Nineteen

“NOOOOOO!!!!!”  The shriek came out of the brush on the opposite side of the campground.  It was so sudden and mournful that everyone was jolted for a split second with fear.  They all stood rooted to the spot, heads craned in the direction of the disturbance.  The return of Dave to the campsite was an explosion of loss and violence.  He had been watching the desperate fire fighting operation from his hiding spot in the darkness.  When the flashlight beam illuminated the tackle box, his muscles tensed and his jaw clenched.  When Rich hurled the tackle box into the forest, he sprung.

“Goddamn you motherfucking son of a bitch, my stash!”  Dave came across the access road in great strides, heading straight for Rich.  His right arm already cocked and his fist clenched.

“Huh?”  Rich simply stood there with his mouth slightly open.  The realization that the ninja minstrels were dialing 911 had deflated him.  He had pulled himself together in the mad rush to save the campground and the forest.  The adrenaline surge that powered him through the disaster ebbed out of his tired arms and legs.  Rich didn’t have anything left for this next disaster.

“My fucking stash!  I’ll KILL YOU!!!”  Everyone watched Dave as he strode up to Rich and punched him squarely in the jaw.  The female ninja mistrel named Andrea cried out as Rich went down on his knees.  Dave had delivered a solid blow.  Rich's mouth instantly puffed up.  He spat out a healthy stream of blood.

“You fucking nut!  Go ahead and kill me.  In a few minutes we’ll all be on our way to jail,” Rich groaned as he staggered to his feet.   His challenge fell on deaf ears.  Dave had gone right past him, flashlight in hand, through the brush in search of the tackle box.  

“I found some, Billy! Billy, help me goddamn it!  Oh Christ!” Dave had disappeared into the dark forest.  His disembodied voice could still be heard, wailing like a tormented ghost as he searched for his stash.  Dave’s histrionics were profoundly disturbing to the ninja minstrel couple.  

“Oh my god Robert, that guy’s a junkie!”  Hurry and get through to the police.!”

“The phone’s not working.  I don’t think there’s any reception out here, Andrea.”

Billy lit a cigarette.  His face looked wraithlike in the glow of the lighter.  He exhaled in the darkness and started after Dave.  “I’m the junkie, lady.  That guy out there is just fucking crazy.