* * *
Siggy’s body lurched forward against his seatbelt as the truck ground to a halt. He forced his eyes open, catching a blurry glimpse of Adelais grabbing the shotgun and climbing out of the truck. Siggy looked around, not having any weapon of his own. He scrambled around the truck, trying to find something that would suffice. He felt around under the seat until he finally found his weapon of choice: a Peacemaker he’d received as a gift.
“Heh…”
Without much choice, he grabbed it and got out of the truck, tailing Adelais up to the shanty. He stopped behind Adelais, who turned a severe expression on his younger brother.
“What?” Siggy questioned.
“Shut up.” Adelais whispered.
“Shut up? What’re you—”
“Yer breathing. Want ‘im to hear us?”
Siggy shook his head.
“Then shut up.”
Siggy became aware of how rapidly he was breathing but could do little to calm his wiry body. The tension in his nerves wouldn’t dissipate. He crept alongside Adelais, noticing the window he had peered into earlier was now boarded up. Ade guessed right… Alejandro did come back ta’ his old shack. They made their way along to the front door, Adelais stopping to signal for Siggy to wait near the entrance.
Siggy watched as Adelais cocked his shotgun. Adelais reached the front door, lifted his heavy steel-toed boot into the air, and delivered the full force of his massive leg into the center of the doorframe. The feeble door splintered as it broke off the hinges, the remaining portions slamming violently into the interior wall. Adelais took aim as he stormed into the hovel, finding a badly beaten bandito and an unfamiliar associate drinking casually, both reclining on a beat-up sofa. Siggy took his place behind Adelais, ready to provide support.
“You’re fuckin’ kidding me. Adelais, right?”
Alejandro remained seated, complacent, as he stared at Adelais with amused disbelief. The second man remained frozen, drink in hand.
“Meds. Give ‘em up.” Adelais demanded.
“You want drugs? Well shit, could’ve just asked. May not like you, but business is business.” Alejandro responded.
“Ain’t here fer that shit, and I ain’t buyin’. You or yer friends took some meds from a doc not too far from here. Yer gonna give ‘em up.”
“Or else what? You’ll take me back to jail? You barely managed last time, and the odds aren’t in your favor now. Huff and puff all you like.” Alejandro feigned surrender, raising his arms in the air and waving jazz hands at Adelais. “Please Mr. Big Bad Wolf, don’t blow my house down.”
Adelais cocked a grin, placing his finger on the cool trigger of his shotgun. He lined up the shot and pulled the trigger without hesitation. Blood spattered around Alejandro’s ankle, decorated with new holes. Alejandro let out a terrible, inhumane screeching as he flailed about, clutching at his ankle, trying to hold the blood in. The second bandito jumped up and immediately surrendered, sputtering in fear. He moved slowly toward the door and remained in place, hands in the air.
“Sig, watch the other one.”
Adelais tossed the shotgun aside as he walked up to Alejandro’s bloodied face, tightening his vambraces and pushing the bandito back into his shoddy couch. He lifted one foot onto the couch, resting the toe of his boot in Alejandro’s groin as he leaned in close.
“Meds. Now.”
“Uh…uhnder…floor…”
Alejandro gestured toward a latch in the corner. Siggy gasped, finally regaining his breath, unaware he had stopped breathing the moment Adelais pulled the trigger. He couldn’t control the profuse sweating in his palms; he struggled to maintain his grip on the revolver as he tried to put his thoughts back together.
Adelais moved over to the corner, lifting the badly disguised floor panel while keeping one eye on Alejandro. Inside lay the assorted loot the banditos must’ve been collecting: guns, cash, a few bootleg copies of The Guild. After digging around a bit, Adelais pulled out some medical supplies. He grabbed up a bag and knelt, filling it with anything looking even remotely useful. He stood, handing the bag off to Siggy, and returned to Alejandro.
“So question is: what do I do with you? Like ya’ said, jail won’t do nothin’.”
Having had a moment to regain some semblance of composure, Alejandro winced as he stood up on his good leg to meet Adelais face to face.
“Listen closely, worthless mutt,” Alejandro spoke slowly. “Even violence can only accomplish so much. You’re off your leash. You’ll be the death of everyone you love.” Alejandro smirked as his eyes focused on the door. “You’ve already been tagged, so do what you will. My boy’s on his way back now.”
