Julie's Road Trip *continued*


Benny wondered why that was a good thing, but he didn't want to sound ignorant so he held his tongue.

James went back to the van to talk to Brenda, and after a short, muffled conversation, he told them, "I'm gonna stay here with Brenda. Y'all go on ahead."

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Mark said, trying to sound aloof, but Benny could tell it bothered him more than he wanted to let on. His best friend chose the company of a girl over him.

"Bye, slut! Make sure you use a condom!" Julie smiled, waved, and blew her friend a kiss, in stark contrast to Mark's thinly veiled bitterness.

"Don't get murdered by a serial killer!" Brenda called back.

And with that, Julie, Benny, and Mark headed down the road. In fifteen minutes of walking, only two vehicles passed them. Mark stuck his thumb out both times, but neither of them so much as tapped the brakes. "Why don't you flash your titties at the next one?" Mark suggested to Julie.

"But my titties aren't even that big, remember?" she said teasingly, giving Benny a wink and melting his heart.

"That's true, but some guys prefer well proportioned to big," Mark countered.

"How about I just stick out my thumb and shake my ass a little," she compromised.

"Give it a shot," Mark agreed.

Nearly five minutes passed before a shiny red F350 came cruising toward them, and Julie did as promised. Her cute little thumb jutted out from her tiny fist and she arched her back, again flashing a bit more of that pale skin on her soft, perfect midriff, and very subtly pushing out her flawless, round buttocks, which she gave a glorious wiggle. Benny never even glanced at the truck; his attention was fixed solely on Julie, all the blood rushing to his pecker.

Her strategy seemed to work, as Benny noted when Julie broke her pose and started trotting along the shoulder. The F350 had pulled over. "Fucking score!" Benny shouted, his spirits lifted. Perhaps their trip could be salvaged after all.

In the cab of the truck was a young man with messy black hair, tanned skin, and sharp green eyes. He wore jeans and a tee shirt that said "kiss my ass". Beside him was a lovely blonde with dark blue eyes and pale skin, sporting cut-off jeans and a plain white tank top. They both looked to be in their early twenties and were exceedingly attractive.

"Y'all have some car trouble," the man asked them when they approached.

"My van broke down like a mile up the road," Mark answered.

"Let's go have a look," the man offered. "Hop in back."

The three teens happily complied, none of them suspecting any nefarious intentions. The man did not betray their naivety, taking them to the van and stopping to inspect it, as agreed upon. When they pulled up and exited the vehicle, the man introduced himself and his girlfriend. "I'm Jeremy, and this here's Beth."

Julie, Mark, and Benny all took turns shaking hands and stating their names, and James popped out of the van looking a little flustered. "You guys came back quick," he muttered.

"Hope we didn't interrupt anything," Mark said, sounding a little too satisfied with himself. "This is Jeremy. He's agreed to lend us a hand. Grab him a beer, will ya?"

James nodded and did as Mark asked. He didn't even seem to mind too much that his privacy had been disturbed. He appeared as encouraged as Benny was to have found help so quickly.

Jeremy popped the hood and asked Mark to crank the starter. The engine responded much as it had previously, and Jeremy just nodded and laid down on the pavement to look at the undercarriage. Whistling, he said, "Holy hell, if I didn't know any better I'd say you hit a deer."

"We sorta did," Mark told him. When Jeremy stood up and looked quizzically at the mostly unblemished bumper and radiator, Mark clarified, "Well it was already dead, we just sorta ran over it."

Jeremy nodded again. "Well your fuel line's busted. I got some tubing back home that'd likely do the trick." He took a swig of beer, then asked, "Y'all like to party?"

"Fucking A right we do," Mark confirmed. "You wanna smoke a blunt?"

"I guess I probably do. Why don't y'all hop in and I'll take y'all back to the ranch. It's about a forty-five minute ride. We'll have some drinks, smoke some bud, snort some coke, then I'll bring y'all back here and fix you up."

Mark was beaming, as if he'd found his soulmate. "Now you're speaking my language," he said.

Julie flashed an easy smile and agreed readily enough, "Sure, why not?"

James looked torn, but he ultimately chose pussy over drugs, deciding, "You all go on, I'll wait here with Brenda." Mark no longer seemed to care, nodding absent-mindedly.

Benny was going wherever Julie was, so he quickly confirmed, "I'm in."

They once again loaded into Jeremy's pickup, but this time they all sat in the cab, with Beth riding shotgun and the three teens filing into the back seat. "So where y'all headed?" Jeremy asked as they drove away.

"Nueces River," Mark answered.

"It's our last summer before everybody goes off to college, so we're taking a road trip," Benny added.

"So y'all are all eighteen?" Jeremy asked, eyeballing them in the mirror, and Benny saw something familiar in the way he looked at Julie.

"Yeah, old enough to vote and to get shipped overseas to die a horrible death, fighting so that rich people can get richer," Julie said with ironic cheerfulness.

"But not old enough to have a sip of alcohol," Mark said resentfully.

And old enough to fuck twenty-something-year-old guys, Benny thought.

Perhaps Beth also picked up on the way Jeremy was eyeing Julie, or maybe she just hated liberals, but she spoke up in an icy tone, "Our troops are fighting for our freedom. Don't believe any of that bullshit leftist propaganda you see all over the media."

Julie's cheeks reddened, and for a moment Benny thought she was going to sass back, but she held her tongue long enough for Jeremy to say, "Beth's brother is in the military. Marine Corps."

"I'm sorry," Julie said grudgingly. Benny supposed it was out of respect for Jeremy, who was doing them all a huge favor. "I meant no offense."

Jeremy flashed a wide smile oozing with Southern charm, and told her, "Now that's exactly the type of bipartisan olive branch extending this country needs."

"Well I got a fucking olive branch for your ass," Mark said, and produced a blunt and his trusty zippo. "You mind if I smoke in here?"

"Light it up," Jeremy told him, and so he did.

He passed it to Jeremy first, and Julie couldn't help herself. "Just make sure you don't run over any deer, okay?"

Jeremy was unvexed, and he simply smiled his easy, charming smile and replied, "Yes ma'am," before putting the blunt in his mouth and inhaling.

They didn't hit any deer, and the conversation continued cordially enough until they arrived at the ranch house almost exactly forty-five minutes later, as Jeremy had promised. It was a beautiful piece of property, with a sprawling yard and a generous two-story Victorian style home. An elevated deck with a porch swing and a shade stretched out towards the car park.

