Hope On The Rocks/Issue 61

This is Issue 61 of Hope On The Rocks, entitled "Plenty of Fuel".

513, Plenty of Fuel
“Got it!” I say, as I start an old pickup truck. Looks like the one that belonged to Otis Frinkdale, though it could have been Desmond Janssen too. I’m not sure. “How much gas?” Kevin yells, standing outside with the rest. I check. Half full. “Plenty.” I yell back. I look out, Kevin saying something I can’t hear. Then William and Kevin gets into the front with me. The rest getting on the back. I begin to drive towards the trailer park. I’m nervous. I’ve never killed a living man, exclude Nick Camper. I still feel bad for shooting him. “You don’t have to do this, you know?” William says, and I take a quick look, realizing that he is talking to me. I look back at the road. “Yea, I know. But I want to.” “She killed your son, Doug. You don’t have to forgive her for that. Hell, I wouldn’t.” William says, looking at me. “I forgive her. I understand her actions.” I say, honestly. I do understand why Nick Camper’s daugther shot Jamie. I took away the thing she loved the most. I deserved the pain. I wanted the pain. “You’re christian, Doug?” Kevin asks, chaning the topic. “I am.” I say. I usually don’t like talking religion, but things have changed now. Conversation topics as well. “Yeah, so am I.” Kevin says. “It’s really one thing that helped when I was out. Having something to believe in, to grab onto.” I nod, knowing what he means. I never was in the military, due to the fact that I got the farm as 19-year old. My father died, and he left me and my girlfriend everything. I married my girlfriend, and we soon enough got Jamie and Kristen. But back then, when we were two to run a farm, I needed the faith. I needed something to grab onto when everything got hard. “I know what you mean.” I just say.

After five minutes with conversations like this, Kevin tells me to pull over. We are still around 500 meters from the trailer park, but Kevin wants us to park here. “Why?” Ridley asks, as we are all standing in a circle by the car. “We don’t want to be spotted before their first man is down.” Kevin says, and then turns to William. “William, you stay here. Shoot every man you don’t know. Don’t kill them, just shoot them.” Kevin takes a pistol and two magazines from the duffel bag that Peter, William and I brought back from the gun shop. He then gives William the pistol. “I can do that.” William says, loading the gun, and showing the spare magazine in his pocket. “The rest of you,” Kevin begins. “we have to objectives; to get the women outta there, and to kill Bobby Lunar.” Kevin looks at me, and I sigh. I know where this is going; we are going to split up, and he wants me to lead one group. Just because I am old doesn’t mean I know how to lead a group. Because I don’t. “Doug. Peter and Ridley go with you. Texas and Chad with me.” Kevin says. “Is that clear?” “And what do we do?” I ask, walking towards the truck where the duffelbag is. I take up a hunting rifle and a pistol, ammo for both. “Find Lunar and kill him. Don’t hesitate.” Kevin says, looking at me. As I said before, the only man I ever have killed was Nick Camper. And that was an accident. I would never kill someone on purpose. That would only be to protect Kristen. So what I will do now, is help Ridley and Peter to find Bobby Lunar. I will let them kill him. I am not going to.

Deaths

 * None

Credits

 * Ridley Johnson
 * Kevin Gardner
 * Douglas Tallie
 * William Seck