He came awake from severe pain from the side of his head which seemed to radiate down through his neck.  He couldn’t focus and felt a terror well up from within when he couldn’t remember where he was.  The air was cold, and it was either nighttime or he was blind as he couldn’t seem to focus on anything of substance.  A ringing continues to run through his ears that added to the fear.

Reaching up, he felt the side of his head and instantly knew from the warm sticky substance that he had been hurt.  What happened and where am I? continued to run through his mind as he tried to control the anxiety and get control of his emotions.

Lying on his back, he slowly moved each of his limbs and with some satisfaction, found they all seemed to be intact and unbroken.  When he went to sit up, a searing pain raced through his ribs, quickly identifying that his head was not the only area that had been hurt.  Lying back, he took deep breaths to calm himself and slowly the ringing began to dissipate. 

Focusing on solving the mystery of where he was located, he could remember being at the head quarters in the early evening hours and getting a message for a group of them to meet with H-E-R-O later that evening.  With memories slowly coming back, he remembered Jimbo, Salazar, and him were at the meeting and they were supposed to do a demolition job on a moonshine still just out of town that was cutting into the family business.  H-E-R-O had been adamant that they not get caught and to leave evidence that the hit had come from another crew based out of Baltimore.

They had completed the job and were just leaving the location, Jimbo driving his pickup truck with Salazar riding up front while he rode in the back due to a lack of room in the cab.  He had just lit a cigarette and still had the flicker of the flame burned into his vision when he saw headlights come out of no where and slam into the side of the truck at full speed.  He could remember the violent sound and the feeling of being thrown into the air.  Then nothing.

Rolling over and gasping at the sharp pain in his chest, he looked over his shoulder to see Jimbo’s truck lying on its side with Salazar hanging limply out the passenger window.  The passenger side had been crushed in by the impact of what he guessed was another car.  Only the lights of the pickup remained, and the area was completely silent.

Just as he was about to attempt to get to his knees, he could hear another vehicle coming down the gravel road at speed.  The lights were coming from the direction of the still.  Mind continuing to clear, he realized that this was most likely the owner of the still that had found it destroyed.  If Jimbo and Salazar were dead, they couldn’t talk.  But he wasn’t dead yet and if they found him, they would find a way to make him confess.

Slowly, he began to push himself down the slope where he had landed, away from the scene of the accident.  Pain seared his chest, but fear gave him the motivation he needed to continue the effort.  Hearing the car stop, he watched as shadows passed through the light from the arriving vehicle and then voices telling them to check and see if anyone was still alive.

Trying to keep as quiet as possible, he continued to slide down the slope as the new arrivals checked on the status of the victims in the crash.  As the last of the individuals is verified to be deceases, he feels his feet bump into something solid.  Glancing down and grimacing from the movement, he sees that he is nest to a large tree that had fallen at some point in the past.

Hoping they new arrivals would leave is short lived as the apparent leader says “Search the area.  I want to know if there is anyone else with them.  We need some answers.  Go, now.”  Biting down on his lip, he pulls himself up to his knees and then quietly slides back along the deadfall tree.  The tree is about his size in diameter and there are few limbs to hinder his effort.  Hearing the crunch of leaves of multiple feet walking in the area, he straddles the tree before sliding over to the far side.

Knowing he can’t outrun them, he lies with his back against the trunk, hoping that it will give him some type of protection.  The night is dark as the moon is barely visible, the new arrivals cautiously move about, searching the area.  His heart begins to race as he hears footsteps approaching and then stopping on the opposite side of his hiding location.  He focuses on breathing as softly as possible even as his heart races in terror.

After what seems like an eternity, he hears the familiar click of a lighter and the deep inhale from a freshly lit cigarette before a voice calls out “Boss, there’s no one out here.  Without a light source, we can’t see shit, but we covered the area.”  After several seconds, a response comes “God Damn It.  I want to know who did this.  Get your ass back in the car and let’s see if there’s anything left back at the still.  Plan on being back here in the morning to check the area in more detail.  Sheriff Kilgore won’t be happy with the paperwork on this accident, but he doesn’t do shit anyways.  Let’s go.”

The tension slowly dissipated as he heard car doors close and the vehicle driving away, leaving him in the quiet of the night.  Biting his lip with pain, he slowly made his way to his feet.  Vaguely, knowing the area and realizing he couldn’t get caught along the side of the road anywhere close to this accident, he began walking cross country, hoping to come across some help soon as he wasn’t sure how bad the damage to his ribs really was.

As he walked, is primary thought was H-E-R-O’s gonna be pissed!