Freedom’s Freedom

Freedom ignored the townie’s command as he barreled down the stairs and in to the outer area of the bunker. Instead, he answered with a blast of buckshot in to the man’s lower extremities.

The other guard went for his own weapon, but Freedom pounced forward. Patton’s elbow impacted with the man’s left temple with all the momentum of his body behind it. The guard collapsed under the impact.

Freedom abandoned his shotgun for one of the guard’s fully loaded 12-gauge and the others .22 pistol.

He stood in what was little more than a box about 10 feet by 5 feet, the stairs to his rear, and a lone sealed hatch leading onward. He edged towards the hatch. Need to make this fast and hard, he thought. Do what it takes to shut down opposition before it can strike back.

Freedom leaned against the wall next to the door. He stretched out his foot and used it to push the latch handle up and open. When he heard the lock click, he shoved his knee up against the hatch. As the door swung open, he turned towards it and sprinted through. He took a flying leap as he entered.

Two guards stood at the entrance to the massive room, obviously a bomb shelter in its past existence. They looked up, dumbfounded as Freedom flew past. Freedom aimed his pistol as he moved and squeezed off a shot in to each man’s gun arm.

Freedom landed on his feet and charged the two gun man. He caught one with a running clothesline that sent the man spinning to the floor. He immediately twisted and brought his boot up in to the face of the other man. He left the two unconscious men lay as he continued in to the chamber.

The room between him and the far side was empty except for two long benches. On each wall was row after row of lockers, one on top of another, like something you might find in a high school locker room. On the far end were several beds, a miniature kitchen, and a small dinner table, and a large metal garage door. At the table, directly across the room from Freedom, were the remaining occupants of the bunker. A half dozen guards circled around the table. Not the local yokel guards either. Liberator’s personal, highly trained commandos. Freedom could see the stunned visage of Mayor Horace Williams at the table. The other man at the table stood.

“Hold back,” he said. Freedom found himself in a stare down with Liberator.

“Come on, boy. Let’s end this.”

“You’ve sold out your legacy, Liberator, and you’ve sold out your country. Don’t make it any worse for you.”

“Die!” Liberator charged towards Freedom and the fight was on.

Liberator towered over Freedom by more than a head and his body was covered with muscle. Freedom knew he had no chance going blow to blow with this man. At the same time, he couldn’t gun his way through Liberator and his bodyguards.

Freedom dropped his guns. “Bring it.”

Liberator, to his credit, didn’t brashly attack. He just walked towards Freedom, chest out. Can’t let him get too close, Freedom thought. My speed and distance are my only chances.

Freedom ran forward and brought his foot up in to a straight kick in to Liberator’s chest. Liberator slowed but didn’t stop his forward motion. Freedom quickly pulled back and drove another kick in to the side of Liberator’s leg, but the big man shrugged it off.

Freedom jumped back and charged in. He landed two quick body blows followed by a quick knee to the gut. Liberator just shook his head.

Freedom snapped out another series of kicks to the leg, to the torso, to the chest. Liberator just smiled.

“What the fuck are you made of?”

Liberator just laughed in response.

Freedom jumped forward and brought his elbow down against the taller man’s forehead. Liberator stepped back, and Freedom thanked every deity in the book that he actually had fazed his foe. Until Liberator laughed again.

Liberator twisted his head, which caused his neck to crack. “Is that all you got, Freedom. I expected a challenge out of you.”

Freedom smiled as a faint drop of blood trickled down from where his elbow had impacted Liberator’s forehead. Liberator reached up and wiped it away.

“No, no, no, no, NO!” Liberator moved with surprising speed and before Freedom knew it he was held by his shoulder and leg above Liberator’s head. Liberator threw Freedom back against one of the shelter’s support pillars.

Pain ripped through Freedom’s lower back as he crumpled to the floor. He struggled to get to his feet, only to have Liberator crash in to him and send him stumbling back and over a bench and crashing back to the ground.

Liberator moved in again. He reared back and brought his foot up in to Freedom’s solar plexus. Freedom flew back and crashed in to the lockers on the side wall.

Freedom felt his vision go hazy. He could feel the cracked ribs burning up and down his sides. He struggled against the broken lockers to even stand.

