“Look at that! I took his arm off!”
“Don’t kill him!” Emerson says back.
“I ain’t gonna kill him. I was just making sure he stays put but shit…he don’t give a rats ass bout his arm. He’s still walking up that hill!” Joey staggers up the hill before he falls down and rolls back to the bottom. “Well there Joey, since you’re down here tell me where Clive is or you’re gonna be blown to bits,” Wallace tells him as he loads his gun. Emerson is now loading the final group of women and children into the last wagon. As they make their way to the wagon, a woman is shot. “Momma!” a little boy yells as his mother is shot.
“Dammit! Bring the wagon over here!” Emerson yells. “We aren’t going to make it all the way over.” More shots are fired as the little boy is nearly hit. Emerson jumps and knocks him out of the way. He dusts the boy off and picks him up and goes to tend to the woman but she is already dead. He sighs and puts the crying boy into the wagon. Alonzo makes his way back to the wagons.
“That the last of em?” he asks. “Yeah…damn near didn’t make it. A woman got shot in the process and that boy there almost got hit too. Damn shame. Hey, where’s Clive?” Alonzo asks him.
“I don’t know. Think they took him. I’m having Wallace ask Joey over there now.” Wallace makes his way back over to the two men, dragging Joey with him.
“Tell em what you just told me, you rotten ass piece of shit!”
“Your...friend...is...alive…but...not…for long,” Joey says back. Wallace drives the gun barrel into his back.
“Not that. The other thing!”
“Javier’s...coming...and...screw...you...both.”
Joey then takes out a knife and stabs Wallace behind him and makes a run for it. Wallace groans in pain but still holds his gun up ready to shoot.
“Don’t shoot him!” Emerson says. “Did he tell you where Clive is?” “No,” Wallace says back. “He just said Javier would be coming down and he isn’t gonna give him up.”
“Dammit!” Emerson says back. Alonzo then fires his gun, hitting Joey three times. “What the hell are you doing!” Emerson says. “Why we keeping him around? He’s not going to say anything.”
“He knows where Clive is, I know he does!” Emerson exclaims back.
“Well, I’ll go look then alright?” Alonzo then begins searching for Clive. Back at the top of the hill, Javier has begun sending people down the hill. Joey makes his way back up and tells him what the men are up to and what they did to him.
“Well Joey, I’m glad you’re still somewhat together. You still got it in ya to fight?” “Yes...Boss…Bones...with…you…till…the…e nd,” he says. “That a boy! Oh, Joey we got Ol’ Stonewall Jackson fighting for us, can ya believe it?” Joey looks at him with no clue. “Stonewall Jackson? The general for the confederate army? Fought for our cause?” “Oh…that...Jackson...” Joey says.
“Dumber…than he was before,” Javier says to himself shaking his head. “Alright men let’s move it!” Javier and his men begin marching slowly down the hill. The men show no emotion on their faces, just a stern blank stare. They all hold their guns firmly and march down through the cemetery.
Alonzo looks around until he makes his way to the sounds of someone yelling for help. He comes to the house near the alley and finds Clive tied up.
“Alonzo! Thank god…Joey and another guy knocked me out and tied me up. I woke up and found myself here.” Alonzo unties Clive and tells him what he’s missed.
“So Joey went back up the hill?” he asks. “Yeah, Emerson said he knew where you were and not to kill him, but I found you so no worries.” “What’s Emerson doing now?”
“He’s helping get the last group of women and children out of town.” They make their way back to Emerson and the town is now all together, awaiting command.
“Clive! Thank god you’re alright,” Emerson says to him.
“Yeah, no scratches, but Joey Morrey is mine!”
“Fair enough” Emerson says. “Alright everyone, here’s the plan. Javier and his men are going to be coming back down here in no time so we gotta be on guard. Does everyone have a weapon?” People shout out saying they do. Most carry guns but some carry anything they could get their hands on such as shovels, pitch forks, sharp tip pieces of wood, knives and whatever else comes into mind.
