Paco Valdez
CV
"One night in town ain't gonna kill us," You tell Gus, blowing off his paranoia.
"It ain't us I'm worried about," He replies, pointing a dirty finger at you. "They ain't after us, you recall. They're after you."
You take a swallow of your ale down and nod. "Yeah," you say, "I am aware of that. But we got nothin' to worry about for the night."
"You hope," Gus grumbles with finality, taking the rest of his ale tankard down and rising to his feet. "Good evening." He wipes the excess ale from his beard and walks away, leaving you and Annie at the table with our drinks.
"He's a paranoid old cuss, ain' he?" Annie says to you with a wolfish grin.
You smile right back, glowing in this rare moment of mirth with your companion. "He sure is," you say.
The two of you drink three or four more tankards of ale before calling it a night. You go to the nearest inn and get a room, Annie does likewise. You bid her good night and stumble into your room to crash onto the bed.
_________________________________________________________________________
You wake to a banging at your door and a splitting ache in your head. BAM BAM BAM, comes the fierce knocking at your door.
"Wake the fuck up, you stupid son of a bitch!" You hear Gus calling you from the other side of the door. BAM BAM BAM! "Come on! Get up!"
You roll out of bed and stumble to the door, cradling your quezey stomach with one arm and rubbing your temples with the other hand. BAM BAM BAM, bangs Gus at the door. You let out a belch and swallow down the little bit of vomit that comes up.
You unlock and open the door to see Gus standing there. He bulls his way into your room and closes the door behind him. His face is red with fury.
"Morning, Gus," You say in greeting.
"Don't you give me that shit!" He says to you, spittle flying from his mouth as his acrid breath assaults your nostrils. "There are Vigilantes all over this town. I ran into a couple of them in the stables. They was askin' about you."
"Shit," You say, sobriety creeping in.
"You're damn right, shit." Gus says in a less hostile tone. "How in the hell are we gonna get out of here?"
A knock sounds at the door and your heart stops, Gus reaches for his gun. The door swings open and Annie walks in. Gus relaxes visibly.
"Thank God it's just you, woman." Gus says.
"I take it you already know then?" Annie says, looking you over. "Put some clothes on would you, lover boy? You won't seduce me so easily."
You hadn't realized you were unclothed until then and modesty suddenly claims you. You blush a little and go about getting dressed.
"I told you we shouldn'a stayed in town. I tried to tell you two, but you couldn't bear to be without a cushy bed beneath your backs. Christ almighty, if you'da just listened to me in the first place we wouldn't be in this mess." Gus lectures the two of you.
"Come on, we got to get the hell out of here without drawing no attention to ourselves." Annie says as you buckle your gun belt.
"How do expect to pull that off?" Gus asks incredulously.
"I'll start by getting the horses and having them waiting for you at the door. You two will have to figure out the rest." She turns away and starts for the door. Before she opens the door she looks back to the two of you, "Hurry up, I doubt a woman holding three saddled horses will go without drawing attention." She walks out the door, closing it behind her.
Gus looks at you. "You about ready?" You nod in response. "You make sure those guns'a yours are loaded. I get the feeling we're gonna need them."
"They're loaded," You assure him.
The two of you wait in silence for a few more minutes before you exit the room and make your way to the lobby downstairs. In the lobby are three rough looking individuals who are talking to the innkeeper. The innkeeper points to you; "That's him right there."
"Ah hell," Gus says beside you while two of the men draw their guns. You draw yours out as well, quick as lighting and fire off two well placed bullets that drop the two men. Gus takes the third down and the two of you walk past the shaking innkeeper on your way out.
You open the door to see Annie sitting atop her mount and holding the reins of the other two. "Hurry up," She says to you, a rifle sitting across her lap. "That little shoot out of yours is bound to draw attention. There's Vigilantes everywhere."
No sooner do you get onto Betty's back do you see the men headed your way. You do a quick head count and come up with a number in the mid twenties. They've sent a small army after you.
Your hopes of surviving this affair have dropped. "Holy horse shit," Gus says from behind you.
"What the hell are we staring at, let's get the fuck out of here before they get on their horses," Annie orders sensibly.
You watch warily as many of the men draw their weapons. You fire each if your pistols into the crowd and spur Betty on. You hear Annie's rifle crack out a shot, and Gus' shotgun. The three of you are galloping out of town at a pace that almost matches the beating of your heart.
Gunshots sound behind you by the dozen. You hear Gus grunt in pain behind you and feel a bullet tear off the lobe of one of your ears. Dust kicks up around you as bullets land in the dry earth of the towns' street.
It is not long before you are out of town, the gunmen far behind. You want to slow down and check on Gus, but know that you cannot. You will have to be satisfied with the sound of their horses' hooves hitting the earth behind you.
Annie rides up beside you, somehow managing to accelerate her breakneck pace to reach you. "Gus is hit!" She tells you over the sound of hoof falls.
