Ever Onward

by Wayne Mee

  ‘Too fucking close!’, Snake cursed to himself. ‘Sitting there singing goddamned love songs to my woman!’ A cold smile crossed his greasy features. ‘He’ll be singing a different fucking tune when I’m finished with him! I’ll shove that guitar so far up the little shit’s ass he’ll have to open his mouth for the sound to come out!’ Pleased with his great wit, Snake settled in to watch his prey. He didn’t want the fuckers slipping away a third time!

  He’d already sent Bull and Rings back to the little peckerwood town for food, beer and camping shit. He’d also told Bull to boost some wheels so Rings could follow him back with the gear. Rings couldn’t handle a hog, but she could manage a car or truck as long as it wasn’t a standard.

  ‘Stupid bitch can’t blow that!’, Snake reasoned. Then doubt began to creep in. Rings had been fucking up a lot lately. ‘Come to think of it, blowing things was the only thing she WAS good at!’ Snake was chuckling away at his little joke when Flame flopped down beside him. Wearing skin-tight jeans and an open leather vest, the sexy bitch was enough to break any man’s concentration! Reaching for the glasses, a large swell of a bare breast pressed against his shoulder. Growling, he pulled the glasses away.

  Flame was just back from a little belly bumping action of her own. There was a fast flowing stream back where they’d parked their bikes and Flame had wanted to go for a swim. As usual, Blade had stayed with her.

  From his vantage-point on the hill, Snake had watched through his binoculars as she and Blade had gone at it on the grassy bank. Sitting astride the prone biker, the magnified view of her breasts bouncing back and forth had given Snake a tremendous boner.

  “Well?”, Flame demanded, kneeling beside him, using her T-shirt to dry her flat stomach. The leather vest she was wearing barely covered her upper body. “You going to take them out or what?”

  Snake knew what she was doing, for even his limited brain caught the double meaning behind her words. But Blade was standing right behind her, silent and deadly as ever, and Blade was one fucker Snake didn’t want on his bad side. Especially not now with the fucking hayseeds right below him!

  He handed her the glasses. Tossing the shirt away, she lifted them to her eyes. The vest parted and Snake sucked in his breath. Flame smiled knowingly.

  “Great view, eh?”

  “Ya, real nice!”, Snake growled, his eyes devouring her. “But they’re too fucking hard to get at!”

  Flame’s green eyes twinkled wickedly. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Blade can handle them just fine. But then, you’ve already seen that, haven’t you, Snake?”

  Lust raged with anger inside his brain, coursing through him like a line of coke. Anger won. He slapped Flame and sent her sprawling. Suddenly a knife was at his throat.

  “Back off, Snake,” Blade hissed. “We both know she’s a cock-teaser. She gets off on it. That’s cool. She might even give you some. That’s cool too --- if she says so.” The knife moved down to Snake’s crotch. “But hit her again and I’ll cut it off. Clear?”

  “Ya! It’s fucking clear! Now, put that sticker away and let’s go kick some fucking ass!”

  The knife hovered for a moment, then twirled in Blade’s hand before vanishing. Something close to a smile flitted across his sharp features. He turned to Flame. “Get your buns down the hill and see what’s keeping Bull.”

  Flame, her green eyes flashing, tossed her red locks over her shoulder. “Rings is probably giving him one of her extra long blow-jobs.” Her gaze went to Snake. “The skinny bitch will go down on anything.”

  “Move it!”, Blade growled.

  Flame sauntered down the hill, her tight ass doing wonders for her old Levies.

  The morning dawned bright and clear. By the time Josh and the rest were ready, the sun was already burning off the mist from the mountain tops. Packs on and boots tied, they left the Ranger’s cabin. As a precaution, all now went well armed, including a surly, grumbling Bert.

  Since the incident at the roadblock back in Vermont, Josh had been forced to change his mind about handguns. He now carried a Beretta 9 mm. in a shoulder holster and a .22 Backup strapped to the inside of his ankle. The Backup held five shots and weighed almost nothing. The Beretta was just over two pounds and held a fifteen round clip. Two extra clips for the Beretta were on his belt and several others in his pack --- along with two boxes of shells for both the handgun and the rifle. Josh didn’t like the carrying the weight, but liked a whole lot less the idea of facing another Fonzie or Snake empty handed.

