Bella by Michael Conley

Author:Michael Conley [Conley, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wild West Press
Published: 2019-03-25T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN – SAMRAK

A round me was chaos. Everyone was moving, but I couldn’t tell what they were doing. I heard sharp barks in the distance and jumped when I heard a gun go off behind me. Then Ying was at my side.

“Get up, Christopher; you need to get up now.” Her voice was surprisingly calm given the chaos, but left no room for debate.

I stood up and asked what was going on. My voice was not calm. Over her shoulder I could see Li hobbling the horses closer to the fire and tossing some brush on it.

“Over there girl,” Wasco said over his shoulder. “Get yer rifle and don’t let anything get at my backside.”

Wasco was silhouetted by a small ball of fire on the ground in front of him. He had turned his head to point with his chin where he wanted me to go while he was reloading his rifle. At that moment, the ball of fire climbed to its feet and leapt at him. Before I could think I levered a shell into the Winchester, pointed and squeezed the trigger. I shouldn’t have. Wasco’s head was right in the line.

The practice must have paid off or God was watching because I didn’t kill Wasco. I did hit the thing dead on in mid leap. It tumbled backwards, tried to get up. When it couldn’t, it tried to crawl toward us on its belly, black teeth bared, still burning, black goo oozing from its mouth.

Wasco finished packing the barrel of his rifle, pulled his long knife, and drove it into the canine head of the burning thing at his feet. It quit moving. In the light from the flame I could see a growing circle of blood on Wasco’s shoulder. His wound must have been reopened, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“What the hell is that?” I asked.

“Coyote” he said.

“It’s on fire!” I yelled.

“Flaming Coyote,” he said with a nod to the fire rifle.

“Why didn’t it die?” I asked.

“Black Rot,” he said. “And I didn’t hit it clean. There’s more of ‘em out there. Not sure how many. Keep yer head movin’ and yer eyes open.”

I heard the twin blasts of Jacob’s pistols behind me and ducked instinctively, almost losing control of my bladder. Hands shaking, I levered another round into the Winchester and kept looking out into the darkness, not sure if I wanted to see something or not. Old Ying didn’t say anything but gave me a reassuring smile. Li was walking toe to heel around us looking out into the night. He stopped and drew an arrow back, then let fly. A faint glow traced the arrow’s flight into the night. I heard a thump, a yelp, and then a thud. Li smoothly drew another arrow from the quiver at his hip and began his walk again.

A gunpowder flash and loud report echoed across the desert and another coyote was on fire and howling. I followed it with a shot of my own, but I think I missed.

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