red hill - jamie mcguire

We kept shooting until they’d all fallen. I watched the shufflers for a moment, making sure all of
them were downed. After a full minute with no movement, I met the eyes of the bewildered men on
each side of me. I backed up to the door and pointed my gun in their general direction, just in case
they realized I was alone and could rob me—or worse.
“My name is Stanley Cooper. I’m Ashley’s boyfriend. Have you seen her Have they been here”
Before I could answer, the kid began to panic, rubbing the back of his neck and looking around.
“They’re not here, Nate. They didn’t make it.”
Recognizing the situation, Nate glanced at my gun for a fraction of a second before staring down
the road. His eyes narrowed, focusing on the crest of the red dirt with the same desperate, hopeful
expression on his face that I’d had for the last six days.
“Okay, so we head down the road and look for them,” Nate said.
“Wait,” I said, letting the end of the rifle drop a bit. “Ashley Hayes”
“Yes!” Stanley said. “Have you seen her”
“No.”
His face fell as the last bit of hope I’d given him disappeared. “They should be here by now!”
“It’s almost dark,” I said. “You shouldn’t leave. They’re out more at night. Getting snuck up on is a
good way to get killed.”
Stanley interlocked his fingers on top of his head, and after a short moment of deliberation, looked
to Nate. “I’m goin’.”
Nate nodded, and then looked at me. “Do you have any flashlights we could borrow”
I nodded, went inside to the kitchen, grabbed a flashlight from under the sink, and then got another
from the bedroom, returning to the porch. They both snapped the flashlights from my hands.
Nate took a deep breath. He was exhausted, but for whatever reason, he was just as anxious to find
Ashley. “We’ll bring back the guns.”
I didn’t answer, knowing I shouldn’t say what I truly believed: They wouldn’t make it back.
Wandering around in the dark was a death wish. I narrowed my eyes, glancing down the road to
where they were headed. Barely visible in the dim light, a cloud of red dust puffed just above the
road. “Wait. Wait! Look!” I said, pointing to the road.
Nate and Stanley had just left the porch to start their run when they eyed a white Bug catch air over
the hill. It jerked into the drive as if it were being chased, bouncing over every pothole before sliding
to a stop.
Stanley ran over to one side of the car, Nate on the other. The driver was Miranda, Ashley’s sister,
and her boyfriend, Bryce, stepped out from the passenger side. I’d only seen him once before. I’d
never met Stanley, and as I watched him pull Ashley from the backseat, I wondered if he was a new
boyfriend. I remembered Dr. Hayes calling Ashley’s boyfriend by a different name.
Ashley was nearly hysterical, wailing and clawing at Stanley’s shirt. Her eyes were swollen and
red, long soaked from the tears she’d wept while they were apart. Nate leaned down and pulled a tiny
girl from the backseat. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as best she could as he held her,
silently weeping, clearly emotionally exhausted. My chest burned at the sight of her. She was about
Halle’s size, and I knew immediately that she belonged to Nate. Seeing them reunite made the need to