Seized: The Hunter Chronicles

By Charles W. Pumphrey

Brian Hunter is a man of principles who is drawn into circumstances beyond his control. Unaware of his preordained destinies, he embarks on an adventurous mission to right the wrongs of a society spiraling out of control—hunting down and destroying evil while trying to reconcile himself to the loss of loved ones, and encountering supernatural individuals along the way, guiding him toward the destiny he is only just becoming aware of.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984573285

Charles W. Pumphrey

Charles W. Pumphrey is a retired Master Sergeant from the United States Army and Viet Nam veteran. Residing in a small rural community in Dayton Nevada he is a avid animal lover. Chuck is a supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project. Residing with his wife Monique and his pit bull Lady Bug he adds this book to one of his latest novels "Seized."

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Charles W. Pumphrey.

ISBN:       Softcover       978-1-9845-7329-2

                  eBook           978-1-9845-7328-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 12/18/2018

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

789641

CONTENTS

Chapter 1   How It All Started

Chapter 2   Time Marches On

Chapter 3   Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 4   Putting It All Back Together

Chapter 5   New Opportunities

Chapter 6   Business As Usual

Chapter 7   The Dawning Of A New Day

Chapter 8   Checking Out and Checking In

Chapter 9   Full Disclosure

Chapter 10   A Bundle of Surprises

Chapter 11   Out With the New, In With the Old

Chapter 12   And the Beat Goes On

Chapter 13   It’s my Lucky Number

Chapter 14   All is Not As it Seems

Chapter 15   Returning to Un Normal

Chapter 16   The Spies Among Us

Chapter 17   It’s All Coming Together Now

Chapter 18   This is The Way We Start a New Day

Chapter 19   Why me God?

Chapter 20   Lizzy took an Ax and gave ’em Forty Whacks

Chapter 21   Aftermath

Chapter 22   Revenge can be Sweet but Torture Sweeter

Chapter 23   Reunion of a Sort

Chapter 24   The Shoe is Now on the Other Foot

Chapter 25   Time to Heal Old Wounds

Chapter 26   A Hunter in A Windy City

Chapter 27   The Great Reveal

Chapter 28   UP In the Sky Is It A Bird?

Chapter 29   Home Sweet Home

CHAPTER ONE

How It All Started

Before I begin my story let me give you some background. I am single, that is to say divorced, in my mid to late thirties and in reasonably good health and shape, for the shape I’m in. Recently, after becoming separated and eventually divorced and having relocated to a small in Arizona, Apache Junction, it was a simple matter to purchase a single-family residence with the funds from the sale of our home in California.

In California, my wife and I had bought a two-story four-bedroom three and a half bath Cape Cod style home when the market values were low and sold when it peaked, splitting the proceeds, which allowed me to pay cash for the new two bedroom one and a half bath bachelor pad.

My new digs had been completely remodeled; It was a flip, when I purchased it, so I was confident that not much would be required in the near future for repairs giving me more cash assets to apply in other areas.

We had no children, both worked so there was a sizeable saving account, and after we divided our savings, it provided a float until I found new employment.

The breakup was bitter and all I wanted to do was put it and everything else behind me. Our mutual friends were conciliatory but I kept running into my previous spouse everywhere with her new boyfriend. That is when I decided to just start anew, get out of Dodge so to speak. My career as a water treatment specialist was in demand everywhere and where else was water more important than in Arizona? Therefore, I packed my car with as much as it would carry and off I went.

California taught me to never know or trust your neighbors, or want to, and I adopted that same philosophy in Arizona, staying to myself and setting up the house.

Well as you might imagine after having found furniture at the various thrift stores and furnishing the home, setting up everything from scratch, putting in the change of address forms, setting up the bank account and notification to my credit card companies I eventually ran out of things to do.

This is where the trouble began; I became bored and worse in need of feminine company. While seeking employment at the various water treatment companies and treatment plants, I then began stopping at the local watering hole’s hoping to find some companionship. Well there was plenty of sixties plus woman, known as snowbirds, which had flown in for the warm weather but not much else available. The dating world was like the Sahara Desert dry and desolate.

Apache Junction is located in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan area. The city has an area of 34.2 miles, all land, no lakes, rivers or even streams unless it’s monsoon season. Superstition Mountains, a federal wilderness area and home of the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine puts the town on the east of the Goldfield Mountains and its recreation areas to the north of the city of Mesa. On the west is the Goldfield Ghost Town; a tourist location preserved from it’s prospecting days that lies just off Highway 88, known as Apache Trail. Its located just Southwest of the ghost town.

