{"id":5400,"date":"2013-02-28T12:39:50","date_gmt":"2013-02-28T17:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=5400"},"modified":"2026-07-22T14:02:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:02:41","slug":"the-last-bullet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=5400","title":{"rendered":"The Last Bullet (by BnzaGal)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: \u00a0An afternoon turns tragic. \u00a0<\/span>FEB. 2013. Chaps&Spurs challenge.<\/p>\n

Rated:<\/span>\u00a0K+ (670 words)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The Last Bullet<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFour, five\u2026\u201d Joe paused, his thumb on the hammer of his gun.<\/strong> Instead of firing he ducked behind the boulder they were hiding behind. The high ground would do them no good if he didn\u2019t have bullets to defend it with. His right hand followed the loops of his gun belt. Empty. Ever last one.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe?\u201d Maggie\u2019s voice interrupted his moment of defeat. \u201cYou\u2019re out of bullets?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe turned and tried to tuck the violet that had once been carefully pinned into her honey colored hair back into its place. \u201cI have one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there must be at least a half a dozen of them out there.\u201d She drew a deep breath and tried to stop the cascade of tears that waited just behind her eyes, \u201cWhat will they do to me, Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, God let them just kill her.<\/em>\u00a0Joe grabbed her hand but didn\u2019t answer the question.\u00a0 There were more horror stories circulating about Indian war parties in the last few months then Joe could recall from his entire life. They had left in their wake a fortune of damaged crops, terror, and death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t I just take you to the restaurant at the hotel?\u201d Joe\u2019s words were barely audible. He held her gaze sorrowfully. \u201cWhy a picnic?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love picnics,\u201d Maggie squeezed Joe\u2019s hand, the first of her tears falling.<\/p>\n

As they sat there the braves would be closing in, inching their way up the rocky slope. There was no escaping. No way out.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let them take me.\u201d Maggie cried, \u201cThat girl Roy brought in last week, Joe\u2026 I don\u2019t want to end up like the others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey won\u2019t touch you while I breathe.\u201d It wasn\u2019t much of a promise but it was all he had. All he could do except\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cUse it.\u201d Maggie spoke what Joe\u2019s entire being was rebelling against. \u201cI know why you\u2019re taught to save the last bullet. So use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaggie\u2026\u201d He was shaking his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to die, Joe. Use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

How could she say she didn\u2019t want to die and yet ask for death in the same breath? \u201cI couldn\u2019t\u2026 I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

She reached her hand around his and pulled the gun toward herself. \u201cIt\u2019ll be better this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe resisted and she pulled harder, \u201cNo,\u201d tears began to slide down his face, \u201cwe haven\u2019t even had our dessert yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSilly boy,\u201d Maggie smiled for just a second as she worked her finger around the trigger. \u201cRun straight at them Joe.\u201d Her face grew sober. \u201cDon\u2019t let them take you alive. Run until\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe nodded and turned his head to look back. \u201cGoodbye, Joe.\u201d The gun went off in Joe\u2019s hand. He whipped his head around in time to see the pain leaving her eyes as death took her. Joe cast aside the gun as if it was on fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaggie,\u201d He closed her eyes, kissed her cheek, lowered her to the ground, then moved to join her in death by charging into the open. Two running steps out and he was thrown down with an arrow in his shoulder. Get up! He pulled himself up and stood. Down again the air whooshing out of him.<\/p>\n

Gun shots? The Indians didn\u2019t have guns. Two pistols and one rifle. Joe lifted his head up and watched for a moment. \u201cPa,\u201d He let his head fall back to the ground. He breathed deeply to try and cope with the waves of pain that crept over his body. He wasn\u2019t even sure where the second arrow had hit him.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s eyes snapped open. \u201cMaggie,\u201d It was nearly a scream. He couldn\u2019t move. Darkness began to crowd out the daylight. \u201cOh, God,\u201d Joe prayed in a whisper, \u201cLet me die.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

End Notes:<\/b><\/p>\n

Thank you for reading.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Summary: An afternoon turns tragic.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0K+ (670 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":3486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[39,23,1007,8,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chaps-spurs","category-drama","category-joe-cartwright","category-short-stories","category-challenges","wpcat-39-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-1007-id","wpcat-8-id","wpcat-40-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Bad-Day1.png?fit=628%2C478&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}