Adelais quickly turned to Siggy, who was now frantically looking around for the second bandito.
“Damnit, Sig! Find ‘im!”
Siggy tried to control the nervous retching in his gut, frantically searching for the second bandito. He started toward the door when he noticed a glinting piece of silver in Alejandro’s hand. Before Siggy could react, a piece of steel was sticking out of Adelais’s gut. Adelais responded with a swift blow to Alejandro’s face, falling to the floor with him. Hatred radiated off Siggy’s brother, who sat mounted on top of his opponent. Alejandro returned no malice, but instead smiled a sickly, depreciating smile.
“The hell you so happy about?” Adelais asked.
“You think you’re some noble soldier fighting a war against the ‘bad guys’, but you, me, our brothers, we were all raised the same. Only difference is some of us stepped up to make our lives better, even if it made some others worse. Tell me you haven’t done the same.”
Adelais wrapped his fingers around Alejandro’s throat, clutching tightly.
“Ade, stop!” Siggy shouted.
Alejandro brought his arms between Adelais’, breaking his grip. He lifted his head enough to meet Adelais face to face. “Go ahead, hero—you know you want to. Just think about what’ll happen to that poor little girl and her dog if you don’t. I’ve killed more people than you could imagine to take care of my family. Lives don’t mean a thing to me. Just remember the fire you use to smite your enemies will burn your house down too.”
Adelais retook his hold on Alejandro’s neck, choking the life out of him. Staring into the bandito’s remorseless, bloodshot eyes, he lifted his foe’s head and slammed it against the floor repeatedly until it cracked, creating a river of crimson. Adelais remained sitting upon Alejandro’s desecrated body for a moment, hands soaked in blood. The battle ended, he remained atop his opponent, staring off into nothing.
Siggy grabbed his brother’s arm and dragged him out of the shack, rushing the both of them back to the truck. He threw the medical supply bag onto the seat and waited as Adelais stood staring off into the distance, into the dark nothingness that extended before them.
“Ade…what did you do?”
Adelais fell back to the ground, dry heaving. Siggy helped support his brother, noticing a distinguishable stream of red among the sanguine speckles plastering Adelais’s shirt. The stab wound was getting worse.
“I…we gotta get you back to the doc.”
“Sig.” Ade grabbed Siggy’s shoulder. “You can’t tell anyone.”
Adelais vomited into the dirt, heaving the contents of his stomach into desert underbrush. A small scorpion scuttled away at the noise. Siggy patted his brother’s back, trying to contain his own nerves and ignore the rancid smell of stomach acid and death.
“Bu… burn it.” Adelais gasped in between heaves, loosening the vambraces.
Siggy began to open his mouth, but the look on his brother’s face taught him better. Once Adelais was able to support himself, Siggy slowly walked back toward the shack. He looked the hut over. He was a criminal, and his brother a murderer. He agreed to cover up the crime, like a good brother should.
Siggy crept to the doorway, daring only to get close enough to peer inside. Nothing had changed since he ran out. Like a coward. His stomach tossed back and fo
rth repeatedly like a heavy-duty washing machine on the spin cycle. He couldn’t shake the disgusting anguish that crept all over him. The taste in his mouth became rancid as he forced the vomit back down. Shaking his head, he clenched his fist and hurried back into the shack only far enough to grab matches, and quickly returned to the door.
He lit the match and placed it near the doorway. He stepped backward, pace by pace, getting away from the hut. This house of horrors was nothing more than a simple assortment of shutters and boards. It was something he never wanted to see again. He watched as it began to burn. The splinters of the door were the first to alight. They soon ignited and took the front of the shack with it. He had seen enough. Sigurd Martinez turned about and walked away from the scene.
He returned to the truck to find Adelais passed out on the ground. He checked his brother’s pulse, his heart still beating, and tore Adelais’s bloodstained shirt and bracers off him. Siggy used the bloody shirt to clean as much of his brother as he could before tossing it and the bracers into the blaze. Without pulling the knife from his brother’s gut, Siggy managed to load Adelais into the passenger seat of the truck. Strapping the behemoth of a man in, Siggy set off for the doc’s house, hoping to get back in time to save both of the people he loved. And maybe the dog, too.