“Same shifts?” Nimrod asked.
Masheck met Ned's eyes and nodded.
“Yes, same shifts.” Ned said and the leaned back against the rough bark of a pine to watch over camp.
Morning was cold as the small group of Snakes moved around the village, seeing if it was safe to enter. It was cold, light wind, but no snow. They saw no smoke and surely anyone in the village would have to have a fire to survive. Finally, Masheck sent his new chief of scouts, Ned, into the place to check out a few lodges and the village center. He was to return and report, unless he ran into trouble.
Ned moved to the edge of the village, but saw nothing but dead bodies of warriors and a few women, and one child. The bullets had torn the dead apart and did a lot of damage to human flesh. The first body he saw was of a warrior who'd taken a bullet to the chest, but it'd exited near his knee. From the blood around the dead man, he'd suffered much and eventually bled out.
He walked from one end of the village to the other, but saw no evidence of anyone alive. His eyes constantly scanned and he spotted the blankets and the jerky bag, but kept walking. He moved to a lodge, kicked the door in, but all he saw inside was blood spattered walls and the mangled bodies of two men. He checked two more lodges with the same results.
He returned to Masheck and said, “I saw nothing alive, and I mean nothing. I've never seen a bullet do the damage I just saw done to our dead. It must tumble or something. I saw one man hit in the chest and it came out just above his kneecap. That's some nasty shit.”
“Did you see any food, blankets, or supplies?”
“Well, I didn't check every lodge, but in the village square there are some blankets and a big leather bag like we usually keep jerky stored. I didn't touch anything, because I was a mite busy.”
Masheck thought for a second and then said, “Luther, I want you, Ned, and Nimrod to collect the blankets and jerky bag. Once you do that, check the lodges. Anything of use, I mean anything, stack it in the center of the village. That means you'll have to check the bodies too, to remove things in pockets, on belts, and so on. Even bloody clothing we will need.”
“Sure, we can do that.”
“While you're doing that, we'll dig up my supplies and gear. I had a feeling the day I buried it, I'd have use for it one day in the future. Oh, did you see any horses?”
Ned replied, “No, except for two dead ones. I'm sure the Northern Mountain People took all our horses with them.”
“Remove the rear quarters of both animals. The weather has been cold, so it may take you some time, due to the flesh being frozen. I don't know how well hunting will be over the next few days and a meal of horse meat will be better than going hungry.”
Nimrod was smiling, so Zedock asked, “Why are you grinning like a village fool?”
“I just realized we'll survive this, and things aren't nearly as bad as I thought.”
“We'll live,” Masheck said, “but only if we take everything of possible use. Even with all we'll soon have, it'll be rough. Now, let's move.”
The men separated and moved toward their targets.
Ned walked cautiously to the village and asked, “What do you want done first?”
“You get the blankets and jerky while we strip bodies near you. I don't want us to spread too far apart, in case we run into trouble. Three guns put out more bullets than one or two.”
Once near the blankets, Luther and Nimrod started going through pockets and pulling clothing off. Ned walked toward the blankets when suddenly a wall of fire erupted all around him, a loud blast was heard and he felt himself flying through the air. He landed flat on his back and in shock. He heard screams, only he had no idea one of the screams came from him and the other from Luther.
His eyes were blurred and then a pain started radiating up his legs, both of them. He raised his head, look down and saw his right leg was missing from mid-thigh down and his left was gone at the knee. Long coils of his purplish-gray intestines were on his lower stomach and in the snow beside him. He saw smoke from his clothing, as well as steam from his intestines, rising in the cold air and the pain became worst. He gritted his teeth against a sudden wave of anguish, but finally he could resist no more and let out a loud scream.
Zedock, digging beside Masheck heard the explosion and asked, “What in the hell was that? It was too close and loud to be thunder.”
The chief was already on his feet, the knife he'd been digging with still stuck in the ground. “I'm not sure what it was, but you can bet your ass Luther is in trouble. Let's check it out now, but be careful. Hell, the warriors may have returned or something.”
When they neared the village, all was quiet and no movement seen, except for all three men on the ground. A thick cloud of smoke covered the area directly over Ned and Luther. Nimrod was off from the other two a bit, but other than being on the ground, there was no smoke around him.
“Strange,” Masheck said, “What has done this? I know it was not a gun.”
“I don't like this.”
“We don't have much of a choice. We need to check our men and then finish digging up my supplies or we'll die. We need all the men we can get. I'll check Luther and Nimrod, while you check Ned. Make it quick, because someone may have heard the noise.” The screams were still going strong.
When Masheck got to Nimrod, he discovered the man was stunned and in shock, but he saw no serious injury. He helped the man to his feet and then moved to Luther.