After having considered offers from several different water treatment companies, I accepted employment from, what I considered an exceptional outfit. They have a good reputation in the industry and because of my vast experience in the field were given a supervisory position and my auxiliary duties included sales. My specialties, cooling towers, are used in abundance in the Arizona heat reaching one hundred twenty degrees at various times during the summer months.

A cooling tower is a heat-cooling device that rejects heat to the atmosphere by the cooling of a water stream that lowers temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near wet bulb air temperature or, as opposed to closed circuit dry cooling towers that rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb air temperature.

Relative humidity is determined by using a sling psychrometer. It consists of a wet-bulb thermometer and a dry-bulb thermometer. The wet-bulb thermometer is an ordinary thermometer similar to the dry-bulb thermometer, except that the bulb is enclosed in a wick that is wet with distilled water. The wet bulb is cooled as the moisture evaporates from it while it is being spun through the air. This action causes the wet-bulb thermometer to register a lower temperature than the dry-bulb thermometer. Tables and charts have been designed that use these two temperatures to arrive at a relative humidity for certain conditions.

Common applications include the circulating water used in refineries, petrochemical and other chemical plants, thermal power stations and HVAC systems for cooling buildings. The classification is based on the type of air induction into the tower; the main types of cooling towers are natural draft and induced draft-cooling towers.

Cooling towers vary in size from small rooftop units to vary large hyperboloid structures that can be up to 66- feet tall and 330 feet in diameter, or rectangular structures that can be over 130 feet tall and 260 feet long. The hyperboloid cooling towers are often associated with nuclear power plants. Although these large towers are very prominent, the vast majority of cooling towers are much smaller, including many units installed on or near buildings to discharge heat from air conditioning.

My primary duties include supervision of water treatment technicians to insure they are providing the correct chemical applications and providing excellent customer service. As most of the customers my employer services are supermarkets I’m deployed throughout the greater Phoenix Metropolitan area and surrounding areas. After a couple of weeks of beating the streets I have completed my supervisory calls and begin to make sales calls for which I will receive addition income from the commissions on the sales.

Fortunately, my base salary is very good and I do not need to rely greatly on the sales commissions, this takes a great deal of pressure off. I do however find sales to be quite rewarding and closing several accounts each week provides addition income.

Unfortunately, for my companionship problem, I’m meeting with and visiting with male engineers and even though they are great for my sales and customer service calls, they do nothing for my libido.

So what does this leave me in the form of options? Well the first thing I do is start bar hopping in the more populous areas of Phoenix. Having been out of the dating game for several years and still having the ring mark on my wedding ring finger makes contact extremely difficult if not impossible. I am awkward in my approach and must seem desperate, which I’m rapidly nearing.

One day while stopping at a nude dance bar, I get lucky. Hi honey, says the well-endowed blonde with short shorts barely containing her ample rear. What’s your name?’ She asks almost purring. Gulp, then I reply Ah, Brian, gulp. Well Brian would you like a lap dance? Gee I dunno to which she replies, we can go to that booth in the back where it’s real dark and you can get a feel for what I’m all about, it’s only twenty bucks and I know you are the kind of guy who will get his monies worth"

At this point in our conversation I have half an erection so, OK! We move to the booth in the very back corner and sure enough, it’s very dark. I set down and the music is playing loud when she begins to undulate with her bottom rubbing against me. In seconds, I’m as hard as a rock and she applies more pressure with her rear against the bulge in my pants. Suddenly she turns to face me and straddles me pushing her pelvis against me moving back and forth all the while placing her now bare breasts very near my mouth.

She bends very close to my ear and says Brian I see you are very interested in my lap dance, wouldn’t you like to do something with that? Gulp, yeah I would You got a hundred reasons to get into something special? Yes I think that can be arranged I reply. OK unzip it and take it out, she tells me.

I’m all too happy to oblige and do as I’m told. She takes me moves her tight Jeans over to one side and slides me into her. Now she is moving as before but I’m inside. I didn’t last a minute before it’s over. Giggling she withdraws from me and speaks into my ear you really needed that didn’t you?

Yes I did and after giving her five twenty-dollar bills she is off to another gentleman who just entered the establishment.

I have tucked myself back into my pants and I’m finishing my beer when it hit me. Holy shit we didn’t use a condom. I immediately go to the men’s restroom wet my hands in the bathroom sink take a double squirt of liquid soap and enter one of the stalls locking the door behind me. I clean myself as best I could all the while kick myself for being so stupid.

