The Path One Follows

Bad Decision

Grant moved like a man possessed. As Jolie watched him disappear into the shadows, she marveled at how he'd shifted from depressed loner to walking threat in the span of a few minutes. When she had been overpowered, she'd almost given up. Part of her was afraid to survive. Petrified by the idea that she could escape and find her son and husband had not. The woman was made of pure steel, but the fear of a broken heart can take anyone down. She decided that that must be what's wrong with Grant. He seemed capable, but was always alone. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to do a deep dive on a mystery. There was death to ration out. She only hoped that one of them tried to run. This farm girl didn't play.

Grant moved without sound. Not even a twig found its way into his path. Tad could still be alive. Frank too, if they hadn't taken the camp yet. It was never smart to go in blind, but not every situation gave choices. Voices rang through the trees and the echo was less than helpful. They were too close to the mountains.

Crouching low, he was in view of the camp. They were Hunters for sure. Seven of them. The caravan folks were surrounded, but not taken yet. Success was going to be in how many he could neutralize before they caught on. Bandits would've been easier. No sense in worrying about it now. There was a job to do.

Fortunately, two of the Hunters had been left to watch the camp perimeter. He was a good 30 yards from the first one. The man wasn't doing a very good job. They were overconfident in their numbers. Grant got behind the man. He put his arm around to cover his mouth and put a knife through his throat without much of a struggle. One down.

The other guard had stepped off to take a piss. These people would think him skilled, but dumb luck was often a co-conspirator when it came to stealthy kills. Two down.

The other five would be more complicated. If he could take out the leader, the minions might run. That wasn't guaranteed. They could all be tough as oak or dumb as a bag of hammers. It was a numbers game. He guessed it was time to roll the dice.

Grant raised his voice to get their attention from the cover he'd ducked into.

"Alright you bunch of horse's asses! Drop your weapons and let's see some hands!"

Two of them had been laughing, but that all stopped as they looked at each other in surprise.

"Who the hell is that?" They asked each other.

One of the men smiled as he started to address the matter.

"Son, I don't know who you think you are, but we are Hunters. We're licensed by the King to bring these people back. If you interfere, we are also obliged to release your soul from your body. It's up to you my friend."

"Hey Boss, where are Davey and Henry?"

Grant answered for them.

"Oh yeah, sorry bout your other two boys. They seem to have tripped and fallen on a knife. I tried to help them."

At that Grant was on the move, staying low. No more hesitating.

"Mister, I don't know you, but if you've hurt my men......"

The boss's words were cut off by the report of a shotgun Grant had found on the ground near the man emptying his bladder. The Boss fell back.

Four voices yelled out, "Boss!!!".

They all started firing the direction they thought the shot had come from. They were too slow.

"Find that son of a b***h!!"

These guys made it too easy. The speaker was clearly next in command. Grant got behind him and put 4 shots in him before he could react. The other two shots went into the head off the next closest Hunter.

"That's five. You two ready to join them?"

The other two turned tail and ran. From the sound of another shotgun going off, they'd met Jolie. That was all seven.

Grant started taking in the area. He heard women crying. Behind the barricade, Junior looked out.

"Grant!! You stopped them all??"

"With the exception of the ones that just met your mother. I'd hate to be enemies with that woman. How many are hit? "

"They killed two men and one boy about my age. My dad was able to get up just fine and we got Mr.Tad behind the barrier. He looks pretty rough though. "

"Once your mom gets here, we will start taking care of wounds. First, I need a couple of people to help bring any horses and wagons these men have into the copse. We're gonna have to get rid of the signs of a battle. "

Jolie came strolling into the camp. She smiled to see Junior there unhurt.

"Son, I'm so thankful to see you're ok. Where's your.....Grant look out!!!!"

The boss stood up missing half his face. He pointed the gun at Junior and pulled the trigger.

The world seemed to slow as Grant and Junior both fell to the ground. Jolie raised her gun and parked a bullet in the man's frontal lobe. She went running towards Junior.

"Oh God no. Please no. Not after everything else."

She saw Junior gasping for breath. He was dying. Not her little boy.

"Talk to me son. Where are you hit? Please answer me!"

Junior couldn't seem to do anything but croak. Finally, a word slipped out.

"M....ma.....Ma.... I'm ok."

His gasping was hard to understand while she panicked, but it sounded like he said he was ok.

"Ma.... Grant's hurt. He knocked my breath out pushing me out of the way. He's hit."

Her focus moved to Grant. Rolling him over, she could see the wound in his shoulder.

"Just six inches to the left and you wouldn't still be here, Grant. You saved my son. "

Grant spoke quietly.

"Luckily, you've got great aim", he chuckled and winced,"You've got a good boy, Jolie. He kept his word to Tad, just as I kept mine. I wasn't going to let anyone else be hurt. Now, don't worry about me right now. I'll live. You need to get all of their belongings into the trees. Horses, wagons, whatever. We will deal with it all, and then we can bandage our wounds. It won't do us a bit of good if anyone heard that exchange of bullets and decided to come check it out. Send some men quickly."

"I'll send them, but you're getting patched up. I'll make sure the work is done. "

Jolie set off to put people to task. Tad stumbled over and fell down beside Grant.

v"Why is it I always end up with bullets in me when you're around? I thought we were friends?"

"At least we're alive. Never thought I'd say that again. I avoid everyone, hoping to be killed in combat, and I'll be damned if my survival instincts didn't take over. "

"Of that, Grant, I'm grateful. Glad you're here with me old friend. I'm gonna lay down now. "

Grant smiled as the camp bustled around him. He hardly noticed when Jolie returned to patch him up. Why did he always have to be the damn hero? He'd walked away from that life. The last thing he saw before passing out was worry in Jolie's face. He mumbled quietly.

"Are you an angel,?"

Then he passed out. No one else was close thankfully. Jolie was worried that they'd notice the reddening of her face.

She finished bandaging him and laid his head on her lap. She pushed aside his hair and rubbed the side of his face. This man had protected her world. She prayed he'd recover soon.