A small compound sat hidden in a remote area in Nevada, it’s location highly classified, just the highly rumoured area 51 is, very few people actually know of its existence. There were eight buildings on the compound, three of which were complexes were those who operated the base slept, two were supply buildings, two were science labs, and the final building was located one mile underground and was used for testing. The reason it’s location was kept secret was the untied states government knew that the compound would be boycotted by Americans and also concerns about foreign problems if it was ever discovered. The compound was known as Project Black Cat, which was a chemical warfare installation, were new chemicals were designed and their effects tested in a controlled situation. The newest, and the most deadly chemical to have ever been created by mankind was being developed there, Zyembolic plague. The Zyembolic plague was in many stages of development and testing, the scientist trying to perfect it and also create a cure, but as of yet no cure had been developed and an infected individual had a maximum of one hour left to live.
     It was a hot summer’s day in Nevada the temperatures reaching one hundred degrees, and that was before noon. Things were normal at the small government installation, nobody at Project Black Cat saw the disaster coming that would threaten to forever destroy the human race. Dr. Dean Weston was working in the smaller of the two labs, humming one of his favourite songs, when the smell of smoke filled his nose. He spun around, to face away from the table, and quickly scanned the room for the source of the smoke. His heart began to race when he saw thick black smoke billowing out from under the door to the backroom, his heart raced quickly with fear, knowing a fire could set off a chain reaction that would destroy everything. His fear was heightened being as he was the only still in the lab, all the others having gone on their lunch break. Dean ran across the room and hit the fire alarm. The alarm rang out all over the compound, in a high pitch tone that broke the silence of the day, alerting everyone of the danger. Four scientists, who had just been returning to the lab were the first ones to arrive, arriving almost immediately after the alarm went off. They pulled out the high-powered fire extinguishers they stepped towards the door, knowing there was no time to taste in extinguishing the fire. The smoke was growing thicker, and beginning to fill the room. The five men coughed, and used one hand to cover their mouth and nose with the collars of their shirts. Though there eyes burned and watered, as the smoke seemed to grow thicker with each passing moment slowly filling the room.
     “I HOPE that this is all just smoke and no real fire.” Dr. Lance Guiswite said, though he doubted that was the case.
Dean slowly reached for the handle, his flesh was scalded the moment his hand touch the handle. “Shit, that it burning up, there is a fire in the backroom, question now is how big?”
    Others had entered the room, yet by the time they arrived the room was so thick with smoke they couldn’t see the source, or the other five men. Dean covered his hand with the end of his lab coat and reached again for the handle of the door. It still burned through to his hand, but dean ignored the pain and opened the door, the sight he saw made him wish he had never opened the door, it was the last sight that he would ever see. The flames had filled the backroom, scorching everything. The fire burst through the opened doorway, igniting the five men, with such an incredible force it instantly killed them. The fire raced through the lab, completely out of control, feeding on the oxygen and flammable chemicals in the room. The chemicals in the lab exploded, like miniature bombs, spraying glass throughout the flames, cutting several of those, who were attempting to control the fire. The chemicals showered them, seeming to eat right through any flesh they touched. The sprinkle system, showered the room with water, but it did as little good as through water on a grease fire, doing absolutely nothing but make the fire worse. The fire proved to be unstoppable and it quickly spread through the whole installation.  Screams of agony rang out as the flames engulfed people, their bodies like human torches.  Thick black smoke rolled into the sky, along with something else that was unseen, the Zyembolic plague.
    In less then two hours everyone at Project Black Cat was dead, consumed by the fire, or dying smoke inhalation, while others died a death far worse, suffering the effects of the plague that they had created. Zyembolic, being an airborne plague, began to spread across the land at an incredible rate of speed, just slower then the speed of light. At least ninety-five percent of the human population’s immune systems couldn’t handle the invasion of the plague. Once the plague infected a person their survival time varied, to a maximum of one hour. As the plague spread across the land, the ill effects it caused the infected individual began to vary, as the plague seemed to mutate.

