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The blonde-haired man locked both hands around his opponent’s head, pressing his thumbs against his tightly-closed eyes. A strident bang! sounded as the brown-haired man’s head struck the metal of the truck bed barrier behind him. Bang! Bang! BAM!
I yelped, and my hand flew over my mouth. I’d slipped my hands from the zip-tie an hour ago, kept them hidden behind my back, but no one noticed right away that my hands were free.
The horse pulling the truck whinnied, and the truck bed jolted heavily and came to a stop. In a second, the blonde-haired man grabbed his bloodied victim and threw him over the side of the truck. He leaped over afterward, and continued to pummel the other man with his fist.
I kept my head low, my body curled up in the corner. I heard Atticus’ voice from somewhere: “Why are you putting her back there with them?!” But I refused to lift my head. I could hear the blood now—actually hear the blood: the wetness of it, like a drenched piece of fabric dropped in mud, repeatedly.
Many men were shouting:
“Yeah! Yeah!”
“Fucking beat his ass!”
“Kill that weak piece of shit! KILL HIM!”
Then they all chanted: “Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!”
The sound of bones crunching under the power of the fist made my head dizzy. I clenched my hands behind my back, gritted my teeth, and screamed at the top of my lungs—I couldn’t take it anymore! All the times I’d seen Atticus do it—I just couldn’t take it anymore!
Then I leapt over the side of the truck and hit the ground.
ATTICUS
“Let her go!” I shouted from the front. That scream, I couldn’t bear it! Are they hurting her?
I bolted.
Driggs dismounted and ran after me.
“Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!” I heard Thais cry out.
When I made it around the side of the truck bed, I saw her standing over a blonde-haired man, kicking him in the back, as he straddled a brown-haired man.
“THAIS!” I ran toward her. “Let me go!” I growled, struggled against Driggs who grabbed me from behind and shoved me to the ground.
Driggs’ boot came soaring toward my face. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying flat on my back, looking up at Driggs standing over me; the barrel of a gun pointed at me.
“The little lady got herself into this,” Driggs taunted. “She’ll have to get herself out.”
“Out of what?” I demanded, tried to roll over and get to my feet, but was stopped by Driggs’ boot pressed against my chest. “OUT OF WHAT?” I repeated, my nostrils flaring.
Driggs reached down, grabbed a fistful of my hair and lifted me into a sitting position so I could see out of what.
The moment Thais was in my line of sight, I saw her feet come out from underneath her and her body fly backward before hitting the ground. She cried out. I drew back my legs and kicked Driggs in the pelvis, knocking him on his ass. I vaulted toward the blonde-haired man with my hands still bound behind me, my back arched, my head lowered, and I dove into the man’s abdomen like a spear, and we went crashing to the ground. I straddled him, and because I couldn’t use my fists, I bashed the blonde-haired man in the head with my own head. Once, twice, three times before I felt my dizzied body being dragged away; the dark-haired bastard was behind me, his hands underneath my arms, heaving me off the man.
“You’ll get your chance!” he said. “But not here—no bets have been placed yet!” He laughed.
“Oh, he’s gonna make me rich!” came Driggs’ excited, gruff voice.
I ignored them.
“Are you all right? Thais?” I was sitting on the ground several feet from her.
Thais raised her head and looked across at me. Blood dripped from her nose. She wiped it away with the back of her hand.
My hands shook; I glared at the blonde-haired man, watching him get to his feet.
“Why did you do that?” I asked Thais. “Why were you hitting him?”
