Hunt and Pray (6 page)

The colonel noticed and grinned. “Chance is… resting right now.” The evil grin on Ezra’s face would have made Drew wonder exactly where Chance was resting, but it was something he didn’t have the time for right now.

“Aww. What’s the matter, fag boy? Hoping to say good-bye?” Ezra sneered at him, but gave a squeak when the colonel elbowed him in the ribs.

“The next time you see my son… well, let’s just say his will be the last face you’ll ever see.” Something flashed in his eyes, something that looked a lot like doubt, but it disappeared so fast Drew was left wondering if he imagined it.

“Now get going.” The two men stood there looking at him as Drew reached down and picked up the knife and the pack. He stood up and slung the bag over his shoulder and stuck the knife in the waistband of his jeans.

When he was ready, he looked the colonel in the eye. “You know, Colonel, you’re absolutely right. I’m going to die today, and I’m not happy about it, but you know what? I believe in Karma, I really do… and someday when you least expect it, your world is going to fall apart around you.”

Drew stopped and took a breath like he had all the time in the world. “And when it does, you can bet that my smiling face will be looking down from heaven, and I’ll be laughing my gay fucking ass off.”

Drew grinned at the shocked look on the colonel’s face before he turned and strode across the yard and into the woods. He kept waiting for the shot, the one that would be the last thing he heard.

It never came.

He walked determinedly until he got into dense underbrush and then slowed a little. No sense in being caught because he twisted an ankle ten yards from the cabin.

He hiked without stopping for about an hour until he came to a small clearing. He slipped the backpack off and set it on a broken tree. Opening it, he saw it contained two bottles of water and a couple of protein bars.

Guess that’s enough for six hours of survival.

He grabbed a bottle and noticed it was still sealed, so he popped the cap and took a drink. It wasn’t cold, but it tasted good after walking in the heat of the day.

Drew looked around a little. For the moment, he was grateful for the trees and dense undergrowth. Without it, the heat would be unbearable.

He sighed. Of course, later on he knew he’d be freezing in his jeans and Chance’s T-shirt and hoodie, but it probably wouldn’t matter for very long.

He repacked the bag and slung it back onto his shoulders before checking to make sure the knife was secure in his waistband. He knew it probably wouldn’t buy him more than a second or two, but it seemed important somehow.

Looking at his watch, he saw that it was midafternoon and checked the location of the sun. His dad had taught him a little about navigating by the sun and the stars when he was younger, and he was pretty sure he’d been steering himself to the east. He figured picking a direction and sticking with it was his best bet. At least, it made him feel like he had some sort of plan.

He kept walking, glad he’d been wearing his sneakers when he was taken instead of his flip-flops or dress shoes. Walking through the brush would be dangerous enough as it was without having to worry about inappropriate footwear.

He kept a wary eye out for snakes, hoping to avoid any of the slithering creatures because he wasn’t sure which ones were poisonous and which ones weren’t and both species lived in the area.

It was quiet in the woods. The occasional birdcall and the buzz of insects were the only noises he could hear. At least it would make it harder for Chance to sneak up on him… he hoped.

Walking along, Drew tried to pay attention to where he was going, knowing that getting distracted out there in the wilderness could be dangerous, if not outright deadly.

Drew seemed to lose sense of time. He glanced at his watch every once in a while and unconsciously counted down the minutes until the colonel would unleash Chance.

He just kept walking, using the sun as a guide, and hoped to find some sign of life to give him hope.

There was nothing, though. Not a road or path of any kind, no campsites or mountain cabins; nothing to offer him any shelter. There was nowhere to hide and only so far he could run. Chance was well trained, and Drew was quickly running out of stamina.

He grabbed one of the protein bars from the backpack and ate it slowly. He knew he’d been pushing himself and didn’t want to make himself sick eating too much at once.

Drew absently noticed the sun was starting to sink lower in the sky and tried not to let it frighten him too much. The thought of slogging around in the dark was terrifying.

