The Defiant: An Unbeaten Path

by John W. Vance

  “Thank you,” Vincent said as he rested his head on the floor.

  “For what?” she asked.

  “For not tying me up.”

  “Who says I won’t do that?”

  He looked up and saw a slight grin on her face.

  “I don’t know what happened to you, but I’m not that guy. I’m actually one of the good ones.”

  “No such thing.”

  “Well whatever happened, I’m sorry it happened. The world has turned to shit, and soon you’ll come to realize that we good people have to stick together, because the lone wolf won’t survive.”

  “Whatever.” She smirked.

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  “Nunea.”

  “Nunea?”

  “Yeah, nunea damn business.”

  He chuckled and once again rested his head back on the cool floor.

  Minutes went by like hours.

  “I got everything, Mom,” Noah hollered from further in the house.

  “Looks like we have to say goodbye,” the woman said as she tucked the pistol in her waistband.

  “Nice meeting you too,” Vincent said mockingly.

  She turned around, and just before making the corner, she gave him one last look then disappeared.

  By her heavy footfalls he could tell she was running away. He sat up and exhaled deeply. “I haven’t seen anyone in days, and when I do, they hold me up. You’re losing it, Vincent, you’re really losing it.”

  Four miles southwest of Wellsville, Utah

  “Can we take a short break?” Luke asked, bent over in exhaustion.

  Nicholas, who was following Luke’s lead, stopped and said, “No, we keep moving.”

  “My left foot hurts bad and my knee feels like it’s grinding against bone. Please, just a short break?” Luke pleaded.

  Nicholas looked around. They were standing in an open area surrounded by a thick grove of tall shrubs and trees. Their visibility was ten to twelve feet at most.

  “Give the boy a break. I could use one too,” Proctor added.

  Nicholas leered at Proctor and kept surveying their surroundings. He didn’t like stopping where they were. In fact, he wished now he had put his foot down and refused to go on this fool’s mission. “I don’t want to stop. Let’s keep pressing forward.”

  “One second,” Luke said as he began to put his left shoe back on.

  “Hurry up,” Nicholas ordered; he pulled a gold pocket watch from his pants and with his thumb pressed the latch release. The shiny yellow gold popped open to reveal the white-faced watch and bold black hands. He glanced at the time and put the watch away quickly.

  “Argh,” Luke grunted as he slid his shoe back on.

  “Is your foot bleeding?” Proctor asked and approached Luke, who had ignored Nicholas and had sat down and removed his shoe.

  “Yeah, some blisters burst,” Luke answered.

  “For fuck’s sake, just suck it up. How far away do you think we are?”

  Sweat streamed off Luke’s face. He again ignored Nicholas and took off his shoe for Proctor to examine his blisters.

  “How far?” Nicholas pressed.

  “A mile or so.”

  “Or so?”

  “Yeah.”

  Proctor stripped off his pack and pulled out a first aid kit.

  “That was cool. I haven’t seen anyone use an old-fashioned watch like that,” Luke commented.

  Nicholas didn’t pay attention to Luke’s small talk.

  Proctor pulled off Luke’s bloody sock and tossed it aside.

  “Is he always grumpy?” Luke asked Proctor.

  “He’s focused not grumpy,” Proctor replied.

  “Hmm, seems grumpy to me. I was only asking him about his watch. It’s really cool.”

  “He got it from his brother not two weeks before everything went to hell,” Proctor said.

  “Let’s not discuss my private life,” Nicholas blurted out.

  To the left of them, a branch cracked. Everyone grew silent and Nicholas leaned in and began to intently scan the area.

  Proctor stopped giving aid and also looked in the direction the sound had come from.

  The sound of leaves crunching then came from their right.

  Nicholas put his rifle to his shoulder and pivoted around in that direction.

  The expression on Proctor’s face turned to concern when he saw Nicholas spin around. He went to get up but was stopped when he felt cold metal pushed up under his chin. He froze and lowered his eyes to see the pistol in Luke’s hand.

