"There's no way we could make this work Sam! The bridge is too short and we'll get stuck if we try." said Bernard
"Oh thats what your sister said but I think it'll work." replied Sam.
The two sat on the edge of an unfinished bridge crossing a deep swampy ravine. They looked out remembering the dreams of their youth and how the years slipped through their fingers. They used to play here as kids and always had a bet going to see who could jump the gap to the ridge on the other side. As it appeared impossible, they never tried it, but the idea always remained haunting and laughing at them.

Suddenly Sam jumped up exclaiming "We've been thwarted by this ravine our whole lives, but no more I say.. NO MORE!" Bernard looked up at his life-long friend in startled amusement that quickly changed to surprise when Sam ran back, turned around and began running full speed to the edge of the ridge. "NOOOOOOOO" cried Bernard, but he was too late, Sam had already begun his leap of a lifetime.

A leap of faith Sam thought as he felt his body arc through the air and then begin the fall. All of Sam's life, he had been the timid one, never one to take chances because chances could get you hurt. Yet here he was falling through the air, wondering if the first time that he had enough courage to take that leap, would be his last. Bernard watched in horror from the safety of solid ground beneath his feet. The thought ran through his mind "What will I tell Cindy, Sam's wife of twenty years?" As Sam's leap came to it's conclusion, tears ran down Bernard's face.

Memories raced through his mind as he closed his eyes, unable to witness the outcome of Sams impetuous decision. Flashing memories of the last second before the semi crashed into his car, stealing his wife and son from him eight years before. Sam and Cindy had been the only straw for him to cling to in the months and years to follow. How could he bare to lose his best friend now and how could he face Cindy?

Salty tracks ran down his face, drying in the sun. Bernard just sat there with his eyes closed in a meditative like silence for hours. He was frozen in time like a statue from a war memorial on the lawn of some government building. They could never really get a good look at what was at the bottom of the ravine and he heard nothing when his friend fell. He was stuck between the idea that Sam was okay somewhere down in the bottom of the mysterious pit, and letting go of his friend forever. Hellacious feelings ran rampant through his veins and out into the world around. A squirrel quietly stopped and sat next to Bernard staring at him for a moment and scampered off when he opened his eyes.

He blinked. This could not be. It was impossible. But there he stood grinning from ear to ear....."Bernard, Sam yelled over..DON'T JUMP!!!" There is a nice soft pile of pine needles from those trees right there, gesturing to the trees beside Bernard, but the climb back up, man, I did not think I was ever going to be able to make it!"

Cursing worse than he ever had in his life Bernard, laughed and cried all at the same time, You stupid son of a .......I am so glad to see you, I thought you were gone! NOW smarty, how the hell am I supposed to get over there?"

Seeing Sam on the other side of the ravine, safe and unscathed, Bernard had never felt such relief. All he wanted to do was to take his friend and hold him so he could actually feel that he was whole and alive. So many locked up feelings ran through his being. He had an overwhelming feeling of ectasy that his friend had survived and was just a few yards from him. Without another thought, Bernard stretched out the few paces backwards to the thicket of trees behind him and took off like a flash towards the only true friend he had ever known. He never saw the piece of rebar at the edge of the unfinished bridge that, through time, had worked it's way above the surface....

...and it had caught the edge of his foot as he approached the bridge sending him tumbling forward. He flew face first down off of the edge in an awkward, twisting fall. On the way down he hit a cliff-side tree and blood came gushing out of his head. He finally found the steep hill where he could roll the rest of the way down to the bottom and into a pile of pine needles about an inch deep with soft ground underneath. Echoing through the valley, he heard the voice of his friend saying something like 'are you okay?' or 'did you hit the hay?' just before the darkness.

