They Came After Me

by C S Allen

  My aunt’s car hit a tree on the front side at the wheel and then the car spun violently the opposite direction and then hit another tree. The car came to rest still upright, but my aunt and I were in rough shape. I was dizzy and sick to my stomach; the seatbelt was crushing my sides because it wasn’t letting go. I felt around for the seatbelt release button, as I looked over at my aunt, and she look dazed too. As I was about to ask my aunt if she was okay, I found the release button, and it let me go. “Aunt Kelly, are you okay?” I asked.

  She just nodded a little bit and said ‘yeah’ without moving her head to look at me. I reached over to her seatbelt and pushed the release button as it was tight against her as well. “I’m going to get out and see where we are and I’ll be right back,” I said, as I opened my door. I slowly got out of my aunt’s car and looked around. We had somehow gone down a large, sloping embankment and survived without flipping over. I could hear a car going by, but they couldn’t see us because of the angle of the hill. We could have died and no one would have known we were down here until our bodies started to smell, I thought. I went back to the car and sat down inside, “Aunt Kelly, you still with me?” I asked, looking at my aunt.

  “Oh yeah, I’m just checking to see if everything is working, and it is, especially my bladder.” I laughed a bit and then realized that my aunt had peed on herself. My aunt then tried looking at me and moaned. “Ow, my neck is messed up. That son of a bitch is gonna pay for hitting us,” my aunt said.

  “Where’s your gun?” I asked.

  “You ass, now is not the time for that,” Aunt Kelly said with a chuckle.

  “Let’s see if we can get your door open,” I said, as I got out of the car. I went around to the driver’s side of the car and saw the damage. I shook my head and couldn’t believe how much worse it could have been. “Thank you, God,” I said out loud because my aunt and I had survived.

  My aunt’s door had a crinkle in it and didn’t look too badly damaged. “Okay, I’m going to open the door now!” I stated loudly to my aunt. I reached for the door handle and pulled up and nothing happened. I pulled on it again and the door wouldn’t open.

  “Oh! Hold on a second, the door’s locked!” my aunt yelled through the window. “Okay, try it now!” she yelled.

  I pulled up on the door handle, and this time the door opened but only halfway. “You’re gonna have to make do with having the door halfway open. It’s bent at the hinges, Aunt Kelly,” I stated.

  “My neck is killing me, and I think there’s something wrong inside my waist. The seat belt wedged me so damn tight against the seat I think it pulled something,” my aunt stated, trying to turn herself so she could get her legs out.

  “Let me help you with getting your legs out. Try sliding your car seat back and then push back the top of the seat so it lies down.” My aunt had an extra six inches when she pushed her car seat back, and then she lowered the back so that she could easily get out. I reached in and put my hands under her arms, as she grabbed onto my jacket, and then leaned forward and stood up. My aunt groaned with pain and said, “This is where the police found your parents, Will.”

  I couldn’t believe what I had heard and looked at my aunt in her eyes. “My parents died here? This is where they were pushed off the road?” I asked.

  “Yes, this is where they landed after going off the road up there,” my aunt replied, pointing back up the hillside.

  “Those friggin’ bastards, I swear to God, I’ll kill them all. Every one of those bastards will wish that they had never met me,” I said angrily, pacing like a caged animal.

  “Let’s get out of here and call the police, Will,” my aunt said, staggering around the car.

  “Are you going to be okay going up the hill like you are?” I asked.

  “You’re right; I don’t think I can without hurting myself more. Why don’t you go up there and wave someone down, Will, and I’ll wait here,” Aunt Kelly stated, holding on to the car.

  “Okay, well you should be able to see me up there, so just rest against your car,” I replied.

  As I started up the hill, I heard a strange sound behind me, and then, “Ugh!” I turned around and saw Aunt Kelly on the ground, looking up at me. “Will! Run!” My aunt yelled as two men dressed in black came out of the woods. One looked like he was holding a gun.

