The World That Remains by Matthew S. Cox

Author:Matthew S. Cox [Cox, Matthew S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781949174960
Publisher: Division Zero Press
Published: 2019-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Harper walked into the militia HQ, not surprised to find Marcie and Ken already there.

“How is she?” asked Walter.

“Held it together until we got to the farm and she watched her mother’s reaction as I explained what happened. As soon as Michelle grabbed her and started crying, Mila fell to bits. I think there’s probably a normal little girl in there somewhere.” Normal nine-year-olds don’t whip a throwing knife at a two-inch target without even aiming. Something’s not right with her.

“That’s good to hear. Excellent work by the way.” Walter smiled.

“Yeah, no shit. Damn nice shot.” Ken whistled. “I’d have choked. Too afraid of hitting the kid, even with a rifle—and you did it with freakin’ 12-gauge.”

She almost said she figured if she didn’t shoot, both she and the girl would die anyway, but in truth, no thought had been involved. The shot felt possible at that range, buckshot wouldn’t spread out that far in the short distance, but the risk of an aberrant pellet spinning downward hadn’t fully registered until after.

“Well, that’s one way to combat a food shortage.” Harper fidgeted. “I’m so sick to my stomach I don’t think I’m going to eat anything today.”

“As I’m sure you’re assuming, this is as official an inquiry as it gets. Happens most times a militia person discharges a weapon inside the town. Don’t panic, I just need to hear what happened.” Walter gestured at a chair facing his desk, then sat behind it. “Already got an idea from these two, so you’re in the clear.”

“He didn’t die, did he?” Harper sat, resting the shotgun across her lap.

“No. His nose is broken,” said Darnell. “And he’s in surgery to remove a few pellets from his face. Janice is sending some guys up to bring the dude to the holding cells once the doctors clear him.”

“Okay.” She relaxed. She probably wouldn’t have felt much guilt at killing a guy trying to abduct Mila, but she also didn’t mind not having to deal with it. “Violet asked me to check on her…”

Walter listened to her retelling of everything that happened, nodding, seeming pleased with what she said. “How are you holding up?”

“Good. Nervous… mostly about firing so close to Mila, but I’m okay. That attack in the Walmart rattled me way more than this.”

Marcie rubbed her throat, smiling gratefully at her. “Yeah, no kidding. That was rough. I still owe you one for getting that crazy bitch off me.”

“All right.” Walter closed his notebook. “Your choice. Feel free to head home and wind down or go on back out there as usual.”

She stood. “It’ll be worse just sitting around the house alone staring at the walls.”

“Kid’s got spirit,” said Darnell.

Marcie patted her back. “Damn straight she does. Good work today.”

“Ehh, more luck than anything. Right place, right time. If I hadn’t been going to her house, I never would’ve been there in time.” That thought made her feel worse than shooting the guy. One little decision made the difference between life or death.

Assuming, of course, the man intended to kill Mila once he finished.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.