"This is your place?" Mark asked, sounding impressed.

"It will be. Eventually. It's my parents', but I help out a lot on the ranch. Earn my keep. They're actually on vacation right now. Just like y'all. It's the season, I reckon."

"Yeah, I reckon," Mark grinned.

"Come on," Jeremy told them, and led the group into the house. They congregated in the living room, a spacious area with two couches and two recliners aimed at an eighty inch TV mounted on the South wall. Where the North wall would have been, instead there was a bar fully stocked with dozens of spirits, wines, liquors and liqueurs, as well as tumblers and shot glasses stacked high. Beyond that was the kitchen. Beth and Julie sat down on separate couches, and Benny sat next to Julie, of course.

Mark followed Jeremy to the bar where they poured five shots of tequila. "Bottoms up, bitches," he shouted, helping Jeremy carry the drinks back to the rest of their party.

Julie knocked hers back without hesitation, then grimaced and swiped at her lips with the back of her hand. Beth looked at her like it was a challenge, then followed suit. Mark gave an enthusiastic, "Yeah!" and downed his shot alongside Jeremy. Only Benny hesitated, taking a whiff of the stuff and feeling his stomach turn, but he didn't want to seem weak in front of Julie, so after a few beats he slammed his back too, immediately regretting it.

It felt as if his entire esophagus was suddenly coated with warm syrup and it was all he could do to not immediately upchuck, but nobody else seemed to be struggling as he was, so he pretended nothing was amiss. A conversation started about a liquor store in Del Rio, and how much this particular bottle had set Jeremy back, but Benny could barely follow. He was too focused on not losing his lunch, and he was becoming convinced it was a fight he would lose when Jeremy offered him a beer.

Benny waved it away, and rising to his feet, he managed, "Where's the bathroom?" Unaware of the urgency of the situation, Jeremy calmly pointed to a hallway and instructed Benny to take the third door on the left. Benny was off before he finished.

For a bad moment he thought he wouldn't make it, his gorge rising while he was still hurrying down the hall, and as he pushed through a partially closed door he wondered what would happen if this was the wrong room. Luckily it was not, and he kicked the door shut behind him and lifted the toilet seat, narrowly avoiding spraying it with puke. He was thankful that the retching was not too loud - it meant there was hope he might be able return to the living room without everyone knowing he tossed his cookies. There wasn't any mouth wash in the medicine cabinet, so he had to settle for toothpaste and water, and when it felt he had everything under control he made his way back down the hall.

When he returned he found Julie hunched over the coffee table, snorting coke through a rolled up dollar bill. Her perfect, juicy, round ass was to him, and he was still staring at it when she stood up and smiled, "I guess today is my day for losing faith in God and experimenting with illegal drugs."

Beth appeared angered by this announcement, and Jeremy looked alarmed, but Mark simply cheered. "Whoa, whoa," Jeremy said, holding up his hands in a halting gesture. "You don't have to give up your faith just to have a good time now and then."

"Yeah, Jesus saves," Beth said admonishingly, "He'll never give up on you, you shouldn't give up on him."

Julie giggled loudly before realizing they were serious. "But doesn't the bible condemn drunkards?" she asked, her eyes wide and shining.

"It condemns vices," Jeremy said. "If you let drugs and alcohol control your life, you've lost God and you're worshipping false idols, but if you just partake when it's time to relax, there ain't nothin' wrong with that."

"The bible condemns all sorts of shit, and then in the next chapter it endorses the shit it just condemned. It's all bullshit," Mark told them. "No disrespect."

"None taken," Jeremy assured him. "We're open to all viewpoints. A good theological discussion is always healthy, but first," he looked at Benny. "You want a bump?"

Benny feared another bout of vomiting, so he declined as politely as possible, "No thanks."

Jeremy nodded and then declared, "Another round of shots!"

"I'll sit this one out, I'm pacing myself," Benny said quickly.

"Suit yourself," Jeremy agreed, then he collected their shot glasses and went back to the bar. "So what verses do you think are contradicting?" he asked Mark as he poured.

"Thou shalt not kill, render unto Caesar, honor thy mother and father, for starters. There's all sorts of shit in the bible that runs contrary to those rules," Mark answered.

"I think the Good Book is more nuanced than you give it credit for, sir," Jeremy replied, carrying four freshly filled shot glasses back to the coffee table. "Some stories are parables, we take lessons from each of them, and it speaks to us in different ways. You can't take everything in it at face value."

"Yeah, well it's pretty worthless as a set of instructions for life then, isn't it?" Mark swallowed his shot alongside Jeremy, and the girls followed right behind them, before Mark continued, "Why is this God of yours so difficult to understand, if what he wants from us is so damned important? I mean if what hangs in the balance is either an eternity of paradise, which is a paradox in itself, or an eternity of suffering, you'd think the rules ought to be pretty damned clear, dontcha think?"

"Yeah, well, there's a fine line between guiding us to the light and removing our free will," Jeremy countered.

"Free will," Mark scoffed. "No such thing."

"What's your take on all this?" Jeremy asked Julie, who had been listening intently.

"I dunno. I mean it is kinda confusing. If God was fair, it seems He'd make things a little more clear, you know, and Mark made a good point about the afterlife earlier, so I kinda think that maybe there's a god, maybe, because how did all this shit get here, but it doesn't give a shit about us. And it's kind of liberating to think that, you know? Like don't get me wrong, it's scary to think that when we die that's it, forever, you know, like there's no coming back. There's nothing ever ever again. Like, shit. But at the same time, I feel like a weight's been lifted, because now I can stop trying to be perfect and just enjoy myself. I feel like I'm gonna have a lot more fun on this trip now, you know? I'm rambling, aren't I? I think it's the coke."

"Yeah, it's the coke," Jeremy assured her, "but no worries. You're young. You've got time to figure it out, but at least you got part of the truth - how does all this exist if not for God? An even better question is why. Why does it exist? Why are we here?"

Mark scoffed. "Religion likes to pretend it has the answers to why, or how, but God is a non answer. Why did God create us? How did God come to exist? You pursue either of those questions far enough and you'll get some dodgy, shifty shit like, 'no one knows the mind of God,' or, 'the Lord works in mysterious ways'. Truth is there's a lotta shit we don't know, and goddidit is just a cop out."

"Sounds to me like you're just pissed at God," Beth said. "What happened to you?"

