Boondocks

Chapter 28: Ahoy

FERN

The man rumbled a laugh. "We win! Tell men by dock to leave guns and come forward with hands up."

Tex's brow furrowed, and he glanced over at Merle and Cecil. The moment he saw the shotguns, his head snapped toward me, and my Tex disappeared. The other Tex stood frozen as storm clouds gathered around him. Darkening, just as they had that day in camp. He'd been a twister then, but this was more than that. Now, he was a hurricane moving slow over a hot ocean. His lips pursed, jaw tensed. He stared at me, then through me as gears turned across his expression. "Let the girl go first."

It took a moment for his words to register, and when they did, every part of my soul rebelled against them. No. I wouldn't leave him behind. I wouldn't run into the woods to wander and remember his face, every smile he'd ever worn, knowing I'd abandoned him. "I won't—"

"Fern!" he snapped, voice sharp, the same harsh tone he used with his men. Those fiery eyes glued onto his target, and his finger twitched against the trigger. "Let her go, and we'll surrender."

The man's attention centered on me as an open smile stretched his face. "Ah, I understand. Pretty girls, they have way of taking man's balls."

Laughter echoed from inside the building.

"You're outnumbered." Tex's voice was gravel, and the knot at the corner of his jaw jumped as if he had to chew the rocks before he could spit them out. "You're outgunned, and I've got an army of men with a clear shot on your head." He lifted his gun higher, punctuating his words. He had a clear shot, and he looked dying to take it.

"But I have pretty girl." The man was almost boisterous as he said it, and if it weren't for our situation, I'd have considered him downright jolly. Like Santa. If Santa lost his job and became a Russian pirate. "You lose. I give you ten seconds to put down guns, or we shoot poor, pretty girl."

The barrel of the gun pressed harder. November air wrapped around me, slid inside my lungs, hardened to ice, weighing me down for a faster descent. It was my turn to fall.

"One."

Tex's eyes shot to me, wide and wild, reminding me of the day Daddy's stud horse went mad. He'd kicked three workers and killed a goat before they managed to tranquilize him. But they had, in the end. They'd gotten him down. I didn't want that. I didn't want him to give up his gun. I didn't want him defenseless, all because he was trying to protect me. "Keep the guns," I said, imploring.

I could handle it being my turn to die. I'd been a ghost for three years. But the world needed him. They needed his group. They needed good people to help, and I couldn't let him throw it all away to save a girl that'd already exceeded her time.

"Two."

Tex sneered and shook the gun. "She's innocent!"

"Three. Four. Five. Six."

"Okay!" Tex roared.

"Don't!" I shouted.

He didn't listen. He didn't look at me. He released the trigger and extended the gun out to one side, his other hand stretching as if he needed balance to lower it to the deck.

"Well, son of a bitch," Cecil murmured. He set down his rifle and kicked it across the planks, and Merle did the same.

I lifted my arms, only just acknowledging the bow cemented inside my fist, the arrow pinned in place, ready to be drawn.

A stream of Russian echoed from somewhere deep inside the man's stomach, and more laughter erupted behind me. Judging by his girth, he hadn't missed any meals. The only people not missing meals were active members of The Greater Good. He could turn us in. Officials could already be on their way, and that was worse than a quick death by a bullet. Would they force us to work beside the chemicals, rotting as if we'd already been buried? I wouldn't do it, and I knew, neither would Tex. Why did he give up his gun? It wouldn't save me. It just condemned him and his men to join.