Free The Fall of America: Premonition of Death by W.R. Benton Page A

rubbed my tired eyes, fought the urge to scream my anger, and after a few long minutes finally said, "No, we've a limited supply of pain medications."
    "You're not going to let him bleed to death, are you?" She asked.
    I pulled the .38 snub nosed pistol I'd taken from Larry Patton when I'd killed him, opened the cylinder and checked the loads. As I snapped the cylinder closed I said, "No, I'll do this. He's my dog and responsibility."
    "Baby, I know how much " Sandra started saying, but I ignored her and moved to Skillet.
    Once at his side, I squatted. I gave him a smile, stroked his wet head, and gazed into his big beautiful brown eyes. He whimpered again and I felt my heart breaking. Lord, give me strength, I prayed as I stood and extended my hand. My arm was shaking so hard I worried about my aim. I didn't want him to suffer any longer.
    My shot was loud and my aim true. Skillet's death was instantaneous. I wanted to collapse and cry, but times were hard, and I knew the others were watching me. I had to set an example. I placed the pistol in my pocket, covered Skillet with a blanket, and went to finish the coffee.
    *****
    Near dawn, Tom approached me and said, "I'm going out to track Marty. I suspect she's heading back to Patton's, but I need to be sure."
    Staring into my cold coffee cup and without looking up I replied, "Don't bring the bitch back here. Get the gun if you can, along with the ammo, but if you bring her back, I'll kill her."

CHAPTER 7
    T om had been gone for a little over an hour, when Dolly gave a low growl and moved toward the main door to the barn. I slipped the safety to off on my shotgun and peeked outside, seeing nothing but rain. Someone or something was out there, or the dog wouldn't have warned me.
    Sandra quickly moved to my side. "What is it?"
    "I don't see anything, but they might be using the house for cover. You move over to the window and if you see anything, let me know. Dolly wouldn't have growled if it had been Tom, and he's not been gone long enough to return yet." I pushed my old cowboy hat back from my face so I could take a better look.
    Sandra moved to the window, and I noticed she switched her gun safety off as well.
    Long minutes passed with no further growls from Dolly, and I was starting to think it had been a small animal or something. She's a good girl, but I don't see anything, I thought, as I turned and gave Sandra weak smile.
    While I was smiling, Dolly suddenly started barking and I saw the gun in Sandra's hands come up. I turned, looked out the door and spotted four men moving toward us. Then it dawned on me, "Sandra, you cover the front! I'm moving to the back! Dolly, stay!"
    I was just about to the back door when it suddenly flew open and in stepped a man with a deer rifle in his hands. I noticed rain dripping from him as I brought the shotgun up waist high, fired and saw him knocked to the ground, where he lay unmoving. I knelt beside some empty 55 gallon drums I had stored and waited, but it wasn't much of a wait. Less than a minute later, two men entered, both fired their shotguns blindly, and as they pump in fresh shells, I raised and fired, taking them both with one shot. The one on the left must have died instantly, but the other fell to the ground screaming, his shotgun landing a good six feet from him. I moved to the door, glanced out, saw nothing, and closed it. I then moved to men I'd shot, with the injured man being first. He'd taken most of the blast in his side, but more than few pellets had struck him in the arm, and he was bleeding profusely. A quick search found an old 1911 .45 Colt Commander pistol in his coat pocket and little else, except a small knife on his belt. I heard a shotgun blast from the front of the barn and finished my search quickly. By the time I'd finished searching him, he was dead.
    The other two were dead as well, so I move to the front of the barn. Sandra was still at the window, but her shotgun was held in a relaxed manner.
    "Do you