Chapter 12 The Capture

Bogg swung the rifle around with his left hand and the scene froze. Wilson stood a few feet away, his rifle trained on Bogg, and Bogg's rifle likewise, was aimed at Wilson's chest.

There was silence.

"Get away. Yeah, there's an idea," Wilson's voice had a hint of hopelessness to it.

The strange voice sent chills down Bogg's spine.

"Jeff, leave.. now," Bogg ordered.

"I can't let go of.."

"Drake wants you here, so get lost in these woods, go!" Jeff had never heard Bogg's voice like this before. He paused, a whirlwind of thoughts rushing through his mind. If he was in the woods, maybe he could help free Bogg, rather than having them both captured. But, leaving would be the hardest thing he'd ever done and he wavered.

Suddenly Jeff stood up and backed away from the two men, whose guns were leveled at each other, then turned and ran.

He took 2 steps before he saw Drake's gun, at point blank range, and stopped.

"A deserter, huh?" Drake mocked him. "I always had you pegged that way," and he motioned with the gun, toward Bogg and Wilson, "get back."

"Well done Wilson," Drake said as he moved beside the man. "Put the gun down, Bogg."

He waited, but nobody moved.

"He won't put it down," Wilson whispered, his gun still aimed at Bogg's chest.

"Put the gun down or I kill the boy," Drake threatened, moving his revolver to emphasize that it was pointing directly at Jeffrey.

Bogg immediately lowered the rifle.

"That's how it's done Wilson. You don't aim the gun at Bogg. It's the kid he cares more about than himself." Then, Drake turned his whole focus back to Jeffrey and whispered, "I've been waiting a long time to do this," and he aimed more purposefully. As Jeff's eyes widened in shock, he squeezed the trigger.

Phineas lunged toward Jeffrey, but he knew he was too late. He saw a blur to his right as Wilson swung his rifle upward and struck Drake's hand from below just as he squeezed the trigger, sending the bullet into the trees.

Phineas pushed Jeff to the side, and grunted one word, "run!" as he turned to attack Drake. But the man was already sprawled in the dirt, face down, and Wilson was kneeling on his back, a rope in his hand.

Wilson had jammed the butt end of his rifle squarely into Drake's face after hitting his gun hand. From behind Bogg, Jeff watched Drake fall, stunned by the unexpected blow. Then Wilson quickly rolled Drake over and tied first his wrists and then his ankles together, faster than he thought possible. Jeff watched in shock, until he finally looked up at Bogg, and noticed how much he was sweating and how hard he was breathing.

No one said a word as Wilson finished tying Drake up and then stood up to face them.

"You can put the gun down now," he said to Bogg, who still held the rifle in his left hand, pointed at Wilson again.

Bogg didn't move. He felt a wave of heat wash over him, and shifted unsteadily, hoping he could remain standing. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he still wasn't ready to trust the stranger.

Wilson ignored the rifle Bogg had trained on him, and bent to pick up the Colt 45 he had knocked out of Drake's hand. At the same time, Jeff moved quickly to the knapsack and emptied the fruit out of a cloth bag and returned to wrap it around Bogg's right arm. His partner winced as a wave of pain traveled out from his arm, but Jeff kept a tight hold over the wound as he wrapped the bag and the bleeding finally stopped.

"Freeze!" Phineas ordered, keeping the rifle trained on the man.

"I don't think you can make me," Wilson said, staring at Phineas as he put the Colt into his shoulder holster.

"Why not?"

Wilson stared at him, "I'm willing to bet that gun isn't loaded."

"You just saw me shoot the omni out of his hand," Bogg countered in a deadly voice.

"But I've heard about you, and training like ours is hard to ignore. One bullet to get the job done and a second if you miss. I bet you only had 2 bullets. You could've killed him and you didn't."

"What're you getting at?" Bogg asked, breathing hard. He could hear a soft buzzing sound.

"My gun's not loaded either. The bullets are in my pocket," Wilson told him.

As they stood in the heat, Bogg finally understood. He lowered the rifle and swayed slightly.

"I don't get it?" Jeff said looking from one to the other. Bogg was looking worse by the second.

"Voyagers don't shoot people," Wilson said.

The buzzing sound was louder and Bogg thought it was strange that Jeff didn't seem to notice it. Then it got dark.

Wilson and Jeffrey moved together to break his fall as Phineas' legs buckled under him.