It was bad enough when he could see where he was putting his feet, but the thought of that being taken away from him was almost enough to make him curl up under a log and try to hide.

When he looked at his watch, his heart gave a sickening lurch. His six-hour head start was up, and now it was only a matter of time before Chance caught up with him.

He tried to walk a little faster, but as it grew dark, he had to slow down. He’d passed tired a few hours back and was heading toward exhausted, and he knew that he was going to have to sit and rest for a while at some point.

But as soon as he stopped moving, he started to shiver. He was damp from sweat, and with the sun going down, he would soon go from uncomfortably cool to numbingly cold.

At least I won’t have time to die of pneumonia….
The random thought almost made him smile.

He came across a small, sunken clearing, not more than six feet across, that was surrounded by high bushes and offered a good vantage point.

He checked to make sure there was nothing alive there calling the place home and then made the decision this was where he was going to stop to rest.

He would be protected a little from the wind by the thick brush, and anyone trying to sneak up on him would make a lot of noise crashing through the surrounding area.

He wished he dared to try starting a fire for warmth, but he knew if he did, it would send a signal straight to anyone trying to find him, especially in the dark.

He stepped down into the hollow and carefully checked it over again for any uninvited guests before clearing a spot to hunker down. Once he was as satisfied as he could be in the fading light, he crouched down, settled his back against a tree, and let himself rest.

As he sat and shivered, he remembered a time when he was about eleven and had been camping with his dad and older brother. Drew had gotten angry at something Aaron had said and had stomped into the woods to try to cool off.

He hadn’t paid attention to where he was going, and when he’d tried to go back to camp, he’d found himself turned around and lost. It had been a harrowing hour for him until his dad and brother found him, and he’d never been so happy to see them.

He wished for that now, his father striding out of the bush and hugging him tightly before reading him the riot act for wandering off and getting lost. He wouldn’t mind enduring the gentle teasing from his brother—he’d welcome it right now, in fact. He’d love to find himself at the farm, being smothered with love and attention by his mom and grandma. Even his little sisters’ crankiness would only make him smile.

He sighed and pulled out a water bottle for a drink. He eyed the other protein bar, decided to wait to eat it, and then laughed quietly.

What in the hell was he waiting for? He grabbed it and pulled the wrapper off and stuck it in the backpack, years of being taught respect for nature stopping him from throwing it on the ground. His dad would be proud.

As he chewed on the bar, he heard a noise; something louder than the usual low-level hum of the forest. He panicked, frozen on the spot, not moving a muscle.

The noise seemed to be getting nearer and the gorge rose in Drew’s stomach as he imagined Chance coming closer and closer, a knife in his hand, ready to rip Drew’s throat out or plunge it into his heart.

Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer. He lifted himself up enough to peek over the edge of his little hiding place. He watched as a dark shadow approached, confused about how small it was. When it got close enough, Drew could finally see what it was in the rising moonlight.

He almost laughed out loud. It was a raccoon. He sat back and relaxed. It wasn’t Chance sneaking up on him after all.

Drew looked at his watch. He was shocked to see that almost ten hours had gone by since he’d walked away from the cabin. No wonder he was fucking exhausted.

He settled himself again and prepared to wait until sunrise. If he was still alive by then, he’d start walking again. There was nothing else he could do.

Chapter Six

C
HANCE
spied on Drew through the trees, impressed with him in spite of himself. The blond had made it this far without getting himself killed by accident and had even found a reasonably safe place to spend the night.

Of course, if Chance had been out to kill him, this would have been as far as he got. But still, it had been more challenging to find him than he’d thought it would be.

He lifted his hand and wiped at a trickle of sweat running down his cheek. Even in the dim moonlight he could see the sweat was tinged red with blood, and he wondered if he was ever going to stop bleeding.

