As he neared the top of the hill, Jon heard two voices talking, confirming his fears. At least one other person, a man from the sound of the voice, had come to his cabin. Jon got to the top of the hill and ducked behind a nearby tree when he saw two men standing outside. One was the guy who had been down by the road messing with his bike. The other man wore a red baseball cap on top of his head and shared a similar build with Jon.
“You think we’ll be able to get it open?” the mechanic who’d been working on Jon’s bike asked.
“I hope so,” baseball cap said. “If he went out of his way to lock that chest up, there’s no telling what’s in there.”
Jon’s blood boiled. He already felt violated by the men being on his property, but this took it to another level. He thought about the cigar box with the picture of his family sitting inside the top of that chest. Jon wanted to burst from behind the tree right then, run at the guys, and take their heads off with his bare hands. But he knew he had to be smarter than that.
“Let me know,” the mechanic said. “I’m going to run down and check on Seth and get another look at that bike.”
Yeah, you go check on Seth, asshole.
The mechanic made his way back down the driveway, and Jon made sure to stay out of sight. He thought of tossing his knife at the guy, but refrained.
Be patient.
But he could only be so patient. It wouldn’t take long for the mechanic to realize that Seth hadn’t fallen asleep. Jon had to make a move quickly, and without alerting the man inside the cabin.
Jon kneeled and picked up one of the rocks that made up the driveway. Rearing back, he tossed it behind the guard standing in his driveway. It landed in the tall grass and the man turned around, facing away from Jon.
Stepping out from behind the tree, Jon drew his knife from his waist. He could have shot the man with the assault rifle, but he opted for the quieter, but riskier, option. He raised it up by the blade and aimed, then threw it as hard as he could, just as he had practiced for hours and hours on a tree behind the cabin. The knife soared through the air, sticking in the man’s back. He screamed, and at the same time, the mechanic called up the driveway, apparently having discovered Seth’s corpse next to Jon’s bike.
Jon raced across the driveway to the squirming body and pulled the knife out of the man’s back. Blood seeped from the wound and the man cried out again. Jon grabbed the back of his head by the hair and ran the blade across his throat, soaking the ground beneath it in blood.
“What the fuck?” the mechanic asked.
Jon aimed the assault rifle down the driveway at the mechanic. Before the mechanic could react, Jon pulled the trigger, hitting the mechanic in the chest from around twenty yards. The impact shot him backward, and the mechanic’s back hit the gravel driveway.
More gunshots rang out, but this time they didn’t come from Jon’s gun. Windows of his cabin shattered, the shots coming from the inside. Jon dived to the ground, covering his head as the shots kept coming. His supply shed stood only a short distance from where he lay, and Jon crawled across the grass and got behind it.
The gunshots stopped.
Jon breathed heavily as he sat with his back against the back of the shed before standing. He peeked around the side of the shed and caught only a glimpse of the man inside before he shot again. The bullet ricocheted off the metal shed, and Jon ducked behind it again for cover.
“I’m only giving you one chance!” Jon called. “Get the hell out of my cabin, or you’re gonna die like your friends!”
No response.
Jon sighed. “We don’t have to do this! Three dead is enough!”
Again, the man said nothing.
“Alright,” Jon said to himself. “This is how you wanna play it?”
Jon heard something hit the ground, bouncing with several metal clicks. He poked his head around the shed one more time and saw the grenade land near the dead guard’s body.
Jon’s eyes went wide.
“Shit!”
He dived into the grass behind the shed and slid down the slight hill there, letting go of the assault rifle and losing it in the brush in the process. He found cover as the grenade exploded. The explosion sent a ringing boom into his ears, even though he had covered them when he’d taken cover.
Metal shards landed around him, and Jon waited before looking up. The grenade had not only blown a hole in the side of the shed, but also decimated the corpse of the guard.
Jon’s ears rang, and the blast had disoriented him, but he managed to stand. He heard a door slam at the back of his cabin and watched a man dart from it, holding guns in each hand. He only caught a brief glimpse of the bald man with a goatee before the man aimed a shotgun in Jon’s direction, forcing Jon to hit the ground again. The gunfire lasted for only a moment before stopping, and then Jon got up. He rose slowly, assuming the man had run away but not sure.
Drawing his pistol, Jon climbed up next to the half-destroyed shed and looked in the direction the man had gone, prepared to go after him.
But then he looked at the cabin and saw the orange light through the broken windows. Smoke billowed up out of the chimney and through the same windows, as well as the open back door.
15
Jon jogged out in front of the shed, where he had a view behind the house to where the arsonist had run off to. Then he
