Chapter 113 Deadwood
Serena's POV
I reached out for the door support as fast as I could. Even Dante that barely reacted to anything looked to have struggled.
And when the car stopped and the engine probably ran cold, all eyes turned to the one and obvious person.
“What the hell?!” I was the first to react and I threw my hands in the air as well.
“Yeah, what the hell?” Nico commented more calmly before freezing as he stared out the front glass.
Dante didn't bother asking anything, he just stared out at once.
I looked between the both of them, and then to the driver who kept silent all through.
Then my eyes followed theirs to what I could see clearly now to be a fallen tree.
Or so I thought till I looked closely to see that it wasn't just any fallen tree, it was a huge fucking tree.
I could barely see over it and its head went far beyond the car.
I looked around and noticed similar trees around, guess it wasn't uncommon to have them here.
“Who could have done this?” I muttered.
“Wild guess,” Dante replied as he stepped out. Nico joined him and my feet carried me before I could stop.
Dante shot me a stern look that probably meant I should go back inside, but I wasn't ready to let him have all the fun today.
I strolled forward nonetheless, stopping by Nico's side as he stared down at the stomp.
Dante joined us and didn't look pleased one bit.
“Now what?” Nico asked aloud, before lifting his head and looking beyond the tree till its head. “Trying to go around it would lead us to the woods and driving between those trees is as good as impossible.
Dante simply stared at everything intently before looking back to Nico. “Then we only have one choice here, we chop it to size,” he said firmly.
“Chop it? That would take ages,” I exclaimed, looking at the thickness of the tree.
“Then we better start chopping,” Dante replied dryly and I cursed under my breath.
So much for rushing over to mom, this was going to take a while.
The men got to work as Dante instructed the driver on what to do and they picked out axes for the work with Nico to the far right and Dante to the left, the driver through the center.
Nico undid his buttons and so did the driver, while Dante simply took off his jacket and loosened his tie.
I leaned over the front of the car, counting down the strikes as each man took turns to go at the tree.
I leaned until I found myself sitting in the car at once. I felt a bit bad watching them do all the work while I laid out here.
But what else could I do? Go over and chop the wood?
If Dante even agrees to letting me, I wouldn't even want to be part of that.
I watched as the muscles on their arms and backs through their shirts tensed up with each strike.
I couldn't tell how long it took, but at what looked to be strike 324, Nico had the first breakthrough.
Then the driver took a swing and cut through the middle. Dante followed it up with a mighty swing, breaking through the stomp area.
He wouldn't admit it, but I sure as hell knew he took that last strike out of jealousy. But we weren't ready for that conversation now.
I threw my hands into the air, clapping loudly as all three rested on their axes and turned to me.
Beads of sweat dropped from their heads and my clapping soon felt more annoying than supportive.
But I kept clapping though, raising the tempo as they watched on. Dante shook his head and turned away, followed by the rest.
I laughed as my clapping died down till it went quiet. I jumped down the car and slipped over to where they stood.
“Now, we'll push them out of the way,” Dante instructed and Nico nodded.
“Yeahh! Let's do this,” I bubbled and quickly ran over the stomp at the end, pushing it as much as I could.
The log barely moved, who am I kidding? The stomp didn't shake a micro inch, if anything, it felt as though I was going back.
I heard Nico chuckle before tapping my shoulders. “Come on, let the real men do this,” he teased.
“No, just a few more minutes to go,” I exclaimed, pushing harder till I felt something pop from the back.
“Ohh,” I exclaimed and stood straight, looking around as my cheeks burned red. “I think I'll leave it for you guys now,” I added with a nervous laugh.
Nico chuckled and walked over to the stomp, followed by the driver and then Dante.
He purposely nudged me with his shoulder as he passed and I slowly strolled away.
They pushed it nearly effortlessly, lifting and placing it closer to the edge of the road.
They did same to that in the middle, actually lifting this one and dropping it at the edge.
Then to the stomp, the largest part of the tree at the far left where Dante was at, they pushed it, looking to be struggling slightly.
After getting them mostly out of the way, they stretched, looking exhausted.
“You know, it's great I came along. Someone had to watch over the car while you guys did that,” I exclaimed halfheartedly.
The driver chuckled, while Nico and Dante just shook their heads with a smile as they made their way back to the car.
We hoped in and I felt bad for the seats as only it knew how their sweaty bodies felt at the moment.
We hit the road and drove past freely, turning the corner and shortly reaching where we were checked last time before passing.
But this time, the barricade had been bent and hit out of its place, like someone drove straight into it.
Two dead bodies were lying by the little control room, bloodied to the point of no recognition.
I stared at the sight in horror, whoever came here didn't come lightly.
Then my heart sank when I thought of my mother, if they could do this to trained guards, how much more to a helpless old woman.
Dante must have noticed my plight as he reached out, rubbing my arm slightly.
“We'll find her, okay?” He said softly but I didn't have it in me to answer.
We drove slowly past the sight and towards the house, and the more of it came into view, the deeper my heart sank.