Mark busted up laughing. "Jesus Christ, woman. Are you listening? I mean I guess if God was real I'd be angry at Him, sure, because an almighty creator throwing us on this fucked up rock just for shits and giggles would be a dick move, but THERE IS NO GOD."

"I'll pray for you," Beth said patronizingly. "You need to let go of your anger."

"That's some passive aggressive bullshit right there," Mark answered.

Benny sensed the rising tension and blurted out, "Welcome to every religious discussion on the internet, ever."

It seemed his attempts at humor had finally struck a cord, as everyone roared with laughter at that. Even Julie. Perhaps Julie most of all, and that warmed Benny's heart.

"Good call, Benny," Mark said, and then to Julie he added scornfully, "Why do you keep getting us into these religious discussions? Motherfucking buzz kill."

Julie smiled meekly, "I'm sorry. Good talk though, y'all," and she rubbed Mark's hair playfully. "I gotta go use that restroom now, if that's okay?"

Jeremy nodded hospitably, and Julie made her exit. Benny found himself wondering if he had left any chunks on the rim of the toilet bowl, and blasted himself for not lowering the seat when he left.

"I'm gonna go get that tubing, and we can be on our way," Jeremy told them, before exiting through a back door. Beth and Mark found different spots on the walls to examine, and the silence was palpable.

"So, Beth, you two married?" Benny asked, trying to break the ice.

"We're engaged," she replied amicably. "Been together since our senior year. Jeremy's a big softie, as you can tell."

"Yeah, he seems like a good guy," Benny agreed.

Meanwhile Mark muttered, "Living in sin," and this time it was Benny's turn to do the shushing.

"Mark, shut the fuck up."

Beth just looked at Mark with a scornful glare, but did not take the bait. Then she turned to Benny with a much softer gaze and asked, "Are you dating Julie?"

It was the second time that day it had been suggested he and Julie were a couple, and it played havoc on his sensibilities. If only, he thought wistfully, before answering, "No, we're just friends." And that was the dagger in the heart.

"Oh," Beth said simply. "Well it's probably for the best. I've seen the way you look at her, but she's an odd duck. I think you can do better. You seem like a nice boy."

"Thanks," Benny answered, not daring to take this conversation any further. A short time later both Julie and Jeremy returned, the latter carrying a roll of tubing and a toolbox.

"Let's hit the road, folks," Jeremy suggested, and they returned to his truck. When he inserted his key and gave it a turn, however, the truck did not respond. After a couple tries, he turned to the teens in the backseat with a concerned look, and Julie busted up laughing. Beth looked sorely irked as Julie struggled to control herself.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, "I'm not laughing at you. I mean it sucks, your truck won't start, right? But I mean, come on, look at it from our point of view, it's pretty fucking funny. We broke down and hitched a ride with you so you could fix our van, and now you..." she laughed herself to tears before continuing, "You broke down too. You gotta fucking laugh." Mark and even Benny found it hard to share in her amusement this time, and Beth only continued to scowl, but Jeremy had enough good will to chuckle with her.

"Well, shit, I'm real sorry about this, y'all, let me have a look at 'er." They all waited in the cab, and he was only under the hood for twenty to thirty seconds before he slammed it shut, and the expression on his face was troubling. "Son-of-a-bitchin' cable's been cut. We been sabotaged." He looked around at the surrounding ranch, which was mostly flat land, but with enough mesquite brush and cacti to hide a prowler. "Y'all best get outta there. Let's go back in the house and call the cops."

They followed him wordlessly into the house, everyone on edge now, and when Jeremy lifted the handset to his cordless phone, his face went pale. "They cut the phones," he said flatly.

"You're fucking shittin' me," Beth told him.

"What the fuck?" Mark asked, visibly alarmed, and Benny felt his stomach knotting up.

"Alright, everybody cool it," Julie told them, her voice remarkably calm. "We're gonna be fine. Jeremy, you got any guns?"

Jeremy nodded, "A thirty-ought-six and a fourty-four mag."

"If somebody wanted to kill us, they would have done it when we stepped out that front door," Julie continued. "Hell, they had us all bottled up in Jeremy's truck and didn't do shit. They're just fucking with us. Probably want us to hide in here like bitches so they can wait until night and scare the shit out of us or something. So here's what we're gonna do," she looked around the room and saw that everyone was with her. She was setting their fears at ease. "We're gonna take Jeremy's guns and his tools and walk out the front door like we run this shit, and we're gonna walk back to the van, fix it up, and then we can take Jeremy and Beth to town so they can call someone."

"I think she has the right of it," Jeremy agreed, and he bounded off with determination, returning in under a minute with both guns and a couple boxes of ammo. He stashed the ammo in the toolbox and tossed in a bullet of cocaine for the road. "I'll take the rifle." Looking at the three teens he asked, "Do any of you shoot?" Mark raised his hand and stepped forward, and Jeremy handed him the pistol. They all exchanged glances before Jeremy finally said, "Let's go."

Jeremy and Mark led the way, taking the vanguard and sweeping the horizon for signs of a threat. For five minutes they moved forward in this manner, Mark and Jeremy with their guns at the ready, and all of them nervous wrecks. Benny kept expecting a bullet to come whizzing out of nowhere and shear off the top of his skull, but it didn't happen. In fact, nothing happened, and after ten minutes they all began to relax, suspecting Julie had been right all along - some bored teenagers had decided to play an elaborate prank, but backed down when they saw the guns.

Conversation eventually resumed, with Jeremy giving voice to this exact sentiment. "Damn, Julie, I guess you had it pegged. If it hadn't been for you we'd probably all still be back in the house, shakin' in our dang boots and wastin' daylight."

Julie smiled coyly and shrugged. "I'm just as relieved as you are. I was shitting bricks there for a minute." She was a wiz at accepting praise gracefully while remaining humble. After all, she'd had a ton of practice.

"Who do you think did that shit? Did you piss off any high schoolers recently?" Mark asked.

"Probably some little pervs that have a crush on me," Beth answered, and Jeremy seemed to mull it over and nodded in agreement.

"Probably."

"What a bunch of twats. Now it's gonna be way too late to set up camp tonight. Guess we're gonna be sleeping in the van," Mark whined.

Julie giggled, "Awww, is Marky Warky afraid of sleeping in the van?"

"Fuck you, slut," Mark snapped, but Julie laughed even harder.

