Page 44 of JoJo

“We better get prepared while we call for help then,” he told me as I damn near had to jog to keep up with his long-legged pace. He set me to making sure some of the guns he had were loaded and ready to go while he used an old HAM radio to call for help. “Yeah, I have JoJo Mason up here on my property,” I heard him tell whoever was on the other end. Then I heard another man’s voice call out from somewhere in the distance.

“Think she’s here?”

“Keep your voice down, numbnuts,” came the answer.

“At least two unidentified men on the property now. Better rush that help, because shit’s about to get ugly. I don’t know what these guys want with JoJo, but they can’t have her.”

I turned to look at Gregg who tipped his chin to me, indicating the rifle I’d been holding. I tossed it to him and picked up the 9mm off the table instead. There was no way I could hang on to a rifle in my condition.

“Hikers called it in that she was being chased a while ago. She made good time getting to your place. Make sure she has water, Gregg,” I heard the man on the other end of the radio call out.

Gregg indicated some bottles on his counter and I took one, before I moved closer to the back door of the cabin. “We’re sitting ducks if we stay in here,” I whispered, mindful of how noise traveled.

“I know it,” he told me before grabbing up some extra ammo and a bottle for himself. “Come on. I think getting lost in the junkyard is our best bet.”

I followed him to a back door and we eased it open, squeezing through, before ducking low and running into the maze of vehicles that had been left to their demise. It was a literal graveyard of lost cars and I had every intention of not dying in it. We moved quickly and quietly. I trusted Gregg to get us into a position where we could fight and stay hidden. He knew this place better than anyone else since he never left it. I was counting on that. I was counting on a lot at this point. I was also thanking a couple of hikers, because they’d definitely done as promised and sent for help.

---