    Bo and Luke sped along the winding dirt road, blissfully unaware of the troubles and danger that lay ahead of them. Neither of them had any way of knowing about the plague that had got loose from a government facility in Nevada.
    “You know cuz, for once we ain’t got nothing to worry about.” Bo said.
    “That’s for sure, Boss and Rosco seem to be laying low and not trying no schemes.” Luke said.
    “Yeah not even one phony traffic citation this week.” Bo said.
    “That kinda worries me though.” Luke said.
    “Why’s that?” Bo asked.
    “Because it probably means that they are planning something a lot bigger, or something they just don’t want us to find out about, so thinking by acting like they are laying low that we won’t get involved.” Luke said.
    “I don’t see no point in worrying about it, I’d rather enjoy the peace.” Bo said.
    “True, it is nice for a change.” Luke said.
    “We can worry about it, when and if something happens.” Bo said.
Luke nodded in agreement.
Bo sped around the corner and had to slam on the brakes as a car sat in the middle of the road. He turned the wheel hard to the left, the tires squealed as the car slowly began to skid to a halt. However, there wasn’t enough time to bring the speeding car to a stop, the backend of the General, on the passenger side, slammed into the tail end of the stopped car.
     “Real slick driving.” Luke said sarcastically.
     “Cute.” Bo retorted. “There was no time to stop. Sure is a stupid place for someone to stop their car.”
Luke nodded in agreement. “Yeah, well let’s see if anyone is in the car, make sure that nobody is hurt.”
The boys climbed out through the windows of their car and walked up alongside the stopped green car. As they neared the driver’s side door a putrid smell wafted through the air.
     “What is that awful smell?” Bo asked.
Luke shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea.”
Bo opened the car door and his face paled.
     “Oh . . .” Bo mumbled sickly and turned away from the car, his stomach clenching miserably.
He stumbled away from the car to the edge of the road, his stomach churning.
     “What . . .” Luke started to ask and then glanced into the car, seeing just what had made his younger cousin sick.
The driver of the car lay slumped over across the seat, his head facing towards the door. His face was swollen and deep blue in colour, his eyes red and bulging, trickles of blood ran from the corners of his eyes like tears. A greenish goo poured out of the dead body’s gapping mouth. Luke’s stomach churned and he moved away from the car and walked over to Bo, who had thrown up everything that was in his stomach. Luke put a hand on Bo’s shoulder, and Bo looked up.
     “How you feeling?” Luke asked.
     “What . . . what the hell was with that?” Bo questioned, his voice shaky.
     “I don’t know. I guess maybe we should call for Rosco.” Luke said.
     “What about an ambulance?” Bo asked, trying hard not to think of how the man in the car looked.
Luke shook his head. “There’s no need, he’s already dead.”
The boys walked back over to the General. Luke reached in through the driver’s side window and pulled out the CB mike, and leaned on the roof of the General with his other arm. Bo leaned against the car, next to Luke, with his eyes closed trying had to block the image of the dead man from his mind. Luke tried several times to raise Sheriff Rosco on the CB, he never got a single response, from anyone for that matter. Luke tried all the channels and frowned.
     “The CB must be dead, I can’t raise anyone on it.” Luke said, trying to hard to believe his own words, as it didn’t seem the CB was dead it was more like there just wasn’t anyone out there. “I think we should just go back to the farm and call for help from there.”
     “Yeah, whatever.” Bo said, his voice indifferent, walking around the car and getting in on the passenger side.
Luke sighed, hoping that Bo was okay, it was rare for Bo to not want to drive. Luke slid through the window, figuring that maybe Bo was just in a state of shock from seeing the dead man’s deformed body. Luke started the car and pulled away from the car then sped down the road towards the Duke farmhouse.
     Luke kept throwing concerned glances over at Bo as he drove down the road. He noticed that Bo was still pale and his dark blue eyes seemed to be shadowed by fright.
     “How you holding up?” Luke asked.
