In The Eye Of The Hawk

Hawk used his patrol unit to do a pit maneuver on John Blood's GTO. At 65 to 70 mph on the narrow dirt road, Hawk drove his unit hard into the right rear bumper of the GTO, then backed off rapidly. Blood could not keep control any longer as the GTO spun first left then right, flipping over and over a hundred feet down the side of the cliff. Hawk didn't think Blood could live through it, but he was wrong. The totaled GTO was empty. There was a blood trail leading to a creek out in the open.

Hawk sought higher ground and cover while slowly backing up. Suddenly, he tripped on a rock near a boulder and fell backward, hitting his head. At that moment, a large rattlesnake, curled and ready to strike, sprung forward toward Hawk's neck. The rattlesnake's nose hit his neck and the fangs went through Hawk's shirt collar. Hung up and slashing around, Hawk grabbed the snake with his left hand, dazed and blurry-eyed. Then he heard Blood casually walking towards him, laughing. As Blood approached, he took aim with his 45-cal. semi auto pistol and fired one shot into Hawk's left side. Before a second round went off, Hawk fired his 357 Magnum through his holster and emptied it in what he hoped was Blood's chest. Hawk could only hear. He could not see. What happened next could only be counted as a miracle.

Blinded by the concussion, panicked by the rattlesnake trying to strike his neck, and the pain of being shot in his left side, Hawk did the only thing he could do. Many times while training in martial arts, he had fought with a blind fold on so he would learn to use his other senses. He point-shot to where he heard John Blood laughing. Thank God, all six rounds found their mark in Blood's chest, or this story would have a very different ending.