Feeling convinced I had done everything possible to prevent any chance of contracting an STD I depart the bar.

The entire way back to my house saying, What were you thinking? I arrive and reflect back on the encounter. Yes, it was exciting, yes, I got off, and other than getting relief from my pent up sexual needs. There was no real intimacy, no kissing or real foundling. I like lots of foreplay of which there really was none to mention except her rubbing along the front of my now stained slacks.

Deciding that type of encounter was not worth repeating not to mention dangerous, I make a decision to avoid that type of involvement in the future.

Well that same night, in my dreams I play back the entire event. Driving down the street approaching the bar and seeing the neon lights flashing a nude figure of a woman dancing then making an abrupt right turn into the parking lot entering to fast causing my vehicle to jump wildly as it climbed the drive ascent. Finding a parking place easily as it was around two in the afternoon and after the noon rush but before the evening customers arrivals. I park my 2005 Jet Black GMC Yukon close to the entrance, exit the vehicle, click the auto lock mechanism on the key ring and walk to the front door being greeted by a acne faced twenty something man who says that’s $5.00 cover and entrance charge.

After giving him my five bucks, he gives me a ticket and says that entitles you to one beer from the bar. I walk through the door to find a curtain just about four feet down the darkly lit hall and push it aside to find the interior with a mirrored ball hanging from the ceiling and a naked woman in the middle of the raised dance platform rubbing herself up and down the chrome metal pole located in the center of the platform as if she were humping the thing.

It’s very dark inside the establishment and my eyes are trying to adjust. There are several chairs along the front of the raised platform and initially I was going to head over and stare up into her waiting nudeness. I bumped into a small table on the way to the raised platform and not wanting to seem to lame decided to sit as if that was my intended destination from the get go.

A brunette from the bar came over and said Do you want to use your ticket for a beer or would you like something stronger for another five dollars? I opted for a Corona, no lime. She departed and quickly returned with the frosty brew and stood expecting a tip so I gave her a dollar and she quickly departed. Seconds later as if on queue my blond appeared.

As I lay upon my bed reliving my short affection injection with blond busty butt I woke to find myself needing some personal attention or further sleep would be out of the question. This time the sweet release was longer in coming but almost equally satisfying. I had received two important words of wisdom in my early years Never trust a fart or waste a hard on even if alone and I have taken these words to heart.

CHAPTER 2

Time Marches On

It’s been nearly a month since I had my encounter in the bar and I’m relieved there is no urinating lava or sores appearing anywhere, got friggin lucky.

However, the age-old problem has reemerged, I gotta get laid. Now I’m more familiar with my environment and have frequented just about every available establishment for a possible hook up. What’s wrong with me my telltale ring finger is looking like it’s never encountered a wedding ring but hells bells I’m not getting any bites even though my desire is clearly showing every time a prospect is anywhere near my vicinity.

One day after a very successful sales day I’m feeling very confident and jovial. I’m leaving my last sales stop and notice a free flyer in one of the news paper box’s with a woman featured on the cover. What the hell, right, what do I have to loose? I take one of the free flyers, return to my awaiting chariot, and drive home to scan the rag.

Thumbing through the freebee paper and seeing several different enticing ads I decide to try one that reads Out call massage, your wish is my command followed by a name and telephone number. I’m looking at a long weekend and this might be a great way to break it up especially if I can at least get a happy ending. Dialing the number a sultry voice answers Hello how can I serve you comes over the line and I’m starting to get a rise in my Levi’s.

Hello I saw your ad in a free paper about an out call massage. Yes we do out calls, where do you live? I’m living in Apache Junction is that to far for an out call? No darling but of course there will be an extra fee for the mileage, you do understand don’t you sweetheart? I suppose so what do you charge and how much is the travel fee? Well we offer a fifteen minute, thirty minute, and one hour massage so it depends on how long you wish to be serviced and to what extent. You can work out the details with your masseuse but the standard fifteen minutes, satisfaction guaranteed, rub down with the additional mileage will be $125.00.

I took special interest in the satisfaction guaranteed and assumed it’s hidden meeting. OK I reply and then proceeded to give my address setting up a time that very evening for a fifteen minute massage. I supply my credit card information, feeling a bit uncomfortable, and everything necessary to complete the credit card transaction. "What the Hell, I can always get my card to reverse the charge right?

