When Mad Dog yanked open the door, Rafferty came out with the wire in his fist. First Rafferty jabbed Mad Dog's eye to blind him.
Mad Dog's reflexes saved him, but the wire caught a fold of skin in the web of his eye, and blood spurted everywhere. Rafferty jabbed Mad Dog again, the wire broke through skin and went into the soft fleshy hollow of Mad Dog's throat just above the breastbone, puncturing his jugular.
Blood started shooting out of Mad Dog's mouth and from the hole in his throat. He started gagging loudly on his own blood. He fell back, then down. He died slowly, painfully.
Rafferty watched him die. Too weak to move, he collapsed on the ground, where he passed out.
Alice Taylor walked in Sheriff Hartman’s private office.
Hartman perked up. "Alice?"
"I just heard about Rafferty. Any leads?"
Hartman sighed there were none. "Wanna take her up?"
Alice was already out the door, and the startled Sheriff hustled to catch up with her.
Rafferty awoke at twilight on the ground near Mad Dog's corpse, the bloodied wire prong still wrapped around his hand. He yanked it off and dropped it on the ground. Incredibly weakened, he staggered into the drying house.
Rafferty took up a water jug and drank some. He heard the sound of a approaching helicopter and so he stood by the open door of drying house. The Sheriff's helicopter zoomed overhead and flew away from the drying house.
Rafferty stumbled outside, tried waving after the helicopter. But the helicopter kept on going.
Rafferty was desperate. He could barely stand up. Too much blood had been taken from him.
Rafferty looked out across the valley and saw a red plume of dust from Lester's approaching truck and the helicopter rapidly receding. His heart fell.
Rafferty rummaged through Mad Dog's pockets and found a book of matches. Rafferty staggered into the drying house. He found and spilled a can of kerosene all over the floor. He used the book of matches to set afire a marijuana stalk. A giant flame shot up instantly. Then the room that was filled with marijuana stalks exploded into flame.
Rafferty barely escaped from the drying house. Within seconds, the drying house was ablaze.
Lester was in his truck roaring up the road towards the drying house when he saw the flames shooting up from the drying house. He sped up. He was screaming incoherently.
Rafferty grabbed Mad Dog's fungo bat and the wire prong and hid in the bushes behind the portajohn. He was wild eyed and desperate.
Lester Rahler raced from his truck towards the drying house just before it exploded into a blazing bonfire, which sent him reeling.
Lester saw his father's corpse in the dirt and ran to it. He cradled his dead father and wept.
Rafferty was lying in fear in the brush behind the portajohn.
Outraged and with murderous eyes, Lester took his shotgun from his truck and stalked after Rafferty. Lester shotgunned the bushes.
"I'm gonna kill you!"
Lester blasted a hole in the portajohn which then collapsed.
"I'll track you down and kill you!"
As the portajohn collapsed, Rafferty hid his face in the dirt, too weak to fight. He peered around remains of the portajohn and watched Lester reloading. Then they both heard the sound of the helicopter returning.
When Lester saw the Sheriff's helicopter approaching, he stayed long enough to trade a few shots with Sheriff Hartman. Then he ran off to his truck, which he fled in.
The helicopter landed by the burning house. Sheriff Hartman and Alice Taylor climbed out and found that Mad Dog was dead. They spotted Rafferty as he half-crawled, half-stumbled to the helicopter. Sheriff Hartman and Alice helped Rafferty to the helicopter.
Rafferty said weakly, "They took my blood."
Sheriff Hartman and Alice were outraged and horrified.
A minute later the Sheriff's helicopter flew towards a blood-red sunset.
Sheriff Hartman stood beside Rafferty's hospital bed, staring squeamishly at the bag of blood that hung down and ran into Rafferty's arm. Rafferty looked terrible, was bruised and battered, but was improving.
Rafferty felt very weak. "Does he have any family?"
Hartman said, "In Oklahoma City. A wife and three kids."
"I misjudged him," Rafferty said. "Jack Draper was a hero. He died trying to save my life."
A nurse came in and began replacing the blood bag with a new one.
Rafferty asked, "Any word about Lester?"
Hartman said, "None. How much blood have they given you?"
"That's the third one already," Rafferty said.
Hartman bunched his shoulders and shivered.
Later Rafferty was alone in his hospital room. The door opened and Ginny Hong entered with Eddie Ka’aina who sat in a wheelchair, with much of his lower neck wrapped in bandages.
Ginny said, "Can we come in?"
Rafferty said, "Ginny ... "
As Ginny hugged Rafferty, Rafferty realized Eddie Ka’aina was behind her. But Eddie brushed jealousy aside. He was grateful and contrite.
He told Rafferty, "I want to thank you for helping save my life."
Rafferty said, "Someday maybe you'll do the same for me."
Eddie asked, "When are they cutting you free?"
"The doctors say tomorrow," Rafferty said. "After I get my strength back."
"How 'bout I buy you a steak dinner?"