“Please, don’t kill me. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I swear,” the boy said.
Mike walked up behind him bringing both of the boy’s arms to his head.
“Keep your hands up where I can see them,” Mike said.
Clarence and Fay came out from behind their cover and started walking toward them.
“Mike, what are you doing?” Fay asked.
“Stop,” Mike said.
The boy froze, his hands still tucked behind the back of his head. Mike kicked the boy’s legs from under him, collapsing him to the ground. Mike tossed the boy’s rifle to Fay.
Tom and Nelson came rushing out.
“He’s just a kid,” Tom said.
“I keep telling him that it was just an accident. I wasn’t trying to hurt any of you. I was just trying to scare you off. I just wanted to protect my family,” the boy said.
“What do we do with him?” Clarence asked.
“You’re going to let him go, right, Mike?” Nelson asked.
“No, he’s going to take us to his barn and then we’re going to drop him off there and make sure he doesn’t follow us,” Mike said.
The boy’s expression eased. The color flushed back into his face and his body lost some of its tension.
“Thank you. Thank you, so much,” the boy said.
Jung came out from behind the trees. The boy caught sight of the blood stained over his clothes. Jung had a dazed look on his face. He walked like a zombie; jagged, limping steps propelled him forward. He stared at the boy sitting at the base of the tree.
“It was him?” Jung asked still looking at the boy.
“Yes,” Mike said.
The look Mike saw in Jung’s eye was a look he’d seen before. As much as Jung spoke about taking the non-violent road he could see the struggle in the man’s face. It was the first time someone had hurt a member of his family like that. It was the first time Jung had a taste of real violence in his life.
“You shot my wife,” Jung said.
“It was an accident,” the boy said.
“You could have hit my kids.”
“Take it easy, Jung,” Mike said, inching closer to Jung who had his eyes glued on the boy.
Before Mike had to intervene Jung turned away and headed back to his wife.
“Did she die?” the boy whispered.
“Not yet,” Mike answered.
Jenna was too weak to move, and everyone was too weak to carry her for a distance longer than twenty feet. Mike and Tom tried to carry her through the trees to the highway, but couldn’t even make it that far.
The farm that the boy was from, who told them his name was Billy Murth, said it was a mile down the road.
“The farm has a cart we could wheel her back in,” Billy said.
“Fine. Me, Tom, and Nelson will go with Billy and grab the cart,” Mike said.
“I should come with you,” Jung said.
“No, you should stay here and make sure your wife and kids are okay,” Mike said. “That’s the best thing that you can do right now, Jung.”
Mike gave Nelson Billy’s rifle, and Mike took one of the rifles from their own stash and gave the handgun he was carrying to Tom. Mike pulled Fay to the side out of earshot from the rest of the group.
“If we don’t make it back, there might be a good chance that his family will come back here looking for you guys. Have somebody posted on watch at all times. The kid could be playing us,” Mike said.
“What am I supposed to do if you guys don’t make it back?” Fay asked.
“If we’re not back by nightfall and if Jenna gets some of her strength back, follow the tree line down the highway. There’s a dirt road that’s hidden with some brush about four miles west. It’ll be on the left side. You won’t be able to see entrance from the highway, so when you guys are walking make sure you stay to the left.”
“Where does the road lead?”
“My cabin. My family will recognize Sean, so make sure you keep him safe.”
“No, Mike, this is insane. You don’t know what you’re walking into.”
“If we don’t get Jenna somewhere where we can sterilize that wound she’s going to die of infection. The only place that I know of is my cabin, and the only way I can get her there right now is to find something to carry her with.”
“Be careful.”
Mike kept his hand on Billy’s shoulder and the four of them took off down the road. He made sure to keep his eyes peeled for anything suspicious.
“How many people do you have at the farm?” Mike asked.
“Four,” Billy said.
“Who?”
“Me, my dad, my mom, and my younger brother.”
“Do they have any weapons, other than the rifle you had?”
“Yeah, my dad’s got a lot of guns. He’s a hunter. He takes tourists out on hunting trips for deer. Or he used to.”
“Great,” Tom said. “So we’re walking into a situation where we’re holding the son of a hunter and gun enthusiast hostage.”
“Will he be home when we get there?” Mike asked.
“I don’t know. He sent me to cover the east road while he went out hunting. He usually doesn’t come back till closer to sundown.”
“What about your mom and brother?”
“They’ll be home.”
“Can your mom shoot?” Tom asked.
“Yeah,” Billy answered.
“So much for catching a break,” Tom said.
It took them twenty minutes to reach the farm. The house sat in a clearing off the highway. An open pasture cut through the middle of the forest and cattle, horses, and other livestock roamed the fields grazing.
A large steel gate surrounded the property, fencing the cattle in. The gate creaked when Mike undid the lock and swung it open.
They kicked up dust from the dirt road as they walked closer to the house. Mike could see a barn in the back. Bells from the cattle dinged in the fields around them. Suddenly the front door of the house flew open and a woman wielding a shotgun marched onto the front porch.
“Let my son go or so help me God I will pump you full of lead,” Beth said.
Beth was a skinny woman. Her body looked far to frail for the 12-gauge she was holding, but the barrel of the gun stood rock steady.
Mike kept his grip on Billy’s shoulder, but made sure his gun wasn’t pointing anywhere near the boy.
“We don’t want any trouble, Ma’am,” Mike said.
“If you don’t want any trouble then why did you come onto my property, holding my son hostage, and armed to the teeth?”
“Your boy shot one of the people in our party. The girl he shot needs help. All we need is a cart to carry her and we’ll be on our way.”
“Tell them to put their guns down.”
Mike nodded to Tom and Nelson and they placed their rifles on the ground in front of them.
“Kick them away from you,” Beth said.
Tom and Nelson complied sending the guns sliding across the gravel. Mike placed his gun down last, but kept Billy close.
“You all right, Billy?” Beth asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
Beth walked toward them keeping the barrel of the gun pointed at the three of them. The sun reflected off the steel of the shotgun. When she got close enough Mike let Billy go and he ran for his mom.
“Mom, it’s okay. They’re not going to hurt us,” Billy said.
Beth kept the shotgun pointed at them. She paused for a moment taking all of them in, their hands in the air, waiting for her judgment.
The barrel of the gun finally dropped and Tom and Nelson let out a sigh.
“Thank God,” Tom said.
“The cart’s around back. How bad is she hurt?” Beth asked.
“She took a bullet to the shoulder, but she lost a lot of blood. She’s not strong enough to walk yet and we need to move her quickly,” Mike said.