“Alright good, now I’m not sure if pistols will do them much damage so if you got one aim for the head. We have got pretty much every gun in town with us and every bit of
ammunition we could find, so in the event we run out or can’t seem to kill them with our pistols, find something else and do whatever you can to kill them!”
“But how can we kill them if we don’t know what we’re up against?” someone yells out from the crowd.
“Like I said, just keep shooting and aim for the head and if shooting doesn’t do it grab, an object or another weapon just start jab and strike away. Believe me, after what I saw earlier, they’re not well put together or too aware so it shouldn’t be too much of a struggle. But then again, those guys weren’t soldiers. All women and children are out of town and safe correct?”
“That’s right. It’s just us men.”
“But what about those saloon girls? We gotta kill them too?” someone asks. “Those women are gonna wanna accompany you and show you a good time but not for the reason you gentlemen would like so, yes they need to die too unless you fancy them ripping at and chewing away at your limbs. Javier and his men are only about fifty feet away and when he gets here all hell is going to break loose. Everyone get in your positions and remember to try and aim for the head or the heart.”
Javier and his men approach closer and closer as they near the end of the hill. Compared to his own men, some of the civil war soldiers look clean in appearance and much less grotesque. “This town isn’t gonna know what hit em after we’re done boys! Leave no person alive. You hear me? You see em moving or still breathing, you shoot em, kick em, eat em, I don’t give a shit what you do. Just make sure they are dead!”
Emerson on his horse stands in the center of the town with a group of people while Clive on his horse is at the entrance of town with another group. Alonzo stands near the front of the saloon with his gun drawn and Captain Gervis Wallace, with his shotgun in hand, stands in between the group of Clive and Emerson.
Wallace makes his feelings known as they wait. “Now I am well sure I probably fought along side with some of these men but heck, they aren’t the same men I fought with and they are gonna die.” As he says this, he looks over at the men approaching and is shocked to see General Jackson is one of the men.
“Oh no, Stonewall, not you too! Oh that’s a shame. A downright shame. He was my commanding officer when I first got into the forces. He taught me how to stand tall.” he says, shaking his head. “Well he’s mine when he gets down here. You all hear me? I’m taking out Stonewall Jackson myself!”
Someone then asks Emerson, “Is Javier himself undead?” “I’m not really sure. I know he took a few shots to the chest in that scuffle in the saloon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had his men shoot him. Either way, he’s out for blood.”
Another person then asks, “Are all his men confederates? I wouldn’t mind killing me a few Yanks.”
“I’m sure they are. Javier is a true blooded confederate all the way and I know he wouldn’t stand fighting alongside someone from the North.”
“Uh shucks, well a dead confederate is just as good I suppose.” Twenty feet away, the men march, approaching closer and closer. The fires in the town have quieted down but still burn on tops of buildings and the roads. A few dozen bodies lay on the ground either sliced up or burnt from the beginning altercations.
“Mr. Shaw, you can give my gun to someone else. I just plan on using my work tools to get the job done,” says Otto the town butcher. The soldiers are ten feet away, as everyone gets that look to kill in their eyes. They grip their weapons, load their guns and get into position as they prepare to
unleash hell upon the soldiers.
“Alright everyone, when they are about seven to five feet away, that’s when you start firing.” Emerson takes his hat off and wipes the sweat off his head and puts it back on. He looks over at each man and finally slowly turns his head as his eyes fix straight ahead onto Javier “Bones” Jones.
Javier looks right back at him while walking straight ahead. He smiles and pretends to make the motion of shooting a gun with his fingers and points at Emerson.
“God help me, I’m going to make sure we get out of this alive and I’m going to kill that son of a bitch…I’m going to make him wish he never stepped foot in this town.”
Chapter 9 Bloody War
The blood splattered in every direction as a soldier’s head was hit dead on. His body hit the ground with no doubt that he was staying down. The war had begun. The town was now a familiar site and reminiscent to so many who had fought just five years earlier for the confederacy. This goes for both of those fighting for the town and those against it. Captain Gervis Wallace was the most
experienced man of the townsfolk. He had served under Stonewall Jackson all those years ago and fought alongside him in the Civil War. Now he had to go up against the man himself.
