Out for a Quick Bite

I only went out for a quick bite to eat, so how… did I end up in this situation? In front of me were two large men dressed in suits. They had no weapons, not like they needed it since their sizes more than made up for it. I was barely half their size, and yet I stood in front of them. I felt two small hands grip tighter on my jacket. Behind me was a little girl, didn’t even know her name and she barely looked like she was over ten. Her face showed remnants of tears rolling down her face, and she sniffled here and there.

“Mister… please run. You don’t stand a chance against them.”

I looked back and smiled at her. “Don’t you worry. We’re going to make it out of here just fine.” Did I really just say that? I scanned my surroundings and found the once bustling streets now empty, devoid of life other than us. I could run the other way, but they’d catch up eventually. Fighting them also seems to be out of the option, even without the little girl to protect, I still wouldn’t stand a chance. The street was narrow, and the buildings were clumped together. I thought of running through a building, but the doors look locked.

“Give us the girl and we might just forgive you for getting in our way.” The man’s deep, rough voice drew my attention back towards them.

“Sorry. I don’t plan on giving up her up that easily. Didn’t anyone ever teach you to pick on someone your own size.” I grinned, which only aggravated the two men in front of me. The man on the right began charging towards me. I raised my hand and move the girl further behind me. “Stay behind me no matter what. Things are going to get rough.”

As the large man drew closer, he raised his hand, preparing to punch. Then I saw it, an opportunity to expose his weakness. I moved in and grabbed his right arm before it could hit me. Then I spun around, using his weight and speed to my advantage, then threw him towards a wall. He was sent flying into one of the doors, creating a large crashing noise as the door was tore off its hinges. The dust cleared and his mouth was wide with shock.

“Hold onto me!” I picked up the girl and threw her on my back, and then I ran towards the large man and leapt over him.

“Come back here!” I didn’t dare look back, but assumed that it was the other man who called after us. The man on the ground might actually still be in shock. I couldn’t help, but smirk at the thought, bet he didn’t think that I’d be strong enough to toss him around like a rag doll.

In the building, I found ourselves running through a bakery. There was an older man standing behind the counter, surprised to see two people scurrying down one of the aisle of bread. I got to the counter, and leapt over it. “What do you think you’re doing?!” The baker yelled.

“Sorry!” No time to explain, heck, barely had time to apologize.

“Get out of the way!” From behind, I could clearly hear the men yell at the baker, and then a crashing noise followed right after. The fact that I could hear them means that they’re not too far away. I pushed the door at the end of the hallway open and found more people crowding around tables, prepping dough. They immediately stopped when they saw me running through the narrow passageways in between the tables. I grabbed a wooden peel out of the nearest oven, and saw that it still had dough on top. One of the men came through the door, and I barely had time time to react.

I quickly hid behind the corner as the man struggled to go down the same narrow passageway I came through. He shoved and pushed anyone out of his way, at one point he almost tossed someone over the table. As he approached me, I immediately jumped out and swung at him with the peel. The man didn’t even see it coming. I hit him directly in the face, and he fell to the ground. The area around me shook with a large thump. Knocked out! I did it!

“You’ll pay for that!” In the distance I saw the other man come rushing out of the door.

“Oh crap.” I threw the bent peel onto the ground and turned towards the back door. I ran through it and found myself in a narrow alleyway. The left led towards a dead end, and the right seemed to stretch for miles. I guess it’s better than getting stuck, so I began running towards the right. The alleyway was littered with trash, making it difficult for me to run fast. I found myself sidestepping every few steps to avoid the bigger pieces of trash. The door to the bakery crashed open, and I turned around to find the other man a few feet behind me.

He smiled at me. “I got you now.” Then he began running through the trash, as if he was a human bulldozer.

I ran even faster, neglecting the trash in front of me. I found myself tripping over items and almost falling completely over. The crashing noises behind me grew louder as the man charged behind me. Crap! I turned around and braced myself. The man hit me at full speed and sent me flying. I immediately maneuvered myself in midair to avoid landing on the little girl clinging to my back. I landed face flat on a pile of trash at the end of the alleyway. The little girl got off my back, and so I turned around and noticed that I sent almost flying 10 feet away. There’s no way this guy was human.

I slowly stood up, noticing that the world around me was spinning.

“You’re a lot tougher than you look!” The man stood in front me with confidence.

“So are you… I thought you were just another thug.” I grinned once more, but deep down I knew that I had no choice. I was told to never use this technique unless I was in a life threatening situation. I guess this counts.

I brought myself to a fighting stance, and pulled my right fist back to my hips. I then felt a tug at my leg. “Please mister… you have to run. He’ll kill you!”

I smiled at her once more. “Didn’t I tell you… we’re both going to make it out of here.” Then I faced forward and closed my eyes. Envision a gun.

“Here I come!” My eyes were closed, but I could hear it. The thumping noises… growing closer.

Envision the gun taking aim. Aimed at the man in front me. Don’t fire yet. Wait… until you have a clear shot.

The man let out a roar, and I could feel his breath in front of me.

FIRE NOW!

I immediately launched my fist at him, it shot forward, as fast as a bullet.
—

“I thought you went out for a quick bite to eat! But instead you come back all bruised up!” Lea immediately began to lecture me as I walked in the door.

The little girl still hid behind me, and she looked even more scared of Lea than the two men from earlier.

“Are you even paying attention?!”

“Ah sorry sorry…”

She let out a sigh, “It’s okay. Just stop being so damn reckless….”

I smiled at her. “I promise. By the way… do you think you could order some food? I didn’t even get a chance to eat..” I laughed nervously. 

“You’re helpless…”

---

 

Whew! It’s been awhile since I’ve wrote a short story.  I’m not going to lie, but I think my creative juices are still a little bit drained from NaNoWriMo. That’s okay though! because I still had fun with this. For now, I’m going to write short stories to flex my good ol brain, and then eventually work on another novel.

Well after I finish editing my first novel.

Baby steps!