The Maze The Lost Labyrinth - By Jason Brannon Page 0,72

going after my family instead. I didn’t know how badly he was hurt and reasoned that he might not be much help to me. On the other hand, I knew that Darrell Gene was a formidable opponent and a much bigger man than I was. Two against one would provide better odds. Yet, somehow, I suspected that Carl wouldn’t remain on his feet long after standing up---if he was even able to do that.

I decided to leave him for the moment.

“Get away from me!” Amy screamed from the living room, followed by the sharp report of an open-handed slap. I heard Amy weeping, Peter screaming and Judith praying to God from the other room. I knew I had to hurry.

I ran to the garage, looking for something to use as a weapon. On instinct, I picked up the sledgehammer because it seemed strangely fitting somehow- having wielded one recently, it felt right in my hands. I would have actually preferred a gun of some sort, but Amy never felt comfortable with me owning one. I suspected she would change her tune once this was all over with.

Looking back now, what I did next seemed strangely illogical. But, after all I’d been through in the maze, the illogical was starting to feel like second nature to me. The only way I’d been able to escape the dangers of the labyrinth was to fall to my knees and pray. I had trusted in God and He had delivered me. I was going to trust Him again in this case.

My prayer was short but heartfelt. I asked Him to give me strength, to protect my loved ones inside that house, to triumph over my enemy. Then, armed with the sledgehammer and the conviction of my beliefs, I slid the glass door open and stepped inside the house.

“Aren’t we all just one big happy family?” Darrell Gene spoke from the other room.

“You’re psychotic!” Amy wept with each word.

“You’ll grow to love me in time.”

Carl watched me with wide eyes as I stepped over him. He grunted softly, trying to draw my attention. I knelt to untie the knots that bound him, then I saw the cell phone sticking out of his pants pocket. It gave me an idea.

“Trust me,” I whispered. He nodded weakly. I had no idea that the phones hadn’t been working up until this point. I didn’t realize that The Piper had seized control of all electronics and was using them to speak to his servant. Somehow, I think I would have tried to place a call anyway. I had seen and experienced too much not to believe that my prayers would work. I quickly dialed Carl’s number and stepped into the shadows.

Miraculously, his phone rang, sounding like an alarm clock bell. The shrill noise traveled through the house, and it wasn’t long before I heard footsteps approaching. I readied myself to swing the sledgehammer and waited for just the right moment. Darrell Gene walked toward Carl with a look of agitation on his face. That looked turned to surprise and even terror when he realized that he had stepped into a trap.

I swung the sledgehammer as hard as I could, but Darrell Gene was deceptively fast. He raised his forearm and deflected the blow. I heard something snap in his hand as he stopped my attack, and even as he defended himself, his other hand lashed out with the knife. I felt something rip across my abdomen. I didn’t know how deeply I’d been slashed, but I felt warm blood trickling down my stomach.

The thought of being attacked in my own home filled me with a sense of righteous anger that fueled my second offensive. I charged at Darrell Gene with the sledgehammer held out in front of me. The handle caught him under the chin; I pushed until he hit the wall and then I pushed some more, enjoying the way his face turned red as I cut off his oxygen supply.

I exerted all the force I could muster, hoping to make him pass out. However, Darrell Gene knew a thing or two about fights. Before he ran out of oxygen, he kneed me in the bread basket. I sucked wind and tried to stay on my feet.

Darrell Gene charged at me like an outraged bull, still holding on to the sledgehammer. I fell onto my back, and he fell on top of me. He managed to get the handle against my throat and put all of his weight