With the sands dancing its’ cruel rhythms to the beat of the winds–the minor gust carried its chorus down the base of my spine; chilling me with unease. Three men with athletical builds stood tall–looking down at us with faces of glee, excitement and annoyance.

TWIN A: Is this it? I was hoping for a little more-

Laughing with joy–the other mans’ twin joyfully expressed.

TWIN B: Haha–I think we got lucky!

TWIN B: Especially when there’s a woman! Hehe..!

MOHAWK MAN: Ahh! You two are too loud, just get down there already!

As the two slid down the dune–they waited for someone. We looked up to see the mohawk man turned back seemingly having a conversation with someone else. 

MOHAWK MAN: As well as you-Chris.

Jumping from the shadows–a man with slightly darker clothing rushed down the dune. With each landing one by one–all of the men stood tall with a daunting look.

CHRIS: ~Wow~ you would never catch me dead with a body like that.

I sunk the insult into my consciousness–furrowing my brows as a response to the mans’ snippy tongue. Noticing Alaine walking towards them–her face seemingly riddled with anger.

ALAINE: It seems that you’ve taken my friend here for a small fry.

With the man maniacally peering down to mock her height–he boldly stated.

CHRIS: Oh? And whatta’re you gonna do about it?

Not even a second into the conversation–there was a sound of a fist hitting a bone jaw, bringing a beckoning

PING!

The man who was standing tall soon fell onto the barrel of his knees–slurring the thoughts he put into words.

CHRIS: U-Uhhggh..Huh..?

With a red tinge dripping onto the grasping sands. The blood vessels bursting from his right eye–faintly held his vision in place before the fading of his consciousness kept him somberly quiet.

ALAINE: Who’s next?

With a smoked up fist–Alaine clutched her hand with aggression as the winds carried her hefty pecan hair. Unable to read her expression I soon came back to my senses and raised the barrel of my rifle. 

TWIN B: G-GET HER!

Before he was able to move an inch–I shot my rifle towards his steps.

BANG–BANG-BANG!

LINDEN: Move one more step and I won’t stop shooting until you’ve dropped dead.

The man hesitated a little before carefully and slowly taking one, more, step.

BANG!

Shooting the mans’ shoulder pad, the cracking and shattering of weak polycule material gripped the vibration of my ears as the smoke embedded the mouth of my rifle.

Reeling from the pain the man screamed in anguish and fury,

TWIN B: AAAUUGGGHHH! Y-YOU BASTARD!

Quickly glancing at my colleague–Alaine’s swift movements made the man's powered blows unable to land any impact. Feigning Alaine with only powered wind. 

As the man tries to overpower her with his sheer might–she lands a straight face hook, before quickly staunching a lower rib jab. Flowing into almost a dancing cycle the flickering of an overhead kick towards the man's face–splattered blood and spit. With the sight of my vision shifting–the momentum of the other man leaped towards me–grabbing the tips of my hair. 

Facing a fist with the brim of my face. His quick offense was stopped by even a quicker offense. With a foot logged into the side of his neck–it beckoned a loudening.

POW!

Seeing the shivering of his fading consciousness–Alaine turned to check up on me.

ALAINE: Hey, everything alright?

I stumbled upon my words as I tried to grasp my reality.

ALAINE: Aah..huh? Y-Yeah, I’m alright.

We stood still for moments seeing the devastation of bloody teeth and gunshot wounds. Shortly hearing the roaring engine from a couple of yards away–my concentrated thoughts were interrupted by its approaching speed. Alaine too noticed the sound far off in the distance. At that point, in that very moment–our fate had been sealed. Finding the overwhelming anxiety turning my guts. I grabbed her hand–trying to move away towards the opposite direction of the looming threat.

ALAINE: Woah! Hey what’re you-

She looked at me with confusion and bewilderment.

I only looked back with a concerned certainty.

LINDEN: J-Just trust me..

Speaking the words of desperation–I thought to myself that I can’t let her die, not again. As we circled around towards an edged rift feigning an overhead–we did our best to stay undetected. 

In exactly a paranoid manner–I poked my head around each corner we turned and each spot we were yet to be in.

ALAINE: Hey-uh, Linden..you alright?

With almost a frightening question, the edges of my skin crawled with sweat before I found myself with her mundane yet worried expression.

LINDEN: Ah..sorry–am I worrying you too much..?

Shivering my tone, I tried and failed at keeping my composure.

Pitifully narrowing her brow, Alaine said.

ALAINE: Ah, well..you’re acting kind of weird again.

I paused for a moment–trying to gather my thoughts.

I exclaimed.

LINDEN: Well..it's just a-

ALAINE: Gut feeling?

Cutting me off–we both just stared at each other, unwilling to show my tenacity of anxious fear.

