Frontier

Dennis pushed himself away from the bar, stumbling backwards a few steps before regaining his balance. His chest was tightening, how was this even happening. He'd never broken the law, his barn burned... His brother... Burned... Just what sort of sick joke was this. 'You're lying' he said looking off into nowhere. 'You're just a fucking liar and you need to leave me alone...' the end of his speech petered away as he clutched his head. The room was spinning his vision blurring into vague lines of lights and hues of uncomfortable colors that were painful to look at.

Ela glared at Autumn with a primal anger, she wasn't going to watch this bounty hunter kill her friend, or say such things so callously. Reaching under the bar she laid her hands on the stock of her last resort. She hadn't used it in months, not since the wet season for hunting birds. Though she had loaded it with the last of her birdshot despite how much she hated it. An old shotgun, it was her father's and she kept it in case bar fights broke out. Though... She'd never actually pointed it a human before. She waited, watching the two, hoping Dennis might tumble making a distraction long enough for her to whip it out. Though as time went on she could feel the heat resonating from Autumn, she was primed ready to kill... Ela had seen people like that before and they always acted on it. There was no time to wait she thought.

'Fucking, just get outta my bar', she screamed pulling the gun to her chest. With her missing eye her depth perception was nonexistent but she had to trust that the spread of the shotguns choke would do enough to at least intimidate Autumn into backing down. 'No bounty, no man is getting killed her, unless you want it to be you...', what the hell was she saying, what the hell was she doing. It was a terribly sobering moment. Her heart had suddenly fallen into her stomach, she wanted to vomit, scream and cry all at once, the adrenaline was too much. The end of her gun was wobbling slightly, nerves or her arms to weak to hold the heavy frame, god she must of looked a joke.

"Go to the barn if you think I'm lying. Denial from the truth is a sad thing." Autumn says with a half cocked smile, how she loved the feeling of crushing a person underneath her heel and watching them spiral. She aims her revolver at Ela, something she'd not done once in her time in Perfection. "I have done nothing wrong, Bargirl. In fact, I tried to help Dennis out. I got there as soon as the firebomb was thrown. There wasn't much else I could do after that 'cept put some bullets between some eyes because no one is takin my bounties." Her voice is measured, calm, and cold. Trying to convey the truth to blind anger is a very difficult task, but staying calm is something she knows how to do best.

"Dennis, go to the barn. Check it out. I feel bad for ya so I'll give ya that. I guess I should tell ya as well before you head off. Ela, your friend, was standin right there when the bounty was given to me. Unless she didn't hear right, she knew this was going down. She knew I was goin to off to get my bounty. Not a peep came from her, maybe after I left but sure as hell nothin during."She says, trying to pull the strings of the marionettes to do her bidding.

Ela's vision fixated on the barrel of Autumn's gun, it was so wrong to see it from that side, that was the side you we're never supposed to see... and it would of dampened her spirits somewhat if it wasn't for the inflammatory lies Autumn was spouting. 'Dennis', Ela said, 'I didn't really, I... I didn't know that's what they meant I didn't...' she stopped when she saw the anger on his face, the redness of his skin. This wasn't the man she knew... Had she really doomed him? Killed his brother...?

Dennis looked down into his glass, the last froth of the amber liquid staring him back. It reminded him of the coast back east, the coast that he grew up on, the surf lapping against the shore... That time with his younger brother... He wanted to do it, to see it... Confirm it was all real, in a way he had to, but a part of him knew it was too late. Where did he go from here, hand himself over to this woman? Or take up her offer? Run out of town with his tail between his legs. He knew that Autumn knew he had no options, it was as if she was offering the only solution that made sense, a quick death. Though despite losing everything, his only living relative, his home, his fortune, everybody he loved everything he loved... He still wanted to live. Even if that life was in a work camp... Even if that life was without his best friend... He wanted it, he wanted to carry on, he just didn't know how to...

'Fuck all of you...' He spoke breaking the tense silence. He rubbed his thumb against the rim of his glass before throwing it at the wall behind Ela, causing her to duck and drop the shotgun. 'You've always looked down on me and Jimmy, thinking we're scum just cause we weren't raised in this shit hole...' He turned to autumn, pressing his stomach into her barrel. 'You think you can decide what I can do...? Then fucking prove it shoot me.... you fucking bitch'.

