“Listen here you little fuck! If he gets away we are all fucked, you hear me!? You wanted in this because you wanted money and I let you in. So, you will do what the fuck I say and not be a pussy about it! You fuckin’ got me!?” Adam demanded.
Travers glared at Adam, not caring what he said or why he joined anymore. Something inside him had snapped because he wasn’t having anymore of Adam’s shit. Besides, it was Adam’s fault they were in this mess in the first place and he blamed him. “No, I’m not doing this anymore. This is your fuckin’ fault. You handle it. Now, let me go, I’m going home,” Travers said quietly as he stared into the eyes of Adam with the rest of them watching and snow falling around them now.
“You wanna go home?”
“Yes, I don’t want any part of this anymore.”
“Maybe you didn’t hear me when I said there is no going back once you cross over.”
“This is my life, not yours. I make my own decisions and I’ve decided that you can go fuck yourself. Now, let me go.”
A fit of rage flowed through Adam as he stared back into Travers eyes and then made his decision. “Alright, I’ll let you go,” Adam said and then slid his knife across Travers throat and stepped back. Travers grabbed his throat as a look of shock embraced him, along with the others, and blood poured from his neck onto his chest and stained his clothes. The blood made its way through his fingers and dripped, on the white snow. Travers tried to grab Adam with his left hand, but fell to his knees. He gargled as blood began flowing from his mouth. He fell on his side in the snow, dead, with his eyes wide-open as warm red blood gushed from the gaping wound and his mouth onto the cold snow, steaming.
Adam hadn’t moved since he sliced his friend’s neck wide open. He just gazed at the sight and then spoke, “Can you fix the chopper, Emily?” now wanting a different answer.
“Yeah, I think so,” she said hesitantly.
“How long?” Adam asked.
“Maybe ten, fifteen minutes tops.”
“That’s better, then get started, I want you and Harper to go get something when it’s fixed.”
“Get what?” Emily asked and saw Adam finally move as he turned his head toward her.
Twenty-Three
2005 – 13 Years Earlier
John Watkins, Adam Hart, and Butch ‘The Tush’ Anderson all began playing football together in the youth football league two years ago, and it carried over into high school. Their team was awful during the season, missing the playoffs, but the season finally came to an end at the end of October and the whole team was happy that it did because it was brutal. With a new coach and most of last year starters being seniors, they only won one game and got blown out in most games.
John, Adam, and Butch were all freshmen and got the opportunity to play in the blow out losses, which they liked. What they didn’t like was the fact that the seniors, due to the horrible season, were using the freshmen as their punching bags during practice. All three, along with the other freshmen, were playing against the first team offense and defense and just got pummeled. They were covered in bruises most of the season and were glad it was all over and just in time for Halloween.
“Damn,” Adam said as he sat in his locker in the locker room after the last game of the season, with his shoulder pads still on. “I never thought I would say this, but I’m glad this season is over.”
“I think we all are,” John told him, standing in front of his locker, unclipping his shoulder pads.
Butch walked past John, making his way around all the clutter of football gear on the floor in the hot and musty locker room. He took a deep breath, hung his helmet on the hook in his locker, and began taking his shoulder pads off. “Fuckin’ hate this.”
“What?” Adam asked.
“This! This team and our fuckin’ new coach. Assholes just gave up when we get down and coach doesn’t know what to do. Fuckin’ first time head coaches,” Butch explained.
“Well it’s not like they’re not trying,” Adam told him as John watched and pulled his shoulder pads over his head.
“Oh, bullshit. They all quit when we get down. They have no heart this year because they lost their coach who had been coaching them for years. They’re just fuckin’ lazy!” Butch said as he too pulled off his shoulder pads. “I’m the only freshmen getting playing time on the first team…and I’m the only one with heart.”
Adam looked at John and then a loud and angry voice came from the other side of the locker room. “Who the fuck said that!?”
The locker room got very quiet as they all looked around and then the voice yelled again, “I said, who fuckin’ said that!” Then a large defensive lineman, a senior, appeared around the corner of the lockers. Butch was big for a freshman, about six-foot-two and two-hundred-sixty pounds, but the senior was about three inches taller and twenty pounds heavier. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop Butch from speaking up.
“I did,” Butch said as everyone turned to him.
“You got something to say to us seniors?” the future college lineman asked as he moved toward Butch, shoving a couple freshmen out of the way. The other seniors then made their way around to that side of the locker room.
“Oh, shit,” John said quietly and sat down in his locker.
“Yeah, it’s y’all’s fault that this season was shit,” Butch told him as the lineman neared him, nearly face to face.
“And why is that?” the lineman asked.
“Because y’all are a bunch of pussies!” Butch yelled right in his face. The two of them had gotten into small fights on the practice field throughout the season, so the final confrontation seemed to be inevitable.
The ‘pussy’ comment was enough to piss off the lineman to his breaking point, and he shoved Butch into his locker. Butch got back up swiftly and then a fight broke out between the two of them. It spread to the rest of the team as the lower classmen and upper classmen were all fighting each other, including Adam and John. There were shoves, headlocks, punches, and yelling so loud that the coaches could hear it in their offices in the next building over. The fight did not end until the coaches came in and broke it up.
