Hell's Highwaymen

by Phillip Granath

  The men shared a quiet chuckle and as the banging continued and Danny added, “Go away, no one is home!”

  Outside of the door, Cesar watched as the scene broke down into further chaos. The men were crowded tightly around the doorway now, and inevitably fights were starting to break out as they pushed one another trying to get close enough to attack the door. His men were punching, stabbing and even striking the wood with stones, the whole thing was turning into an embarrassing mess. This wasn’t how the horde did things. Usually, they hunted on the wide open plain where their speed and numbers made snatching up souls easy. This time they had faced a real adversary, someone who was smart, cunning and not afraid to fight back. Cesar was now seeing what his vaunted gang was made of and he didn’t like it, not at all. Jamie stepped forward to stand beside Cesar, the gunfighter wearing that small smile again.

  “Well, that’s a new one,” Jamie commented off-handedly.

  Cesar turned his head and fixed the young gunfighter with a murderous glare. He casually pulled his Colt Python from his belt and pointed the gun at Jamie’s head.

  “I should kill you for this,” Cesar fumed.

  “You could, I don’t doubt that. But you won’t,” Jamie said coolly.

  “Why is that?” Cesar asked.

  “First off you need me to deal with Paradox,” he replied.

  “And second?” Cesar asked.

  “Cort hasn’t been dealt with yet. You think you’ve won because you have him cornered, but you’re wrong about that. You need me because I know him,” he said casually.

  The gang leader hesitated for just a moment and then lowered the gun.

  “If what you say is true, then what would you suggest be our next move?” Cesar asked.

  “We wait,” Jamie replied.

  “Wait?” Cesar demanded.

  “That’s what I said,” Jaime replied.

  “We wait for their wounds to heal, for their bullets to reappear? That’s the fucking advice you’re giving me?” Cesar demanded in frustration.

  Jamie nodded, “Yup.”

  “If you are trying to play some fucking angle again just so you can swoop in and save the fucking day pendejo…” the gang leader began.

  “No angle, just knowing how Cort thinks is all,” came Jamie’s reply.

  “Explain,” Cesar demanded.

  “If it was you in there right now, with half of your men shot to shit and unable to fight. What would you do?” he asked.

  Cesar paused for a moment as if considering, but in truth he had known the answer immediately. He was actually trying to decide if the question was somehow one of Jamie’s tricks. After finding none apparent he replied reluctantly.

  “I would kill the weaker ones and then let my best fighters drain them. I would make sure the men I had left were fully healed and ready to fight,” he said.

  Jamie nodded obviously expecting the answer.

  “Exactly, but that’s not what Cort would do. He cares more about his men than he does about himself.”

  “So, you think he’ll just wait for everyone to heal and try to hold us off weaker than he is now?” Cesar asked skeptically.

  Jamie laughed then and replied, “That’s what he is going to want to do, but you see, Cort is a soldier down to his very bones. He sees this whole thing as some kind of god damned mission. He’ll do whatever it takes to see it through.”

  “So…?” Cesar prompted.

  “He’ll be forced to choose. He faces us even weaker than he is and all but guarantees his little old mission ends right here. Or he breaks his moral code and drains his own men,” Jamie explained.

  “His men, they no trust him after that,” Cesar said now seeing the beauty of Jamie’s plan.

  Jamie nodded, “Those boys have been together for a long time. It’s going to rattle them to the core if he starts killing his own.”

  “They may kill him for us and hand the boy over,” Cesar pointed out.

  Jamie was grinning broadly now, “Maybe, either way, all we have to do is wait. Then when your men are all healed up and their bullets back in their chambers we can figure the same has happened to Cort and them boys. He’ll be forced to make his decision, one way or another they will be weaker if we wait. Then we hit them hard and dig them out of there.”

  “You are a truly devious son of a bitch Jamie, more so than I ever gave you credit for. I always knew you were a dangerous man but this, this is some deep-thinking evil kind of shit right here.” Cesar said also grinning now.

