by Shawn Sarles
Once. Twice. Three times. Maddie counted all the way up to six. She winced with each crunch of impact.
“Stop it!”
The surprise of Caleb’s escape wore off as Charlie pushed him off of Tommy.
But it was too late. The boy wasn’t getting up. Caleb had shattered his skull, splattered blood and brains all over the grass.
Caleb rushed toward Charlie next, but the teen saw him coming. He spun the gun around and shot Caleb, hitting him in the thigh. The guide stumbled and then went down, his berserker strength spent.
“You bastard!”
Charlie kicked Caleb in the stomach. Then in the face. He kicked and kicked and kicked. “We only kept you alive so we could blame it all on you. We’ve been planning this for months, ever since I picked Tommy up from the police station, and now you’ve gone and ruined everything.”
Charlie stepped on Caleb’s leg where he’d shot him and relished the wild cry of pain.
“You’ve outlived your usefulness.”
He looked down at the guide and smiled. He took aim for the final shot.
“No!” Maddie shrieked. She rushed forward, but she didn’t go for her brother and the gun. Instead she went for Caleb, throwing herself on the ground, shielding his body.
“Move out of the way, Maddie.”
“No! He didn’t do anything,” Maddie wailed. “You don’t have to hurt him.”
Charlie paused. For the first time that night, he looked concerned. Conflicted.
“Don’t you see that he has to die, Maddie?” Charlie explained it to her as if it were something obvious. “It’s part of the plan. We need someone to blame.”
Behind her, Maddie could hear Caleb taking labored breaths. She wanted to turn and see how bad it was, but her brother pulled her attention back forward.
“Don’t you see,” Charlie went on. “They all had to die. Every one of them. They were bad people who needed to be punished.”
“But he’s not bad,” Maddie shouted back. “He’s innocent. He saved me. He’s a good guy.”
“I’m the good guy.” Charlie shook his fist and beat it against his chest. “I’m the one who got his hands messy. The one who brought about justice for our mother. For you.”
“But that doesn’t mean you have to kill Caleb.”
Charlie only shook his head, keeping his gun raised the whole time.
“They’re gonna want an explanation when we get down the mountain,” Charlie tried one last time to make it clear for his sister. “They’re gonna want a suspect. Someone to blame.”
Maddie shook her head. She didn’t want to hear what her brother had to say.
“Caleb did all of this,” Charlie spelled it out for her. “He planned it all. From the beginning. He was a psychopath. A lunatic. He brought us up here and smashed our radio. He picked us off one by one.”
Maddie shook her head again. She closed her eyes and tried to block out her brother’s lies.
That wasn’t what had happened. It wasn’t true. Caleb didn’t do any of those things. He was innocent. A hero. He’d tried to save them when he could have easily bolted into the woods and gotten away. He’d risked his life for them. She tried to block out Charlie as he pressed on.
“Caleb was the one who sliced Kris and Mark’s throats. He scalped Ed. He dismembered that boy in the woods. He shot Bryan and burned our father alive.”
Charlie paused, a wicked smile on his face. Did he actually believe he’d get away with this? Did he actually believe that Maddie would go along with him?
“But he didn’t get us,” Charlie went on. “We managed to stop him. To put an end to his killing spree. We survived.”
No. No. No. Maddie closed her eyes and tried to shut out her brother’s words.
“Maddie?” Concern crossed Charlie’s face. “Did you hear me? Do you understand me? We can still go back to a normal life.”
A snort shot out of Maddie’s nose. She’d tried to keep it in, but failed. Had he truly lost it? How could he expect her to just go back to a normal life with him? How could she ever trust him again?
Yes, their dad had done terrible things. But that didn’t give Charlie the right to go on a killing spree. To murder their friends. Their family. She couldn’t go back to watching Sunday Giants games with him and pretend that nothing had changed.
“No.” Maddie shook her head. “I won’t lie for you.”
“No?” Charlie arched an eyebrow and took a step closer, the gun still in his hand.
“No.” Maddie said it again, but with less certainty this time. Her eyes watched the gun carefully.