"Could be worse, I reckon," Jeremy noted.

"How much longer do you think it'll take us to get to the van?" Benny asked.

"Two and a half hours, mayhaps," Jeremy answered, "if we keep up the pace."

"We should get there before sunset then," Mark commented. "How long will it take you to fix the fuel line?"

"Not long," Jeremy told them. "Anybody want another bump?" He took the bullet from his toolbox and gave it a snort. "All that excitement kinda killed my high."

Never one to turn down narcotics, Mark accepted the offer and took a sniff. "Wish you'd brought some of that tequila too."

Jeremy grinned and pulled a flask from the back pocket of his jeans. He took a swig and handed it to Mark, and Julie took a pull off it after him. Benny waved it away again, still not trusting himself to keep it down, and Beth was evidently no longer in the mood to party.

"Did you play football in high school?" Mark asked. "You're a big dude."

"Fullback and linebacker," Jeremy answered, and so they talked and walked for the next forty minutes, discussing high school and college and that awkward and scary transition they were in, kids trying to become adults, until they had almost completely forgotten about the scare back at the house.

The subject had happened upon rent and the cost of college courses, and Mark was telling Jeremy and Beth how lucky they were not having to deal with all that.

"Hold on," Beth said, seeming to take offense. "Jeremy works hard for his living. He earns his keep."

"And you?" Julie asked. "What do you do for a living? Keep Jeremy's bed warm at night?" Julie giggled, but as usual, Beth didn't join in her laughter.

"I'm a hair dresser in Del Rio," she answered icily.

"I mean that's respectable and all," Mark acknowledged, "but it's hardly setting the world on fire."

"Burn, from the guy who's gonna study English in college," Julie teased, still giggling.

"Point is you and Jeremy got this ranch gig all set up," Mark continued, ignoring Julie, "so you don't have to strike out on your own and..." He trailed off when he heard the gunshot.

Benny was watching Julie, something he did a lot of, so he saw the neat little hole appear in her denim vest, just above the frayed bottom and about a couple inches to the right of her navel, and he could have sworn he heard the sickening smack of the bullet hitting her flesh a split second before the report of the shot. He saw the expression on her face go from cheerful laughter to confusion to shock to horror in the space of a second, and he saw the first splash of bright red blood spurt from the hole and stain her perfectly white outfit.

"Aaaak!" Julie cried. While everyone else was looking around, trying to find the source of the shot, Julie was gawking at her wound, her right palm pressed against the hole in her gut, and Benny was gawking at her. When she looked up and exclaimed, "I've been shot," it spurned Benny into action.

He charged forward and tackled Julie, being careful to cushion the landing, and shouted, "Stay down." Mark and Beth were already on the ground, and Jeremy took a knee, still searching for any sign of the shooter. "What do you see?" Benny asked in a whisper, but Jeremy just shook his head.

"I can't see anything. How is she?"

Benny looked down at Julie, and she looked back up at him and called out, "I'm fucking shot, so not good."

"Can you move?" Jeremy asked.

Julie eyed Benny again. "If Benny gets off of me, I think I can."

"Do you want to head back to the ranch house?" Jeremy asked.

"The ranch house is a dead end," Julie peered at her gun shot wound again. "I need a hospital. We've gotta keep moving forward."

"Okay, everybody stay low, and let's move," Jeremy commanded, keeping his voice down.

"After you," Julie whispered to Benny, and he rolled off her.

"Thanks," she muttered, and she gingerly rolled onto her hands and knees, and after pressing her palm against her belly one last time, she began to crawl. They all began to crawl, and they kept it up for as long as they could manage.

It was Beth who finally broke cover, complaining, "I can't do this shit anymore." To her credit, they had covered more than three hundred yards without hearing or seeing anything, so she stood up. Jeremy stood up beside her, scanning the surrounding brush and coming up empty.

"We can probably walk from here, but stay alert," he said.

"Yeah, if you see a bullet, duck," Julie quipped, climbing miserably to her feet. She chuckled a little, but it clearly caused her a great deal of discomfort.

Mark and Benny got tentatively up on their haunches, scouting their surroundings as well, but Benny was quickly distracted by Julie. The hole in her gut was still leaking, and the bright red blood stood out in stark contrast to her white clothing and pale skin. Her right hand was mostly coated with the stuff, making it look like she wore a red glove, and he wondered if she'd be able to make it all the way to the van, and if she made it that far, would she manage to hold on long enough for medics to save her?

Noticing that everyone was looking at her, she lifted her top to show them the wound. "What do y'all think? Am I dying?" Benny thought the hole was relatively small, and her belly was still otherwise flawless, but it looked like a lot of blood to him.

"I heard that gun shot wounds to the abdomen are only fatal like twenty-something percent of the time," Mark told her, grinning.

"Thanks, asshole," she answered.

"Actually," Beth chimed in, "they're only fatal about twelve percent of the time in civilians. Although that's mostly due to a swift medical response."

"She's right," Jeremy agreed.

"Guys, please, I was being sarcastic. Now can we stop trying to figure out the odds of me dying and get our asses to the van?"

"Yes ma'am," Jeremy said, and they all continued down the road.

"Does it hurt?" Beth asked, looking at Julie with a squinched up nose.

"There's a hole in my belly, created by a burning hot chunk of lead, which is now buried deep inside my guts... Yeah, it fucking hurts."

Beth flinched, but didn't respond.

"It's crazy though, right, that you were talking about getting shot in the stomach earlier today and now you've been shot in the stomach," Mark commented.

"Yeah, crazy," Julie agreed unenthusiastically.

"You know what would be really crazy, is if it was an accidental shooting and Julie ends up suing and winning a lawsuit for a million dollars," Benny noted.

Julie smiled wanly at that. "You know, that might almost be enough for me to start believing in God again."

"Don't start with the religious shit again, Jules," Mark groaned.

"I feel like we're missing some context here," Jeremy said.

"Julie asked us earlier if we'd be willing to take a bullet in the belly for a million bucks," Benny clarified.

Jeremy raised his eyebrows, interested. "What'd you say?"

"I guess I said it depends. How close are the paramedics? What type of bullet is it? Stuff like that," Benny answered.

Jeremy nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense, I reckon."

"I said fuck yeah, I'd do it," Mark spoke up. "But Julie said she wouldn't. She was pretty much the only one who said no, and now look at her."

"Yeah, look at me," Julie muttered.

