Kuros grabbed Clarence’s half-empty bottle, filling his glass and taking a drink.

“Drink?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No thanks.”

“Go ahead. What’s on your mind?” he asked.

“It’s about your brother, Linus. There’s no easy way to say this, but…”

“He’s dead, right? You didn’t need to tell me that.”

“You already knew?”

He laughed, gulping down the entire glass before refilling it again.

“Yeah, I knew. No one had to tell me. I knew. That kid…”

He trailed off, but I remained quiet, giving him time to think. He was acting like this news wasn’t surprising, but his body betrayed his words. His heartbeat was elevated. This was affecting him much more than he let on.

“Hard to live a long life when you’re always throwing yourself into things you think are worth dying for, and especially when you think everything’s worth dying for,” he said, looking up at the sky. “Do you know how it happened?”

“Protecting me,” I said. “I’m only here now because of him.”

He stared at me for a moment, deep in thought.

“Why are you here? I know you didn’t come all the way to our little town just to tell me about my brother.”

“There’s a virus that was released during PanTech’s collapse, and it’s going to kill everyone in time. I was able to create a vaccine, but it fully sterilizes the recipient. It’s complicated, but that’s the long and short of it.”

He laughed, taking another drink.

“So… he saves one person, and that person goes on to save countless other people. That sounds like Linus.” He paused, his expression darkening. “Several years back, a fella snapped and killed his wife. Some of us were nearby, and tried to help. He picked up his little girl and held a knife to her neck, screaming and swearing at all the other men trying to talk to him. We talked to the man for hours while the kid screamed. I was the best shot there, so I figured… now or never. I drew, but the movement spooked the man just enough that he turned in just the right way. My shot got him right through the heart, but caught the kid’s neck. She died in my arms, sad and confused. I keep telling myself the same thing everyone else tells me. That it weren’t my fault. That I done the right thing. But every time I go to draw my revolver my hand gets a terrible shake.”

This must’ve been a difficult story for him to tell, and I imagined he didn’t tell it often anymore. Men like this never opened up about anything.

“It’s okay,” I said. “But you can contribute in other ways. You’re clearly a good leader that people here look up to.”

“I’m going to contribute in my own way. I’m going to disband the gang and turn myself in tomorrow. After that, it’s up to everyone else.”

“You’re not going to let anyone talk you out of this are you?” I asked.

He shook his head, standing up and removing his gun belt, dropping it with a thud on the table.

I sighed. There really was no way of talking this guy out of what he was about to do. He and Linus might have seen one another as different, but in some ways they seemed very much alike.

“Do you know if the sheriff has already confiscated the guns and ammunition from the gun store?”

“Don’t even think about it,” he replied. “If you go and do something like that while I’m turning myself in he’ll just think it was a planned distraction to steal them.”

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“I don’t even know if I could talk anyone else into it, and it’s not realistic to do something like that by myself. And I’ll be even more straightforward with you… I only have so much time to waste on a single place. I don’t mind helping, but every day I spend helping you is a day I don’t have for someone else. This virus behaves unpredictably. I expected this town to be further gone than it is. That’s a gift that shouldn’t be wasted. The sheriff is refusing to let me distribute the vaccine, so even if your plan works, it’ll just buy some time until all of you die terrible deaths from the virus. I’m trying to make you understand that.”

He got up and walked away, without so much as another word, leaving his gun belt on the table.

I sat there for a moment, before Rolo returned to sit with me.

“Well, you tried,” he said.

“I think I just made things worse.”

He smiled.

“No, I don’t think you did. Kuros is a good man, but there are good men who are best suited to times of war and there are good men best suited to times of peace. I don’t need to tell you which of those Kuros is.”

His accent was a bit different than everyone else here, and I’d only now noticed.

“You’re from PanTech too,” I said.

“I am,” he replied. “Though I’ve been out for a long time. My wife passed away a few years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Did you have any kids here?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I would’ve loved that, but somewhere another things didn’t really align. One of us, not sure which, just wasn’t able to have them. This is my home now, and has been longer than most of these youngins have been alive. I’ll be one hundred and seven years old in three weeks. I’ve lived a long life.”

“One hundred and…” I trailed off, stunned. Though, I wasn’t sure why. PanTech employees could live nearly twice that long under the right conditions. When every normal age progression that led to a person’s death was corrected through genetic modification, the human lifespan varied massively between individuals. General Markus was well over one hundred and sixty, and looked even younger than Rolo. He was still participating in combat training and, when using his combat suit, was probably one of the most dangerous men at PanTech. Age really was just a number for some of these people.

He held a finger to his lips. “I tell everyone else I’m seventy-three. I’d appreciate it if you played along.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” I said. “General Markus was quite a bit older than you. Who knows how old the president was.”

“General Markus… now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long, long time. And could’ve done without hearing for far longer.”

“Me too,” I said.

“So, what do you plan to do now?”

“After Kuros turns himself in, there’s a good chance things will just go south even faster. He might just feel emboldened to go after everyone else even harder. The gun store that’s been locked up for now… lots of guns and ammunition there it would be a shame if no one was able to use.”

“And if it’s just bait?”

I shrugged. “It might’ve been bait to start with, but by that point he’ll have other things occupying his attention. Even though Kuros doesn’t want it to be used this way, I’d imagine the sheriff will be so beside himself with glee at capturing the leader of the Red Collar Boys that he’ll forget all about that place for a few days.”

“Kuros is going to want to disband the gang, Taylor.”

“You up for it?” I asked.

“You think I should lead these people as some kind of revolutionary? I don’t think that’ll work. Everyone here knows I’m from PanTech. It would be the same as you doing it.” He paused, waving Clarence back over. “But if you could get the bottle away from this one…”

Clarence stumbled back over, missing his seat and falling on the ground before pulling himself back up into the chair.

I frowned. Really?

“Can’t sleep again, Clarence?” Rolo asked.

Clarence smiled, but didn’t answer.

“Is he alright?” I asked, looking to Rolo.

“I’m right here, lady!” Clarence shouted, slurring his words almost beyond understanding. “Right as rain.”

“Rolo…” I said, hoping no further words would be needed.

Even if we could sober this man up, it would take more time than we had available. Based on those perpetually rosy cheeks and that gut of his, this was not a problem that could be solved in a day, or two, or maybe ever. I sometimes relied on miracles more than I should, but this was beyond even that.

“You don’t have enough faith in what a man can do when properly motivated,” Rolo said.

“I don’t want to argue with your wisdom, Rolo… but let’s just say I’m skeptical and don’t exactly want to rely on this option.”

“Clarence,” Rolo said. “If I were to tell you that, were you to put down that bottle and not pick it up again for a brief rest, you might finally get your chance at putting a hole in the sheriff’s skull… would that be something you could do?”

Clarence looked between the two of us, laughing at first. “Wait… you serious?” he asked.

“Dead serious,” Rolo said.

Clarence stopped laughing, his face taking on a hardness I’d not thought him capable of.

Quietly, he held the bottle and looked at it for a moment, as if conversing with a lover.

With a heavy sigh, he held it to his side and poured the contents on the ground.

“You better not be lying to me,” he said.

“There ain’t no guarantees, Clarence, but I sure ain’t lying to you. Like this young lady said, we’re looking our last chance in the eyes here. If this don’t happen soon, it ain’t happening.”

Clarence nodded.

“Good enough.”