The Fort (Aric Davis)

looking for little signs in the suburban neighborhood, like unkempt lawns, and finally, the idea to have her try to figure out the make and model of the car the man who took Molly had been driving. He went through it breathlessly, racing to relay the information.
    “OK, that’s some really messed-up shit,” said Luke. “Like really messed up. You guys are under house arrest and I had to run away from home for a little bit, but your sister and her friends have gotten away with robbing people? It’s no wonder that Van Endel dude didn’t believe us. I’ll bet he knew they were lying to him too.” Luke shook his head and frowned. “That’s messed up, like, big-time.”
    “I know,” said Tim. “It is messed up, but at least we know the truth now. We know more than anyone else about what’s happening, and if anyone is going to save Molly, it’s going to be us.”
    “Are you sure we can’t just go to the police?” Scott asked. “I know they don’t believe us, but it seems like it would be worth a try. After all, we’re grounded. How are we supposed to go looking for this guy?”
    “That’s just it,” Tim said. “We’re grounded. So how are we supposed to have figured out all this stuff we’re going to tell the police? Our folks’ll send us to military school or something if they find out what we’ve been up to.”
    Scott rolled his eyes at the military-school part, but he had to admit Tim had a point. “I suppose,” he said. “But that lawn thing—it’s neat and all, but we just shot that guy. It will be two weeks, minimum, before we’ll be able to notice who isn’t mowing their lawn. For all we know, he could even be better by then.” He shook his head. “I just don’t see this plan working, unless your sister can come through with more information on the car, and that doesn’t seem very likely.”
    The three boys brooded in silence for a few minutes, until Tim broke the spell. “Look, we knew this was going to be hard. We can’t get discouraged by that. We just need to do what we can and hope that it’s enough.” Scott and Luke were both nodding at that, and Luke said, “So what’s the game plan for tomorrow?”
    Tim said, “I’m going to find some way to distract my parents so that Becca can make a quick phone call.”
    “I can try and borrow a pistol from Carl’s stash tomorrow,” Scott said. “It won’t be easy, and I’d really hate to be caught with it, but damn, we’re going to need something. Hey, I forgot to tell you guys, Carl actually believes us.”
    “Seriously?” Luke asked. “Then why are you grounded?”
    Scott grinned. “Because my mom is so gung ho about me being punished that Carl just kind of had to be like, ‘Fuck it, she wants the kid punished, I’ll punish him.’ It put him in a pretty bad spot, and I actually felt bad for him. It still sucks, but at least one adult believes us. It’s better than nothing.”
    “Yeah, I guess so,” said Luke. “I’ll just walk around and see if anything looks out of place, I guess. I’m going to need to go home soon too, though. My mom will clear her head out eventually and come looking for me, and if I’m not at either of your two houses, there’s really only one place to go.” He rapped twice on one of the walls. “Aside from the mosquitoes, it’s been pretty nice staying up here. Better a few mosquito bites than hanging out with my sisters.”
    “So are we good, then?” Tim asked. “The sooner we’re home, the less likely it is that we get caught.”
    The three boys stood, and Tim and Scott left by ladder, taking their bottle caps with them and leaving one lonely Sprite cap all by itself.

37
    Hooper was alone. He was running through the jungle with his M16, and the VC were everywhere. Explosions were going off left and right, and all he could hear around him was the crackling of AK fire, along with Charlie screaming at him. Hooper didn’t know where he was running, only that he was alone and that he was in the middle of a death trap. They’d fallen for one of the VC’s favorite tricks: set up a patrol to look like it was lost, and when the good guys went after them, spring a trap of tiger pits and snipers. Hooper had been in a few ambushes before, but nothing like this.
    It was almost impossible to believe he’d lived this long in the shit. He had no idea where the good guys were, or even if there were any left. He felt like he was behind enemy lines, but he had no idea who was bombing