Read Online The Vivisectionist by Ike Hamill - Free Book Online

hadn’t seemed like much of an issue on the way up, but on the descent they were hampered by their bare feet.
    “Jeez, get going!” ordered Stephen. He was slowed by Jack picking his way down.
    Jack shook his left arm out of its sling so he could use both hands to assist his climb. He didn’t put much weight on the arm, but used it to steady his balance. In a couple of minutes Jack and Stephen had made it back to their shoes and packs, but Ben was lagging behind.
    “Why are we running?” hissed Ben.
    “Why not?” answered Stephen. “Should we just hang around and ask them what good they’re up to at the quarry?”
    Ben caught up with them and asked in a normal tone of voice—“What are 
we
up to?” he spread his arms and looked around. “They’re probably just here to swim or target-shoot.”
    “Just get your shoes on,” said Jack who was already tying his left boot.
    Ben looked off to his right. “Hey guys,” he said.
    The boys they had seen were emerging from around a rock.
    The smoker was about six-foot two, and wore a black tee shirt that could have been comfortable if it were two sizes larger. Well-worn boots were mostly covered by his frayed jeans. A half-step behind, the guy with the brown paper bag was about as tall, but much thinner.
    Smoker took a drag—“Hey. You guys seen a dog here?” he asked. Bag Man chuckled at the question.
    “Nope, not today,” said Ben.
    “You see one, let me know,” said Smoker. “We’ll be over there,” he pointed to the adjacent sand pit.
    “Yeah, no problem,” replied Ben.
    When Smoker and Bag Man had walked out of earshot, Ben gloated: “See, what were you guys freaking out about? They were nice enough.”
    A shot rang out. Jack, Stephen, and Ben turned to see Smoker pointing a pistol at a target mounted to a rock.
    “See? Target shooting,” Ben said.
    “Just get your shoes on—let’s get out of here,” said Jack.
    Smoker fired again, and the sound was followed by laughter. They could hear Smoker barking orders at Bag Man.
    “Yeah, okay,” acquiesced Ben.
    Denied their normal exit, the boys had to debate how to exit the quarry. They knew there must be a trail or road on the other side of the pond because the older kids had come from that direction. Stephen headed off and Jack and Ben followed. When they had reached the far side of the pond, they found a path that wound through some scattered brush and led to a dirt road.
    “Let’s check the map,” said Stephen when they had reached the road. They moved a few dozen yards past the car they assumed belonged to Smoker and Bag Man. Jack bent over to dig the map from his bag and Ben looked down the road.
    The map showed a dotted double line. They assumed it was the road.
    Stephen suggested a route: “Looks like if we follow this for a while we can take the train-tracks back to the power lines.”
    “Yeah, but that’s kinda far,” said Jack. “Maybe we should go back and try to find a way around those guys.”
    “Stray bullets are not my bag,” said Stephen.
    Ben was now back towards the car. “Hey guys,” he said. “Come here.”
    They approached and saw what he was looking at. In the brush next to the car was a fly-covered dead dog. It was big, a labrador-cross, and it reeked.
    “Oh man, I’m gonna hurl,” said Jack. “Is that the dog they were looking for?”
    “I don’t think so,” said Ben as he pointed, “look.” Following his line, Stephen and Jack saw that the dog had several bullet-holes in its side.
    “They shot it!” said Stephen. “Sick bastards.”
    “Seriously, let’s get going,” said Jack.
    They turned and headed down the road. Occasionally they heard a shot from the direction of the quarry. Before long a well-traveled path appeared on their left. A quick check of the map and they were confident that it would lead them back to the power lines.
     
    **********
     
    The next morning they rose early and fixed their breakfast in the house so they could be ready to