  Billy and Eddy both carried .357 Colt revolvers. Billy’s was a monstrous nine-inch long Python, while Eddy had chosen a smaller, lighter, but just as deadly King Cobra. The day after leaving North Conway, Josh had asked Brad and Bert to choose a handgun from the box full they’d picked up back in Crown Point. Both had picked the smallest guns there. Brad took a Glock 9 mm. Compact with a seventeen round clip. Reluctantly Bert had picked up a stubby little Mustang 9 mm. Pocketlite.

  If the handguns felt strange for the adults, it felt even stranger for the fathers to see their young sons with .22 Browning target pistols strapped to their waists; but as the song said: ‘The times they are a changing’. The boys had their bows with them as well. Tina had taken a small 9 mm. like Brad’s. She still had Earl’s old .303 and all the men except Bert also carried a rifle.

  Feeling like an extra for an old John Wayne movie, Josh cradled his Winchester 30-30 and attempted his terrible impression of The Duke. Instinctively Josh knew that humor was needed to help wash away the horror that they were all still coming to grips with.

  “Walll, Pilgrim. Tams a-waistin’! Head ‘em up ‘n move ‘em out!”

  Amid groans and chuckles, the seven hikers followed him outside. Carrying all this firepower, however, turned out to be a very prudent move; for no sooner had they started for the trailhead, than Snake and Company opened up on them from the hill.

  “Shit!”, Snake cursed, pushing Rings away from him and grabbing his rifle. “The fuckers are all outside! Blade! Bull! Get the fuck up! They’re moving!”

  Without waiting for the others, Snake began to fire. He’d planned to be up with the sun, move up close to the cabin and blast the shit out of them when they stepped outside. That had been the plan. What had happened however, was that Rings had brought back booze instead of beer, and the rest, as they say, is history. Now, his head pounding from the booze and his crotch sore from Rings’ oral hygiene lesson, he found it hard to keep the rifle from shaking.

  The rest of his merry band hadn’t fared much better. Bull was still passed out in his sleeping bag. Blade was having one hell of a time getting his second boot on, but apparently wouldn’t leave home with out it. Flame, however, had no such hang-up. Standing there in the early morning light clad only in pink panties, she began firing her pearl handled Smith & Wesson. Her long legs spread, the heavy .357 held in the classic two-handed grip, she looked like Dirty Harry’s idea of a wet dream. The distance, however, proved too great even for that famed weapon and the eight tiny targets soon disappeared into the woods. She emptied the heavy gun anyway.

  “After them!”, Snake roared. “Get the fuck after them!”

  Blade, both boots now on, walked over to Snake.

  “They got no wheels, Snake. They aint going nowhere. Besides, aint you heard? What goes up, must come down. All we got to do is sit on the front porch and pick them off.”

  “Listen, Shit-For-Brains!”, Snake bellowed. “They were all carrying packs, right? Just what the fuck do you think was in them? Your used condoms? Food, that’s what! Tents, stoves, mother-fucking sleeping bags! They can probably stay up in these fucking mountains for weeks!”

  Blade shrugged, unperturbed by Snake’s ravings. “So let them. Who gives a shit anyway?”

  Snake smiled warmly and moved closer. “I do.” He then kneed Blade in the groin. His legs crossed in agony, Blade fell to the ground. Snake laughed and drew his .44 Red Hawk. Off to the right, Flame raised her S
mith & Wesson.

  “Back off!”

  Snake turned his shaggy head. “And if I don’t?”

  Without blinking an eye, she squeezed the trigger. Snake’s eyes widened, then turned hard. The metallic click of Flame’s gun dry-firing against spent cartridges was sweet music to his ears.

  “Learn to count, bitch,”, He growled. “You already shot your loads just like Blady-boy here shot his last night.” A cruel smile spread across his bearded face. “Though by the looks of it, Blady-boy won’t be up to any more shooting for some time.” He thumbed back the hammer on his massive gun, the long barrel pressing against the back of Blade’s head.

  “Don’t,” Flame said. Her voice was surprisingly soft, almost a plea. “We’ll catch them. With those heavy packs it’ll be easy. Then the blonde bitch will be all yours. That’s what you want, right? I’ll get her for you. Just don’t kill him.”

