by Mark Goodwin
“Sure, no problem. I’ll get the radios set up. Do you want those extra dry goods loaded into the Escalade?”
“Yeah, that would be great.” Terry hurried off to get his shower and pack.
Twenty minutes later, Kate pulled a box of shotgun shells out of her pack. She put five shells in her left front pocket and placed the rest in the center console of her Mini. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and fished it through the opening of her ball cap. She positioned the pump-action shotgun between the console and the passenger’s seat.
Kate opened the trunk of her vehicle. “Vicky, you and your brother are riding with me. You can put your bags in here.”
Vicky looked stressed. She tossed her belongings into the back of Kate’s car.
CHAPTER 15
The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
Jeremiah 12:12
Kate raised the shotgun putting the front bead on the torso of the man who was about to kill Terry. Her hands shook with terror, her stomach constricted.
BOOOOM!
The impact of the shot slammed the man to the ground.
“That came from the trees!” The driver pointed in Kate’s direction and drew his pistol. “Start shooting right there!”
Kate quickly moved out of the way before the remaining three men began taking pot shots in her direction.
POW! Bang! Crack!
She pumped another shell into the chamber. Sprinting in the dark, her foot caught a fallen branch and she fell face first onto the forest floor. “Umph!”
“Right there! I saw someone moving!” Another of the ruffians leveled his rifle toward Kate.
The ambient light from the headlights silhouetted her attackers but did not penetrate into the woods to make her visible. She could see the barrel of the gun lining up with her body. Kate didn’t have time to move out of the way. Her shotgun was perched on another dead branch and aimed at the hooligan. She let her left hand slide down to the trigger. She squeezed.
Kaboom!
“Ahhh! They shot me!” The man’s arm was bloodied. He dropped his rifle.
“Where are they? How many of them are there?” The driver ducked behind the front bumper of the bucket truck.
“In them bushes! Down low!” shouted the injured man.
The driver took two more pot shots with his pistol. One bullet hit the dead limb on which Kate had tripped. He fired three more rounds.
“Get a flashlight!” yelled the driver.
Kate gently crawled to the base of a massive pine, putting her back against the trunk for cover.
POW! POW!
The potshots continued. She racked another shell into the chamber during the gunfire so the aggressors wouldn’t hear.
“Go on, Chet! Get into the woods with that light.” The driver gave instructions to the other man.
“How about I hold the light and you go first?” Chet replied.
“I bet it’s that girl who was driving that little car. You afraid of a little girl, Chet?”
“She killed Dave, same as a man would’ve. I’ll hold the light,” Chet insisted.
“Fine!” The leaves crushed under the foot of the driver when he stepped into the brush. “Chicken.”
Kate knew she had to take out Chet with the flashlight. As long as they couldn’t see her, she still had a chance. She watched the beam of the flashlight bounce around from tree to tree. She pictured in her mind about where Chet would have to be for the light to hit the distinct locations.
“I thought I saw something,” the injured man yelled. “Steady your light over to the left, about three feet.”
Kate knew that would put Chet’s light right on her tree. She spun around and raised the shotgun.
BOOOOM!
The flashlight dropped, but the shotgun’s muzzle flash had given away her position.
The driver’s pistol spat out a barrage of bullets. Kate ducked behind the pine.
She heard the driver’s pistol click.
“Kenny, give me some cover fire. I’m gonna reload, get Chet’s light, and kill this little witch.”
Kate couldn’t let that happen. She popped up from behind the tree and fired at the driver who was putting in a fresh magazine. POW!
The driver fell to the ground. Kenny, however, was still on the move. The injured man quickly collected the driver’s pistol with his good hand. He ran to the front of the Escalade. “I’ll kill the driver. He’s still alive. You can save him. Put your weapon down and come on out. If I hear that pump rack another shell, he’s finished.”
Kate could do nothing. She was trapped. She believed the part about him shooting Terry if she racked another round. But what if she put down the gun and came out? He’d kill Terry anyway, just as he’d planned to do before. She had to think of a way out. She whispered to herself, “He’s bleeding bad. I just need to stall until he passes out.”
Kate readied her hand on the pump to reload in an instant and called out to Kenny. “Forgive me for not taking you at your word. If I come out, you’ll kill me and you’ll shoot the man in the car anyway. Why don’t you just leave?”
The injured man replied, “No ma’am. I got your friend here at point blank range with my pistol. If I get more than a few feet away, I lose my leverage.”
“We’re in sort of a stalemate then,” Kate yelled.
“Not really,” said Kenny.
“Oh yeah?” Kate fished a shell out of her jeans pocket and fed it into the tubular magazine as silently as possible.
“The way I see it, you care about these people in this vehicle. Otherwise, you’d have kept on driving. I’ve been shot. I’m a desperate man with not much else to lose. Either you put down the shotgun and come on out, or I’ll kill ‘em.”
