New Dukes of Hazzard fanfic contest: Enos's last chance

[i1976]

ENOS’S LAST CHANCE

It’s a beautiful day in Hazzard: the sun is shining in the sky, yellow flowers are blooming in the grass, and Georgia’s pines are as high as they’re trying to reach the sky.

In a little apartment in the Hazzard’s Boarding House deputy Enos Strate’s mind isn’t cheerful nor by the twittering outside the window nor by the sunshine. His forehead against the shower’s wall while hot water is trying to warm up his trembling body after a night of nightmares and cold sweat.

It seems to be a normal day in Hazzard. The General Lee raises the road’s dust, as usual, but there’s a middle-aged man at the edge of the road, a stranger. The Dukes decide to give him a lift to Hazzard, something they’ll regret. They don’t know they’re bringing to Hazzard a killer whose victim will be their best friend.

Actually, in effect, their best friend is thinking of that man. The previous day LAPD transmitted him the escape from the prison of a dangerous killer, Frank Scanlon. Frank Scanlon, the man the Dukes are bringing to Hazzard, the man Enos arrested when he was in LA. How to miss him? How to miss his voice swearing Enos would have paid for his arrest? The deputy can’t forget Scanlon’s eyes looking at him at the Court that day in LA.

When a day starts in bad way it can only get worse and worse. This is what the deputy is thinking few after in that morning while he’s walking out the Courthouse after Boss and Rosco’s usual harshness, something difficult to endure especially after a sleepless night. Enos often wonders why he came back to Hazzard after his experience in LA; his eyes catch the answer of all his doubts, the orange car parked nearby: he came back to Hazzard only for it, not for the orange car, obviously, but for what the orange car means to him. “The General Lee… I wonder if Daisy…â€.

In effect, when a day starts in bad way it can only get worse, and in front the Courthouse the killer meets his victim for the first time.

The stranger approaches Enos, pointing his gun against him. A quick movement and the deputy grabs the man’s armed arm, kneeling down and disarming him.

For sure the time spent in LA and the fact he’s a cop taught Enos how to defend himself against an armed man. Unfortunately, the time spent in LA brought Enos a sworn enemy too.

Daisy’s heart almost stops when she sees that gun pointed against Enos, unfortunately something she’d have seen again.

But not only Daisy sees what’s happening. The boys hush to the now disarmed and running man. A run, a brief fight, then the man is on the ground, knocked out. So simple, too much simple to bring Scanlon (whose identity is now revealed) in prison like that.

Scanlon renews his revenge’s oath to the deputy in front of him, the prison’s bars between them. The killer’s eyes in the cop’s eyes, “I’ve got a score to settle with youâ€; the cop doesn’t look away from the killer, his features tight, a brief nod accepting the challenge.

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A couple of hours after Scanlon’s capture, Enos is in the locker room at the Courthouse. Sitting on a bench, his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees, the deputy is thinking of his defeat, ashamed of what happened: “Why I left the keys inside the patrol car? How I let Scanlon take the jail’s keys? It’s all my fault, Boss Hogg is rightâ€.

He can’t stop thinking of Scanlon’s escape from the jail, a very embarrassing flight.

He can’t stop thinking Boss Hogg did the right thing firing him, a useless cop.

He can’t stop thinking of how shameful was to be fired in front of the Dukes, despite Daisy and uncle Jesse taking his part, despite Bo and Luke’s unlucky attempt at making up his mistake.

He can’t stop thinking of how shameful was all that situation: Scanlon escaping from jail taking the jail’s keys from him, then stealing a patrol car, his patrol car, where he left the keys.

Scanlon escaped despite Bo and Luke’s chase.

And despite Daisy Duke’s kindness and her influence on Enos, the deputy stays in that room for almost two hours, blaming himself and only himself for Scanlon’s escape and taking the decision to leave Hazzard.