  “What can I say? Everyone’s got a talent, and mine just happens to be hurting folks,” Jamie replied.

  Cesar nodded not doubting the gunfighter for a moment.

  “It’s a good plan, we will wait,” Cesar said and then after a pause added, “But then we will have a talk with Cort.”

  “What?” Jamie blurted in surprise.

  “We will try and negotiate, see if we can get them to hand over the boy,” Cesar explained.

  “He’ll never go for that!” Jamie said shaking his head.

  It was now Cesar turn to smile.

  “Maybe or maybe not, but If he won’t perhaps one of his men might. Especially if what you say is true and he has, how did you put it? Broken their code. He may be willing to sacrifice them all to finish his mission, but are they going to allow it?”

  Corts' eyes flickered open, and immediately he tried to sit up. He sucked in a sharp breath and his body was racked with pain. It wasn’t the sharp stabbing pain that one feels from recent injuries that he felt but the pain one gets from old injuries and tired limbs, the priest arrived at his side a moment later.

  “Careful Lieutenant, take it easy,” Father Callahan said.

  “What happened? Where are we?” Cort demanded.

  “We’re…well we’re in the house, my house as it were,” the priest replied.

  Cort blinked a few times and then sat upright looking around the room. He was laying on the floor of what appeared to be in a very old and dusty kitchen.

  “I thought the house was just a ruin, all the rooms collapsed,” he said slowly.

  “All but the kitchen and about half of an attached dining room it would seem,” Father Callahan said and then after a brief pause added.

  “And perhaps a bedroom upstairs.”

  Cort nodded slowly, “We all make it?”

  “We did,” the priest replied.

  “Show me,” Cort commanded.

  With some effort and more than a little help from the priest, Cort found his way to his feet. He felt tired, bone tired and looking down at his yellowed and withered hands he knew that this had been a very close call. Father Callahan offered the cavalryman a hand, but Cort waved him away.

  “Show me to my men,” he said simply.

  The priest just shook his head and then led him out of the kitchens and through a doorway. In the past, a door had divided the kitchens from the western dining room, but it was evident now that those doors had been violently and recently ripped away. As the two men entered Cort’s eyes adjusted to the darkness. The room was about 50 feet long before it was cut short in a wall of debris where the second floor had collapsed in on the first. The rider’s lifeless mounts were aligned against one wall standing obediently in silence. Along the outer wall, three narrow windows filled the room with gray light. Oliver stood next to one his pistol at the ready while Shinji sat crossed legged beneath another, his bow in hand. Even here in the shadows, Cort could tell things hadn’t gone well for his men after he had died.

  “Oliver, report!” Cort commanded.

  The Dragoon’s head came up with a wide grin, and he replied, “Glad to see you back up and around Leftenant.”

  “Cort…is good!” Shinji said with a grin.

  The cavalryman couldn’t help but smile and then more seriously added. “This is a fine tomb you’ve picked out for us.”

  “Well it was either get laid to rest here or out there where Jamie and that Horde of vermin could piss on our corpses,�
� Oliver replied.

  “Not Horde,” Shinji pointed out again.

  “Yeah, yeah you told us. They ain’t real Mongolian’s, now calm down you bastard,” Oliver said.

  Even feeling like death warmed over Cort couldn’t help but grin at the exchange and then asked. “What’s the situation?”

  “No so much to tell really. We all got in here, barely. Got the door sealed behind us thanks to that boy’s quick thinking. Those bastards pounded and threatened and screamed at that door for a spell, but she held firm. Then they got a touch smarter and tried for these windows. We had us a bit of a scrap keeping them out, but we managed. We’ve sealed them up as best we could with what was on hand,” Oliver explained.

  Cort nodded and glancing around the room asked, “And where is Danny now?”

  “He thought maybe he could climb up to the roof through the rubble. So, I sent him to go have a look and make sure none of them bastards could sneak in on us from above,” Oliver replied.

