Shit, shit, shit. Caleb started to cry and the tears pissed him off. This wasn’t the time. In the peak of any crisis, you had to keep your head thinking clearly. How many times had he heard that from his parents?

“Son, we’ve just met and I know you’re a little shaken up, but your people killed my people. If you think I would hesitate even a second to take you apart a chunk at a time, you couldn’t be more wrong. Now, what’s your name?”

“Caleb.”

“Right. Caleb. I knew it was from the Bible. That original Caleb was one brave son of a bitch. You a Bible reader, son?”

“No. Sir.” He fought the urge to scan the forest for Luke. He was out there somewhere. What had they done with him? If he’d gotten away somehow, he didn’t want to cue Grubbs and his gang by craning his neck to see past.

“Oh, now that’s a shame. Times like these, the Bible can be a great source of strength.”

Grubbs sat on the ground, directly in front of Caleb, three feet away. Four men and two women stood behind Grubbs. Others stood behind Caleb—he could hear them—but he didn’t want to risk turning around to see them.

“What do you read?”

Something wasn’t right here. Why were they talking about reading? “I, uh, don’t read a lot, sir. I liked the Harry Potter books.”

“You like exciting stories? Stories with giants and floods and murder and betrayal?”

“I suppose.”

“Then you really need to give the Bible a try.”

“Yes, sir.”

“But you know that’s really not why you’re here, though, right?”

“I was here to hunt rabbits.”

Grubbs winked at him. “Right. That’s why you got this little peashooter with you. Yeah?”

Caleb nodded.

Grubbs looked at him funny, as if he were debating whether to ask another question. He handed the 10/22 to one of the men behind him.

Caleb jumped when Grubbs reached over and gave his knee a playful slap. “Helluva coincidence, don’t you think? You wanderin’ into the woods to kill Bugs Bunny and you run into us, instead?”

“Yes, sir.” From this point forward, Caleb figured, his best option would be to agree with everything the man said.

Grubbs looked up at something behind Caleb and beckoned with two fingers.

Footsteps approached from behind, and then the nightmare became real and awful as Brandon-Lee May stepped into view. Celeb tried to scoot backward along the ground, but someone’s legs wouldn’t let him.

“Caleb, say hi to my son, Brandon-Lee.”

“Oh, shit. You’re his father?” The question escaped before he could stop it.

Grubbs extended his hands to his sides, as if to embrace the world. “I consider all of my friends to be family. Brandon-Lee included.” He craned his neck to address Brandon-Lee directly. “You recognize this boy, son?”