“Head wounds always bleed a lot,” I told him.
Then I whipped my hand all around him, up and down, side to side, and again he tried hard to track it, as if he couldn’t help himself.
I jumped and landed a scissors kick against his neck, and he went down on his knees, coughing. Once more with the hand waving. It was like hypnotizing a cat. Then I clasped my hands together, wincing from the pain in my broken one, and gave Omega a powerful two-handed punch that sent him facedown into the dirt. Of course, hitting him with my injured hand hurt so much I almost shrieked and passed out right next to him.
But I held tough. Just barely. But enough.
I looked down at Omega, the superboy, the pinnacle of Itex’s achievement. I’d bested him because he couldn’t track things well with his eyes. I’d won because Jeb had told me about it. I looked up at the Director. She was staring at me with the pure, cold hatred of someone who’s been defeated by something she thought was inferior.
Well, that’s the breaks.
Omega was out cold but not dead. We were supposed to fight to the finish. If he’d gotten me on the ground, he would have killed me, poor sap. He didn’t know any better.
But I did. I could have given him a quick sideways kick at the base of his neck, which would have snapped his spine. Instead I walked away, heading back to where my half brother’s body lay.
Who’s the better man now, you idiot? I thought at the Director.
124
The electric net topping the castle walls could keep stuff in but not out, interestingly. I was pushing through the crowd, tossing off a quick punch or kick here and there, trying to get to Ari, when suddenly a large rock flew over the castle wall. It hit a mutant on the head, and she sat down abruptly.
I looked up. An actual arrow, flaming like in the movies, was flying overhead. It streaked right through the net and buried itself in the back of a Flyboy, who promptly caught fire. What else?
When humans catch fire, they run around screaming, or possibly remember to stop, drop, and roll. When a Flyboy catches fire, it just stands there looking stupid until it turns into a tall, flaming statue. Apparently, once a Flyboy is really aflame, its joints and pulleys quit working and it can’t move. Useful info I tucked away for future use.
More rocks began flying overhead.
Getting Ari would have to wait. I had the living ones to take care of now.
“Angel!” I shouted. “Nudge! Total! Stand next to the wall!” I hadn’t noticed Total in a while, and I was glad to see him bound out of the crowd toward me. He was limping, holding one paw up, but leaped into my arms and licked my face.
“Bleah. Blood,” he said, and quit licking. Bleah right back atcha, I thought.
“Who’s throwing the rocks?” Nudge asked, as we pressed against the wall.
“I don’t know,” I started to say, just as Angel said, “Kids.”
“What do you mean ‘kids’??
? I asked. More rocks flew overhead, and several more flaming arrows.
“I think it’s kids out there,” Angel said. “It feels like kids.”
I watched as another large rock hit a Flyboy in the knees. The robot buckled, and then two mutants fell on it, punching it and pulling its hair.
“Kids or, like, cavemen?”
“Kids,” said Angel.
“Save the flock! Kill the Flyboys! Destroy Itex!”
My eyebrows lifted as the growing roar outside became more distinct. Slowly, the noise in the courtyard stilled, and the roar outside grew louder. More and more rocks, some as big as melons, and flaming arrows streaked over the walls.
“Save the flock! Kill the Flyboys! Destroy Itex!”
I looked at Nudge and Angel. “Wonder if they’re blog readers?”
“Chase them away!” the Director’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. Her angry face appeared eight feet tall on the screens around the courtyard. Some of the screens were now broken, and all had dirt and blood splashed on them. They had probably cost a lot too.