| Mystery and Crime Fiction posted June 23, 2020 | Chapters: |
...13 14 -15- 16... 
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The boys struggle to survive and flee their pursuers.
A chapter in the book Looking for Orion - 2
The Flight -- part 3
by DeboraDyess
| Background When brothers Jack and Cod McClellan stumble across an attempted assasination in the middle of nowhere, their lives are in danger. They have to find a way to survive long enough to get away. |
Jack had checked the compass 11 times since their last rest stop. He knew they'd been walking way too long without a break. Cody's steps were more faltering now; his weight seemed to have tripled since Jack first lifted him in the clearing. Cody had stumbled once, dragging Jack to his knees. They both knelt in the tall grass, gasping for breath. After a couple of minutes Jack pulled Cody back up, urging him softly to keep moving.
"So," Jack asked Cody softly, "what'd you find out at the high school?"
Cody had been substitute teaching at the high school for most of the past two weeks, hired by a concerned principal to alleviate his fears of a supposed gun-toting student. Rumors persisted about the kid, despite several locker checks and an investigation by school security. Cody posed as a coach, checking on the boys' activities in a way that school officials could not legally do. Jack knew Cody hated the job. He'd liked the boy, and felt like a snitch, which was, Jack pointed out in their first conversation about the case, his exact job description. Jack already knew the outcome of the investigation, but he wanted Cody to think about something besides the agony that had to be burning in his shoulder, or the shooters closing in behind them.
Cody grunted. "Kid's nothing ... to worry about. A loner ... confused ... about stuff, but..." Cody shook his head. He renewed a tenuous grip on Jack's shoulder. "Principal has ... other problems brewing. Laid a folder on his desk ... when I left."
Jack knew that, too. The principal had already turned Cody's findings over to the police department, wanting to squash the threats before they exploded on his campus.
"What a cushy job," Jack observed. "Your regular rate plus expenses, plus the seventy dollars a day the district pays subs. You may have found a whole new career, Code-man."
"I'd rather ... do this every day. Easier."
Jack shot him a glance. He wasn't sure his brother could become any more pale. His cheeks looked sunken, his eyes, hollow and haggard. Sweat pasted his dark hair onto his face and the nape of his neck. Jack's heart twisted. "Time to rest," he said.
"Can't," Cody panted. "No time." He repeated tiredly, "No time."
Jack carefully lowered Cody to the ground in a shady spot and leaned him against a fallen tree. He pulled the canteen open and gently lifted it to Cody's mouth. After he had taken a couple of small swallows Jack drank some of the cold water, then wet a bandana and wiped off his brother's face. "It's part of the plan," Jack assured him.
"We have a plan?" Cody breathed. "Great." He let his head rest back and bit the side of his lower lip. Pain and weariness were battling for his undivided attention. Pain won.
"Be still," Jack instructed. "Rest while you can. I'll be right back."
"Jack ..."
"Yeah, Code."
"As camping trips go ... this one's really ... crappy." Cody tried to tip up one corner of his mouth.
"Didn't even get to roast any hot dogs," Jack agreed.
"Or burn marshmallows."
Jack nodded. "Yeah," he said mournfully. "Or burn marshmallows. We'll have to do that later. I'll be right back."
He hiked back along the narrow path to a pair of trees they'd walked between a few moments before. The trees were about three feet apart. He swallowed and stood a minute, torn between his desire to stay within the bounds of the law and his need to get Cody out of the woods.
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him and I am helped. He'd learned the verse as a boy, and it whispered at him now, as soft as the breeze in the treetops. He shook his head. Evidently Katie quoting her memory verse that morning let loose memory verses of his own.
"I don't want your help," Jack told a god he'd denied almost two years ago.
He squatted on their all-too obvious path and tied the brown nylon cord between the two trees. It nearly blended in with the ground. He took one large step up the path, knelt again and used the filet knife to dig out a deep, narrow hole. He put the knife into the hole, camouflaged blade pointing at the sky. He hesitated as he filled the hole with dirt.
The odds of one of the shooters falling on this knife were small. Him dying from the injuries were miniscule. Still ... This would clearly be premeditated murder to some jurors, self-defense to others. He packed the dirt tightly around the knife handle. The only person he was accountable to now was Cody. A vision of Laine, staring round eyed at him across a courtroom, haunted him for a brief second. If he didn't get out of here, he reasoned, even that future wouldn't be possible.
