Top of The Edge - Beach Conflict 2

"Do you think you'll be able to walk if we assist you?" Cherry asked. He gave a weak reply. "Yes, I think so." Then they each wrapped one of his arms around their neck and shoulders and began slowly walking him away from the water's edge.

Maryanne put the components of the flare together as she recalled what Cherry and Robyn had shown her that night behind the Old City Jail. She relocated herself a short distance south of the campsite and away from the horses. She knelt and gripped the signal flare barrel with both hands and brought the bottom of it as hard as she could against the loose dry sand of the dunes and... nothing happened. She tried again... and again and still no ignition. Then she paused momentarily and attempted to see what was going on between her friends and the man that had suddenly emerged from the ocean. At this distance and lack of visibility due to fog, she was having a hard time seeing exactly what was happening. From what she could make out, it appeared that Cherry and Robyn were rendering aid to the man. She thought to herself, "This does not feel right. They should have waited for help before going anywhere near that guy. What are they thinking?"

Robyn and Cherry both felt the man's arms tighten around their necks as he suddenly became dead weight. Then Billy Cook lurched hard forward causing both girls to fall to their knees. As he stood holding both by their hair, Cherry did her best to plant an elbow between his legs, but this guy was both strong and fast. Then as he released her hair, he laid a hammer fist hard to the side of her head, leaving her dazed and crawling. "This is all happening so fast." Robyn thought as she made an attempt to get to her feet, but his firm grip on her hair and forceful downward pull was insuperable. Then suddenly... it was gone. He had released her. She quickly scrambled to her feet and as she made the first motion to run and holler out, "hel....", Billy Cook did a round-house kick to the side of her head, "What was that?" she thought as she heard the sudden thud inside her head caused by the side of Billy Cook's foot. She suddenly felt panicked with a strong sense of impending doom as the whole world quickly grew dark and silent.

Cherry managed to crawl about 10 feet away but was still too dazed to stand. She was thinking, "I don't think my head has ever hurt this bad." Suddenly she felt him grab her by the feet. He was dragging her feet first down to the water.

"It's time for you to go for a little swim Missy."

Maryanne was frantic and completely beside herself as she helplessly watched her friends being savagely attacked. He was now dragging Cherry by the feet down to the water. "Oh my God, he's going to drown her."

Still gripping the signal flare barrel with both hands Maryanne ran as fast as she could toward the man dragging her friend feet first to the water. "Soon to be dead friend", she thought to herself. She had to do something quick.

"Hey! Hey! You let go of her right now!" Maryanne shouted as she continued running toward them. Chlodwig, alias Billy Cook, was suddenly awestruck as he heard yet another female yelling and coming towards them. This was taking way too long he thought to himself. He needed to be off this beach before whoever they were signaling with that flare arrived. He was right at the water's edge when he stopped for a moment to try and figure out where that yelling female's voice was coming from. He could hear her well enough, and she was definitely getting closer but... "Where the heck is she?" He simply could not see her. Taking advantage of the brief pause, Cherry started kicking as hard as she could. Unfortunately, it didn't faze her attacker in the least.

As usual, Maryanne was dressed in dark clothing. Since she wasn't really supposed to out there, she made a point of being able to get out of sight and stay that way for as long as any given situation might necessitate.

She was within 50 to 60 feet away when Billy Cook finally saw her. "She's black!" he thought to himself in disgust. Then he saw her trip over a piece of driftwood and fall headlong to the ground. He was about to laugh at the sight when he suddenly saw the bright flash, and just as suddenly he found himself on his back and on fire.

Maryanne was still gripping the signal flare barrel with both hands when she tripped and fell. The base of the barrel struck the hard wet packed sand, and as fate would have it, it was angled perfectly to send the projectile straight at Billy Cook's torso. The intensity of the searing white heat across his mid-section was nothing short of excruciating.

Time seemed to stand still and seconds seemed like several minutes as Maryanne stood there temporarily blinded by the sudden brightness of the flare, but still gawking in the direction of Cherry and Robyn's assailant who had just been hit by the flare.

Chlodwig, alias Billy Cook, fought back the urge to scream as he rolled himself into the salty water of the surf, which caused the pain to become even more intense. Now he had no control - the scream was more instinctive than anything else. A wave crashed over his face at that very moment and now he was choking, for real this time.

Maryanne quickly turned her attention toward her two friends, Cherry's feet were in the water as she got to her hands and knees, and Robyn was beginning to stir as well. She helped Cherry to her feet and the two slowly made their way over to where Robyn was now sitting upright and holding her head in her hands. "Where is he?" she asked. Cherry looked around for their assailant and Maryanne answered, "I think he's drowning."

When Ralph heard Vanderhorst's voice, he froze, and then... there it was... off in the distance to the south, another flare, only this one didn't make it into the night sky. Suddenly Ralph threw his shovel into the trunk of the car, got in the driver's seat and proceeded to make another attempt to get free. The engine revved and the tires were spinning and spraying copious amounts of sand out from the rear. To his and Vanderhorst's surprise suddenly the car lurched forward, and within seconds, it was well on its way down the beach.

Louise's attempt to maintain a sprint to where she presumed the flare had been launched was beginning to wane. Several times she stopped running but continued walking at a brisk pace until she was able to catch her breath. Then she would start running again as fast as her feet and legs would carry her. All the while hoping Ralph would be able to get the car unstuck in time.

Once she was within 50 yards of where the flare had been launched, she was able to see through the fog just enough to make out what appeared to be a man dragging someone feet first toward the water. "That's got to be him." She thought. "And from the looks of it, he definitely has the upper hand." That put a broad grin across Louise's face as she stopped and rested for several seconds to catch her breath. Then she began walking again and gradually picked up her pace to a slow jog. She needed to help him with the quick disposal of whoever these idiots were, and then get off this beach and out of sight before help arrived.

She was within approximately 30 meters when she watched in horror the second flare ignite. It didn't make its way into the night sky as the previous one had. Instead, it went straight into the Nazi spy's mid-section and had apparently gotten stuck in his clothing. He was on his back now and on fire. She watched him roll over into the water and heard his agonizing scream. Louise suddenly came to the realization that the success of this mission now solely depended on her actions alone. "Please hurry up with that car Ralph."

Fortunately, the women the spy had been attempting to neutralize were currently either incapacitated or completely distracted away from him. The white-hot pain was debilitating and Chlodwig Fenstemacher, AKA Billy Cook had become completely disoriented. In his attempt to get out of the water, he was actually moving into deeper water. By the time he realized his error, he was chest deep and fighting an undercurrent that was worsening by the minute. To make matters worse, he was still fully clothed.

Louise quickly kicked off her shoes, shed her coat, and staying as surreptitious as she possibly could she dove into the surf and swam to where the Nazi spy was still flailing about. He had been able to dislodge the flare from his coat and it could still be seen burning on the ocean floor as Louise approached.