The site was quite a chaotic one as gun after gun was being fired and a mass of bullets flew back and forth into bodies, either going into them or piercing right through them. The undead were even climbing on tops of the roofs of buildings and sniping people. This was soon stopped by Clive Halloway and Emerson as they each, back to back, fired a round of their six shooters into the three men on the roof. They fell but were not dead. They got up, and before they could manage any more shots, Clive hits his target square between the eyes as the soldiers nose is blown off. Emerson fires two shots toward the other man and they hit both his eyes. He walks into a wall, falls over a dead body until he finally turns the gun on himself since he cannot see.
Neither Clive nor Emerson would have time to celebrate as they would need to hurry up and reload and begin firing away to fight off the oncoming undead. Emerson looks over at Clive and asks him, “How we looking Clive? Not bad right?”
“Kinda hard to tell but I’ve killed twelve guys so far.”
“You’re keeping count?” Emerson says back. “Damn right man. How else are you gonna know if you’re making a difference?” Emerson laughs. “Well in that case, I’ve killed eighteen and you can bet your ass Javier is gonna be my last kill.” While they are talking, a soldier grabs onto Clive and bites his arm. “Ah shit!” Clive screams in pain. Emerson takes out his shotgun and blows the guy away but not before Clive is hit again.
“Clive are you alright?”
“I don’t know…it hurts like a bastard but I’m more scared of being infected like them,” Clive says.
“I don’t think you have to worry. I got bit on the shoulder and I’m fine,” Captain Wallace says as he approaches them, fighting off soldier after soldier. Over by the saloon, Alonzo is trying to avoid being surrounded. The
townsfolk around him are doing their best to help but they aren’t putting up much of a fight as those they fight are brutal. A poor old man who had done well for the town had just been killed and then slaughtered mercilessly. His body was trampled on by a mass of soldiers and other undead men.
Alonzo ducks for cover as he makes a break for it into the saloon. Walls and windows are shot up and Alonzo is dragged out by his feet. Before he is nearly stepped on, he rolls a few times, gets to his knees and pulls his gun, shooting at those coming at him. They are stunned but keep coming. He then reaches for his back and pulls the shotgun and fires round after round into three of the undead men coming toward him. They stumble and then finally fall. For good measure, Alonzo stands over each of them and blows their heads right off.
“Dang boy, you gonna waste bullets that way. Shoot em once and be done with it,” a local townsman says to him.
Alonzo just smirks at him and continues the fight. Emerson and Clive begin holding a competition with each other to see who can kill the most men.
“Thirty-eight and he was already shot at a few times!” Emerson yells over to him. “Forty-five, my man, and still going strong! Woo!” Clive exclaims. Aside from bullets being fired, hand to hand combat is also happening. A good amount of men are using their guns to hit rather than to shoot. Otto, the town butcher, has become a blood thirsty mad man. He is the only person using a knife and he yells at the top of his lungs as he swipes and cuts through bodies and decapitates heads.
Javier however, unlike everyone else, has hardly used his weapons. The man who set this all into motion and even got the power to be a far greater shooter than most, is merely standing around watching his men fight and die for him. He stands over at the edge of the hill with five men guarding him. This is their job. To be human shields to Jones as he stands behind them, playing it safe. He peeks out every once in a while and points his pistol out to shoot a few people, using his powers for petty game. The display at hand has become a filthy and horrid mess.
Now it’s not just the undead who are being inhuman but the towns people as well. Some act like barbarians and utter savages to survive. If they lose their weapons, they get into groups and start tearing at the bodies of the undead men coming at them.
“They’d do it to us anyway so let’s give em a taste of their own medicine!” a towns person yells as four people come together to tear a man apart limb from limb. It is worth pointing out that it’s nothing short of a miracle that Jackson, one of Javier’s men who has endured quite a bit and looks awful, is still around.
