Jen sat in the little gunsmith barn, hovering by the gas heater and holding her lever gun. Billy strolled in, making sure she wasn’t touching his tools.

  “You stay up late.” He said.

  “What’s late even mean here, it’s always dark and when I sleep I have nightmares.”

  “About the wolves?” he asked.

  “About something after me, always something different, always personal, never clear why.”

  “What really happened with the wolves?” he asked.

  “Nothing. That’s what’s so weird about it. They didn’t kill me. I know you’re gonna say that’s impossible, nobody ever bla bla I should be dead. I know it too.”

  “Strange. Wolves will eat anything, hungry or not. They eat, sleep, breed, and eat again. Whatever they can whenever they can. Only thing they won’t eat is their own kind. They say their bite is venomous, my grandfather said it was something like what he had growing up called rattlesnakes, but nobody gets bitten by a wolf here and lives, They don’t let go. Most people that get bitten die instantly because they target the head, those who get a limb bitten lose the limb and bleed out. But grandfather told of a man who was bitten and lived. Ate his arm. Nobody knows the true story. The fact that you’re alive is a miracle, if all you got was a mild scratch and some bad dreams, you may be the luckiest person to ever feel a living wolves teeth.” He sighed.

  Hudson came rushing into the workshop, carrying his pistol cocked and ready.

  “Luck done run out, folks. We got company.” He said looking worried.

  “Another bounty hunter?” she asked, getting ready.

  “Worse. Moses Udo. There’s no plan this time, no negotiations or tricks, you just blast that sumbitch with everything you got and hope for the best.”

  Moses adjusted his goggles and readied a strange pistol, black and red wood with a tusk barrel sticking out the end, vented and gleaming a fine peach color. He did something unthinkable with a revolver, he dropped the magazine, a swath of gold colored paint marking the bottom of the transparent plastic magazine , and racked back a left sided bolt handle a few times. He reloaded the pointy brass rounds into it, pocketing his ammo. He grabbed a different magazine, with a purple paint swipe on it, and slightlt longer dark purple rounds, and re-racked it. The cylinder didn’t move.

  He circled the house and barn, listening for voices and carefully taking aim, squeezing the trigger slowly as the hammer slowly reared back.

  “We wait him out.” Billy nodded. “As long as everyone stays inside and away from the windows, we’re safe and warm with food and water, and he has none of that. Eventually he will leave or try to come in the door.” He added as a round struck the side of the wall, sending splinters out and leaving a tiny hole.

  “You were sayin?” Hudson corrected. “I should probably let you know he wears full body armor, ceramic scales.

  “He must have a very powerful rifle to get through that frozen hardwood.” Billy said going for the bottom drawer. He removed a behemoth of a rifle revolver, fat and stubby, a dark brown color with a scope. “But not as powerful as Brownhorn, though. Never play a game of firearms with a gunsmith. Moses messed with the wrong Indian. His armor will not stop this, I doubt he has any more tricks.” He said stepping to the shop door and cocking the hammer to be ready. Suddenly a wall of bullets struck the wood siding, like gatling gun fire, putting 12 holes through in under 2 seconds.

  “The blazin fuck was that?” Hudson asked as a hunkering and retreating Billy slid behind the wooden bench.

  “I stand corrected. And now I sit corrected. He has other tricks.”

  “What does that bastard have, a dozen guns on a tripod with a crank?” Hudson asked. “Jen peaked out of the tiny glass window.

  “Kinda just looks like a machinegun.” She hollered.

  “What does that even mean?” Hudson barked.

  “Hold the trigger down, just keeps firing from a big stack of bullets, real fast.”

  “Oh I hate this asshole more every time I find something else about him.”

  More shots rang out and splinters flew as they ducked for cover.

  “You know a lot of interesting people, Hudson.” Billy hollered.

  “How much fuckin ammo does he have?” Hudson yelled back.

