The Hunter

by Kurt Robinson

  “Not like that they don’t. You’re full of shit,” John said.

  “Maybe, but I’ll still be breathing in another minute…and rich. Besides, you’re a cop killer now, think of the fun the press is gonna have with all this. Yeah, I’m gonna shame you. I’m gonna put all the blame on you. They’ll get all the information via an anonymous source. Your family will be embarrassed and ashamed…”

  “You mother-“

  “AND!” Adam yelled to interrupt John. “They will find out that you were in charge of the whole thing and went power hungry. And when the cops tracked you to the warehouse, a shootout broke out, you killed the dealer, killed the cops at the warehouse, and then tried to run and they chased you. But you hunted them down and killed them one by one, not to mention a few innocents that got in the way.”

  “That will never work, not once they run the ballistics,” John told him.

  “Oh, it will if you know the right people. Did you think it was going to end when you killed us or turned us in!? This whole operation goes all the way up. There are higher ups than me that can make things in the departments go anyway they want.”

  “So much for protect and serve,” John said.

  “That’s been out the window for a long time. We look out for ourselves before the fuckin’ pathetic citizens,” another pause from Adam as a look of disgust filled John face. “Anyway, I need to get out of here, Emily and I are gonna get the fuck out of this country.”

  “You won’t make it,” John said.

  “There’s that fuckin’ cockiness of yours that you stole from me again. Sick of it too,” Adam said calmly. “Oh, and,” he began again with a smirk, “I lied. I’m gonna kill you both. I just wanted you to see her die in front of you just to give me the fuckin’ satisfaction of you suffering first.”

  “No!” John yelled as April began to cry harder.

  Adam brought his pistol back to April’s head, but before he could discharge his weapon, a bullet struck Adam in the stomach. John had pulled out Lewis’ pistol from the small of his back and fired. Adam fell back onto the snow as a stream of blood flew out the exit wound, and landed in the snow. Adam landed on his back, in extreme pain, holding the wound on his stomach with his hands after he dropped his gun. April screamed and looked to John.

  “April! Run for the trees! Now!” John demanded and then looked up at the chopper.

  “Motherfucker!” Harper said from his seated position looking down on them.

  “Goddamnit!” Emily yelled as she watched.

  Harper aimed down the sights and was about to fire, but at the same time John turned the pistol toward the chopper. He aimed for the cockpit, which had a glass window on the bottom of the nose for visibility, and sent his remaining bullets through the glass and fiberglass floor. The bullets hit multiple controls and gauges and sent sparks flying through the cockpit. The bullets also hit Emily; some got her in the legs, one hit her hand, and some pierced the flesh of her torso. She screamed in agony as the bullets ripped through her flesh and sprayed blood all over the windshield, ceiling, seats, and control panel.

  She fell forward, gasping for air, weak, and lost all motor skills. Her body weight pushed the stick forward, blood flowing from her mouth, and the chopper took an immediate nosedive. After Harper dove back further into the cabin for cover during the gunfire, he tried to regain himself, but couldn’t when the chopper immediately shifted directions on him. He was flung into the back of the front seats with great force, hitting his head creating a bloody gash. Then, as the chopper neared the ground, it nearly turned completely over. He screamed in terror all the way down until the chopper slammed into the snowy ground and exploded on impact. Pieces of the police helicopter flew in every direction, as did some charred body parts of Emily and Harper.

  After John shot the chopper, he watched it go down to make sure it didn’t head for them. Just before the helicopter hit the ground, he turned his attention back to April, who was running as fast as she could, and then to Adam. John’s eyes widened when he saw Adam pick up his pistol out of the snow and aim it toward April.

  “No!” John screamed as he ran toward him, but was not fast enough. Adam got off two shots before John got to him and kicked the gun out of his hand, which sunk into the snow a few feet away, and then laid a hard stomp to Adam’s face knocking him out.

  Both bullets struck April in the lower back and exited out the front of her pregnant belly as the chopper exploded behind her in the distance. Blood spewed out, landing in the white snow as she fell to her knees, and then fell flat on her front, digging into the snow.

  “April!” John yelled and then took off running toward her.

  Running through the snow as fast as he could, he finally reached her, and fell to his knees next to her. His face wretched in horror, he grabbed her and turned her over on her back. She was still alive but was breathing heavily, the front of her covered with blood, tears were rolling down her face, and a small stream of blood coming from her mouth.

  “Baby?” John said.

  “John,” she responded softly.

  “Just relax, don’t talk, you’re gonna be okay. I’m gonna put pressure on the wounds,” he told her as he pushed on the wounds which caused her to scream in pain. “It’s gonna be okay, it’s gonna, it’s gonna be okay,” John kept telling her.

  “John…the…baby,” she said with a struggle on each word.

  “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, both of you will be fine. I’ll take care of you,” John told her, panic in his voice.

  He continued to push down on the wounds, which were still gushing blood, not only from the front, but from the entrance wounds as well. He looked at his beautiful wife, who was crying, and she began to cough and shake.

  “John…I,” she began, coughing up blood.

  “No, no baby, you’re gonna be okay…”

  “John, I love you,” she told him, now struggling to breath.

