“And I’m not letting you go until you calm down,” he muttered in her ear.
Which was something that the one-eyed man needed to say to Gloria, as the queen came at him with a speed and ferocity that had him permanently on the backfoot. She was smaller, but compensated for that with her incredible speed, and he found himself parrying blows from her forearms and feet that left him no time to attack himself. She had a point to prove to herself, and aggression to work out, and Ryan was her punching bag.
Stepping back all the time, Ryan found himself moving out of the circle of combat and knew that he had to fight back quickly.
A half chance came when Gloria attempted a flying kick at his head. For the fraction of a second that she was airborne, he had time to do more than just parry. The one-eyed man stepped around the blow and used her momentum against her when he brought his arm up underneath her leg, flipping it up and causing her to turn in flight, so that her landing was awkward. It was hard for her to keep her balance, and in that extra moment of time, Ryan landed a kick to her chest that threw her backward and followed this by landing on top of her and pinning all her limbs beneath his, using his weight advantage to keep her on the ground.
There was hatred and fire blazing in her eyes as she struggled.
“Fireblast! For fuck’s sake, Gloria, it’s me!” he implored.
The blood lust faded in her eyes as she realized where she was and whom she was fighting.
“Shit, I’m sorry Ryan,” she husked softly. “I just—”
“I know,” he said simply. “I want them, too.”
But the hand-to-hand didn’t prove so good for some of the others. Although Dean felt fine after his bout— indeed, the young Cawdor had used his combat to sharpen himself—Doc, Jak and Mildred weren’t so happy.
“I know that I am older, and therefore somewhat more prone to aches and pains than the rest of you, but I must confess that even without the bounds of such, I feel like a three-week chilled stickie,” Doc said as he settled himself on the ground.
“Don’t feel so good myself,” Mildred said. “I took a hell of a beating out there. I just couldn’t get it together. What’s wrong with you, Doc?”
The old man winced. “I have a terrible burning in my kidneys, as though I were to micturate acid. And along my chest bone is tender, although I cannot recall taking any punishment in that area.”
“Doesn’t sound so good, Doc,” Mildred commented. “I don’t like the sound of that at all.” She looked from under her plaits at Doc, who gave her the briefest of nods.
“I know. I was thinking much the same thing,” Doc said, keeping his tone level. “And your symptoms are…?”
“I feel like I’ve got flu coming on very rapidly. In fact, a little too rapidly for my liking. I ache all over, feel hot, and my reactions are foggy, to say the least.”
“You know what this may mean?” Doc asked, although he knew it was a rhetorical request.
Mildred nodded grimly. It was then that she noticed Jak, who was hugging himself. “Jak?” she asked, having to repeat herself in a louder voice when the albino failed to respond first time. When he looked up, she asked, “What’s the matter? You feeling okay?”
Jak shook his head, and the very act made him grimace. “Feel like shit. Don’t know how got through that. Mebbe you should take look,” he said, moving toward her.
Jak stripped off his jacket and shirt, revealing his highly muscled and slender white torso.
“Oh, shit…” Mildred whispered as she looked at him. Contusions and weals topped with small blisters were starting to sprout on his body. The chron was ticking faster.
THE KNOWLEDGE THAT his people had started to contract the disease meant that Ryan felt more impatient than before for something to happen—but was also more determined to get his timing exactly right. It wasn’t just the life of his friends that was at stake, or his, for if they had begun to contract the disease, it was surely only a matter of time before the rest of his party, and indeed himself, also fell prey to the disease. More than that, it was the future that they, or anyone else across the land, might have that was finely in the balance. When he had reported the beginnings of the pox among the companions to Gloria, she, too, had been keen to spring into action.