“How’s your eye?” John asked Butch the Monday after their final game, which happened to be a home game. They were at lunch sitting at one of the many long cafeteria tables. Other students sat around them and it was loud as the students let their mouths run free during this hour of the day.
“It’s alright, still hurts,” Butch said, as his eye was still slightly swollen and bruised from a hit he took during the fight.
“Damn, man,” Adam added. “You know, chicks dig that.”
“I thought chicks dig scars?” Butch asked.
“They do, but also black eyes because it makes you look tough.”
“Really?” Butch said and then turned to look at several girls sitting a few seats down from where they sat and smiled. They smiled back and then laughed. He turned back to John and Adam, who were sitting across from him, and gave them a stoic look.
“Okay, well maybe not all of them,” Adam said.
They continued eating their school lunch when Adam noticed that John was distracted by something. He looked straight ahead, past Butch, at something on the other side of the room. Adam looked at him and then tried to decipher where John was looking. Then, finally, he saw it; John was not looking at something, he was looking at someone. Adam saw who it was, smiled and then looked at John.
“Whatcha…whatcha doing there, buddy?” Adam asked.
John didn’t answer as he was in a trance because the sight was so beautiful to him.
“Hello?” Adam said.
Butch then turned around and saw what John was gazing at as well and he understood.
“John!?” Adam said loudly as he shook John’s shoulder, which snapped him out of it.
“Huh, what!?” John said quickly, as Butch and Adam both laughed.
“Why don’t you ever talk to her?” Adam asked.
“What? Who?”
&n
bsp; “Her, the girl you’ve been staring at since last year.”
“Oh, um, well there’s no way she’ll talk to me. I mean look at her…she’s beautiful. She’s way out of my league.”
“Nobody is out of your league,” Adam told him. “Besides, I’ve seen her looking back at you several times. I think she likes you too.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“Have you seen her look back at you and smile?”
“Maybe, but I’m sure she’s just being nice. Besides, she’s a cheerleader.”
“So, what! You play football and even if you didn’t it wouldn’t matter.”
“I don’t know about that,” John said hesitantly.
Adam sighed and looked at Butch who returned the look. “You want me to introduce you two? To break the ice.”
“What? No, no way.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s…” John tried to think of something.
“She’s what?” Adam asked.
“Yeah, she’s what?” Butch added.
“I don’t know, okay!?”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Come on,” Adam said as he stood up.
“What? Come where?” John asked.
“With me, I am going to introduce you two and then you can ask her to the Halloween dance this Friday.”
“No, I can’t do that.”
“Yeah, you can. Come on,” Adam said and then grabbed John’s arm and pulled him out of his seat. Butch laughed as John was pulled away against his will.
Adam led John around the cafeteria tables and John pleaded with him to let him go, but Adam didn’t stop. John pleaded the whole way until they finally reached the table the beautiful young lady was sitting at with her friends.
“Here we go,” Adam told him as they came to a stop right behind the girl. Adam didn’t have to say anything to get her attention because her friends, one of which seemed to be looking at Adam, sitting across from her had already done that and motioned for her to turn around.
John was wide eyed as he saw her turn around and their eyes met. He was stunned by her beauty and could not speak a word and Adam could see that so he chimed in.
“Okay, hi there,” Adam said, looking at the blonde girl John had been admiring. “This is John and you are?”
“I’m April,” the sweeter than average high school girl told them.
Adam elbowed John to get him to speak and he was finally able to get out words, “Hi, I’m John.”
“Oh jeez,” Adam said quietly and then said persuasively, “Didn’t you have something you wanted to ask her about the Halloween dance?”
“Umm, yeah,” John began. “Would you like to go to the Halloween dance with me?”
Without hesitation, April said, “Yes, I would.”
John smiled and then said, “Great,” but that was all he could get out.
“Okay, we’ll work on your conversation skills before the dance,” Adam said as the girls laughed. “He’ll talk to you later.” They began to walk away when a girl sitting across from April stood up and spoke very quickly, but it was to Adam.
“Adam!” She said, “I don’t have a date either!” She said with a big smile on her face.
Adam turned around, saw her, and returned her smile, “Really? And you are?”
“I’m Sarah!”
“Well, I don’t have one either. How about we all four go together?”
“That sounds good, right April?”
“Yeah, I like that idea.”
“Great! So, it’s settled. We will work things out later once I get John out of his trance. If you’ll excuse us,” Adam said sarcastically and then pushed John in front of him as they walked back to their seats, where the bell rang not a minute later.
John, in his Dracula costume, looked at himself in the mirror of the boys’ bathroom in the school. He couldn’t drive yet, so he couldn’t pick up April; his mother dropped him off at the front door. He had talked to April later in the week before the dance and they were able to work out wearing matching costumes. April was going to be Dracula’s wife. Personally, John thought he looked stupid in his costume, but he was never a fan of dressing up, even when he was younger. However, when it came to a girl, he would do whatever he had to do.
