Read Online Peak Oil by Arno Joubert - Free Book Online Page B

chair. On nights like these, he missed his family so much. He closed his eyes and prepared for another sleepless night.

     

Neil snapped awake from his restless sleep as two shots from a silenced pistol barked close by. He interpreted the dark blurry shape in the door. A hooded man, two hands clutching the weapon to his chest, scanning the room.  
    Momentary blindness as Alexa flicked on the light. He would have preferred the cover of darkness, but she was closest to the assailant, and she was calling the shots. Neil flicked a subconscious switch and went into combat mode. The world dragged to a slow blur, and his senses peaked as the adrenaline surge took effect, like it did on a ninety-foot nitro dive.  
    Puffy snowflakes floated in front of his vision: down feathers, he guessed. A tendril of smoke drifted up from two tiny, black holes in the blanket, and the familiar smell of sulfur hung in the air.
    The hooded figure snapped his head to his left, where Alexa had leaped from her chair. She attacked like a lithe cat, her graceful movements economical, yet lethal. She wasted not an iota of energy; each motion was precise, calculated, and controlled. She briefly turned to look at Neil, and he noticed the way her green eyes were now speckled with grey. The assailant spun the weapon toward her.  
    Much too slow.
    Alexa grabbed the barrel and slammed a knee into the man’s side.   With trained efficiency, she ripped the gun upward, trying to dislodge it from his hand, keeping her head steady and focused on the target. Neil reacted a second later.
    By the time the slug dislodged a chunk of wood from the ceiling, Neil was on top of the man. Neil aimed a kick at the man’s groin, but he deflected it with a stiff downward palm. The assailant aimed a knuckle punch at Alexa's throat, but she jerked her entire body sideways, her hair following a millisecond later like a stage curtain closing after the dramatic final scene.  
    The assailant’s fist went straight through the partitioning wall, missing her throat by an inch. Alexa sucked in a breath and swiveled her entire body in the opposite direction, two fluid movements without any perceptible pause in between. She drove the weight of her shoulder into a flat palm straight toward the bridge of the assailant’s nose. Neil was witnessing a beautiful yet deadly dance. He felt like he was simply in the way. Again her calm eyes looking at him. She blinked.
    The assailant jerked his chin toward his chest and Alexa's palm connected on the hard part of his brow. He ripped his hand back, dislodging pieces of the drywall, and then spun behind Alexa, trying to get her into a choke hold.  
    She went down into a split, dragging the gun down by the barrel. The gun spat again, stitching holes in the floor in front of Alexa. She closed her eyes briefly, her lips pursed and her nostrils flaring. She was manipulating the weapon, always in control with her effortlessly fluid movements.  
    The main aimed a knee at her back, but she leaned forward, snapped her legs around his ankles, and then rolled to her side and twisted his feet from beneath him. She ripped the gun from his grip as he fell.
    The man scrambled up and ran for the door. Alexa swiveled on her knees and fired, the bullet slamming him forward and spattering blood on the wall. She fired again, but he ducked out of the doorway.  
    Neil bounded behind the assailant, who had pulled another weapon from a shoulder holster. The man glanced over his shoulder and emptied his clip in their direction. Slugs exploded into the log walls and ceiling, forcing Alexa and Neil to dive for cover.
    Alexa lay on the flat of her back, breathing deeply. Neil cautiously looked up and ran to the door. He heard the assailant’s soft footsteps on the stone walkway. A door slammed, tires squealed, and the engine roared and then faded into the distance.
    “Are you okay?” Neil asked and knelt next to her. She nodded and lifted her hand. A red welt lined