Colt reached under the dog, one arm under his hips and the other under his shoulders trying not to hit the wound. Lifting up he grunted, “Damn dog,
you weigh more than you look!”
Colt got him to the cabin and managed to get him to the floor without dropping him. He straightened out Max’s paws and moved his head to what looked like a more comfortable position. Colt stood turning to Beth, “You did great! I thought you were like a scientist doctor not a medical doctor. How did you know how to do that?”
Beth went to the kitchen to wash up and looked over her shoulder to Colt, “Colt, we all start out with the typical
,
I want to be a medical doctor but after a while I knew I wanted to cure the disease not fix them. So I changed my direction, but I had all the basics of the medical by then.”
Colt nodded, “Yeah that makes sense, either way
…
you did really good!” She smiled at him, “I think Ceara had her doubts, but thank you.”
Colt grabbed a glass from the cabinet and got a drink, “I think I am going to go let Ceara and Charlie know everything is okay, do you want to come?” Beth shook her head no as she dried her hands, “No I want to stay close
in case something goes wrong.”
“Ok, I’ll be back.”
Colt made his way over to Charlie and Ceara’s cabin, “Knock knock!” He walked through the door to see Charlie and Ceara cleaning the cabin, he knew Charlie was doing what he could to distract Ceara. Ceara turned to Colt’s voice, “Is Maximus okay?? Where i
s he? Did Beth get the bullet?”
Colt nodded, “Yes, in our cabin, and yes… we thought you would want to come see him. But just so you know, Maximus is pretty drugged up but he is okay.”
Ceara nodded, “But he will be ok, won’t he?”
Colt smiled, “Yeah, Beth did really good, she said she could tell that the bullet stayed in one piece and she got it all. Pretty impressive if you ask me.”
Ceara looked to Charlie, “I’m going over!”
Charlie smiled, “Right behind you.”
Ceara ran out the door bo
lting over to the other cabin,
Charlie looked at Colt, “Ok right behind may have been wrong.”
Both men laughed as they walk
ed to the other cabin together.
They walked in to see Ceara softly petting and talking to Maximus as Beth sat on the couch. Cea
ra turned to Beth, “Thank you!”
Nodding her head Beth said with a comforting smile on her face, “Wait till ya see my bill.” Wanting to leave the two of them together Beth got up and walked over to the door just as Colt and Charlie were mak
ing their way through the door.
“He’s going to be right as rain in a couple of days but until then Charlie
,
I want to keep him here resting until he can at least get up and go to the bathroom.”
The look in Charlie’s face was that of being very grateful but scared all at the same time. “Relax Charlie. He will be alright,” she said while she put her hand on his shoulder.
Charlie relaxed, “Thanks Beth.” He wanted to try to get things off what was going on, “So how did the trip to town go?”
Ceara kept petting Maximus, “Oh man that was intense! We ran into deadheads just about five miles out and Alden had me do target practice!” She smiled, “He said I did good!
”
“
Then we got to the farm and that was scary, the family that lived there must have locked the rest of their family in the cellar but one of them must have gotten bit because they turned too. Beth shot all three as they climbed out a window trying to get us. There was a lot in the farm house, supplies and food!”
As if remembering
all they had found,
she perked up, “If you guys want, you can go get it all. All the bags are still in Alden’s truck!”
As the guys headed out the door Ceara called after the
m, “The Gummy Bears are Mine!!”
Both men laughed and continued out the door. Ceara smiled at Beth, “I’ll share with you, t
hat is if you like gummy bears”
Beth had not had gummy bears since she was a kid when her and Mary would eat them by the hand
full
underneath the swings at the playground. Snickering out loud, “Ya, I must say there have been a few decapitated gummy bears that never made it out alive. Especially the red
ones!! Those are my favorites.”
Looking down at Maximus Beth noticed that his one eye started to
open. “Hey boy…. it’s ok pal.”
He began to whimper just a little and Beth went right over to the sedatives. She retrieved the first syringe that she used when Beth had given him the dose the knocked him out. However this time she would give him a little less but not right away. Beth got it all prepared and placed a cap over the needle then placed it in her back pocket. “Ceara, you stay with your pup and I will go help the guys bring in the groceries. I don’t want
him being on his own yet.”
When Beth got outside she passed the men
as they made
on their way getting back into the cabin. “There’s one more box left Beth if you can get it.”, h
ollered Colt over his shoulder.
“Got it!” After picking up the box, then turning to go back inside Beth stopped dead in her tracks. She could
have
sworn she heard something, however after standing there for just a
m
oment
she realized that it was probably just her nerves then co
ntinued on back into the cabin.
Alden kept his eyes forward as they moved through the woods. Tabitha couldn’t figure out how he was moving so fast yet wasn’t making a sound. She on the other hand, no matter how hard she tried seemed to step on every stick and leaf that was on the ground. To her
,
the loud crunching she was sure was going to give them away.
Tonto was in the lead;
every now and then
,
they could see his tail but no more than that. They reached the clearing where Charlie had shot the first guy. Alden held up at the tree line and scanned the area. The blood trail he was following went straight across. The man that Charlie had shot still laid in a heap, crows and buzzards fighting over the remains but there was no sign of a deer.
He looked left then right, “Damn that’s a big clearing, ain’t no way around without losing time and the trail.
”
Tonto was sitting next to Alden; Tabitha was behind him on one knee
,
panting. She spoke in a whisper, “I’m thirty years younger than you and you ain’t even sweating.”
