Surviving the Fog (6 page)

Just over the hill he paused, looking around,
and then he motored down toward the girls' cabins. Jackie, hearing
the noise, was struck by a sudden surge of hope, and she came
rushing out of her cabin. She ran toward the cyclist hailing him
loudly. He rode over to her. She was trying to hug him, when he
took a pistol from his right pocket and slammed it against her
head. Blood spurted from the side of her head, and she slumped to
the ground. There was a moment of stunned silence, and then the
girls closest to the violence began screaming. Ignoring them, the
man reached down and hefted Jackie's barely conscious form onto the
cycle. He maneuvered her leg over the barrel of his ride, so that
she was slumped in front of him.

At that moment Pete, who had not been down at
the practice field with the other Spears, came running towards them
screaming at the man to let Jackie go. The man raised his pistol,
and he shot Pete in the face, killing the boy instantly. Then he
turned his cycle, gunned it, and quickly disappeared over the
hill.

While this was happening, another of the
cyclists had slowly cruised though the frightened crowd of girls
who had gathered. He picked out a girl named Maria, and he gunned
his bike toward her. She fled. When the man caught her, he grabbed
her around the neck, and then he punched Maria in the face. He
maneuvered the stunned and crying girl onto his bike, and he too
quickly left the scene.

The third and fourth bikers were also
scanning the crowd of terrified girls. The third biker picked out a
girl, and then he began to chase her; but not to catch her so much
as to tease and to taunt her. And that was when Mike finally
arrived on the stage.

He had heard the screams, and he had shouted
for the others to follow. There was a moment when they stood and
gawked before hurrying after Mike. And so it happened that the
other boys were a few seconds behind Mike when he arrived at the
cabins and saw the third biker chasing the terrified girl. Mike
stopped, planted his feet, and threw his spear.

It was at that moment that the legend of
'Mike’s Throw' began. In later times, people on either side of the
river that day claimed to have seen him make the throw. But the
truth is that there were only a few kids who actually saw the man
on the moving bike, the spear flying through the air, and the way
it sliced perfectly through the biker’s neck and severed his
jugular vein.

For his part, Mike always claimed that it was
a lucky throw.

The man gasped once, and then he grabbed his
neck with both hands. His motorcycle traveled on for several yards
until it hit a large rock and flipped over, causing the man to hit
the ground hard and break his neck. But by the time the man hit the
ground, he was already dead.

The fourth biker, seeing his fellow fall,
cursed loudly, and he raised his own pistol. But Ralph, who had
come running down from the boy’s camp, threw his spear wildly, and
it struck the man in his aiming arm. The man cried out and the gun
flew away. Without trying to retrieve his weapon, the brutal coward
turned his motorcycle, and fled over the hill.

"They took Jackie, Ralph," a girl sobbed.
"They took her."

"What do you mean? Where's Jackie?" Ralph
demanded.

"They took her," another girl cried.

In a shaky voice, through her tears, she told
Ralph what had happened. Ralph let out an anguished yell. He turned
to Mike.

"They got Jackie, Chief! They got Jackie!"
cried Ralph wide eyed. "Please, Chief, please help me go and get
her back!"

"I will, Ralph, I will," replied a shaken
Mike. He turned to the other Spears. "We're going to chase those
guys. We're going to get the girls back. Get some water and some
granola bars. All of the granola bars."

He turned to Howard. "You're staying here.
That's final," he ordered roughly as Howard was about to protest.
"Get everyone across the river. Do whatever you have to do to make
them go. Then get a lot of wood, and put it on the bridge. Get
ready with the camp fuel, but don't put it on the wood unless they
come back. If they do, then put all the camp fuel on the wood and
light it. Try to burn the bridge down."

"Chief, how will you find them?" Howard
protested.

"There's fog all around us," replied Mike.
"They can't be far."

At that time, Mike did not realize just how
large an area was above the fog, but in any case he was determine
to follow the kidnappers.

He looked around, and then he spied the
fallen pistol. He ran to it, grabbed the pistol, and shouted,
"Anyone know how to use one of these?"