"I think that's the first thing I agree with you on, Julie," Beth said.

Julie nodded, and acknowledged, "Even a broken clock is right twice a day."

"Cute," Beth said, "but are you the broken clock, or am I?"

Julie giggled briefly, then sighed and blew a stray lock of hair away from her cheek. "Don't make me fucking laugh, it hurts like a bitch."

"So who do you think shot Julie?" Benny asked. "Do you think it could be an accident? Like, do people do like, target practice or whatever out here?"

Jeremy shook his head. "Not normally, no, although it's possible it was an accident, I reckon."

"If they were taking target practice, they didn't get much practice in," Mark noted. "I only heard one shot, and it ended up in Julie's gut."

"I'm sure it was just some asshole," Beth said.

Julie snorted. "They probably shot me 'cause they have a crush on you, huh?"

Beth eyed Julie coolly. "Maybe it's not the shooter who's the asshole."

Julie smiled thinly. "Nice."

Before anyone got another word in, Benny heard that sickening sound of lead hitting flesh followed by the report of another gunshot, and Julie went rigid for a moment before reaching for her hind quarters. They all hit the deck again, and Benny quickly swiveled his head so he could see his dream girl. She appeared to be both laughing and crying as she dropped to the ground, writhing in pain, and after a few seconds she settled down a bit and joked, "How's that for some asshole, huh, Beth?" She was lying on her side and pointing at her butt, and Benny noted that her perfectly round right buttock had a hole in it. When nobody laughed she added, "Get it? 'Cause there's a hole? In my ass? No? Nothing?"

"Jesus, Julie," Benny murmured. He couldn't believe she was able to joke about this. She had to be in horrible pain and going out of her mind with terror, but she was as cool as a cucumber.

"I know, right? Tough crowd." They were all still staring at her, everyone's mouth agape, while she struggled back to her hands and knees and started crawling forward again. "You fuckers coming?"

The other four in the group exchanged glances, then they all fell in with Julie, all of them crawling again. This time they only crawled about thirty yards before Beth stood up, "I don't know why we're even crawling. We're not gonna crawl all the way to the highway, are we? Whoever's out there is clearly following along with us, taking potshots at us. We can crawl twenty feet or two thousand, that asshole's still gonna be waiting for us when we stand up again, and we either need to be able to return fire or just keep moving."

Julie stood up then, and she told Beth, "I told you, a broken clock is right twice a day. I guess you met your quota."

"You really make it hard to feel sorry for you," Beth said.

"What a shame," Julie lamented, "I don't know what I'll do without your pity." The rest of the group had risen to their feet, and they all continued walking down the road, and although Julie stepped gingerly with her right foot, she kept the pace. "So I guess accidental shooting is out, which means I don't think I'll be getting my million dollars."

"Yeah, at this point I'm just hoping to survive," Mark said, his eyes frantically darting around the surrounding brush and desert. "What we should've brought are fucking binoculars."

"That'd 've been useful," Jeremy agreed. "That's my fault. I should've thought o' that."

"Oh, babe, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known this would happen," Beth said soothingly.

"You at least thought enough to bring that flask," Julie commented. "Mind if I get another swig?"

"Be my guest," Jeremy said, and passed her the tequila. "You know, you might want another snort. I think the cocaine can numb the nerves even better than the liquor, and keep your motor going."

Julie nodded, "Sure, why the fuck not?" and took the snuff bullet from Jeremy and gave it a big sniff. Julie grunted and swiped at her nose with her left hand, which was still mostly clean of blood, and handed the two items back to Jeremy. "Thanks," she muttered.

"I never thought I'd be saying this, but maybe you shouldn't be drinking right now," Mark told her. "Liquor thins the blood, making it hard to clot."

For just a moment Benny saw the fear in Julie's eyes, and then her unimaginably strong will hardened them and she simply said, "Thanks for the tip. So who's next? You think whoever's out there's gonna shoot me again, or will it be one of you all?"

There were a few uneasy glances exchanged, followed by an awkward silence, before Beth finally spoke up. "Maybe this is God's wrath for your loss of faith. Maybe if you repent..."

"Oh shit, here we go," Julie said, with a roll of her incredible blue eyes.

"Your eternal soul is at stake," Beth warned.

"I don't know what that means, exactly," Julie countered. "I don't think I'm going to exist eternally, not anymore, and I'm not really sure I'd want to, but right now I wouldn't mind existing for at least another eighty or ninety years."

"Wait. Hold up," Mark interjected. "Are you saying God's out there hiding in the bushes, shooting a gun at Julie because she stopped believing in Him?"

Julie snorted laughter at that, then winced and clutched her tummy.

"Not God, but maybe a messenger of God," Beth clarified.

"Wouldn't it be easier for God to come down here and just tell us to believe?" Mark asked.

"That would impede with your free will, if your Creator commanded you to believe. He already sent Jeremy and I as messengers, and you refused us."

"But if He sent you, didn't that impede with your free will?" Mark asked. "And what about the free will of this 'messenger' out there shooting at us?"

"We chose to be His messengers. He did not command us."

"You fucking lost me," Mark said.

"Yeah, well, if God sent someone to shoot me because I'm having trouble understanding eternal life, that's pretty fucked up," Julie commented. "I'll tell you what though, if the next bullet makes its way into your pretty little ass, I'll fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness." Beth frowned at that, and Julie stuck her tongue out at her.

"Shhh, I think I see something," Jeremy whispered, staring intently into the distance. He raised his rifle, and Benny was hopeful. Their trip was surely ruined, and he wouldn't be seeing Julie in a bikini after all, but at this point he just wanted to be safe. They all did.

"Shoot him," Beth whispered harshly.

Julie giggled cutely. "Oh, now you wanna shoot the messenger?"

"It's a goddam coyote," Jeremy muttered in frustration, and they all let out a collective groan.

"Fuck!" Benny cried, a little more high pitched than he'd have liked.

"Don't worry, Benny, the coyote won't hurt you," Julie cooed. Everybody but Beth managed to chuckle at that, and then Julie caught her third bullet of the day. Same as when she was shot in the stomach, Benny was looking at her and saw it all unfold. He saw the hole appear above her left breast, he heard her grunt prettily, he saw the shocking red blood spill down the gentle swell of her bosom. He saw the momentary crack in her facade, the unbridled panic contorting her face before she regained her composure. Her perfect lips parted briefly and her baby blues opened wide, and Benny was sure in that moment Julie knew she was going to die out here. Then her cool confidence returned, and she calmly noted, "Oh, well, I guess that answers that question."

