William Bernhardt - Dark Justice

“This way!” Rick commanded. She saw he was trying to steer her in a different direction. Stupid-she had to stop concentrating on Al and start trying to keep her own neck out of the noose. Rick knew the way back to their camp; she didn’t. She had to stick with him or she would soon be lost.

She followed Rick as he plunged through the bramble and undergrowth. Plants and branches brushed past her, sometimes slashing her face. She didn’t have the time to worry about it. She had to keep moving forward, keep plowing ahead.

She saw the fallen tree trunk just ahead of her. Rick had jumped it; surely she could do the same. Without breaking her speed, she leaped into the air.

She cleared the trunk with room to spare, but she landed with a thud. Her right foot touched down on something hard-a large rock, she thought-and her ankle twisted out from under her. Her body followed close behind, tumbling to the mud in an unceremonious heap.

Rick broke his pace. “Come on!” he growled.

Tess tried to push herself up, but she could tell her ankle wouldn’t support her weight for a good long while. “Go on without me,” she whispered.

Rick started to argue, then thought better of it. He turned and started to resume flight-

When they both heard the sound of twin cracking noises rippling through the still air.

Two shotguns. Just behind them.

“Lookee here, Sam,” one of the men said. “I think I’ve caught myself an honest-to-God terrorist.” The logger pointed his shotgun right at Rick and gave him a look that said he wouldn’t hesitate a second before firing.

“I hate terrorists,” the other logger said. “Goddamn criminals.” He spat on the ground just beside Tess’s face.

“You and me both.” The man with the shotgun walked over to Rick, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and threw him down to the ground.

Suddenly Tess heard the sound of additional footsteps kicking through the forest.

“Well, look at this. Sam and Max done already finished the job for us. I guess we can have a little party.”

Tess turned and, to her horror, saw two more loggers moving toward them, dragging Al’s limp body behind them.

Dragging, because he could not walk. He didn’t appear to be conscious. His eyes were closed and were already swollen and black. Blood trickled from his left ear.

“Looks like you started the party without us,” the man with the gun said, glancing at the limp body dumped unceremoniously onto the ground beside Tess. “That wasn’t very neighborly.”

“Well, there’s still a hell of a lot more to do.” One of the men who had dumped Al snarled at Rick. “I guess you must be one of those Green Rage boys, right?”

Rick didn’t answer.

“Well, I’m feeling a bit of rage right now myself,” the man said. The two men with shotguns stepped forward, guns trained on Rick, while the first man primed his fist for action.

Tess turned away. She couldn’t bear to watch. The sickening sound of it alone was almost more than she could bear. She tried to block it out, but no matter what she did, no matter what she tried, she heard each and every blow, each and every shrill cry of pain, and in time, each and every plea for mercy.

“What the hell did you think you were doing ?”

Ben paced furiously outside the cell. He knew he was not doing a good job of controlling his emotions-wasn’t really doing a good job of controlling anything. But sometimes it felt good just to let it rip.

“Do you understand that we’re trying a murder case here? That it starts next week? That the death penalty is still very much a possibility?”

Inside the cell, Tess and Rick squirmed. Tess had managed to survive their capture by the loggers with only minor bruises and abrasions; apparently hitting a woman was still contrary to most loggers’ code of ethics. But Rick had not been so fortunate; the pounding he’d taken had split open a cut above his right eye and dislocated his jaw. He’d been released from the hospital only shortly before Ben arrived. He had a bandage tied under his jaw and around his head, knotted at the top. He looked like a little boy with a toothache.

Even Rick’s punishment, however, didn’t compare with what Al had suffered. Al was still unconscious, still in the hospital. And likely to be there for a good while yet.

“You can’t imagine what we’ve been through,” Tess said. “Couldn’t we have just a smidgen of sympathy?”

“ No !” Ben fired back. “What you did was absolutely, positively stupid. In more ways than one.”

“It shouldn’t have been,” Rick said, groaning. “It only became stupid when we got caught.”

“Wrong. It was stupid the second you tried it. Because at that instant you put Zak’s trial in jeopardy.” He whirled around, swinging from one side of the cell to the other. “Who do you think is going to hear Zak’s case, anyway? Does the phrase ‘jury of his peers’ ring any bells?”

Tess frowned.

“And what do you think those jurors are doing right now? Well let me tell you. They’re reading news reports about the so-called eco-terrorists who were out playing high school pranks in the forest and got caught red-handed. Do you think that makes you look good? Do you think that makes Zak, the leader of the pranksters, look good? Do you think it’s going to help me garner sympathy for him with the jury?”

“As you’ll recall, we considered halting our activities pending the trial,” Tess said. “We decided against it.”

“Well, think again!” Ben spun around, furious. As if his job wasn’t impossible enough already, he had to deal with these zealots running around whipping up community anxiety and antipathy.

Ben heard the clang of the metal door, then the clatter of footsteps coming down the corridor. Sheriff Allen was approaching; Maureen was close at his heels. She ran ahead, pressed herself against the cell door, and stretched her arms through the bars. “Oh, God! Rick! Tess! How are you?”

“I’ve been better,” Rick mumbled, walking toward her. “But they say I’m going to live.”

“Good. In that case-” She reared back her arm and slapped him sharply across the side of his face.

“Oww!” Rick screamed. He moved away, clutching his sore jaw.

“That’s for being such an imbecile,” Maureen said, teeth clenched. “And for putting the entire mission in jeopardy.”

“It wasn’t my idea!” Rick said, a pained expression on his face.

“I don’t care. If you didn’t start it, you should’ve stopped it.” She paused, drawing in her breath. “I can forgive Tess. She’s new-she could easily be led. Or misled. But you have no excuse, Rick. You’re our acting leader. You’re supposed to be responsible!”

“Al was the one-”

“You know Al well enough to know that he’s always hotheaded. Always acts before thinking. That’s why I never send him out unless you’re with him. You’re supposed to be the voice of wisdom.” She pressed as far as possible through the bars. “Not an asshole !”

Sheriff Allen partly covered his face. “Should I step outside?”

Ben shook his head. “Don’t. We may need you for riot control.” Somehow, listening to Maureen’s fury had helped calm his own. Ben eased Maureen away from the bars. “Look, I think we’re all in agreement that this particular action was misguided-”

Maureen wrestled free of his hands. “You can say that again. In the future, all Green Rage activities will be discussed, analyzed, and voted upon by all members before they are executed. Understood?”

Rick looked at the floor sheepishly. “Understood.”

Maureen threw up her hands. “I just can’t get over how stupid this was. This must be the stupidest thing any Green Rager ever thought about doing!”