He stepped back and surveyed his work. The knife was almost invisible, the rope nearly as well hidden. Maybe this would slow them down some. Even if none of their pursuers were injured, maybe it would make them more cautious. Either way would serve Jack's purpose.
Jack went back to where he'd left Cody. His brother's head sagged forward, and Jack felt ice-cold fear rip through him. "Cody?"
Cody raised his head slowly, tiredly. "I'm okay. Praying." He smiled weakly. "Figured we could use...all the help we c--could get."
Jack nodded, his panic replaced by guilt. He'd always turned to God in times of hardship or need. But he'd made his decision, based on what he felt was a total betrayal of his family by the god he'd worshipped and loved since childhood. He wouldn't turn back now; not like this. He wouldn't be able to deal with the hypocrisy. Maybe God would still listen to Cody, Jack thought. Maybe if Cody asked, God would help. He wondered briefly if Pam had asked for His help. If she had stared into a killer's revolver and asked God to--
"See anything?"
Jack blinked, his somber thoughts broken. "Nope. We're good so far." He knelt beside Cody to help him up and promised, "I am getting you out of this, Code."
Cody didn't answer this time. Jack lifted his brother and they started off again. He kept talking, encouraging Cody to keep going, talking about the kids, the boys in his class at church, anything to keep him on his feet. "Guess what Travis told me last night before bed?" he challenged Cody after a brief silence. He guessed they were just over half way.
"'Good night, Dad'?" Cody guessed, and stumbled, his boot caught in a long, thorny vine. He moaned, took a shallow breath and moaned again as Jack got a better hold on his belt loop. He took a second to wipe sweat off his palm and grasped Cody's left wrist for all he was worth.
"He told me," Jack spoke slowly, concentrating on lifting Cody over the rough spot they'd come into, "that he's decided what he wants to be when he grows up."
Cody swallowed, trying to participate in the conversation. "Better looking than...his dad?"
"Nah; smarter than his uncle." Jack kicked at more of the irritating vine. "He told me he wants to be one of those 'ology' things."
"What 'ology' thing?"
"Oh, come on, Uncle Code. One of those words that ends in 'ology'."
"Biology," Cody guessed breathlessly.
"No. I guessed that one, too."
"Theology."
"No. I guessed that, I guessed technology, I guessed, like, six other 'ologies' that I can't even remember anymore. Finally Trav says, 'No, Dad. The one that studies plants.'"
"A botanist. Not an 'ology'."
"That's what I told Trav." Jack agreed.
"It's because he has ... a father who's a ... couch potato."
Jack smiled, too tired to laugh. He couldn't imagine how Cody kept going. "Yeah," he consented. "Maybe that's the plant he was thinking about."
"So," Jack asked Cody softly, "what'd you find out at the high school?"
Cody had been substitute teaching at the high school for most of the past two weeks, hired by a concerned principal to alleviate his fears of a supposed gun-toting student. Rumors persisted about the kid, despite several locker checks and an investigation by school security. Cody posed as a coach, checking on the boys' activities in a way that school officials could not legally do. Jack knew Cody hated the job. He'd liked the boy, and felt like a snitch, which was, Jack pointed out in their first conversation about the case, his exact job description. Jack already knew the outcome of the investigation, but he wanted Cody to think about something besides the agony that had to be burning in his shoulder, or the shooters closing in behind them.
Cody grunted. "Kid's nothing ... to worry about. A loner ... confused ... about stuff, but..." Cody shook his head. He renewed a tenuous grip on Jack's shoulder. "Principal has ... other problems brewing. Laid a folder on his desk ... when I left."
Jack knew that, too. The principal had already turned Cody's findings over to the police department, wanting to squash the threats before they exploded on his campus.
"What a cushy job," Jack observed. "Your regular rate plus expenses, plus the seventy dollars a day the district pays subs. You may have found a whole new career, Code-man."
"I'd rather ... do this every day. Easier."
Jack shot him a glance. He wasn't sure his brother could become any more pale. His cheeks looked sunken, his eyes, hollow and haggard. Sweat pasted his dark hair onto his face and the nape of his neck. Jack's heart twisted. "Time to rest," he said.
"Can't," Cody panted. "No time." He repeated tiredly, "No time."
Jack carefully lowered Cody to the ground in a shady spot and leaned him against a fallen tree. He pulled the canteen open and gently lifted it to Cody's mouth. After he had taken a couple of small swallows Jack drank some of the cold water, then wet a bandana and wiped off his brother's face. "It's part of the plan," Jack assured him.