"What question?" Benny asked.

Julie looked him dead in the eye, and he was amazed at her tranquility. "Who's next, silly goose. It was me, of course. I guess I forgot to duck."

"Did anybody see the bastard?" Jeremy asked.

Mark and Beth shook their heads, and Benny was still staring at Julie. "Well?" Julie asked, as if she didn't already know Benny hadn't seen anything but her getting shot for the third time that day.

His tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of his mouth, but he finally managed, "No. I guess I missed him."

"Fucking wish he'd miss me," Julie added.

"Wait, how come we're so sure the shooter's a dude?" Mark asked.

"Well, statistically speaking, most killers are males," Beth said.

"Hold on," Julie spoke up. "He hasn't killed anyone yet, and I wanna keep it that way. Let's keep moving." And they did. There wasn't much conversation for the next few minutes, and Benny's eyes kept returning to Julie, even more so than normal. Her dogged determination was impressive, and he wondered if it would be enough. There would no doubt be another shot fired soon, and he felt certain the shooter would continue to target her. It was no accident that all three of the previous bullets were buried in her perfect flesh. He wondered if Julie understood this too, and if she did, how the hell was she coping with it?

"How are you holding up, Julie?" he asked.

She gave him a half smile and answered, "Just trying not to die, thanks, but do you think you could try spotting the guy who's trying to kill me instead of staring at me?" Even though she was reprimanding him, and she had every right to do so, she managed to sound kindly doing it.

Benny felt his cheeks flush brightly, and Mark cackled, "Busted!" Slapping Benny on the back, he added, "Go easy on him, Jules. This might be the last time he gets to look at you." Mark winked at Julie and she glared back at him.

"You're a fucking asshole," she spat, and Mark was still chuckling when she was shot for the fourth time. Once again Benny saw her take the bullet, but he didn't see the hole appear this time. Her back arched and she planted her left hand on her dorsal, pulling her vest up high and laying her midriff nearly entirely bare, and she squawked loudly before craning her neck around to get a look at her latest wound. "You've gotta be fucking shitting me!" she cried, as she examined the fresh hole near the middle of her back, just slightly left of center.

"Got ya again, did he?" Jeremy asked sympathetically.

"Yup. He sure did. Please tell me you see him," Julie answered.

Jeremy scanned the horizon carefully and shook his head. "He's a slippery bastard."

"Fucking fuck. Well, keep looking," Julie said miserably, and she straightened her posture and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

"Maybe you should lay low. Leave Mark or Benny here with one of the guns to cover ya, and we'll come back for ya. Bring the cavalry," Jeremy suggested.

Julie looked at Mark for a moment as if she was considering it. "Shit, tell loverboy there to stay behind," Mark said abruptly, but Julie shook her head.

"I need to keep going. If I stay here I'm buzzard meat, and so is whoever you leave behind."

Beth looked at her with a mixture of disgust and despair and said, "You're buzzard meat either way."

"Fuck you," Julie muttered, and then more to herself than anyone else she added, "I'm going to make it."

Mark's words rang in Benny's head. This might be the last time he got a chance to look at Julie, and he wanted to take full advantage of that if it were in fact true, but if there was a chance she could survive, he had to try. He knew Julie's only hope was spotting the shooter, and soon, so he decided to make a concerted effort to do just that. If he was successful he might very well save Julie's life, and his imagination ran wild with that potential reality. For the next several minutes it was Jeremy and Benny scouring the desert, and Beth and Mark staring at Julie the way people might stare at a train wreck. Meanwhile Julie just kept her eyes fixed squarely ahead, her expression one of grim determination.

"Still not seeing anything?" Benny asked.

"Nothing," Jeremy answered.

"Motherfucker's a ninja," Mark added.

"Maybe you'd see him if you stopped watching me bleed out," Julie grumped to Mark.

"Or her," Mark answered, "and maybe I would, but I doubt he... or she's anywhere near as nice to look at."

"Jesus," Julie sighed, "You're such a douche."

For the first time in Benny's recollection, Mark appeared contrite. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just busting your balls a little, that's all."

Julie smiled wanly at him. "A pussy and a douche. You going soft on me, Marky?"

Mark laughed then, and told her, "Jesus, you're such a bitch."

Julie's smile widened, and she even managed a chuckle, then she said, "Thanks. Now please, pretty please, try to find this fucker before he puts any more holes in me?" As if in response, a bullet smacked into her right thigh, and another gun shot report tore apart the quiet of the desert. "Aaaauuurrrrrggh," Julie cried, hobbling on her good leg. Benny watched as expressions of pain, fear, and frustration battled for control of her bewitching face, her eyebrows arching up adorably, and he was once again too distracted to look for the shooter.

"Too late," Julie mumbled, still finding her balance, "but maybe before he puts any more holes in me." She looked around in apprehension, as if she expected to be answered with yet another bullet.

Instead of looking for her shooter as requested, her companions all looked at her with a mixture of horror and pity and sadness. Benny could see now that all of them understood Julie was doomed. All of them except Julie, that is. Her will to live was still as evident as ever. "Come on, you guys. Don't give up on me. I can make it, I promise. Just don't give up," Julie pleaded.

"You've been shot five times," Beth told her.

"Thanks, but I learned how to count on Sesame Street," Julie answered. She gingerly tested how much weight she could put on her leg, and amazingly, she continued walking down the road. "Come on. Let's get back to the van." Benny saw Mark and Jeremy exchange glances, then Mark shrugged and fell in line behind her. The rest of them fell in as well, and Benny noticed that they all kept their distance from Julie, for fear that the next bullet might go astray. He wondered if she noticed it as well, but if she did, she gave no sign.

"I'll make you all a deal," she said, "if you're the first person to spot the shooter, I'll give you head."

"Hey, I see him," Mark called out, and everybody immediately tried to follow his gaze, Jeremy with his rifle at the ready. "Shit, I lost him again." There were a few groans, and Benny saw the devastating disappointment that appeared on Julie's face for a millisecond, although Mark seemed oblivious, as he continued, "So are you gonna suck my dick now, or...?"

"God, you're such a douche," Julie muttered. Mark laughed and winked at her, and she continued, "but I see you're now on board with the whole, 'the shooter's a male' thing."

