Saving The Bridges

Chapter 1

"Will, are you packed yet?" Jonathan called up from the kitchen where he was assembling his gun at the table, his eldest son leaning against the kitchen counter scarfing down a plate of Pizza Rolls they'd made for dinner.

"Almost!" William called back. "Has anyone seen my pocket knife?"

"It's on the coffee table!" Issac called out between bites, discarding his plate in the sink before grabbing his hunting gear. "Fred! What the hell is taking you so long in the bathroom? Stay here if you've got the shits. We don't have time to wait for you," Issac yelled as he pounded on the bathroom door as he made his way toward the garage where their truck was parked.

"You all aren't leaving me behind again," Fred grumbled as he came out of the bathroom, skirting around their dad so he could grab his gun case. "I wasn't even in there for that long," Fred muttered under his breath while assembling the gun in record time before he grabbed his own hunting gear following after Issac into the garage.

"Liam! You better not be asleep in your bed when I get up here," Jonathan called out with a warning tone as he bound his way up the stairs while William quickly made his way down. Jonathan opened Liam's door to find the young man admiring himself in his bathroom mirror. He had styled his hair to "perfection" and was admiring his work, even shooting hand guns at his own reflection with a wink. "Should I leave you two alone or are you coming with us?" Jonathan asked dryly, rolling his eyes staring at the ceiling like he couldn't believe this was his son.

"Sorry, dad," Liam said as he finally looked away from the mirror, quickly stuffing his hunting supplies into a duffle bag. "I was just so awed by my good looks I got distracted. I'll be done in a jiffy," Liam said with a wink to his dad. Jonathan gave his son a long, hard, stare for several minutes without saying a word before he closed the door.

He could hear Liam laughing at him as Jonathan made his way down to the end of the hall where there were two doors. One was directly in front of him which opened up into the master bedroom while the door to his left opened up into a bedroom similar to Liam's but with different décor and less cologne. There, sitting on his bed ready to go with his hunting gear packed and his shut gun ready in his hands, was Noah Bridgeton. Unlike his brothers and father who all had dark brown hair, practically black, Noah had blonde locks of hair that liked to curl at the end. He also had soft brown eyes like his mom while his brothers had green eyes like their dad which everyone liked to point out. "You look just like your late mother." Noah looked up at his father with those same brown eyes causing Jonathan to smile a little, leaning against the doorframe as he remembered his wife.

"You ready to go, Noah?" Jonathan asked softly, no shouting throughout the house and he didn't yell. He just asked a simple question to his youngest son who let out a sigh as he nodded his head.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Noah said as he stood up, following his dad back down the hall and down the stairs. Noah bit hit lower lip while his brothers loaded up the trunk bed, their father getting the car keys for his Ram 1500 that hung from a peg next to the garage door. Noah was trying really hard to keep it in, he knew what their reaction would be, but he found he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Do we really have to do this?" The reaction was immediate as all his brothers let out a groan, Fred banging his head against the garage door saying "Here we go again?"

"Noah, how many times have we talked about this?" Jonathan said with a sigh as William took Noah's bags and gun from him, putting them both in the bed of the truck.

"But-" Noah started.

"No but's, Noah," Jonathan said, his tone firm as he climbed into the truck. His boys soon followed after him with Issac in the front to help his dad with directions, Fred sitting behind their father zoning out all of them complaining he was tired, Liam sitting behind Issac texting someone on his phone, William sitting in the middle between them, and Noah sitting up front between Issac and his father who completely ignored his fathers "no but's" rule.