bunker. The heavy bullets slammed into the log structure sending us diving to the ground.
Danny shouted, “What the hell’s going on?”
I crawled into the bunker and chanced a peek out one of the firing ports. “There’s a truck down there, one of those armored ones!”
Doc came crawling in and shouted at Danny. “Get the Goose and toss it in here!”
Small arms fire began to sound from behind us. I could hear numerous weapons firing and started to worry about Mel and the girls. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of two shotgun blasts in rapid succession. That had to be Thad and his coach gun. Danny tossed the Gustav into the bunker and I heard him start cussing. I looked back to see him and Dalton trying to get free of one another.
Dalton looked into the bunker. “They’re coming in from the back too, but I think they’re under control.” As he spoke, there was a large explosion to the back of the neighborhood. Dalton smiled. “That’ll teach the bastards!”
Mel and the rest of the girls were watching Dirty Dancing on my laptop. There were oil lamps and candles set around the living room, and they were busy talking and laughing over the movie when they heard the boom. Jamie was instantly on her feet, carbine in hand as she moved towards the front door.
“What was that?” Bobbie asked.
As Jamie got to the front door and looked out the window, she shouted. “Fire! Brandy’s house is on fire!”
She was reaching for the door knob when the sliding glass door leading to the back porch shattered, sending glass flying into the dinning room. Little Bit screamed and pulled a pillow from the sofa over her head. Jamie spun as two men came through the opening. She began firing as she brought the weapon up to her shoulder. The lead man went down, and the one behind him stumbled over the body and fired at the same time, sending a wild spray of bullets into the house. Drywall dust and insulation rained down.
Jamie fell back against the door and onto the floor as the man tried to regain his feet. Lee Ann ran into the kitchen from the opposite side while the man’s attention was focused on the entry into the living room. She raised her H&K and squeezed the trigger, letting out a long burst of 9mm. Mel got to her feet and she, Fred and Jess rounded the corner to the kitchen at the same moment a third man appeared in the shattered glass door. The second man was on the floor, riddled with bullets. The three women all raised their pistols and fired in unison, sending a hail of lead into the man in the door. He never had a chance to pull the trigger.
Mel looked over her shoulder and shouted at Mary. “Get Ashley to the bathroom!”
Mary quickly grabbed her with one hand and Miss Kay by the other and ran towards the bathroom.
Thad, Sarge, Mike and Ted were all sitting on the back porch of Danny’s house after dinner talking. Miss Kay and Mary had left to hang out with the rest of the ladies and watch a movie. It was dark, having turned off the lanterns to conserve fuel. They were talking about the need to hit the Elk’s Camp and how Sarge thought it should be done, when they heard the boom. They were instantly on their feet and ran to the front of the house. They were coming out of Danny’s gate onto the road when they ran directly into a group of six raiders. In the darkness, none had seen the other until they collided in the road.
Mike, being younger and faster, had crashed into two men of the group, them falling to the ground in a heap of flailing arms and legs. Ted hit the light from his carbine to reveal the other four men, who were obviously caught off guard. He began to fire as Thad pulled the coach gun from his back scabbard. Sarge began firing on the men with Ted, who were shooting back in a panic. But this was all taking place at contact range; they could physically touch one another.
The two men Mike ran into were fighting with him. One of the men had a grip on Mike’s carbine and was jerking it to
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