Oath of the Survivor

Ow, ow, ow!  Not that he’d had different expectations, but getting shot hurt.  Between his incredible Endurance and transformed skin, the bullet barely penetrated into his shoulder, but the impact alone was tremendous, sending Kyle reeling back in pain.  Another impact slammed into his chest just a moment later, and along with the new burst of pain, clarity returned.  Just like with his shoulder, the second bullet didn’t penetrate deep enough to cause real damage, and REGENERATION was already hard at work sealing the injuries. 

Still though, Kyle could now safely add “getting shot” to his list of things he didn’t want to experience again, so rather than stand there for the marksman to fire again, Kyle took the initiative and burst towards one of the men holding a spear, the rebar in his right hand now being held in a two-handed grip. 

The man stood with a slack-jawed expression, eyes widening in realization.  Like his comrades-in-arms, Kyle could tell the man believed the two rifle rounds would put him down.  What he had certainly not expected was for Kyle to take two rifle rounds to the chest, then with what should have been his injured arm heft a long piece of metal and come charging directly at him.  He attempted to raise his spear to mount a defense, but Kyle smashed his leading hand with the rebar, knocking the spear entirely out of his grip.  Letting go of his weapon with his own left hand, he proceeded to punch the soldier in the face with a wicked jab, breaking his nose and pushing him back further. 

Because of the close quarters, the man with the rifle didn’t have a clear shot, which Kyle used to his advantage, using the free left hand to grab his victim’s uniform collar, his forearm across the man’s neck.  As he was already stumbling backwards from the punch, Kyle took advantage of the momentum, his opponent a makeshift shield as he closed the distance towards the gunman. 

To the soldier’s credit, he didn’t hesitate as he dashed in the direction of the other spearmen who were regrouping in a tighter formation.  For a moment, Kyle considered activating HASTE and trying to catch the man before he got to his allies, but he dismissed the thought.  There were still a lot of unknowns with his new skill, and showing it here wasn’t something he wanted to do unless it was absolutely necessary.  He let go of the man in front of him, but not before punching him again for good measure.  The man crashed to the ground, unmoving as Kyle passed by. 

He got his two-handed grip back on the rebar as he closed the gap between himself and the four other spearmen, who were prepared for his charge.  Like the pistons in an engine, each of the men thrust their spear in succession to keep Kyle occupied while their ally got into position and prepared to raise his gun again.  Their tactics are way too organized for this to be a random group of survivors.  The thought ran through Kyle’s head as he dodged between spears, effortlessly stepping past the strikes and into range as he took a swing with his metal staff. 

The blow caught one of the men across the chest, a sickening crunch could be heard as he was sent flying backwards, his bones shattering.  Kyle flinched at that – while he was certain he hadn’t killed the man; he hadn’t planned on causing that much damage.  Training with Garth and hunting mutated mana-infused beetles had desensitized him to just how fragile an unawakened person could be, and while he knew that these people were out to kill him, he certainly wasn’t looking to kill them. 

The moment of hesitation nearly cost him as the fallen man’s allies each thrust towards him again, but a dive to the left kept him out of harm’s way, though his rebar was dropped in the process.  Seeing the gunman trying to get Kyle in his sights, he jumped in quickly and managed to close the distance. 

The man with the gun swore as he desperately tried to line up a shot, but there was nothing left that he could accomplish as Kyle drove his fist into the man’s stomach and again into the side of his head, knocking him unconscious.  The rifle fell from the man’s hands, and Kyle briefly considered picking it up before instead just kicking it away.  Kyle had never held a gun before, and trying to learn how to use a brand-new weapon in the heat of combat seemed like a bad idea.  Besides, Kyle wasn’t about to get into the business of murder. 

“You’re done.  Put the spears down and get on your knees with your hands behind your head.  I don’t want to hurt anybody else today.”  He was aiming for a strong, confident tone of voice, but as he heard his voice trembling from the adrenaline, he knew he’d failed.  The men standing in an arc in front of him clearly noticed as well, and Kyle saw grips tightening on spears as one of the men replied. 

“You expect us to believe that?  Don’t know what group you’re a part of, but no way your boss is gonna be okay letting us go.  And no way in hell we’re gonna be taken prisoner or turn traitor.”  That threw Kyle for a loop. Boss?  Are they talking about Garth?  He opened his mouth to reply, just as an explosion of flame rocked the camp, accompanied by loud shouting from Garth. 

“Stand and fight you coward!  When I’m done with you, you’re going to wish you’d died in the fall!”  More shouting followed, muffled by another blast as Kyle and the men just stared at each other.  Yeah, that timing couldn’t have been much worse, Kyle thought, seeing the men tense just before they all charged him.

 Before all this, Kyle wasn’t a fighter – and even though he’d been training with Garth he still had a lot to learn.  Despite his technical shortcomings, the raw athleticism provided by his attributes made him a true sight to behold as he deftly dodged spear thrusts, landing devastating punches as he weaved in and out.  The men fought valiantly, but simply found themselves outmatched.  Each thrust was either evaded or slapped away, and even the glancing blows against them threatened to break bones. 

Only a handful of seconds into the fight and the first man was down, a straight punch to the solar plexus knocking the wind out of him and cracking ribs.  The second was out of the fight soon after, clutching his face after a punch to the side of the head as Kyle sidestepped a thrust.  The last man left standing attempted to take advantage of that by swinging his spear in a large arc, hoping to catch Kyle off guard during his counter.  Damn, damn, damn.  Kyle understood why these men wouldn’t believe him when he said he didn’t want to hurt them – because he’d already hurt them plenty.  Still though, he wasn’t expecting that they’d be willing to put each other in harm’s way to take him down. 

The swing was slow, and Kyle knew as he watched it come in that he could dodge.  If he did, the arc of the swing would catch the injured man behind him, oblivious to the danger he was in.  While he didn’t owe the enemy soldier anything, Kyle wasn’t about to let this fight end with corpses.  Crossing his arms in a tight guard, Kyle gritted his teeth and fixed his eyes on his opponent.  The blade-edge of the spear sliced into his forearms, but found little purchase against his reinforced skin. 

A small line of blood began to form, but almost as quickly as it did the wound began to close thanks to REGENERATION being active and fully working.  His opponent just stood there, slack-jawed as he saw how ineffectual his strike was, the spear slipping entirely from his grasp.  His eyes never leaving Kyle’s, he slumped to his knees and put his hands behind his head as a whimper escaped his mouth.  Kyle couldn’t help but shudder at the fear in the man’s eyes – he looked like he’d just seen a monster.

~~~

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