The Last of the Twenty: Broken Pawns

Prologue

Country music blared from the truck's radio, filling the air and drowning out the nighttime sounds of the river and wind that normally ruled the night this far out of town. There were no campsites here, no lights from the town or sounds of traffic to mar the feeling of isolation from the real world. Just an old logging road that led down to and along the narrow bank of the river that cut a long winding slash through the thick forest. Except for the occasional canoers the spot was relatively unknown to people, including locals, and that's just how the few people who came here liked it. A small, natural escape in an otherwise artificial and often too big world.

Not far from the truck a small campfire burned near the water's edge, the heat from the flames fighting off the wind's chill and warming the three men who sat around it laughing. Soon the song on the radio ended and switched over to commercials, the alien noise fading just long enough for the riverside to almost return to normal, quiet enough for Shawn, the man sitting closest to the woods, to hear the sounds of crunching leaves and snapping branches as someone made their way awkwardly through the brush, all the while mumbling to themselves incoherently. The commercials soon ended and the music returned full blast, drowning out the strange noise. The man shook it off and motioned for his buddy to throw him another beer out of the cooler.

"Stop hogging them all, jackass." His friend yelled over the music. He kicked the cooler open with his boot, nearly knocking it over. Needing to use his chair to steady himself he pulled one out, threw it over the fire to his friend while letting out a loud burp and laughing. The can missed by several feet and landed in the sand behind his chair.

"Says the one who's hovering over the cooler like a dog over a steak. You're the DD tonight Jim, slow down or we'll have to spend the night spooning in the back of your shitty truck!" He barked over his shoulder as he leaned back to retrieve his beer with a laugh. The can opened with a hiss, spraying beer all over the front of his shirt.

Jim shrugged, "You two idiots spoon all you want, I'm sleeping in the cab."

All three men were well past the point of being able to drive. They worked together at the town garage, and after three years of no contracts or pay increases their union had finally negotiated a pay raise from the town. Cracking open the rusty wallets of the retired old farts that sat on the town board was akin to breaking into a bank vault with a piece of wire. In theory it could be done, but the reality was it took a near miracle to make it happen. The first thing they had done with the news was to stop off at a gas station after work and pick up enough beer to have a nice little post-work celebration down at the river. As Jim drank he looked over at the third member of the group, Tom, who was just staring at the fire with an empty can in one hand.

"You alive over there Tom?" He burped out between gulps.

Tom looked up from the fire and gave him the finger, crushing the empty against his leg and throwing it into the steadily growing pile of empties next to the fire.

"Hell yea I'm alive, just trying to figure out what I'm going to do with all the extra money I'm going to have! Three years man, three years! Give me another, I'm still in shock!" Grinning Tom held up his hand up and caught the beer that flew through the air at him with the practiced ease of a circus performer. With a practiced flick of his finger he opened the can and downed half of it in a single gulp, making sure to direct the proceeding belch in Jim's direction. "What are you going to do with all that extra money Shawn?" Tom asked.

Shawn didn't hear the question. He had his head tilted towards the woods behind them, concentrating on a sound the others were either too far away or too tipsy to hear. Across the fire Jim crushed another empty can in his hand and threw it at Shawn, once again missing. "What's up Shawn? Afraid something's gonna come outta the woods and get ya?" He mocked.