Cut and Run 2 - Sticks and Stones

the forest after the treasure hunters regained control of the situation. He hadn’t made a sound as he’d gone, Earl had noted with a hint of pride. He hoped the boy was halfway to the nearest ranger station by now, like they should have been to start with. But he knew that Ty wouldn’t leave for help now. He’d stick around and probably get himself killed trying to save them. It was what Earl would have done. If these boys thought they had the upper hand, though, they were sadly mistaken. Ty was in his element up here.
    “Fuck!” Redjacket shouted, the sound echoing through the clearing and off into the woods. “Where the fuck did they come from?” he shouted. “How many more’s out there?”
    “I told you they was trouble,” Earflaps answered, unperturbed by the yelling.
    “Well, no shit,” Redjacket snapped. He looked around, his eyes landing on Earl. “What’s your business up here, old timer?” he asked. Earl stared back at him wordlessly. He didn’t even blink in response. “You FBI too?” he demanded. Earl just looked at him, betraying no expression.
    “What about the other’n?” Swizzlestick asked as he gnawed nervously on the tiny, thin piece of plastic he had managed to salvage after Zane attacked him. “You want us to get after him?”
    Redjacket turned away and looked out into the woods without answering.
    “If he ain’t smart enough to hightail it outta here, the mountain’ll kill him before we could,” Earflaps offered as held his shotgun at his hip. “Ain’t none of ’em too bright, following us like they did.”
    Redjacket shook his head slowly, his eyes darting back and forth amidst the trees. He turned back to Earl and knelt in front of him. “You get sent up here or was this just your unlucky day, huh?” he asked Earl quietly. He stared at Earl, waiting for any sort of response, but all he got in return was another blank stare. Earl would be damned if he answered any questions while they held guns at their heads.
    “That boy out there know the mountain?” Redjacket tried, getting nothing but silence in answer.
    Zane groaned softly and tossed his head as he lay flat in the dirt. Earl’s eyes flickered to check on him, seeing Earflaps shift as he stood over him, the shotgun pointed at the ground beside Zane’s thigh. Zane would be awake very shortly, and God knew what that man would start saying once he was. Boy had a mouth on him to rival Ty’s, just not the brains to put behind it. Earl moved his chin slightly so he could check on Deuce, who was kneeling, wincing in pain as he was forced to put too much pressure on his bad leg.
    Redjacket watched him closely, following his gaze to rest on Deuce. “You’uns got a bit of family likeness to you,” he murmured, and Earl’s eyes darted back to glare at him. “That your boy?” the man asked knowingly with a nod at Deuce. Earl’s jaw tightened, and his lips compressed against the words he wanted to say. Redjacket nodded. He stood and lifted his gun, pointing it in Deuce’s direction.
    “Stop,” Earl said quickly as his heart stuttered and his stomach plummeted. He closed his eyes and breathed out heavily. Redjacket lowered the gun and looked at him expectantly. “We weren’t sent here,” Earl answered through clenched teeth. “We took a wrong turn on the trail, that’s all.” Swizzlestick snorted heavily. Earl didn’t look away from Redjacket. “We don’t want nobody hurt,” he told him firmly.
    “I bet you don’t.” Earflaps laughed as he nudged at Zane’s hip with his shotgun. Zane shifted in the dirt and groaned again.
    “So,” Earl continued as if he hadn’t heard the big man speak, “y’all just surrender now, and we’ll see that you get back down the mountain in one piece,” he offered charitably.
    Redjacket looked at him oddly, then huffed a laugh and turned away. “Tie ’em up, we’ll deal with this shit later,” he ordered no one in particular as he walked away. They went about binding Earl and Deuce quickly, leaving Zane mostly unconscious in the dirt without bothering to restrain him. Earl prayed that would be a mistake as his arms were jerked behind his head and bound tightly.
    Once they were bound, Redjacket stepped up to Earflaps and murmured to him at length. Earl watched them carefully, trying and failing to see a way out of this that didn’t end with someone dead.
    Once they’d formulated their plan, Redjacket kicked Zane’s hip hard.

    T Y WINCED as he watched