Sam shuddered as Eye Patch dragged Carlos out of the pile and forced him to the ground. This couldn't be happening! He stared at Snitch Gravel intently, trying to determine him to tell Eye Patch to quit showing off and put Carlos back. Or better yet, let him go.

Snitch Gravel held his gaze, a defiant smile stretching across his face. And at that moment, Sam knew that he wasn't going to stop Eye Patch.

Carlos raised his head with dignity even if he was on his knees, his wrists tied behind his back.

"Don't do this," Kyle said. "He has absolutely nothing to do with this. He has a family to go back to."

"Perfect." Snitch Gravel didn't take his eyes off Sam. "Then this will be a great lesson for you. Life is violent, life's not fair."

Sam's stomach squirmed and bile rose to his mouth. He wished he could shut his eyes, close his ears and magically free Carlos. He actually wished he could take it upon himself. "Kill me instead," his mouth said.

"Oh, no. You will learn nothing that way."

Sam glared at Snitch Gravel, holding the gaze of this cold-blooded murderer. Maybe, if he didn't blink long enough, Eye Patch wouldn't shoot Carlos after all. His heart was thumping so hard, it was a wonder Snitch Gravel couldn't see it through his chest. His eyes became watery from not blinking for too long. Snitch Gravel appeared to have noticed this and grinned. He raised his arm and lowered it almost immediately.

The sound of the unloading gun made Sam flinch. He shut his eyes and lowered his head, his fists clenched, his pulse racing. This couldn't be happening. He could hear the girls crying, cursing, shuffling of feet, could feel the rope straining, but he couldn't move. He didn't want to open his eyes to this new world.

"I hope you didn't wet yourself."

Snitch Gravel's mocking voice broke through and Sam's eyes shot open, narrowed with hatred.

"You sick bastard! He was a good man! He had nothing to do with this!"

"If you think about it, neither do you. I'm doing all this because of your miserable father. But that won't stop me killing you," Snitch Gravel replied, all mockery and amusement gone from his voice.

Sam stared at him for a second and then lunged towards him. The rope didn't let him move, and for the first time Sam wished he could attack. He felt able to tear Snitch Gravel apart with his bare hands.

"I think we've had enough fun with them." Snitch Gravel raised his arm again and Sam focused on Eye Patch, to see what his boss wanted. Eye Patch didn't move. He was pointing his rifle at Jimmy again, Carlos' body bleeding at his feet. Sam was grateful that he couldn't see the guide's head. Or what was left of it. Eye Patch's clothes had blood splatters all over them

Three men headed towards Snitch Gravel. As they passed Kyle, he kicked the legs from under the first in line. The others tumbled over one another.

Von Crooken pointed his pistol at Kyle and Kay. "They should go first. He's too much trouble."

"Just try and touch me, asshole," Kyle said between his teeth.

Von Crooken stared him down. Two men came behind Kyle, grabbed Kay, and dragged her towards the edge of the cliff. Kay sunk her heels in the ground and tried to twist out of the men's grips, mumbling curses under her breath.

"You mistake of nature, your fight's with me!" Kyle yelled, getting to his knees.

"I know. That's why it's your little girlfriend that's getting killed," Von Crook said, rubbing his hands. "Throw her in!"

Sam wanted to scream, to say or do anything that could stop this, but he had a bowling ball stuck in his throat. Kyle's muscles tensed and, with a sharp movement, he broke the ropes keeping his hands bound. Before the ropes slid off his wrists, he lunged for Kay's captors.

The men dropped her and dodged Kyle. He slid on his front and grabbed onto the collar of Kay's t-shirt. She raised her tied up wrists and Kyle seized her hands just as the fabric gave in. The two men who'd thrown Kay over both kicked Kyle in the ribs. He cringed, but didn't let go of Kay.

The rope strained against Sam's chest as Jimmy and Tom tried to break free and help Kyle. Sam rubbed his tied up wrists, trying to pull his hands free and duck under the rope tying them all together.

