by Char Webster
“These guys are young, but they look like professionals,” Ryan told his friends.
“Thanks, Ryan,” Robert answered.
Jason asked, “Anyone we know?”
“I don’t recognize anyone,” Robert answered.
Ryan and Nick both agreed that they didn’t know any of them.
The men Brooks sent walked the perimeter of the park and checked out everything. They did exactly what the guys had said they would do and picked the third path after the pavilion about halfway to the river to set up their trap. One of the men stayed at the mouth of the trail as a lookout. He was behind some underbrush and was out of sight of anyone coming toward him, but Ryan could see him easily.
Nick and Kate were hiding along the next trail where there was a large amount of debris. They could see through the woods to the next trail easily. It was a good spot to see what was happening along the main trail and the river.
The two men set up a few snares around the other parts of the trail that would trap someone who stepped too closely to them. They were not playing around. They also wanted to make sure that everyone in the park would be corralled to the location they wanted.
Nick whispered to Kate, “I’m going to undo a few of those snares, just in case we need to run through this area.”
“Great idea,” Ryan told him.
Nick jogged off and Kate watched after him. Ryan was giving him quiet updates of where the two guys were at all times so that Nick wouldn’t get caught. He was back quickly with a big smile on his face. “It’s all clear. If we need to get out of here quickly, run down the left side until the blue trail marker and then switch to the right side.”
Kate was getting nervous waiting for something to happen. She wanted to find the kids and take them home and never let them out of her sight. At 5:45 a.m., they all heard two vehicles pull up to the barriers. Two men hopped out of the front SUV, moved the orange barrels out of the way, and replaced them once the vehicles were through. Ryan let everyone know that they were all armed with guns and a few crossbows.
A young kid that looked to be about Alex’s age was pulled out of the second vehicle. He was being roughly pushed from behind by a guy that Kate thought looked familiar. She turned to Nick, and he whispered, “The guy’s name is Joel, and he likes to torture people with visions and memories of horror scenes. He’s caused people to go crazy, which is how he ended up on the Association’s radar. Joel was in the Association’s custody a few years ago, but he had escaped. They didn’t know his location, and he’s been on one of their most wanted lists. It seems that Brooks collected the most dangerous and corrupt of the gifted.”
“Do you know who any of the others are?” Kate asked.
“Not yet, but I’m sure Ryan is running facial recognition software on all of them,” Nick answered.
Ryan had been listening in and said, “Sure am, and I’ve found a few others that the Association would love to get their hands on.”
Robert’s voice came over their earpieces. “How did Brooks manage to stay out of the Association’s notice for all this time?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to try to find out when all this is over,” Nick promised.
Kate wondered if someone in the Association was helping him. She had forgotten to close her mind off and Nick turned to her and said, “No one in leadership would help someone like that.” He tried to assure her, but a nagging feeling started to form in his gut.
Kate winced when the kid stumbled from being pushed really hard and was jerked up by Joel who cursed at him. She felt bad for him and wondered if she could help him as well.
Robert’s voice came over their earpieces. “Two guys left the first vehicle and one stayed behind. Three men and one boy left the second vehicle, but no one stayed behind in that SUV. We’ll take him out quietly as soon as the others are out of hearing range.”
Jason added, “I’ve been dying to try out this new duct tape. It’s supposed to be way stickier than the normal stuff and way harder to break through. It’s a shame it doesn’t come in multiple colors. We could have done some cool art projects.”
“Focus, dude,” Ryan told him. “Focus.”
“You’re just no fun,” Jason countered.
“Guys!” Kate called over her mic. Luckily, there was silence after that. She shook her head. These guys were as bad as her students sometimes.
Kate turned her attention to the other men who filed out of the SUVs. She could feel their malice from where she was hiding. She shivered, and Nick asked, “Are you okay?” He put his arm around her and rubbed her arm.
“Yeah, I’m getting seriously bad vibes from those guys,” she said. “Way worse than the first ones that came. Those are the guys we need to watch.”
“She’s right,” Ryan confirmed. “I didn’t get any hits on the first two. They were younger than these guys and probably not as ruthless. We still need to be careful of them.”
“Thanks, Ry,” Nick told him.
“An ATV is heading this way through the woods, and a cabin cruiser boat is heading toward shore from the PA side,” Ryan told them. Get ready.”
There were a few grunts and what sounded like a slight struggle over the microphone. “Guys, we’re heading back toward you,” Robert told them. “We took care of the guy in the parking lot. Jason didn’t have nearly enough fun, so we’re going to see if we can take out anyone else as we move down the trail.”
“Hey man, you agreed that it wasn’t any fun taking that guy out. It was just too cliché. Come on, the guy was taking a leak and not paying any attention. You’re just lucky he didn’t get any piss all over us. That would have ruined my morning,” Jason said with enthusiasm.
Everyone smartly decided to ignore Jason, who was probably pouting from not getting any sort of reaction.
“My guess is that the kids are in that boat. I’m going to circle back around toward the water.” Robert was already heading in that direction.
“Agreed,” Nick told him. “Be careful, and let us know if you want back up.”
