BANG! BANG! BANG!
I retracted my gun and lazily blew the smoke away from the barrel. I didn't know why I bothered to practise shooting; my aim was literally perfect. But I guess I don't want my skills to get rusty, I supposed.
I glanced back towards town. I was on a piece of land a metre or so away from town. But since I was a miniature exhibit at a museum, it seemed more like a few hundred metres.
I sat down on a rock and sighed at the three tin cans that I had just shot over.
My life was missing something.
Adventure? It could be; ever since we woke up here in this museum for the first time, there hasn't been anywhere near as much adventure and action as there used to be.
Love? Less likely. After all, I HAD love. Well, it wasn't quite LOVE. More like flirtation. With the town doctor. Who was married to his work. And got flustered every single time I even winked at him. There was also that sheriff, but he was also married to his work. But he did respond better to my flirtation. Love was confusing.
What else could have been missing from my life? Well, I knew there had to be something. I felt empty inside, as if I were a glass that was nearly full but noticeably not.
Maybe my life lacked meaning.
BANG!
My head sharply turned in the direction of the shot, and I saw a group of men, perhaps six of them, probably bandits, surrounding a figure on the ground.
There we go. Meaning.
I made sure that my gun was loaded, before I started running towards them. I waited until I was close enough for them to spot me, then I shot all six of the men's guns out of their hands. They came rushing towards me, but I kicked two out of the way and slammed another two's heads together. As the fifth man and I began grappling, I spotted the sixth man recovering his gun. I didn't think much of it, until I saw the huddled man on the ground, just waiting to be shot. I threw the fifth man to the ground and raced towards the last man, but it was too late. He had already sent a bullet straight into the beaten man's back.
I scooped up my own pistol and shot the man clean through the chest, killing him instantly. I only ever killed people if they did something bad first. I would not shoot a bad guy unless I witnessed him killing or hurting someone. That was why I had just killed him.
I bent down beside the injured man, who was lying flat on his stomach. I didn't know much about first aid, but I knew that the stomach was the best place for him to be right now; the bullet was still in the wound, and if he was on his back, he'd bleed to death.
Thinking as fast as I could, I grabbed one of the men's discarded guns and fired it into the air as many times as there were bullets in there.
As I waited for help, I gently turned the man's face towards me to see if I could recognise him. My heart suddenly stood still. It was Benji, the town's deputy. What was he doing all the way out here?! How did he get mixed up with those bandits?!
My pulse quickened, but I forced myself to stay calm. That was how I managed to operate so well; I kept myself apart from my feelings.
Glancing up, I spotted a small group of people coming towards us.
For goodness sake! Could they GO any slower?! I cupped my hands round my mouth and yelled, "HURRY THE HELL UP!"
Luckily, one of them sped up, and I could tell that that one person was Chase. My heart leapt at the sight of him, though I didn't understand why. If I was leaning towards either of my potential suitors, I'd be leaning towards Jed. Wouldn't I? He was the sheriff, AND he actually gave me indications that he liked me back, instead of getting all embarrassed, like Chase did.
When Chase arrived, he hurriedly began checking Benji's pulse and wound. "What happened?!" he demanded.
"Bandits," I replied disgustedly, kicking one of the unconscious men with my boot. "Is Jed coming? He needs to arrest them." I glanced at the one I had shot. "Five of the six, anyway."
"No good," muttered Chase, still examining Benji. "I need to get him to the infirmary."
Jed and three other men arrived at that point. Chase directed the three men to pick Benji up and carry him towards town, with the doctor following them anxiously.
"Bandits," Jed spat disgustedly, in much the same way I had. "Why those idiot exhibit-makers decided to make bandits, I have no idea." He exhaled deeply. "Poor Benji. He didn't deserve this."
"At least if he dies, we'll know he died while doing the job he loved," I offered.
Jed scowled at me. "He was ambushed by bandits."
I blinked innocently and shrugged. "Your point is…?"
Jed rolled his eyes. "Nevermind. I don't care."
"Aww, but you care about me, don't you?" I batted my eyelids at him. "Don't you?"
"Sure," Jed said, but his scowl melted into a smirk. "I care about you as my best sharpshooter."
"Nothing more?" I asked innocently.
Jed's smirk widened. "Do you want there to be something more?"
I paused. Jed had never asked me that before. I didn't know how to answer.
Jed sighed, a resigned look on his face. "Irene, I mean it: you're our best sharpshooter. In several years, I don't think you've missed a single target."
"I've missed one," I corrected him. "But that was because I had a concussion."
"But we can't afford to fraternise," Jed continued, as if I hadn't spoken. "If more o' these bandits arrive, I can't have anyone tied to me. I'm already pushing it by being such close friends with Chase and Annie."
I automatically scowled at the mention of my younger sister. Annie was the owner of the local saloon, and while I was proud of her for that, she was a sort of "romantic rival" for me. She had strong feelings for Jed, though I didn't think that Jed either knew about or returned those feelings. It made me feel jealous, despite the fact that I didn't even know if I felt that way about Jed. Our older brother always told us to not think about men and to just focus on our lives, but I personally couldn't just forget about Jed and Chase. Apart from my siblings, they were the closest friends I had.
"I'm gonna head back to town," Jed said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Coming?"
I hesitated. "Yeah, I'm coming. You start, I'll catch up."
Jed shrugged and started making his way back to town.
I stooped down and gathered up the men's guns. I took the bullets from every single one of them, and put the bullets in my pockets. After doing that, I snapped the barrels of the guns so that they couldn't be used.
Finally, I followed Jed back to town.
