by Brad Raylend
Todd looked down at him with an unimpressed expression. “Stay down … and you won’t get hurt.”
Pete snarled then jolted up. He charged Todd, trying to tackle him to the ground by lowering his head and driving his shoulder into Todd’s stomach. Todd quickly leaned forward, catching him with his chest to Pete’s upper back. He held him tight, then brought down his elbow on Pete’s spine, making him gasp and release his grip slightly. He then drove his knee up into Pete’s face, making him stand up straight and stumble backwards. Todd quickly took advantage of his dazed state and delivered a hard right hook to his face, sending several of his yellow teeth flying out of his bloody mouth. Pete fell back onto his butt. Todd looked at the other men, who stared at him with wide eyes, their hands clutching the grips of their pistols.
“Anyone else want to lose their teeth?” Todd chuckled.
Pete crawled over to his coat and fumbled for his shotgun. The dirt in front of him exploded, causing him to back away from the lever action in a crabwalk. Todd looked over at Luke and saw the barrel of his Peacemaker smoking in his outstretched hand.
“That’s enough!” Luke said firmly.
Todd gave him a grateful nod, then turned to the four rustlers around him. “I told you … I’m not who you think I am. I am trying to find the same person as you. He is my brother. I don’t want any trouble, I just want to find him and leave.”
Two of the four helped get Pete back on his feet while the others backed away from Todd, their weapons drawn. Pete stumbled to his feet in the arms of his comrades. Blood poured out of his nose and mixed with frothy blood coming from his mouth.
“Fucking shoot him!” he yelled, spitting blood.
His fellow rustlers looked at him and then at Todd, unsure of what to do. Pete reached down for his six shooter and wrapped his hand around the grip. Before he was able to draw it from the holster, Todd brushed back his open duster and drew his 1911, firing three rounds into Pete’s chest, causing him to fall backwards out of his brother’s arms. They looked up at Todd in shock, frightened at how fast he had drawn and shot three consecutive rounds. Todd stood with his future pistol presented out. They were stunned by his odd-looking firearm, and his unusual shooting stance. Most men in this time figured only children and women held their pistols with two hands. Yet this man had obviously done so for many years and had perfected his technique. Luke was just as shocked as the rustlers. His mouth was open, eyes wide. He couldn’t believe how quick Todd was. He blinked then trained his sights on the remaining rustlers, preparing for their rebuttal.
The youngest one, Winston, looked down at his dead brother in horror. Todd assumed that three of the five were actually Pete’s brothers and had just seen him killed in front of them. The chubby one gritted his teeth and brought up the barrel of the shotgun. Todd quickly adjusted his sights and leveled them on him, but the man’s head exploded with chunks of brain matter before Todd could pull the trigger. Luke had now drawn both pistols and was moving laterally across the porch, shooting one gun after the other at the last three rustlers who ran for cover. There were screams in the town, as the townsfolk quickly ducked into buildings and behind water trusses.
Bullets snapped and echoed through the town as the five men engaged in an aggressive firefight. Todd dove into a roll behind a wagon. Bullets ripped through the wood, sending splinters into the sand around him. He stood up with his pistol in front of him and cleared around the backside of the saloon, creeping into the adjacent alleyway. He could hear Luke still firing out on the main road. He had only twelve shots and had already fired several. He would have to reload soon and it would leave him vulnerable.
Todd quickly did a mag exchange, dropping the mag of five into his hand and inserting a fresh mag of seven. He leaned out around the building, his tritium sights combing over the area where he thought they were. Bullets smacked into the wall around him, making him duck back into the alleyway. He needed to find a new weapon, not because the .45 wasn’t sufficient, but because he didn’t want anybody to get a good look at the futuristic weapon. He looked out into the center of the street where Pete’s lifeless body lay. Next to him was the lever action shotgun.
“Luke!” Todd screamed over the gunfire.
“Yeah?” Luke replied.
“I need covering fire so I can get that shotgun!”
There was a pause as Luke quickly finished reloading both cylinders.
“You good?” Todd yelled.
“Yeah … go ahead!”
Todd waited for the volley of fire from Luke to force the rustlers behind cover. He then sprinted into the street, sliding like a baseball player, and grabbed the gun. He quickly jumped to his feet and ran back behind a stack of wood where Luke was hiding. Luke dropped back down behind the logs and opened the loading gates of his pistols, rotating the cylinders and dropping the empty smoking casings. Todd opened the breach of the shotgun slightly and ensured there was a shell inside.
“Tango, eleven o’clock, thirty meters,” Todd said, peering over the stack of lumber.
“What?” Luke yelled.
“Never mind,” Todd said. “When they stop to reload, you go around back of this building and try to catch them on their flank.”
Luke shot him a confused glare. “Flank?”
Todd rolled his eyes. “Get around them … to their blind spot.”
“Gotcha,” Luke said as he cocked back both hammers on his pistols.
The two men traded a grin as they found humor in each other’s calmness despite the current danger. Both Todd and Luke were no strangers to gunfights.
