Read Online Surviving the Fog by Stan Morris - Free Book Online

clearing.  Then Mike let Yuie, Ahmad, Rasul,
Eric, and John tell the kids what they had seen.  When Ralph
returned, Mike asked Ralph to tell them what he had seen.  As
the witnesses spoke, the kids grew quieter and quieter.  Some
walked far away, so they couldn't hear any more.
    Then Mike asked the man, "Did you kill the
guy at our camp?"
    The man laughed.  "Maybe so, maybe no,"
he answered.  "So call the police, and let me go, and I'll
wait for them.  I promise.”
    Mike was silent for a moment, and then he
asked, "What about the fog?"
    The man scowled.  "So maybe the police
can't get here for awhile.  You can't keep me like this.
 I know my rights.  You got those spears, and I got no
gun, so let me go."
    Then he smiled a very strange smile, and he
said in a soft voice, "Sooner or later I'm going to get loose.
 Then I'm going to find you, and I’m going to have some fun
with you."  There was such a vicious evil threat in his voice
that all of the kids except for Mike, Maria, and Eric, flinched and
drew back.
    Mike jumped down and tipped over the barrel.
 "Help me," he said to the Spears.
    The boys helped Mike roll the barrel down the
road to the tree.  They put the barrel on the higher side of
the tree root, so that the sharp drop was on the other side.
 The rest of the puzzled kids followed Mike to the tree.
    Mike grabbed the tug-of-war rope.  "Does
anyone know how to make a noose?" he asked.
    There were some murmurs of shock and the man,
prodded to the tree by some of the Spears, exclaimed, "Hey!"
    A boy stepped forward.  "I know how to
make one," he offered in a very tense voice.  Mike handed him
the rope, and with trembling hands the teenager managed to make a
noose.
    Mike looked at the prisoner.  "Bring
him," he said.
    The man began to yell and rant and he
threatened the children.  He told them in graphic detail what
he would do to them if they did not immediately release him.
 Some of the kids were so frightened of the man, that they
begged Mike to let him go if he promised never to bother them
again.
    The man struggled, but Ralph, John, and
Howard held him firmly, and with some help, they pushed him to the
barrel.  Mike called for some kids to hold the barrel steady
at the ends.  Some of the Spears, and some of the other kids
rushed to help, and shortly there were three or four kids at each
end of the barrel.
    Mike climbed onto the barrel.  Carefully
he balanced himself, and then he took the rope, and with some
difficulty he worked it over the head of the struggling cursing
man.  Mike had to toss the other end of the rope several times
before he managed to get it over the right tree limb.  Then he
jumped down.
    Other kids had seized the loose end of the
rope, and now they drew it taut so that the killer's head was
lifted. The man continued to curse and threaten them.  Mike
thought about gagging him, but he didn't just in case the man
decided to pray or to repent at the last moment. The stronger boys
lifted the man onto the barrel.  They helped him steady
himself, and then they stepped back.  The man wavered, and
then he caught his balance.  The rope was tightened a final
time, and then they tied the rope to the tree.
    "Do you have any last words?" Mike asked the
man.
    The man stared down at Mike, perhaps at last
realizing that he was dealing with someone different.  This
kid, this small kid, this implacable kid was going to hang him.
 Finally, he was frightened.
    "I'm sorry about your friend," he muttered,
hoping that this might save his life.
    Mike stepped behind the man, and he stood
next to the barrel.  Howard stepped forward. "I'll help," he
said.  "I didn't go with you when you fought, so I'll do
this."  Mike nodded.
    "Let me do it," Ralph demanded.
    "No, not you," Mike said, shaking his
head.
    "Why not," Ralph asked.  "I want revenge
for Jackie."
    "That's why you can't do it," said Mike
firmly.
    "I'll do it," said Desi, coming forward.
 When she saw Mike about to protest,