Second Chance:

[Ozarks Lady]

Awwwww man, your killin' me here!

[overbore]

OK; CHARLIE'S CORRAL???
SUPERB, GRAND, AS ALWAYS

Laus Deo
overbore

[MKIDAHO]

I hope it is a happy ending Thanks for this story it is great. :)

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 69




“Get inside!” yelled Charlie as he pulled the Glock from his waistband and fired back in the general direction of the attackers. He knew the chances of hitting someone would be slim, but at least it would give them something to think about and let them know he wasn’t prepared to go down without a fight. He dashed towards the first available cover, the flower pot he had built for Erica and had finished filling in. He fired along the way, wildly into the tree line and emptying the magazine. There was more firing coming from the trees now as the remainder of the attackers joined in their attempts to hit him. Bullets smacked at the ground next to him, but he managed to make it to cover without being hit.

When he dove behind the flower bed, he dropped the expended magazine and loaded the second one, silently cursing himself for not bringing more than one spare. But as a wise man had once said, a pistol is good for fighting your way back to a rifle. Only twenty five yards separated him from the house and the more powerful weaponry inside. A shotgun blast was heard as Cindy was returning fire on the attackers in the trees. The ranges were not in her favor, but Charlie knew it would give them more to think about. Bullets still smacked at the wooden border of the flower bed, but the projectiles were stopped by the dirt inside before they could penetrate far enough to be a hazard. The firing was split now as they focused on the additional fire coming from the house. Knowing their attention was probably diverted, he gulped in several breaths of air before rising and starting a mad dash towards the house, firing again at the woods randomly.

********************

“Do not shoot the house!” yelled Mohammed Hassan. “My daughter is there!”

“She is shooting at us!” yelled another member of the attacking force.

“She will be dealt with by me and me alone! If she is hit, I will kill the man who robs me of my honor!” he growled and took aim at the darting figure of Charlie. He fired several shots, but missed each time. Hassan saw him dart inside the house and emptied the magazine into the first floor where he disappeared, hoping to score a hit.

********************

Charlie dove onto the floor after entering and slammed the door with his foot as more bullets punctured and flew into the house. He swore he could feel the bullets as they whizzed by him on his mad dash to the house. But now he was inside, he knew he needed to get to the safe and get something more potent than the empty Glock. He tossed it to the side and started crawling towards the study. More gunfire was hitting the house, making any effort to rise above a certain level impossible. But he managed to find the safe and reached up to yank open the door. Lucky enough, it was still unlocked from earlier and he grabbed at a rifle and magazines. He went right past the various carbines and straight to the M1A rifle. He needed precision more than firepower right then and knew this rifle would be his best choice. Grabbing the web gear with magazines, he started off into the house when he decided a secondary armament would be in order as well.

He reached back into the safe and pulled the leather holster for his pistol and drug them through the house towards the staircase. Since the attackers were facing the front of the house, trying to get up the stairs would not be that easy. But he managed to get to the stairs and darted up before the next hail of gunfire erupted from the outside.

“What’s going on?!” screamed Cindy.

“I don’t know!” yelled Charlie in return. Taking the rifle, he loaded it and chambered a round before peering through the scope at the targets across the field. With the two hundred yard distance, he knew the shots would be easy as long as he knew where to fire. Scoping everything out, he saw there were eight attackers and they apparently didn’t care much about conserving ammo. There were no leaders emerging, so he decided to start picking them off one at a time.

Finding the leftmost target, he increased the magnification on the scope and saw the man was busy reloading his rifle with a new magazine. Charlie performed the same fundamentals as he always did and held the rifle steady as he pulled the trigger to the rear. As the spring released and the hammer flew forward, the rifle bucked into his shoulder and he brought it back on target. Seeing the round had been true, the man was now lifeless and the rifle sitting on the ground to his side. He moved to the next target to the right and started attempting to engage him as well. But this man was using some cover behind a tree and acting with some fire discipline. Rather than spraying and praying, he was selecting his shots into the house and aiming for the most part.

Another shotgun blast was heard from the adjacent room as Cindy returned more fire onto the attackers. But Charlie went into protective mode and yelled at her.

“Stop shooting! Do not make yourself a target!” he yelled at her.

“I can help!” she yelled back.

“You aren’t helping me by making yourself a target! Let me deal with this!” he shouted and saw the man was starting to target where she was at. “Get Mitch on the phone!”

