Mike Reynolds brooded alone at the end of the bar with a cigarette dangling between his fingers, smoke curling up to the dingy ceiling from its ashen tail. He was a stocky, disheveled forty something who was graying at the temples. A banker, he was dressed in a coal colored suit with a loose red tie dangling around his thick neck. His jacket was draped over the stool beside him to ward off company, though the cruel expression on his unshaven face was sign enough to leave well enough alone. Mike’s wallet lay open next to his froth filled glass on the bar, the speckled black and white photo of a young girl smiling up at him from within its folds. She couldn’t have been older than four, her hair cut in a neat bob that framed her cherubic face. She was a ray of sunshine in this realm of dregs.
“Want another?”
Mike glanced up. “What?”
“Do you want another drink?” the bartender asked, pointing at Mike’s near empty glass. “You look due.”
“If I need anything from you, I’ll ask for it,” Mike snapped. “Until then, get outta my face.”
“Ok, ok.” The bartender sauntered off to see to his other patrons.
Mike rubbed at his bleary eyes before taking another drag on his cigarette. The fumes poured out his nose as he stole a glance at his watch. Buck was late as usual. Something could have happened, but Mike didn’t worry. The bar was the one place Buck was sure to turn up. He’d come through those doors sooner or later.
Looking around, Mike could tell the place was doing great business. If anything was good for a bar, it was a bad economy. Shrill, drunken snickers and meandering, crude chitchat raucously echoed in the murky dimness with vague, shadowy shapes of men scattered throughout who stomped their feet in cadence to the twanging of the night’s act while the wind whistled outside. The sweet smell of tobacco mingled with urine and vomit in the haze. There was a life to the place, a throbbing that traveled through the wood floor and paper thin walls. This bar was the faint pulse of the dying plains, the last sign of life in a dead world. The irony was that men came here to forget life. Come and numb. Just forget so you can make it through another dreary day.
A commotion at the other end of the bar drew Mike’s attention.
“I’m telling you it’s true,” Chuck Frazier declared to the knot of men around him.
“And I say you were drunk,” Clyde Darrows retorted.
“I was sober I tell ya.”
“That would be a first.” The bar shook with laughter.
Chuck was livid. “Yeah, it’s so hilarious. You wouldn’t be laughin’ if it happened to you.” He thumbed himself in the chest. “I saw an angel.”
“Whatever. You probably hit a cow.”
Clyde leaned to his right and hooked an arm around Clint Guthrie. “Hey, where was your wife during the storm, Clint?”
“Very funny, Clyde.”
“This isn’t a joke,” Chuck asserted. “I saw an angel of God.”
“What? Jesus too busy?”
“What would an angel want with you, anyway?”
“Don’t you know? He wants to make Chuck the thirteenth apostle.”
“Thirteenth, huh? Unlucky number.”
“It is Chuck we’re talkin’ about here.”
The group of men kept ribbing Chuck, mocking the story he’d told with vulgar comments and jokes.
Chuck pounded the bar with his fist. “Why won’t you people listen to me? I’m tellin’ the truth.”
“Here, Chuck. Have a beer. You definitely need it.”
“I don’t want a drink!” Chuck knocked the glass from Clyde’s hand. As it shattered on the floor, a hush fell over the bar and all eyes turned to see what the commotion was all about. Chuck faced down the patrons. “You think you all know everything there is? You don’t know a damn thing. Sitting here. Laughing. Drowning yourselves in booze. Trying to forget what’s happening out there. There are some people who say the world is the way it is because God has turned his back on us. That He has forgotten us. I never had much use for the Man. Yeah, I said my prayers and did my time in the pews, but I never expected much in return. He’d never done nothing for me. Hell, has God done anything for any of you?” No one answered, most looking at their drinks or the floor. “We’ve turned away from Him, but He hasn’t forgotten us.
“What I saw that night was an angel, a being of God. He came out of the storm. He stood right in the center of the road waiting for me. He showed me the darkness that waits for us. I was at the precipice of Hell I tell ya. I saw the void. Felt the cold of death. And just as I thought I was going to slip away into eternal damnation, that angel saved me. He drew me back. When he touched me…I saw a light. I saw the face of God. I don’t know why he came to me, but I understand what he showed me.
“God has not forgotten us. He’s still there, watching, guiding. But we need to take action. He alone can’t save us. We must save ourselves. We can’t keep wasting our lives. That is how this world got the way it is. We need to change or else the darkness waits.”
