Note: this is a bit of a story I wrote for a writing contest. I’m posting it here for posterity.<\/p>\n
Johnny pulled the shotgun away from his head and ran to the cabin door, still clutching the weapon in his right hand. In one swift motion he opened the old cabin door, herded Scott inside and locked the door behind.\u00a0\u00a0 The two boys stood silently staring at each other, neither one quite sure how to react. Scott felt an urge to punch Johnny in the face, but decided against it when he remembered Johnny was still holding a loaded shotgun.<\/p>\n
As the emotion of the past few days became too much for him, Johnny began to sob uncontrollably. “You have to believe me that I didn’t know they were going to kill him,” said Johnny in between tears. “My brother told me he just wanted to embarrass Sam, like he always embarrassed Mike,” said Johnny.\u00a0 “You know I could never say no to my brother.\u00a0 He scares me too much.”<\/p>\n
Johnny\u2019s brother, Mike,\u00a0and Sam had been rivals for years.\u00a0 Both boys competed for the starting quarterback position in high school as well as the affections of the prettiest girl in school.\u00a0 Sam always seemed to be a little better than Mike, though, and he was the one who led the team to the playoffs senior year and took the Homecoming Queen to the prom.\u00a0 After high school, Mike’s life took a turn for the worse and Sam always seemed to be there to catch him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me Johnny?\u201d said Scott, still struggling with the idea of his best friend being an accomplice in his brother\u2019s murder.\u00a0 \u201cYou were my best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would\u2019ve told you, but I didn’t know what to say,\u201d said Johnny as he stared at the faded wooden floor of the cabin. \u201cI don\u2019t know what went wrong.\u00a0 Mike must have been using me as a diversion to keep Sam off his tail while they killed that guy Sam found in the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott was not entirely sure he could trust Johnny\u2019s story and doubted he could ever forgive him for what happened to his brother.\u00a0 However, he also knew he could not make it out of the woods alive without\u00a0Johnny’s help. Whether he liked it or not, his fate was now tied to Johnny\u2019s fate.\u00a0 Scott knew he had to make it out of the woods alive. Otherwise his brother\u2019s murder would go unpunished.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get out here as fast as we can and tell the police what happened,\u201d said Scott.\u00a0 \u201cSooner or later your brother is going to come back here and they\u2019re probably going to kill me.\u00a0 Do you think you can hot wire the truck?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m sure I could, but why would I need to do that?” answered Johnny, grinning as he pulled the keys of the truck out of his pants pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s what we\u2019ll do then,\u201d said Scott. \u201cLet\u2019s make a run for the truck and drive as fast as we can away from here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will never work,\u201d said Johnny. \u201cMike and Bill can’t be that far away.\u00a0 They could be in the truck right now waiting for you.\u00a0 I\u2019ll stay behind and distract them while you drive away. They\u2019ll trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they\u2019ll kill you,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf one of us doesn\u2019t distract them, they\u2019ll kill us both,\u201d said Johnny. \u201cAt least I have a chance with my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Let’s do it then,” said Scott as he extended his right hand toward Johnny.\u00a0 Both boys shook hands, not knowing if they would ever see each other again.<\/p>\n
Johnny and Scott ran out of the cabin in opposite directions, Scott toward the truck and Johnny far away from it.<\/p>\n
As Scott sped west down the trail, dust clouds following behind, he heard a loud shotgun blast.\u00a0 A tear ran down Scott\u2019s cheek as he realized he would never see his friend Johnny again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Note: this is a bit of a story I wrote for a writing contest. I’m posting it here for posterity. Chapter 7 Johnny pulled the shotgun away from his head and ran to the cabin door, still clutching the weapon in his right hand. In one swift motion he opened the old cabin door, herded Scott inside and locked the door behind.\u00a0\u00a0 The two boys stood silently staring at each other, neither one quite sure how to react. Scott felt…<\/p>\n