Chapter 9
Vash awoke at the usual time (he judged it to be about 9 pm,) and was shocked to see that for once Big B. wasn't sitting in his chair by the door. Vash sat up and hurriedly pulled on the pair of boots beside the bed. This was his chance. Who knew when the next time he would be alone would be? His captives had made their first mistake, and he didn't plan on letting the valuable chance pass. The heavy wooden door was locked from the outside, of course, but Vash had been planning this from the first night he had been locked here. It had been over a month.
His left arm had been disengaged somehow, but until now Vash hadn't had an opportunity to inspect how that had been achieved. Now he carefully opened the straps which held the small maintenance door closed, and discovered that many of the wires inside connecting the actual gun mechanism had been completely removed. No chance of shooting the door down, then, but that would have drawn unwanted attention. What Vash was planning was much more subtle. He grinned. Meryl would never have believed it of him. He could almost hear her voice now. "That man, Vash the Stampede, doing something that requires brains?! Now that's a shock." He sighed. He missed those insurance girls more than he ever would have guessed, when they first showed up over a year ago. Especially Meryl...
Vash shook his head. This was no time for daydreaming. He carefully pried a long thin piece of metal out of his arm, the one which had once controlled the movement of his pinky finger. He couldn't move it anymore, but that was a small price to pay for what he was planning. Vash bent over the door and carefully inserted the metal pin into the lock.
* * *
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah... Looks like it could be the place. We should go have a look." Wolfwood crawled back behind the dune he and Meryl had been peeking over. The moon shone on the sand, giving it an eerie silver quality, and the stars were bright and clear above them. Millie and Knives waited for them at the bottom of the drift.
"Well? What did you see?"
"Give me a minute!" Wolfwood sat back and lighted a cigarette before answering Knives' query. "There's a big town down there, but it looks like there are only a few people living there. We saw a car leave, heading out towards the west, but other than that there's no sign of life. It's just like the guy in the bar told us... A strange town with no name, not plotted on any maps, about two days walk from November."
"Maybe we should go after the car and ask whoever's driving it some questions," Meryl suggested. Knives sighed.
"And how do you suggest we go about catching it? Unless you've grown wings in the past five minutes, I mean," he said. Meryl glared at him.
"Last time I checked you were the only one of us who could grow wings, Knives. Why don't YOU fly over there and check it out?" Knives ignored her. She hit him in the back of the head. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Knives rubbed the back of his head ruefully while Wolfwood chuckled at the two of them.
"I can only grow one, I can't fly with it, and I would need my gun," he responded despondently. "How did you know that, anyway?"
"Vash told me," she replied, looking up thoughtfully at the hole in the moon.
"Why don't we just go and knock on the door?" Millie asked with her usual carefree enthusiasm. Wolfwood looked at his big girl with widening eyes.
"That just might be the best idea I've heard all night," he said mischievously.
* * *
Vash stared in mute horror at the table in the room next to his. The room was like some kind of sick memorial of Vash's past. On the wall beside the table hung his old red jacket. Wolfwood's cross punisher leaned against the far wall. His old bag lay on the floor, and his yellow sunglasses rested on the table beside... beside... Vash thought he was going to be sick.
A pair of guns lay on the table in carefully tooled leather holsters. One black. One silver.
How... How... But he had left them... These things shouldn't be here, Vash thought desperately. They CAN'T be here... They should be buried in the middle of the desert where he and Knives had fought their last battle. What did this mean? What was Kiyoi planning? Vash carefully reached over and touched the hand grip of his old gun with one finger.
He was striding down a street in the middle of the day, laughing maniacally. "Vash the Stampede is here," he yelled mockingly. "Run! Run for your pitiful human lives! Not that that will save you!" He pulled his silver gun and took aim at the nearest screaming child. A woman ran into the street and threw herself between his gun and the child as he pulled the trigger...
Vash wrenched his hand away from the gun and clutched it to his chest, as if burned. He stumbled backwards until his back made contact with the wall, then he slid down it in trembling shock. What... what... what WAS that?! His mind reeled in horror and confusion. He couldn't seem to get a grasp on his surroundings.
Slowly, Vash controlled himself. He let out a shuddering breath, then stood up. He had been sleeping through the days lately. Then he had a vision of himself in the middle of the day killing a town full of people. A vision... or a memory? Vash's blood ran cold. What had Kiyoi done to him?! He had to find out. And he had to do it by sunrise. Gritting his teeth, Vash reached down and picked up his gun, bracing himself for another vision. None came.
He slowly strapped the holster to his hip. He couldn't leave these things here. Not the guns, at any rate. They were too dangerous. He took it's brother and strapped it to his other hip. Vash cast a glance over his shoulder at the other things in the room before he stealthily closed the door behind him. He would return later to reclaim his things... After he had gotten some answers.
* * *
"Another drink, bartender," the man called from his seat at the end of the bar. The fat old man hurried over with a shot of whiskey.
"Here you are, sir, best in the house," the barkeep groveled. The man smiled coldly at him.