The bar was quiet for some time, everyone too afraid or ashamed to respond.
“You’re nuts, Chuck,” Clyde finally blurted apprehensively.
“Think what you want. I know what I saw. What I felt. I’m startin’ over and if you’re smart you will too.”
Chuck left, Buck staggering past him into the bar as the band started strumming again and the patrons gradually returned to their conversations. Buck made his way to Mike, the latter removing his jacket from the stool for Buck to sit down. Buck took a seat and slapped the bar. “Can I get a beer?” The bartender nodded and brought a bottle over only for Buck to snatch it from his hand.
“So how’d it go?” Mike asked. “Is Donner out?”
Buck twisted the cap off and took a deep swig, savoring the taste before turning to
weakly answer, “No.”
“No? Then what are you doing here? You have a job to do.”
Buck shook his head. “I’m not going back there.”
Mike grabbed the goon by the collar. “I paid you for a job, you bastard. I want that man out of there.”
Buck shoved him off. “Then you’re gonna have to do it yourself.” He tossed a wrinkled roll of bills on the bar. “Everything’s changed now. I can’t do this type of work anymore.”
“What are you babbling about?”
“I went out to Donner’s. What I saw out there was...” Buck took another deep drink. “We found him inside. God, we found him alright.” His eyes went glassy. “He’s not human.”
“Is this whole town going completely nuts? First Chuck and now you...”
“I wish I was nuts.” Buck exhaled and picked at the label on his beer. “Those eyes of his, they got into my head. It was like staring into the sun.”
Mike leaned away from Buck. “You are mad.”
“Say what you want but I quit. I ain’t working for you no more. What we’re doin’. It’s all wrong. It’s no good. We’re destroyin’ lives. I thought I should let you know. Warn you.”
“Oh I get it. You want more money. Fine, I’ll double your salary.”
“It ain’t like that. I…” Buck struggled to explain but finally gave up and went to leave.
“Just where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to see Hubbard. I owe him an apology.”
“For what?”
“Hurting him. I feel guilty for beatin’ him like I did. I keep seeing his kids’ faces. Thinkin’ about it...” Buck wiped at his eyes. “For the first time, I know the way I’ve lived my life is wrong. I can’t explain it. I just know I’ve hurt a lot of people and I have to make amends.”
Mike sneered at his associate. “Fine, get the hell outta here. I’ll take care of Donner myself.”
Buck grabbed Mike’s arm. “Don’t go out there, Mike. I’m tellin’ ya, don’t go out there.”
“That’s my land and I’m taking it.” Mike jerked his arm loose and got up from his stool. “God damn coward,” he muttered, snagging his wallet off the bar and shoving past Buck heading for the exit.
***
It was shortly before midnight when Private Chiba gazed off toward the jagged woodline from a watchtower on the western periphery of Zhongma Fortress. His eyes soon fell to the misty earth below where he watched dragon’s breath flow from the forest like a smoky tide to shroud the land and lap at the earthen walls surrounding the base. The moonlight made the fog glow transforming it into a roiling divine cloud. Chiba felt like Tsukuyomi staring down from Takamagahara, the heavens of all existence spread out beneath him. He struck a heroic pose, caught up in his own imagination.
A thunderous clap boomed through the forest followed by a groan and then a crash that drew Chiba back to the here and now. The shadowy trees swayed across the horizon as if to warn him of some approaching threat. Another crack sounded, a splintering snap that echoed through the night. After a period of silence there was a rustling that gradually became louder as something approached.
Chiba glimpsed a shape moving through the fog. He flipped on his spotlight and aimed it at the figure. Seconds later he screamed when a log flew towards him spearing through the watchtower. More projectiles followed aimed with precision at the other watchtowers ringing the western fringe leaving nothing but shattered wreckage. One log stabbed the earthen wall surrounding the compound, its momentum making it cartwheel end over end into the electrified fencing that crowned the ramparts. The wires sparked as they were ripped free by the spinning log and dragged a good thirty feet back creating a gap in the Japanese defenses.
Sirens whined and the fortress revved to life. Lights blazed on throughout the compound. The barracks disgorged troops who rushed across the descending drawbridge over the moat, rifles in hand, to take position on the inside slope of the earthen wall in preparation for the coming enemy. They peered over the dirt nervously, unsure of what hid in the fog’s amorphous bosom. A few men fired off wild shots into the mist.
