The kid pulled his legs out of the bag. He seemed to be wearing gray sweatpants. He twisted around, picked up a pair of boots that had been left near his head, and started to put them on.
Though Rick heard only the wind, something must’ve disturbed Wally’s sleep. Maybe the other kid had spoken, or maybe it was just the sound of his movements. The big mound shifted and Wally raised his head.
There were voices too soft to understand.
Wally started getting out of his bag.
“DON’T MOVE!” Rick shouted.
Both heads snapped toward him and the person in the third sleeping bag sat up fast, the bag still around his shoulders. Rick lunged forward through the bushes, arm stretched out, revolver jerking from side to side as he aimed from target to target.
Wally squealed and threw his arms around his head.
“Holy fuckin’ shit!” Jase’s voice, sharp with alarm. He was the one in the sweatsuit.
Luke sat motionless, all but his head enclosed in the bag.
Rick halted about two yards from Wally. He stood with his feet apart, knees slightly bent. He clutched the wrist of his gunhand.
“Christ, don’t shoot!” Wally bellowed.
“Just nobody move. Nobody move a muscle.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Jase blurted. “You nuts? What is this?”
In a calm voice, Luke said, “I believe this is what is known as a pre-emptive strike.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Burgher?”
“This poor deluded son of a bitch believes that we have designs on his harem.”
“Aw jeez,” Wally said. “Aw jeez, I knew we were gonna get it. We shouldn‘ta looked at ’em. Jeez.”
“We didn’t do nothing, mister,” Jase said. “I don’t know what your trouble is. So we looked at them. What’s the big deal?”
“It wouldn’t have stopped with looking,” Rick said. “And you know it.”
“See a shrink, pal.”
“Stop it, Jase,” Wally whined. “He’s gotta gun!”
“So what’re you gonna do, mister, shoot us?” There was bluster in Jase’s voice, and there was fear.
“All depends,” Rick said.
“If we wanted to violate your ladies,” Luke said, “why haven’t we done it? You’ll note that we were peacefully sleeping until a few moments ago when you barged in.”
“Your two friends were already up.”
“I was gonna take a fuckin’ leak,” Jase said.
“Me too. I just woke up ’cause Jase was messing around, and I had to go.”
“Don’t give me that shit,” Rick said. “I know what you were going to do.”
“You’re nuts, man.” Jase wrapped his arms around his chest. “It’s cold. Who’d want to slip it to those babes when it’s this cold? You’ve gotta be kidding.”
“I wouldn’t rape a person even if it was hot out,” Wally said in a small voice. “You’d go to prison. And besides, I just wouldn’t do it.”
“On top of which,” Luke added, “I left my condoms at home. I most certainly wouldn’t jeopardize my health by using a bare tool on strangers.”
“Yeah,” Wally said. “Me too. God, you could get AIDS or something. You could die.”
“That’s right,” Jase said. “Whatever those babes got, we don’t want it. They’re all yours. So go on back and ream ’em out.”
Rick aimed the revolver at him. “Shut up,” he said.
“You aren’t gonna shoot.”
“Don’t say that!” Wally blurted.
“I think you’d better leave now,” Luke said.
“If you’re not,” Jase said, “I’m gonna have a smoke.”
“You’ve broken the law,” Luke went on while Jase got to his knees, turned away and crawled over his ground cloth toward his pack. “You’ve come into our camp and threatened us with a gun. I think, if we were to tell a ranger about this incident ...”
“Don’t say that!” Wally shook his head. “We aren’t gonna tell, mister. Honest. We’ll keep our mouths shut.”
Jase, hunched over his pack, looked over his shoulder. “That’s for sure,” he said. “We talk to the cops, it’ll probably be us that gets jammed up. Who’re they gonna believe, you or us?”
“Right,” Wally said. “We won’t tell. No way.”
Jase poked a cigarette into his mouth. He stood up, turning his back to Rick. “So what’re you gonna do? Gun us down? Shoot our dicks off ... ?”
“Jase! Don’t say that!”
What am I going to do with them? Rick wondered. Have them tie each other up? That’d be stupid. They could work themselves free in a while, no matter how well they might be tied. Then they’d be more dangerous than ever. Maybe just make them pack up and hike out of here. I could stay with them partway up the trail. But what’s to keep them from turning around and coming back? Maybe just knowing that I’ve got a gun. Wally, for sure, wouldn’t dare come back. But the others might. Maybe I should just keep them covered until morning. When Bert and the girls wake up and find out I’m gone, they’ll come looking. They’ll come armed. Then there’ll be four of us, and ...
Jase whirled around. His arm flew up. Something in his hand flashed in the moonlight, and he threw it. A knife shot at Rick, flipping end over end.
He started to duck.
Pain crashed through his head. His vision exploded with lights. He staggered and fell. His back hit the ground.
Someone was on him, sitting on his chest, wrenching the gun from his hand. “Okay fucker.” Jase’s voice. A harsh whisper. Rick’s vision cleared and he saw Jase raise the revolver, ready to whip it across his face.
Wally grabbed Jase’s wrist. “Hey, don’t. We got him.”
“Let go my hand.”
Wally released it.
Jase stood up, straddling Rick. He was gasping for breath. He aimed the revolver at Rick’s face and thumbed back the hammer.
“No!” Wally cried out.
“Jesus!” Luke yelled.
“He’s got it coming,” Jase said, and fired.
The explosion slammed Rick’s ears. The bullet kicked a spray of forest scrap against his cheek.
“Come on out,” Jase called.
Rick was on a rock near the campfire, sitting where they had placed him only a few minutes ago. Luke had already started the fire. It blazed brightly now, and Rick felt its warmth on his face.
Wally was standing on one side of him, Jase on the other.
Jase raised the gun overhead. “Come on,” he called again. “We can hear you gals sneaking around out there. We’ve had enough fun ’n games, so stop fucking around.”
“Get out of here!” Rick yelled.
“You shut up,” Jase told him.
“I’m coming in.” Bert’s voice.
“Don’t!”
A shape slipped out from behind a tree beyond the clearing. It moved forward, footsteps quietly crunching on the forest floor. It was Bert. She came into the firelight and stopped on the other side of Wally’s empty sleeping bag.
She wore the pale blue warm-up suit and wool socks she had slept in. She wore no shoes. A knife in her right hand hung at her side.
“Call in the other two,” Jase said.
“There’s no need for them.”
Luke tossed more twigs onto the fire, then rose from his crouch and faced her. “Bert, right?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Bert, we’ve got the gun. That means we’re in control. We can do whatever we want. So when Jase tells you to call in the other girls, the prudent move on your part is to follow instructions.”
“They haven’t done anything to you,” she said. Her voice was low and steady.
So damn brave, Rick thought. He could see the fear in her eyes, but she wasn’t giving in. She had walked right into their camp and now she was standing up to them. He wished he could go to her and put his arms around her. He wished he could make all of this stop.