Todd waited for a break in the rustlers’ fire, then nodded to Luke. The two quickly got up and ran in their planned directions. Luke ducked into the alleyway and started making his way closer to their position from behind the buildings. Todd hopped up onto the porch of the adjacent buildings and began moving towards them, holding the shotgun at the low ready position. The moment he saw a hat pop up from behind a barrel, he fired at it, sending a load of buckshot splintering wood around him.
He quickly worked the lever and chambered another shell and fired again before ducking into the deep doorway of the laundry building. Bullets began to ricochet off different surfaces, echoing through the town. He peeked around the corner and saw Luke getting into position across the street.
Luke leaned over the top of some cover in time to see one of the rustlers making his way to his side of the street. The man hopped up onto the porch and quickly snuck into the general store. Luke holstered one pistol and crept to the back door. He peered in through a back window and saw the man hiding behind the counter. Very carefully, Luke opened the back door and stepped inside. The man cowered behind the storekeeper’s desk, pointing his gun at the owner of the establishment.
“Be quiet, or I’ll blow your head off,” the rustler whispered.
“Please … don’t …” the storekeeper whimpered.
The rustler was about to tell him to shut up once more when a large hand grabbed him by his long, greasy hair. Luke pulled him up over the counter, smacking his gun out of his hand. The man cursed, his legs kicking as he swung at Luke’s hand. Luke pulled him off the counter and slammed him on the ground.
The man reached into his boot and pulled out a knife and tried to impale Luke in the stomach. Luke quickly caught his hand, engulfing his grip with his hand, and smashed the blade down into the rustler’s chest. Blood leaked out of his mouth and his head jerked. Luke looked away, firmly holding the knife deep in his chest cavity, not wanting to feel the familiar satisfaction of a successful kill.
Bullets snapped past Todd and exploded into hard wood as he ran across the squeaky porch. A large window came up on his right and he fired a round of buckshot into it and dove through the broken glass. He quickly got up and looked out to where the last two rustlers were. They were hiding in a small barn at the edge of town, firing from the stables. Todd exited out the back door and ran down the backside of the buildings towards the barn.
&n
bsp; Luke fired at them from down the street, drawing their attention to him. Todd crept towards the back side of the barn, trying to get the drop on them. He softly approached the large doors, his shotgun at the ready. He could hear commotion inside, cursing and movement, and then a gunshot. He reached for the door and it burst open, knocking him backwards. Winston was atop a horse bareback, sprinting out of town as fast as it would take him. Todd shook his head and watched as Winston shrank into the hot desert, a dust trail following him. He picked himself back up, turning to look inside the barn. The last rustler lay dead on the ground with a pool of blood around him. Todd walked into the barn. The sun shone through the gaps between the vertical boards of the barn’s exterior and into the hay-filled room. Smoke was lingering inside, slowly rising to the ceiling where it dissipated.
The rustler lay in the blood-spattered hay, his mouth and eyes open, staring up at the dark figure that stood above him. Todd raised the shotgun at the man standing above the corpse. He was rotating the chamber of the dead man’s pistol, his back to Todd.
“Drop the weapon!” Todd yelled.
The man’s head shot up with surprise, not at the threat but at the man himself, or maybe it was the sound of his voice. He turned slowly to face the man aiming the shotgun at him. Todd slowly lowered his weapon as the man’s face came into view beneath his black cowboy hat. A scar spanning down his cheek made Todd’s eyes widen. His familiar facial structure and his unmistakable eyes made Todd nearly drop it. Todd had known this moment would arrive. He had played it out hundreds of times in his head during the days prior. Yet nothing could prepare him for what he was seeing. Standing before him was Todd Michael York. The original, the first and the oldest. Through the scars and grey hairs, and through the anger was a split image of himself. It was like he was looking at a mirror; one that showed him the future. A dark future he feared wasn’t too far away.
FACE TO FACE
The two stared at each other in silence. York seemed just as surprised as Todd. Their eyes studied every inch of each other in disbelief. York seemed taller in Todd’s eyes; no doubt comparing his own height by eye level. It was odd to see his own body in front of him. They stepped towards each other slowly. Todd opened his mouth, but no words came out. He held the shotgun loosely down at his side. York’s lips slowly sealed shut and his eyes narrowed as he began to come to terms with the situation.
“Brian send you?” York asked softly.
His words made Todd freeze. It was unreal to hear his own voice coming from another person.
“Y—Yeah,” Todd replied.
York looked down at the ground, then back up at Todd. “When are you from?”
“The future you created,” Todd replied.
York blinked sadly and rubbed his fingers over his mouth. “What … what happens in the future?” he asked.
York had never found out what exactly transpired in the future that he had altered so drastically. He now was looking at a younger version of himself, his same-self who had lived his entire life reaping the consequences of York’s actions. He wanted to know how much had changed, if anything was for the better. He hoped for news of a bright future, maybe even a brighter past for his younger self. However, the fact that his same-self was standing before him brought a sickening feeling to his stomach. A feeling that told him that he wouldn’t be there if things had gone according to plan.
Todd breathed out slowly, shaking his head. “Nothing good,” he said softly.
