"Nyx Smith - Fade to Black" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Nyx)

The other gangers noticed him then. Mostly they just looked at him and stared. And gaped. Very scary.
Shank grabbed the nearest one by the arm, jerked him off his feet, swung him around, and then slammed
him into the building wall on the right. That one fell, too. Not very tough, these bangers. Not very fast either,
all things considered. And not very smart,
One lifted a knife toward Shank's nose, and snarled, "Skin you alive!"
Shank grabbed the wrist behind the knife, then jerked the whole arm into the air, lifting the ganger right
off his feet. The slag flailed with his free arm, slapping, punching, and even tried kicking. Shank snorted.
What a joke. One punch to the face and the ganger slumped. Shank let him fall.
That left three of the gangers standing. One pulled a gun and pointed it directly at Shank's face, which
was really a pretty stupid thing to do. If you wanted to shoot an ork, you aimed someplace that might hurt,
not at his rock-hard skull. Shank ducked and reached out and the gun went off. He felt a wave of heat rush
past his left ear, but that was it. A second shot went off, but by then Shank had his hand wrapped around
the barrel of the gun. Which was all the hold he needed. He jerked the gun free, then grabbed the ganger
by his jacket collar.
"Bye-bye," he said, and heaved the slag against a convenient wall, the wall on the left, just to keep
things even. The ganger slumped to the ground the same way the others did, like a sack of raw meat. And
that left only two still standing. "That pair began backing away, looking scared. Shank pointed the gun, a
Colt Manhunter, something particularly appropriate for an ork to use, and said, "Move again an' you're
dead." The two gangers froze.
By then, Chak was on his feet and looking back and forth like he didn't know what to do, which
probably he didn't. The kid's face was streaked with blood and looked kinda swollen, but it'd take more than
that to put him out. Never mind who he had for a mother, Chak was husky for his age and he had balls.
Cojones, some would say. That translated into staying power.
Shank resisted a smile. To tell the truth, he liked the kid. Chak was always asking about his tattoos and
the dust-ups he'd been in with the Dragon Regiment and other mere units down in Aztlan and other places.
It was hard to resist naked admiration.
"You all right?" Shank asked.
Chak nodded, breathing hard, maybe a little too hard to speak clearly.
"Get a rope and a knife."
"Kay ..."
Chak nodded and hustled off, but was back in a minute or so. Evonne and her sister and half the
crowd from the hallway below followed Chak up the stairs. Shank motioned for the crowd to stay put. He
had a gun in his hand and work that needed his attention. He wasn't about to put up with any squawking or
unwelcome questions or suggestions. At a wave, Chak brought the knife and rope.
"Tie 'em," Shank told him. "Them two first."
Shank motioned at the pair of gangers still standing. Chak set to work binding their wrists behind their
backs, and none too gently. Shank didn't care about that. Those fragging gangers deserved it. That and
worse. What worried him was what to do next.
Executing prisoners wasn't his style. He'd had a bellyful of that down in fragging Azzie-land. He'd
once thought he'd seen it all, but that was nothing compared to what butchers the Aztlan troopers could be.
He'd have none of that here. What were his options? He could call the cops, but they couldn't give a slot
about some minor-ass gang problem, not here in Sector 12. And he couldn't just let the gangers loose. By
sundown tomorrow, they'd be hot on the butts of the kids from his hall, and Chak especially. Worse, he'd
never hear the end of it. Evonne would see to that. He had to do something along the lines of making a
permanent fix.
But what?
Goddamn his thick skull, anyway. If he'd been born any dumber, he'd be dangerous just taking a crap.
And some of the slags in his old regiment used to rag him about that, too.
Evonne said, "Shank-"
"Can it."