ANA Reborn by Carl Facciponte - HTML preview
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Chapter 12
t’s almost ten o’clock,” Rhett said to Ana as they I “ finished their work in the lab. “Let’s call it a night and go home. Everyone left hours ago.”
She turned to him. “Sounds good to me. I was just thinking about slipping into the shower with you.” She winked and pressed into him.
“I’m done!” Rhett stated enthusiastically, instantly putting his notepad down. He ushered her to the elevator, and they waved to the guard on the first floor as they exited to the street.
“Rhett, there are almost no people out, and it’s such a delightful spring night. Let’s walk home instead of grabbing a cab, okay?” Ana wrapped her right arm around his left biceps.
“We can, Hon, but it’s a long walk from 54th St. to 69th St., and you know how irrational and emotional people are. I like them, but they’re all nuts. I don’t want to have a run-in with night people while we walk home.”
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“How about if we start walking and hail a cab if anything looks suspicious?”
“No problem. Let’s walk up 9th Ave. rather than cut over and walk along Central Park.”
“Agreed. There are too many muggings next to the park at night. We’d be okay, but I would hate to hurt anyone if they jumped us. Want to stop at the diner on 58th for a coffee?”
“You and your caffeine. Are you sure you’re not addicted?”
Ana ignored the question and started pulling Rhett alongside. “I guess we’re going now,” he said as he squeezed her right arm closer to his body. “I love walking with you,” he added. “And it seems to be safe, judging by those two older women walking together a hundred feet or so in front of us.”
As they approached Baisley Park on 9th and 56th, five men, dressed in black t-shirts and blue jeans, stepped from a kiosk’s shadow in front of them. Ana whispered, “So much for a safe walk home. Look at their eyes and body language. All of them are looking straight at us. Their fists are closed.”
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“So?”
Ana looked up at him. “Their body language says they are looking for trouble. We should cross the street to see if they follow.
They both started to move to the curb when two of the men stepped out into the almost deserted street to intercept them.
“Oh, crap!” Rhett said. “Looks like we’re in a bit of trouble. My guess is they intend to rob us.”
“An amazing bit of reasoning, Captain Obvious,” Ana said sarcastically. “Yeah, they look like trouble. Let’s walk directly at them to see if they let us pass. Don’t act meek like a victim, be bold. They can read body language to tell if people would be an easy target. So let’s not look easy.”
“Can you look easy when we get back to the apartment?”
“Geez, Rhett, can you pick a worse time to be horny? Let’s take care of business first, and then we can talk. When they made you a male, they truly made you a male, didn’t they?”
“You’re right. Let’s take care of these guys.”
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Rhett spoke to the men, “Nice night for a walk, isn’t it?”
The man closest to them motioned the four other men to hold their distance. He said, “It is for us. Give us your money and watches.”
Rhett responded, “We pay by card and only have a couple of dollars on us. Certainly not worth scuffling over! You are welcome to the money. What do you say?”
“No deal,” said the man, who seemed to be the leader.
“You move to the left flank, and I’ll move to the right,” said Ana in a low voice. “That’ll divide them.”
Ana moved to the inside of the sidewalk while Rhett moved to the curb. Three of the men faced Rhett, while the other two faced Ana.
Two of Rhett’s attacker’s extended steel retractable self-defense batons, while the third opened a folding knife. One of Ana’s attackers pulled a baton, while the other unsheathed a fixed-blade knife.
The man on the left swung his baton at Rhett’s head. Rhett quickly stepped into the man and 118
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raised his left arm to deflect the force of the blow.
Rhett circled his extended left arm around his attacker’s baton arm and pulled him in closer to deliver several quick knees to the groin. The man doubled over in pain. A hammer fist to the back of the man’s head sent the attacker crashing to the ground.
The other two attackers rushed Rhett. The first in line raised the baton to strike. Rhett stepped into him and landed a right elbow to the attacker’s larynx. As the man choked, he received a kick to the left knee, throwing it out of joint. The man fell to the ground, choking and trying to scream.
Meanwhile, Ana’s first attacker thrust his baton at her face. She moved her head to the right, and it missed her cheek by a fraction of an inch. She moved in, punching him in the solar plexus, and took the baton out of his hand as he doubled over. She pushed him into the path of the oncoming man with the knife, slowing him down.
Rhett glanced at Ana as she hit the knife-man on the head with her baton. He immediately fell to the pavement, unconscious.
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The remaining man rushed at Rhett, but Ana threw her baton at the attacker, striking him dead-on in the temple. His eyes rolled up as he dropped to the sidewalk.
“Hey, why did you do that? I had it covered,”
Rhett complained.
“I only had two guys. Thought we could share the last one.”
“You are some piece of work, Ana. It’ll take a few minutes for all of them to wake up, except for the guy whimpering about his knee. I’m calling 911.”
With the police on the way, they continued their walk up 9th Avenue.
“By the way,” Ana asked, “do you feel bad about hurting those guys at all?”
Rhett thought a moment. “No, I don’t. Why do you ask?”
“People used to question me as Gabriella when I expressed I had no qualms about hurting people who attacked me. Do you think that makes me evil?”
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Rhett laughed. “What? No, why would you ask such a thing? If someone tries to hurt an innocent party, why on earth would anyone feel bad if the criminal was seriously injured? It’s not like they’re a normal person.”
Ana smiled in relief. “Good thing to know. I’d like to talk to you more about it later.”
They heard police sirens behind them.
Ana listened for a moment and mused, “Looks like those guys met some new friends with uniforms and guns. I’d like to hear the story they spin to the police. They certainly can’t say an unarmed couple beat the stuffing out of them.”
“Ana, were you using full force to hit them?”
“No, I took it pretty easy on them.”
“Me too. I think these Gen-3 bodies could accidentally kill someone in a fight. I hope we don’t have to test the theory,” Rhett whispered to himself as they walked arm-in-arm.
“Rhett, does it seem odd those five guys didn’t bother with the two older women walking ahead of us? Wouldn’t they make easier targets for a robbery than we would? Plus, who carries a 121
baton other than the police or someone from a Federal agency?”
“I see what you mean. You’re wondering if someone intentionally singled us out for attack, correct?”
“Yes, but who would be behind such a thing?”
They walked in silence before Rhett asked,
“Lance?”
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