Again the hammer flew forward and another round was sent downrange. He managed to hit the second target in the shoulder and the man attempted to get behind cover. But in doing so, the tree he had picked wasn’t that large and his head poked out the other side just enough to present Charlie with another target. A second round was sent and Charlie saw the effects the bullet had on the man’s head. Switching targets, he heard Cindy scream from the next room.

“It’s my father!” she screamed.

********************

“He is on the second floor!” yelled Abdul Ali as he targeted the window where Charlie had been shooting from. But they didn’t know he had already switched positions and was heading for a second window. As they fired another volley into the window where Charlie had been, another of their group had been hit and was lying, bleeding from a chest wound that would kill him if he wasn’t in a hospital right then.

“Rush the house!” yelled Abdul as he rose and started firing once again. He knew if they were inside it would be far easier to dig them out and where the ranges wouldn’t favor the defender. He could see the infidel was a good shot as he had already taken three of their number without anything in return. They rose as one and started rushing the house, doing a mad dash from cover to cover. More fire was returned from the house as the fourth member was hit and stumbled onto the ground. He attempted to get up, but another round found his chest and he dropped to the ground and started to bleed out.

********************

“What?!” demanded Mitch.

“Charlie is under fire at his place, at least eight attackers!” yelled the dispatcher.

“Get everyone over there now! Erwin Police, Highway Patrol and all deputies!” he yelled as he grabbed his rifle from the cabinet and started running towards the door.

“Mitch! Get me a rifle!” yelled Jeff Tilson. “I can help!”

Mitch hesitated for a split second before realizing the more guns the better. He grabbed a second tactical vest and tossed it at Jeff before running towards the door. Jeff grabbed an AR rifle from inside the cabinet and saw the ammo already strapped to the gear. He followed Mitch out the door and sprinted to the car. They both jumped into the cruiser and headed towards Limestone Cove as fast as the motor would take them.

“You have a pistol as well?” asked Mitch.

“Yeah, sorry Mitch, but I was packing the entire time we were in there,” said Jeff as Mitch screamed out of the parking lot with the siren wailing and lights flashing. He was busy strapping up the vest and putting the pistol from his waistband in the holster sewn into the vest. Once that was accomplished, he loaded a magazine into both the rifles and chambered a round.

“Dispatch, Unit 1, who is responding?” asked Mitch over the radio as the vehicle swerved in and out of traffic along the way.

“Be advised, Erwin PD has three units enroute, State Patrol has two units and four deputies are enroute,” said the dispatcher. “We’re contacting Johnson City to have the SWAT team mobilized.”

“Put out an alert, I need a recall of the entire force! I mean everyone including the reserve deputies!” ordered Mitch over the radio. “We’ll meet at the entrance road and go in together!”

“All units, all units, be advised, shots fired at the Gray Farm in Limestone Cove. I repeat, shots fired at the Gray Farm. All available units respond and meet with the sheriff at the entrance to the driveway. Sheriff Brewer has tactical command of the units responding,” said the dispatcher in a high pitched voice. Additional units were moving towards the farm as they called in their estimated time of arrival and requests for additional information.

********************

“Mitch is on the way!” yelled Cindy after she finished the call to 911.

Charlie wasn’t concentrating on what she was saying right then as he was attempting to hit the additional four bodies rushing the house. But just like shooting a moving coyote, he was properly leading the targets as they closed on the house. Another round fired and the number dropped to three. All three stopped for a moment before continuing the charge towards the house, firing randomly from the hip and into the house.

“Stay down!” he ordered Cindy as he tried to line up another shot. A bullet whizzed into the window and caught him in the sleeve of his shirt. He paused and saw no blood and continued to track his targets, firing another round that missed. He lined back up and managed to hit this target in the leg. Chalking it up to a mobility kill, he turned his focus onto the remaining two and fired another shot. Another miss as they were within fifty yards of the house now. He put all his concentration and effort into hitting the next one and scored a lucky head shot into Abdul Ali, killing him outright. The last target was her father, but Charlie didn’t realize it as he was concentrating on “target” and little more. Her father was still screaming madly and firing from the hip as he closed the distance. A final round fired caught him in the chest and he fell to the ground face down.

Charlie turned his attention back to the remaining member of the group. He saw the man still trying to aim the rifle at the house and determined him to be the last threat which had to be dealt with. He focused in on the scope one last time and sent another head shot downrange, hitting the man and seeing him drop the rifle with lifeless eyes.