And again, few after, Daisy is trying again to enter Enos’s darkness, looking silently at him while he’s cherishing his few things in a box, ready to leave Hazzard. Daisy, the boys and their uncle know that Scanlon is somewhere out there, armed and with a new mask, waiting for his victim, and now the victim, lost in his dark thoughts, is not ready at all to face the killer. And as usual Daisy is the best one to change Enos’s mind, so her family is waiting for her (and for Enos with her) outside the Courthouse in order to bring their best friend in a safe place, their farm.

“Hey Enos…â€, she says with her soft voice.

“Hi Daisâ€, he doesn’t look at her, not his usual smile on his face. There’s no more the locker room’s door between them, but there’s another kind of door, a virtual door Enos locked leaving people, and Daisy too, outside.

“Where are you goin’?â€, Daisy approaches him.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t matterâ€, the deputy shrugs, keeping on to clear his desk and to fill the box placed on it. Again, he doesn’t look at Daisy, in his voice a mix of tiredness, pain and rage.

Daisy comes closer, wishing to touch him gently but knowing (and she knows Enos better than anyone else in Hazzard) that now the deputy is too angry to himself to accept any kindness, neither or especially her kindness, the kindness of the woman who deserves someone better than him, or at least is what he said her few hours ago. The girl sighs, knowing very well his inclination to blame himself when something goes wrong, his lacking in self-confidence and his inclination to endure bad things without involving his friends in order of saving them from any possible complication.

“Scanlon is after me. Once I’m gone he’ll have no more reason to stay, so nobody else can get hurtâ€.

And because Daisy knows Enos better than anyone else, she knows what weapon she has to use: “I think Scanlon is so full of hate that he’s goin’ to take on somebody else even if you leave, maybe somebody helped you to put him in jailâ€.

Enos’s sense of duty toward his friends and his town, being a cop (fired or not): it’s the weapon Daisy is using.

A doubt on Enos’s face, “Bo and Luke?â€, and Daisy knows she won.

There’s relief in Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse when they see Enos following Daisy outside the Courthouse, a brief gesture telling them she won Enos’s obstinacy. She puts Enos’s box inside his car parked in front the Courthouse then she takes his hand heading to her smiling cousins and her uncle.

Nearby a spectacled man on a bench is looking at that gorgeous woman holding the cop’s hand, his enemy’s hand: a long brown hair woman wearing fitting jeans on perfect legs and a fitting pink shirt on a perfect body. The man stares at their holding hands and their loving glance.

Their hands part only when Enos shakes Bo hand thanking him, but immediately Daisy grabs again Enos’s hand, like if the wind running past her fingertips is colder than expected in that season and she needs his hand’s warmth.

Daisy squeezes Enos’s hand while they approach his car, glad to see him smiling again, a tired smiling but anyhow a smile.

Meanwhile the man (or it’s better to say Scanlon) left his personal present in Enos’s car.

Again, like only few hours before, the time spent in LA and the fact he’s a cop save Enos’s life (and Daisy’s life too).

A brief look inside the car, “RUN AWAY DAISY, IT’S A BOMB!â€.

Enos drives Daisy away from the car then he runs after her, careful to maintain his body between Daisy and the car like a sort of shield against the impending explosion. And the deputy in effect protects Daisy from a bad fall grabbing her while the explosion pushes them to the ground. The only thing Daisy feels are Enos’s arms around her and then his body between her and the ground.

Smell of burning fills the air.

Enos and Daisy are on the ground, the deputy hugging the young woman. Only few seconds for Daisy to realize Enos’s motionless, but fortunately only few seconds and Enos slowly stands up moaning. His first thought for Daisy, “Are you OK?â€, his arms still around her, who’s now hugging him tight, scared for what’s just happened and for Enos’s previous transitory stillness.

Daisy nods then they walk silently to the burning car.

[i1976]

The night slowly covers Hazzard with its darkness.

At the farm the Dukes are wondering how to catch Scanlon who is somewhere out there, ready to kill Enos. The deputy listens silently to his friends, while Daisy looks silently at him wondering what he’s hiding behind his thoughtful eyes. Even if she knows him better than anyone else sometimes he seems so distant.