"Bogg!" Jeff called out and watched Wilson catch him by the shoulders and ease him down, then take off his jacket and slide it under Bogg's head.

"He'll be okay kid," Wilson reassured him after giving the wound a cursory look. "But he'll need a doctor, and sooner rather than later." He pulled one of two omnis off his belt and handed it to Jeff. "Take em both back, and make sure they put him away," he moved his head in Drake's direction.

Jeff took the device in his left hand, afraid to release the pressure on Bogg's arm with his right. He stared at Wilson, trying to understand.

"I'll kill you Wilson!" Drake's voice cut through the quiet like a knife.

Jeff stared down at Bogg in shock, he was white, and soaked with sweat.

"Sure you will," Wilson said calmly.

"What about you? You're a Voyager, aren't you coming back too?" Jeff asked him.

"I can't go back," Wilson said quietly.

"And I'll kill Phineas Bogg too!" Drake's voice once again cut through the air.

"Jeff?" the voice was weak, but it made Jeff's heart soar.

"Just lay still, everything's okay," Jeff told him.

"I'll kill you all!"

"Doesn't sound okay."

Jeff smiled, "it is."

"Is there any water?"

Jeff helped him to drink and Phineas could feel himself recovering. He glanced around and took in the scene. Drake was trussed up, Jeffrey moved freely, and Wilson stood off to the side, staring at them all.

"I'll find his omni, they'll want it at Headquarters," Wilson said and was gone before either of them could answer.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Jeff finally asked his partner, wondering how long they should wait. He wanted to get Bogg to a doctor as soon as he could.

"He'll be back."

"How can you be so sure?"

"He's a Voyager. I don't know how he got into this whole thing with Drake, but, deep down, he's a Voyager."

"I'll kill you Bogg, so help me God!"

Jeff glanced at Drake, who was still laying on his stomach, wrists tied to his ankles. He didn't look dangerous, but Jeff still shivered at the sound of his voice.

"Ignore what he says, but watch him like a hawk," Bogg instructed, rolling onto his side so he could face Drake himself.

"The bleeding's stopped again," Jeff said and took his hand off the wound, "just keep your arm still."

A few moments later, they heard leaves crunching on the trail, and Wilson appeared.

"He eyed Bogg, "well, you look better."

"Thanks... for everything."

Wilson nodded, he glanced over at Drake, "just make sure he gets locked up. He's crazy, ... I mean really."

"Come back with us," Bogg said evenly.

Wilson shook his head, "I have no future, not after what I've done, Drake saw to that."

"What you've done is saved Jeff's life, ... and mine. And captured Drake."

Wilson paused, "I've done other things, you don't know..."

"Okay, look, I know you've done some things wrong, but you can face up to them now, and after it's over you can start with a clean slate. Saving us and capturing Drake has to balance out whatever else you did." Bogg paused, he could see that Wilson was considering what he said, so he continued, "and what kind of life will you have if you leave? You'll always be on the run. That's no life. And they'll catch you sooner or later, you know that."

Wilson exhaled loudly and shook his head. "I've worked for Drake, breaking rules for over a year!" he shouted, "they aren't going to forget that!"

"You saved our lives and captured Drake and they won't forget that either. Look, I'll swear to them that you could've killed us any time you wanted. I'll testify that you refused to hurt Jeff and then stopped Drake from killing him, and that you didn't even have any bullets in your gun. That shows who you really are."

"Yeah," Jeff added.

"We'll both swear to it," Phineas repeated.

"I don't know," Wilson said uncertainly and his thoughts suddenly flew to Katie. What would she think of all this? If he ran, he would never know. He would never see her again. If he went back, he would at least be able to find out what she thought of him. He doubted she would still be interested in him, but at least he'd know.

He stared at them. Bogg looked terrible, yet here he was, wasting time trying to convince him to go back. It would feel good to finally get things cleared up. And even if he lost his job and freedom for a while, the idea of running for the rest of his life was not appealing.

"Bogg, we need to leave," Jeff said loudly and forcefully. The conversation had lasted long enough, he needed to get Bogg some medical help.

Phineas looked at Jeff and whispered, "okay kid."

Jeff moved to his other side and held out his hand to Wilson, "I don't wanna touch Drake, will you grab him?"

Wilson sighed, giving in and moved over to touch Drake's ankle and Jeffrey's hand. "Whenever you're ready," he said dejectedly and watched as Jeff pushed the button on the omni.