Trigun: Bounty Hunter
Chapter 1: A New Humanoid Typhoon?
I sat there at the bar. My ruffled black hair shimmered in the light. My blue coat seemed to wave a little bit as the cool breeze flew into the building. I adjusted the amber sunglasses that matched my eyes. I shook the bottle of beer in my hand every now and then. I looked around the place I was in. Everyone was drinking and laughing loudly. I let out a sigh. How I wished I could have a good time like them. I couldn't. I knew that as long as I was searching for Vash the Stampede, I was doomed to be like this for a long time.
"Hey barkeep!" I said. "Bring me another one."
I took one last swig of the beer in my hand and gently placed it on the table. The barkeep handed me another bottle and took the empty that lied next to me. I let out a small groan as my head dipped. The man just looked at me. He stroked the gray, rough beard on his wrinkled face.
"That's your seventh one," He said to me. "Getting drunk doesn't take away your sorrows. It only numbs it."
"I don't have time to get drunk," I replied as I stood up. "I'm too busy going after the prize. Now if you'll excuse me, I must take my leave."
"Hey! You still need to pay!"
I grunted. I reached into my pocket and searched around. My eyes opened wide. I was broke. All I could feel were bullets. I spent my last $$500 on gun optimizing and ammo. I let out a loud growl. I turned my head and looked around. I squinted my eyes as I noticed a certain man. He was a lanky man who wore a cowboy hat, brown pants, a vest that matched, and a gray button-up shirt underneath. He had a cat like grin and eyes that were so dark that they seemed black. I started to grin. I turned my head to face the barkeep.
"Give me few minutes. I'll get you the cash you need."
"You're going to get $$20 in a few minutes?"
"I've done it before," I replied, still grinning.
I turned around and started to walk towards the man. He started to laugh at something. I started to chuckle silently. It wasn't the joke I was laughing at. I was laughing at the fact that I was gonna score $$25,000. They said he was the quickest person in the town. Well, he hasn't met me yet.
"Excuse me sir," I said.
The man's smile disappeared. He turned his head to face me. I had a fairly big smile on my face. The man let out a puzzled sound. Even he knew that I shouldn't have been smiling. He eyed me cautiously, trying to think of what I would do.
"What do you want?"
"I just thought you should know that there's a little something on your face."
"Huh? What? Where?"
I pulled my arm back and shot it forward. My glove-covered hands made contact with his face. He yelled out in pain as he fell backwards and onto the ground in his chair. He grabbed his face and groaned in frustration and irritation. I knelt down next to him and shot my fist at him again. He yelped and closed his eyes. I stopped right before my fist made contact with his face. He opened his eyes and let out a puzzled sound. I then flicked my finger right under his nose. He let out another yelp. I grinned as I pointed at the blood under his nose.
"Right there," I said.
"Why you!" He shouted, quickly getting to his feet. "Are you trying to start something you crazy fool?"
"Actually, I am," I replied as I stood up. "You see Mr. John James, I need money and you're the easiest way to get it. So unless you have $$25,000, I think you should come with me."
"What?" He shouted out. "How did you..."
I pulled out a wanted poster. I showed him the picture that matched his face. He had a nervous look on his youthful face as he took a step back. I continued to grin evilly at him.
"Now you have two options," I said. "You can come with me, I turn you in, and I get the money, or I shoot you down and I get the money."
He growled loudly. He took his gun out and aimed it at my head. He did it within the blink of an eye. Well, the blink of his eye anyway. I blinked twice as fast as he drew. He grinned as he put the gun back in his holster.
"Hmmm. Custom model seven-shooter," I said.
"I think I'll risk it. I know you can't shoot me down, bounty hunter."
I took out my gun. It was an enhanced .50 caliber magnum. The man stared at me with disbelief. I grinned and put the gun back in my holster. The man started to chuckled. Then he started to laugh. I gave him a puzzled look.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"That gun! It's bigger than your head! There's no way you could outgun me!"
"What makes you so sure? Your big mouth?"
He just glared at me and let out a small growl. He walked outside. I quickly followed him. As I walked out of the seemingly deserted town, I saw people sneaking back into their homes. Some were built of wood whereas others were built of stone. Either way, if a bullet went off course, they could penetrate the walls and probably kill someone. I hoped that wouldn't happen.