     “I’m fine.” Bo replied, his voice flat, and lacking any emotion.
     “You don’t look so fine.” Luke said, hoping to get his younger cousin to open up and talk about it.
Bo didn’t respond and a tense silence consumed the car. A couple moments later Bo spoke up.
     “I’ve never seen a dead body before.” Bo said softly, he had only been nine months old when his parents had been killed in a train wreck.
     “I know it is hard to see a dead body for the first time. Over in Nam when I saw a dead body for the first time I reacted much the same way you did . . . though I never saw anything like that before.” Luke said.
     “I just can’t stop thinking about how he looked . . . just sitting there like that.”
     “Yeah I know it was quite . . . disgusting, just try not to think about it.” Luke said.
     “I have been trying not to think about it.” Bo said. “I just can’t help but wonder if we had got there a couple minutes sooner if we could’ve saved his life.”
     “There was nothing we could’ve done.” Luke said. “Just don’t worry about it, everything will be fine, okay?”
Bo took a deep breath and slowly released it trusting in what Luke said ‘everything would be okay’. Luke was glad to see some colour returning to Bo’s face. Even though Bo was eighteen, his nineteenth birthday two months away, Luke was still very protective of his younger cousin and felt kind of a responsibility to take care of him, the way he always had while they were growing up. They had always been the closet of friends and more like brothers then cousins.
     Luke pulled the General Lee to a stop in front of the farmhouse. Bo and Luke got out of the car and walked into the house, the flimsy screen door banging shut behind them. An eerie silence filled the old three-bedroom farmhouse. Luke walked over to the phone and had just picked up the receiver when Daisy walked into the room. Her face was ghostly pale and her eyes were blood shot, she began to cough violently.
     “Daisy, are you okay?” Bo asked his voice full of concern.
Daisy walked over to where Bo and Luke were standing, her body trembling with each step. She collapsed against Bo, who held her in his arms.
     “Carry her to the couch.” Luke said.
Bo nodded and picked Daisy up in his arms, worried about how cold and clammy her skin felt. Bo gently laid Daisy down on the couch.
     “Are you okay Daisy?” Bo asked.
Daisy shook her head weakly. “I feel awful . . . Uncle Jesse is sick to.”
     “Where is he?” Bo asked.
Daisy went to respond, but started to cough violently instead. Her skin began to turn blue and swelled up like a balloon.
     “Daisy . . .” Bo said, his voice filled with panic, he looked at Luke. “We have to help her.”
Luke looked at Daisy seeing her eyes had started to bleed, she was starting to cough up the same goo that he had seen flowing from the other man’s mouth. Daisy’s whole body was trembling and Luke knew there was nothing they could do.
     “There is nothing we can do Bo.” Luke said sadly, biting back the tears that burned in his eyes.
     “No . . .” Bo said, not bothering to hold back his tears. “Daisy just hold on you’ll be okay . . .” Bo started to say and then realized that Daisy’s body had gone still. “No . . . you can’t die.” Bo said and shook Daisy’s body.
Luke grabbed Bo by the arms and turned Bo to face him.
     “She’s gone Bo.” Luke said, a couple tears escaping the corners of his eyes and sliding down his cheeks.
Bo looked at Luke with tear filled eyes, his bottom lip trembling. He couldn’t find the words to express his emotions and instead broke down crying. Luke pulled Bo into a comforting brotherly hug.
     “I know Bo. Shh, it’ll be okay.” Luke said in a soft soothing voice.
Luke’s own tears of grief threatened to streak his cheeks, though he was determined to hold them back, determined to remain strong for Bo’s sake.
     A moment later Bo pulled away from Luke and wiped the tears from his eyes. Luke stood up and covered Daisy’s entire body with an afghan from the end of the couch. Bo stood up, his body trembling and his knees felt to weak to support his weight.
     “Just go sit down on the chair. I’ll go find Uncle Jesse.” Luke said.
Bo nodded slightly and stumbled over to the chair. Bo dropped down heavily unto the chair and slumped down, trying not to look over at the couch where Daisy’s dead body lay.
