Assassination Chapter 6 Attack at Dawn
Heyy everyone! First off, id like to thank you all for all of the wonderful reviews on my last story! Thanks to you all for taking the time to review, It means a lot to me :) I don't really much to have this time, but most likely next time i'll have some bad news :'( Sad, I know... Anyways, that's all for this time so as always, review and enjoy! REVIEW!
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Kickin' It.
Kim's POV
As we walked through the crowd, the cool air of the night brushed past us, giving me chills as I walked in the wind opposing us.
Even with my jacket on, the cool air still managed to have its effects on me.
I continued to wonder why Jack never shivered or even had chills though he had a tank top on.
I mentally scolded myself for not wearing a long-sleeve shirt before I left my previous mission to trap Jack in the first place.
Slowly but surely, the sight of smoke got closer and as we both realized we were getting close to some sort of civilization, we began to speed up our pace.
The sun slowly began to rise above the horizon by the minute and began to illuminate more and more of the land.
In mere minutes, we finally found what we were looking for.
Through the small clearing of trees that stood before us, I saw buildings, people, and even a large pond or small lake of some sort.
I looked more closely to see the pond had boats and docks floating above the surface.
They must use their either to fish or for transportation.
I admit though, the environment wasn't the greatest.
The trees and vegetation we passed through was defiantly warmer and had slight fog in it than any of the previous locations I was at.
Just as we went to cross a tiny stream, Jack cross with ease as for me, well, it didn't turn out as well for me.
Just as I took a step with my left foot, my ankle gave out.
Though I didn't land in the water, my ankle still hurt slightly from the abnormal twist.
Immediately Jack heard my fumble of the rocks nearby my foot as I fell and quickly came to my side.
He bent down beside me and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder as I used my hands to catch my fall.
I slumped back so I was sitting down and extended my ankle slightly to inspect it.
As I did so, Jack asked me "What happened?"
"My ankle just gave out, I'm fine." As I said so, he seemed uncertain that I was telling the complete truth.
He nodded as he then asked "You need help getting up?"
"I got this." I smirked just for only a few seconds before attempting to get up.
As I got just about halfway up, I went to reposition my footing and as I did, what I thought was a branch, actually was a moss-covered rock.
Just to my luck…
Since Jack eyed me cautiously since I fell, he reacted quick enough to catch me by my arm and wrapped my arm around him as he lifted me to a fully standing position.
After muttering thanks, he then did something I really didn't expect.
He chuckled.
He actually chuckled at my clumsiness!
"So, you got this huh?" he laughed.
Since I was secretly more worried about falling again if I let go, I mentally noted to hit him later.
"Oh shut up." I muttered as his laugh died down.
"I really don't think you should walk it."
"Jackson, what are you suggesting?" I asked as I raised a serious eyebrow at him.
"I'm saying since we're only about five minutes from the town, I should just carry you. You probably tweaked it when you fell. It needs to be rested if you want it to heal, especially since we're being chased, it shouldn't be bothered."
"There's no way I'm being carried."
"Well then, if you don't wanna be carried, I assume you can stand straight so I'm gonna let you go on three. One."
"Jack-" I warned.
"Two."
"Jack." I threatened.
I knew for a fact I would most likely fall if he dropped me so considering he seemed he was really going to drop me, I began to panic.
I couldn't put a whole ton of pressure on my foot anyways, so either it would hurt a lot, or id fall and make it worse probably.
He stopped counting only for a moment's notice before quickly saying "Three."
I clenched my eyes tightly as I awaited what was to come, only to be dropped only for a millisecond before being picked up.
I could practically see the smirk on Jack's face as I reopened my eyes to see exactly what happened.
Jack's POV
Ok, I mean come on…
Did you really think I was going to drop her when I knew she was just going to fall?
Well if you did, you're defiantly wrong.
Instead of dropping her completely, I dropped her slightly only to pick her up from under her legs and catch her on my back.
As Kim sat on my back silently, I smirked to myself as I began walking more towards the town.
I only took a few steps forwards before she finally spoke.
She whispered in my ear something that actually made chills go down my spine.
I guess it was the way she said things that creeped me out.
"Don't you ever do that again."
I just laughed as she slumped her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arms firmly around my neck, yet at the same time was loose enough to be comfortable.
I finally made our way through the trees and as soon as we did, we both were able to get a detailed look of the town in front of us.
The buildings mostly consisted of dried mud and plants while the townsfolk seemed to wear simple clothes such as a plain, used t-shirt and pants.
