We go in circles, preparing for the fight. I come up with an idea that I should distract her. I should keep talking until she’s out of focus. “I remember that day you asked me to hang out with you.”
“Me, too.” Her foxy voice sounds threatening.
“But then, I guess that was postponed cos a zombie apocalypse just randomly broke out.”
“That’s true.”
I feel good when I got her engaged with it. I continue, “But you know, we can still do that some time. Somewhere safe, I think.”
“Sure, I’d love that.”
Yet we still keep going in circles. I should keep the conversation up, then. “Well, I remember that time when we fought off some bloodies in the building the first time, too. When, you know, before we figured out we’d been breached?”
“Oh, yeah. When you and Bucky fought them together.”
“Yes. And you came out of nowhere.”
“Yeah.” She chuckles. She’s definitely letting her guard down now. I think it works.
I move a little closer subtly so she won’t notice it. We’re still going in circles and I feel a bit dizzy now. I reply to her, “You saved me from getting bitten.”
“And you saved me back.”
“We can be good friends, to be honest. Like you said.
“Oh, sure. I think there’s no reason for us to be enemies, right?”
“Indeed.”
Yes, there is. This meaningless fight.
Now I’m out of topics. What else should I talk about? Bucky? No. That’s a bad idea.
I take a subtle step forward.
“So, how come you and Bucky are siblings but have different last names?” I squeeze my eyes shut, regretting the question.
I said I shouldn’t be talking about him, didn’t I?
“Well, we adopted him.”
“Oh, I see.” I take another step closer.
“I met him in the streets when he was eating dumped food in the garbage can, and he’s too good looking to do that, so I took him in.”
“And then what about your parents?” I take another step.
“They felt pity for him, so the next few days, they went to get some papers to sign. And now he’s part of the family. He said he’ll keep his late mother’s last name that’s why we have different last names.”
“Oh.” Then another subtle step.
“Now, are you ready to start, or do you still wanna know something more about him?”
“Huh?” Damn, she knows. I think she’s the assassin here and not Dan. How could she possibly guess I was just distracting her?
I look around to see if they noticed the same thing, but they seem to be invested in their chitchats. I hope they weren’t listening to our conversation.
As soon as I realize I’m only two yards from her, she throws a punch toward me which thankfully I evade in the instant yet it doesn’t fail to slip on my cheek. I gasp at the sudden move. I take a few steps away almost out of balance, and as I regain it, she moves forward, reaching to me with another closed fist.
I sway it away with my arm, and another with the other. Her moves are too quick for me to evade them all, yet surprisingly, I can catch some of them right before I know it. I put my foot behind me which places me in a strong stance, then I slide her arm to my side which pushes her forward. I fold my elbows and hover them toward her face, which she dodges away.
I groan as a tight pain seer to my stomach. Her straightened arm pierces against me. I put my left foot on her right side, and lock her on her neck with my arm. And yet as I try to hit her on her side, I get flipped down on my back, my spine severing more pain. She turns her back, probably thinking it’s the end, yet I’m not accepting defeat. I grab her last foot and pull it toward me, making her fall along. I crawl on top of her and give her punches on the face while she uses both elbows to block them.
“Alright, that’s enough for you guys!” Bucky yells.
I ignore him and keep attacking Nathalie. Someone grabs me by my armpits and pulls me off of her. I try to fight my way out, but then his hold is too strong. I calm down a bit, watching Nathalie getting up by herself.
“Okay, this fight is over y’all. Let us all go back to what we were doing before!” Brahm exclaims, hitting a clanking metal with a ruler.
I think within, I guess that was a win?
I turn my back as everyone else starts walking. Then, an outcry startles us. As I start to turn back, a stinging pain aches my neck as it gets turned away, my surroundings shake for a while until I fall down on my knees. I keep my balance as I lean my hands, trying to process the sudden occurrence. Nathalie doesn’t look like she accepted her defeat. I pant, hearing my heartbeat along with a ringing sound in my ears. Sweat drops on the floor, and my eyes only focus on one figure.
My enemy.
Turning back from a fight might be the greatest mistake in the history of fights. When you’re involved, you’ll never know if it’s ended or not unless one surrenders or dies amidst. If you’re not dead yet, that means it’s not over. No matter how tired you are or damaged your face is already. The only way to end it is to rise back up and fight again. Fight until your last breath. If this is what Nathalie means, I should take my chances to live and win over her.
My eyes blur, and the ringing noise is even louder. I hear someone say I must be having a concussion yet the voice sounds too surreal as it echoes through my ears. I hear myself moan as I try to lift my arm. I can’t. My strength has left me. My breathing becomes harder to do which brings me to cough. Blood drools down that stain the white tiles.
“Nathalie, what did you do?!” Bucky says in an angry tone. He cups my cheeks and hysterically shakes my head, making the aching worse. “Are you okay?”
I moan again, unable to speak. I sway my arms to shoo the people around me, yet I’m too weak to do it. I take a hard deep breath which, surprisingly, eases the pain in my chest and the ringing.
Bucky speaks again, “answer me, Riley. Are you okay?”
I nod weakly, putting my hand on his shoulder. The little strength that’s left in me, gathers to my hand, now lifting my weight up back on my feet. He stands along with me, worries in his eyes shimmering under the fluorescent lights.
Now that the ground stops spinning, and the ringing fades, I tilt my head from side to side, and a cracking sound emits. Nathalie looks confused as her light eyebrows meet each other. I intense my glare at her, snuffing some blood back through my larynx. I dig my foot on the ground floor as I ready myself to launch into her. Not even a single step, the whole place spins again. My legs turn to jelly, and my consciousness knows I’m about to hit the hard floor.
However, I am caught by a pair of thick hairy arms which lift my feet off. My head falls on the hard chest, and my eyes are covered by a small shadow under his neck. My vision blurs but I recognize who it is by his scent. The same men’s perfume that’s both soothing and pleasing to the nose. I can even smell it between my lips.