  “You did what?” Father Callahan demanded.

  “I sent him to go have a look see is all,” Oliver said defensively.

  “In my house? You sent him upstairs in my...” the priest began but then paused and took a breath before continuing.

  “What if he gets captured? Or killed? He is the whole damn reason we are here! You risk him, and you risk everything!” Father Callahan said now shouting.

  This time it was Cort that raised a hand to steady the young priest, “Easy now Padre.”

  Oliver held up his hands, “It ain't like the boy is defenseless. You should have seen him, Cort, he got a hold of your saber at first to cut away the vines blocking the door. Then when they was trying for these windows, he was hacking away like a regular squaddie he was.”

  “Like a what?” Cort asked.

  “Like a Lancer, the boy is made of stronger stuff than we gave him credit for is all I’m saying,” Oliver explained.

  “That’s no matter! You have no right to…” Father Callahan shouted and undoubtedly would have continued if Danny hadn’t clambered down through the wreckage and rejoined them just then.

  “Cort, you're awake!” the teen exclaimed upon seeing the cavalryman.

  “I am,” the Cort replied with a grin.

  “And I hear you’ve been a real help while I’ve been out.” Then it was now Danny’s turn to grin.

  “What did you find upstairs lad? Is there any other way in?” Oliver asked.

  “I’m not sure. I climbed up through that mess and found a hallway. It leads to just a single door, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get the fucking thing to budge.” he reported.

  “Watch your language young man! The rest of us may be damned to hell, but you still have a chance for something better,” Father Callahan warned sternly.

  “Now I want you back in the kitchen, you are to stay away from the violence and swordplay from now on! Do you understand me?” the priest commanded.

  Danny looked around at the group for a moment and then lowering his head reluctantly went back into the kitchen, like a child banished to his room.

  “Now come on, was that really necessary?” Oliver demanded.

  “It was, it’s for his own good!” Father Callahan snapped back.

  The priest turned and headed back into the kitchen to join Danny leaving the rest of the riders looking at one another in confusion.

  “And stay off of the second floor! There is nothing up there to concern any of you!” he shouted back over his shoulder.

  Cort just shook his head, the priest’s behavior was definitely odd, but they had more pressing things to worry about at the moment. The cavalryman sat down heavily against the wall with a groan.

  “Why haven’t they pushed us out of here yet?” he asked.

  “Starting to wonder on that myself,” Oliver replied.

  “Many…wounded,” Shinji pointed out.

  “True enough we gave them a good lick. He could be waiting for all of his men to heal and the dead ones to come around as well,” Oliver nodded in agreement.

  “Could be, but Cesar never was the sentimental type. I don’t think his dead would be given a chance to come back,” he said.

  “You think he would just drain them then?” Oliver asked.

  Cort nodded, “I do, then be back on us before we had time to spit.”

  “Well, they haven’t hit us yet, why the wait?” Oliver asked.

  “I don’t know, and that worries me. Cesar has always been as devious and as cutthroat as they come, but now he has Jamie whispering in his ear. That means he knows where we go, he knows what we’ll do, he knows us,” Cort said thinking aloud.

  “Well we’re still alive and kicking right now, aren’t we? I mean so to speak,” Oliver said grinning.

  Cort couldn’t help but return the big man’s grin, “That’s right.”

  “We live…we fight,” Shinji said simply.

  “Well that much is true, we’re not walking bits of dried meat just yet. But how much did it cost us? How are you each doing, I mean really?” Cort asked in a tone that demanded an honest answer.

  “Well you took the worst of what Jamie was dishing out back there, that’s for sure. I caught a couple balls to the arm and shoulder. It hurts me some now, but I can still fight,” Oliver explained rolling his shoulder as he spoke.

  Cort nodded and then turned to Shinji. The warrior crouched beneath a window, and even in the shadows, Cort could see the lines on his face and the sunken shadows around his eyes. Shinji had been badly hurt early in the fight, and he looked beyond tired now.

