Ever Onward (17 page)

Flame was just back from a little
belly bumping action of her own. There was a fast flowing stream
back where they’d parked their bikes and Flame had wanted to go for
a swim. As usual, Blade had stayed with her.

From his vantage-point on the hill,
Snake had watched through his binoculars as she and Blade had gone
at it on the grassy bank. Sitting astride the prone biker, the
magnified view of her breasts bouncing back and forth had given
Snake a tremendous boner.

“Well?”, Flame demanded, kneeling
beside him, using her T-shirt to dry her flat stomach. The leather
vest she was wearing barely covered her upper body. “You going to
take them out or what?”

Snake knew what she was doing, for
even his limited brain caught the double meaning behind her words.
But Blade was standing right behind her, silent and deadly as ever,
and Blade was one fucker Snake didn’t want on his bad side.
Especially not now with the fucking hayseeds right below
him!

He handed her the glasses. Tossing the
shirt away, she lifted them to her eyes. The vest parted and Snake
sucked in his breath. Flame smiled knowingly.

“Great view, eh?”

“Ya, real nice!”, Snake growled, his
eyes devouring her. “But they’re too fucking hard to get
at!”

Flame’s green eyes twinkled wickedly.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Blade can
handle them just fine. But then, you’ve already seen that, haven’t
you, Snake?”

Lust raged with anger inside his
brain, coursing through him like a line of coke. Anger won. He
slapped Flame and sent her sprawling. Suddenly a knife was at his
throat.

“Back off, Snake,” Blade hissed. “We
both know she’s a cock-teaser. She gets off on it. That’s cool. She
might even give you some. That’s cool too --- if she says so.” The
knife moved down to Snake’s crotch. “But hit her again and I’ll cut
it off. Clear?”

“Ya! It’s fucking clear! Now, put that
sticker away and let’s go kick some fucking ass!”

The knife hovered for a moment, then
twirled in Blade’s hand before vanishing. Something close to a
smile flitted across his sharp features. He turned to Flame. “Get
your buns down the hill and see what’s keeping Bull.”

Flame, her green eyes flashing, tossed
her red locks over her shoulder. “Rings is probably giving him one
of her extra long blow-jobs.” Her gaze went to Snake. “The skinny
bitch will go down on anything.”

“Move it!”, Blade growled.

Flame sauntered down the hill, her
tight ass doing wonders for her old Levies.

The morning dawned bright and clear.
By the time Josh and the rest were ready, the sun was already
burning off the mist from the mountain tops. Packs on and boots
tied, they left the Ranger’s cabin. As a precaution, all now went
well armed, including a surly, grumbling Bert.

Since the incident at the roadblock
back in Vermont, Josh had been forced to change his mind about
handguns. He now carried a Beretta 9 mm. in a shoulder holster and
a .22 Backup strapped to the inside of his ankle. The Backup held
five shots and weighed almost nothing. The Beretta was just over
two pounds and held a fifteen round clip. Two extra clips for the
Beretta were on his belt and several others in his pack --- along
with two boxes of shells for both the handgun and the rifle. Josh
didn’t like the carrying the weight, but liked a whole lot less the
idea of facing another Fonzie or Snake empty handed.

Billy and Eddy both carried .357 Colt
revolvers. Billy’s was a monstrous nine-inch long Python, while
Eddy had chosen a smaller, lighter, but just as deadly King Cobra.
The day after leaving North Conway, Josh had asked Brad and Bert to
choose a handgun from the box full they’d picked up back in Crown
Point. Both had picked the smallest guns there. Brad took a Glock 9
mm. Compact with a seventeen round clip. Reluctantly Bert had
picked up a stubby little Mustang 9 mm. Pocketlite.

If the handguns felt strange for the
adults, it felt even stranger for the fathers to see their young
sons with .22 Browning target pistols strapped to their waists; but
as the song said: ‘The times they are a changing’. The boys had
their bows with them as well. Tina had taken a small 9 mm. like
Brad’s. She still had Earl’s old .303 and all the men except Bert
also carried a rifle.

