The way to the Red Collar camp conveniently took me by my supply stash. I’d dressed in the snug-fitting pants, shirt, and vest I’d picked out at the clothing store, along with the gun belt. Thankfully, the revolver I’d brought from Arc City was a perfect fit. In fact, it would be difficult to tell the difference between a revolver in that zone and those in this one. Just the action was different. The double-action revolver from Arc City could be fired simply by pulling the trigger. Or, the hammer could be cocked for an easier trigger pull. The single-action revolvers here could only be fired once the hammer was cocked.

The only problem was I didn’t have a whole lot of ammunition for it, and I hadn’t been able to figure out whether or not they used the same cartridges. Not that anyone could buy the ammunition anyway. I’d be willing to bet anything the sheriff would confiscate it all, if he hadn’t already. If he hadn’t, well… perhaps an idea to run by Kuros.

Using the enhancer, I improved my low light vision. The landscape here was similar to my village, minus the heat. Considering the proximity of the zones, it only now occurred to me that there must be some kind of artificial climate regulator system PanTech has in place. What would happen when or if it degraded? Would it take five years? Ten? A thousand? Maybe one day someone would venture outside the range and find out what exactly was going on out there. For now, there were more important things to worry about. Considering the direction of humanity, there would always be more important things to worry about. Perhaps the animals would get around to it…

Eventually, I came upon the correct cave, lifting the round plate-like rock near the entrance and confirming the toy soldier. I followed the cave, using a small light I had stowed away in my vest, among a few other small gadgets I tried to keep close at hand. Low light vision is one thing, but even pushing the human eye to the limit still wouldn’t be enough to navigate a cave network like this. Zero light.

Eventually, I came out the other side. By now, it was late into the night. In the distance, I could hear the crackling of a fire and some quiet conversation, again using my enhancer to detect as much as possible. I didn’t know any obvious way to enter the camp without getting shot, so I decided the best course of action would be to approach directly with my hands in the air.

“Three crows at midnight!” I shouted.

Immediately two men trained rifles on me.

“Three crows at midnight!” I repeated.

“We heard you the first time. Keep them hands where we can see ‘em. Turn around and walk backward.”

I complied, though walking backward at night over rocks and sticks was no easy feat.

“Hey, ain’t that…” the other man said. “Go get Kuros.”

I continued walking slowly, eventually making it to where the two men were standing. They reached down, releasing my gun belt and putting it aside. They felt around my boots, then along the pockets of my vest.

“I’m complying, but watch your hands,” I warned.

“Rather you get embarrassed than one of us get stabbed or shot,” he said, pulling the knife from my vest and holding it up as an example.

“Alright, fellas,” a familiar voice called out. “If she found the camp and used the phrase she’s a friend or knows one.”

It was Kuros.

“Or tortured one out of the information,” the man checking me said. “We can’t be too careful.”

“Yes, we can. Give her the knife and gun back. Little lady, come with me,” Kuros said, motioning for me to follow.

I put the knife back in my vest, put my belt back on, and caught up with him. This camp was smaller than I expected. There were signs that women and children were also in the camp, which was surprising.

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After a moment, we made it to a large tent with a table inside. I recognized Clarence as one of the men sitting down. He tipped his hat and smiled.

“You probably don’t even remember her, Clarence,” Kuros quipped.

“Yeah I do!” Clarence shouted.

“Oh yeah?”

Kuros grabbed his glass, pouring the contents on the ground before putting the empty glass back in front of him.

“Hey!” Clarence said, jumping to his feet.

“I done told you once, Clarence, I need you sober. You’re the best rifleman in the whole camp when you’re sober enough to not pick up a shovel instead.”

Clarence frowned, sitting back down.

The quiet man sitting across from him was much older. He had an absurdly large mustache that stretched out twice the width of his face and long, gray hair in a loose ponytail. He smiled and nodded, ignoring the argument between the men in front of him.

“She has tired eyes,” the man said.

