The next morning, Clarence paired me up with a very large man who went by the name Big Barton. Why was no mystery. He was nearly seven feet tall, but despite his massive size was more than relieved to join me on the much safer looting mission. Big Barton was not built for shootouts, Clarence had said.

Riding in a wagon meant taking the long way around, which meant we had to leave early. Barton wasn’t much of a talker, but he warmed up eventually. I wanted to get at least a few words out of him before we arrived.

“So… how did you end up joining the Red Collar Boys?” I asked, fidgeting with my fingers.

“I’m wanted, and meant to hang. Long story,” he said.

I paused briefly, waiting for this long story to manifest. I was looking forward to it. We’d been riding at the speed of snails in this wagon for an hour already and had at least another hour ahead. The wagon trail looped around nearly the entire territory. No doubt designed this way by PanTech to make travel artificially long. The roads from residential and agricultural areas to the town could’ve easily gone fairly straight.

At least it wasn’t designed in a tight spiral, taking a full day to reach the town. Silver linings, Taylor. It could always be worse.

“I don’t mind hearing it,” I finally said, after a good ten minutes of clarification that he did not intend to continue.

“How about the short version? I killed somebody. You ever kill anybody?” he asked, his tone making it clear he was expecting me to say no.

“Unfortunately… yeah, more than once,” I said.

At first he laughed, but after looking down and reading my expression, he stopped.

“Sorry,” he said. “Fella wouldn’t leave my little sister alone. Cornered her one day near the house. After I heard her scream I went out there with the shotgun. For whatever reason, he didn’t back off. Walked toward me, aimin’ to take the gun away. Thought I wouldn’t shoot him, I reckon. I did. Man wasn’t right in the head.”

I nodded.

“That doesn’t seem like something a man should hang for,” I said.

“Sheriff’s brother. Man had a few brothers and each one was worse than the other no matter what order you lined them up.”

“That’s an interesting way to put it,” I said. “Was this related to the thing with Linus and the Sheriff’s son and other brother?”

“You guessed it,” he said.

“His brother and his nephew meant to ambush me. Get revenge. Linus shot them both as they approached.”

“That sounds like Linus,” I said.

“You knew him?” he asked, looking at me wide-eyed.

“I did, briefly. He made quite an impression on me,” I said, smiling. “You could say he’s become something of a muse for me.”

“I see, so that’s how Kuros found out he was… no longer with us. It pains me to know that. Linus was a wild one, but no better man could be found anywhere.”

“That’s been my experience, and I’ve been a lot of places by now,” I said.

Barton laughed. “I don’t doubt it.” He looked up toward the sun. “I reckon we’ll be there soon, and probably with not much time to spare. You ready?”

“I’m always ready,” I said.

Pulling up behind the gun store, you could hear the commotion from clear across town. Now, we only needed to wait until the ambush started. When we heard the fire of a pistol, we’d known it was time to start.

The wait was agonizing. At any moment, Barton and I knew we could be caught. If someone happened to wander behind the gun store, or if some of the deputies were patrolling, we’d have some awkward explaining to do. Not that they’d give us a chance to explain anything before tying us up or shooting us on the spot.

Barton began to sweat, his hands still on the reins.

“Hot day out, huh?” he said, his eyes darting around.

When the shot finally rang out, Barton nearly jumped out of his skin, lifting fully off the seat. I was surprised by how close the shot was. We’d almost certainly be within sight of the rescue party if we weren’t careful. Just had to hope they wouldn’t notice or would be too busy to come after us.

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Barton ran straight into the back, immediately turning and running back out with a case. So far, so good. I ran in behind him.

The gunshots echoed through the empty streets as I entered the store behind Barton. Shelves lined the walls, stocked with various firearms and ammunition. As I moved deeper into the store, more gunfire erupted from down the street. The sound was closer now, more intense. Despite my better judgment, I found myself distracted, wondering how the rescue was progressing.

That moment of distraction proved costly.

The blast came without warning. A deafening roar filled the air as buckshot impacted my chest at near point-blank range, the force sending me stumbling and falling to the floor. Pain exploded through my body, a searing agony that momentarily overwhelmed my senses.

Thankfully, my armor absorbed much of the impact, saving my life. But even with that protection, the pain was excruciating. I gasped for air, my vision blurring as I struggled to remain conscious.

"Well, well," a gruff voice said. "Looks like we caught ourselves a little thief."

Through the haze of pain, I saw a deputy standing over me, shotgun still smoking. Barton was already on the ground, hands behind his head, another deputy’s foot on his neck.

I tried to move, to activate my enhancer, but my body refused to cooperate. The shock of the impact had left me temporarily stunned. Before I could regain control, the deputy grabbed me, quickly binding my wrists and ankles with rope. He took extra time to tie his knots thoroughly.

