9:37 PM

Zach is the first person to climb from his earthen pit. Shifting the false shrubbery from over his body; he looks around before standing to his full height. Anthony and I both climb from our holes in the ground almost in unison. We all stare in the general direction of where Cox’s tribe disappeared.

“Aw, man! I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do this! They’re going to kill us if they find us! You do know that? Don’t ya, man?” Zach stammers in a quivering voice. “They’re gonna kill us—just like they killed the Martins. We’re as good as dead. All the traps in the world aren’t gonna save us from fifty men with assault rifles…and horses. I say we just give it up right now! There’s no point in fighting this anymore! I just can’t…God! I can’t do this!”

With those—his last words—Zach takes off at a full run. Anthony calls out to Zach softly, but does not chase him. Neither of us are certain Cox and his band have completely left the area. I can see the battle within Anthony, the flexing of his jaw made visible by the light of the pale moon. He wants to go after his new friend, but recognizes the futility of it. If they are both caught, they will surely be killed. The mission had to go on. No one man was more important than getting to help. Anthony turns to me with widened eyes.

“I guess that means we keep moving? If they find him—Or if he finds them—they might force him to tell them where we are. He might even tell them willingly to try and save himself.” Anthony reasons.

I nod in agreement.

“I was thinking the same thing. He may even do more than that. He might tell them how we’ve evaded capture so far. From now on, we move when we need to move. And stay away from the water. They’ll be looking for us there. Let’s go. We head back the other way and cut to the south.”

1:21 AM

An owl hoots loudly over our heads as we make our way back in the direction of the cabin. My logic is that they would never expect us to hole up there. Especially, after the Martins’ gruesome murders. Hopefully, there is even a cabin left standing. If not, we will simply dig in for the night like usual. Taking turns on watch, of course. It will be about an hour before sunrise when we get there. And we are moving with the quickness—while also remaining as quiet as possible.

Suddenly, a succession of shots ring out in the far distance. The echoes of those shots carrying in the still mountain air. Back in the general direction from our original point of travel. We stop briefly and glance over at each other. Sadness and knowing grip our hearts. Both of us secretly hoping that Zach did not betray us before his death—in a sad effort to save his own hide.

5:04 AM

When we arrive at the cabin, we are not surprised to find a partially smoldering mess. Half of the structure, the back side of the house, is still standing. We gingerly make our way inside the ruins of the Martin home and look around. One bedroom is mostly unscathed—the room I had seen Alison escape into at one point. Other than a large scorch mark up the middle of the door, and some crumbling wood around the bottom of the door, the room appears fine. We will set up camp here for a few hours.

9:13 AM

I am awakened by Anthony tugging on my left arm.

“You’re not going to believe this, James! I think someone’s coming. Sounds like a motorcycle. Maybe even more than one.”

I throw the blanket off and hurriedly climb to my feet.

“I hope you’re for real! Cause we sure as heck bet that ain’t Cox!”

We race to the front of the burned out house at break-neck speed—climbing over charred furniture and sliding on ashes. Sure enough, I can make out the sounds of at least three motorcycles. They seem to be headed in our general direction. I smile the biggest smile I’ve smiled in weeks and pump my fist.

“Oh yeah! That is music to my ears! That’s the sound of reinforcements.”

Within moments, the cyclists come into sight. Atop two of the motorcycles are seated a man and woman. The third motorcycle carries only a single rider. They brake to a halt not far from Anthony and me. The lead rider shoots me a hard stare.

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“Whew! Am I glad to see y’all!” I holler in an attempt to break the silence. The leather-clad woman seated behind the burly man smirks and snorts.

“Don’t know if we can say the same, buddy,” her partner yells in my direction. His eyes remain riveted to mine and his graying beard flutters with the harshness of his breathing. “You seen a group of people come through here? Carrying torches and such? We’re tryin’ to find ‘em!”

I freeze, knowing he means Cox and his band. I shake my head solemnly before answering.

“Yeah. We saw ‘em! But I don’t think you want to be seeking them out. We should be headin’ as far from them as possible. We should try to find the police….The military…Something. Seeking out the Reverend and his people could have deadly results. We barely escaped from them more than once. Our friend may have been killed by them last night.”

The woman on the other motorcycle whips off her helmet and glares daggers into me. She points in my direction.

