Paco Valdez
CU
On the other side of your eyelids there s sunlight. You wonder briefly how long the sunlight has been there before your brain decided to recognize it. You roll onto your side and let out a jaw stretching yawn. Something is cooking, your nostrils inform you.
"'Bout time ya got up," Annie says to you from somewhere behind. You get to your feet and stretch out your back. Annie is leaning over the fire cooking up something that smells appetizing, but Gus is nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Gus at?" You inquire.
"Tending the horses," She tells you.
Gus joins you soon, and the three of you eat the strange concoction of roots and desert plant-life stew that Annie cooked up for you. Afterwards Gus spreads the small fire out and does his best to put it out by pissing on the embers.
A few hours pass in near silence as the three of you watch the road. It is Annie who points out the approaching caravan first. An ox lead wagon flanked by two armed riders makes it's way north up the trail, a second wagon behind it flanked similarly.
You get into position, Annie taking one side of the pass and Gus taking the other while you scamper down the rock to wait on the side of the trail for the travelers, ducked down behind a large boulder at the base of Dewars Rock.
Minutes pass as you listen to the carts drawing nearer. Annie and Gus are waiting for you to make the move, you know, and you are careful not to move too early.
The moment is soon at hand. You spring out from behind the boulder, guns drawn and take out each of the men riding beside the lead cart before they can react. You've always been a deadly mother fucker.
The hired guns riding with the back cart start moving forward with guns drawn, but they are taken out quickly by rifle shots which echoes from either side of the pass; Gus and Annie each taking one down.
The man driving the lead cart wastes no time pulling a shotgun out from beside him and pointing it at you, but you are the quicker man, firing two shots into his chest. He slumps forward in the seat and the ox begins charging forward as fast as it can, fear clouding its dark eyes. You leap up into the cart and take control of the it while Annie and Gus rid the second cart of it's driver.
The violence is over quickly, the three of you taking care of the six with little effort. You shift through the contents of the wagon and are not disappointed with it's contents. It appears these wagons were returning from successful tradings. Sacks of coin line the walls of the rear wagon's interior.
Gus has a greedy smile which spreads across his face, Annie laughs like a school girl. Everything can work out now. You can retire with this.
"This is just beautiful," Gus says to you in exuberance.
Annie walks up to the two of you with a very serious look in her eyes. "Riders comin'," She tells you in a low tone. She points your eyes to the north, the direction of Kallow, where a good number of riders are headed your way.
"I don't like the looks of that," Gus says.
"Let's find a spot to lay low," Annie suggests, and the three of you duck down behind some of the various boulders at the base of Dewars Pass, near enough to one another to enable communication. You reload your revolvers.
Your nerves grate on you as you wait for the masses to draw near. You soon catch a glimpse of them and your anxiety increases tenfold. They are Vigilantes, and you count eighteen of them.
"What the hell happened here?" One of them asks another.
"Don't know," says another, "But whoever did it can't be far. These bodies are still fresh."
That's when Annie strikes, her rifle cracking like thunder and dropping a man. She ducks back down behind her rock, but they've already noted her position, and it is a matter of time before they are upon her. She peeks her head up again and fires off another round, felling another Vigilante.
You watch as three of the sixteen remaining men start to come around the boulder to face Annie. She is ready for them, when the first shows himself, a bullet blasts through his stomach and he falls to the ground clutching at the grievous wound. Before the other two men can take Annie down, Gus steps out from his nearby spot and blasts a hole into both of them with one shot from his shotgun.
The other Vigilantes move in as one, prepared to take down the two who dare oppose their force. Annie takes one of them down and Gus does likewise, but there are just too many of them.
You step out from behind the mass of Vigilantes, a gun in each hand. You open fire without mercy, taking them completely by surprise and dropping six of them in seven shots. One of the turns on you and fires, but his shot is affected negatively by the shotgun blast Gus puts into his side.
You watch helplessly ass Annie is riddled with bullets and does the dance of the dying before falling to the earth. You are screaming unintelligibly. At least you think you are. You fire your last five bullets into their masses while Gus lets out another blast and takes a shot to the stomach that drops him to the ground.
Only one remains standing, and he turns to fire on you. You take aim with your revolver and pull the trigger before he can fire and are reminded that your chambers are empty when you hear the dreaded click. He points the gun at your face and you hear a loud boom echoes through the pass. You watch as the man's guts explode through his chest and he drops to his knees before falling face down to the ground before you. Gus is behind him, on his knees and holding a smoking shotgun in his hand.
You take a look around at all the bodies and locate Annie. You bury her with care. She was a tough bitch, a valuable companion, and a good friend. You decide that you will miss her.
You take as much gold as your horses will carry and ride off that night, Gus barely holding onto the reigns of his steed as you gallop into the night.
You bury Gus the next day.
You sit at the side of a fire in the desert night, staring into the captivating flames and thinking. Everything you know and care for here is gone. There is nothing for you. You have to move on.
You decide that you can head for one of the big cities and live off of your riches there. You're going to retire. There is too much danger in your profession. It is high time you just relax.
Months later you are living in New York City and can only hope Paco Valdez doesn't stretch his reach up this far. You're not sure you can survive it a second time.
