Becca XXX - Hard Time Ch. 16

The ball of my foot connected with his chin and his head snapped back and, for a moment, I thought I'd knocked him out. Unfortunately, I wasn't that lucky. He slowly rolled his head back up and stared down at me with a smirk on his face.

In a split second, his expression changed from one of amusement to one of anger and he spun me round by my arms through three-hundred-and-sixty degrees. The centrifugal force lifted me off the ground and he let go of me, hurling me into the wall like a rag doll.

Whoosh - Smash - Crump.

My back and side took the brunt of the force, knocking the wind out of me.

"All units. We are under attack," he said into his mike while I gasped for breath on the floor. "Priority one is to evacuate the Hamiltons. Priority two is to eliminate The Patriots. Form defensive positions to protect the evacuation route to the boat and then advance on the industrial area. Take them down hard."

He finished barking his orders and then turned his attention back to me.

"Stupid little girl," he sniggered, waggling his finger at me. "You think you can come here and try to kill Mr Hamilton? You have no idea who you're dealing with."

There didn't seem much point in replying. My target was rapidly escaping with Sasha and I needed to stop them. I looked around the room desperately searching for a weapon. I was near the door and too far away from the patio to make a dash for my guns, I was going to have to improvise.

Gigantor started towards me so I got to my feet and focused my attention on repelling his next attack. His size was his main advantage, but all that muscle mass made him slow. My advantage was speed and agility and my will to win. It wasn't about the size of the dog in the fight, it was about the size of the fight in the dog and I had plenty.

He was grinning like a lunatic as though he'd been looking forward to this moment since we'd first met. He faked a step to the left and then came forward with his right, punching out at my head like a jack hammer. I dropped low and ducked under his arm, punching him as hard as I could in the ribs and then stepping to the side. It was like hitting concrete. I was hoping to break his floating rib, but it just bounced off as though I'd barely touched him.

His grin grew bigger.

"I like it when they fight back," he laughed. "Once I get you pinned down, I'll make good use of that little cunt of yours, before I snap you in half."

He spun round and managed to grab my arm as we faced off again. I drove forwards with my left foot, aiming straight between his legs, but he saw it coming. It was an obvious move on my part and I hadn't been quick enough. He turned slightly and blocked my foot with his free hand, grabbing hold of my ankle. He now had two of my limbs in his hands and he spun me around again, throwing me through the air and into the dressing table.

Whoosh - Smash - Crash.

The items on the table were strewn all over the floor as the weight of my body destroyed the dresser. I shook it off and looked again for something I could use as a weapon, but there was nothing suitable. At least I was now nearer to the patio door. I just hoped Sullivan had brought my weapons to me. In fact, I was counting on it.

A basic plan started to form in my head as to how I could use this hulk's technique against him. He seemed to like throwing me around so if I could get him to throw me at the patio door, I might be able to scramble over and get my MP7.

I didn't have time to think as he came at me again. I slid off the broken dresser and planted my feet firmly on the floor. My side felt painful and blood was running down the back of my leg, but the adrenaline was keeping me going.

"Once I've softened you up, I'm going to do whatever I want to you," he sneered.

He lunged forwards again, but instead of moving to the side and ducking under his arm, I moved in towards him. I was now on the inside of his punch which took a lot of the power out of it. I drove up off my feet and punched him straight under the chin, hoping to connect with his throat and crush his windpipe.

Again, my punch connected with full force, but my wrist crumpled against a wall of muscle and had no effect. This guy seemed superhuman. He laughed at my effort and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. I punched out with my other arm aiming my thumb for his eye, but he caught it mid-air and bent my arm back. The pain was excruciating, but I managed to resist him from breaking it.

Our faces were now only a few inches away and I could smell coffee on his breath. He grinned again and then pulled my hair back harder, planting his lips onto mine and forcing a kiss onto me. I tried to bite his face, but he pulled away and hurled me through the air once more in the opposite direction of the patio.

I hit the plasterboard so hard that it left a Becca-shaped dent in it three feet from the ground before I slithered down the wall into a heap on the floor.