Sam rushed down the slanting slope from his side of the ravine trying to get to his friend. The undergrowth of vines and weeds slowed his progress and for every hurried step forward, he fell, and felt he was running in reverse. Sam's side of the ravine was moss, mud and basically a pool full of lily pads where the frogs echoed their deep thoated opposition against all the unatural sounds of Sam's and Bernards hollering. Sam's uncontrolled scale down his side of the ravine was that of an amaturish first time rehersal of a 2nd grade practice of swan lake. He was all legs and arms as he hurried to find his friend. When Sam finally reached Benard he realized that one side of the ravine was much different than the other. Sam's side was all grass, leaves, moss and mud. Bernards sides was, thanks to human intervention, all metal, concrete and rock. The unfinished bridge would finally find a way to finish something. Sam found his friend. Bernards skull was crushed, but he was still semi-conscious when Sam reached him.

Sam took off his jacket, and the t-shirt underneath, and ripped the shirt into strips to wrap around Bernard's head in an attempt to slow down the bleeding. He knew his friend was badly injured, and there was no one else within miles to help.

It was up to Sam to save Bernard's life, and he had little to work with. Night-time was going to be closing in on them within just a few short hours, and the temperature would drop drastically, leaving both of them prone to the elements, and the thought of wild, dangerous animals was tickling at the back of Sam's thought process.

It was at that point that Sam realized he needed to crawl back out of the ravine and get back to their vehicles as soon as possible. If he got there fast enough, he could drive to a farm house nearby, or whatever he could find nearby, and hopefully get someone in there before Bernard died of his injuries.

Sam had already climbed out of the ravine once and succeeded, so he knew he could do it again. He worried a little bit about falling and injuring himself, leaving both of them completely helpless for possibly days before they'd be reported missing. But he knew he had to take that chance.

So, he made sure Bernard was as comfortable as possible, checked to see that he was still breathing, covered him with his jacket, and started the long climb back up to the top, hoping to find at least a spare shirt for himself in one of their trucks, and even more importantly.......a blanket or two, and some water for Bernard. It was going to be a lot of work, but he knew that he had to decend back into the ravine to treat his friend for shock if he could find a way to cover him before he left to find help.

Twilight was decending on the landscape as Sam reached the top of the ravine. Worried and exhausted he peered over the edge trying to get a glimpse of his friend below. The long shadows of evening were reaching out and touching everything now as if they were slowly devouring all they engulfed. Sam hurried to their trucks that had been parked earlier that day. His mind wandered back to the hours before fate had decided to intervine and leave Bernards life in his hands. He desperately ravaged through the truck beds looking for something that might help his buddy, coming up with only an empty coke can and a ball cap that he had thrown in the bed before they headed for the unfinished bridge. Sam new time was not on his side as he began his frantic race down the dirt road to try to reach the highway before darkness overtook everything. About a half mile into his journey he heard a truck start up in the distance and to his left. He peered into the dusk and saw an old logging trail from where the sound was coming ......

"Ohh. Why!? What the hell is wrong with you Sam?", he muttered to himself in a frantic shameful adrenaline rush, "Wait what was that?"
Sam just turned toward the sound and ran straight for it. He wasn't thinking clearly now and had no idea what he was doing, just hoping to find someone to help. As he got closer the sound grew quieter. Sam ran faster yelling 'stop' and 'help!'
But the truck just kept going through the woods on the old trail. For some reason Sam just kept running. He was desperate now.
The trail wound back and forth down the mountain and Sam could still hear it in the distance and every now and then he could see the headlights. A couple of times he went off the side down the hill to where the road was further down because he could see the truck. This helped him gain some ground.
He was almost caught up to them when he heard talking, "Alright boys we're ready to rock and roll now!" said somebody in a thick redneck way.
"Hot damn now thats what I call a gun!"
"Ak 47 bo. It'll do for Armageddon. It should be all you need."
"Thanks. How much do I owe you, man?"
"Wait. What was that?"
"I heard something, too."
Sam's mouth filled with the taste of copper, and his heart started jumping around in his chest.

