Genocide steps off the porch circling around me like a snake. “Getting me angry won’t make me kill you any sooner than I plan.”
“Oh good, because I’d hate for the fun to be over so quick,” I sass.
Genocide rears back and slaps me across the mouth. “Shut up.”
I rub my cheek to lessen the sting of the hit and look up into his cold eyes. “OUCH!”
Jim steps out the front door and sees me sitting in a mixture of mud and melting snow. “Oh, you found her.”
“Yes, watch her for a moment. If she tries to run, shoot her,” Genocide commands Jim, as he plods up the porch steps and into the house.
Jim sits down in the old rocking chair; it creaks and groans under his weight even though he’s lanky with not much muscle. I bet I could take him.
I don’t want to believe my fate is sealed and that I’m going to die, but with each passing minute, it seems as though my final moments on this Earth will be spent staring into two pairs of soulless eyes.
59
Salvation
Back in human form and dressed, I sniff out the trail taken by the hunter who nabbed Max. His bodily stench is unforgiving as it fills my nostrils, and I’m wondering when he last took a shower. I follow the smell to a rock like cabin, half of it buried in the ground like a bunker would be. I watch from a distance as the hunter and Max trade words, she’s pissing him off because he slaps her hard directly across her face and my blood burns, my hands twitch, and my panther growls. When another man steps out onto the porch, they exchange words; the hunter goes into the house and the other one takes a seat in a rocking chair. He stares at Max and she doesn’t move.
This douchebag is about to meet the most lethal opponent he has ever come up against. I maneuver my way through the trees as quietly as I can, only wanting to get the attention of Max. I stop just a few feet away and level my eyes on her. Stay calm, no sudden movements.
Her head jerks up and swivels to the left until she sees me. I put my finger to my lips. If she makes any noise, she’ll give away my position. She nods her head slowly and lowers it again.
When the hunter reappears out the door with a machete, I decide to make my move. These two won’t know what hit them. I get a running start, flying past Max and leaping directly at the hunter, knocking him to the ground. The machete goes spinning through the air, landing several feet away. I throw my fists into the hunter’s face, grunting with each hit. My cock hardens at the sound of crunching flesh and snapping bone.
The other hunter, smaller in size, comes at me like a fucking spider monkey and jumps onto my back. He wraps his arms around my neck, trying to get me off the dude whose face I’m turning into a bloody mess, but I toss an elbow at the dude’s nose and send him flying. He lands on the ground not far from Max. He mumbles something about killing me and tries to get up.
Max crawls away from him before he can reach her and stands. “Salvation!”
I hear her, but I can’t stop. I want to kill him—I want to kill them both, and I will. “Run, Max!” I yell at her as the other guy gets up throwing himself back onto me like a flying squirrel. I feel his arms work their way around my neck again and he starts squeezing until my breathing becomes labored. I scramble to my feet and stumble backward until his back meets the railing of the porch. The guy grunts and I feel his grip loosen. That’s all the opportunity I needed. I whip around and grab that mother fucker by the throat, throwing him against the metal again and again until I hear a sickening snap somewhere in his spinal cord and feel his body go limp like a rag doll. Then like the pathetic piece of shit he is, I discard his carcass onto the snow and grass like garbage.
“Salvation!” Max screams. When I turn in her direction, I see the other hunter is up. He’s got Max, one arm against her throat, the other pushing against the side of her head. Fear swirls in my gut. If she moves suddenly, he’ll snap her neck.
60
Maximus “Max”
“Salvation,” I whimper.
“Shut up.” Genocide pushes against the side of my head with his hand. “I’ll snap your neck right before his eyes, and he’ll be joining you on my wall.”
Fear creeps up my throat, crushing pain spans through my chest, and I feel like throwing up. Tears well in my eyes and Salvation’s face blurs as they stream down my cheeks. I’m pretty sure this is where I die. I’ll never know what it’s like to be in Salvation’s arms, I’ll never know what his lips feel like sealed over mine, and I’ll never hear him tell me he loves me. Oh, God, I’m not ready. Please don’t let this be the end.
“Max!” Salvation’s stern baritone voice pulls me out of my head. “I need you to focus on me, baby. Don’t worry about him, he’s a dead man.”
“How?” I sob.
“Just listen to the sound of my voice.”
“I’ll snap her fucking neck!” Genocide threatens.
Salvation takes a step towards me with his arms out in front of him. He’s trying to calm the situation, but I just feel intense fear and pain. I want Genocide to let