At the appointed time almost to the minute a car pulls up and a nice looking woman about 40ish exits the automobile and grabs a large canvas bag from the front seat and walks up ringing my doorbell. I answer. Hello are you Brian and did you order a massage? Yes I am and yes I did, please come in.

I can’t help but notice her very shapely legs and firm butt as she walks past; she is wearing a pair of lime colored shorts and a white halter-top, nipples protruding. I’m starting to get a rise with anticipation. Brian you have selected the fifteen-minute massage but if you wish you can extend it by paying me cash directly or you can call it in and make payment with a credit card of your choice. I do however prefer cash and will discount additional time if you pay me directly

Well, ah, gulp lets see how it goes for the fifteen minutes and then we can see about additional time. Very well let’s get started, do you prefer the massage to take place on the floor or would you like it in your bed?"

I think it would be nice to go to the bedroom. By this time my imagination has provided a full erection of which she could not help but notice. We move down the hallway and into the bedroom where she says, Please disrobe and lie on your stomach in the middle of your bed. I’m facing her when I remove my shirt, unzip my trousers and allow them to fall to my feet. I then step pull down my boxer shorts allowing my fully erect penis to spring forward as if it were a swimming pool spring loaded diving board.

Lying upon my bed in the middle face down she removes something from her bag straddles me and applies some type of oil that immediately feels warming. Now with her legs bent at the knee on either side of me I feel the warmth between her legs upon my lower back as she applies the oil and administers a firm massage to my back and neck. After just a few moments, she then scoots down and sits upon my legs at the knee rubbing gently my buttocks and suddenly she moves to one side opening my legs to gain access to my inner thigh and is applying the oil and moving her hands very close to my crouch.

Raising my fanny up allowing her access I’m hoping she will take matters into her own hands. No such luck. Rubbing down my legs and then working on my feet she is finished with my backside. Roll over onto your back please she says and I turn over immediately. I’m very erect standing up like a lighthouse in a storm. My masseuse again straddles me slightly above the knees and begins to massage my chest and stomach, hips and thigh carefully avoiding my main objective.

She then moves down to my feet and applies oil and begins rubbing them gently. After a minute or two she stops and says, Is there any other areas you wish me to massage? If so take my hand and place it on that area I take her hand and place it on the lighthouse. Well Brian that’s a specialty area requiring additional attention that would be an additional $40.00 is that expectable, payable in cash of course. I’m almost nuts at this point so I say, Yes of course but is there a chance we could take this one step further? She replies, Yes that is a possibility for an additional $200.00, cash." During her pricing, she has been gently stroking me to madness so I quickly agree.

Next thing she has removed her shorts and halter-top and is joining me naked in my bed. I take her into my arms and kiss her passionately, she responds in kind. Laying her into her back, I administer to her in every possible way.

All to soon it’s over and realization sinks in again Damn it no condom again but this time I just lie beside her and hold her in my arms until she finally rises from the bed and quickly dresses. Brian I must go now that will be $240.00 cash please. I was about to say you said $200.00 but decided that it was worth it and I paid her $240.00. In almost as fast, as she had arrived she was gone and I experienced a feeling of loss.

The money was felt hard and several weeks went by without further expenditure of a sexual nature.

Seasonal changes were well underway in Phoenix Arizona; spring had sprung with all its glory. During the year Arizona had received it’s average amount of precipitation and the desert was in bloom, quite a site to see when Mother Nature releases her glory. Phoenix has a population of 1, 563,000 people and is the most populous city in the State of Arizona. The average number of days that the area receives rain is about 36 each year. Phoenix experiences on the average 3,832 hours of sunshine annually.

January through May the average temperatures are 67,71,77,85,95 degrees and this is when the snowbirds begin to arrive escaping the colder weather. July through October the averages are 106,104,100, and 89 degrees respectively. There is numerous times when a temperature has risen to 111 degrees in the past several years and rarely but on occasion reached 120.

With spring in full swing the HVAC units are kicking in providing the necessary air conditioning for the high rise building in down town Phoenix and nearly every other home and business structure.

This is the busiest time of the year for me because with the increased demand for air conditioning comes the increased demand for service and repairs and opportunity to gain new and valuable customer as other service companies fail to keep up with the demand and fail to provide the much needed service.

My employers company has a very good reputation and known to be operated by owners who have a strong religious base and adhere to moral values of honesty and integrity. Coupled with a knowledgeable work force specializing in servicing the cooling towers sales calls are often rewarded with new and profitable contracts.