"We can't stop!" You return.
"I know," She responds, "We need to find somewhere to hole up! Dewars pass is only a few miles away! That rock pass is filled with caverns! Maybe we can lay low in there!"
"Okay," You reply. Annie falls back and you assume she is checking on Gus. Damn you're addled brain.
A few hours go by and you reach the pass at last, slowing your steeds down to a trot as you navigate the winding paths that lead to the cavern filled rock formation. You dismount as you reach the mouth of one cave, Annie does the same. Gus starts to slide off the side of his horse, but you grab him in time and help him to his unsteady feet.
His shirt is a dark red at the shoulder where the bullet bit in. Gus' face is pale, and his eyes occasionally seem to lose focus. You lead him into the cavern, practically carrying him, and you sit him down inside, leaning his back against the cool rock.
"Don't you go dyin' on me, Gus." You say to him. He looks at you as though he wants to say something but cannot find the words. He smiles a little and nods his head instead.
Annie joins you soon after. "I tied the horses up in between a few stones where they won't be noticed from the road. Here is some water, make sure he gets plenty of it." She hands you a full canteen and walks over to Gus, grabbing hold of his hand. She whispers something to him and he smiles in return. She kisses him gently
on the forehead and speaks to you once more.
"I'm gonna keep watch from up top this rock. Hopefully they'll think we went through the pass. But if they have a decent tracker among them, they'll find us soon enough. When they do, we're gonna take as many of them down as we can." Without another word she turns away and walks out of the cave.
You dribble water into Gus' mouth now and again, and talk to him. You apologize for getting him into this mess in the first place and make false promises that he will get better. It is clear that he can only get worse. His eyes roll back sometimes and you have to keep his attention so that he doesn't slip into eternal darkness. His face breaks out in cold sweats and he says not a word. At one point he chokes a little on the water and coughs up blood.
It is as you wipe at the trickle of blood on his face that Annie bursts into the cave. "Get ready," She says. "They're coming."
You quickly load shells into your pistols and stand. "You stay alive, Gus." You tell him. He nods in reply.
"You take care, old man," Annie tells him before walking out of the cave.
You spare one last moment with your dying companion. "If I don't see you again," You say to him, "I want you to know that you are a hell of a guy. You have my thanks for coming to my rescue as I screwed everything up for us."
He lifts a hand and waves you off. He's never been good with compliments. You smile as you make your way to the entrance of the dark cavern.
"One night in town ain't gonna kill us," You tell Gus, blowing off his paranoia.
"It ain't us I'm worried about," He replies, pointing a dirty finger at you. "They ain't after us, you recall. They're after you."
You take a swallow of your ale down and nod. "Yeah," you say, "I am aware of that. But we got nothin' to worry about for the night."
"You hope," Gus grumbles with finality, taking the rest of his ale tankard down and rising to his feet. "Good evening." He wipes the excess ale from his beard and walks away, leaving you and Annie at the table with our drinks.
"He's a paranoid old cuss, ain' he?" Annie says to you with a wolfish grin.
You smile right back, glowing in this rare moment of mirth with your companion. "He sure is," you say.
The two of you drink three or four more tankards of ale before calling it a night. You go to the nearest inn and get a room, Annie does likewise. You bid her good night and stumble into your room to crash onto the bed.
_________________________________________________________________________
You wake to a banging at your door and a splitting ache in your head. BAM BAM BAM, comes the fierce knocking at your door.
"Wake the fuck up, you stupid son of a bitch!" You hear Gus calling you from the other side of the door. BAM BAM BAM! "Come on! Get up!"
You roll out of bed and stumble to the door, cradling your quezey stomach with one arm and rubbing your temples with the other hand. BAM BAM BAM, bangs Gus at the door. You let out a belch and swallow down the little bit of vomit that comes up.
You unlock and open the door to see Gus standing there. He bulls his way into your room and closes the door behind him. His face is red with fury.
"Morning, Gus," You say in greeting.
"Don't you give me that shit!" He says to you, spittle flying from his mouth as his acrid breath assaults your nostrils. "There are Vigilantes all over this town. I ran into a couple of them in the stables. They was askin' about you."
"Shit," You say, sobriety creeping in.
"You're damn right, shit." Gus says in a less hostile tone. "How in the hell are we gonna get out of here?"
A knock sounds at the door and your heart stops, Gus reaches for his gun. The door swings open and Annie walks in. Gus relaxes visibly.
"Thank God it's just you, woman." Gus says.
"I take it you already know then?" Annie says, looking you over. "Put some clothes on would you, lover boy? You won't seduce me so easily."
You hadn't realized you were unclothed until then and modesty suddenly claims you. You blush a little and go about getting dressed.
"I told you we shouldn'a stayed in town. I tried to tell you two, but you couldn't bear to be without a cushy bed beneath your backs. Christ almighty, if you'da just listened to me in the first place we wouldn't be in this mess." Gus lectures the two of you.