Uncle Jesse looks at the deputy, “Scanlon’s tried to kill you two times today, and the last one he almost killed Daisy too. We need to stop him before someone gets hurtâ€.

Enos nods looking at his hands on the table.

“Enos…â€, Luke tries to wake him up.

“You’re right. We… I need to stop Scanlon. I don’t want someone else gets hurt because of me. I’m sorry…. It’s only my fault if now he’s not in jailâ€.

Daisy touches gently his shoulder, “Stop blaming yourself Enos. It’s not your faultâ€.

Enos looks at her with a mix of sweetness, love and sadness.

Uncle Jesse stands up, “It’s better to go to sleep. It’s been a bad day and some rest will refresh our minds. Boys, go sleep while I stay here to control everything out there is OK, then we’ll take turns. Scanlon is dangerous and we need to be carefulâ€.

Enos stands up too, “Uncke Jesse, I..â€

Uncle Jesse stops him, “Go to sleep, Enos. It’s my turn now. And you’re the one who needs to rest more than anyone else hereâ€.

The deputy lowers his head, nodding slowly.

Several hours after, in the middle of the night, Daisy opens her eyes. She sits on her bed, listening to the silence in the farm. She remembers all the things happened that day, like a sort of nightmare, and she decides to go to the kitchen to drink some fresh water.

When she enters the kitchen she sees Enos looking outside the window, his figure standing out in the moonlight, his look lost in the darkness outside. He turns briefly his eyes to her then he looks again outside the window.

Daisy approaches him silently, and when she’s behind him she hugs him, resting her head on his large back, her arms folded on his stomach. There’s no need to speak, and after that long and silent hug Daisy comes back to her room cuddling up under the blankets and hugging her pillow, trying in vain to find the same warmth.

The next morning Daisy wakes up still hugging her pillow.

The young woman enters the kitchen to find Luke in the same spot where Enos was during the night. The brown hair Duke has an empty cup of coffee in his hand and he’s looking outside.

Enos is sitting at the table, a cup still full of coffee, now cold, in front of him. Daisy wonders if he stayed there all night long or if he slept a bit.

Uncle Jesse opens the kitchen’s door and comes in, his rifle on his shoulder, “Out there everything seems quiet. I wonder where that man is right now and what he’s planningâ€.

Luke nods, “We can’t wait for him. We need a plan. What if we push Scanlon to show up using a bait?â€

“It’s a good ideaâ€, Bo enters the kitchen still yawning, “but what kind of bait? The only thing Scanlon wants is Enosâ€.

“Exactlyâ€, Luke goes on showing his idea, “Enos will be our bait. We’ll tell Scanlon exactly where and when he can meet Enos, so when he’ll show up we’ll stop himâ€.

Bo seems confused, “But … how?â€.

Luke smiles, “Using the radio. Our friend Elton works at the Hazzard’s radio. He’ll announce his interview with Enos today at 4 p.m. Scanlon will show up for sure and we’ll be there waiting for himâ€.

“It’s a bad ideaâ€, Daisy’s heart beats fast in her chest, “what if Scanlon will be able to avoid our vigilance and he’ll come in the radio’s station?â€

Enos stands up, “Luke is right. Scanlon wants me, and if he knows where he can find me he’ll show up for sure. And if he’ll be able to reach me avoiding your watch, well, I’ll face himâ€.

Bo pats him gently on his shoulder, “He won’t reach you. Your guard will be all Hazzard’s people. No stranger can avoid Hazzard’s watchâ€.

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Uncle Jesse is right: Scanlon is very dangerous. He’s a professional killer, and like all dangerous killers he studies his victims and their possible weak point: that young woman with long and perfect legs, long brown hair and hazel eyes; her loving glance and her hand holding his enemy’s hand. If he can’t reach the cop, he’ll use that woman to hit him.