I couldn't take much more of this and I was still nowhere near the weapons. I had to change my plan. I assessed my surroundings and realised that I'd landed next to the bed. The drinks and the champagne bottle were still on the bedside table and I knew things had now changed in my favour. The bottle was the most obvious choice, but also the most useless. It wouldn't be much use as a club or a cutting weapon so I just picked it up and threw it at his head to slow him down.

He just batted it away and laughed at me.

"You throw like a girl," he sniggered.

"So I've been told," I snapped back.

While he was momentarily distracted, I picked up a champagne flute in each hand and smashed the tops off of them against the bedside table. It left me with the long thin stem and the round base. I slid the jagged stems between my fingers and gripped the bases in each hand, making fists.

My improvised punch-knives were about to even up the odds. I knew I was fast enough to hit this guy, but his hard muscle made my punches ineffective. However, puncturing his rhino-hard skin with glass daggers would be a different story.

"Mmmm, this makes it more interesting," he smiled, seeming completely unperturbed by my actions. "Let's see what you've got before I rape that sexy ass of yours."

"Come and get it," I replied, standing perfectly still with my fists by my sides. "This kitten's now got claws."

The pain from being thrown around seemed to dissipate now that I was armed. I slowed my breathing down and stood stock still. Sweat and debris covered my naked body and my leg was still bleeding, but my persona changed to one of still-water. I would react to his attack without any pre-thought of a counter strike. My sub-conscious and years of hard training would see my opening and I would unleash havoc on the softer parts of his body.

He made a punch for my face, but I ducked under it at the last minute and drove my right fist towards his bicep. The stem of the glass punctured into his arm, between the muscle and the bone taking him by surprise.

Punch - squelch.

I followed it up with my left as I stepped sideways, punching into his side below the rib cage where his kidney would be unprotected.

Punch - squelch.

I kept my momentum and pushed past him, moving to his rear to stop him from grabbing hold of me again.

My target areas may have seemed unorthodox, but they had been extremely accurate. Taking on a guy five times my size meant that I had to use a completely different strategy. He was too big and strong for me to break his limbs or his neck and he was too tough to knock out with my punches and kicks. I had to aim for something far more deadly now that I had something sharp and pointed.

My target was his arteries.

It didn't matter how big you were, catastrophic blood loss from arterial bleeding would kill anyone in under four minutes. Maurice had expected me to stab at his neck, which was the most obvious area, but the body has far more arteries than that. Most are buried deep in the body or are protected by bone, but not all of them. My punch to his bicep had severed his Brachial artery and blood was already pouring out and soaking into his white shirt.

"You fucking bitch," he snarled. "Is that all you've got. Let's end this."

Anger now filled his head. After being injured by a girl it was clouding his judgement. He didn't even bother to compose himself, he just turned and lurched forwards, grabbing at my wrists to try and disable them. I dodged his attack by dropping to my knees and I stabbed the glass stems into both of his thighs as hard as I could.

Punch - squelch.

Punch - squelch.

He howled in pain and lashed out with his right knee. It connected hard in the side of my head, throwing me backwards as he clutched his legs. It felt like I'd been hit in the head with a cannon ball. I saw starbursts and I could taste blood in my mouth. Somehow, I was still conscious and managed to roll away from him as he staggered backwards.

One of my glass daggers had snapped off and was still embedded in his leg, but I still had one weapon left. As I came out of my dazed state, I saw that I was covered in blood which was dripping down my neck and shoulders. It took me a second to realise that it wasn't mine. Maurice's arm was completely covered in blood and it had dripped off of his hand as he'd made a grab for me. His side was also leaking well and having two severed femoral arteries in his thighs wasn't going to help him any.

A look of realisation crept over his face as he realised he was going to bleed out. Even if he'd been on the operating table of a hospital, his chances of survival were slim. The floor beneath him was turning a dark shade of red. His heart would be pumping his life source out of his body at a rate of five litres per minute and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Instead of resigning himself to death, his face filled with anger and he growled like an angry bear. He knew he was going to die, but he wanted to take me with him. He ran towards me like a charging bull, low and fast. His feet slipped on the blood and he stumbled forwards landing in front of me. I made a final punch to his neck, but he caught my hand and dragged himself up on top of me.

