Kennedy of the West


Chapter 7: Retaliation


Leon burst through the front doors of the hotel panting heavily with his gun in hand. Claire, who had been sitting in the lounge area with Sherry and Tucker, got to her feet immediately.

"Leon! Are you ok?" she asked as she went over to help her friend. She pulled him into the room nearly falling over, but he quickly broke free from her and slammed the door shut, locking it tight.

"Tucker! Get Sherry out of here!" ordered the ex-cop as he ran over to one of the boarded windows, attempting to see between the planks.

Tucker had a look of nervousness and shock all over his sweaty face.

"W-What's happening?" he asked shaking.

Sherry shivered in fear.

"Leon?..." she said.

Leon turned to his friends, a serious glare in his eyes.

"The bandits are heading this way," he said. "So Tucker I need you to take Sherry somewhere safe."

"But...where?" asked the fearful old man.

"Anywhere but here!" shouted Leon as bullets started piercing through the thin walls of the hotel. Both Leon and Claire got on the ground and covered their heads. Tucker, though hesitant at first, knew what he had to do. He quickly grabbed Sherry by the hand and began leading her to the storeroom.

"This way, Sherry, come on!" he said frantically.

Sherry followed, but her gaze was still set on her two friends.

"Leon! Claire!" she cried.

"Don't worry, Sherry, we'll be fine!" replied Claire as more gunfire was heard.

In a matter of seconds, the old man and the girl had completely vacated the room, leaving the two Americans by their lonesome. Leon kept his Punisher close to his chest.

"Alright runt!" shouted Bert from outside the hotel. "You got 10 seconds to get out here or we're comin' in after ya! 10!" The other two bandits laughed, readying their handguns. Leon and Claire remained on the ground inside the building.

"What the hell is going on here, Leon?" she said. "You were supposed to go find the telephone at the bar!"

Leon grimaced at her by the front window as Bert began his countdown.

"Some of the bandits saw me!" he replied. "It's not easy to hide when you're in the middle of broad daylight!"

"You didn't even go to the saloon did you..." Claire said with a frown.

Leon paused momentarily.

"Telephones don't win gunfights," he replied coolly as he tapped his handgun lightly to the side of his head.

"3!...2!...1!" shouted Bert. "This is yer last chance princess!" The bandits stood in silence for a few seconds awaiting a reply, but of course Leon wasn't dumb enough to do that. "Humph. Alright, have it your way then!" Bert turned to his goons and gestured them towards the door with his head. They chuckled in unison as the three of them waltzed up to the door, Bert leading the pack. He stepped up to the door and kicked it down with ease, revealing an empty hotel lobby. The bandit leader spat professionally. "They're in here..." he said quietly as he clicked off the safety in his weapon. "Split up. First one to kill the runt gets a drink on me."

"But...what if you kill him first?" asked Eugene curiously.

Bert snarled at him unimpressed.

"Then yer buyin' for me!" he yelled, spitting again.

The three bandits split up, Bert heading towards the counter, one goon heading up the stairs, and one goon heading down the stairs to the storeroom. Leon and Claire held their breath under the counter as they heard heavy boots stomping over to their position.

"Shit, he's right on top of us!" whispered Claire, crouching as far down as she could. "He'll see us for sure if he leans over the counter!"

Leon thought for a few seconds before coming up with a plan.

"Claire," he said, "I have an idea."

Once the other two bandits had left the room Bert began examining the reception area behind the counter, looking at the files and room keys, but no "princess" for him to shoot. He noticed the silver bell sitting on the countertop and, as any mischievous person would, he pressed it, causing the sound to echo throughout the room. Suddenly, Claire popped up from behind the counter and leaned over it casually.

"Hey there," she greeted. "Are you checking in for the day?"

Bert nearly jumped for joy upon seeing her feminine face, but instead replied with a whistle and a sinister smile.

"Howdy there, little lady," he said taking off his hat, revealing strands of long, greasy black hair. "I ain't never seen you 'round these parts before." He put his hat on the counter near her hand. "How may I be addressin' thee?"

Claire would have laughed at his attempt at being a gentleman had it not been for his gross outward appearance. She continued to play along.

"I should be the one asking you that," she replied with a cute smile. "You're the guest here."

"That I am." Bert holstered his weapon without thinking and leaned over the counter, causing her to arch her neck back slightly. "Say, how's about you and me get a room here for the day?" he said, tobacco reeking in his breath. "I'm sure we could have ourselves a good time."

He gave another smile with his yellow teeth. Claire forced a friendly smile, attempting not to gag at the scent of his breath.

"Erm, that's very kind of you," she responded, "but I'm working all night."

"I'm sure I could get one of my boys to watch the counter for you..." He put his hand on top of Claire's on the counter, causing her to lean back a little. "What do ya say to that?" Bert moved his mouth close to her face, forcing her to turn her head completely out of disgust.

All of a sudden, Leon sprung up from behind the counter next to Claire, Punisher in hand, aimed right at Bert's face.

"I say, you shouldn't get so distracted when you're on the job," he said seriously.

Upon seeing the barrel of the gun, Bert let go of Claire and backed away.

"Aw shit!" he cried.

Leon quickly changed his aim and shot Bert in his good leg, causing him to tumble over on the ground.

"Dammit!" he hollered. "Eugene! Get yer ass down here!"

Eugene immediately came running down the stairs near the counter, but Leon was faster. The ex-cop professionally leaped over the counter, shooting the gun out of Eugene's hand and landing on his feet. Eugene froze in terror at the bottom of the stairs.

