The old man

The old man shuffles out of his bedroom and finds his house once again empty. His companions talked the night before and agreed to leave early that morning to get a head start and move on. The group of men, women, and a couple of children all had lived with the old man since it happened, since the world went to ruin. The old man was now, for the first time in a couple years, alone.

He made himself a simple breakfast, his thoughts wonder to what was discussed the night before. How the supply runs brought back less and less, that there had to be something better out there. He ate slowly, continue to wonder why he didn't just along with his companions. Going with them would have been a better choice, why did he had to be so stubborn and stay behind. Finishing breakfast he began to clean his dishes and put everything away. He made up his mind, rather he changed his mind, he started to gather things from around the house.

First the bathroom; grabbing the toilet paper, soap, and his hygiene kit. In the kitchen he removed the freshly cleaned dishes, food stocks, and several more items. He went room to room only taking what was necessary to take with him. Everything was organized and boxed up to be packed into the jeep he had parked outside. With the small utility trailer there was only so much he could take. He finished loading the trailer and threw a tarp over it, tying it down securely. He secured two fuel cans to the front of the trailer and one more to the rear of the jeep. Once he was satisfied that he got everything he climbed into the vehicle and looked at the house one last time. He headed down the drive and onto the deserted highway in the direction his companions went.

The five of us

The five of us were in my living room; me, her, and three guys in uniform. They were not police officers nor were they soldiers, but they were heavily armed. Each had a M-4 or an AK47,  a sidearm, and even a large knife. Their uniforms were mostly black with dark brown pants. They wore ball caps and the two older guys had scruffy beards. They had to be hired mercenaries but that didn't explain why they stormed into my home and had me and her detained in the living room floor. The youngest had pulled the couch away from the wall and was behind it, as if he was searching for something. The other two was just standing there in the doorway to the kitchen. They had their weapons drawn on us but had got confident that they had the upper hand and slightly lowered their guard. The phone rang in the other room distracting the two standing, giving me a small window of opportunity. I kicked the coffee table making a pistol fall from a hidden compartment. Grabbing the weapon as it fell, I took aim and fired first at the two standing then at the one behind the couch. Giving each guy two shots to the face, all three guys collapsed to the floor.

The dreams are getting interesting, but I was more concerned with something else. Who was she? This woman has been found in many of my dreams but has never given me a clue as to who she was.

The van

I was taking a break while sitting in the patrol vehicle parked in front of one of our locations. I noticed the dark blue van pulling up behind me. I saw in my side mirror the gun in the man's hand as he exited the van and started walking towards my vehicle. My heart started to race as the gravity of the situation hit me. I only had a few seconds, I pulled my pistol from my holster and quickly turned in my seat. At the same time I rolled over in bed jerking myself awake. The muscle memory of countless hours of training still had my hands griping a nonexistent pistol as I aimed at the wall.

long days and pleasant nights

So who excited for the upcoming Stephen King Dark Tower movie? It has been a long time coming but hopefully they used this time wisely and prepared a grand adventure for us.

I have been a fan of the Dark Tower series since finding the Gunslinger in a second hand shop back when I was still in high school. A female friend even told me that I was her gunslinger, here to save her from her wretched life. The world has moved on for the two of us but the name stuck with me and yes that is the reason why the blog is named such.

I've had several copies of the books, most have been past on to friends and family. I have always wanted a set of hardcover editions but could never afford them. Last year I wished to join the ka tet one again but my sister still held ownership of my current collection, even thought they were lost from their recent move. I finally broke down and started searching for hardcover versions of the series. Most were acquired within a couple of weeks through the use of eBay, several were only a small percentage of their value new, a couple did cost me almost their full retail price but they were all worth getting.

The nightly Stitch sits on top his throne, my niece sent me a gift along with the books.

In total I now have a full set of the seven books in the series, the later added wind through the keyhole, and even found a book containing a shirt sorry that lived in the Dark Tower universe. Of course after finishing my collection my sister found the list books and sent then home to me, so I have two complete sets one in paperback and one hardcover.