The Lumberjack

by Erik Martin Willén

  “Your what?”

  “Sorry; that’s the old forgotten language from across the great sea far to the north. A purge,” Nero started coughing, and after a moment continued, “for a group, or a demise for one person. The lesser is used for an entire tribe, the full name for the one.”

  Christina thought that part of what he’d said made no sense.

  “Then why don’t we just end it here and now?”

  Nero got in his truck and pulled up next to Christina.

  “To do a Cro, one must earn it.”

  Christina, feeling more desperate at losing one of her oldest friends and perhaps her new love, swallowed hard. “How do I find you?”

  “You already have.” Nero lowered his eyes towards the rifle case, and then he drove off slowly. As the bed of the truck passed Christina, she stepped up and slid her activated necklace inside the back. As the truck left, Nero turned up the music: O Fortuna by Carl Orff.

  Christina watched the bright embers of the taillights as the truck vanished amongst the trees. “Fuck your riddles and welcome to the twenty-first fucking century, you caveman motherfucker,” she growled.

  * * * * *

  NERO STOPPED the truck at the nearest intersection, got out, and walked to the back, where he used a flashlight to find the necklace. He picked it up and looked at the jewelry, touching it gently until the golden face slid to the side and he saw the transmitter within. He smiled. “That’s my girl.”

  His eyes watered as he tilted his head and looked up at the dark sky. The moon fought for dominance against the thick, rushing clouds.

  After driving for a while, he passed another truck; he tossed the necklace into the back. Then he pulled into a remote side road, and removed all the camouflage from the sides, hood, and roof of the truck. The entire truck had large magnetized stickers covering it, giving the appearance of a rusty white color. Once they were removed, the truck was bright red. He then altered his appearance with a razor and a few cosmetics so it matched another driver’s license with a different name. He reloaded his Glock just in case, and then he drove away towards his lair, listening to Vangelis’s Conquest of Paradise.

  Presently, he drove over a bridge and followed the serpentine road along the mountain ridge; the road bent and actually headed back towards the camping area on the other side of the river. Nero parked his truck on the side of the road opposite the camp. It was several miles away, but from this elevation he could see several of the fires from it.

  He knew the pretty one would bring with her all kinds of entertainment. She would have kept her promise to come alone if he had made her do so, but the other, weaker two-leggeds never would. He was done for the day. He had helped his Mother, he had kept the legacy a secret, and now all he had to do was to wait for the two-leggeds and all the entertainment they would bring with them.

  They thought they were hunting a regular, old-fashioned serial killer. His days were numbered, but the legacy would never die; all the secrets would die with him.

  In Nero’s mind, he had lost the battle but won the war, and for him, that was a good day indeed.

  Rohan and Daniela, aided by a few of the less-rattled campers, were busy applying first aid to the injured persons. Christina held Tammy in a tight embrace, kneeling by her side. Tammy was silent, staring, bewildered, dead ahead. Most of the people remaining in camp were in serious shock. Sammy and Gavin patched up each other with the help of their wives, Megan and Pamela. Unlike the rest, except for Peter, their faces were hard as steel; and no matter how much their wives tried talking sense into them, they wanted to handle things the way they had in a life before they met their loved ones. Their wives begged for both to calm down, but they might as well have been talking to a pair of trees. More than once, the two former SEALs exchanged silent glances with Peter.

  Daniela moved over to Peter and started to patch him up while he talked on his phone.

  “It’s done. Paramedics are on the way.”

  “Did you tell them what happened?” Adrianna wanted to know.

  He shook his head.

  “Hey, tough guy, we have a major crime scene here, with one person murdered!”

  Suddenly a very upset Rohan ran up to them, looking very serious.

  “Wait a minute, hold on there! What’s that?”

  Peter looked skeptically at Rohan, questioningly, “What?”

  “That!” Rohan pointed accusingly at his phone.

  “My phone. Now if you’ll excuse me, we have an emergency, in case you missed it, and I need to make a call.”

