Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

The referee looked over at Jason, who nodded before looking at me. I also gave him a jerk of my head. My eyes never left Jason.

The referee lifted his right hand into the air before dropping it dramatically. A bell rang, signaling the beginning of the fight.

I could barely hear the announcers from their booth. The fight would be broadcast on every major network.

I jogged to the middle of the pit. I bounced side-to-side, ready to move in any direction at a moment’s notice.

“Let’s make it look good,” Jason said as he met me in the middle of the pit.

He was larger than I was, a few inches taller, more muscle wrapped around his body, adding on an extra ten pounds or so.

“I’m not lying down on this one,” I told him, sending a light jab to the side of his body, then his face. I barely made contact. If I was going to win, I didn’t want any cheap shot to count. I wanted to beat the champion at his best.

A look of confusion swept over Jason’s face, then one of determination.

The fight was brutal. Jason was the reigning champion for a reason. Even not expecting to actually fight, he was a beast to handle. He knocked me down in the second round. I spat blood and got to my feet again. I knocked him down in the fourth, then again in the fifth. In the sixth, he didn’t get back up.

There were a lot of people smarter than I was, and there were a lot of people stronger too. But I didn’t know a lot of people who were more relentless than I was. I didn’t stay down. That was how I lived my life, that and the ferocity in Natalie’s eyes was what got me through the fight.

My memory of that night skipped forward, past the fight, past the belt being wrapped around my midsection and the celebration. The next thing my memory showed me was driving back to our house in the city. Natalie drove. I sat in the passenger side seat, a huge smile plastered on my bruised face.

I hadn’t broken any bones, but I was black and blue. A few days of recovery would see me in fighting shape again.

It was in the early hours of the morning when we finally got home. It was dark. We were both exhausted and drunk with happiness. Natalie clicked our automatic gate, and we pulled through our short driveway to our home.

“You were amazing in there, my love,” Natalie said, bringing the car to a stop and leaning over to give me a peck on my cheek. “You’ve always been my champion.”

I grinned, so happy and full of joy, I didn’t have words to express. We exited the vehicle. Walking to our front door, I didn’t see them waiting for us until it was too late. Two figures stepped out of the shadows of the house with heavy repeating blasters in their hands.

They wore black masks with openings for their eyes and mouth.

“Mr. Dell says you should have taken the dive,” one of the men said in a thick Hispanic accent.

That was it. They opened fire on us with their blasters.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

I threw myself in front of Natalie, but the thing about blaster rounds is they move a lot faster than a body. Red light streaked through the empty space between us. Pain erupted into my abdomen, shoulder, and leg.

I fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

I heard the men running from our home. I didn’t take the time to look over and see which way they went. Natalie was lying on the ground, shaking. A blaster round had hit her in the neck, another in the chest.

I crawled through the pool of my own blood to where she lay. She was clawing at her throat, trying in vain to stem the bleeding.

“Nat—Natalie, no, Natalie.” I could barely get the words out. Not because my own pain ravaged my body, but the dread of losing her and our child had taken hold. “No, Natalie, stay with me.”

I finally made my way over to her. I held her head in my lap.

“Help! Someone, help! Help us!” I lifted my head to the dark night sky and screamed. Only the stars were present to witness my plea.

Natalie’s throat was a smoking mess. Somehow, the necklace around her neck had managed to dodge the blaster round. I didn’t know what she was doing until she placed the medallion in my hand. She was trying to mouth something I couldn’t hear.

“I got it, I got it,” I said, taking the medallion she was so desperately trying to give me. “Hold on, Nat. You hold on. It’s your time to fight right now. You’re going to make it.”

Tears fell freely down my cheeks as I screamed for everything I was worth, hoping a neighbor, a passing car, anyone would hear me. “Help us! Please, help us!”

“You—you don’t give up,” Natalie said. I don’t know to this day how she got the words out. “You don’t give up when I’m gone. That’s not—that’s not us. That’s not who we are. They’ll need you.”

That was it. She was gone. They were both gone.

18

My lungs filled with warm water as I came to after the blast. I was so disoriented, I didn’t know which way was up. My lungs burned and panic set in. I looked all around, finally reorienting myself and seeing the light glistening off the surface of the water.

The last words my wife spoke to me echoed in my mind as I fought my way to the surface. My lungs felt like they were going to explode in my body. My mind was a foggy mess by the time I began swimming to the surface. Lucky for me, I was only a few feet from the top.

A furry mouth reached into the water.