Hunt and Pray (8 page)

Chance had pulled a small flashlight from his jeans pocket and lifted his shirt to examine the damage Drew had inflicted. In that small amount of light, he could see the bruises littering Chance’s chest and stomach, and it was obvious he’d been brutally beaten by his father and Ezra.

“I’m sorry.” Another apology he didn’t understand.

Chance looked up wearily at Drew’s words.

“You shouldn’t be. You have every reason to be scared and suspicious.” Sighing, he shrugged off his backpack and tossed it to Drew. “I was just reaching for this.”

Drew eyed it warily before picking it up and opening it. Looking inside, he could see there wasn’t much in it. In fact, it seemed to be exactly what was in the one he’d been given, with the exception of what appeared to be a small first aid kit. No guns or ammunition, just a knife like the one Drew was holding in his hand.

He looked down at Chance questioningly.

“I’m supposed to slit your throat and cut off your hand and then take it back to him before 9:00 a.m.”

Drew didn’t know what to say to that, so he just nodded and waited to see what else he would say.

“He took my gun and beat the shit out of me before patting me on the head and sending me on my little mission. If I don’t come back with his
trophy
on time”—Chance winced in pain—“he and Ezra will come after both of us. I’ll no longer be his son; just a disgusting faggot who deserves to be hunted and killed.”

Drew didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone look so tired and lost in his life, but he couldn’t quite convince himself it wasn’t all an act.

“So you’re gonna kill me to save your life?” Drew shrugged. “Guess I can’t blame you for that.”

Chance shook his head. “No, I’m gonna try and get your ass home in one piece before he fucking kills
me
.”

Drew wanted to believe him, but fear was threatening to overwhelm him again.

“Why? Why now, after all this time? There must have been lots of times he needed stopping that you didn’t do anything.”

Those ice-blue eyes found Drew’s, and suddenly Drew couldn’t look away.

“Because all those other times it was just about me, never anyone else.” Drew searched Chance’s eyes but could find nothing but the utter truth.

Drew narrowed his eyes. “I still don’t trust you.”

Chance shrugged. “I wouldn’t either.” He looked down at his bleeding chest. “Don’t suppose you have a bandage on you?”

Drew started to shake his head but remembered the first aid kit in Chance’s pack. He reached in and grabbed it, then tossed it at Chance’s feet. The other man looked down at it, surprise written across his features.

“I forgot that was in there. Thanks.” He picked up the kit and opened it, then took out a few things and opened them up, getting them ready to use: gauze, tape, and some small foil squares of disinfecting wipes.

He carefully pulled his T-shirt over his head, wincing as he did. He looked up at Drew. “Could you hold this so I can see?” Chance held the little flashlight out to Drew. “You can stand back farther if it makes you feel better.”

Drew eyed it warily for a moment. He was well aware Chance was capable of killing him without a weapon.

He also knew if Chance wanted to kill him, he’d probably be dead already. He reached for the light and turned it on Chance. What he saw on Chance’s body made him gasp.

“Jesus Christ, Chance….”

The bruises were bad enough, but in the direct light Drew could see Chance’s torso was crisscrossed with small scars. He was sure if he looked at Chance’s back it would be the same… if not worse. “Please tell me that happened to you when you were in the service….”

Drew trailed off when Chance looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. “You’d rather think I was hurt in combat than believe these lovely little reminders were from my father, huh?” There was a flash of deep sorrow in his eyes that was gone as quickly as it appeared. “Yeah, me too.”

Chance grabbed one of the packages of disinfectant and ripped it open. He used the small square inside to wipe off the blood his chest, hissing in pain as he did.

“I wish I hadn’t… I’m sorry….”

Drew hadn’t meant to blurt it out, but he couldn’t help it. From the look of his body, Chance had been hurt a lot in his life, and even considering the circumstances, Drew regretted that he’d contributed to the other man’s pain.

“For what? Trying to defend yourself?” Chance grabbed another of the small squares of foil and used its contents as well. “Don’t worry about it. I deserved it. I never should have let it get this far.”