On the other side of your eyelids there s sunlight. You wonder briefly how long the sunlight has been there before your brain decided to recognize it. You roll onto your side and let out a jaw stretching yawn. Something is cooking, your nostrils inform you.
"'Bout time ya got up," Annie says to you from somewhere behind. You get to your feet and stretch out your back. Annie is leaning over the fire cooking up something that smells appetizing, but Gus is nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Gus at?" You inquire.
"Tending the horses," She tells you.
Gus joins you soon, and the three of you eat the strange concoction of roots and desert plant-life stew that Annie cooked up for you. Afterwards Gus spreads the small fire out and does his best to put it out by pissing on the embers.
A few hours pass in near silence as the three of you watch the road. It is Annie who points out the approaching caravan first. An ox lead wagon flanked by two armed riders makes it's way north up the trail, a second wagon behind it flanked similarly.
You get into position, Annie taking one side of the pass and Gus taking the other while you scamper down the rock to wait on the side of the trail for the travelers, ducked down behind a large boulder at the base of Dewars Rock.
Minutes pass as you listen to the carts drawing nearer. Annie and Gus are waiting for you to make the move, you know, and you are careful not to move too early.
The moment is soon at hand. You spring out from behind the boulder, guns drawn and take out each of the men riding beside the lead cart before they can react. You've always been a deadly mother fucker.
The hired guns riding with the back cart start moving forward with guns drawn, but they are taken out quickly by rifle shots which echoes from either side of the pass; Gus and Annie each taking one down.
The man driving the lead cart wastes no time pulling a shotgun out from beside him and pointing it at you, but you are the quicker man, firing two shots into his chest. He slumps forward in the seat and the ox begins charging forward as fast as it can, fear clouding its dark eyes. You leap up into the cart and take control of the it while Annie and Gus rid the second cart of it's driver.
The violence is over quickly, the three of you taking care of the six with little effort. You shift through the contents of the wagon and are not disappointed with it's contents. It appears these wagons were returning from successful tradings. Sacks of coin line the walls of the rear wagon's interior.
Gus has a greedy smile which spreads across his face, Annie laughs like a school girl. Everything can work out now. You can retire with this.
"This is just beautiful," Gus says to you in exuberance.
Annie walks up to the two of you with a very serious look in her eyes. "Riders comin'," She tells you in a low tone. She points your eyes to the north, the direction of Kallow, where a good number of riders are headed your way.
"I don't like the looks of that," Gus says.
"Let's find a spot to lay low," Annie suggests, and the three of you duck down behind some of the various boulders at the base of Dewars Pass, near enough to one another to enable communication. You reload your revolvers.
Your nerves grate on you as you wait for the masses to draw near. You soon catch a glimpse of them and your anxiety increases tenfold. They are Vigilantes, and you count eighteen of them.
"What the hell happened here?" One of them asks another.
"Don't know," says another, "But whoever did it can't be far. These bodies are still fresh."
That's when Annie strikes, her rifle cracking like thunder and dropping a man. She ducks back down behind her rock, but they've already noted her position, and it is a matter of time before they are upon her. She peeks her head up again and fires off another round, felling another Vigilante.
You watch as three of the sixteen remaining men start to come around the boulder to face Annie. She is ready for them, when the first shows himself, a bullet blasts through his stomach and he falls to the ground clutching at the grievous wound. Before the other two men can take Annie down, Gus steps out from his nearby spot and blasts a hole into both of them with one shot from his shotgun.
The other Vigilantes move in as one, prepared to take down the two who dare oppose their force. Annie takes one of them down and Gus does likewise, but there are just too many of them.
You step out from behind the mass of Vigilantes, a gun in each hand. You open fire without mercy, taking them completely by surprise and dropping six of them in seven shots. One of the turns on you and fires, but his shot is affected negatively by the shotgun blast Gus puts into his side.
You watch helplessly ass Annie is riddled with bullets and does the dance of the dying before falling to the earth. You are screaming unintelligibly. At least you think you are. You fire your last five bullets into their masses while Gus lets out another blast and takes a shot to the stomach that drops him to the ground.
Only one remains standing, and he turns to fire on you. You take aim with your revolver and pull the trigger before he can fire and are reminded that your chambers are empty when you hear the dreaded click. He points the gun at your face and you hear a loud boom echoes through the pass. You watch as the man's guts explode through his chest and he drops to his knees before falling face down to the ground before you. Gus is behind him, on his knees and holding a smoking shotgun in his hand.
You take a look around at all the bodies and locate Annie. You bury her with care. She was a tough bitch, a valuable companion, and a good friend. You decide that you will miss her.
You take as much gold as your horses will carry and ride off that night, Gus barely holding onto the reigns of his steed as you gallop into the night.
You bury Gus the next day.
You sit at the side of a fire in the desert night, staring into the captivating flames and thinking. Everything you know and care for here is gone. There is nothing for you. You have to move on.
You decide that you can head for one of the big cities and live off of your riches there. You're going to retire. There is too much danger in your profession. It is high time you just relax.
Months later you are living in New York City and can only hope Paco Valdez doesn't stretch his reach up this far. You're not sure you can survive it a second time.