     Luke knocked on his uncle’s closed bedroom door. After a moment with no response he slowly opened the bedroom door. The sight that met his eyes made his stomach churn and fresh tears burn his eyes.  His uncle, who had raised him since he was one, lay dead on his bed.  Luke turned away and walked back to the front room. Bo heard the floorboards squeak and looked up.
     “Well . . .”Bo started to ask, with a touch of hope in his voice, until he locked eyes with Luke and saw the answer to his question.
Bo leaned his head back against the chair, fresh tears began to streak his cheeks. Luke walked over and put a hand on Bo’s shoulder.
     “I know Bo. It’ll be okay.” Luke said.
Bo looked at Luke. “How is it going to be okay . . . they are both dead.”
     “I know it hurts. But you know that neither of them would want us to be consumed with grief, and we still have each other.” Luke said.
Bo bit back his tears and nodded, though grief’s icy cold hand still was wrapped around his heart. He knew Luke was right Jesse and Daisy wouldn’t want them to just give up, or be consumed with grief, even though Bo was finding it hard to d either one. He also knew that Luke was right that they still had each other and that was the only thing that kept him going.
 Luke walked over to the phone to call Rosco, like he had started to do before Daisy had came into the room. Just like with the CB there was no answer. Luke tried several other phone numbers, including Cooter’s garage and home, with no answer anywhere, letting the phone ring a dozen times, each time he tried.
     “I can’t get an answer anywhere, just like on the CB.” Luke said.
     “What do we do now?” Bo asked.
     “We can take the General into town and try to find someone.” Luke said.
     “I guess there is nothing else we can do, is there?” Bo asked.
Luke shook his head. “No, it is all I can think of.”
     As the bright orange car speed along the road towards town, Luke began to wonder just what they would find in town. He hoped that this plague hadn't spread everywhere and killed most everyone. However, with the way there was no answer on the CB or phone, Luke really began to fear that they might only find sick or dead people, and he wondered how far spread this strange plague was. He glanced over at Bo, who seemed to be holding up for the moment, but he wondered how much more death Bo could handle before he snapped. Luke vowed to himself that he would remain strong no matter what they found in town, for Bo's sake.
     Bo sat staring out the side window watching the scenery roll past. He wondered why neither him nor Luke had started to get sick, he wondered if they were somehow immune. He hoped that was the case, even though a part of deep down wanted to curl up and die, he didn't want to see Luke suffer the way he had watched Daisy suffer. He knew there was no way he could handle that. He thought that if Luke became sick and died, and he himself never took ill that he would just kill himself, he couldn't stand to continuing living without any of his family, especially Luke, who was closer to then anyone in the world.
     Luke slowed the General down as they reached the town of Hazzard. Cars sat on the road, the drivers dead in the car or abandoned the car in a last desperate attempt to find help. Some of the car's drivers and passengers hung from open car doors, dead. Luke found driving down the road to be like driving through an obstacle course. Pedestrians lay along the sidewalk, having dropped dead where they stood. Bo slouched down on the seat closing his eyes and breathing heavily, trying to hold back tears that burned his eyes, and the nausea that churned in his stomach. Luke reached over and placed a hand on Bo's arm.
     "It'll be okay kiddo." Luke said, in a reassuring voice, trying to keep his voice sounding calm.
     "Do you think everyone else is dead?" Bo asked, not even opening his eyes.
     "I don't know . . . it kinda looks that way." Luke said.
     "Then why haven't we got sick?" Bo asked.
     "I don't know maybe we are just immune to whatever this  . . . plague is." Luke answered.
     "So if we are, there should be others to, right?"
Luke smiled slightly, Bo always seemed to think his older cousin had all the answers, though Bo's questioning never bothered him. "I guess so, I don't really know."
