Free The Guardians by Steven Bird Page B

way you came down and let's get in position behind the house.  You can cover me as I make my way to the back door.  I'll have Jason unleash hell on the front to keep the shooter's attention, while I try and make entry from the back."
    "Will do," Daryl replied.
    The two men then worked their way back up the hill.  They climbed through the woods to get uphill and above the back of the house.  "I can cover you from here," Daryl said.  "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"
    "No sense in both of us taking the chance on getting killed.  Besides, if he gets past me, you can stop him as he runs out the back door," Evan said as he patted Daryl on the back and then headed down into the back yard.  The back door had apparently been left open as the other man hastily vacated the house.  He sliced the pie around the door with the muzzle of his VZ58 in line with his field of view.  The kitchen looked clear, so he slipped into the house.  There was so much trash strewn around it was hard to move without making noise.  Once he made his way across the kitchen to get a view into the living room, he saw a grungy looking fellow in his early thirties with a Ruger Mini 14.  He raised his VZ and said, "Drop it!  Now!"
    "Don't shoot man!  Don't shoot!  We were just defending ourselves!  Don't shoot!" the man said as he cowered in the corner with his hands in the air.
    "Where are the others?" demanded Evan.
    "They all bailed.  I'm the last one here.  I swear."
    "Where is Isaac?" Evan demanded again.
    "He's out hunting.  He is letting us stay here for a while," the man replied.
    "Where is his wife, did she go hunting with him like she normally does?" asked Evan.
    "Yea man, they both went.  They've been gone a couple days."
    "Wrong answer!" Evan said as he cracked the steel side folding stock against the man's head knocking him unconscious.  He took some zip ties from his vest pocket and secured the man's hands behind his back. 
    "J.....shooter is secured.  Move in and help me secure the place," Evan said over the radio.
    "Roger that!  On my way," Jason responded.
    "Within a few minutes, Jason and Daryl both entered the house via the kitchen to find Evan standing over the unconscious man with his VZ pointed at his head.
    "Daryl, grab your horse and ride down and get Ollie.  I don't want to leave him down there just in case there is another unaccounted for dirt bag around there somewhere.  Jason, you clear the house while I keep watch over this guy."
    Daryl ran out the back door to do as Evan had requested and Jason immediately began clearing the house with his sidearm.  He went through the laundry room, and two of the three bedrooms, yelling clear as he went.  He came upon the master bedroom and pushed the door open.  There was blood on the wall by the bed and what appeared to be a shotgun blast on the wall with the associated blood splatter, but there was no body.  The blood was dried and looked as if it had been there for a while.  He then crept over to the master bathroom and nudged the door open taking a step back to see inside.  To his horror, there was a young teenage girl, bound and gagged.  She was naked and shivering.  She had bruises all over her face and body and was chained to the back of the filthy toilet.  She was terrified to see Jason, but could not scream as she had been gagged by her kidnappers.
    "It's OK, it's OK now, it's all over," he said.  "Those people can't hurt you anymore."  He looked at the chains and saw that there was a padlock on it.  He had no clue where the key might be so he just started kicking the toilet relentlessly until it broke free from the floor.  As water began to flow out of the bottom of the toilet, he pulled the chain out from underneath, holstered his pistol, and picked up the shivering and scared young girl.  He wrapped her in what was the cleanest looking towel in the room.  He carried her into one of the other bedrooms to get her away from the horror