Surviving the Fog (7 page)

Mike never knew how long it took for him to
collect himself.  At last his tears subsided, and he looked
around.  Yuie and Maria were still sitting on the ground.
 Yuie was still holding the traumatized girl, and she was
speaking to Maria in a low whisper.  Maria had stopped crying.
 Ralph had covered Jackie's body with his jacket and shirt and
was sitting there, lost in his sorrow.

Jacob had recovered first, and while
searching the area, he found a large recreational vehicle nearby.
 Inside, he found a picture of a man and a woman.  None
of the motorcyclists matched the picture of the man.  The kids
never discovered what had happened to the man and the woman.

There was a shack next to the RV that might
have belonged to one or more of the bikers.  Eric and Ahmad
took the door off the shack to use as a stretcher for Jackie's
body.  Rasul dragged the surviving unconscious man far away
from Maria and Yuie.

Mike had the boys tie the hands of the
unconscious man behind his back, and then they wrapped some cord
that they found in the RV around the man’s arms.  He had to
cajole and beg Ralph not to kill the man outright.

"I promise you we'll take care of him," he
told Ralph in a whisper.  "Just wait."

Slowly, the prisoner regained consciousness.
 When he realized what had happened, he snarled at them and
threatened them, and in return he was answered with an occasional
sharp poke from a spear point.

Mike and the other kids collected their
weapons and those of the men.  No one wanted to spend the
night there, so when they were ready they carried Jackie's body
away from the clearing and down the dirt road.  They pushed
their prisoner ahead of them, and whenever he refused to walk they
gave him little stabs to keep him moving.  When they came to
the gravel road leading to their camp they rested for an hour, and
then they began walking back toward their camp.  For Maria’s
sake, they moved slowly. Finally they stopped, threw themselves on
the hard ground, and tried to sleep until daybreak.

At dawn, still weary and heartsick they began
their trek back to their camp.  Jacob seemed less tired than
the others, so Mike sent him on ahead to tell Howard what had
happened, and to bring food and water.  When noon came, they
were about a mile from the camp, and they stopped to rest.
 There, they were met by Jacob, Howard, and some of the other
boys and girls who had hurried to them from their camp.
 Maria's friends accepted her from Yuie, and they tried to
comfort her.

"Get some of these guys to take Jackie back
to the camp," said Mike to Howard, pointing to the new arrivals.
 Ralph took charge of the young woman’s body, and he led the
sad procession toward the camp while the other rescuers lay
exhausted on the ground.

"What are you going to do with him?" Howard
asked anxiously, indicating the prisoner.

Mike had been thinking about this.  And
he had been looking for a tree.  A hundred yards back, they
had passed the tree that he had been looking for.  It had a
large root stretching out toward the road, and on the lower side of
the root the land fell swiftly downward.

"I want you to go back to our camp, and bring
the rope that we use to play tug-of-war," he said to Howard.
 "And bring one of the big barrels that we use for the
recycled cans.  Turn it on its side, and roll it down here.
 Tell all of the kids to come down with you. We'll wait."

Howard looked troubled, but he nodded and
left.  Mike went to Maria and her friends.

"I need to speak to Maria alone," he
said.

"It's okay," Maria said when the other girls
protested.  "Leave us alone."

When they were alone, before Mike could
speak, Maria said, "Thank you, Chief.  Thank you for coming
for me.  He told me that he was going to kill me just like he
killed Jackie."

Mike felt terrible, and the memory of what he
had seen stabbed at him.  "I'm sorry, Maria," he mumbled.
 "I sorry I didn't protect you."

Maria looked at him sadly, and then she said,
"It's not your fault, Mike.  You're just a kid."

Mike nodded, and then he told Maria what he
intended to do.  Maria paled, stared at the ground for a
moment, and then she nodded.

"All right," she whispered.

"Do you want to go back to camp first?" Mike
asked.

Maria looked up.  "No," she said with
determination.  "I'll stay."

Then Mike went to Eric, and he explained what
he was about to do.  "Are you okay with this?" Mike asked.

Eric searched Mike's face.  "Because I'm
black, you mean?"

"Uh...yeah," answered Mike.