During this busy time of the year, The Company must be diligent in its supervisory duties for a cooling tower failure spells disaster and valued food products can be at risk in the grocery stores served by the equipment. There is no room for mistakes during this critical time because not only the food products but also the entire store is dependent upon the cooling and refrigeration.

With little spare time to play, the sexual exploits have been greatly abated. Working long days, sometimes twelve or more hours find exhaustion at the end of each day. However, I’m making a great deal of money and have taken time to replace nearly everything purchased in the thrift stores with new and quality furnishing. A certain pride comes from the way the home has taken shape. Two large screen televisions have been purchased, one for the living room and one for the bedroom. The Samsung smart TV’s allows for watching mainstream movies, accessing the Internet and even to play games.

Often finding myself in bed sound asleep with the TV on and playing a movie I just paid a premium to watch but out like a light before the movie has run ten minutes. Awakening to the screen saver bouncing across the black screen I stumble out of the bed, relieves myself, gulping down a glass of fruit juice and then returning to bed turning off the offending screen, and die once more.

All to often the alarm clock startles me awake, I have moved it away from the bed so I must get up to stop the annoying buzzer. With eyes half-open I enter the shower preset to lukewarm that helps me to awaken fully while the automatically starting coffee pot is brewing a very strong brew. Taken to shaving in the shower, a new habit, I have all the needed supplies for the task. Taking up the Barbasol shaving cream, and with back turned to the warming shower spray, I lather my face and neck then with the Bick’s triple razor blade shaver scrape the stubble from my face.

Upon finishing the shave, and facing the spray once more rinsing the remaining shaving cream from my face. Picking up the Dove bar of soap, I then prepare to wash under arms and the remainder of my body except this morning when reaching my manhood the soaping is taking on an entirely different purpose, I am a sexual creature after all.

Exiting the shower somewhat refreshed and sated I remove the towel from the towel rack and dry myself. Choosing what to wear is not an issue; having taken to wearing the companies work uniform with the embroidered company name above the left pocket and my name above the right. The dark blue Dickies uniform with black work shoes and black belt are appropriate attire for service supervisory tasks.

Fully dressed and having made sure to apply a fresh amount of shoe polish and bringing the scuffed work shoes back to a decent shine I enter the kitchen and pour a large cup of steaming black coffee into my favorite coffee mug.

As is my habit I will stop along the way and pickup a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit from the Mc Donald’s and consume it during the ride to the first customer service inspection. Rarely do I eat at home; there just aren’t enough hours in the day to spend them preparing a meal.

Another busy day and meetings with concerned engineers whose very lively hood and job depends upon a smooth running mechanical operation and the cooling towers are vital to their task of marinating the proper climate and refrigeration.

This particular evening deciding to stop at the bar where I had my first sexual encounter in Phoenix, not knowing why I seem to be just drawn there. As before I parked and was greeted at the door paying $5.00 entrance and receiving my free beer ticket then entering the establishment to find it’s quite busy this time of the evening many men having completed their work day and who are UP for a little entertainment.

Seating this time directly in front of the raised dance platform an announcer on a microphone is just introducing the next stripper who will be performing for their pleasure and enjoyment. Sipping the frosty Corona, brought by the bar girl on duty. The cool liquid seems to disappear rapidly and no sooner than the vessel is empty the bar girl is asking if he would like another. Sure honey this one had a hole in the bottom while putting a dollar in the tight jeans waistband. Sweetie Pie, as I was later to learn, brings another and when handing me the bottle holds onto my hand a bit longer than necessary.

Having missed lunch that day and the liquor was hitting me when the dancer had finally removed all her clothing and was undulating nude upon the floor opening her legs wide for the wild applause and jeering of the audience. Dollar bills were being thrown on the floor, and I added a few myself, the second beer had been consumed and I had a raging erection.

Sweetie Pie was there with an already opened bottle and said, You looked like you needed another and I was now all to happy to except the brew and pay the $5.00 plus a tip I stuck into her cleavage. Now after just three beers and feeling pretty good when Sweetie Pie arrives asking if I would like something else. Well sure enough but I don’t think you would appreciate my request. Well why don’t we discuss it over in that corner where it’s more private I’m just about off shift she answers.

Standing, wobbling, a bit to my surprise, I head straight to the dark corner of the room. Sweetie Pie comes over and says, Buy a girl a drink, sure honey whatever you want. Sweetie Pie motions to the new bar girl who on queue brings a mixed drink and I gives her the ten dollars with a dollar tip that I stuffed into the front of her shorts.

