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Despite having gone to bed exhausted, Michael ake, up and dressed by six o&039;clock the followingHe had spent another unco on the hard wooden floor at the side of Elad he&039;d woken up before she had She hadn&039;t said anything tothere, but he was quietly concerned as to what she thought his reasons were Regardless of what she , italone

Even though his twenty-ninth birthday was now just a couple of weeks away, Michael had spent the last few dark hours curled up in fear like a frightened child His mind had been full of the kind of irrational fantasies the like of which hadn&039;t troubled hiht or nine years old In the early loo under the bed and behind the wardrobe door and had found hiht in the darkness, certain that so up the stairs towards hi but foolish thoughts and that the sounds he could hear were just the unfaroans of the old house but that didn&039;t htest bit of difference The fear was inore As a child there had always been the safety of his parents&039; rooht and no-one to help and the bitter reality beyond the door of the farmhouse orse than any dark dreaht had begun to creep into the house he had felt more confident The uncomfortable fear he&039;d experienced was quickly replaced by a unco alht At one point in the long hours just passed, when the howling wind outside had been screah the trees with an incredible and relentless ferocity, he had covered his ears and screwed his eyes tightly shut, hoping with all his heart that he would fall asleep and wake up soh no-one else had seen or heard hiht of day he felt ashamed that he had allowed a chink to appear in his brash and arrogant exterior

It was a strong, safe and sound house and Michael need not have worried In spite of all that he had ied to enter Penn Fared by sleep he stuas stove The constant low roar of the burner was strangely soothing and colad that the heavy silence of the early htly more relaxed, he boiled a kettle of water andblack coffee which he quickly drank He made himself some breakfast but couldn&039;t eat much more than a couple of mouthfuls

Bored, tired and restless, he desperately needed to find so to do As he had already discovered to his cost recently, these days an unoccupied minute tended to feel like an hour and an e on for more than a day

A open door froe utility room which Michael wandered into aimlessly He had spent soer than half an hour In the furthest corner of the room was a pile of empty cardboard boxes and other rubbish that the survivors hadn&039;t yet been able to dispose of or find a home for This had been the least important room in the house as far as the three of them had been concerned and, as such, they had paid it little attention other than to use it as a teht for a second or two about trying to sort the room into some kind of order but, if the truth be told, he couldn&039;t be bothered He wanted so He neededthat would just distract hiination and fully capture and hold his attention

High on the wall opposite to the door he&039;d just walked through was a wooden shelf Little more than a warped plank of wood held up by three rusty brackets, the shelf was piled high with junk Curious, Michael dragged a chair across the rooht there seemed to be very little of any interest - soarden tools and chelass jars full of nails, bolts and screws and the like - but then he came across an unexpected and unmistakable shape It was the butt of a rifle Cautiously he pulled the gun free and stood there, balancing precariously on the chair, ad the cobweb and dirt covered weapon Instinctively he reached up again and felt his way along the shelf, first to the left and then to the right of where he&039;d found the rifle With his fingers at full stretch he grabbed hold of a dusty cardboard box which he dragged closer Now standing on tiptoes with the rifle wedged under his arm he teased up the lid of the box and saw that it was full of ammunition Like a child with a new toy he picked up the box, ju back to the kitchen

Eht and Carl rose three-quarters of an hour later They found Michael sat at the kitchen table, carefully cleaning the rifle He&039;d been working on it for over two hours and the job was allanced up at Emma and noticed that she looked tired He wondered whether she&039;d had as little sleep as he had Although they&039;d only slept (or not slept) a few feet apart he hadn&039;t dared disturb her in the darkness of the night

&039;What are you doing?&039; she eventually asked hi of coffee

&039;I found this earlier,&039; he replied, stifling a yawn &039;Thought I&039;d have a go at cleaning it up&039;

&039;What&039;s it for?&039; Carl asked Those were the first words he&039;d uttered since coed his shoulders Deadpan, and with a complete absence of any sarcasm or hu things,&039; he said &039;What else you going to use it for?&039;

&039;I know that,&039; he snapped, annoyed, &039;but what are we going to use it for?&039;

He put the rifle down and looked up at Carl

&039;Don&039;t know,&039; he replied &039;Bloody hell, I hope we never need it&039;

The rifle was clearly of interest to Carl He sat down next to the otheron it, Michael seemed annoyed that someone else had dared to interfere

&039;Put it down,&039; he said &039;I haven&039;t finished with it yet&039;

&039;You ever used one of these?&039; Carl asked, suddenly much more animated

&039;No, but&039;

&039;I have,&039; he continued to enthuse &039;Used to do some work for a bloke that used to shoot&039;

&039;I don&039;t like it,&039; E next to the sink She couldn&039;t have been any further away froet rid of it&039;

&039;I don&039;t know We don&039;t even know if it&039;s going to work yet&039;

&039;Can&039;t see any reason why it shouldn&039;t,&039; Carl interrupted &039;Mind if I try it out?&039;

&039;Yes I do,&039; Michael protested &039;Bloody hell, I&039;ve spent bloody hours trying to get it&039;

Carl wasn&039;t listening He jurabbed a handful of ammunition and headed for the front door Michael looked over towards Emma Surprised by his sudden disappearance they both stood still for a second before following him out

By the time they reached the front door Michael could already hear the rifle being repeatedly cocked and fired Fortunately Carl had been sensible enough to try and fire it before loading

&039;Is he safe with that thing?&039; E

&039;Don&039;t know,&039; Michael replied under his breath, still fu that the other man had dared to take the rifle fro eyes as Carl loaded it

&039;This is okay you know,&039; he babbled excitedly &039;This is just e needed You never knohat&039;s round the corner these days&039;

&039;Don&039;t knohat frightens me more,&039; E round the countryside or hied half a smile which quickly disappeared when Carl lifted the rifle up and held it ready to fire He pressed the butt hard into his shoulder, closed one eye and aimed into the distance

&039;What the hell are you doing?&039; Michael de stupid? All we need is for that bloody thing to blow back in your face and you&039;re history&039;

&039;It&039;s okay,&039; he answered without s It won&039;t blow back&039;

&039;Just put it doill you?&039; begged Eet him&039;

Puzzled, Michael stood behind hi through a gap in the trees, out towards a ploughed field a few hundred metres away He squinted towards the horizon and saw that a lone figure was tripping cluh the uneven mud

&039;Leave it, will you?&039;

&039;I&039; his feet and getting the figure square in his sights &039;What&039;s he going to do about it? Christ, he probably won&039;t even know he&039;s been shot&039;

&039;You&039;ve got to hit him first,&039; Emma hissed cynically

&039;Oh, I&039;ll hit the bastard,&039; he said and, with that, he squeezed the trigger and fired

For a long second the deafening sound of the shot rang out and echoed through the otherwise silent countryside

&039;Missed hiure in the field stopped asped &039;Fucking hell, he heard the shot It&039;s got to be a survivor&039;

Stunned, Carl let go of the butt of the rifle and it swung down heavily to the ground Still holding the barrel he took a few cautious steps forward

&039;I didn&039;t get him did I?&039; he asked anxiously &039;Shit, I was only trying to&039;