“Hold your fire damnit.”
“What did they hit us with? Artillery?”
“I don’t think so,” Corporal Matsushita replied. He stared in awe at the fractured ruins of the watchtowers. Looking back behind the platoon, he saw a log impaled diagonally into the ground and wrapped in barbed wire. “What the hell could have done all this?”
“Show yourself!” came a demand from the ranks.
Li Chen stomped forward, his aberrant form materializing from the ether. A colossus of necrotic flesh and supple scale, he stood defiantly before the Japanese on tumescent legs that resembled the hind limbs of an animal with the knees inverted to the rear. Li Chen glared at the soldiers, his rage twisting his boyish features into something demonic and disturbing.
The Japanese gaped in astonishment. Many said silent prayers to the kami in hope of protection from this unholy monster that came to claim their souls.
Li Chen hunched forward, flexing his Herculean biceps and shrieking hellishly at the soldiers who confronted him. The Japanese retorted with gunfire, muzzle flashes flickering along the earthen wall. Li Chen reared back then charged the line. He took the earthen wall in a single bound and broke through their center. The beast slashed at the nearest man ripping out his neck with a crimson spurt before backhanding a clutch of troops off their feet. A half dozen Japanese rushed forward into the breach and impaled the creature with their bayonets, twisting and pushing the giant back against the wall. Li Chen spit up green blood, grimacing in pain.
One of the soldiers proclaimed over his shoulder, “We have him!” A cheer went through the platoon.
Baring his teeth with a guttural growl spitting up from his throat, Li Chen pushed back against the soldiers. He seized one of the rifle stocks and yanked the bayonet from his abdomen, the wound sealing instantly and leaving but a scar. Rifle in hand, he used it like a bludgeon. Swinging wildly, he beat the men off fracturing skulls and breaking ribs until the rifle snapped in two.
***
General Ishii exited his quarters, tunic undone and shirt untucked. It was anarchy all around him. Flares arced into the sky illuminating the chaotic world in scarlet while men rushed past his door in both directions. The sound of gunfire popped off to the west mingled with screams and wails before an explosion rocked the grounds.
Ishii grabbed the nearest man. “What is going on? Are we under attack?”
“Yes sir.”
Ishii turned toward the sound of battle. “Who is it? Partisans?”
“No sir. It is the oni.”
Ishii’s head snapped back. “What?”
***
“I want a defensive line,” Captain Ito shouted over the din as the drawbridge was withdrawn. Soldiers took positions at the edge of the moat. “Get those machine guns in place.” Men dropped to the prone position to set up their weapons on bipods.
“Here he comes!”
Li Chen loped toward them at a fast clip. Machine gunners opened up from the ground while riflemen fired over their heads. Captain Ito drew his pistol and fired as well. Every bullet mattered. They had to put the beast down. The hail of lead stunned Li Chen, wounds blossoming across his chest. One shot caught him in the abdomen knocking the wind out of him as it tore through his diaphragm and metallic ichor flooded his mouth. He staggered forward and dropped to the earth. The soldiers kept feeding bullets into his flesh, doing their best to leave nothing but a gory ruin. Rounds kicked up the earth all around Li Chen covering him in grit as the sharp stings sliced through him again and again. A bullet ricocheted off his skull knocking him near senseless.
“Grenade!” Ito ordered.
Nishimura stood, aimed, and fired his Type 10, the round streaking towards the target. Li Chen heard it coming and reflexively caught the round. Many of the men stopped firing in pure shock at what they had just witnessed. Nothing could move that fast. In that brief moment, Li Chen hurled the still active grenade back at them.
“Incoming!” The company hit the dirt and covered their heads for impact. The grenade exploded on their left flank eviscerating two soldiers and critically wounding four more.
Li Chen felt his flesh begin to itch, burn, and then shift. The bullets surfaced from his gaping wounds forced out through their points of entrance by the knitting muscle and tissue as his body regenerated. His strength soon returned and he slowly rose.
“What are you?” Ito hissed at the sight of Li Chen’s resurrection.
A look of horror spread throughout the ranks as Li Chen lumbered towards them again.
“What do we do, sir?”
“Everything you’ve got, men,” was all Ito could say. “Shred him!”
The suppressive fire once more proved too much for Li Chen. He took a knee, swatting angrily at the bullets that cut through him.
“We’ve got him now.”
“Don’t let him back up no matter what!” Ito commanded. “I want that thing in pieces.”
