Page 37 of Final Ride

He whistled for Cleo and dragged himself around the shack to the Jeep. Slipping under the wheel, he paused to catch his breath before starting the engine.

The motor turned over and Bobby had to maneuver around the old fart’s truck to get to the lake road.

He’d be in Canada twenty minutes later if he didn’t bleed out before then.

Willy lay on the floor of the fishing shack thinking he’d never walk again. The black dog had done so much damage to his legs. The only thing that saved his life was the boyfriend whistling for the dog and taking off.

“Where’s Tammy?”

Willy tried to get to his feet to look for her, but he was bleeding so badly, he didn’t have the strength to get up off the floor.

He tried to whistle for his dogs and didn’t have the breath.

Crawling on his belly, Willy headed for the back door. Not far. The entire shack was only about twelve feet square.

Lying on the floor at the open back door all he could see was a crumbling dock and a wide river.

The bite on his right leg was up higher in his thigh and he’d lost so much blood from that one he figured the dog’s fangs might have nicked an artery.

“I need to get to my medical bag in my truck.”

Lying right there at the back door of the shack, Willy had to make a decision. An important one.

If he crawled to the dock, he’d bleed out and have no chance to save Tammy.

If he turned around and crawled to his truck and reached his medical bag in time, he might be able to stop the bleeding and save himself.

One of them would be alive.

Hating himself for doing it, Willy turned away from the river and crawled the opposite way.

It took him too long to crawl to the truck and get himself inside. Then another few minutes to find the medical bag in the back and dig out the QuikClot.

Once he had what he needed, the bleeding began to ease up. It stopped up enough to keep him conscious. Without going this route there was no chance for him to get to Tammy.

He sat in the truck for ten minutes before trying any heroics. Then he took a couple of deep breaths, eased himself out of the truck and forced himself—sheer willpower alone—to stumble around the shack to the dock.

Willy peered into the dark river water and saw nothing. No body anywhere close to the dock. He collapsed onto the dock and sobbed. “She told me I’d get hurt if I came with her and I didn’t listen. She was trying to protect me from the first day I found her, and I didn’t believe what a bad girl she was.

People were after her and she wasn’t paranoid at all. She tried to tell me I was in danger.

Love is blind.

Great Falls Airport. Montana.

Virge slept the entire way home and I wasn’t that lucky. Dead tired as we walked to the parking lot to pick up Dad’s truck and then a long drive home to Coyote Creek, I was a zombie.

“My truck is still here,” said Travis. “That’s a gift.”

“Maybe the strobes scared them off, Dad.”

“Probably what it was, son.” He laughed. “You slept all the way home, Virgil. You get to drive.”

“I’m up for it, Dad. I’ll get you and Harlan home.”

“Thanks. Wake me up when we get there.”

“You got it, Dad. No worries.”

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