The Survivors of Bastion (Fall of Earth Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

past, and so would the sound. They would both take off, and we would go without meat. Aim for the neck, and it would still go down, even if we had to follow a trail of blood.
                  I took a deep breath, hearing Carl hold his breath with anticipation by my side, and steadied the crosshair on the fawn’s neck.
                  The seconds seemed to slow down incomprehensibly, and all that existed was the trigger and this unknowing animal, whose consciousness I was about to remove from existence.
                  Quickly, without even realising that I had made the move myself, I switched to the doe, steadied myself faster than I ever had done before, and pulled the trigger.
                  The sharp crack through the air registered to me milliseconds after I saw the whisper of blood in the air and the doe go down. It flailed desperately, trying to retain a grasp on what was happening as each second ticked on where I sat.
                  Through the crosshairs I looked over at the fawn – for some reason it wasn’t going anywhere. It was jumping up and down on the spot, almost excitedly, as if panicking, not knowing what to do with itself.
                  Without a second thought I moved the crosshairs towards it’s body, checked my aim, and pulled the trigger again.
                  It went down onto it’s side, flailing together with the doe. That was the point at which I had to turn away, moving the gun to the side and clenching my eyes shut.
                  ‘Shit… Nice work, Tommy…’
                  I took a deep, heaving breath and let the adrenaline subside as I pushed my hands into the ground, trying to steady their shaking.
                  ‘Not as easy as it looks after you’ve done it,’ I muttered, trying to smile and take away from the fact that I had just killed two creatures.
                  I had to constantly remind myself that it was us or them, though. We survived, or they did. Any animal would have had no problem feeding on our bodies if we left ourselves to starve.
                  It was a terrible thought that I quickly cast out of my mind as I brought myself to my feet, bringing the gun over my shoulder once again by the strap.
                  ‘Come on,’ I said, ‘let’s check it out.’

Chapter Three
    Farm and Incident
     
     
     
    Carl and I stood over the two carcasses, a low stream of blood trickling from both as they laid there in the grass, lifeless.
                  ‘We need to get these back before they start to fester and completely go to waste,’ I said. ‘While we’re out here, though, I’d really prefer it if we could get on with the crops rather than make two trips…’
                  ‘Hang on…’ Carl muttered, pulling off his rucksack and opening it. After a little rifling around he retrieved a large sheet of tarpaulin, folded up tightly and bound with elastic. He released the holdings and opened it up, spreading it out on the grass by the deer. ‘We can put them on these. Keep vermin from the ground away.
                  ‘Good thinking,’ I said, smiling and nodding at him.
                  With a little apprehension we managed it - the feel of the fur beneath my hands was something that I would never get used to, regardless of how many occasions similar animals had wandered into the fields before and had died at my hand.
                  A few minutes later they were laid out.
                  ‘Should we get them now?’ Carl asked.
                  ‘No,’ I said, ‘they’re about to do a changeover on the lookout posts. Let’s leave them here, check up on the crops and head back. We can get the Ranger out to pick them up once we head back over. They’re too heavy to carry.’
                  With