Gray Coats: Part 4

They're after her...and there's no stopping them...

The black and white suits scattered everywhere at their leader’s command. More than half of them went after Fria and the rest were headed for me. My mind was in a whirl of confusion; I had to get to Fria, but there were several hands that were reaching out to strangle me. Should I run for it? Would they still get me? I had literally no time to think. My instincts took over my mind and my body.

 

I ducked, avoiding a couple fists that were headed for my face, and bolted out of sight. I left the gray coat behind and followed my ears to Fria’s troubled voice. I couldn’t even see her; there were too many people after her. Why the hell was she so important? Whatever the answer was, to be honest, I was afraid of it.

 

Fria kept moving farther and farther away from me. I couldn’t tell if it was the black and white coats pushing her along, or if she was just trying to escape. “Let me go! Stop it!” she yelled. My adrenaline pumped harder and harder as I got closer and closer.

 

“Leave her alone!” I heard myself say. My voice flew through everyone’s ears, but no one was caught off guard. I was coming up behind one of the white coats; I raised my fist and whacked him in the head as hard as I could. A jolt of pain went through my hand and up to my shoulder. This guy’s skin was like steel!

 

I caught a short glimpse of Fria. She looked pained and scared. Her eyes widened at the sight of me, as if she couldn’t believe that I was still there for her.

 

That short glimpse was long enough for me to let my guard down, and get a blow in the face from the white coat I hit. I flew backwards into the brick wall of the alley with a huge THUMP sound. Just barely could I hear the gray coat’s cruel laughter. How humiliating; and in front of Fria, too. I wanted to give up. To just let them take me away and “dispose” of me (whatever that means). Blackness was slowly overcoming my vision, everything was blurring up, and Fria was disappearing. What was I supposed to do? I could feel blood trickling down my neck. Any minute and I would be unconscious. Who knows if I would wake up?

 

Then something happened. Fria’s voice called out to me. “No! Wake up!” I could feel myself regaining energy. I felt as if time had slowed down, and I was floating down back to Earth. Things were coming back to me. “Please! Don’t give up!”

 

I managed to bring myself to lean on my elbows. My head throbbed, my arm was probably broken, and I’m pretty sure something messed up my butt. The world was still spinning around me. I could hardly make out what was left, right, up, down whatever. “Wha…Fria?” Whispers could only be heard from my mouth. I doubt anyone could make out what I was saying.

 

I tried to use the wall to stand up straight, and then put my weight against it. I was slow, but I managed to ignore the fiery pain running through my body. However, my knees began to wobble madly, and before long I was back on the floor groaning at myself. There was no way.

 

But, somehow, someway, Fria found a break in the men strangling her and she ran over to my side. Even though I could barely see or feel a thing, I could sense her body coming close to mine. While still being gentle, she shook my shoulders. “Wake up!” I shook my head. I felt defeated. Fria shook harder and I could hear tears in her voice. “I need you! We can get through this!” That sent a spark through my brain. She still had faith in me! She needed me! What was I doing just sitting around?

 

My eyes shot open (as fast as they could, that is), and I staggered my way back to where I was leaning against the wall. I was panting, for my shoulders, my knees, my head, my bottom, basically every part of my body ached. But I just had to deal with it. I noticed Fria was also helping stay upright. I looked up at her and she smiled a little. I sort of grinned/winced back. I believed that we could pull through; that we actually could do this.

 

But then I realized something. What the hell were we supposed to do? There were guys everywhere, in every direction you looked. I couldn’t even run much less stand up.

 

While I wasted our precious time away acting like a clueless idiot, the black and white coats surrounded us like they had done before with Fria alone. I could tell that they were laughing at me inside behind those stone-like, robotic faces.

 

I stole a glance at Fria, expecting her to be crying or at least freaking out. No way. She was pissed. Her eyes were full of rage and I could just feel the anger building up inside her. I honestly wanted to take a step back in case she burst into pieces or something. She kept shaking her head in…disappointment? Disgust? Annoyance? Whatever.

 

Unfortunately, Fria’s intimidation wasn’t enough to stop the men in front of us. The black coat in front of me said, “We’ll take this one.” He gestured his head in my direction. Then the white coat in front of Fria said, “Very well. We will take her.” The white coat’s little army was a bit bigger than the black coat’s. Either way, they both were still frightening.

 

Fria flattened herself against the wall as much as she could, as if she could disappear through it. We drew closer together to put as much distance between us and them as we could. It didn’t even help, though. A chalky, bony hand grabbed Fria’s right shoulder, while a bulky, hairy hand grabbed the other arm. More and more men took hold of Fria to make sure she couldn’t get away. She was kicking and squirming and spitting into all of their eyes.