Unable to continue forward, Li Chen tensed up and launched himself into the air.
“What is he-?”
“He’s coming down right on us!”
Li Chen plummeted into the company crushing half a dozen men beneath his bulk. Quick to his feet, he drove his fist through the nearest soldier’s chest with a vicious punch before jerking it free with a squelch to backhand several foes into the brackish waters behind him. Trodding upon the shattered bones of his enemies, the beast cut a gory swath through the company massacring anyone foolish enough to stand and fight. He tore them apart sadistically with his bare hands delighting in the sound of their sinews snapping and bathing in their blood as it gushed into the air whetting his outstretched tongue. Intoxicated by the rapacious power that surged through him and driven wild by the sanguine mist that flooded his senses, the beast surrendered to his sordid, innate urges and mindlessly gorged upon their flesh, gulping their blood to sate his hunger and make their power his own.
With Ito’s company eviscerated upon the field before him and aghast at the fate of his men, the captain courageously drew his sword unwilling to surrender to this unholy abomination. “Banzai!” he yelled, sprinting fanatically into death’s maw. Li Chen smacked the blade aside and snatched Ito by the head with both hands. In a fit of savagery, the beast crushed Ito’s skull as the captain gurgled out a spine-chilling cry. With a sickening pop the bone imploded and the pulp ran viscously through Li Chen’s fingers as his palms met.
The screams of the dying echoed throughout the night joining the wail of the sirens. Despite the renowned bravery of the Imperial Forces, many Japanese turned and fled, throwing down their weapons in their haste to get away. This was no man they faced. This was a thing from Hell. Nothing could make them hold their ground. Ishii frantically tried to rally the men only for them to push him aside.
Steadily coming off his adrenaline high, Li Chen stalked through the bedlam swiping at what few men still remained to bar his way. “Jee Hae,” he bellowed, his tongue flicking out to taste the air.
“Help us,” came the faint cries.
Li Chen followed the voices toward the penal facilities at the center of Zhongma. The guards had long ago abandoned their posts, their absence evident by the doors hanging open on several buildings. Having heard the muffled explosions and believing salvation was coming, many of the prisoners within shouted for the attention of their liberators. Li Chen went to enter one of the blockhouses only to discover the doorway was too small. Frustrated, he started ramming his shoulder into the door frame until he crashed through into the corridor beyond. Inside he discovered a line of steel doors running down either wall. “Jee Hae?” Li Chen called once more.
“Please free me,” a prisoner pleaded from within his cell. “I can help you.”
Li Chen grabbed the steel door and tried to open it. It was locked. Rather than search for the key, he seized the door. “Back up.” He grit his sharp teeth and pulled, the shriek of warping metal shrill in his ears. The concrete around the door cracked and soon crumbled as the door was torn free in a cloud of debris showering Li Chen’s head and broad shoulders with detritus. The prisoner inside cowered in the corner, coughing.
“Are you with Ma Zhanshan?” the prisoner asked. “Has he finally come to save us from the Japanese?” When the dust cleared, the prisoner let loose a startled yelp at the sight of Li Chen and pressed himself even tighter against the wall.
“I am with no army,” Li Chen rumbled gravelly. “Nor did I come for you. I am looking for a girl named Jee Hae. Have you seen her?”
“There are many prisoners here. The guards do not allow us to talk to one another so I cannot be sure if she is in this building. But perhaps she is in one of the cells further down.” Li Chen went to leave. “Wait.” The prisoner took a hesitant step away from the corner. “Have the gods sent you to pay retribution for what has been done here? Are you the answer to my prayers?”
“What do you mean? What have the Japanese been doing here?”
“Horrid things,” the prisoner confessed. “I’ve been here a short while but have experienced much. Every day they make me stick my arm through the slot in the door and draw my blood. I do not know why. Even though I am pale and weak, they still come to take my blood. But that is not all they come for.” He bowed his head unable to face Li Chen. “Once they took me to one of the laboratories. On the way I saw them carrying bodies through the courtyard, many bodies. Then came the smoke and the smell of burning meat.”
“Jee Hae,” Li Chen hissed, afraid of what more he would discover. He abandoned the prisoner and continued down the corridor wrenching door after door off their hinges unintentionally freeing prisoners with his search, deaf to their thanks. He moved from building to building seeking his lost love, but she was nowhere to be found; only strangers pleading for their own souls who he quickly deserted. Scouring yet another blockhouse to no avail, he began frenziedly bashing down the walls. In frustration he cried out once more, “Jee Hae!”