He grabbed me around the throat with his uninjured arm and began to squeeze hard. Blood from his wounds dripped all over me as though I was showering in it as I fought back. I wriggled and bucked, kicking out and punching him over and over again at his injured arm. He was coughing and the colour was draining from his face, but he kept on squeezing. I couldn't breathe, but I felt his grip getting weaker and more slippery as his life source started to drain.

"FUCKING BITCH... I'LL KILL YOU... FUCKING WHORE," he spat.

I couldn't get this guy off of me. I just had to bide my time and hope that he passed out before I did. He was getting weaker by the second and his eyes began to roll back in his head.

"I'll... fucking... kill... fuck..." his voice trailed off and his grip loosened, but I was still pinned down with his huge mass on top of me.

I now had the risk of being crushed to death, so I used all of my strength to push up as hard as I could and then quickly slither out from under him. It wasn't a moment too soon. He collapsed onto the floor with a loud gurgle and lay still. Blood continued to pour out of his wounds while I got my breath back, staring out at the scene in front of me.

I'd been lucky with this guy. If I hadn't got to the champagne glasses, I'd have been dead by now. Instead, I was looking down on what looked like a beached whale that had been massacred. Thick red blood coated almost every inch of my naked body and I felt completely drained.

I took a moment to get my breath back and then snapped back to reality. I may have killed the Man-mountain, but my mission was far from over. I dragged myself off the floor and slipped my way to the patio doors through the blood. My thoughts turned to Sasha and Charles and I hoped I wasn't too late to kill him and rescue her.

I drew the curtain back, wiping my hands and face on them to remove some of the blood and sweat. I opened the doors, enjoying the cool breeze against my sticky red skin. To my relief, my bag of toys had been left right where Sullivan had described. I could hear feint weapon signatures ringing out to the south of me as The Patriots engaged the enemy. Suppressed weapons were being used, but they were still audible.

I pulled my bag from under the sun-bed and started to get myself ready. The first item out of the bag was my MP7, right where I'd left it. I pulled the cocking lever back and checked that there was still a round in the chamber. The shiny brass in the breach told me that the weapon was made ready so I put it to one side and pulled out the tactical vest. I slipped the Kevlar-lined body armour over my head and fastened the Velcro straps. Sullivan had used his initiative and provided me with a pair of combat shorts and some boots as he knew I'd be inappropriately dressed at this point. I quickly got dressed and then pulled out the UCP pistol and holstered it onto the vest along with my spare mags and a couple of fragmentation grenades.

The radio was the last item I fitted, clipping it to the vest and fitting the ear piece and throat mike.

"All call signs, this is Becca. Mission is a fail. I repeat, mission is a fail," I said, pressing the mike button on my neck. "Hamilton's on his way to the boat with Sasha. Over."

"Becca, it's Whitehouse. What the fuck went wrong? Over." he asked.

"He managed to alert the giant and he's been extracted by some of his team. I'm heading to intercept. Over."

I could hear rounds coming in on their position through my ear piece and also hear footsteps running along the corridor on the other side of the master bedroom. I kept my back to the outside wall, facing the marina and brought my weapon into my shoulder ready to take on anyone that came my way.

"Negative. Negative. Do not intercept," bellowed Whitehouse. "We're meeting heavy resistance between the runway and villa. We can't help you with the intercept. We will take out the boat with a Strela as we agreed. Over."

"I need to rescue Sasha first. Do not engage that boat. I repeat, do not engage the boat. I'm going after them on my own. Over."

I suddenly heard a new voice on the net as Capitol opened up with the Barret. Unlike the rest of his team, Capitol's weapon wasn't suppressed and could probably be heard from a mile away it was so loud.

"Tango down," he said softly. "Assault team is clear to move up. Over."

There was a brief silence on the net as the guys advanced forwards under the cover of the sniper. I heard a couple more loud shots ringing out, followed by reports of tango's down and then Whitehouse came back on.

"Becca, make your way to the marina and I'll try and join you," said Whitehouse. "Kill as many guards as you can to make our passage to you a little easier. Do not intercept the boat without us. Over."

"Copy that. Moving. Over."

