I circled the hood of the truck, trying to put enough distance between us so that I could get to the driver’s door. If my timing was right, I could throw the door open between us and grab the little .22 caliber automatic from inside the console. Maybe a few rounds of snake shot into his legs would bring the man to his senses. Pain sometimes has a way of doing that, and if not, the rest of the magazine was loaded with solid points.

“I am the strong hand of the Lord,” Leon sputtered as I slid backward, down the driver’s side of the truck. “The Lord is angry, and he has sent me here to wreak vengeance upon his enemies,” he intoned as with two flicks of the wrist he casually took out the headlights.

Then, coming around the bumper, he delivered a shrieking swing of the bat that tore the side mirror from its roots. I flung the door open, and keeping my eyes on Leon, made a quick grab at the console lid. But before my hand could find the gun, Leon launched a powerful swing at the window. I was just able to get a shoulder up to protect me from the slamming door, but the blow hurled me backward, almost to the rear bumper of the truck, while shattering glass rained over me like a storm of sleet.

Leon came on again. But dammit, I’d had enough. It was time to end this silliness here and now! I stopped my retreat and squared on him, my knees slightly flexed, while holding my hands loose and relaxed, just in front of my chest.

Leon realized that he had me trapped between the truck and the gas pumps. He lifted the bat above his right shoulder and lunged at me. As the bat swung down in a blurred and vicious arc, a gurgling scream of madness burst from his throat.

I sprang forward, getting inside the range of his arm, and smashed my chest into his upper abdomen. The air whistled again as the bat passed my head, and a massive arm crashed over my shoulder and across my back. The blow had missed its intended target by only a few millimeters.

As our bodies clashed, I let my knees fall from beneath me while simultaneously launching both hands and arms upward to full extension. At the precise microsecond that my body was falling away with the full force of gravity, the heels of my joined hands smashed directly into Leon’s granitelike chin.