Chapter (6) 5 In the Chamber
Some stones of power would be nice.
But Anyway Enjoy.
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"I think... this is where I'll bury you," I said watching as they grimaced at my words.
I then squatted to the ground looking for a smooth stone while I also gripped the divets on the bottom of two casings before swapping them, "Hey, Mr. Cobb what do you say to a little gamble?" I asked keeping their attention on my words rather than my actions.
"I didn't take you for one willing to gamble with your life," he responded in a 'no-nonsense' manner.
I cracked a grin as I slowly stood back up with a smooth stone in one hand and my revolver in the other, "That wasn't an answer Joe," I reminded him, and all the while I reminded myself why I was going to such lengths when I could have ended this in about 5 seconds, 'Remember this needs to be flashy, we need a story that will make its way throughout the Mojave,'
I stood motionless and silent staring at the man across the street maybe 30 or 40 feet away. I seemed to unnerve him every time I keep my eyes on him because I could see him shiver as he spat onto the ground to his left, "Fine what do you have in mind?" he finally asked and I could see him gulp.
I smiled, "Now, that's what I like to hear," I said before raising my right hand and holding my gun in the air like I was performing a magic show and was showing off the hat I planned to pull a bunny out of. I showed off the firearm as I spoke, "I currently have 5 bullets in my revolver, with one spent. I propose a duel, BUT to make it fair I will cycle my cylinder to that spent casing. Meaning I will have to draw, aim, and pull the trigger twice before you do it once. Does that sound fun?" I smiled as I turned in a circle showing it to even the hidden audience and once completed my eye landed once again on Joe Cobb.
For once he smiled back at me, "Lets do it then," he said with a certain eagerness. I wanted to start cackling because I knew he probably had some kind of cheap trick or cheat he was going to pull, because of the fact that he knew he stood no chance against me. Sadly, it won't end up mattering, not that he knew that of course.
I tossed my rock across the street where it landed about 50 feet away but directly in front of me, "Well Mr. Gang Leader why don't you climb back on the stage," I told him before adding, "Unless you aren't interested in seeing the end of this play. Remember? Tragedy or Triumph?" I spoke in a relaxed tone.
He gave one final nod to one of the members of his bandit brigade and began to walk to the spot I had made for him. Whether it was a signal for a plan or a look of resignation I didn't really give a shit, and instead yawned into the palm of my left hand. Finally we both stood on opposite sides of the road Joe Cobb's gun in his holster while I just held my gun low by my side. I would have much rather shoved it into a holster, but I didn't have one.....yet.
I looked around taking one deep breath before my smile vanished and I clenched my teeth, "You need a count?" I asked in a voice devoid of any emotion.
"No sir-"
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
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{Through the eyes of Powderganger Joe Cobb}
" I think... this is where I'll bury you," the eyes of the demon in front of me seemed to almost glow crimson as he stabbed his finger in my direction.
That thing wasn't human, it couldn't have been. In my nearly 40 years of existence, I had never seen such... a lack of humanity. It was like watching a machine covered in human skin move around. I bunked and ate with cannibals, serial child rapists, murderers, and the most fucked in the head individuals anyone could meet. Hell, I have a kill count approaching the double digits and I only did armed robberies. But he or maybe it was something that stood out from the rest, he was something that wasn't cut from the same cloth as the rest of us.
I didn't know exactly what it was that made my skin crawl every time I stared at him, and what was even worse was that no one else seemed to feel that unease when they looked at him. Ever since I'd saw him in the saloon last night I knew there was something off.
"Hey, Mr. Cobb what do you say to a.... little gamble?" the Courier as he called himself asked. A fake smile plastered on his face.
I swallowed the spit in my dry mouth clenching my gun tighter that was in my holster, "I didn't take you for one willing to gamble with your life," I spoke seriously. I didn't understand his game, I could tell that this wasn't out of joy nor for entertainment. I think other people would believe that, but that's not what I could see in his eyes, and they made one thing certain, he did not do this for pleasure though every other piece of his disposition said otherwise.
He laughed, "That wasn't an answer Joe," he said as his eyes narrowed at me.
I spat on the ground, "Fine, what do you have in mind?" I asked. I had hoped he wouldn't have gotten involved after I 'met' him last night. My luck so far had been poor especially with him stepping in to protect Ringo, which I didn't understand, but maybe just maybe my luck would turn around and I can put this thing in the same grave it had marked for me.
"That's what I like to hear," he nodded while nodding he then held up his revolver high for everyone to see, "I currently have 5 bullets in my revolver, with one spent. I propose a duel, BUT to make it fair I will cycle my cylinder to that spent casing. Meaning I will have to draw, aim, and pull the trigger twice, before you do it once. Does that sound fun?" he asked me a small smile still present.
That smile sickened me, but I had to stay cool. The fact of the matter was I stood no chance against him in a duel, and I doubted that I would be faster than him even with my handicap. I turned bringing my hand up to my chin as if I was thinking, but covertly gave one of my men a certain look, and he nodded. The message was self-explanatory and hopefully, it would work because I had to make this even more unfair if I wanted to survive and bring Ringo back to Eddie.
