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

hands were shaking and he was having a terrible time trying to control them. He knew this man had to be the one that shot Tommy, and probably the steers too. Now he had emerged from hiding and was coming to see about his friend that Benny had shot. He probably thought they were all gone because it had been a while since the shooting stopped and nothing moved after Benny and the girls left. But David knew that once he got over here by the dead one, he would look around and he would find them. He had to stop him while he didn’t suspect anything and before he had a chance to shoot first. David steadied the rifle by resting the forearm stock against the side of a tree. That helped stop the shaking and he was able to line up the open sights on the man’s chest. David didn’t remember where he’d first learned to shoot, but it somehow felt familiar to him every time he did it and it came natural enough that he knew he wouldn’t miss at this range. He was just about to pull the trigger when he heard a voice that caused the man in the road to turn and face the other way.
    David hesitated and turned his attention to the direction the man was now staring. It was the same way Benny had gone and he wondered if it could be him, but the man called back to whoever it was in a friendly tone. Then David saw that there were several other men walking down the road. They were carrying guns and they seemed to know the one who’d shot Tommy. David didn’t know what to do now. If he fired the rifle at the one he was aiming at, these others would know he was there and he didn’t know how many of them there were. Even if he didn’t shoot he was afraid they’d quickly find him and Tommy if he just waited there. The first man was already pointing to his dead companion as he spoke to the others, no doubt telling them what happened. And the body was less than twenty yards from where he and Tommy were concealed. David knew he was about to run out of time if he didn’t do something fast.

    * * *

    “We’re not going to find him before night,” Mitch said, turning to face Jason and Corey, who were following close behind him. “It’s too dark to follow the trail. We need to find a place to camp and look for him at first light.”
    “There won’t even be a trail in the morning,” Jason said. “All this rain will wash what little blood there was away.”
    “It doesn’t matter. He’s probably already lying up somewhere and may have already bled out. We’ll find him in the morning.”
    “We should have just gone back to the house then;” Corey said, “got a good night’s sleep and started out fresh. It’s going to suck, camping here out in this.”
    Mitch knew Jason and Corey would gripe about spending the night out here in the rain. He would have preferred to be back at home too, especially now that April was there. But part of his reason for deciding to stay out was for the benefit of his two apprentices. They needed to appreciate the consequences of a less-than-perfect shot, and the difficulties of tracking wounded game in tough conditions. The more uncomfortable they were, the better. It was no big deal to Mitch, because he had been doing stuff like this for fun since he was old enough to follow his dad. He still loved it now, even though it meant a night away from April. It was great having her there, but with all the others now living there too, the house sometimes felt crowded and confining to Mitch. He would always need his time away in the woods, through preferably in better conditions than this.  
    But Mitch had come prepared for a night out in bad weather, as he usually did on hunts like this. In the small backpack he wore there was an eight by twelve ripstop tarp, the grommets already fitted with lengths of paracord to secure the corners. He selected a spot near the creek on a slight rise where the rainwater would drain and stretched another piece of heavier line between two trees. With this to serve as a central ridge,