The man was screaming and holding bloody hands to his eyes. Peeling his hands away, he saw the left eye had a piece of steel protruding from the socket and the other eye was completely missing. His left leg was hanging by a thread and his chest was peppered with smaller injuries.
“Zedock, toss me your knife, I left mine where we were digging.”
The knife was tossed and landed sticking in the dirt a couple of feet away. The chief moved to the knife, pulled it from the soil and moved toward Luther.
“Luther, can you hear me?” Masheck asked.
“Y . . . yes. Oh, I hurt.”
“Hell, I'd guess you do. You've a leg off, chest peppered with something that is bleeding like hell, and you've lost both eyes. I can't take you with us, because you'll slow us down.” he said and then grabbed the injured man's hair and raised his head.
“D . . . don't kill—”
The knife blade moved quickly across Luther's throat and blood gushed into the air. He began to kick his one good leg as his head moved from side-to-side. A second later he began to choke and wheeze, as he attempted to breath through the blood flooding his throat and lungs. A couple of minutes later, Luther was dead.
Masheck asked, “How's Ned?”
“I need the knife. He's torn to hell and back, with an arm gone, both legs missing and gutted like a fish.”
He'd just tossed the knife to Zedock when he caught movement out of the corner of his left eye. He turned, saw his enemies and up came his rifle. He squeezed the trigger, saw two men fall and then heard Zedock scream as the Northern Mountain warriors returned fire.
He moved behind a log and pulled Zedock with him. The attacking warriors had taken shelter where it could be found as well.
“How badly are you hit?”
“Left arm, but only a burn, or so I think.”
“By God, we have to move. Hell, there must be ten of them and only two of us.”
“When do we make a run for it?” Zedock asked and then moaned.
“The sooner the better. We stay behind this damned log long and they'll flank us, sure as shit.”
“Let's do it now!”
Both men stood, fired at the warriors and ran toward a lodge behind them. Bullets kicked up clumps of soil and grass as the walked all around them. A couple of bullets gave a loud zing as they hit something and flew into the air.
“Move to the lake, and do it now. We have to cross before they can reach us!” Masheck yelled to be heard over gunfire.
Zedock nodded in understanding and tu
rned toward the lake. The lake wasn't wide, but it was deep and on the eastern side of the village. Once across it, a wide forest and a range of mountains offered shelter and safety. We must reach the trees, his mind screamed as he broke into a hard run, right beside his chief.
Glancing over his shoulder, Masheck smiled when he saw the enemy warriors moving toward them at a slow walk. We only have to cross the lake and we are free! he thought and then increased his speed. When he next looked over his shoulder, the Mountain warriors were returning to the village. I wonder why they are not following us? he thought.
With the recent heavy snows, it was hard to tell exactly where the lake was, until they were about a quarter of the way across. At that point high winds had blown the snow from the ice, and the water below was seen as a pale blue.
Zedock gave an insane laugh and yelled, “By God, we're going to make it! Safe! They'll never find us once we enter the—”
“What was that noise?”
“Free and safe!”
“Didn't you hear that noise?” Masheck asked as he slowed down to a fast walk.
“Noise?”
“I heard a loud crack, or think I did.”
“I heard absolutely—” Before he could finish, the ice opened up and both men fell into the cold water.
They both resurfaced at the same time. Water on their hair was already freezing.
“Stay calm and move to the edge of the ice.” Masheck said, his teeth chattering.
“H . . . help me. I can't swim!” Zedock yelled just before he went under the water again.
The hell with you. I'm worried about me right now, Masheck thought as he neared the edge of the ice. Slowly and using all his strength, he pulled himself from the water. I need to get to the trees and make a fire or I'm dead. I may die even with a fire. So cold.
He took about five steps from the hole when he saw something moving by his foot. Looking down, he saw the face of Zedock trapped under the ice. The man's eyes were huge in fear, his mouth was inflated as he attempted to hold in his air, and his hands looked to be pounding the ice. The currently quickly carried him away.
Breaking into a hard run, Masheck moved for the trees. Ice formed on his clothing, but the run caused it to shatter and fall, while his skin started losing all feeling. Then, almost at once, he was in the trees. He used his numb fingers to break off dead sticks and even found a birds nest, which he took as well, and placed it all in a spot he cleared with his ice covered boot. The first three strikes of his flint and steel brought no flame. Start, damn you, or I'm dead, his mind screamed.
Finally, on the fifth try, the birds nest began to smoke. Please, start, please. I need a fire and now!
