Open Season

Follow the Leader

Once inside the relative safety of the tree line, most of the kids stop running and huddle together, allowing their fear to take hold.

Ethan knows instinctively as the son of the sheriff that he needs not only distance but shelter, so he encourages his legs to move faster continuing to abscond deeper into the heavily wooded area.

Several kids try to keep pace, but Ethan is a stellar athlete, and he quickly accelerates beyond their sight. Ethan also knows that even though he was able to get almost all of the kids free from the gym, numbers is not necessarily an advantage. And his ability to care for and protect everyone is simply not possible.

The few kids that continued in the direction Ethan was taking, made sure to stay together as the woods grew thicker and more dense. These were small town country kids, but they weren't deep woods kids. Most of them had never even gone camping. What the hell were they gonna do way out here?

But they also knew they couldn't go back.

They had no idea who to trust or what was actually going on, but something, possibly everything was not right.

Up ahead they could see Ethan pausing with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

As soon as they arrived at the small space, they began to pelt him with questions. Questions he couldn't answer.

Ethan needed to get home.

No, he needed to get to the sheriff's station. They could sort this out.

Glancing impatiently at his suddenly silent schoolmates, he noticed that all their enlarged eyes were focused on him.

Had he missed something? As if in answer to his unvoiced question, the oldest of the kids spoke up.

"Where to now, Ethan?" asked Jacob. Jacob was a senior who played football and hadn't ever spoken to Ethan before today.

"I have to get to my mom," came Ethan's short response, as he looked up and turned his body in an alternate direction.

Thinking he had dismissed the small horde, Ethan was astounded when the kids huddled closer and began to move in the direction he was taking.

Wait. He didn't want to be their leader. He couldn't take all these kids with him. Sure, his Mom was the sheriff, but if things were as bad as he assumed they were...these kids would only be a liability. A liability they might not be able to afford.

Stopping in his tracks, he calmed himself before turning to face the anxious kids.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked impatiently.

"We thought we should stick together. You know safety in numbers and all that..." said, Cali. Calilaya, the Sophomore girl that Ethan had been crushing on since middle school.

"Cali, guys... I think you should go find your family. We aren't really sure what's going on right now, but we know that everything isn't right."

"I think we'll just stay with you." said Raymond, while the others nodded their ascension. "We know your Mom is the sheriff and she'll have some big-time firepower. I think I'd feel really safe around that right now." Raymond said taking in their strange surroundings.

Sighing in defeat as the group looked at him expectantly. How had he become the leader, he was literally the youngest kid here and they were all looking to him for salvation.

Biting his lip, Ethan relented, turned and continued to move toward the sheriff's station just on the outskirts of their quaint little downtown.

Sneaking as close as they could, maintaining their cover, Ethan peered at the seemingly abandoned Sheriff's station from the corner of the nearby doughnut shop.

Where was everyone? Where was his Mom? Why were the streets abandoned at this time of day? Even the doughnut shop appeared vacant, empty.

The streets were empty. The traffic light changed on schedule to allow the eerie wind to cross toward the other end of town.

This was simply creepy.

Why was it so quiet?

Placing his index finger in front of his lips, Ethan silently calmed his small group then patted the air to indicate they should stay where they were hidden and sheltered.

Taking one final look around, Ethan left the shelter of his hiding place to creep closer to the Sheriffs station to peer into the large ceiling to floor windows.

No one was about. Not even Nadine at the desk.

What the hell was going on today? He craned his neck to count the cars in the parking lot, when he heard a faint pounding sound coming from inside the station. The deep thumping resonating from inside the station was the only sound to be heard in the area, and now that he'd identified the sound he couldn't un-hear it. But he had no idea what it was.

All the cars were accounted for except the new SUV with the cool rims that the department had just confiscated during a drug operation earlier this month out on the highway.

Seeing that the coast was clear, Ethan indicated to the peeking kids to stay hidden. He would go inside to investigate that thumping noise.

Just as he reached hesitantly to pull open the glass doors of the station, the pimped out SUV screeched around the corner at a high enough rate of speed that it tilted on two wheels like in the movies. Flashing lights, sirens and horns all put the previously peaceful landscape into high alert.

Ripping Ethan's attention away from the shattering sound resonating from inside the sheriff's station.

Suddenly he could hear shouting, the scuffling of feet and the continued revving of the SUV as it barreled into the parking lot in front of him.

The passenger door of the lifted SUV opened to reveal Noah, the captain of his basketball team huddled into the floor board, his enlarged eyes conveying a panic that resonated with Ethan as he drifted toward the SUV because of the silent command in Noah's eyes. Ethan hadn't even noticed the driver of the SUV as yet, but when his eyes danced up to find a hand hold to haul himself up into the SUV his eyes bucked and all his motion stalled.

"Mom?" he quirked his eyebrows as she pulled her side arm and leveled it in his direction. Ethan's short life flashed before his eyes for the second time in the same week. He'd never thought his own mother would be the one to end his life.

As Noah yanked Ethan toward him with his good arm, Sheriff Ambergate squeezed off 8 shots, each landing at their intended targets. Four of her deputies littered the entrance of the Sheriff's station, while at least 4 more continued in their direction with their pieces aimed at his back.

Not waiting for them to close the door, nor for Ethan to gain access to his limbs and pull his feet inside, she slammed her foot onto the gas, causing the door to slam closed just as Ethan hugged his knees from his position beside Noah. Rounding the small parking lot without bothering with the entrance, Sheriff Ambergate jumped the curb and hastily began to haul ass toward the outskirts of town.

Wait!

"Wait!" Ethan yelled at his mother. He had to help those kids. He'd left them there, they needed his help.

"Ethan, we can't wait. There is no time." His mother spat out as she continued to hastily progress down he middle of the street towards the countyline.

"Mom," he paused, "I had a lot of kids with me. They were following me." he said flatly.

"Ethan..." she looked at him incredibly, unsure of what to do. She couldn't risk his safety for anyone. And right that moment, he was safe. She just didn't know how long that would last, but she had to do everything in her power to make sure he had his best chance.

"Ethan, they have families. We had to trust that they can survive for a bit, until I can figure out how to help them." she finished with a finality he knew all to well.

They would have to fend for themselves. But he would find a way to make this right. He would go back for them, he pouted as the distance continued to grow by the minute.

Shaking his head in denial, Noah recognized the stubborn tilt of Ethan's jaw and knew he hadn't heard the last of the kids left behind.

He didn't have a good feeling about this.

As dusk descended, Ray, Cali, Jake and a few others huddled behind the doughnut store and watched in horror was Ethan and Sherrif Ambergate's taillights disappeared into the distance.

What were they to do now?