Feeling like an extra for an old John
Wayne movie, Josh cradled his Winchester 30-30 and attempted his
terrible impression of The Duke. Instinctively Josh knew that humor
was needed to help wash away the horror that they were all still
coming to grips with.

“Walll, Pilgrim. Tams a-waistin’! Head
‘em up ‘n move ‘em out!”

Amid groans and chuckles,
the seven hikers followed him outside. Carrying all this firepower,
however, turned out to be a very prudent move; for no sooner had
they started for the trailhead, than Snake and Company opened up on
them from the hill.

“Shit!”, Snake cursed, pushing Rings
away from him and grabbing his rifle. “The fuckers are all outside!
Blade! Bull! Get the fuck up! They’re moving!”

Without waiting for the others, Snake
began to fire. He’d planned to be up with the sun, move up close to
the cabin and blast the shit out of them when they stepped outside.
That had been the plan. What had happened however, was that Rings
had brought back booze instead of beer, and the rest, as they say,
is history. Now, his head pounding from the booze and his crotch
sore from Rings’ oral hygiene lesson, he found it hard to keep the
rifle from shaking.

The rest of his merry band hadn’t
fared much better. Bull was still passed out in his sleeping bag.
Blade was having one hell of a time getting his second boot on, but
apparently wouldn’t leave home with out it. Flame, however, had no
such hang-up. Standing there in the early morning light clad only
in pink panties, she began firing her pearl handled Smith &
Wesson. Her long legs spread, the heavy .357 held in the classic
two-handed grip, she looked like Dirty Harry’s idea of a wet dream.
The distance, however, proved too great even for that famed weapon
and the eight tiny targets soon disappeared into the woods. She
emptied the heavy gun anyway.

“After them!”, Snake roared. “Get the
fuck after them!”

Blade, both boots now on, walked over
to Snake.

“They got no wheels, Snake. They aint
going nowhere. Besides, aint you heard? What goes up, must come
down. All we got to do is sit on the front porch and pick them
off.”

“Listen, Shit-For-Brains!”, Snake
bellowed. “They were all carrying packs, right? Just what the fuck
do you think was in them? Your used condoms? Food, that’s what!
Tents, stoves, mother-fucking sleeping bags! They can probably stay
up in these fucking mountains for weeks!”

Blade shrugged, unperturbed by Snake’s
ravings. “So let them. Who gives a shit anyway?”

Snake smiled warmly and moved closer.
“I do.” He then kneed Blade in the groin. His legs crossed in
agony, Blade fell to the ground. Snake laughed and drew his .44 Red
Hawk. Off to the right, Flame raised her Smith &
Wesson.

“Back off!”

Snake turned his shaggy head. “And if
I don’t?”

Without blinking an eye, she squeezed
the trigger. Snake’s eyes widened, then turned hard. The metallic
click of Flame’s gun dry-firing against spent cartridges was sweet
music to his ears.

“Learn to count, bitch,”, He growled.
“You already shot your loads just like Blady-boy here shot his last
night.” A cruel smile spread across his bearded face. “Though by
the looks of it, Blady-boy won’t be up to any more shooting for
some time.” He thumbed back the hammer on his massive gun, the long
barrel pressing against the back of Blade’s head.

“Don’t,” Flame said. Her voice was
surprisingly soft, almost a plea. “We’ll catch them. With those
heavy packs it’ll be easy. Then the blonde bitch will be all yours.
That’s what you want, right? I’ll get her for you. Just don’t kill
him.”

Off to one side Rings and a wide-eyed
Bull watched in strained silence. Rings, a vacant smile on her thin
face, was absently rubbing her crotch.

“Oh?”, Snake asked, his voice
mockingly polite. “And if I let him live, who’s going to stop
Blady-boy here from shoving one of those fucking knives of his into
my back. You?!”

“Yes.”

Snake’s voice hardened.
“How?”

Flame drew a deep breath. The gesture
almost broke Snake’s concentration. Almost; but not
quite.

“He loves me. He’ll do whatever I say.
Besides, he’s afraid of you.”

“He didn’t look it yesterday when he
pulled that pig-sticker on me!”