She placed another shell in, using the man’s voice for noise cover. “If you kill them, you can bet I’ll finish you off.”
“If I don’t get out of here and get some help, I’ll die anyway. So, like I said, you’re the one who stands to lose in this situation. And my patience is about to run out. I’ll count to ten, then either you come out, or I’ll kill your friends here.”
Kate hated the ultimatum. She clenched her jaw. “Wait a second. I think we can work this out to where we both get what we want. Why don’t you get in the truck and drive away?”
“So now you expect me to trust that you’ll let me leave. Nope, not gonna happen. I’m done talking. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.”
Kate swallowed hard. The pressure of the event felt like a vise on her head. She could not let this man kill Terry. But she could not surrender.
“Six. Seven. Eight. You just come on out.” The man paused.
Kate had no alternatives. She’d simply have to try to beat him to the draw. “Impossible. He’s right there. As soon as I rack the pump, Terry’s dead. And I’ll spend the rest of my life knowing that I sealed his fate.”
“Time’s up, missy. Nine. Ten!”
Bang!
Kate heard the pistol snap and spun around from the back of the tree, simultaneously, she racked the next shell into the chamber and leveled the bead sight toward the man. But he wasn’t there. Kate traversed the woods, careful not to trip again. She emerged from the tree line and hustled to the front of the Escalade. Kenny was slumped against the front wheel well—dead.
“Aunt Kate.”
She spun around to see Sam holding Chet’s pistol in his hand. “Sam! Are you okay?”
He rushed toward her. “Yeah, how’s Mom and Dad?”
Kate smashed the rear window of the Escalade with the butt of the shotgun and opened the back door. “Terry!”
Her brother’s voice was hollow. “My seatbelt. It won’t unbuckle.”
Sam said, “I have a knife.”
Vicky soon arrived. “Mom?”
“She’s unresponsive,” Terry said.
Kate reache
d up front and felt Penny’s neck. She had no pulse and was already getting cool. She slid out of the way to let Sam work on cutting the seatbelt to free Terry.
Once Terry was free, Sam said, “We’ve gotta get Mom out. Will her seat belt release?”
Kate pressed the button on the buckle and the seatbelt fell away. She didn’t have the heart to tell Sam that his mother was gone.
“Mom, wake up!” Sam pulled her lifeless body to the back seat. “Mom!”
Vicky looked on in horror. “Is she breathing?”
Sam continued to yell. “Mom! Mama, wake up!”
Terry was in pain but crawled through to inspect his wife. He tenderly pulled the hair out of her face. His expression showed that he knew she was gone.
“Mom.” Vicky’s sobs showed that she too realized that Penny was no longer with them.
Sam began trying to give her mouth-to-mouth, then tried chest compressions, talking to her as if his pleas might bring her back.
Powerless, Kate looked on, wishing she could change the circumstances, wishing she could comfort her family.
CHAPTER 16
Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Isaiah 24:1-6
Kate inspected her brother who had a long gash topping the swollen knot on the left side of his forehead. “The vehicle rolled twice. You got knocked around pretty good. I’m guessing you have a concussion. Do you want to try to find a hospital?”
Terry wiped the blood from his forehead with the back of his hand. He stared at Penny laid out in the back seat. “No. I want to get my kids to the cabin where they’ll be safe. Then, I want to get up in the morning and bury my wife.”
Kate tenderly put her hand on Terry. “We should call 911.”
Sam and Vicky held each other while they cried. Terry pulled his kids in for a hug and looked up at his sister. “The world is falling apart. The perpetrators are dead. There’s nothing the police can do at this point except slow us down.”
“I agree. But, if we get pulled over and questioned, we’ll be in the wrong. At least let me call it in and report the incident. I’ll say that we’re in fear for our lives and that we have to continue to our destination. The police can come to interview us at the cabin.”
Terry rubbed the backs of Vicky and Sam’s heads. “I guess that would be okay.”
Kate pulled out her phone. She dialed 911. “All circuits are busy.”
She hung up. “It won’t go through. At least I have the call in my log so we can prove we tried to call. I’m going to collect the guns. Do you want to see if the Escalade will start?”
Terry kissed each of his children, then crawled past the corpse of his dead wife to get back in the vehicle.
Kate picked up the weapons. She retrieved a short-barreled revolver from the first man she’d killed and a compact 9mm from the driver. She wedged the 9mm in her waistband, then placed the rifle and the other pistol in the trunk of her Mini. Sam offered her the large-framed pistol he’d used to kill Kenny.
She looked at the heavy semi-automatic. “Maybe you should hang on to that until we get home.”
With his head hung low in grief, Sam stuck the gun in his waistband.
Kate turned in the direction of the wrecked SUV, hearing a steady clicking sound, but no engine ignition. She walked up to the shattered back window and addressed her brother. “I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”
Terry continued to turn the ignition. With each turn, the clicking sound grew more faint. “We need the SUV.”
