deer0306

@@@@@Inside was a disordered rubble of fragments, black charred objects, rusted scraps of metal, shell fragments, a few broken boxes of mortar shells, a few mounds of gray ash like the kind found in trash barrels; there was even just a little bit of a dead body, a charred shinbone jutting from a mound of dirt and ashThe stench had the intensity and delirium of ether "We ain't gonna get a goddam box," Red saidHe was feeling sick, and his back had begun to ache inordinately from the effort it took to shift the bodies with his fingertips "Let's quit this mess," Gallagher saidThe sunlight at the mouth of the cave seemed astringent "Men, you ain't gonna quit now, are ya?" Wilson pleadedHe was determined to bring back a box The sweat ran into Martinez's eyesHe was irritable and impatient"We go back now, huh?" he suggested Wilson threw a body aside, and then stepped back with an exclamationHe had uncovered a snake, which moved its head slowly from side to side over the top of one of the boxesThe men all drew away with a murmur of fear and flattened against the opposite wall of the caveRed pressed the safety on his gun, and drew a bead slowly on the head of the snakeHis hands were wavering, and he watched the flat eyes of the snake with absorption"Don' miss," Wilson whispered The sound of the shot bounded from wall to wall with the over-pouring clamor of an artillery pieceThe snake's head disappeared into a mash of pulp, and its body quivered frenetically for many secondsThe men watched intently, awe-struck, their ears deafened by the noise of Red's gun"Let's get out of here," Gallagher cried They stumbled over one another in their sudden frenzy to get outAll of them had an acute panicWilson mopped his face and breathed deeply of the air outside the hole"Ah guess that's one box Ah'll never get," he said casual