sunburned hunter. With rifle in hand and my trusty cat, Jerky, we set out to find dinner. We walked up the river for about a mile and didn't see any signs of life. 'Let's go up this draw a bit to see if we can find a snake,' I muttered to Jerky. The cat raced ahead of me, but looked back every so often to make sure I was following.
Ten minutes later, Jerky stopped, hissed and turned to me.
'What?' I whispered, crouching down. I inched my way closer to her and hid behind a small clump of cacti. 'Oh crap,' I mumbled looking out across a boulder field. 'There must be about fifty of Madeline's boys. Come on, Jerky. We better go tell the others.'
On the way back to camp, I luckily spotted a good-sized fat rattler. One shot and we had dinner. I looked over my shoulder, hoping that none of Madeline's Marauders had heard the shot.
I jogged back to camp with a big snake wrapped around my neck. Jerky kept up with me. As soon as I made it to our camp, I tossed the snake to Sela and told her I'd be right back.
'Jack,' I said, out of breath. 'We have a small problem.'
He motioned for me to sit down. 'What's wrong?'
'Madeline's got a group camped not very far from here. Maybe two miles.'
'Do you think they plan to attack us?' he asked handing me a bottle of water.
'I couldn't tell. I mean, I couldn't even decide if they were in fact actually Madeline's men. I just figured as such. They sort of had that…um…I don't know what to call it. A look.'
'We don't want to panic everyone. I'll take a small group up and we'll keep an eye on them all night. If they attack, we'll be able to come up from behind them.'
'Sounds good. You be careful,' I said.
He nodded and walked off.
The evening wore on without incident. Campfires dotted the large field. People were singing, laughing and relaxing. Many folks had retired early. I told Sela what I had discovered and she immediately loaded both rifles as well as carried a Glock with her. After a while, she fell asleep in front of the fire. 'Come on, Sela. Time you hit the hay.' She stretched and stood up. 'Are you coming?' she asked, crawling into the tent.
'I'll be there in a few minutes.'
She left the flap open on the tent. Jerky slipped inside.
As the fire died down to glowing embers, I watched the area around our campsite overcome with darkness. My eyes kept opening and closing. Just as I was about to give it up and call it a night, I felt a sharp point digging into my back.
'You don't want to do this,' I said, calmly.
I could feel the tip of the knife inch into my back a little farther. I knew it wasn't piercing the skin, but it wouldn't take much to finish the job.
'Yes, I do. It's part of the game and Miss Madeline said I'd win all the…um…stuff,' I heard Bobby say nervously. I could tell he was on the verge of crying.
'She's wrong,' I said.
'Miss Madeline is never wrong. I know. She told me she was a noble queen.'
From the edge of the darkness, I heard a whispered command. 'Do it!'
I could feel the knife wiggle.
'Bobby, can I see the knife?'
'I can't show it to you. You're not supposed to see it.'
Another urgently whispered directive came from the shadows; it was closer. 'Now, you little shit. Do it!'
'Listen, Bobby. If you kill me, terrible things will happen and everyone loses the game…even you.'
I felt the knife withdraw and Bobby came around front of me. 'I really don't like this game,' he said, handing me the twisted, evil-looking dagger. I gingerly took it. There was a strange sensation emanating from the handle and a slight tinge of glowing red to the blade.
'Sit down, Bobby. Thanks for not hurting me. You did the right thing,' I said, patting the ground next to me.
'I didn't really want to do this,' he said, crying.
Suddenly, Jackson burst from the black veil of night. He had a machete in his hand. I put my arm around Bobby to protect him.
A loud gunshot roared across the campsite, disturbing the soft guitar playing from the camp next to us. Jackson dropped the machete a foot away from Bobby and me. He fell facedown into the glowing embers. I jumped up and removed his smoldering face from the fire. Vonnie came rushing over and held Bobby.
Another individual whom I didn't recognize emerged from the shadows. He sprang toward me with long, deadly fingernails that tried to claw at my face.
I grabbed his wrists and heard a high-pitched girly voice.
'Die, Heckel. Just die, once and for all.'
I recognized Madeline's voice immediately.
'Roger, stop it,' Bobby yelled.
Sela came out of the tent, pointing the Glock at the assailant.
'Who's Roger?' I asked, trying to fend off my attacker. I finally grappled my attacker to the ground and pinned the wrists.
'Roger's my eyes and ears,' Madeline said.
'Well, I say we put them out,' Sela said leaning over him with the Glock pointed at the center of his head.
'Wait,' I said.
Before I could ask another question, multiple gunshots rang out at the northern sector of the field. Men ran toward the commotion. Sela spun around and quickly crawled into our tent.
'Ah, that would be my little welcoming party,' Madeline said.
I bent down screaming into Roger's face. 'Madeline, we will end your reign and triumph over the evil you spread.'
'Blah, blah, blah. Since my boy Bobby wasn't man enough to end things, I guess I will just have to do it myself. You can't find good help these days,' Madeline said, followed with a high, piercing laugh.
Screams and yelling from the fight continued. 'Come on, Heckel. We need to go help,' Sela said, emerging from the tent with two rifles. 'Put this poor soul out of his misery. Having Madeline in your head has to be worse than death.'
I let go of Roger's wrists and put my hands on the side of his head. Immediately, he tried to claw at me, but then went still. He started shaking violently; his body thrashed from side to side nearly bucking me off. I could feel Madeline's power inside fighting to maintain control.
'Madeline, I command you to leave this man,' I shouted. Sela stood behind me, pointing her Glock at him. Roger began foaming at the mouth. 'Roger, stay with us,' I screamed. Suddenly, his eyes burned bright, my hands flew backward and a second later, his head exploded. Blood and shards of his brain matter splattered in my face and hit Sela as well. A faint giggling trailed off into the dark. Madeline had no further use for Roger and saw to it that he wouldn't be helping us.
'Come on,' Sela said, wiping her face. 'It's over here. We need to go help with the fight.'
I looked down at the sad remains of Roger and said a small prayer.
'Let's go, Heckel,' Sela said pulling my arm while she offered me a rifle.
I turned to her with a calm expression on my face and said, 'Sela, I think it's best if you stay here.'
She looked at me as if I had sprouted a large clump of broccoli on top of my head. She gave me a sarcastic look and was about to say something when I took the rifle from her and said, 'You need to stay here with Vonnie and Bobby. Your days of fighting are over for a while. I can't lose you or our baby.' She was about to resist when Vonnie came over and said, 'He's right. It wouldn't be fair to your child.'
Sela put her hand to her abdomen and smiled. 'Oh my.'
'What is it?' I asked.
