900 Miles (Book 2): 900 Minutes by S. Johnathan Davis

hands were clasped together, twisting the wedding ring around my finger. W e’ d hardly had a chance to digest what w e’ d just learned when we heard one of the Amigos whispering out from the bars. Peering past Gordon, it was clear he was the winner. Standing there holding a bloody blade, he was hunched over, dripping in gore from the three fallen bodies lying at his boots. His free arm was resting on his side, and a steady stream of blood was rolling down into his jeans.
    “ Ahh, hold that thought ,” Gordon said calmly, as if speaking to a few friends.
    Stepping over toward the bars, Gordon raised both hands in the air .“ We have a winner !” Looking out toward his team, he continued ,“ Come on, men, le t’ s give this warrior a round of applause . ”
    The remaining Amigo appeared to be the one with the gash in his head. His chest heaved up and down as he pulled deep breaths into his lungs. He was trying to stand up as straight as possible within the confines of the dome.
    “ Well, anybody who knows me will tell you I’ m a man of my word ,” Gordon continued .“ Isn't that right, Jarvis ? ”
    Jarvis did n’ t respond. He did n’ t even move a muscle.
    “ OK, little man. Come on out of that cage. Yo u’ re free to go. Before you come out, I need you to know two thing s …”
    Gordon stopped mid-sentence as the Amigo pulled his free hand up, exposing an obvious bite mark that had pulled a chunk of flesh out of his hip. I winced at the realization that the Amigo was n’ t going anywhere.
    Before anybody could react, the Amigo once again yelled out something in Spanish. The only word I made out wa s“ God ,” just before he pulled the knife in front of him with the sharp end of the blade firmly pressed beneath his chin. Looking over at the four of us, he said in plain English ,“ They were my friends .” Then closing his eyes, he dropped down on the ground with the weight of his body driving the blade up through his skull.
    “ They were my friends .” It echoed in the back of my mind as I closed my eyes and let my shoulders drop in defeat.
    Gordon and his men did n’ t make any noise for what seemed like an eternity before Gordon finally lifted his cane as high as he could in the sky and let out a cheer ,“ Now, that was a contest ! ”
    His men followed suit, one of them actually discharging his weapon into the sky.
    Gripping my hands together, I could n’ t tell if they were shaking because I was scared or pissed. Probably a little of both. Jarvis was looking down at the ground, and Kyle was shooting daggers with his eyes toward Gordon. It was n’ t hard to figure out what they were thinking. I agreed with them. None of this would be happening if w e’ d just killed the bastard after the arena battle. I knew we would n’ t make the same mistake twice.
    Returning to us, Gordon looked at the top of Jarvi s’ s head which was still pointed at the ground .“ So, what say you, old friend? Are you going to help us save a lot of people? After all, there are n’ t too many of us humans running around these days . ”
    Lifting his head, looking Gordon directly in the eyes, Jarvis paused for a moment before finally saying ,“ There is no world in which I would allow a maniac like you to run Avalon. I do n’ t care what you do to us. I will never willingly hand over the keys, Gordon. Never .” He emphasized the wor d“ neve r” as boldly as he could muster up.
    Taking a moment to think, I watched as an eerie smile grew across Gordo n’ s face. His eyes lit up slightly as he finally broke the silence .“ I was hoping yo u’ d say that, old friend, but I have a feeling yo u’ ll be changing your mind in no time. By tomorrow at 8:57 p.m., w e’ ll be storming the gat e… and yo u’ ll have helped us . ”
    8:57 p.m., I thought. That seemed awful specific.
    Gordon nodded to the men standing behind us. I felt a tiny prick in the right-hand side of my neck. Twisting around, the last thing I