The Remington James Box Set by Michael Lister

Author:Michael Lister
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pulpwood Press

39

Then

* * *

Got to stop.

Keep moving. You can rest when you get out of here.

His boot gets tangled in a bush, and he trips, falling to the ground and rolling. After he stops rolling, he just lies there resting, the bed of leaves soft, comfortable.

So weary.

So sleepy.

Stay like this, and they’ll find you for sure.

Just a little rest.

Get up. Now.

I can’t.

Then you’re going to die.

Just a couple of minutes.

You won’t wake up. You’re too tired. At least hide.

I can do that.

With what seems like everything he has left, he pushes himself up into a sitting position, then begins looking around for a place to hide.

He sees two large cypress trees growing up next to each other, their wide bases nearly touching. One of them looks a little hollowed out. He could gather some leaves and branches and curl up in there and get some sleep without being seen.

Rolling over on his hands and knees, he pauses a moment, then pushes up, his entire body aching in the effort.

Padding over to the two trees, he bends over and begins to clear away the leaves and limbs between them.

Every joint seems swollen, every movement painful. As he lifts the last limb, his heart stops.

Spade head.

Blotchy black and brown.

Thick body.

Coiled.

Cottonmouth.

Mouth gaping white.

Remington slings himself back so violently that he hits the ground and flips over, his joints screaming in pain.

It’s too cold for the snake to move much. So unless Remington had actually put his hand near its head, he probably wouldn’t’ve been bitten, but just the shock. Just his phobia. His heart still bangs against his breastbone, skin clammy, fear pumping through him like a spike of pure speed.

He doesn’t have to talk himself into getting up this time. He’s happy to get away from this area, though it is probably no less safe than any other out here.

As he climbs to his feet, he notices a small structure high up in a laurel oak tree about twenty feet away.

Easing toward it, he studies what looks to be an enclosed home-made tree stand. Higher in the tree than most deer stands, it’s extremely well camouflaged. Had he not been on the ground looking up at the exact angle, he never would’ve seen it.

As he reaches the tree, he sees a Cuddeback scouting camera like the ones his dad, now he, sells—probably sold this one—mounted about waist high. Removing it, he slides it in his sling pack.

At first he thinks the ladder is missing, but as he gets closer he sees that it’s on the back side of the oak, that it starts way up on the tree, and that the branches of other trees hide it. It’s so high, in fact, he can’t reach the bottom rung.

Searching the area for something to stand on, he sees a chunk of oak tree several feet away—he suspects the hunter has it here for this purpose.

Rolling the heavy piece of wood over to the base of the laurel, he stands on it and is able to reach the rung.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.