Robert shook his head. It was something he did not want to talk about anymore. He walked toward the field of corn to escape the conversation, leaving Alexis standing by the campfire. He stood near the rows of corn that must have been planted before the event, before the grid collapsed. He grabbed an ear and ripped it from the stalk. A quick glance back to camp showed Alexis sitting by her husband again. Robert began to walk the edge of the cornfield. He held the ear of corn with a tight grip and used it to hit the stalks of corn as he walked by. He heard something in the cornfield. Something was moving in the stalks of corn and the sound was getting closer.
“Ben?” asked Robert, as he curiously peered into the rows of corn. There was no reply. The sound grew louder, so he began to step away from the corn. Suddenly a German shepherd lunged from behind the tall stalks. It was about six feet away from Robert. The dog bared its teeth and delivered a low growl. Its hair was standing up along the ridge of its spine. Robert frantically looked around for a rock or stick to use like a club. There was nothing but the ear of corn in his hand. He faced the dog and slowly moved backward. He knew that if he ran the dog would attack.
“Alexis!” yelled Robert ; he raised the ear of corn to throw it at the dog. “Get the rifle!”
Robert did not turn around. He knew if he turned away, the dog would be on him.
“Hurry up, Alexis! Squeeze that trigger!” exclaimed Robert as he continued to back up slowly.
The dog’s growling stopped and it lifted its head. The dog sniffed the air and its ears twisted, searching for a noise. Robert heard a whistle. It sounded like a person whistling for a dog.
“Don’t shoot! Hold it! Someone is in there,” said Robert, still backing away.
The dog turned and ran back into the cornfield, and Robert quickly turned to sprint for his rifle, grabbing it from Alexis. His hands were shaking.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, but that was close.”
Ben emerged from the cornfield. He did not have his shotgun this time, but was carrying something in his hand. The dog was right behind him. “Looks like you met my dog. Sorry about that. She got away from me.”
Robert pointed to his rifle and shook his head disapprovingly. “That was close.”
“Sit! Sit!” Ben commanded the dog. The dog sat and Ben commanded her to stay as he walked toward Robert and Alexis.
“I need to keep her away from that water,” said Ben, pointing to the inlet, “and the trees. There is good fishing over there, but it’s thick with snakes. I already lost my other dog to a copperhead.”
Alexis went pale and looked back to her still sleeping husband.
Ben held up a pair of pliers. “Let’s sit down and talk.”
They walked back to the campfire and sat down. Ben tossed the pliers to Robert.
“I talked to my wife. She said, ‘grip the tooth and wiggle it back and forth until it comes out.’ That’s it.”
“That’s it?” asked Robert.
“That’s it. Well… almost it,” replied Ben, tipping his hat upwards. “My wife said that between the snakebite and the infected tooth, your friend Kyle is going to need some antibiotics, and fast.”
“I’m listening,” said Robert.
Ben took his hat off and used it to fan his face. “I’ll help you pull his tooth. Then we go into town and get some antibiotics. What do you think?”
“It’s just that easy?” asked Robert, skeptically.
“Maybe, but it’s my wife’s idea.”
“I’m still listening.”
“She said that pet stores sell antibiotics for aquarium fish and they are the same as human antibiotics.”
“Really? Is she positive?” asked Alexis.
“Absolutely. I’m sure the pet stores will be looted, but people would’ve taken the dog and cat supplies and pet food. They won’t give a shit about their fish. Hell, they probably ate their fish by now,” said Ben, laughing. “You go into town with me and we’ll split everything we take. Sound fair?”
Robert looked at Alexis and she nodded.
Ben extended his arm and opened his palm. “Alexis, give this to your husband. It’s a painkiller. Once it kicks in, we should take the tooth.”
Alexis took the pill wrapped in a small piece of paper. “I’ll go talk to Kyle.”
“How do we get into town?” asked Robert.
“Horses. I have two. We’ll ride out at sunrise tomorrow,” Ben said, looking back toward the dog to make sure she was still there.
“Okay, it’s a deal.”
Robert looked down at the pliers in his hand, then toward Alexis and Kyle. Kyle was sitting up. Alexis made eye contact and nodded her head as she tossed away the empty piece of paper that had held the pain pill. By Alexis’s expression alone, they understood that Kyle had agreed to go through with the tooth extraction.
Robert and Ben put a tarp on the ground and helped Kyle onto it. They positioned Kyle on the edge of the tarp and rolled the tarp around his body, like a cocoon. All that was exposed was Kyle’s head and neck. The tightly wrapped tarp restrained his arms. Robert held the pliers and straddled Kyle’s supine body and Ben held onto Kyle’s head. They put a short but thick stick in the back of Kyle’s jaw to keep him from biting down on the pliers or their fingers.
“Remember, don’t crack the tooth. Just grip it and wiggle it around until it gets loose,” said Ben.
Robert nodded, took a deep breath, held it briefly, and tried to relax as he slowly exhaled. Robert held up three fingers. “On my count. One… two… three… Hold him! Hold tight!” Kyle’s head jostled on the hard ground and he groaned in pain. Robert pushed, pulled, and wiggled against the tooth with the pliers. He began to feel a slight looseness from side to side. “It’s moving… almost there.”
Kyle began to cough and choke on his own blood. “He’s bleeding! Get that tooth out,” said Ben, frantically. “The snake venom thinned his blood. His mouth is filling up with blood.”
Robert leaned his body weight forward and he felt Kyle’s tooth release from the jaw. “Got it! Flip him over.”
Kyle turned his head toward the ground, coughed, and spit a cupful of bright red blood onto the dirt. He coughed once more and took in a deep breath. Both men swiftly unrolled Kyle from the tarp. Kyle curled his body on the ground, grimaced, and touched his jaw with his swollen hand.
Alexis handed him a small piece of cloth wadded into a ball. “Bite down on this. It will help the bleeding,” said Alexis, as she sprinkled some water on her husband’s forehead.
Robert picked the molar up from the ground and washed it off. He carefully inspected the tooth. “It’s intact. We got the whole thing.” He handed the tooth and the pliers to Alexis and humorously said, “Keep them for your scrap book.”
Ben had walked back over to his dog. The big German shepherd had obediently stayed in the same spot. Ben motioned for Robert to come to him, and Robert acknowledged with a wave.
As Robert closed his approach, the dog alerted and began to growl at Robert again.
“Heel!” commanded Ben.
“Your dog doesn’t like me,” said Robert, stating the obvious.
“She doesn’t see many strangers out here. Let her get your scent. She’ll warm up to you.”
Robert slowly extended his hand. The dog began to smell the air, then licked Robert’s fingers, hand, and arm.
“Looks like you’ve got her approval now,” said Ben, petting his dog.
“What’s her name?”
“Lucky.”
“How’d she get that name?”
Ben pointed to the wooded area by the river. “When she was a pup, Lucky and her brother were down there chasing rabbits. Snakes bit them both. Her brother didn’t make it. So, she’s Lucky.”