ALAINE: Either way–we have to find a way to rescue Dax.

With her standing underneath the overhead–I semi waited for our next course of action.

Suddenly my spotting of a figure atop the cliff–chilled me to my core. With his fiery red mohawk–the smiling glare of his eyes seized my arms to take position and shoot. 

Psht!

It was then I felt a force pushing me from the sideline as a loud engine of a motorbike dashed past us towards the abyss. Even then–without looking away, I close one eye to keep focus on the figure until a sudden reverberated.

BANG!

Echoed throughout the valley.

Two loud gunshots. Both systematically dash past the both of us as we wavered what had happened. As the clashing of metal violently vibrated the tips of my fingers–they shook from the deformed caliber I once called a rifle. Standing with our guards raised, the two of us watched as the figure atop the cliff slid down the overhead onto the eye leveled sands.

Popping the back of his neck he exhaled somewhat fearsomely.

MOHAWK MAN: Hey, you in the blue–ain’t mucha fighter aren't chu?

I stood in place without movement as I inspected his next course of action.

ALAINE: So? What's it to you?

Stepping in front of me with her arm outstretched–Alaine snapped back at the man with a snarky remark. Grinning to himself–the fiery mohawk man put his arm up in front of him.

MOHAWK MAN: I wanna make a proposal–

ALAINE: What the hell do you mean?

With a grin the man just sinisterly smiled.

MOHAWK MAN: Exactly what it sounds like dumbass!

Putting up two fingers he leaned his head in a playful manner.

MOHAWK MAN: You have only two choices, one–have a duel with me.

He put up a finger.

MOHAWK MAN: Or two–end up in a body bag.

He put up a second.

Tilting her head towards the ground, Alaine mumbled to herself before looking back up and tossing her rifle towards the greedy sands.

ALAINE: Take care of this for a sec.

Popping the back of her neck–she soon exhaled a deep breath before fastly dashing towards the man–gripping the handle of her blade.

Strapped to the back of her belt Alaine unsheathed the glinted metallic blade–swinging with intention. Closely dodging out of the way–the man flashed a smirk before dodging another swing towards his stomach. 

Quickly reaching for his ax–he swung the massive chunk of edged metal vertically before hitting thin air. With a swift wrap-around, Alaine carried her momentum with the curvature of her blade–gripping the solace of the flesh in where it wanted it to divide.

CLANK!

Although fortunately there was no sound of flesh being sliced; instead there was a clashing of metallic metal that filled the area of an umbra whisper.

MOHAWK MAN: Well you’ve got quite the moves there missy.

ALAINE: What? Your reflexes can’t catch up? 

ALAINE: Or are you really not as good as you think-

Pulling both of their weapons away for a second–the fiery redhead only scoffed before saying.

MOHAWK MAN: Heh, let's test it then!

With the two of them clashing metal against metal again–I thought of how I could assist my colleague in this skilling gap of a ‘game’.

It was then my eyes landed on her rifle–I went to reach for it but without even lifting it off the ground–the sound of a gunshot drew my attention. With the twisting knot and of my stomach once more, the stability of my reality flew out, all the while panic settled in. 

LINDEN: (No, no, no, no, no, not-not agai-)

But before I got to fully thinking about death–I realized that the man pointed the magnum into the clouded sky, not my colleague. There were no signs of blood nor struggle; it was then I realized my ‘unconscious’ colleague signaling her fingers.

With a sweat droplet forming on the bases of my cheek, I looked towards the man.

Himself puffing and huffing–proudly he stated.

MOHAWK MAN: It's your turn, you blue crayola.

Concentrating my thoughts–I quickly adjusted my breathing.

LINDEN: If it's a fight you want…

LINDEN: I won’t oppose the idea.

Raising my guarded hands–I could feel the droplet sliding down the side of my cheek; in its own right–expressing my untold worries.

Standing face to face with the–scarred faced man, the pounding of my heart beat against my chest as I got ready for whatever worst situation presented itself.

MOHAWK MAN: Hehehe, don’t blame me if you’ve shit your pants..!

Sheathing his magnum and ax–he soon spoke cockishley once more.

MOHAWK MAN: Well, since you won’t be using any weapons it's only fair to do the same…

Raising both of his arms–he tauntingly stretched while shouting.

MOHAWK MAN: Well, c’mon then! 

MOHAWK MAN: What’re you waiting for?

Dashing at him–I stretched my right arm to cover his sight. Finding him without flinching even a single muscle–he just simply stood.

MOHAWK MAN: Trying to blind me are ya?

Bellowing a maniacal laugh–he cackled obscenely. 

MOHAWK MAN: HAHAHAhaha!

MOHAWK MAN: What was that? A kitten punch?

Clobbering the left side of my cheek–the powered blow knocked my consciousness almost into orbit.