     Luke pulled to a stop in front of the sheriff's station, and they both slowly climbed out of the car. They climbed the steps that led into the building, just as they had many times in past, such as when they were arrested on some trumped up charge that Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane had thought up. Bo began to fear what they would find in there, for the first time ever he had a deep sense of dread as he climbed the courthouse stairs. Luke took a deep breath and shoved the swinging doors the sheriff office open. Bo stepped in, walking alongside Luke. Bo's eyes widened and he turned and ran back outside, badly needing fresh air, not being able to remain in there for even one second longer. Luke sighed as he watched his cousin leave, then he looked into the room. All of the Hazzard County law enforcement were obvious dead. Rosco still sat at his desk, his head slumped forward against the tabletop, almost appearing like he was only napping on the job, however Luke could see his swollen face. Boss Jefferson Davis Hogg, lay in the door way of his office, a small pile of ashes from the cigar he had been smoking at the time lay next to him. Laying on the floor near the upstairs jail cell was deputy Enos Strate, he had been a friend of all the Dukes and the only honest one that worked at the Sheriff’s department. It saddened Luke to see them all dead, even though they had never exactly been friends with JD or Rosco he still hated to think of anything like this happening to them. Luke shook his head sadly and knowing there was nothing else he could do he went outside.
    Bo was standing leaning against the General, pale and trembling. Luke walked over and slid his arm around Bo's shoulders. Luke didn't say anything, and he didn't have to the mere presence of Luke seemed to calm Bo down. Luke glanced across the road at Cooter's garage, wondering if their friend was still alive.
     "I'm going to go across to Cooter's Garage, do you want to just stay here?" Luke asked.
Bo shook his head. "I . . . I'll go with you." Bo said, not saying the only reason he was going was he didn't want to be alone.
 The two of them crossed the street to Cooter's. Bo stopped at the door of the garage not sure if he really wanted to go inside, afraid of the site that might meet his eyes, he thought this all seemed like some horrible nightmare, or a horror movie where he and Luke were the only survivors. He wonder why nobody saw this plague coming, and how it had struck everyone else down. He wondered if it was some kind of government test that had been conducted on Hazzard, that are gone terribly wrong, he had heard rumours of such things happening in other small communities. Luke noticed Bo’s hesitation, he felt the way Bo looked, but told himself that he had to remain brave for Bo, he refused to put his little cousin through any more grief then he was already suffering and vowed to protect Bo at all costs.
     “Just wait there, I’ll go on inside and check for Cooter.” Luke said.
Bo nodded, even though he didn’t want to be very far away from Luke, he feared if he lost sight of Luke, he would lose him to.
     Luke entered the old familiar garage, recalling the many hours, he, his cousin and their close friend Cooter had spent in the garage, it at times seemed like a home away from home, now it felt cold and empty. He had entered through the small office, and as he stepped into the garage the smell of death filled the air, he knew Cooter was dead, but wanted to see the dead body for himself. The smell of death seemed different then any of the times in Nam where he had seen death, as were the bodies, they all seemed mutilated. He prayed that if this was a plague that he and Bo were indeed immune because he couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Bo die the way Daisy had, or to see what his body would become. A car sat in the garage, it’s open as though Cooter had just been working on it. Luke took a deep breath and stepped around to the far side of the car. His stomach rolled at the sight that met his eyes, their long time friend, lay dead on the floor, in the same state as all the others they had a seen, one of his tools still clenched tightly in his hand. Bo couldn’t stand to be alone outside the door of the garage any longer, the whole street just seemed to be a graveyard. He took a deep breath and gathered his courage to enter the garage, trying to think of it to be just like any other time he had been there, though that was impossible. Bo saw Luke standing on the far side of the car and walked towards him. Luke heard him approaching and looked up.
     “I thought you were just going to stay outside.”
     “I didn’t want to be out there . . . not alone. It’s like some kind of graveyard.” Bo said.
Bo stepped around the car, thinking perhaps this time he could handle what he saw, however saw Cooter he knew he couldn’t handle it, he doubted he could ever get used to the site of a dead body. Bo turned away, a few fresh tears slid down his cheeks. Bo turned and stepped towards the door, not going too far away from his older cousin. Luke said a silent prayer for their dead friend and then stepped over to Bo. Luke put an arm around his young cousin's shoulder. Bo leaned his head on Bo's shoulder, his tears falling from his face, moistening Luke's blue plaid shirt.
