Carly screamed, horrified with the spectacle of me nearly killing a man who had just arrived in her apartment. Fortunately, she had enough brains not to run out of the room and inform the whole city that there were two psychos in her apartment. She simply scurried over to a nearby chair and huddled by it, as if praying for some god to save her.
"Who are you?" I hissed through clenched teeth as I lifted Kyle higher, feeling his arteries throb against my ever squeezing hand.
Not being able to say anything, Kyle shook his head slowly, for he was losing air quickly and unconsciousness wasn't far away. But, surprisingly, he didn't try to push me like a normal human. He didn't try to bargain for his life by fighting me. It was like he knew it was worthless to go against me.
As Kyle's face began to turn blue, Carly shrieked from behind me. "Zack! Let him go!" He was weakened enough that he couldn't hurt me, so I let him drop to the ground. The man gagged and coughed, spewing up green phlegm on the copper carpet. Obviously, even though he hadn't shown it, he had been seriously scared. You don't regurgitate because you felt like it.
Slowly he rose to his feet, steadying himself by hanging onto the wall for support. His once purple face was regaining its normal pink color. I thought he was weakened and insane from the lack of oxygen, but his devious smile showed me otherwise.
"You fight better than I thought. Lydecker would be pleased-"
"Shut up!" I screamed at him. I should've killed him when I had the chance. But some part of me realized that I needed to know who this mystery man was.
Carly had moved closer to me and was looking up at me, her eyes wide and scared. She saw me more of a protector than a threat to her since I had came thisclose to killing Kyle.
"He would be very happy to see the life you live outside of Manticore-"
"I said shut up!"
"Zack, what is he talking about?" Carly asked me, her voice meek and mild. I glanced at her.
"Ignore him, he's nobody," I said to her. Then, turning to Kyle, "I don't know who the hell you are, but get out of here, right now," I ordered him.
"Zack? Oh…Zack," Kyle said, as if he had uncovered a great secret. He nodded, accepting the truth. "I thought it was you, but I couldn't be sure."
I began to walk towards him, my finger pointed accusingly. "Get out of here."
"You're still a soldier. And soldiers don't give orders-do they?"
In one fluid motion, I punched him so hard in the face that he fell to the ground, blood spurting from his possibly broken nose. It ran down his plain shirt, snaking out over the fabric. Kyle shook his head, sadly this time as he looked down at the blood pooling in his hand.
"Lydecker would be pleased," he whispered.