Cobb followed. "You don't like the truth, eh, kid? You don't like people to call you a sucker."
Ben rose and started to leave the bar, but Cobb grabbed his arm and held him there.
"Thas what you are—a sucker. You're young now. Wait ten years. You'll be dyin' of radiation rot or a meteor'll get you. Wait and see, sucker!"
Until this instant, Ben had suppressed his anger. Now, suddenly and without warning, it welled up into savage fury.
His fist struck the man on the chin. Cobb's eyes gaped in shocked horror. He spun backward. His head cracked sickeningly on the edge of the bar. The sound was like a punctuation mark signaling the end of life.
He sank to the floor, eyes glassy, blood tricking down his jaw.
Ben knew that he was dead.
Then, for a single absurd second, Ben was seized with terror—just as, a moment before, he'd been overwhelmed with anger.
He ran.