  “But, but, that’s cheating! We were all told to put our phones in the box!”

  Everyone near Rohan stopped what they were doing and turned their heads towards him in disbelief, including his wife Daniela. “Sorry, guys, his mother dropped him on his head several times as a child,” Daniela muttered.

  Peter just smiled and said, “Hey, Doc, great comeback after that flight with your car.”

  Daniela looked up at Peter with glistering eyes, holding her own tears back. “It’s what I do.”

  “And you do it well,” Peter comforted her.

  “No, she does it best,” Rohan said holding back his own tears. He supported his wife by gently embracing her, and then her floodgates opened up. She shook her upper body for her husband to stop and move on, not wanting to cry in front of everyone. But he wouldn’t have it; instead he embraced her harder, and made her work on Peter a bit more difficult.

  Daniela stopped crying and cleared her throat. “By the way, dear, do tell me that you mailed all the letters before we left, like I asked.”

  Rohan got a suspicious look on his face. “What? Why?”

  Daniela turned facing her husband and smiled, “You know, our bills…like the car insurance?”

  The size of Rohan’s eyes and expression confirmed that he hadn’t. There was some laughter from a few people nearby. Daniela just shook her head sadly, and suddenly Rohan decided that Christina needed a bandage whether she wanted one or not.

  Peter smiled to himself, despite his own nagging worry. It was important that everyone kept their spirits up, and jokes never hurt anyone.

  “If we call it in, guys, then I believe this guy Ted Hagglund will be true to his word, and our friends will die,” Adrianna pointed out loudly.

  “We don’t have much of a choice, now do we?” Dex said, checking on his own bandage. “We’re cops, not vigilantes.”

  Lucy lay very calmly on a blanket, sweating profusely. Her injury had come uncomfortably close to the femoral artery of her left leg, and she felt awful. In a trembling voice, she stated, “Whatever you guys are going to do, you need to hurry, before the shithead gets away. But I agree with Adrianna: if we call in the cavalry now, I doubt it will end well.”

  “It’s not going to end well no matter what happens!” Dex yelled.

  Tammy whispered to Christina between her sobs, “Don’t lose him, fool. I’ve never seen you like this with any guy before, ever. You know what you have to do.”

  Christina looked at her best friend and then at Peter, who looked at her and gave a tiny nod.

  “His love is gone, too. You just go now and save your knight in shining armor, you hear me, sister?” Tammy hissed.

  “But what about you and the others?”

  “Oh, Christina, you’re such a dear, always thinking about everyone else but yourself—which is exactly why you never get laid anymore.”

  The old Tammy was back, but Christina saw that it took tremendous effort; Tammy might be able to put on a macho act, but her tears gave it all away. “Just go!” Tammy begged.

  Before Christina could object again, Tammy placed her finger on her lips for her to be silent.

  “Now, go and get me that bloody phone from Peter. I have a call to make to our godfather.”

  They embraced, and then Christina walked up to Peter. Now that she was closer, she could see the lines of pain on his face, and the hurt in his eyes. Even though there had been no tears she k
new he was hurting, and not from the gunshot wound. She looked him dead in the eyes and extended her hand. “My keys.”

  He looked at her for a moment. “This ain’t one of your movies, girl. This is for real.”

  “Guess I only get one shot at getting this right, then.”

  “One shot will do it,” he agreed.

  She motioned with her hand again. Peter looked up towards the moon, which seemed to scud through a cloudy sea. Thin snowflakes started to fall. “I’ll probably get fired for this.”

  “I doubt it.”

  He smirked and sighed. “I’m coming with you.”

  “You’re hurt.”

  “Want your keys back or not?”

  * * * * *

  TURNED OUT Tammy had a plan. There was a reason why she had become a top executive at her young age, and it wasn’t because of her godfather’s influence: when it came to tactics and strategy, her mind would be the envy of any General in the field. She went over her plan with Christina and Peter.

  “Could work,” Peter mused. “Just make sure he keeps everyone away until we signal.”

