George slowly put the gun on the floor. "Come on" he hissed. "Quickly, before they get here." He grabbed a bit of Lennie's arm and pulled him towards some heavy brush on the left. Lennie, confused, pulled back and fell over when his jacket ripped. George was nearly in tears as he heard the voices come out from behind him.
"Found him!" Curley's cry of triumph echoed throughout the clearing. He burst out, flying on his horse, waving his gun around. He aimed from the chest. The second seemed to last a lifetime, like the moment before Curley's wife was discovered, as he pulled the trigger and it clicked back slowly. The bullet didn't seem to come out for a while. Slim emerged from the bushes with Carlson, and his face was disgusted and horrified as he saw the terror on Lennie's face compared to the pure glee on Curley's. Carlson pointed at the dropped gun on the ground and shouted "the bastard had it!" George felt one small tear form in his ducts, and reached to wipe it away as he knew it was already too late for tears. Everything returned to normal time, and Lennie howled in pain as the first bullet ripped through his stomach. Slim shouted at Curley to stop and let the police sort it out, but Curley was carried by the tide of triumph and revenge that was in his heart. He jumped off his horse and kicked the writhing Lennie, who howled in response, before shooting him in the head. Lennie's head snapped back, and he slid down from his elbows to the ground.
George was frozen for a minute, before he stepped forwards. He knew what he was going to do, and he knew his reason. He picked up the gun earlier discarded, and brought it up to point at where the joyful Curley was leering over the body. Slim looked from the body, still disgusted, to George, seeing the movement out of the corner of his eye. He shook his head and began to say "no, George…" but George pulled the trigger. Curley jarred, and then fell to the ground, hitting it with a soft thud. George heard nothing, not really seeing what happened, though watching it and aware of what he was doing. The lynch mob turned their victory into fury, turning on George, forgetting instantly the body of Curley which they were angry over and lunging straight back into the chase without hesitation. George put up no fight, allowing them to take him, arms out for their, and death's, murderous embrace. They were gone in a second.
Only the horse, the two forgotten bodies and Slim were left. Slim stood still a moment, and then crouched down next to Lennie. He slowly reached out and gently closed Lennie's eyelids. Then he stood up and walked away with heavy shoulders and a hanging head.