Wyatt sprinted towards a small house. He had been running for an hour and was now close to a swamp. He was looking for a man named Elmer Clinton. Elmer would be willing to give people supplies for a small price. Wyatt searched the place as he ran. As he got closer to the house, he noticed a gunfight happening in the distance. There were a group of men on horses shooting at one man on his own. He seemed to be shooting a lot of them and killing them but Wyatt turned around and kept his focus on the house. The house was large by swamp standards. It wasn't a cottage but it wasn't an outhouse either. Wyatt then gained speed desperately. He was so close and he wanted to get out of the cold. He could still here gunfire in the distance but didn't catch another glimpse. He was now at the front door of the house. He knocked frantically until a small man with an eyepatch opened the door. "Are you Elmer Clinton?" Wyatt asked. The man looked at Wyatt coldly. "Who's askin'?" He asked.
"I'm Wyatt Ellery." He said.
"Why should I care?" Asked the man.
"I heard you could give me some supplies."
"You got the wrong place, son."
"Wait. Thee who holds the blade, may take it to the grave."
The man looked at Wyatt and sighed. "I suppose you in trouble with the wrong people." He said before letting Wyatt inside. Wyatt nodded and walked towards a window and looked outside of it. "So you are Elmer?" Wyatt asked. Elmer nodded slightly before getting a lantern and lighting it. "What's that for?" Wyatt questioned. Elmer didn't respond, he instead revealed a trap door from under a blanket. He grabbed the handle and revealed a ladder going down a hole. Wyatt looked at the door, mesmerised. "You comin' or not?" Elmer asked. Wyatt then followed Elmer down the ladder and closed the trap door.
As Elmer and Wyatt climbed down the ladder, Wyatt could hear a man's voice coming from below. "Who's that?" Wyatt asked as Elmer climbed off of the ladder. "Peter?" Elmer called out. Suddenly a large bald man appeared from the darkness. This man was huge. "Jesus!" Wyatt shouted nervously. Elmer quickly shushed him and walked over to Peter. "What are you lookin' for exactly?" Elmer asked Wyatt, who's eyes were locked onto Peter. "I need a repeater, some canned food and ammunition." Wyatt told him. Elmer nodded his head and approached Peter. "Pete, head on down that path and grab some canned beans." Said Elmer. "How many cans d'ya need?" Elmer asked Wyatt. "Four will be enough." Said Wyatt. Elmer nodded his head again and pointed down a dark pathway, directing Peter to his task. The room that Elmer and Wyatt were inside of was small. There was a small chair in the corner and two large pathways on both sides of the room. One led to food and other resources and the other led to guns and weapons. "Come on, I wouldn't trust him with the guns." Elmer said to Wyatt. As the men walked down the other pathway, Wyatt looked at Elmer confusedly.
"Who's that?" Asked Wyatt.
"That's Peter. I found him lying in the mud one day, wrestling an alligator. He broke the damn thing's neck and started to eat it's tongue. He was all alone, probably because he was as dumb as a rock. I felt bad for the fella, so I took him in." Elmer explained.
"So what does he do around here? He just sit down here?"
"Kind of, I have to keep him down here now."
"Why? He too big for the house?"
"No, no. I once had a customer. He came in here as drunk as a skunk, a beautiful woman next to 'im. Peter started to look at the woman up and down. The guy didn't like that one bit, so he swung a punch at Peter. Peter doesn't move an inch, but the guy's hand is all busted. Now, Peter starts to panic and looks at me for assistance. I tell the guy to leave because he don't get to walk in here and hit my friend. The guy then looks at me and punches me right in the stomach. Peter then did something I'll never forget. He grabbed the guy by the neck and in under a second ripped the guy's ear clean off. The woman then starts screamin' and cryin' and makes Peter even more nervous. So as she begins to leave, Peter grabs her dress and locks his hand tight around her mouth. I saw that woman's life flash before her very eyes. She then starts kickin' and floppin' around like a fish outta water and Peter keeps shushin' her. I try to get him off her but he don't listen. The woman can't breathe and the guy was on the floor screamin' in pain. So Peter killed the woman by restrictin' her breathin'. I then tell 'im to come down here and stay here until the place has settled down. The guy is still on the floor blubberin' away like a baby, blood everywhere. I could see the fella's ear on the floor next to 'im. He was gonna die of blood loss anyways so, I shot 'im in the head. So I keep Pete down here to prevent any incidents like that happenin' again and so far, we're good."
"Did the law ever find out?"
"No, they never did. Instead I had a woman come in about all the noise. She came from the small village up from the north, she musta been passin' by. I managed to hide the bodies before she saw anythin' so all's fine and dandy."
