The minutes ticked by as they waited. Finally, the door opened, a voice coming from behind it.

"The rest of you men put your hands up against that wall. Doc can come out, but I want all your guns. One wrong move and none of you leave that room alive."

The men apprehensively complied, Doc looking over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being watched before placing one of the side arms in a basket nearby. He left the room and followed the orders to put the guns down, hearing the door being bolted shut behind him.

"You can go now."

Doc turned around to face Bennet as the man's hand came to rest on the blasting box.

"…You won't get away with this! You won't!"

"When you go running to the marshal, you be sure and tell him that I'll set this box off if I see anyone poking around here."

"Bennet…"

"Get out of here before I change my mind."

Anger flashed across the doctor's face as he turned around and left the room. He ran down to the marshal's office, nearly breaking down the door as he entered.

"Micah, Greg Bennet's got Judge Hanavan and the rest of the jury hold up in the town hall!"

"What?!"

"He's threatening to blow the whole building if we don't stay out!"

Mark stared at the man in shock, a sick feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. "No… no! Pa…"

"How'd you get out?"

"He let me out. He's making them work their way down to one man so Bennet can get his revenge."

"Revenge for what?!"

"Revenge for us not convicting Walker of murder. The man's gone mad!"

"Mark, you stay here."

"But-"

"I said stay here!"

Mark helplessly watched as the two men left the office and made their way down the street. He saw them go into the saloon, then lead a group of men to the hotel. The boy waited for several minutes before following suit, his worry getting the best of him. He found a large gathering of folks in the hotel lobby and took his place just inside the doors as Micah went on.

"Right now I don't know if there's much we can do but wait. I don't take Bennet as a man to make idle threats. No one goes near that building unless I say so!"

"We can't just leave them in there," Sweeney called.

"Until there's less of a risk, we're going to have to. Right now he's letting men go; we don't want to do anything to change his mind. What I do want is men positioned across the street and on a few rooftops. Mays, Collin, Rodgers, Cole, meet me over at my office. When the time comes to move, we're going to need to move fast. The rest of you work on getting everyone over here so that if thats building does go up, there won't be any bystanders to go up with it."

As the marshal asked for questions, Mark hurried back to the jail. He again sat down in front of the checkers board, his mind racing with dozens of questions.

The office door again opened a few minutes later, Micah and the men he intended to deputize stepping inside. He passed out their badges and gave a few more orders before sending them on their way, Mark's small voice stopping him from following after them.

"…Marshal?"

The marshal turned around, his callous expression softening as he saw the worry in the boy's face.

"What's gonna happen to my pa?"

He stepped forward, placing a reassuring hand on Mark's shoulder. "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine. Your pa's smart… he's gotten himself out of worse scrapes than this."

"But what if…"

"No need to start using that word. Now, I want you to get yourself over to the hotel and wait until this is all over, you hear?"

"…Yes sir."

Mark returned to the hotel and sat down beside a window. He tried to ignore the conversations being held, but found his attention being drawn to them over and over again.

"Doc, you think Bennet will really wait until there's just one of 'em left?"

"I don't see why he wouldn't. Could've blown the whole thing to smithereens when we were all in there, but he didn't."

"…Who do you think will be the last man?"

"Luke McCain. I don't think he'll let it be anyone else but him."

"What do you mean, let? I thought you said you were all voting men out?"

"That's the way they're doing it, but you know Luke. When he's got his mind set on something… he has a way of persuading folks to back him. He won't make it obvious what he's doing, but he'll make sure he's the last one in there."

"What would make him do a fool thing like that?"

"…Because he and Charlie Goodknight are the only two that just might stand a chance against Bennet. And Luke isn't one to ask someone else to fight his battles."

"It's as much Charlie's fight as his. Lucas wasn't even here when Bennet was killed."

"Doesn't make any difference. Luke will stand his ground as a matter of principle… as a matter of protecting his community."

Thoughts of his father being killed consumed Mark as he stared out the window, eyes locked on the courthouse. Time seemed to stand still as he sat watching, praying the doctor was wrong, praying his pa would be the next man to walk out that door.

Two minutes after eight, Mark found his heart sinking as he watched Judge Hanavan step out onto the street. Unable to restrain himself, the boy jumped up and ran out of the hotel.

"Judge Hanavan!"

Turning to see Mark hurrying towards the judge, Micah began to scold the boy. "Mark, I told you to wait at the hotel!"

"I'll see him there, Micah. Then I want to talk to you." The judge placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, turning him back towards the hotel.

"Is my pa alright?"

"He's doing just fine. I'm sure this will be over in no time."

Mark stopped and looked up at the man, shaking his head. "I heard Doc talking. He said my pa won't leave. He's right, isn't he? My pa… he's gonna…"

The judge knelt down, looking into the boy's concerned eyes. "Your father is a good man, who is going to do everything he can to make sure this all turns out alright."

Again, Mark shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. "But… but Mr. Bennet said he was gonna kill one of you… and… and if my pa's the last one… Judge Hanavan, please do something! It's not fair! My pa didn't do anything wrong!"

Seeing a group forming at the door of the hotel, watching the exchange, Micah made his way towards the two and started walking them to his office. "…Mark, I know you're scared. But we're going to do what we can to make sure everyone, including your father, gets out of there safely. To do that, I need to talk a few things over with the judge, and I need to not have to worry about you getting too close to that meeting hall. …But what you can do to help is go into my back room there and watch that alley. If you see Bennet or anyone else go through there, I want you to call for me."

"…Yes sir."

Judge Hanavan watched as the boy disappeared into the back room before turning towards the marshal. "…Micah, that back entrance has been boarded up for years. Besides, I don't think Bennet has any intention of leaving before he's through."

"The boy needs something to do."