Ringo had ended up putting a bullet through Eddie's nephew's throat when he was trying to escape. It just so happened the one in charge of that little shake down was this unlucky son of a bitch. Suffice to say it was either get Ringo or have my legs broken and then be fed to the most gnarly beast they could find, 'And to avoid that all I gotta do is send this fucker to hell,' I reminded myself nearly chanting, 'kill him' to stand off against him.
'This is ridiculous you are sitting here acting like a pussy in front of some kid that's fresh off his mom's tit,' I told myself, 'He may be a big man with that gun, but he lacks street smarts, which you got in spades. This punk ass bitch doesn't know who he's crossed and we'll let him know real quick how we handle business,' finally I smiled.
"Lets do it then," I said, 'I am going to enjoy this,' I told myself before walking over to the convenient spot he laid out for me to kill him from.
"Do you need a count," he asked in a voice no longer holding the same energetic enthusiasm he had been speaking with so far.
I should have called it all off but instead: "No sir-"
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
I b-blinked? I didn't understand-I couldn't understand. It was like watching a tape that had a skip in the middle of it. One minute I am having the duel and the next...
Glancing to my left I see my crew all laid out on top of each other in a pile. Most were missing most of their skull looking like someone took a hole puncher and jabbed out a circular hole through their head. Only one of them was still breathing, but that wouldn't be for long. He was wheezing like a dog's chew toy, he probably got it in the lung.
'Wait there was 5 shots right?' I asked myself before I began to hear the slow drip of liquid to my side.
drip
drip
drip
My eyes went wide as I raised my hand to my head and touched it. My hand sunk into a wet gooey substance that seemed to be leaking out from a circular hole. My middle finger seemed to almost slide into the hole fully before I pulled it out once it could no longer go any deeper. Bringing my hand down I found it to be crimson with clear fluid covering the red liquid.
"Well I'll be damned," I said before I fell backward into the bottomless pit of fire.
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BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
The moment Cobb had finished the final syllable in his answer I had yanked my gun upward and gone to work. Thankfully his goons stood to the side in a crowd making them easy targets seeing as I only had to correct my aim a little to the left on each shot. I let my revolver's hammer fly back and forth as I snapped the trigger back and forth depriving anything in front of it life.
The first shot cratered into the skull off the first one, he was wearing a helmet or rather a welding mask made into a helmet, so I slid the shot behind the mask putting it an inch above his ear. The next I swiftly corrected the recoil before cranking a 44 through his left eye socket blowing his eyeball onto the ground and turning half of his head into the equivalent of hamburger meat. I overcorrected on the third and instead of landing a shot in the heart I instead blasted his left lung punching a hole through his chest collapsing him to the ground. The final one I had been able to get my aim back on track allowing me to put the last one down with a quick shot through the temple.
I immediately swiveled to Joe Cobb the final target remaining before smirking and practically blind firing the last bullet in my revolver. Taking one glance at my handiwork I began to breathe again after holding my breath to steady my aim. Joe Cobb's head looked like someone slid a quarter through it and removed everything that it came in contact with as it passed through. All in all I was a fucking wizard, and my wand just so happened to be made by the wand maker Smith & Wesson.
I smiled spinning my gun before bringing the barrel up and blowing off the still steaming end. After ward I brought it out to the side before ejecting the cylinder and patting the top of it dropping the hot casings to the dusty sand before beginning to walk over to my newest lobotomy patient. As I walked I reached into one of my jacket pockets pulling out loose .44 rounds that I was keeping to reload with, I slowly placed a new round in each chamber cycling it before completing the reload just as I stood over the newly deceased Mr. Joe Cobb.
"Tragedy it is then Mr. Cobb," I said staring into the now open fish eyes of the Powderganger Joe Cobb as he laid dead staring up at the dawn breaking sky. I snorted before I crouched down to check his pockets and pulled out what valuables I could find before stuffing them into my own pants. I also yanked the leather holster he had tied around his waist before blood made its way to it. I patted it off knocking what dust it had on it to the ground before tying it around my own waist and stuffing my gun into it.
I then began to repeat the process with the other corpses humming a tune so as to lighten the monotony. It seemed like second nature to me so I wouldn't be too surprised to learn that I did this before being shot. After a good fifteen minutes I finished just in time to see Mr. Ringo making his way to me avoiding the bodies, only looking at them with disgust and pity.
Before I greeted him I pulled a revolver from one of the bodies that was loaded, '.38 special' it had inscribed on its side. A smaller round than my .44 but more than enough to turn out the lights up top, "Well Mr. Ringo, it seems that we have been fortuitous in our perdicament!" I said with enthusiasm as I stood up to face him.
"Is...is it over?" he asked un-assuredly
"The fuck does it look like?" I asked him my smile not leaving my face, "Joe Cobb and his rowdy ruffians are now pushing up daisies," I said nodding to him that it was now safe.
"Ughhh," the groans of the man currently choking on blood filling his throat and drowning him.
