I didn't take the time to proof read this so it's probably a little rough.
Snakes and Scorpions
The desert heat makes my tongue feel like sandpaper in a mouth full of gravel. The scorching air attacks my lungs like smoke from a fresh cigarette. Today would be a good day to die, but not from the heat, and not until my job is done.
This town has fallen on hard times. They are called Land Grabbers. Sons of bankers trying to make a name for themselves, they ride into small towns full of empty promises and void of emotion. Bribery, coercion, and murder are the companions that help them on their way to becoming mayor. Once in position they tax the town dry and move on to their next target. The once pure white boots of the Land Grabbers are now stained crimson with the blood of the towns they’ve crushed underfoot.
Yeah, this town got crushed good. But in the desert when your foot comes down on the innocent sometimes you stir up a sleeping scorpion. I can feel the despair hanging over the town like a persistent storm cloud and see it in the eyes of the helpless citizens. Even my horse bows its head under the oppressive weight as I nudge it towards the local tavern.
I sit at the bar and ask for a beer. It’s been a long time since I had good alcohol, after the first swallow from the brown tankard I realize it will be even longer. The patrons of the tavern are staring knives into my back. Strangers are not welcome here, not after the last stranger took up residence in the big house on the hill.
I ask the bartender about the new mayor. He spits in disgust at the mention of the snake’s name and then tells me everything. He has six hired guns for his muscle. One scorpion against six rats, it hardly seemed fair, but then, I’m not the one who only hired six men. The bar tender tells me not to kill the mayor’s daughter as I pay for my tab. He says she is compassionate and will make a good leader for this town. I nod and make my way back out into desolation.
Each footfall stirs up dust as I walk resolutely up the hill. I open the door without knocking and shut it behind me, the town doesn’t need to see what goes on in here. The snake and his rats all in one room, fate has smiled on me this day. The mayor demands to know what I’m doing in his house. When snakes start making demands my pistol starts singing.
I wonder, briefly, what thought enters the rats mind just before my bullet? Do they think of their childhood, to a time of innocence? Do they think themselves invincible? No matter the thoughts while living, everything is erased when heads explode like ripe watermelons and you find yourself face to face with the devil.
Two of the hired guns fell like puppets with their strings cut before they had a chance to brandish their steel. I dive behind a bar as a storm of bullets shatter wine bottles above me. I lick my lips and taste sweet alcohol, but it turns bitter when I think if the blood that paid for it.
My grip tightens on my gun. I stand.
The fool with the shotgun reloads while in the center of the room. My gun reminds him to find cover next time. A rat fires a round from my left, burying the bullet into the wooden beam of a wall. It is clear by their aim that these men were hired for show only, never for an actual battle. Another bark from my gun and one more soul joins his friends in Hades.
A fifth hired gun stood ready to fire for vengeance, he fell defeated with only a collapsed face to show for his efforts. The last rat tried to run, my bullet caught up with him at the stairs.
Through it all, the mayor lay cowering behind his expensive sofa. As I approach he throws his hands up in submission and begs for mercy, they always do, but his pleas fall on deaf ears as I shove another round into the chamber and slam it closed. I aim with cold indifference, he trembles, I squeeze the trigger, the snake is no more.
As I turn to leave the mayor’s daughter appears on the stairs. I nod politely as I exit. I just killed another man, another father, but my conscience won’t bother me until tonight. That’s when the nightmares will start again.
The bullet rips through my back, exits my chest, and forces me to land face first on the dusty road before my ears even hear the crack of the gun. I roll onto my back and look up. Clutched in the beautiful hands of the mayor’s daughter is a smoking rifle, the expression on her angelic face tells me she did it out of sympathy.
I smile my thanks to her as I let my head fall back to the earth, this town will prosper once more. With that thought drifting through my mind I close my eyes and sleep. Forever.