Liberator moved slowly towards him. “Give up, Patton. Admit that you’ve fallen to the better man.”

Freedom coughed and felt the blood rising in his lungs. He knew his body fought to heal itself, but the damage was too much even for his body’s superior healing abilities. “No. Not gonna happen.”

Freedom wrapped his hands around the broken locker door. Liberator stepped forward to finish the job, but Freedom jumped up and towards him. The move took Liberator by surprise as Freedom dropped down knees first on to the larger man. Liberator caught him but before he could take any action, Freedom brought the locker door down hard in to Liberator’s forehead. Liberator dropped down to the floor at the impact and Freedom rolled up and away.

One of Liberator’s soldiers charged in, knife in hand, but Freedom met him with the locker door to the chest, and the soldier’s sternum crumpled as he crashed to the floor.

The distraction was long enough, and Freedom turned around right in to a fist to the jaw from Liberator. Freedom spun to the floor. Liberator immediately ripped the hard metal railing from the near end of the nearest bed. He sent the forty pounds of steel hurling towards Freedom. Freedom brought the locker door up just in time to deflect the blow.

Liberator moved in to finish his work. Freedom rose up and drove the remains of the locker door directly in to the side of Liberator’s knee. With a pop, the knee twisted sideways. Liberator fell to the floor, his kneecap gone.

Another guard charged in, but Freedom turned to one side to let the man pass him. Freedom pushed the shooting pain across his chest aside, and brought his leg up and in to the back of the soldier’s head. The soldier fell forward, unconscious.

Liberator staggered to his feet and limped towards Freedom, but Freedom was ready for him. He leapt up and drove his boot hard in to Liberator’s right temple. The larger man staggered as Freedom dropped back to the floor. He landed in a crouch and immediately swept out his foot to knock Liberator’s one good leg out from under him.

Liberator crashed to the ground as Freedom jumped back up in to the air. He came straight down, knees first, in to Liberator’s back. Freedom could hear Liberator’s bones crack beneath him.

Freedom pulled Liberator up in to a sitting position. “Enough is enough, Liberator! You’ve lost! Now I want answers.”

Liberator coughed and blood bubbled from his mouth. “You won’t make it out of here alive to use it, so why not.” Liberator laughed and pushed more blood from his broken mouth. “Atlas is in Hudson, a little town just outside—”

“I know where it is. Is Annabelle with him? Or Iniri?”

“Your girlfriend is dead, but the Mexican bitch is with him. It doesn’t matter though, because in a few hours she’ll be just as dead and she’ll take large parts of the eastern seaboard with her.”

“What are you talking about, Liberator?”

“Enough questions,” Liberator said. “Men, kill this traitor!”

Freedom heard the sound of the automatic rifles being brought to the ready position before he even looked up. Liberator’s four surviving militiamen all had their M-16’s trained on him.

“Look, fellas. Can’t we talk about this?”

“Kill him!” Liberator’s voice echoed through the bunker.

Freedom leaped upwards as the squad opened fire. The bullets coursed just inches below his feet as he grabbed a hold of a hanging light. He swung forward, up and over the guards, and landed neatly behind them, only inches from the mayor.

“Richie sends his love, Dad.” Freedom’s fist caught the mayor in the jaw. The corpulent man crumpled to the floor unconscious.

The soldiers turned their guns back towards Freedom. This is it. Judgment day.

Freedom closed his eyes and waited for the shots.

Automatic rifle fire exploded through the room, but Freedom felt nary a hit. He opened his eyes and saw the soldiers twisting and turning under a hail of fire.

He looked up to see Tilby holding an MP5 and smiling. Iniri was only a few steps behind Tilby. She held her hand against the Neanderthal’s massive chest.

“About time you showed up,” Freedom said.

“Same thanks as always I see, Patton. How many times have I pulled your ass out of the fire now?”

“About as many times as I saved yours, Tilby. You got wheels?”

“Ready to move when you are.”

Freedom looked down at Mayor Williams. “Let’s tie this bastard up and throw him in the back. I want to make sure he pays for his crimes.”

He surveyed the rest of the damage and started back towards the entrance. “Iniri, you get the big lug loaded up, and Tilby, you’ll be doing the driving once we get Williams in.”

“This Atlas bastard won’t know what hit him.”