G Hopf - The Long Road

“No, no, no! Please don’t! Stop! No, don’t! Please, God no! No, no!” Gordon was screaming. Spit spewed from his mouth as he continued to beg Rahab. “Hunter, I love you! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I failed you!”

As Rahab stepped to within a foot of Hunter, the boy spoke. “Daddy, I’m scared!”

“Close your eyes!” Gordon cried out.

“Daddy, I love you. You never failed me because you loved me!”

“No, God! Please, don’t do this!” Gordon cried louder. Tears were bursting from his eyes. Thick saliva was building in his throat as nausea washed over him. “Rahab, stop! Please!”

Rahab now stood directly in front of Hunter. He raised the knife high above his head.

“No, no, no!” Gordon continued to cry out. Tears kept pouring forth. He looked at Hunter. He could see his son’s beautiful face, his deep blue eyes and light brown, wispy hair. Quick flashes of his little face when he was born came to Gordon’s mind. He remembered the first time he saw those blue eyes. How they looked at him with all the trust in the world.

“No, please, God, no!”

Rahab paused for a second, then committed himself and drove the knife deep into Hunter’s chest.

Hunter screamed out for a few seconds, then fell silent.

“God no! No, not my baby boy! No! You fucking monster! You’re a fucking monster! Aaaw, noooo, my baby boy. Nooooo!” Gordon was sobbing intensely. He was in a state of shock as he looked at his son, the large knife sticking out of his chest. The deep, dark blood rushed out of Hunter’s chest and ran down his small body. Gordon screamed.

Rahab pulled the knife free and turned toward Gordon. “You killed my son today, so I killed yours. This was not a spiritual rule, this was an earthly rule. Now you have paid the price!” He took a step closer and stood only a foot away from Gordon.

Gordon couldn’t stop looking at his son’s lifeless body.

Rahab moved so that he blocked Hunter’s body from Gordon’s view and said, “You have paid the price. Now you will live with this,” Rahab said as he took the knife and sliced Gordon’s right cheek open. “Every time you look in a mirror you will remember this day.”

The deep cut bled heavily. The tears from his sobbing were mixing with the blood as they both ran down his face.

“Good-bye, Gordon Van Zandt!”

Outside unknown military installation

The image of the man and boy running kept plaguing Nelson. He was determined to find a better spot to view, but he had to figure out how to do so without being seen. To avoid silhouetting himself, he pulled back and headed toward the car. He would navigate along the backside of the mountain, down toward the road, and cut across the open desert that connected the western range and the southern range. He was hoping the southern mountains would give him a better view.

“Damn it,” he yelled out in pain as he twisted his ankle.

Sitting down on a large rock, he rubbed his ankle. The terrain was covered with small rocks lying atop loose soil. He calculated that it would take him a bit over an hour to get to the south mountains. Determining his ankle was fine, he pressed on.

Gunfire coming from the base over the mountains stopped him in his tracks. Screams were mixed in the rattle of the gunshots, but then all fell silent. Nelson started to run as best he could. Seconds later, he heard a few more shots. Then silence again.

Halfway through his migration to the south mountains, Nelson expressed to himself regret for being so cautious. He wished he had just taken the chance and gone down to recon the base near the berm. The conflicting internal dialogue consumed him. He thought of Samantha and Haley. If they couldn’t find Gordon and something happened to him, that would leave both of them alone. While Nelson trusted Eric, he’d promised Gordon he’d watch over them. To put his regret at ease, he ran harder.

His timing was close; an hour and half later he reached a safe hide position in the south mountains from which to observe.

The base was alive with activity. He saw cars and other vehicles lining up near the main buildings. People were moving back and forth.

A smaller group was gathered near two large X structures on the runway. Nelson found this curious.

Pulling out his binoculars, he took a look. What came into focus shocked him.

On the X that faced him he saw Gordon. His face hung low, and blood covered the entire front of his body.

“Shit!” Nelson cried out. All he could think was that Gordon was dead.

More noise came from the base as the convoy started up and began a slow procession out.

Nelson frantically scanned the base from top to bottom, left to right. He saw no one; it appeared empty.

Once the last vehicle had cleared the gate, Nelson stood up and began his trek down the mountain.

He felt like his heart was going to burst. He ran as hard as he could. He kept his eye on the base for movement, but it now seemed like a ghost town. Clearing the berm with ease, he was almost to Gordon. With each step he took he was hoping he’d see Gordon lift his head, but nothing happened. His body hung strapped to the large wood beams.

Nelson was running so fast and he was so focused on Gordon that he didn’t see Hunter on the other cross.

“Gordon? Gordon?” he cried out as he reached his friend. Grabbing his face, he lifted his head.

Gordon moaned a bit and opened his eyes. He peered at Nelson through slits because he didn’t have the strength to open his eyes fully.

“Oh my God, you’re alive. Shit, man, you had me scared there!” Nelson said, quickly examining his friend. Nelson took notice of the large cut on Gordon’s face. “You hurt anywhere else?”

“Hunter,” Gordon said above a whisper.

“What’s that?”

“Hunterrrr,” Gordon said louder.

“Hunter, yes. Where is he?” Nelson asked as he was cutting away the restraint on his friend’s left arm.

Gordon pointed with his right hand, which was still bound to the cross.

Nelson saw him point and stopped what he was doing. He just stared at Gordon’s right hand.

“Hunter,” Gordon said again.

Nelson didn’t want to turn around. He hesitated as long as possible; the fear of seeing Hunter dead was too much for him.

“Hunterrrr,” Gordon said with a raised voice.

Knowing he couldn’t wait any longer, Nelson turned around. His eyes widened when he saw the boy’s obviously dead form hanging from the cross. Hunter’s face and hands were a pale color. The volume of blood on and around his corpse told Nelson the death must have been horrible. “Oh fuck, no! No, God, no!” Nelson felt his throat tighten, and tears began to collect in his eyes. He walked over to the boy and placed his fingers against his throat to check for a pulse that he already knew wasn’t there. Nelson ran his hand up to Hunter’s cold face in a gentle motion. Placing his hand then on the boy’s head, he leaned in and kissed the top of his head. Not wanting Hunter to remain this way, he took out his knife and cut him down.

Hunter’s cold and stiffening body fell into Nelson’s arms. With all the gentleness and grace he could muster, Nelson laid him on the ground softly.

“Nelson, cut me down,” Gordon said, his voice hoarse from the yelling earlier.

Nelson jumped up and took his friend down.

Gordon, too, fell into Nelson’s arms, but the weight was too much for Nelson to hold him. Gravity continued to play its part, and Gordon fell to his knees. With no desire or strength to try to get to his feet, Gordon crawled over to Hunter’s body.

“Aaaaw, nooooo. My baby boy. Noooooo,” he cried out i.

Nelson just stood, feeling like he wasn’t even in his body. Everything just felt so strange. All they had wanted was to find them. If they had found them sooner, this might not have been Hunter’s fate. Then the question came to him: How would he tell Samantha?