Paranormal snippet of the Day
Oct. 30th, 2010 11:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valarltdFrom "Meanwhile, back at the Ranch," available in Howl at the Mistletoe
Parson Jaimson was on a tear tonight and it was well past dark when we started back for the ranch. I gave Eli my Springfield and Amanda cradled a Colt. Billy and Jack had their squirrel guns. I couldn't shoot and drive.
I pushed Midnight as fast as he could trot, pulling that heavy wagon. Amanda tried to keep the lantern from bouncing too much. I wasn't sure I liked it. It kept us on the road, sure, but it also showed us off to anything that might be lurking.
I was surely glad Oklahoma wasn't Tennessee. There weren't a lot of trees in in our area, mostly just flat prairie. We still had to drive through a little wood about half a mile from the farm. I checked on the kids. Betsy was asleep and Abagail had curled around her as the night got cooler. Hannah and Melissa were sitting upright, looking worried.
As we got closer to that wood, the full moon showed us one of the zombie things a long ways away. I knew what it was by the way it moved. Eli saw it too, and cocked the rifle.
“No, son, not unless it comes for us,” I said, soft and low, clucking Midnight to move a little faster.
“But, Ma Cat, those things are an abomination. They got no business in this world.”
“Don't you wake your sisters,” Amanda hissed.
“Yes, Ma.” Eli kept his eye on the thing until it vanished from sight over a low rise.
We ducked under the eaves of the wood, the darkness here thicker than it had been out on the moonlit road. Dark always seems to seep out of trees, cluster under them. Every bush looked like a crouching monster.
I slapped the reins on Midnight, making him pick up more speed. I couldn't push him, not much. The wagon was almost too heavy for him. I shot a glance where I thought I saw something move off to the side.
Billy had seen something, too. He had his gun ready. I drove steady, not trying to draw attention. Amanda watched off the other side of the road.
“MAMA!”
Oh Lord, Betsy had seen or dreamed something. I heard Abagail shriek, too. Eli fired first, then Billy and Jack shot behind us. I heard bodies falling to the road. I lashed Midnight and he went into a run.
Amanda held onto the seat with one hand and shot over the kids' heads with other. “Abagail, you and Betsy stay down!” she yelled. “Hannah, Melissa, you get a couple handfuls of the salt and throw it behind us. Cat, I love you. Drive.” She touched my arm and then braced her pistol on my shoulder to shoot. The report like to deafened me.
“Nice shootin, Ma,” Eli said as he fired again.
We broke out of the woods at a dead run and I slowed Midnight to look. About five of the zombies had stopped where the girls had thrown the salt. One stepped into it. He crumbled like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer. No more zombie, just a dead man rotting in the road.
I let Midnight catch his breath. We were only about half a mile from home now. We went slow, keeping an eye out. Amanda sat beside me, reloading. The boys all had cartridges ready. The little girls were crying and the big girls did their best to comfort them.
Parson Jaimson was on a tear tonight and it was well past dark when we started back for the ranch. I gave Eli my Springfield and Amanda cradled a Colt. Billy and Jack had their squirrel guns. I couldn't shoot and drive.
I pushed Midnight as fast as he could trot, pulling that heavy wagon. Amanda tried to keep the lantern from bouncing too much. I wasn't sure I liked it. It kept us on the road, sure, but it also showed us off to anything that might be lurking.
I was surely glad Oklahoma wasn't Tennessee. There weren't a lot of trees in in our area, mostly just flat prairie. We still had to drive through a little wood about half a mile from the farm. I checked on the kids. Betsy was asleep and Abagail had curled around her as the night got cooler. Hannah and Melissa were sitting upright, looking worried.
As we got closer to that wood, the full moon showed us one of the zombie things a long ways away. I knew what it was by the way it moved. Eli saw it too, and cocked the rifle.
“No, son, not unless it comes for us,” I said, soft and low, clucking Midnight to move a little faster.
“But, Ma Cat, those things are an abomination. They got no business in this world.”
“Don't you wake your sisters,” Amanda hissed.
“Yes, Ma.” Eli kept his eye on the thing until it vanished from sight over a low rise.
We ducked under the eaves of the wood, the darkness here thicker than it had been out on the moonlit road. Dark always seems to seep out of trees, cluster under them. Every bush looked like a crouching monster.
I slapped the reins on Midnight, making him pick up more speed. I couldn't push him, not much. The wagon was almost too heavy for him. I shot a glance where I thought I saw something move off to the side.
Billy had seen something, too. He had his gun ready. I drove steady, not trying to draw attention. Amanda watched off the other side of the road.
“MAMA!”
Oh Lord, Betsy had seen or dreamed something. I heard Abagail shriek, too. Eli fired first, then Billy and Jack shot behind us. I heard bodies falling to the road. I lashed Midnight and he went into a run.
Amanda held onto the seat with one hand and shot over the kids' heads with other. “Abagail, you and Betsy stay down!” she yelled. “Hannah, Melissa, you get a couple handfuls of the salt and throw it behind us. Cat, I love you. Drive.” She touched my arm and then braced her pistol on my shoulder to shoot. The report like to deafened me.
“Nice shootin, Ma,” Eli said as he fired again.
We broke out of the woods at a dead run and I slowed Midnight to look. About five of the zombies had stopped where the girls had thrown the salt. One stepped into it. He crumbled like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer. No more zombie, just a dead man rotting in the road.
I let Midnight catch his breath. We were only about half a mile from home now. We went slow, keeping an eye out. Amanda sat beside me, reloading. The boys all had cartridges ready. The little girls were crying and the big girls did their best to comfort them.
