Counting Paths

Chapter 33.

By some freaking miracle, I found a three-story house that was remodeled as an Inn that sells hunting equipment and rents vehicles. The owner of the place suggested I get the Polaris Ranger 900 XP and I did. He could tell I was in a hurry so he just asked me to write down my name, and number, and asked me to hand over a couple extra hundred dollars for minus the paperwork and my keys to my car. I gladly did everything he asked for and thanked him for this favor.

I drove away from the Inn in a vehicle that couldn't decide if it wanted to be a motorbike or a car. It wasn't very fast, the damn thing only went sixty mph, but I was closer to Sterling than I was three hours ago, so I don't care.

The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, casting rays of sunlight over everything, making one side of the sky look like it was on fire. I wonder if Sterling was watching the sunrise. She prefers sunsets, she swears up and down that she can tell the difference between the two, but she never not wanted to watch the sunrise. No matter how tired she was, if she was up and the sun was ready to rise in half an hour or so, she would stay up and watch it float up like a balloon.

I had to stop a few times to check the map I downloaded on my phone-good thing too because I lost service a long time ago, but soon the sun was a ball of fire in the sky, and I was ten minutes close to the concrete house.

A couple of minutes later, I spot another Ranger far up the path. I pull over, receive my handgun from my waistband, and approach the vehicle with caution.

It's empty. There's nothing but a folded-up note on the driver's seat with my name on it. I look around and make sure the coast is clear before picking up the piece of paper and unfolding it.

I couldn't let you do this alone. So I left after our phone call, I knew I was closer and had a head start. I asked the guy at the Inn not to mention me because if I hadn't met up with you by now, then I'm sorry. Tell Sterling I'm sorry. She wasn't Bo but she was still my sister.

-Russell

"Fucking idiot!" I hiss. Why would he come alone? Why would he-oh, the fucking irony!

I take off running, and I don't make it very far before I approach my first body. I skid to a halt, make sure they're dead, then continue a light sprint down the path. I stumble across six more bodies-just on the path, I'm sure there's more in the woods, then I reach the edge of an opening.

The concrete house isn't much of a house. From the outside, it looks more like a long box with a chimney on the side of it. There's a large window to the left of the front door but the glass has been broken.

Then I notice him sitting on the single step in front of the door, and rise my firearm, moving closer. I step close enough to see he's been beaten up pretty badly. His left eye is swollen shut, his right eye doesn't look so good either with a deep and bleeding slash under it, his nose is broken and crooked at a weird angle, and he's covered in blood. The very sight of him is almost enough to make me smile. Almost. There's another body at his feet but its head is turned away and I can't see who it is.

"I knew you would come alone," Wilson says in a rough, dry voice. "But I didn't think you would send someone ahead of you."

"I didn't. He came on his own."

He nods slowly, staring at something behind me. The fogginess of his eyes-or eye, tells me he's just staring into space, not at a possible threat behind me.

"Where is she?" I demand.

He points a broken finger over his shoulder. "Inside. She didn't want to come outside."