Kyle pulled Kay on the edge of the cliff, taking another few kicks in the process. Kay rolled over to a safe distance from the edge and got to her knees. Kyle ripped her ropes off and jumped to his feet, parrying the next hit aimed at him. Kay scrambled to her feet and kicked one of the men down. The rest of Snitch Gravel's available men headed for them, blocking them from view. Fortunately, they were unarmed. Unfortunately, there were a lot of them.

"Am I supposed to push these brats off by myself?" Snitch Gravel asked exasperated as if there was no dog-pile like fight going on in front of him.

Three of his men broke away from the fight and headed for the tied up group.

Sam tried to see if Kyle and Kay were alright, but the small gap was quickly filled. The three men flanked the group avoiding getting hit and pushed at once. The rope tying them together cut into Sam's chest and he tried his best to push back, but he kept sliding toward the edge. Christine and Tina screamed as they probably went over the edge. This couldn't be it! He didn't want Christine's scream and Snitch Gravel's manic laughter to be the last thing he remembered.

He shut his eyes, trying to block out the sounds around him. Suddenly, the rope loosened up a little. Sam opened his eyes. Kyle was in front of him, his hands clenched around the rope across his chest, his face screwed up in concentration. Kyle heaved once and they stopped sliding towards the edge, but his hands were now trembling. Sam could tell that, as strong as he was, Kyle couldn't pull them all up. Kay's arms wrapped around Kyle's waist as she tried to help him pull them back up.

"Watch my back," Kyle said, his voice strained.

"You can't do it. You'll drop them!" Kay called out.

Kyle's muscles contracted even more. "If someone pushes you from behind we're all gone. And kid, a little help!"

Sam sunk his heels into the ground again and tried to push himself forward to balance the pile. By his sides, Tom and Jimmy did the same. Sam could even feel Jerry pushing him from behind. Kay's arms had disappeared from around Kyle's waist. Sam could hear the sounds of a fight; he had no idea how Kay could fend off so many men.

Three other people appeared by Kyle's side and helped him pull the rest of the group over the edge. Sam fell on the ground with Jerry on top him. Kyle crouched next to them and broke the rope bounding them together. The three strangers scattered among Snitch Gravel's men.

"Grab the luggage and let's go!" Sam called out, throwing himself in the general direction of their piled up rucksacks.

The others followed his lead and grabbed the luggage while more shots were being fired around them. Sam grabbed Christine's hand, looked around and spotted the path they had followed to get there. There weren't enough trees that way. He charged down a much more abrupt path, one that could provide protection from bullets. He rushed the girls that way and followed them, running as fast as he could. He could still hear shooting and he prayed that Kyle and Jimmy were alright. Sam was sure that his two brothers had run off last. It was so weird thinking of Jimmy as his brother.

As soon as they entered the shelter of the trees, Sam looked back. Kyle and Jimmy were indeed last in line. They both stopped at once, pulled back tree branches and launched them at their followers. The branches hit the first men in line in the chest. As they fell over, their companions tumbled over them creating a massive dog pile. Kyle and Jimmy sprinted off. Sam turned back and focused on running as fast as possible.

They kept running in a zig-zag and soon the only sounds Sam could hear were the branches and leafs crunching under his feet, his heartbeat and his own uneven breathing. He kept going until his lungs started burning and his knees buckled up. He more likely fell than sat on the ground and the others stopped as well, dropping on the ground around him. They spent a few minutes in silence, drawing breath.

Then, Sam finally managed to focus on the three people who had helped them. Two strangers and his cousin. Because of course Herrison recruited his entire family. He half-expected his grandmother to show up. "Why are you here, Billy?" He said between gasps.

Tom raised one finger. "I second the question."

"You know him?" Sam asked wheeling around.

"Yeah. Billy was my best friend in school," Tom answered.

"Was?" Billy asked outraged.

"I guess you're my cousin now." Tom took in a deep breath and almost choked on it.