York looked down and closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. “So … it was all for nothing,” he said. “Everything I did … everyone I hurt … didn’t change a fucking thing.” His voice broke slightly.
“I’m sorry, York,” Todd said. “I wish I could tell you that what you did made a difference, but I fear that this world can’t be saved.”
York shook his head; his voice and face were a mix of anger and sadness. “All those people …” he said through gritted teeth.
Todd stepped towards him and placed his hand on York’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault …”
York shrugged off his hand, stepping away from him. “What the fuck do you know? You think you have the slightest clue as to what I have to live with every single day of my miserable life?”
He paced around the barn slowly, looking at the empty wooden walls. “It’s depressing, you know? Realizing your entire life is a paradox of futile attempts at changing human nature. I was foolish, like the people who spend every day of their lives praying to some god who they believe will save them from the inevitable. There is no hope, no hope for me … no hope for this world. We are destined to destroy ourselves; it was always meant to be this way.”
He stopped and sat down on a bale of hay, his head resting in his hands. Todd stepped over the dead rustler and leaned up against one of the empty stalls. He looked down at the ground, trying to find the right words to say. He didn’t want to rush into the truth as to why he was really here. It was clear that York was unstable, and Todd had no intentions of aggravating him. Telling him that he was only here to retrieve the technology that he had stolen would no doubt stoke the fires of his anger and could possibly lead to a confrontation between the two of them. He decided he would try to convince him that he was here to simply bring him back. It saddened Todd to see York this way, as he couldn’t help but wonder if this was his own future. Perhaps he was looking in a mirror in this situation, seeing the man he was soon to become.
“Why did you come here?” York asked, not looking up at Todd.
“To bring you back,” Todd replied.
York shook his head. “I’m not going back.”
“What about Kara?” Todd asked, stepping towards him. “She loves you … you know she does. How could you abandon someone like her?”
“I didn’t abandon her!” York yelled. “I left before I could cause any more pain for her or the rest of them. They saw their entire lives ripped apart, watched as everything they knew and loved died!” He gritted his teeth, shaking his head. “So, they put their hope and trust into me, hoping that I could change the world … give them back what they had lost. They believed in me, and for a while I believed it too. But I couldn’t, and the thing that hurts the most is that I could see it in all their faces … they had hope.”
Todd shook his head in disapproval. Though he didn’t entirely understand York’s refusal to return, he could however slightly relate to his overall disposition. He truly wanted to help this man. He felt for him, and in a way cared for him. The fact that Kara loved York was something that had bothered Todd since his first discussion with her. Her sadness, although subtle, was heartbreaking to Todd as he felt somewhat responsible. He wished he could be the person to bring her happiness but feared York was the only one who could.
“Please …” Todd said softly. “At least go back for her, regardless of what has happened. She loves you so much … she deserves to be happy.”
“She won’t find happiness with me, Todd. It’s too late for me, I’m dead inside.” York said. “She only thinks she loves me … she’s young, and she hasn’t been able to see the rest of the world. It’s a childish infatuation.”
“You’re wrong,” Todd snapped. “She’s not a child, she’s a grown woman, and she’s smart enough to know what she wants! Maybe you’re too fucked up, or maybe you’re just too stupid to see something good in your life. Probably the only good thing you have left, and you’re going to ruin it with your self-indulged pity party.”
York stood up quickly, facing Todd, his identical eyes burning a hole through his. “You go through what I had to and then tell me about the good things in life! You try watching everything around you fall apart.” York jabbed his finger into Todd’s chest. “You ain’t me, so don’t act like you understand me. You’re just a replacement, a copy who inherited the easy road that I paved for you.” He shook his head and scowled at Todd. “If you’re so worried about her … why don’t you be with her?”
York’s hard gaze eased slightly.
Todd continued. “I didn’t go to Nam, I didn’t kill any presidents, and I didn’t cause the fucking Chernobyl meltdown.”
York shook his head, reminded of the horrible events.
Todd breathed in through his nose, looking up at the sun shining through the hay loft, casting a dusty beam of light on the ground between them. “I have my own demons that I have to live with, my own memories that haunt me.”
“Were you in the Teams as well?” York asked.
Todd shook his head “No, the SEALs weren’t the premiere SOF unit that they were in your timeline. I assume JFK’s death had something to do with that, considering he was a major player in the SEALs’ creation. In my timeline, there are multiple JSOC assets.”
York snickered, then looked back at Todd “So …”
“I was with the 75th when I was younger.”
“When did the war start for you?” York asked.
“Officially it was 2030, but we were already conducting operations against the ACF as early as 2025.”
York looked at him in disbelief. “At that level? With the Rangers?”
“No, by this time I was with CAG.”
York leaned back and nodded, no doubt impressed with Todd’s military history. Somehow, it made York proud that even in an alternate timeline, he would settle only for the best. A small grin formed on his face. “I guess we were always meant to be warriors, huh?”
Todd didn’t reply; he continued to stare at York. He used to be proud of his accomplishments in the military, and if this conversation had taken place several years ago, Todd would have been more than happy to discuss war stories with himself. However, he now looked back on his days in the Army only as years of pain and suffering.