Hard Rain Falling (Walking in the Rain Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

and then I remembered the first guard. The giant named David. The man I executed in cold blood. Funny thing, Conners later admitted—somewhat embarrassingly—was that he didn’t think I was actually going to do it. He was just trying to psyche the prisoner out a bit. Oops. Well, the joke was on him when I slashed the man’s throat open like butchering a hog.
    I didn’t really have a problem with it. The man had damned himself with his own words. I was the executioner, and he just died quicker than his boss, Jimenez. When he admitted to raping some of the girls supposedly under his protection… well, he was dead from that point going forward.
    Warnecke had a few more questions, clearly not believing me when I admitted my age. Normally I would have not disclosed this information, but I thought it better that people didn’t assume I was a child molester if they caught me holding Amy’s hand. Admittedly, Amy did look closer to her age of almost fifteen now that she’d been eating sort of regularly for the last month, but we were both still sensitive about some things.
    That night, I lay with Amy in my arms and thought about what happened at the school. The fight was still somewhat of a blur—sometimes literally because of the white smoke grenade used by the attackers. Like I told Warnecke, I’d been in tight spots and hard places before, but for some reason this was different.
    Maybe it was the fact my back was against the wall. Other times, even when I took risks like taking out the group of raiders at Saw Creek, I could have retreated and done something else. Even when I’d been facing death trying to help Stan and Ruth, my actions allowed for the possibility of leading the bad guys away. That the last two turned out to just be better than me at fighting was not something I spent much time thinking about. The school, though, always seemed to be waiting in the back of my mind.
    Screw it, I finally decided and tried to stop thinking about anything. Amy, probably unconsciously sensing my mood, moved her head closer to mine. Giving her one last kiss, I gave up on my useless pondering and let sleep take me.
    That night, I dreamed of being trapped by dark shadows and ripped at by unseen claws. Apparently, my mind was still wrestling with the memories knocking around in my head. No shocker, but these new nightmares would just have to stand in line with the older ones already haunting my sleep.

 
    CHAPTER FOUR
    On the evening of our fifth day at Fort Chaffee, I was sitting with the ladies in our mess hall enjoying my serving of beans and rice and absently rubbing my back. This had a been a day of hard labor for me, first working until lunch with the master sergeant getting the three Bradleys up and running. Then, I’d been drafted to help get another mothballed barracks cleaned out and refurbished. Hauling barrels of trash and helping perform some minor plumbing repairs kept me busy until dark.
    The population of the camp continued to expand the whole time we’d been guests of the colonel. Up until today, I’d assumed these newcomers represented more Guard dependents being consolidated to a centrally located strong point. That idea had turned out to only be partially correct.
    The corporal supervising the repairs in the old barracks turned out to be a plumber in his civilian life, and he asked me to help once he discovered I knew how to turn a wrench. Like Warnecke, he was a bit curious about me, mainly wanting to know what I’d seen of the rest of the country.
    I was happy to oblige him, within limits. When I idly commented on so many dependents arriving, he was good enough to explain only part of the new influx came from existing Guard personnel.
    “The colonel figures we’re going to need the additional manpower, I guess. He’s got the outlying units busy recruiting. Prior service, reservists, and critical skills go to the head of the line is what I heard. A bunch are coming here with their families for some kind