Free Defending No Where (The No Where Apocalypse Book 3) by e a lake

you did. These idiots were really going to kill me.”
    As Wilson helped Lettie and Violet up, I did the same for Daisy and Libby. Instantly Daisy threw her arms around my shoulders and hugged me.
    “My God, my God, my God,” Daisy kept repeating. “Oh my God. I am so thankful you’re alive.” She let go of me and hugged Wilson’s mid-section just as tight. “And thank you Mr. Wilson, for saving us.”
    Lettie and Daisy smiled and clambered on with Wilson about the events as Violet circled around my back. I felt one of her thin fingers digging in behind me. Probably nothing good would come of that , I thought.
    “I count five spots,” she cried, a little more hysterical than the situation deserved. “Six — there’s one on your lower back.”
    I turned and faced her since she was already weeping. “It’s nothing, Violet. Barely scratches; they don’t even hurt.”
    “But that’s a lot of blood,” Daisy said from behind. “We need to get you inside.”
    “Really, I’m okay.” I was just so damn happy not to be dead that I didn’t care about a few holes in my back.
    “Buckshot?” Wilson asked. I nodded. “But not at close range?” I grinned and winked. “Still needs to be cleaned up. Better get at it.”
    Getting another hug from Daisy, I agreed. Lettie led us all inside, including Wilson. He stopped me just before we got in.
    “That was a fairly close call, Bob,” he said in a low tone. “I don’t know how that would’ve turned out if I hadn’t shown up.”
    I agreed as he gave me a hardy pat on the back and I let out a whine. Okay, these pellets hurt a little. But I was still alive, and that’s all that mattered.

    Inside, Wilson explained how he had come to save us. Though I expected a great tale of running and chasing ending with him steadying against a tree for good shot, it was nothing that exciting.
    He had posted Johnny up the road a mile north of Lettie’s property since the day after his return from Covington. His reason was simple; he didn’t want anything happening to his granddaughter or her mother. Violet’s protection saved me.
    He claimed he was a half mile from us when the first shots rang out. Instead of sprinting to our rescue, like I thought he might, he only picked up his pace a little.
    “No sense in running if I was going to find you all dead,” he reasoned.
    He only arrived when Carmen’s gunman drew his final bead on my lying body. Settling his sights on John’s head, he squeezed the trigger. Once sure he was dead, Wilson disposed of Carmen.
    Problem solved, Thaddeus Wilson style. Thank God.
    He left to fetch some medicine for me. Even before he hit the blacktop, Lettie pulled the last of the seven pieces of buckshot from my back.
    “Now let’s clean these wounds,” she said, the last piece of metal clunking into the white dishpan. “I don’t think any of these are life-threatening.” She slapped my back, a little too hard it felt. Or maybe I was being a baby.
    “I’m fine,” I said, eyeing Violet, who was eyeing me. “Give me a few days to heal and I’ll be ready to get back at what I need to do.”
    “Yeah, right,” Violet spewed. “Once again, your blood is flowing. How about you take a break from all this crap and just sit around for a while.”
    Daisy circled behind me, rubbing my shoulder. “Maybe that’s a good idea, Bob. Let yourself heal up before you think about doing anything else.”
    She kissed my cheek and I smiled at her. “Sure, I can do that. It’s probably a good idea.”
    My two conspirators exchanged a knowing, almost devious look. But that was okay. I lied to them. I wasn’t sitting around for a second longer than necessary, no matter what they might have thought.

Day 1,038

    I finished throwing up in a bucket and flopped onto my back on the couch. Bad idea. The pain shot me back up into a sitting position.
    “And here I was worried about Clyde Barster killing you,” Lettie laughed above me. “Hell, the infection will