The Vivisectionist by Ike Hamill Page B

from the car,” crackled Jack. “I think there’s someone guarding the car.”
    “Really?” asked Ben.
    “Hey,” said Jack, “I’ve got an idea.”
    “Yeah?” asked Ben.
    “Listen—wait exactly five minutes and don’t make a sound,” said Jack. “Then yell to the guy while I sneak around the other side.”
    “Okay, I get it,” said Ben.
    “Okay, I’m turning the volume up after you say okay. Then you give me exactly five minutes.”
    “Okay, five minutes starting now,” said Ben.
    Stephen and Ben both alternated between looking at Ben’s watch and the guys in the pit.
    “Hey, what if they leave?” asked Stephen. “How are we going to tell Jack without accidentally calling the guard?”
    “I didn’t think of that,” said Ben. “But I think he’ll have time. It takes more than five minutes to get back to the car from down there.”
     
    **********
     
    At the parking area, Jack walked a wide circle around the the guy at the car. He left his walkie-talkie in a thick bush just out of the guard’s view. Jack crept across the road and dashed into the brush on the other side. When he started to creep towards the car from the opposite side, he heard Ben’s far-off voice. Jack thought it obvious that the voice was coming from a radio—something artificial about the sound—but he hoped the effect would be the same.
    The man leaning on the car stood up when he heard Ben's voice. Jack saw him take a half a step away from the car. When the man rose, a dog started barking from within the car.
    “Shut up,” commanded the man.
    The dog continued barking until the man slapped the car window. Moving a little closer, Jack saw the dog appear in the window on his side. Jack froze. He hoped the dog would stay quiet. Ben continued to call through the walkie-talkie, but Jack couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying. The man took one more glance back at the car and then headed off towards the scratchy voice of Ben.
    Bracing his nerve, Jack rushed through the thick woods and reached the car as the man disappeared on the far side of the road. The dog watched Jack open the rear passenger door.  Jack thought he recognized the yellow labrador retriever. The dog wore a black collar and panted and wagged as he pushed his way out of the car. Jack paused to think; he gently brought the door back to the frame without pressing it fully shut.
    He glanced in the direction he had last seen the man, and then Jack ran back into the woods on the far side of the road. He wanted to move quietly, but focused more on getting quickly out of sight. The dog bounded alongside Jack. The bushes became thicker and harder to navigate while the ground squished under their feet. Jack stopped to consider the best way to make it through this marsh.
    “Jesus, fuck,” Jack heard a voice far behind yell. He stood perfectly still and heard a car door slam. Moving to his left, he tried to skirt the wet area as the dog plowed through the mud. He shushed at the dog to no avail. When he reached a dry spot, Jack started to run. He figured he was moving approximately parallel to the road.
     
    **********
     
    Ben lifted his finger from the “Send” button and looked at Stephen.
    “Do you think that’s enough?” Ben asked. Stephen was poking his head over the lip of the pit, watching Smoker and Bag Man.
    “I guess so,” Stephen replied. “There’s really know way to know, unless the guy answers back.”
    “Let’s wait a minute and see if anyone picks up,” said Ben.
    They both turned their attention to the guys with the gun. Bag Man was arranging the dead body of the cat. A second later, he trotted away and joined Smoker again. They watched intently until a small explosion lifted the dead cat from the ground. They laughed and ran over to see the damage.
    “Those guys are like movie-evil,” said Stephen. “It’s like a gag—I mean who would be that sick?”
    “Look!” said Ben.
    Down in the pit, Smoker and Bag Man broke off their game