Futurism logo

Outrun Stories #13

101 Knives

By Outrun StoriesPublished 7 years ago 3 min read
Like

“You fuck!” he screams as I pull his head out of the water, count to three and back in there for a little more. He’ll speak, they always do. Two. One.

“Fuck you, Tank! I don’t fucking know anything I swear!”

“Jake, I know you work with this guy, you want to die today?” I hold his face in close to mine, he knows I’m serious, and I know he knows what I want.

“Tank, listen,” he splutters, coughing up the water as I push his head back down slowly. “Look, look, he’s over on 7th and main, got a little hide-away there, last I heard, that’s all I know I swear.”

I purse my lips and shake my head, sorry Jake. Wrong place wrong time and you’re not going to be the last one to die today. I push his head back into the water and lean down hard as his body begins to convulse and eventually goes limp.

20 minutes across town through clear night streets before I’m outside the shining neon diner, looking into the trunk of my car figuring out which weapon I’ll use to kill this scumbag. I grab the axe, a belt of throwing knives and head over the street.

Some goon comes out for a cigarette and they get a knife in the throat. Thanks for being a good henchman and dying quickly and quietly. Fucking thugs. I kick the door in and bring the axe down hard into the skull of some punk. Blood shoots out drawing a fine line down my face as he collapses to his knees, I put my boot on his shoulder and wrench it out.

Three more on the way before there he is, in front of me after all this time.

“Fucking, Jane Tank.” He smiles, clapping his hands and standing. “Well, look at you, all righteous with indignation! Woo! What a fucking woman, how many people have you killed to have to get here, Tank? 50, 100? Those guys, they might be criminals but they’ve got lives too you know.”

“They chose their path, just the same as we chose ours, no getting out of that, comes with the territory.”

“Ah, you’re right, Tank, of course you are. God damn one woman killing machine, you think doing all this is going to bring him back? You think any of this will help?”

I look him up and down, slowly tapping the head of the axe in my hand. “You think any of what you’re saying is going to save you?”

He laughs from the belly. “What makes you so right, Tank? What gives you the right to do all this?” He shakes his head and comes up to me pointing. “You’re no different from any of us scumbag low life criminals, you’re one of us Jane. You do me now, you prove that.”

The axe swings around and gets about halfway through his neck before getting stuck and the momentum slams him over in a spray of blood. I wrench it out, bring it up high with both arms and then down one more time for good measure.

His head rolls off to the side. “I guess I’m one of you then.”

literaturescience fiction
Like

About the Creator

Outrun Stories

Short sci-fi stories in 500 words or less deriving from the Outrun, tech-noir and NewWave aesthetic.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.