As I walked towards the center of town, I got looks from people all over, wither they were fishing, cleaning clothes in the water, or just walking by.
As I arrived in what seemed to be the center of town, an aged man came up to us.
He looked to be in his last remaining years as for he had a lot of wrinkles, scars, had pitch black hair with the occasional streak of grey from his age, was very thin, and had a cane that most likely supported him as he was small and hunched over slightly.
He spoke in his native language as I exhaled in annoyance.
For once, can somebody in another country speak English?!
"Do you speak English?" I asked slowly as he nodded.
"Yes. How do you do traveler?" he spoke as his accent was heard easily.
"Not so good, my friend and I have been chased. Be had to jump out of our plane and now she's injured. Do you have any medical supplies or facility?"
He nodded again as he explained "Yes, I'll show you. As you can see, we don't have much, but I believe the doctor will have a look at the miss."
I gave him a warm smile as he slowly turned around and wobbled away for me to follow.
He led me past about four small buildings before slowing down to a doorstep and carefully knocking with his cane before setting it back down.
You could hear the light thumping of a pair of feet as the sound got louder and louder.
A man then opened the door that looked similar to the old man, but didn't have a cane, any grey hair, and had a thin black goatee covering his chin.
After taking a second to observe the old man and Kim and I, he boldly asked "Yes? What do you need?"
The old man pointed to me as I began to explain the same recap I told him earlier.
"Ok, bring her inside. Please sit on the couch while I gather some supplies."
After nodding, I then carried her through the door and to the couch before letting her hop off onto her one uninjured foot.
We both sat down as the old man joined us as well.
He instead sat in a chair nearby just as the doctor reappeared.
Kim's POV
The doctor thoroughly moved my foot around and pushed on specific spots for a few minutes before turning his sight back to Jack and I.
"It seems you injured your ankle."
No duh dude!
Even the stupidest man alive could've figured that out.
After receiving looks from me to continue on, he then added "It's nothing major. I can't tell exactly what's wrong but you most likely just bruised it badly or something of that sort. You should be fine in a day or so once the bruising heals."
Jack then actually thanked him for both of us before turning to the elder man who just sat their quietly.
"Is there any place we can stay? I'll pay if we must, but I only have American dollars." He asked as the man nodded.
He stood up as he told us "Yes, but we must hurry. The men are coming soon to collect."
"Wait, what men?"
"The men, they take from us anything valuable and collects something from everyone."
"What is they don't have anything?" I asked as he then turned to me.
"They kill. If you don't have something they want or will accept, they usually kill the person. That or their spouse and even their children if there's no spouse left to kill. They are the reason we live like this. I will talk more when we get to shelter, for now, we must hurry."
We both nodded before Jack helped me up and wrapped my arm around his shoulder as I hopped out the door.
In minutes we arrived at what looked like a house.
He pushed open the wooden door politely held it open for us.
After Jack shut the door, we both looked around at the man's house.
He didn't have much.
There was a small kitchen and living room in view and had a hall going down the left side of the wall, most likely leading to the bedrooms.
He then turned to us as we turned our attention to him.
"Well it isn't much, but I can't let you young ones sit outside. Please, make your selves at home." He said as his accent came through again.
"The bedrooms are down that hall along with the bathroom which is the first right. My wife is fishing for breakfast so I expect she'll be home any moment. Please, while I set up our extra bed, have a seat."
As we smiled, thanking his generosity, he gave us a crooked smile as he hobbled away down the hall.
After leading me to one of the four chairs at the table in the center of the room, Jack sat down beside me.
"Well, this has been crazy." I muttered as Jack laughed at my irritableness.
He then straightened his back before pushing his hands upwards, stretching himself.
"Yeah, but we both know it could be worse."
"I know, I just don't know how much worse it could get." I joked as the man returned from the hall and eventually joined us at the table.
As Jack urged the man to describe more about the stealing men he referred to earlier, I just sat their quietly, listening as they got in a deep conversation.
Just then the door creaked open as an unfamiliar person stood in the doorway.
Jack's POV
Once the man returned from the other room, I asked the man if he could continue on about the men he mentioned earlier on.
After our overall conversation, I was able to sum up everything he had told me.
Basically, a small rag-tag group of men go around, looting the area along with their leader.
Bandits per say.
They live off of stealing and if they don't get some form of payment from each household, they kill somebody from the family until the person themselves remains and is left to be killed.
They come every day in the morn to collect as their leader separates them and watches over their work.
Not too long from now, they would show up and take from the couple as well.
This was just cruel.
