"Guns for Liquor"

1868, somewhere in Arizona

                                   I

Chris Stewart really doesn't deserve any kind words spoken for him. He wasn't very smart nor was he honest for that matter. He would visit the saloon more than his own home. He'd slur insults toward women and men alike. He mostly would go to the saloon drink his life out then pick fights with the other men that came in. Chris was the brother of sheriff Roger Stewart, you served in the war while Chris was a farmer. Chris had spoken dully of his older brother even though he actually was an honorable man unlike himself. Chris was about in his late thirties, tall, hairy, and very dirty. His clothes were dry and dusty at times when he'd return to the saloon everyday. 

   Chris had been at his regular duties of drinking one day. The saloon was very empty that Tuesday and he was taking advantage of it. Drink after drink he rushed down his throat taking no attention to a gentleman watching him. This man looked pretty old and his old grey hairs made you not want to deny it. The man wore a large overcoat along with his vest and tie. Eventually after Chris's seventh drink the man stood and approached him. Chris slowly turned around to see the man smile in his direction. "Well hello there runt." Chris said. The man laughed and took one of Chris's drinks. Chris's face melted down into a cold frown. "Look familiar friend?" The man said, his voice deep and rusty. "You not from here huh?" Chris said. The man shook his head no and chugged the glass back. Chris then violently punched the man in the stomach. The blow dropped the man to the wooden dusty floor on his knees. "Cause if you were you'd know better." Chris said as he backed up from the runt. The man stood to his feet and smiled, his teeth brown and black. "You killed my cousin Thomas Cole about a month back, he was unarmed and with his family." The man yelled. "What do you want a dollar?" Chris shrieked. "I want your head is what I want." The runt huffed. Chris smiled and nodded his head. "Nope I'm sorry." Chris said and then preceded outside. 

  It was nice and sunny out. No clouds in sight, as nice a day as it could be. The man followed Chris outside, his gun drawn at his back. "Stop you bastard!" The man yelled. The townspeople quickly were shocked that he'd raise his voice at him, the drunk, the crazy, Mr. Stewart. The wind began to pick up and Chris turned around to see the gun looking back at him. "Nice weapon you got there sir." Chris said calmly as he was about to drink his bottle of liquor. The runt fired and the bullet blew the bottle open releasing the rum to the dirt. Chris tossed the rest of the bottle to the side and smiled again. "Okay then I guess I can't stop you from your ways." He said. Chris nodded and then spread out a bit. The man put his gun back in his holster and lined up with him.

   "You sure you wanna be maggot food sir?"Chris asked. "You sure you wanna be?" The man answered back. Chris took off his hat and lowered it to the ground. Both men breathing heavily as each held their palms over the handles of their guns. Chris closed his eyes for a bit then opened and with great speed pulled his gun free. He fired twice and struck the runt in his ear and in his neck. The runt's head snapped back and he flew to the dirt dead as a door nail. Chris lowers his gun then walked up to the runt. He looked upon everyone and began to undo his belt. The townspeople gasped at the sight of him pulling his pants down and from there he began to pee on the runt. The sheriff had seen enough and speed walked up to his brother and punched him. Chris fell to the side and the sheriff pulled him up by his jacket and carried him to the sheriff's office. 

  Minutes later Chris and the sheriff sit in his office silent but Chris a bright smile upon him. "The hell you doin Chris?" Roger asked. "Looked I walked away like you say and still a fight, I can't just let him shoot me." He replied. "Dammit, Chris that's the second guy this month been killed over your horseshit and I'm sick of it, you hear me?" He yelled. Roger stood up from his rusty wooden desk and looked through his window at the bright town outside. "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to place you under arrest this time. I can't keep convincing the people that you'll do well and eventually be a help but I know and you do too that's not gonna happen." Rodger said. Chris's face slumped again and he huffed." So jail this time?" He asked." Either that or you be hung tough guy, which would you have?" He answered back." The hanging sounds exciting actually." Chris murmured back. Rodger quickly turned around and grinned at him. Chris still smiling stood from his clunky chair and scratched his head." What do you want me to do?" Roger asked. "Leave me to my nature habitat." He answered." Which is what, shooting up whatever dumbfuck picks a fight with you, pissing on people, and drinking all damn day?" Roger yelled." That sounds about right." He replied. "Look you bastard I'll give you one more chance, you fuck up again and I'll let them decide your fate." Rodger said. Chris hugged his brother and took the bottle of his liquor off the shelf on his way way outside.

