Apocalypse Fighter

Chapter 6 Escalation

All of Justin's frustration was in that punch. For so long, he had been jealous of Richard; he had an excellent job that didn't leave him dog tired day after. Mary was loving and caring, she looked after the family, while Justin's wife Simona expected to wait on hand and foot, she never cleaned and was always complaining about the mess. Having to move was the straw that broke the camels back, and Justin couldn't control himself any longer.

Justin blamed Richard for a lot of his frustration, but Justin was frustrated with the world in general. Justin wanted to humiliate Richard, show him that he was not perfect, and would bleed like anyone else. Justin landed another heavy blow to the side of Richard's face. Richard shook his head to clear it and rubbed his jaw, it didn't seem broken, and then Richard gave a cold smile.

Justin didn't see what hit him, but it made him stumble back a few steps. It took a moment for Justin to feel the searing hot pain and the trickle of something warm down his neck. Justin's anger and frustration instantly turned to confusion and panic; he collapsed to the ground, covering the wound with his hand. Justin could see Richard standing over him, the cold smile still on his face.

At that moment, Richard was not in his right mind. He saw the beasts, reliving the nightmare of doomsday. It wasn't Justin in front of him; it was something else, something dark. The instinct to protect and kill took over, after all the fighting he had done, Richard had learned skills. Richard only wished that he was as strong as he had been before; after the heart problems, he was still weak and slow. But Richard knew his strength would return over time.

"Are you in pain?" Richard asked Justin with a sneer.

Richard shook his hands and watched as the blood splattered over the rug. Richard's hand was sore from the impact of stabbing Justin; he shook it again to try and regain some feeling. Richard closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he could smell the blood and feel the pain radiating up his arm. The feelings did not distract him; they made him feel more, and he trembled slightly with the rush.

Seeing Justin hurt, sent Simona into a frenzy and she rushed at Richard, grabbing him around the waist.

"Justin get him! I have him pinned; he can't move, now is your chance." Simona screamed.

Justin was losing his strength, but he would put on one final fight;

"Hang in there Hunny; I'm coming." Justin gasped.

Justin grabbed the knife that had been dropped to the floor and rushed at Richard. Justin could think of nothing but getting revenge on Richard now; it gave him the strength to swipe at Richard with the knife.

"I'm impressed by your courage and strength," Richard said as he dodged the first swipe of the blade without effort. "But it would be a stupid move to try again, I'm warning you." 

Richard had faced many hideous beasts during the apocalypse; the worst ones were like zombies. They were always hiding in the shadows waiting to jump out and attack, over time Richard had gotten accustomed to things jumping out at him and his reaction time and reflexes were far more advanced than other, current-day humans.

Richard saw that Justin was getting ready to s***h at him again. In a split second, Richard had twisted his body, Simona squealed as her grip on Richard was broken, and she was pulled to her feet. Richard grabbed Simona and brought her in front of him, like a human shield. Richard saw the panic in Justin's eyes as he realized what Richard had done and that he would not be able to stop the attack in time. Justin had intended to stab Richard with the knife, but it merely grazed his forearm as he turned. The blade continued it's trajectory, piercing and tearing at Simona's gut.  

Simona gasped as she watched the blade penetrate her belly, a look of betrayal crossed her face as she looked from the knife to Justin. Richard could see the horrified look on Justin's face, as he realized what he had just done.

"No!" Justin screamed. "That was for you, you bastard!" Justin yelled at Richard. "It was meant to be for you." Justin sobbed as he collapsed, once more, onto the floor next to Simona.

Simona looked between Justin, Richard and the knife sticking out of her stomach. She felt angry that the situation had escalated, mostly she felt numb from the shock. Simona couldn't feel her legs; she looked at Justin in desperation;

"Ahh…" Simona gurgled, a small bubble of blood burst between her lips. Again she looked down at her abdomen, the bloodstain slowly spreading over her clothes. Justin watched Simona's face turn white as a sheet; he reached out to take her hand.

"Am I going to die?" Simona whispered to Justin, she looked scared. "Is this how it ends for us?" Simona choked on a cough. Justin wiped the blood trickling from her mouth on his sleeve. "Promise me, Justin, that you will get revenge. Take them for all they are worth…" 

Simona started crying, the tears flowed down her cheeks and streaked the blood on her lips, she stared at Richard. Simona wondered what she had done to deserve this, was it because they were poor? She blamed Richard; he had money and wanted to make more by selling the house; he was a greedy bastard. These thoughts made Simona angry; it gave her a surge of energy, just enough to remove the knife from her stomach and hand it to Justin.

"Kill him, for me, for the kids and the house. Once that is done then we can live in a nice house too, we will be proper citizens." Simona laughed wildly.

"I promise you, sweetheart, that I will avenge you. Even if it takes me to my dying day, I will avenge you." Justin whispered back.

Justin grabbed the handle of the knife with all his strength and went to attack Richard again, it was a pathetic attempt, and he missed. Richard shook his head;

"Is that all you have Justin?" Richard taunted.

Looking down at the couple, Richard felt a moment of pity for them. Their greed and selfishness had brought them to this sad point. That a house and money was more important than their lives? Richard didn't like greedy people and the moment of pity passed, he wouldn't show them any mercy.

 Richard stomped on Justin's hand, sending the knife spinning across the floor. Richard heard the crunch of breaking bone and Justin scream in agony. Justin's other hand shot up and grabbed Richard by the ankle.

"Who the hell are you? This is not the Richard I know; he was a mild-mannered, teacher that got along with everyone. You are a cold, replica. You can't be him; you just can't…" Justin stammered, released Richards's ankle and clutched at his wounded hand.

Justin knew that he would not be able to fight Richard much loner, he guessed that every finger on his hand was broken and potentially his wrist. He looked up at Richard, the bruising on his face where Justin had punched him, was just starting to show and the was a large cut on his lip. Justin felt somewhat satisfied that he had hurt Richard.

"You are right. I am not the same Richard you used to know. Is that such a bad thing though? That I don't let people walk all over me any more? I have no pity for sad, pathetic humans like you." Richard spat on Justin and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"You came here today to try and bully my family and me. You thought that you were going to get what you wanted, we are good people and people like you take advantage. I've had enough. You blame others for your actions; you take no responsibility. Consider yourself being taught a lesson." Richard sneered.

"We didn't come here to bully you!" Justin spat back. "We thought that you would be able to help us out, you are rich family, we never expected you to pull the rug out from under our feet like that."

Simona began to cough violently, her skin looker paler by the minute.

"I'll call an ambulance, my love. Just hang in there." Justin said not understanding that it was too late for his wife and it might already be too late for him.