Not only are they living in poverty, but they are being robbed to the point they work almost all day to survive is just heartless and vicious.
Just as I went to ask one last question, I ignored it as the door to the house squeaked open.
In walked a lady who looked fairly similar to the man, except different gender of course.
She had long black hair, had on a long dress obviously made from scraps and rags.
She too had wrinkles and a noticeable scar on her arm like her husband, but was younger in appearance.
Her expression changed immediately as her eyes went from her husband, to me, and lastly to Kim.
She spoke in her native language as he responded.
I would tell you what he said but as noted before, I don't speak their language.
It's all gibberish to Kim and I.
Kim and I both sat in awkward silence as she and her husband talked.
After a minute, she turned to us and smiled.
She now spoke in English as she shook our hands "Hello. I'm sorry for not being here earlier. I had to fish for breakfast. Excuse me for not speaking much right now, I must begin cooking the fish."
She then gave a kind smile as she walked over to the chimney on the opposite side of the room.
The small fire that burned in the fire place soon grew as she added some nearby wood and dead leaves.
As she then took the fish from her bag that she held, she placed them on a stick and hung them above the fire one by one.
Just as she finished placing the last stick over the fire, there was a loud knock at the door.
We all jolted up slightly in commotion as the husband and wife looked to the door.
I looked over at Kim who was firmly gripping the chair as she watched the man and wife open the door.
I too gave my attention to the door as it opened, revealing two large men, one carrying a club while the other held a Katana sword in hand.
They both spoke to the two in the unknown language before pushing in the door, shoving them both into the wall.
By instinct, I jumped up to my feet and took a few steps forward so I was a bit closer to the door.
The two men both looked at Kim and I oddly as the couple recovered from the harsh blow.
The old man instructed for his wife to move closer to Kim and I as he stayed still.
She quickly joined us as one of the men asked the old man something again.
You could tell he was protesting as slowly, rage built inside the bandit.
He then did the unexpected and took his club and hit the man in the stomach.
After yelling out in pain, he crumpled to the floor as his wife ran to his side in worry.
The other warrior yelled something to them as my mind tried to process what was happening.
"What's going on?" I asked as the old man turned to me.
Just as the katana-wielding bandit saw him turn to me, he looked to me as well.
He came up to me and yelled something which I could not understand.
I mean what was I supposed to do?
I didn't speak that language!
He continued yelling at me before he pulled the sword to my neck.
I swiftly backed up a step as he pulled out his sword, avoiding myself from being killed then and there.
He then yelled at me again as I just stood there.
Hoping he might know English, I told him "I speak English."
Apparently he then took that as a threat since he swung the sword at me another time as I dodged.
Kim's POV
Who were these guys?
Are they actually robbing us and now threatening to hurt and kill us?
We don't even know their language and this psycho just keeps on swinging his sword at Jack.
Though he's only swung at him twice, you could see through him that he didn't have a heart.
Just hurting an innocent person showed that alone.
It especially messed with me a lot.
I had a bow with a shot in it, but by the time I could pull it out, he'd most likely have cut my head off.
I might have done it if I had more than one shot, but since my pack was on the floor by the door on the other side of the room, that options out.
Well, that and the fact that I could tell he was cautious.
If I reached for my belt, he would most likely attack.
Jack again tried to explain to him he didn't speak English, but this time when he did, the man spoke.
This time, in English as well.
"We demand some sort of payment. Pay now or someone in here will die." He threatened as his deep, darkened voice ran throughout the house.
"Don't you see? We don't have anything!" Jack yelled in frustration.
"I'll give you one last chance, pay now or one will suffer."
I then saw him straighten up boldly as he then said "Oh yeah? Well, you'll have to go through me."
Immediately after he had said that, he laughed along with his co-bandit.
Once they realized Jack was serious about his word, all hell broke loose.
He swung at Jack with his sword several times before on the fourth repetitive swing, Jack knocked it out of his hand.
Because he did that, he actually lifted, yes, lifted, Jack of the ground and threw him backwards into the floor.
Granted he was a very tall man, that full must have hurt considering he was launched about eight feet into the air before colliding with the hard floor.
He then came at me and as he came close enough, I took my healthy foot and kicked him back.
As I did so, I fell out of my chair and luckily managed to land on my good foot.
I took this second to look at Jack who was recovering from being winded out like that.
In that small moment of time, he grabbed me by my hair on the back of my head and threw me to the floor.
From the power of the throw, I slid to the other side of the room until my back and head slammed into the wall.