"This one's using some kind of PanTech trick," the deputy called out. "Didn't penetrate, but it sure knocked the fight out of her."

Another voice, one I recognized as the sheriff's, responded from outside. "Good. Bring 'em both out here. We got ourselves some bait."

He’d outsmarted us. He knew we’d hit the gun store, and he knew this was a golden opportunity for just that. He’d put his focus there, and waited.

As they dragged me out into the street, I saw the full extent of the situation. Bodies littered the ground. Some were deputies, and some were Red Collar Boys. The rescue attempt had been hard going. In the distance, I could see Kuros still in chains, surrounded by armed men, some wounded.

Sheriff Eric stood in the center of the street, a satisfied smile on his face as he saw me. "Well, ain't this a pleasant surprise. Our little PanTech friend decided to join the party after all."

I struggled against my bindings, finally finding my voice. "Let them go," I said. I tried to shout, but it was barely a whisper as I continued struggling to regain the air in my lungs. "This isn't going to end well for anyone…"

The sheriff laughed. "Oh, I think it's going to end just fine for me. Boys!" he called out. "We got ourselves a special guest here. Why don't you tell your friends to come on out and surrender?"

They were going to use me as bait to draw out the rest of the Red Collar Boys. I couldn't let that happen.

"Don't listen to them!" I shouted, hoping my voice would carry to wherever Rolo and the others were hiding. "Get out of here! Forget about me!"

A hard slap across my face silenced me. "Now, now," the sheriff said. "That ain't very cooperative of you, nor is it very ladylike."

For what felt like an eternity, silence reigned.

The sheriff drew his pistol, holding it against my head. He cocked the hammer.

Slowly, figures began to emerge from various points of cover around the town. Rolo was at the front, his hands raised in surrender.

"Let the girl go," he said calmly. "This is between us and you, Sheriff. Be happy to settle it right now if you like, as gentlemen."

Eric's grin widened. "Oh, I don't think so. See, your little friend here is worth quite a bit more than the rest of you put together. PanTech's gonna want her back, I reckon."

Rolo's eyes narrowed. "PanTech is gone, Sheriff. You're living in the past. You’ve gone mad."

"We'll see about that," Eric replied. Then, without warning, he raised his pistol and fired. Rolo had no chance to respond, starting with his hands so far above his head.

The shot caught him square in the chest. I watched in horror as he crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide with shock.

"No!" I screamed, thrashing against my restraints. I pushed my enhancer to the limit. Blood ran down my wrists and dripped from my white knuckles. I couldn’t free myself. Not yet. Regardless, it was too late. Rolo was gone.

Chaos erupted once more. Gunfire filled the air as the remaining Red Collar Boys tried to fight their way out, realizing the sheriff had no intention of negotiating anything. But they were outnumbered and outgunned. Within minutes, it was over. Those who weren't dead were in chains.

The sheriff turned to his deputies. "Take the ones still breathin’ to the jail. We're gonna have ourselves a big ol' hanging tomorrow. Two for the price of one."

As they dragged me away, I caught sight of Kuros. His face was a mask of anguish and defeat. I wanted to say something, to offer some words of comfort or hope, but what could I say? I screwed up everything. If I hadn't gotten involved...

They threw me into a cell, my chest still aching from the shotgun blast. In the cell next to me, Kuros sat silently, his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, fighting against my tears. "This is all my fault."

He looked up, his eyes red-rimmed but surprisingly gentle. "No, it ain't. We all made our choices. Can't blame yourself for other people's actions. Blame lies squarely on my shoulders… don’t know why I thought this would ever work. The sheriff’s lost all his sanity."

Before I could respond, a commotion erupted outside the jail. Shouts and hurried footsteps echoed through the building. Moments later, the sheriff burst in, supported by two deputies. His face was pale, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Get the doctor!" one of the deputies shouted. "The sheriff's taken ill!"

As they rushed past our cells, I caught a glimpse of Eric's face. His eyes were glassy, unfocused. A trickle of blood ran from his nose.

The realization hit me. The virus. It was here. I already knew it had to be, but sometimes it would suddenly activate in bursts. As much as I didn’t feel any pity for the sheriff, I worried this might be a sign of something about to catch everyone unprepared.

I turned to Kuros, my voice urgent. "We're running out of time. The virus I told you about… it's already here, but it may activate in many people at the same time. If we don't act fast, everyone in this town is going to die."

Kuros stared at me for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Alright, Taylor. What do we do?"

As the sounds of panic filled the air outside, I tried to formulate a plan. Then, another deputy came crashing in.

“PanTech convoy approaching! And something’s tore ‘em up good!” he shouted.

The sheriff wiped the blood from his nose with his sleeve.

“Well let’s go say hello then.”