"What's your information?"
I turned my head to my left. I saw the barkeep two feet away from me. He had a pen and paper in his hand. He had a serious look in his eyes. I turned my head away and looked at John James.
"I said what's your information?"
"The undertaker isn't going to need my nor his information. But if you need to know, I'm six feet and three inches, one hundred fifty pounds, twenty-three years old, and on my gravestone (which I won't need for another seventy or eighty years), write "Killing me seemed like killing God, meaning impossible."
The barkeep gave me a funny look. He let out a sigh and shook his head as he walked off. I chuckled. I continued to stare at John James. His hand was next to his gun. My hands just hung at my side. I sighed and turned around, facing the other way. He let out a puzzled sound.
"What the hell are you doing? Do you always play with Death?"
"I'm not playing with death. I'm giving you a handicap."
He let out a loud laugh. I chuckled. He didn't know a single thing about me. I shook my head. I then straightened it out. I could hear his knuckles cracking. I waited for him to draw his gun. I couldn't see it, but I could hear it. I soon heard a cock. He fired the gun twice. As soon as he did that, I turned around at an unimaginable speed. I cocked my head to the right and fired. One bullet flew past my head. The other made contact with the bullet I fired. His bullet split in half and fell to the ground. His hat just as quickly flew off his head. He yelled in shock and horror. I walked towards him. He backed up. He turned around and started to run, but he tripped over his own feet. He landed on his face. He quickly sat up and turned his face towards me. He looked at me with fear. I had an evil smile as I aimed the gun at him.
"Now will you come with me? I really don't like to waste a life."
"AHHHH! Okay! I'll come! Just don't shoot me!"
"That's what I thought," I said. "Now get up."
He stood up very quickly. He was shaking violently. I chuckled a little bit. I soon stopped. I pushed the gun against his back. He moved forward as we headed towards the jail. He moved very slowly. I wanted him to hurry up, but I knew he wouldn't. He was as scared as hell. Apparently everyone was else was too. I couldn't blame them. I soon emptied the thoughts. When I got to the prison, he was thrown into the prison. He was still shaking. I loved the feeling when someone was afraid of me. I turned my head to face the sheriff.
"Now, about my payment."
"You're payment?" The man said. "Well... uh... We can't pay you at the time. We... uh... we don't have enough. I guess that's a big shame for you."
"Just give the cash."
The man growled quietly. He walked over to a table and looked in a cash holder. He grumbled as he sorted out the cash He walked back up to me and handed me the cash. I stared at the money. $$25,000 would hold me off for quite a while. I looked at the Sheriff and smiled.
"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I gonna get some more beer. If you need me again, give me a call. Call me first and I may give you a discount."
He responded with a grunt. I laughed quietly as I walked off. I looked at the cash in my hand again. I couldn't help but smile with pleasure. I'll admit that I was glad I got the cash, but I felt even better when I fired off the gun. When I entered the saloon, everyone stared at me. They then quickly looked away. They started muttering something. I just smiled as I sat down at the bar. The barkeep stared at me nervously. I withdrew $$100 and held it out. The man stared at it.
"I told you I'd pay ya!" I said cheerfully.
"Uh, you don't need to pay," He said as he started to sweat. "After all... you took care of him. Besides... I..."
"Don't be scared of me!" I said in a still cheerful tone. "I only go after people who have a good bounty on their head!"
"I see. You still took care of that crook for us. Drinks are on the house tonight."
"Forget it! I have enough cash! Hey everyone! Drinks are on me for the rest of the day!"
Everyone let out a loud cheer. They laughed as I threw beer to them. I chugged them all down. For several hours, I drank until it reached night. Everyone was drunk except for me. I found it rather disappointing. It takes so much for me to lose my senses. When the party was done, I paid the barkeep $$500 and left the saloon. I let out a loud laugh. It was definitely the best day I've had for a while. As I walked off, I heard footsteps behind me. I growled silently. I turned around and aimed my gun. A girl let out a loud shriek. I holstered my gun.