Eric looked at the prisoner who was still
ranting at them.  "I don't know.  Maybe if he was black,
I wouldn't be.  But maybe I would.  But anyway, he's not
black so it doesn't matter to me.  Yeah, I'm okay.  And
if he was black, I think I would still be okay because I was there.
 I saw what he did to Jackie, and what he almost did to Maria.
 You know, Chief, we were almost too late for Maria."

Mike shuddered.  He didn't want to think
about that.  "Yeah, I know."

Reluctantly, Mike went to talk to the
prisoner.  "What's your name?" he asked.

"Screw you, kid," the man smirked.  "You
better let me go if you know what's good for you."  He
struggled in his bonds.

Mike wanted to ask him many other things,
about where he was from, what he knew about the Fog, why he had
killed Jackie and Pete, but the boy simply couldn't stand to be
near him, so Mike walked away.

Howard came back with the rope and the
barrel.  Almost all of the girls and boys from the camp came
with him.  Mike was hoisted awkwardly onto the barrel.

"All right, come close and listen," he
shouted.  The kids gathered around him.

"Now, anyone who saw Pete get shot, raise
your hand," Mike commanded. A host of hands went up. Mike saw a boy
holding up his hand who Mike knew wasn't down in the girl’s camp
when Pete was shot.

Mike asked him, "Where were you when you
heard the shot?"

"Uh...well..."

"Didn't you have KP duty yesterday?"

"Well, I came out right after I heard the
shot."

"So you didn't actually see Pete get
shot?"

"Well, no.  But I know who did it!" he
burst out angrily.  There was a loud bitter murmur of
agreement from the crowd.

"Listen to me," shouted Mike.  "The next
person who lies to me about what they saw is going to clean the
toilets for a week."  A lot of hands were quickly lowered, and
the crowd grew quiet.

"I saw what happened, Chief," said a girl who
still had her hand up.  "I was standing right next to Jackie's
cabin when she came out.  I saw her run over to that guy."
 She pointed to the prisoner.  "I saw him hit Jackie with
a gun.  Then Pete ran right by me.  I saw that man shoot
him, and I saw Pete's head fly back.  I'm never going to
forget that.”

"I saw it, too, Chief," said another girl.
 “I was brushing my hair in my cabin.  I heard Jackie say
‘Hi, Hi,’ like she was real happy.  When I came out of my
cabin, Jackie was lying on the ground, and that man was picking her
up.  Then he put her on his motorcycle.  Then I saw Pete
running to them, and then that man shot Pete.  I saw the blood
come flying out of Pete's face."

"Is that the man who shot Pete?" Mike asked,
pointing to the prisoner.

"Yes, that's him."

"Are you really sure it's him.  Maybe,
it was one of the others."

"I'm sure that it was him, Chief.  I
screamed when he killed Pete, and that man looked right at me.
 He smiled at me.  That's him, alright."

One by one, Mike questioned the kids who saw
the shooting.  Mike found five who definitely knew that the
prisoner was the man who had shot and killed Pete.  Then Mike
asked Jacob to tell the assembled kids what he had seen when he
first went to the clearing.  Then Mike let Yuie, Ahmad, Rasul,
Eric, and John tell the kids what they had seen.  When Ralph
returned, Mike asked Ralph to tell them what he had seen.  As
the witnesses spoke, the kids grew quieter and quieter.  Some
walked far away, so they couldn't hear any more.

Then Mike asked the man, "Did you kill the
guy at our camp?"

The man laughed.  "Maybe so, maybe no,"
he answered.  "So call the police, and let me go, and I'll
wait for them.  I promise.”

Mike was silent for a moment, and then he
asked, "What about the fog?"

The man scowled.  "So maybe the police
can't get here for awhile.  You can't keep me like this.
 I know my rights.  You got those spears, and I got no
gun, so let me go."

Then he smiled a very strange smile, and he
said in a soft voice, "Sooner or later I'm going to get loose.
 Then I'm going to find you, and I’m going to have some fun
with you."  There was such a vicious evil threat in his voice
that all of the kids except for Mike, Maria, and Eric, flinched and
drew back.

Mike jumped down and tipped over the barrel.
 "Help me," he said to the Spears.

The boys helped Mike roll the barrel down the
road to the tree.  They put the barrel on the higher side of
the tree root, so that the sharp drop was on the other side.
 The rest of the puzzled kids followed Mike to the tree.

Mike grabbed the tug-of-war rope.  "Does
anyone know how to make a noose?" he asked.

