Something had stuck in Tom’s mind, and he wanted to express it to the others before he lost the nerve. Tom had come a long way on being more outgoing, but was still shy at heart. He pulled back on the reins and said, “Whoa! Ladies, let’s stop for a minute in the sun and take a break. I looked around and saw you ladies in a different light. You have become warriors - real warriors. I’m damned proud of you.”
Greta blushed then said, “Do we get a raise? Just joking. That meant a lot to me. You and Granny B have been great mentors.”
Kate smiled at her husband. “A year ago, I would have laughed at you if you’d told me I had to know how to skin a deer or slit a man’s throat with a knife. Now, I’m damned good at both.”
“I’m proud of all of you,” Tom said, and then turned to ride away. Before he kicked his horse on the flank, a shot rang out, and Kate fell to the ground. Tom saw Granny B drop down to check on Kate, and Greta dropped down into a crouch with her pistol drawn after moving her horse to give Granny B and Kate cover.
Tom went towards Kate. She yelled. “Go kill the SOB who shot me.”
Tom drew his AR from his scabbard and fired at a dark object hiding in the woods about twenty yards ahead of him. Tom kept firing to pin the SOB down until he almost ran over the young man who yelled, “Don’t shoot! I’m bleeding to death!”
“Shut up! I might kill you yet. Why did you shoot my wife?”
“I didn’t shoot nobody! I shot at a deer!”
Tom heard Greta say, “Tom, I’m coming in behind you. Don’t shoot.”
Tom had his 9-mm stuck in the man’s gut and examined the guy’s arm with his free hand. “That’s just a pissy little scratch. Greta, how’s Kate?”
“She’s just stunned. She took one in the middle of her armor. This man is lucky. I’da killed his ass if he’d really hurt Kate.”
Tom dropped the man’s arm. “Please tend to this asshat’s wound while I go to Kate.”
Greta kept her pistol on the man while she looked around the area. “Is there anyone else with you?”
The man said, “My brother and sister are about a mile east of here. They’re over by the lake.”
Tom rushed to Kate, who sat up just as Tom arrived. “Babe, are you okay?”
“Hell no! I’m not okay! I just got hit in the chest by a freight train. My right boob hurts like hell, and I can’t breathe.”
“I caught the man who shot you. He made up a cock and bull story about shooting at a deer,” Tom said.
Granny B replied. “He’s telling the truth. A deer ran in front of us just as the shot rang out. You were still looking back. The deer is lying over in the bushes. She’s lucky that slug hit the deer first.”
Tom said, “Kate, take these extra-strength Tylenol. They’re all I have right now.”
Greta tended to the young man’s wound. The wound was worse than a scratch. The bullet had gone through just under the skin and left a two-inch furrow about a half inch deep and a half inch wide in his arm. Greta poured alcohol from her first aid kit to clean the wound and then used three butterfly bandages to pull the wound together. Then she wrapped it in gauze and duct taped the gauze to his arm. Granny B came up when she was finishing.
The alcohol hit the wound, and the man flinched. “Damn, that hurts.”
“Shut up, pussy. That’s just a scratch. Stop your wiggling, or I’ll coldcock you with my pistol.”
The man stopped moving and gritted his teeth. Greta looked at the young man’s face. “How old are you, and what’s your name?”
“My name is Colt Roberts, and I’m twenty-five. Why do you care?”
Greta gave him a big smile. “Because I have to help decide if we need to send you packing or join us. We need some good people with skills our community needs, but obviously, you’re a piss poor hunter.”
Colt blurted out. “I shot the deer. I saw it drop just as your group carelessly rode into my field of fire. That .300 Mag would have probably killed your friend if I’d tried to shoot her in the chest. Look, lady, I just want to go back to my family and survive this mess until some kind of normalcy comes back to the area.”
“Buddy, that ain’t gonna happen any time soon.”
Granny B told Greta, “I see I need to give a class on treating wounds, but that’ll keep him from dying until we get him to the Community. It’s only about two miles from here.”
Greta replied, “He has a brother and sister along the way.” Greta then yelled to Tom. “Do we shoot him now or take him to the Community?”
Tom yelled back, “Let’s check out his brother and sister. We might just send them all packing the Hell away from here. But first, we need to field dress that deer and take the meat with us to the Community.”
Colt said, “That’s my deer.”
Greta waved her pistol. “Now, it’s our deer,” and then Greta extended a hand and the stirrup. Cole sat behind her with his arms around her waist. She said, “If your