                                 II

It only lasted barely two days at the most. Chris spent most of this time inside his room laid down on his bed. He finally decided it was a fine day and he preceded to the local clothing store just across the street. Inside the store it was packed with coats and mittens of sorts including new saddles and tobacco. Chris was busy looking at a nice brown leather coat. He opened the coat up and decided to try it on when he happened to notice a nice young woman. She was certainly a foreigner probably from the east coast based on her clothing. She was dressed in a nice olive colored dress along with a cool grey hat. Chris had caught her eye but hadn't uttered a word to the woman. She instantly upon seeing him set a grin of disgust and turn in the other direction, her attention towards a set of boots now. Chris didn't like this and began to walk towards the woman. She could hear his boots thumping towards her and she made her way towards the exit but he stopped in front of her. "Hello sir." She whispered, her head down. "Why the look dear?" He asked. "Excuse me sir but what look?" She replied. Chris smiled and laughed a bit. "You won't even look me in my face uh?" He questioned. "Leave me please." She begged. Chris smiled even brighter now. 

   Chris turned his attention to the people who were all looking him, their faces just as scared as the young woman. Just as Chris was about to let her move past him another man gripped his shoulder and punched him. "She said let her be!" He protested. Chris took the punch only stepping back a bit, looking at the man. The man was young also and dressed professionally, his clothes all perfectly tailored and fit. His had a sort of baby face but a bit of facial hair that showed maturity. Chris wiped the blood from his teeth and smiled. "Who'd you be buster?" Chris asked. "Nobody sir just a stranger." He said. "Even strangers have names buck what's yours." Chris asked. "Earl Kasper White." Earl said. "Nice name for a tombstone." Chris said as he pulled his gun and fired on the man. The first shot went God knows where but the second hit Earl in his shoulder, sending him to the floor. The people inside all cried in horror or screamed. Chris simply stood there expecting something to happen but instead he just ran. He ran outside to his horse and climbed on. The deputy sheriff saw this and instantly pulled his gun out and chased after him firing without question. Chris's horse sped off with little or no ease. The deputy fired one shot that hit his hip and Chris cried in pain, but it didn't stop him. He simply turned and fired back and the shot struck the deputy in the neck, his body dropped in the dirt.

  Chris made no stops at all nor did anyone chase him surprisingly. The desert around him was lonely and bright, the sun shining hot on the landscape. Eventually Chris's horse grew tired and he stopped at a small canyon. The horse slowly walked along side him as they got closer. Minutes later Chris sat on a small rock, his head down breathing hard and sweating bullets. He decided to set up camp. He took down his tarps and blankets and laid them out. He found a couple sticks for a fire from a bush and started it. He hadn't eaten yet and was a little hungry, his stomach growling every minute or so. His wound was mostly on his mind though, he hadn't stopped the bleeding either, it simply continued to bleed on the dirt. He looked down at it with a bit of wonder, not to why it was bleeding but because the bullet was visible. He slowly got up trying to not make it hurt so much and went to his saddle pack. He opened up the pocket and pulled out a bottle of liquor and a knife. He walked back and sat down on the rock and huffed. He looked down at it and began to pick the bullet out with the tip of the knife. Chris's face began to shake as the knife dug into his flesh, peeling the skin off along with the bullet. It finally came free and it fell to the dirt. 

  Chris was breathing heavy and gasping as he drunk some of the whiskey. He took another sip then poured some on the wound. He whimpered in intense pain and screamed a bit, then he heard a step. He quickly drew up his pistol and before him about ten feet away was a man. He was trying to hide behind a bush." Come outta there!" Chris yelled. The man stood slowly up revealing himself. He was about as young as Earl but a little more older. He were a grey overcoat along with a nice hat. His face was complemented with a silky brown beard. "Who are ya?" Chris asked. And still the man said nothing. Chris got a bit annoyed and fired a shot in the air, the sound cracked around them. Chris pointed the gun back at him then his face nodded." Names Duke." He said." Duke what?" Chris asked. "Duke that's all you need to know." He said. Chris grinned and stood up. "Okay smartass what do you want." Chris said. "Well your brother authorized me to capture you and bring you back home, you're done and if you ask me I think it's about damn time. You gon and killed more men than I can count and the sheriff has been putting it off. Originally I was gonna shoot ya and say you tried to attack me but I figure I'd be a good guy and bring you back on your feet." Duke explained. "Well you thought wrong." Chris said slowly. Duke with bolting speed drew his gun and fired, striking Chris in his gun hand. Chris quickly flew to the side and Duke simply walked up to him. He kicked the gun away from Chris's range and punched him square in the face. "Come here you." Duke said as he pulled Chris up by his hair. Chris still was in pain and Duke didn't care, he squeezed his wrists as he cuffed him and pushed him towards his horse. "I'll make sure you're hung high enough." Duke said as he carried Chris and lifted him onto the horse. Duke got on after and began to slowly ride out of the canyon. "At this pace we'll be back by morning." Duke gladly says.

