"Fingers crossed?" Cooter asked.
"Check." Enos replied, showing him his crossed fingers.
"Ear Plugs?"
"Yep." Enos held up two pairs of earplugs.
"Fire extinguisher?"
"Right here." Enos held it up.
"Case O' beer?"
Enos held up the last item. "You bet!"
"Now Enos, that's for celebratin' only ya hear?"
Enos nodded enthusiastically. The tassels on his hat flew up and down, making a tapping sound each time they hit the brim.
Cooter reached through the driver's side window of the General Lee and turned the key. The engine roared to life. He waited a few minutes. No popping. The engine was running very smoothly.
"Did we do it?" Enos asked.
Cooter looked under the hood. The engine was clean and free of any signs of fire.
"We did it. Enos...WE DID IT!" Cooter yelled.
He and Enos each whooped collectively.
Enos threw his fist in the air. "The General lives!"
Daisy was pretty shaken about what'd happened during her short visit to Hollow Hill. She was so worried about Bo and Luke, but also worried for her own safety. Russel hadn't hesitated to shoot at her, and she knew he wouldn't miss next time. She decided to never speak to anyone about her visit and to never, under any circumstance, return to Hollow Hill, because she understood now. She understood that if she went back there, the only way she'd be leaving would be in a wooden box.
After a few days, Bo and Luke began to notice a few changes in themselves. One, they were becoming very malnourished and getting weaker all the time due to lack of food and water. Two, their injuries were beginning to create large scars, leaving an undying reminder of this place. Three, they were starting to notice some psychological harm that had begun to grow on them. Jesse and Daisy were the first to notice in one of their nightly CB talks.
If they weren't tied up, Bo and Luke would stand on the roof of the barn, and watch the Sun set over Hazzard. Every once in awhile, Russel would have a drunken spell, and if they didn't stay far away from him, it'd turn out very badly. A few punches to the face were considered by Russel 'as merciful as it gets'. He and Clayton would disappear from Hollow Hill now and then.
After some time, Luke got the idea to start hunting for food. He explained to Bo that if they could catch some small game, they might be able to eat it.
"First of all, what're we gonna catch it with? Second of all, how're we gonna kill it? Third of all, how we gonna cook it?" Bo asked.
"We'll use raw materials, like sticks and rocks. We can build a small fire when Clayton and Russel are gone, and cook it that way." Luke explained.
Bo looked him up and down. "You mind makin' sure your sanity is still intact, cousin?"
"Just hear me out on this one alright, c'mon I'll show ya what I mean."
Bo shrugged and followed him out of the barn, and to the fenceline. Close to the fence, sitting in a tree, was a large, healthy bird. Luke picked up a rock and flung it at the bird's head. The rock hit the bird dead on, and it fell out of the tree. The bird landed on the opposite side of the fence.
"Great work Luke, our food's on the other side of the fence. What's your ingenious plan now, Einstein?" Bo said sarcastically.
"Lift the bottom of the fence, maybe I can reach under and grab it." Luke said.
Just then, something clicked in Bo's mind. "Lift the bottom of the fence, maybe we can crawl under and run."
"Not likely, neither one of us can lift it more than a few inches off the ground, and remember what I said, we hold out as long as we can until someone on the outside can figure us a way outta this."
"Yeah, well I'm done holdin' out, I want out."
They glared at each other for a moment.
"Just. Lift. The fence." Luke said sternly.
Bo laced his fingers through the fence and managed to lift it high enough for half of Luke's arm to fit under. The bird was still too far away.
"Lift it higher Bo." Luke said.
Bo grabbed the bottom of the fence and lifted it higher. His arms shaking, and his fingers going numb. The fence did not like being bent upward. Luke was able to reach his whole arm underneath, but the bird was still just out of his reach. He tried to reach farther, but the bottom of the fence started cutting into his shoulder.
Just then, a small fox came slinking out of the trees. It sat down next to the bird and watched Luke struggle. Then, it crouched down, and put its nose to the bird. It opened its mouth wide as if taunting Bo and Luke.
"Don't even think abou-" Luke started.
The fox grabbed the bird and held it up.
"No, bad fox, give it here."
The fox turned away and pranced back into the brush.
Luke pulled his arm back out from under the fence. By now, Bo was laughing uncontrollably.
"What's so funny?" Luke asked.
"Did you seriously think it'd listen to you?" Bo asked.
"Well… no."
"Admit it, cousin, this place is drivin' you outta your mind."
"I admit to nothin'."
A day or two later, Bo was becoming a bit desperate himself. Luke found him out front one day, fighting with one of the dogs. The pitbull had a large, tenderly cooked chicken, and Bo wanted it.
The dog had a few scars on him from previous injuries, and huge, rippling muscles could be seen under his skin. His coat was sleek, and the color of storm clouds. His steely, gray eyes sported a murderous glare. He had a leather collar with a piece of metal pounded onto it. Etched into the metal was the word 'Squall', the dog's name.
At first, it was some simple tug of war for the food, until Bo got what he wanted. As he and the dog fought over the chicken, the leg Bo was holding on to tore off. Squall looked down at what remained of his meal, and his eyes narrowed. The remaining chicken dropped from his mouth, and his lips pulled back into a vicious snarl. Squall mustered a low, threatening growl.
"Just let me have this piece, you got the bigger half!" Bo pleaded.
Squall growled again, baring his teeth. He jumped on top of Bo, pinning him to the ground. Bo tried to push him off, but the dog was too solidly built. He tried holding the chicken out of Squall's reach and blocked the dog with his arm, but the dog went after the food. He bit down on Bo's arm, trying to make him let go of the chicken. Bo grabbed Squall by the collar and tried to pull him off, but he only sank his teeth deeper into his arm. He punched the dog in the nose, and kneed him in the ribs, only to have Squall's teeth digging in deeper and deeper.
Bo's hand went limp, and the chicken fell onto the ground. Squall quickly ripped through Bo's arm and picked up the chicken. He set it down next to the rest of it and then turned back to Bo. He leaned in close, slowly opening his mouth, going straight for Bo's throat.
Then suddenly, there was a growl, a different tone than Squall's. The pitbull froze. Standing a few feet from them was a German shepherd. Squall began to slowly back off. The German shepherd let out a loud bark and showed Squall his teeth. Squall tucked tail, and ran into his doghouse, taking his chicken with him.
Bo sat up sorely and looked at his arm. Squall had torn it open good, and there was blood gushing everywhere. Luke walked over and knelt next to him.
"You alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, thanks for all your help." Bo replied sarcastically.
"Oh come on, I thought you were a goner."
"So did I."
The German shepherd, who'd remained eye contact, turned away for a second. He came back presenting his food to Bo and Luke. Luke held out his hand, and the dog dropped the chicken into his palm. Bo grabbed the dog's collar so he could find out what its name was. The collar's metal piece had the name 'Brutus' etched into it.
"This here says his name's Brutus." Bo said.
"Well thank you, Brutus." Luke said.
The dog had two scars on his face that made an X, they were similar to the ones Bo and Luke had on their backs. Russel had gotten him too. Brutus held out a paw to Luke, and he took it. It made for a somewhat awkward handshake.
After that, Bo and Luke went back into the barn. Luke wrapped Bo's arm with a wet rag and told him to keep pressure on it. Then, he divided the chicken between the two of them.