From the leaf-littered floor of the woods, pain radiated from every part of Gabriel’s body. Despite his injuries, he was thankful that Melissa was gone. His attackers had retreated for the moment. Gabriel lifted his head. He sensed their silence was anything but reassuring. As he did so, he saw Kevin watch as Melissa ran off into the woods. On his face, he wore the realization that she would quickly happen on another trail that led her to a residential road, a road where she could easily be granted access to contact the authorities. He watched as Kevin clenched and flexed his jaw contemplating his next move.
Suddenly, Kevin roared, “Get her!” to Eric Sala, a track star, and fellow football and basketball teammate. “Get that bitch back here! I don’t care if you have to drag her by her hair to get her back here!”
On command, Eric sprinted into the thicket after Melissa.
Unadulterated rage coursed through Gabriel’s veins as Kevin ordered Eric to accost Melissa. Adrenaline surged through him, enabled his battered body to rise.
“You will not touch her!” he howled standing erect and squaring his shoulders.
Chris charged at him with his aluminum baseball bat. Gabriel anticipated the blow, allowed it to strike his body. Instead of absorbing the swipe, he tensed his abdominal muscles at the precise second of impact and immediately dropped his arm on the bat trapping it. Then Gabriel yanked the bat with both of his hands, seizing it from Chris’s grasp.
With the weapon in his hands, Gabriel used the butt of the bat and struck his opponent squarely in the jaw.
Devastated by both the force and swiftness of the blow, Chris Mace staggered and fell to the ground clutching his chin and writhing in pain.
Gabriel turned, now armed, and confronted John DeNardi who approached behind his fallen comrade. Confounded by what he had witnessed, John advanced more cautiously than Chris had.
Gabriel noticed that John approached, tentatively at first. Then, trying to surprise him, John charged. He swung his weapon wildly, recklessly. With no specific target intended though, John’s swings were easily deflected by Gabriel.
Gabriel blocked and dodged the many, fevered strikes. John struck with zeal but without strategy. As he stepped back drawing both arms to one side trying to swing the bat with all of his might, Gabriel saw that John left his back exposed, vulnerable. Gabriel calculated the ideal time to launch a counterattack against him. He spun and rammed the butt of his own bat forcefully into the back of John’s head. John dropped to the ground and fell, unconscious.
With John and Chris down, Kevin Anderson remained the last member of the group on his feet. He looked at Gabriel with deep concern, with fear. Gabriel guessed Kevin had not planned to fight him alone. He did not want to let Kevin off so easily this time, but time was a complication. Time was ticking away. Eric still trailed Melissa. And Eugene was undoubtedly in pursuit of her as well, though it was unlikely he was in the woods. Nevertheless, Gabriel could not consider Eugene at the moment. Instead, he focused his anger on Kevin and faced off with him.
Mixed precipitation teemed down from grayed heavens as they stood before each other. Each droplet rained angrily, pointedly, pelting and pummeling them, obscuring movements.
But Gabriel held a genetic advantage. With his unmatched vision, he assessed Kevin’s every action, each step taken. He noted the slightest shift in his opponent’s body and was prepared for an attack from any angle. He did not need the advantage of his superior sight, however, to see that Kevin no longer retained the arrogance he enjoyed earlier when all his followers were present. He assumed the pallid hue of a man outmatched.
Yet despite the inkling that he would be bested, Kevin attacked first. He intended to land a blow to Gabriel’s head.
Gabriel studied how Kevin swung his bat with speed that was both astonishing and impressive. Familiar with the feel of a bat gripped in his hands, the star baseball player who captioned his school’s team handled the equipment with acuity, with adroitness.
But Gabriel’s reflexes were unparalleled. As the club approached his temple with a mere fraction of a second to spare before impact, Gabriel dropped on one knee. Narrowly avoiding a blow to the skull, he swung his weapon directly into Kevin Anderson’s kneecap.
The knock brought Kevin down hard on the thicketed ground.
Howling in pain, the celebrated athlete gripped his injured knee.
Gabriel then balled one powerful fist and hurled two blows in quick succession. One landed on Kevin’s temple while the other fell on his jaw. Kevin’s head slumped back as consciousness escaped him.
Though his adversary was unconscious, he wanted nothing more than to hammer at Kevin with both of his fists, to dole out the punishment he deserved. But there were more pressing matters, more dire situations to contend with. He needed to find Melissa. He needed to protect her from Eugene.
Summoning every ounce of restraint he had, Gabriel refrained from beating Kevin Anderson to a bloodied pulp. Instead, he dashed off in the direction that Eric Sala ran to find Melissa.