"Pronoun's are a bitch," Mark explained.

"What if I spot him first?" Beth asked.

"You won't," Julie answered.

"Why not?" Beth asked indignantly. "I can see better than any of these fools."

"Not saying youcan't, just that you won't."

"Why not?" Beth asked again.

"I dunno. You're not trying. I think you're enjoying this a little too much."

"Enjoying it?" Beth asked, pretending to be taken aback, and doing a poor job of it.

"Never mind," Julie said. "I can eat your pussy, if you want."

Beth gasped, but before she could give voice to a retort, Mark interrupted, "You know what, I'll settle for just showing your tits, right now."

Julie rolled her eyes, "Why are you such an asshole?"

"Well, it takes a lot of practice. How about this? We can take bets on where the fucker will shoot you next. I say it's in the tit. If I'm right, you gotta show me your tits."

"Why are you so obsessed with my tits?"

"They're well proportioned."

Julie smiled. "Which tit?"

"Well they both are. If not they wouldn't be well proportioned, duh."

"No, doofus, I mean which tit do you think he'll shoot me in? My right or my left?"

"Ah, your right."

"Alright, I say he puts another one in my belly. What do I get if I win? Are you gonna show me your dick?"

"I'll give you fifty bucks when we get back to the van."

Julie and Mark shook on it, and then Julie added, "My previous offer still stands, though, if you legitimately spot the bastard. I'm serious." Benny noted the way Mark fell back a few steps, resuming his cautionary distance after shaking Julie's bloody hand.

"Earlier you wouldn't take a bullet in the stomach for a million dollars, but now you're willing to take one for fifty bucks," Benny commented.

"I wouldn't call it willing," Julie argued, "but if the fucker's gonna shoot me, might as well make some money out of it."

"I can't believe you two are betting on that," Beth said.

"You want in? I could show you my tits too."

"Repent," Beth replied. "Accept Jesus. It's not too late."

"Fuck off with that shit," Julie grumbled.

"I say the next bullet hits you in the back," Benny spoke up, feeling a little guilty for taking advantage of the situation, but if there was a chance he might see Julie's tits, he was unable to pass up the opportunity. Besides, Julie wasn't going to come out of this alive - he was becoming more and more certain of that.

Julie looked at Benny and raised her eyebrows. "Okay, Romeo. You got fifty on it too?"

Benny nodded. "Sure do. If I'm right... you'll show me your tits?" He never would have dreamed of suggesting such a thing half an hour ago, but he found it somehow easier to objectify Julie when he understood she was dying.

"Upper back or lower back?"

"Upper," Benny answered.

"Right or left?"

"Right."

Julie held out a blood-soaked hand and shook with Benny. "You're on," she agreed.

"What if it's in the center?"

Julie smiled grimly. "If he shoots me in the spine, I think I'll be paralyzed. I don't think I'll be able to show you my tits if that happens, but I guess I won't be able to stop you from looking either."

"Fair enough," Benny agreed.

"Now remember," Julie said, and Benny could see the sick desperation in her stunning gaze, "If you spot him, I'll blow you. I mean it."

Benny nodded, feeling uneasy. He wasn't going to look for the shooter. Julie was dying, and he couldn't take his eyes off her. In fact, it appeared Jeremy was the only one still on the lookout, and Benny was certain he wasn't interested in a blow job. He just wanted to do the right thing. Again he wondered how much of this registered to Julie. Did she know he and Mark had given up on her? Was there at least a part of her that knew she was dead meat, even though she continued to fight it?

Remembering Mark's words, this might be the last time he gets to look at you, Benny whipped out his phone and pretended to be trying to find a signal, but actually just snapped several photos of Julie, and he wondered if she noticed. He figured the ruse was mostly unnecessary, either way. After all, she was dying, so there was no need to worry about what she'd think of him, and it wasn't long after Benny placed his bet that the shooter provided him with a gift, and he had an answer to his question.

They all seemed content to have Julie in the vanguard, and as Benny was lingering slightly behind her and to her right, he saw the sixth bullet hit home. It struck her in her right shoulder blade, near the edge where bone gave way to flesh. Julie's eyes bulged and her mouth gaped wide in a silent scream of pain, and after a few seconds she looked back over her shoulder at Benny. "Six. Six gunshot wounds. Muah... ha... ha...," she said, doing her best impression of The Count from Sesame Street. "Looks like you called it." She tried to sound calm, but the tremor in her voice and the expressions of terror flickering to the surface of her astonishingly beautiful face betrayed her. "A bet's a bet," she said, facing Benny, "you wanna get your phone back out so you can take another pic?" Benny fumbled for his phone as Julie winced and gripped the bottom of her denim vest. "Close your eyes, Mark, this show's not for you."

Benny didn't look to see if Mark complied. How could he? His dream girl was about to flash him. True to her word, Julie lifted up her vest and her fingers deftly found her bra on the way up, lifting that article of clothing as well, revealing the most perfect, perky, young eighteen-year-old breasts Benny could have imagined. Her areolae were larger than he anticipated, and her nipples pointed upward as if asking to be sucked. He snapped seven or eight pictures rapidly, and made eye contact with Julie before she lowered her vest again. This clearly caused her pain, evident by the grimace on her face when she moved her right arm. Benny imagined her shoulder blade was probably cracked. "Thank you," he managed, his throat dry and his mind racing with what just happened. His pecker felt like it was about to burst from his pants and explode.

"Don't mention it," Julie said sweetly, then looked over at Jeremy, "You seem to be the only one still interested in spotting this fucker. Any luck?"

"I'm sorry, Julie. I can't see 'im."

Julie sighed. "It's not your fault. Keep trying though, please. How much farther to the highway?"

Jeremy looked solemn. "Maybe five or six miles."

The desolation on Julie's face was never more apparent then, but she smiled sadly and said, "Okay. Let's do it."

Once they were on the move again, Mark asked, "Double or nothing?"

"Double or nothing? We both lost. You can't go double or nothing if you're not in the hole."

"You know what I mean, bitch. Give me another chance to see 'dem titties."

"Is your money still on my right tit?"

"Yup. You still betting on your belly?"

Julie nodded and shook Mark's hand.

"Hey, Benny, let me see those pic's," Mark said, and Benny looked up at Julie to judge her reaction.

"Don't look at me, they're your pic's," she said. Her resignation suggested she'd rather he didn't share them, but it wouldn't be worth the effort to fight over it. "What about you?" she asked Benny as Mark snatched away his phone. "You wanna try to call the next shot too?"