Instincts took over and Sam froze in his tracks. His mind raced, trying to format some kind of plan of escape. Ever so slowly he crouched down in the shadows and blended in with the surrounding underbrush. He could hear the men whispering now. "Somebody's there, boys and we better find 'em. Spread out." Sam knew his time was limited and he had to act quickly. Pressing his hands to the ground, like a sprinter ready for the shot of the starter pistol, he felt every muscle in his body tense up, ready to be released. As Sam's fingers spread out in the dirt he felt a hard, round stone. Without really thinking about it, he quietly picked it up and threw it down the hill. He heard it hit and then roll, making clicking sounds as it tumbled through the dry twigs.. "There he goes!" Sam heard one of the men shout. "After him, quick!" Sam ducked down as far as he could and melted into the scenery. The men, three of them as far as Sam could tell, ran right by him and on down the hillside. He then quietly, but quickly, started off in the direction the men had come. After a few yards Sam saw two pick up trucks parked on the old logging trail. With any luck there would be keys in at least one of them. Quickly checking the trucks, Sam found keys in both. He took the set from one truck and threw them away, bolted to the other truck, turned the key, revved the engine and tore off down the dirt road as if the bats of hell were on his heels.

Realizing that if he headed for the opening to the trail where he'd entered, he'd be leading them right to where he and Bernard had parked their trucks, and possibly right to Bernard... so he made a rash decision to cut his own path through the woods, and suddenly cut the wheels sharp to the left, swerving between trees, knocking down bushes ...and just barely missing an out-cropping of boulders as he sped his way to where he hoped he'd find the main road, which would lead him to the highway...and eventual safety. If he was lucky.

If he wasn't so lucky, he knew he was in for a long, hard night, and may not see the light of day if those guys caught up with him.

He began to replay in his head what he'd heard them say. "AK 47", "armageddon"... armageddon?!!? did he really hear that? He shook his head in disbelief as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and chills ran down his spine. Then another thought came to him.......a name. He'd heard a name in that conversation. Was it ...Joe...?

Suddenly the reason for his quest came rushing back into his mind like a river busting through a flood gate. BERNARD!! Sams only thought now was to find help for his dear friend lying in that ravine. He push his right foot to the floor and gunned that ol pick up as hard as he could. Unaware of the trees limbs that were crashing around him as he hurled through the woods. His mind flashed back through his life time. He had always been the quiet, shy one of the pair. Bernard was more the gallivant impetuous of the two. Sam had always wondered if fate allowed, would he be able to measure up. The crashing bump was the only thing that brought Sams mind back to focus. "What was that?" His mind screamed. Instantly and fully aware of his surrounding now, Sam realized that he had hit the ditch on the side of the main gravel road and yanked the steering wheel to the right as hard and as fast as he could. Barely slowing down he guided that ol' truck onto the road and sped down the gravel knowing the highway was near.

He could see the pavement of the highway, but just as he was about to reach it, out ran the three men that he had stolen the truck from!...One had the AK-47 aimed right at him....Screeching to a alt and scared to death, Sam thought he only had two choices, floor it and run them over and take a chance of getting shot or stopping and lord only knows what will happen...The men surrounded the truck yelling obscenities at Sam...Sam, fearing not only for his life but the life of his friend Bernard hit the gas petal and sped off, he could hear the AK-47 pelleting the rear of the truck....All of a sudden everything went black.

Sam came to, still driving on the road somehow.
"Had I fainted?" he thought.
"This unexpected stress must be getting to me."
He had a scratch on his ear and a couple of pieces of glass embedded in his arm, but overall pretty healthy it seemed.
"So, I need to find help, quick." Sam was just thinking then a police car drove past him.
Without a second thought, Sam turned the truck around to get the cop's attention. His breath was getting short and he was feeling flushed and starting a cold sweat. Fear was overtaking his mind, and panic began to flow through his veins.
"Oh GodOh god oh god oh god!?"

