by W. R. Benton
She pulled her pistol, backed away from the door and moving to her car, started it and drove a few blocks to where her sister lived. Once there, she knocked on the door and then entered.
Marsha asked, “Is something wrong?”
“Someone is in my home, or has been. I wondered if Mark is here and if he'd help me check the inside. I don't really want to go inside alone.” She didn't want to ask for help, but Jesse worked for the President and it could more than one person inside.
“What about the kids?”
“They're in school.”
“Mark! Come here honey, Sue needs some help.” Marsha called out, then looked at Sue, and added, “Lawdy, that'd scare me to know someone is in my house.”
“It could be anyone, and my only concern is how many of them are there.”
Mark entered the room and asked, “Yep?”
Sue explained why she was there and then waited. Mark was a prior military man and all she knew about his career was he'd been a combat troop in a number of different countries.
“Hummm, we have no idea how many are in there and I don't see any way to know, until we enter. Let me grab a couple of shotguns from my gun cabinet and we'll check your place out.”
“I have my .45.”
“That bullet would go further than we want if you pulled the trigger. I'm sure in combat it would be fine, but we don't want a bullet that will go through a half dozen houses once the trigger is pulled. We don't want to hurt or kill an innocent person maybe four or five houses down. Shotguns and small caliber pistols are the best for house clearing.”
“How do you still have guns, if the California police claim they've collected all of them?” Sue asked.
“I just didn't turn them in; my dad bought them second hand, years back, when registration wasn't required. He got them around 1960 or so. How do you have a pistol?”
“I am an exception to the gun law, because Jesse works for the President. Government employees, except military, active duty and retirees are allowed guns for self protection.”
“Double standard.” He walked from the room and returned with two pump shotguns and two boxes of 12 gauge shells. “Watch where you point this thing, but I guarantee, if you point a shotgun at someone and pull the trigger, they will go down.”
Sue knew about shotguns, and used to hunt rabbits and squirrels with her father as a little girl. She picked the nearest shotgun up, opened the box of shells, and loaded her weapon.
Placing the remaining shells in her coat pocket, she said, “Let's move, because I don't like the idea of a stranger in my home.”
“Yep and since Jesse works for the President, it could be anyone.”
“Especially this President, because he's so corrupt. The civil war, the split of our nation, and all the rest scares me. What kind of country will we hand our kids?” she asked as they walked to Mark's old pickup truck.
“Get in and keep the shotgun with you in the cab.”
“I really hope they're gone and the house is clean of intruders.”
“It may be if it's a robbery, but what if a man is there to kidnap or rape you? Have you given that any thought? This President has pissed off a lot of people and they're not all Americans.” He started the truck and they moved for Sue's house. It never dawned on her to try to reach Jesse, because he would be useless in a situation like this. He was due home later, so she'd tell him what happened then.
They pulled into the driveway, just enough to get the rear of his truck out of the road, and all looked normal. However, after getting out of the truck and moving to the door, he could see the transparent tape flapping in the wind. He met her eyes, as if asking, “Are you ready?”
She nodded and watched him slip the safety off his shotgun, so she did the same. She said a fast prayer and watched his hand move for the door knob. Mark rotated the knob slowly and discovered the door locked. It would have been locked if all was normal. She handed him a key and he quietly rotated the latch on the deadbolt after unlocking the knob lock, hoping it would not “snap” open. It unlocked quietly. Anyone watching the door would have seen the movements of the knob or the deadbolt, but it was unlikely anyone would sit for hours watching a door.
When Marked entered the house, he instantly saw two men wearing cheap black suits on the sofa, and one was drinking from a metal flask. Both went for their guns and when the one on the left cleared his holster, that told the prior military man they were up to no good. He pointed his shotgun at them, squeezed the trigger, and then quickly pumped in a fresh shell.
The shot from the gun struck both men and the man on the left screamed as the double ought buck shot struck his chest and face. Sue watched fascinated as the shot tore the two men into hamburger. The man on the right fell back, unmoving, while the other continued to scream as blood poured from his face and chest.
A man ran into the room, a pistol in his left hand, and Sue fired because she'd been watching Mark's back as he was kicking guns away from the downed men. Her pellets struck the man in the head, and most of his face disappeared as well as his skull. He screamed, reached for his head and then fell, where he quivered and jerked as his whole nervous system shut down. She moved to him, kicked the pistol from his hand, and then along with Mark, began to check each of the other rooms.