A few kids did. Mike gave it to one of the
older boys, and he said to the boy, "Stay by the bridge. If they
come back, try to keep them away until the bridge is burning
good."

Yuie was there. "I'm coming too, Chief," she
informed him, and when he would have demurred she whispered softly,
"When you get Jackie and Maria back, I think that they might need a
girl to help them, not a guy."

Within minutes, the supplies were gathered
and stuffed into their backpacks. All the spears that they could
carry in a hurry were lashed together. Yuie held her bow and
arrows. Desi and John grabbed a last frantic tearful kiss as she
begged him to be careful. And then they began jogging up the road,
and soon they were lost to sight over the low hill.

Meanwhile, Howard turned to the others. "All
right, you heard Mike. Everybody go over the bridge to the other
side. Right now!"

A few moved halfheartedly, but one girl shook
her head. "I'm not leaving the girls’ camp," she stated
defiantly.

Howard looked at her helplessly. Then out of
the corner of his eye he saw Pete's body. He had to take care of
Pete as soon as possible. But first, he had to protect the other
kids.

He raised the wood shaft of his spear. "All
of you," he said grimly. "Get over the bridge."

The girl looked alarmed, and she backed up a
step, and then she stopped. "You're not the boss of us!" she
shouted.

"You idiot! He's trying to protect you,"
exclaimed Desi.

Without another word, Howard stepped forward,
and he swung his spear striking the girl a light blow on her
shoulder.

"Ow…" she cried, and she stared at Howard in
shock.

Howard raised his spear again. Breaking into
sobs, the girl turned and fled towards the bridge. Another girl
balked, and she was given the same treatment on her buttocks by
another boy. She, too, fled towards the bridge, and then the whole
flock of girls turned and ran, crying and squealing over the
bridge, closely followed by the boys who were not a part of the
Spears.

Howard went into Jackie's cabin, and he took
one of her green blankets. He laid it on the ground next to Pete.
Gently, with help from others, he lifted Pete's body onto the
blanket. They wrapped the blanket around the boy’s body, and they
carried it to the other side of the river. Already boys and girls
were gathering brush and wood to pile on the bridge. Pete's body
was laid on the north side of the dining hall, out of the sun.
Before the pile on the bridge was too bulky, Howard sent some boys
to drag the damaged motorcycle over to their side of the river.

"Maybe we should let the girls get their
stuff, too," Kevin suggested, but with a look of doubt on his
face.

Howard thought about the twin's suggestion.
It might make the girls feel better
, the freckled boy
thought.

"We'll pile the wood on the bridge first, but
we'll leave a space for one person to get by. Then, one by one,
we'll let them go back and get their stuff," he decided. So that's
what they did, although it took them two hours for all of the
girls’ equipment to be hauled over to the boys’ side.

With the help of several boys and girls, the
motorcycle was turned upside down, and the gasoline was drained
into a five gallon bucket. They placed the bucket next to the
bridge, ready to be poured onto the pile of wood. Howard thought
that the gasoline would catch fire much faster than the camp
fuel.

"What about that guy?" one of the boys asked,
as he pointed to the dead body of the motorcyclist.

"Leave him for now," Howard answered.

Then they waited. It was a long fear filled
day, as they waited to see what would happen. Sometimes, some of
them imagined that they heard the faint sound of a motorcycle. Noon
passed, and still nothing happened. Then the afternoon passed. No
one felt like eating, but Howard insisted, and he ordered some kids
to make and to pass around tuna sandwiches. Night came. Howard
ordered the boys to stack the tables and the chairs in the dining
hall, so the boys could sleep in the cleared area. He sent the
girls to bed in the boys’ cabins. No one got much sleep that night.
Everyone was nervous and frightened.
Where were Mike and the
Spears?

Chapter Three The Hanging Tree

Mike had not led his troop far along the road
when he remembered Pete. Cursing himself savagely, he hoped that
Howard would take care of Pete's body. Briefly, he wondered if this
chase was futile or maybe even crazy. But he was determined to find
the girls and to rescue them.

