Okefenokee

Junior had the gun. He pointed first, then raised the barrel and fired a round purposefully above their heads. They scrambled back into the building. Then they exited in the rear and went into the police station from the rear out of Cyndi’s sight. They found Bart and Yancy locked in a cell.

Bart, “Did they get away?”

Beach, “Not yet, they were getting on those cheap bikes.”

Bart, “Take one of the police bikes and follow them. Surfer girl they left the key somewhere on their way out to slow us down. See if you can find it.

Surfer, “Are you OK. She saw the blood.”

Yancy, “It’s superficial. I think I have the bleeding stopped.”

Beach ran back to the rear of the police building and hopped on one of the police bikes which they kept up for use and took off in the same direction. After riding for five minutes he could see the rear bike reflectors of the slower moving objects in the moon lit night. He followed just out of site and stopped after they turned on to his street and entered Rob’s house. He figured he had what he needed so he returned to town.

Cyndi and Junior stowed the bikes in the garage and entered the home. She said, “It’s too dark now to make the voyage. I think we are safe. We will sleep and continue at first light.”

“You were pretty good back there Mom. It seemed like you do this all the time.” He was impressed by her courage.

“Don’t tell me how good I was because I was too scared to think about it. You were good also firing that shot at them that gave us the time we needed to get away.”

Junior, “I fired above them on purpose, although I could hit them if I had to. We don’t have a choice anymore. If they were smart they would leave us alone.”

“That’s right. It’s on them for how they treated us.” She picked up the holster and placed it around Junior’s waist. “You have earned being the caretaker of the gun. I’m tired. Let’s get some rest.”

Junior stood there and inserted the revolver into the holster. It felt good to be able to protect his Mom. He was too excited to sleep so he went outside and looked around. The crickets and other wilderness bugs made a racket. It was such a roar like out on their island. He was comforted by it. Growing up in the wilderness made him tolerant of the biting bugs. So he enjoyed listening.

…

Beach arrived back at the police station where the wounded Bart was seething about being shot. He said to Bart, “How are you?”

Bart, “Never mind my health. Did you follow them?”

“Yeah, they went to a house out of town in the northwest area. It’s about five miles away. Guessing they will spend he night there. It’s too dark to ride. I hit a lot of debris on the road.”

“But you made it there and back didn’t you? I need you to take me there now.”

Beach, “What for? We can go in the morning. They think they got away safely and don’t know we know where they are. The bugs are really bad out there. Its deep woods surrounding the road the house sits on.”

Bart, “We can’t risk them getting away. I suspect there are more at their camp. She was lying to us about everything. We don’t know why they came but if there are more they will return and take vengeance on us so we must make the problem disappear. So we need to go now.”

Beach mumbled under his breath looking at Surfer who turned and looked at Yancy. Bart went to the armory and pulled out thirty-eight caliper revolvers and loaded them. He handed one to Beach, one to Yancy and when he tried to give one to Surfer girl she shook her head no. So he placed the last one in his belt. “Let’s ride,” he said limping as he started for the door to the garage where the service bikes were stored.

Surfer, “How are you going to be able to ride with that foot? Why don’t you stay here and let us do this?”

Bart tried to ride but was having a lot of difficulty. The pain was too much for him when he pushed the peddles. He was tough but not that tough. “OK, I guess I will hinder more then help in this condition. Give me directions to the house in case I have to come find you.”

“Go out of town, when the road splits follow SR 23 on the left a couple of miles. There is a sign that says Bluff Lake. Turn left and go a mile or two until there is a hard bend in the road and the house is on the right. We will stay in the next house we find before it so we can be there when they leave and surprise them.”

Bart. “OK, bring them back if you can. Don’t let them get away.”

The three of them peddled away into the dark. They could see a little because of the open area surrounding the main road but it would get harder when they turned off onto the narrow side road.

Yancy said, “We are not good with these guns. They seem to know how to use them.”

Beach, “We have seen them used countless times in the movies. We will surprise them. That will make the difference.” It was a good thing he could not see the doubtful expressions on the others face.

They turned off the state route onto Rob’s street. It was darker with more obstacles left from the wind blowing down tree debris. Yancy hits a tree limb and crashes his bike injuring his leg. “Darn that Bart. We should have waited like you said.” Beach and Surfer turned their bikes and circled him.

Surfer, “Can you continue?”

“I don’t think so. Go ahead and wait for me when you are near the house. I will walk a little before trying again.”

The two rode off watching carefully the road surface. Beach slowed as the road curved slightly then came to a stop with Surfer next to him. He whispered “That’s it,” pointing at a home further up the road. “Let’s go back to the last house we passed and meet Yancy there.” They turned and rode back.

Junior who stood in the dark was not aware of the company he almost had. He went inside and laid down himself.

Yancy was stopped in the middle of the road by a home when he heard his friends approaching. “Hey, did you find it?”

Surfer, “Yeah, it’s around the corner. We can stay here tonight.”

Beach went up to the house and the door was unlocked so he went in. He couldn’t see much but it was shelter and it would have to do. He went back to the door and said, “It’s OK come on in.”

Yancy limped up to the house with Surfer putting his arm around shoulder her to take the weight of his sore leg. Once inside he turned on a rechargeable pen light that he kept with him all the time. He aimed the beam around looking over the place. There were two bedrooms coming off the main living room. They sat down, Beach and Surfer on a couch and Yancy in a large comfortable chair.

Beach, “We have to be up and in position before they leave or we will miss our chance with the element of surprise. I don’t want to get shot like Bart. So I have an alarm on my watch and will set it for 5:00 AM and we will go at that time and wait. We will take positions across the road in the bushes. When they come out and are in clear view I will fire a shot to get their attention. Surfer you will them give them commands on what they must do to not get shot. Hopefully they listen and Yancy and I will move in and disarm them. Yancy are you good enough to take part?”

“I don’t know. I will see how it is in the morning but why do this at all? Just because Bart says so. These people are not a threat to us. They are scared of us because they assume we carry the virus or whatever it is. I say we sleep and head back when ever we wake up. We can tell Bart we couldn’t find them. They were not at the house. They must have rested and moved on later in the evening. What ever story you want.”

Surfer, “I don’t know what we should do. I didn’t bring a gun because I’m not shooting anyone and am not planning on getting shot either. A gunshot wound of any kind could be a death sentence. Let’s sleep on it.”

A couple of hours past and they were sleeping hard when the door crashed open, bam. Yancy on the couch, was startled and reached around in the dark for his gun but could not find it