“Li…Chen.” Her voice was weak, but Li Chen had heard her. It came from the last cell on the left. He scurried down the corridor and ripped the door loose without effort, quickly throwing it aside to peer inside. Jee Hae lay on her cot curled up in the fetal position shivering uncontrollably. Gaunt and haggard, she was lathered in sweat and delirious, a rash covering her exposed arms and neck.
“Jee Hae.” Li Chen delicately lifted her into his arms, pulling her close enough that their cheeks touched. Her frail body was feverish against his naked skin causing his coarse flesh to prickle. He buried his face in her hair and quietly sobbed. The sweet scent of her relaxed his taut muscles and relieved his heart of its leaden weight. What trace of the beast remained faded away and the two vulnerable lovers held each other against the night.
“Li Chen,” she whispered, her blind eyes empty and unfocused; her sight stolen by typhus. “You have come for me.”
“Yes,” he finally managed, pulling back to gaze at her. Li Chen gently stroked her hair, clearing the strands from her face.
“Your voice, what has happened?”
Li Chen found it hard to speak, just wanting to stare at her. It had been so long. Weakly, he finally said, “It doesn’t matter. I am here now.”
“I knew you would come.” A wisp of a smile teased the corners of her thin mouth.
Li Chen grinned innocently in response, but such mirth was short lived. He could taste the infection that was eating away at her. It was a bitter thing. Li Chen bit his tongue and looked away not wanting to remember her like this. Guilt hollowed him out. His dreams. His foolishness. If not for him, Jee Hae would not have been brought here. She would not have suffered so. Because of him she would die. “You are going to be alright,” he falsely promised, voice cracking. “I’ll take you away from here. Take you far away and protect you. No one shall ever…take you from me again. Look.” Li Chen produced the jade comb he had given her. “Your comb, I have come to return it to you.”
“It is yours,” Jee Hae rasped, blindly reaching with her trembling hand to stroke Li Chen’s dry cheek. His bottom lip quivered at her touch. “To remember me by. As long as you possess it, I shall ever be with you.”
“No, Jee Hae.”
“Can you hear them?” Her face turned skyward. “My ancestors are calling me.”
Anguish robbed Li Chen of his fierceness as the boy tremulously stared down at his blessed paramour. “Jee Hae…I have come to take you away…To save you.”
“I would have gone sooner, but I had to wait for you. To tell you…”
“Jee Hae,” Li Chen stammered, tears trickling from his eyes.
“I love you, Li Chen.” Her hand slid from his cheek to dangle limply at her side as she sighed one final time and her soul slipped through his grasp into eternity.
“Do not go,” Li Chen begged pitifully. “I cannot go on without you. You are…my sun.” Jee Hae did not answer, her body now still in Li Chen’s arms. “Jee Hae?” He lightly kissed her silken lips, but felt no reciprocation. “Please. Don’t leave me.” Li Chen sucked in a ragged breath. “You are all that I have.” In his wounded heart he knew she was gone, yet he held her tightly mourning the loss of his true love.
***
General Ishii directed a squad of men throughout Zhongma Fortress, the few he could marshal from the fleeing troops. Equipped with flamethrowers, he ordered them to set fire to numerous buildings within the complex. Other subordinates were already burning records. Regardless of what was attacking the base, Ishii could not allow knowledge of Zhongma to be discovered. Everything had to be reduced to ash. Already numerous blazes lit up the night.
“Over there,” Ishii waved to the prison cells. “I want that building gutted. No survivors.”
“Yes, sir.” The soldier advanced toward the building, the cylinders on his back clanking, and shot a stream of fire across its walls and roof. Black smoke spewed from the barred windows as he continued to spray the structure with flame. To his surprise a handful of prisoners stumbled out, the shackles on their legs clinking as they tried to escape. He turned his weapon on the fleeing prisoners, their screams making the soldier smile. “Stupid Shina.” Li Chen burst through the building’s scorched walls roaring. As the man turned his flame on the monster, Li Chen flung a fist-sized chunk of concrete that took the soldier’s head clean off on impact.
***
Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro haphazardly packed his files, at times spilling their contents across the desk in his haste. Despite commands to the contrary, he refused to surrender his findings to the flames. His research was too important to destroy, especially on those beasts found in the forest. A boom shook the laboratory sending jars crashing to the floor. Ishiguro had to hurry before the place came down on top of him.
