Free EMP 1500 MILES FROM HOME by Mike Whitworth

shoulder, Wayne."
    I put the 9mm in my waistband next to the .45 as Julie unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it off of my shoulder. "I think the bullet passed clear through. The hole is a lot bigger on the back of your shoulder though."
    "Hollow point?" I asked.
    "Maybe. Let me get the bleeding stopped."
    We walked back to the table where everyone except Yeti were gathered once more. Bill still lay face down where he had fallen. It was obvious he was dead. Becky was upset and Martha was trying to console her.
    "Bill?" I asked Slim.
    "Gone," he said, "never knew what hit him."
    "Can you gather up all of the guns and ammunition the intruders had and bring them here to the table," I asked.
    "Sure thing," Slim said and he and Yolanda went to do just that. Julie placed pads made from one of her cut up blouses on my shoulder and tied it off with strips of the same cloth. The shoulder hurt. I suspected it would hurt even more later. I walked over to Yeti.
    "Yeti, are you all right?" I asked. Yeti was carefully watching where the two men disappeared into the mesquite. I noticed he chose a spot where a rise in the ground gave him cover and a good view. Smart boy.
    "I'm fine Wayne. I think I killed one though."
    "Two I think, maybe three," I said. "I thought you didn't know how to shoot."
    "I don't really. That was the first real gun I have ever fired. I play video games, first person shooter games to be exact. The guns are very realistic in some of those games so I know how they work."
    "Are you good at the games?" I asked.
    "Yes, I am world class at most of them," He paused. "It is a hell of a lot harder in real life though."
    "Yes it is." I put my hand on his shoulder. I was very proud of this boy who was so rapidly growing into a man.
    "How did you get to be so good a shot?"
    "I'm not," I said.
    "You didn't miss. Not one single shot. You didn't miss. Were you in the military?"
    "No. My pa-in-law taught me how to shoot."
    "Who is your pa-in-law?"
    "Cap Williams," I said.
    "My God," Yeti sputtered. "Cap Williams is a legend. I have read books about him."
    "You are kidding. There are books about Cap?" I had never seen a book about Cap and Lucy had never mentioned it.
    "Yeah, your pa-in-law is famous. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in Vietnam."
    "I didn't know that either. Cap doesn't talk about himself at all."
    "No wonder you can shoot," Yeti said. "Wow!"
    "Yeti, are you OK? Did you get hit?"
    "No, I am fine. I don't think those guys could shoot very well."
    "We were very lucky this time," I told him. "Sooner or later we are going to run into folks who are trained and disciplined. I am not sure how to handle that."
    While Slim dug a grave for Bill, I looked over the vehicles. The car was crap. At least one bullet cracked the block and another punctured the radiator. The next truck in line was also incapacitated. But the third truck, a 1953 Chevy, ran fine, even though it was full of bullet holes. I could tell that someone had lovingly restored it. I didn't think it was any of the men we encountered. I figured the owner of the truck was dead, probably murdered.
    I also looked over the guns recovered from the bandits that Slim and Yolanda stacked on the table. There were nine pistols, five shotguns, and five rifles. The pistols ranged from a .22 snub nose revolver, to a 44-40 single-action copy of an old Colt. Most interesting were two 9mms and a 40 caliber Glock. The shotguns were mostly single shots, with one Mossburg pump-action in the lot. The rifles were a .22 magnum Marlin bolt action, a 30-30 lever action Marlin, two AR variants in .223, and a scoped, bolt action 30-06 Savage.
    There was very little food in the vehicles. That meant these guys probably had a base they were planning on returning to, with loot no doubt. Even in gasoline-powered vehicles, they would have been stupid to try to cross the flats between the Rio Grande and the mountains to the east without enough food and water. Of course, they may have been just that