by: Kristy Duke
My mind continues to run numbly within me as I gently set Barb Harper’s order down in front of her as I slightly notice her smiling appreciatively up at me. “Thanks Daisy,” she continues to smile as she puts an aged tan hand upon mine before I am able to stand fully up to bring my full attention onto her. Her bright blue eyes shine brightly up at me, vividly showing her wit and intelligence she has after sixty long years of living on a small farm, years filled with hard work; hard work that she seems to enjoy. “Something wrong, honey? You feeling OK?” Genuine concern etches her raspy voice as her witty eyes grow stern and stubborn, demanding me to tell the truth.
“Yeah I’m feeling alright,” I force a smile down on her, struggling back the horrid thoughts that continues to haunt me, “I just have a lot on my mind lately.”
“Your cousins,” she nods understandably at me as my thoughts slowly shift from my worries to the several times I’ve been at her house while growing up. Her middle daughter had been one of my best friends until she had moved to Atlanta for college and then onto Chicago with her business degree. Her oldest son, Rob, now continues to hold up the old farm after her husband had passed away with a long struggle against cancer a few years ago. She had always been so kind to me, so loving, she had treated me as one of her own with each visit, demanding me to come back again and soon. “That has to be so hard…what’s that boy’s name?” Barb interrupts her own silence as she glances around before eyeing me with clarity, “Garrett. Garrett and Ethan whose truck that was hijacked. How is Garrett?”
I shrug as my thoughts slowly slip back to my cousin that rests in the hospital, remaining lost in his coma. I had stopped by for a brief visit on my way to work this afternoon only to be shocked by the lack of any progress, he had almost seemed worse than the first time I had visited him. “Not very good,” I shrug again, “he was beaten pretty bad. Ethan should be going home soon, they say.”
“I am so sorry to hear that,” she bites her lower lip as she glances down at her Pepsi and sandwich that she had ordered and back up at me, “and to hear Bo and Luke accused of such a horrifying attack. I refuse to believe it.”
“Good,” I sigh as I glance at the clock that rests upon the opposite wall, five minutes left of work, “because they didn’t do it.”
She nods as she runs a thin frail looking hand through her wispy light brown curled hair that brushes the neck collar to her red dressy shirt. “How is Bo doing?” she questions as she eyes me as I recall how fond she had been of him when he was little, always giving him extra attention only for him to hide behind Uncle Jesse, “I feel so bad for him. He’s had it so rough for so long, it gets better for him, only for it all to come back. How is Jesse handling all this?”
“Bo could be better, but worse as well,” I shrug as I nervously glance around the restaurant to find Braiden back at the bar, “Jesse is handling it all as best as he can. Holding strong for everyone as always.”
“Always a brave and strong man…very kind,” Barb nods before patting my wrist once again, “well honey I know you have got to go back to work…the world goes on no matter what happens, huh? Just know you all are in my prayers, if you need anything, I’m here.”
“Thanks Barb,” I force a smile at her, “I’ll be seeing you around.”
She nods silently as she turns to her food and I slowly turn around to walk around the thick wooden bar, attempting to ignore Braiden, the stranger I had met the other night. “Well there you are Daisy!” he grins at me to send a shiver rolling through me, despite his looks and smooth talk, mistrust rushes through me towards him, “I was beginning to think you up and left me. Why haven’t you called?”
“I’ve been busy,” I shrug at him as I see Dave standing in the door way of the kitchen, “and I have no time now for a relationship. Thanks for the interest.”
His smile slowly fades away as he runs his hand through his crew cut as a hint of anger flares up in his strong eyes as he slowly stands up only to slowly sit back down as Dave approaches me. “Well give me a call if you ever change your mind, honey,” he smiles before taking his beer to turn his back towards us.
“Well you’re officially off Daisy,” Dave’s hazel brown eyes shines in his concern and worry for me as he places a comforting hand upon my shoulder, “I’m here if you need me.”
“Thanks Dave,” I shrug as I yank my lap apron off to shove it under the counter with my note pad, “but I need to go now. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”
“I better,” he grins as he pulls me into a comforting hug before I slowly make my way through the smokey bar and out into the hot evening, the bright sun blares in my eyes.
****
Dread and fear slowly shiver through my tense body as I slowly yank my old jeep around the sharp corner as my mind continues to drill into what I had walked into earlier this afternoon. Hogg’s voice echoes within me as my mind continues to visualize the trail of tears upon his clammy cheeks and the harsh fear that had throbbed in his dark brown eyes. A trail of tears? I had never seen a single tear drop escape from him in my life and yet it is apparent that more than one tear had been shed. Not only that, but he had always hid his emotions from us, today he was an open book of emotions. I had startled him by walking in when I had, but he didn’t do anything to recover other than to say that he needed to be alone. The one sided phone conversation rushes through me as I intensely pick through all that I had heard, struggling to put the pieces together; to come up with Rosco. Something was horribly wrong with Rosco, Rosco is in a lot of trouble.
“What you got yourself into this time, Hogg?” I ask aloud as my own sympathy washes through me towards the fat commissioner despite all that he’s done to us. Hogg may be an enemy worth fighting for what is right and wrong, but a man none the less, a man in a lot of trouble. A man in need of a lot of help.
I sigh heavily as the old farm house comes into view as I turn a small curve in the road to find the General parked in front of the wide wooden stairs leading up to the old wooden porch that runs along the upper front of the house. An old white tow truck is parked a couple of feet of the left of the General to emphasize that either LB or Cooter or both are at the farm while Jesse’s old dusty white truck is parked horizontally near the large tree that rests a few feet to the left of the side of the house. An unknown source of relief slowly begins to wiggle through me as I pull into the drive way to come to a silent park a few feet away from the left of the two truck and a couple of feet away from the tail gate of Jesse’s truck.
“How you feelin’ Bo?” Luke’s worried voice filters through the open windows and screen door as I slowly step out from my jeep and begin to walk around to the stairs, “You’re lookin’ a little pale tonight.”
“Don’t surprise me none,” Jesse quickly responds, his voice is thick with worry and dread, “he had a bad attack a few minutes before y’all pulled up. He has a recheck tomorrow with Applebee, but by the looks of things, not much has changed.”
“I’m f-” Bo begins to stubbornly defend himself as I slowly push open the weak screen door to interrupt him. He quickly glances up from the table as he sits at the kitchen table facing my direction while Luke sits besides him while LB and Cooter sit across the table of them, their backs to me, and Jesse sitting at the end of the table, next to Bo. Everyone slowly glances up at me from where they are sitting while I continue to glance back at Bo, taking in his pale complexion and the pain that screams in his baby blue eyes. “Hi Daisy,” Bo forces a smile, struggling to convince everyone that he’ll be fine.
