Chapter Twelve
Duster and a Gun: Reaper
Gregory Blackman
Fight Another Day
I stumbled down the main street as fast as I could. My head was ringing and blood continued to stream down my brow and into my eyes. I would’ve passed out had it not been for the urgency of the situation. By the time the sun rose, I would be far away from here. They could chase me, but I was wise in the ways of tracking, and of keeping tracks away from prying eyes.
Whatever was going on in this town, it wasn’t my job to find out. All that mattered was grabbing Billy Godwin and taking him someplace safe. I hadn’t thought of what would happen to the boy afterwards and frankly it didn’t bother me in the least. Most likely, I’d drop him at the first orphanage I could find. It wouldn’t be great for him but it was much better than his life here.
The Sheriff couldn’t wield a power like this. My first thought went to banshees, wicked monsters that could bend the will of man to suit their purposes. Still, it mattered little what creature had taken over this town, I had bigger fish to fry.
“Here goes nothing,” I said out loud, not a single soul roamed the street. I rushed up to the door and knocked hard. “Mr. Godwin, are you there?”
No response from anyone inside.
“It’s urgent! If you’re the there, Billy, you’ve got to answer me!”
Once more, no response, however I could hear someone moving. I’d be our here all night or until the Sheriff had managed to bring a small army this time.
“I’m coming in!” I shouted and using the strength and skill afforded to those of my order, I kicked down the door. The house was dark except for the moonlight and stank of manure.
“What the hell do you want?” Mr. Godwin asked as he stepped from the shadows. “You get the hell out of my house!”
The boy’s father stopped in his tracks, much like most men do when staring down the barrel of a gun, cocked and ready to fire. He even wet himself a little as he cringed back from me; again, not an uncommon sight for those unaccustomed to the ways of the old days. Eventually, we all learn one way or another.
“Help!” cried Billy from somewhere upstairs. “Horace… help me!”
“Stay right there,” I commanded the boy’s father as I started up the staircase. “If I come back and you’re not here… I’ll start shooting and believe me, Mr. Godwin, I don’t miss.”
I made it up to where I could hear Billy begging behind a door. I could feel his frightened banging on the door. Bump. Bump. Bump.
“The door is locked!” I bellowed. “Stand back, Billy! I’m going to kick the door down and you don’t want to be behind it!”
I waited until I heard Billy shuffle to the back of the room before I kicked yet another door down.
“Come quick,” I said, motioning to the boy. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
As Billy stepped out of the room and past a moonlit window I caught a glimpse of the young boy, still in the tattered rags that I had found him in. He had been locked in a dungeon for days and seemed to fare no better here. His blonde hair was still matted with sweat and blood.
“What the hell’s been going on here?” I said in shock.
“You’re not taking my boy,” Mr. Godwin argued as he grabbed the Billy from the stairs. “The master mustn’t know of the boy’s return! I’ve already lost one child... I cannot lose another! I’ve given up too much to let you take him from me—!”
“Say another word, you sick bastard,” I said, aiming my revolver at his head. “Just give me one more reason.”
I was ready to pull the trigger but I felt a slight tug on my duster that halted my actions. I looked down to see Billy, wide-eyed and tearing up at the thought of losing his father. Mr. Godwin wasn’t a good man by any stretch of the word, but he was still the young boy’s father, and no child should have to see his father gunned down in front of him.
“You’re a lucky man, Mr. Godwin,” I said, “but not that lucky.” as I struck him with me gun on the side of his head and sent him reeling to the ground. Billy cried out, seeing his father bleeding on the floor, but I assured the boy that his father would be all right after a sleep. I grabbed Billy by the hand to lead him out of his house.
“We’re going to get you out of here Billy, where no one will hurt you.”
I turned, stopped and shielded him behind me. It looked as if every man, woman and child in town was standing in the street outside the house. They were waving torches and pitchforks in the air, the only weapons they likely had. Half of the townsfolk wore the same vacant expression as the two thugs the Sheriff had set upon me; the rest shouted obscenities and cursed me, believing that I was to answer for their sins. Even the bartender was there and while he wasn’t a man I expected to bond with, I never thought to see him spewing the same bile from his lips as the rest of the pack. Perhaps they were right, but I wasn’t about to be judged here, by them.
I should’ve fired my gun into the air to drive the horde back, but I couldn’t help but reel from the parallels between this crowd and the people that’d saved me from the Abaddon all those months ago. They were simple people wielding whatever weapons they could find, all in the hope of driving back the darkness that threatened to unravel their town. This time, however, the monster was me. I was the one they feared so much that they’d risk their lives to stop me.
“Come out here an’ face the music!” Sheriff Madsen shouted as he pushed through the crowd. “I’ll have your damned head on a pike!”
The Sheriff didn’t look any better than when I’d left him lying in a pool of his own blood but he was full of piss and vinegar and ready to go another round.
“You gonna take us all on, gunslinger?” the Sheriff continued. “I doubt you’ve got enough bullets for all of us.”
“I reckon I just need one,” I said with my gun aimed at him. “Strike you down and watch them scurry.”
“You know nothin’,” he replied. “This lot will tear you apart, piece by piece, until all that’s left of you is feed for the pigs!”
We’ll see about that, I thought to myself, but another tug on my jacket pulled me back to Billy. He was scared, no doubt about that, but even though he spoke no words, I could understand exactly what his eyes were trying to say. There was a way out of this mess and Billy knew exactly where it was.
“Another day, Sheriff,” I said, as I pulled a large bookcase beside the front door over to block the home’s entrance and hurried after Billy through the dark.
“Get him you idiots!” the Sheriff bellowed. “The one who kills ‘im, gets a statue in ‘is honor!”
“Well go! And fast, that won’t hold’em long boy.” I said.
He pointed to a doorway and I scooped him up and ran, downstairs, which was odd enough, seeing as houses like these rarely had basements and none that spiraled as I barreled downwards with Billy over my shoulder.
“What the hell is this?” I asked myself at the bottom of a cavernous room with a big black hole in the wall that appeared as if it had been created from the outside in. I don’t know how recent this development had been, but debris from the hole lay around the entrance and no attempt to clean it up had been made.
“I hope you know where you’re going, boy,” I said, but he looked just as unsure about the situation as I was. Still, we didn’t have much of a choice so I pressed on through the hole until we were concealed by the same shroud of darkness that covered the entire passageway.
Monsters thrived in the dark, and now I was walking straight into their lair. That was all right with me, however. Monsters I could kill, but an entire village of people was without precedence. If I was walking into a trap, I’d bring Hell down with me before I gave up the fight. A reaper doesn’t fear, he is feared, by humans and demons alike.