I can only tell you what I got from the story, Queenie. I thought that what Johnny was seeing as empty cartridge casings was part of his delusion until almost the end. And then I assumed that he was seeing all the casings because a single bullet had hit him and bounced off. I just figured he was kicking aside bits of dirt or dust or something completely imaginary. I simply didn't think about him being shot in a public place.
You captured the delusional state so well I could barely tell what was real and what wasn't. I had to read it a second time to realize that the "blue thing" Johnny saw was Superman.
If we all missed that point, it's only because you're such a powerful writer.