“Hi y’all,” I force my own smile as I glance across the table as I take everyone in, their worried expressions melted upon their faces. Worried for Bo or for the situation they are in, or maybe both.
“How was work?” Jesse asks the dreaded question I stand awkwardly in the doorway for a long while before he motions me to the extra chair that sits across the table, next to Luke, “Why don’t you have a seat? We were just discussing the boys’ situation here…while waiting for you to return home. I figured we could reheat the chicken and salad you made yesterday and have it tonight. That sound OK?”
“Yeah,” I shrug as I move towards the chair that Luke pushes back for me before I slowly sit down.
“How was work?” Luke repeats Jesse’s question.
“Work was fine,” I slowly answer as I silently struggle with the correct words to explain what I heard, “but I think y’all have something else to worry about other than just proving your innocense here. Hogg had gotten a threatening phone call this afternoon…he called me in to give him a drink and must have gotten the call right afterwards. I walked in a minute later with his drink when I had overheard Hogg’s part of the conversation,” I shortly go through what I had overheard, “what I got out of it, is that Rosco is missing. Perhaps kidnaped for ransom? Hogg was really upset…afraid. He had tears on his cheeks when I walked in.”
A fear-filled silence quickly drapes across the kitchen as I fade into silence after explaining what I had over heard and witnessed. Their fear and worry in their own looks quickly accelerate as they all seem to take in all I had said, placing it in their own situation. “Damn it,” Luke spits out in anger and frustration, “we…I should have seen it coming.”
“How?” Jesse asks numbly, “How could you know this would happen? Hogg probably didn’t see it coming, not alone -”
“That’s because Hogg is tinted by his greed, all he saw was a new business opportunity, a way to bring him more money,” Luke interrupts Jesse before going silent a moment to glance over at Bo, “but I’ve said it all along that he has lost control of the situation, that his new business associates have taken the ball into their own hands.”
“Yeah so?” Cooter speaks up as he readjusts his hat nervously on his head, “That don’t mean they’re gonna go kidnap the sheriff for ransom or whatever reason they have.”
“No not necessarily. But think of what would happen if they did kidnap the sheriff and use it against Hogg?” Luke says heavily, “Not only have they disarmed Hazzard, but they have taken Hogg’s main investment, his main man. So now they have Hazzard in the palm of their hand along with the richest man of the county…right now, they have it all. They now have power over the commissioner which gives them the power over Hazzard; over everyone.”
“I still don’t see how you should have known all that,” LB shakes his head, his copper red curls shake with the movement under his greasy hat, “I mean all we knew was that they were going by Hogg’s orders, but doing it on their own, their own terms. How does that give you the insight of them kidnaping the sheriff?”
“I don’t know, but I should have seen it coming,” Luke shakes his head in frustration, “I figured they wanted Hogg, they wanted his money. They want that, because I’m willing to bet that was a ransom call. But they want power, why else kidnap the sheriff? They could kidnap Hogg, but they wouldn’t get any money that way. You go for the person the one with the money would care most of if they went missing.”
“If you can follow all that,” Cooter gives a small smile before being silenced by Jesse’s harsh looks, “so? What now?”
Silence moves around the room to force Bo’s wheezy breathing more audible and more loud, bringing everyone’s attention back onto him who glares down at the clothed table. I slowly glance over at Jesse as Barb’s soft and kind voice filters in my head, asking how Jesse was handling after all this. Intense fear and worry shines brightly in his crystal blue eyes as a small tear begins to form in the left corner of his right eye before he brushes it away with shaky right hand. Glancing up from Bo he catches me watching him momentarily before we both glance away, struggling with our own thoughts and our own emotions. “We go about proving ourselves,” Luke shrugs to slice through the thick silence, “just like before. Only this time, we’re not just looking for the truck, but for Rosco.”
“Y’all are bound to get your fool head shot off if you go looking for all of that,” Jesse quickly answers, his voice quivers in emotions as he shoves his chair back to weakly stand up. Everyone watches him as he walks to the sink to glare out into the front yard, turning his back to us to hide his emotions from us.
“What else are we suppose to do?” Luke asks after him, while watching Jesse’s back, “Sit here and do nothing? Who knows what they’re doing to Rosco…it is no longer about us, but him.”
“Call the damn FBI,” Jesse’s voice continues to quiver in emotions that he normally hides from us before falling silent. After a long moment he stiffly turns around to take everyone in, a streak of tears runs into his thick beard and mustache. “Do anything but go after them yourselves! How many of you are going after them? Six or seven? There’s at least that many of them if not more…with guns, weapons. What you got? Bow and arrows? You think that’ll stop the likes of them? No, going after them yourselves, isn’t going to do anything, but get yourselves killed.”
I glance across the table at Luke who continues to glance up at Jesse for a short moment, taking him in before glancing across the table and then over at Bo. Luke’s intelligent blue eyes shine with his own emotions, filled with worry and fear of the situation he finds himself in. “We’ll call the FBI,” Luke slowly glances back up at Jesse, pleading him quietly with understanding eyes, “but I can’t just sit here and wait for them to show up. They don’t know Hazzard like we know it, they’ll come in and take over . . .besides pulling the feds in now, may be a fatal mistake. On Rosco’s behalf,” he pauses momentarily, “men like them panic when they smell cops…especially cops like the FBI. People like them who panic do dumb things…trust me I’ve seen it happen too many times while I was in the Marines. They become irrational and scared. The person who will get the first bullet if they panic will be Rosco…and then perhaps innocent bystanders of Hazzard. Perhaps Hogg himself…they panic and a war may break loose over Hazzard.”
“Where as if some good ol’ boys from the country,” Jesse dryly begins to answer as his fear-filled eyes rotates around the table, stopping on Bo who glances up at Jesse, “were to go out and search for answers themselves?”
Luke shrugs heavily as he eyes me for a long moment, his own resistance of the situation begins to flood through his eyes, his own dread. “I’m not saying we go out and play heros and attempt to fight them,” he continues as he slouches back in his chair, “you’re right, we wouldn’t have a chance. I’m suggesting we just go out and search, find the hidden truck…the truck is the key to the whole thing. You find the truck and you most likely will find where they are hidden at and perhaps where they’ve got Rosco. Find the truck and call it in. That’s it.”
“No!” I quickly interrupt the silence that begins to build between us again as my heart beats wildly within me in my own fear as I silently visualize attending their funerals, “Jesse is right! You’ll be opening a can of worms by finding the damn truck…you don’t think the truck would be guarded? They’d just have it out for show? No,” I pause as I take in everyone’s surprised glares at me, “no, they’d have it well hidden and well protected…protected by big men with big guns. Same with Rosco. They’re not just gonna place a sign and say here’s Rosco, come get him.”