Alden turned and smiled, “That’s
because
I’ve been doing this
thirty years longer than you.”
She shook her head, “true enough
,
I guess. So we follow
, right?”
Alden’s eyes stared forward, “Tell me Tabitha
,
with what you know happened, what d
oes not seem right about this?”
Tabitha looked and looked all she saw was the dead man being eaten by birds and she thought that was just gross. “I don’t know
,
I neve
r seen birds eat a man before.”
Alden looked at her, “It’s not a pretty sight is it, but that’s not what I was asking?”
Not waiting for another answer he went on, “The deer that was killed is gone. That tells us that his so called friends
,
don’t give a rat’s ass about their own. Which makes them very unorganized and undisciplined, that works in our favor. We’re not following will wait them out.”
Tabitha’s eyes got big and she started to yell, ‘WHAT THE HELMMMPH.”
Alden had put his hand over her mouth pushing her down on the ground and whispering, “You remember when we first met. I told you to keep your voice down or I’d leave you for the deadheads.”
Tabitha shook her head that she understood but her eyes said she was still pissed. “Well same thing applies here. Only this time it’s not only the deadheads, it’s the enemy. You give away our position and you’ll find ou
t how fucking fast I can move, got it?”
As he pulled his hand away Tabitha spoke quietly but with anger, “Those fuckers tried to kill Colt, Charlie and me. And they would have raped me before they killed me or left me for deaders bait.”
Alden nodded “I know this. I know you want your revenge too
,
but I ain’t about to go running across this field like Rooster Cogburn from the movie guns a blazing. Besides I don’t have a horse and I don’t think yo
u could carry me on your back.”
Tabitha
couldn’t help but to giggle at the visual of Alden riding piggyback
, “So what’s the plan?”
“You are going to build a little fire like I taught you just enough so they can see it right here at the edge. It’s getting late and
t
he
ir
buddy has gotten to them by now if the deadheads haven’t gotten him. This does two things for us. One, any blood trail he has left is like ringing a dinner bell for the deadheads, they’ll follow the blood. Second, their buddy tells them about the two guys and a chick over yonder and that with a group they could take them out to avenge the death of their friends, plus he’ll mention the
c
abins.”
Tabitha looked at him with disbelief, “You’re going to use me as bait?”
Alden looked at her, “well we could go home and wait for them or we could sting them a little and make them think. They may move on or they will wait till day light to attack us at the cabins and either on
e of those works in our favor.”
Tabitha looked across the field seeing the sun starting to set she understood what he was planning. Tabitha knew the moon would be
about half
full which would give Alden light, she just didn’t like those assholes knowing she was there. “Okay Alden, but what if they get across to me?
”
Alden had turned and was already climbing a tree. “No worries Tabby, Tonto’s down there.” Tonto
laid
down next to her and she looked at him, “You know
your owner is a real asshole.”
Tonto licked her hand
and dropped his on his paws as if sleeping, but his eyes were wide open scanning the meadow
.
The sun had set and Tabitha had a small fire going and was sitting away from it. She figured if the bad guys came they’d shoot at the fire first. She watched as Tonto had laid down behind a tree and seemed to be looking across the field. Taking his lead she laid down
too;
then pulled a log up to lay her rifle on. Tabitha had taken the time before the sunset to make sure she knew how to change a clip and ensure where the safety was. She would look up and see Alden perched in the tree. He was so high up she thought, “Damn if they get him he’ll bre
ak a hip from that height.”
Suddenly Alden gave a slight whistle. Tonto’s head popped up and his ears stood straight. Tabitha watched, “Those dumb fuckers are using flashlights. How
fucking stupid are these guys.”
Tabitha looked up at Alden she could barely see him. Looking to Tonto, “I’ll wait for him to take the first shot.” Tonto looked and it seemed like he was smiling at her. Alden watched as the group of men and
women moved through the woods.
He could hear their voices as they spoke amongst each other telling how they were going
to light up the little fucker
s that had killed their friends.
The moon was full and bright and he could see their flashlights waving around, but it was the group to his right that caught his eye. He couldn’t make out exactly how many
,
but he figured seven or more deadheads had picked up the scent and were moving towards the group. He knew there was no way to warn Tabitha so it would have to be quick ten shots from him, whatever she got off and they were gone. The group reached the body and one of the girls screamed when her flashlight hit him, ‘OH MY GOD THEY ATE HIS FUCKING EYES!”
Another man yelled at her, “SHUT THE FUCK
UP THERE’S A FIRE OVER THERE.”
Tabitha was shaking but she had to trust Alden. The group spread out in a line and moved slowly farther into the field. The group was crouching down now trying to get across the field. Alden watched as the deadheads had turned and were now coming up from behind. He leveled his rifle and chambered the first round, picking his target a large man in the center. He pulled the trigger and the man’s head exploded.
The loud bang from Alden’s first shot startled Tabitha. She had never heard a gun that loud. His second shot was no quieter as she saw a man on the far left drop. Tabitha aimed for the right side and pulled the trigger. Seven shots were gone in a second, “Shit,” she said as she realized she had the M-16 on full auto. She could hear them yelling “GET DOWN” and could see them all dropping into the weeds. Tabitha slipped the selector switch to semi and picked a target, a woman with what looked like a shot gun. She fired and the woman
screamed. “YOU FUCKING BITCH!”