2 - Punches

McClane pretended to pick invisible bugs off his arms. "Her name was Sadie," he squawked. "But her sister called her Lou. I had to kill both of them ... you can understand that. One of them breathed on me, but I didn't know which one."

He whirled around and shouted into the face of a second gang member, "So I had to kill them both!"

Startled, the man shot out his arm and popped a hard right to McClane's jaw. There was the sickening crunch of bone against bone. McClane wobbled from the impact of the punch but held his ground.

"That felt good." He grinned. "Please, sir, may I have another one?"

His assailant seemed happy to comply with an­other more powerful shot to the jaw. McClane spit blood from between his lips and reeled back­wards, barely managing to stay on his feet.

Zeus winced. Crazy or not, this was one tough dude. A cop? Zeus didn't think so. What cop would keep on taking this kind of shit from a bunch of black men?

"That felt good," McClane said, the blood dribbling down his chin. "Insert another coin. If you need change, consult the vendor at the desk."

"Can't hurt the dude," declared his attacker, rubbing his knuckles.

"You can't hurt him because he's on Mars. Now leave him alone," Zeus said.


- Die Hard with a Vengeance, Chapter 2