Autumn sighs audibly before saying, "Without your distillery, you're useless to me." These are the last words she says before a gunshot explodes from a gun. Dennis drops to the floor like a sack of flour and the sound of footsteps pounding on wood follows as people begin to make a mad dash out of the saloon. Autumn doesn't move from her seat, just before the shot rang out she had placed her gun on the table beside her. "You might want to get the Sheriff out here, bargirl. Looks like there's been a murder." She says as she stretches out her arm to grab at another shot glass with liquor inside it. She shoots it down quick, feeling the stinging and warmth of the liquid running on down much like the last time.

Billy heard the shot, and panicked; he certainly hoped Autumn didn't kill the Sheriff. He peeked out from behind the corner, looking at the saloon. He debated running inside, but that was a fool's choice. So for now....he'd just wait it out, and pray the body count wasn't too high.

It would seem the sun knows no mercy for James. He wondered if there had been a better way to escape his pursuers, or at least catch-a-ride. It all happened so quick as it usually does but still. The consequences were so damn hot. James sighed and pulled out his canteen, taking a heavy swig from it as he did. Shouldn't be much longer until he hit the next town.

It seemed like forever but there it was, a bustling town, ten or eleven buildings give or take, the number was falling drastically with each town. The sign up front is covered in dust but still clearly states "Three Friends Prairie" in faded white letters. Having ran out of drink awhile ago, James walked straight into the bar, completely obvious to the seven bikes stood up outside.

The noise of the gunshot whipped Ela's ears and all at once her vision and hearing failed her, it was like she'd blacked out and the world had jumped ahead of her. The last thing she could remember was her friend smiling and laughing and now... She watched him disappear behind the bar, she couldn't see him, presumably lying there, writhing in pain. She couldn't hear him either, perhaps her ears had popped from the noise, or her friend could already be dead, his blood soaking into her floorboards. The only reminder that he had been standing there was his half empty glass, a dark layer of blood splattering the rim.

That was when she looked back at Autumn sitting there, smiling, Ela didn't know what had happened to her gun, she felt like her body was swimming in molasses. she had dropped it at her feet somewhere in the middle of the commotion but she couldn't move she was grounded. She glared at Autumn's gun on the bar top...

'Yo...' She stuttered, there were no words. This was like her home, this was like the fire all over again. She  balled her hands into fists, and coughed down the tears. This... It's... These were the times she was told to look for her god, but it was always in times like this he seemed to be nowhere. Times when the evil of the world proved it's profound precedence over goodness and honesty, and fairness... Where was that now... Where was the right...

Her vision muffled by tears, she jumped over the bar swinging her fists wildly at Autumn's head and screaming nonsensically wails. She was on top of the bar now almost wrapping herself over the top of Autumn's body, knocking her gun behind the bar and pushing the stool with the both of them on to the floor. Truth is Ela didn't really know how to fight, she just kept biting and pulling and jabbing, she didn't care now she just wanted to hurt her. She wasn't going to let go of the bitch until she hurt as much as she did.

The punches fell hard against Autumn's face. Who knew Bargirl had that much fight in her She thought as her assailant wailed on her. The pain welled up and she could feel blood leaving her mouth and nose. She finds an opening and lays a very hard left straight right into Ela's throat through her blurring vision. Maybe she had deserved the waylay brought unto her through what she said, but there was an obvious misunderstanding. She thought about explaining what happened, but she knew it would fall on deaf ears.

Ela coughed once then coughed again recoiling and grabbing her throat.. 'eegeg' she wheezed. What a dirty move she thought pulling Autumn's hair and scraping her scalp with her nails. She still couldn't breath but that wasn't going to stop her. She slammed her own head into Autumn with a great konk. As she did so she bit into the roof of her tongue causing blood to trickle out her mouth.

The impact jogged her brain a bit and made Autumn's vision even more blurry than before. She calls out in pain and grabs at her forehead. "You got a fuckin steel plate in that noggin'?" She tries to say in a mumble. Once she does and her vision returns to a suitable state, she throws a left hook at Ela's face while her free hand grabs the arm Ela has on her hair and digs her nails right into her skin. She pulls her back and lays another hook right at her face again, then her throat once more.