Flame tossed back her hair. “That’s
because you hit me. I told you, he loves me.”

Keeping his gun on Blade, Snake
stepped back. Blade attempted to get to his knees but
failed.

“What’s in it for me?”, Snake
demanded.

Flame drew another deep breath. “You
can have me anytime you want. Anywhere, anyway. Even after we catch
that other bitch.”

This time, watching her bare chest
swell, Snake’s concentration bought the farm, lock, stock and
barrel. The heavy Magnum suddenly seemed very heavy indeed. “Why?”
This time there was no mockery in his voice.

Flame held his gaze. “I owe him. Back
before you found us, when the whole fucking world suddenly went
bat-shit crazy, he pulled me through.”

Snake’s small eyes searched her’s for
any sign of a lie. When he didn’t find any, he turned both his
attention and his gun on Blade.

“You willing to go along with that? Me
porking your old lady and you doing dick-all about it?”

Blade managed to stand, though none
too smoothly. His eyes were as dark and cold as ever. At last he
spoke. “What I said yesterday still goes. You hit her again and
though and I will cut it off. But I aint greedy. I don’t own her.
If she wants to spread it around, that’s fine by me. Just treat her
nice.”

Snake’s smile spread from ear to ear.
“So we got us a deal, right, man?! I don’t kill you and you don’t
kill me and we both share the pussy! Hell, you can even have Rings
whenever you want!”

Blade shrugged.

“What about me, Snake?”, Bull asked.
“I like Rings too.”

Snake looked at the huge man with the
child’s brain. “Sure, Bull. You get Rings whenever you want ---
when she’s not busy with Blade here! But first we go after those
hayseeds! Once we’ve offed them, we’ll have another little happy
member in our club! Now, let’s get the fuck going!”

Chapter 15
: ‘THE CLIMB’

Franconia Notch

New Hampshire

June
29
^th

When the shots started they were more
than halfway to where the trail entered the forest. Caught in the
open, they began running; no easy feat with heavily loaded packs.
As the trees closed in around them, the shooting ceased. Josh kept
them going for another hundred yards. When the trail became
steeper, following a fast flowing stream, they stopped to catch
their breath. Clutching his side, Bert fell to his
knees.

“You hit?”, Eddy asked, kneeling down
beside him.

“I --- don’t --- think so ---”, Bert
gasped. “Just --- winded.”

Josh called Brad over to him. “Take
them up to the bridge. Cross over to the Falling Waters Trail and
find cover. I’ll catch up before the first waterfall once I’ve seen
who is following and what they intend.”

Brad swore. “Bloody hell, Josh, we all
know it’s Snake! Who else could it be? And what he intends is to
kill us and take Tina. He’s a cold-blooded psycho!”

“Probably. But he’s no hiker,” Josh
added. “Not with that beer gut. None of them are. If they do come
after us, we’ll have the advantage.”

Brad frowned. “Are you nuts? He’s a
killer! This isn’t some damn game!”

Josh’s eyes held his cousin’s. “I know
that, Brad. But I have to see what we’re up against.”

“Then I’m staying too. Ken and Jessie
both know this trail. They can...”

“No! I want you with them.” Josh
stepped closer and lowered his voice. “They’re just kids, Brad. You
can count on Eddy; Bobby too, but he and Tina are only kids
themselves. As for Bert...” He left the rest unsaid.

Brad sighed, then nodded. “Okay! But
for Christ sake, don’t do anything stupid!”

“Are you nuts? He’s a bloody
killer!”

“Asshole!”, Brad grinned. “At least
give me your pack; that way you can move faster.”

Moments later Brad was leading the
others up the root-strewn trail. Jessie looked back at his father,
fear mixed with pride in his blue eyes. Josh gave him the thumbs up
sign. Eddy, bringing up the rear, motioned for Jessie to catch up
with the others.

Josh watched them vanish around a
bend, then turned and started back down the trail.

The three bikes roared into the
parking lot, screeching to a halt near the vans. Rings, riding
behind Bull, giggled as Snake shot a tire on each of the parked
vehicles. The booming of the big .44 echoed down the
valley.