  “I love you too, baby,” he told her as he caressed her right cheek. “You’re gonna be just fine. I’m gonna take care of you. I’m gonna take you home.”

  April gave him a soft smile, which faded as she stopped shaking, stopped coughing, stopped moving, and stopped breathing. Her eyes were still open looking at John as he just stared at her in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening to him. They were about to start a family, something they had talked about for years. All that crushed right before him by a man he called his best friend. He looked at his lifeless wife, covered in blood, put his head down on her chest, and began to bawl. His cries were loud and painful, so hard his sides began to hurt. The crying eased up some as he raised his head and laid one last kiss on her lip - he did not notice the blood. He kissed her as he held her head gently with his hands, knowing he would never hold his wife again.

  Twenty-Nine

  The tears and sadness seemed to disappear in a matter of seconds as John looked up and saw Adam moving, turning toward the burning chopper. He gently laid April’s head down, closed her eyes with his hands, stood up, pulled out his knife, and began walking toward Adam.

  “Emily,” Adam said watching the fire and smoke rise above him. His nose was bloody and the single gunshot wound in his abdomen was hurting. He looked just ahead of him and saw a charred arm that he knew was hers. “Son of a bitch,” he said and then heard footsteps in the snow behind him. He jerked his head around just in time as John attempted to stab him in back. But, Adam rolled away as John came down and then gave John a kick, which caused him to fall over.

  Adam stood up, despite the pain in his stomach, and pulled out his knife. John got back up as fast as he went down and stood a few feet away from Adam. They stood facing each other, shaking with rage. John’s heart raced with adrenaline, as did Adam’s when he saw the chopper ablaze knowing Emily was gone. Adam looked around John and saw the body of April surrounded by blood.

  “I told you-“

  “Shut the fuck up,” John interrupted Adam.

  Adam gave a smirk and then sa
id, “You’re welcome, by the way.”

  “The fuck for!?”

  “The last ten years of your life with her. Without me, there is no you and her, so you’re welcome because you’re gonna be with her again soon.”

  “You’re about to join that slut in the chopper…in hell.”

  Another smirk from Adam, “Let’s find out.”

  They both had their knives up at the ready, both covered in blood, and both ready to kill each other. Once again, John didn’t move and waited for Adam to make the first move. It didn’t take long, and Adam finally charged at him, screaming. John braced for the attack as he took a step back and then used his knife to block the swings from Adam’s knife, a strike coming every few seconds. Every time Adam brought his knife down toward John, he was able to block it.

  John was on the defensive for several seconds, as he backed up and moved in different directions to block and avoid the slashes by Adam. The snow around them was being tossed and thrown in every direction, compacted down beneath their shoes. Adam was in extreme pain with every swipe of his arm, but he felt only anger and adrenaline. After a few more missed slashes, which John continued to block with his knife, John decided to go on the offensive.

  The next slashing attempt by Adam was a downward motion after he brought his arm up. This time John used his left hand to block and brought the knife rushing toward Adam’s abdomen, but Adam anticipated the move and grabbed John’s arm with his left hand. Each of their arms were now pitted against each other and they were both giving it everything they had to out-muscle the other. Neither one budged and their arms were out and away from their bodies, leaving their torsos defenseless. So, quickly, John moved his arms outward just enough to head-butt Adam in the face.

  The move worked and Adam fell back, releasing himself from John as John brought his knife around and caught him on the left arm. Adam groaned from the hit to his face, which began bleeding again, and the slash on his arm, which turned his sleeve red. Not having time to regain himself because John was coming right for him, he stepped backward as John charged. John swung his knife from right to left and created a gash on Adam’s right bicep rather than his chest. As John’s momentum took him to Adam’s right, Adam laid a punch to the right side of John’s face. Adam backed away as he shook off the pain and John spun around after the punch to regain himself and faced Adam once again.

  John spat out blood and then taunted Adam, “Come on.”

  Adam looked at him, pissed off as ever, and came at him again. However, this time he was focused. Instead of just swinging his knife at John freely, he studied John’s defense and did the opposite of his last attack. He tried to jab the knife to John’s abdomen, but it was blocked. Adam pushed back, blocking the knife jab by John, so that John’s right arm was thrown backward. After the block by Adam, he switched the knife to his left hand in mid-air and jabbed the knife into John’s side. John yelled in pain. The knife went in about half the length of the blade. He pushed Adam’s left arm away with his own left, causing the knife to fly out of the new wound in a spray of blood.

  When he pushed away Adam’s arm, the left side of John’s body was now exposed. Adam landed several punches to John’s left side, where the gash that Lewis created was, causing John more severe pain as he hunched over. Hunched toward the ground, John tried to swing his knife at Adam, who jumped backward to avoid it, and caught nothing but air. John grabbed his side, which was bleeding again, and groaned in pain. Adam saw this opportunity to incapacitate John. He reared back his right foot and landed an incredibly fierce kick to the wound on John’s side. John had his hand on it, trying to stop the bleeding, so his left hand also took a hard hit when Adam’s shoe made contact. The force of the kick was so great that it knocked John back several feet and he landed on his back.