 

I could feel something begin to rise inside of me. It was hatred. As more hands began to pull me away I clenched my teeth and made a battle of my own (with what strength I had). I made an effort. However, that hatred inside me couldn’t stay bottled up for long. Things were getting pretty rough over on Fria’s end. She’d nearly fallen to the floor several times, a few hands went after her neck and she choked, her hair got pulled, and once did she actually get punched in the gut. That�'was�'enough. My hatred spilled over, and it got ugly. “You jackasses, get your hands off of her! You’d better leave her alone or else I’ll�'”

 

Then out of what seemed to be no where the gray coat was walking up to me.

 

He held out his hand to the guys mangling Fria and me. Everyone stopped. I felt my face twist itself into a mad expression. I scowled, my jaw locked in place, my hands clenched.

 

Fria was a total mess. Her hair was no longer perfect and smooth. Her rage-filled, wide eyes looked lost, distant, and beyond scared. She was breathing quite heavily. Her chest rose up and down, and between gasps she coughed up blood a few times. The black and white coats around her kept her standing (more like slumping) by holding her arms. When the gray coat looked behind him to see Fria, the chalky, bony hand forced her to look upwards at him. When he looked back at me, some random guy did the same.

 

Remember when I said that I considered myself to be brave? Well, sometimes on special occasions that statement does not apply to me. I’ll admit I was pretty damn terrified of this gray coat dude. He practically had his own army that did whatever he asked them to. They were all much bigger than me and surely more intimidating. Still, I tried to keep strong. I tried to look confident. Although, at the rate things were going, there wasn’t much of a chance of getting out of there.

 

“That was truly an entertaining display. Fria, I know that you gave it your all. But you,” the gray coat looked me up and down, sizing me up. “You were, eh, okay. I didn’t expect you to give up so quickly back there.” I was boiling mad at that point. If there weren’t a bunch of meaty guys around me, I would’ve killed this gray coat…literally. “Oh well. What do you expect from a strange thing such as him? Am I right?” The black and white coats all said ‘Yes sir!’ in unison. Did he seriously just call me a thing?!

 

“You jerk! Why don’t you just shut up and fight me right here, right now, like a real man? Then we’ll see just who’s the thing around here.” From the looks of this guy he seemed like the type that would be rich, spoiled, and worried about getting his clothes dirty. He may have some meat on his bones (okay so maybe he has a lot of meat on his bones) but surely he couldn’t be that good in a fight without his army of men.

 

The gray coat’s eyes widened. Was he scared? Had I frightened him? No. He burst out laughing. He nearly fell on the floor with such laughter. I could feel the other guys around me laughing, as well. I felt really humiliated, yet still steaming mad at the same time. Well, at least Fria looked too knocked up to really understand what was going on. “Are you serious, boy? I don’t think you know what you’re asking.” The gray coat put.

 

“Oh, I think I know exactly what I’m asking. Are you up for it or are you just scared?” I honestly couldn’t tell. The gray coat seemed reluctant yet over-confident. Why did this guy have to be so freaking confusing?

 

He quickly drew away his evil grin and cruel humor and replaced it with…his game face, I guess. Anyhow, it was still horrifying. “Don’t worry, kid, I’m not afraid. Tell you what; we can play a little game. I read it somewhere in a book. I think it’s simple enough for your little mind to handle. I’ll let you take one blow at me, and then I’ll take one blow at you. Whoever is left standing wins Fria. We got a deal?”

 

The black and white coats seemed to have loosened their grip, so I slipped my way out of their hands to stand my ground in front of this dumbass. I wanted so badly to prove that I wasn’t some weakling; that I could beat this guy to a pulp. Just one hit? It’s not what I had in mind, but how hard could it be? It’s one way to vent out all my anger…

 

I stole a quick glance in Fria’s direction. She seemed to be gaining consciousness, which was good I suppose, but her look of grief kind of scared me. She shook her head at me and mouthed the words ‘Don’t do it’.

 

I know, I know, you don’t have to say it; I should’ve listened to Fria. She obviously knew her way with these guys. She knew when to retreat, she tried to stay calm, and she was trying to get me to stop pursuing this gray coat with the “fight” any further. I’m a guy, what else can I say. It’s not like I can back down now; not while I just have to play some silly punching game.

 

“You may go first.” I looked back at the gray coat and he was smiling. He stood still as stone and seemed to be locked in place. He even looked a bit tense, yet there wasn’t a trickle of sweat anywhere to be found.

 

I didn’t respond at all. I wanted to try and catch him off guard. I swung my arms a little, looked from side to side (although not at Fria), took a deep breath, and tried to look as if I were warming up or something.

 

But, at the count of three in my head…1…2…3!

 

I clenched my fist and heaved it with as much force and strength physically possible (for me, at least) towards the gray coats stupid little “happy” face. My teeth gritted as I yelled to create even more momentum. How could I not kill this guy? He would at least faint on the ground.

 

That is, if I didn’t miss.

Author's Note

Thanks you people who read!!!!!!