POW!

The pain of four thousand nerves gathered as the grunt of my painful backlash snapped me back into reality. With the elastic stretch of his long arm slicing the space between us–he followed forward with another move.

Recalling the lower rib jab I’ve seen Alaine perform before–I tried to follow in her example. With the flow of my painful momentum, I rushed it into a duck and weave–aiming straight towards the sides of his ribs.

Unfortunately the slowness of my movements helped the man read my attack–subsequently blocking his side with his strengthened forearm. Still smiling with a sinister joy–the man opened the palm of his hand, readying a grapple to brunt the front of my face before pummeling it into the depths of the sands.

Though surprisingly–it instead skimmed my injured cheek by a speck of a hair.

MOHAWK MAN: Huh..? Why is it so blurry?

Taking no time to miss this opportunity–I reeled back the hardest punch my muscles could muster before quickly releasing it.

POW!

A loud smack of flesh to flesh contact echoed the stormy clouds and yet the man did not falter.

MOHAWK MAN: Teh, you bastard.

He wiped the injured spot in where my impacted blow struck. Unhesitantly–the man just scoffed.

MOHAWK MAN: Hitting where it hurts huh?

Turning with a stilled smile–the man squarely kicked me in the liver.

Instantly–I squinted out a pained expression.

MOHAWK MAN: It's only fair you know?

Instinctively grabbing my side–the hilt of my knees fold as if they were made of silicone and gel. The shaking of my body only serve to intensify the shock–twisting them to a never ending torture of aches and sores.

LINDEN: A-Ahh..!

Was all I could muster, spit and slob peeked from the sides of my mouth and soon–non stop streams of drool exited my oralphasis.

LINDEN: (E-Endure it! Endure it! Endure it! Endure it!)

Trying to keep the pain to a minimum, I continuously kept on repeating the words to myself so as to not lose consciousness. Standing nonchalantly from a short distance–the now blooded faced mohawk man just stood and observed.

MOHAWK MAN: I’ll give you some credit-

MOHAWK MAN: At least you know what you’re kind of doing.

Walking towards me, he grabbed the base of my protective vest as he faced me eye to eye–with him looking down as arrogant as ever.

MOHAWK MAN: But it's too bad since..you might end up dead.

Eyeing him not even seven inches away from my face–the thoughts in my mind tripped and fractured as I still tried to compose myself from the pain. Quivering with a fracturing shake–the puffering of smoke from behind caught my attention but before I got to clarify what it was–a sudden

POW!

Feeling a hot scorching on the right side of my cheek–the singeing of my flesh covered the sense of my smell with blood, pain and burns.

ALAINE: A-Ah! Sorry Linde-

WACK!

Collecting my fleeing consciousness–I limped my head as I spotted Alaine swiftly dodging a close quarter kick, rushing back to my senses–I grabbed whatever grains of sand desperately before throwing them into the newly scarred up face of the man.

MOHAWK MAN: Chu!

MOHAWK MAN: Teh–you bastard-!

Clicking his tongue he turned back to confront me though by that time–I slithered through my vest and bolted for the rifle. Looking ahead–I felt the eyes of intense annoyance staring burning holes at the back of my head, with the stumble of my run and flattened crease of my roll–I turned and aimed the face of the rifle towards the man while the man turned his magnum on me. Rushing his six, Alaine put the man in a complicated predicament–with him lately realizing the consequences of his actions, a scorching.

FROAR!

Connected a blazing fist to the loosen jaw of our instigator. With the burns on his cheek cleared; the foam of spit and saliva fumbled from his mouth outward as his hefty pound-per pound body sunk into the sands, finally ending an unfair fight.

ALAINE: ~Whew

Breathing a sigh of relief–Alaine looked at me with nonchalant neutrality.

ALAINE: Linden! You alright?

Looking with a disappearing pain of anxiety, the aches and bruises of my physical conditions still flared as if they were in a rage.

LINDEN: Yeah, I’m alright–just a little bruising-

BANG!

A gunshot.

LINDEN: (But from where? Is Alaine alright?)

LINDEN: (Why is she looking at me like that? What is she saying?)

Finally clearing my head–the transparent smoke made it all visible. With a keen infiltration through my body–the certain area around my chest smoked with metal and red.

PLURK

Was all my body could muster before a second shot.

BANG!

Tore through the muscle fibers of my shoulder.

With the force of impact knocking me off balance–I persuaded to fall onto my back and hit the ground.

Although–the ground never came.

Nor did my colleague.

Reaching out my hand the blurring figure desperately grasped to catch mine. None of us felt anything but the soaring winds.

Now falling–I can see the surrounding abyss engulfing my ever darkening vision, eventually finding myself blind in a world of shelled civilization.