Chapter 10.2

They worked for the rest of the day building the platform. It was hot sweaty work. Georgi’s arms hurt, her head hurt and she wanted to stop. She was becoming more and more worried about the noise they were making. Neil was very encouraging so they continued until it was completed. It wasn’t the prettiest piece of construction, but it was sturdy.

“Something is coming,” called Alex. She was pointing into the woods.

Georgi’s heart was pounding in her ears as she ran towards the treehouse. She could hear Neil running along with her. Rosemarie was trying to put the staircase down when Randy burst out of the forest. His slightly overweight body was moving as fast as it could. Other than his gun, he was empty handed.

“I am being followed,” he said.

“By what?” asked Rosemarie with unbridled fear in her voice. He didn’t answer as he ran into the cabin. He slammed shut the door. The group outside could hear him piling things up against it.  
My hero, thought Georgi.

Neil and Georgi climbed as quickly as they could into the treehouse. She scrambled to the railing to see what would come out of the treeline.

“Where’s Murphy?” Rosemarie asked. Her eyes darted quickly around the area.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in awhile,” Georgi said.

Off in the distance, they heard some crashing coming through the underbrush. Georgi watched with her gun pointed towards the forest. The sound was getting closer and closer. Her heart was beating so loudly in her ears that she thought the others might hear it. Maybe it was drowned out by their own fear.

Suddenly Murphy ran out of the underbrush.

“Murphy!” cried Rosemarie with glee. He slowed down. His tail began wagging furiously as he trotted towards the treehouse.

They didn’t hear any more noises coming from the trees. Georgi relaxed her hold on the gun.

“I think Randy was runnin’ from Murphy,” she said.

Rosemarie snorted. She was trying to contain her laughter, but was doing a poor job of it. “That is the funniest thing I have heard in a minute,” she said. She doubled over in a fit of giggles.

“Can I let Murphy up?” Alex giggled.

“Sure,” Georgi said scanning the yard. She thought it was humorous that Randy would run from the dog, but she did notice that he wasn’t carrying any meat. Maybe he shot something, but got spooked and didn’t bring it back. She suspected that he had failed in his mission.

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