CHAPTER 5
Kevin jerked Mike by the shoulder, pulling him close to an adjacent tree trunk. Mike glared at Kevin, but Kevin motioned for Mike to stay quiet. He slowly raised a hand, pointing between the trees just up ahead.
A ray of light weaved left to right, shattering the darkness of the night. After moving from tree to tree, the light eventually settled. The ray illuminated a tree ahead of Mike and Kevin to their right.
“Looks like one of kids is out here.” Kevin said.
They heard the sounds of twigs crunching under someone’s feet, but the light remained still. The sound of movement faded away, and the brothers stood in silence. Suddenly, Mike inched forward from their hiding spot and made slow progress towards the source of the light.
Although Mike and Kevin had been walking outside for ten minutes, neither of them were using the flashlights they brought with them. They knew the area well, and at this moment, they weren’t trying to draw any attention to themselves. The main reason they carried them were for the diversion they had planned and, of course, in case of any unforeseeable circumstance.
Kevin took a quick step forward to catch up to his brother.
“What the hell are you doing?” Kevin whispered.
“What do you think? I wanna see which one is out here.” Mike said.
“We had a plan. Why don’t we just stick to the plan.” Kevin’s voice was quiet, but his tone was declarative. Stick to the plan, that’s final.
Mike ignored him and continued forward. They quickly realized that they were several feet farther from the flashlight than they initially realized. As they neared the device, they became aware that they were on the edge of the clearing.
Still, they heard no sound from the lone camper and had not spotted him yet.
A twig snapped loudly under Mike’s foot causing the brothers to freeze.
They heard movement from behind the flashlight.
“What the fuck was that?” A voice asked rhetorically. His voice broke the silence that had followed the snapping twig. Fortunately for Kevin and Mike, they weren’t standing near the ray of light. They stayed still, hiding in the shadows, waiting for the still hidden camper to make his move.
Kevin found it odd that the teenager seemed to be hiding. He wasn’t standing there holding the flashlight and looking around. That seemed strange. But the teenager wasn’t hiding because it didn’t seem like he expected anybody to be walking around out in the woods – at least he didn’t expect anything until Mike stomped on a branch.
They heard the sound of dirt being kicked and leaves being displaced. Their prey took a few loud steps towards them, towards the flashlight. The teen picked up the flashlight, it’s illumination finally revealing Thad to Mike and Kevin.
“It’s the alpha douchebag.” Mike mumbled, partially to Kevin and partially to himself. He thought he had recognized his voice, but he hadn’t been sure until now.
The ray of light abruptly turned away from the brothers to the direction of the clearing. Without any hesitation, Mike crept forward. At this point, Thad was only leading them by about twenty feet. Thad was walking carelessly, stepping onto sticks and roots. His steps were loud, and he could be easily spotted since his flashlight tore through the darkness ahead of him.
Mike walked faster. The distance between Mike and Thad closed rapidly. Twenty feet became fifteen. Fifteen became ten. Kevin’s eyes were wide. This was not the plan.
Mike broke into a sprint.
What the fuck are you doing? Kevin wanted to yell.
Thad had heard Mike behind him, but it had was too late. Thad turned into Mike and was thrust onto the hard ground. Mike had grabbed behind both of Thad’s legs and swept him off his feet. They both hit the ground with a thud; Thad gasped for breath after having the wind knocked out of him.
Thad’s flashlight flew through the air, landing close to Kevin and illuminating him – if anyone had bothered looking that direction. In that instant, the world plunged into darkness for Thad and Mike.
Despite Thad’s strength, Mike towered over him and used his weight advantage as they scrambled on the ground. Mike positioned himself on top of Thad and slapped his right hand over Thad’s mouth and nose. He squeezed hard.
Thad was squirming wildly on the ground, and he nearly bucked Mike off of him. His movement was backed by raw power that would easily overwhelm your average Joe, but Thad was fighting above his weight class.
Mike tried to pin down one of Thad’s arms, hoping to hold him down and suffocate the wild teenager. Thad brought his free hand to the palm covering his mouth. Thad dug his fingers into Mike’s grip and wrapped a tight grip around Mike’s thumb.
From a few feet away, observing the scuffle and unsure of what to do, Kevin heard the pop of Mike’s thumb and saw Thad wiggle away from his attacker.
“You fucking punk!” Mike shouted, rage in his voice.
Thad sat on his ass and used his arms to rapidly backpedal away from Mike, who was on his side with his hand to his chest. Thad turned and stumbled to his feet, but he found himself face to face with Kevin.
Kevin was prepared, he saw Thad unknowingly coming towards him. He wrapped himself around Thad and drove him into the trunk of a sturdy tree. Thad’s head whipped back on impact, slamming into the rough bark. The only thing that kept Thad from collapsing to the ground was Kevin’s body.
Kevin could feel that Thad was limp. He continued to drive Thad into the tree, but he looked towards Mike and mentally asked him for a zip tie. Mike was on his feet, still holding his injured left hand to his stomach. Instead of reaching back into his pants for a zip tie, he reeled his good hand back and drove his fist into Thad’s jaw.
Kevin stepped back allowing Thad to collapse onto the ground.
“Nice, that was fucking necessary.”
“That piece of shit tried to break my thumb.” Mike spat.
Kevin ignored Mike and reached out his palm. This time, Mike rewarded him with a zip tie. Kevin quickly did what he had done so many times in the past. He bound Thad’s hands behind his back, thought for a moment, and then opted to also tie his feet together.
“You’re a fucking idiot sometimes.” Kevin shook his head.
“I just took out the head honcho of their group, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“We got him. And he’s fucking scrappy, so now we both have to take him back to the house. Together. Don’t you see why that’s a problem? He would’ve been the best one to leave for dead at the camp site. One of us could’ve taken the girl, the other could’ve taken one of the basement dwellers, and we’d come back for the two bodies. That’s two quick trips. Now, we have to take this fucker back and then hope that the rest are still sitting on their asses.”
Kevin leaned down and scooped up Thad’s feet and gestured for Mike to lift up Thad’s shoulders. They hoisted him into the air and began towards their home.
“We could just leave him here.” Mike said, as he walked backward. “Just bash his brains in and come back for him later.”
“We have him alive. It’s better if we can keep him fresh.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“Don’t pull that. You know that Father want them fresh if its possible.”
Mike ignored Kevin. He was proud of his work, and he didn’t care if Kevin wouldn’t recognize his talents. Father would be proud too.
The two walked with the unconscious teen in hand, as they made their way back to the house.
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Next Chapter: Where is Thad? Danny, Ryan, and Vic look. Thad wakes up.
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Tom Chambers 