There were some murmurs of shock and the man,
prodded to the tree by some of the Spears, exclaimed, "Hey!"

A boy stepped forward.  "I know how to
make one," he offered in a very tense voice.  Mike handed him
the rope, and with trembling hands the teenager managed to make a
noose.

Mike looked at the prisoner.  "Bring
him," he said.

The man began to yell and rant and he
threatened the children.  He told them in graphic detail what
he would do to them if they did not immediately release him.
 Some of the kids were so frightened of the man, that they
begged Mike to let him go if he promised never to bother them
again.

The man struggled, but Ralph, John, and
Howard held him firmly, and with some help, they pushed him to the
barrel.  Mike called for some kids to hold the barrel steady
at the ends.  Some of the Spears, and some of the other kids
rushed to help, and shortly there were three or four kids at each
end of the barrel.

Mike climbed onto the barrel.  Carefully
he balanced himself, and then he took the rope, and with some
difficulty he worked it over the head of the struggling cursing
man.  Mike had to toss the other end of the rope several times
before he managed to get it over the right tree limb.  Then he
jumped down.

Other kids had seized the loose end of the
rope, and now they drew it taut so that the killer's head was
lifted. The man continued to curse and threaten them.  Mike
thought about gagging him, but he didn't just in case the man
decided to pray or to repent at the last moment. The stronger boys
lifted the man onto the barrel.  They helped him steady
himself, and then they stepped back.  The man wavered, and
then he caught his balance.  The rope was tightened a final
time, and then they tied the rope to the tree.

"Do you have any last words?" Mike asked the
man.

The man stared down at Mike, perhaps at last
realizing that he was dealing with someone different.  This
kid, this small kid, this implacable kid was going to hang him.
 Finally, he was frightened.

"I'm sorry about your friend," he muttered,
hoping that this might save his life.

Mike stepped behind the man, and he stood
next to the barrel.  Howard stepped forward. "I'll help," he
said.  "I didn't go with you when you fought, so I'll do
this."  Mike nodded.

"Let me do it," Ralph demanded.

"No, not you," Mike said, shaking his
head.

"Why not," Ralph asked.  "I want revenge
for Jackie."

"That's why you can't do it," said Mike
firmly.

"I'll do it," said Desi, coming forward.
 When she saw Mike about to protest, she said fiercely, "One
of us should be a girl."

She stepped behind the barrel.  Some of
the kids hid their faces.  Most of them were scared, but they
still watched.  A few were just curious.  Several still
did not believe that Mike was going to do this.

The three teenagers placed a foot against the
barrel, so that it was held firm against the tree root.  They
agreed to go on the count of three.  Someone counted.  On
three, they pushed hard against the barrel.  It lifted onto
the tree root, and then it fell over and rolled down the slope.
 The man dropped.  It sounded like something happened in
his neck.  He twitched for many seconds, and then he was
still.  His neck was bent over at an awkward angle.  His
body released its waste.  Some of the kids turned away and
were sick.  Others began crying.  Others just stared up
at the body.

Slowly, they all made their way back to their
camp, some pushing the barrel.  Mike was exhausted that night,
but he found it hard to sleep.  He remembered the terrible
sights that he had seen, and once he awakened from a bad dream.
 Sometimes, he felt tears trickling down his cheeks.

The next day Mike asked Ralph to make a sign.
 Ralph agreed, and using a piece of cardboard, he made a sign
and he went over the hill and down to the hanging body, and he
attached the sign to the stomach of the body.  The sign said,
"Murderer and Rapist."

After a few days, some of the kids wanted to
bury the man, just as they buried Jackie and Pete down at the west
end of the meadow on the boys’ side of the river.  Mike
refused to let them take the body down.  It hung there until
the following spring when Mike was finally moved to bury the bones
close by the Hanging Tree, where they had buried the bodies of the
other three bikers.

The following days seem to pass in a haze.
 The kids moved around in a stupor much of the time, except
when someone breathlessly warned that something or someone had been
heard.  Then they would all cringe and cower for awhile, until
it became apparent that it was just another false alarm.  The
wood on the bridge was removed, but it was placed close by in case
it was needed.  Howard found the cover for the five gallon
bucket so that the gasoline would not evaporate.  During this
time, Mike posted a guard on the gravel road at the top of the
hill.