I wasn’t an expert on sheriff etiquette. I’d never gone to a sheriff’s school, or studied them in my time at PanTech. However, despite that, I was pretty certain this was not typical, desirable sheriff behavior.
Clarence didn’t move. Just lay there, unconscious. Trapped in a cell, this was neither the place nor the time for me to make a scene. If I could have the sheriff’s cooperation, it would make my time here all the better and, more importantly, all the shorter.
“So, PanTech survivor?” he asked.
“That’s right. There were a few of us who made it out. Most are working on a camp near the outskirts of HQ, but I’m traveling to different zones.”
The sheriff nodded, scratching his chin.
“I’ll be honest, little miss, PanTech folk ain’t exactly welcome here. Outsiders ain’t likely to cause anything but trouble, as we’ve found out already.”
“What about Adversity Management?” I asked.
“Ain’t no more PanTech Adversity Management in this town,” he said, a hint of triumph in his voice.
“What happened to them?” I asked.
“Don’t know. They just left, and good riddance if you ask me. They was too soft on crime. Me and my deputies is finally gonna put a stop to these hoodlums and create some real law and order round here.”
“Sheriff, there’s one very important thing I need to do, and I’ll be happy to leave as soon as I’m done.”
“I’m listenin’,” he said.
“There is a virus, loosed during the fall of PanTech HQ, that is going to wipe out all of humanity. I was able to make a vaccine for it, but it sterilizes anyone who receives it. They can never have children.”
“Sounds like you’re tradin’ a definite for a might, young lady.”
“They are both definite, sir,” I said.
He looked at me and slowly began to smile. For a moment, I wasn’t able to tell what kind of smile it was, but the laugh afterwards told me everything I needed to know.
“What’s your name?”
“Taylor,” I said.
“You must think we’re real dumb, huh Taylor? Sounds to me like you’re just looking to retire this old town by keepin’ us from bein’ able to reproduce. Without the big central power, you’re figurin’ we’ll be harder to manage. That virus even real, or did you make all that up just now?”
My gut wrenched. For once, could this just go smoothly?
“Why would I make something like that up? Surely you’ve seen people getting sick here.”
“Yeah, right abouts the time the Adversity Management people packed up. Ain’t that just one heck of a coincidence? Almost like they created a problem that needed fixin’, just so they could come in and fix it later.”
“Could I at least offer the vaccine to the townsfolk?”
“No, you can’t,” he said, his tone hardening.
“I’m not sure what I can do to convince you, Sheriff. I won’t force anyone to take anything. PanTech created this virus. I’ll not lie about that either. I was opposed to it and fought them every step of the way. Now, this is all I can do. Maybe I could stick around for a few days in case you change your mind?”
“You can stay in this town for a week, but then you need to be movin’ on. We’ll throw you out if we have to.”
“Sheriff!” a voice called from outside, charging in out of breath.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Gah, what now…” the sheriff said. “Can’t you see I’m talking to a guest here?”
“The Red Collar Boys are ridin’ into town. They was spotted just a few minutes ago.”
“Son of a…” the sheriff said, standing up and grabbing a rifle off the wall.
“Do I just wait here, or…” I said, my own frustration growing. I didn’t exactly want to spend who knows how long locked in this cell while everyone went off to do something else.
He turned around, unlocking my cell door.
“I’ve got a better idea,” he said, his rifle pointed at me. “Let’s test something.” He nodded to one of the deputies. “Tie her wrists behind her. We’re taking her along.”
“You’re pushing it,” I said.
He tilted his head, cocking the rifle in his hand. “Excuse me?”
Pressing this further would require me to reveal that either I had an enhancer, or that I was wearing armor. Neither were something I wanted to reveal at this point. As much as he was trying my patience, compliance was the only real option.
“Never mind,” I said, turning my back and holding my wrists behind me. “I see what you’re doing. The timing is suspicious, so you want to see if anyone from this gang has a reaction to me being captured.”
“You catch on quick, at least,” the sheriff said.
A deputy came over, tying my wrists and leaving a trail of rope to be used as a lead. He wasn’t gentle about it either.
“Don’t dilly dally neither!” the deputy said, giving me a not-so-gentle push.
They led me just outside the sheriff’s office and had me face the direction they expected the gang to approach from.
“On your knees,” the deputy ordered. Man, I really wanted to break this guy’s knee caps… Can’t let the intrusive thoughts win…
I got on my knees.
After a few more minutes, a pounding sound could be heard in the distance and about ten men approached on horseback. They stopped in front of us. Red Collar Boys… clever. They had red bandanas around their necks.
“Well howdy, Sheriff Eric,” a blond man said, presumably their leader, riding just ahead of the rest. “Sure is a nice day today. You takin’ one of your prisoners out on a walk or something?” he asked, nodding to me.
“Don’t act like you don’t know who this is,” the sheriff said, nudging my neck with his rifle.
“Mighty sorry to disappoint, Sheriff, but I ain’t never seen that woman before in my life. Ain’t no big surprise to see you treating women poorly though. You ain’t exactly known as being an honorable sort.”
The sheriff turned his gun toward the man in front of him, who held his hands in the air.
“You ain’t welcome in my town!”
“We ain’t plannin’ to stay in your town,” the outlaw said. “We’re just here to collect our boy Clarence.”
“Deputy Choy, go and collect the gentleman.
Deputy Choy disappeared briefly inside before returning with a staggering Clarence. As Clarence staggered toward them, Deputy Choy gave him a kick in the rear, sending him falling to the ground. One of the outlaws drew his pistol, but with a wave of the blond man’s hand he holstered it again.
“Why you reckon his face is all busted up like that, Sheriff?” the blond man asked.
“Drunks are clumsy, Kuros. Probably just fell and hit his face on something. Can’t never tell with a drunk.”
The blond man, Kuros, simply stared at the sheriff for a moment before answering.
“They say sheriff is a dangerous job too. I’ll be prayin’ for your good health.”
“I’ll bet you will,” Eric said.
They helped Clarence up on one of the horses, then turned and began to ride away. Kuros stopped and turned back briefly.
“I know you ain’t got much character to speak of, Sheriff, but tyin’ up a lady to use as a shield…” He shook his head slowly, then spat on the ground. “Low, even for you.”
“You don’t want her back?” Eric asked.
“Want her back? Already told you, I ain’t never seen that woman before in my life.”
“Sure. Sure. I bet that’s the truth.”
Kuros raised a brow. “Ain’t everybody a lyin’ coward like you, Sheriff. You’re just seein’ yourself in others.”
He tipped his hat to me, then turned to ride away. One of the deputies raised his rifle, but the sheriff grabbed it and forced him to lower it, shaking his head.
“I can’t believe you’re going to let him talk to you like that, Sheriff!” the deputy said.
“We ain’t properly prepared for a big showdown. Don’t worry, we’ll be dealin’ with them scumbags soon enough.”
As I always had a knack for, I’d apparently stumbled into the middle of some kind of conflict. It was too early to decide how to proceed. Even though I was in a hurry, I needed to be cautious and approach this with much more information than I had at the moment. For all I knew, they were all bad guys. That’s the way it usually worked, after all. That’s what it sounded like when Linus told me about this place. Then again, Linus himself was some kind of legendary outlaw. I’d have to be careful dropping his name, especially since the sheriff already suspected me of working with them. He’d never believe it was a simple coincidence that the two of us met.
“Well, little lady, I reckon that’ll do. Untie her, Choy,” Eric said, resting his rifle on his shoulder.
Choy had to be rougher than necessary with everything he did. After several exaggerated pulls and yanks, the rope fell to the ground behind me. I rubbed my wrists, trying to find some quick relief from the chafing.
“We’ve got our eye on you. Could just be that he didn’t care enough to get you back, or he knew we was suspicious and he was willin’ to risk whatever happened to you. Make even a tiny mistake and we’ll send you out of here on your face. Anything bigger than a tiny mistake, you’ll hang. I make myself clear?” Sheriff Eric said, getting in my face.
“Crystal clear, Sheriff,” I said.