Sam glanced from him to Billy, his mind fuming with the speed of his thoughts. Billy came over to Chicago once a year and stayed for a few weeks. He had mentioned Sam looking like his friend, but no one had paid attention to him.

"How many times... did I tell you... that you look like my best friend?" Billy's grin broadened.

Sam considered the question seriously. "Once." No wonder no one had given Billy's statement a second thought.

"Anyway...I'm glad the mystery is solved. Now we can concentrate on you getting on your knees and thanking me and my sidekicks for saving your butt, cuz."

Sam glared at him. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, you meant that literally... Because I'm an ultra-awesome...secret agent."

"Why... the hell are we... the only ones who thought they were going to study camp?" And why couldn't he stop panting already? The stitch in his side wasn't going away either.

"Sam... language," Jerry barely managed to say and Sam had to appreciate his perseverance if he used the little air he had to lecture him.

He looked at the other two who had their hands on their bent knees, trying to catch their breaths. The fortunately looked older than the rest of them. One had black hair and eyes, the other flaming red hair and green eyes, both of them tall and well built.

"Hey," the redhead said. "Steve Turner." He pointed to himself. " And..."

"JT," the brunette answered. "We'll need to talk soon enough."

Sam nodded. He couldn't focus now properly anyway. Too many things battled for attention inside his throbbing head.

"How on earth did you break that rope?" Jimmy asked as soon as he stopped panting.

"Who the hell cares?" Kyle burst out. "You're our brothers! That son of a bitch killed Carlos!" He tightened his hold on Kay who was still panting into his shoulder.

Sam flinched as Kyle bluntly stated all that was wrong with what had happened in the past hour. That and the fact that they'd almost died, all of them. A shiver ran down his spine and he wished he'd never stop panting. He didn't want a clear head and the ability to speak.

"I'm afraid we all underestimated Snitch Gravel. If he was capable of all we've seen today..." Sam didn't finish his phrase because he didn't know how. He refused to think what Snitch Gravel might do to them, it scared him too much. Maybe getting shot was the better outcome.

You will learn nothing that way. Snitch Gravel's words echoed inside his head. What had they learned from this except that Snitch Gravel was a crazy, sick bastard?

"We're much too young for this..." Jerry said quietly

Sam tilted his head. He'd never seen it like that. Confused, sure. Inexperienced, obviously. Wildly unprepared, understatement of the century. But too young? Could someone actually be old enough for murder?

"What the hell are we gonna do now?" Jimmy asked.

"Is everyone okay?" Sam asked, realizing he had been too caught up to check. He looked at Christine who sat on the roots of a tree, her head in her hands.

She raised her head at his question. "No, Sam, we're not okay. We've just witness someone getting killed, we almost died. I actually dangled over the edge of that cliff."

"We need some time," Jerry mumbled, and Sam had to agree with him.

He walked to Tom and put his hand on his shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Let me see." Tom put one finger to his chin in a mock-thinking pose. "Confused as hell, angry, frustrated, high-strung, annoyed. Happy, I guess." His voice turned soft and he smiled weakly.

Sam smiled too and rubbed his back. "Happy's good. Hold on to it."

"It's just going to take us a while to get used to the idea," Jimmy said and Sam reached out to pat his shoulder.

Christine sighed, came over to Sam and put her arms around his shoulders. He hugged her back feeling much better. He would think about the bad things later. Now, he needed to be surrounded by the people he loved and calm down. He looked over to Jerry. Tina was by his side, but his brother was staring at the ground, his eyes closed, his lips moving without letting out a sound. He crossed himself.

Sam closed his eyes and started whispering the first prayer that came to mind. Carlos deserved it.

🔷🔷🔷

So, yes, this chapter. A lot of stuff happens. Anyone surprised about the truth? About Kyle randomly breaking ropes? About more family showing up? Seeing a pattern yet?

Maybe you were a little surprised about me killing off people.  I'm warning you. No one is safe.

Thank so much for reading and don't forget to vote and comment.