Walking on the Tracks Chapter 5

"Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man.

A knight without armor in a savage land.

His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind.

A soldier of fortune is the man called Paladin."

Man, I still remember the words that old song. Every time I think of it I'm greeted with the joyful memory of walking along the tracks with my four best friends,the hot glowing sun shining high above us mixed with the wind blowing in our hair. Good times

"Hey, we can stop off at Ol' Man Preston's junkyard" Gordie told us as Teddy continued singing to himself behind us "my dad said it's safe"."Not if Choppers there!" Very piped in,"if Choppers there we'll send you in!" Chris laughed taking a swig from Gordie's water bottle."Yeah he'd love a go sicking your balls Verno" I chuckled nudging a grinning Chris.

"Hey I'm kinda hungry,whose got the food?" Vern asked. We all stopped.

"Shit" Teddy grumbled "did anybody bring anything?"."Not me' Chris shrugged "Gordie? Dan?".We both shook our heads, I gotta admit, I felt like one huge shit for brains. "Oh great! What are we supposed to do? Eat our feet?" Teddy scoffed."So you forgot too?!" Chris asked annoyed."This wasn't my idea it was Vern's" Teddy defended himself "he should of brought something!".

"I can't remember everything I brought the comb!" Vern said causing a fight to break out.

"Hey HEY!" Gordie yelled silencing them "let's see how much money we got".Thank god we had someone as logical as Gordie. We all sat on the open tracks and reached into our counted our money."Okay...I got a dollar 2...78 cents from Chris...56 cents from Teddy...Dan's got 45". Then Vern emptied his pockets."7 cents Vern?" Gordie asked slowly in disbelief,"haven't found my pennies yet" Vern mumbled. "Well two-eighty-seven's not bad" Gordie concluded "the stores at the end of the road near the junk yard so we could get some stuff there."

"Train coming!" Chris warned us jumping up and we followed."Geronimo!" Vern hoped off the tracks in movie stunt style. Teddy remained on the tracks. "C'mon Teddy!" I called at him."Uh uh" he shook his head and tossed his sleeping bag "I'm gonna dodge it!". Dodge it?! This guy was fucking out of it!

"Get off the tracks Teddy man,you're crazy!" Chris firmly said his eyes shifting to the oncoming train approaching but Teddy wouldn't move. "GET THE HELL OFF THE TRACKS TEDDY! YOU WANNA GET YOURSELF KILLED?!" Chris yelled angrily as the steam train was coming wasn't listening to him. "Just like the beach in Normandy..." he whispered to himself. His dad stormed the beach in Normandy before he lost his mind. He wouldn't shut up about it.

Finally Chris threw his bag off in frustration and jumped onto the tracks,"come on man! Move!" Chris yelled trying to secure Teddy who was protesting strongly, I don't know what the fuck I was thinking but I helped Chris eventually drag the crazy ass off before the train knocked his brains out. "YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU ASSHOLES!" Teddy screamed furiously, shoving Chris and I as the train screeched past us. "We're just trying to save your life man! You wanna kill yourself? Is that what you want goddamn it! You're trying to kill yourself!" Chris shouted as the train finally passed."Teddy we don't want you to get hurt" I tried to place my hand on his shoulder but he shoved it away. "I don't need no babysitter" he told us shaking his head at us. "You do too" Chris replied and held out his palm "skin it".

"Could a dodged it" Teddy turned away but Chris pulled him around in an attempt to make peace."Listen Teddy,you can dodge it on the way back man!" he held his palm out again "peace...skin it". Teddy looked at his palm then at Chris's calm face and finally dragged his palm against his.

I patted Teddy's shoulder to show I was sorry and we continued to the junkyard.

I knew that a journey with these guys wouldn't be boring.