THEN FROM DARK TO DARK HE AWOKE. ALL THE LIGHT WAS gone from the sky. The ground was wet as if it had rained but it had not.
He rose up and stood in the grass. It came to his waist. There wasn’t a light to be seen. He could only make out a dark wall of cedars at the edge of the field. And even that was diminished in the fog. He turned in a circle. Any way, he figured, was better than just standing still. It was then that the first pistol shot came. The sound was flat and soft in all that quiet and fog. It was also unmistakable. He heard the whine of the bullet as it nearly hit him. He turned to where the first came from and saw the pop of the second flash in the dark. This one tore through the grass to his right and he began to run. The grass was thick and the running was difficult. All he could hear was his own breath and the grass swishing against his legs. He felt his arm tug and then a stinging pain. The bullet hit him just below the shoulder and threw him to the ground. He labored up and clutched his arm with his good hand and was running again. The warm blood was running from the hole and down over his fingers. He looked at it once. His arm and hand were black and it didn’t look like blood at all.
The next bullet spun him around and he fell backward into the grass. Didn’t even hear the shot. Just below his ribs his shirt was warm and wet. Fielding lay there holding himself. He was looking up at the sky. An odd sensation overcame him and he wished he was able to see the stars. To see them up there burning like they always did. He took them for granted, he realized. He regretted not looking at them every second they had been out.
Then he heard the footsteps of his shooter. He approached without hurry. Fielding heard him whistling like he was walking down a country road. Fielding lay there holding himself as Noon stepped up. He stood at Fielding’s feet. Fielding couldn’t make out any details. Just a black silhouette. Then a low, measured voice:
Hello, Mr Fielding.
And then the butt of the pistol came down and everything went dark.