“Cindy! Are you okay?!” demanded Charlie.

“Yes! Are you okay?” she asked, fearful at the events that had taken less than ten minutes from start to finish.

“Yeah, round caught my sleeve, but nothing more than a ruined shirt,” he tried to say nonchalantly. But his voice still wavered and broke under the stress. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes! I’m fine!” she exclaimed, feeling the same stress wearing off he did.

“Come here,” said Charlie as he continued to watch the outside. He momentarily took his eyes off the field to check her over and make sure she was okay. After informing him she was fine, he grabbed her in a hug and held her in tight.

“I was scared silly something might have happened to you!” he exclaimed and looked over her shoulder towards the fields.

“You and me both!” she exclaimed in a high pitched voice. They still hadn’t come off the adrenaline rush yet and it showed in their voices.

“I want you to go grab your rifle. I’m going to check on these guys to make sure they are down,” said Charlie.

“I don’t have the ammo for it,” she said, hoping to stall him.

“We’ll grab it out of the safe before I leave,” said Charlie.

“Shouldn’t you wait for Mitch?” she asked, worried about him.

“No, they could walk into an ambush,” he said confidently. “I’ll take care of the problem before they get here.”

“Charlie, I’m scared!” she exclaimed.

“I’ll be fine,” he said with a forced smile.

“Please don’t go!” she pleaded with him.

“They aren’t shooting and I’m just checking to make sure they’re dead,” said Charlie as he pulled on the leather belt and holster for his pistol. He replaced the magazine from his rifle and saw he was on the last round as it was and had perfect timing on his shots. After slapping the magazine in, she reappeared with her rifle and loaded up the internal magazine. She took up a position on the first floor watching out as Charlie moved onto the porch and aimed the rifle out into the field, watching the bodies to her front. He reached the first body and turned it over with the toe of his boot, finding it harder than it looked on television. After seeing no reaction, he continued moving into the field and scanning the remainder of the targets.

********************

As he felt his body turn over, Mohammed Hassan knew he had the opportunity to exact a final measure of revenge on the man who had corrupted his daughter and ruined his life. He opened his eyes and saw him walking away with a rifle pointed in the opposite direction. He could see his AR15 lying close to his right hand and picked it up after a great strain. He had it generally aimed in the direction of the man and squeezed the trigger and the rifle bucked as the round fired.

********************

Cindy saw her father start to pick up the rifle and took aim at his form. But just as her finger started moving towards the trigger, she hesitated as the lingering loyalty to her family screamed in her head. She couldn’t find the will to continue the act as her divided loyalties between her father and Charlie confused the functions of her brain. But even as she saw him unsteadily aiming the rifle, she knew she needed to do something.

“Charlie!” screamed Cindy as a warning as she was powerless to do anything else. He had caused her enough pain and she needed to do something. She knew the soulless demon who used to be her father was attempting to murder another innocent man, much like he had murdered her mother.

Charlie heard the shot from behind him and felt a sting. Dropping the rifle from his hands out of shock, he whirled around and saw his attacker on the ground holding a rifle and trying to pull the trigger once again. He saw the face as the one of her father, her biological father. He hadn’t noticed until that point and finally made the connection with the photograph seen on the news. Charlie’s right hand was a flash as he drew the pistol at his waist and brought it up. He emptied the magazine of the Springfield into the chest of her father and watched as the fat .45 rounds impacted, each hit a little more retribution for attempting to ruin the life of the girl he loved like his own family.

The 1911 was smoking in his hands when he finished and he was getting ready to replace the magazine. Before changing the magazine, he looked down at the dull pain in his chest. Ain’t that just a hoot, he thought with an ironic smile.

Cindy watched as Charlie fell to his knees and then onto his face. She hadn’t seen the round hit him until then. She grabbed at her rifle and scrambled out of the house screaming the whole way. She reached Charlie just as he flipped over and saw the exit wound right over where his heart should be.

“I’ll get the first aid kit!” she said, getting ready to scamper away.

“Just hold on, ain’t nothing but a scratch,” he said, looking down at the wound. He knew it was fatal unless he happened to be right in a hospital with a talented surgeon right then. He felt weaker, but didn’t want to let go yet and spend the remaining moments in this life with the girl he thought of as the daughter he had never seen grow up.

“It’s more than a scratch!” exclaimed Cindy, putting her hands over the wound and applying pressure.