"Come on, we got to get the hell out of here without drawing no attention to ourselves." Annie says as you buckle your gun belt.
"How do expect to pull that off?" Gus asks incredulously.
"I'll start by getting the horses and having them waiting for you at the door. You two will have to figure out the rest." She turns away and starts for the door. Before she opens the door she looks back to the two of you, "Hurry up, I doubt a woman holding three saddled horses will go without drawing attention." She walks out the door, closing it behind her.
Gus looks at you. "You about ready?" You nod in response. "You make sure those guns'a yours are loaded. I get the feeling we're gonna need them."
"They're loaded," You assure him.
The two of you wait in silence for a few more minutes before you exit the room and make your way to the lobby downstairs. In the lobby are three rough looking individuals who are talking to the innkeeper. The innkeeper points to you; "That's him right there."
"Ah hell," Gus says beside you while two of the men draw their guns. You draw yours out as well, quick as lighting and fire off two well placed bullets that drop the two men. Gus takes the third down and the two of you walk past the shaking innkeeper on your way out.
You open the door to see Annie sitting atop her mount and holding the reins of the other two. "Hurry up," She says to you, a rifle sitting across her lap. "That little shoot out of yours is bound to draw attention. There's Vigilantes everywhere."
No sooner do you get onto Betty's back do you see the men headed your way. You do a quick head count and come up with a number in the mid twenties. They've sent a small army after you.
Your hopes of surviving this affair have dropped. "Holy horse shit," Gus says from behind you.
"What the hell are we staring at, let's get the fuck out of here before they get on their horses," Annie orders sensibly.
You watch warily as many of the men draw their weapons. You fire each if your pistols into the crowd and spur Betty on. You hear Annie's rifle crack out a shot, and Gus' shotgun. The three of you are galloping out of town at a pace that almost matches the beating of your heart.
Gunshots sound behind you by the dozen. You hear Gus grunt in pain behind you and feel a bullet tear off the lobe of one of your ears. Dust kicks up around you as bullets land in the dry earth of the towns' street.
It is not long before you are out of town, the gunmen far behind. You want to slow down and check on Gus, but know that you cannot. You will have to be satisfied with the sound of their horses' hooves hitting the earth behind you.
Annie rides up beside you, somehow managing to accelerate her breakneck pace to reach you. "Gus is hit!" She tells you over the sound of hoof falls.
"We can't stop!" You return.
"I know," She responds, "We need to find somewhere to hole up! Dewars pass is only a few miles away! That rock pass is filled with caverns! Maybe we can lay low in there!"
"Okay," You reply. Annie falls back and you assume she is checking on Gus. Damn you're addled brain.
A few hours go by and you reach the pass at last, slowing your steeds down to a trot as you navigate the winding paths that lead to the cavern filled rock formation. You dismount as you reach the mouth of one cave, Annie does the same. Gus starts to slide off the side of his horse, but you grab him in time and help him to his unsteady feet.
His shirt is a dark red at the shoulder where the bullet bit in. Gus' face is pale, and his eyes occasionally seem to lose focus. You lead him into the cavern, practically carrying him, and you sit him down inside, leaning his back against the cool rock.
"Don't you go dyin' on me, Gus." You say to him. He looks at you as though he wants to say something but cannot find the words. He smiles a little and nods his head instead.
Annie joins you soon after. "I tied the horses up in between a few stones where they won't be noticed from the road. Here is some water, make sure he gets plenty of it." She hands you a full canteen and walks over to Gus, grabbing hold of his hand. She whispers something to him and he smiles in return. She kisses him gently
on the forehead and speaks to you once more.
"I'm gonna keep watch from up top this rock. Hopefully they'll think we went through the pass. But if they have a decent tracker among them, they'll find us soon enough. When they do, we're gonna take as many of them down as we can." Without another word she turns away and walks out of the cave.
You dribble water into Gus' mouth now and again, and talk to him. You apologize for getting him into this mess in the first place and make false promises that he will get better. It is clear that he can only get worse. His eyes roll back sometimes and you have to keep his attention so that he doesn't slip into eternal darkness. His face breaks out in cold sweats and he says not a word. At one point he chokes a little on the water and coughs up blood.
It is as you wipe at the trickle of blood on his face that Annie bursts into the cave. "Get ready," She says. "They're coming."
You quickly load shells into your pistols and stand. "You stay alive, Gus." You tell him. He nods in reply.
"You take care, old man," Annie tells him before walking out of the cave.
You spare one last moment with your dying companion. "If I don't see you again," You say to him, "I want you to know that you are a hell of a guy. You have my thanks for coming to my rescue as I screwed everything up for us."
He lifts a hand and waves you off. He's never been good with compliments. You smile as you make your way to the entrance of the dark cavern.