Death of Innocence (Surviving the Fall 4)

“I had to! I had to get something for them!”

Dianne shook her head. “For who?”

For Rogers! For him! For all of them! I haven’t brought back anything in three days! They’ll kill me if I don’t bring something back tomorrow!”

For a brief, fleeting moment, Dianne felt bad for the man. He sounded scared, alone and desperate. He was clearly in some sort of bad situation and needed a way to get by. Dianne dropped her rifle slightly, illuminating the man’s chest instead of his face.

“I’m sorry.”

Dianne fired seven shots in rapid succession. Five of them found their mark on her target while two narrowly missed, going into the trees and ground. The man screamed in pain as he dropped to the ground, blood soaking through his clothes and forming a small puddle beneath him that rapidly increased in size. Dianne stood still for several seconds, her rifle aimed at the man as she took in quick shallow breaths. She started to feel dizzy and moved over next to the barn, leaning on the building for support as she tried to get her breathing under control.

A few minutes later, when she was breathing normally and her head was clear again, Dianne stood up straight and slowly approached the man’s body. She nudged at his outstretched arm with her foot, but he didn’t respond, remaining face-down on the ground. She glanced at the area around him, confirming what she already knew—the amount of blood on the ground clearly indicated that he was dead.

Dianne crouched down next to the man, put her head in her hand and sighed. “I’m sorry, whoever you are.” She reached out and brushed a hand over his back and shook her head. “You could have just stayed away. But you didn’t.”

Dianne stood slowly, her knees feeling weak, and plodded back to the house. Mark was waiting for her on the back porch, having watched the altercation from afar. “Mom? Are you okay?”

Dianne looked at him without stopping and nodded slowly. “Yeah. Go ahead back inside. I need to take care of some things. Keep an eye on the cameras and fire off a shot if you see anyone else around, okay?” She grabbed a shovel that was leaning against the back patio and turned around, heading back down towards the barns. Beyond them, in the woods, she stopped and detached the light from her rifle, leaning the gun up against a nearby tree. She balanced the light on a nearby log and got to work digging.

Two hours passed before Dianne was satisfied with the depth of the grave. It was only three feet down, but with the addition of a thick layer of rocks she was confident that the body would be well out of the reach of any local predators. Dragging the man’s body into the woods was easier than she thought it would be. He was thinner than he appeared and his pants slipped off as she pulled him by his wrists.

After pulling him into the hole Dianne piled earth atop his body and headed to the side of the closest barn. There, next to it, was a large pile of stones weighing twenty to thirty pounds each. They had been intended for making a decorative edge around a portion of the lake but their new purpose was much more utilitarian. The appropriateness of that fact given the state of the world didn’t escape Dianne’s notice and it somehow made her feel slightly better about what she was doing.

The soft glow of pre-dawn set the bare trees alight as Dianne finished putting the final stone atop the unknown man’s grave. Dianne gave the site a final look as she walked around it, checking her work, before she picked up her rifle, shovel and flashlight and headed back to the house. She was covered in sweat and dirt as she trudged up onto the back porch and flopped down into a chair to watch as the sun slowly rose above the horizon.

A moment later she heard the soft hiss of the back door sliding across its track and turned to find Mark coming out onto the porch with a glass of water in hand. He gave it to her wordlessly before sitting down next to her. They were both quiet for nearly twenty minutes as Dianne sipped on the water and rested before she finally spoke.

“I can’t believe I did that.”

“Why did you kill him, Mom?” Mark’s question came a few seconds later, quiet and reserved.

Dianne mulled the question over in her mind, probing it and picking it apart before answering. “I had no choice.”

“But he was unarmed.”

“Was he?” Dianne glanced at her son.

“I… I mean I watched him standing there and then you just… murdered him.”

“Self-defense isn’t murder, son.”

“But he wasn’t attacking you!” Mark’s voice grew louder.

“Mark.” The tone in Dianne’s voice made Mark shrink back into his chair. “He trespassed on our property. Tried to break into our house. Tried to break into the barns. He was desperate and wouldn’t leave us alone. I gave him more of a chance than I should have.”

“But—”

“And he wasn’t, in fact, unarmed.” Dianne reached down to the ground beside her chair and dropped a long rusty kitchen knife and a small two-shot Derringer on the table. “He had these in his back pocket, Mark. And he was talking about someone who he had to bring things to.” Dianne looked out over the lake and shook her head. “I don’t like what I did. Believe me. I hate that I had to do it. But he wasn’t some innocent person who was lost and needed help and wasn’t going to hurt us. Just because he didn’t hurt us doesn’t mean he wasn’t going to. And I’m not letting this family get hurt.”

Mark sat quietly in his seat, staring at the knife and gun his mother had tossed onto the table. He licked his lips and whispered a reply after a long moment. “I wish you hadn’t had to do it.”

Dianne stretched out her hand and Mark accepted it, holding onto her hand and arm. “Me too, kiddo.” She sighed as she watched the morning sun play across the slight ripples in the lake. The peacefulness was a stark contrast to the dark events of the night. The new day brought a glimmer of hope with it as well.

“Me too.”

Chapter 16

Two days after the Event