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Kurt, Joe, and Five reached the landing and made for the doorway, but their pursuers had caught up to them already, with two men racing downward at a breakneck pace, skipping stairs and whipping through the turns on the half landing, while the third man hurdled over the railing, landing between the fleeing trio and the door.
The zealous athleticism was accompanied by shouts and grunts, which sounded more like a pack of animals than human utterings. The men carried sharpened spikes that resembled homemade spears.
“No!” Five cried out. Even in the dim light he recognized them.
Quickly surrounding their prey, they seemed to expect cowering and submission. They found themselves in for a rude awakening.
Kurt lunged forward, delivering what was known as a push kick,or front thrust kick, to the chest of the man blocking their path. His foot struck the man just above the sternum, hitting so hard that the man’s arms and legs snapped forward as his torso flew backward. It was as if he’d been yanked back by a bungee cord.
The second man lunged at Joe, swinging his own weapon toward Joe’s temple.
Joe pushed Five to the floor while ducking under the swing. He popped up, backing away from a second swing and using quick footwork to avoid being forced into the corner. Pushing off the wall, he swung the backpack as his attacker tried again to land a blow. The spike hit the pack and impaled it, but that played to Joe’s advantage. He pulled hard, yanking the man off-balance. A headbutt to the face knocked him down, leaving him in a heap.
The third attacker went after Five, raising his weapon with every intention of crushing the weakened young man’s skull. A flying tackle from Kurt prevented the killing blow.
The force of Kurt’s hit knocked the wind out of the man and sent him into the railing. With a lift and a shove, he went over it, landing on a descending flight of stairs and rolling downward.
A sigh of frustration came from up above. A broad light illuminated them all and shots from an unseen gun began to rain down on them.
Kurt and Joe reached Five at the same moment, lifting him up, and dragging him through the door as the bullets pinged and ricocheted off the deck, stairs, and railings.
Ducking and covering as they pushed through the door, they were back in the corridor with the storage room.
“Find a hatch,” Kurt shouted, pushing the heavy door shut and turning the speed wheel in the center to make it watertight. He spun it to the stops, but it couldn’t be locked, and if their pursuers knew anything about ships, it wouldn’t hold them for long.
Joe moved off, supporting Five and probing the passageway with the flashlight. They were low on the ship. Low enough that it would be hit-or-miss to find a hatch they could open.
“Notice something about those guys?” Kurt asked, catching up to them and helping lift Five.
“They look exactly like him,” Joe said, nodding toward Five.
“Exactly like him.”
“More brothers,” Five said. “Cruel ones.”
“How many brothers do you have?” Joe blurted out.
Five didn’t answer right away. And then he said simply: “Many.”
Kurt figured he knew the reason for that, but now was not the time to get into it. “We’re going to need another way out. How far up was that aux hatch?”
“Forward of the midship’s bulkhead,” Joe said. “We’re almost there. But it’s a thirty-foot drop to the mud.”
“We’ll find something to slide down.”
At the end of the corridor behind them, the sound of the speed wheel turning could be heard. The heavy door flew open and banged the stops. A figure appeared, backlit by the lights of his men.
“Get down,” Kurt shouted.
No sooner had they dropped when more gunfire rang out. Bullets clipped the walls and tore into the overhead, but failed to find a mark.
Down on the deck, Kurt ushered Joe and Five past him. “Shut off your light.”
Joe doused his beam without an argument and kept crawling. Meanwhile, Kurt flung his flashlight backward down the hall toward their pursuers.
It bounced and tumbled, the beam of light cartwheeling in the dark. When it came to a rest, it was pointed more or less at their pursuers. More shots were fired, lower this time, but they found the floor, pinging off the metal and losing their sting.
Kurt turned and crawled after Joe and Five, hoping they could find an exit in the pitch dark. He found them scrambling on all fours.