Ambush P2

Terran wanted to help, but after seeing the look in Sophie's eyes, he knew there would be no point in arguing. So instead, he just nodded, remaining perfectly calm. In his mind, he felt he could have taken out the intruders even if they had jumped him. After two years, not even the wasteland had claimed his life; what could two ordinary men do to him? Yes, he still lacked technique, but if those men thought he could not claw their eyes out or go for the jugular after thinking he was down for the count would be a fast and easy ticket to an early grave.

Terran was confident that that's about what would have happened if she had not shown up when she did the other day, but he was still thankful that she did. If not, he would have most likely ended up on some wanted list, hunted down before he could experience any aspect of real life.

After nodding his head in agreement, Sophie stepped forward, entering her apartment alone. Both sets of footprints led into her bedroom; it was clear that they were both hiding in ambush. Yet, instead of following them right away, she instead casually walked into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. She then walked over to her bathroom with the knife in hand, turning on the shower and letting the water cascade down the drain.

--

"What the hell do you think you're doing? The plan was to wait here for an ambush. The delinquent isn't even back yet."

"You think I don't know what I'm doing? She will be totally unprepared, unable to even cover herself before we have her in our hands. Then, I'll be able to stick her with all the revenge I want." The other man, who happened to be the guard from the other day, shot back in a quiet voice. His cheeks were flushed as his mind was clearly somewhere else.

"Hey-hey-hey, don't get too ahead of yourself. Just remember that you promised me that I would get to have the first round. So don't go getting too excited and breaking our deal."

"So what? You're already here anyway. I changed my mind; last one there is a rotten egg."

"Bastard! I can't believe I agreed to this. Why do you have to act like such a man child?"

Dashing out of the bedroom, the two were both crazed with excitement, completely throwing their previous plans down the drain. Despite the guard's friend's previous words of ridicule, it seemed they were only banter.

A few seconds later, they arrived outside of the bathroom.

"Hehe, she left the door open. It's like she's inviting us in to play. She must really want it," Both men thought, if only they knew how accurate their thoughts were, if only in a different context.

Steam rose from behind the opaque shower curtain, and a Bluetooth speaker sat on the counter blasting classical music. The two could not contain their perverted devilish grins as they thought how perfect the situation was. They had planned to knock her out before gagging her. Only now, her screams would be drowned out by the loud orchestra. Not to mention she took the extra step to clean herself for them.

Without pause, they both thrust their way into the open bathroom, pushing each other aside as they competed to reach the tub first. Anticipation of seeing the expression of fear, shock, and horror pumped adrenaline through their veins. Based on their size, it was entirely possible that these were the fastest steps they had taken throughout their career as guards.

In an instant, the first man already had his hand on the shower curtain when he heard a thud from behind. The door had shut, and the original guard's friend was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. The knife from the kitchen thrust through the side of his neck. Sophie had been hiding behind the open door, and the second the two had passed, she had acted without hesitation. Against her best luck, she had not been able to retrieve the knife before her target collapsed.

Despite hearing the thud behind him, the original guard didn't stop his actions. In his mind, his friend had tripped, and he had emerged victorious. All he needed to do was claim his prize. Only, his prize was not in front of him. Unfortunately, he did not have a full second to realize this before the shower curtain was wrapped around his neck. Instinctively, he grabbed the curtain, trying to pull it off in the hopes he would be able to breathe. Yet, when his hands grasped the curtain, Sophie skillfully added another layer, attempting to bind his arms that were now flush with his chest. While he could not breathe perfectly, this addition focused the tension away from his neck. Realizing this, he moved his attention to freeing his hands. Sophie quickly knotted the curtain on his back, binding the man while freeing her hands.

It was at this moment that an ear-piercing scream momentarily drowned out the grunts of the guard's raspy breath and the music that strummed one's heart.

Sophie's adrenaline was flying; as soon as the scream went into her ears, her heart was filled with worry. With the music currently blasting only a few feet away, and her attention on her current fight, she could not identify who the cry was from, only that it came from outside of her apartment. Still, she could not help but worry that she had played her cards wrong. Why didn't she scope out the area before entering the apartment? What if a third accomplice was working as a lookout?

She feared that Terran was in trouble, which made her lose focus. The guard was a stocky man. In her lapse of concentration, one of his meaty hands slipped free of the curtain and caught her on the jaw, causing her to stumble backward, tripping on the warm corpse of the other assailant. As she lifted herself back up, the hot sticky blood covering the floor clung to her clothing. In this time, the man managed to free his other hand, allowing him to remove the curtain that had been around his neck.

"Dumbass, why didn't you get this feisty bitch off me when she was trying to choke me! I'll admit it was a little kink—"

The guard's words fell off as his expression turned to one filled with fear, shock, and horror. An expression he had hoped to see on the woman in front of him a few seconds ago. The sight of his friend's lifeless body caused his slow brain to momentarily short circuit.

The bathroom was filled with steam that reeked with the thick smell of iron; it was getting increasingly troubling to breathe without gagging. For a short moment, the two stood still, staring at each other as they coughed on the air and assessed their situations.

"Damn whore! What did you do?! He had a wife! What am I supposed to tell--"

Again, the guard's words were cut off as Sophie took the initiative to charge, hitting him with her shoulder and pushing him back into the scalding shower. Although her body was much smaller, she shifted her center of gravity and threw him off balance. Fortunately, in her rush to set up the trap, she had not taken the time to adjust the shower's temperature. Instead, pulling the handle all the way, leaving it on its hottest setting.

Sophie hadn't been shaken by the harsh words that left the despicable guard's mouth. True or not, they had only been spoken in a method of self-defense. She had seen the light in his cold eyes as he searched for an opening, waiting for the guilt to hit and for her to lower her guard.

Thanks to her quick and decisive reaction, she once again held the upper hand. Scalding water poured into the man's open eyes. While it was not hot enough to instantly leave a burn, the pain was still present, and his vision was obstructed. His hands flailed, trying to get a grip on Sophie, but the only thing he touched was his companion's blood that covered her clothing as it assured, he could not get a solid hold. Taking advantage of the man's inability to react appropriately, Sophie once again grabbed the shower curtain, this time covering the man's face. As the water soaked into the curtain, it blocked any access to air that the man previously had. An interchange of muffled screams, coughs, and unpleasant gurgles sounded under the ever-lasting oppression of the pleasant classical music.

The man's attempts to grab at Sophie intensified. Only now, with his hands red with his friend's blood and the steam making both parties' skin extremely slippery, the man could not obtain a solid grasp. A few minutes passed, and all manmade sounds slowly ceased, both bodies now lifeless, with Sophie slumped down, breathing heavily.

However, she did not stay in that position for long as she quickly remembered the scream that had sparked this desperate struggle.