The men continued down the pathway before coming across a table and some drawers. "Repeaters, repeaters." Elmer mumbled repeatedly. Elmer then came across a large cupboard that leaned against the wall. "Ah! There we are." He said. Elmer opened the cupboard and revealed shelves holding guns. There were more than enough repeaters to choose from. There were also shotguns and revolvers. Wyatt searched the cupboard for his preferred choice. "What's your cheapest?" He asked Elmer. Elmer chuckled and looked at the repeaters. "The cheapest one I have is $30.00." Elmer told him. Wyatt thought for a minute and looked at the other repeaters. "I'll take it." He said. Elmer grabbed the repeater from the shelf and set it down on the table. "How many boxes of ammunition d'ya need?" Asked Elmer. Wyatt thought to himself again. "I'll take one box of repeater cartridges and two boxes of revolver's." Wyatt told Elmer. Peter came from around the corner, carrying the cans of food. "I got 'em Elmer, I got 'em." He said excitedly. Peter's overbite made it harder for Wyatt to understand what he was saying but Elmer understood clearly. "Okay, good job. Now go sit back down on your chair and count sheep." Elmer told him. Peter then scurried away with a smile and giggled quietly. "Count sheep?" Wyatt laughed. Elmer shook his head and chuckled, "Better then countin' bodies." He said.
Elmer handed Wyatt the repeater and then walked over to the table again. Elmer grabbed a brown bag and placed the food and the ammunition inside of it. "There ya go." Elmer said. Wyatt grabbed the bag and held it tightly. "Now, with the repeater and the food and the ammunition, that comes 'round to $42.50." Said Elmer. Wyatt then reached into his pocket and pulled out his money. Wyatt only had $100 on him so he had to think wisely about spending it. He handed Elmer the money needed and left Wyatt with $57.50.
"Thanks. Now we better head on up the ladder, I'm closin' now." Said Elmer. Wyatt nodded and followed Elmer down the pathway towards the ladder. "Can I ask you somethin'?" Asked Elmer. "Sure, go on." Replied Wyatt. Elmer sighed and looked around before asking, "What exactly are you runnin' from or, who are you runnin' from?"
"Well, I don't know if I should tell you." Said Wyatt.
"Don't worry, I won't tell nobody. I ain't no rat." Said Elmer.
"Are you sure you ain't gonna tell anyone?"
"Boy, if I were telling someone about all the people comin' in here asking for supplies, I wouldn't be here right now, I'd be in a cell rottin' someplace thinkin' 'bout what went wrong and who I wronged. Just tell me."
"Okay, well I used to work for the Manfredi Corporation. One day I found out, the factory I worked at was payin' us less. Now I go up to one of the managers of the factory floor and I ask 'im why the hell are we receiven' less pay. Now, he tell me that good ol' Alberto Manfredi has made a few decisions."
"What kind of decisions?"
"That's what I asked. And the manager says that Manfredi has decided to pay everyone less on account of a bank robbery that happened the other day. So since they need the bank and the robbers got away with a lotta money, we get less pay. So I go over to Mr Manfredi's mansion so I can a word with him. He luckily lets me in the mansion and so I explain to him why I'm there. I tell him that I have a family to feed and-"
"Do you have a family?"
"Hell no. I just told 'im that as a reason for getting paid. I ask him for more pay because I worked harder than anyone else and I deserved it. He laughs at me and kicks me out of the mansion. I lost it. I was so angry at the man, that I decided that I am going to do something about it. I wasn't gonna go on my goddamn knees and beg, that was what he wanted. So instead I got a gun and the next day I broke into his mansion and shot him whilst he was sleeping. I also killed two lawmen on the way outta there and now, I got a five thousand dollar bounty on my head."
"Jesus, that's a lotta money. You better be careful about where you wander." Said Elmer. The two men approached the ladder and climbed it, Wyatt went first. "Stay down here now Pete, have a rest." Elmer called out. Wyatt could here Pete grunt as if saying "Okay" to Elmer. As the men made it up the ladder, Wyatt looked down at Elmer. "What did you say? About watching where I wander?" Asked Wyatt. "Oh yeah, I live down here in the swamp. This place is close to a camp, up in the mountains. There is a gang that lives up there, a nasty bunch. Rumour has it, they kidnap you and take you back to their camp to be cooked and eaten. You better watch your step, don't walk into their territory." Elmer explained. Wyatt acknowledged Elmer and opened the trap door from above, pushing it with the palm of his hand. Wyatt helped Elmer up, before closing the trap door shut. "Well, it was pleasure doin' business with ya. I gotta close up. See you around and don't go near the mountains." Said Elmer. Wyatt shook Elmer's hand before leaving the house. Wyatt exhaled and then looked around. He could hear Elmer rummaging around inside of the house. Wyatt spotted a town off in the distance, at least he thought it was a town. He squinted his eyes for a better look and was positive it was a town. He had never seen it before but he knew it was the opposite way from where he came from. So he grabbed his bag and held his repeater next to his thigh and went on his way through the night sky.