Bait: it’s what Scanlon is thinking of. He smiles devilishly hearing the radio and the naïf attempt of those rough countrymen to ambush him. The cop will be at the radio’s station at 4 p.m., and for sure his friends will be all around there waiting for him showing up. Those countrymen want to use the cop as bait, ready to stop him when he’ll try to reach the cop, but he’s clever than them.

A fake beard, a hat and overalls: so simple to camouflage in that town. And more simple is to find that woman nearby the radio’s station.

Enos’s heart stops when Scanlon calls him at the radio’s station telling him Daisy is now in his hands.

Daisy is in Scanlon’s hands. It’s a nightmare.

Enos rushes outside the radio’s station despite Bo and Luke trying to stop him.

Scanlon is waiting for him at the Pruitt’s glade, where he can kill him easily.

The cop arrives at the glade alone, his hands up, perfectly visible from Scanlon’s higher position. Daisy is near Scanlon and Enos is glad she’s still alive, he couldn’t accept somebody gets hurt because of him, especially Daisy, the woman he loves more than his own life.

Again, Daisy has to see a gun pointed to Enos who is now slowly walking toward his enemy, toward sure death, hands up, unable to defend himself in order to defend Daisy. His life instead of Daisy’s life: it’s his choice.

Scanlon is ready to shot the cop, but the gun fortunately misfires. Few seconds and Daisy, her hands tied back, realizes Scanlon’s problem with his gun and she raises her long leg kicking the armed hand of the killer.

The gun falls on the ground.

Enos is now running up the hill. He knows Scanlon is dangerous even if now is apparently disarmed.

Scanlon, full of rage, slaps Daisy’s face pushing her to the ground.

Rage overwhelms Enos; he doesn’t stand to see someone hitting Daisy. The cop reaches the disarmed killer and he clings to him. Scanlon is for sure less strong than the young cop, but like every professional killer he has a hidden weapon.

In shock Daisy sees Scanlon drawing out another gun from a holster hidden under his pants, at the ankle, and hitting Enos’s head.

The cop is now on his knees holding his head and looking in shock at Daisy who dashes toward Scanlon trying to disarm him.

Scanlon slaps again the woman and points the gun towards her, ready to shot her, and the brief clang of the gun’s loading says her this time the gun is not going to misfire.

Few seconds for Enos to realize there’s no time to draw out his gun, the only thing to do is to take Daisy off from the bullet’s path.

Daisy looks terrified at the barrel, but when she hears the shot she’s in Enos’s arms, falling down the little ravine behind the hill. Again Enos’s body is protecting her from the falling. And again Daisy has to fear his temporary motionless before he trails her behind a bush nearby.

Slowly Enos sits down, blood dropping from his forehead where Scanlon’s gun hit him. His trembling hands reach Daisy tied wrists releasing her.

Scanlon is coming down the ravine, “I’m goin’ to kill you this time, copâ€.

“Don’t move, Daisyâ€, he draws his gun.

“But… Enos, you’re injured, you can’t face him nowâ€, Daisy’s voice cracks.

“There’s no choiceâ€, he whispers, slowly standing up.

The killer is in front of the cop, both pointing their gun, only a short bush between them.

When Bo, Luke, uncle Jesse, Cooter, Boss and Rosco arrive at the glade they hear two shots coming from the little ravine behind the hill. After the shots the time seems stopping for a while only to speed up few after because of Daisy’s screaming.

The men rush up the hill and then down the ravine, finding Scanlon on the ground, dead, blood dropping from a hole in his forehead, and Enos in Daisy’s arms, a bloody stain widening out on his chest.

Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse run towards him. Bo swallows, kneeling to Enos’s side, taking off his yellow shirt and pressing it to the wound, looking horrified at the yellow turning a deep red.

Enos sees Bo and Luke close to him. He feels a pressure on his chest, no pain but a freezing cold overwhelming him. He can see Bo speaking to him, but he can’t understand what he’s saying like if he’s sinking in dark water.

Meanwhile Daisy is crying in Uncle Jesse arms, and Cooter, Boss and Rosco look at them in shock.