“It wasn’t supposed to end like this,” Charlie lamented. “We were supposed to get away together.”
Charlie shook his head in disappointment. He sighed, looking put out.
“I was hoping you’d make this easy. But now—now we’re gonna have to do things the hard way.”
Charlie retreated a few steps. And then his hand shot out and grabbed hold of Chelsea’s arm before the girl could move. He pulled her up from the ground and nestled his gun into her messy tangle of hair.
“If you don’t move out of the way and go along with my story, Chelsea’s not going to make it off the mountain with us.”
The world narrowed right in front of Maddie’s eyes. Her head spun like she’d stood up too quickly, and she thought she might pass out.
Then she screamed.
THIRTY-SIX
“IT’S UP TO YOU, MADDIE,” CHARLIE said, holding the gun tight to Chelsea’s head.
“Don’t hurt her,” Maddie begged, desperate.
“You’re not leaving me much of a choice.” Charlie frowned at his sister. “It’s Caleb or Chelsea. You can’t have both.”
Maddie stared at her brother, lost for words. What had happened to him? He had always protected her. Had always been the best brother.
But this—this wasn’t that Charlie. She didn’t recognize him. The crazy look in his eye, the way he talked so breezily about killing everyone they knew. How he wanted to shoot Caleb, too, and then frame the whole thing on him.
Where was the brother who had always looked out for her, who helped her set up her tent and hugged her close whenever something frightened her?
With a start, Maddie realized that brother was gone. And she knew better than to trust a word that came out of this Charlie’s mouth.
She dropped her eyes as she tried to buy some time, tried to think of something, a plan that could save all three of them. Her gaze wandered across the ground. She jumped as her father’s body came into focus. The flames had died down, leaving behind an unrecognizable corpse, raw and red, the skin mottled.
“Maddie.” Charlie’s voice broke through her thoughts. Her eyes flew back up to find her brother’s face. “It’s time to decide. Chelsea or Caleb.”
“But—but—” Maddie fumbled for words. She didn’t have a plan.
“It’s okay.”
The croak came from behind Maddie. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Caleb struggling to sit up. He wore a pained look on his beaten and bloody face. Maddie couldn’t even make out the antlers on his forehead from all the blood. He nodded to her and smiled, that one dimple still managing to poke up out of his swollen face.
“But—but—I can’t.” Maddie fumbled for words.
“It’s okay,” he croaked again. And Maddie understood. This was the only way. She stretched her arms out and hugged him tightly, hoping the gesture would be enough, praying her gratitude would translate. She let go of him and got to her feet slowly. Her legs shook underneath her, but she turned to face her brother.
“I’m happy you’ve finally come to your senses,” Charlie said, a smile breaking out over his face. He moved the gun away from Chelsea’s head and let her go. She stumbled forward and then ran into Maddie’s arms, hugging her tight.
“Are you okay?” Maddie whispered, her hands pushing Chelsea’s hair back, her fingers wiping the tear tracks from her best friend’s cheeks. Chelsea sniff
led and nodded. She buried her nose in Maddie’s shoulder and kept crying.
“We’re not done yet, Maddie.” Charlie’s words startled the two girls. They turned around to face him but kept a tight hold of each other.
“Here,” Charlie said. He held out the gun for Maddie. “Take it.”
What? She stared at her brother. She didn’t understand.
“Take the gun, Maddie.” Charlie shook his hand. “Take the gun and shoot Caleb.”
Maddie looked down at Caleb’s broken body and then back up at her brother. That hadn’t been part of their deal. She couldn’t shoot Caleb.
“Take it!” Charlie shouted it this time. “Prove that you’re with me.”
He held the gun out for Maddie and waited.
“I can’t,” Maddie’s voice wobbled.
“You can,” Charlie assured her. “And you will.”
With his free hand, he reached around his back and pulled a hunting knife from his belt. The blade flashed dangerously in front of Maddie’s eyes as he pointed its tip at Chelsea.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
The words rushed from Maddie’s mouth as she reached forward. Anything to keep Chelsea safe.
