Read Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure Online
Authors: Mark Tufo
Beth walked slowly with Max as he led her out of the woods and to the rendezvous point with
Sammie
and the car. From time to time they stopped as they listened for Johnny’s signal that the way was all clear. Johnny was scouting ahead to make sure
no one
,
especially her pursuer was anywhere in the vicinity.
“Surely by now he has to be gone from here?” Beth asked
,
concerned they were taking
t
o
o long to get out of the woods and that she would have to begin her journey in Worcester in the burgeoning darkness.
“Probably
,
”
Max a
nswered. “
D
o you really want to take that chance
though
?
”
He
stopped to look up at her to gauge her reaction.
She shivered. “No
.
P
erhaps you’re right.”
“Perhaps?” He muttered,
shaking
his head.
“Max
,
stop
,
”
a
hu
shed voice said over the walkie-
talkie.
Beth’s blood turned to ice.
“I hear something over in Cobbler’s
F
ield
,
”
c
ame the tinny voice
.
“L
et me check it out.
”
Beth didn’t move for fear that she would divulge her location even though she was a good hundred and fifty to
two hundred
y
ards away from the other walkie-
talkie
’
s
owner.
“Be careful, Johnnie
,
” Max replied
,
not really believing they were in any imminent danger. “Probably just a deer. Maybe we’ll be able to send a hunting party out to get it.”
The shots caught both of them by surprise
.
Beth nearly dragged Max down to the ground with her.
“Johnnie
!
Johnnie! Are you all right
!?”
h
e screamed into the radio.
Beth desperately wanted Max to be quiet and come down to the ground with her. But her voice failed her.
“Johnnie
!” he screamed
again.
Beth
’s
adrenaline kick
ed
in
—
she grabbed Max by the shin and pulled him over
.
H
e tried to kick her away as she grabbed the radio with one hand and covered his mouth with the other, using her body weight to silence his struggles.
“Is that you
,
bitch
?
”
c
ame the m
alevolent voice over the walkie-
talkie
,
sounding far more insidious through the circuitry. “Come on, one or two more screams for poor little Johnnie and I’
ll
have you
.
W
hat is it bitch
,
you to
o high and mighty to do your own handiwork
,
you have to send little kids out to do it for you?”
“Oh
,
Johnnie
,”
Max wailed, muffled through Beth’s fingers. Beth was shaking from a combination of fear and rage.
Max had finally squirmed himself l
o
ose from Beth’s death grip.
“Come on
,” he said
,
grabbing at Beth’s hand. “We’ve got to get out of here. This is the only path from where
…
from where
Johnnie was
.
”
Max
tried
his best to keep from crying. “If we stay here, he’ll find us.”
That got Beth moving. “Where are we going?” Max led her off the path and into the thickets.
“We’ll take a short
cut to where the car is
.
”
“Is it safe?”
“It’s safer than staying here
,” Max said
without ever turning to look at her. Both walked crouched over
,
expecting at any moment to come face to face with their pursuer. The radio crackled to life.
“You’re really starting to piss me off
.
W
hy don’t you just come out and get this over with
?
” The man stated, almost matter of factly.
“Why don’t you just die
?
” Beth
replied
with as much hatred as she could muster, before she shut the radio off.
“That’s the spirit
,”
the
man
shouted
far t
o
o
close for comfort.
Beth and Max moved
towards
the sound of the man’s voice, though she wished they were moving away from him. Max
quietly
explained that he was directly in the
way of where they wanted to go
and that they would have to go around him. The plan was going well until they heard a scream.
“Johnnie!” Max said in a loud whisper.
“Hey
,
I’ve got some company, you should come and visit
,
”
t
he
man shouted.
“Oh my God!” Beth cried.
“He’s got Johnnie, what do we do?” Max plead
ed
. Fear sweat dripping from his brow.
Beth knew what she must do, though she didn’t want to. She began to move in the direction of Johnnie’s whimpers which were becoming clearer and clearer. Max caught up to her and grabbed her hand.
“You can’t
,
he’ll kill you both
,” he said
,
looking into her eyes.
“I can’t let him have him
,
” she answered.
“W
hat
kind of person would that make me
?
You have to stay here
,
Max
.
I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you
.
I’m the reason Johnnie is in danger, I can’t just leave.”
Max was torn, his best friend was in mortal danger and one of the only grow-ups he liked was about to put herself in the same situation.
