Zero Hour in Hazzard County

Chapter Ten

"Benson, what are you doin' here?" Mr. Perry asked in confusion as he stood up all the way and stared between the man before him and the gun in the convict's hand aimed at his chest. "We thought you were on yer way to…"

"I never did say where I was headed, and I never told you my intentions for when we broke out," Lee responded as he clicked back the gun's hammer and changed the direction of the weapon, aiming it down at the criminals' captive. "I only needed you and your partner long enough to get out. I have business here in Hazzard and after hearing you and Mr. Burke talk about how much you hated these Dukes for putting you away, I knew you would help me get what I want. Hello again, Bo Duke is it?"

Bo scooted back against the post in the middle of the room as far back as he could, not wanting to give away that he was free, as it wouldn't do him much good if he got himself killed when trying to escape, then he glared at the convict towering over him in order to hide his dread as he replied, "Benson, you sure picked a heck of a time to come back here. If you think yer goin' to get your retribution on Luke, you've got another thing comin' to you!"

The newcomer smiled coldly and then answered, "On the contrary, though my plan is coming out a bit different than I imagined, I believe that these changes are much better for me. I want to thank you, Perry, for doing the hard work for me."

"Now wait a minute, this Duke is our prisoner and we've got four million dollars riding on us keeping him hostage until noon tomorrow," the train robber shouted while he attempted to go for his gun down on the ground, only for Benson to turn his own on the other criminal once again, which allowed for Bo the only chance he saw to break free, as he swiftly kicked Lee Benson in his knees to knock him back into Perry, then grabbed for the already discarded gun, even if it did violate his probation, in hope of using it only long enough to escape. "Hold it, country boy!"

"How about you hold it," Bo called out as he carefully kept the weapon aimed and his eyes on the men standing over him while reaching down with one hand to untie the ropes still binding his feet together. "I may be a young country boy, but I know how to shoot if it's necessary and I say this here time is necessary."

Lee didn't seem worried at all, as he still had his own gun aimed down on the Duke, who slowly stood from the ground, a Duke and two criminals facing off, then Benson smiled smugly as he responded, "That may be true, but that there weapon in yer hand won't do you much good, seeing as you don't have the stomach to kill one of us."

Bo really didn't, though he knew how to use a gun as well as he could shoot his bow. He just never had to kill anyone before as he and Luke were always foiling the criminals they ever came across using Luke's brilliant tricks and other items for weapons. There was also the fact that if he did shoot the men, he would be locked away for the rest of his life, even if it was done in self-defense. Boss Hogg would see to that. The youngest member of the Duke clan kept the gun raised, but the second that Lee saw him falter, was the second that the convict needed as he without hesitation fired a bullet from his own gun, the round striking Bo high in the upper part of his thigh, which caused him to cry out as he collapsed back to the ground. Benson rushed forward and knocked the weapon from his hand, then kicked Bo in the face and again in the stomach.

Bo didn't fall unconscious, but he was down and just struggling to breathe through his pain as Lee smiled smugly, then he turned both of the guns on Perry and ordered the thief, "If you want to live, Mr. Perry, I suggest you do as I say and wrap a tourniquet around this boy's leg to keep him from bleeding out on me. I'm not through with using him against Luke Duke yet. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"Mr. Perry!" Burke shouted as he suddenly charged into the old shack after hearing the gunshot upon returning from confronting Luke, only to come face to face with one of Benson's guns, finding the other still trained down on his partner while he was wrapping a rag as well as his belt around the wound in their prisoner's leg. "Mr. Benson, what are you doing here?"

"You are goin' to have to ask your partner that after me and this Duke take off, but first, I'm going to need you both to help him into the backseat of the car I drove here in," the crueler man replied, motioning the men to move, Burke and Perry obeying the orders without a fight, while Bo couldn't help, but allow his captors to drag him off. "I really do appreciate all your help. It was certainly a pleasure."

When he finally regained enough strength to do so, Bo slowly rose up off of the lower part of the seat, leaned back against the side of the vehicle, then struggled to speak saying confidently, "Luke will take… take you… down again, just like… he did before."

Benson looked back at Bo through his rearview mirror as he answered, "Yeah, well last time your cousin had the advantage. He had you and the rest of yer family. But so long as I have you, Luke will never strike out against me, which will allow me the opportunity to kill him once and for all."

"If you don't figure… out a way to git this… bullet out… of my leg… you won't have me either," Bo responded wearily as he could feel himself losing conscious despite how much he fought against it.

"Don't you worry about that," Lee replied coldly. "I'll get you to someone who can help, but if you try anything stupid, it won't be you that I kill, but the good doctor of this fair town. You won't go risking the life of an innocent now, would you?"

Bo closed his eyes as a bump in the road caused his leg to flare in pain, then opened them again and looked upward as he was trying to pray, then he answered, "No sir."

Lee Benson smiled and stated, "It's because of your inability to only think about yourself for once that I'm gonna beat you both this time around."