There were two women. One was about five feet and six inches, looked like ninety-five pounds, and had purple dyed hair. She was wearing earrings. The other girl was about five feet and nine or ten inches, one hundred ten pounds (although there was something fishy about her left shoulder, for it seemed like it was extended, making her look heavier), had medium length brown hair, and she wore a yellow and green coat. The purple haired girl let out a sigh of relief. She then had an angered look on her face. She walked up to me with her hands at her hips. She was red in the cheeks. Apparently I made her madder than I thought.
"What are trying to do, kill us? And to think you aimed at a woman!"
"Sorry babe," I said, grinning. "Didn't mean to do that."
"Babe!? Why you... maybe it was a mistake to talk to you."
"What, you thought it was a bad idea to try to get to know me better on a date?"
"Oh! You self-centered, womanizing... why I bothered talking to you I have no idea!"
"Well you're a fiery one, aren't you?"
She growled loudly. I laughed quietly. I had a big smile on my face.
"Sorry. I give you my deepest apologies. I can't help myself. I just had a little too much to drink tonight (as far you know, anyway)."
"We know. We were in there with you."
I let out a nervous yelp. I slapped my head and let out a sigh. Maybe I should have taken the old man's offer and not pay anything."
"What he did was still very nice, ma'am!" The brown haired one said. "I haven't seen many bounty hunters do that!"
I chuckled nervously as I scratched the back of my head. I finally realized that she called the purple-haired girl "ma'am" right there. So she was her boss. Well, it was fairly understandable, what with the way she acted.
"So what did you want?" I asked.
"We were curious about your skills," The purple haired girl said. "The way you dueled that man... the fact that you showed him mercy, dodged that bullet, and destroyed the other one... that was a lot like the skills of Vash. Are you related to him or something?"
"How do you know Vash is that good?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"Uh... we've been following him around for quite a while."
I knew she was lying. Well, she wasn't being completely dishonest. Of course she would be following him around, but I knew that she was with him for some time.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know him. This was just a God given talent. I will admit that I have been following him around myself. I've been trying to find this guy for some time. If you want, you can tag along."
"What? With you? No way! I don't know what you could do to me!"
"Uh, ma'am?" The brown haired woman whispered. "Maybe we should go along with him. We don't know who could pop up around these parts. Besides, he's pretty good! Maybe he can help us when we need it."
"Listen, you've just seen how this guy's been acting! He's an alcoholic and a womanizer!"
"I know, but he could help us find Vash! Maybe you can find out about why he's this good!"
"Hmmm. Fine."
They turned around to face. The purple haired girl was smiling all of a sudden. The brown haired one was smiling the whole time except for when she was talking to the other one. I could automatically tell she was the friendlier one.
"Okay! We accept! It would probably be best if we went along!"
"Wow. That was easy. Well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves. Call me Harry."
I stuck out my hand. The purple haired girl hesitantly stuck her hand out. After what seemed like a minute, she finally shook my hand. She gave me a nervous look. I just smiled. The other girl came to shake my hand also. She had a rather strong grip.
"You can call me Meryl," The purple haired girl said.
"And I'm her partner, Millie!"
"Nice to meet you. Now, what do we do now? Go to an inn?"
"I suppose that would be good," Meryl said. "But don't expect me to share a room with you!"
"I don't," I said with a grin.
Meryl had a nervous look on her face. She already had a feeling that there was something on my mind. If she thought that, than she was right. I usually did have something up my sleeve. I hoped she wouldn't find out what it was.
"Follow me," I said.
I turned around and headed for the inn. The girls soon followed me. It was dark, but my eyes adjusted fairly well, making it so I could see pretty well. I looked around everywhere, making sure that there was no one else who wanted to make trouble. Unfortunately, there was no one. When we got inside, I checked out the place. It was fairly large and rustic. There were old-fashioned guns that rested on mantles and old style carpeting and rugs. I lowered my sunglasses to examine everything properly. I raised my glasses to their previous position. I turned around to face the girls.
"You two wait here. I'll see if I can cut us a deal here."
"Are you doing it because you think I'll mess up?" Meryl asked me irritably. "Or is it because I'm a woman?"
"Listen," I started to say. "I would only do that if both of them applied. Right now I'm pretty sure you would mess up."
"What?" She said quietly, giving me an evil look.
"I'm just screwing with ya. I'm not that impolite, even though..."
"Even though what?"
"Er... nothing. Still, after what I pulled off, there is no way he could say no."
"That better be the reason, Harry."