  “Shinji, how are feeling?” Cort asked.

  “Shinji good…ready for fight,” the warrior said, but the tone seemed forced.

  “Shinji, how are you feeling really?” Cort asked.

  “Shinji, not good…feel like…shit,” he replied honestly.

  “I feel the same,” Cort admitted and then after a pause added.

  “Like I’ve been beaten like a second-hand mule.”

  The three warriors shared a small chuckle, and then Oliver spoke.

  “I imagine we would be feeling that pull awful fiercely right about now if it wasn’t for young Danny.”

  Cort nodded in agreement and then said, “Cesar is going to hit us again that much is obvious. But when he comes his men will be fresh and we will just be weaker.”

  “He could keep doing that until we are nothing but dried up old corpses in here,” Oliver pointed out bitterly.

  “We are going to need to change the math somehow,” Cort said reluctantly.

  Just then a shout came from outside of the ruined house, “Cort are you still alive in there, you old bastard?”

  Cort shook his head and moving to the window shouted back, “You’re going to have to try better than that mi amigo!”

  “I can see that my friend. I admit I underestimated you and your Caballeros, something I won’t do again.”

  “Or maybe you just overestimated your new friend Jamie?” Cort shouted back with a grin.

  For a moment came no reply and Cort guessed he had struck a nerve.

  “My friend this is foolish with us shouting back and forth like old women in the street. How about we both come out and talk face to face. No funny business, you have my word!” Cesar shouted.

  The cavalryman didn’t miss a beat, “Your word is for shit Cesar, we both know that!”

  The gang leader laughed and replied, “It’s true!”

  All was quiet for a moment, and then Cesar spoke again. “How about we cut out the bullshit then. I don’t care about you or your men. I just don’t give a shit. You send the boy out, and we will take him and leave, then perhaps we will finish this some other time, some other place.”

  Cort went quiet for a moment, and he and Oliver exchanged a quick glance.

  “He means to hand him over to Paradox himself then,” Oliver pointed out.

  “It looks like it, and there is only one place he could have gotten that idea from,”
Cort replied.

  “I don’t think Jamie has told you everything, Cesar. He is playing you for a fool, my friend.” Cort shouted.

  “Let him chew on that for a while,” Cort said quietly to Oliver.

  At first, the gang leader didn’t reply, and then he shouted back, “No, probably not. But it makes no matter. You give me the boy, or I kill you all and drain you, simple as that!”

  Cort hesitated for a moment and then shouted back, “I need some time. I have to talk to my men. That’s how we do things.”

  “I’m not an unreasonable man, I give you some time. But when I come back you had better have an answer for me!” Cesar replied.

  “Agreed,” Cort said.

  The cavalryman stepped away from the window and then sat back down heavily against the wall.

  “Fuck,” he said simply.

  Oliver nodded, “Agreed.”

  “Go get Danny and the Padre. It’s time to make some hard choices,” he said.

  A few minutes later all of the riders had gathered in the ruined dining room. Cort looked around the circle at his dirty and gaunt-faced men. It had been quite a while since any of them had drained a soul and most had suffered wounds since then. He suddenly had no doubt that with Danny’s calming effect that they would all be feeling the overwhelming pull to walk to the horizon. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

  “I’m assuming you all heard Cesar’s offer?” Cort began.

  “We heard, but we aren’t actually considering it, are we? We’re not really going to hand Danny over to them?” Father Callahan asked.

  “No, we’re not, but we still need to make some tough decisions. The long and short of it is that we can’t hold them off for long as weak as we all are.”

  Cort paused for a moment glancing around the room and then opened his mouth to speak, but it was Danny that finished the thought for him, “You need to feed on someone.”

  Cort looked the teen in the eye and then nodded slowly.

  “It has to be me, doesn’t it?” Danny asked.

  “No, no it doesn’t!” Father Callahan said standing suddenly and stepping forward.

  “Drain me, it makes the most sense,” he demanded.