Free Surviving by A. J. Newman

year?”
                  Karl glared and said, “Yes. Kill the SOB.”
                  Maria took Karl’s Glock, hit Bill across the back and marched him to the edge of the camp, right in front of them. She put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Bill fell to the ground.
    “Does this make me any more loyal to you? Karl, what do I have to do, kill ten more to impress you? I am loyal, but do not like unnecessary killing. I will do whatever it takes to further our goals, but random killing is barbaric and beneath us.”
                  Beth again had to be restrained as her friend died. John quietly pulled her back another hundred feet from the camp so they could not hear her cry.
                  “I have lost two good friends today and there is no telling what they will do to Alice and Janet,” she sobbed.
                  John told her that they would quickly bury Bill and Fred to keep the animals from eating on them until someone could come back for the bodies. Alice was lying on the ground sobbing and pounding her fists onto the ground. They finally heard Karl command the others to dress Alice and to bring her and Janet along. They then left.
                  Beth and John quickly went into the campsite and buried Fred with rocks and what dirt they could scrape up with a frying pan. While John finished burying Fred, Beth went to start on Bill’s grave. Suddenly John heard her gasp and saw her back away from the body.
                  Then she said, “He’s alive.”
                  John checked his pulse and she was right. John then checked his wound and found it to be a deep graze to his right forehead. This would hurt like hell for several days, but would not kill him. Beth got a canteen and splashed water in his face. He woke, but was very groggy and was speaking nonsense. She cleaned the wound, applied a bandage from a FA kit and gave him some painkillers. John took a smelling salts vial from the kit, broke it and placed it under his nose. He sat straight up and began thanking god he was alive.
                  Bill asked about Janet and the others and Beth filled him in on what had happened to his friends. He was distraught about Janet and kept blubbering that he prayed she had not been raped like Alice. Meanwhile John grabbed some food, a butcher knife, three sleeping bags, some food and a few supplies from their gear. They stuffed all they could get in three small bags. They also grabbed jackets and Beth put a pair of pants on over her shorts.
                  John told them that their best chance was to catch up to his party and to then try to get the ladies away from these killers. They agreed and then set off at a fast pace toward where he thought his friends would be. He told them that they could take a short cut to them since he knew where his friends would be and did not have to follow the trail that cut back to the north. They both supported Bill and moved as quickly as they could push him. The brush and small trees were thick, but they still made good time. Bill was soon recovered enough to walk by himself. They finished filling him in as they walked.
                  They had traveled for about an hour when John heard his name called out by Scott. “Dad, are you okay and who are these people?”
                  At the same time, John saw the rest of his friends spring out from their cover in the brush.
                  John said,” let’s move on out of here; the bad guys are only a few minutes behind us. We can fill you in as we go.”
                  “This is Beth Fox and Bill James. They were camping about five miles back when the bad guys overran their camp,” John told his friends and Roger.
                  Beth noticed that Roger had his hands tied and started to ask about it, but John poked her in the ribs and