{"id":1356,"date":"2012-08-13T00:00:33","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T04:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2012-08-12T11:39:47","modified_gmt":"2012-08-12T15:39:47","slug":"winter-chapter-18-05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1356","title":{"rendered":"Winter – Chapter 18 – 05"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019re starting to do this too damn often, Thom,\u201d Matt said as he thrust a scabbarded sword in his brother-in-law\u2019s direction.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHow many more people and things are going to show up to potentially kill us?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Thom\u2019s fingers closed around the scabbard.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He began to belt on the blade as he answered Matt\u2019s question with one of his own.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThis year, this month, or into perpetuity?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cReal funny,\u201d Matt muttered.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He nodded toward the shotguns.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cReloading those is going to be a problem if we end up in a straight fight.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019ll just have to hope,\u201d Thom said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Hope that the first volley makes them run.\u00a0 <\/span>How many people can I get up on the walls with shotguns?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>How many can I pack into that gap in the walls?<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>How many of us are going to be dead before this is over?<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He swallowed bile and rounded up an armload of shotguns.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019ll just have to hope they\u2019ll want to talk.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cTalk and then take our shit, probably,\u201d Matt muttered under his breath, scooping up an armload himself and stuffing a bag full of ammunition boxes.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t be flipping out if you suspected anything but.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe have to hope, Matt,\u201d Thom repeated.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cRight.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Where\u2019s rally point?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cUnder the watchtower,\u201d Thom said, long strides carrying him out of the tent and back in the direction he came.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Already a small knot of people was gathering near the watchtower, where Rory still perched with Kellin, both squinting into the distance.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cStart handing these out as soon as we get there,\u201d Thom muttered to Matt.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cRoger that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Matt took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHow are we going to pull this off, Thom?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWith a lot luck and a lot of guts.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Paul\u2019s back already.\u00a0 <\/span>That was fast\u2014Carolyn must have sprinted the whole way out to the pasture and they must have driven the flock hell-bent for leather all the way back.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Unless he was already on his way back for the day or something\u2026<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>Thom shook himself and stopped wondering what could have driven Paul and the sheep back from grazing so early in the day and was instead grateful that he was already back.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He thrust a shotgun into the other man\u2019s hands.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou\u2019re the best with one of these.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>If I send you up on the watchtower, what do you think your range will be?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWith a slug?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Paul shrugged slightly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI can aim it at a hundred or so, but I can\u2019t guarantee it\u2019ll do any damage at that range.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s the nature of the beast.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Thom nodded slowly.<\/span>\u00a0 No better or worse than I thought.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>Not for the first time, he silently cursed the fact that most of the firearms they\u2019d been able to gather were shotguns.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That was going to put them at a disadvantage at range.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unless the sound of a bunch of shotguns cocking all at once scares the crap out of whoever\u2019s coming.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>He suppressed the urge to knuckle his eyes and laid the other shotguns in his arms down on the ground, letting Matt handle the distribution.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHead on up to the watchtower, then,\u201d he told Paul.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cDid Carolyn tell you what\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYeah, someone\u2019s coming and they might be violent.\u201d Paul headed for the ladder, handing the shotgun back to Thom.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cLet me get partway up, then hand it up to me.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Thom nodded, glancing toward the others.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Drew crossed his arms.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat\u2019s the plan, Thom?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019re going to put some people up on the walls,\u201d Thom said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThey should be wide enough in some places, strong enough.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We\u2019re going to pack a bunch in the gap.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Try to rack the first shotgun round all at the same time and hope that gives these folks pause.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Whatever happens, they\u2019re not just going to run us over like a bunch of kids unable to defend ourselves.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We pushed back the <\/span>camazotzi<\/span><\/em> and the Greys.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We can set some raiders back on their heels and show them we\u2019re not here for the picking.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Easy prey we\u2019re not.\u00a0 <\/span>Anyone who makes the mistake of thinking that\u2019s what we are is going to get a nasty surprise once they try to take a bite of this piece of pie.<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>One way or another.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re starting to do this too damn often, Thom,\u201d Matt said as he thrust a scabbarded sword in his brother-in-law\u2019s direction.\u00a0 \u201cHow many more people and things are going to show up to potentially kill us?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom\u2019s fingers … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,57,14,52,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-2","category-chapter-18","category-story","category-winter","category-year-one"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-lS","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1357,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions\/1357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}