The gun, in a rhythm that it was mechanically designed to follow, spits out solid lead at a lethal velocity. Several shots pierced through the sound of pain the bandit let out earlier.
Instinct and reflexes kicked in, and in a stroke of luck, I managed to deflect the trajectory of the gun aimed at Ash. The bullets found their mark elsewhere, and the only casualty of the shots was another bandit to the left of the gun, the masked man who shot Josh in the arm. It wasn't exactly planned for that to happen, but it was a welcomed advantage for the situation we find ourselves in.
Like remembering how to balance on a bike, a mental switch was flipped in my mind, reminding me of those self-defence training they made us go through. I thought I had erased all of my memory of such things, never thinking a situation this specific would ever occur where I have the weapon of my offender inside my hand.
What might be adrenaline being the cause, my perception of time slows down as the white-masked man didn't even have time to react to what had just happened. I seized the moment with a swift and controlled movement, I winded up my legs by my hips before sending a forceful kick to his centre mass.
The man staggers backwards in response to the kick, momentarily disorientated while the barrel of the gun is still in my hand. I lunged at him, using the strap of the gun as an improvised garrote by twisting it around his neck. The bandit struggled, his attempts to resist futile against the sudden onslaught.
On the other side, I see Ash gripping her heavy helmet and swinging it full force towards the man that she had dropped her cargo on. The collision created a sound that couldn't have been more satisfying to hear coming from someone who was just threatening you earlier. The man stumbles by accident, unable to walk properly momentarily from the concussion of a hit. Ash took the opportunity to kick him down and step on his head against the ground.
While choking the man, I realised I still had access to the rifle while doing so. Holding the rifle by one hand while the other held on to the twist that was choking the man, I placed the rifle on the suffocating man's shoulder to use it as a support. Being unable to aim the firearm accurately, I couldn't risk shooting any of the bandits that were close to the others.
However, I didn't even have to, as there was another bandit that was coming from behind, the 5th man who wasn't managing anyone. I turned the rifle and the support shoulder towards him, yet he did not hesitate and continued to rush towards me. With a pull of a trigger, the rifle began to spray the ammo it had inside. The gun unloaded its entire magazine, and not every shot that was taken hit him, but there were still several that did, which made him limp towards me with his last effort, before collapsing to his injury.
There were then sounds of more gunshots which was followed by a grunt of pain, causing me to turn to the source of the shots. It was Josh who had picked up the rifle dropped by the corpse of the bandit. Since his arm was severely injured, he was unable to aim the gun with it, so he then improvised his bike as a support. He had hit the man who was by Kath, hitting him in the stomach and by the leg.
Suddenly, the strap of the rifle snaps, unable to hold such a forceful tension for an extended amount of time. Luckily, the man I had been choking had already lost consciousness some time ago without me even realising it. He falls limp onto me, then slips down onto the gold grass by me.
With the remnants of the strap still around my hand, I wrapped it as a sort of makeshift glove. The bandit that Josh had shot earlier pushed through despite his injury, his determination was clearly the only thing left as he even ignored the pain. What could possibly be fueling their determination to the point of their death?
He pulled his fist behind his head and sent it towards me, to which I dodged my head out of the way. With the makeshift strap glove protecting my hand, I returned his attempt of attack with my own, targeting his wounded torso while his entire body being pulled to the momentum of his own punch.
His shaky breath stopped once I made contact with my jab, yet he still tried to grapple me by wrapping his arms from my shoulder to my torso. Wrapping my hand with one another, I dropped it down directly onto his back while I sent my knee into his chest, causing him to fall limp from the overload of pain.
"Step back." The voice of a man came from Ash's direction, which had taken my attention. The man that Ash had injured somehow was standing, his head was clearly bleeding out yet he still spoke with a cold calmness in his voice. It didn't seem like these people really feared death.
The man was slightly disorientated, struggling to pull something from his pocket. Keeping Ash behind me, my eyes were locked on what he was reaching for, this man was clearly dangerous as he was ready to go out with a fight. I approached closer as he pulled out a metal stun baton, extending it by giving it a quick whip.
The air crackled with the sound of amps of electricity trying to escape the stun baton. The man swung the charged weapon down towards me, which I caught mid-air with my left hand. The electric jolt seared through my hand. The burning sensation bit into my flesh, but with a gritted resolve, I powered through the pain.
In a defiant countermove, I delivered a shocking punch straight into the man's face with the gloved hand. The audible crack of his jaw echoed through the desolate landscape. The moment hung in suspended animation, as the baton slipped out of both of our hands. Unable to see his expression through his mask, I could only assume what he was feeling, right as he succumbed to his injury.