                                III

   The night was long and cold, Chris was laid stomach first on his wound and his hand was bleeding steadily. Duke hadn't said even a word to Chris after leaving and he was pretty focused on the road up ahead. Duke's horse was strong and buff, his breathing was settle and free as the crossed the desert. Chris by the looks of his sunken face was bored and pretty angry." You mind speaking or even telling a story maybe, it's a long way back into town." He asked. Duke smiled and thought for a second." Okay have you ever heard the tale of the Northton brothers?" Duke asked." If I hear the dumb ass take again, it's completely made up." Chris yelled. Duke began to laugh." You really don't think there's a bit of truth at all to it?" Duke asked." Forgive me but no." Chris answered." What if I showed you the bounty handbill of Solomon Northton? Would it change your mind?" He asked." Let me see it then." Chris said. Duke slowed the horse and reached in the saddle pack and low and behold he pulled it out. He looked at it for a second then turned around showing Chris the bill." Well shit I guess it is true." Chris said his eyes big." Yea the boy got himself in trouble about a month back and I happen to pick it up." Duke explained as he put it back in his pocket." You should consider maybe going after him and I'll help..." Chris was saying but instantly the whole horse collapsed to the ground. Duke pulled his gun free and looked around confused and scared as to what just happened. 

  The horse seemed to have been shot but by who it seemed impossible to find. Duke quickly unlocked Chris's cuffs and helped him up." The hell is going on?" Chris yelled."hell if I know, I'm right here with you." Duke assured him. Then the sound of gunfire came but nothing. Duke quickly fail to his knees, he'd been shot in the back."hold it there you two!" A voice yelled out. "Put your gun down or I'll put you down!" The voice yelled again." Who's there!" Chris yelled. "Snake." Another voice yelled. Chris's face was a bit confused and he stood to his feet, his hands up." Throw the weapon!" The voice yelled. Duke huffed and tossed it to the side. Instantly after doing this the bodies of three men stood from the dirt, cloths over them serving as a type of camouflage. The men seem to be bandits and by these techniques very experienced. 

   The first man oddly enough is black, he wears only a vest on top of a nice dress shirt. The second man was very tall and wore a long green coat wielding a sawed off shotgun. The third man looks like the second only not as tall. He is a bit buff and looks extremely annoyed. "Get up both of you." The black man yells. Duke slowly recovers to his feet and walks toward the men and Chris follows." What do he do with these two Snake?" The third man asks. Snake smiles and takes the second man's shotgun and knocks both Duke and Chris with the butt." We bring them with us, make it quick." Snake answers. 

   The cabin that Chris and Duke are taken to was extremely dirty. The ceiling was busted and the wooden walls rusted and dusty. In the middle of the cabin was a long dinner table along with books and guns. Shotguns, pistols, and bullets were scattered across the table. Snake, Dave, Alex,Wyatt, Fredrick, and Wyatt's brother James sat at the table while Chris and Duke were tied to a pillar next to the fireplace. Fred stood up from the table, he was the leader of the infamous Hungerholt gang. A gang that was very popular in the area and very deadly, they had killed an estimated ten plus marshals and raided a couple Indian camps. Fred was very smart but you couldn't tell by looking at him. His hair was funky and he had dirt on his face, and his clothes were worn down. "Well who are you?" Fred asked Chris." My name is Chris Stewart." He answered. His hand still bleeding. Fred noticed this and gave a silk smile." What happened to your hand there?" He asked. Chris looked down at it and tried to think but nothing." Accident." He said. Fred nodded his head and turned towards the gang, and laughter began to start." Do you know who we are?" Fred asked." No idea honestly." Chris said. The gang laughed even harder." Who's your friend?" Snake asked. Duke was still a bit unfocused, his injury getting the best of him. The wound on his back was bleeding and it was dripping along the wooden pillar down to the floor." He looks a little hurt Snake." Fred said." Who shot him?" He asked." Me." Snake said in a low voice as he began loading his revolver with bullets."why might I ask?" Fred said. Snake looked up at him and smiled." Oh sorry I forgot you're a crazy fuck." Fred said as he laughed." That still leaves my question unanswered, who are you?" He said. Duke looked up at him and then looked toward Snake, and Snake blew him a kiss." My name is Duke and this here is my partner Chris, we've been friends since childhood. He was helping me catch the wanted Solomon Northton." Duke answered. The gang instantly began to laugh again." Did you say Solomon Northton?" Dave asked. Duke nodded and Fred shook his head in disbelief." You weren't sent to kill us?" Fred asked." No we really weren't, I think you guys believe us to be marshals." Duke said." You'd be right." Snake." Where's my badge then?" Duke asked. The room grew silent, the men's faces a little enlightened." I guess we haven't actually seen it." James said." That doesn't mean he didn't hide it. He probably knew he'd be captured and figured he should hide it so as not to be found out." Fred explained." Oh come on!" Duke yelled." We don't know you pal sorry." Fred said. 