BANG
BANG
I shot him in the face with the new revolver I had picked up ending his life. I then turned and smashed the back of pegleg's head killing him as well. Blood from the round splashed onto Ringo's face and specs of it landed on our clothes, "Jesus," he remarked before wiping the blood off.
"Now," I said gaining an evil smirk, "I believe that my services are complete and I'm in need of payment," I told Ringo shaking my hand for him to cough up the dough.
He sighed, "I...I-I actually don't have that money on me," he said wincing expecting me to either hit or shoot him.
I didn't react at first, "You lied to me," I confirmed to which he nodded in response.
He seemed to want to say something, but I just held up my hand signaling for him not to talk. I looked away for a moment taking a deep breath and thinking, Huff I eventually nodded. I nodded to myself and then my left hand shot out grabbing Ringo's neck like I was wringing a chicken, "Bold move Mr. Ringo though it was a dumbass decision. I can't say I like you, nor can I say that I even respect you, but I can admit that I understand you," my grip loosened slowly as Ringo fought, the only reason I was able to subdue him even slightly was because I surprised him. My strength was piss poor, something I needed to work on soon.
I sighed before drawing my gun and pointing it at his face, "Wait! Wait! Wait! I can get you the money and extra!" he sputtered out causing me to stop.
"Oh yeah Ringo, I would love to believe you but fool me once shame on me, and you know what they say about fool me twice?" I said with a melancholic tone.
"I promise I promise! I live in the Crimson Caravan quarters at the strip! Just give me a month or two and I'll have it!" he begged to me.
"Hmmm" I thought aloud, "I tell you what Ringo, I'm feeling merciful. Today I'll let you live and sometime in the future I am going to show up at the Crimson Caravan's HQ. I won't give you any warning and you will have no idea when I arrive. That same day you better have my money, otherwise I am going to cut your arms off and make you squirm through the desert like a worm until I get bored. THEN I am going to give you to the Powdergangers, and let them do what they want," I said making him go pale
"Until then I am going to be thinking of a number, and I don't know which one it'll be, so I suggest you save up every little cap you can accumulate until then. Am I crystal clear?" I wasn't smiling anymore as my eyes dug through Ringo's.
"Y-yes sir!" he responded without hesitation.
"Good," I said letting him go before turning to walk away before I remembered something, "Oh and Ringo. Take off your clothes," I said causing him great confusion.
"I forgot to take a downpayment for the first deal, and seeing as you have nothing. I'll just have to take the clothes off your back," I said to which he gave me a look, and I simply glared at him causing him to quickly unbuckle and strip.
After a minute Ringo stood bare foot in the middle of the desert with only underwear on, "Chet get your ass over here!" I yelled out suddenly before hearing a small crash and then seeing Chet quickly make his way to me.
"Y-You called?" he asked timidly.
"I did, I am selling everything from this fight," I told him causing him to let out a breath in relief, "I figured up last night that those two and Cobb's things would amount to about 130 caps," I said pointing to two bodies and Cobb's, "Adding that along with the other three and now Mr. Ringo's clothes... I can't be bothered to do the math, so we'll call it square with 250, sound good?" I asked in a bored tone as I watched Ringo try to slink away.
"T-that's fine sir, I'll ready the caps," Chet replied before running off to his general store.
"Mr. Ringo where do you think you're going?" I called out to the indecently exposed man causing him to turn, "I haven't gotten the down payment for this deal, so come here," I said with a no-nonsense tone making him walk back up to me, and when he finally made his way back he did not dare look me in the eyes.
"Seeing as you have nothing of value anymore, I have no choice but to get some work out of you," I said before grabbing his shoulder and pointing to the corpses. "Because of your cowardice these... good men died for no reason, and because of that the least you can do is give them a proper resting place," I told Ringo as he looked in discomfort.
"Thankfully, yours truly picked out a great plot of land for their graves," I said pointing to the spot I had told Cobb I would bury him at before our duel, "You are going to bury all 6 of them in a neat little row over there," I gave him a task that I expected to be done with 110% effort.
He didn't bother trying to argue, "D-Do you have a shovel?" he squeaked out.
I looked at him like he was crazy, "Why are you asking me for a shovel?" I gave him a look of confusion, "With how well you are digging a hole for yourself I figure that you didn't need one," I said shutting him up before patting him on the back, "Hop to it,"
I turned around one more time hearing Chet approaching with a draw string back with Caps rattling around inside, "Pleasure doing business," I said as I threw it into the air before catching it and stuffing it into a pocket on the inside of my jacket.
I gave Ringo one last glance seeing him begin digging a hole with his hands at exactly the mark I told him. By this time the citizens of the town were coming out of their hiding places since the fighting was over. With just one glance I could tell they were all filled with fear as they still kept their distance as the set their eyes on me watching. I snorted at their actions, it was like sheep watching a wolf that broke into their pen as they wondered who he would eat first.
Fortunately this wolf had already ate his full, and had places to be and others to kill. I reached up giving them a nod with my hat, "Well....Mornin' then," I said placing my hat back on my head and making my way out of town.
I was heading towards the north east already figuring that I would head through Quarry Junction. But before I left town there was still one more reward I had yet to have been given.
"Nice job partner!"