The gunfire was heard throughout the forest. The sound shot out beyond the sycamore trees and echoed off the Galiban Mountains. George stood there in silence thinking about the decision he just made. Everything around him was still, except his racing mind. For a moment George thought he made a mistake because Lennie didn't deserve to die and he was George's best friend. Yet another part of him knew he made the right choice because Lennie would've gotten to them in to a lot of trouble and he was insane. George knew that if he didn't do it Curley would do something worse.
He just stood there in deafening silence, with mental confusion, staring at Lennie, and feeling numb. He thought back over all the years he spent traveling with Lennie. They had gone through good times and bad. A smile came to his face when he remembered how happy Lennie got when he explained about the farm they were going to live on or how much Lennie enjoyed the puppy. He soon began to feel a wave of guilt flood over him since he had never taken a life away before, especially anyone he loved and becauseLennie was like a brother to George. It wasn't a perfect friendship, but they were friends nonetheless.
Times had been tough lately since the Depression and George began to think of when Lennie would complain about their food which drove him crazy. Then he broke the silence when, without realizing it, he chuckled a bit when he got to thinking of all the times he gave Lennie hell. His mind traced back to times he used to scold Lennie for not listening to him or when he got them in trouble for touching soft things.... Those things didn't seem so bad now. Still, he couldn't help but think about that one time when they got run out of weed which led to getting a new job in Soledad and resulting in Curley's wife and Lennie's death. He thought to himself he might have been able to prevent it if he always kept an eye on him or left right after they met Curley's wife, since George knew she would cause trouble somehow. Finally, he concluded that he made the right decision since things would've been worse if he didn't do it and like how Candy regretted not shooting his own dog, George was glad he killed Lennie himself. So, he stood there feeling extremely sad as he stared at the motionless Lennie.
He heard footsteps behind him, but he didn't turn around.
"George…" He heard Slim say. "Are you okay? We heard a gunsh-" He stopped midsentence. Slim stopped next to George and stared at Lennie's lifeless body. "I'm sorry, George." He said resting a hand on George's shoulder.
"My luger…" Carlson stepped next to them and took it from him. "You got it from him, George?"
"Yeah…" George said with his eyes still on Lennie.
"You got it from him an' shot him?"
"Yeah." George's voice cracked and he turned away.
"C'mon let me go buy you a drink." Slim helped George to his feet.
"Sure… A drink. Yeah, a drink." He let Slim lead him out of the forest and back to the bunkhouse.
"You ready George?" Slim stood at the door with his arms crossed, waiting for him.
"On second thought… I'm not really in the mood to walk to town." George sat on his bunk.
"That's fine." Slim headed over to his bed and extracted a bottle of whiskey from underneath the cushion. "I got a drink right here."
"Hell, where'd you get that?" A smile was on George's face, but it didn't reach his eyes. He got up and Slim handed him the bottle.
He shrugged. "Hell… I had it for so long." He watched as George took a swig and waited for his turn.
There was a silence. "So, are you gonna stay?"
"Why wouldn' I?" George set the bottle down.
"Since Lennie's… You know." Slim looked down at the bottle awkwardly.
"I don' know. I guess I'll stay until I get my 50 at the end of the month… I have no idea where I'll go after. I guess life will be easier without that crazy bastard!" He laughed, but tears welled up in his eyes.
Slim smiled. "I'd bet. Look, George. You should be glad you got to Lennie first. Curley would've made it a lot worse."
"I know. That's why I had tah get there before you guys did…" George picked up the bottle again. He tilted his head back and chugged.
"Whoa. Slow down there." Slim shook his head and took the bottle to drink.
The door to the bunkhouse opened and there stood Candy. He was wringing his hat in one hand and glaring at George. "My old man's furious…"
Slim spoke next. "At George? Why in the hell would he be furious at him? He didn' kill your wife!"
Curley's glare shifted from George to Slim. "But he brought that loon on to our farm! Hell, he could've gotten him to kill my wife!"
"Whatchu' sayin'?" Slim stood up. "That George put him up to it? You're the loon!"
George shook his head and threw his hat on the ground in fury. "My wife is dead, what am I gonna do?"
"Get a new one… You didn't even love her anyway." George mumbled before drinking the whisky.
"Whatchu' say?" Curley barred his teeth like a wild dog.
"I said why do you care? You never cared for her anyway." George kept taking sips of the drink.
Curley ran forward and grabbed George by the collar with his un-hurt hand and pulled him up. Whisky flew from the bottle and spilled all over the floor. "You bastard! My wife is dead and this is how you treat me?"
George shoved him away. Tears poured down his face as he drank. "Don't act like I should feel sorry for you. Someone you didn't even like died, but I had to kill my best friend! So I should be the one people feel sorry for." He yelled.
"George…" Slim started.
"Don't Slim. You know what? I changed my mind. I'm outta here, I've had enough." George went to his bunk and pulled all of his and Lennie's things into his bag.
"C'mon you don't gotta go." Slim tried to stop him from zipping his bag closed.
"But I do." George smiled. "Thanks for all your help Slim. You and Candy are the only ones I'll miss. Goodbye." He grabbed the shovel leaning against the wall and then hurried out the door, after looking back and glancing at Slim one last time.
He ran into Candy as he was leaving. "Where are yah headed, George?" Candy asked, staring at the bag in his hands. "Don't know. I just know that I hafta get outta here."
"Why? What about the farm?" Candy's eyes were wide and he seemed disappointed.
"Sorry Candy, but that was Lennie's dream, but he's gone now. Well see you." He gave Candy a pat on the shoulder and headed for the exit. Candy watched him go with a sad expression on his face.
After a while, he reached the Salinas River and sat by the brush. Lennie's body still lay by the brush. He smiled down at him and began digging next to his body.
Later he had a hole big enough to put Lennie in. He slowly rolled him into it. "I'm gonna miss you, Lennie." George laughed before covering up Lennie's grave.
When he was done, he wrote "Here lies the crazy bastard, Lennie Small." On a piece of bark and placed it on top of the grave. He looked down at himself. He was filthy and covered in dirt.
He reached into his bag and pulled out the whiskey he had stolen from Slim and grinned at it.
Hours later, he was waiting for the bus they had caught there and finishing the bottle of whiskey. The bus pulled up, blowing dirt around everywhere.
The door opened and there sat the driver that gave them the wrong directions. "Didn't you just catch this bus the other day?" He grinned.
George laughed, picked his stuff up and boarded the bus. It tore off, heading God knows where with George…