  “You’ll need back-up,” Adrianna intervened from behind them.

  “Shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” Peter said pleasantly.

  “Now, I don’t know who this Tom guy is, but from the sound of it, he might have some juice?”

  “You could say that,” Peter said, sounding a bit aggravated. “Your point is?”

  “That this man you’re going after has killed God only knows how many people, and nothing has stopped him so far. That being the case, may I add something to you plan?”

  Sammy and Gavin wobbled over to them, leaning on their wives for support. Not having much choice, Tammy and Christina allowed Adrianna to speak; and within seconds, Tammy was nodding eagerly as she listened. When she was finished, Tammy suggested a few minor changes, and finally they had what they thought was a good plan for now.

  “I only have a flesh wound,” Sammy insisted. “I’m coming along whether you like it or not. Someone wants to dance, I’ll dance. We found bin Laden and took him out; we can do the same with this bastard.” He looked at his wife. Megan, who looked back with worried but supportive eyes.

  “Sorry, fellas, as much as I want to, the fucker got me good.” Gavin looked at Pamela, who held him up and kept her head turned away. Her body was shaking.

  “Pussy,” Sammy joked.

  The two men grabbed each other’s arms and hands in an arm-wrestling shake, and gave each other deadly stares.

  Gavin said, “Don’t run to your death.”

  Sammy nodded his head and then replied, “The only easy day was yesterday, bro.”

  He nodded towards his wife, and Gavin blinked his eyes slowly; unfortunately, Megan saw and heard everything, but she stood tall and held back her emotions. Megan’s voice was calm as day, “Try to get back before the first heavy snowfall. A lot of firewood still need to be chopped.”

  “Let’s saddle up,” Peter shouted.

  “Wait for me! I need to get something,” Adrianna called as she dashed towards her tent.

  Lucy looked a bit unhappy. “Oh no.”

  “What?” Peter wondered.

  “Some women like shoes, but Adrianna has a thing for…”

  “What now?” Sammy demanded impatiently.

  Adrianna came running back, something large flashing silver in her hand. “Can’t go without Dirty Harriet.”

  Lucy continued, "... very large guns. Holy-moly, is that a .44 caliber?"

  Peter leaned towards Lucy and whispered, “Is she really old enough to have one of those?”

  “Afraid so. That one must be new. They confiscated the guns we used in the riot.”

  “I need to get my own kit,” Sammy insisted.

  “Sorry, frogman, no time,” Peter said. “I have two kits in the back of Christina’s truck. We’ll use those.”

  “You do?” Christina asked, surprised.

  “Yeah, we always bring our kits, kiddo. You never know when you’re going to run into a fucking boogeyman in the boondocks.”

  Christina said thoughtfully, “Maybe it’s better if I go alone. You’re all a bunch of maniacs.”

  Rohan joined them, a large tree branch propped on his shoulder as a weapon. Christina just tossed her arms in the air and walked towards her truck.

  “I might just be a dentist,” Rohan vowed, “but I’m going with you fellas. Time to kick some ass!”

  Everyone looked at him in disbelief, but before anyone had a chance to say anything, Daniela came up from behind Rohan, grabbed him by his ear, and dragged him away under wild protest. Daniela’s angry voice overrode his, saying something about insurance papers and her car.

  “Guess that’s our cue to go,” Peter said grimly.

  * * * * *

  NERO PEERED through his binoculars, looking down on them from a bend on the road higher in the mountains. He couldn’t see much this far away, but he smiled when only one truck left the camp. He remained there briefly, watching as the rest of the campers loaded up the injured on a few vehicles while the rest started to break camp. In the distance, the flashing lights of rescue vehicles approached. He was too far away to hear the sirens.

  He got into his truck and drove away.

  * * * * *

  PETER TURNED up the volume on the radio so they could listen to the news of what had happened earlier outside Skull Creek. According to authorities, there had been a terrorist attack on one of the mines; and later, when authorities had raided Ted Hagglund’s house, a bomb had exploded, causing widespread damage. They had found a charred male body inside, and the media presumed it was the man who had killed Carlos.

