After the bombs stopped falling--
the real killing began.

GUNFIGHT!

  Maddie had never beheld anyone as adept at dispensing death as the giant stranger called Blade.
The west door was not yet fully open when he grabbed his pistol-grip shotgun and pivoted, his right hand on the grip, his finger on the trigger, and his left hand on the pump.  He worked the slide action so fast his arm blurred, the three booming shots thundering as one.
  Rafe took the first shot in the face, a full load of buckshot that exploded his head in a gory shower of flesh, blood and brains.  He literally died before he knew what hit him.
  The second blast caught Bo in the throat and nearly decapitated him, his ruptured neck spattering his companions and the floor, his face cemented in a mask of shock as he crumpled.
  Only Clem managed to snap off a shot from his revolver, and in his haste he missed.  Blade did not.  The buckshot tore into Clem's chest, the impact lifting off his feet and hurling him out the doorway to sprawl on his back on the dirt outside.   He wheezed and gurgled and tried to rise onto his elbows, blood spurting from his ravaged torso and mouth, then collapsed and died.
  "Son of a bitch!"  someone exclaimed.

Life was hell in nuked-out America-
and the only salvation was death.

SCAVENGERS

  Blade swung into action the moment he saw Jared's hand sweep toward the holster.  He lunged to his left, his huge arm encircling Jenny and Gage, bearing them to the ground, shielding them from the anticipated shot.  Expecting to feel a searing pain as the slug tore through him, he twisted as he went down, training the Commando on the scavengers.  He could see Jared sighting the Smith and Wesson, apparently intent on making an accurate shot, but the revolver wasn't aiming at Blade, Jenny or Gabe.
  The scavenger was pointing the gun at something behind them.
  A snarling form hurdled over the Warrior and his family, springing at the scavengers.  The smith and Wesson boomed, but the shot missed.  Before Jared could fire again, a feral feline landed on all fours, uttered a piercing, raspy scream of rage, and launched itself at one of the scavengers.....