“We know that Daisy,” Cooter drawls for the first time in a long while, “and we are aware of the risks. But sitting around doing nothing will get us no where.”
“Either will arguing over it,” Jesse softly responds as he slowly sits back down, “and perhaps Luke is right. We don’t want them panicking or people getting hurt…so far they haven’t hurt anyone other than possibly Rosco.”
“All I am suggesting is that first thing tomorrow,” Luke says, “is that we set out and look for something abnormal…something leading to a truck or to them. We already know or assume that the men behind the sports store is behind them. Perhaps if we follow them or observe them from a distance -”
“That’d be asking to get killed,” Jesse snaps, “they catch one eye on you and they won’t ask any questions or think twice of showing y’all their expensive and fancy guns. Look, I’ll call the FBI tonight,” he pauses to glance around the room, “see if we can get something started, they specialize in things like this and they’ll know what to do. If they’re not here by tomorrow morning then perhaps y’all go out and look for anything abnormal. But I am not going to sit here and just allow you to follow them! I’ve lost too much to loose y’all as well.”
Silence once again filters around the room as Jesse’s worried words seems to linger around us while we all glance around the room at one another. “OK. You call the FBI…by now, they won’t be here until tomorrow anyway,” Luke shrugs as he slowly stands up, too nervous to sit any longer, “and in the morning we all will set out in search of something…anything. In teams of two or three.”
***UNCLE JESSE***
“Hello,” I say into the heavy phone, my voice is filled with urgency as questions explodes within me at hearing complete silence upon the other side of the line. “Hello,” I repeat after a short moment before the silence is quickly filled by an electronic hiss. Listening to the evil hiss that continues to build as I continue to press the phone harshly against my ear, a thick dread quickly fills my aged and numb body. “Damn it,” I whisper as I numbly place the handle back upon the metal cradle to stare blankly ahead at the large family picture that hangs over my metal desk. Thoughts hurriedly rushes through me, forcing dreaded question through me of why the phone is dead to send my mind towards the conversation that we had in the kitchen only moments ago. The men behind the sporting good store. But why?
A chill rushes across my body despite the heat that boils within the farm house as I slowly step away from the phone, staring at it in disbelief before glaring around me. Taking a deep breath, I slowly pull myself back into the kitchen to stare at the empty table as the conversation we had only an hour ago pours through me. Of Luke’s plan to search for the truck with hope of finding Rosco and a probable chance of defeating the powerful enemy. I sigh heavily as I pull myself away from the table to slowly step out through the flimsy screen door to be greeted by the early night’s hot evening breeze.
Stepping up to the wooden beam that separates the weak wooden railing and the thin wooden stairs I stare off into the distance as I allow my thoughts to wash roughly over me. Thoughts that rush back into Bo’s painful past to the attack he had earlier before it shifts over Luke’s analysts of the conversation and emotions Hogg had when she had walked in. Fear seems to escalate within me as I think of my boys out searching for the men that had beaten Garrett and Ethan so fiercely to send Garrett into a coma. Garrett is a man who can defend himself from past experience, if he allowed them to beat him so harshly, what would they do to Luke and the rest if they were caught snooping around? But what else can they do? If we don’t have any phone connection, how am I to get a hold of the FBI for help? If we can’t get any help from the FBI, they’ll be forced to deal with the enemy by themselves. How can they beat such a powerful enemy with so much muscle and weapons?
“You OK, Uncle Jesse?” Luke’s calm voice breaks the silence to force me to jump in surprise, through my thoughts, I hadn’t heard him step out on the porch. His calm voice continues to rush through me for a short moment as I continue to glance over the familiar farm land that I look at every day. Uncle Jesse? Luke usually addresses me as Jesse…Daisy will every once in awhile address me as Uncle Jesse while Bo will go the length of saying Uncle Jesse.
I slowly turn around to face him to find his own worries stenciled across his face despite the calmness of his voice as he silently takes me in. “Am I alright?” I ask sarcastically and he slowly glances down at his bare feet, “How can I be alright when my boys are about to go out after the likes of them?!”
“I feel the same way,” he shrugs as he slowly sits down upon the old wooden porch swing, motioning me to join him, “especially after seeing what they done to Garrett and seeing the guns and knives they have out in display. Knowing they have worse behind doors, is even worse. But what else are we to do, Jesse? We can’t just sit back and do nothing just because we’re afraid of what may happen.”
“I know,” I sigh reluctantly as I slowly sit besides him as my mind momentarily flood back into the past of the several conversations I’ve had with him on the front porch, “but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
He nods understandably at me as he glares off into the night’s darkening sky before turning to me and ask, “You get a hold of the FBI?”
“I tried,” I sigh as my thoughts return to the dead phone, “but there’s no connection…just an electronic hissing sound. The phone’s deader than dead.”
“Damn it,” he spits in disgust as I feel his tense body grow tenser, “they’ve cut it. Wonder if they did the whole town’s phones?”
“Yeah,” I slowly agree, “if so, that means y’all are out there on your own with them.”
“What it means, is that they plan on taking over Hazzard,” Luke continues on with my thoughts, “take over Hazzard and the people within it. But why?”
Silence slowly spills over us as I direct my attention into the night’s sky as my imagination flows through me, struggling to imagine what the future now holds for Hazzard. “I don’t know,” I slowly say, “but I’m sure we’re not gonna like it.”
“I don’t plan on finding out,” Luke quickly responds as he breathes out heavily, “first thing tomorrow morning we’ll go search for the truck, steak out the shop if we need to. If we can’t get a hold of the FBI, it’ll be up to us to do something.”
“No,” I say silently under my breath in disbelief and in anger as fear rushes through me, “how Luke? It’ll be a few of you versus them…them with weapons. It is apparent that they won’t refrain from violence nor is afraid to use their weapons…it won’t do anyone any -”
“I know Jesse, I know,” Luke shakes his head as he nervously stands up, “but if we don’t do anything, we’d be giving up and just allowing them to take over, allowing them to do as they wish. They already have Rosco, who knows what’s their next plan is. But things are about to get ugly…who knows who will be the next to suffer under their hands. Someone has to do something before things get worse, before other people get hurt or killed.”
“Which could be you if they catch you snooping around!”I quickly respond and he slowly nods as his attention remains at his feet, “What you have in mind?”
“I don’t know…for now just search Hazzard,” he shrugs looking up, “perhaps go around and see who else’s phone is down and perhaps go to the county lines. If they’re really taking over, they’ll have road blocks or something up by now. If not, someone could run up to Atlanta, better than not doing anything.” He pauses for a long moment, “All I know is that we’ve got to do something…anything, find something out.”
“OK,” I slowly sigh in defeat, acknowledging the truth of what he is saying. If they don’t go out, find something out, or don’t try to stop them, then we might as well just give ourselves up. Giving up would be allowing them to destroy Hazzard by their own rules and standards that they plan on doing when they first arrived.
