Betrayal: Society Lost, Volume Two by Steven Bird Read Free Book Online

began stabbing the dog repeatedly, while screaming, “Get off me! Get off me! Get off me, you filthy beast!”
    Striking the dog over and over again with the knife, the animal acted as if it wasn’t fazed at all by Jessie’s counterattack. Hearing sounds of struggle to his left, Jessie glanced over to see several other dogs dragging Eli to the ground. Leaping onto him like a pack of hungry lions, the dogs began to tear into the flesh of the old horse.
    Releasing its mighty grip on Jessie’s now severely lacerated and possibly broken arm, the dog looked into Jessie’s eyes with a calculated stare. Hearing a whistle in the distance, the dog’s head snapped to its left, in the direction of the sound, and immediately ran off with the rest of the pack in tow.
    His arm in severe pain, Jessie’s heart pounded as he looked around for any remaining threats, only to see Eli take his last gasp of air as he bled out, laying still and lifeless on the dry, dusty ground.
    Hearing the low roar of a piston-driven, low-flying aircraft, Jessie was startled awake. Immediately grabbing his right arm, realizing it was okay, and it had all been yet another hellish nightmare, Jessie looked to see that Eli was unharmed as well, although he, too, was startled by the plane and was pulling nervously at his reins. Luckily, Jessie had secured Eli’s reins to a large rock in the outcrop they had used for cover for the night, and the horse remained secure.
    “Damn it!” Jessie exclaimed, his heart pounding in his chest. Grabbing his rifle, Jessie looked through the scope, zooming in on the aircraft. “That’s a Beechcraft Baron,” he murmured as he attempted to get as much information about his surroundings as he could in the pre-dawn’s light.
    “That thing just took off,” he said aloud in Eli’s direction. “What the...?” Laying his rifle to the side while he pulled a well-worn, folded paper map out of his cargo pocket, Jessie scanned the map for the Red Lake and Fort Sumner area, trying to get his bearings on where exactly he might be. Tracing the map with his finger, Jessie said, “Fort Sumner municipal airport. We’ve got to be right here,” tapping his finger on the map.
    Shoving the map back into his pocket, Jessie retrieved his rifle once again and began tracking the aircraft as it headed south, over the horizon, and out of sight. Where the heck are they going? he wondered.
    With the airplane fully out of sight, Jessie retrieved his map once again and began to study his potential situation. If this is the airport, then the town is directly south of us over that slight rise in the terrain. Maybe I can go get a look-see.
    Once again putting the map back into his pocket, Jessie turned to Eli and said, “Eli, old boy, I’m gonna need you to stay put for a bit. I need to work my way to that hilltop to see if I have my bearings straight. I need to keep a low profile, so I’ll just leave you here for now, but don’t worry, I’ll be back.”
    Gathering his pack and rifle, Jessie turned and looked at Eli and thought, “Ah hell, I can’t leave him here without breakfast.” Placing his pack and rifle back on the ground, Jessie walked around the immediate vicinity, pulling any sort of forage from its roots that he thought Eli might like. With a small armload of grasses and legumes, Jessie placed them in front of the horse, who immediately began pushing it around with his nose, sifting through the pile for the most desirable choices.
    “Picky ol’ boy, ain’t you?” he said, patting him on the back. “You’d think a horse as skinny as you would just be happy to have a meal.”
    Jessie then removed a water bottle from his pack and poured its contents into his own campfire cooking pan for Eli to drink. “There you go, buddy. Now, hang tight. I’ll be back.”
    Once again donning his pack and shouldering his rifle, Jessie worked his way cautiously toward the rising terrain in the distance, due south of his position. As he