Ela jumped to the side, the right of her face throbbed, her mouth bleeding. Another cough erupted from her bruised throat. She felt the blood splatter her gums this time, and was... was that a... Tooth? She spat it out into Autumn's face. She couldn't see straight anymore but she knew she couldn't beat Autumn, she had to get out of this tackle. She flailed against her again, punching her with all the strength she could muster. She just pounded her with her fists again and again and again, hoping to squeeze all the air out of her lungs. When a hand grabbed the back of her collar.

'Break it up you degenerates' Sandy yelled, pointing his revolver at the two. He pulled the bleeding, wheezing Ela away from Autumn as she continued to blindly flail at the air. 'Fucking stop it or I'll arrest the both of you...' Two deputies stood behind him holding repeaters.

Autumn coughs violently after the choking and tries to breath in as much air as she possibly can. Her face was starting to well up and she could feel a couple of teeth loosened or dislodged. She spits the both of them out as well as a few globs of blood. She wipes her face of the blood that had been spat on her face. With a few grunts she manages to say, "Took you long enough, Sheriff." Another glob of blood is spat out to the side of her and another bout of a coughing fit. She manages to sit up and through her injured face, she breaks into a smile as she opens her pouch and takes out the small bag containing "Clarence Obediah's" eye. She tosses it up and through her swollen eye, she misses catching it. It hits the floor and opens, allowing the eye to pop out.

'For the love of god' Sandy said, he held Ela at arms length as she stopped fighting and started coddling her bleeding face. She moaned and cried at the same time, it was a pretty pathetic display. 'This you're doing?' He pointed at the lump of person Ela had become then the lifeless form of Dennis by the bar.

One of his deputies went to the window while the other kept his rifle at hip height, a clear attempt at averting further violence. 'Women aye?' the deputy said laughing, Sandy chose to ignore the imbeciles comment.

Sandy bent over picking up the eye and holding it in his palm... This... Wasn't the right color he thought. Autumn wasn't' the type to be so reckless and get in bar fights, she was, throughout his knowledge a complete professional. She was up to something. He tried not to let his concern show as he looked back to her for answers... 'Go on answer me!'.

He saw Sandy enter the bad.....Billy was done waiting. Standing up and rounding the corner, he made his way to the saloon, moving up to the doors but staying to their side.

"Beatin on bargirl? Yes'm. Killin O'Leary? Nah, bastard got shot by someone else lookin for his blood." Autumn says through strained breaths while still retaining her smile. "Bargirl rushed me down after the gunshot. Musta thought I pulled the trigger." Autumn continues with a sudden cough now and then. Her tone and eyes conveying the whole truth and nothing but that. She wobbles herself up and tries to look for her gun that had been tossed around during the fight. Living the way she did, she'd grown thick skin and a mean tolerance for pain. Though it still hurt like hell and a headache was starting to form.

So Dennis was dead.....damn, two brothers killed in one day, Billy thought. He still waited with his back to the wall, a gun already in his hand as he waited for the right moment.

'Get that body outta here' he called over to the deputy at the window. Crouching and scooping up Dennis' lifeless form as Ela watched. She frowned staring at the blood stains left behind. Autumn had to be lying? Who else killed him she thought... She tried to think back but it was all a blur, she pulled out her gun then... She couldn't remember. The sight in her only eye faded in and out and her head had started to pound with pain. She was about to speak but another yank from her collar came from Sandy. 'You, you're a goddamn degenerate you know that, just like that wreck of a father of yours...'

He chucked Ela to the side and she collapsed under her own pain.'Just stay down and shut up or you'll have a rope necklace...' Sandy paused knowing his threat was only that, he didn't really want to hang the bar girl. He looked at autumn then threw the eyeball against the floor laughing. 'Goddamit Autumn, this wasn't the deal. I've always been lenient with your bounties due to your... good reputation...' he paused chewing on his gums. 'But this? This ain't clarence's eye... I ain't an idiot, and this whole fight...'he dropped his gun for a moment before pulling it up towards Autumn. 'This smells like horseshit' .

As the Sheriff continued the Deputy walked towards the saloon doors, unknowingly approaching Billy.