“I know how you feel…we all feel the same way,” he struggles to defend himself, prove himself to me, “but it’s no longer about us any more. It’s about Rosco…it’s about Hazzard.”
“Yeah,” I nod before falling into silence, “you’re right and I support you and your act. I want you to report to me by CB…something. I want to be involved.”
“Yes sir,” he nods as he looks up at me, his thoughts shifting in his bright blue eyes.
“And tomorrow,” I sigh as my thoughts slowly move away from the gang to Bo, “is Bo’s doctor’s appointment. After his attack this evening, I don’t want him to go with you on this search, at least until after the appointment. After hearing what Applebee has to say about his lungs…it’ll cause a struggle, but Bo will get over it. I know you need as many people as possible,” I pause momentarily, “but Bo may only slow you down or make you known if he has an attack at a bad time. Not only that, but I don’t think he is strong enough to go at the moment. He may be better by tomorrow, but I want to hear it from Applebee…”
“I agree,” Luke sighs as I see the disappointment rise in his eyes, disappointment at leaving Bo behind, but his own worry for Bo shines brighter, “it’s not best for him.”
I force a small smile at him as I stiffly stand up while I allow my worried thoughts chase each other in my head. I slowly wrap him in a small hug before letting go to say, “Well I guess we should get to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
***LUKE DUKE***
Ragged emotions sharply ripple through my exhausted body as questions and thoughts explodes within me, thoughts filled with the past and followed quickly by questions of the future. Staring silently through the small window that lies above the old wooden night stand, I silently trace the events that had led us to where we sit at the moment. It had started at the Boar’s Nest with the fight between Garrett, Ethan and the two out of town men which was followed by the hijacking of Hogg’s truck and the beating of Garrett and Ethan. Other than the frame up of Bo and me, where does Hogg stand to profit? Hogg’s main concern is always money, everything he does has an money earning angle to it. Sure he’d earn something for owning the store, but would that be enough to spark his interest? Since when has Hogg taken an interest in sports? What does Hogg’s business associates have to earn from partnering up with Hogg in the store? Other than a way to sell their illegal weapons.
Abruptly my thoughts are momentarily interrupted as Bo’s rough wheezy breathing slowly comes to an halt, bringing silence into the dark room. Fear momentarily shivers through me as I quickly turn around just as he is thrown awake, coughing chronically and gasping for air. Slowly my fear eases into harsh concern as I stiffly stand up from sitting upon the head of my bed and quickly move towards the closed door before flicking on the lights. Continuing to cough wheezily, Bo quickly shades his eyes from the bright lights that penetrate through the darkness that had lingered through the room. “Where’s your inhaler?” I ask as I quietly count off the seconds that seems to pass slowly as I glance around our messy room, in search for his inhaler.
Squinting through the light through sleep filled eyes he quickly glances over to the night stand where generally places his inhaler before going to bed, only to find it empty. “Must be,” he gasps between coughs as I am caught up in worry watching his bare thin chest heaving forcefully for air, “in my pants pocket. I forgot -”
He goes silent for a moment as the pain in his dark blue eyes flare up quickly and I fight to ignore it momentarily as I glance around the room for his jeans he had worn yesterday. Finding his light denim pants in the corner I quickly pick them up to find his black cased inhaler in his right pants pocket. “Here it is,” I sigh heavily, silently calculating the time that was lost since the beginning of the attack while I quickly walk it over to him. He glances up at me for a short moment before taking it and I silently watch in anticipated hope as he begins to trigger off the sprays, forcing himself to painfully breathe in each puff of medicine. Relief slowly wiggles it’s way through me as his attack slowly dies away with each puff he takes before he sets it down on the night stand after his third puff of medicine. “Next time, leave it on the night stand. Save time that way.”
He shrugs as he slowly looks away from me, glancing down at the wooden floor in attempt to hide the pain that had shined brightly in his eyes. I sigh heavily as I slowly take in his thick bright blond hair that lies tangled, his thick shoulders are lightly freckled and tan from working shirtless outside. His thin chest continues to heave heavily as he sit upon the edge of his bed, his bare feet resting on the floor with his muscular lean legs leaning against his mattress. “How you feel?” I slowly ask to break the silence that he had welcomed into the room.
“I’m fine,” he wheezes forcefully, his words laced in the same stubbornness they had last night when everyone was worried about him. Thinking of last night, my thoughts slowly switch from him to the journey that lies ahead of us today, of searching for the hijacked truck and perhaps the men behind the hijacking. If Jesse can’t get a hold of the FBI today or soon, it’ll have to be up to us to put a stop to the men behind it all otherwise Hazzard will be frozen in their hands.
“Yeah. I hope so,” I slowly respond as my worry continues to grow within me as I continue to take him in, his wheezy breathing and the pain in his eyes sends flash backs of the past to me. Of watching him grow up in pain and fear, wondering if tomorrow may be his last day or if tomorrow will be a better day for him. “Jesse says your doctor’s appointment is today, I guess Applebee will tell us either way.”
“I’m fine,” he repeats stubbornly as he glances up at me to show me the pain throbbing in his eyes, “really.”
I slowly give him a shrug before slowly walking towards our closed door while thinking of what to say next to, wondering how Jesse plans on denying him to go today. “I really hope so Bo…after that attack,” I pause as I slowly open the door to find an hint of light somewhere in the house, “I don’t know.”
He watches me silently for a short moment before I slowly step out into the hall to close the door behind me, walking out into the living room, I find the kitchen light to be on. Taking a deep breath to control my thoughts and emotions, I slowly walk through the living room and into the entrance of the kitchen to find Daisy at the sink and Jesse at the table with a newspaper open. “Mornin’ Luke,” Jesse slowly places the paper down to look at me and Daisy turns the water off to turn around to look at me, “you’re lookin’ a little tired this morning.”
“It was a long night,” I shrug as I slowly move over to the wood burning stove to find Daisy has a pot of coffee already made. “Thank-you,” I smile at her as she hands me a chipped ugly green coffee cup and I carefully pour myself a cup before sitting down across the table from Jesse. “You get a hold of the FBI yet?”
“The phone’s still dead,” Jesse sighs, showing his agitation and worry. Listening to the silence that begins to fill the room, I allow my thoughts to fall onto Bo and the attack he just had. Jesse is already worried about what is going on and about Bo, to tell him about Bo’s attack will only make it worse for him, but he’d want to know. “How’s Bo?”