  “Don’t move,” Luke ordered.

  Nicholas heard the commotion and turned. “I fucking knew it!” he blurted out and faced Luke and Proctor, rifle out in front of him. “Drop the gun.”

  Loud crashing came from all directions.

  “You’re surrounded; you’ll die if you try anything!” Luke exclaimed.

  Nicholas could feel his blood boil and his instincts told him to begin firing. He then saw several men emerge from the shrub line. They were camouflaged and heavily armed. He placed his sights on each as they came forth, and the desire to start killing them was present, but he remained disciplined. He knew he couldn’t win this fight as he saw more and more break through and advance on him. By a rough count he was outnumbered by over dozen.

  “Drop your rifle,” Luke ordered.

  “I knew you were lying, I knew it,” Nicholas spat.

  “I didn’t want to do this, I promise. They forced me. They said they’d kill my sister,” Luke responded in a weak attempt to have Nicholas understand his dilemma.

  “I should fucking kill you right now,” Nicholas barked.

  “You won’t be killing anyone, you understand,” a rough voice said behind Nicholas.

  Nicholas felt the muzzle of a rifle pressed against the back of his head.

  “Drop the rifle, now,” the man ordered.

  “I’ll drop it,” Nicholas said calmly as he pointed his rifle to the sky and pulled the trigger, firing a single shot, hoping to signal the group that they were in trouble.

  “Idiot!” the man barked.

  Nicholas dropped the rifle, closed his eyes and waited for what was coming next.

  The man quickly struck Nicholas with the butt of his rifle.

  Nicholas grunted in pain and fell to the ground.

  U.S. Highway 91, six miles southwest of Wellsville, Utah

  The distant single crack of gunfire echoed off the hills surrounding them, giving everyone pause.

  Becky looked up, her eyes wide in anticipation of hearing more shots, but none came.

  Colin’s body tensed. He raised his rifle and readied for someone to burst from the tree line.

  Bryn jumped up and, like Colin, prepared to do battle, her pistol drawn.

  “Do you think that was them?” Becky asked.

  “Hard to tell, but we have to assume it was,” Colin replied, his eyes still on the trees below.

  “I agree with Colin. We have to assume it was,” Bryn commented.

  “What do we do?” Becky asked.

  “We wait,” Katherine declared.

  Colin looked at his watch and said, “We wait for now, but we need to remain vigilant.”

  “Is that possible?” Bryn joked. “We’re sitting here on a road just begging to be shot, robbed and raped and not necessarily in that order.”

  “Why does she always have to be crude,” Marjorie blurted out.

  “Crude? What’s crude is your ass-backwards thinking. Is it more humane to risk our lives for strangers we don’t know?”

  “Yes, it is humane. I don’t want to live in a world where the people I know lose their humanity.”

  “Humanity, humane, all these noble words, but I don’t see you out there risking your life to save what could be a fake person. It’s one thing to save someone we know or know if it’s real. This entire thing could be a trap and your vote could have put them all in the sights of predators and cutthroats,” Bryn snapped.


  “Really, I am just astonished at your language and disgusting behavior!” Marjorie blared.

  Bryn raised her left hand and folded her fingers into a fist. With her right hand she acted like she was reeling in line on a fishing rod. Each turn of her right hand brought the index finger of her left higher and higher. When her finger was raised, she blew Marjorie a kiss.

  “You’re repulsive!” Marjorie moaned, then walked into the trailer and slammed the door.

  Frank looked at Bryn but didn’t say a word. His expressionless face gave no clue as to what he thought about Bryn and Marjorie’s clash.

  Becky, however, couldn’t let their bickering go without adding her thoughts. “Bryn, please leave her alone.”

  “I know she’s your mother, but I’m not sorry. This bleeding-heart bullshit might kill us.”

  “You can disagree, but you don’t have to be so…”

  Bryn raised her eyebrows and cocked her head.

