A town too far pt3

Goetz slowly opened his eyes, he was sitting in a dark room, a musty small permeated the air, a flickering oil lamp cast shadows on the walls, he could see a row of dusty shelves, his head throbbed, he tried to feel his head to see if he was bleeding, a searing pain shot up through his shoulder.

“arghh” he hissed to the darkness realising his hands were tied behind him

“ok take it easy” spoke Johnston walking towards Goetz

“you, who the hell are you anyway” grumbled Goetz

“Johnston Green, Eric’s father, apparently your uncle” he said with a grin

“just my luck” replied Goetz hanging his head “why not shoot me now?”

“that’s not our style, although apparently it’s yours, Bill who helped to get your sorry ass over here, recognised you from the bridge”

“hey listen we were under government orders..” started Goetz

“were you under orders, to kill those people at that hospital or those people in New Bern” shouted Bill walking towards Goetz with his pistol

“ok steady now, Bill” Johnston placed a calming hand on his shoulder “we want to know what happened to your buddies from Raven wood”

“why the hell should I tell you” said Goetz lifting his head

Bill step forward and hit Goetz across the face “we’ve got the guns, that’s why” hissed Bill

“Ok Bill, that’s enough, go up stairs” Johnston pushed Bill towards the wooden steps

“see ya tough guy” Goetz spat a stream of blood and spittle towards the departing Bill, he licked his lips and spat out some more blood, more footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, he craned his neck to try and see, just then Johnston was in front of him, he gripped his shoulder and pushed his thumb into the healing bullet wound.

“argh” screamed Goetz

“That guy there wanted to kill you, hell, most of the town will probably want you dead, so why don’t you wise up and tell us where your buddies are” growled Johnston

“argh..ok..ok”

Johnston let up the pressure, fresh blood was appearing beneath his thumb

“they’re dead…they’re all dead” sighed Goetz lowering his head

“Johnston that’s enough” a stern faced April walked towards Goetz her arms folded

“My names April, I’m just going to check your dressing” she said kneeling down

Johnston got up and walked towards the stairs where Stanley and Mimi were standing

“You believe him?” asked Stanley

“I’ve seen a lot of things in my time, and I know a broken man when I see one” answered Johnston accepting a mug of coffee offered to him by Mimi

“So what happens now?” she asked

“Well right now, let him rest here, tomorrow we’ll go into town, thank you Stanley for letting us use your Cellar” answered Johnston savouring the strong aroma of the coffee

“And after that” prompted Mimi

“I don’t know, I’m not willing to kill a man in cold blood” he answered taking a sip

“Great ! so we build a campfire, get some marshmallows, join arms and all sing row your boat” quipped Mimi

“No. I’m not suggesting that, but I’m not in favour of stringing him up and go dancing round waving pitchforks and flaming torches” growled Johnston

“yeah, I hate when that happens” chimed Stanley trying to break the tension

They both turned and looked at Stanley

“Sorry” he said looking down, taking his weight on his good ankle

Mimi turned away from Johnston “ok back to bed with you”

“really?” Grinned Stanley

“to rest Stanley, to rest” answered Mimi already climbing the stairs

“oh, sure, I knew that” answered Stanley maintaining his grin

April was still tending the dressing, on Goetz’s shoulder

“So you got a name” she asked

“does it matter” sniped Goetz

“Well you are my patient, for now at least” she replied pausing from her work, to look at him

“Mike” he replied, taking in her delicate features

“Well Mike, you should be ok, looks like the bullets passed through the muscle tissue, try and keep the pressure of it for a while” she told him examining the wound

“Yeah, I have to phone the country club and cancel golf tomorrow”  he quipped

She held a canteen to his mouth, “here have some water”

Johnston walked across, to them.

“So how’re we doing here…” he began

“Mike” April filled in for him

“Great! I thought you were a Doctor, not an interrogator” hissed Goetz

“Hey calm down, she’s also my Daughter in law” threatened Johnston

“Ha, that’s great, is there anyone ‘round here you’re not related to?” he mocked

“Thanks April, that’ll be all” Johnston dismissed her and squatted on his haunches brining himself face to face with his captive

“Why Jericho, and don’t give me any cockamamey story about Government business”

Goetz his head still lowered “didn’t have many options, most of the towns around here know me or at least knew of our team, but here, except for those gun toting yahoos on the bridge I thought I could slip under the radar, tag along with the next bunch of stragglers, get some food, some shelter, but it became so cold out there I had to break cover and come in alone”

“Then what, didn’t you think someone would recognise you?” prompted Johnston

“Sure, but by then I would have stolen a gun, a car, supplies, fuel and be heading south”

“And you think we would just sit back and let you take ‘em?” prompted Johnston again

Goetz raised his head and matched Johnston’s cold gaze with his own

“Once I’d got the gun, I wasn’t planning on asking”

Hi Chris,

I LOVED this one. I like how you brought Goetz to a place where he interacted with our other favorite characters.

You really brought out the Stanley and Mimi interaction that I fell in love with on the show. I also liked how you showed how hot-headed Bill can be.

Please keep writing for us. Don't worry about being the only writer. We're still only a small group and I think that as we grow you will find that more writers who will join you.

Right now you have one enchanted audience member.

Gwen