I shrug as I glance up at Daisy and across the table at Jesse who stares at me with worried crystal blue eyes, crystal blue eyes demanding me to tell the truth. “I don’t know,” I finally break the silence as I take a long drink of hot coffee before setting it down to look at my uncle, “he slept most of the night, but was real wheezy. He woke up a few minutes before I got out here with an attack…his inhaler was able to stop the attack for the most part, but he seems to be in a lot of pain. Of course, he says he’s fine though.”
“Stubborn as a mule he is,” Jesse sighs shaking his head before taking a drink of his own coffee, his concern grows in his _expression, “he’ll be saying he’s fine when he’s dying. I don’t know why he says that when he knows everyone else knows that ain’t the truth.”
“Well people in town says that you and him have a lot of the same qualities,” Daisy slowly says as she sits down next to Jesse and Jesse glances sharply over at her, “well it’s true.”
“True or not, it’d be easier if he’d just come out and say how he feels,” Jesse shakes his head as his worry seems to grow with each passing second, “his doctor’s appointment is this afternoon, I guess we’ll know either way.”
I nod as silence washes over us once again as we are lost in thought of the problems that surrounds us at the moment, from Rosco missing to Bo’s attacks. “Well talking about him being stubborn,” I break the silence, “be prepared…he’ll want to come today.”
“No doubt,” Jesse shakes his head once again in worry and in dread of what will come out of denying him to come along, “I know you probably need as many people as you can get to help but -”
“No, I agree with you,” I slowly speak up as the clicking of our door opening breaks the silence in the living room, “we need all the help we can get, but he shouldn’t come. Not with him feeling like he is…for his good as well as ours.”
Jesse silently nods as he glances in the living room as Bo slowly walks out dressed in a red t-shirt and his light blue jeans and brown leather cowboy boots. His hair has been combed down and the pain that had resided in his eyes only minutes ago seems to have died away a little. “Mornin’ Bo,” Jesse slowly speaks up as Bo slowly walks into the kitchen before stopping in the door way, taking everyone in silently, “Luke told me about the attack you had this morning, want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” Bo shrugs as he eyes me momentarily before ducking back out of the kitchen and back down the first hall way before the bathroom door clicks shut
“Want something to eat before you go?” Daisy offers as she stands up to break the silence, “Jesse and I ain’t hungry, but I can fix you and Bo something to eat. Toast and eggs maybe?”
“We’re all meeting at the café in town in about twenty minutes,” I slowly answer as I glance up at the clock while the bathroom door swings open and Bo reappears after a short moment.
“How about you Bo? Can I fix you some toast and eggs?” Daisy offers and Bo slowly looks at me, to see what I am doing and I slowly shrug.
“I thought we were meeting at the café to -”
“Luke is,” Jesse sighs as he slowly stands up in anticipation, “but I don’t think it’s a good idea if you go with -”
“I’m fine,” Bo quickly interrupts Jesse, anger begins to etch upon his handsome face as he glances at me for help before back at Jesse, “you can’t just hold me back because of an attack…or let him go by himself -”
“He’s not going by himself and I’m not to keen on him going either, but as he pointed out last night, we don’t have any choice,” Jesse slowly and calmly responds as he rests against the counter behind him, “and as for you, I guess we’ll see what Applebee says today if whether or not you’re fine. I really hope so, but you don’t sound or look fine. So until Doctor Applebee tells us that you are fine, you will stay home and relax as he had told you the other day.”
Bo glares defiantly at him for a long moment as his wheezy breathing becomes louder with the emotions raging through him. “So I have to stay home while they get to go out to prove us, to find Rosco? It was my damn wallet they found,” Bo brings up again, “It’s not just him that’ll be going to jail, but me too.”
“I know…we all know,” Jesse sighs as he glances up at the clock that ticks away each second that passes away until I need to meet up with them, “but you going with them won’t help anything, Bo.”
“Why not?” Bo asks impatiently, looking from me to Jesse.
“Because you’re not feeling good. Plain and simple,” I quickly blurt out as Bo eyes me, begging me to help him, “It is obvious with or without the attack you just had, that you’re not feeling well. What if we’re hiding out and you begin coughing? Not only would you be away from help, but we could get caught and get killed.”
“In other words,” Bo sneers at me, “I’d just be in the way.” Silence quickly follows his statement as the anger seems to drain out of him, leaving him looking like a sad little boy, a boy left behind.
“I’m sorry Bo,” I shrug, “but it’s for the best…for everyone.”
“For you maybe,” Bo glances around the room defensively, his anger returning, “you get to go and do something while I get to stay home and do nothing.”
“Will you grow up Bo?!” I snap impatiently to force everyone to glance up at me in surprise, “And stop feeling sorry for yourself! This isn’t just about you, but everyone in town. It is best if you’d stay home and relax…for everyone.”
Silence quickly follows my statement as everyone stares at me, taking me with disbelief in their eyes that I said what I had to Bo. Guilt slowly begins to welcome it’s way inside me at using the tone of voice I had used and saying what I had said, but at the same time irritation fill me towards his stubbornness. The same stubbornness we had discussed before he had walked into the room.
“I ain’t a baby,” Bo slowly breaks the silence, hurt feelings quickly enters his pain-filled eyes as he takes a step back into the darkness of the living room, “I can take care of my own self.”
I glare at him for a harsh moment before turning to Jesse and Daisy. “I need to go meet up with them, I’ll call and keep you posted.”
“Will do,” Jesse nods at me before glancing over at Bo and back at me, “y’all take care.”
***SHERIFF ROSCO COLTRANE***
Exhaustion thickly floods through my numb body as I sit limply upon the cold and wet floor of the old shaft, my hands tied harshly behind me and around the thick splintery wooden beam. Feeling sharp splinters etched thickly into my hands and the thin wiring digging into my wrists, I continue to silently stare through the darkness that surrounds the old shaft as I allow my thoughts to race back into the past. Vivid flash backs begin to flash within me of the horrid day over twenty-six years ago, of finding Whinston on the porch of the old, splintered farm house as I had held on tightly onto Rachel’s thin, but strong hand. What had started out as an innocent walk, filled with small talk and the talk of our future, had turned into an bloody, violent encounter. A sharp chill races up my back at the vividness of my flashback, sending me the pain and fear that had wash through me on that nightmarish day. If only I had chosen another path to walk on or perhaps taken her out to lunch…
Through the darkness I feel the moisture of tears entering the corner of my eyes as I silently picture Rachel’s pretty face, her petite body, and her soft dark hair. If only I had declined her walk, she may still be here with me today, we may have been married and had kids. Perhaps grandchildren by now as our children went on to their careers, started their own lives, their own families. Instead, she remains buried in Hogg cemetery and I sit here awaiting for Whinston’s plans to unfold, his plans of revenge on me on the death of his baby brother. His threat he had yelled out to me as he had been led away by the guards, rushes rapidly and clearly through me. I hadn’t taken the threat too seriously at the time, after all, he was being led away to spend his life behind bars. Now, his threat has became a reality.