"Dude, hell yeah. You gotta text these to me when you get your signal back," Mark blabbed, as if Julie wasn't right there listening to him.

"You're going to flash me again?" Benny asked, ignoring Mark.

"If you guess right again, sure, why not? If I'm shot in the belly, you'll pay me fifty bucks?"

"You're on, but if I win I want to see your butt next time."

Julie thought it over for a brief moment, but in the end she agreed and shook with him on it. "So where do you think I'll be shot next?"

"In the side."

"Which side, right or left?"

"Hold on, how come you don't have to call which side of your belly you're gonna be shot in?" Benny protested.

"Because I'm the one eating fucking lead here, asshole," Julie answered. "Cut me some slack."

"Fair enough. Left side."

"Alright, let's see if you can go two for two. You know what would be really awesome though, is if one of you peckerheads spotted this fuck ass and saved my life."

"Pretty sure it's too late for that," Mark said.

"Too late to spot him?" Julie asked, and Benny thought she was being deliberately daft.

For a moment it looked like Mark was going to tell her the horrible truth - she was bleeding all over the place and they were at least five miles from the highway, and another sixty from the nearest hospital. There was no way anybody would be saving her life. But Jeremy caught Mark's attention just long enough to give an almost imperceptible shake of his head, and Mark just muttered, "Yeah, too late to spot him. By the way, why haven't you spotted him?"

"Because I'm busy trying not to die."

"Yeah, you're doing a helluva job there," Mark said sarcastically.

"You try walking with six bullet holes in you and see how easy it is," Julie spat.

"There's no questioning your toughness," Jeremy butted in, and gave Mark a look that said that was enough.

Mark seemed to get the hint, and he agreed, "Yeah, you're definitely the toughest bitch I ever met."

"Thanks. And I don't see how it's too late to spot this guy. I'm not ready to give up, but if he does manage to take me out, he's probably gonna move on to one of you next."

"What do you mean?" Beth asked.

"I mean you don't still think this all because someone has a crush on you, do you?"

"It's God's wrath."

"Fuck off with that God's wrath shit. This asshole's shooting me for sport. Anybody that would do that is just as likely to start shooting one of you next."

"I think if this guy wanted to shoot all of us, he'd have done it already," Beth answered.

"She's right, Julie," Mark agreed. "This fucker has a hard-on for you. Maybe you should show him... or her your tits."

"Come over here so I can slap the shit out of you," Julie said, with a hint of a smile on her face. Her cheery playfulness was still there, underneath all the terror and pain.

"Fuck that, what if your shooter misses and hits me?"

"That'd be the first thing to go right today."

Mark feigned insult, placing a hand to his cheek for dramatic effect. "What have I ever done for you to treat me with such disrespect?"

"Well, if you hadn't run over that deer, we'd be camping on the river already," Julie pointed out.

"And if you hadn't talked us into walking to the highway we might be partying our asses off at the ranch house. If you had agreed to wait in the van you'd be drinking beer with Brenda. If Brenda had never asked you to come on this trip you'd be watching TV on your living room couch. If, if, if. Nobody's responsible for those holes in you but the motherfucker that put them there."

"Easy there, boy. I was just fucking around," Julie said, seeing she struck a nerve. "Don't get so worked up."

"Your mom's worked up," Mark muttered.

"He's probably feeling a little guilty," Benny said, "To be honest, I feel a little guilty too."

"You? What are you feeling guilty for?" Julie asked.

"It was my idea that you come on this trip. I suggested it to James."

"Aw, is that because you have a crush on me?"

Benny never would have admitted it to her before, but now that she was dying he found it somehow easy, "Yes."

Julie walked over and kissed Benny on the cheek, causing all the blood to rush to his head. Both his heads. "Aw, sweetie, it's not your fault. Mark is ri-uuuhhhhnnnn." Beneath the sweet sound of her voice Benny heard that familiar smack of lead hitting flesh, succinctly followed by the report of another gunshot. This time she went to her knees, unable to remain standing, and Benny watched her facial expressions transition from border-line panic, to extreme discomfort, to mind-numbing terror, to mild amusement. She looked up at Benny with a grin and said, "Seven. Seven bullets," again impersonating the Count, then she winced and looked at her left side before looking back at Benny and telling him, "Looks like you called it again, dude."

"How the fuck, Benny?" Mark asked, astonished.

Benny shrugged, equally astonished. "Guess it's my lucky day," and the look Julie gave him made him sorry for saying it.

"Okay, lucky motherfucker, help me up, will you?" Benny took Julie's hands and helped her to her feet, and he noted the hole just beneath her ribs on the left side of her body, and felt a pang of guilt for calling that his good luck. "I guess you get to see my butt now. Get your phone ready."

"You're actually going to show him your butt?" Beth asked.

"A bet's a bet," Julie answered.

"You all are sick," Beth said with disgust.

Ignoring her, Julie carefully unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans and began to shimmy them down her hips. Benny's phone was already out, and he was recording this time, not just snapping pictures. "Close your eyes, Marky," Julie cooed, and again Benny didn't bother to check if Mark was complying. Julie's jeans stopped just above her knees, and she managed to bend forward slightly to accentuate the plump roundness of her buttocks. Even with a hole in the right cheek, Benny had never seen such perfection. The fullness of her thighs and the curve into her thick but well shaped waist was all just so... perfect. She looked seductively back over her shoulder to spy on Benny, and when Benny made eye contact she smiled and blew him a kiss. Then it was over, and Julie was pulling her jeans back up.

Once she was fully dressed she took another look at the hole in her left side, concern etched across her lovely face, and muttered, "Ooooo, fuck, that one is bad." She was walking again, but her pace had noticeably slowed.

"I think we should leave her," Beth spoke up suddenly. "She's right. This bastard out there will probably target one of us next. We need to put as much distance as we can between ourselves and her before she dies."

"Beth," Jeremy said quietly.

"You losing your faith?" Julie countered. "I thought this was God's wrath?"

"I could be wrong. What if I'm wrong? Is it worth risking everyone else's lives?"

"Why don't you stay with me then, and let everyone else go on. I mean if you're wrong and you die, you get to meet Jesus, right? You have nothing to worry about."

Beth scowled but did not reply, and Jeremy spoke for all of them, "We're not leaving anyone behind."

*continued in next post*