“Careful now,” Charlie warned, pulling the gun back. “Don’t try anything. There’s only one bullet in there. So make sure you don’t miss.”
Charlie opened his palm back up and offered the gun to Maddie. She looked at it for a few seconds and then lowered her hand, taking it. Charlie quickly pulled Chelsea in front of him, a human shield. He rested his hand on her shoulder, the blade of his knife pointed out, ready to slash the girl’s throat at the slightest wrong move on Maddie’s part.
Maddie looked down at the gun, weighing it in her hand. It was heavier than she’d thought.
“Maddie,” Chelsea whimpered, “don’t worry about me. You don’t have to do this.”
“Shh,” Charlie hushed the girl, pressing his knife closer to her throat. “Maddie can make her own decisions.”
He turned his attention back to his sister.
“Now, just take a deep breath. Hold your arm steady and aim. It’ll be over for him quick. He’ll barely feel a thing.”
Shaking, Maddie looked at the gun and then back up at her brother. Her eyes pleaded with him to change his mind, but he only nodded forward, waiting for her to finish the job, to prove her loyalty to him.
She gulped down a sob and turned back toward Caleb. Mark’s deer flashed in her mind. It’d had the same helpless, sad look in its eyes when Caleb had eased it to a quicker death. Was this so different?
“We’re waiting on you, Maddie.” Charlie tsked. “Prolonging it won’t make it any easier. Now raise the gun and take aim.”
Maddie followed her brother’s instructions this time. She held the gun in both of her trembling hands as she brought it up and pointed it at Caleb’s chest.
“Now pull the trigger slowly,” Charlie said. “You don’t want to jerk it.”
Maddie’s pulse drummed in her ears. The gun slipped in her hands as sweat poured from every one of her pores. She didn’t want to do this, but she had to. Charlie had left her no other choice. He would kill Caleb if she didn’t. And then he’d kill Chelsea, too. Maddie couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t lose everything in one night.
“Mustang Maddie,” Caleb croaked, startling her out of her thoughts. “It’s okay.”
She looked up and focused in on his face. That face so handsome underneath all that blood and dirt, those cuts and bruises. The face of a hero.
The gun felt suddenly still in her hands. She swallowed and took a deep breath. She readjusted her grip on the gun and took aim.
Slowly, she pulled the trigger, a silent apology flitting from her lips.
The gun fired, louder than Maddie had expected. She jumped back. Her eyes popped as she saw a splotch of red explode against Caleb’s chest. The guide grunted and then fell forward, his face crashing into the ground.
The gun shook in Maddie’s hands and she let go of it like it was a hot iron burning her fingers. She watched as it dropped to the ground and tumbled away.
Behind her, Charlie let Chelsea go and the girl stumbled, falling to the ground as well. He sheathed his knife, a smile beaming across his face as he pulled Maddie to his chest. He pressed her head against his shoulder and hugged her close.
“You did it,” Charlie said proudly. “I didn’t think you had it in you, but you did.”
He pushed out of the hug and looked at Maddie, the campfire flickering in his pupils. He seemed calmer all of a sudden. Less crazed. More like the brother Maddie knew.
But he wasn’t.
Maddie’s eyes flickered to the ground. She saw Chelsea lying there where she’d fallen, too exhausted to pick herself back up. She looked spent, almost too weak to lift her head.
Maddie turned back to her brother, his hand outstretched, waiting for her to take it. He could rationalize it all he wanted, but in the end, he’d killed all those people. Their friends. Their family. She could never trust him.
He was just as bad as—no—much, much worse than—her father.
Maddie lowered her hand and took Charlie’s. She leaned in close.
“I love you,” she whispered and felt his body relax into her.
She pulled him in closer, hugged him tight. And then she planted her feet, using all her strength to push her brother away. She watched as a look of surprise blossomed on his face. She let go of him and he stumbled backward a couple of steps. His heel snagged on a rock, and he lost his balance. His body tipped back and he was horizontal with the ground, poised somewhere between floating and falling.