"Thanks." He pushed twenty double dollars across the counter with two fingers. "Keep 'em coming." The barkeep nodded and bowed as he took the money, then hurried off to serve two new-comers. The man swirled the liquor in the glass, then downed it in one shot. Master Kiyoi would be pleased with him. He had found the travelers exactly where he had said they would be, had given them the information they thought they wanted, then watched as they left the town six days ago. He smirked, knowing that they were walking into a trap, and happy to know that he had had a part in their downfall. Oh yes. Master Kiyoi would be very pleased with his son Jacob.
* * *
Vash walked along the corridors of the stone building in a daze. He had never imagined that so many horrors could exist in one place. In one room he had looked into, he had seen an enormous machine with thousands of needles, syringes, restraining straps, and other diabolical instruments of science gone horribly wrong. What the machine could be used for, he had no idea. As he was walking along another hallway, he had passed cells holding prisoners. The people had shrunk back against the walls when they saw him coming, whimpering and hiding their heads. Vash had tried to open one of the cell doors in an attempt to release the prisoner, but the girl had begun to scream the instant he touched the door. He had left the door and run down the hall, trying to ignore the terror-filled cries of the people he passed.
What he had seen had hurt Vash deeply. He was used to people being afraid of him, but these people had been struck with abject horror. What possible reason could they have for being SO afraid of him? A voice cut into his thoughts, and Vash realized that there was an open door ahead of him. He swiftly flattened himself to the wall and sidled to the door, peering around the edge as carefully as he could. Big Brawny was sitting at a small table with two other men, playing cards.
"So, the Master'll be back tomorrow, right Rile?" One of the other men asked as he lay down his hand on the table.
"Yeah," Big Brawny replied, studying his own hand intently. None of the men were facing in Vash's direction. "He's got some business to attend to."
"Shouldn't you be watching the outlaw?" The second man inquired, filling a shot glass with booze. "Or maybe we should just start calling him 'the bait!'" He and the other man laughed heartily, but Big Brawny (Rile, Vash thought, his real name's Rile,) just studied his cards.
Bait? Vash thought, suspicion gnawing at him. Bait for what? Or who? Is that why I'm being held here?
"Didn't feel like it tonight," Rile muttered, as he took two cards from his hand and pushed them, face down, to the center of the table. One of the others threw him another two from the deck. "Besides, you both know he's no danger until the daytime, and then he does whatever Master Kiyoi tells him to. I don't see much point in watching him every night." Vash's blood turned to ice. He had to get away from here. Now.
He carefully darted past the door and began to run down the hallway.
Vash awoke at the usual time (he judged it to be about 9 pm,) and was shocked to see that for once Big B. wasn't sitting in his chair by the door. Vash sat up and hurriedly pulled on the pair of boots beside the bed. This was his chance. Who knew when the next time he would be alone would be? His captives had made their first mistake, and he didn't plan on letting the valuable chance pass. The heavy wooden door was locked from the outside, of course, but Vash had been planning this from the first night he had been locked here. It had been over a month.
His left arm had been disengaged somehow, but until now Vash hadn't had an opportunity to inspect how that had been achieved. Now he carefully opened the straps which held the small maintenance door closed, and discovered that many of the wires inside connecting the actual gun mechanism had been completely removed. No chance of shooting the door down, then, but that would have drawn unwanted attention. What Vash was planning was much more subtle. He grinned. Meryl would never have believed it of him. He could almost hear her voice now. "That man, Vash the Stampede, doing something that requires brains?! Now that's a shock." He sighed. He missed those insurance girls more than he ever would have guessed, when they first showed up over a year ago. Especially Meryl...
Vash shook his head. This was no time for daydreaming. He carefully pried a long thin piece of metal out of his arm, the one which had once controlled the movement of his pinky finger. He couldn't move it anymore, but that was a small price to pay for what he was planning. Vash bent over the door and carefully inserted the metal pin into the lock.
* * *
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah... Looks like it could be the place. We should go have a look." Wolfwood crawled back behind the dune he and Meryl had been peeking over. The moon shone on the sand, giving it an eerie silver quality, and the stars were bright and clear above them. Millie and Knives waited for them at the bottom of the drift.
"Well? What did you see?"
"Give me a minute!" Wolfwood sat back and lighted a cigarette before answering Knives' query. "There's a big town down there, but it looks like there are only a few people living there. We saw a car leave, heading out towards the west, but other than that there's no sign of life. It's just like the guy in the bar told us... A strange town with no name, not plotted on any maps, about two days walk from November."
"Maybe we should go after the car and ask whoever's driving it some questions," Meryl suggested. Knives sighed.
"And how do you suggest we go about catching it? Unless you've grown wings in the past five minutes, I mean," he said. Meryl glared at him.
"Last time I checked you were the only one of us who could grow wings, Knives. Why don't YOU fly over there and check it out?" Knives ignored her. She hit him in the back of the head. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Knives rubbed the back of his head ruefully while Wolfwood chuckled at the two of them.
"I can only grow one, I can't fly with it, and I would need my gun," he responded despondently. "How did you know that, anyway?"
