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of movement among the pines, and then he recognized David, who he knew had been with Tommy earlier. David was running right at the stranger with the knife, his crude wooden spear poised to throw. When he did throw it, Benny saw it miss completely, sailing right past the boy with the knife, who didn’t seem to care. Instead he just laughed and stepped closer to David, waving the big blade in a way that left no doubt as to what he intended to do with it. Benny moved in to intervene, but the boy was focused on David and oblivious to his approach. From where he stood now, Benny could see someone lying on the ground between David and the stranger. He couldn’t see his face, the way he was sprawled on the ground, but he could see what he was wearing, and the rifle that was lying there beside him, and that was enough: It was Tommy! The rifle shot he’d just heard was someone shooting Tommy, and now this boy was about to stab David!
    Benny raised his shotgun to his shoulder and drew a bead on the stranger’s chest. When the boy took his next step in David’s direction, it was his last. Benny let him have it center of mass with a round of double aught buck.

Seven  

    T HE RIFLE FROM ACROSS the road rang out again as Benny crawled closer to where David was bent over the prostrate body that Benny knew was his boy. Benny saw a bullet kick up dirt just beyond where it skimmed over David’s head, and knew the next one probably wouldn’t miss.
    “David! Grab Tommy’s rifle and get over here and get down behind these trees before you get yourself killed! How bad is Tommy hit?” But Benny already knew the answer before he asked. The rifle that had put down those 800-pound steers with one shot each would certainly be lethal to a man if it was a solid hit. Seeing his boy lying there, he feared the worst already.  
    David did as he was told and scrambled on his knees and elbows to the cluster of trees where Benny was now crouching, another bullet just missing him before he reached safe cover. “He won’t move Benny! I told him he needed to get up and get over here, but he wouldn’t do anything!”
    “Is he still breathing? Could you tell if he could hear you or not?” Benny had to find out, but with that rifle over there across the road, it would be suicide to try. He glanced at the body of the one that he’d shot, the one who’d threatened David with the knife. That one sure wasn’t going to hurt anybody. He’d been dead before he hit the ground. Benny checked the magazine of Tommy’s .308. It was full but for the one round Tommy had already chambered. That left four more to follow-up. Five rounds wasn’t much but Benny knew the extra reach of a rifle over his shotgun would be helpful in this situation. He eyed the weapon the dead boy had left leaning against a tree over by the steers. It looked like an older semi-automatic hunting rifle, maybe a .308 as well or perhaps a .243 or something. Benny figured it might come in handy as a back up to Tommy’s rifle and his shotgun if they could get their hands on it without getting shot. Whatever it took, he aimed to get that bastard over there across the road that had shot his boy. But first he had to get Tommy moved behind these trees and see if he was even still alive. To do that he had to somehow draw fire from the shooter and try and figure out where he was. And he needed that other rifle so they would have enough ammo to keep him busy while one of them went to get Tommy.  
    “I’m gonna make a run for that rifle over there by them carcasses,” he told David, handing him the shotgun. “As soon as he takes a shot at me, you shoot a couple rounds of that buckshot up there to keep him ducking.”
    “What if he hits you with his first shot?”  
    “Let’s hope he won’t. I don’t plan on making it easy for him.”
    Benny was just about to make his run for it when he suddenly heard bodies crashing into the leaves behind him and realized Lisa and Stacy were there,