     "I know Bo, its okay. It'll be okay, just please keep it together . . . I need you to keep it together okay? All we have is each other now." Luke said.
Bo nodded his head and bit his bottom lip to try to keep back the tears, which seemed to be never-ending. Bo took a deep shuddery breath and pulled away from Luke.
     “What do we do now?” Bo asked, his voice sounding like a scared lost child.
     "I guess we should go back to the farm now. We should bury Uncle Jesse and Daisy." Luke said, it wasn’t something he really wanted to do, but he felt it needed to be done.
Bo nodded slightly, he wondered if he could handle doing that.
     “We can pick up some supplies . . . then maybe drive to Atlanta or something, we need to find out how far spread this plague is.” Luke said, as they started to walk back to where they parked the General.
     “What if it’s everywhere?” Bo asked.
     “I don’t know. Like you said, if we are immune there has to be others.” Luke said.
     “What if we are the only ones alive?” Bo asked.
     “Just don’t think that way, there has to be more then just us.” Luke said.
They climbed into the General and drove back towards home in silence. Bo cursed himself for not being as strong as Luke, and thought that Luke was soon going to get annoyed having to keep telling him to keep it together. Bo glanced over at his cousin, Luke was strong and brave, he rarely let emotions show, Bo wished he could be more like him and emotionally detach himself for the pain of seeing those he knew, those he loved all dead.
     Luke parked the General in front of the old farmhouse, knowing it would be the last time he would ever do that, the last time they would ever see their home. The two Duke boys climbed out through the windows of their car, and stood looking at the house. Luke wasn’t sure what they should do first, and he decided that it would be best to dig the graves.
     “I think that we should first dig the . . . graves, there should be shovels in the barn.” Luke said.
     “Where are we going to bury them?” Bo asked, hardly able to believe that he was truly asking that question.
     “Um . . . under the old elm tree.” Luke said, motioning to where the large old tree stood in front of the house.
Bo and Luke walked towards the barn to get the shovels.
     All the animals the Dukes owned, Bonnie May the goat, Maudine the mule, and nearly two dozen chickens, were still in the barn.
     “What are we going to do with the animals?” Bo asked.
     “Turn them all lose I guess. We can just dump all the food and they can eat what there is, once it is all gone they will leave in search of more.” Luke said.
Bo nodded and stepped over to the old mule, and patted her nose, Maudine was older then either of them, and he wondered if she would ever leave even to find food. Luke pulled the lever and dumped the end of the feed into the trough, there wasn’t very much left as they were going to have been buying more at the end of that week. Bo made sure that Maudine and Bonnie May were both untied so when the time came they could just leave.
     Luke picked up a couple of small boards from the corner, figuring to make crosses to mark the graves of his kin.
     “Where’s the blowtorch?” Luke asked.
     “It’s with the toolbox, I’ll get it.” Bo said.
They each took a shovel and walked back towards the house.
     “You know this all seems like a bad dream, like I never did wake up this morning and any minute I’ll wake up in my bed.” Bo said.
     “I know how you feel, but unfortunately this is all too real.” Luke said.
     “It don’t seem like it, I never thought when I got up this morning that come afternoon we’d be burying Uncle Jesse and Daisy.” Bo said, biting back his tears.
     “Neither did I.” Luke said.
They set the boards and the blowtorch down under the tree, and then standing in the shade of the large old elm began to dig two graves. It took them a little less then an hour to dig the graves. They turned to look at the house, both feeling a deep sorrow, knowing what they had to do next would be one of the hardest things in their lives.
     “You feeling up to this?” Luke asked.
     “I . . . I don’t know, I’ve been asking myself that same question.” Bo responded.
     “Okay then just stay out here, work on making the markers, use the blowtorch to put their names on the markers.” Luke said, the words not coming out easy.
