Karen couldn't believe what she had just witnessed.
Even with arrows sticking from their backs, the men kept gnawing on the woman as if nothing was wrong. One of them peeled flesh away from her cheek, exposing too many of her teeth, as she tried to push him away with her free hand. The bigger of the two men held her other arm, chewing on a chunk of muscle and skin he'd bitten from her forearm. Her frilly taupe dress was soaked through with blood.
The haunting screams coming from her made Karen queasy. She'd never heard a sound like that.
Everyone in the saloon stood still, rooted in place from shock.
Ellis was the first to react, pushing Dave and Anthony to either side as he stalked outside.
"Get off of her!"
His bellow jolted everyone else into motion. Anthony grabbed Dave by the collar and hauled him through the doors. Three other men that Karen didn't recognize followed them into the street. The women, and most of the other men, didn't move, too horrified to do anything but watch. Karen hopped off the bar and moved out to the porch, making sure to keep the railing between her and the violence.
Ellis grabbed the closest attacker's shoulder and spun him around. A tomahawk stuck out of his chest. A long, watery groan escaped from his mouth as he staggered forward, reaching his hands toward Ellis' neck. Both of his lips were missing, revealing his red-tinged teeth.
"Lord in Heaven−" Ellis said when he saw the man's mangled face. As fast as his bulky body would allow, he shoved the man back, knocking him over the woman he was eating seconds before.
Rushing past Ellis, the three men Karen didn't know grabbed the second attacker by the arms. Their similar appearances gave the impression that one was the father of the other two men. They were all large and had varied receding hairlines. The oldest was completely bald, while the younger son still had half of his left.
As they pulled the madman away from his victim, he gnashed out with tobacco yellowed teeth and bit the hand of the father.
When he jerked his hand away, a jet of blood erupted from the wound and splattered across the shirt of the probable son to his left. The man exploded with unexpected ferocity at the sight of the blood. His mouth opened and closed, his teeth clacking over and over as he strained against their grip.
Dave, Anthony, and Ellis moved in on the first man while he clambered to his feet. They kicked and stomped on him, trying to keep him from standing up. The skin on his head split open from someone's spur, and Karen could hear ribs cracking from the repeated kicks.
"Stay down, damn you!" Ellis yelled.
The man managed to get a hold of one of Dave's legs and bit into the tan pants covering his shin. Dave howled in pain as he tried to shake his leg free.
"He bit me, boss! He bit me!"
Anthony stomped on the man's head, forcing his maw from Dave's leg. A piece of crimson soaked cloth hung from his teeth.
"What the hell is going on?" Deputy Aaron said from behind them. He had to yell to be heard over the moans of the attackers and Dave's whimpering.
Karen pointed at the two men, who were severely wounded at this point. "They were eating that poor woman!"
The woman wasn't moving anymore. She just laid there, bleeding out in the dirt. Karen couldn't see if she was breathing or not.
"Stop kicking him! He's had enough," Aaron said as he tried to pull Ellis away.
Ellis shrugged him off and placed his boot on the man's face, pushing it against the ground.
"Stay back, boy. It don't matter what we do to him, he just keeps coming. Look at them; they got arrows sticking out of their backs!"
The other crazed man kept trying to get at the blood splashed across the shirt of the shorter son. From Karen's position on the porch, she could see into his eyes. They were overly black, like those of a wild animal. A shiver ran through her body despite the overwhelming summer heat.
"Don't call me boy. I said that's enough. Let him up!" Aaron said.
"He's biting everyone in sight. I ain't letting him up," Ellis said without moving.
Aaron pulled his revolver from its holster and held it out in front of him. "If he goes after anyone, I'll put him down. Now step away from him."
Karen knew that Aaron's toughness was an act. She could see his gun hand shaking even though she stood more than fifteen feet away. He was a good kid, but still wet behind the ears.
Ellis considered the situation for a moment before lifting his foot and hopping backward.
The man staggered to his feet while more moans escaped his mouth. A flap of skin, cut loose by a boot spur, partially covered his left eye. Dust and dirt filled part of the gash, but not enough to cover the exposed bone inside. His good eye never left Ellis as he stood and took a shuffling step toward him.
"Mister, I need you to come with me," Aaron said.
At the sound of Aaron's voice, the man's head turned, tendons creaking, and took in the deputy. His uncovered eye widened as he hissed and moved in Aaron's direction on unsteady legs.
"Stop right there."
The wounded man didn't listen.
"Stop or I'll have to put you down."
Aaron pulled the hammer back and pointed the wavering gun at the man's chest. The threat didn't faze him at all as he teetered forward.
