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Okay, I might be a little more scrambled from that hit to the head than I thought. I guess the ol’ brain rattled around in the noggin a bit when he punched me. Note to self: have Doc check me out when this is over.
Doc … and Kendrick … and Keys and Neil … I miss them. I hope they’re all okay.
That reminds me; Ramsey threatened them. I can’t let that slide. He can threaten me all he wants, but he should know not to mess with my guys.
New note to self: Make Ramsey regret that.
For the first few hours, it’s nothing but talk, talk, talk. Ramsey’s in and out, asking me where Neil’s laptop is, where Justin is, and a bunch of other stuff. From his line of questioning, it seems like he thinks I know more than I do. How the fuck should I know where the laptop is? Keys had it last I saw, and as far as Justin goes, I have no idea what Kendrick did with him after I brought him to the Burrow. He could be six feet under, sharing grave space with another corpse that had the misfortune of meeting me, or he could still be somewhere inside my former home, waiting for rescue workers to dig his body out of the rubble.
Samson sics his Vipers on me the second he realizes I’m not going to cooperate. They lay into me with all the usual accessories: knives, brass knuckles, crowbars,et cetera. Unfortunately for them, my pain tolerance is on a level they can’t comprehend, and my patience is even higher. I wait until Cobra gets bored with watching the beating about an hour into it and leaves the room again—then the real fun begins.
I gotta say, as far as torture goes, I’m not impressed.
I can’t believe the dumbasses assumed I can’t get out of zip ties. There’s not a restraint I’ve met that I can’t slip, given enough time. Yeah, it hurts when my thumbs pop out of their joints. It also hurts when I grab a Viper’s knife by the blade and yank it out of his grip.
The thugs are so startled that I disarmed him that they stop their assault. It’s just for a second, but a second’s all I need.
Three Vipers lie dead on the floor before the other two even realize I cut my legs loose with special blades built into my boot heels. That’s a mod that Kendrick whipped up for me, for just such an occasion. I could’ve gotten free a lot sooner, but I’m something of a drama queen, and it’s going to piss Ramsey off that much more if I disappear when his back is turned.
One of the remaining Vipers opens his mouth to shout for help, but I shut it with a swift kick of my bladed boot. Blood spurts out from his split neck, and he gurgles as he starts to choke on it. His buddy tries to come to his aid—dumb move if you ask me.
He should’ve run.
While Viper Number Five holds Viper Number Four’s bleeding neck, I shift my grip on my stolen blade and toss it at his exposed back. It sinks hilt-deep into the base of his neck, and he drops like the sack of shit he is.
I’ve solved one problem—the beating—but opened myself up to another. I do a quick recon of the warehouse only to find that the sole avenue of safe escape is the door Ramsey exited through. He’s likely still on the other side, waiting for the signal from his goons that I’m either dead or I talked.
It’s gonna be a long wait, Ramsey.
Since I can’t go out the way I came in, I look for a less-safe escape route. There are windows aplenty here, but I’ll have to climb up to them. They’re a solid fifty feet up, with not much in the way of handholds or climbing implements besides the plumbing I noticed earlier. Not super convenient. I guess it’ll work in a pinch, though.
Once I’m up crouching on a window ledge, I realize a slight flaw in my plan.
The windows don’t open.
I suppose that makes sense. Why would they make these swing open? Who’s gonna be fifty feet up in the air trying to catch a breeze? Negative points to Bunny for smarts.
Guess I’m breaking some glass.
Since I didn’t have the wherewithal to bring one of the Vipers’ crowbars up with me, I have to climb back down and retrieve one. Back up I go, crowbar in hand, to try again. There’s not a lot of swinging room on the ledge, but I manage to get enough leverage to bust one of the windows after a few whacks with the crowbar.
Of course, as soon as I break the glass, I know the jig is up. Ramsey rushes into the warehouse, and his Vipers flood in behind him. No options left. I dive through the broken window, aiming for the awning of the bodega across the street.
I could almost,almostthank Sun Yi for forcing me to take gymnastics as a kid. I don’t quite stick the landing, but my leap across the street is poetic.
Since there are no witnesses, let alone judges to grade my performance, I give myself a solid seven point five. I lose points for bouncing on the awning and sliding to the edge, and the roll off the fabric onto the street below costs me as well. I give myself a bonus for surviving, though, so all in all not bad.
Across the street, shouts and the sounds of guns chambering signal my cue to book it out of here. I scramble to my feet and bust ass down the road, dodging late night traffic until I can get to the relative safety of an alley, where I’m finally able to slow down a little.
I’ve gotta find Keys and the others. From Ramsey’s line of questioning, that laptop of Neil’s is more important than we realized, and Keys is probably the only person who’s capable of finding whatever it is that Ramsey doesn’t want us to find. That, and I miss my guys. I miss Kendrick’s roughness, Doc’s tenderness, Keys’ mischievousness, and Neil’s sweetness. If any harm has come to them as a result of Cobra’s fuckery, he’s going to have a lot to answer for.
Time to do a damage check. I’m functional, but the Vipers did a number on me.
I touch my face and wince. One cheek is swollen and painful, possibly a fracture. My lip has a split in it, and my nose gushed blood at one point, which has now all dried up and crusted to my skin. The bone seems solid though, so I shouldn’t need Doc to reset it. My eyes are open and working as they should, no double vision or spots floating across my line of sight. A few tender places on my scalp indicate possible head injuries, but as far as I can tell my mind is operating at peak Bunny capacity.
The leg that Sun Yi cut into has a twisted knee. My shoulder wound opened up at some point during the beating, but the bleeding is minimal. Looks like whatever danger I was in from that gunshot, it’s healed enough to be less of a threat now. Cool.
Bruised ribs. Some contusions on my tummy where the Vipers punched me. A sore throat from some weak choking. And innumerous lacerations of varying depth. Beyond that, there’s really not much damage to speak of. Overall, I got away relatively scot-free. I’ve probably had worse after an intense session with Kendrick when I think about it.