Now horney were you about to make a special request, she asks. Well now that you mention it I was.

I’m off work and you are off as well, so why don’t we get off together? Sweetie Pie replies, Well if you got the money honey I got the time. How much money are we talking about and what do I get for it? That depends on how long you can keep it up and I will ride you until you can’t go any longer. One thing you need to know I don’t put anything in my mouth that I can’t chew. I guess I could skip that I do enjoying giving as much as receiving, is the kitchen open for that? Of course it’s more blessed to receive than give is my motto. Great then let’s talk about an hour or as you say until I call uncle. Two portraits of Benjamin Franklin to add to my art gallery would work for me replies Sweetie Pie.

Being a bit tipsy computes. Look I’m going to need to get a room, so that’s a bit steep, how about one and a half Benjamin’s? Much to my surprise Sweetie Pie stands up and says, Who the fuck do you think you are this isn’t something that you bargain a price for, go screw yourself you cheap bastard and off she goes. Totally stunned and now with a limp on I decide it is time to leave.

Wow that was weird, what brought that on? I ask myself as I exit the bar and get into the car. Realizing that I better not drive in this current condition and noticing a Sub Way sandwich shop just across the street and deciding it’s safe to just drive across and get a sandwich to soak up the alcohol and besides I’m really hungry after having skipped lunch.

No problem moving the vehicle across the street and parking it in front of the sandwich shop going in and getting a twelve-inch Italian sandwich, a bag of chips and a small soda which seems a bit much but my eyes are often bigger than my stomach and I can save any left over’s for tomorrows lunch. Sitting down at one of the artificial wood veneer tables on the red plastic chair opening the paper wrapped food and chips and beginning to eat feeling the food taking the edge off hunger and the effects of the alcohol subsiding.

Surprisingly consuming every bit of the sandwich, chips and drinking all the drink. Now almost feeling like a new man and with some renewed energy I deposit trash into the receptacle and place the try on the top shelf then promptly exit the sandwich shop open the car door and I get in. Before I can close the door, a man steps into the open door from behind and puts a gun in my side.

Roll down the window ass hole and if you make a sound or try anything I’ll bust a cap in your ass At that moment another man comes to the passenger side of the vehicle opens the door and enters and he now pushes a gun firmly into me from his side. The first man opens the rear driver’s side door and enters the car. Now you listen to me and do exactly as I say and you will live to see another day, ya got me? Yeah, I got ya, why don’t you just take my wallet and let me go about my business?

I didn’t say you could talk and he hit’s me hard on the back of the head with the butt of his pistol. Now you will drive down this street well within the speed limit and at the next corner turn left into the right lane and get on the Freeway going east, do you understand? Feeling the warmth of blood running down from my injured head I reply Yes I understand.

The man on my right still has his gun firmly pushed into my right side. Checking the rear view mirror I note the man in the back seats features for future reference. Backing out slowly with the gun pushing harder into my right side I then make a left from the parking spot going a short distance and drive down the driveway turning right onto the street going to the first signal turn left and enter the Freeway heading East on the 10 freeway.

Nothing is said as I motor down the 10 Freeway for over a hour heading towards Tucson Arizona. Now at the next exit you will turn off and at the bottom of the off ramp you will turn right and continue until I tell you to stop, got it? Yeah I got it.

About forty-five minutes into the drive and in the middle of nowhere, with nothing in site for miles Pull over to the side of the road and get out. Thinking they are just going to leave me there and surprised when the men from the car exit as well. Thinking to myself, This ain’t good. I’m standing with anal muscles tighter than a drum skin.

Common why don’t you just take my money and car and let me go? You don’t have to do this! The first man levels his pistol at my head and is about to fire when Ernie what the fuck? I’m not going up for murder he turns his gun on Ernie. So is this how you want it to go down Smitty having turned the gun away and pointing it at Smitty. No Ernie we don’t have to kill him I got a plan, let’s let the desert do it for us.

What’s your plan Smitty and it better be good or I’m doing him right here and now. Look mister you strip down completely naked and put your things in a pile and start walking down this road in an opposite direction while we drive away. Work for you Ernie? It’s miles of nothing between here and the Freeway and this road is never traveled much. The sun will be up in a few hours and he doesn’t have any water. How long do you think he will last?

Tomorrow is Saturday, and if he works, chances are no one will miss him until Monday and he will probably have crooked by then. Ernie looks up into the night stars, looks down and smiles I like it. Now strip you ass hole before I change my mind."