“Well yeah, Rolo, it’s dang near midnight. I’m tired too,” Clarence said, pouring himself another drink and taking a sip.

Kuros noticed, only sighing in defeat before taking a seat at the table.

“So what brings you here, little lady?” he asked. Now all three men looked at me, quietly waiting for my response.

“Tomorrow, the sheriff is issuing a warrant for anyone wearing a red bandana around their neck. Someone shot one of the sheriff’s deputies, and he’s convinced your gang was responsible.

“I wish we was,” Kuros said.

“There’s more I wanted to discuss, aside from that, now that it’s out of the way.”

“Right. Get the little things out of the way first,” Clarence said, chuckling as he took another swig of his drink. “Guess you figured out how much he hates PanTech people. She is one, by the way, Kuros. Guess what, none of us like PanTech.”

“Hard for me to fault you on that when I don’t like PanTech either,” I said, prompting Clarence to open his mouth several times before deciding against saying anything.

“What else is on your mind?” Kuros asked.

“Why haven’t you taken the fight to the sheriff yet? You’re outfitted pretty well here. Nobody seems to like the guy.”

“I think your perspective is a little skewed because of when you showed up in town,” Rolo said. “There’s some important context you’re missing.”

“Yeah. This big rivalry you’re imagining was nothing more than harsh words being exchanged up until a few days ago. We ain’t the rootin’ tootin’ gunslingers we was in times past when my brother, giant among men, walked down here amidst us mortals. Since then we’ve mostly tried to keep a low profile. And you might be askin’ well… why not now, right? You see them kids and women sleeping in camp. First thing the deputies did was go intimidatin’ families. These is just regular people. We ain’t some mean gunslingers you think we are. Best we can do is pretend.”

I rubbed my forehead in frustration. Clearly, I had my work cut out for me, if this was even feasible.

“Well I’m afraid if some mean gunslingers don’t show up tomorrow, you might miss your last chance. Besides, that’s how the sheriff and his men are going to treat you.”

“Did he say he’d kill us if we didn’t put up a fight?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Then I’ll turn myself in tomorrow and all of this will blow over. Everybody thinking we’re somethin’ we’re not is all the more reason for the sheriff to be paranoid. Maybe if I turn myself in he’ll calm down and be a normal sheriff.”

“That’s bull, and you know it,” Clarence said, taking an even bigger swig of his liquor. “He ain’t going to be happy until everybody ever associated with this gang… or PanTech, is buried.”

“We don’t know it until we’ve tried it, Clarence,” Kuros said.

“It’s an all or nothing bet, Kuros,” Rolo said. “If all of us hang, and he only gets worse, what then?”

Kuros shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re expectin’ me to do. I ain’t even shot a gun in years, not since…” he trailed off.

“That wasn’t your fault, but you know that…” Rolo said. “No one could’ve made a shot like that, and you were right to try.”

“You could’ve made that shot, Rolo. Clarence sure could’ve made it with his rifle and… Linus could’ve made it too.”

“Weren’t none of us there,” Clarence said, taking a more modest sip before putting his glass on the table. “You did the right thing.”

Things were starting to feel hopeless again. It was always possible Ghost could make contact with Adversity Management, but convincing them to come back wasn’t likely. There had to have been a good reason for them to leave in the first place, and we needed to know. That was an entirely different can of worms to be opened. Here, now, Daisy was right. If this town didn’t step up to save itself, there wouldn’t be much point in someone else doing it. It would only happen again and again.

“I reckon I’m going to turn in. Anything else you want to say, little lady?”

“It’s Taylor,” I said. “Can I talk to you for a few minutes… in private?”

Clarence waggled his eyebrows in a juvenile fashion, unfortunately not achieving the laughter he was hoping for. I did appreciate his attempt to lighten the mood, given I’d done nothing but kill it since I’d arrived.

“Five minutes, then I’m turnin’ in for the night. We’ll find a spot for you to sleep too, but tomorrow you need to get gone.”

I sighed. “Five minutes is fine.”

This was going to be a very long five minutes…