Revenge on the death of his baby brother. The death of Warren. Another sharp chill rushes across my body as my thoughts slowly roll away from Rachel, momentarily, and onto Warren. Warren’s cold gray eyes filled with pain and fear flashes within me as he had clutched his chest a second after my silver bullet pulled through his skin and into his chest, to fall slackly onto the warm sunny grass. Guilt once again begins to build within me as his deathly still body flashes within me, the dead body of a kid. The kid that had killed Rachel. Seeing Rachel’s dead body upon the grass, her long soft hair covering her face as blood had covered her summer dress; doubts once again grows within me. Had I pulled that trigger out of self defense? He had shot me in the shoulder, took me out of service for two months with an injured shoulder and had taken aim for a better shot, a deadly shot. Or had I pulled that trigger out of anger? Out of hatred? Killing a boy would and didn’t bring Rachel back. Whether or not, the boy was at fault.
“Well, well, well,” Whinston’s voice surprises me as his lengthy dark shadow slowly and silently enters the shaft as he walks past his guard that sits in the open way of the room they have me, “I see you’re still awake…now you know how I felt being locked up with all those men. Kinda scary, huh?”
“You got what you deserved,” I harshly spit back at him and he quickly rushes at me only to kick me in my ribs, a sharp cry escapes from me as the pain spreads through my body.
“Just like you’re gonna get what you deserved,” he laughs sinisterly as he takes a step back into the darkness, “you killed my brother! Now you too must die…when I am done with you.”
“I was defending myself,” I quickly defend myself only to receive another swift kick in my ribs, “you won’t get away with this…whether you kill me or not.”
“Words of a brave man,” he chuckles as he fades into silence while he pulls out a long sharp gleaming object. A knife of some kind. Through the darkness the long sharp blade shines brightly, bringing each curve and edge into detail to my attention. “We’ll see how brave you are after I’m done with you.”
Fear escalates within me as I eye the sharp knife cautiously as he takes another step closer to me, clearly showing me his weapon with pride of some sort. “Go ahead,” I shrug as I struggle to hide my fear from him, “do it, get it over with.”
Once again he laughs evilly as he quickly places the sharp blade under my neck, the blade barely touching my neck. “It won’t be that easy,” he continues to laugh, “I’m not done with you! I haven’t had half the fun I am expecting to have with you!”
With that said, he quickly yanks the knife away, nicking my skin under my chin, as he places the knife back into his leather belt. “You won’t get away,” I respond as he fades into the darkness, making him halt in the entry way from the narrow passage way.
“Oh sure I will…I’ll be seeing you,” he laughs as he disappears once again in the darkness, walking slowly and stiffly in order to fade away without a sound.
***KRISTY DUKE***
Sadness quickly surges through me as I silently stare through front screen door at LB’s lean body slowly moving steadily away as he inches towards the parked tow truck. Questions and what if’s explode roughly within of what the future may hold as he begins his way to meet up with everyone; meet up with everyone to search for the hijacked truck. Abruptly, my thoughts switch from LB’s shaky future to Garrett’s beaten and bruised body lying in an old hospital bed, lost in a deep darkness. If LB and everyone else that is out looking for the truck gets caught. . .
Chills quickly washes over me as my imagination vividly flows through the torture and deaths that would fall upon everyone that is caught looking around. “Damn it,” I silently say aloud as LB slowly waves at me as he backs out of the drive way and onto the dirt road. Numbly I wave back at him, silently praying for his safe return home later.
“Mommy,” Jamie’s soft voice yells out from the kitchen to break the silence that had grown within the house with LB’s departure, “wait! We’re comin’!”
“Mommy,” Shay echoes his older sister as soft pattering comes from the kitchen from small feet running upon the linoleum flooring, “wait.”
Turning around from the door way, expecting their arrival in the hall, I slowly glance up at the family photo that hangs crookedly upon the light yellow wall. Memories of last year, of moving to Hazzard, quickly flood through me, fleeting from the accident that had brought me to LB to Bo’s funeral and up to present date. Not much has seemed to change in Hazzard since I had last left Hazzard as a child when dad had packed up and left, leaving everything behind. Hazzard has stayed the same while people have changed.
“Mommy,” Jamie says impatiently as Shay tugs at my t-shirt, glaring up at me, “I wanna see Uncle Bo.”
“Well lets go then,” I slowly force a smile at them as I lead them outside before locking the door behind me, “I don’t know how much Uncle Bo will be wanting company, but we can hang out at the farm for a little while.”
“Why not?” Jamie asks as she comes to a slow stop in front of Garrett’s beloved Mustang that sits parked to the far left of the parking lot, sitting abandoned and unused for the longest time since Garrett had bought it.
I slowly come to a stop besides Jamie looking down at her, taking in her hair and her summer dress, before looking at the muscle car. The muscle car that Garrett takes so much pride in. Emotions once again begins to escalate within me as I stare at his car as my thoughts quickly flashes back to the argument we had in his room the night before he had started his new job. His strong and confident voice seems to echo within me as he had fought to defend himself against my anger, against my harsh words. Heavy guilt quickly washes over me as the argument replays loudly in my head while his emotionless glare glares back at me. For the first time since his beating, I come to realize I may never be able to apologize to him for what I said, for losing my temper towards him. I may had ample reasons to be upset at him for how he acted towards Bo, but I should have been more understanding of his feelings. Feelings that he had revealed freely to me, feelings that he always keeps to himself. Bo may not be deserving of what Garrett did to him, but under all that Garrett had said, was some truth.
“What’s wrong mommy?” Jamie asks besides me, looking up at me with worried green eyes, “When will we get to see Uncle Garrett? Is he better yet?”
“No, not yet sweetie,” I fight back tears as I watch Shay play with a few rocks he found in the dirt driveway, “and it’ll be ok, just wait and see.”
“Let’s go then,” Jamie yanks at my hand while I run my other hand over the hood of “Spitting Cobra” allowing my guilt to build within me.
*******
“We’re here!” Jamie giggles in the backseat from her booster seat as I slowly pull into Jesse’s drive way, bringing my truck to a halt a foot away from Jesse’s dirty white truck. Looking through the rearview mirror, I watch as she unbuckles herself while glaring out through the windows in search of Jesse or Bo or Daisy with great anticipation in her eyes. Shay rests silently in his large car seat, his head resting to the side while he fights against sleep.
“Yeah we’re here,” I slowly repeat while unfastening myself as Jesse slowly walks out onto the porch.
“Need help?” Jesse slowly asks as he approaches while I step out into the warm late summer day, his crystal blue eyes shine of worry and fear; worry and fear that he attempts to hide.
