Altered Ch. 03

"Do me a favor? Will you grab my gear as you leave?" I asked and they nodded.

Then I got up and headed towards the two goons at the front of the bar as the girls fled out the back.

[Spanish] "Hey, Chica, why don't you and your boyfriend go find a gay bar?" playing upon their homophobia, my homosexual insults were intended to instigate conflict.

I think that pissed him off because he got up out of his chair and he lunged at me with a knife. I was expecting this and his moves seemed to be in slow motion as I grabbed his wrist and pulled it straight up over his head. Being much taller than him, I was able to lift him off of the ground and with my other hand I grabbed him by the throat.

His partner tried to help him out but when he went to get out of his chair I kicked the chair legs out from underneath him, toppling him to floor.

[Spanish] "How many of you are there?"

He tried striking me with his feet and other arm but with every lunge my hand tightened around his throat, turning him quickly purple. He stopped trying to hit me when he lost consciousness.

"I guess he didn't have anything to say," I muttered. [Spanish] "How about you precious?" I offered. "You got something to say?" as I threw his partner to the ground.

I admired the gangster in front of me, he flipped to his feet using classic martial arts techniques and he was instantly in a kickboxing stance. I could tell he could handle himself but it didn't matter, this wasn't going to be a fair fight. I wanted to spar with him and let him get in a few good licks but I knew that I had to quickly subdue my pursuers before they got carried away, time wasn't on my side.

I rushed forward with a blinding 1-2 combination followed by an uppercut. Normally he would have blocked the blows and followed with his own moves and granted he did block the first shot, the second shot was so fast that it stunned him and the uppercut came right under his guard, hitting him in the jaw and lifting him off of the ground by a couple of feet. He fell to the ground in a heap on top of his partner.

Since I gave away my gun to the girls and left the assault rifle down in the motel garbage, I searched their bodies for guns. One of them had a .357 Magnum Revolver. Dirty Harry wannabe maybe? It had only six shots and he had no extra ammo on him. The other had a Smith and Wesson M&P, it was a smaller gun and easier to conceal but a .45 caliber that packed a punch. This one had eight rounds and he carried two extra clips. I didn't have time to grab his holster as I had to get out of there ASAP.

I took off out the backdoor stuffing my M&P in my waist and led with the .357. I looked left and right and the left alley entrance was blocked off by a large van with men exiting, to the right there was an El Camino with two gangsters driving toward the bar entrance.

I ran toward the El Camino and shot into the windshield, followed quickly by a spray of blood and brain matter as the car veered off to the side, slamming into a trash bin. I did not stop my momentum as I ran toward the car and I leapt over, clearing it by two feet as if a hurdle at a track meet. After I landed I slowed my momentum and spun back toward the pursuers and shot the passenger getting out of the El Camino, hitting him in the shoulder and torso. I proceeded to shoot toward the men running toward me in the alleyway, forcing them to find cover. With the bullets spent, I tossed the gun to the side and ran down the remaining stretch of the alleyway. The pursuers were recovering and one even got off a shot before I ran around the corner, hitting me on the shoulder. It stung but my adrenaline dampened the pain quite a bit and I kept moving.

I estimated that I could run about 40 mph at full sprint (Usain Bolt can run 28 mph in the 100 meter to give perspective); although I have never clocked myself I estimated based on things I observed during past pursuits. Although I can't outrun a car, I wasn't limited to where I could go either so it was really easy to elude my pursuers as I ducked between buildings, hopped over fences and made my way through a maze of obstacles until I couldn't hear them any longer.

Finally, huffing and puffing, I made it to the Port Border Crossing and looked around worried until both girls - giggling - snuck up on me from behind. I heard them before they got to me but I didn't want to spoil their fun as the 'surprised' me. I tried to act surprised but I quickly gathered them together into a group hug; soon after that we began planning what to do next.