Chapter 1
Daniel Spain burst from the woods into the bright morning sunlight. Gasping for breath, he ran as fast as he could across a frozen soybean field. He tried to ignore the intense pain in his left side caused by several pellets from a shotgun blast. He could hear his pursuers gaining ground on him, fast.
Turning his head briefly to see where they were, he tripped and landed on the frozen ground with a loud thud. A sharp clap reverberated in the cold December morning sending a clump of frost encrusted dirt splattering up around his face.
Daniel began crawling away from his attackers, but to no avail. Within moments after the first shot, a large, pot-bellied man stood over him.
The sun reflected off of the man's gun, momentarily blinding Daniel. Suddenly, a searing pain pierced his wounded side as the big man kicked him full-force in the ribs.
"This'll teach 'ya not to fuck with the establishment, boy," the big man said as he cocked his weapon.
Another loud pop echoed across the frozen soybean field sending a flock of blackbirds screeching into the early morning air.
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