  Adrianna muttered, “Wonder how he got through all these road blocks?”

  “Stop, Christina!” Peter said urgently.

  She hit the brakes. “What? You told me to follow the dot on the GPS!”

  Peter raised his hand. “One moment.” He got out of the truck and peered at the ground. The snowflakes were larger, and a thin layer of white was accumulating over the land. With the snow came a cold breeze. Peter scrutinized the tracks in the thin snow cover, and after a long moment, he got back into the truck.

  “You told me to follow the blip precisely, and here’s where he turned south,” Christina said, confused.

  Peter signed. “Yes, that’s right—but the only vehicle we met was that other truck, and there are no signs that he made a three point turn here.” Peter nodded at the ground in front of the truck. “See? One track leading north and one south.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning he must have found the transmitter. If I had my own truck, then the computer in it could show us a better picture. But for now, we have to make do with my phone hooked up to your truck. Keep going north.”

  They left the second police checkpoint and roadblock behind them; there had been no problems passing through either. They kept driving for what seemed like hours, until suddenly Peter’s phone went off. He answered and listened for a long time, then said, “Okay, understood, will do.”

  “Who was it?”

  “It was Tammy; everyone is safe and sound, the police and the military are on the crime scene now, and she’s about to call Tom.”

  “You’re sure we’re going the right way?”

  “I sure hope so…yeah, I’m sure.” Peter pointed towards the far distance.

  Sammy leaned between them and said, “Looks like a hell of a fire.”

  “He wants us to find him,” Adrianna said calmly.

  They passed a burning gas station, where fire and explosions were still erupting. Several firetrucks and cop cars had their lights flashing on the opposite side on the road as they raced past.

  After another half hour, they switched seats; Adrianna drove, and Sammy rode shotgun. Christina and Peter sat in the back, and Peter fell asleep instantly. Christina, however, did not. Instead she was looking at the rifle case leaning on the side of the truck wall next to her. It w
as very old, and had leather engravings and imprints; 7th Cavalry, To G.A.C with love, Libbie. She turned the case around and saw a large leather patch on it, as if someone had repaired it. It was a bit cramped in the back of her truck, so she leaned the rifle case back to the side, trying not to disturb Peter, who was out cold. She noticed that Sammy was asleep too.

  She said quietly, “Stop the truck, Adrianna, we need to check on their wounds.”

  Christina had been right: both men were bleeding, and despite their protests, she and Adrianna knew that they were risking their lives. Just as Daniela had warned before they left, in the end they had to argue with two big babies. There was no point in arguing further, so after re-dressing their wounds, they split some food between them that they had salvaged from the picnic. Meanwhile, the road kept taking them north, and soon the mountain range was far behind them. It was snowing more here; the traffic was scarce, as by now it was very late. Christina was glad for the huge, knobby mud-tires on the truck, which provided a necessary measure of traction.

  They had entered a different terrain of high bluffs and hills dressed with thick forest. They passed several places where Ted Hagglund had left his mark, from burning buildings to cars driven off the road. They learned from two different couples that the maniac who did it had been driving a red truck that looked almost new. Their description of Hagglund more or less matched. Sammy thought that he might have ditched the other vehicle and stolen a truck somewhere, and no one challenged his suggestion. As they drove on, Peter kept reading and typing on his phone.

  Eventually, they reached a fork in the road and had to stop; unlike earlier, where there had been signs for them to follow, here there were none. A new day was approaching as dawn crept over the land. They paused and walked over the entire area, looking for signs, but found nothing. Christina returned to the truck after she did her business behind a tree on the side of the road. While Adrianna remained guarding the truck and the guys searched for signs on both sides of the fork, Christina decided to see if she could figure out if the rifle was loaded.

  “Adrianna, can you help me with this old Winchester?” Christina held up the rifle.