The nest suddenly burst into flames and he added larger and larger pieces of wood until his fire was large. Standing close to the flames, he allowed the heat to melt the snow and he removed his jacket and wrung it free of excess water. He place it on a stick he pushed in the snow, but tilted toward the heat. He knew he had to dry all his clothing before he was safe. I'll survive, he thought, and I'll take over another village too. One day, Cheyenne Mountain People, I will come for you. You think you've destroyed me, but I'll show you! I will one day kill all of you! He then broke into a loud insane laugh that echoed through the trees.
The End
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Book 2 in the series
"Snake People"
Coming Fall of 2014.
( Cover may vary at time of publishing. )
About the Author
W.R. Benton is an award winning Amazon Top 100 Best Selling Author. He has previously authored numerous books of Fiction, Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi, Young Adult, Westerns, and Southern Humor. Such notable authors as Matt Braun, Stephen Lodge, Don Bendell, and many others have endorsed his work. James Drury, "The Virginian," endorsed two of his Western books, "War Paint" and "James McKay, U.S. Army Scout."
Mister Benton has an Associate Degree in Search and Rescue, Survival Operations, a Baccalaureate in Occupational Safety and Health, and a Masters Degree in Psychology completed except for his thesis. Sergeant Benton retired from the military in 1997, with over twenty-six years of active duty, and at the rank of Senior Master Sergeant (E-8). He spent twelve years as a Life Support Instructor where he taught aircrew members how to use survival gear, survival procedures, and parachuting techniques.
Mr. Benton and his wife, Melanie, live near Jackson, Mississippi, with four dogs and two cats.
To learn more about him, visit
https://www.facebook.com/gary.l.benton or
https://www.facebook.com/wrbenton01
Other books by W.R. Benton
The Fall of America:
Book 1 Premonition of Death
Kindle : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F1S4BAG
Also available for Nook, iBooks, Kobo and at Smashwords
What if it all came crashing down?
It started with the "Biggest" stock market crash in history. Banks shut down under the weight of their bogus investments, and the financial sector failed. People looked to the government to make it all better. They couldn't! Hyper-inflation, mass unemployment and infrastructure started to breakdown. The food trucks didn't show up at the stores and the shelves went empty.
The Fall of America: Book 1 Premonition of Death is the beginning of a new series, about an average man who's life goes downhill fast, once society breaks down. Set in the rural south, a scorched-earth showdown with some local thugs leaves John and his wife homeless, and on the run. He hears rumors of a survivalist group made up of former military personnel, and finding them may be his only hope. Just basic survival becomes vicious, resistance at any cost, as the devastated country comes under new siege—invading Russian troops.
Brutal and action-packed from W.R. Benton.
THE FALL of AMERICA: Book 2
Fatal Encounters
Kindle : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JRK6ANU
What if it all came crashing down?
It started with the "Biggest" stock market crash in history. Banks shut down under the weight of their bogus investments, and the financial sector failed. People looked to the government to make it all better. They couldn't! Hyper-inflation, mass unemployment and infrastructure started to breakdown. The food trucks didn't show up at the stores and the shelves went empty.
Book 2 - Fatal Encounters continues John's story of survival and resistance after society breaks down. Russian invaders continue to try and pacify the areas of the South under their control. The American resistance groups divide their forces into small cells to better operate effectively behind enemy lines. But as their efforts begin to gain ground the Russians respond with harsh reprisals; mass executions become the norm and prison camps soon spring up in remote small towns. “Fear brings compliance,” is their motto. The battle for control of Mississippi gets hot, and a violent world gets even more ugly. Can the U.S. partisans survive the overwhelming Russian Army and its thermal detection technology/helicopter gunships/and scorched earth tactics?
Alive and Alone
Kindle : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CZDVMM0
On a trip to the Lake Clark area of the Alaskan bush, a sudden arctic weather system forces down the small plane of Dr. Jim Wade, and his son David. Both have survived the crash, but not unscathed. Food, fire and shelter are all a priority. Following the death of his father, now it is up to David to figure out what to do next, and how to survive, on a remote Alaskan mountain - in winter!
This is a fictional story of survival, resilience and of the spirit to live. It is both authentic and accurate, having been written by a former Air Force life support survival instructor.
Young adult: For ages 10 and up
WR BENTON'S MOUNTAIN MAN BOX SET
This new ebook collection bundles WR Benton's original mountain man tales into a three volume set:
- Red Runs the Plain
- The Fur Seekers
Enjoy these historically accurate adventures and ride with Hawk, Jeb, Bear Killer and Deacon along the wild untamed plains and shining mountains - at a special low price. Great reading AND Great value too.
MOUNTAIN MAN Box Set
Three complete novels - One low price
Eagle People Page 25