Bo nodded, and as Luke went inside he sat down with the wood and blowtorch, and using the lowest possible setting, began to burning their names into the wood.
     Luke stepped into the house, and shivered, it felt so cold and empty, not like the love filled home it had always been. The smell of death now seemed to cling to the air, making Luke feel sick to his stomach. He bit back the tears he could feel forming in his eyes, telling himself to remain strong. Luke took a deep breath and stepped over to the couch. Seeing Daisy’s dead body again seemed to be too much and he felt tears burning his eyes and threatening to flow down his cheeks, he closed his eyes tightly and waited for the feeling to pass. Once he was sure the tears would not start he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Luke bent down beside the couch and wrapped Daisy in the afghan, and picked her up, he tried not to think of how limp and lifeless her body was. Luke walked back outside, knowing her could only bring them out one at a time.
Bo looked up when he heard Luke come out, wanting to break down and cry when he saw Luke carrying Daisy’s dead body, but reminded himself that he had to be strong the way Luke was. Bo bit his bottom lip, to keep himself from crying. Luke gently laid Daisy down in one of the open graves.
    “I’ll go back in and . . .and get Uncle Jesse.” Luke said, stumbling over the words as he felt his throat lock up with tears.
Bo said nothing and turned back to finish with markers, refusing to look over at the graves. Luke turned and went back inside.
     Luke found it just as hard to back into the house the second time. Memories of the past seemed to lurk in every shadow and call out to him. He hated to be in the house alone, it all seemed too overwhelming, he wished that he had talked Bo into coming inside with him, but knew he didn’t want inflict this same grief on Bo. Luke walked quickly through the house to his uncle’s room. Jesse’s body looked worse then before and Luke’s stomach rolled sickly, he ran from the room and headed for the bathroom. Luke bent over the toilet and threw up everything that was in his stomach. After, Luke finished his mouth out with water from the sink. He stood for a moment and looked at his reflection in the mirror.
     ‘You have to stay strong . . . Bo needs for you to remain strong.’ Luke told himself, and took a deep breath and returned to Jesse’s room.
Luke stood in the door way of the room for a moment, staring at Jesse’s bed, he knew he couldn’t stand there forever and forced himself to go into the room and walk over to the bed.
     “I am sorry we weren’t here to at least try to do something . . . “ Luke said his voice breaking off, finding no other words would come.
With trembling hands, he wrapped Jesse’s body in blankets from the bed, and picked his uncle’s dead body up in his arms and left the house.
     Bo was just sitting on the ground, staring at the door of the house, waiting for Luke to come out, he had finished making the markers. He thought he seemed to be taking Luke a long time, and was staring to worry that something had happened, that Luke had taken ill. He was debating go inside to check for Luke, when his cousin emerged though the door.
     “I was starting to think something had happened to you.” Bo said, a touch of worry in his voice.
Luke shook his head. “No . . . just . . .”
     “Found it hard to do?”
Luke nodded, he hadn’t been able to find the words, and was grateful that Bo understood. Luke laid Jesse down in the empty grave. Bo stood up and walked over to Luke, carrying the markers. Luke took one, and then they each knelt down by the graves to place the markers at the head of the graves. Luke had taken Daisy’s body and Bo placed Jesse’s. They filled the dirt back into the graves, and then stood beside each other at the foot of the graves. They each stood with their hands folded in front of them, their heads bowed slightly.
     “Lord, please take care of our family.” Luke said solemnly, not really knowing what else to say, no words seemed to come easy, and his voice seemed to remain locked in his throat.
Luke glanced over at his younger cousin, who was standing with his eyes closed, obviously trying hard not cry.
     “I guess we should get going.” Luke said.
Bo nodded and looked at Luke. They walked quietly over to the General and climbed inside, with Luke at the wheel. They sped away in a cloud of dust, neither of them looking back, they knew in their hearts it would be the last time they ever saw the Duke farm and Hazzard ever again.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .