CHAPTER 30 – GETTIN’ OUT OF DODGE
It was all a mad scramble after that. Terror set into their hearts as their minds caught up with them.
"Where's Marshall?" Peyton looked around.
Wild Card whistled and Royal, his dog, came running down the tunnel. Out from his own ashes, the Devil spawned in primitive form. He flew up as a long-necked dragon, the serpent of the Bible, spewing out fire everywhere. Marshall popped up from the inside the doorway. Before Ira and Peyton could react, the dragon made for the door. Royal, Wild Card's dog, leapt right through the portal at the dragon. The flying serpent's fangs bit down on the dog, breaking open its skin. Marshall leaned over and grabbed the giant metal door. He was the only one smart enough to realize, that this wicked door was forged so it could only be closed from the inside. Light poured out of Royal’s wound and eradicated the dragon. Royal died and the universe shifted so immensely it could not be felt by mortals.
The Devil was reduced back to human form as he got up, brushing his expensive suit off, once again stuck as Jebediah FreeLander. Marshall looked back from watching FreeLander rise again to look upon Ira, Peyton, and Wild Card one last time. Ira was the only one who ran up to the door to try and stop him. “Marshall don’t!” He begged him, “This is a fate worse than death.”
But Marshall ignored him.
“Help me close the door, Ace.”
Ira knew he could not stop him. Together, from both sides, they slowly tilted the momentum of the heavy door back his way. Right before the door finally closed and the seven seals re-locked, FreeLander's frustrated roar shook the foundations of hell, kicking up the sandy winds, and Ira saw Marshall pull something from his chest and activate it.
Echoes of FreeLander's final words after his roar reached Ira's ears, "Perhaps I’ll try Vegas next."
The blue pulse practically blinded Ira as he cried out and the door finally slammed shut and resealed. In the fleeting haze of the bluish gaze all the memories he had lost after traveling through time with the amulet came rushing back to him. All the tasks he performed, all of the lives he recorded, and all the reasons for his labors became apparent. He finally had an explanation for his wild life. Thanks to the Devil, and the sacrifice Kid Colt, Wild Card Cass, Peyton, and most of all Marshall gave, Ira now knew his meaning in life... the significance of his existence.
That is what you must learn from death: how it brings all to meaning by showing you the end.
Ira was such a fool. What he had thought to be unfrozen water, the center of the amulet, was actually harnessed power cosmic, taken from the stars themselves. Beautiful light carved out of endless darkness. Ira punished himself for the mistakes he made. The people he wronged. Addison Rey's soul was awaiting release from hell since his death, and now it was granted by Ira's guilt and resolve. Living or dead, their redemption was always intertwined. The rival sniper was now able to escape eternal torment. Addison returned the favor by guiding Marshall out of the underworld.
Peyton was still rendered motionless from the aftershock of the Winchester. Ira and Wild Card helped Peyton back through the tunnel. They were all exhausted, beaten beyond repair. Once again they had to leave behind one of their own.
Ira and Peyton were heartbroken. Peyton's one true brother sacrificed his life to save the world. They both would always feel the same regret until the day they died. Peyton should have sacrificed his own life instead of Marshall. Deep down Ira knew he was still out there somewhere, watching over them, destined to roam space and time, free of hell. They escaped the caves as everything crumbled in all around them, clogging the tunnel, burying the doorway and the seven seals.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Wild Card led Peyton and Ira through the dungeons and back up to the cellar bar. The floor collapsed as they climbed the staircase. Up and out, they scurried from the Inferno as the entire plot of land fell in on itself. The fancy bar was brought to the floor and the ground itself sunk. Polished redwood crumbled into dust. All around them Union soldiers were chasing renegades and rebel outlaws out of Dodge. Wild Card let go of Peyton and he fell over onto the dirt road, dragging Ira down with him.
Wild Card Cass looked around, the only one still standing. The battle was over. All the Black Pawnee generals were killed, and FreeLander was defeated. They were victorious. A rider galloped at them guns blazing and Wild Card let it go unchecked.
Devil FreeLander laughed in his prison as his ace-in-the-hole acted out one last twist of fate. Captain Jack Bennett, the rebel outlaw soldier from Owensboro, Kentucky shot Wild Card Cass in the gut; piercing the same kidney Peyton stabbed him in with the shard of glass. But this time it hurt.
The old man fell down to his knees. Blood spilled out of his side and splashed the sand. The red liquid coagulated the sand, separating it, revealing, embedded in the floor, a bottle from the dying saloon. He laughed and his kidney wound stung. He pulled it loose from the ground and had a sip. It was bourbon, the good stuff. Wild Card Cass took down half the bottle in several bulk gulps before he smashed it against the charging horse's head.
He grabbed a hold of the nose-diving horse with his other hand and swung around behind Bennett on the mount. Wild Card Cass stabbed him in the chest with the broken bourbon bottle and then they both hit the ground. Gunshots fired in the scrambled dust. Wild Card Cass stood up, bloodied with gunshots all over his chest, and drew his gun, keeping it pointed down at Bennett's head; blood and bourbon dripping from his bruised lips. Wild Card Cass unloaded all the bullets in his Remington revolver with his left hand. He pummeled Captain Jack Bennett's face in with hot metal ammunition, making it impossible for anyone to ever identify the corpse.
Wild Card Cass fell to the ground and Ira and Peyton crawled up beside him. He was dying. Which could only mean one thing, his deal with the devil was finally over. Either he had won or lost, but right now it did not matter. For the precious few seconds before his death, Wild Card Cass would not worry whether he ended up in heaven or hell. It was the most peaceful moment in his life.
In the days after, Peyton and Ira buried Wild Card Cass and Will Davis in Dodge. The Marshals arrived with reinforcements, rounding up and detaining the remaining Black Pawnee on the outskirts of town. On behalf of the federal government and the town of Dodge, the Marshals awarded Ira with a medal of honor. Peyton would be taken into custody and eventually cut a deal. It was quite simple. The only way he could avoid capital punishment was to spend the rest of his life in servitude of the government. Peyton knew where his only redemption would be. Peyton Quade put on his badge and re-opened the Dodge City Sheriff's office.
Ira would eventually return home to New York with Emma. Over time, Ira learned to forgive himself of his sins. He married Emma and opened up his own business, a small-time courier in Rochester called, "The Herald". In his premiere edition he would run the first part of a five-part installment editorial called, "Gunnin' for Dodge".
EPILOGUE
DODGE CITY, KS
5 YEARS LATER
A blue pulse wakes Peyton from outside the window. Before he can get out of his seat, the door to the sheriff's office opens. Peyton looks up and realizes that his time for redemption is over. The gun's icy barrel gets placed on his forehead. Peyton closes his eyes, ready for what's next. The gunman pulls the trigger and shoots Peyton dead.
The assassin drops the ancient black revolver next to the carcass and presses the amulet, transporting himself out of Dodge. Leaving the world behind along with his material shell, Peyton Quade's true essence moves on, returning to his final calling. Marshall would never once regret killing his mortally imprisoned brother. For after escaping the depths of hell, he would uncover ancient revelatory covenants that both ruled and explained this world, and it was time to share with his friends.