I cringed in pain as my spine and my skull collided with the solid rock of the wall.
After seeing what he did to me, Jack quickly got up and gave me a quick glance of worry before advancing at him.
From the look in his eyes, you could see his anger had risen to a whole new level.
He managed to block his attacks while landing a punch or two on him when given the opportunity.
Though Jack was good at fighting, his opponent's strength was just too much.
The other bandit joined in as he without warning, gave Jack a hard blow to the back of the head.
He immediately sank to his knees as he collapsed to the floor.
I couldn't help myself as I yelled out "Jack!" in panic and distress as he slowly picked up his head to look at me.
He tried to crawl over to me with effort, but was kicked in his side, making him flip over on his back.
I took my eyes way for a slight second and looked around, when I saw something very useful at the moment.
The katana.
Just as I caught a glimpse of it only feet away from me, I saw the guard with the club noticed to and come towards me.
I struggled with all my strength to crawl to the katana, though various parts of my body continued to pound with an aching pain.
Seeing he was only feet away from me, I used my arms to separate me from the ground, put all my lower body weight on my good foot, then launched myself to the sword.
Just in time, I grabbed ahold of the sword, flipped on my back, and then met the man with the club aiming to hit me.
Just as he brought his hand down to hit me with the club, I swung the katana just in time and cut his hand off at the wrist.
He screamed in agonizing pain as blood rushed out of his hand and he ran out the door.
The guard that was currently kicking Jack no his side noticed this and turned to me furiously.
Just as he came at me, I pushed myself upright against the wall and muttered one final thing.
"Don't ever mess with Kim Crawford."
Right afterwards, as he came within about six feet away from me, I threw the katana, lodging it deep into his chest.
He struggled to breathe for a moment before he stumbled forwards a few steps and swayed side to side before he fell backwards onto the ground, dead before he hit the floor.
Jack's POV
So far I was fighting at a decent pace when something hit the back of my head.
The walls slowly began spinning faster and faster as black spots appeared everywhere I looked.
I dropped to my knees then fell forwards in pain as my head began to throb.
Through the sound of my pulsing head, I heard Kim yell out my name in concern.
I forced myself to lift my head to look forward.
In front of me, Kim was still on the ground, most likely unable to move from her foot injury.
I knew I had to help her.
I tried crawling with my elbows over to her, but after moving only a foot or two, I was kicked on my side, making me roll over on my back.
Half of me wished I would just fall unconscious already while the other half wanted me to help Kim.
I swerved between being conscious and unconscious as I was kicked, over and over again repeatedly.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I heard a loud yell and the sound of someone running away.
As the bandit stopped kicking me, I looked to the side to see the door wide open and one less bandit in the room.
I then looked to Kim whose eyes were wide, yet so focused on the bandit charging at her.
All in one swift motion, she used the now blood-covered sword in her hand and after propping herself up against the wall, she muttered one thing before chucking the knife into the man's heart…
"Don't ever mess with Kim Crawford."
After watching as the bandit collapse to the floor, I used my remaining energy to stumble to my feet and take the few steps necessary to get to Kim.
I dropped to one knee beside her as my vision was still spinning from my hard blow.
"Are you ok?" I managed to ask as I took a second to ignore the pain in my body.
"Yeah, I think I should be asking the same for you. You were hit pretty hard."
"Yeah, my head's throbbing." I replied as I rubbed the back of my head.
Just then the petrified couple made their way to us after the man had finally received the energy to lift himself up.
The woman came to us first, tears rolling down her cheeks one by one.
"Oh dear I'm so sorry! I feel so terrible having let them do that to you!" she cried as she put her face in her hands.
Her husband then came over and offered me a hand first, then helped me get Kim standing on her foot.
Once we were all standing and the wife's tears gradually came to a halt, the husband told us "What you did for us was unnecessary. You shouldn't have been punished for what this city has allowed itself to be taken over by."
"Actually…" I began.
"We aren't exactly who you think we are."
They both looked at us confusedly before urging me to continue.
"We're agents for the United States of America. We were sent here to obtain intel on a possible attack on some civilians in a nearby location and when we made our escape, we were attacked and that's why we're here. The only reason we didn't take them down like we usually would was because Kim hurt her ankle. I was so worried about her, I let them hit me with a club."
"Well I hate to say this, I really do, but I'm kinda glad you went through this. I know it sounds mean but, my wife probably would have died have you not have been here today. We all know you both have gone through a lot and didn't need to do this for us, so for that, I thank you."
