Free Meltdown by Andy McNab

target because he
will be alert and suspicious. And no matter how
hard an attacker tries to disguise it, his eyes will
always show intent, or fear, or determination. The
target's inner self-defence mechanism will always
spot this.
    The two pairs closed on each other, but the targets
had no intention of giving way to the two young
dickheads coming up towards them.
    Lee stopped and stood to one side, with the
targets about ten steps above, waiting for them to
pass before zapping them from behind.
    Danny's head was thumping in time with his
heart. He could feel his pulse in his neck; he was
certain everyone could hear it as he too stopped and
waited.
    Then Danny made his mistake. He knew he
shouldn't have but he couldn't stop himself: his
eyes moved upwards towards the two heavies.
Maybe he was checking out where he was going to
zap his target, maybe he wanted to see what they
were thinking, or maybe he was just scared.
    But he did it. He fixed his eyes on the target on his
side of the stairs. Blubber Man's pupils closed down
as he focused on Danny's eyes. And he knew.
Danny had given him all the information he
needed.
    'Oh, shit!'
    The rest happened in an instant. Blubber Man
launched himself at Danny, and Lee had no option
but to move up to take on Mr Muscles before he too
had registered what was happening.
    Danny didn't even have time to raise his Taser as
the mass of fat slammed into him and projected him
down the stairs. His head thumped on the last few
steps before crashing back onto the landing.
    Starbursts flashed in his head and eyes as his
brain struggled to recover. His head was telling
his legs to move, to get him up and ready to fight,
but the message wasn't getting through. All Danny
could do was keep a grip on the Taser as Blubber
Man hurled himself down onto his body. Every bit
of breath was forced from Danny's lungs and he
fought for oxygen, kicking and bucking beneath the
giant man as a massive hand gripped his neck and
two staring, bloodshot eyes blazed into his own.
    'Who the fuck are you?'
    Danny didn't even attempt to answer. He didn't
have the breath. He couldn't move his hand to zap
the huge bulk on top of him. All he could do was
writhe and twist as Blubber Man's face came closer.
He could smell alcohol and tobacco and feel a
couple of days' stubble rasp across his skin as the
man shouted loudly into his ear.
    'Little shit!' Then Blubber Man's free hand was
reaching into the back pocket of his jeans for the
pliers.
    Danny didn't know if it was his survival instinct
or training – it was as though he was on auto mode.
He opened his mouth and sank his teeth into
Blubber Man's stubbly face. The huge guy growled
and Danny felt the skin break as his teeth sank into
the flesh and scraped against cheekbone.
    Metallic-tasting blood poured from the wound:
Blubber Man screamed and pulled himself free,
ripping his face from Danny's teeth. He drew back
one massive clenched fist, intending to land a
punch that would splatter Danny's brains across the
floor.
    It gave Danny enough room to move his arm and
zap Blubber Man in the chest. But the 100,000 watts
crackling into his body wasn't enough. Perhaps it
was all those protective, insulating layers of fat, or
maybe Danny just didn't ram home the Taser into
his chest firmly enough. But as he pulled it away,
Blubber Man got up and staggered back, looking
stunned and bewildered, then growled like a
wounded bear and came back at him.
    Danny leaped to his feet, adrenalin driving away
the pain and fear as he ducked under the giant's
flailing arms, brought the Taser up hard into his
guts and gave him a long burst. This time the fat
man went down, crashing on top of the prone body
of Mr Muscles, who was sprawled out on the
landing.
    Danny suddenly realized that Lee must have
managed to down his target too – he had been
aware of nothing but his struggle with Blubber
Man.
    Lee gave Mr Muscles another burst as he hissed at
Danny, 'Give him some more! Keep him down!'
    Danny gave