by Eric Vall
Briar sat in the chair as they moved around him, and I watched my friend flinch as they got close.
“I say we get the pretty blonde one with the big tits,” Blondie laughed.
“Gross,” Tara whispered.
“You know you have to pass on the bloodline!” Daddy yelled. “You ain’t touchin nobody but your sister.”
“I know,” Blondie pouted.
“Double gross,” Tara whispered, and I looked over to see the disgust on her face.
I was betting my own looked about the same.
“Fine,” Tattoo said. “We’ll keep him alive, but we need one of them girls if we want to bargain anything.”
“Alright,” Daddy said. “We’ll get one of them and trade her off for all their loot.”
“Good plan, Daddy,” Blondie laughed again, and somehow the laugh was more disturbing than the sister comment.
“We’ll get her tonight,” Tattoo said, and I felt my hands clench.
“It’s okay,” Anna whispered, and she put a hand on my arm to calm me.
“They always keep one of them up there on guard,” Blondie said.
“Yeah,” Tattoo agreed. “We’ll take whatever one they have up there tonight.”
“And how are you planning on getting on the roof with all of dem other ones around on the ground with their guns an’ all?” Daddy asked.
“Well they go out in the mornin’ to check traps,” Tattoo said. “We can take one of them then.”
“Might even get two,” Blondie added.
As I listened to them talk my blood ran cold. These people knew far too much about our routine, there was no telling just how long they had been watching us and biding their time until we were fully stocked.
“We should go,” I said in a hard voice.
“Okay,” Anna said.
I scanned the area and waited for the boys to start fighting once more, it didn’t take long, and once Blondie in the tower was distracted, I led my team back to the tree line and into the forest.
I didn’t speak as we walked back, but I led us confidently around each booby trap and kept my eye out for scouts in the woods. I knew there had to be some since they were watching us so often, and I was just waiting for someone to try me. Anybody stupid enough to come near me or show themselves was in for one hell of a beating.
After about an hour of walking, we broke the tree line at Briar’s house, and I took a long breath.
“Are you okay?” Anna asked, and she looked at me with concern on her face.
“I’m alright,” I said. “But I’m pissed.”
“Right!” Tara exclaimed. “What the fuck is happening here?”
“Uh, they want to steal one of us and use us as a bargaining chip,” Anna said dryly.
Hearing her say the words got me so heated I held my breath. Just the thought of one of those assholes laying a single finger on one of my girls was enough to send me into rage mode.
“Guys,” I heard Anna say, so I opened my eyes, and all the girls were staring at me. “I think we’re upsetting Tav.”
“You didn’t upset me,” I said, and I shook my head. “Those hillbilly fucks did.”
“We need a new plan,” the redhead stated.
“Yes,” I said gruffly. “Let’s head back to Paige and Rolly.”
“Is it safe to go back to the campus right now?” Bailey asked, and she bit her bottom lip.
“We need to act like everything is normal,” I said. “They don’t know that we saw them today, and we need to keep it that way.”
“Should anyone be on guard duty?” Tara asked.
“Not tonight,” I answered. “I want everyone in the house, and we’re going to lock all the doors.”
“Okay,” Anna said. “I’ll drive.”
“No,” I said, and I smiled at the redhead. “I got it.”
Driving would be a chance to clear my head, and I needed a clear head if we were going to make a plan that didn’t involve me storming that trashy hideout and skinning each of those assholes alive.
We all hopped in the truck and headed back to campus. It was almost noon, and the sun was high in the sky as I drove, so I put my blinder down and squinted through the sunspots in the windshield.
“Should we tell the farmers what’s going on?” Bailey asked as we drove.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Not yet anyway.”
“Why?” the blonde asked again. “Don’t they have a right to know?”
“We don’t want to cause a panic,” Anna said. “And besides, if we tell them they might start acting weird, and if they’re being watched too, that could give away our plan.”
“Right,” I agreed. “Best to keep them out of it for now. We’ll tell them once it’s all over.”
“Okay,” the blonde said, but I looked over to see that she was biting her lip.
“It’s not lying,” I told her with a smile. “We just have to figure things out more before we get them involved.”
“I understand,” Bailey said, and she smiled back at me.
I looked out at the fields around us as we drove. The sun shone perfectly above, and though I wasn’t sure what plants were in the field, they blew slightly in the breeze, and the whole scene reminded me of a scene in a happy movie.
I pulled up to campus and saw Rolly and Paige on the roof with Winchester.
“Hey,” I called up as we hopped out of the truck.
“Hey,” Paige called back. “How did it go?”
“Come unlock the door,” I said. “We’ll discuss it inside.”
Paige nodded and headed downstairs, she met us at the front door and let us in where Rolly and Winchester were waiting in the common area.
“So what’s the good word?” Rolly asked with a smile.
“More bad than good,” Anna said wryly.
“How so?” the old man asked, and the wrinkles on his face grew deeper as his eyebrows pulled together.
“They’re watching everybody,” Bailey said softly.