His father and Ezra had hauled him out of their version of solitary confinement about four hours after they’d let Drew go. The dark, sweaty little hut they’d locked him in had barely been big enough for him to stand in, and he’d gulped the fresh air gratefully.

They’d beaten him before stuffing him in there, and Ezra had
accidentally
banged his head into the frame as he’d
helped
him through the door.

Before setting him free, they’d taken his cell phone and rifled through his pack, removing all the ammunition and his gun. He was left with his knife and some food and water, the same things they’d sent Drew out with.

He looked up at his father, love and hatred warring in his head. He was shocked when the man chuckled at him.

“Now, Chance, this is what’s going to happen. He left in that direction.” He pointed into the forest just beyond the cut line. “You’re going to hunt that cock-sucking pervert down and cut his throat. I want you to watch him die and remember that it could just as well be you next time.”

His voice kept getting louder.

“No son of mine is going to be a deviant, do you understand? If you’re a faggot, you’re not my son and then you will be nothing to me except another hunt.”

Chance could see the smirk on Ezra’s face, and he knew the man wanted the opportunity to hunt Chance.

“You’d better be back here tomorrow with a trophy for me to prove you did the job.” He looked at his accomplice. “What do you think, Ezra? A hand? Seems easy enough to remove and bring back with you.”

Chance nodded at him, but in his head there was a strange disconnect from it all, like it was happening to a stranger.

“If you’re not back here by 9:00 a.m., Ezra and I will come looking for you—and, Chance…?” The colonel’s eyes were lit with some kind of lunatic joy Chance no longer recognized. “If we have to come looking for you, you won’t ever be coming back.” There was nothing but ice in his father’s voice, and Chance knew saying anything would be futile.

He took one last look at the only family he had in the world and walked into the forest in the same direction Drew had gone. He knew the next time he saw his father, one of them would end up dead.

It hadn’t been hard to pick up Drew’s trail. The man hadn’t even bothered to try and hide it; instead, he’d obviously opted for distance. He’d done a fairly good job of keeping his heading east, and Chance had thought to find him quickly.

But Drew surprised him with how fast he’d moved. It had taken Chance until nightfall to catch up with him.

He watched Drew now, crouching quietly in the thicket. He wouldn’t be able to get any closer without alerting Drew to his presence, and Chance really needed to think before trying to convince Drew he wasn’t here to kill him.

Chance sighed, wondering if there had ever been a point when he’d believed he could do it. Following his military training and killing an enemy from a distance was a lot different than killing an innocent man with his bare hands.

And it wasn’t like Chance ever really liked being a sniper. It was just another in a long line of decisions that had been made for him by his father and he’d been too scared to go against.

The fact that he was good at it disturbed him a little, but it was all a matter of survival. Chance had gotten very good at surviving in his twenty-three years.

He hadn’t had Drew’s life… hadn’t had love and comfort and family… not since his mother died when he was three.

He snorted at that thought. Saying she’d died was like saying she’d had cancer or been killed in a car accident. It hadn’t been anything quite so innocent. The official cause of death had been suicide, but Chance knew better.

For years, he’d suffered from flashbacks of his parents fighting: his father with his hands around his mother’s neck, and the absolute terror in her eyes when she looked at her son for the last time before the light faded from them completely.

His memories of her were tainted by the smell of her jasmine perfume mixed with the metallic tang of blood and how just before his father had broken through the door, she’d pushed him into the closet and told him not to come out no matter what.

He’d forgiven that three-year-old a long time ago. For a while when he was a teenager he’d been racked with guilt that he hadn’t done anything to save her, but he’d finally realized if he’d tried that, he’d most likely be dead as well, and her sacrifice would have been for nothing.

On his darkest days, Chance wondered if being dead wouldn’t have been better all along. He could never quite work up the courage to take his own life, and while serving in a combat zone had offered plenty of opportunities to not make it back alive, most of the time his death would have meant death for people who depended on him for survival, and that was something his conscience couldn’t allow.