I chuckled. I walked up to the man. He was wearing an old plug hat, a black suit jacket, gray pants, and a gray shirt with a black vest. As I started to converse with him, Meryl and Millie had a conversation.
"I'm starting to think that this was a bad idea," Meryl said.
"What do you mean, ma'am? He seems like a nice guy! After all, he did offer us his help."
"Yeah, so he could ogle me."
"Well, he is trying to get us a room. Doesn't that change your view of him?"
"No, it doesn't. I know he's up to something."
"Oh gi-rls?" I said in a singsong voice. "Come here! I got us a free room!"
"Really?" Millie said with a big smile. "You got a room?"
"That's great! Wait a minute. There has to be a catch."
"Uh, actually, there is," I said. "There's only one room."
Meryl stared at me with disbelief. She then looked at the innkeeper. She ran towards him, grabbing him by the collar and giving him a pleading look.
"You can't be serious! Please tell me there's another room! I don't want to be stuck with him!"
"Sorry ma'am," The man replied. "All I have is the two bed room upstairs. That's all I have to offer. If I were you, I'd take the offer. I don't give that many people free rooms."
Meryl stared at him for a second. Her head soon sank and she let out a sigh. She stuck her hand out for the key. The man dropped them into her hand. She went upstairs along with Millie. As Meryl passed by, I gave her a quick "motivation slap". She gave me an infuriated look. She slapped me across the face and quickly stormed upstairs. I rubbed my face and grinned. I changed my glance to the innkeeper. I handed him a slip of cash.
"Thanks for the "single" room."
"Your welcome," He said with a grin.
I chuckled as I headed upstairs. I searched for the room. When I found it, I quickly went inside. Meryl gave me an evil look. I moved back a step and chuckled nervously.
"If you ever do that again... I will sue you more than ten times your reward that you got today! Do you understand me?"
"Yeah, I get you. I give you my word, I won't do that again."
I wasn't sure if she noticed, but I crossed my fingers. Meryl gave me a "Humph!" and sat down on the bed.
"So who's sleeping where?" Millie asked.
"Well, I suppose that..."
"You two will get the beds while I keep guard out front," I said.
They stared at me. I had a big smile on my face. I started to turn around for the door. However, I stopped very briefly. I looked back at them and gave them a serious look. There was something was still bugging me.
"You never did tell me what you were doing here."
Millie and Meryl looked at each other. They then turned their heads to face me. I still had that serious look on my face. Meryl seemed rather hesitant, but she finally spoke up.
"We're part of the Bernadelli Insurance Company. We do damage assessment to the towns we visit. Of course, we also check out anything strange. You gun slinging caught our attention."
"I see. But what about Vash?"
"We're always looking for him," Millie said. "After all, he's a good friend of ours."
"Millie!"
"I knew it," I said. "I had a feeling you've been with him."
"You don't understand!" She said out nervously. "He 's helped us out a lot of times and saved a bunch of other people too! We're only repaying the debt! Besides he... oh crap!"
"If you're trying to protect him, don't worry. I don't ever plan on killing him. I just want to test his skills and see if he really has lived up to his name."
Meryl stared at me for a couple of seconds. She then let out a sigh of relief and leaned back on the bed. I chuckled and headed for the hallway. Meryl quickly sat up. I turned around.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I suppose you can stay in here if you want. Keep in mind that if you do anything funny, I'll throw you out of this place through the window instead of out the door!"
"Don't worry," I said with a grin. "I don't do things when women are asleep. You have my word! If I break it, I'll pay half of my reward!"
Meryl stared at me incredulously. She grinned soon after. I had a big smile on my face. I was gonna keep my promise. I wasn't going to harass her during the night. I was still gonna bug the crap out of her during the day.
"I'm going to sleep now," Millie said.
Under her coat, she let a huge gun drop to the ground. I stared at the gun with wide eyes in disbelief. She was big, but I didn't think that even I could hold that thing. I ran my hand through my hair, still staring at the gun.
"Maybe they didn't need me in the first place," I muttered. "Well, I suppose I'll keep guard. You never know which posse members could pop up."