"Horseshit? I'll admit that eye might not be Obediah's but I have good authority to believe you set all this up, Sheriff. I ran into a friend of mine at that barn. Told me Clarence Obediah was long dead before all this. So what's horseshit, eh? You puttin' up false bounties and relaxin in your house while people go off and kill each other?" Autumn says, staring down the barrel of the Sheriff's gun. She doesn't have her revolver on her, and her rifle scattered away as soon as Ela jumped her, she was defenceless. She stood her ground despite this. Then someone shouted from across the bar. A man in his forties by the looks of things with a voice so deep one would think the slats of wood rattled as he spoke, "I saw who shot that O'Leary boy. They opened the door to the saloon, they did. I caught a glimpse of 'em, their face was covered up by a black bandana and a black hat blocked their eyes, but I coulda swore it was a woman. Soon as the gunshot went off, they ran. I tried to give pursuit, but lost 'em in the confusion."

"Ya hear that, Sheriff? Looks like you got a mysterious masked murderer runnin' around." Autumn says with a smug grin.

It was better now than never, Billy figured. He turned and kicked open the doors of the saloon, walking inside with his gun raised. "Sadly," he said, bringing the revolver up and aiming it at the deputy, only to stop him, "you won't be around to look for them Sheriff."

The deputy carrying Dennis froze dropping the body, his lifeless form hit the floor with a thud and the deputy stumbled backwards. 'Fucking...' Sandy pulled his gun towards the door firing wildly. Several bullets cut through the deputy as he fell forwards over Dennis' body. Sandy jumped behind Ela grabbing her in her shocked state. 'You fucking...' He'd been caught out, played by this mercenary Autumn and this criminal Billy. He wasn't going to die here, he continued to fire through his deputy.

The other officer, sickened by the bullets zipping through his peer stared down at the sheriff, 'what the ell' Sandy?!' Despite that he pulled up his repeater and pulled it on Autumn, shooting a round towards her. If he took her out now her ambush couldn't get any worse.

Billy had jumped to the side, letting the poor man take the brunt of the bullets while he kicked over a table for cover. Pulling his other gun out, he returned fire on the Sheriff, bullets whizzing through the air and gouging into the wood of the saloon.

The round made contact and broke through Autumn's shoulder, she winces in pain and lets out a cry as she clutches her shoulder. The burning pain forcing its way through her body. "You incompetent man." she grunts out as she lays her lone good eye on her rifle. She scrambles for it and once it lays in her arms, she aims and fires once. She scrambles back to her feet and runs behind the bar. Slamming her back against the shelving behind it to give herself cover. She didn't bother making sure her bullet went in the direction she wanted, she just needed cover. She finds it very difficult to reload with the bullet lodged into her shoulder, but she manages it. A fresh round finds its way in and she waits for the next opportunity to fire.

One of Billy's rounds buzzed past Ela's ear and into Sandy's shoulder, he grunted but his grip around her neck didn't loosen as he dived into the back of the bar, pulling her behind the kitchen door with him. Behind the wooden doorframe she began to scream, it felt like the only resistance she could offer, her body still weakened from her fight with Autumn.

The Deputy on the other had ducked behind the saloon's furniture, shooting off rounds wildly. 'Shit', he mumbled. With Autumn's flank covered by the tabletop he crouched behind he turned his attention to Billy, aiming low at his torso and unloading every round he had in his chamber.

Ela screamed again, in the commotion of moving into the backroom Sandy had covered her eye. 'Shut up for christ sake' he groaned. Why was this happening, what had happened... She could feel it all coming up, she threw up onto herself and subsequently the Sheriff's hand. 'Ughr' he moaned, as he brought his free hand up aiming at the door with his revolver. He wasn't going to die here, if anyone stumbled through there he'd shoot em.

Billy ducked as the deputy fired, but not in time to avoid a round hitting into the back of his shoulder. It hurt like hell and he grunted in pain. On the bright side, the idiot spent all his rounds, leaving him open for Billy's counter, his one good arm coming back up to blindly fire at the deputy.

Autumn takes a second to gather herself. She didn't have time to rip the bullet out, so for now, it will have to stay the way it was. She can see from her position as Sandy drug Ela to the back of the kitchen. She sighs and looks for the register or at least the place they kept the money. She catches sight of a small box with what looked like a bill inside of it. She shuffles to it and takes it into her hand. She opens it with a bit of difficulty and stuffs all of the money that was in the box into her pouch. She uses the shelving as a form of support to allow her to stand. Autumn can't see the second deputy until he fires his rounds off. She makes the count and notices he fired every shot he had off. "You really are incompetent, deputy! First you shoot an innocent woman, then you leave yourself completely exposed!" She looks around the rest of the bar for the older man, but can't see him right away until he moves from his cover and jumps behind the bar to join her. "Give me your rifle, you ain't in a state to fight. Get on out, I'll handle Sandy." With some reluctance, Autumn gives the man her gun. In the corner of her eye, she sees her revolver under the wooden bar. She grabs it and makes her way to leave out of the back door.

