CHAPTER 7
Danny looked from his left to his right. He slowly moved the flashlight as he squinted his eyes, hoping to see something.
“Come on, Thad! Where are you, buddy?” Danny shouted. His voice pierced the quiet night, the only other sound was Victoria’s steps.
Danny shook his head. Thad had to be out here somewhere, but he had to be close enough to hear them calling for him. He had to be. It was silent outside, and Thad couldn’t have wondered off that far.
He tried to keep his expression neutral. He didn’t banish the thoughts from his mind, but he prohibited his face from showing any sign of concern. He had to keep cool for Vic’s sake.
At this point, Danny and Victoria had only spent a few minutes standing at the edge of the woods hollering out to Thad. They assumed that Thad would have gone this way, the direction they originally came from, to use the bathroom but they couldn’t be sure.
“How about we circle the clearing?” Danny suggested. Vic silently nodded.
The two circled the clearing for the next ten minutes. They called out for Thad, but their hope dwindled with each passing moment. Nothing. No sign of Thad.
“I don’t know what to do.” Vic said, breaking the silence that they had shared for the last several minutes.
Danny continued to scour the edge of the woods hoping for some sort of sign. He couldn’t bring himself to look back at Vic because he didn’t know what to suggest. Thad clearly wasn’t on the edge of the clearing. It must have been forty five minutes, maybe even an hour, since Vic last saw Thad.
They couldn’t look further into the woods. That wasn’t a real option because the odds of them going the same direction that Thad had gone was minuscule. They wouldn’t know where they were going and they wouldn’t know when to turn back. That was a problem. Danny couldn’t tell Vic that they should wait till morning light. That just wasn’t an option either of them would genuinely consider.
They had to do something.
Danny froze. He oriented his flashlight back to the location it had illuminated a few moments before.
“Look,” Danny said, pointing.
On the ground, at the base of a large tree, was a roll of toilet paper.
Danny took a few steps towards it, looking to his left and right for anything else. He picked up the roll and turned back to Vic.
“Well, it’s something.”
She nodded and walked a few steps deeper into the woods past Danny. She didn’t react in any clear way. On one hand, any information was good to have, and the roll of toilet paper was a hint, a piece of the puzzle. On the other hand, why did he leave the roll on the ground right here when he was nowhere to be found?
“I guess we should go this way?” She asked, but she knew it was the only lead they had. There was no other alternative.
Danny hesitated.
There had to be a better way. There had to be a better option. They couldn’t seriously think it was a good idea to wander deep into the wilderness. It was dark out. It was the middle of the night.
God damn it.
His gut told him that this was bad. Really bad.
He looked at Victoria who walked deeper into the woods. She didn’t think twice. It wasn’t even a choice to her.
Danny shook his head, but he quickly gave in. There were no good choice. Either hope Thad wanders back on his own or look for him based on the things they knew. In this situation, any action felt better than inaction.
Danny took one step, then a second, as he followed Vic. Hopefully, Thad was just a little bit further into the darkness. Hopefully, he was okay. Danny couldn’t think of a good reason why Thad hadn’t made his way back, but there had to be a reason.
“Come on out, Thad! We know you’re out here!”
* * *
Kevin and Mike had walked in silence for the past five minutes. Their steps were nearly silent; the rare sound of a stick cracking interrupted long, quiet moments.
The darkness hid the sneer that lingered on Kevin’s face. Kevin walked a step behind Mike, and Kevin stared a hole into his older sibling’s back.
Kevin wasn’t just annoyed with Mike, he had disdain for him. He wasn’t annoyed with Mike’s actions earlier, he was irritated by the persistent idiocy and recklessness that was pervasive with every single one of Mike’s decisions.
This one had worked out alright. It was probably for the better that Thad was already tied up in the freezer. One down, three to go. But Mike had taken an action that could have easily had disastrous consequences.
Kevin could imagine a scenario that turned out significantly worse. He could imagine Mike sweeping Thad off of his feet and driving him to the ground. He could also imagine Thad reaching into his pocket for a small knife and stabbing Mike in the side over and over again.
If that had happened, the family would have been shit out of luck; they would’ve had no way to solve that problem. They would’ve missed out on a carrier and they’d probably lose Mike. For better or worse, Mike was integral to their daily operations. Kevin and Father couldn’t maintain their obligations and have time to scour the forest for people and food. That was a necessity. From their home, they wouldn’t have heard Thad, Danny, Ryan, or Vic. If Mike had bled out from stab wounds, they would be completely fucked.
They had been lucky that Thad was so unprepared. They had been lucky that Thad ran in Kevin’s direction after he had scrambled away from Mike. They had been lucky that Thad’s head whiplashed into the tree and knocked him out.
It was so fucking unbearable to Kevin that Mike acted like this was his plan the whole time. Mike acted like he was a genius for making a move because the result was favorable. Obviously it would work out for them, and Kevin was just a pathetic pussy for acting so conservatively. Kevin was a wimp for ever doubting Mike.
One of these days, Mike would go a step to far and Kevin wouldn’t be there to clean up his mess.
“Come on out, Thad. We know you’re out here.”
Mike and Kevin froze. The shout sounded a bit off the beat and path from their current trajectory, but they clearly weren’t far from whoever was calling out for Thad.
Mike let out a chuckle. “Round two!” Mike whispered. Through the darkness, Kevin could see Mike’s smirk. Mike was confident, excited, and comfortable with the situation. He showed no sign of doubt.
“We play this one cool. Don’t jump on anybody. Let’s see who’s out there and take our time.”
“Yeah, sure.” Mike said sarcastically and walked in the direction of the voice.
The two continued to take small steps forward. They were more conscious of their own sounds, since Kevin insisted that they keep a low profile for the time being.
“Thad? Are you out there?” They heard a girl’s voice ask.
Kevin and Mike saw flashes of light ahead. They were perpendicular to the search party, and they were about to watch Danny and Victoria walk past them.
Kevin tapped Mike on the arm and gestured to a large tree on their right. Despite their size, they comfortably hid behind the tree. At that angle, there was no way that Danny or Vic could spot them.
They listened to the approaching footsteps, and they saw the light move back and forth.
Mike leaned forward, but Kevin pushed his arm across Mike’s chest. Mike gave an innocent look like he totally wasn’t starting to get up.
The sounds of their feet began to fade away, as the distance grew between the two groups.
“What are we doing?” Mike asked. Kevin’s arm finally receded from Mike’s chest.
“Think about it. They’re heading towards the house, well, for the most part.”
“And?” Mike was annoyed and impatient.
“So we track them. Let them get further from the clearing and make our move. Then we don’t have to escort them far and the odds of them finding their way back to their camp is a lot less if they get away.”
Mike didn’t see the point, but he nodded along half heartedly. “And then we get them?”
“Then we get them.”
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Next Chapter: Mike and Kevin track Danny and Vic!
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Tom Chambers 