  “Becky, if you think you’re going to convince my sister to change her mind or tactics, forget it. She’s been hardheaded since she was born,” Sophie chimed in.

  “I love you too,” Bryn responded to Sophie.

  “People, stop the bickering. It doesn’t help!” Colin chided.

  “Colin’s right. We need to keep our minds free of these little battles and focused,” Katherine said. She walked over to Becky and offered her hand.

  Becky took it.

  Katherine caressed it and said, “We’ll wait. Our husbands are fine. They’re tough men and smart; they’ll be back soon.” Katherine and Becky had met many years ago at a charity event and since then had been friends. If it hadn’t been for their friendship, Proctor and Nicholas wouldn’t have met. Their personalities clashed sometimes, but deep down they shared common values and outlooks on life.

  Becky remained sitting and looked up at Katherine’s golden hair, which she now wore pulled back into a ponytail. Becky had joked recently that the ponytail and makeup-less faces of women was the new look for the coming years.

  Abigail walked up to Becky and Katherine. She couldn’t hide the fear and worry, it was written all over her face. Her youthful and smooth skin was creased with anxious concern and she found herself doubting her decision.

  Rob had attempted to console her, but it hadn’t worked. Since their departure, Rob had begun to feel like he wasn’t needed, and this was yet another time where he tried to be of value and she turned away from him. He began to wonder if their relationship or what they had before was gone with the world before.

  “Come here, baby,” Becky said, motioning for Abigail to take a seat next to her.

  “Mom, I think we messed up,” Abigail said, referring to the vote to go help Luke.

  “Let’s not start second-guessing. Like Katherine said, they’re strong and smart men,” Becky said, trying to make Abigail feel better, but she wondered if it was herself she was trying to convince.

  “I’m just scared for Daddy, and hearing the gunshot made me worry more. I heard what Bryn said, and maybe she’s right. Here we are trying to do what we think is right, but that was for a different time.”

  “That’s nonsense,” Katherine interjected.

  “But what if it is? What I mean is our morals came from a time when there weren’t the types of risks we have today. Maybe we need to adjust?”

  “I’m with Marjorie. We can’t leave our humanity behind,” Katherine said.

  “But is it humane to get our family killed trying to save someone we don’t know? How do we really know if there is someone that needs to be saved?” Abigail asked.

  Katherine paused; she was about to counter Abigail when she decided to just let what she said sink in.

  “Life was easy before, we could sit in the luxury or safety of our lives and make easy claims of belief in humanity, but we never had to actually do anything, we never had to risk anything. Now we do and the cost might be too much.”

  Katherine opened her mouth to speak but again cut herself off. She thought for a moment then said, “You make some valid points.”

  Becky heard what she was saying, and it wasn’t any different than what Bryn had said or what Nicholas had said, but the way Abigail was saying it made it sink in.

  Bryn listened to the women talking and wanted to tell them that it was too late for second-guessing. She walked over to Colin and said, “What’s the plan if we don’t hear from them?”

  “If they don’t come back in ten hours, we pop smoke and head north.”

  “Pop smoke?”

  “Leave, we leave.”

  “We’re not leaving anyone; we go find them. That’s what we do.”

  Colin looked at her and asked, “What has gotten into you? You’ve become quite the bitter and angry hard-ass. Where’s that tough but still composed girl I use to know?”

  “I’m still that girl.”

  “I’m not so sure, you’re getting into arguments with old ladies, you’re cursing and now yelling at people in our group.”

  “I just can’t sit around and listen to stupid. I listened to it before the shit hit the fan, but now stupid and antiquated ideas can get us killed.”

  “I can’t disagree with you on that, but how about toning down some of your rhetoric. We do have to live with these people. And if I remember, didn’t Nicholas save you and your sister?”

  “Yeah, but that was different.”

  “How?”

