I searched through the cabinets and found a bottle of wine. I poured two glasses and put on some music.When I sat down again, I worried that Karissa w...uld get the wrong impression. I turned off the music and sat down again. It was too quiet so I turned on the television. A soap opera was playing. Low music and a man and a woman talking close in a dark restaurant. I flipped the channel to network news and there came a knock on the door.I let Karissa in and we sat down on my loveseat in the. I spun as my left elbow came up and back into his face. I turned and went with him and his body jerked as two of the men fired and the bullets ripped into his armored vest.One went high and his head exploded as I tore the rifle free. I continued to move and dove and rolled as more bullets passed over me. I did not bother coming to my feet as I turned the rifle and fired into two of the men rushing towards me. The first round struck the first in the throat and then the face before the next two. Tracey was so glad her in-laws had sent her nephew over as she opened the door. In addition to the work that needed to be done, she would enjoy the eye candy that Billy was obviously meant to be, she playfully thought to herself. Her nephew had been 6’5 for years, but she still never associated him with the giant black man before her. Billy was wearing a white tshirt that showed off the impressive musculature that he had developed in the last few years. Tracey noted that her husband’s physique,. At first light she supped dew from the grass, and pushed on. She would give herself until noon at the latest before turning back. The ground had been rising into a narrow mountain pass for some time, and the sun was near its zenith when she made her decision. The track rose ahead and rounded a bend. She would go only as far as the bend. If there was nothing promising in sight, she would turn back and head for home. There was always the hope of better luck on the day and a half it would take her.