“What do you know about things turning deadly, mister? They killed my little girl. My Tanya. She was only 16. Cause they caught her swimming with her boyfriend. When I got to my little girl, she looked like Swiss cheese. They cut her down like an animal and hung her boyfriend from a pine tree. And Paul….,” she jerks her thumb in the direction of the solitary rider. “They took his fiancé. He saw ‘em riding through on his security camera. They’d already rode off with her by the time he got his gun!”

Paul chimes in at this, his voice soft and full of regret.

“I was tending to the goats….When I heard a commotion. I looked on the camera and saw two men on horseback, and a third man tussling with Monica. Didn’t even have time to go into the house before I saw ‘em riding into the woods with her. I grabbed my gun and just started shootin’ at where they disappeared into the trees. Please, mister…If you know where they are…You gotta tell us. I don’t care about how many of them there are. I just don’t want them to hurt my Monica. I couldn’t live if I knew they had violated her. You gotta help us.”

I try to reason with them again. “I’m telling ya guys! You don’t want to be trying to catch these people yourself. Their group is getting bigger and bigger by the day. We killed about 8 of them when there were only about 30. Now, there’s about fifty people in the Reverend’s traveling troupe. Not counting the two women he had tied to a horse—“

“Two women? Tied to a horse?” Paul asks with wide eyes. “Was one of them a tall woman with black hair?”

I can see the hope in Paul’s eyes as he awaits my answer.

“Yes. One of the women was rather tall with extremely dark hair. I don’t know if it was black though. She was wearing a peach colored dress. About knee-length, with a slit up one side, and dark leggings. That sound familiar?”

“Oh, God! Monica! Thank God, she’s alive! Steve, she’s alive. We gotta go now! They’ve got a full day’s start on us!”

Steve, the burly man with the graying beard, returns his steely gaze to my face.

“Which way did they all go?!” Steve growls.

“Look! I don’t think you’re understanding me. That…Or you’re being purposely obtuse. They were already heavily armed when they overtook the family in this home. They have even more guns now. They’re also using sharpshooters on horseback. If you follow them…You will end up dead! End of story!”

“And you'll end up dead if you don’t tell us where they are!” Steve yells loud enough to create a lasting echo.

Anthony jabs me with an elbow, his face hard and set. “Just tell them. Let them find out for themselves!”

“Due northeast. Almost parallel to the river. You won’t have to find them….They’ll hear you coming. I suggest you dump the bikes.”

“And I suggest…You mind your own freakin’ business!” Steve growls through gritted teeth. He starts up his bike and waves a hand in the air. “Well, come on!”

Paul offers us a solemn head nod and revs his bike. Taking off through the trees, zigging and zagging to find suitable ground, the riders quickly disappear. As do our hopes of reinforcement. Humanity has really gone to the dogs.

3:54 PM

Anthony drops the last load of salvageable goods onto a pile we have created outside.

“A lot of green beans, some corn, and oh—,” he holds up a small pistol. “Somebody forgot to look under the mattress.”

“Yay! Lucky for us!” I say with an enormous amount of sarcasm. “They only have us outgunned about 50:1.”

“Yeah. Well, at least we can take one or two of them with us when we go,” Anthony retorts without skipping a beat.

“Mmmmmm!”

“Anyways, like I was saying…There’s canned green beans, corn, peaches, and tomatoes. A lot of green beans and tomatoes. Cans are a little burned. Which means we’ll have to eat ‘em pretty quickly. Cause of the temperature changes and all that. Otherwise, we’re risking botulism if they spoil before we eat ‘em. But we have the gun, so we can hunt game…I mean, if it’s safe to do so. Or we can use traps.”

Anthony’s ramblings help to shift my mind to other things. Namely, Paul, and his kidnapped fiancé. The look of fear on her tear-streaked face. The panic on his. Was that how I looked weeks ago—when I was first looking for Tilda? I find myself hoping that Monica and Paul are reunited peacefully. Even though I know this will most likely not be the case. Cox and his men will gun down the riders without a second thought. The women will be lucky if death finds them before Cox’s men have their way.

“You alright, James?” Anthony questions me with a look of deep concern.

“Yeah. Just thinking! We need to pack all this stuff up! We’ll stay another night and then move on. It’s not safe to stay too long after being seen in this location.”

“That sucks! I was hoping to stay a bit. They would have never looked for us here.”

“Right. But they might now. We’ll get packed up and each catch a couple hours of shuteye. Then, we go.”