun, however, did.

The sound was so different inside of the warehouse. It had a metallic dissonance to it that made it sound even nastier than before. I hadn't expected the man to twitch his finger as soon as I knocked him out. The sound was almost as bad as the feeling.

The man had held the pistol in front of him, a little below chest height. I'd almost dashed directly into it, unthinking of that simple consequence. It was much worse this time, it wasn't just a flesh-wound, the bullet didn't go straight through, the pain was almost enough to make me faint.

The smell was the next thing. First I smelled blood. Not my own, but his, as my arm had hit him a little across his face, causing a nose bleed. With my ferocity flaring up, it was the first smell of many. Then the combined smell of gunpowder, hot metal, burned skin and my own blood started to be revealed to me. The last echoes of the gunshot started to fade away as well, with voices outside behind them. I had to go.

My hand had clutches my side automatically, preventing from my blood being spilled. It didn't bleed as much as I would have thought, but it hurt so much more. Deep inside my body, there was an alien piece of metal that didn't belong there. My body was rejecting it, screaming at it to go away. Echoes, reverberations and choruses of pain made my body a temple where hymns of agony were performed.

I'd been shot.

Again.

Bad.

...Bad indeed.