  The gang then decided to go outside and talk among themselves leaving Duke and Chris inside alone. The sounds of the fire crackled and snapped and Chris and Duke were worn out. "You see that table, if you kick it enough I think you can get a gun to fall down, then shot them, a bullet for each of them, and make it count." Duke instructed him. The table wasn't too far from Chris's legs and he stretched them out towards it. He kicked but nothing, then kicked again then a gun started to lean off the side." That's it just a little more..." Duke was saying until gunfire echoed in the room. Snake had shot Duke in the face, the bullet hiring him in between his nose and eye. Chris stopped and looked in horror at his death. Snake clicked the hammer on the gun again, aiming at Chris next until Fred and the gang came in." Stop you." Fred yelled." Why'd you fire?" Dave asked." These boys was trying to muzzle on out and kill us, weren't ya Chris?" Snake hissed. Chris shook his head no but Fred laughed at this." I actually don't blame you there, I'd try to escape myself." Fred said. Fred grabbed and knife off the table and cut both men free." I figure you'll be my message to the marshals." Fred said as he looked at Alex and nodded. He walked forward and hit Chris in the head with the butt of his rifle.

                                 IV

The night was still young and the Hungerholt gang was taking advantage of it. They had taken Chris and the dead Duke to the middle of the desert. Fred had made Snake, Alex, and Dave dig a grave. They tossed Duke in the pit first then Chris second, their bodies tumbling down the dirt. Chris woke up upon hitting the ground. He looked up to see at the top of the grave the gang." Well if you live tell the marshal we miss him and we'll pay him a visit real soon." Fred said then one by one the gang left. Chris still laid there in shock of the whole incident, his face emotionless. 

  The next morning Chris still laid there with the same face. He hadn't slept at all and looked terrible. He looked down at his hip and the wound had stopped bleeding completely. His hand wasn't that bad either so he stood up. He began checking Duke's body for anything and only found the handbill and a knife. He managed to climb out of the whole and began to walk the hot landscape. His head sweaty and his body worn down, he continued to walk along in the middle of nowhere. Eventually he made his way to another town. He stopped at a local saloon and simply sits on a small stool. He notices a man walk in with a another and Chris's face turns a bit concerned. The older man is merely about in his last thirties and has a well groomed beard and a nice olive jacket and the other looks young as he as simply a vest with a holster on him but looks unexperienced with a gun. Chris pulls out the handbill and holds it up, revealing the man to be Solomon, yet looking a bit different but close enough. Both the men leave the saloon and ride off, as Chris watches. Chris notices a man next to him with his horse. Chris calmly walks up to him and punches him, knocking him out. Chris quickly leans and grabs his pistol and his rifle. He gets on the horse and swiftly follows the two men out of town. 

   Chris watches them from a hilltop as both the men raid a local home. The gunfire echoing through the desert. Both men come out the house then proceed elsewhere, in which Chris gets on his horse and follows. Chris slows his horse upon releasing the next stop is the famous Jefferson ranch. It's large with a big barn and a decent sized mansion next to it. Chris can hear another collection of gunfire begin then a scream. He runs up to a small hill and waits. Below on the barn the wanted man outguns surprisingly the gang members Alex, Dave, James, and Wyatt. They lay dead, wasted at the hands of the man. Chris huffs and aims at the man and fires as he sees him running towards the house. The shot connects and he fails to the dirt, face down. Chris runs off the hill and down to the barn, running past the dead gang members, their faces all twisted. 

  The man behind to crawl a little, pulling himself closer to the house, but stops hearing Chris's footsteps behind him." You Solomon Northton?" Chris asks." Afraid not, I'm his bastard brother Henry Smith." Henry says. Chris lowers his rifle in disbelief. Henry sees this as his chance and turns his body around fully to fire his sawed off shotgun. The blast hits Chris Stewart square in the face. The buckshots tear through the flesh, snapping his head violently and his body into the dirt, dead. 

                            The End