  John rolled around in pain as Adam, now feeling the discomfort from the gunshot wound after moving around and adrenaline wearing off, walked slowly toward him with his knife back in his right hand. Wanting to stick the knife through John’s flesh repeatedly, he decided to have some fun with him. When he got close enough, as John was trying to get up, he landed another hard kick to John’s side causing him to roll over again in the snow. John gasped for air, holding his side with both hands now. Adam was panting and holding the wound on his stomach.

  Adam made his way near John again, but John saw him and attempted to hold out his knife. Adam kicked it out of his hand and it flew several feet through the air only to dig itself into the snow. John groaned as Adam looked just beyond John and saw April’s body lying in the snow. He gave a soft grin and then delivered a hard stomp to John’s open stomach wound. The hit stunned John even more, filling him with immense pain as he coughed up blood.

  Adam bent down, grabbed John by the collar, dragged him to April’s body, and spun him around so John’s back faced him. In an instant, his arm was across John’s shoulders and his knife to his throat.

  “Look at her!” Adam yelled as he tilted John’s head down to look at his dead wife’s body. “That’s your fuckin’ fault you son of a bitch! I told you I didn’t want to do it! But you wanted to play hero! A-fuckin’-gain!”

  John tried to look away, but couldn’t. He tried to struggle away from Adam but the knife to his throat prevented it.

  “Stop your fuckin’ squirming!” Adam yelled at him and pressed the knife against John’s throat a little harder. That made John stop and be still. If he moved, that would be it.

  “She loved you like family,” John told him after he settled down and a teared rolled down his cheek as he stared at her.

  “So did I. It broke my heart when I shot her, but you needed to be punished,” Adam explained. “So, God giveth and God taketh away.”

  John knew what was about to happen. Adam was going to slide the knife across his throat and open it up. His best friend since they were children was about to kill him after he killed the woman he had loved since high school; since Adam first introduced them. Adam was then going to lay his body down next to his dead wife’s in a pool of blood and get away, do God knows what to Sarah when he got there to gather his stuff, leave, and never be seen by anyone around here again. Adam was going to win.

  “Go on then…do it,” John told him.

  Adam looked at John from the right side, where he had his head stationed as he talked to John. A mix of confusion, anger, and regret colored his face. However, he knew he could not back out of anything now. He gave his head a shake, as if to clear it, and without saying a word, he brought his head back behind John, so he would not see his face when he cut his throat. He stood still for a second and then John felt the pressure of the knife against his throat…and that was his cue.

  John brought his head back as fast as he could and with great force on Adam’s mouth. Adam fell back as John instantly knocked out two of his teeth, blood pouring from his mouth. Before Adam could react to anything, John grabbed his hand with the knife, spun around, and jabbed the knife into Adam’s breastplate. Adam gave out a grunt as John stood up. Adam fell down to his knees. Blood began to seep its way out of the new wound and around the blade. Adam looked up and began to gasp for air.

  “You think this is over?” Adam asked, through the blood and missing teeth. “They’ll find you and kill you.”

  “I’m planning on it,” John told him as he bent down closer.

  “You got nothing now. Why would you wanna live?”

  “To put a stop to your kind,” John said and then reached into Adam’s front pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “And I’m willing to bet that you have names in your phone.”

  “You’re gonna go kill cops now?” Adam struggled to get the words out.

  John squatted down so he was at eye level with Adam, who was now bleeding through the mouth even more. “Dirty Cops. Cops that give the police a bad name…like you. So that this doesn’t happen to anyone else again and people are safe.”

  “Good luck,” Adam coughed up blood. “They’re everywhere. When you kill one,
they’ll all come and hunt you down.”

  “Exactly,” John said and then grabbed the handle of Adam’s knife in his chest, twisted it, and yanked it out in one quick motion.

  Blood followed the knife, scattering across the snow as Adam groaned, looked up at John, and fell over to the left. The snow flooded crimson, steaming as Adam breathed his last breath. His eyes deadened open, staring straight ahead.

  Thirty

  After watching his friend die before him, John tucked the knife into his waist at the small of his back, put Adam’s phone in his pocket, made his way over to where his knife had landed, picked it up, and put it in its sheath. Then he turned and looked at April, flooded with remorse. He walked over to her body, bent down, and picked her up in both of his arms.

  John began walking toward the trees, as the smoke and fire filled the air from the helicopter crash behind him, and disappeared into the tree line. He made his way through the woods not knowing how he was going to get out of there and back home without being seen. After nearly twenty minutes of walking through the trees, he reached an opening with a large field and a hill beyond that. It took him a second, but he recognized it once he saw the tree stand at the top of the hill. It was the tree stand he began his day in, which meant his truck was nearby. He unknowingly made a circle, and had made his way back to somewhere he knew.

  As he began making his way across the field, he heard sirens behind him in the distance. The old man on the tractor must have called the police. John knew he had to hurry now because they would follow his tracks in the snow. He moved as fast as he could up the hill, where he then heard the sounds of another helicopter in the distance behind him. It took several minutes to get up the snow-covered hill, but he finally made it. Carrying April, John was out of breath and panting hard, but he had to keep moving.