“I’m going to check out the ATV,” Jason told them.
Kate and Nick moved silently up the trail that was very close to the edge of the river. They stayed within the tree lines so that no one would see them. They needed to be in place so they could grab the kids and take off.
There was a big commotion at the head of the trail near the parking lot, and everyone’s attention was drawn to that location. It sounded like several shotguns were fired at once. At the same time, a thick fog rolled into the area. It was so thick that it was hard to see more than a few feet in front.
“I’m blind in that direction,” Ryan said, slightly concerned. “I can’t see those guys anymore.”
They heard the ATV pull up to the trail and then heard another ATV come in from the other direction. “That’s two ATVs, guys,” Ryan told them. “There are only two people in the second ATV. It looks like one man and one small girl around eight or so. They’re staying in the second ATV.”
“A little girl?” Kate asked. “How does she fit into this?”
No one had any ideas. Kate continued, “If we can get to her as well, we should try.”
Nick squeezed her arm and said, “Kate, we’re here for our kids and they are the priority.” Nick rushed on when she tried to argue. “If we can get her, we will, but if we can’t get to her safely, or it’s her or the kids, we’ll try to free her another time.”
Kate nodded but wasn’t completely happy about that. She wanted to save all the kids. She knew that she had to help both those other kids get away from Brooks.
Just as Brooks and two others got out of the first ATV, the boat approached the beach, and a man jumped down. He pulled the boat the rest of the way to the bank. The fog hadn’t gotten to the river yet, so they could still see that area. It was making its way from the trailhead toward their direction.
“I think the kids are in that boat,” Ryan said. “I think I can see Zach. Looks like they are sittin
g on the bottom. A large tattooed guy is jumping onto the shore.”
Just then, the fog over took them completely. “Guys, I’m blind,” Ryan told them all. “I can’t see anything.”
Kate grabbed Nick’s hand. They couldn’t see very well either.
Jason made his way closer to where the two ATVs were parked. He accidently stumbled upon one of the first men who had set up the snares. Luckily, he wasn’t expecting anyone to be there either and was easy to subdue. Jason punched the guy twice and ducked a return blow, before roundhouse kicking him in the head. The man went down, and Jason knocked him out with only a little bit of noise. Jason had just finished taping him when Robert called over that he had just taken out the other guy that was the lookout by the bridge. “I just finished with the other one,” Jason told them.
“Yeah, we all heard you,” Robert told him.
“Whatever. I got him.” Jason said.
Just then, Kate and Nick turned around to face two men who had guns pointed right at them. They were the ones who had moved the barrels so the two SUVs could enter the park.
“Damn,” Nick said quietly. “We’re caught.”
Both Jason and Robert said they were on their way.
Kate had been concentrating on all their gifts right along, but now she was turning it up as much as she could. She needed the guys to get them out of this and get the kids.
“Come out of there right now with your hands up,” one of the men told them. “Throw out your weapons.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Nick told Kate. “Let’s just follow along right now.”
Nick threw out his one gun that was in his shoulder holster but kept the one strapped to his ankle. He still had a knife as well.
They walked out into the clearing just as Brooks entered with his two men.
“What do we have here?” Brooks demanded.
No one answered. Kate was searching for the kids, and Nick was sizing up the situation. Everyone was silent over their mics.
Frank had left the kids on the boat by the riverbank with George so that he could check things out. He was looking around for his daughter and Bret. He didn’t see either one, but he couldn’t see much with all the damn fog. He knew the kid was nearby with the fog around.
Frank walked up to the clearing and was surprised to see that Brooks had two people being detained by guns. They all stood around the clearing edges. No one was moving, and no one was saying a word.
“Where is my daughter?” Frank demanded.
Kate was shocked. She looked at Nick, who shook his head for her to not say anything. Kate also needed to keep her mind closed so that no one could read her thoughts.
Brooks ignored Frank purposely and walked closer to Kate and Nick. “I want to know who the hell you are.” The fog was clearing, so it was getting a little easier to see. Brooks thought the young woman looked familiar, and he knew that the guy worked for the Association. He didn’t feel like dealing with the Association’s crap right then.
Nick was saved from answering when one of the other men stepped out of the fog and shot a crossbow arrow up into the tree that Ryan was perched in. The arrow pierced Ryan’s shoulder and he lost his balance and began to fall. He was about forty feet in the air. Kate tried to stifle a scream as she watched him fall toward the ground. Jason ran out of the trees toward Ryan and held up his hand to try to slow his fall with his gift. Kate watched in horror and concentrated with all her might to help Jason.
The entire clearing became silent as they watched Jason slow Ryan’s fall to the point where he touched the ground with hardly any force at all.
~*~*~
Robert was just halfway to the boat that held the kids when he heard what happened to Ryan over his mic. He almost turned back toward his friend, but stopped himself. He needed to keep going for the kids. Ryan would be fine. He just had to be okay. Just then, a guy ran out of the fog and tackled Robert.