Someone banged on the door. “I just need a few more minutes.” Ishiguro packed the last of his files when the door slammed inwards. He instinctively dropped to the floor. Had there been an explosion? Slowly rising, he saw Li Chen force his way into the lab through the yawning cleft. The sight of the monster made Ishiguro seize up. “Oni!”
Li Chen went for the doctor, clutching him by the neck and pushing him back against his desk arching the man’s spine painfully over its surface. “What have you been doing here?” Li Chen demanded.
“What are you?”
“You will answer my questions.” Li Chen threw Ishiguro across the room, the doctor crashing into one of the autopsy tables. Before he could get up, Li Chen grabbed him by the leg and lifted Ishiguro upside down off the ground to stare eye to eye with him. Ishiguro shuddered under the scrutiny of those oily black eyes. “What have you been doing here?” Li Chen repeated.
“This is a prison facility.”
“Then everyone in it is a criminal?” Li Chen extended his claws and slashed Ishiguro across his soft chest making the man squeal. “What have you been doing to the prisoners here?”
Blood dripped in Ishiguro’s face making him blink. “I’m a doctor. I do my best to help them.”
Li Chen’s grip on Ishiguro’s ankle tightened. The sound of bone breaking was followed by Ishiguro’s screams. Li Chen’s tongue darted out. “I taste death in this place. Many have died here. What evil have you done?” He shook Ishiguro mercilessly.
“I am innocent. Please don’t kill me.”
“No one is innocent here except the prisoners you butcher. If you will not tell me what you know, then I shall have fun with you. Perhaps I should rip you open to see what your insides look like.”
“No!” Ishiguro shouted. “Zhongma is a medical research facility.”
“What are you researching?”
“We conduct experiments on subjects for data. We starve them. Bleed them. Infect them with diseases.”
“Why?”
Ishiguro stared into Li Chen’s piceous eyes. “Must there be a why?”
“You call me monster. I should crush you with my bare hands.” Ishiguro mouthed a prayer in preparation for the end. “Who established this place?” When Ishiguro did not immediately answer, Li Chen cut the doctor’s ear in half with a claw. His painful peals meant little to Li Chen. “Who built this prison?”
“Why?”
“That is not your concern. Who built it?”
“General Shiro Ishii,” Ishiguro whimpered.
“Where can I find him?”
“I don’t know. He may have been evacuated already.”
“To where?”
“Harbin.”
“Then I will follow. I will chase him to the edges of the earth if I must.”
“And what of me?”
Li Chen slammed Ishiguro into the wall dashing his brains across its surface. He dropped the twitching corpse to the floor without a second thought.
***
“We can wait no longer for Dr. Ishiguro,” General Ishii said to himself. He turned to the driver. “We must go.” The driver nodded and started up the transport. With Zhongma aflame behind them, the remnants of General Ishii’s command fled for Harbin.
***
Mike Reynolds stormed into the sheriff’s station shoving past the deputy on his way into Brady’s office. Mark looked up from his desk as Mike came through the door, the deputy hot on Reynolds’ heels.
“Sorry Mark, he-”
“It’s ok, Don. I’ll handle it.” The deputy nodded and left the office, a dirty look on his face. Mark’s attention shifted to Reynolds. “Help you, Mike?”
“You bet you can help me. I got a need for your services.”
Mark pushed his paperwork aside and interlaced his fingers. “And that would be?”
“I got a squatter and need you to escort him off my property. Damn farmers,” Mike spat. “They’re quick to take my money but not to pay me back. Nothing but thieves and deadbeats.”
“I think that’s a little harsh, Mike. You’re barely one step up from being a grifter.”
“What I do is within the bounds of the law as unpalatable as they might be for you to believe. I have valid contracts. These people knew what they were getting into when they took loans. Not my fault if they can’t find the funds to repay what I gave them.”
“We’ve all fallen on hard times.”
“You think I’m not hurting?” Mike asked innocently.
“You’re not hurting as much,” Mark retorted. “Nice car you got, by the way. Shiny as silver.”
“Don’t try to make me feel guilty. Sympathy isn’t one of my strong suits.”
“I’ve noticed, trust me,” Mark deadpanned.