  “No!” I yelled. I quickly took off my gloves and pulled up my jacket to get my gun out of its holster. I took aim at the two men and started shooting at them. POW! POW! POW! POW! They quickly turned back and ran into the tree line. I wasn’t sure if they were still there hiding as I ran back down the hill and stopped. I waited to see if I could see or hear movement in the woods, but nothing happened. I shot two more times blindly into the tree line just for good measure. I then ran over to my aunt behind the car and could see that she was hit with what looked like a dart. I grabbed her wrist to feel for a pulse, and thankfully, she was alive still. How in the hell do I get help with Aunt Kelly lying here and those bastards in the woods? I thought. I decided to go into the woods because there had to be either a path or a road on the other side. If I went up the hill, those men might grab Aunt Kelly and take off with her, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. I had one magazine attached to my holster and nine bullets left in my gun. As I was crouching behind the car, thinking, I remembered that my aunt had a gun in her glove box. I did a quick look at the tree line, and I didn’t see or hear anyone, so I made a dash to the passenger side and opened the door. I looked again at the trees, and it was still quiet as I reached into the glovebox and found the handgun. I quickly put it in my jacket pocket and walked backwards to the back of the car, while still watching for movement anywhere. I looked down at my aunt and pulled the dart out of her back and realized that it was a tranquilizer dart. “No wonder why they didn’t shoot back,” I said. I looked back at the tree line and could see the muddy footprints in the snow from the men who had attacked my aunt. I told her that I would be back, hoping that she could hear me, and then I followed the tracks. As I trailed the men, I tried keeping behind every tree so I wouldn’t be shot if those men were still around.

  I was about fifteen feet into the tree line when I heard, “Hi, Will! Looks like you got a gun. That’s not fair!” a man yelled somewhere in the woods. The voice echoed, so I couldn’t really get a good idea of where he was.

  “Yeah, that’s not nice, Will, to shoot at us!” a different voice yelled. It seemed like it came from my right side. They were obviously waiting for me to either go up the hill or go into the woods. I was frozen in place behind a tree, not knowing what to do next. “Come on in the woods, Will, unless you’re scared!” a voice yelled from the front.

  Now I recognized it. “Shit, it’s Tom!” I said under my breath. I took a quick look around the tree I was hiding behind and still couldn’t see anyone. I decided to get Tom talking so that I could run in his voice’s direction. “You’re an asshole, Tom. You go after innocent people and that’s not right, man!” I yelled. I waited for a response and nothing came. Was Tom now trying to track me? Or did he take off and I couldn’t hear him.

  “Willy, you’ve been a bad boy! You couldn’t keep your mouth shut like I told you! Now we have to make sure you will never say another word again!” Tom yelled.

  As he was talking, I ran to two trees in his direction. I wasn’t sure where his partner was hiding, so I kept looking around for him. I decided to shoot two shots in Tom’s direction and then two more shots where I thought his partner was at. POW! POW! . . . POW! POW! I quickly ran ahead, still following their tracks, and stopped behind another tree and crouched down. I tried looking to see how far Tom’s tracks went into the woods, but I couldn’t tell how far they went. Where are those bastards? I thought.

  POW! Thwack! Someone had shot at me and had ripped a piece of bark off the tree behind me. Now I was scared because not only did they have dart guns, but they had real guns.

  “How do ya like those apples, Willy boy? I almost got ya, didn’t I?�
�� Tom yelled.

  I wasn’t sure if I should wait behind the tree and watch for their next move or retreat back to the car. My anger was getting the best of me, and I should have known that I couldn’t win. I had to get back to the car and try to defend myself and my aunt. I thought of turning around and making a run for it, but I worried I’d get shot in the back. Then I thought of looking back and running from tree to tree. There was no other option but to get out of the woods because Tom was an expert at killing. POW! POW! I shot in the direction where I thought Tom was at and ran back toward the car. POW! POW! POW! I shot again in the direction of Tom and the last location I thought Tom’s buddy was at. I ran again to the next tree, trying to get back to the car.

  POW! POW! POW! ZIP! Thwack!

