“Let her go. Stop!”
Carol pounded the guy’s back with open hands.
“Get the hell back, woman.”
The guy swatted her like a fly.
Colby had enough.
He got up and made his way to the far end and climbed down. On his way out, he eyed a pitchfork. He scooped it up and exited the rear double doors to avoid being seen by those who were getting horses. He hurried at a crouch over to the house as Carol continued to intervene, preventing the guy from taking Jenna.
That woman had no quit in her.
“I’m warning you, bitch. Back off!”
“She’s just a kid.”
“A kid that can be used.”
Colby skirted around the back of the house until he was on the west side, and the man was on the south. He slid up beside the house, his back pressed against it, and peered around the corner. The guy had already tied Jenna’s wrists to a rope that was wound around his horse’s saddle. “Get off me, woman!” He lashed out, harder this time, striking her with such force that he knocked her out. As he loomed over her, Colby crept up behind him. He was only going to knock the guy out but the crunching of gravel gave him away. Before Carol’s attacker could get his finger on the trigger of his rifle, Colby drove the pitchfork deep into his gut.
The man’s eyes bulged.
His mouth went wide.
He dropped the rifle and blood oozed out as he gripped his stomach. Jenna looked on in horror as Colby extracted the pitchfork and the man fell face forward.
Without wasting a second, he untied Jenna and told her to hide. She darted around to the west side of the house, got on her knees, then went into the crawl space below the house and shifted a piece of lattice back into place.
With her safe and out of sight, he dragged the dead man over to some bushes and covered his body with fallen branches. It was just timing. He couldn’t have one of them finding him before he was able to help Carol.
Making his way back to her, he touched her cheek.
“Carol. Hey. Wake up.”
She stirred, groaning.
In an instant, her hand lashed out and he grabbed it. “It’s me.”
Fear masked her expression. “What? Where’s Jenna?”
“She’s safe but you need to get out of here.”
She looked toward the horse and saw a trail of blood. “What have you done? What have you done?”
“Just get out of here now,” he said, scooping up the man’s AR-15.
Strangely, it felt comfortable in his hands. Familiar. He ejected the magazine, checked it, then inserted it and made sure there was a round in the chamber. His ease of knowing how to use it made him wonder who he’d been before this, and what else he knew. It was like muscle memory functioned differently from what his mind could recollect. It was ingrained, natural.
Carol placed a hand on him. “Don’t. No. Don’t do this.”
“It’s a little late for that now,” he said. She stared and the realization that the man was dead sank in. Colby made his way around to the barn and saw the two men busy collecting four horses. They were oblivious to their friend’s demise. They were shooting the shit, laughing, and had no idea he was approaching. Dropping to a knee, he positioned himself at the corner of the barn for cover and brought up the rifle. He got one of the men in his scope. A second or two of waiting until the other turned away and then he squeezed the trigger.
It was a perfect headshot.
His skull disappeared in a burst of red mist.
Startled, the horses around them took off, leaving the other one open, confused and…
Pop.
Another round echoed as Colby ended his world.
He pulled back for a second, then brought the gun around and through the scope eyed goatee and Jeb who were farther out in the field. The echo of gunshots had caught goatee’s attention. He was smarter than the others. He had Jeb climb up into the front of the saddle and he twisted the horse around and made his way back using Jeb as a human shield. “Stan. Vern!” He yelled out his two friends’ names until he saw their lifeless bodies. A conversation occurred between him and Jeb and the next thing Colby saw through the scope was him bringing up a handgun to Jeb’s head.
“Put down your rifle. You hear me!?”
No more was said as his horse trotted toward the barn.
As much as Colby tried to get the guy in the crosshair, he couldn’t. He kept moving behind Jeb. He couldn’t remain where he was without being seen. Instead, he opted for the higher ground. Maybe, he could get a clear shot of his head. Colby hurried inside the barn, ascended the ladder, and made his way toward the far door. He got down on his belly, keeping the barrel inside to avoid being spotted.
“I’ll shoot him. I will. Lay down your weapon.”
“Do as he says,” Jeb bellowed. The guy had gotten Jeb to speak on his behalf. He was worried. “Listen to him.”
Colby peered through the scope, waiting to get a bead on him.
“C’mon. C’mon,” he muttered.
The rider turned just enough that Colby could squeeze the trigger without hitting Jeb. The round struck him in the shoulder and caused the horse to rise on its rear hooves. Jeb held on to the reins but goatee came off the back, hitting the ground. Not wasting a second, Colby took another shot, this time striking the man in the temple.
And just like that, it was over.
Silence dominated.
Colby made his way down, expecting Jeb to be grateful but he was far from it.
“I told you not to come out. No matter what happened.”
“They dragged Jenna out.”
Jeb looked off toward the house. “Carol? Jenna!”
A voice in the distance replied and then Carol emerged