"We have a plan?" Cody breathed. "Great." He let his head rest back and bit the side of his lower lip. Pain and weariness were battling for his undivided attention. Pain won.
"Be still," Jack instructed. "Rest while you can. I'll be right back."
"Jack ..."
"Yeah, Code."
"As camping trips go ... this one's really ... crappy." Cody tried to tip up one corner of his mouth.
"Didn't even get to roast any hot dogs," Jack agreed.
"Or burn marshmallows."
Jack nodded. "Yeah," he said mournfully. "Or burn marshmallows. We'll have to do that later. I'll be right back."
He hiked back along the narrow path to a pair of trees they'd walked between a few moments before. The trees were about three feet apart. He swallowed and stood a minute, torn between his desire to stay within the bounds of the law and his need to get Cody out of the woods.
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him and I am helped. He'd learned the verse as a boy, and it whispered at him now, as soft as the breeze in the treetops. He shook his head. Evidently Katie quoting her memory verse that morning let loose memory verses of his own.
"I don't want your help," Jack told a god he'd denied almost two years ago.
He squatted on their all-too obvious path and tied the brown nylon cord between the two trees. It nearly blended in with the ground. He took one large step up the path, knelt again and used the filet knife to dig out a deep, narrow hole. He put the knife into the hole, camouflaged blade pointing at the sky. He hesitated as he filled the hole with dirt.
The odds of one of the shooters falling on this knife were small. Him dying from the injuries were miniscule. Still ... This would clearly be premeditated murder to some jurors, self-defense to others. He packed the dirt tightly around the knife handle. The only person he was accountable to now was Cody. A vision of Laine, staring round eyed at him across a courtroom, haunted him for a brief second. If he didn't get out of here, he reasoned, even that future wouldn't be possible.
He stepped back and surveyed his work. The knife was almost invisible, the rope nearly as well hidden. Maybe this would slow them down some. Even if none of their pursuers were injured, maybe it would make them more cautious. Either way would serve Jack's purpose.
Jack went back to where he'd left Cody. His brother's head sagged forward, and Jack felt ice-cold fear rip through him. "Cody?"
Cody raised his head slowly, tiredly. "I'm okay. Praying." He smiled weakly. "Figured we could use...all the help we c--could get."
Jack nodded, his panic replaced by guilt. He'd always turned to God in times of hardship or need. But he'd made his decision, based on what he felt was a total betrayal of his family by the god he'd worshipped and loved since childhood. He wouldn't turn back now; not like this. He wouldn't be able to deal with the hypocrisy. Maybe God would still listen to Cody, Jack thought. Maybe if Cody asked, God would help. He wondered briefly if Pam had asked for His help. If she had stared into a killer's revolver and asked God to--
"See anything?"
Jack blinked, his somber thoughts broken. "Nope. We're good so far." He knelt beside Cody to help him up and promised, "I am getting you out of this, Code."
Cody didn't answer this time. Jack lifted his brother and they started off again. He kept talking, encouraging Cody to keep going, talking about the kids, the boys in his class at church, anything to keep him on his feet. "Guess what Travis told me last night before bed?" he challenged Cody after a brief silence. He guessed they were just over half way.
"'Good night, Dad'?" Cody guessed, and stumbled, his boot caught in a long, thorny vine. He moaned, took a shallow breath and moaned again as Jack got a better hold on his belt loop. He took a second to wipe sweat off his palm and grasped Cody's left wrist for all he was worth.
"He told me," Jack spoke slowly, concentrating on lifting Cody over the rough spot they'd come into, "that he's decided what he wants to be when he grows up."
Cody swallowed, trying to participate in the conversation. "Better looking than...his dad?"
"Nah; smarter than his uncle." Jack kicked at more of the irritating vine. "He told me he wants to be one of those 'ology' things."
"What 'ology' thing?"
"Oh, come on, Uncle Code. One of those words that ends in 'ology'."
"Biology," Cody guessed breathlessly.
"No. I guessed that one, too."
"Theology."
"No. I guessed that, I guessed technology, I guessed, like, six other 'ologies' that I can't even remember anymore. Finally Trav says, 'No, Dad. The one that studies plants.'"
"A botanist. Not an 'ology'."
"That's what I told Trav." Jack agreed.
"It's because he has ... a father who's a ... couch potato."
Jack smiled, too tired to laugh. He couldn't imagine how Cody kept going. "Yeah," he consented. "Maybe that's the plant he was thinking about."
Thanks for reading, y'all. All criticism or corrections welcome. :)
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