L Akers: Shoot Like a Girl

“Will it hurt him?” Olivia asked in desperate voice.

“Not if we get there first,” Tina answered, and they both stepped off the trail into the woods, moving quickly to catch up with Ozzie.

“Can I go with them?” Graysie asked. “Please!” she begged.

“No,” both Gabby and Olivia answered in unison.

“I’ll go,” Olivia said. “Ozzie might not listen to them. They’re strangers.”

Gabby grabbed Olivia’s arm. “He will listen to them, and they’re not strangers. Stop being such a bitch about my friends. Come on, let’s go home.”

Olivia hesitated.

Gabby moved in close to her face and spoke slowly. “You-Don’t-Have-A-Gun. If that boar takes a run at you, what are you going to do? Tell it to go away and that you really really mean it? It’ll run through you with its tusks.”

That got Olivia moving toward the house.

They were almost home now, and not a minute too soon.

Graysie and Olivia were sniping at each other, and Gabby was cut and scratched all over, from being first in line to break through the branches and brambles.

The moon winked against the glass of a vehicle. “Look. I see Grayson’s truck through there,” Olivia said, pointing through the stand of trees in front of them.

Gabby bobbed her head left to right, trying to see through the low-hanging branches. “That’s not Grayson’s… that’s Elmer’s truck.”

“No way! Really?” Olivia was delighted, and tried to push past her sister. “Maybe he brought Emma back.”

Gabby held her arm out, blocking her. She spoke in a quiet voice. “Wait. Something’s wrong. Elmer said he didn’t trust that truck on the road when he brought us all home. That’s why he drove the tractor. He also said he didn’t have enough gas. So why would he trust it now, and where would he have gotten more gas?”

Olivia shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, Gabby… come on, what does it matter? He’s here. We can ask him,” she whispered. She was anxious to get home, as they all were.

Graysie tried to peek around their shoulders. “Maybe somebody stole it?”

“And ended up here? What are the chances of that? Unless that somebody knows us,” Gabby answered. “This world ain’t that small.”

Suddenly, Gabby grabbed Graysie and Olivia, pulling them down to the ground with her, behind a large leafy bush. “ Shhh! I see someone.”

The three women squatted, peeking through the bush, and saw a mammoth of a man sneaking around the house. His arm was wrapped in thick white bandage that stood out in the moonlight. He met up with a smaller man and they huddled together beneath the dark kitchen window. They were both holding pistols.

“Is that Elmer?” Olivia whispered, trying to pull apart the bush to get a better look.

“No.” Gabby’s stomach flipped. “That’s the guys from the rest area,” she said. “They found us… and they have Elmer’s truck.” She looked at her niece. “This can’t be good. Graysie, check your gun. Be ready.”

While Graysie checked her firearm, Gabby slid her own gun out of the holster and popped the magazine out, checking to be sure it was full. She smacked it back in and racked the slide, chambering a round. She reached into the bag and fumbled around until she found all four extra magazines, handed two to Graysie, which Graysie in turn pocketed.

Gabby was glad she’d worn her 5.11 tactical pants on their excursion. The pants were made for easy access to magazines with multiple pockets and a reinforced waist.

Olivia pulled Graysie in close beside her as they hunkered on the ground. Her hands were shaking. “Oh my God, Gabby… If they came this far to hunt us down… let’s just stay here. We’ll hide.”

“Seriously? What about Grayson and Puck? They’re probably still knocked out from you doping them up. What about Jake? I’m not just going to hide back here and wait for them to wake up dead,” she snapped.

“No… I meant…”

Gabby held up her hand, silencing her sister. She needed to think. Trunk must be here too, somewhere; probably around the front of the house. While they all were dangerous, the leader was the one she most worried about. That man had crazy written all over him.

If Trunk was already inside… Gabby didn’t want to even think about that. She put it out of her mind. She needed to come up with a plan.

There were no lights coming from the dark house. The guys were apparently still sleeping; one in each bedroom. They were sitting ducks for Trunk and his men. If she and the girls made any noise, Grayson and Jake would probably jump up unarmed and be hurt—or worse.

But if they did nothing, the men would sneak in on them. The doors weren’t locked. Gabby was surprised they hadn’t gone in yet.

“Let’s just run up there with our guns, Aunt Gabby. We’ll tell them to drop theirs,” Graysie said.

Olivia frantically shook her head.

Gabby agreed with her twin sister, for once. “No. They could shoot us before we even get there. If they’re sneaking around like that, they’re up to no good.”

Olivia nodded her agreement. “Trust me, Graysie. These men are probably very angry with us. We don’t want to take any chances.”

Graysie gasped. “Look! A light inside.” She raised up on her knees to see better.

“Stay down,” Olivia hissed at her, pushing her back to the ground.

A flashlight beam bounced around in the dark. They couldn’t see who had the light. Could be Jake or Grayson. But it didn’t matter. Whoever it was would surely be looking for the girls. Someone was about to be surprised—and not in a good way.

The two men were standing underneath the kitchen window back to back, leaned tight against the wall, their guns up and ready. They faced opposite corners of the house.

Gabby’s heart thundered in her chest as her mind raced. She had to warn the guys, especially whomever was awake and walking around with that light, before the men outside stormed the house.

She wished they’d planned a warning system. Three blinks of a flashlight, the clanging of a dinner bell… anything. In trying to hurry hurry hurry and get water and food lined up, they’d not given security procedures serious thought yet. Being way out in the country, they’d all felt safe- ish so far.

Right now, that looked like a deadly oversight.

The beam of light flickered through the house again. Someone was walking toward the kitchen. “Gabby—” Olivia whispered, her words trailing off when she turned her head to find Gabby missing.

She whipped around. Her mouth fell open in shock. “What are you doing ?” she whispered loudly, her eyes round.

Gabby was pulling off her shoes and socks. She shimmied out of her pants. “I’m going to run up as fast as I can directly to those men,” she answered.

“No, you’re not! They’ll shoot you! And for god’s sake, why are you taking off your clothes ?”

Gabby stripped off her shirt and her bra, dropping them on the ground to Olivia’s disbelief and Graysie’s amusement. She cupped her breasts and shook them, waggling her eyebrows at her twin sister. “Shooting me will be the last thing on their mind. There’s nothing more terrifying and confusing to a man than an angry, crazy woman screaming her fool head off and running at him stark-naked.”

Graysie approved. “Good plan, Aunt Gabby,” she whispered and gawked. “If you got it, work it!” She gave her a thumbs up, not at all embarrassed to see her aunt in all her glory.

“Good. I’m glad you agree, because you’re covering me.” Gabby now stood almost naked; wearing only a pair of silk red panties. “I’ll take the big guy first. If I don’t take them both down, and you can get off a good, clear shot without them seeing you first, you take the other one.”