  “Damn it!” I yelled by accident. Tom and his buddy had shot in my direction, and the bullets had ripped into the trees around me. I was shaking and did the only thing I thought of and that was to shoot back. I put my arm around the tree and pulled the trigger. CLICK! CLICK! I was out of bullets, so I quickly dropped the gun magazine onto the ground and reached for another one attached to my holster.

  POW! POW! ZIP! POW! ZIP! ZIP! POW! Thwack! Bullets were coming at me from the woods, and it felt like I was in slow motion, as I tried to get my magazine out.

  “I see you, Willy! Notice how the bullets ripped up the ground around you? I heard you were out of bullets with that clicking sound. Why don’t you give yourself up?” Tom yelled.

  I finally got the magazine in my gun and quietly let the bolt go forward and chambered a round. I did a quick look around the tree and could see a dark silhouette walking in my direction. I did a quick prayer so I would be able to shoot the person coming after me and then aimed. POW! POW! POW!

  “Ugh!” The silhouette dropped with a painful-sounding gasp.

  Another dark silhouette ran toward the one on the ground, and I took aim at that one as well and shot. POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! Unfortunately, I must have missed because the man jumped backwards and then hid behind a tree. I felt cocky that I had hit one of them, so I yelled, “How do ya like them apples, asshole?” No one responded, so I assumed that whoever was left was going to retreat or keep quiet until they had a shot on me. I glanced around and saw I had about five more trees to run to, and then I would be at the car. I would shoot one round in the direction of the last known area of that one silhouette and run and then do it over again until I got to the car.

  No one shot at me, so on my last tree, I shot a couple more times and then ran to the back of my aunt’s car. Aunt Kelly was still lying on the ground. She was knocked out and shivering. Somehow, I had to get my aunt off the ground and into the car to keep her from freezing to death. The trunk lid was partially open, so I thought of putting my aunt in there, thinking the trunk lid would protect me. I looked into the tree line and couldn’t see anything, so I shot a couple more times blindly. I then quickly dropped my gun and grabbed my aunt by her jacket and dragged her lifeless body to the trunk. I raised the lid up and then crouched down to reach under my aunt’s arms. I then lifted her halfway up and over the bottom of the trunk opening. She was halfway inside the trunk when PING! POW! PING! Someone was again shooting at me from the woods. One or two bullets just barely hit the top of the trunk lid with such force that the lid fell against me.

  “Shit!” I yelled. I then grabbed my aunt’s legs and forced the rest of her body into the trunk. I looked down for the gun that I had dropped and quickly picked it up. It felt like I had been fighting for at least an hour, but it had only been maybe twenty minutes. My mind was racing as fast as my heart was beating, and I felt sick to my stomach. How much ammo is left? I have a gun in my pocket and about five or less bullets in my hand.

  “Willy? Hey, Willy boy! Did I get ya?” Tom yelled.

  “Son of a bitch!” I stated loudly when I heard Tom was still alive.

  “You know that I can’t leave you here alive, right? When I get ya, I’m going to have to drag your ass away and then toss you into the Atlantic Ocean as chum. Maybe I’ll do you one better and burn your ass in a fire pit,” Tom yelled.

  I couldn’t take not saying anything and yelled, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “Oh, he’s still alive! Woo hoo! Thanks for letting me know, bud!” Tom yelled and then shot at me. POW! POW! PING! POW! CRACK! Bullets bounced and ricocheted off of the car and nearly hit me.

  How many damn bullets does Tom have left? I wondered. I lay down to look under the car to see if I could see anything, but I couldn’t because the snow was in the way. I then crawled toward the front of the car so that the engine and tires would help block Tom’s bullets. I looked at the woods again and couldn’t see any movement. I was cold and my hands felt almost numb with crawling around in the snow. I had no idea what to do next except to wait it out with Tom and hope that he didn’t shoot the trunk. Tom might do the same thing with me and hope that I made a move so that he could get a good shot off. Tom had the advantage over me with him being in the shadows, and I was stuck in partial sunlight. I stayed low to the ground and checked around the front of the car every few seconds, hoping that I could see Tom. I was starting to shiver after about an hour of doing the same thing and not moving very much. My tennis shoes were hurting my feet because they were wet, and my feet felt like they were burning and itching. I couldn’t wait any longer because I was going to have hypothermia or trench foot or maybe both. I had to get help and made the decision to run as fast as I could up the hill. I couldn’t wait in my condition.