  Off to one side Rings and a wide-eyed Bull watched in strained silence. Rings, a vacant smile on her thin face, was absently rubbing her crotch.

  “Oh?”, Snake asked, his voice mockingly polite. “And if I let him live, who’s going to stop Blady-boy here from shoving one of those fucking knives of his into my back. You?!”

  “Yes.”

  Snake’s voice hardened. “How?”

  Flame drew a deep breath. The gesture almost broke Snake’s concentration. Almost; but not quite.

  “He loves me. He’ll do whatever I say. Besides, he’s afraid of you.”

  “He didn’t look it yesterday when he pulled that pig-sticker on me!”

  Flame tossed back her hair. “That’s because you hit me. I told you, he loves me.”

  Keeping his gun on Blade, Snake stepped back. Blade attempted to get to his knees but failed.

  “What’s in it for me?”, Snake demanded.

  Flame drew another deep breath. “You can have me anytime you want. Anywhere, anyway. Even after we catch that other bitch.”

  This time, watching her bare chest swell, Snake’s concentration bought the farm, lock, stock and barrel. The heavy Magnum suddenly seemed very heavy indeed. “Why?” This time there was no mockery in his voice.

  Flame held his gaze. “I owe him. Back before you found us, when the whole fucking world suddenly went bat-shit crazy, he pulled me through.”

  Snake’s small eyes searched her’s for any sign of a lie. When he didn’t find any, he turned both his attention and his gun on Blade.

  “You willing to go along with that? Me porking your old lady and you doing dick-all about it?”

  Blade managed to stand, though none too smoothly. His eyes were as dark and cold as ever. At last he spoke. “What I said yesterday still goes. You hit her again and though and I will cut it off. But I aint greedy. I don’t own her. If she wants to spread it around, that’s fine by me. Just treat her nice.”

  Snake’s smile spread from ear to ear. “So we got us a deal, right, man?! I don’t kill you and you don’t kill me and we both share the pussy! Hell, you can even have Rings whenever you want!”

  Blade shrugged.

  “What about me, Snake?”, Bull asked. “I like Rings too.”

  Snake looked at the huge man with the child’s brain. “Sure, Bull. You get Rings whenever you want --- when she’s not busy with Blade here! But first we go after those hayseeds! Once we’ve offed them, we’ll have another little happy member in our club! Now, let’s get the fuck going!”

  Chapter 15: ‘THE CLIMB’

  Franconia Notch

  New Hampshire

  June 29th

  When the shots started they were more than halfway to where the trail entered the forest. Caught in the open, they began running; no easy feat with heavily loaded packs. As the trees closed in around them, the shooting ceased. Josh kept them going for another hundred yards. When the trail became steeper, following a fast flowing stream, they stopped to catch their breath. Clutching his side, Bert fell to his knees.

  “You hit?”, Eddy asked, kneeling down beside him.

  “I --- don’t --- think so ---”, Bert gasped. “Just --- winded.”

  Josh called Brad over to him. “Take them up to the bridge. Cross over to the Falling Waters Trail and find cover. I’ll catch up before the first waterfall once I’ve seen who is following and what they intend.”

  Brad swore. “Bloody hell, Josh, we all know it’s Snake! Who else could it be? And what he intends is to kill us and take Tina. He’s a cold-blooded psycho!”

  “Probably. But he’s no hiker,” Josh added. “Not with that beer gut. None of them are. If they do come after us, we’ll have the advantage.”

  Brad frowned. “Are you nuts? He’s a killer! This isn’t some damn game!”

  Josh’s eyes held his cousin’s. “I know that, Brad. But I have to see what we’re up against.”

  “Then I’m staying too. Ken and Jessie both know this trail. They can...”

  “No! I want you with them.” Josh stepped closer and lowered his voice. “They’re just kids, Brad. You can count on Eddy; Bobby too, but he and Tina are only kids themselves. As for Bert...” He left the rest unsaid.

  Brad sighed, then nodded. “Okay! But for Christ sake, don’t do anything stupid!”

  “Are you nuts? He’s a bloody killer!”

  “Asshole!”, Brad grinned. “At least give me your pack; that way you can move faster.”

  Moments later Brad was leading the others up the root-strewn trail. Jessie looked back at his father, fear mixed with pride in his blue eyes. Josh gave him the thumbs up sign. Eddy, bringing up the rear, motioned for Jessie to catch up with the others.

