General Lee's Revenge--Family Feud

Chapter Eight: Drunken Spirits

His head was still hazy as he began to wake. The smell of liquor and rain hung heavy in the room. Bo remembered that it had begun to rain when he and Reid were fighting. The rain was loud against the tin roof of the announcer's stand and Reid was talking, going on and on. Bo remembered Reid took a swing at him, hit him in the face. He tripped, and Reid pushed him down the stairs, and...

I'm... not dead?

Bo pushed himself up onto one elbow, massaging the left side of his face. As he did so, he heard large footsteps grow close. He looked up only to see a living nightmare. He quickly jumped backward, his back hitting the wall. His heart was racing and all he could do was stare, wide-eyed.

Russell sank to his haunches in front of him, holding out a bottle of whiskey. "Here, your nerves are shot."

Hell. He was in Hell. He'd died and gone to Hell, this was his personal Hell.

"You can't reason with him, Bo, he's an ornery old drunk. Things ain't gonna get better," Luke had said.

Bo remembered Hollow Hill, trying to plead with Russell to stop. But he didn't stop. He had never stopped hurting them. Why was now any different?

"Get away from me," Bo growled in a weak voice.

It took him a while to notice that he was shaking from fear and anger. Russell had no right. Why wouldn't he just leave them alone?

Russell sighed as if he were trying to keep his cool. He reached for Bo, but the Duke boy flinched and took a swing at him. Bo landed a punch to Russell's nose and the man's head snapped back. He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door. He unlocked it, running down the hall, not sure as to where he was going. Russell chased after him, throwing the door open and continuing his pursuit down the hallway. Bo ran down the stairs, trying his damndest not to fall. He ran to the front door, blazing through the kitchen. He heard a woman yell but didn't pay much attention to what she said. He grabbed hold of the door, unlocked it, and ran outside.

And, just like that, Bo found himself running through the woods, through the mud, barefoot, with a splitting headache, and no clue where he was. Not the stupidest thing he'd ever done, but it's up there.

He hadn't been running for very long before he heard a crack and felt a sharp pain on his ankle. It caused him to trip and as he tumbled to the ground, he recalled the sharp sting of Russell's whip. He felt blood run down his foot. He tried to crawl away and found himself drug backward and onto his feet. Russell tossed the beaten, old whip he'd been holding aside, grabbing onto Bo. He put an arm around him and a hand over his mouth.

"You wanna run? Go for it, no one's stoppin' ya, die out here for all I care," Russell growled, releasing him.

Bo pushed away from him, stumbling onto the ground.

"Your car's in the shed, keys are in it. If you wanna go, then go. But remember, that Reid feller's lookin' for you, and you ain't got a chance, especially not with that busted head of yours."

That said, Russell began to walk away. Bo watched him go, still breathing hard. After Russell was out of sight, Bo struggled to his feet and began walking back towards the house. He circled around to the shed and pushed the doors open.

There he sat, General Lee in all his glory, skinned side and all. However, the car seemed different than it had before. Something was off. General hadn't made any indication that he was glad to see him, much less if he was even conscious.

Bo climbed in through the window, turning the key. Nothing. General seemed as though he were dead. Skeptical, Bo popped the hood, curious to see if there was a mechanical problem. However, there was none. By then, Bo had resorted to attempting to push General out of the shed. Unfortunately, that didn't work either. His strength was gone. Eventually, frustration got the best of him and he gave up. After closing the shed doors, he rested his head against them, trying to figure out what to do.