“We’ll go in my car. Come on.” She patted the side of the Escalade.
“How are we going to transport Penny’s body and the four of us in a Mini?” His voice was filled with the frustration of a man who wanted to grieve but couldn’t.
“I’ll clear out the trunk. We’ll put Penny in the back.”
“What about our supplies? We need our supplies. The kids don’t even have clothes at the cabin.”
“We’ll carry what we can in our laps. We’ll get by, Terry.”
He crawled out of the stalled vehicle. “What about the Georgia Power truck?”
“It’s stolen. The last thing we need is to catch a grand theft auto charge.”
Terry looked at the big work truck. “I’d rather take a chance with the truck than leaving our supplies behind. And there’s no way I’m leaving Penny on the side of the road. I’ll drive the truck.”
“I don’t think you should be driving. I’m almost certain you have a concussion. Why don’t I drive the work truck and let Sam follow me in my Mini? Vicky can ride with me. You ride up front with Sam, and we’ll lay Penny out in the back seat of the Mini.”
Terry stared sorrowfully at his wife’s body. “I guess that will have to work.”
“Okay. I’ll start unloading the supplies from the Escalade.” Kate started toward the SUV.
“Kate?” Terry’s voice cracked.
“Yeah?”
“If we don’t have room, I suppose you can leave Penny’s suitcases behind.” His lip quivered, then he began to sob.
“We’ll make room. The kids will want to go through her things. You might even want to put her in something nice.” Kate looked the large service truck over. “We’ll clear out those tool boxes. We can even put a few bags in the bucket.”
Kate began reorganizing the storage compartments of the bucket truck and loading up the bags and supplies into every available space. She left Vicky, Sam, and Terry alone to grieve. She’d miss Penny. Even though Kate had tried, the two of them had never been close.
Before getting into the truck, Kate retrieved the short-barreled revolver from her trunk. She handed it to Terry. “Sam still has the pistol he used to bail us out.”
He took the weapon and glanced at his son who was getting into the driver’s seat. Terry appeared to be pained over Sam having to kill the man. “Okay.”
“And here’s your radio. Let me know if you see anyone coming up behind us.” Kate passed him the walkie-talkie.
“I will.”
Vicky stood by the back window of the Mini, staring at her mother’s corpse in the back seat. Kate put her arm around her niece and gently pulled her away. “Come on. We need to go.”
The rest of the trip to Waynesville was uneventful. The small towns they passed through had no gas stations open where they could refuel. Each of the towns seemed to have turned off the welcome signs and all but rolled up the sidewalks to let everyone know they were closed for business. The two-vehicle convoy drove by several local sheriff’s cars parked in groups of three or four. Several had their lights flashing but none of them gave Kate’s group any trouble. They seemed to prefer that people keep on driving.
Kate dared not to breathe a sigh of relief when she turned onto the road where her father’s old cabin was located. She slowed down before coming to the steep gravel driveway. She wanted to be sure she had the big work truck positioned right so she could increase her speed to make it up the hill. Once she felt confident, she gunned the accelerator. The heavy tires spit gravel as the vehicle climbed up the drive. Kate stopped short when she saw a car in the driveway.
Quickly, she put the truck in park and killed the engine. “Vicky, stay
down!”
Vicky complied.
Kate called over the radio. “Terry, someone is here. Have Sam cut the ignition. Hopefully they didn’t hear us.”
“I see ‘em. Do you know anyone who drives a busted-up ’97 BMW?”
“No one I know,” Kate replied. “Get that rifle out of my trunk and come up to the work truck. We’ll use this vehicle for cover.”
Terry’s voice came over the radio. “Coming now.”
Kate quietly opened the door. She passed the revolver to Vicky. “If you get into trouble, point and shoot.”
“I will.” Vicky held the gun awkwardly.
Kate gave her a nod of confidence, grabbed the shotgun, then exited the cab. She peered around the front bumper, watching the cabin.
“See anything?” Terry arrived carrying the rifle.
“No.”
“Look, a woman just walked past the window.” Sam stood behind his father with the large pistol in his hand.
“I told you to wait in the car!” Terry spoke louder than he should have.
“Dad, I’ve already killed someone. I think I’m qualified to be here.”
“Get down! Be quiet.” Kate motioned for them to lay low. “I think the woman spotted us. Get ready in case they come out shooting. We have to take our cabin back, no matter what.”
Terry looked at his son with regretful eyes. “Stay back. You can cover us from behind the truck.”
“Okay,” Sam conceded.
The front door of the cabin opened. Kate pressed the butt of the shotgun into her shoulder and got ready to engage.
“Who’s out there?” yelled a man.
Kate peeked around the front bumper of the service truck. “Boyd?”
“Kate? Is that you?”
She lowered her shotgun. “Boyd, who else is here?”
“My girlfriend, Tina. We decided to take your advice when everything started falling apart.”