Meryl nodded. She looked around nervously. Soon, they each got under a bed and quickly fell asleep. Millie snored quietly. Meryl was plain silent. I let out a sigh and looked at the door. I was going to keep guard like I said. I was gonna keep guard through most of the night to be honest. Why should I bug her at night when I would be doing it through most of the day?
"Good night," I said. "In case you hear any bangs, you'll know who's causing it."
Meryl raised her head. She already looked like they were drooping. Her head once again fell onto the pillow and she started to sleep again. I chuckled. I walked over to a corner of a room I stared at the door. For an hour straight, I stared at it. Soon after, my eyes began to sink. I exhaled slowly as I began to drift into sleep.
I was dreaming about something that happened to me a long time ago. I was inside a city that was being destroyed. People were running around and screaming. I was running everywhere in confusion and panic. When I wasn't looking, someone ran into me, knocking me over. I fell to the ground and grunted as I landed on the ground. I sat up and shook my head. When I looked up, I saw a man in a red coat running towards me.
I woke up. I looked around the room. I was still inside. Meryl and Millie were still sleeping. I rested my head in my hand and sighed. I let out a silent groan as I stood up. I checked under my coat. My gun was still there. I had just remembered that I didn't replace the bullet I fired. I reached for a bullet on one of four belts that I wore. Two were around my hip and two other were wrapped around my torso, each on a shoulder and extending to the parallel hip. Each belt held at least fifty bullets. As soon as I replaced the bullet, I grabbed one of the two hundred bullets in my numerous pockets and replaced the one in my belt.
"My gun is my obsession," I muttered. "The bullets are the belts."
I turned around and opened the door. I looked around to see if anyone was walking around the hall. It was empty. I grinned. I walked out of the room and into the hall. I slowly walked down the stairs. When I got to the bottom, I looked at the innkeeper. He was sleeping and snoring loudly. His feet were extended onto the desk as he leaned back. I walked up to him.
"Old man, wake up."
He quickly sat up. He looked at me for a couple seconds. He then let out a loud yawn. He stared at me again. I was giving him a serious look.
"What do you need now?" He asked me.
"I need to know where a shooting range is that has some competitions."
"If you want the best prize, you need to wait an hour for the competition that will be at the "Smokin' Pistol" which is about ten minutes north of this inn."
"Thanks."
I walked out of the inn and headed north. It was pitch black, but I could see a lot of things. I continuously looked around to make sure I wouldn't see anything... or anyone. I couldn't help but feel like I was being followed. I learned to trust my instincts. I had my hand on my pistol's handle. I was gonna get ready for anything. When I arrived at the place, I looked around again. No one was around. I grinned. I opened the doors and headed in.
When I got inside, I looked at the competition. I could see some people that looked like novices compared to me. I hoped that there were some challenging people. I let out a sigh of irritation. I walked up to the signup sheet and signed my name on the sheet. I walked up to a wall corner and leaned on it. I was waiting patiently. Sometime before the competition, something caught my eye. I noticed someone walking off. He was wearing a red coat and had blonde hair. I grinned. I quickly followed him around the building. When he went into a room, I followed him in. He grabbed some food and started to eat slowly.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the almighty Vash."
I aimed my gun at him. I readied the pistol and pulled back the hammer. The man flinched. He slowly turned around. I looked at his face. It was youthful and seemed somewhat inexperienced. I sighed and put my gun back.
"What the hell are you trying to do, scare me to death?" The man asked. "And what kind of a stupid person would think that I'm Vash?"
"Someone who knows that he wears that kind of clothing."
I walked out of the room. He growled loudly. I chuckled quietly as I entered the waiting room and continued to lean against the corner I previously waited at. Several minutes later, they called us in. They asked everyone when they wanted to go. I optioned to go last. After that was done, I was finally able to get a good look at the room. It wasn't really big. Still, it had the necessities. As soon as that was all over with, everyone was firing away at the targets. Booms and bangs echoed in the room. It didn't bother me though. All I did while I was waiting was sitting down on a chair. When I did that, nothing seemed to reach me. When the guns went silent, reality slowly crept back into my mind. I looked around for a bit as I stood up. I then walked up to the man who had the money.
"How much is the par for shooting all six targets?" I asked.
"One point twenty five seconds. Why do you want to know?"
"I want to see if I can break that. Why else would I want to know?"
"I doubt you'd be able to break it. That was a record set by someone who claimed to be Vash the Stampede himself. I'll believe it."