Maddie watched as gravity took hold and her brother’s body crashed down, landing right in the middle of their campfire.
A shower of sparks and flames erupted. The fire sputtered, threatening to go out as Charlie rolled around and tried to get up.
No. Maddie couldn’t let him get away. She dropped to her knees and scurried along the ground. She’d seen it earlier. But where had it gone?
There. She spotted the canister. She grabbed it, hoping her brother hadn’t used all the gasoline on their father. She leaped back to her feet and threw the whole thing into the fire.
At first, nothing happened. Maddie started to panic. Her brother was almost back on his feet, his screams filled with fury. He had his arm out, ready to grab her and pull her in, too.
But then the canister exploded. The fire blew up in Maddie’s face, knocking her off her feet. A curtain of flame erupted and enveloped her brother, bringing him back to his knees, setting him on fire from head to toe.
Maddie struggled to her feet and hobbled over to Chelsea. She collapsed right next to her best friend, leaning her head on Chelsea’s shoulder. They sat there on the ground together and watched the fire build, watched as it regained strength, devouring Charlie’s shirt and hair, his flesh.
“Help me!”
Charlie’s plea came out raw and desperate. Maddie’s hands shook uncontrollably in her lap.
What had she done?
Her fingers flew to her head and played along the brim of the Giants cap. Charlie’s Giants cap. She lifted it off her head and studied the logo.
She looked into the fire. Looked at her brother one last time. Then she tossed the cap into the blaze and watched as the campfire finished Charlie off.
This was what it was like to burn. This was how her mother had died.
After a couple of minutes, Charlie stopped moving, and the fire started to die down. Maddie counted another sixty seconds and then exhaled.
It was over. Finally. She’d saved them.
She nuzzled deeper into Chelsea’s shoulder. She could hear the girl’s soft, steady breaths. Tears speckled her cheeks as she whispered into her best friend’s ear.
“We made it.”
Chelsea smiled wearily and pressed her head against Maddie’s. Somehow, they had survived.
A sudden grunt pulled them out of their stupor. Maddie’s
eyes flitted to the fire, panic rising in her chest.
But Charlie’s body was still there, smoldering in the flames.
Maddie heard the grunt again and spun around. How could she have forgotten? Her eyes swept the ground and she saw Caleb moving.
“Oh, my God,” Maddie shouted. She rushed forward and bent down, helping Caleb pull himself upright. “I’m so sorry.”
“You meant to miss, right?” Caleb winced and pressed his shoulder. Maddie could see the wound seeping blood where her bullet had hit him. Thank God, her nonlethal shot had been on target.
“I’m just glad you played along,” Maddie said.
Caleb laughed, but it quickly turned into a groan.
“We have to get help,” Maddie said. Chelsea had already stumbled over and joined them. “He’s lost a lot of blood.”
“But how?” Chelsea wondered aloud, starting to panic. “He’s too heavy for us to carry.”
Maddie looked around, as if she’d find a phone or ambulance that they just hadn’t noticed before.
“I’ll have to run for it,” Maddie decided, realizing it was their only option, the fastest way they’d get help for Caleb.
“But what if you get lost?” Chelsea asked. “What if you hurt yourself?”
“I’ll be back soon. I promise,” Maddie said, determined. “Just—just make sure he holds on.”
Chelsea nodded and pulled Maddie in for a hug.
Maddie took one last look at her best friend. Her sister. The only family she had left. Then she turned on her heel and bolted into the night, running faster than she ever had in her life, running to save Caleb.
EPILOGUE
THE HOSPITAL BUZZED WITH ACTIVITY, MONITORS beeping, gurneys clattering and phone messages paging over the loudspeaker. In a corner of the waiting room, two girls sat by themselves.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Maddie asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. After they’d cleaned her wounds and stuck an IV in her arm, the nurses had given her an oversized pair of sweats to wear. They’d given Chelsea the same, but her father had arrived at the hospital shortly after they were admitted and brought her pajamas from home.
