The Switch by John Sullins

before going back into the store and searching the shelves for
first aid supplies. He used his flashlight and was able to find a box of band
aides and tube of antiseptic.
     
    He stood so he could see the
broken window, watching for the woman. As he dressed the cut with the
antiseptic and tried to put a couple of band aides over it. The blood was still
flowing and the band aides would not stick so he found a roll of paper towels
and ripped open the plastic covering. He folded two of the paper towels a
couple of times and held them against the cut on his face applying direct
pressure until the blood flow slowed.
     
    He continued to hold the
paper towels on the cut when he went back outside and found the woman was gone.
He aimed the flashlight on the ground and saw a trail of blood droplets leading
away from the spot where she was on the ground. He moved the light’s beam
towards the street but could not see her.
     
    He returned to the water hose
and removed all of his clothes. He held the hose over his neck and shoulders
being careful not to let the water get onto his cut and reopen the wound. He
washed with his left hand as he held pressure on the cut with his right. The
cool night air evaporating the water from his skin was cold but refreshing. He
used some of the paper towels to dry off before getting dressed.
     
    He put the rifle sling over
his shoulder, climbed onto his bicycle, and pedaled away while still holding
pressure on his cut.
     
    He held the handlebars with
his left hand and pedaled back to the highway and the camp site.
     
    When he got back to camp,
everyone but David was asleep, he was standing with his back against a tree
acting as a guard. When he saw John’s face he shook his head and asked what
happened.
     
    John’s only response was
“women”. He crawled into his tent with no further explanation.
     
     
     

 
    Chapter 11
     
    David moved from tent to tent
and woke everyone about thirty minutes before daylight.
     
    “Time to rise everyone. If we
want to get through Nashville before the bad guys get up and moving, we need to
break camp as fast as possible, no dilly-dagging, let’s get moving.”
     
    The cut on John’s face was
swollen and a deep red. He put a fresh tab of antiseptic crème on the cut along
with three fresh band aides before leaving his tent.
     
    John tied his tent and
sleeping bag onto his bike and went to help Thomas’ finish packing their gear. Samuel
was still not speaking. John could tell he was still upset about the comments
about GOD and killing the rapist.
     
    While John was explaining to
Barbara about the need to get through Nashville early Samuel finally spoke.
“Let’s get moving.”
     
    Barbara and Sandra obeyed his
command without hesitation. They pushed their bikes up the side of the hill to
the highway along the side of David and the others.
     
    Samuel did not wait for
anyone to say anything about the morning plans. He climbed onto his bike and
began coasting down the long hill into Nashville.
     
    As David watched him coast
ahead, followed by his wife and daughter, he looked past him at the skyline of
Nashville. “They could be in real trouble passing through Nashville if they
have no weapons.”
     
    John chuckled, “GOD will take
care of them.”
     
    Lynn said, Let’s keep them in
sight, they may need our help again.”
     
    Everyone was full of anxiety
and worry as they anticipated the potential problems ahead. The fresh cut
across John’s face added to the anxiety. Both Megan and Cameron asked their
grandfather how he cut his face. He lied and told them he had fallen from his
bicycle. Both Renee and Lynn listened to that story and knew it was probably
not true. They both knew their father well enough to know he did not fall off
the bike. They knew his temper. If he had really fallen off the bike, he would
have had one of his famous “dumb ass attacks” and smashed the bike to pieces.
But in spite of what they thought, neither girl asked him