  “It was different; he was there witnessing it. We don’t know for sure if there is a girl; that’s a huge difference.”

  “But he still risked his life to save you.”

  She wanted to counter what he said, but let it process in her mind. She respected his opinion and had him to thank for so much. In her life she had many rocky relationships with men and had all but given up on believing that men could be trusted, but found three men recently that had shattered that belief. First, there was Matt, the one guy she never expected to show strength and courage. Then Colin presented himself and gave her instruction and the tools needed to survive, and finally there was Nicholas, who saved her just when she needed it. She owed all her life to those men and swore she’d repay that debt later.

  “I hate to admit it, but you might be right. I’m just stressed. I don’t like the traveling; I just want to get where we’re going. I just feel like every turn or small shit town will spell disaster for us; then this happens with that kid. It’s not like I’m heartless, I just don’t feel it. I think that kid’s lying and we just democratically voted to send off two of our own to go get killed.”

  “Don’t underestimate Nic. he’s a tough son of a bitch and Proctor seems able. However, that’s not to say their invincible.”

  “So what do you make of that gunshot?”

  “Could be them, could be coincidence. It’s a violent world out there.”

  “So you’re giving them ten more hours then we leave?” Bryn asked.

  “Not my choice, that was Nic’s orders and I promised to do what he instructed.”

  “I don’t think I can leave them, I just don’t think I can do that,” Bryn said, looking off into the thick forest beyond.

  Colin looked at his watch and said, “If they’re not back in nine hours and forty-eight minutes, we’re pushing north to the ranch. Once everyone is safe, we can discuss sending a team back, but let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “Yeah, let’s hope. You hungry?”

  “A bite of food sounds good right now.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Bryn said and strutted off.

  Colin again looked at his watch. It was agony watching the seconds bleed into minutes. The single gunshot told him that something bad happened to them. He obviously didn’t know for sure, he just felt it in his gut.

  A ray of light found a break in the heavy cloud cover and shined down at his feet. He looked up and watched the clouds move quickly to cover up the small hole. Under his breath he muttered, “You better come back, Nic, you better come back.”r />
  Four miles southwest of Wellsville, Utah

  A deep and painful throbbing emanated from Nicholas’ head and spanned from the back to the front. He was drifting in and out of consciousness. Strange voices and laughter filled his ears, making for nightmares while he was out, until a loud crash jolted him fully awake. He opened his stinging eyes to find he was on the ground and tied up. He looked around to see where Proctor might be, but he couldn’t find him. Not far off he saw a small campfire, and around it was the men who had attacked them. Nicholas’ struggling had caught the attention of one of his captors. He walked away from the campfire and stood over him. “Look who’s awake.” The man bent down and grabbed him forcibly by the arm, pulled him up and placed him on his butt.

  Nicholas was impressed with the man’s strength.

  “Hey, guys, that dude is awake,” the man informed his friends.

  More of the men left the fire to reacquaint themselves with Nicholas.

  Nicholas would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit he was afraid of what was going to happen to him. He prayed that torture wasn’t their modus operandi.

  “You suppose he’s ready to help us?” one of the men asked.

  “He better be if he knows what’s good for him,” the leader of the group said as he pushed his way past his men and stopped just in front of Nicholas.

  “Are you willing to cooperate with us?” the man asked Nicholas.

  Throughout his life, Nicholas found it just about impossible to focus when he had a major headache, and this was one of those times.

  One of the men kicked him and asked, “You awake?”

  Nicholas grunted.

  “Ha, Cam really hit him hard; the motherfucker can only mumble shit.” The man laughed.

  Nicholas heard and understood the man clearly and it irritated him. “Fuck you,” he whispered under his breath.

  “Huh? What did you say?” the man asked, bending over to listen.

  Nicholas raised his head to meet the man’s eyes and repeated, “Fuck you!”

  “Fuck me? Um, I don’t think that’s going to happen, but you, on the other hand, you’re pretty much fucked unless you help us.”