“You can help Jamie out if you wish while I grab Shay,” I shrug as I pull open the backdoor behind the driver’s door and Shay yells out at me as I unfasten his seat belt, disturbing his rest. “Thanks Jesse,” I glance across as he gently helps Jamie out of the truck while grabbing her Princess back pack.
“Uncle Jesse,” Jamie smiles up at him while hugging onto his arm.
“Hi Jamie,” he smiles understandably down at her before glancing up at me. “No problem.”
Silence quickly begins to come between us as I take Shay out of his seat and close the door behind him as my thoughts slowly roll through our phone call, of what will come out of this visit. “Jamie has been looking forward to coming, if you can’t tell,” I force a smile at him as I greet him at the steps of the porch.
“Yeah.” He fades into silence himself, his dreadful thoughts displays upon his worried face as he glances away from Jamie to glance over my shoulder at the hills in the distance. Looking back at me he slowly speaks up, “Thanks for coming over as you did,” he pauses for a long moment as he kicks a small pebble, “I am going to run over and talk to Hogg for awhile before driving to the border to see if they have it blocked off. If not, I’m going to Atlanta.”
“Not a problem,” I nod as his worried voice from his phone call earlier this morning runs through me as he had voiced his worry about Bo staying home alone, fear of another attack and fear of Bo sneaking out to look on his own.
“Where’ Bo, Uncle Jesse?” Jamie asks, still hugging onto Jesse.
“In his room,” Jesse slowly answers as regret enters his emotion-filled crystal blue eyes as he eyes Jamie and up at me, “he’s upset about not being able to go, as I figure he would be.” He pauses for a long while as he wipes his eyes with a callused hand, “Damn, I feel like I’m hiring a baby sitter. I don’t mean for it to be like that…he’s twenty-four years old and old enough to look out for his own self. I don’t know.”
“I’m not here to watch him,” I shrug in attempt to comfort his worries, “I’m here as his worried sister. Jamie and Shay have been begging me to take them here so they can see the animals and to play with Bo. Obviously Bo won’t be in the mood to play with them and they will have to accept that…they can still be here to watch the animals.”
“Thanks Kristy,” he weakly smiles at me.
“No problem, Jesse,” I sigh as I watch him slowly move towards the truck, shuffling through the dirt in reluctancy at leaving, “You take care of yourself.”
“Uncle Bo,” Shay says as he lifts his head off my shoulder to glance around as if noticing where he is for the first time.
“Wave bye to Jesse,” I urge them and the both begin to wave as Jesse backs out into the road, on his way to do his part of Luke’s plan.
“Chickens,” Shay points out as he struggles to get down.
“Not now,” I coax him as Jamie tugs on my shirt, “remember what I said in the truck?”
“Bo won’t want to play,” Jamie pouts as I move towards the door, “we’re here to help Bo while we play with our toys we brought.”
“That’s right,” I sigh before opening the weak spring door that squeak loudly as Jamie runs in while dragging her back pack to quickly pull a seat up to the table and grabs her coloring book and crayons out of the bag. “And you, Mr. Shay Duke is going to take a nap,” I smile down at him and he giggles as I tickle him for a moment.
“No nap,” Shay begs as I slowly walk out of the kitchen and into the living room where I find Bo sitting slumped in the old couch, staring blankly at the fire place that stands in the wall across from him. “Uncle Bo.”
“Yes nap,” I respond uneasily to Shay as I take in Bo’s posture, reading the anger that fumes off his lean body while a sharp wheezing sound escapes with each breath he takes.
“How much is he paying you to watch me?” Bo abruptly asks, breaking his silence to surprise me at hearing the harshness in his words.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I answer slowly as I stand frozen in place a foot from the kitchen’s entry way, “Jesse nor anyone is paying me to watch you. I’m not here to watch you.”
“You’re here as my worried sister,” he mocks me, refusing to look at me, “because the kids want to come over and play. So tell me, you were planning on coming over before Jesse called you?”
I allow a long moment of awkward silence to fall in the room as his words begin to haunt me while I think of my response, of what I should say. “No,” I reluctantly answer before looking up at him, “but that doesn’t mean I’m here to watch you or that I’m not here as a worried sister.”
“OK,” Bo shrugs nonchalantly and I sigh in premature relief, “you’re a worried sister that is here to watch me, make sure I don’t leave to search on my own,” each word is laced thickly with emotions before he fades into silence for a long moment. “I’ll be ok. . .I am ok,” he stubbornly speaks up to break the silence.
“I hope so, Bo,” is the only thing I can think of as I watch him slowly stand up to look at me for the first time. My heart reaches an abrupt stop, filled with emotions of my own as I spot a lonely tear rolling down his left cheek with pain and fear flaring thickly in his baby blue eyes.
“I guess we’ll see,” he takes a deep breath to fill the room with a louder wheezing sound before he quickly turns to walk back into his bed room, leaving me alone in the living room with Shay.
***BO DUKE***
Anger throbs harshly through my exhausted body as I quietly slide into the empty bedroom that I share with Luke to roughly close the door behind me. Staring through the shady darkness that looms across the empty room, my thoughts steadily begin to spin through me, feeding upon the pulsating emotions that holds a tight grip upon me. While Luke is out searching for the hijacked truck, to clear our names, I am left behind at home to relax with Kristy and her kids; to watch over me. As if I need a baby sitter to take care of me, to make sure I stay home as Jesse wishes me to. For the first time since I can remember, anger corses steadily through me towards my uncle, towards Jesse for his mistrust and trying to sneak Kristy in, not thinking I’d suspect anything.
Feeling like a prisoner in my own room, I slowly walk over to my aged double bed to slowly sit down, sinking into the old mattress to stare at Luke’s single bed a couple of feet away. Slowly my thoughts rotate away from Jesse and onto Luke, onto the anger and frustration he had showed earlier this morning before he had left to join the others at the café in town. Worry and fear had glistened in his intelligent blue eyes, emotions that he seldom ever displays, emotions that he seems to hide from everyone.
This morning’s events continues to roll through my head, of everyone’s reactions and emotions to send my own emotions growing wildly within me. “Will you grow up, Bo?! And stop feeling sorry for yourself! This isn’t just about you, but everyone in town.” Luke’s angered statement slowly and continuously begins to echo within me, seeming to ricochet against the sides of my skull. Tears of hurt feelings begin to swell up in the corner of my eyes as I listen to his voice, telling me to grow up, while my thoughts return to Kristy in the other room putting Shay down for a nap. First Luke, then Jesse.
