Previously, Frank Castle and his associate Chip were lured into the Louisiana Bayou, where they fell into a trap set up by a man calling himself Barracuda. After drugging Frank, who seemingly perished in the river, Barracuda set his sights on Chip, who is now alone and defenseless…

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Part II

By Tobias Christopher

Barracuda felt a rush of sadness come over him. The Punisher, the great Frank Castle, had lasted less than a round with him. Fighting the Punisher was something that the large man had been anticipating for quite some time and, to have it end like this, with the vigilante drowning himself in the Louisiana Bayou to escape the humiliation of having Barracuda finish him…well, there was still the boy.

Looking across the river, Barracuda smirked as he saw Chip rummaging through the wreckage of the car that had been blown up minutes earlier. The man walked calmly toward a motorboat and climbed in, his weight nearly capsizing the small vessel. He was going to enjoy killing the Punisher’s young partner slowly…

“Dammit, Frank, where are you?” asked Chip as he found the .38 Frank had agreed to let him carry. He still had the one bullet in his pocket, and with every other piece of arsenal in the car having been destroyed, that left Chip very little in the way of self defense.

Looking across the river he saw Barracuda’s boat quickly heading toward the shore. Chip slid the gun into the back of his pants as he realized he couldn’t wait for Frank any longer. He’d have to make a run for it. He quickly rushed into the wooded surroundings of the Bayou, hoping it would give him enough cover to get out of the Bayou alive.

As soon as Barracuda’s boat reached the shore, he saw Chip as he disappeared into the Bayou.

“Stupid fuckin’ kid,” said Barracuda as he walked calmly after. “If I don’t get him, the Bayou will.”

As he headed after his prey, he didn’t notice a hand coming up from the water…

Chip had no idea where he was headed or how to reach civilization. He was completely out of his element without a computer. As he walked along, he saw a young man sitting on the edge of the river, fishing.

“Excuse me,” said Chip as he approached the young man. “Can you tell me how to get to the nearest town?”

The boy looked up at Chip. Stupid fuckin’ city folk. “What’s it worth to you?” asked the boy as Chip rolled his eyes and sighed.

“How about this digital watch?” asked Chip as he showed the expensive timepiece on his hand.

“What the fuck do I need a watch for? I live in the damn Bayou,” the boy said as Chip reached for his wallet. “Where the fuck am I gonna spend that? Do you see a damned Wal-Mart in the middle of the fuckin’ Bayou?”

“Okay, Deliverance, you don’t want money and you don’t want the watch, so what do you want?” asked Chip, knowing that Barracuda probably wasn’t far behind him.

Frank stumbled around for a few minutes as he saw the wreckage of the car. The drugs that Barracuda had given him were wearing off, but not fast enough. He didn’t see Chip and could only assume that the young man was still alive somewhere.

Looking at the wreckage of his car, Frank tried to find something, anything, that would take Barracuda down. Finally he found something he could use and took off into the Bayou, hoping he wouldn’t be too late.

Chip walked through the muddy swamp, shivering as he walked through the shallow water. He’d given his jacket, shirt and shoes to the kid in exchange for directions out of the Bayou. He just hoped he’d make it out before Barracuda got to him. Chip would get to the nearest phone, call Griffin and have the SWAT team take out Barracuda. He was hoping against hope that Frank was still alive…the Punisher couldn’t go out like this.

As Chip walked he realized that he was being watched by the creatures of the Bayou. It was then that the realization dawned on him that it wasn’t just Barracuda that he had to worry about, but the creatures of the Bayou as well.

Barracuda knew he was getting close and he grinned to himself, his smile saying ‘Fuck You’ to the world as he continued on his way. As he got closer, he saw the gators eyeing him but knew they wouldn’t dare attack. They’d come to an understanding long ago that if they didn’t attack Barracuda, he wouldn’t kill them in return.

“I know you’re here, little bitch,” said Barracuda as he saw the footprints in the mud. “The longer you make me chase you, the more it’s gonna hurt.”

The drugs had all but worn off as Frank followed the monstrous footprints of Barracuda through the swamp. He knew that Chip was smart but also knew the boy couldn’t survive for long in an element like this. It was when he saw the boy with Chip’s shirt and jacket that he realized just how helpless the young man was in surroundings like this.

The sun was starting to set as Chip looked at his watch. If he hurried he could make it to the nearest highway and possibly flag down a truck or something before it got too dark. As he got closer to what he thought was the highway, he heard the crunch of a twig from not too far away. His heart jumped as he tried to rationalize that it was just an animal or something.

As he turned around to continue on his way, he was met with a large, meaty hand around his neck, lifting Chip into the air with ease.

“Got you, motherfucker,” said Barracuda, smiling wickedly. He put pressure on Chip’s neck, hoping to watch his head pop off like a cork.

Reaching into his back pocket, Chip pulled out the .38 and hoped his one bullet would be his saving grace. He was losing consciousness as he aimed and fired at the man holding him. Barracuda reeled back in pain as Chip fell to the ground, wheezing for air and, at the same time, losing his gun in the mud.

“You little fucker!” shouted Barracuda as he held his eye in pain. Chip looked up in horror, seeing that his bullet only took out Barracuda’s left eye. “I’m going to pull your arms off and shove them up your ass!”

Chip tried to get up, but still hadn’t caught his breath as Barracuda reached for him. As he was about to grab Chip, a metal pipe hit Barracuda in the forearm. The man looked up and saw the Punisher standing there, ready for round two.

“You think you can take me?” asked Barracuda as he smiled, giving Frank the personalized message in his teeth. “Come on, big man.”

Frank swung the pipe upside Barracuda’s head, then again in several pressure points on the large man’s body. Frank knew where to hit a man of Barracuda’s size to make him feel pain and he wasn’t leaving a single pressure point out.

“You can’t beat me,” said Barracuda as he laughed, grabbing the pipe as Frank swung it again. The large man was hurting but he still had a fight in him. “I’m better than you in every way.”

“Look me in the eye and say that,” said Frank as Barracuda stood up to his full height, towering over the Punisher. Even with one eye, Barracuda could see well enough to fight back.

“You two aren’t leaving this Bayou alive,” said Barracuda as he looked down at Frank but before he could swing, Chip jumped onto his back, trying to attack the man. Barracuda just sighed. “Are you fuckin’ serious?”

He grabbed Chip by the head and prepared to break the young man over his knee, which would have literally snapped him in two. Frank used all his strength to push the pipe into Barracuda’s chest as far as he could, forcing him to drop the younger man. Chip fell to the ground as Barracuda grunted in pain from the pipe sticking out of his chest.

“What does it take to fucking kill you!?” asked Frank as he watched Barracuda stumbling around. He rushed the larger man, pushing him backward into the swamp, where a group of gators were swimming around. After a few minutes, he didn’t return to the surface, as the gators ducked under the water for a meal that was a long time coming.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Frank walked over and picked Chip up, helping him to his feet.

“I want more than one bullet next time,” said Chip weakly as he saw the sun had set. “We’re in the middle of the bayou with no car, no phone and no way out. What do we do?”

“We walk,” said Frank bluntly as he started walking toward civilization.

In the swamp, a large meaty hand broke through the water, followed by several dead gator bodies…

The End…?