walked over to it, opened the door, grabbed the keys, and locked it.
“We need to shout out to the Sheriff when we get back there,” Frank said. “So we don’t get blasted with that scattergun.”
Jerry nodded. They got back into the woods and over the creek.
“Sheriff, heads up,” Frank shouted. “Jerry and I are coming back.”
“Where are the rest of the guys?” he shouted back.
“Body disposal duty,” Jerry yelled.
“Oh,” the Sheriff said. “Not a bad idea, it’s going to get smelly back here.”
Frank and Jerry went to all four of the bodies, and picked up their guns, also emptied their pockets. Along with the weapons, they found ammo, rations, and assorted other stuff. They put it all in the knapsack that one of the Jihadists was wearing, and carried it back to the parking area, arriving there just as Charlie drove the truck back in.
“Stripped those other bodies, huh?” Earl said, looking at the knapsack as he got out of the passenger side door.
“Yeah,” Jerry said. He unlocked the back of the SUV and dumped it in. “Let’s go get those other bodies.”
Jackson got out of the cab, and then Charlie. Everybody but Charlie went back to carry bodies up. They got them piled up in front of the truck, and hoisted them in. Then Charlie, Earl, and Jackson got back in the truck again, and took off.
“Well, there’s a good job done,” Frank said. Jerry looked at him and nodded.
“We have to get that schedule started for the blind back here,” he said.
“I know, and we need to make sure we have reliable people back there.”
“I wouldn’t be too hard on the kid, Frank. He wasn’t cut out for this kind of stuff.”
“I know. We’re probably lucky that things happened like they did.”
“I’m surprised you handle yourself so well.”
“So am I,” Frank said. “I’ve always been a good shot, but I never killed anybody before.”
“Well, back to the blinds. I’m thinking we ought to always have two people up there, not just one.”
“Yeah, Jerry, I agree. Would have helped in both of our battles.”
“What are your thoughts about sticking around?”
“We need to find out what happened to the Major and his guys,” Frank said. “If they got killed back there, then I think we might want to get the heck out of here. I think it would take a pretty good force to take the Major out. Probably more of a force than we can handle.”
“After we get this job done, maybe we ought to take a vehicle and go up north looking for them.”
“Think so?”
“Maybe,” Jerry said. “Let’s discuss it with the group when we get back.”
“Look, here comes Charlie,” Frank said, pointing. The truck pulled over next to them, and Charlie motioned them over.
“One of you guys want to follow me in that SUV? Hilda told me how to get back to the front gate.”
“I’ll walk back through the forest and let the Sheriff know what’s going on,” Frank said. “I need to grab Lucy’s leash on the way through anyway.”
“Alright, I’ll drive the SUV, then,” Jerry said. “Let’s go.” He jumped into the SUV and fired it up. He waited for the truck to get to the driveway, and then he backed out and drove after them. Frank went back into the woods, Lucy bouncing along just in front of him with her tail wagging.
“Sheriff, I’m going back into the park,” Frank shouted.
“Alright,” the Sheriff shouted back. “I’ll stay out here for a little while.”
“You need a rifle?”
“Naw, the Deputy has my rifle up here,” he replied.
“OK, see you in a little while,” Frank said. He headed to the back gate, looking around carefully as he walked. He got to it, went through, and pulled Lucy’s leash off the fence. He bent down to put it on her, and then walked back to the front of the park. He arrived right as the truck and SUV were pulling through the gate. Hilda was down there to meet them.
“Wow, that’s a lot of stuff,” Hilda said, looking in the SUV.
“Yep,