“Damn it,” I silently mutter as I force myself to look away from Luke’s bed to glare out the small window that hangs over the night stand separating the two beds. Outside the late summer sun gleams upon the hills in the distance while a couple of cars slowly drive by on their way to work or into town for chores. Watching the ordinary life out through my window, my thoughts slowly flow back onto Hazzard’s problems of the new store in town, of the men running the store. Silently I begin to wonder what will happen if and when Hogg’s men grab a complete hold on Hazzard, of what will happen then. To the town. To the people. The town and the life I have known my whole life may be changing for the worse and yet there isn’t a thing I can do about it other than to watch it happen. To relax.
I sigh heavily as I feel the pressures begin to build upon my chest, the pressure that I had been awaken by with the attack as my thoughts flow from the problems to Luke and everyone out searching for the hijacked truck. Vivid images of Garrett’s beaten and bruised body lying helplessly lost in darkness, hooked up to tubes and needles at Tri-County Hospital flashes behind my eyes. Seeing Garrett’s beaten body sends an explosion of what if questions through me. What if Luke is caught? Will I ever see him alive again? For the first time since he has returned home, I am back wondering if I will ever see him again; if I’ll ever share his room again. “No,” I whisper aloud as the images flare from Garrett to Luke lying beaten and bruised, dead.
Glaring back at Luke’s empty bed, I stiffly stand up as a wave of helplessness washes over me, of not being able to do nothing and left behind. Fear, worry, and anger dance roughly through me as I quickly make my way to the door before I slowly open in to walk into the living room. Finding the living room dark and empty, I slowly move the back door to slowly slip out into the hot early morning. Glancing around the normal scenery of the farm, my thoughts spin rapidly through me of what I am about to do, of what I should do. To go looking for the men behind the beatings and behind the hijacked truck by myself would be stupid and to be looking for a death wish. I can’t exactly go to Luke and say I want to join in. But I can’t stay at the farm much longer filled with the emotions that continue to flair through me.
********
Feeling a new trail of sweat slowly tickling down my damp face, I slowly rub my hands across my cheeks to wipe the sweat away while glaring through the thick trees that surrounds me. Slivers of bright sun light seeps through the thickly leaved branches of the trees to display dark shadows across the sticks, logs, and bushes that are scattered across the muddy ground. Slowly walking forward through the thin woods only a few feet away from the dirt road, I allow my thoughts and emotions to flow through; searching for an answer. Running away to hide for a couple hours won’t do anything, but to worry Kristy and to upset Jesse and yet it seems like the right thing to do. Just long enough to get away and to think, to sort my thoughts out. I sigh heavily glancing around, taking in my surroundings to estimate that it should only be a few minutes before I could reach the old Indian Caves; which will be dark and quiet.
“This is a waste of time,” a thick husky voice abruptly breaks the peaceful stillness of the woods, coming from somewhere close, forcing my slow walk to a halt, “with Sarge down there and no one but Whinston and us knowing where we are, who’ll get to the sheriff? Besides, who’d miss him?”
“The fat commissioner for starters,” another gruff voice soars out as I slowly make a circle, feeling my chest tighten forcefully, “Rosco’s as loyal to him as we are to Whinston. Besides, he’s already gone asking about him.” Silence fills the air once again as I feel my weak heart forcefully pounding against my chest in fear of what I am over hearing. Of what will happen to me if I get caught. My fear grows wildly within me as my thoughts wonder back to only a half hour ago when I had quietly snuck out of the farm house. No one knew I had left and one knows where I am. I go up missing and no one will even guess where I went or what happened until I show up beaten or worse. “Besides, if Whinston wants us to guard the mine shaft, we’ll guard it…good money just to stand around.”
The other man laughs loudly to send my attention forward as I relocate where I am standing at, the old abandoned mine shaft should lie only a few feet away, just beyond a couple of layers of trees. “Damn it,” I whisper under my breath as I throw my hand over my chest as the pain explodes within me, my wheezy breathing grows louder as the beginning of an attack rushes into an attack. Quickly grabbing my inhaler out of my pocket I am abruptly reminded of Luke’s reasoning behind me not going; of an attack grabbing the bad guy’s attention while hiding out. Frustration and fear build as I fumble with my inhaler only for it to catch upon my pocket and falls loudly upon the crispy leaves that have already fallen upon the ground.
“Hear that, Trent?” the first guy asks a second after my inhaler had heavily hit the ground to send my heart roaring within me. Silence quickly fills the air as the other guy listens in while I silently bend over to pick up my inhaler and dizziness quickly rushes through me. Steadying myself against the tree, I slowly breath in three puffs of medication to push away the dizziness away. Stepping away, I listen to my breathing that continues to be tight and painful, but better.
“Hear what?” the other man says as a dark human-like shadow moves across the thin trail ahead.
“Stay here, I’ll check it out,” the first man slowly responds and I fearfully glance around before I slowly walk back, hiding behind trees as a large man with a large black gun appears within the darkness of the trees. For a long moment I listen to the silence while watching the broad muscular man approaching steadily as he glares back and forth with dark evil eyes.
“No, no,” I whisper to myself in disbelief as I watch fate growing closer and closer as he takes a couple of steps closer to me and I slowly glance around, attempting to find another hiding place. He is for sure to find me behind the tree as soon as he becomes parallel to the tree but if I move to another tree, then he will see me as well. Watching him move another step towards me, I silently wonder what Luke would do if he was in this situation, he always comes up with the smart and intelligent ideas, no matter what situation he is put in. I suppose it may have something to do with his Marine training, but he had been like that when we were kids as well. Always thinking, always smart.
“Boo!” the man’s dark eyes seem to brighten up as he comes level to where I stand resting against the tree and I quickly step back in surprise. “Nice seeing you here, Bo. The boss will love seeing you!” he laughs evilly as he brings the gun up slowly before it stops near my temple and as he goes to grab onto my shirt, I quickly turn away to begin running in between the trees. “Trent!” the guard yells out as I hear his heavy footsteps hitting the dirt a few feet behind me.
I yell out in surprise, fear, and in pain as he abruptly tackles me harshly onto the hard ground, his heavy and solid body landing directly upon me to knock the air out of me. “Thought you were smart, didn’t you? You’re not the only one who played football,” he laughs harshly as another pair of boots seem to echo somewhere close. “Get up you piece of dirt!” I grunt as he quickly pulls himself off of me and for a while I lie quietly upon the ground, feeling the pain grow within me, struggling against the pain to breath only to get a small amount of air. Darkness slowly seeps in between the edges of my eyes to send crippling amount of fear through me, fear of dying. Not from them, but from an attack; from not breathing.
“I. . .can’t. . .brea -” I cough out as another dark shadow approaches and the two men talk for a second before a sharp boot abruptly and harshly kicks me in the ribs and then in the chest before one of the figures reaches down and yanks me up.
“That’s that Duke kid,” the other voice says as he raises up his gun and as he hits me harshly in the right temple with the cold butt of the gun, I hear his evil laughter as I fall into thick darkness.