  “A lot, it seems.” Billy said impatiently waiting. Jen opened the side door to make sure nobody in the house was getting shot at, and 3 rounds peppered the door as she closed it. The shots woke the others back in the house.

  Tom got up, encouraging Billy’s young wife to stay hidden in the back room with Carol, as Carol pushed her way back out to help.

  “Stay back. I’m taking care of this.” Tom insisted.

  “How…with a sword? She asked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, but you can’t go out there.”

  “Jen’s out there, she could be shot or pinned down, I can’t get on the roof and shoot back with a damn 35 caliber pistol, let alone this point blank scatter-pistol. I gotta get close to have any chance.” He said as she followed him.

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  “Fine. I’ll shoot, distract and cover fire, and you make a run for the workshop. That barn is 20 feet away and the door is out of view from his wagon.” She explained, lugging the big red pistol to the side door across from the barn side entrance. She opened the door, taking aim and firing 2 shots, before Moses turned and peppered the wall with about 5 or 6 rounds. Carol and Tom ducked back in.

  “You miss?” Tom asked.

  “No! I hit him, I think. I thought I hit him. He didn’t seem to care. Are those holes going the through the walls? These are 4 inch thick beams…what is he shooting?”

  “I thought all the wood here was hard as hell. How is he shootin so damn fast?”

  “Full auto, it’s a thing in the future. I don’t know why it’s a thing currently.”

  “All the damn long-guns are in the damn barn! We gotta get over there.” Tom insisted.

  “He has to run out at some point.” She hollered, peaking out and watching him do a rapid clip reload. “Are you shitting me, he has spare mags!?” Carol huffed, reloading her revolver, and waiting as he emptied it into the barn. The moment he took the magazine out, she opened fire with all 6 and ducked back into the house.

  “You missed all 6?” Tom asked.

  “I swear I’m hitting him! He’s got body armor!”

  “Like a damn knight crusader in shiny plates? There’s no metal here.”

  “Maybe he invented Kevlar! I don’t know!” she said rapidly reloading as tom grabbed the gun and pointed it out, ducking back in and looking frustrated. “Can’t see him can you?”

  “No, I can’t.” he said handing the gun back. Hopefully Hudson can.

  “This can’t go on forever!” Hudson yelled. “We can’t shoot back, there’s no windows and he seem to never run out of bullets, that door is gonna give out and he’s gonna be in here with that speed-gun and we all dead as shit.”

  “I don’t have fortified shooting ports in my workshop, Hud.” Billy sighed. “This is for making guns not having gunfights. I’m not going near that door even when he stops shooting. He seems to need almost no time to reload.” Jen climbed up from cover and headed for the door.

  Little lady, what are you doin?” hollered Hudson.

  “This is gonna sound insane. I’m going out there and telling him I’m the one he’s after.” Jen said.

  “He’ll just kill ya and try to cut off that leg, and then you’ll be dead before he finds out you don’t got that fancy leg.”

  “I thought you said Moses likes to have his way with women before killing them?” she asked.

  “And that’s any better than killin you how? He’ll still kill you after.”

  “He would not pass an opportunity to get with this quality ass, and he’s not doing anything in the open outside in plain view, unless he’s really stupid, and if he is, then just shoot him while he’s trying. Otherwise he’s gonna take me hostage for later.” She informed.

  “Little lady I fail to see where this plan gets better.” Hud huffed.

  “This is the part that sounds insane. I had a dream about that guy the other night. I couldn’t see his face, but it’s the same guy. I just feel it. You just have to trust me. I can handle him.”

  Missy you got the wolf venom crazies or some shit. That is the worst plan I ever did hear. You walk out that door and you are a dead woman, but not until you beg him to be. None of us can chase him, he’s got an armored wagon and better guns than we do. I’ll protect your ass as much as I can, but if you do somethin that stupid, we’re gonna all die getting vengeance on your corpse, not rescuing ya. You’ll be dead before we do anything.” Hudson said with a stern and concerned look in his eyes as she placed down the lever rifle, and opened the door, walking out into the cold, hands up.