“All the first aid in the world ain’t gonna do me no good right now. I just want to sit and talk with you,” he said, his voice starting to waver.

“No, you can hold on! Mitch’s on the way!” she yelled, tears starting to run down her face.

“It’s just my time darlin,” he said.

“No! You can’t die!” exclaimed Cindy through the tears.

“Awww darlin, we all have the time Jesus wants us back. Just happens to be mine,” he wheezed. “Don’t you cry now.”

“I’ll save you! Just tell me what to do!” she exclaimed as the tears rolled down her face.

“You already did save me,” he said with a smile. “Back on the day I picked you up at that store, you gave me a new life.”

“No! You can’t go! What am I going to do without you?” she cried.

“Same thing you’ve always done; face life and punch it in the nose when it tries to put you down. You’ve been stubborn enough not to let nothing stop you. You don’t start now,” he said in a whisper.

“I can’t go on without you,” she cried.

“Oh yes you can. Don’t want to hear any of that can’t go on nonsense. You face life with that same sassy attitude you gave me that day we met. You’re a tough girl, you’ll be fine,” he whispered.

“I don’t know what to do,” said Cindy as she started to break down entirely. Tears streamed down her face in an endless procession.

“Awww, you’re almost a grown woman now, you know what to do. You don’t need me anymore,” he said, his voice trailing off.

“Daddy, don’t go!” she cried and pulled him in closer. She had no idea where the name came from, but it felt natural. She wanted to call him that for a long time, but never had the courage to before now. But in doing so, she released a great burden from her soul in finally being able to tell him her true feelings.

“Never called me that before, but I like hearing it,” he said with a smile and attempted to grasp at her hands. But he felt the strength slipping away.

“You’ve been more like a father to me than anyone else in my life,” she cried.

“You’re the best daughter any father could ever hope for. I’m glad I got the opportunity to be put in that role,” he said with another smile.

“I’m glad I was able to have a man like you be my father for a short time,” said Cindy through tears.

“You tell Erica I love her and should have married her sooner. She would have been a good wife,” said Charlie.

“You can tell her yourself,” said Cindy.

“I don’t think I’ll get a chance,” said Charlie in a whisper. They sat for several more moments just holding on to each other before he patted her hand and drew her attention.

“Take your second chance on life,” he said while patting her on the hand. He closed his eyes and slipped away, his hand falling on top of hers on his chest. She fell over his body, crying more than she ever remembered crying in her life. What seemed like hours, days, even years passed by, but in reality only moments as she completely broke down over the man she had come to love like a father.

“Cindy!” she heard from behind and whirled around with the rifle and aimed it at the advancing figures through blurry, tear filled eyes. It was Mitch with the additional police coming to help.

“He’s gone,” she said while crying. She dropped the rifle and grabbed hold of him while breaking down entirely again.

Mitch was shocked. His best friend was dead, killed by these men hell bent on killing someone for being a good man and taking in a young girl in her time of need. Such selfishness shocked him and he held onto Cindy tight as whispered to her and felt his own emotions running wild.

“Shhh, it’s going to be okay. He’s in a better place now,” said Mitch as his voice cracked and a tear rolled down his face. Sorrow replaced anger as he knew he needed to be strong for this young girl in front of him, just like Charlie had always been strong for her.

Jeff Tilson went over to check his vital signs just in case. The remaining police fanned out into the field and kept a close eye on the additional bodies as they pulled weapons away and checked for vital signs. But Charlie’s shooting had been dead on and no other survivors were found.

Jeff reached down and listened for breath and for a heartbeat on Charlie. He checked once again by repositioning his fingers and getting closer to his mouth. “Oh no, he’s not dead yet! We need an ambulance out here!”

Mitch automatically sprang into action, getting on the radio and calling for an ambulance to get out there as quick as possible. Luckily enough, one was already enroute from Erwin since they had been alerted by the police dispatch. A deputy raced out to the main road to escort them to the farm and hopefully get Charlie to advanced medical care and increase his chances of survival. Jeff was already applying a pressure bandage to the wounds and holding them in place.

“Get the helicopter in here!” shouted Jeff.

“Bad accident out on I-81, they aren’t available!” answered a State Trooper.

“You just hold on Charlie!” yelled Mitch as he continually checked and rechecked his vitals until the arrival of the ambulance. The sirens were heard screaming up the road and both the patrol car and ambulance bounced over the uneven terrain right next to the body.

“What happened?!” demanded the EMT as he jumped out of the driver’s seat.

