Read Arena Two for Free Online Page B

hurts.
    But the same time, I hear him gasp, and realize my strike worked.
    I take a step forward, pull his arm away from my throat, and do a back kick, hitting him hard between the legs.
    He stumbles back a few feet, and collapses in the snow.
    I breathe deep, gasping, my throat killing me. Logan dives for his gun.
    I turn and see Rupert hit the ground running, racing for our boat. He takes three big steps and leaps right to the center of it. In the same motion, he reaches over and cuts the line holding the boat to shore. It all happens in the blink of an eye; I can’t believe how quickly he moves.
    Ben stands there, dazed and confused, not knowing how to react. Rupert, on the other hand, doesn’t hesitate: he leaps towards Ben and punches him hard across the face with his free hand.
    Ben stumbles and is knocked over, and before he can get up, Rupert grabs him from behind in a chokehold, and holds the knife to his throat.
    He turns and faces us, using Ben as a human shield. Inside the boat, Rose is cowering and screaming, and Penelope barks like crazy.
    “ You shoot me and you take him out, too!” Rupert screams.
    Logan has his gun back, and he stands there, taking aim. But it is not an easy shot. The boat drifts farther from shore, a good fifteen yards away, bobbing wildly in the rough tide. Logan has about a two inch radius to take him out without killing Ben. Logan hesitates, and I can see he doesn’t want to risk killing Ben, not even for our own survival. It is a redeeming quality.
    “ The keys!” Rupert yells at Ben.
    Ben, to his credit, has at least done something right: he must have hid the keys somewhere when he saw Rupert coming. Smart move.
    In the distance, I suddenly see the slaverunners come into view, as the whine of their engines grows louder. I feel a deepening sense of dread, of helplessness. I don’t know what to do. Our boat is too far from shore to get to it now—and even if we could, Rupert might kill Ben in the process.
    Penelope barks and jumps out of Rose’s hands, race across the boat, and dig her teeth into Rupert’s calf.
    He screams and momentarily lets go of Ben.
    A gunshot rings out. Logan found his chance, and wasted no time.
    It is a clean shot, right between the eyes. Rupert stares back at us for a moment as the bullet enters his brain, wide-eyed. Then he slumps back, on the edge of the boat, as if sitting down, and falls over backwards, landing in the water with a splash.
    It is over.
    “ Get our boat back to shore!” Logan screams to Ben. “NOW!”
    Ben, still dazed, jumps into action. He fishes the keys out of his pocket, starts the boat, and steers it back toward shore. I grab two sacks of food and Logan grabs the others, and we throw them in the boat as it touches shore. I grab Bree and hoist her into the boat, then run back to the truck. Logan grabs my sacks of salvaged supplies, and I grab Sasha. Then, remembering, I run back to the truck and grab Rupert’s bow and arrows. The last one in, I jump from the shore into the boat, as it starts to drift away. Logan takes over the wheel, hits the throttle and guns it, steering us out of the small channel.
    We race towards the entrance to the Hudson, a few hundred yards ahead of us. On the horizon, the slaverunners’ boat—sleek, black, menacing—races towards us, maybe half a mile away. It’s going to be tight. It looks like we’ll barely get out of the channel in time, and barely have a chance to make a run for it. They’ll be right behind us.
    We burst out into the Hudson just as it’s getting dark and as we do, the slaverunners come into full view. They are barely a hundred yards behind us, and closing in fast. Behind them, on the horizon, I also spot the other boat, though that is still a good mile away.
    I’m sure that if we had more time, Logan would say I told you so . And he would be right.
    Just as I’m thinking these thoughts, suddenly, gunshots ring out. Bullets whiz by us, one impacting the side of our boat,