Bo shivers as Enos gives no response and looks to Luke for help, "Luke what're we gonna do?!". Finally Luke snaps out of his shocked state, “Rosco, call an ambulanceâ€.

Few after they can do nothing but watch as Enos is taken out of their arms and loaded into the ambulance.

[i1976]

Daisy is looking outside the kitchen’s window, her eyes full of tears remembering the night she was there, hugging Enos.

“Daisy, darling, why are you still awake?â€

Her uncle’s voice makes Daisy jump, a brief gesture to wipe her tears off.

“I can’t sleep uncle Jesse, always the same nightmareâ€.

Uncle Jesse sighs, “Daisy, everything is OK, Enos is getting better and better, and Scanlon can’t hit anybodyâ€.

Daisy nods coming closer to her uncle and hugging him, “I know, but…. I can’t stop thinking of what happened, and what could have happened if….â€, her words stopped by a tight hug from her uncle, “Daisy, try to forget ‘bout it. Fortunately Enos is alive, and you tooâ€.

Back in her room Daisy tries to sleep only to wake up again, breathing heavily because of the thought of Enos’s blood coming continuously to her mind. The dawn filters in her room and the woman stands up, eager to go to the hospital to visit Enos, like every day since the shooting.

Daisy hates the typical smelling of the hospital, a mix of disinfectant and medicines. She passes quickly through the hall avoiding to look at the couches where that day she was waiting for doctors, torn between wish and fear to know ‘bout Enos’s condition in the operating room. She wants to forget about how long she stayed sitting on that couch while her family were hugging each other, and Boss Hogg and Rosco too, shocked in that wide and cold hall; in particular she wants to forget about Rosco standing silently in front of the white wall, his forehead against it like if he could hardly stand, something so strange for him. She wants to forget about everything in that hall, as well the small bathroom where she rushed so many times to let her tears out, and where she rushed to vomit in the moment she saw a doctor, his tight features, coming through a long corridor to tell them the news they’re waiting for.

Daisy is now walking along another corridor, the sun entering the large windows and lighting the tidy floor, so tidy it seems a mirror. And in this corridor she meets the same doctor she saw that day, and all days after; he smiles gently to her, “Good morning, Miss Dukeâ€. She remembers him talking to her family, Boss and Rosco while she was coming out that bathroom, her legs trembling and her hears buzzing; she remembers his tired features after the long operation, and she remembers his tired smile, that smile cheering her up and meaning that Enos was alive.

A brief knocking at the door, his voice behind it, and Daisy enters the small white room, the moment she prefers in those days.

“Hi Enos. Did you sleep tonight?â€, she smiles.

He nods, “Yeahâ€, is voice still hoarse because of the time spent in the Intensive Care Unit with a tube inside his trachea.

Only a glance to tell him that she didn’t sleep, again. “And what ‘bout you? You seems so tired, Dais. You shouldn’t come here every day in the morningâ€.

“Oh Enos, don’t worry. Doctor gave me permission to come to visit you at any time I want toâ€.

Enos sighs thinking of how is so simple to her to persuade people to do what she wants they do. He looks at her, her brown hair sparkling in the sunlight and her hazel eyes changing to a green shade. Her beauty makes him blush as usual, so he closes his eyes, resting on the pillows under his back.

“How’s your chest?â€.

Her voice snaps him out of his drowsiness, “Uh, better. It hurts a bit, but I’m OKâ€.

Daisy looks at the bandages covering his chest, something that still anguishes her, then she looks away focusing on his face and on his closed eyes, his eyelids gently trembling while he’s half asleep because of pain killers doctors are giving him.

The young woman takes his hand and she squeezes it gently, a gesture very familiar during all those days spent by his side at the Hospital, especially when he was in the Intensive Care Unit.

Falling asleep in the sunlight filling the little room, her hand still squeezing his one, Daisy promises to herself to be more honest ‘bout her feelings toward Enos in the future. “I won’t leave his hand any more, and I’ll do anything I can do to make him happyâ€, is what is thinking of in that white and sunny room, the only room where she can sleep, because Enos is by her side.