Chapter sixty-eight

Mustafa looked shocked and devastated to see Chandra waiting beside Damian.
"Moose!" Antonio thumped him hard in his broad chest with the flat of both his hands. " Get her back! Goddammit!"

Mike was right. They were bigger and stronger than what Damian remembered, but they were also slower and less disciplined in their moves--especially Rick. He kept charging at Steve like a one horned rhino. And Steve kept sending him face first in the dirt with a thunderous kick or a crunching, straight right hand. Finally Rick went down and didn't get back up.

Bruce and John Huang fought at a pace that was frantic. Both Asian Soldiers were  quick and both had the same level of skills. John was bigger, and unlike Antonio and Rick and Mustafa, he evidently did his wind work as diligently as the weight work. The kicks, punches, feints, leaps and counter moves came so fast, it looked like each man had at least eight arms and eight legs. Finally, John somehow managed to catch Bruce with a squatting kick, taking his legs away from him. Bruce hit the ground and rolled to all fours but John was right on top of him. He caught Bruce with a  side kick that sent him sprawling flat on his back. Then he dove, elbow first at Bruce's neck.

Sonya hadn't entered into that black place of pure rage yet. Michelle hit her with a couple of hard shots that would have normally taken her there. But she didn't want to kill her friend. She loved Michelle and was so happy to see her again. She didn't know why they were fighting.  Antonio gave her a pill and told her to hit Michelle. She did it, and never thought about Michelle hitting back. Michelle did, and years of training and indoctrination took over Sonya's mind and body.

She gave as good as she got and she could take more to get hers because she never felt pain. Even when someone broke a bone she never felt hurt until long after the fight was over. She didn't want to kill Michelle, she just wanted to keep her occupied like Tony ordered. Then Michelle struck her full in the face, with a perfect right hand counter. After that everything went black before Sonya's eyes.


David Bravefeather was gasping for air, stumbling around like a drunkard, clutching at his throat. Chako followed him around, waiting for him to straighten up. He had caught David with two knuckles to the windpipe, and could have easily followed up with a neck hold. The man was as helpless as a baby. But he was told about how Isabella and Shakira died.

Bravefeather got some air in his lungs and stood up straight, coughing, arms weaving around like a blind man in a haunted house. Already, the defeat was in his eyes because he knew he had nothing left. Chako jumped up as high as he could. Bravefeather's head bounced against his shoulder blade and then flopped forward to rest against his chest. He turned a three quarter circle and fell to the ground.

Mustafa ran up on Patrick and the smaller man almost turned and fled; instead he dropped low and got beneath the huge Soldier, taking his legs from under him. Mustafa hit the dirt, his broken ribs nearly paralyzing him with pain. He couldn't breath or move, but instead of taking the fight to Mustafa, Patrick was standing there in a defensive stance wondering why the smallest man from his side got the biggest, scariest man from their side. He didn't follow up his throw, too wary to be aggressive. He stood bouncing on his toes, watching as Mustafa got up, mistaking the slowness of agony, for menacing deliberation.

This time Mustafa approached him cautiously. Patrick backed up. Mustafa feinted a left hand hook and Patrick ducked only to catch a rock hard knee flush on the chin.  He was already out, but Mustafa held him up with both hands on the side of his face and head-butted him, crushing his scull down into his jawbone.

Chandra was clearly out of her league with Tameka, but she managed to fight back effectively enough to stay on her feet until Steve came over. The big man picked Tameka up and put her in a tree. " Stay here and watch her Chandie. If she jumps down kick her with all your might." He then turned and stalked after Mustafa.

Tameka jumped down out of the tree, anxious to get back at Chandra, furious that she had been given such a good fight so far, by a  prissy Civ like the little Barbie. She fell on all fours when she hit the ground. She looked around for Chandra and  the last thing she saw was a blur of boot.


Damian hit Antonio and Antonio hit Damian.

Antonio had lost a bit of his confidence when he fought Lee, unable to give himself credit for fighting an elite warrior with a broken right arm. Now his confidence was back in full swing. He felt good. Felt he could fight all night. He swung at Damian with a muscled right arm that could have knocked down the side of a barn, and narrowly missed. Damian came back up from his duck to see Mustafa coming his way. He was having a much harder time with Antonio than he thought he would and he knew if he had to fight them both, he was going to be beat to death.