  I looked up the hill and then looked back into the woods and then counted to three out loud. “One, two, three, go!” I ran straight up the hill as fast as I could and kept slipping and then falling down. I kept getting up and making it about ten more feet and then slipped again.

  POW! POW! POW!

  I looked back quickly and could see that Tom was shooting at me. I then tried to run up the hill diagonally.

  POW! POW!

  “AAhhh!!” I screamed out in pain. The bullet had slammed into my right thigh like someone had hit me with a baseball bat. I fell on my face, while reaching down to my right leg, and then rolled over and sat up. I had dropped my gun in the snow when I was shot and could care less about it because I wanted the pain to stop. Tom was standing in front of my aunt’s car with his gun pointing at me. I was growling and clenching my teeth, trying not to cry out in more pain. But I was shaking with so much pain and anger, I had to let loose and screamed out again. I was clutching my thigh as tight as I could, trying to stop the searing pain.

  Tom walked over to the base of the hill and looked up at me and said, “How do you like them apples, Willy boy? Hurts like a motherfucker, doesn’t it!”

  I could barely hear what he was saying over the pain, but he made his point across.

  “Willy? I’m going to make this as painful as I can because you shot my friend back there in the woods,” Tom stated, as he started to come towards me.

  “You guys started it. It’s too bad I didn’t get you instead, you asshole!” I yelled because the pain was so severe.

  “That’s all right to feel that way, Willy. I think I should shoot your other leg while I think of it,” Tom stated, as he got closer to me.

  “No, you already shot me, please let me go, I’m begging you,” I replied, as Tom took a shot at my other leg.

  POW!

  “Please! Don’t kill me!” I yelled. I was scared to death of dying.

  “Damn, how did I miss shooting from this close?” Tom teased.

  I tried to scoot away from Tom, but it was no use.

  POW!

  “Aaahh!!” I screamed out in more pain as another bullet ripped through my other thigh. Tom then came within six feet of me and aimed his gun at my face. I didn’t care anymore because I was in such pain that I yelled out, “Shoot me! Just do it!”

  POW! POW!

  The sound of gunfire caused me to shut my eyes and flinch, but nothing happened. I looked back at Tom, and he had dr
opped to the ground and rolled down the hill.

  “Will!”

  I couldn’t believe what was going on. Aunt Kelly was getting out of the trunk with her gun, yelling my name.

  “Will!” She got out of the car and quickly went over to where Tom had stopped rolling.

  He lifted up his arm, as if to say, ‘I’m still alive.’

  POW! POW! My aunt blasted Tom in the chest two more times, and his arm dropped into the snow.

  Acknowledgements

  As I sit here on my cheap and somewhat broken recliner chair, I look at my dog Trooper sleeping on the floor. I would like to thank him for being patient with me during the days that I have written this book.

  Thanks to the baby black spiders that crawled on my bedroom ceiling at night that gave me the idea to write this book.

  I would like to thank my editor Lee E. Cart for finding the many problems in my writings. Pointing out a major flaw in this book that would have totally screwed up the story line.

  Thank you especially to God for helping me get back on track and become patient in a world that is not.

  About the Author

  C. S. Allen lives in a shack with a family of spiders in Maine. He is delusional and at times goes out during the night to bark at the moon. This book is his second one written and has a third one he is working on called, His Way Home. A forth book is in Clinton’s brain and he thinks he will call it, The Pipes.

  Clinton is not a writer by trade or even wants to be a writer but the voices in his head are calling him to write. It could be the Maine water or that he was dropped on his head at the age of five years old. Maybe the voices in his head could be from the acid (LSD) he accidentally took when he licked a stamp.

  Whatever the case maybe for Clinton to write, just know he has lost his mind and something else entered into it.

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