“Yeah,” Tara added. “And they knew that we had been there, they even added some old Vietnam trap.”
“A punji trap?” Rolly asked, and his thick gray brows pulled together.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Jesus,” the old man breathed.
“I wasn’t happy when I saw it either,” I said.
“We should tell Betty that they’re being watched,” the old man said.
“I’m not so sure,” I said, and I shook my head. “I don’t want anyone to panic.”
“Right,” Rolly said. “We don’t have to tell everybody, but I think Betty should know.”
“I think Rolly’s right,” Bailey said.
“Why does she need to know?” Anna asked.
“She knows about the people who live up there,” Rolly said. “And she has grandkids to think about.”
“I’m not sure it’s the right call,” I said. “But if you’re confident that it won’t cause a panic, we’ll do it.”
“Betty can keep a secret,” Rolly said. “But I know that she would want to know.”
“Alright then,” I said, and I smiled at the old man. “I’ll run to Betty’s with Rolly, everyone else stay here on guard.”
“Okay,” Anna said. “We’ll fill in Paige on everything while you’re gone.”
“Much appreciated,” I told the redhead with a smile.
Rolly and I headed out to the truck and hopped in. We drove in silence for a minute before he spoke.
“I appreciate you doing this,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told him.
“I know it wasn’t exactly what you wanted to do,” the old man said. “But I appreciate you humoring me.”
“You want to do what’s best for your lady,” I said. “And your tribe. I can respect that.”
“Thanks,” the old man said, and he grinned at me.
I turned into Betty’s long driveway and drove slowly up toward the farmhouse.
“Hey,�
�� I called out as we approached the house, and I waved my arm out the window.
“Hey,” Betty called out from the front porch, and she got up to give Rolly a kiss as we got out of the truck.
“Where is everyone?” I asked, and I looked around and noticed there were no civilians around.
“They’re all inside,” Betty informed me. “It’s lunch time. Would you all like something?”
“I don’t think so,” I said with a shake of my head.
“There’s bread,” Betty said.
“It is hard to resist your bread,” I chuckled. “But we have something to talk to you about.”
“What’s wrong?” Betty asked, her face immediately growing serious.
“It seems the people we asked you about the other night have been watching us for some time,” I said.
“Oh my,” Betty said with a frown.
“Yeah,” Rolly agreed.
“We did see that they have a couple working generators,” I said.
“How on earth did they manage that?” Betty asked with surprise.
“I don’t know,” I answered. “But they’ll be ours soon enough.”
“Should I tell the others?” the old woman asked.
“I would prefer if you didn’t,” I said. “At least for now.”
“We don’t want anyone to panic,” Rolly added. “But I thought you would want to know.”
“Thank you,” Betty said sincerely.
“Right,” I said. “We need everyone to act as normal as possible while we get this figured out.”
“So they’re watching us as well,” Betty said, and her face grew angry.
“I believe they’re watching everyone,” I said.
“And Briar?” Betty asked with concern.
“He’s still alive,” I told her. “They said they weren’t going to kill him because then we wouldn’t bargain with them.”
“They assumed too much,” Rolly said with a hard laugh. “Thinking we’d bargain in the first place.”
“I agree,” I said. “But for now we need to keep up with our regular routine, so we’re going to head up to the campus and figure out a new plan.”
“Alright,” Betty said, and she gave Rolly a small smile.
“I don’t want anyone on guard duty alone,” I told her.
“That makes sense,” Betty said. “But won’t that give away that we know something?”
“It’s possible,” I answered. “But let’s try to keep the second person out of sight if we can.”
“I can do that,” Betty said.
“Alright,” I said. “If you need to inform someone, just be discreet and only tell someone you know you can trust.”
“Don’t worry,” the old woman said. “You all have handled worse and you’ll handle this too. I’m just sad I can’t be of more help.”
“I appreciate that,” I said, and I smiled back at her. “You all are plenty of help with a lot of things.”
“If you need anything else let me know,” the old woman said. “But I insist you take some sandwiches before you leave.”
“If you insist,” I chuckled.
Betty went into the house and returned a few moments later with a loaf of bread and the makings of sandwiches.
“I figured I’d send everything, and you can assemble them at home,” she said.
“Thank you,” I told her with a smile. “We should be going now, though.”
“Tell the girls I say hi,” Betty said with a soft smile, and she handed me the bag of sandwich stuff.
I hopped in the truck and waited for Betty and Rolly to say their goodbyes, then we took off down the driveway and made the short drive home. I saw the girls run down from the roof as we approached, and Winchester bolted ahead and jumped into the truck over my lap.
“Winchester,” Paige chuckled. “Where are your manners?”
“You happy to see us?” I asked the black headed dog, and I gave him some pets.
“Betty sent us stuff for sandwiches,” Rolly said as he got out of the truck.
“Hell, yes,” Tara said, and she rushed to the passenger’s side to retrieve the sandwich supplies.
“She insisted we take it,” I said.
“Oh my God,” Tara said with a gasp, and I turned to her immediately.