"Vash, huh?" I asked with a grin. "Now I really want to do this. How 'bout this? If I beat the par, I get $$5,000. If I beat the par and get a bulls eye on each target, I get $$10,000."
"And what if you don't beat the par?"
"I'll pay you $$20,000."
"Deal," the man replied with a grin.
I continued to grin. I looked above me. There was a sign that would display my time. I knew what the time would say. I turned around walked towards the center of the room. I let my hand drift to my side. I waited for the sound of the man to say go. I knew he wouldn't. I could tell he was a cheapskate. It didn't matter. I could still do this. I would show them. I did. As soon as I heard a beep, I grabbed my gun and fired at the targets. Everyone stared at me. They soon turned their heads and stared at the targets. In each of the targets, there was hole right in the center of each one. I had an evil grin on my face.
I turned my head. I looked at the electric sign. I shot all the targets in about one second. I changed my view to the manager. He stared at me with disbelief. I stuck my hand out and motioned for him to put the money in my hand. He gave me an evil look. He walked off for a second. He went into the previous room. I could hear some rummaging. About a minute later, he popped back in. He put the money in my hand. I stared at it with content. I had a big smile on my face as I walked off. I headed out the door. Before I left, I heard a gun cock. I turned around to face the manager. He had a gun in his hand, aiming it at my head. I stared at him with confusion.
"Are you gonna try to make me give you the money back?" I asked.
"Very funny Mr. Stampede."
"What?" I said, still in confusion. "You think I'm him?"
"Only the humanoid typhoon could pull off a trick like that! You even beat a seemingly impossible par! How do you explain that?"
"I call it practice and talent you crazy loon," I replied giving him an evil look. "I'm a bounty hunter who needs the cash, so I have to practice."
"Yeah right. Now enough with the bull crap. You can come along quietly or..."
"Or what?" I asked with an evil grin. "You're gonna try and shoot me?"
"No," A voice said. "We're gonna try and shoot you."
I looked a little bit to the left. There were thirty people behind the man, all with their guns drawn. I lowered my sunglasses for a brief moment. I just as quickly readjusted them. I looked around for a way to distract them. I noticed a beam that held the roof up. I grinned evilly. I drew my gun at lightning speed and fired at the roof. There was a loud CLICK. I looked at my gun. It was empty.
"Gah! I forgot to reload!"
I quickly turned around and ran out the door. Everyone fired at me. I barely dodged the bullets. I ran even faster. Soon, people were chasing after me. As they did this, I reloaded my gun. I quickly put the bullets inside. I didn't bother fiddling with my pockets to grab some replacement bullets. I just wanted to run.
"Almost there," I said. "Just a little..."
I couldn't finish the sentence. I was soon shot in my left arm. I yelled in pain. I groaned as I grabbed my arm. Blood oozed out from the wound. Apparently a bullet was stuck in a bone. I ignored this and picked up speed. I was still being shot at. I wondered when I would get to the inn when I spotted it. I grinned. I ran as fast as I could. The innkeeper was stared at me as I got closer.
"Close the doors and lock them!" I shouted. "I'm being chased by a freakin' mob!"
When I got in, the man slammed the doors shut and locked the door. I just ran up the stairs. I opened the door and slammed it behind me. When I turned around, I saw Meryl in her bra and skivvies. Her hair looked wet along with some other parts of her body. When she saw me, she had a flustered look. She yelled out in anger. I yelped in surprise and Millie quickly sat up from the bed she was in.
"I can't believe your still at it!" She shouted. "You better get out before I pound you in!"
"Just shut up and put your clothes on!" I said firmly, throwing her clothes she wore before. "They want to shoot me down because of a misunderstanding."
"I don't know why they shouldn't!" She said angrily as she got dressed.
"What exactly happened," Millie asked as she got up and grabbed her gun.
"They think I'm Vash!"
"Well why would they think your Vash? He has blonde and black hair, a red coat, and..."
"I know what he looks like!" I shouted. "Just get out of here!"
There was a pounding on the door. We all turned our heads to face the door. Apparently they got in quicker than I thought. I looked at the window. It looked like the only exit. I headed for it. Millie and Meryl quickly followed. I turned my head to look behind me.