"Um...boss?" he said nervously.

Claire ran over and picked up the bandit's dropped gun and pointed it at Bert while Leon's eyes remained fixed on Eugene.

"You guys picked the wrong sheriff to mess with," he said seriously before shooting Eugene in the leg.

"Gahhh!" he cried as he fell to the ground. Leon approached the bandit and grabbed him.

"You're lucky I work for the government," he said, "otherwise, you'd all be dead by now." He threw Eugene on top of Bert, causing both of them to moan in pain. Claire gave a nod to her partner while keeping her gun pointed.

"Nice work, Leon," she said.

Leon replied with a nod before going over to Bert and disarming him completely. He managed to remove his handgun, machete, and combat knife (that was Leon's from before), which were the only weapons he had on him.

"These will come in handy," exclaimed Leon as he handed Claire another handgun. He tossed the machete behind the counter and put the other handgun in his attache case before continuing. "Now..." he said. "You have some explaining to do."

Bert was about to open his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when a girl's scream rang throughout the lobby followed by a gun shot. Leon and Claire immediately looked at each other in fear.

"Sherry!" they both cried in unison.

Leon turned and ran to the door leading to the storeroom downstairs.

"Claire, you keep an eye on those two!" he shouted before disappearing down the stairs.

Claire prayed in her mind that the gunshot she heard following the scream was only a figment of her imagination.

"Sherry, where are you!" cried Leon as he ran into the storeroom.

He looked about the unusually large room full of barrels and crates. The only source of light was that of a few light bulbs dangling from the ceiling. There was a blood smear on the ground in front of him that led around one of the large wooden boxes. Quietly, Leon held up his weapon and crept around the corner to find Tucker sitting up against the crate in a pool of his own blood. Leon nearly screamed in shock, but instead ran over to his friend and examined the body.

Tucker had been shot through the chest.

Leon lowered his head in shame, knowing very well that this scenario could have been prevented had he come down here sooner. However, only one gunshot had been heard from upstairs, which meant that Sherry was still alive, just hiding somewhere. By the same token, the third bandit was also still at large, armed and dangerous.

Leon readied his weapon and began the hunt. He knew that if the bandit saw him, he would not hesitate to shoot and kill just as he had done to the old man. And even if Leon did get the first shot on his legs, he could still get punished for not disarming his foe. This was going to be test of both speed and skill.

"Sherry," whispered Leon as he snuck around the maze of barrels as quickly as he could. "Sherry, you in here?"

He noticed that there were a few barrels in the room that did not have any lids on them.

"Sherry's a smart kid," he thought. "The best place for her to hide in this room would definitely be in one of these barrels. The only question is... which one?" He scanned the tops of every barrel he came across, but only a few were topless. And every single topless one he came across was empty. "Dammit. At this rate I'm going to have to get rid of that bandit first. But where is he?..."

Leon turned a corner to see the bandit standing at the end of the path of barrels. The enemy noticed the ex-cop and quickly fired off his weapon at him. Leon ducked behind the barrel just in time.

"Come out where I can see you!" shouted the bandit.

Leon cursed beneath his breath.

"Think of something, come on! There has to be a way for me to disarm him!"

He heard the sound of the bandit reloading his weapon, which he knew was his only chance to strike. Leon knocked down the empty barrel he was hiding behind and kicked it towards the bandit.

"What in tarnation!" cried the bandit. He had no time to react as the barrel quickly rolled down the path and knocked him off his feet, causing his gun to fly into one of the stationed empty barrels. Leon immediately ran over to him and shot his leg, forcing the bandit to scream in pain. "Argh! You'll pay for this!"

"Gotcha good, didn't I?" replied the ex-cop as he holstered his gun, lifted the man up with both arms, and dropped him upside-down in a barrel. Leon then grabbed a spare lid and sealed it tight. Luckily, all of the lids had a small hole for air circulation in them. The bandit was cursing and thrashing in the container, but Leon just ignored him. "Sherry, it's safe to come out now," he said.

A few moments after, young Sherry Birkin emerged from a barrel on the other side of the room.

"Leon..." she said, still shaken up from the past events. She ran over and embraced him. "Oh Leon! I'm so glad you're okay!"

She seemed like she was about to cry, but she didn't. Leon knew that Sherry was a strong girl.

"It's alright now, I'm here to protect you," he replied reassuringly.

She looked up at him innocently.

"But...Mr. Tucker got shot..." she said. "He tried to save me."

Leon nodded slowly.

"I know," he replied. "What he did was a good thing. But there's no point in sobbing over it now. The important thing is we are all safe and these guys are all immobilized."

He gestured towards the barrel with the bandit, causing Sherry to run up and kick it.

"Serves you right you piss off!" she shouted. Leon was surprised by her choice of words there.

"Hey! Watch it kid!" replied the bandit in the barrel. "When I get out of here, I'm coming after you first!"

She made a face at the barrel and joined Leon by his side.

"Let's go back upstairs, Leon. I don't like it down here."

Leon gave a serious nodd.

"You read my mind," he said, looking at the barrel. "But first, you're going to have to do something for me."

"Huh? What's that?" she asked curiously.

Leon brushed his hair out of his eyes and smirked.

"Help me carry this guy up to the first floor."


Author's Note: I'm a slow updater I know, but you're going to have to bear with me here. Reviews are appreciated please and thanks!