The deputy's body was churned by bullets from several directions. He couldn't protest as the life in him slowly diminished like a flame snuffed by lead. Ela began kicking the sheriff but he stopped her protest with a firm slap. He would stay here for as long as it takes. Sandy won't die at the hands of no bounty hunters.

Autumn makes it to the door at the back of the bar and whistles. Soon, her black stallion rides up through the alley. After more time than needed, she manages to get onto it. She holds onto one of the reigns and snaps it, commanding the animal to move. The galloping commences and she begins to ride out of town, slightly slumped over. She must look like a complete mess, her pretty face broken down. At the very least she can say she got her money and more, perhaps.

The older man, who goes by the name of Butch Prase, had a life of hardship. He lost his wife just three years ago and the land he owned was taken away from him after a false bounty was placed on his head. He had to move from his home of Hope to this rundown town where he would spend his days drinking his sorrows away and working on oddjobs to be able to continue his destructive life. He held no reason to do what he was about to do and if he died, then so be it. He wouldn't be remembered for anything, but if he can do one thing right, he feels as though he can get a ticket to see his wife again. He puts his back against the wall leading into the kitchen on the bar's side and calls in.

"Cmon Sheriff, this ain't endin well fer ya." Butch bellows.

"Let the girl go Sandy!" Billy chimed in, standing up with his gun aimed at the door. "You're outnumbered here."

Butch stretches out to grab a couple of shot glasses hiding under the table and peeks in. His bald head pokes out, showing the Sheriff exactly where he is. As soon as locations are given, Butch throws one of the glasses at Sandy in hopes of shocking him enough into letting Ela go. As soon as the glass is thrown, Butch hides back around the corner.

The shot glass smashed against Ela's face lobing broken glass against her eye patch and into her already bruised cheek. She bucked wildly in pain against an unshaken Sandy but his grip held firm has he twisted his left leg around hers preventing anymore kicking. 'Whoever the hell you are you ol' drunkard, ain't worth getting killed for this..' He shook his gun arm free of the broken glass shards that had bounced off Ela's face. 'Poke your head around that door.... It's gone...' He pulled the gun away from the door and pressed it against Ela's skull. 'And her too... You come through she dies, you gots one chance, go hand yourself in at the station to my deputy and when he comes back with you both in chains then I'll let her go'. His voice wavered a bit as he turned his head away from the door, assessing if there was any back access out of the building. A small window, closed with the shutters locked could work but the risk of having his back against the door for that long was too high.

Ela began hyperventilating, it was all happening again, everything, just like last time... She didn't want to die... She didn't want to lose it all again.

Shit Butch thought, his attack just made things even worse. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Give up? Butch sighs, "You're a disgrace of a man, Sheriff. Takin a woman hostage and all that. The hell do you think you're doin?" Butch can hear Ela's hyperventilating breath. "If she dies where she is, Sheriff, you really won't have anything to hide behind. You're stuck in there no matter what. You lose her and we'll come barreling in there to kill you." He really hopes his words are coming across the way he hopes they are. Trying to get him to release the girl. "You let her go, then you come out. We'll only kill you if you kill her."

He stomped around moving his position from where Butch would of last spotted him. Ela protested but Sandy stiffed his grip around her neck causing her to wheeze. 'Yeah for christ sake I ain't fallin' for that one bub', he took a second to check his gun, four rounds... Sandy grunted spitting to the side. 'She ain't coming out alive unless my Deputy is the one that comes around that door...'

"If she dies Sheriff," Billy said, "you'll wish I put a bullet in you. 'Cause I'll be getting my knife for you then."

"Looks like we're at a standstill here Sheriff. Get out of that cramped room and face us like a man. You're supposed to protect this town. You're supposed to bring justice to no good dirty liars, Sheriff, but here you are, trapped in a small room with two men who just want to see the girl safe and sound." Butch says trying his best to negotiate with the madman. He had always watched from afar the way he treated Ela and he never liked it. Butch knew there was something always off about Sandy, but never pursued it because it wasn't in his right. It was at the point today when he realized that it is up to the community to take care of one another. He may be a drunk, but even he can see that.