"Oh, and Becca. Cover your ears, it's about to get real loud," he joked. "Pentagon, blow it."

As he said that, I heard Pentagon come onto the net.

"Fire in the hole," he shouted like a cowboy going into battle.

I covered my ears and cowered behind the villa for cover as a huge explosion rocked the whole atoll.

CABOOM.

The ground shook and windows shattered, throwing debris all over the place from the shock wave. I had no idea how much explosives they had used, but it sounded like a nuclear bomb had gone off. Dust and pieces of the warehouse started to rain down all over the island and then it fell silent for a few seconds. The shock of the warehouse exploding had taken everyone by surprise so I used the momentary cease fire to make some distance.

The marina was a good four hundred metres away across an open beach. I could see movement on the jetty and the boat was lit up and made ready to depart. They were obviously waiting for Charles and Sasha to arrive which could have been at any second.

I needed to get to the boat more than anything in the world, but I had to take my time. The lack of cover across the beach would make me a sitting duck so I would have to go through the villa room by room until I got to the south west corner. From there I would have cover from fire and the distance to the boat would be a lot shorter.

I checked chamber one more time and peered into the master bedroom. The dust was clearing and Maurice was still lying on the floor where I'd killed him. I moved into the room keeping low and aimed my weapon at Gigantor's head.

Phut - phut.

I'd seen too many action movies to risk leaving this guy to come back from the dead. With two rounds through his skull, he was dead for sure.

"I'm in the corridor of the villa heading west to the marina," I said into my throat mike. "Try not to shoot me. Over."

"I see you," replied Capitol. "No sign of the targets, they must be out of my line of sight. Over."

"We're advancing through the centre of the island," replied Liberty. "Keep going and keep their heads down for us. Over."

I peered out of the blown-out window across the other side of the corridor. I could see movement in the undergrowth and assumed it was Whitehouse and his team making slow progress. After a quick glance both ways down the corridor, I moved out and hugged the inside wall, slowly moving towards the door at the end.

My heart was pounding and I was sweating like a whore in church. My eyes were out on stalks looking for anything to fire some rounds into. I still had to be careful of non-combatants, but I hoped they were all hunkered down out of the way.

I could hear suppressed gunfire, coming from the room at the end of the corridor. If my memory served me correctly, it was the kitchen.

The faint 'phut-phut-phut' of an MP7 on full-auto got louder the closer I got. I tried to avoid making a noise on the broken glass which was all over the floor and I pushed the door open a little to see inside. The lights were out to stop their enemy from seeing their position, but I could make out at least five men. They were hiding behind the wall below a blown-out window, taking it in turns to fire into the darkness beyond. Rounds were being returned and bounced off the kitchen walls and metal saucepans as Whitehouse's team tried to keep them suppressed.

I pressed the throat mike and spoke quietly.

"I've got five tangos on the south side of the building firing on your position. Cease fire while I take them out. Over," I whispered.

"Copy that. Toss them a frag," said Pentagon, sounding out of breath. "Nothing says 'fuck you' more than shrapnel. Over."

"Copy that."

I pulled one of the small orange-sized grenades from my vest and gripped the release pin. I pulled it out, kicked the door open and rolled it towards the crouching men.

"Frag out," I said quietly into my mike.

I let the door close and got behind the wall as I heard it chink and roll across the tiled floor.

BOOM.

The door blew outwards with a cloud of smoke and screams of pain from the men inside. I pushed forwards into the room with my weapon up to follow it up. Seeing bodies strewn across the floor in various states of consciousness gave me multiple targets. I engaged the ones which were still moving first and then put rounds into the rest of them.

Phut - phut.

Phut - phut.

Phut - phut.

Phut - phut.

Phut - phut.

"Tangos down. Moving," I said.

"Copy that. Moving up," said Liberty.

With the smoke settling in the kitchen, I looked out to see the burning warehouse billowing thick black smoke into the air. There was still the odd explosion as fuel and weapons began to cook off. I was feeling panicked that Hamilton had such a big head start on me. If he got to the boat without me, I knew Whitehouse would hit it with a Strela missile with no regard for Sasha's welfare. He had a mission to complete, but I couldn't have her death on my conscience.