Ch07. Not criminals...

"Wai-what?"

Johan's question, however, went unanswered, and his shock went unsupported.

Erick was already starting to move, taking slow steps backwards.

But he wasn't heading in the direction of the motel.

'Son of a bitch!'

Gritting his teeth, Johan raised his fists, setting himself up in the only defensive position he really knew.

"There is!" The group leader laughed. "Protecting the injured, how honorable! But that won't save you in the afterlife. I'll make you die slowly and painfully for making us miss the target..."

With those words, Johan took a single step back, the blood running cold in his veins.

The group of attackers had managed to surround him before he had even thought of anything.

Johan sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

'Shit...'

He tried to delay what was about to happen as long as possible, holding back and stalling.

But when Johan's instincts screamed, and his eyes noticed the absence of one of the bastards before him...

The shine in Johan's eyes changed.

The iron bars were long enough to still cause scratches if Johan escaped the brunt of the attack.

Then Johan took a quick step, as long as possible, feeling as if the space was narrowing around him, as his body moved closer and closer to the other two in front of him.

An iron bar raised, ready to crush his head, and a dangerously sharp knife, prepared exactly to rip out Johan's guts.

It was like stepping out of the pot only to fall straight into the fire.

To his left, the group leader held the knife, to his right, the goon held the iron bar, and as the distance between them decreased, time also ran out.

Johan then made a dangerous choice.

Throwing himself to the right just as the goon on the right began to strike.

He heard the sound of wind being ripped through the iron bar behind him, hitting nothing but emptiness, and he closed his eyes for less than a second, almost simply blinking, trying to enjoy the feeling of relief that wouldn't come again for a long time. after that movement.

And Johan was right.

A blink of an eye later, no matter how precisely he had premeditated the movement, the world still exploded into a black void filled with stars as the other attacker's blow collided with his shoulder.

Those were not empty threats.

These were not attacks performed just to win a street fight.

Those guys weren't ordinary bandits.

No.

They were coordinated.

They had experience.

'These guys are criminals.' Johan thought, feeling his shoulder hurt like never before in his life.

But there was no time to complain or remain calm, as the trio leader's knife was already describing a diagonal line towards Johan's ribs.

With his arms almost crossed over his torso, when he tried to cushion the brute force of the first blow he received, Johan's next movement was simpler to execute.

Although, it was still something worthy of someone who didn't love their own skin - or was willing to pay any price to save their own life.

Johan's left hand came down flat towards the rising blade, and the only thing Johan could feel after that, even when he raised his closed right fist, and hit the leader's chin with everything he was capable of, was a sea of stars in a blood red sky.

Johan had already been the victim of countless pains during his life on the streets, and even before being kicked out of what had once been his home.

But this was completely different.

The knife blade had gone through his palm like butter, staining Johan's entire hand red.

However, the punch had been extremely effective.

Just like the first time he had fought against them, Johan had been able to knock out the leader first.

Even though before he had been able to do it by hiding behind a trash container, and attacking everyone by surprise.

Unlike the first time, however, the leader's fall did not shock the other two.

Which meant Johan needed to think even faster.

'Run or die...'

Johan jumped over the unconscious leader, and barely escaped the swing of the attack of the one who was still behind him.

A practically useless hand, and a screwed shoulder.

The only thing Johan was sure he could count on in that desperate split second was the malice that the streets had taught him.

Falling almost on all fours onto the slightly sandy ground on that roadside, Johan focused on two things at that moment.

Don't ruin your left hand any further, and make a single, simple movement.

In that movement, a handful of dust flew towards the faces of the two enemies.

Confused and momentarily blinded thanks to Johan's strategy, the two criminals remained static, with the metal bars raised, waiting for Johan to approach.

Johan was not a criminal, nor did he have any experience in hurting people.

But he knew how to defend himself, and he had an ability to read people that, while having put him in several dangerous situations, had also saved his skin several times.

Enough times to understand what exactly he could do there, without hurting himself any more than he was already hurt.

Even more so because Johan's vision was already starting to become slightly blurred, due to blood loss.

With a quick movement, he got to his feet, took some distance, and charged like a bull towards the two attackers, who had moved closer to each other, to protect their backs.

'Very good... For me, suckers!'

With a jump, Johan threw all his weight onto his legs, and kicked both of their shoulders, knocking them both to the sandy ground.

Turning his back on the unconscious leader, Johan rushed towards the two fallen enemies, hoping to at least steal their weapons, but before he could do anything, he heard a strange sound coming from him on the other side of the street.

When he looked in the direction where the sound came from, Johan noticed Erick's figure, approaching hurriedly, carrying something in his hands, pointed in his direction.

Johan's eyes fell to the ground, to where the group leader was.

There was a small hole in the big man's bald head.

And the sand around it began to turn red.

Johan's eyes widened.

Erick got closer and closer, carrying a pistol equipped with a silencer.

The gun pointed at him.

'Shit...'

Johan closed his eyes tightly, before hearing the sound of gunshots again.