Ela tried again, of god she needed out of this, but with the crushing force of Sandy's arm around her windpipe she just couldn't breath. Her vision already blurring, her arms feeling heavier than before, could she even hold them up anymore... She wheezed once more coughing up a little spit and phlegm. Sandy grimaced at the sight of it protruding from her mouth like this sickly molasses, it almost made him forget whatever that crazy dunk was spouting about justice and rightness...

'I can't do my part, do my duty if I'm dead. He paused for a moment, chewing again on the wound inside his gum, maybe he could reason his way out of this. 'You seem like the fair sorts, well I'll tell you... That boy out with you he's a killer bounty on his head, two hundred dollars, name's Clarence Obadiah'. He spat again, it was a nervous tick he had. 'He gonna say his name is Billy, but if you don't believe me he's carrying a watch with his initials on it, won't leave it no matter what. Boy's wanting to kill a fair lawman... Help me outta here, I got no beef with you, you're just misunderstanding the situation...'

He didn't want to lay it on too thick but hell this wasn't the time for finesse.

"You really are a dumb son of a bitch," Billy spat. "That was the same lie you old Autumn, and look how that wound up." Thumbing back the hammer, Billy growled out "I ain't gonna ask again Sheriff; let her go."

"Sir, with all do respect I know you're lyin'. I've been in the bar this entire time. That one woman who got accused of murder said somethin about Obediah bein dead. As soon as that happened, this mess started up. Logic says she wasn't lyin' when she said it and if this guy here is backin that claim up, you ain't got much a leg to stand on." Butch says calmly, he'd throw another shot glass, but seeing as how the first one ended up not doing anything, he tries to figure out another plan. If he could somehow tell the other man here with him to look around the backside for a window or something, he would. Maybe a hand signal? He tries to signal the other man to go around using his hands. He points to the door, then motions to go around. He hopes like hell this guy is understanding him.

Billy saw the gesture, and nodded. "Alright, fuck it Sheriff," he said. "I'm gonna get the deputy, just don't shoot nobody." He backed away, exiting the saloon.....and then quickly looking for a way around to the back.

"Ya hear that Ela? Everything's gonna be alright girl. Don't die on us yet it ain't yer time." Butch says, trying his best to give a confident voice. "It'll be alright. God ain't gonna take ya away from us just yet." His grip on the rifle strengthens and his knuckles turn white. He didn't feel like he was doing a good job at negotiating considering the Sheriff is still in the room, but he will get Ela out, no matter what.

"Give her a breath at least, Sheriff. I-I'm not hearin much comin from her. If I don't hear anything I'm busting in there."

Sandy flicked his head, knocking his hat back away from his face. He listened, listened carefully. Men don't just leave a fox hole they knows gotem' the win... No way that boy was head for the Deputy, and if he was, he'd lose nothing with the precaution. 'Well you better, cause I'm gonna cut this lass' arm, if she ain't get a doctor soon she'll die...' he said with a grim resignation. This really was dirty and desperate defence. If it went wrong, if she bled out too soon he'd lose his only bargaining chip. He swapped his revolver with the hand that was holding Ela, forcing him to loosen his grip somewhat, she barked deep wheezing breaths of relief. The gun though was still firmly pointed up towards her jaw, if she struggled it could rip her face off. That's when she heard it, the click of a straight razor, he was gonna fucking cut her arm in half. She screamed, 'please god please....' but he continued on, grunting as he went, 'if you fucking move your heads gonna explode...' .

He brought the razor to her exposed forearm resting by her side, she tried to move it but it was already too late, her sliced it up her arm, once, then another time... The cuts weren't so deep, but deep enough that he could play the pressure card. Ela didn't feel anything, nothing, until this hot running pain reached the very tips of her fingers then shot all the way back up to the opening of the would, it was like fire and electricity and copper. She could taste  it in her mouth, she wanted to yell but Sandy had dropped the razor by his side collecting his gun as he did so and tightening his grip around her neck again. She was going to die... Jesus this was it...

'That enough noise for you bubby?' Sandy said laughing.

Billy crept up to the back entrance, slowly opening the door. He could hear the gasps, screams of Ela as Sandy did....something to her. Sticking his gun in first, he slowly made his way inside, hoping Butch would keep him distracted.

