He'd backed into

     He'd backed into hanging moss after a rain, but it was darker than dark with no moon up on the hill.  He froze solid as all the fears in the world welled up from his toes, through a constricting chest, and up into a throat wanting to scream.  The baby in a sling around his chest and too much fast food stomach seemed to laugh at him.  His eyes blinked hard.  That made the beard getting longer move slightly.  And that made his wife laugh right out loud.  Sssssshhhh, the man put up his hands and shook them side to side, ten fingers spread wide, warding off.  He breathed hard for a few seconds, then whispered gruffly, "You'll wake her." The mama spit out lemon seeds and said, "Have you slept one time through the whole night in these six weeks?" 

     The man peeked into the space between the sides of the sling.  "That doesn't matter," his eyes narrowed and he pulled the sling apart just a little more.  "Look at her," he said.  "Can't right now.  Should be one or two more puppies in this mama." She rubbed the chest of the pit bull and coo'd, You can do it mama.  That did and didn't seem to matter to the panting dog with eyes looking away and then closing and twitching.  

     "They're scared."  A figure moved up the slight footpath.  Then it became clear that there were followers.  The person in front assured, "They're scared." 

     Another person stepped out from behind a thick barked tree.  "Those pups afraid?" 

     "Not them," the person gave a paper bag with the bottle of alcohol to the other person.  "Apparently, there's some group called The Shantees scaring The Nantzes." 

     "How'd they do it?"  The person asked one of the followers as he opened the whiskey.  "Spook ya?"  He drank a third of the bottle in one long gulp.  And wiped his lips on the back of his hand.  And passed it. 

     "What does it matter?  They got us to abandon position?" 

     "Didn't know there was such.  Sounds serious." The man waited, stiff and ominous, for the bottle to come back to him still mostly full.  The woman lit a cigarette and put it in his weak lips.  Then she took out a folded in half piece of paper from a back pocket of her jeans.  She stuffed it in his front jeans pocket.  "What's that?" He asked as he was sucking in a deep drag of smoke and this set off a coughing fit that would've tore apart an erector set person or building.

     She counted the followers as they hit the leveled out spot on the hill.  Five.  Five more mouths to feed.  The last person was bundled up in a head scarf over a knit cap and had two small puppies in her arms.  Seven, but who's counting?  The woman took a puppy like it was a baby and let it lap her face and neck.  Without turning around she said, "It's the bill for getting the other kid stitches." 

     The man's eyes grew wide and he choked down more drink.  "Are you for real?" He coughed like a motorcycle being kickstarted and spit out a slick spot, phlegm and blood.  "We SACKED 'EM paw."  The man slapped his knee and bent down.  "Sacked 'em huh?  Like knights?" 

     "More like," the kid thought visibly and hard, "Like...VIKINGS!"  The man slapped him on the back.  "ALL RIGHTIE THEN.  A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK.  I'LL DRINK TO THAT!" The kid had been moved closer to the woman getting congratulated and he looked up at her.  "There's a hunk of pepperoni in the tent.  Will you go and get it for us all honey?" The kid moved off to the tent. 

     The woman took the whiskey and pulled a slug and held the bottle up out of the bag a little ways.  "We'll need more'n this to get cozy.". The man fished into the pocket with the bill and took out cash and squinted at the bill saying, Too bad I cain't read and rocked on a foot forward to pitch the bill into the cold firepit.  The woman blocked his throw.  "We need to pay that one," she looked at his face dead on.  "Can't pay 'em all.  And my kid won the fight right?" 

     "Riiiight, but," she curled her words into sounding like she was following his logic but the but hung in the air.  

     The bill drifted to the ground as the man used both arms to try and strangle the woman.  She got her hands under his grip and pushed and pushed against his until he limply let go.  "Let me catch my breath," he wheezed.  The kid handed up the hunk of pepperoni after he broke off a piece and went and sat on a rock.  He pulled a wrapped candy out of his pocket and balanced both on his knees.  He put his hands together and said, Grace, then bit into the meat.  "Where did you get this?" The woman snatched the candy away.  "At the store, duh." He snatched it back from her.  Put it back on his lap.  "Getcher own," he snarled. 

     "How 'bout I make pasta?" The woman in the head scarf pulled an MRE out from her coat pocket.  "I'll eat it," the woman said.