"Vash told me," she replied, looking up thoughtfully at the hole in the moon.
"Why don't we just go and knock on the door?" Millie asked with her usual carefree enthusiasm. Wolfwood looked at his big girl with widening eyes.
"That just might be the best idea I've heard all night," he said mischievously.
* * *
Vash stared in mute horror at the table in the room next to his. The room was like some kind of sick memorial of Vash's past. On the wall beside the table hung his old red jacket. Wolfwood's cross punisher leaned against the far wall. His old bag lay on the floor, and his yellow sunglasses rested on the table beside... beside... Vash thought he was going to be sick.
A pair of guns lay on the table in carefully tooled leather holsters. One black. One silver.
How... How... But he had left them... These things shouldn't be here, Vash thought desperately. They CAN'T be here... They should be buried in the middle of the desert where he and Knives had fought their last battle. What did this mean? What was Kiyoi planning? Vash carefully reached over and touched the hand grip of his old gun with one finger.
He was striding down a street in the middle of the day, laughing maniacally. "Vash the Stampede is here," he yelled mockingly. "Run! Run for your pitiful human lives! Not that that will save you!" He pulled his silver gun and took aim at the nearest screaming child. A woman ran into the street and threw herself between his gun and the child as he pulled the trigger...
Vash wrenched his hand away from the gun and clutched it to his chest, as if burned. He stumbled backwards until his back made contact with the wall, then he slid down it in trembling shock. What... what... what WAS that?! His mind reeled in horror and confusion. He couldn't seem to get a grasp on his surroundings.
Slowly, Vash controlled himself. He let out a shuddering breath, then stood up. He had been sleeping through the days lately. Then he had a vision of himself in the middle of the day killing a town full of people. A vision... or a memory? Vash's blood ran cold. What had Kiyoi done to him?! He had to find out. And he had to do it by sunrise. Gritting his teeth, Vash reached down and picked up his gun, bracing himself for another vision. None came.
He slowly strapped the holster to his hip. He couldn't leave these things here. Not the guns, at any rate. They were too dangerous. He took it's brother and strapped it to his other hip. Vash cast a glance over his shoulder at the other things in the room before he stealthily closed the door behind him. He would return later to reclaim his things... After he had gotten some answers.
* * *
"Another drink, bartender," the man called from his seat at the end of the bar. The fat old man hurried over with a shot of whiskey.
"Here you are, sir, best in the house," the barkeep groveled. The man smiled coldly at him.
"Thanks." He pushed twenty double dollars across the counter with two fingers. "Keep 'em coming." The barkeep nodded and bowed as he took the money, then hurried off to serve two new-comers. The man swirled the liquor in the glass, then downed it in one shot. Master Kiyoi would be pleased with him. He had found the travelers exactly where he had said they would be, had given them the information they thought they wanted, then watched as they left the town six days ago. He smirked, knowing that they were walking into a trap, and happy to know that he had had a part in their downfall. Oh yes. Master Kiyoi would be very pleased with his son Jacob.
* * *
Vash walked along the corridors of the stone building in a daze. He had never imagined that so many horrors could exist in one place. In one room he had looked into, he had seen an enormous machine with thousands of needles, syringes, restraining straps, and other diabolical instruments of science gone horribly wrong. What the machine could be used for, he had no idea. As he was walking along another hallway, he had passed cells holding prisoners. The people had shrunk back against the walls when they saw him coming, whimpering and hiding their heads. Vash had tried to open one of the cell doors in an attempt to release the prisoner, but the girl had begun to scream the instant he touched the door. He had left the door and run down the hall, trying to ignore the terror-filled cries of the people he passed.
What he had seen had hurt Vash deeply. He was used to people being afraid of him, but these people had been struck with abject horror. What possible reason could they have for being SO afraid of him? A voice cut into his thoughts, and Vash realized that there was an open door ahead of him. He swiftly flattened himself to the wall and sidled to the door, peering around the edge as carefully as he could. Big Brawny was sitting at a small table with two other men, playing cards.
"So, the Master'll be back tomorrow, right Rile?" One of the other men asked as he lay down his hand on the table.
"Yeah," Big Brawny replied, studying his own hand intently. None of the men were facing in Vash's direction. "He's got some business to attend to."
"Shouldn't you be watching the outlaw?" The second man inquired, filling a shot glass with booze. "Or maybe we should just start calling him 'the bait!'" He and the other man laughed heartily, but Big Brawny (Rile, Vash thought, his real name's Rile,) just studied his cards.
Bait? Vash thought, suspicion gnawing at him. Bait for what? Or who? Is that why I'm being held here?
"Didn't feel like it tonight," Rile muttered, as he took two cards from his hand and pushed them, face down, to the center of the table. One of the others threw him another two from the deck. "Besides, you both know he's no danger until the daytime, and then he does whatever Master Kiyoi tells him to. I don't see much point in watching him every night." Vash's blood turned to ice. He had to get away from here. Now.
He carefully darted past the door and began to run down the hallway.