With the flesh eater only two feet away, Aaron fired a round into his chest. Other than a slight hesitation as it pitched him backward, the shot did nothing. The bullet punctured his filthy skin and exited his back, coming within inches of Dave's torso. Bits of bone and gore splattered the street behind him.
He didn't seem to notice.
Karen looked at Ellis, who stood motionless, his jaw slacked. Looking around at everyone else, she saw similar expressions. No one could believe what they were seeing.
Deputy Aaron was the only person who kept moving, much to Karen's surprise. He put two more bullets into the man's chest, his expression growing more harried with each failed shot. The width of the street was dotted with splatters of blood.
Even with the distance between them, Karen could hear the man's teeth clattering together as he tried to bite Aaron. Their arms locked around each other's as they stumbled around, one trying to push away and the other pulling back. Aaron's feet tangled as he backed up, causing both of them to topple over with the lipless man falling on top of him, chomping at his face.
"Help me!" Aaron put both of his hands under his attacker's chin and pushed his head up and away from his own. Dribbles of saliva oozed between the man's teeth and dripped onto Aaron's face. Drops of spittle fell into his mouth as he cried out, causing him to gag. "Get him away from me!"
Ellis and Anthony sprang into action, grabbing the man by his upper arms and lifting him away.
"I told you he was crazy," Ellis said.
"Where's your gallows?" the old man asked. "We'll string these bastards up right now."
Sherriff Stanley came running up the road, kicking puffs of dust up with each heavy step.
"The hell you will," he said. "We follow the law here in Gehenna. No one is getting killed without a trial first." He glared at Deputy Aaron. "I sent you up here to see why people were yelling, not to shoot at someone."
"These men have gone mad! They're trying to eat everyone!" Aaron said. He tried to spit out the other man's saliva between sentences. "Look at his chest! I shot him three times and he kept coming at me! They don't feel pain and they won't die."
Stanley looked unbelievingly at everyone standing around, taking in the entire scene.
"He's not making any sense. What happened here?" he said to Ellis.
"We were inside, talking about my fine whiskey when we heard this woman screaming," Ellis said, cocking his head at the motionless woman. "When we came out, they were eatin' her alive. A couple of us got bit tryin' to get them away from her."
"He bit my leg!" Dave said in between whimpers.
"Stop being such a damn baby," Anthony said. It looked like he
wanted to give Dave another good cuff, but couldn't because of his grip on the man with no lips.
The man kept trying to bite at Ellis, but his disgusting mouth couldn't reach Ellis' hands. Some of the kicks and stomps must have damaged something in his neck because it kept leaning to one side. The bend in it was unnatural, just like everything else happening.
"He ain't lying; these men won't stay down. That one over there has a damned tomahawk stickin' out of chest," Ellis said.
Sheriff Stanley's eyes opened wide at the site of the axe buried in the man's chest. "That's impossible."
"Apparently it ain't. That axe is all the way to the hilt, but he still got a good chunk out of my hand," the older man said. He had a gruff, whiskey aged voice. "They ain't natural and we oughta take care of it right now.
"And who are you? Do you know these men?" Stanley asked.
"They call me Zed. These are my two boys, Robert and John," he said while nodding at his sons. They tightened their grip on the crazed man, but didn't make any acknowledgements otherwise.
The sheriff looked around in disbelief. "This shit isn't funny. Discharging firearms is against the law, even for a deputy," he said to Aaron.
Karen wasn't sure if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, or if he wouldn't.
The older man with the raspy voiced strode over to the sheriff and stuck his wounded hand in his face. "Does this look like a joke, son?"
"I understand that something happened here, but what you're describing isn't possible," Stanley said. He shook his head, unable to comprehend the situation. "Aaron, go down and open up the other cell in the jailhouse. We're going to throw these two in there until we can figure out what's going on."
Without saying anything, Aaron turned and trotted down the road to the jailhouse that stood a hundred yards away.
"Karen, go down and get Doc Randy. Tell him we need his services at the saloon right now," he said. The look in his eyes suggested that he wasn't in the mood for a smarmy remark from her.
Karen could think of a thousand things she'd rather do than go see the doctor. She considered him an asshole of the highest order. He was probably drunk anyway.
"Dave, carry this woman inside. It doesn't look like she made it, but we'll have the doc take a look at her anyway," Stanley said.
"But my leg−"
"To hell with your leg. Carry her inside, now!" Stanley said, marching toward the jail.
"Bring those two on down here and let's see if we can sort this mess out."
Karen watched them carry the two mangled men down the street before turning on her heels and heading in the opposite direction.
Chapter 4