  She opened her coat, both to entice and to show she was unarmed.

  “You’re Moses Udo? I’m Carol, the woman with the bounty you’re after. You leave my friends alone, you can take me, otherwise a lot of them die, but so do you. No bounty on them. They’re worth nothing, dead or alive, I’m worth a fortune and more alive.” She said, still coat open, showing off enough skin to be distracting and make a man make mistakes. He stepped up to her with the pistol at her head, as Jen bottled her fear. He held took a piece of parchment from his pocket, unfolded it and tapped the crude sketch just above the description and the word blonde.

  “It’s called hair dye, dumbass. I’m gonna change my hair color if I’m on the run aren’t I? It’s called Chocolate Desire, look at the roots. Hair dye.” She repeated. He leaned forward and grabbed her hair, taking a sniff and grinning a very unsettling way with a deep muffled chuckle and no words. He grabbed her by the collar in a hostage manner and made his way to the wagon.

  “What the hell do you mean she left with him?” Yelled Tom, slamming Hudson to the wall and getting a pistol shoved in his face for it. Tom didn’t seem to care, tightening his grip.

  “She went willingly out that door, Tom, against my orders. By the time he turned and left so was she. You want me to shoot at an armored wagon with Jen inside? She’s got that wolf venom in her brains, or she’s just off her rocker naturally. Either way I tried to stop her and shy of shootin her, I had no options. Ask Billy, she came up with that stupid plan all by herself and walked out unarmed. Girl’s got a death wish or she’s just nuts.” Hud explained.

  “I’m goin after her.” He said grabbing the lever gun.

  “Not alone, and not this close to moonrise. Them wolves will kill ya, you can’t see a coal miner’s shit past your own dick, we ain’t got an armor like he does. I can track him when the moon goes down and if he’s been ridin since then, maybe we can catch him sleepin. You ain’t takin my gun to go die 50 feet from the door over some crazy woman with no sense, or a brain infection that probably kill her anyway without medicine we don’t have. Tom, listen. You’re a wanted man and there is a girl in that house who needs all the protection she can get and she’s tryin to survive, while Jen is trying to get killed. You wanna die for her stupid, cute little ass, gimme back my gun and go on foot. Go on, git! You wanna be smart and keep this group alive, you sit your big ass down.” Hud said.

  “I let her down once already, left her to die. I’m sorry hud but I’m goin. And you can have your gun back.” he said pointing the stock at him to take. Hudson reached and out was immediately struck in the head by the blow from a wooden mallet off the work table. He crumpled and blacked-out as he turned the gun on Billy.

  “What is this?” Billy asked.

  “Hud’s right about one thing. I can’t see for shit and it would get me killed, especially on foot. I need someone’s eyes and your wagon, otherwise I’d go alone. So you got 3 choices Mister Gunsmith. You can go with me, get her back. You can sit there and let me steal your wagon and I’ll take Carol with me, and you can be the chicken shit that let a one legged woman go off to get killed while you sat and got robbed…or you can try and stop me and get yourself shot right here. So you wanna be a hero, you wanna be a coward, or you wanna be a dead man? Your choice, I couldn’t care less, but I’m going regardless. I’m takin that wagon, and Carol ain’t gonna watch me go alone, because she has more grit than Hudson there on the floor. I can’t stop her. In my cavalry we don’t leave a man behind, and a real man don’t let a woman go hostage while he plays with his yank in a warm home. What’s it gonna be?”

  “I already watched one woman leave here to die, watching a second one go to die with you, would not set well with me. Just know, if he kills you, I will take my wagon home and leave her. Well…stop staring at me, and head to the wagon.” Billy sighed.

  “You gonna try and kill me and turn around?”

  “No. But if you fall asleep I will bring you back tied up.”

  “You scared of wolves?” Tom asked.

  “Of course, I’m not stupid. I’m also not a coward and nothing will stop you from going after her. I can stop Carol from going either.” He nodded. “White women.” He sighed with a shrug.