“What’s wrong?” I asked seriously.
“I think…” she trailed off while she looked in the small bag of sandwiches. “I thought Winchester got the sandwich stuff dirty, but it’s fine.”
“Jesus Tara,” Anna chuckled. “You nearly gave Tav a heart attack.”
“I’m alright,” I said with amusement. “Though I would prefer you to gasp only when there’s an emergency.”
“Noted,” the platinum blonde said, then she frowned at me. “I’m sorry, I know it’s been a rough morning.”
“It’s okay,” I told her. “We’re going to figure it out.”
“And we’re going to do it over sammies,” the platinum blonde said, and she held up the bag.
We all chuckled at her enthusiasm over sandwiches.
“We should feed the animals first,” I told the girls.
“Ugh,” Tara pouted. “You’re right, but I was super stoked about those sandwiches.”
“You can eat them as soon as we’re done,” I told the platinum blonde.
We fed the cows, horses, and chickens as well. As we worked, I contemplated what our plan would possibly be. I didn’t like that those hillbillies knew so much about us, not only did it anger me, but it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“Tav,” Tara whispered after we had finished feeding and watering. “Should we go make our plan now?”
“Not yet,” I whispered back. “Act normal.”
“Right,” the platinum blonde said, and she winked at me.
“Okay,” I said loudly. “Tara, I want you on guard duty. Bailey, does anything else need to be done in the garden?”
“A few things are ready to harvest,” the blonde said. “This should be the last time we need to pick things before winter.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s do that. Rolly and I will work on moving the meat shed to the basement. Everybody make a sandwich, then we’ll get to work.”
“Sounds good,” the old man said, then everybody made their food and moved to their positions.
Rolly and I were able to move the meat shed easily, and the smokers too, and we got them hooked up in the room with the stoves so they would vent out.
We went outside to help the girls finish picking vegetables, but just as we helped carry the last bucket into the gym, it began to rain hard.
I quickly grabbed some food for dinner, ran back outside, and locked the door behind me.
“Everybody into the dorms!” I yelled over the freezing rain and wind. “Now!”
I ran over to the building as well, and once everyone was inside, I locked the door behind us. Then I went around to each entrance to make sure they was locked as well.
“It’s pouring,” Bailey said as I came back into the room.
“I always loved the rain,” Paige sighed.
“Ugh,” Tara groaned as she came down the stairs from the roof. “I’m soaked.”
“Not yet,” I joked, and all the girls raised a brow at me. “What? It doesn’t work when I make the joke?”
“Eh,” Anna said with a shrug. “I think you can do better.”
“What about ‘that’s what she said?’” I snickered.
“That’s way better,” the redhead chuckled.
“Let’s change into some dry clothes,” I said. “Then we’ll meet back here.”
“I’m okay with that,” Rolly said, and he looked down at his sopping wet denim work clothes.
“I need to dry off Winchester too,” Bailey said, and she started toward the stairs.
But then Winchester stopped.
“No!” Tara commanded the dog. “Don’t you dare!”
He dared. Winchester shook out his fur and splashed water all
over the room and the girls.
“Ugh,” Tara groaned. “I’m going to smell like a wet dog.”
“Better than your usual musk,” Anna joked.
“I’ll have you know that men like my musk,” the platinum blonde sniffed.
“Sure,” Anna teased. “Did they tell you that before or after they slept with you?”
“Does it matter?” Tara asked but then her eyes grew wide. “Wait, does it?”
“I don’t know,” Anna laughed, and she walked toward the stairs with the blonde following her.
“Oh my God,” Tara said, outraged. “Were they lying to me?”
Their conversation trailed off as they made their way up the stairs, and I shook my head at the two of them and their strange conversations, then I headed to the stove to start up a nice fire for us.
By the time the fire was going, the girls and Rolly were already back in the living room area, Winchester was stretched out on the rug in the middle of the floor, and I was feeling a bit more relaxed.
“The fire is going,” I said. “It should be warm in here before too long.”
“Good thing the storm came,” Anna said. “Now we have an excuse to all be inside right now so we can make our plan.”
“Right,” I said. “Thank God for rain.”
“So what is our plan?” Paige asked.
“I say we take one of them,” Tara sneered. “See how they like somebody in their family being captured.”
“I don’t think that’s going to work,” I laughed.
“Probably not,” the platinum blonde said with a shrug. “It’d be satisfying though.”
“We could go in groups,” Anna suggested.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, we could split up,” the redhead explained. “A few of us stay here and the others go up and start taking out the ones spying on us in the woods first.”
“No fair,” Tara pouted. “You’re only saying that so you get all the action.”
“It’s not a bad plan,” I said. “But I think it’s risky having more than one person out there.”
“Why?” Paige asked. “If there’s enough people at the campus then it shouldn’t matter, right? They’ll think the others are off doing chores or something.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But we aren’t sure how many of them there are in the woods, and more people going out there is more of a risk of being seen. And if everyone else on campus is doing their chores and acting normal, they won’t suspect that I’m hunting them.”