Upon nothing

Ch 24

Have you ever seen one of those western movies that show a stand-off? Y'know like, there's one guy staring seriously at one guy who's staring back at the other guy with the same look. There's sometimes even a sunset or sunrise in the background to make the scene even more intense and dramatic.

Well, that is kinda what it felt like at the current moment, excluding the sunset, of course.

The surrounding air was very tense as our eyes were locked onto each other. It had been less than a minute since the guy pulled out the long zapper, electricity occasionally sparking between the prongs at the tip. I had expected him to immediately begin attacking me after that, but that wasn't the case. Instead he just stood there and waited for something, likely for me to make the first move.

As much as I wouldn't mind trying to outwait him, I was aware that he also might be trying to stall me. He had already called for reinforcements that consisted of two people, and they were on their way here. Every second that passed meant the reinforcements were a second closer to arriving here. If I wanted to avoid a 3 v 1, I would have to do something now.

"Damn, it doesn't look like I have much of a choice." I growled as I decided to no longer play the waiting game. I charged forward at the man, ready to engage him physically. His eye narrowed in response to my rapid advance, and with a swift, practiced motion, he tightened his grip on the rod.

Upon reaching a close enough distance, I lunged forward and aimed for his head again. I instantly realized that it wasn't the smartest move to target an area I previously attempted to strike. This was confirmed as the man effortlessly stepped out of the way of my fist. To make it even worse, he turned the dangerous tip of the rod in my direction and thrust it forward. The pointy metal prongs jabbed my left shoulder, resulting in a very painful electric shock. I yelped as a burning sensation surged in the struck area, the pain being far worse compared to the BB's.

In spite of the throbbing pain, I managed to land on my feet and not on my face. There was no time for respite as the man, undeterred by my recovery, rushed at me with the electric rod poised for another strike. I barely noticed his fast approach and dashed away just as he plunged the rod into the ground. I kept running until I reached the spot I was at earlier, the other defeated person still on the ground.

"Man, that was close." I exhaled and turned my attention to my combatant. His one eye was still locked onto me like a hawk, carefully watching my every movement. I briefly glanced at my left shoulder which still ached from being struck. There was no physical wound, but that didn't make up for the pain that was inflicted.

It was clear that trying to attack him with nothing more than my fists again wasn't going to work. The electric rod in his hand had proven to be hazardous against me, especially as I had jack crap to protect me. I needed something that I could use as a weapon, or at least something that could shield me from the electric prongs. I hurriedly scanned the surrounding area for things that could be used. Unfortunately, excluding small and brittle sticks, there didn't appear to be anything which would work.

Just as I was about to consider retreating, my eyes landed on the gun that rested nearby. It was the very same weapon I used earlier, my mind recalling that it was empty and contained no more ammunition. This would technically make such a weapon useless as its primary purpose is to fire bullets at your enemies, which can't be done with no bullets present in the magazine.

However, with the creative thinking of my mind, a brilliant and ingenious idea popped into my head.

I reached for the gun by the muzzle, my fingers wrapping around the tip with fairly decent ease. I tightened my grip before raising it up in the air like a sword. Its weight hadn't changed from the last time, allowing me to hold it up easy peasy.