THE ONLY EASY DAY IS YESTERDAY
"The Journey of Jeremy Keller"
by OldScout
Part 25Richie Ryan had been on the road for almost 15 hours straight,
and he was getting tired. The buzz of the approaching immortal at first
went unnoticed until he was next to the bikes. The pair were riding
Harleys and at least one was an immortal. It didn't take long to figure
out which when the one closest to him suddenly swerved toward him
forcing him off the road and down an off ramp.
"I don't need this." Richie thought to himself. "I'm tired, hungry
and some faceless immortal is picking a fight." He gunned his bike
down the ramp then sped off down the local road. Perhaps the immortal
wasn't that interested in a fight. Sometimes one's instincts really knew
what was best, and this time his instincts told Richie it was better to try
to avoid this fight. He just wasn't up to it, and he knew it.
The exit wasn't into a commercialized shopping area like Richie
had hoped, instead he found himself in an abandoned industrial park.
"Great, this is also not what I needed." Richie thought as he drove on
behind the empty buildings.
The sound of an approaching bike and the faint buzz of an
immortal told Richie the other was following this through. Parking his
bike in the middle of an overgrown parking lot Richie removed his
helmet and waited. He didn't draw his sword but kept his hand on it,
perhaps he could talk his way out of this.
The other parked his bike and climbed off. He pulled his helmet
off and drew a long dark sword. It was the same simple style as Richie's
but looked older and rougher. It wasn't until the other removed her
jacket that Richie realized he faced a woman.
She looked a bit shorter then him and had short hacked hair. As
she approached she held her sword horizontally over her head and
stretched. Who was this person, she was acting like they were about to
face off in some friendly sporting event.
Richie drew his sword and held it to his side. "I'm Richard
Ryan," he said "and we don't have to do this."
The woman held her sword out to her side and stretched both
arms wide then slowly brought them back together, gripping the weapon
in both hands. "I'm Ophelia, and we don't have a choice." She then
brought the sword up for a classic two handed strike and stepped
forward.
Richie blocked the attack then had to move fast to block a
second. She had used the momentum of the strike and the block to
swing around and thrust again. He then counter attacked pushing the
woman hard to see how she defended. Her moves were fast and
experienced, Richie could tell she was by far the more experienced
fighter, but he sensed something else, she was out of practice, and out of
shape. If he hadn't have been so tired, he wouldn't have been concerned
about losing.
"By the way." Richie baited as soon as they broke for a breath
"Who cuts your hair, it looks like it was done with a pocket knife?"
"It was." She hissed back at him "But I took care of the stylists."
With that, she pushed her attack doing what Richie was hoping
for, becoming careless. He broke an opening and cut a long gash in her
left side. The pain drove her back and she lowered her sword as she
checked her wound.
"Like I said before," Richie repeated "we don't have to do this."
The woman screamed and attacked again. This time both
swords missed their mark but Richie landed a solid punch across her
jaw. She stepped back then tripped and fell, landing on her back.
Richie brought his sword around getting ready to give her one more
chance to live when he saw her right hand come out from behind her
back. He had no chance to react and found a dagger sticking from the
right side of his chest.
Richie's strength drained from his body. His sword quickly
became too heavy and clanked to pavement. He followed it down as his
knees gave out and lowered him to ground. He watched the woman
struggle to her feet and approach him. As she approached, she ran her
sword through his gut dropping him into position for the final blow.
Doubled over in pain at the feet of the stranger Richie was ready
to die when he heard a motorcycle and felt the presence of another
immortal.
"Mandy!" the other yelled as he jumped off his bike.
"Stay out of this, Jeremy." the woman yelled back "You can't
interfere."
"I sure as bloody hell can." Jeremy returned.
Through blurring vision, Richie could see the new comer
pointing a large silver pistol at the woman. "It's against the rules." the
woman countered.
"What rules?" the man said. "You know I don't play the game,
we've been over that. This is just murder"
"But he's one of them." Richie felt the woman's sword tap him on
the head as she spoke.
"No he isn't" the man replied "He's one of US and that isn't
reason enough to kill anybody. Judge a man by who he is, not what he
is. It's the only thing that can set you apart from those animals that
attacked you."
The conversation was fading in the distance Richie could hear
the woman scream in frustration. He felt something under him that
rolled him over onto his back.
Mandy used her foot to roll the dieing man onto his back
exposing the dagger still sticking from his chest. She grabbed it but
found it lodged in the bone. When she put her foot on his chest for
leverage she heard him gasp in pain then felt him die as she twisted and
forced the knife from the wound. Somehow the sound of the cracking
ribs were quite satisfying.
Walking by Jeremy, Mandy was wiping the blood from her
dagger with a piece of cloth she had cut from her victims shirt. As she
passed she said "I am getting very tired of you pointing that damned
gun at me."
to be continued..........