Red Dog Saloon by R.D. Sherrill Read Free Book Online Page A

black for his phone. His hand fumbled across the receiver. He snatched it
up and put it to his ear anticipating a dial tone. However, his hopes of
calling for help were dashed. The line was dead.
    He
would have to do this on his own, he and his gun anyway. He wasn’t about to be
caught by surprise like Andy had been the night before. He knew someone was
there and they were coming for him. The difference between him and Andy was
that Eddie was forewarned. He wouldn’t go down without a fight.
    Eddie
caught his breath as something slammed against the kitchen window.
Instinctively throwing up his gun, Eddie squeezed off a round. The deafening
shot shattered the window from where the sound came.
    “I’m
serious!” Eddie screamed as his eyes tried to pierce through the darkness which
had engulfed his trailer. “I’m not scared of you!”
    The
banging continued again seconds later. This time the sound came from the
direction of his living room window. Eddie whirled and fired in the darkness
toward the sound of the noise. Flame erupted from the barrel of his
thirty-eight momentarily illuminating the interior of the small trailer. His
ears rang from the second concussion of his firearm.
    “Get
out of here!” Eddie yelled again. “I will shoot you!”
    Then
came the rocking of his trailer. The double-wide swayed as it was being pushed
from outside. The rapping became ever louder on the trailer’s siding.
    Eddie
moved toward the front door and peered outside trying to catch a glimpse of the
intruder by the pale moonlight. He had to have a light, something to illuminate
the darkness. Feeling his way back to the drawer in his bedroom, Eddie fumbled
around until put his hand on the plastic cylinder of his flashlight.
He turned it on hoping for safety the light would provide. However, Eddie was
again disappointed. The batteries were dead. It was his only flashlight. How
had he let the batteries in his only flashlight go dead? It had sat there for
years doing nothing and now when he needed it, the batteries were dead.
    He
walked through the darkness back to the front door. His eyes were now
adjusting to the dim light provided outside by the moon. Eddie wondered what to
do. How would he get out of the situation alive? While Andy was a close friend,
he wasn’t too keen on joining him in the realm of the dead so soon.
    Eddie
realized he had three options as the rapping and rocking of his trailer
continued. First, he could stay inside his dark trailer and wait for
whatever was outside to come inside. Second, he could go outside and try to
hunt down whatever was terrorizing him. And third, he could make a run for his
truck and get away. Eddie decided to go with door number three. He would run to
his truck, careful not to get ambushed as he rushed out the door. Then he would
drive like a bat out of Hell, leaving his unwelcome visitor in his dust. It was
a perfect plan, but then there are very few bad plans when you’re drunk.
    He
grabbed his keys off the peg by the door and prepared himself for his dash. He
could see his truck in the moonlight parked about ten yards from his front
door. He could cover that ground, even drunk, in no time. Plus, he had a loaded
gun. What could go wrong?
    Counting
to three, Eddie sprung from his front door. He pushed the flimsy trailer
door  wide open as he stumbled down the steps, rolling onto the ground at
the bottom of the short flight. Eddie didn’t waste time standing up as he
scrambled on his hands and knees. He crawled toward his vehicle before righting
himself as he reached his truck.
    The
keys! Eddie looked back as he held his gun in front of him like a
shield. He strained his eyes back toward his trailer.
    “There
they are,” Eddie said to himself as he found the keys where he had fallen at
the foot of his stairs. He looked back and forth and then dashed back toward
his steps. He quickly retrieved his keys from the
ground and ran back to his truck.
    He
jumped into the