Now the time they had spent running with Yuie
was their ally. They were all in good condition except for Ralph,
and his panic and anger kept his adrenaline flowing.  They
jogged as long as they could, and then they walked, and then they
jogged again.  At noontime, they stopped for a fifteen minute
rest; Ralph needed it by then.  After their rest, they walked
awhile and then they broke into a jog again.

Alternately walking and jogging, they moved
forward until the sun went down.  There were a few wispy
clouds that night, but the sky had mostly cleared, the moon was
three quarters full, and it was bright.  They could easily see
the road, although the rough way slowed them.

Two hours after sunset, they came to a side
road that led steeply up the mountain.  Although the main road
continued onward, they turned onto this road, because they could
hear music coming from somewhere above them.  The road was
neither paved nor graveled, it was a simple dirt road though it was
well packed, and it seemed to be well traveled.

It was harder going uphill, but before a half
hour had passed they heard the rough voices and the drunken
laughter of men off to their right.  The voices came from a
clearing amidst a grove of white fir trees.  Cautiously, they
crept closer until they could see a campfire.  Then Mike sent
Jacob on ahead to scout the area, and to see if the two girls were
there. Soon Jacob returned.

"Did you see them?" Yuie asked anxiously.
 "Did you see Jackie and Maria?"

Jacob glanced furtively at Yuie and Ralph,
and then he whispered to Mike, "It's them.  One guy has a
rifle; he's sitting down and watching the others.  Another guy
is standing and drinking a beer and watching the third guy.
 The third guy is on the ground ... busy."

Ralph made a sound as if he was choking, and
Mike grabbed his shoulder.  "We can't lose it, man," he
whispered frantically.  "We have to keep ourselves together,
so we can help them."  Ralph nodded, although his breathing
was ragged.  Mike turned to Yuie.

"Do you think you can shoot an arrow into the
guy holding the rifle?" he asked.

Yuie was trying to control her shaking.
 "Yes, yes, I can do it," she whispered bravely, although her
teeth were chattering.

"Okay, listen," he said to the others.
 "We're going to move close to them, and then Yuie is going to
shoot first.  She's going to shoot the guy holding the rifle.
 Ralph, as soon as she shoots her arrow, you and I will spear
the same guy.  The rest of you will spear the guy standing up.
 Then we’ll all grab a second spear and get the third guy.
 Got it?"

They nodded.  All of them were nervous
and frightened, but the teenagers were resolute.  Mike
gestured, and they moved toward the men. They were not particularly
quiet, but the men had a loud boom box playing, and so they were
not heard.  They crept towards the clearing until they could
see what was happening.  It was a scene of horror. Jackie was
lying on her back.  She was naked, and there were three gaping
wounds on her torso.  It was immediately clear to them that
she was dead.  Maria, also naked, was making choking sounds
because the man raping her had his hands around her neck.

As soon as he saw what was happening, Mike
shouted and he drew back his spear.  By the time he threw his
spear, Yuie had already shot her arrow.  It sped straight into
the stomach of the man sitting with his back to a tree and holding
a rifle.  The man looked down at his torso in disbelief, even
as a spear pierced his mouth, drilled through his head, and lodged
itself into the tree behind him.  The second man was hit in
his back by two more spears, and he fell forward onto Maria and the
third man.

The man raping the girl yelled, and he
stumbled to his feet, just in time to feel one spear crease his
shoulder and another spear glance off the side of his head,
knocking him senseless.

The kids rushed into the clearing, rage and
fright pumping through their young bodies.  As they pulled the
speared man off Maria he groaned, and someone stabbed another spear
down through his body.  In their haste to reach Maria they
ignored the rapist, but he was unconscious and not a threat.

Maria was gasping for breath, and when she
finally caught her breath she began crying, great pealing sobs of
deep anguish.  She cringed away from the boys, but she allowed
Yuie to take her in the archer’s arms. The two girls rocked and
cried together as Ahmad removed his jacket and covered Maria.

Mike turned away overcome with emotion, only
to see Ralph sobbing over Jackie's body.  Then his courage
broke and his tears flowed, and he didn't try to stop them, and he
was vaguely aware that the other kids were crying also.