Striping down to my underwear I try to put back on my shoes. What the fuck did I tell you, drop your drawers and get them shoes off and put them in that pile before I give you a third eye I throw my shoes in the pile and say I’m not going out of this world with my dick hanging out so if you don’t like it shoot you son’s a bitches. Gather up his shit Smitty and put it in the car. You got some balls buddy, I like that so I’m gonna let ya keep your shorts but if you survive this you can thank me later, ah ha ha. Yeah fuck you very much.

Smitty has picked up everything and is waiting in the car with his eyes tightly closed expecting to hear the fatal gun shot and is surprised when Ernie gets in behind the steering wheel and speeds away kicking up a cloud of dust as a departing gift.

Smitty and Ernie have been partners in crime for many years and had met in the Arizona State Pen. Assigned as cellmates they became close and were even sexual partners during the five-year sentences they were serving. Neither man being gay but in the total absence of women prisoners often takes turns with each other for gratification.

Ernie is a large man with bulging muscles from working out in the prison gym and doing push up’s and sit up’s in the cell to pass the time. Ernie learned from his previous stints in jail that if you are week you would be used by the strong in ways only he could imagine. Ernie’s first experience with incarnation came at an early age while in reform school. Ernie had been in trouble several times for minor offenses such as shoplifting and vandalism but the one that landed him in reform school was joy riding. He was then slight of build and took several beating from the larger and stronger kids. It was there that he began to bulk up and learned that to be feared was to be left alone.

Smitty could not have been any different he was small built almost to the point of being emaciated. No matter how much food he consumed, he could never gain a pound. His appetite was enormous and he was always eating everything and anything he could get his hands on. In prison, he would use his cigarette allowances to bargain for candy and anything else edible. Smitty’s offenses were of a non-violent nature, mostly fraud, forgery and car theft. His last offense, grand theft auto came when he decided to steal a Rolls Royce that was parked near a luxury apartment. Slim Jimmying the door open and hot-wiring the ignition Smitty was well on his way to the chop shop for an enormous kill when he was pulled over by the local sheriffs department and taken into custody. At Smitty’s arraignment, he discovered he had ripped off the District Attorneys personal vehicle.

The two men were driving to a chop shop outside Tucson intending to sell the GMC Yukon and make some fast cash. They had figured on getting at lease a grand for the car. Discovering three hundred dollars in the wallet and the credit cards, they would use quickly, before an alert was triggered the entire haul might be around two thousand dollars. This is the best they had done in months and were pleased with the operation discussing how smoothly it had gone.

Smitty I got to hand it to ya, leaving that prick in the middle of nowhere was pure genius. He will walk until he drops and we have plenty of time to dump the ride at the choppers, hit some local strip malls, and use his cards long before his body is discovered.

Yeah Ernie that’s how I figured it and we don’t need to go up on murder if we get nabbed for this one. Smitty they got no way to pin it on us, it’s the perfect crime, no witness and they will just have a John Doe in the morgue, genius I say pure genius.

The Desert nights can be brutally cold and Brian is walking in the direction of the Freeway shivering violently. Realizing he might get hypothermia from the cold and exposure he stops just off the road and digs a hole large enough for him to lie in with his bear hands. The Sand is soft and warm from the day’s heat just below the surface. Digging just deep enough for him to lie level with the ground Brian lies down in the hole and covers with the sand leaving only his face exposed.

Sleep comes quickly even though it had been his intent to stay awake in the event of a passing automobile. Awakening to the hot morning sun and with a dry mouth. Determining the approximate time of day from the position of the sun Brian is shocked to discover it’s nearly nine O’clock and further the temperature has raised to the mid eighties already, and it’s going to be a scorcher.

Pushing the dirt away from his body, he rises very stiff from sleeping under ground and having, apparently, not moved a muscle during the night. Aching from the ordeal Brian stands but refrains from dusting himself off figuring the layer of dust might help prevent the sunburn he is certainly going to get especially to those areas that have not seen sunshine in months.

No sooner than he steps out of his sleeping hole, he realizes he has two immediate problems. First thing, he notices is how warm the ground is under his tender feet and knowing it’s going to get much hotter as the day progresses. Secondly, the sun is going to quickly dehydrate him, he needs to protect himself from loosing precious bodily fluids and find some source of liquid to replenish what he is loosing.