“Gunshot wound to the chest, he’s still breathing and a faint heartbeat!” exclaimed Jeff.

The medical professionals went to work automatically getting set up to monitor him and to try to control the bleeding. They saw the dressings were in place and decided not to remove them as the driver received the information of everything that had been done before they had arrived. Charlie was quickly loaded onto a stretcher and loaded into the back of the ambulance. Cindy darted for the rear entrance, but was blocked by the med tech.

“Sorry miss, only family can go along,” said the EMT as he started to close the door.

“This is his daughter, she goes,” said Mitch as he grabbed the door and kept it from being shut.

“Get in, now!” ordered the EMT. Cindy jumped onboard and Mitch closed the door and hammered on it letting them know it was closed. The same cruiser that had escorted them to the farm escorted them back out to the roadway. An oxygen mask was applied on Charlie’s face and Cindy continued to hold his hand as the EMT got more systems in place to monitor his vital stats. An IV with blood expanders was started and fed directly into his upper arm to hopefully buy enough time to get him to the hospital. After they hit the highway, Charlie regained consciousness for a short time as the IV was helping move the blood around his body again.

“Where are we?” he asked weakly and tried to remove the mask.

“No, don’t. You got shot and we’re going to the hospital,” said Cindy with tears in her eyes.

“How bad?” he asked weakly as he remembered what happened.

“Just a scratch,” she attempted to smile at him and encourage him to make it through. However, her face showed the worry about his condition and the tears were continuing to well up in her eyes. The chances of his survival would go up dramatically if they could just get him to the hospital, but time seemed to stand still and the ambulance barely crawled along the highway.

“I love you like my own daughter,” he said and patted her hand once again. The monitor beeping started getting erratic and could be heard clearly over the wail of the siren as they sped along.

“He’s going into cardiac arrest!” yelled the EMT. They felt the ambulance go a little faster along the highway. The beeping became even more erratic and finally came to a steady tone.

As they traveled down the highway, Cindy broke down once again as the steady tone of the heart monitor could be heard clearly over the siren. She grasped his hand and did something she hadn’t done in a long time. She started praying to God to save the man from death as he was too valuable to take right then. She pleaded with God to let him live as she needed him in her life. She told Him she was being selfish, but there were too many things left on earth for Charlie Gray to do before he was called into service by Him.

“Five minutes out!” yelled the driver.

“We don’t have five minutes!” yelled the EMT as he started CPR and got the de-fib machine warming up. He started chest compressions hoping to buy enough time to get to the hospital.

The tears continued unabated down Cindy’s face as the heart monitor continued its steady tone. Her nightmare had become reality as she clenched his hand tightly as if her grasp could stop him from leaving the world…

[magelk]

Rule number 2, Double Tap.

[hawkhunter]

This has been an awsome story, and my thanks to you for your reply to my request to find the rest of this story. My hat is off to you sir.

[cookie4u1]

Wow and wow.. Thats all I can say..Do I lay my 8 bucks down for the paper back edition now..Powerfull stuff... tugs at all the emotions....mark

[Hawkeye]

Rule number 2, Double Tap.

Actually, the key phrase and propper procedure here is, "anchor shot".

[ChemicalGal]

Grand I know I am going to have to re read this one, once I get the tears out of my eyes so I can.
This is one terrific story you've put us right there with them...and I have faith you won't let him die.
Thank you
Jo

[Jellyman]

holy cow! this is good! you have GOT to publish!

[Pop_45]

crying like a little girl. Very powerful stuff Grand. Very powerful.

[Ozarks Lady]

Oh crap! Grand very powerful chapter.

Thanks

[overbore]

Additional take-away from this sadness;
1.Vest ,Level 4, multi hit rated
2. Use new Hornady higher velocity factory ammo in your M1A or
3. hand load with high velocity and fragmenting bullets; no survivors to tag you. See post of today.

Tearfully,

overbore

[ebb]

I was a long search but i finally found second chance and am finally caught up with the story. But what a time to catch up with this cliff hanger. Thanks Grand, great story glad i found you. Ebb

[RememberGoliad]

WHAT....A.....STORY..... WOW!!!!

I'll breathe, when I can see who all is present and vertical in the epilogue :)

Thank you so much, Grand! I was kinda annoyed that you suspended "Lucky" for a story that started out with a teenage girl asking a stranger for a light, but man, am I glad you did what you did! This has been one of the best reads I've had in years and years!