However, he would not be for long as Clive points his gun and aims it at Jackson and hits him three times in the chest and once in the shoulder. Emerson then gets two more shots into him in his face and other shoulder. Jackson falls to the ground, now barely recognizable and hardly the man he once was. Clive and Emerson both look at each other, before they aim their guns at Jackson’s head and fire. Their shots are so precise and powerful because they were so close, that his head explodes along with his neck, leaving only a body, torso and legs.
Other undead men pick up Jackson’s limbs and begin chewing away. Emerson quickly kills these men to avoid getting sick at the
horrendous cannibalistic sight.
“Did you just see that?” Emerson asks Clive. “I think I would have done hurled my lunch if that went any further,” Clive says back. Bodies upon bodies lay amassed like any war would have. It has gotten to the point where you’d be lucky if there was a piece of ground not covered by a body part or covered in blood or a building not splattered by it. Alonzo makes his way through a pass and stands in front of Javier and his men.
“And who might you be? I reckon you’re not from around here,” Javier says to him. “Name’s Alonzo Boone, Mr. Jones. I’m here to collect the bounty that’s on your head.” “Is that so?” Javier says back. “Well, I take it you don’t talk with your buddy Emerson over there cause see I don’t think he’d like it if you killed me yourself. I imagine me and him standing over there dueling it out, so you see boy, it doesn’t add up you killing me and all. But let’s see how fast you are.” He goes to draw his gun but Javier is far faster and draws first, shooting Alonzo’s hand preventing him from shooting.
“Now not only did you not shoot me, but you’ll be lucky if you can ever shoot again with that hand,” Javier says as he laughs. Alonzo goes to draw with his other hand but again Javier beats him to it and shoots his other hand.
“Ambidextrous, eh? Not no more!” Javier laughs. “No I say you’re as good as dead so finish em off boys.” The men in front of Javier draw and load their rifles and aim them at Alonzo. The towns people around Alonzo try to pull him to safety but before they can, Alonzo is hit as four bullets pierce his chest. He falls to the ground backwards as his hat flies off. The towns people kneel to him, but many have no time, as they are being attacked as well.
Alonzo lies on the ground breathing heavy and holding his chest. Javier comes out
from behind his men and walks over to Alonzo standing above him. “You ain’t too smart, are ya boy? I’m Javier “Bones” Jones. I’m the baddest man there is in this town or any town through The Mississippi. You thinking you’re gonna waltz up on me and kill me? Ha! I’ll do for you like I did for my late dog and put you out of your misery.” Javier then takes out his pistol and shoots Alonzo dead.
Emerson sees the confrontation of Javier and Alonzo out of the corner of his eye. It is because of this that he fires shots off randomly and pushes his way through people until he comes to Javier who still stands over Alonzo’s now dead body. Javier looks up at Emerson and winks at him with a smirk on his face. “I take it you didn’t tell this fella here that you wanted me dead a lot more and that you can’t just challenge the likes of me.”
“Alonzo was a good man who just wanted to do what we all want to do…kill you,” Emerson says back.
“Well looks like I put him in a grave first!” Javier says laughing. “It’s still early in this war my boy and it’s not time for you and me yet.”
“What’s to stop me from killing you right now?” Emerson says slowly, lowering his hand and twiddling his fingers as if getting ready to draw his gun.
“Well no one’s gonna stop ya but I’m as hard to kill as my boys here fighting for me, if not harder. Now are you willing to take that chance?” Javier says.
“What I don’t get, Javier, is why do this? Why start a war if you had the ability to make us all at your mercy and be slaves of the undead? Why didn’t you just do it the easy way?” Emerson asks.
“You know, I never thought of that Mr. Shaw but really what’s the fun in that? You can look at it one of three ways. One, I despise the folks in this town so much that I’d rather they be dead than having em work under my command. Two, I like a good ole fashioned battle and the art of war to settle things and three, well I just like killing people,” Javier says now laughing madly. “Besides, if you love to kill and can do it as well as I can, then what better way to raise hell, hmm?” “Maybe I thought you had some kind of respect in you, Javier,” Emerson says to him.
A Bloody Bloody Mess In The Wild Wild West Page 7