Part 79 (2/2)

Instantly, the doors on the other car opened and men started to pour out. All of them were armed with submachine guns.

This is not good, Annja thought.

She slid out of the truck and then rolled behind it as the first bullets ricocheted off the asphalt near her. Annja closed her eyes and summoned her sword. I hope I'm strong enough for this, she thought.

The man Annja had been fighting with came out of the truck screaming. ”Shoot her, shoot her! That's not Sheila!”

The men wasted no time. All around the Tahoe, the air exploded as bullets pinged and splanged off every surface. Annja huddled near the back, trying to use the truck's bulk to s.h.i.+eld her.

I can't stay here. They'll close on the truck and cut me down, she thought.

There was a brief pause as magazines ran dry and some of the men started shouting that they had to reload.

Annja came out of her squat and ran around the side of the truck, holding the sword high. She swung and cleaved the closest man who was busy fiddling with his magazine release. He glanced up, saw Annja and screamed as she cut through him, spilling his blood in a splash on the ground.

Annja kept moving, her eyes rapidly cataloging the scene.

Six men.

All armed.

The next man was faster than his predecessor and he snapped his magazine home, ratcheted the slide and started to bring up the barrel of the gun as Annja ducked down, spun and cut horizontally, nearly slicing him open across the chest. She heard a sickening gurgle in his throat as he started to drown on the explosion of blood and bile erupting from the heinous sword gash.

Annja leaped into the air, bringing the sword high overhead and cutting down at the next man who was armed with an a.s.sault rifle with a much longer barrel. But instead of trying to shoot at her, he antic.i.p.ated the downward cut and used the barrel of his gun to deflect her move to the side.

She cut back horizontally, trying to take him across the midsection. But he jerked his legs back, gaining distance from Annja.

I'm exposed here, she realized. Annja dove forward, narrowing the distance between her and the man as more shots rang out. She felt a nick by her ear and felt a warm flow of blood as a bullet or a piece of asphalt cut her.

She rolled and came up under the arms of the man in front of her. Annja stabbed straight up, but again the man arched back, letting the blade fly past his sternum. He used his momentum to pivot, drop and kick Annja squarely in the chest.

Air flew out of Annja's lungs as she struggled to regain her breath. She aimed a fist at the man's head and this time scored two blistering punches on his nose. She heard the crack and smiled. Now she'd given him something to think about.

Annja dropped low and then plunged the sword in deep, hearing the sharp release of air. She yanked the sword free as the man slid to his death on the asphalt below.

But she had an immediate problem punctuated by the sound of rapid gunfire. She jerked the sword up in front of her and felt the bullets slam into the blade, making it twist in her hands.

Annja kept moving, certain that if she stopped, she'd be a dead mark. She ran toward the closest gunman and slashed his hand. She heard his weapon fall to the ground with a clang and then swung her blade back up, slicing into the man from his hip up to his neck. He started to retch and gurgle as he slid to the ground dead.

Annja was in her zone now. Her eyes impa.s.sively surveyed the scene, a.s.sessing every remaining target. By her count, she had just three to go and then this band of drug dealers would be vanquished from the earth.

She felt the stab of a bullet puncture her thigh.

”Dammit!”

There was no way to tell if it was a bad hit or not. She knew if the round struck her femoral artery, she could be bleeding to death even as she closed with the man who had shot her. His eyes widened as Annja screamed and drove the sword at him, cutting down and then back up, using her momentum to slice the air faster than he could even try to keep up with.

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