It was the last room, a child's bedroom, where two more men were discovered. When Mark opened the door, four shots sounded and each struck the wall beside him. With the door swinging open, Mark fired once and then rolled inside the small room. Sue fired and two returned fire, striking the wall behind her.
From the shots, Mark knew the two men were behind the bed. He was at floor level, so he moved the barrel of his shotgun toward the bed and squeezed the trigger. Most of his shot went under the bed frame, striking the two men on the other side.
One man gave a hideous scream and fell but the other fired two shots at Mark. One bullet hit the dresser behind him and continued moving, while the second pinged off into space after hitting a piece of metal. Mark guessed their pistols were .38's revolvers because that was what the other men were carrying. The intruder's head popped up, looking for a target, and Sue's shotgun boomed. Instantly he fell in an unnatural way. She saw blood was floating above the man like a fine crimson mist.
“You hit him right in the neck. Smell the coppery scent? That's blood.” Mark said and slowly stood. He moved to the two men, kicked their weapons away and said, “Call the police and do the job now. Both of these fools are dead, but I think one in the living room is still breathing.”
Many long minutes later, almost an hour, a single squad car arrived and a lone cop made his way to the door, which was open in expectation of visitors.
Sue pulled her right to carry permit, stamped by the White House, and then her drivers license, which she handed to the officer. As he looked them over, she explained she'd come home to suspect someone in her house. She had gone to get Mark, because she didn't want to enter her house on her own. She'd explained how the old shotguns were hers, and they'd been locked up in a shed out back for years.
Once they entered they found the two men on her sofa who were armed and tried to kill her, so they'd fought back. She continued with her story.
The cop barely listened as he ran a background check on both but found nothing, except they were associated with the White House, so he knew better than to arrest her or even take her in for questioning.
He handed her identification and gun permit back and said, “Looks like self defense to me. These boys had to be pretty stupid to brace shotguns with a .38 pistol.”
Mark asked, “Are we free to go?”
“Yes, sir, you're free. An ambulance will be here in a few minutes to remove the bodies. I'd hoped the last man would live long enough for us to question him, but he didn't.”
It was then Sue's cell phone rang, “Hello?”
“Sue, this is Debby from the President's staff ,and we have reason to believe Jesse was taken by an unknown group early this morni
ng. The President would like you to come to the White House for a classified briefing.”
Silence.
“Sue, did you hear me?”
“Uh, yes, . . . I . . . heard you. I . . . I'm just shocked is all. I'll be there as soon as possible, because we just killed five men in my home. The police are here, so tell him what you just told me.”
She handed the phone to the cop and said, “It's the White House, a woman named Debbie from the President's personal staff.”
Minutes later, the phone handed back, the overworked cop said, “They think this was a kidnapping attempt by an unknown group. Once the bodies are removed, I'm to take you to the White House in my patrol car.”
Turning to Mark, her eyes full of tears she said, “Jesse was kidnapped early this morning and I think they wanted me next. I hope they don't hurt him, because he's as harmless as a fly. Why would they take Jesse?”
“I have no idea, but if you two want to leave now, I can oversee the removal of the dead men. Maybe their fingerprints will show something.”
“I have their prints and photos of the faces of those who still had a face. I'm telling you, those shotguns tear a body up!”
“Hush,” Mark said, “someone is nearing the door.”
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.
EAGLE PEOPLE
Book 1
Kindle : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQ999IC
The year 2414...
In a devastated America, ripped apart by a second bitter Civil War, it is a time of struggle and strife - only the vigilant survive, and The Eagle People must compete with their neighbors, The Mountain People and The Wolf Clan for every life-preserving resource. Horses, bows and hatchets have replaced the ammo-less assault rifles and worthless cars. Defending their hunting grounds with their rudimentary weapons means The Eagle People stand a chance, losing them means tribal extinction.
Until now the Eagle People had some advantages - access to the sacred Books of Knowledge, culled from the blacked ruins of once great book houses. With these books, their 'Learned Ones' are slowly discovering long-forgotten skills and tools. When the Wolf Clan suddenly discovers a new terrifying weapon, the pistol, things change. Though few in number, The Wolf Clan uses their advantage to attack and enslave The Eagle People, igniting a new war and disturbing the fragile balance of power in the neighboring tribes.
A new dystopian Sci-Fi series from W.R. Benton!
More Audiobooks by W.R. Benton
The Fall of America: Book 1
The Fall of America: Book 2
The Fall of America: Book 3
Available now at Audible.com or iTunes