Breaking Krone

Whew! It gets hot inside an air vent when it's not blowing air. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and crawled along. I maneuvered around the little tunnel until I found a vent I could look down at. I saw a security guard with keys around his neck playing solitaire- wait. He has the keys! I don’t know much about fighting, but I’m about to find out.
I brought my fist as far back as it would go in the tiny air duct and punched downward on the vent as hard as I could- only to send myself spiraling out of the ceiling cursing with pain as my fist started throbbing from punching some metal. That was one of those things that looks better in your head than in real life. In my head, I punched the vent effortlessly and swung out of the air duct gracefully and dropped to the floor in a crouch without a scratch. Reality has such a crude sense of humor.
On the bright side, I definitely had the element of surprise with me. What would you think if a girl suddenly dropped out of your ceiling? That’s right. Surprise!
I jumped up trying not to show the pain. The shock wore off the guard and he came around his desk reaching for his stun gun. Oh no you don’t. I refuse to be stunned again. I threw my foot up to knock his hand out of the way of the stun gun. Unfortunately he saw my move coming, caught my leg, and flipped me onto my back. Ow! I jumped right back up and threw a punch into his nose. I heard the crack and knew I’d either broken his nose or my hand. He cupped his nose in pain. I lunged for the keys and broke the clasp that was holding the keys on a chain around his neck.
I was bouncing on my toes now; the buzz of the fight getting to me. He let go of his nose to come at me again. This time he was fueled with rage. But so was I. I just practically broke my hand busting through a tiny vent to get out of here. I wasn’t going down without a fight. I fired a round-house kick to the side of his head and knocked him down. I ran to Amos’s cell before he got up.
When I arrived around the corner I heard Amos laughing.
“What’s funny?” I asked as I undid the lock. He shook his head and tried to keep a straight face.
“Nothing he said,” suppressing laughter. “it’s just that I wish I’d been there when I heard you fall out the vent.” He was no longer suppressing that laughter. I slammed the cell door and locked it back.
“Oh come on!” he protested. “Don’t be like that.”
I smiled. “Who’s laughing now funny boy?" I dangled the keys in front of him. I heard footsteps behind me. Uh-oh. The security guard was coming for me. I quickly unlocked the cell door and let Amos out.
“I knew you’d crack.” Amos jeered. Then he saw the guard coming. He strode forward and landed a punch in his cheek. The man stumbled backward and fell. He was knocked out cold.
“What would you do without me?” Amos smirked at me.
“Shut up. Let’s move on.”
“Whatever you say. But you should really learn to make sure a guy is knocked out before you leave him.”
Hmm. Learning how to properly fight would be beneficial. “If we get any free time you can teach me to fight. Now let’s go get Klause and leave.” Before it’s too late.