When the wound looked like it was as clean as it could be, he grabbed another package he’d already opened and pulled out a cotton pad. He placed it over the cut and held it there for a second, breathing through the obvious pain. After a few seconds, he grabbed the roll of medical tape and pulled some off to hold the cotton in place.

When he was satisfied it would hold, Chance gathered up all the materials and their packaging and stuffed it back in the kit, making sure not to leave any evidence behind. He grabbed a bottle of pills out of the kit and opened it up, taking two and swallowing them dry.

He grinned when he saw Drew grimace. “They’re just some painkillers. No reason to suffer, right?”

Drew shook his head and watched as Chance picked up his shirt and tried to straighten it out, but the sweat and blood made his effort futile.

Drew sighed and backed up a bit. “Hold on.” He dropped Chance’s pack and unzipped the hoodie Chance had given him and let it fall to the ground. He stuck the knife in the waistband of his jeans so he could use both hands to take off the T-shirt Chance had given him and then tossed it at the other man.

Chance looked at him in surprise, and Drew growled at him. “I’m keeping the damn hoodie.”

Chance smiled and nodded before gingerly slipping the shirt over his head as Drew grabbed the hoodie and pulled it back on, shivering at the cold air trapped against his skin.

Once they were both dressed, Drew tossed Chance’s bag to him and watched as he tossed the first aid kit back into it. He wasn’t carrying two of the fucking things.

“So, what’s your big plan, then? How are we getting away from Colonel Whackjob?” Drew winced after he said it, his brain kicking in too late and reminding him the crazy man was still Chance’s father.

Chance looked at him for a second before answering. “I don’t have a big plan beyond ‘don’t die’. I just want to get us as far from him as possible before morning. I’m pretty sure he won’t leave till then. It won’t occur to him that I didn’t follow orders until I don’t show up.”

The thought of stumbling around in the darkness terrified Drew. “Christ, Chance, how are we supposed to go anywhere in the dark? I can’t see two feet in front of my face.”

Chance sighed and looked Drew in the eye. “You’re gonna have to tru… uh… follow me.”

Drew knew Chance had been about to say “trust” before changing his mind. He kept telling himself he didn’t trust Chance, and he might keep telling Chance that as well, but the truth was, he did trust him.

There was nothing but honesty in those intense eyes, and Drew had no doubt if Chance could make it happen, they would both get out of this alive. He could see the other man was the type of person who thought things out carefully, and once he’d made a decision, there was no turning back for him.

So yeah, Drew believed Chance had every intention of getting him to safety, and he appreciated it. But there were the other two men to consider—men who were dangerous, well trained, and who had all the motivation in the world to kill them both. The odds were against the two young men making it out of the forest alive.

“I don’t know….” Drew knew he didn’t have any other options.

Chance looked at him. “I’m a marine, Drew. I was trained for this kind of thing, slogging around in the dark, avoiding the enemy, and finding where I need to go.” A look of shame crossed his face, and it tugged at Drew’s heart.

“I won’t say you have nothing to be afraid of, because we both know that’s not true. But I won’t let you get hurt if I can help it.” Chance’s eyes locked with his, and Drew could see he was telling the truth.

He nodded, hitching his pack up a little higher on his back. “Which way do we go?”

Chance walked past him and headed in the same direction Drew had been going, almost due east. “You were headed the right way. If we keep going in this direction, we’ll get to the road, and hopefully we can get a ride. If not, we can walk parallel to it, keep out of sight. I want to avoid a confrontation with my father and Ezra if we can. I could take one of them, but not both.”

“I’m not completely useless, you know.” Drew didn’t know why Chance’s opinion of him mattered so much, but it did.

Chance turned back to look at him for a second before walking again.

“I know. You’ve been doing better than anyone could have ever guessed out here, but they’re killers, Drew. They won’t think twice about breaking your neck or slitting your throat, and there wouldn’t be a lot you could do to stop them.”

When Chance started walking, Drew had fallen in behind and tried to walk exactly where the other man did.

“It doesn’t mean you’re weak or anything, just untrained.”

Drew smiled at Chance’s attempt to make him feel better. The man didn’t have a lot of people skills.

“Yeah, I know. I have no desire to try and take Ezra in a wrestling match.” They kept walking, slowly but surely. “Thanks again, by the way.”