~*~*~
Bret slipped away from Joel when the guy started to fall out of the tree. Joel was a sadistic creep who needed to have his own horror sent right back to him, he thought. He took glee in giving bad dreams to all the kids that stayed with Brooks—and not just mild ones, but true night terrors. He wanted to hurt Joel, but he didn’t have a weapon. One day he hoped that Joel would get his.
Right now, he needed to find Frank’s daughter. Bret crept up to the ATV with Frank’s daughter huddled inside. The guy who was supposed to be watching her was too busy smoking a cigarette and trying to see what was happening in the clearing ahead. He didn’t think the scared, crying girl would move away from the ATV.
Bret put an extra burst of fog near the guy and went up to the side of the vehicle. The girl curled away from him in fright, but Bret put his finger up to his lips for her to stay silent and reached out his other hand. She hesitated for a moment but willingly went with him. They silently moved away from the clearing and toward the boat. “Who are you?” the girl asked quietly.
“Bret. I’m here to get you to your dad,” Bret whispered back. “What’s your name?”
“Kali. My dad’s here?” she asked with hope in her voice.
“Yeah, now we need to hurry and be really quiet,” Bret told her as he pulled her along behind him.
They made it to the shore by the boat, and George looked up. “What the hell?” he mumbled as he stood up and turned toward the two new kids.
Alex and Zach jumped at the opportunity. As soon as George’s back was turned, Alex zapped him as strongly as she could with her gift, and then Zach sent him flying over the boat’s side and into the water. George hit his head on the side of the boat.
Alex and Zach broke free of their zip-ties. Zach grabbed Maddy, and he jumped onto the riverbank. Alex scrambled up next to him. They looked back, and George was not in sight.
“Nice move,” Bret told them as he stared at Alex. “I was just coming to help, but it seems like I wasn’t needed. Too bad, really. It looked like fun.”
Zach shrugged, but Alex ran a hand through her hair and smiled at Bret. “It was fun, really,” she told him. “Although, he was pretty easy. It would have been better if it was the bigger guy.”
Bret laughed, knowing she was talking about Frank. “That bigger guy is Kali’s dad. They were trading you for her, so I need to get her on the boat. You guys need to move. There was all kinds of stuff going on over in the clearing. I think some people are looking for you.”
Just then, they heard a noise that sounded like a struggle getting closer to them.
Kali pulled on Bret’s arm and said, “Let’s go, Bret.”
Alex looked up at her use of his name. Bret, she thought, nice name. Really cute guy.
Zach pulled on Alex with his free arm. “Alex, we have to move. We need to find Kate and Uncle Bud.”
Bret turned to look at Alex and said, “Good luck, guys. Alex, I’ll be seeing you.” He jumped onto the boat and pulled Kali up with him. Bret picked up a radio on the boat and called to Frank. “Got her,” Bret told him. “We’re on the boat.” Bret watched after Alex as she disappeared around the bend in the trees toward the trail.
~*~*~
Just as Zach, Maddy, and Alex walked onto the path, Robert jogged out. He had just finished his scuffle with a rather large and smelly guy who had decided to use him as a punching bag. Damn, my eye hurts, he thought, rubbing that and wiping blood off his upper lip from his nose.
When he saw the kids, his eyes lit up and he ran over to them. They threw themselves into his arms and hugged him.
“Uncle Rob,” Alex sobbed.
“It’s okay, guys,” Robert told them. “You’re safe now, and we’re going to get you out of here.”
~*~*~
Chaos broke out in the clearing when Ryan fell in slow motion out of the tree. Nick made a move to the side with Kate, but the guy who had a gun on them pulled the trigger at Kate. Nick jumped up in front of Kate to shield her. She grabbed the backs of his arms, trying to pull him out of the way, and concentrat
ed with all her might. Just as the bullet was about to hit him in the chest, it stopped dead, crumpled a little bit, and fell to the ground.
Kate managed to enhance his gift of directing energy. Nick was able to create a type of shield over the both of them that stopped the bullet. They both sagged a little with relief and turned toward Brooks, who was barking orders.
As soon as Ryan hit the ground, he pulled out his gun from his ankle holster and managed to shoot the guy who had the crossbow just before he released another arrow at Jason this time.
Jason clipped another of Brooks’ men in the leg to stop him from going after Nick and Kate. The guy who shot at Nick threw his gun down and ran toward Nick since the gun would not work on them. Kate watched as they started to fight with vicious punches and kicks.
Kate noticed that Brooks was backing away and that the large tattooed guy had disappeared. She was just about to panic when Robert called on the radio that he had the kids and that he was taking them to the boat. They would be safe. She wanted to cry, but they were still in the middle of a huge mess.
She was so engrossed in worrying about Nick’s fight that she didn’t see the guy who came up behind her.
~*~*~
“Where the hell are they?” Brooks shouted to his men.
“They’re not here. We’ve looked everywhere. Frank slipped away, and his daughter disappeared,” the guy answered.
Brooks was so furious that he shot the guy that was standing in front of him.
He turned to the other man and said, “Let’s move.” He couldn’t believe that this whole thing had fallen apart. The Association would be after him now. He was down several men and Frank had double-crossed him. He didn’t want to think about not getting the kids. He was screwed and would need to lay low for a while.