The people and places appearing in this book as well as the story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - Leaving Tennessee
Chapter 3 - The Boys are born
Chapter 4 - Red Mountain
Chapter 5 - Sherman’s Last Trip
Chapter 6 - Jed Takes Control
Chapter 7 - Joshua Trains Mister
Chapter 8 - Randsburg Nights
Chapter 9 - Chelsea
Chapter 10 - Justin and Joshua come to the Rescue
Chapter 11 - Justin’s Obsession
Chapter 12 - Mister Becomes the Master
Chapter 13 - Justin’s Mistake
Chapter 14 - The Tweakers
Chapter 15 - Joshua’s Guide Dog
Chapter 16 - Ridgecrest Close Call
Chapter 17 - Whiskey Flat Days
Chapter 18 - Joshua Crosses the Line
Chapter 19 - The follower
Chapter 20 - Justin Can’t Stay Home
Chapter 21 - Joshua’s Revenge
Chapter 22 - Leaving Red Mountain
Special Thanks
Sources
Other Books by Ron L. Carter
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Chapter 1 - Introduction
Going north on Highway 395 from southern California you’ll travel through the area known as the Mojave Desert. As you pass through the desert you stare out into the desolate and empty space and feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. You’ll pass miles, of what looks like vast areas of nothing but monotonous dry and empty land, dotted with desert plants. You can tell, just by looking, it’s a harsh and unforgiving place to live.
Approximately twenty six miles north of Kramer junction and twenty three miles south of Ridgecrest you’ll pass a small active ghost town known as Red Mountain. You wouldn’t know there was a town there except for the green sign with white lettering that’s perched about five feet off the ground by two four by fours. That part of the highway is an isolated stretch of the road where darkness falls fast and if you’re traveling alone at night you say a silent prayer in hopes that your car doesn’t breakdown or stall.
Don’t be fooled by the beauty of the old original western ghost town, Red Mountain is hiding a deep dark secret known to the locals as the Night Crawlers. They’re a by-product of drug abuse, poverty and the result of generations of inbreeding. None of the locals know where the Night Crawlers came from, all they know is they were living a peaceful and serene life before they arrived. Nothing in the Red Mountain area is safe from the Night Crawlers, as they conspire to go out in the deepest and darkest hours of the night in search of their next innocent and unsuspecting victim.
Some of the old timers from the area, say that before the Night Crawlers came to Red Mountain you could hear the Coyotes howling in the distance from on top of one of the ridges or you could hear an occasional Eagle scream as it hunted for its cottontail or jack rabbit prey. Since the Night Crawlers arrived, they have frightened almost everything away and you seldom hear anything, except the cold mountain wind, as it rushes through the sage brush of the dark and desolate hills. The air is heavy and sometimes, even during the quiet and lonely days, the town seems extra eerie and gloomy. Once the sun goes down, the locals shiver in fear from just the mere thought of knowing that, somewhere out there, the Night Crawlers lurk in the dark and lonely shadows.