Free Surviving by A. J. Newman Page A

waived off the questions for later. John then proceeded to fill them in on his surveillance of the GAO group and the killing at the camp.
                  John conveniently left out how he actually met Beth. She later thanked him and said that he might be a gentleman after all. He got her off to the side and told her about Roger being part of this gang of dope smugglers.

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    Chapter 11
     
    One Step Ahead
    The Iowa/Montana Woods
    May 17, 2020
     
                  They marched through the woods without stopping to rest with Gus constantly telling all, "Keep moving, they are on our tail.”
                  “We must be about a half-hour ahead of them would be my best guess,” John mentioned as they started across an open area of about two hundred yards.
                  Gus told them to move as fast as they could while crossing. He also had them split into three groups with the fastest two of the three taking a looping course that would meet back up about a quarter mile into the next woods.
                  “It may not slow them down much, but this ground is harder and we won’t leave as much of a trail,” Gus explained.
                  Beth, Bill and John were taking the shortest line across the open area. Beth was filling John in on herself and her friends and John did the same. She was surprised that Scott was John’s son even though she noticed the resemblance after thinking a while.
                  “That Steve thinks he’s a lady killer, doesn’t he?” she asked.
                  “Well not like our friends chasing us, but he does have a way with the ladies back in LA,” John replied.
                  Beth had a puzzled look on her face. “LA, I thought that y’all were from Mobile,” she stated.
                  “Yes, we are from Mobile and LA, Lower Alabama, to you Northern types.”
                  She fussed and reminded him that she was from Tennessee.
                  As they were just about to enter the woods, John took a last look over his shoulder and caught a glint of light from the far side. He barely got the word “duck” out of his mouth when Bill was grazed on the left arm and blood flew. They ran the last few feet into the woods and ducked behind a large log. Several rounds hit the log then, the firing stopped. While Beth tended to Bill’s wound, John peeked around the end of the log and saw the GAO group.
                  Karl had the rifle leveled and aiming at them, John dropped and a round hit beside where his head had been. John leveled the KEL-TEC, took careful aim and squeezed off a shot. The shot was high and about a foot wide of the tall blonde guy. It struck a tree and showered him in bark. All of the GAO thugs scattered and ducked. John thought that would slow the bastards down.
                  John told Beth and Bill that they all had to start thinking smarter or they would all be killed; they had been very lucky so far and luck always runs out. They had to make sure that they were not caught in the open again.
                  They scrambled to catch up to the others and found them in only a few minutes. Bill was okay; only a flesh wound as they say in the movies.
                  “That was an honest miss however. I don’t see how Maria could have missed killing him back at the camp,” John told the others.
                  They continued to march south for about an hour and Gus and John trotted side by side trying to come up with a plan to get them out of this mess. The sun was going down soon and it would be getting dark quick because the dense forest blocked out much of the sun. They debated waiting until midnight and raiding their camp versus an ambush when Scott came up with a brilliant idea.
                  “Dad, you told us that these