Considering remaining where they left him in hopes of a stranger-passing buy was heavily weighed. Finally arriving at the conclusion that if the road is truly deserted, and they seemed to know that was the case, because it was their intention to leave him there, dead or alive, with no worries of an early discovery. Deciding to push on towards the Freeway and if he gets lucky and a passer by happens along all the better, if not nothing is lost. Remaining put seems the most dangerous decision.

Pausing in place and looking around his immediate surroundings, he is seeking any solutions to his immediate needs.

Noting the surrounding area has several Joshua trees and a few saguaro cacti with an abundance of paloverde bushes he is encouraged that he might fined a barrel cacti or prickly pear from which to obtain water. Realizing he must not get to far off the road in the unlikely event of a passerby he begins walking along the highway. The heat on his skin is already very noticeable and his desire to urinate great. Refraining from empting his bladder he is hoping to find a abandoned beer can or beer bottle or anything to collect the urine that can be consumed if absolutely necessary to stay alive.

As he walks along the deserted road, he takes inventory of what he knows. First of all his captors had him turn onto the road from the Freeway and he was driving around 55 MPH when on the road and after what the radio’s clock said was nearly two hours they had him pull over, that means he is a least one hundred ten miles into the desert from the Freeway. After approximately one hour of driving along the paved road it turned to a dirt road meaning that after two days he should reach the asphalt part of the road.

Assuming he can walk 3 miles per hour and walk for eight hours that’s 24 miles a day reaching the Freeway in about five days.

He has been walking about an hour and the heat of the day is stifling. Finding nothing useful along the road his eyes have been turned towards the desert seeking anything that might be useful. Now the soft dirt along the road has reached a temperature quite uncomfortable to the bottoms of his feet. Spying a Prickly Pear, he has decided to try to retrieve at least some moisture from the meat of the cacti. Searching the surrounding area of the cacti he finds a sharp rock that can be used to scrape the thorns off one of the large leaves.

Using the sharp stone, it takes a great deal of time to remove the thorns from both sides of the Prickly Pear and the covering layer of the leaf. Finally success and he bites into the leaf and sucks some small amount of liquid into his mouth from the fibrous interior, a very small reward for a huge effort. Greatly disappointed with the moisture he has obtained and finally unable to contain his desire to urinate he relieves himself catching as much urine in his cupped hands as possible then drinking the urine.

Surprised at the fatigue he feels and that the sun has reached its warmest point he notices a paloverde bush close by with heavy foliage that can provide shade from the two o’clock sun. Careful to examine the underneath for rattlesnakes he slips under the low hanging foliage receiving a cool reward from the shaded area. Knowing that this can be extremely dangerous do to the insect population he is very careful to examine this shelter for spiders, scorpions and stinging ants.

Now more than ever his plight seems nearly impossible. The main problem is the lack of water and exposure to the sun and the freezing night cold. While taking shelter during the heat of the day makes the most sense the time of exposure is also a major concern so movement towards his goal must be a priority. Not having the luxury of clothing to cover his body conserving the moisture and protecting himself from dehydration is primary to survival.

Reason and common sense are his most valuable tools and he decides to travel during the early morning and the late evening. This will conserve vital bodily liquid by reducing sweat. Being cautious and never over exerting himself, causing perspiration, will be key in his efforts to survive he must keep his head at all times.

So it’s about two and his movements must be restricted to remaining in a shaded area for at least four hours, but then he realizes that he will only be able to walk until the sun begins to set and the temperatures begins to drop making it necessary to take shelter in order to preserve body heat and prevent hypothermia. The desert can be a cruel place, boiling during the day and freezing during the night.

Even though his anger at having been left to die in these circumstances his motivation towards revenge makes him stronger. I will seek out these bastards and get even, if it’s the last thing I do, This has become the entire motivation for survival. Assessing his situation, at the moment, he realizes he got lucky the first night that he wasn’t bitten by insects or worse attacked by a desert predator. Also the dry sand and dirt was absorbing moisture from his body as he lie in the hole covered.

Not smart old boy he says to himself. The paloverde bush is providing a small bit of shade but by breaking off some branches and piling them on top of those he is sheltering under, he increases the density of the cover providing more shade. It’s a temporary fix but adequate at the moment. I must use my down time wisely, and make the most of my resting times.

Brian begins to fashion a hat by taking the green small twigs from the bush and weaving them into a head cover. It’s crude but by stripping the small branches he makes use of the green fibrous strands to fashion the head covering. Next by gathering some twigs and making squares using the greenest twigs he ties them together and creates