“Max
,
whatever happens, promise you won’t follow me
,” Beth said
as she kne
lt down to look him eye to eye.
Max didn’t answer. She shook him a little fiercer than she meant to. “Promise me
,
Max!”
s
he begged.
Grudgingly
,
he answered, “I promise
,”
h
is lip quivering.
Beth walked closer to
ward
her boogeyman, occasionally looking over her shoulder to make sure that Max was honoring his promise. But he had left, running in the opposite direction. Beth was saddened, but not completely without understanding
.
S
he didn’t want to hear herself
get
shot
,
either. Beth was approaching the edge of the woods,
and t
he clearing up ahead, Cobbler
’
s
Field, she assumed. And twenty-
five yards from where she stood was her pursuer, with the quaking form of Johnnie at his feet.
“You let him go and I’ll come out!” Beth yelled, the words were hers but she didn’t feel like it was her talking
.
H
er legs were like lead, her heart raced, her mind
was
going
a mile a minute.
“You come out and I’ll let hi
m go!”
h
e responded. Even from here she could see his yellow stained grin. Beth hesitated. “I’ve got no use for the boy
;
you show yourself and he’s free to go. What choice do you really have?” He smiled again. He knew he had her and if he pressed he could have the both of them. “Now
!” he shouted
. “Or my good disposition might change, I’d hate to accidently put a bullet in his leg
,”
Johnnie whined. Beth came out of the small copse of woods, her legs moved but not of her own volition. The man’s smile got even bigger. His camouflage clothes torn in many places and two weeks of growth on his face made the man
look
that much more menacing than she could have imagined. With Beth’s emergence from the woods, the man’s attention was completely drawn away from Johnnie.
“Johnnie
,
run!” Beth yelled.
“Yeah
,
J
ohnnie
,
run
,”
t
he man echoed
,
n
ever taking his eyes off of Beth.
Johnnie seemed to be frozen. “Get
out of here Johnnie,
FUCKING
run!” Beth screamed. The expletive seemed to have broken through the ice. Johnnie slowly rose and looked warily at the man and imploringly at Beth before he ran away as fast as his legs could take him.
“Damn
,
you’re fine
,”
t
he man said as he rubbed his forehead with the barrel of his gun. “It
’s
such a damn waste to just kill you.” He leered at her. Beth felt violated merely from his stare. “Maybe I’ll have a little fun with you first
.
H
ell
,
maybe I’ll keep you as a pet for a while. Beth involuntarily convulsed, she had hoped that the end would come swiftly, not as some extended nightmare. “But then I did see what you did to my brother, you’d kill me the moment you had an opportunity.”
“
I would
,” Beth said
as she stopped ten yards away. She figured if she could get him mad enough or at least a little concerned that she would kill him, he’d just finish her off. At least that way she knew Max and the others would give her a proper burial.
“Put the gun down
,”
c
ame
Sammie’s
voice.
“What the fuck is this!”
t
he
man yelled
,
swiveling to his left where the voice came from.
“Put the gun down or I’ll shoot
,”
t
he
boy said
,
his voice
cracking a little from the stress.
“Yeah
,
alright
.
I’ll put the gun down ‘cause of some squeaky voiced teen told me to
,”
t
he man laughed.
The boy gave a warning shot, t
he noise was deafening, birds flew from trees
,
dirt spewed up from the foot of the man. His cracked grin
fell away
.
“Listen
,
mister, at this range and with a scope, I can put a bullet in you
r
belly button
,”
Sammie
yelled.
“Hold on
,
kid
,” the man said
as he turned
toward
the woods. “I’ve got no beef with you, I just came for the girl.”
“You can’t have her
,”
h
e replied.
“She killed my brother!”
h
e yelled, rage and anguish etched on his face. “She has to pay!”
“Mister
,
if you don’t put the gun down, I’m going to gut shoot you and leave you for the crows
,”
Sammie
answered.
The man was shaking with rage as he bent to put the gun down and his hands halfway up.
“This isn’t over!”
h
e yelled. “Not by a long
shot. First
,
I’m gonna track this bitch down again and I’m gonna take my sweet ass time carving her up like a Christmas goose.
Then I’m going to find your little fort and kill every
one of you little fucks
!” he screamed
.
S
pittle
flew
from his mouth as he over
enunciated
each word.