around here. The shot gunner came up, groggy, hands rising in a
defensive posture, and Michaels didn't wait, but leaped in and snapped
his elbow right at the man's temple, as hard as he could. There was a
damp snap! and the man went down bonelessly limp, but Bubba was coming
around the front of the truck, Bubba and his pistol, and Michaels knew
he was screwed-He was going to die-Somebody flew out of nowhere and
slammed into Bubba from behind, knocking his pistol loose as he went to
one knee. His attacker dived and rolled up, two yards past Bubba, spun
to face him-Michaels stared, unable to believe what he saw.
Tonm
The big man went down to his knee, and she had too much momentum to
stop, so Toni stretched out into a shoulder roll, hit the road hard
enough to clack her teeth together, but came up mostly unhurt. Shoulder
was gonna be real sore--assuming she survived that long.
The big man was up, coming at her. He swung a punch that would have
flattened a horse had it hit, a hard right cross-Toni ducked,
double-tapped the man's thick and muscular arm with her left palm and
right backhand, used the momentum of the second tap to cock her elbow,
and stepped in at an angle to her left--he was too big to meet
head-on--then slammed her right elbow into his ribs.
She felt the ribs go, heard him grunt and slow his advance a little,
but it wasn't enough to stop him; he kept coming. He was too big, too
strong--if he grabbed her, that would be bad Too close for the foot
sweep, she had to use her thigh.
She caught his upper leg with hers, snapped her knee upward, and shoved
with her right hand at his belt line-The seesaw lever worked. He lost
his balance and sprawled facedown on the street, hands outstretched to
absorb his fall-Toni followed him. When he lifted his head, she kicked
for his chin, but he fell away and blocked at the same time, and her
shin met his left forearm bone-His arm was weaker. The ulna
snapped-Damn, he was tough. He grabbed at her foot, missed when she
dodged back, and used the grab's moment to regain his feet. He jumped
in again and fired a hard straight punch, using his good right arm-Toni
was in the zone, fighting in a righteous rage, no longer thinking,
blending with her attacker. She punched her right fist at his head,
stretched out over his punch, and blocked with her left at the same
time, deflecting his arm just behind the elbow. Her punch hit his ear,
no big impact, but she was in position for the putar kepala--the head
twist. She scooped inside his right elbow with her left hand, caught
his neck with her right, and circled her hands, left up, right down,
pulling them close into her body as she dropped her weight. The motion
twisted him around clockwise, and she grabbed his head with both
hands.
A twist alone was a neck crank, painful but not damaging.
A twist and pull, putting an arch in his back, was a break.
She twisted sharply counterclockwise and pulled at the same time The
sound of the vertebrae cracking seemed louder to her than the shotgun
blast had been.
The man fell. He might survive, but he wasn't going to be getting up
on his own. Not now, and maybe never again.