“It’s not my fault these stupid bastards just can’t seem to grasp the meaning of an eviction notice. What do I need to do?” Mike asked, his arms flailing. “Do I need to sit down and explain it to them? Take them by the hand and gingerly escort them off?”
“Maybe the problem isn’t they don’t understand but that they don’t want to understand. Their land is all they got.”
“Well, all they got isn’t worth much. Useless dust is all it is. I could buy this state for a sawbuck and still lose money in the bargain.”
“Then why take it? Farmers could do more with it than you could.”
“I gotta take something. I’d take their lives if they weren’t so broken.”
Mark turned away disgusted. “I really don’t have time for this-”
“This is your job, sheriff. That’s why you wear that badge.”
“Really?” Mark took a glimpse at the tin star on his breast. “And here I thought I was supposed to help people.”
“Well, then help me.” Mike missed the irony of his statement, bewildered by Mark’s bitter chortle.
“You never needed me before. Besides, helping you dispossess families is a little low on my list of priorities.”
Mike crossed his arms. “You wouldn’t want me to take the law into my own hands now would you?”
Sheriff Brady’s eyes narrowed. “You, do your own dirty work?” Mark cocked his head. “Isn’t this something Buck and Roy normally do for you?”
Mike cleared his throat. “That’s something else I want to talk to you about. My men were assaulted.”
Mark blurted a disbelieving hoot. “If that’s true, then have them come in and file a report. I’d love to hear the story. Otherwise, it is hearsay and I won’t have anything to do with that. Especially with the line of work they’re in.”
Mike put his hands on Brady’s desk and leaned forward threateningly. “My word isn’t good enough?”
“With their reputations, you better believe it,” Mark bit back.
Mike slapped the table with his palms. “Are you going to help me or not?”
“Fine,” Mark replied, annoyed. Going with the man would at least prevent the eviction from spiraling out of hand. Lord knew what Mike was willing to do to get his land given the state he was in. “Give me a few minutes to finish things up here and I’ll follow you out.”
Mike straightened up. “Thank you.”
Mark opened a drawer in his desk to file away his paperwork. “Where exactly are we going?”
“The Donner farm.”
Mark’s head jerked up, the color washed from his features. “What?” he croaked.
“The Donner farm. What’s wrong with you? Look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Roy and Buck went out there?”
Mike snorted. “Who do you think assaulted them? Donner has a history of acting erratically. You know that.”
“What happened to them?”
“I don’t know, but Buck is acting strange. It isn’t like him to quit a job. He just kept rambling about Donner. I did spot some bruises on his throat.”
“Donner attacked them?”
“When we get there, you can ask him,” Mike icily replied. Mark didn’t move from his desk, petrified by the memory of what he had experienced in Donner’s house. Exasperated by the sheriff’s lack of action, Mike exploded. “Will you put your damn hat on so we can get going? I’ve got other things to do today.”
Mark shook his head. “I’m sorry Mike, but I can’t go out there.”
“Why the hell not? You just said-”
Mark waived him off. “I’m tellin’ ya I can’t go out there.”
Mike stood there glowering at the sheriff, his face beet red with a vein throbbing in his forehead. He looked ready to blow. “Fine,” Mike finally managed. “Send your deputy along. Pale bastard looks like he could use some sun.”
“I’m not sending anyone out there. If you’re smart, you won’t go out there yourself.”
Puzzled, Mike’s face soon loosened with realization and he nodded. “I get it. You and Donner are pals so you’re looking out for him.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Sure it is. You’ve been protecting Donner. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. The man pulls a shotgun on me, you give him a warning. He attacks two of my associates and you won’t let me press charges. Now the man refuses to vacate my property and you won’t enforce my rights.”
Mark sprung out of his chair and came around his desk, fists clenched for a pummeling. “You listen to me, you son of a bitch. Don’t you of all people ever question my integrity. I’ll knock your goddamn block off.”
“Do it,” Mike dared, refusing to back down. He came chest to chest with the sheriff. “I came here for justice. I don’t care if it’s Donner’s head or yours, but I’m taking someone down today. So, are you going to follow me out there or not?”
Mark backed down. “No.”
“Fine. I’ll do what I always do.”
“And what’s that?”
“Take care of it myself.” Mike turned to leave.
“Don’t go out there, Mike,” Mark somberly warned. The door slammed shut behind Reynolds followed by the front door. His car growled to life outside, vrooming in defiance before Mike gunned it in reverse and then tore off. “God save you, you stupid bastard,” Mark murmured.
