Rick mulled over the situation for a few minutes. “How about them Cubs? I think we can win the division this year.”
A burst of laughter roared from Tom. “Rick, I know less about football than I do about women.”
Rick chuckled. “I guess so since the Cubs are a baseball team.”
“Uncle George, please slow down. You’re going to kill both of us. Let the truck go.”
He screamed over the engine’s roar. “No, it has to be the gang from Ashland! They killed your family and my wife!”
Kate only heard ‘no.’ She’d tried to stop her uncle from roaring out of their hiding spot after the old pickup. They only had two rusty .22 revolvers and couldn’t match the gang’s firepower.
Kate tapped her uncle on the back. “Stop!”
The ATV came to a halt. Kate unloaded on her uncle. “Uncle George, we only have these dinky pistols. The gang has AKs and ARs. They’ll chew us to pieces. Besides, I’m certain they turned off this road a couple of miles back. We should have run into them by now.”
“Why didn’t you say so back when you knew that?”
“You’re trying to attack people and aren’t sure who they are. Could you live with yourself if they’re innocent?”
Her uncle replied. “No one else has a running vehicle but the gang. It has to be them, and I’m going to kill them. Don’t you remember when your parents were butchered?”
Kate beat on her uncle’s back. “Don’t you dare question me on vengeance for my parent’s deaths! I’m not going to kill everyone I meet just to maybe kill their murderers!”
“Show me where you think they turned off or get your ass off this ATV!”
Kate didn’t know where the people had turned off the road but knew her uncle was blinded by rage, so she led him back to the second turnoff on the right. She hoped they would run up the mountain on a wild goose chase and give him time to cool off.
A few minutes later, her uncle yelled. “There they are!”
Tom and his team were all too distracted by the drama going on in the truck's front and back to notice the ATV following them after turning onto Corral Creek Road. Tom slowed abruptly and drove off the road into a stand of trees. “Sorry Rick, I just remembered to stop and make sure we aren’t being followed.”
Before Tom could say the next sentence, they heard the small engine's muffled sound as it passed the truck on the road. Tom got out of the vehicle and said, “Grab your rifles and backpacks and be ready to fight.”
Tom and Rick moved closer to the road and heard the ATV return toward them at a slower speed. Tom saw a person stop and look at the faint marks on the road where the truck had thrown some dirt and leaves on the edge of the road as Tom turned off the highway.
The engine revved up, and Tom yelled, “Here they come!”
The two people on the ATV wore helmets and had holsters on their tactical vests. The one behind the driver had a pistol ready to shoot and searched the surroundings as they drove slowly through the woods. The driver stopped and pointed in the direction of the truck. The ATV’s engine died, and Tom heard the driver yell, “We found the raiding bastards! Shoot them on sight!”
Tom drew a bead on the passenger since a tree blocked his shot at the driver. Several shots rang out before he could shoot. Tom saw the driver shoot, and Brenda fell. Rage filled Tom as he pulled his trigger several times and riddled the man with his gunfire. The passenger on the back of the ATV fell to the ground just as Tom began shooting. “I got both of the bastards.”
Tom stooped and kicked the dead man who’d been driving the ATV and then ran on to check on the women and Rick. Rick was ahead of him and dropped to his knees on the other side of the truck. Tom rounded the hood and saw Brenda in Rick’s arms. Tom’s heart sank to his stomach.
Rick held her bloody head close to his chest. “She’s dead! Brenda is dead! I’ll kill all of the bastards!”
Tom rushed past Rick but didn’t see Jackie. He looked around and still didn’t see her. Then he heard a moan coming from under the truck. “Did you hear that?”
“Tom, help … me.”
Tom dropped to his knees and found Jackie’s outstretched arms reaching for him. He pulled her to him and saw the blood on her right thigh. “Rick, grab a blanket from the truck.”
Rick was still in shock and didn’t move. Tom jumped up and retrieved two blankets. He rolled one up and placed it under her head. He put the other one, so it covered her except the wound. Tom cut Jackie’s pants leg to reveal the bullet wound. “Hey, we’re in luck. It’s a through and through and missed the bone.”
Jackie’s eyes opened. “Then why does my head hurt?”
Tom kept the pressure on her wounds until they stopped bleeding and then examined her head. “You hit your head on the truck when you fell. I’m putting Wound Seal on the wounds now that I stopped the blood flow. You’ll be up and dancing in no time.”
“That’s great since I’m the only girl in Oregon who can’t dance. I’m looking forward … damn, that hurts. What are you doing?”
“I just bound the wound tighter to make sure it doesn’t bleed on the way up the hill.”
Jackie gasped, and her eyes grew large. “Gun,” she said and pointed behind Tom.
Tom whirled around, saw the ATV passenger reaching for a pistol, and raced the fifteen feet to the person on his hands and knees. He was
