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throat. “Tried to. Missed the damn thing by a mile I was shakin’ so bad. Guess the round was close enough for the bastard to feel its breeze though, ‘cause it took off after that.” He blew his nose again. “But, they keep coming back every twenty minutes or so. Taking small bites outta my wife. Seems they like the taste of her. The soft, juicy bits.”
    Rebecca closed her eyes and mentally begged Martin to stop with his narrative. Her stomach churned and if he said much more, she would surely gag and she knew for certain where that would lead.
    “I didn’t bother to take another shot,” Martin went on. “What would be the point? She’s dead and at this rate, there won’t be much to bury anyway. But I’m still keeping an eye out, just in case.”
    From where he’d curled up on the floor, Lou whined softly, almost as if he’d fallen asleep and was having a nightmare. Rebecca supposed it was possible. She was bone-tired and the dog probably was as well.
    “Been going out to the Rover to listen to the radio,” Martin said. “Couldn’t hear much but I heard enough. I did that a few times, until I didn’t want to hear any more.”
    Rebecca asked what he had heard, and when he was done telling her, she knew how he felt. She didn’t want to hear any more either.
    A sinkhole just slightly smaller than the Grand Canyon had opened up, stretching from just north of Seattle, all the way down to Portland, Oregon. Millions were dead.
    And apparently the canyon was growing, opening wider, stretching longer. In addition, other, smaller sinkholes were forming and soon, it was guessed, the small ones would connect with the new canyon until the majority of the northwest seaside of the United States would be swallowed whole.
    “You need to start traveling east, Rebecca,” Martin told her. “Go east as fast as you can and don’t look back.”
    The small crack of light sneaking in from between the curtains was already starting to wane. It got dark early this time of year.
    “Well, what are we waiting for then?” Rebecca stood up. “Let’s go.”
    Lou, ever obedient, jumped to his feet, ready for the next adventure. Martin, however, remained seated.
    “Oh, hell, no,” he said. “I’m too old to be running from monsters digging their way up outta Hell. I’m just gonna sit here and wait.”
    “Wait for what?”
    “For another one of those bastards to come and try to take another bite outta my wife!” He sounded angry now and shook his head. “I’ve been sitting here, watching ‘em. Studyin’ them, I guess you could say. I just want to take out one. Just one and I’ll be happy. As God as my witness, I won’t miss a second time.”
    Rebecca tried arguing with him, but it was no use. She couldn’t force the man to come with her, though she sorely wanted him to. She was terrified of going anywhere alone and voiced this fear to him, to no avail.
    “Take whatever you can carry from my refrigerator. And take my Rover,” he said. “It’s a good truck and it’ll take you wherever you need to go.” He gave the dog an absentminded pat on the head. “As long as there are roads, anyway.”
    Not wanting to cry, Rebecca thanked him and got out of there fast. She didn’t stop in the kitchen, though she thought she probably should. But she didn’t want to take anything Martin might need himself.
    When she was just about to the front door, he called down to her one last time. “Godspeed, Rebecca! May the good Lord bless us all.”
    She was about to respond when the crack of the rifle shattered the otherwise quiet house. Flinching, she looked out the doorway to the lawn, expecting to see one of the huge digger bees, dead or alive, but there was nothing. Either Martin had missed again...or he hadn’t.

CHAPTER 6
    As odd as it seemed, more than anything, Joe wanted a beer. It was strange, he thought, the things you think of when you don’t expect to live through the night.
    They’d continued to listen to the radio