Chapter 10: The Thugs
The shock lasted only a second. Adam pushed aside all his doubts and questions.
He ran towards Philips.
The sight of his class monitor a boy he saw every day in school holding a murder weapon had shattered his understanding of the world. But there was no time for confusion.
There was only the enemy in front of him.
Philips was still on the ground dazed from the crash.
He pushed himself to a sitting position.
He looked towards the river seeing the car disappearing beneath the dark water. The realization that he was stranded was just beginning to sink in.
James was gone. The car was gone. His escape was gone.
The name shouted made him turn. As he did he saw something dark flying through the air towards him.
It was Adam’s knife. It hit him squarely in the shoulder its sharp point digging deep.
Adam didn’t just throw it. He had followed through.
His forward momentum from his run drove the blade all the way through the muscle and fabric of Philips’s jacket. It created a long deep gash.
Philips screamed a raw cry of pain and terror.
He collapsed back onto the ground. He writhed clutching at his bleeding shoulder. Blood soaked through his school uniform.
Adam moved over him. He planted one foot on the ground next to Philips.
He placed the other directly on top of the open wound. He pressed down applying his full weight. His shoe ground into the torn flesh.
Philips screamed again. The sound was thin and desperate in the quiet evening. It was a pathetic sound a stark contrast to the confident and bossy student Adam knew.
"Philips," Adam said. His voice was cold and low a dangerous whisper. "I didn’t expect this from you. Why? Why are you all after my life? Who is behind this?"
Philips his face pale and twisted in agony looked up. He saw the cold fury in Adam’s eyes. He saw the blood on his hands. He saw a person he did not recognize.
The pain and fear broke through his composure. His disciplined exterior crumbled.
"I don’t know!" he gasped out. The words tumbled out of him a desperate confession.
"I swear I don’t know! Mr. James... the teacher... he just asked me to help him kill you. He knew I was in trouble for fighting last week. He said... he said he would forgive my punishment... and give me some money. That’s all I know I swear! He just told me to hide in the back and use the wire when he gave the signal!"
Adam stared down at him. The class monitor the model student had chosen this path for a canceled punishment and some cash. Adam couldn’t remember ever having a single disagreement with Philips.
He couldn’t understand the motive. It was so trivial so cheap. Seeing the pathetic fear on Philips’s face the anger inside him burned hotter.
It was an anger born of betrayal and the utter meaninglessness of their reasons.
"Please," Philips begged. His voice was cracking. Tears streamed down his face mixing with the dirt. "Don’t kill me. I’m sorry. I won’t tell anyone. I’ll do anything you want."
Adam stared at him for a long moment. He looked at the boy who had tried to murder him just minutes ago now begging for his life. Killing him would be easy.
But another system notification another set of stats felt pointless.
What he needed were answers not more strength.
He slowly lifted his foot off the wound. He turned and started to walk away up the steep embankment towards the road. He left Philips whimpering on the ground by the river.
Philips watched him go a mixture of relief and terror on his face. He was alive.
Adam climbed back onto the road. His clothes were torn and stained with dirt and blood. He still couldn’t understand what was happening who was pulling the strings.
A high school teacher. A class monitor. Who else was involved? How many people had this bounty on his head?
As he stood there catching his breath he heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. A white van slowed to a stop a short distance down the road.
The side door slid open with a familiar screech. Two men stepped out. One was large and muscular. The other was the man who always smoked a cigarette.
Adam’s eyes widened. He recognized them instantly.
They were the thugs from the second loop the ones who had beaten him to death in the field by the river.
They had been waiting. They had been his backup plan in case the back gate failed. But now the crash had drawn them here.
They walked towards him casually their expressions carefully neutral.
They were acting like curious bystanders who had stopped to see what the accident was about.
They looked at the broken guardrail. They peered down the embankment at the ripples on the river surface. Then they looked at Adam.
Their movements were slow and deliberate designed to look non-threatening. They were sizing him up trying to understand what happened.
The man with the cigarette spoke his voice calm. "Hey kid you alright? That was a nasty crash."
But Adam knew. His heightened perception saw the tension in their shoulders the way their hands were ready to move. He knew their only target was him. This was not a rescue.
He palmed the bloody knife. He tucked it behind his leg so it was hidden from their view. He began to walk slowly towards them matching their unhurried pace.
His heart was a steady drum in his chest. His anger was a cold sharp point.
He would let them get close. He would wait for them to make the first move. The deserted road was a new arena. And this time he was not unarmed. This time he was not weak. This time he was the hunter too.