I mustn't pass out again, thought Sam. Gritting his teeth and flooring the accelerator again, he began flashing his lights and honking the horn as he began catching up with the patrol car. When he saw the light bar on top of the cop car light up and brake lights glaring in his face, Sam knew he had gotten the officers attention. He pulled over behind the police vehicle and began getting out of his truck. "FREEZE and GIT ON THE GROUND!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!" Sam stopped dead in his tracks and started to stutter out what was happening when he heard the officer again. "ON THE GROUND.... NOW!!!!!!!" The officer had knelt down behind his car door and had drawn his weapon which was pointing right in the middle of Sams chest. Sam immediately dropped to the asphalt and lay their in a panic. As he heard the patrolman walk towards him, he once again tried to explain. "SHUT UP!" shouted the officer. "You in a heap of trouble boy." Sam knew every moment that was being used up here was also another moment his friend Bernard was losing. As the cop straddled over the top of him reaching down for Sams wrist to cuff them Sam reacted once again without thinking. He suddenly rolled over and kicked out, knocking the patrolman off balance and grabbing for the hand that held his pistol. Twisting his hands violently Sam not only now held the weapon, but had flipped the officer on his back and was now hoovering over him. It was if Sams spirit had left his body and was now above them looking down. He didn't even recognize his own voice when it scream. "Listen to me, you redneck, John Wayne wannabe.. My friend is in dire need of help, I've got men shooting at me and now you are going to help me. IS THAT CLEAR?"....

The officer looked up at Sam and by Sam's tone of voice knew he had better do as he was told...Sam was in somewhat disbelief that he had actually done what he had done, but the only thing on his mind now was getting help to his friend Bernard...Just as he was about to help the officer up, the three men came running at him..tackling Sam to ground, Sam fights for his life. The officer tries to help but one of the men takes the butt of his gun and knocks him out cold...as the men start to tie the officer up, Sam begins to beg for his life..."please just let me go, I won't tell a soul, all I want to do is get help for my friend" One of the men laughed at him "you ain't going no where" he tells Sam... Sam struggles to get free from the ropes that are biting into his flesh.."please he begs, I won't tell a soul!" "Jusy lay there and be silent or I'll make it where you won't ever make another sound again" one man told Sam. Sam lays there, his mind wondering wildly on how he was going to survive this..he never had a fighting bone in his body until now, he knows he has to find the strength to get free and get help for Bernard before its too late for the both of them...

*Narrator* Will Sam be able to escape from the redneck, gunrunners? Will Bernard survive the night? Is Cindy worried that Sam hasn't come home? Stay tuned for more exciting adventure.

.....Sam felt his body being jerked from side to side and felt cold metal against his face. Opening one eye, he realized that he was still riding the same truck he had stolen, only now he was tied up and thrown in the back. He could not for the life of him remember how he got here, and his head felt like someone had let off an explosion right between his ears....slowly Sam remembered the police officer and the struggle that had ended with him on the losing end. About that time the truck hit another bump and Sam's head bounced off of the truck bed, going swimmy again..

He heard someone bang on the back glass of the truck and yell at him..."hey boy, you alright" and with a high menacing laugh, finished with..."you won't be soon" Sam tried to sit up to see if anything looked familiar to him and to his horror it did. About three hundred yards ahead he saw his own truck which he had stupidly abandoned in this attempt to get help to Bernard as quickly as possible. The driver suddenly slammed on the brakes, shooting Sam into the back of the cab of the truck hard enough that he heard a crunch in his chest and felt a burning as if someone had just used one of his ribs for kindling.

One of the men in the cab said "Hey Joe, why the hades we bothering with with this, you heard him,(gesturing toward Sam) tell that cop that his friend needed help, shoot he may be bear food by now. Sam's heart froze in his chest as he realized that the mission that these good ole boys were on was to find Bernard, but he was pretty sure that helping him to the top and taking him to get medical attention was not on the agenda.

The truck doors creaked open and Sam was lifted by his hair out of the back of the truck. Every fiber of his body screamed in pain. "Alright boy, you better tell us where your friend is at so we can get him some help." One of the other boys giggled in a way that let Sam know that there would be no help for Bernard if these fellas had anything to do with it, least not any help that anyone other than a coroner could provide......