Kim's POV
"Yes, there's no way we could ever repay you for what you did for us. Please, you should go and rest. We offer to you our sanctuary for as long as you wish, but we must warn you, the men will come back every day, demanding more things of value." The wife told us as we smiled at their generosity once again.
"Personally, I think you should rest. After what you been through and after telling us what you really are, you should probably take time to heal and re-cooperate." the man said as his wife nodded, agreeing with him.
"We couldn't do that. You both are already living in a tough environment, we'd only slow you down." I told them as they shook their heads side to side.
"Even if, you've deserve a place to stay while you heal. Now, as for sleep, you should get some. When you wake up, we will have breakfast ready for you both. Now go, please." The old man said as he pointed to the doorway of the room we were to use.
After thanking them, Jack and I both made our way to the room.
After setting me down on the bed, Jack shut the door and joined me as I fell backwards in exhaust.
"Who knew this would all happen because of my foot?"
"Either way, we probably would have ended up stayed here wouldn't we have not?"
"Yeah..." I muttered as I felt my eyes to feel heavy.
Carefully, I crawled over to the other side of the bed as Jack collapsed on the other half.
I actually was surprised he didn't crack a joke about us being in the same bed.
Most likely, like me, he was too tired and worn out to say anything.
As I slumped on my side, hoping to get comfortable, I threw my arm off the side of the bed so it now hung off the side.
Slowly, I could tell I was fading out into a deep sleep.
By the second I grew more and more tired.
Just when I was about to fall asleep, Jack whispered something to me.
"You know we're both in the same bed right?"
This was going to be a long nap…
The Next Morning
I groaned in annoyance as the bright sunlight from outside the window shined directly in my face.
I rolled over to turn face first into Jack who was already awake, smirking as I shot him a confused look.
"What?" I asked confusedly as I stretched in my spot.
"You look cute and cuddly when you sleep." He laughed as I hit him, twice in the same arm.
"Ok, one I understand but two? What was the second one for?"
"Earlier when I wanted to hit you in the forest but couldn't." I smirked as he rolled his eyes and got out of the bed.
Just before leaving the room, he assured me "I'll be right back to help you up."
Once I eventually sat up, I sat at the edge of the bed and tested out my foot.
I gently put some pressure on it, adding more and more to see how much my foot could handle.
Thankfully my foot had healed somewhat over the last few hours and now was good enough for me to walk on by myself... somewhat.
Just then as I began to leave the room, I heard a loud banging noise coming from the main room.
By instinct, I quickly grabbed my bow before advancing down the hall to check out the commotion.
Jack's POV
From the moment Kim hit the bed, I knew she was falling asleep by the second.
Just when I noticed she about to fall asleep, I whispered "You know we're both in the same bed right?" while chuckling slightly.
I could practically see her rolling her eyes at me as I smirked before going to sleep myself.
Once I woke up, I groaned in annoyance as no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall back asleep.
Finally, I gave up and turned over to face Kim.
She too like me a minute ago, was facing the wall.
Without bothering, I could tell she was knocked out.
After quietly laughing to myself, she then began to wake up.
As she tried to get comfortable as she shifted, I noticed that the sun from the window was directly on her.
She's literally hot!
Well, I don't mean it like that…
I mean she's attractive but you know, because the sun…
Never mind.
She then rolled over to face me.
Since I was already awake, I smirked as she shot me a confused look.
"What?" she asked confusedly, stretching in her spot.
"You look cute and cuddly when you sleep." I laughed as she decided to hit me twice in the same arm.
"Ok, one I understand but two? What was the second one for?"
"Earlier when I wanted to hit you in the forest but couldn't." she smirked as I rolled my eyes and got out of the bed.
Since I wanted to check on the two folks since it wasn't long ago since the "men" came to visit, I then told her "I'll be right back to help you up." just before leaving the room.
Once I walked out of the doorway, I then made my way to the main room to see nobody in sight.
I looked around, looking for any sign of them when I saw some fish burning, yes, burning on the stove.
Just then without warning, I someone came at me and wrapped his arms around me.
Even with all my strength, I struggled to get out.
I kicked and elbowed him repeatedly with no luck at all.
This guy must have been huge!
That, or he has one mean bear hug…
Either way, both options were not good.
As I continued to struggle to free myself, we both stopped and turned around when a very recognizable voice cleared their throat.
Standing at the end of the hallway in front of us was Kim, aiming her bow right at us, more specifically "him".
He then released me and instead grabbed me around the neck as something sharp met my head.
I knew he was pointing some kind sharp object at my head, making the situation even worse.
Just great.