Chance glanced over his shoulder, frowning. “For what?”

Drew shrugged, even though Chance had turned back around. “For the other night… stopping Ezra.” It still pissed him off that he hadn’t been able to defend himself against the man’s abuse.

“It shouldn’t happen to anyone.” Chance sounded angry but didn’t say any more.

They walked in silence for hours, moving as quickly as they could without hurting themselves. Drew couldn’t see anything except the outline of Chance ahead of him, never letting him out of his sight.

After a while, though, the silence started getting to Drew, and he cleared his throat.

“Chance? Is it safe to talk?”

The other man’s spine stiffened for a second, like he was surprised to find Drew still behind him. After a moment, he relaxed and nodded.

“What do you want to talk about?” Chance’s voice was husky from disuse, and it wasn’t necessarily an unpleasant sound.

Drew took a breath. “Where are we? I mean, when we were at the cabin.”

“Well, if there’s a point in the mountains west of Colorado Springs that’s the farthest from civilization, the cabin was it. I’m sure the colonel spent a lot of time pouring over military maps to find it.” Chance sounded bitter, and Drew couldn’t really blame him.

“I’m sorry this is costing you your father.” The man was a deranged fucking lunatic, but he was the only parent Chance had.

Chance shook his head. “He hasn’t cared about being my father for a long time, Drew. To him, I was just another soldier.”

He noticed Chance was slowing down a little bit, but he wasn’t sure if it was because Drew was or if the other man was getting tired.

When he found himself walking almost side by side with Chance, he knew it was time to take a breather.

“Hey, Chance? Could we take a little break? I’m getting really tired, and I’m starting to stumble a lot.” He knew suggesting Chance needed a rest wouldn’t get him anywhere, so he let Chance think he was weak. He probably thought that anyway.

“Yeah, okay. The sun’ll be up soon. It’ll make it easier to go faster.” Chance looked around before heading for a small clearing.

Once there, he took the flashlight from Drew and looked around, presumably making sure it was safe. He nodded and gave the light back to Drew and sank to the ground.

Drew followed suit, sinking down as close to Chance as he dared. Already cold, he started to shiver. When he looked over at Chance, he could see fine tremors wracking the other man’s lean body as well.

Drew sighed and forced himself to his feet.

“Where are you going?” Chance sounded wary and tired.

Drew closed the little bit of distance between them and stood beside the other man, looking down at him. “Look, I’m not trying to hit on you or anything, and for the moment, I’m reasonably sure that you mean it about not wanting to kill me.”

Drew nervously scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m cold, and you’re cold, and it’s stupid for us to be freezing like this. So, if it won’t make you punch me in the face, I’d like to sit beside you and try sharing what little warmth we have.”

He waited while Chance worked it out in his head. He was relieved when Chance nodded, and he let himself fall gracelessly to Chance’s side. He sidled up as close as he dared and pulled his knees up to his chest.

“Why would I punch you?” Chance was trying to sound casual, but Drew could tell the answer was important to the other man.

“Uh… because of the whole gay thing.”

Chance leaned in a little closer to Drew but wouldn’t look at him. “In case you haven’t figured this out yet, I’m pretty sure I’m gay, Drew.” He took a shuddering breath and leaned his elbows onto his knees before dropping his head into his hands. “That’s first time I’ve ever said that… to anyone.”

Drew put his arm around Chance’s shoulders, fully prepared to be pushed away, but Chance let it stay. “I kinda figured your dad thought so, but I wasn’t sure if it was all in his head or not.”

Chance’s voice was quiet. “There’s a whole lot of wrong in my father’s head, but he was right about this one.” He lifted his head and looked at Drew. “Picked a hell of a place for my big gay reveal, huh?”

Drew chuckled. “I’m not sure there is a good place. I told my dad in the barn back on our family’s farm… and my mom in the laundry room, after she found a condom and some lube in my jacket pocket.”

“They were okay with it?”

Drew nodded. “Pretty much, yeah. I think my dad had it figured out before I did. My mom was a little more upset, but that was mostly about the grandchildren she wasn’t going to get from me.” He sighed. “That and the fact that being gay can still sometimes have dangerous consequences.”