The Lesser Man of Shiloh

The miles went by as Ben and Sarah were on their way back into town. Doc Walters’ house was on the way. Passion filled the truck as the two love birds smiled coyly at one another. Their lives were merging and they both were optimistic for what the future held. On the horizon, the couple could see a black truck driving erratically coming toward them. Ben knew this truck well. It was the same truck that belonged to the men that had beaten him so badly. Quickly, the anger inside of him began to swell. He remembered what Sam had told him, and he didn’t want Sarah to get hurt. He wanted revenge. He wrestled briefly within himself. ‘What could he do?’ He didn’t want to do anything rash with Sarah in the truck with him. He finally decided to do what Sam had done. He slowed the truck and pulled to the right side of the road and stopped. He knew that he had to do things like Sam had done them. At that point, Sarah began to realize what was going on. She was horrified to see the truck coming towards them at a high rate of speed. She recognized the truck as well. ‘Not him!’ ‘Not now!’ She thought. She looked puzzled at Ben and then back at the black truck as it got closer and closer. Sheer fright swept across her face as she became frantic. “What are you doing?” she yelled. “Waiting,” Ben said. Sarah’s eyes grew wide as she looked at the erratically speeding truck coming fast toward them. She knew that Pete was not to be played with. In her mind, he was insane…pure evil. Sarah became more frantic as she cried and begged Ben to drive. “Ben, drive! Drive! I mean now. Don’t. Just drive. Please go! Please!” Her voice was desperate and Ben did not know what to do. He was torn between doing the right thing and Sarah’s hysterics. What could he do? He was caught and he knew it. Ben tried patiently to pacify her. “Sarah, Sarah … Sarah, please. Calm down,” Ben desperately tried to console her. “It’s OK … Everything’s OK.” The black truck veered back and forth between the lanes then swerved back into its own lane. It missed Ben’s truck by just a few feet and darted past them. Ben and Sarah were relieved and held each other tightly. Ben knew that he had done the right thing. He had held himself together and proven to his new love that he was trustworthy. They two of them held each other as Ben wiped the tears from Sarah’s soft cheek. A loud screeching sound came from the rear of the truck. Ben and Sarah were startled by the sound and looked behind them. The wild driver of black truck had slammed on the brakes. In fact, the brakes were applied so hard, that it made the truck bounce as it came to a stop. Black smoke filled the air and the truck slid to a stop on the left side of the road. “Drive, Ben!” Sarah screamed. “DRIVE!” Sarah exclaimed as she grabbed his arm. She shrieked even louder and more frantically than before. Ben turned quickly and pressed the gas. Ben changed the gears madly and felt each one shift extremely hard as they popped into their place. The old truck began to quickly gain speed and was moving fast toward town. Behind them, smoked filled the air again as the black truck began spinning its wheels in an effort to turn around. The truck swerved maniacally around, veering left and right on the road behind them. “Why did they turn around?” Ben thought. “They didn’t turn around when Sam did that. What was different this time?” Ben and Sarah sped quickly toward town, but Ben knew that he couldn’t drive carelessly. There were many turns ahead, and he had to protect Sarah. He couldn’t endanger Sarah’s life any more than he had to, but the black truck was gaining fast. They were only a few short miles away from the safety of town. Ben gave it everything that he had. As he looked at the odometer it read…90mph. He wasn’t about to let those brutish men harm his new love. Ben was focused and held the wheel tightly. His knuckles began to turn white as he gripped the wheel. For miles, he maneuvered the truck with ease and stayed steady in mind. Still, the black truck got closer and closer. He could see the truck’s grill and recognized the man behind the wheel. It was Pete, the same man who had almost killed him before. Ben saw the other blond man on the passenger’s side. His memory had not been that good and he couldn’t recall exactly what they had looked like until now. The black truck crept slowly up to the side of the old pick up. The tall, skinny blond guy was now leaning outside of the window and beating on the door of the black truck. He howled at Ben and Sarah. “Woooo … Woooo!” Bo yelled. “Get in Bo!” Pete yelled. Pete revved the engine as he swung his truck towards Ben’s. Back and forth the two went down the road scraping and swiping each other as they went. Bo reached beside him and grabbed a beer bottle from a small cooler and threw it at Ben’s truck, striking the roof and bouncing off the other side. Bo then took out another beer and popped it open. He didn’t want to waste anymore, so he guzzled the beer down quickly and let out a long belch. As he finished the beer, he threw the empty bottle at Ben and Sarah bursting the driver’s side mirror. Ben was startled by the bottle and briefly lost control of the truck. It swung repeatedly round and round in circles….