He was not much of a dancer – he actually didn’t know how - which was why he was waiting in the bathroom. Adam was outside of the bathroom watching for April and Sarah. Once they arrived, he would get John. At the moment, John was panicking a little bit because he had hardly ever spoken to a girl before, let alone danced with one. He was worried that he was going to say something dumb, not be able to speak at all again, or look terrible in his costume.
“I look ridiculous, Adam!” John said loud enough for Adam to hear him outside the bathroom.
“What?” Adam said, walking back into the bathroom in his Han Solo costume.
“I said I look awful,” John told him as Adam came into view.
“It’s a Halloween party, you’re not going to the Oscar’s. You’re supposed to look funny, weird, strange, what-the-hell-ever. Just go with it. Once April gets here in her costume, you’ll feel better. I gotta go watch for them if you’re gonna hide out in here.” Adam said and then ran back outside the bathroom.
“Okay,” John said into the mirror. “You got this. He’s right, it’s just Halloween. You can dance, just move your feet or watch everyone else…or her. Yeah! Just follow her lead. I’m sure she can dance! No big deal, right!?”
“John!” Adam yelled into the bathroom and then ran in. “They’re here! You ready?”
“I’m gonna throw up,” John told him and Adam rolled his eyes.
The dance was being held in the school cafeteria - all the tables had been folded up and rolled against the walls. There was Halloween decorations hanging, high schoolers in costumes, loud music playing, and teachers and chaperones lingering about the space. April and Sarah rode together, thanks to April’s mother, and were standing close to the front entrance of the cafeteria. April was a vampire and Sarah was dressed as Princess Leia. They were both looking for John and Adam, but did not see them.
“Come on, let’s go,” Adam said as he pulled John out of the bathroom.
“Alright!” John told him as he was jerked away and ended up in the hallway, looking toward the cafeteria where April and Sarah stood.
“Shall we?” Adam asked the rhetorical question, and then they both made their way to the girls.
They were about halfway to the girls when April saw them walking toward them. She smiled and elbowed Sarah, who then saw them and smiled as well. John and Adam both saw them looking and even returned the smiles. April and Sarah began walking toward them and they met in the middle of the front of the cafeteria.
“Hi, John,” April said.
“Hi, April,” John said nervously.
“Hi, Adam!” Sarah said energetically.
“Hey, baby!” Adam responded presumptuously. “Wanna dance?”
“Absolutely!”
Adam then grabbed her hand they both ran to the dance floor, while John looked at April anxiously. John was clearly nervous and April could tell, but what John didn’t know was that April was nervous too. She looked back at him and they shared an awkward silence and a smile. John took a deep breath and told himself to ask her to dance. Somehow, he was able to get out more than two words at a time.
“Would you like to dance?” He asked.
“I’d love to,” April told him, and she grabbed his hand and led him to the dance floor.
John, April, Adam, and Sarah danced together until the song came to an end. John got more comfortable as the night went on, and he could begin to feel himself falling for April.
Twenty-Four
Present Day
Saturday – 1:17 P.M.
There were snow showers now and John had moved out of cluster of pine trees, on the opposite side where he was watching Adam and his fellow police officers. He scouted the area and saw that there was a s
teep drop off, about forty feet, and then a smooth snow-covered hill to the left that led down to another field. The field was a few hundred yards long, but he could barely see the next set of hills on the other side. The snow was heavy, and picking up. After inspecting the area before him, he broke off several tree limbs and, in the time he had, took his knife and carved a sharp point on one end of them. He wanted to make a trap, but he didn’t have the materials to do so, so he had another idea.
As he finished sharpening the last limb, he heard helicopter rotors chopping through the quietness. He stood up, heard it as it went straight up, and then listened as the sounded faded away. John was puzzled - he was prepared for it to head in his direction. He had no idea where it could be headed, but he knew Adam wasn’t on it. It was a gut feeling. He grabbed the weaponized limbs and went to the snow-covered hill that led down to the field. The snowfall had picked up, so he couldn’t see down to the bottom of the hill now. Nevertheless, he grabbed a limb, making sure the sharp point was facing behind him, and threw it down the hill where it stuck in the snow, sharp end pointing toward him out of the snow. He repeated that until all the limbs he had carved were sticking out of the snow on the hill.
The snowfall picked up a little more and John moved to a tree, not too far from the hill, and began to climb up. There was snow and some ice on the branches, so he climbed slowly. He nearly slipped a couple of times, but finally made it to a large thick branch and settled there. He looked to his left and saw that a perfect branch he could use was growing straight up out of the branch on which he was balancing. He grabbed it and gave it a quick kick, then snapped it off at its base. Squatting on the large branch, he took out his knife and began to carve the end into a point. He kept an eye out as he did so, but saw nobody yet. He knew he wouldn’t be able to see them until they got very close. The snow and wind were sharp as they pierced his clothing. There was no denying it - he was freezing. He had to blow into his hands to keep them warm, and with no hat, his head and ears were numb. The only good thing about the snow coming down at a rapid pace was that it was beginning to cover up his footprints.
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