Chapter 17 - The Military Strikes Back
He awoke the next morning to the sounds of men shouting and motors running. Brick sat up, his side still sore, rubbed his eyes and looked out on the water. What he saw brought him fully awake in an instant. Several military boats had arrived on the scene and he saw men running around on the boats preparing weapons for use.
He crouched on the floor and made his way over to where Blossom slept peacefully. He gently shook her to wake her.
He whispered, "Blossom, wake up. There's..."
She woke with a start and punched him dead on in the mouth. Brick fell backwards and landed on his butt. He reached for his mouth, saw blood on his fingertips, and wiped it away.
Blossom sat with her hands over her mouth in shock. Butch and Boomer woke after hearing Brick cry out.
Brick shot an angry look Blossom's way. "Will you stop doing that?!" he insisted.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm SORRY!" she gasped.
"You mean this happens a lot?" Boomer asked.
"This is at least the second time she's slugged me on this trip." Brick replied. "Butch, go get Buttercup and Bubbles up. We got trouble." The other Girls were below deck since the previous night had gotten chilly enough that they were too cold to stay on deck. Butch picked up a long pole, stayed low after seeing the boats closing in on them, and headed below deck. Brick looked at him suspiciously.
"What's the pole for?" he asked.
Butch snorted. "You want me to come out lookin' like you?"
Brick mocked laughter as Butch disappeared from sight with the pole. Boomer scooted over to Brick and handed him a rag to wipe his mouth with. He grabbed Blossom from her bench bed and dragged her to the floor. He peeked over the boat's railing to see what the military was up to.
"I take it those are the military guys?" he asked.
Blossom nodded.
"OK, now what?" Boomer continued.
"I say we get off this boat and the quicker the better." Brick replied. He held the rag to his mouth to stop the blood flowing from his split lip.
"Man, I can't believe you punched me!" he complained. "Again!"
Blossom rolled her eyes. "Oh, I said I was sorry. Consider it paybacks for burning my hair off!"
Butch and the Girls returned and the six huddled together to work out a plan. Buttercup looked at Brick, the rag he held now saturated with his blood.
"What happened to you this time?" she asked.
Brick pointed to Blossom.
The Girls snickered. Then, they saw the military boats.
"Those are the other guys after us, I guess?" Bubbles asked.
Brick nodded.
"OK," Blossom said, "We get off this boat and swim for shore. C'mon, they can't see this side yet."
Blossom climbed over the railing and lowered herself into the water followed by Bubbles, Butch, and Boomer. They swam rapidly for the shoreline roughly 60 feet away. As Buttercup began to climb the railing, the military opened fire. Brick grabbed her and they flattened out on the deck. They covered their heads as chunks of wood flew all around them and the sound of ricocheting bullets filled the air. The bullets stopped as the men reloaded and Brick and Buttercup heard a voice on a loudspeaker. The man spoke in Spanish, so it meant nothing to them. Buttercup noticed a wide hole in the side of the boat just above the waterline. She kicked at the side and broke it open wider. Brick joined her and the two of them made the hole big enough for them to squeeze through and into the water. Brick shoved Buttercup through first. She splashed into the water and began to swim as fast as she could for the shore.
Brick went to follow her. He got halfway through the hole when he suddenly felt someone grab his ankle. He turned to see five men standing on the deck of the boat and they dragged him back in through the hole and fell on him.
"Just grab one of them!" he heard a man shout from the front of the boat. "So long as we have at least one, the others will follow!"
Brick fought the men off, but it seemed there were two more to replace each one he got away from. One brought out a long piece of rope and another came at him with an ominous looking syringe. Brick decided he didn't want to find out what was in it. He slugged one man, knocking him back through the boat's cabin. He kicked another, sending the man sailing over the side of the boat into the water with a splash.
In the water, Buttercup saw that Brick was in trouble. She dove under the water and swam lightning fast back and around the bow of the boat. She headed for the surface, broke through with a streak of neon green light, and headed towards the six men pinning Brick on his stomach to the boat's deck. Brick's right arm had been twisted around behind his back and as he writhed to get loose, Buttercup heard him cry out as one of the men stuck a large needle into his already wounded side. She socked one of the men in the jaw, sending him flying out over the water. She grabbed the one with the syringe and yanked him up and over her head, slamming him on his back on the deck.
On the shoreline, Blossom could see that Buttercup was trying to help Brick. She turned to the others and said, "Wait here, I'm going to go help them."
"Not a chance, sweetie." Boomer replied. "We all go. C'mon!"
The four of them took off for the boat as the military men continued to pile on and pummel Brick and Buttercup.
The men looked as streaks of pink, dark green, baby blue, and navy blue came at them. Four of them were socked so hard they flew over the cabin to land in the water in front of the boat.
Boomer punched one man to get him off Brick and dragged Brick to his feet as Blossom slugged another man to release Buttercup. Bubbles kicked one of them in the stomach, bringing the man to his knees where she punched him out. Butch fried two more men with his laser eye beams. The six of them stood back in the bow of the boat. Blossom took in a deep breath and blew out with her ice breath, freezing the rest of the men in their tracks. Brick followed with a blast of his fire breath which set the entire deck of the boat on fire. The six blasted off the burning deck and rocketed towards the shoreline while the men frozen in place tried to free themselves from the ice before the flames engulfed them. The boat captain emerged from the front of the boat, saw the chaos and the fire, then the streaks of colour in the sky. He crossed himself and cried, " Dios mío!" Then he jumped overboard and swam away.