Butch's teeth grind as everything happens. He was powerless, his only hope is that he can distract him long enough to allow the other man to find a different vantage point. "God dammit Sheriff, you're a heartless bastard. Haven't you done enough today? Now you resort to torture? You're losing your bargaining chip with every moment you put her through." His anger getting the better of him and seeping into his tone. He nearly begins to bark at the man. He's the one thing blocking the Sheriff from the outside world, if he were to move and get killed, the Sheriff would just leave. He wonders if he could pull a shot off before Sandy could. He didn't truly know how many shots the Sheriff had left, and Butch himself only has the one bullet loaded.

"Let her go, Sheriff, this is your final warning!"

Billy had entered a backroom, maybe a kitchen or storeroom. The Sheriff was nowhere in sight however, so he kept moving at a slow pace, crouched low with his gun drawn. He was feeling light headed from the bullet, blood still seeping from the wound.

He couldn't hear Billy approaching with all the noise butch and the moaning Ela were making. 'Just shutta up you fucking... Fucking...' He pulled Ela tighter, the blood from her arm staining his shoe. 'You want the girl, come and get her okay come and fucking get her...' He said pulling the gun away from her head and pointing it at the door.

He heard Sandy now, and soon found himself rounding a corner, more of an entrance from his room to the other room Sandy and Ela were in. He was exposed though, clearly in sight of Sandy at the front....but he saw how Sandy had his gun up, away from Ela. So he rose and aimed the gun, barking "Drop it or I will drop you!"

He didn't move the direction the gun was pointed, instead he just lifted Ela's increasing still form up to his neck. 'What you gonna do? Shoot through her?' He said with a grin. Though Sandy knew this wasn't sustainable, despite how well he could use Ela's body to cover his own, what he really needed was an out.

'How about this... Throw away the gun and you can come and get her... Take her out and let me leave from that door...' He pointed at the door Butch was standing behind. 'Otherwise... Well, I'll shoot you, you'll shoot me and hit her...' Ela offered little reaction but a turn of her head to the left.

Butch can hear the voice of the other man and without a second thought rounds the corner he was on and aims the given rifle at the Sheriff. He looks over the both of them and almost reels in disgust. Fresh puke was covering Ela and mixing with the new blood that was dropping onto the floor. Visibly, she looked like death had already taken her, but he can see her breathing raggedly. She was turning blue from the grip on her. His anger poured over and instead of shooting, he ran at the two of them. Hoping that the momentum if he was shot would be enough to carry him the rest of the way to knock them apart. He tosses the gun to the side about half way into his run and soon, collided with them.

Honestly, Billy was going to do it; he was going to set his gun down and let the man go. Ela after all, didn't deserve to die. But when Butch ran at them, tackling the two to the ground he rushed the tangle of bodies....and hauled Ela out, leaving the Sheriff to Butch.

Sandy's gun exploded during the collision, the smell of smoke and rancid flesh precipitating the flash of light. He'd shot the meatbag of a man Butch, though his body had pushed him over, ironically he had landed his full weight on Ela and she wheezed beneath him. The Sheriff reacted by shooting one last round towards the pile that Butch and Ela made, he couldn't wait to confirm another hit, nor did he care where it hit he just wanted to wound the two of them. Pulling the hammer back above the trigger he pointed towards Billy's location, he was running at him, firing once, then again. He saw Billy pull Ela's form from the pile. Had he hit the boy..? Sheriff Sandy wasn't no sucker he thought... He wasn't done yet.

Being dragged by some... Other figure Ela couldn't move her body, or see, or hear or feel... Everything was so dark and... She didn't know, she just felt not there? Like she was drunk... Only way she could recognize that she was still alive was through the intermittent pangs of pain shooting up her arm.  

Sandy looked at the straight razor grabbing it and running up behind Billy, he was gonna jab that sucker in the shoulder blade...

Butch's hand reaches out and grabs Sandy's ankle. The pain he felt from the gunshot was immense and he could feel his life slowly draining from him, but he still had a purpose on this day and a gunshot to the opposite side of his heart wasn't going to stop him. God gave this to him and he was going to take it. He had managed to turn around after the fall. After Billy had removed Ela and was now clutching Sandy's ankle. He yanks the ankle toward him, hopefully bringing the Sheriff down to his level. "You ain't hurtin nobody else today, ya bastard." Butch says through ragged breaths.