Chapter 15: Second Night (Part 6)

With Mike on the other team now, they needed to think up a new game plan.

“Okay, Mary, you can stay as the captain,” Andy decided. She turned to Sam. “Sam, I’ll swap with you.”

“So I’m an attacker now?” Sam wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. Cain wasn’t on the other team anymore, so she couldn’t focus on him like she wanted to. Then she realized that, as an attacker, she was less likely to run into Mike, who would also probably be an attacker.

“Knowing Carly and Mike, they’ll probably put Mike and Tony on offense, and then maybe that first-year kid. I bet Nick’s gonna hang back on defense,” Mac judged. “Jamie and Josh are also gonna be on defense, too.”

Sam noticed Andy’s scowl when Mac mentioned those last two names. She guessed they were the couple she’d been glaring at before.

“So we got it all planned out then?” Andy asked, looking at the others. Nobody was particularly confident about their chances.

Mac turned and called to the other side, “you guys ready?!”

“YEAH!” Carly shouted back, and blew the whistle.

Sam dashed forward. After all that time she’d spent on defense, it was a bit of a thrill, being on the attack again. Even as she knew to give Mike a wide berth.

A knife sailed past her eyes and she jerked to a stop, whirling around to see Cain standing on the sidelines with a smirk on his face.

She clenched her jaw. That fucker! Of course he’d be targeting her, of course he would!

“Just keeping you on your toes, Sammy!” He called, flinging another knife. Thankfully at this distance she was more than able to bat it away, but it was certainly frustrating.

Then she caught more movement out of the corner of her eye, and whirled around just in time to block Mike’s swing at her. The second their blades touched it was like electricity shot down her spine, and she flung herself backwards. Somehow his sword had gone from crossing their blades to coming in from the other side, and she just barely managed to evade it and stay on her feet.

No if it had just stopped there, that would be perfect. But no, Mike was still coming. Then he stopped, and dropped his arm to the side, tossing his sword to his other hand. He stepped away, like he was trying to circle around her, his attention shifting to either side of him.

Cain. Cain had thrown one of his knives and hit Mike’s arm!

As the fact that she’d just gotten her ass saved by Cain of all people set in, she resisted the urge to scream. She was nowhere near Mike’s level, obviously, but getting help from HIM!?

Fuck that.

Sam charged in at Mike, aiming at his other arm. Even as she swung she knew it was a stupid, reckless move, and the blue glint of his blade readily reminded her of that as he evaded her effortlessly and cut her down.

Grumbling, Sam turned and headed back to respawn, only for Mike to shoot past her.

“Crap!” She blurted out, breaking into a run. She had to get there first, she had to-

She’d barely made it two steps before something whistled past her ear and a knife smacked Mike in the back. He shook it off and kept running, only for another to follow in its path and hit him again.

He slowed down and doubled back, shooting Cain a dirty look. That’s when it finally sunk in. Yeah, Mike was really skilled. If she went up against him in a straight fight, she was dead. That was pretty much the case for anyone here.

But Cain’s knives? Those were a different story. A projectile weapon coming in at a distance could slip through his guard. Problem was, Sam didn’t have knives of her own.

As she respawned, Andy actually complimented her.

“Not bad with Mike, you lasted longer than I’d have expected. But if you’re facing him, it’s not a good idea to attack.”

“What do you mean?” How was she supposed to kill him if she didn’t attack?

“You need to draw him out. Evade. Use feints to lure him. But charging in and attacking is just going to get you killed.”

That all sounded way more complicated than Sam was prepared for. Throwing knives sounded like a way better idea.

“Random question, if somebody picks up one of Cain’s knives and throws it at me, that doesn’t count, right?” She asked.

Andy blinked. “Uh, sure it does.”

“Wait, really?” Shannon asked, looking as surprised as Sam felt.

“Yep. You can’t take someone’s melee weapons, but if it’s throwing weapons, those are fair game. You see one on the ground, go nuts.”

Sam felt a smile creep up her lips. Now that changed things.

She had a whole new reason to get rid of that asshole now.

Mac passed her on his way to respawn, but her focus was aimed solely at Cain. It looked like he was having fun, stabbing people in the back when they least expected it and flinging knives at them from their blind spots. Well, he was about to have a whole lot less fun.

Sam didn’t know quite how many knives Cain had on hand, but she saw that he was picking them up off the ground constantly. That was it. Her opening. She’d been looking for it all night, and all it had taken was for the asshole to finally come out and take an active role.

When Cain crouched down to grab one of his knives, she charged him. This was it! Her sword was aimed right at his back, she just had to-

He rolled.

He fucking rolled.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” She exploded. She had him! She HAD him, and he just… aargh!

“Nice try, Sammy!” Cain laughed, hopping to his feet and flinging the knife into her chest. She calmed down and regained her balance. He’d only hit her with the one. It took two hits to the torso from a throwing knife to be fatal.

She used all of her focus to deflect the next throw, maintaining a good distance. He was being smart about things himself, not stopping or dropping his guard to pick up his knives. She kept her sword trained on him as they circled each other, and then…

“Ah, darn,” Cain groaned as Mike’s sword ran across his back.

“Hey!” Sam sputtered, pissed off by the kill steal. Oops. That just made him turn on her next.

Mike was as fast as he’d been a few minutes ago, but he was cautious, too. Maybe it was because he saw that she’d changed her approach? She was taking Andy’s advice by staying out of his range and keeping the point aimed at his throat. But even with her sword separating the two of them she was focused only on dodging.

She blocked his slash and stepped back, stepped aside, stepped-

…Right into his blade. Fuck. Mike had gone low and caught her in the knee, costing her a leg. And with a twist of his wrist it was both of them. He turned his sword up towards her chest but then pulled back, surprising her.

As a smirk crossed his face, she realized what he’d done. Without her legs, she was stuck out here. She’d have to hop back to respawn, which would take forever, unlike if she was dead. He’d taken her out of the game, fuck!

She sank to her knees as Mike headed for Mary and the others.

“Sorry, Sammy,” Cain called, gathering up his knives as he headed back to the respawn point. She glared at him.

Then she spotted a knife he’d missed. Several, in fact, around where she and Mike had been dancing. She dropped her sword and snatched them up, turning back to Mike. Without any attackers in his way, it was a straight shot for the captain.

And a straight shot for her, too. She tested the weight of the knife. Not bad. There was hardly any wind tonight, meaning if she threw juuuust the right way…

The knife sailed through the air in a perfect arch and hit him in the back. He actually stumbled in shock, whirling around to see what was going on.

“Cain?!” He sputtered in disbelief.

Cain smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “Wasn’t me,” he said, nodding over to Sam. She was already lining up her second throw. This one hit him in the chest.

Mike’s face twisted into an “O” of disbelief as he stomped forward. “What the heck was that?!” He demanded, thankfully more impressed than upset.

Sam’s only answer was a shrug. She’d just aimed and thrown.

“Oh, Sammy, by the way, if you lose your limbs in Captains you can just declare yourself dead and walk back to respawn, you know,” Cain chirped.

She glared at him. “Fucking say that in the first place,” she muttered, grabbing her sword and trudging back to respawn. She made sure to pick up the knives along the way. They would prove useful.

Everyone was amazed when she returned.

“That was so cool!” Mary gushed. “You… You got him, just, like, out of nowhere!”

“That was impressive,” Andy nodded. “You ever try something like that before?”

Sam didn’t really want to get into that right now, she just wanted to respawn. She turned and charged back into the game, the knives heavy in her pocket. This time, if Mike wanted to come her way, she’d be ready for him.