The Forge of Darkness (Darkness After Series Book 3) by Scott B. Williams Read Free Book Online Page A

Benny and the girls had still not returned to the house, despite the increasing rain; and neither had Tommy and David, who should have had time to finish making their rounds by now. It would be dark in another hour, and everyone but Mitch and the guys would be back before then. Maybe they would too, but she knew it depended on the outcome of their hunting.  
    She barely had time to get to the door to look outside again when she heard another gunshot, a booming one that sounded like a shotgun instead of a rifle. Was that Benny? When two more rifle shots followed the shotgun blast, April stepped outside on the porch, almost running into Samantha, who was trying to rush inside to get her.  
    “Something is going on out there, Samantha!”
    “I know. This is really weird. Why would they be shooting so much?”
    April didn’t have time to answer before another sound from the same direction reached their ears—the rhythmic firing of round after round from a smaller caliber weapon. It went on and on, each shot almost exactly the same amount of time apart from the last. April didn’t count them, because she hadn’t expected the shooting to continue like that, but when it finally stopped, she and Samantha were staring at each other.
    “That sounded like a semi-automatic .22. I wonder if it was Lisa?” April said.
    “She emptied a whole magazine if it was.”  
    “I know. There’s no logical reason I can think of for wasting ammo like that. Benny would never allow it, and Lisa would know better anyway.”
    “What are we gonna do? Do you want me to go check on them? I know you can’t leave Kimberly.”
    “No. We both should stay here because if you go by yourself you don’t know what you’ll run into out there. Maybe Tommy and David will be back soon, unless they’re out there too. It could have been Tommy’s rifle we heard, but there’s no way to know. We need to just wait, but I want to stay outside where I can hear. With this rain hitting the roof it’s too hard to hear anybody coming shut up inside. Go get your rifle and let’s keep watch. If there is somebody around that’s not supposed to be here, we need to be ready. I’m going to look in on Kimberly and I’ll be right back in a second.”
    Though she’d put on a calm face in front of Samantha, April was filled with dread as her mind raced with the possibilities of what could be happening. The last thing she wanted to think about was more trouble, but she knew that in the reality in which they now lived, it could and probably would come again, and maybe already had. She reached over and stroked her daughter’s hair as she slept, careful to keep her touch light so as not to wake her, then shut the bedroom door and went back outside.  
    “Someone’s coming now!” Samantha whispered, nodding in the direction of the gravel lane that connected the house to the road out front.  
    April heard it too, barely audible in the rain, but unmistakably the sound of running footsteps pounding the crushed rocks of the drive. She stood there with Samantha watching, her carbine in hand, until two figures rounded the bend and entered the yard. It was Lisa and Stacy, and they were running like they were running for their lives.  
    “Tommy’s been shot!” Lisa screamed, when she saw them waiting there on the porch.  
    “Shot? Who shot him? Where are Benny and David?”
    “I don’t know, but whoever it was that did it, he was hiding across the road. There was another one too but Uncle Benny shot him! They killed two of my dad’s cows and shot Tommy. Tommy might die, April!”
    “Is it that bad, Lisa? Where is he? Is Benny with him?”
    “It’s real bad! He got shot in the side, but Uncle Benny said it missed his heart. David is staying there with him until we get back. Uncle Benny went to try and catch the other one that shot Tommy before he gets away. We need help getting Tommy, April! Uncle Benny told us to get the travois they haul the wood on and use it