But he didn't have to. Mustafa didn't see him but Damian did. Coming up behind the big, muscle bound Soldier was the big tall johnny on the spot, and friend of Damian.

Damian exhaled with relief. Suddenly feeling lighter than a feather, he leaped and executed his best move, catching Antonio flush on the chin with a double kick. He followed that up with a series of full weight body punches that had the long haired, Conan the barbarian, out on his feet. With one more flying, driving kick between the breast bone and the heart, Damian broke Antonio's ribs, driving the jagged edge of two of them deep into the handsome man's heart.

John Huang dove and Bruce Akimota rolled. Both men bounced to their feet and then it began again. Blow for blow, punch for punch, kick for kick, until Chako Morningsky came flying into the fight. He more than anyone else was on a mission of revenge. How did Mike say Felix was killed? Like this. No they toyed with him first. Instead of delivering the deadly blow he could have, he kicked John in the back just hard enough to throw him into Bruce. Bruce sent John back to Chako with a standing drop kick to the chest. Chako then, flipped him by his neck over his shoulders, deciding not to sink to the Drake's level by prolonging an uneven fight. John hit the ground dead. His spine broken in three places.

Michelle didn't mean to kill her.

She knew about the drugs and what happened to Sonya's baby. Janet told them all, how Sonya had cried after she killed Tiararay. Nobody in their group wanted to kill the disturbed woman. But hitting Sonya was like hitting an enraged Pit-bull. You had to kill her to stop her from killing you. Sonya's eyes were wide open and lifeless now, her face a bloody pulp. Even while in the mode, Michelle fought tears as she bent down and closed her friend's empty eyes.



After a brief round of sparring where Steve stopped Mustafa's heart with a roundhouse punch to the ribs, he now had Mustafa in the same neck hold Mustafa killed Alonzo (big house) Breiner, with.

Damian and all the surviving members of his unit stood watching, none of them enjoying it but all of them eager to see how Steve finished off the big man. This was combat, a fight to the finish, and they were all in the  mode that they had been drilled to enter into when in combat.  Steve didn't twist Mustafa's head. He choked him out and threw him to the ground and walked away.

Chandra came over to Damian and he put an arm around her waist. She laid her head against his shoulder.  "Is Tameka dead?" he asked her. She shook her head.

Everyone from Antonio's side was dead except Mustafa and Tameka.

Damian lost Patrick.

"Damian."

Damian whirled around like he had heard a bullet whiz by his head.

Mike was limping towards him with Janet by his side.

Damian almost didn't recognize him and the only thing that really identified Janet to him was her million dollar smile.

All the crew rush over to them. Damian approached slower, him and Mike holding eye contact while the others reveled in their joyous reunion. Janet was ecstatic as she hugged each of her friends.

"Where is the cat you told me about?" Mike said when Damian got closer. " I'd like to meet her."

Damian looked at his misshapen face, the empty left eye socket, the crushed nose, the misaligned jaw. He thought about Shakira, thought about how Mike stayed alive through all the physical and mental pain just for Janet. Thought about how even through all his own sorrows, Mike had cared enough about a friend to concentrate enough to contact him from across four days of ocean.

" Right now I don't know and I don't care. Right now, all I want to do is hug my little brother."

Mike took an unsteady step towards him and Damian went the rest of the way, enfolding him in a heartfelt embrace.

"You still with me?" Damian whispered.

"Yeah"

"You're going to stay with me?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go...there's somebody who's eager to see you again, back at the boat."

"What do we do about them?" Michelle pointed to Tameka and Mustafa.

" There's plenty of food on this Island for two people. " Damian said. The killing mode was broken by hearing Mike's voice after so long. Damian was now tired and feeling something about the killing done this day that he never felt about the killings done at the slave compound. All he wanted to do now, was get back on the water and just sail.  "Chako, you and Bruce go find Sheba. We'll be waiting for you at the boat."

" Yes, sir." Chako and Bruce started off to search the south side of the woods where the cat had entered.