The two men emerged from the darkness of mine to the ruthless barrage of sunlight from the surface world. Far off in the distance the duo spotted a posse of riders moving ever closer to them. Arn, who was exhausted at this point, collapsed and fell unconscious on the hot sand.
Al was left to fend for himself against the emerging threat. He slowly motioned for his pistols and was ready to fire until he noticed the riders had badges on their chests
"Thank the Gods it's the deputies." Al said to himself
A dozen men rode up on horses with their guns drawn. One man instantly dismounted his horse and rushed over to Arn.
"Sheriff!" The man shouted
"We came as quickly as we could." One jumpy deputy said
"You came too late." Al told the deputy who didn't appear to be listening
"I just got myself a new gun and I'm ready to kill some baddies."
"There aren't any."
"Wha?"
"We killed them all."
"Man, really?"
"Yeah. They're all dead."
"Ah, I guess I got all hopped up for nothing then."
"Someone gets Arn. Let's get out of this damn some."
Back at the station Arn was drinking a cup of water at a table. Al was sitting on the opposite end of the table smoking his pipe.
"You think you could put that out? The sheriff needs assistance." One of the deputies said
"I could put it out, I won't though." Al replied
"You're nothing but a skeleton. You don't even have lungs."
"It's a habit I had when I was alive. Fuck off."
Arn took a deep breath then said,
"Alright, I think I'm okay."
"If you're okay. Then I see no reason to delay the hunt for my former squad. You said you knew where Royer was."
"Yeah...Royer lives in the town of Deadmont on the edge of the Kingdom."
"If you know where he lives, why haven't you killed him yet?"
"He applied for witness protection a few years ago when he agreed to testify against a bunch of old criminals."
"So he's being protected?"
"Not anymore. He violated the Witness Protection agreement. Now he's just some vagrant getting drunk and high off panhandling money."
"Perfect. No one will miss a vagrant. Let's go get him."
Arn stood up
"Okay, Ronol. You're in charge while I'm gone." He said
The deputy he was talking to saluted him. Arn then walked out of the door with Al. The two men embarked on their horses and rode through the desert until they reached the small oasis town of Spike Spring.
"There is Spike Spring. The only town with a train station in this region." Arn said
"Wow, Spike Spring. Last time I was here I robbed the local bank. You should've seen the newspaper headlines the next day. Trouble in Utopia is what they said." Al laughed to himself.
"Well hopefully they won't recognize you."
The duo passed the sign to the small town. On the sign it read
"Spike Spring. Little Utopia. Population: three thousand."
The town wasn't like any other desert town. It had a large oasis in the center and though it was surrounded by sand it was full of lush green forests inside the town limits. In the middle of the oasis was a perfectly white marble temple. Though surrounded by desert, the town's temperature was quite cool. As they walked through the town they noticed everyone seemed happy. It was a quiet little town with no police force. However, everyone there seemed to be armed. Al spotted a poster on the wall of one of the buildings.
"This is a holy town. All crimes will come with the penalty of death." The poster read.
They walked to the train station and boarded a train. The train then took off from the station. By the time they arrived in Deadmont it was the dead of night. Deadmont was more of a small city than a small town. There was a textile mill in the distance, and many apartment buildings and businesses made of brick rather than wood. The streets were lit by gas lanterns.
As they walked off the platform Al took in a deep breath of air into his empty chest cavity.
"Ah! That big city air. Glad I don't have lungs anymore." Al joked
"Do you have any memories about robbing the banks in this town?" Arn asked
"I did a stick up job here shortly after I got out of the army. Didn't go so well." Al answered
"What happened?"
"Nothing really, just didn't get as much money as I wanted."
The two men's conversation was then interrupted by the sound of a gunshot. They drew their firearms and turned towards the direction of the sound.
There they saw three men with black pants, red coats, and black bowler hats. On the ground was the dead body of a man in overalls. One of the thugs then dragged the body into a dark alley and the other two followed.
"What the hell was that?" Al asked
"Maas Warner's gang." Arn answered
"Maas Warner? The fat bald fuck with three chins? That Maas Warner?"
"Yeah. You know him?"
"Yeah. That bloated pig owes me money. He has a gang now?"
"Indeed. Well they're more of a military outfit than a gang. Maas Warner owns every opium den in the region. He extorts every bank and runs the largest protection racket I've ever seen."
"Sounds like he has more than enough to pay me back then."
"He also owns the most popular bar in town. Which is also a brothel and opium den. Our target is sure to be there."
"Perfect. I get to blast Royer, and show Maas how I deal with unpaid debts."