Handle The Son

Richard Irons stood tall and firm in front of the ski lift doors, his thick red beard had a sprinkle of white from the snow and his gloved hands clutched his service rifle. He swiftly scanned the surrounding area before heading up the trail towards the White's ski lodge. His daughter hadn't told him about how many men were involved, it couldn't be many, or else the kids would have suspected something sooner but it had to be more than three to handle the group. Four to six was a safe bet, but that didn't do much to make Richard feel any better, he was in unfamiliar territory and facing an unknown threat. What these people wanted was a mystery to him, and he didn't have the luxury of time to figure that out.

Richard brushed himself from the main trail into the overbrush as he moved closer to the lodge, kneeling down he lifted his rifle looking through the scope and slowly scanning the building. He noted a few sets of footprints leading from the backdoor and out further into the mountain's tree line. Moving his scope up he attempted to look through the windows but with the blinds and drapes, he couldn't see a thing from this distance. Lowering his rifle he let out a sharp breath and ran a hand along his beard, looking towards the large open portion of the mountain that the owners used for skiing.

"May have a better view," Richard muttered under his breath as he began to walk through the woods up towards the hillside. He reached it within minutes, the only noise filling his ears being the sound of the whistling wind. As he entered the clearing he slowed as he found his eyes set on a snowmobile sitting just outside the treeline, though what kept his attention was the wooden crate strapped onto its seat. "That can't be good,"

Richard quickly looked around before moving to the vehicle, pulling off the crate top and revealing some loose straw but nothing more. Looking at each side he saw the faded print of explosive warnings remaining on the wood. "Ah no, no, no," Richard softly denied as he saw a simple remote sitting inside the crate as well.

Moving away from the snowmobile he quickly began to inspect the ground moving towards the hillside and kicking away snow as he went. It only took a few minutes of searching before he kicked up a set of wire, "Hell..." Richard growled as he knelt down, inspecting the wire closely, pulling on it, and seeing it head up the mountainside,

"Hey!" Richard suddenly heard causing him to jump up and spin around, his rifle pressed against his shoulder, "Who the fuck are you!" A younger man yelled at him, only a few feet away from the snowmobile,

"I know what you're planning her son, dropping the mountain is one thing but to do it on a bunch of kids is a whole other mess you don't want to be involved with," Richard spoke in a firm commanding tone, "What you need to do now is step away from the vehicle and kneel down in the snow for me,"

"You've got no fucking idea what's going on up here man! We're too close to let some random dick fuck us over!" The man shouted back,

Richard began to walk towards him, "I will not tell you again, kneel down and show me your hands right now!"

"Fuck you!" The younger man exclaimed and reached for his belt, pulling for his gun. Richard smoothly pulled the trigger of his rifle, and with a loud bark echoing through the mountains, the man dropped. Richard continued to move towards him and reached down, grabbing for the man's pistol and tucking it into the back of his belt.

Lowering his rifle for a moment Richard looked up towards the lodge, surely whoever was inside would have heard him. As he took a step forward Richard felt a hand grip his ankle and pull him down into the snow. Looking back he saw the young man shove a boot into his stomach before desperately crawling towards the snowmobile.

Richard sucked in a short breath, swallowing any pain, and dove towards the man, pulling him away from the vehicle. The pair rolled a few feet away and Richard pressed his knees into the man's shoulders as he gained the upper hand. With two swift and sharp swings Richard's large meaty fist connected with the man's face and then he went limp. Richard let out a near growl as he rolled the man over and reached into his belt once more, grabbing a set of zip ties and tying his hands together.

"Now you're staying there," Richard grunted as he got up, retrieved his rifle, and moved back to the snowmobile. Reaching into the crate he pulled out the remote detonator and with a firm snap, broke it in half. Without another moment of waiting, he turned back and ran towards the lodge.