He wasn’t sure which hole to peg them in.
Earl glanced at Zane as the others pulled ahead, narrowing his eyes at the man. Surprisingly, Zane’s eyes flickered up to meet his own and actually hold them; apparently Zane was waiting for him to say something rather than running his mouth again. Earl merely nodded at him, unable to think of anything that needed to be said right then and there. Partners, friends, adversaries… none of the pegs fit anywhere.
DEUCE paused on the trail, watching Ty and Earl moving ahead of him. It was only a few seconds before Zane caught up with him.
“You okay?” Zane asked. He was looking tired himself. Deuce nodded, though he was leaning heavily on his walking stick. He wiped at the back of his neck with his bandanna as Zane spoke again. “I think next vacation I’m going to the beach.”
Deuce barked a laugh and nodded. “I’ll go in half with you,” he offered as they started moving again, the walking stick taking a lot of the weight off his bad leg as they moved.
Ahead of them about twenty yards, Ty glanced over his shoulder to check on them. When he saw they’d fallen behind, he stopped and turned around to wait on them. Earl did the same, looking back at them as they approached.
Just as Deuce got to his dad, a small explosion right behind Ty caused him to pitch forward to the ground. It sent sticks and leaves and dirt skyward, the blast echoing through the woods, and they all ducked and covered their heads.
When Deuce looked up, Zane was already scrambling toward Ty, who was on his knees, coughing and picking leaves and sticks off his shoulders and out of his hair. Earl was standing, bent over with his hands on his knees and squinting at Ty.
“Jesus Christ, boy,” Earl said before he was forced to cough again.
“Wasn’t me,” Ty insisted as he shook his head to clear it.
“What was it?” Zane asked as he crouched next to Ty.
Ty blinked a few times and looked up at Zane. Then he pointed upward. “Sounded like a grenade,” he said breathlessly.
When Deuce looked up and off to the right, he could indeed see several grenades sitting precariously on the tree limbs above them, attached to what looked like weighted nets. The weights were perched on the thin branches, with the pins of the grenades attached to the trees, situated so that when you brushed one of the trees hard enough to make the upper limbs shake, the weight would drop, taking the grenade with it while the pin would stay in the tree.
It was a hasty job, even Deuce could see that. Something that had probably just been done minutes before they passed.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen,” Deuce muttered as he peered up at them.
“Great,” Zane said under his breath. “Concussion?” he asked Ty. Ty shook his head and looked to Earl, but they both seemed to be okay. Luckily, the explosion hadn’t been near enough to them to do them much damage other than to knock Ty off his feet. For once, Deuce was glad he was a slower hiker than they were.
“Must have been a squirrel or something,” Ty grunted as he let Zane help him to his feet. “We gotta take cover,” he said, brushing off his jacket.
They hid themselves quickly as far from the trail as they dared. Deuce flattened himself out behind a rise in the forest floor, Ty lying on his back beside him with his eyes closed. Earl wasn’t far away, hidden amidst a thick patch of small trees. Zane lay on Ty’s other side.
They were silent as they waited. A good ten minutes went by. And then another grenade dropped. Ty flinched beside Deuce, his eyes still shut and his hands folded calmly over his chest. After a third soon after, Zane spoke up quietly. “They must know we’re here. No way do they keep those up there all the time.”
Deuce nodded in agreement. Ty remained still, his eyes closed and his breathing slow and even. Zane growled as another one exploded. “Fuck. We can’t stay here. We’re pinned down.”
“The thing is,” Ty said conversationally, “they know it’s not safe because of the f**king squirrels or evil chipmunks or whatever the f**k they are. So they’re not likely to come engage us,” he wagered without opening his eyes.
“Not likely?” Deuce repeated.
“But they know where to find us whenever they’re ready,” Zane said.
“And we’ll know where to find them,” Ty countered as he finally opened his eyes. He didn’t turn his head to look at Zane, though. He didn’t move. “If we move now, we put ourselves at even more of a disadvantage.”
Zane didn’t answer, Deuce noticed; he simply nodded once and shifted slightly where he lay on his belly, face settled against his forearms and hidden. Deuce looked between them, wondering what was next. Since neither man was forthcoming, he had to ask. “So what are we going to do?” he asked.
“I am going to lay here,” Ty answered as he closed his eyes again. “And hope one of those things doesn’t fall on me.”
Zane made a noise that Deuce suspected was a smothered laugh.
Deuce rolled his eyes. “You’re both insane,” he decided, speaking under his breath.
Ty began to laugh softly. Zane didn’t even look up from where his face was buried in his arms, but his back and shoulders were shifting in jerky little movements. Deuce glanced sideways at them. Ty was biting his lip, trying not to make noise as he snickered. Deuce looked away, pressing his lips together tightly, not wanting to laugh with them.
When the next grenade dropped, Ty snorted, unable to stop the laugh that followed. Zane’s hand flashed out and smacked Ty in the ribs. Ty gave a muffled grunt and quieted, but Deuce could feel him shaking beside him.
“You kind of wonder what the squirrels think when they’re being blown through the air to the next tree,” Ty posed, trying not to snicker as he spoke. Zane smothered another laugh with his hand. “It’s all fun and games ’til somebody throws a grenade,” Ty recited sorrowfully. Zane snorted and used both hands to cover the sound.
“We’re all gonna die,” Deuce decided with a quiet groan.
After a few more moments of quiet snickering, Zane rolled up on his side and laid one hand on Ty’s chest. “What if we threw stones or something and set them off?” Somehow he was serious again. Deuce narrowed his eyes at him.
“Yeah, Zane, let’s make them all fall at once,” Ty responded, his voice full of sarcasm. “That shouldn’t leave a crater,” he muttered.
“You mean to tell me you can’t hit one so it falls without hitting the others?” Zane prodded.