  Josh watched them vanish around a bend, then turned and started back down the trail.

  The three bikes roared into the parking lot, screeching to a halt near the vans. Rings, riding behind Bull, giggled as Snake shot a tire on each of the parked vehicles. The booming of the big .44 echoed down the valley.

  “Just in case they try something smart,” he grinned. Then, revving his Harley, Snake tore off across the field. Grinning, Flame raced after him. Blade and Bull followed.

  Josh hadn’t gone a hundred yards when he heard the shots. Leaping off the trail, he made his way through the trees to a large boulder the size of a small room. He’d just reached the glacial litter when the sound of racing engines reached him.Through the trees he saw Snake tearing up the trail at breakneck speed. Three other bikes were right behind him.

  Somehow he had to stop them. If they got past him, they’d be on Jessie and the others in no time. Holding that thought he levered a shell into his 30-30. He tried to sight on Snake’s broad chest, but the ups and downs on the trail, along with the numerous trees in between, made it an impossible shot.

  Josh fired anyway; his son’s life depended on it. The rifle bucked, and bark flew from a large oak halfway between himself and the trail. The sound of the shot was completely drowned out by the roaring motors. He fired twice more. More bark flew. Then the rifle jammed. Tossing it down, he brew his Beretta, but by now the roaring machines were past and racing round a distant bend. He pulled the trigger four times just the same, sending the 9 mm. slugs wining off rocks and tree trunks.

  Snake and the others weren’t even aware he had fired.

  Seconds later the sound of the bikes began to fade, swallowed up by the dense forest. The smoking gun hung impotently in his trembling hand, while frustration and fear weighed down his heart. Cursing under his breathe, Brad snatched up his rifle and began to run up the trail.

  Just below the small wooden bridge, the trail climbed steeply. Hands as well as feet were needed to negotiate the moss-covered rocks. Water trickled under exposed roots. At the top, two signs were nailed to a tree. Straight ahead for the Old Bridal Path, across the bridge for the Falling Waters Trail. Both led up to the bare, windswept Franconia Ridge.

  Brad waited under the signs while the others scrambled up to him. Over the roar of the cascading water he thought he could hear the distant drone of motors.

&nb
sp; Tina joined him, her head cocked to one side.

  “You hear them too?”, Brad asked.

  “Ya,” was her only answer. Her eyes were busy searching the far bank. She pointed to a cluster of rocks a hundred feet up the stream.

  Brad nodded. “Take the boys with you. I’ll find a position down here.”

  Tina led Jessie, Kenneth and Billy over the bridge and up the steep trail. The dogs ran ahead of them. Brad waited by the sign as Eddy scrambled up to him. Bert was struggling along in the rear. The sound of the motors was clearer now.

  “Company’s coming,”, Eddy said.

  Brad faced him. “Josh says I can trust you. I believe he’s right. I’d like you to take Bert and go up this side of the stream. Find some cover but make sure you can see the bridge. I’ll do the same from the other side. Okay?”

  Eddy hesitated. “What about Josh? Shouldn’t we --- ?”

  “No!”, Brad said, louder than he’d meant to. ”He’ll be along. I need you to cover this side of the stream!”

  Eddy nodded and led Bert up the left bank trail.

  As Brad jogged across the bridge, he thought about his cousin. He hoped Josh had hid and let them ride right past him, but deep in his heart he knew better. Josh would have tried to stop them. Tried, but obviously failed. So where the hell was he? The answer made him groan. Dead or wounded. And if wounded, as good as dead, for they couldn’t go back for him, not with Snake and the others following.

  Cursing, Brad climbed behind a slab of rock just as Snake rounded the bend below the bridge.

  “Shit!”, Snake yelled as the big Harley’s front wheel came out of a dip and bounced off a boulder. The jolt propelled him forward and he came down hard on the gas cap. Pain lanced through his testicles. He fought the heavy bike around a steep, sharp curve and saw a wall of rock in front of him. Slamming on the breaks, both wheels ripped up decades of leaf mould and mud. Fishtailing around, the big Harley’s back wheel hit another rock and stopped. Snake, however, did not. Momentum carried him forward while gravity pulled him down. The combination produced one hell of a lot of pain.