Waste Not, Want Not Chapter IX

Paul immediately began to search for signs to find what he was convinced would be the dead deer’s body. At first, to his astonishment, there were none evident. “There must be some blood or something,” he thought.
Then he found a small trace of blood, then another and another. He followed the blood trail to a rocky area composed of many large, overlapping flat rocks with little sprigs of scrub brush. These rocks showed no tracks but displayed another small, crimson splash of blood. He walked back and forth over the rocks but saw nothing more.. There was no brush nearby which could hide the deer. He was perplexed and annoyed to the point that he didn’t hear the whirring, buzzing noise behind him at first. Still unaware he turned and took a step then he heard the sound. He froze instantly. And then he saw the source of the sound. A huge diamondback rattlesnake lay coiled under a slight rocky overhang a few feet away. Its neck formed into an “S” shape and its tail was rapidly shaking its characteristic warning.
He was only a few feet from the snake, within easy striking distance. Paul had a fear of snakes but he controlled his fear. He couldn’t believe he was in this situation. He had thought there would be no snakes out this time of year.
Slowly he stepped back but the snake reacted aggressively and quickly slithered out from his outcropping and closer to Paul. Paul stopped and so did the rattler. Paul slowly raised his rifle but the snake seemed agitated by this move and again he froze. He would have to fire or flee it seemed. He quickly raised his rifle and fired. At that instant the snake struck. Paul missed the snake didn’t.
It hit his leg just above the boot with incredible force. Though all this took place very rapidly it seemed to be in horrifyingly slow motion. He felt the fangs rip through his pants leg just above the boot and sink deep into his leg. He could feel poison flowing into his vein.


WNWN chap IX pg 2

A hot, searing pain coursed quickly up his leg. Already the poison was taking effect. This was a big snake and he knew it would be loaded with a large amount of potent venom
He screamed. His first thought was to kill the snake. He raised his rifle again but the snake was gone. He struggled to fight back panic. His leg quickly began to swell and the pain was excruciating. He was a long way from his truck. He knew walking would help spread the poison but if he stayed here he would likely die. No one would come looking for him here he thought. So he struck out back the way he had come, slowly and as calmly as he could do it.
The poison worked its damage quickly and he began to weaken. He tried to stay in control and keep moving but he began to be delirious and his vision was blurring. He no longer knew where he was going and he could not make his limbs move under his control. The world around him began to swirl faster and faster he found himself on his back with the clouds in the sky racing overhead in an animated display.
Suddenly the pain was gone. In fact he was now feeling a warm encompassing feeling of well being. He lay there and nearly forgot about the snake and the danger he was in. He felt like he was watching a movie of himself laying there on the ground under the sun.
His vision grew dim and he began to realize that he was now helpless. “I guess I am going to die,” he said out loud. “I’m not ready to die! I’ve got more to do. I want to see my daughter.”
But he was slipping away and he could feel it. He was resigned to this now. He decided he would die a good death.
Those were his last thoughts as he felt total darkness overwhelm him.