"Millie, shoot the chunk of floor that's right under the door," I said quietly.
"Right!"
She took her behemoth of a gun from under her coat and aimed it at the floor. She fired the bullets and holes appeared in the floor. Soon, it started to give way. I heard several people shout in surprise. I grinned. I looked straight ahead of me once again and jumped out the window. I landed on my feet and quickly stood up. Millie swiftly jumped to the ground. When she landed, she faltered a little bit and let out a loud thud. I looked at Meryl. She seemed hesitant. She finally jumped after a couple of seconds. I caught her in my arms. When I did, I groaned in pain. I quickly set her down and grabbed my arm.
"Are you okay?" Meryl asked with concern.
"I'm fine. Now lets go!"
We quickly ran off. When we passed the bar, Meryl and Millie ran to the side of it. I skidded to a halt so I could face them. The mob was getting closer. I quickly glanced at them. I soon changed my view towards them.
"What are you doing?" I said loudly. "Come on!"
"We're getting something!" Millie shouted.
"Just go! They'll only chase you so will be fine!" Meryl said.
"Thanks for the concern," I said sarcastically.
I turned around and started to run out of the town. Seconds later, I saw Meryl and Millie quickly catching up to me. They were riding Thomas's. I laughed with relief. However, I soon stopped when they passed by me. I stopped in shock. I forgot that I was being chased. The only thing that was on my mind was that I just got stabbed in the back.
"What are you doing?" I shouted at them. "Why are you leaving me behind? I'm injured for Christ's sake! You traitorous back stabbers!"
Bullets soon flew passed me. I yelled in shock. I soon ran after Meryl and Millie. As I was running, I turned my head to view the mob. They were still chasing us. I raised my head to stare at the town's huge entrance sign. I aimed my gun at where the poles held it up and fired twice. I could here faint sounds of impact along with the people yelling. Soon, the sign fell over. The people were running back to avoid being crushed. I grinned. I faced forward again and hightailed it. About two minutes later, Meryl and Millie came riding towards me. I laughed with relief. I slowed down as they came closer. I noticed that Meryl had an irritated look. Millie looked disappointed. I stared at them with curious looks.
"What's wrong with you two?"
"So we're back stabbers, are we?" Meryl asked.
"You didn't have to say that," Millie said.
"You two rode off!" I shouted in frustration. "How was I supposed to know you would come back to help me?"
"We help people. It's our job. Besides, it seems that it would be best to find Vash with you in case anything were to happen."
"Really. Well whatever. I need to get out of here. Now will you give me a ride?"
"I don't know," Meryl said with an evil grin. "Do you think you can apologize and mean it? If you can, maybe we'll go slow for you so you won't get lost in this desert."
"Are you sure that would be a good idea, ma'am?"
"Of course! After all, we deserve an apology! And we're going to get it! Unless, of course, you want to stay behind."
I growled. I didn't want to apologize. She didn't deserve it. She left me behind, after all. In fact, she should have apologized to me! Still, desperate times called for desperate measures. I let out another growl. I bowed my head and crossed my arms.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"What was that?" Meryl asked.
"I'm sorry," I said louder.
"Can you say that one more time?"
"I'm sorry,' I said firmly.
"I still can't hear you!" She said.
"Fine. I... I... I will pay you each $1,000 if you will just stop this and give me a ride. Okay?"
"What? You have to be kidding me! You'd rather shell out $$2,000 than say sorry out loud?"
"Yep."
"Hmmm. Fine. I guess we can do that. You can pay us when we get to the next town."
"Thanks."
I hopped on the Thomas that Meryl was riding. I put my right hand around her hip and rested my head on her shoulder. She groaned nervously. I would have laughed, but I didn't want to. I would only get a little bit of sleep since day was a couple of hours off, my left arm was numb because of the bullet, and I nearly lost my pride. I just wanted to rest.
"I hope this won't happen in the next town," Millie said. "This was stressful enough!"
"I'm pretty sure it won't," Meryl said. "It only will if the new Humanoid Typhoon here won't get trigger happy and self-centered again.
I just grunted. My eyes slowly shut as I began to fell asleep again. I slept rather uncomfortably. I had that dream again. There was something unusually comfortable about the sleep that night, but I couldn't put my finger on it until the next day.