By: Brandon James Scott Scholl
John walked out of the saloon as two men stood in the street, keeping him from his walk home.
“Well well well. What do we have here,” said the one on the left.
Both were men that were known as being men out for blood. They were collectors for Marcus Longhorn. He was one of the major owners of saloons, women, and had numerous sheriffs sitting in his back pocket.
John had stopped a smuggling of drugs and kidnapped women a week ago and Marcus put a bounty on his head. Ever since, John had people watching him with amazement because of how long he had lasted and lived. Other men who had bounty on their heads from Marcus were dead by sunset. The fact that John was still alive after this long, made him seem god-like in their eyes.
The two goons that were staring him down now were named David and Kenneth. Both were close friends with Marcus and were good at collecting debts as well as money for fulfilling bounties.
“I have no reason or desire to cause an issue with either one of you,” John yelled. “Tell Marcus that I’d like him to leave me alone.” The two men looked at each other and laughed.
“You really think that he cares what you like or want? What matters is what he wants. And that would be to see you dead.” At this point, John had his hands hovering over his pistols attached to his sides. He didn’t want to hurt either one of them but he wasn’t going to let them kill him and there was no other way to end this.
Just then, they both pulled their pistols and shot John square in the chest. He fell backwards and to the ground, motionless.
David and Kenneth slid their weapons back into the holsters and walked over to John’s body that was now lying on its back in the middle of the street. As they got closer they could see other people surprised and wide-eyed as to what they had just witnessed. They had thought that John was an unstoppable and immortal soul, but he had just been gunned down.
David and Kenneth stood on each side of John’s body and looked at his face. They both started to whoop and holler as they talked about how much money they were going to make for this killing and what other rewards were in store for them.
Just then, two shots were fired off and both David and Kenneth both gasped, clutching their chests. They were dead before they hit the ground. Blood started to pool around them and stain the dirt in the street.
Then, John stood up. Both his guns were smoking and still fixed on the two bandits. Everything was quiet and everybody watching was silent and didn’t know what to think. They didn’t understand what had just happened.
John slid his guns back into their holsters. He looked around at the spectators of what just happened. He untucked his shirt and pulled out a door from a small furnace. He dropped it to the ground at his feet.
As he walked off down the street, everyone started to clap, shout, and cheer for him. They were glad to see that once again their savior had lived through another attack. John’s heart was heavy though as he walked away. Not only had he been forced to kill again but none of these people knew how Marcus was going to react. He had done everything within his power to save them from the wrath of Marcus. However, he was only one man. He couldn’t hold it all and save them forever. One day, something was going to happen and there wouldn’t be anything to stop it. That day was the one John dreaded the most. It wasn’t just because of the bloodshed that would happen, but that that day was close.
