Chapter 2: The Hidden Mine and the Former Criminal
I slowly woke up. It was early in the morning. I could tell because the sun was still rising. My head was still on Meryl's shoulder. My hand was holding something soft. I squeezed it gently a couple of times. I slowly rose my head off of Meryl's shoulder. She turned her head to look at me. She had an evil look.
"So your finally awake."
"Yeah. Why do you look so POed?"
Her elbow flew right into my face. I grunted and fell to the desert ground and landed with a hard thud. I yelled out in pain. I didn't know what hurt more right there: my shoulder, my face, or my pride. It didn't matter. I was to busy clenching my face and getting up on my feet. I gave her an angered look.
"What the hell did you do that for?" I shouted. "Even I can feel pain! Besides, I didn't do anything to you!"
"Yes you did," she said, getting off the Thomas. "Can you guess where your hand was?"
It instantly hit me. I slapped my face in embarrassment. I let out a groan. The reason I had slept so peacefully last night was because my hand was apparently on her breast. I soon let out a chuckle. I couldn't really believe I did that. Even I don't go that far. Oh well. At least some good came out of it (for me anyway).
"Whoops," I said quietly. "I guess I'll have to be more careful next time."
"You better," She replied. "Next time I'll shoot you. You got that?"
I nodded. I walked up to the Thomas and started to get back on. However, Meryl put her hand right in front of my face. She crossed her arms and gave me an evil look. I blinked twice. I wondered what she wanted now?"
"Do you want me to say I'm sorry again?"
"Oh no. You're not riding with us for the rest of the trip to the city. You're gonna have to run it. If you can't, tough."
"What?" I shouted. "You can't do this to me! You need me with you!"
"How do you know? You asked us if we wanted to join, not the other way around."
I started to protest, but I fell silent. I crossed my arms and stared at her. She really was a firecracker. Hell, she was a bomb to be more honest. This was one of the reasons I didn't want to try to talk her out of it. I knew if I said the wrong thing, she really would kill me. I leaned to the left and looked ahead of me. The city was a couple of miles off. I straightened my body and looked at Meryl.
"You really do hate me, don't you?"
"You bet," she replied.
"Then why did you agree to accompany him, ma'am?" Millie asked.
"Because you basically forced me to!" Meryl said firmly. "Now let's just get going!"
She snapped the reigns and the Thomas sped off. Millie soon followed her. I growled loudly as I took off after them. I pumped my arms to gain momentum and speed. Sand occasionally flew into my face because of the Thomas's. I put my sunglasses back on, but they didn't help too much. Dirt still got in my eyes. I growled loudly as I continuously rubbed the dirt out of my eyes. I was about to stop and call it quits when I noticed that the town was only one hundred yarz off. I started to laugh with relief. I picked up speed. I was running so fast, I started to pass up Meryl and Millie. They stared at me in disbelief as I started to run faster. I grinned as I got closer. I was about twenty yarz off when my leg fell through something. I grunted. I turned around to see what I had snagged. I hadn't snagged anything. There was a small hole in the ground. I gave it a puzzled look. Meryl and Millie caught up to me and stopped abruptly. They jumped off of their thomas's to examine the hole. As they walked up to me. I quickly glanced at them then looked at the hole again.
"That's rather peculiar," Millie said. "I wonder if anything is down there."
"I'm not sure," Meryl replied. "I am a little curious. Do you think we should check it out?"
"I don't know," I replied. "There's probably something down there, but then again..."
I heard guns cocking behind us. Meryl let out a surprised yelp. I drew my gun and spun around. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the people. They looked like police officers. Meryl and Millie slowly turned around as I continued to stare at the men. They looked they hadn't shot anything for weeks. I could have shot them, but than I would have been in more trouble.
"Put down your guns, and hold your hands in the air" One of them said.
I was hesitant at first. I finally holstered the gun after several seconds. However, I didn't raise my hands. I just stared at the officers. The one that spoke slowly walked up towards me. He was wearing casual shoes with blue jeans, and a long sleeve shirt. He had short brown hair and a goatee that matched. He reminded me of someone. I couldn't think of who though.
"State your name and business," The man said.
"I'm Meryl. This is Millie. We're part of the the Bernar..."
"I didn't ask you," The man said, not letting his gaze off of me.
"I'm "Hurricane" Harry Johnson. I'm a bounty hunter who's searching for Vash the Stampede on personal business. That good enough for you?"
He stared at me with an incredulous look. He took a couple steps forward. He stared at me for a while. He then backed up. He stroked his chin as a grin appeared on his face. He started to chuckle. I wondered what was so amusing to him.
"I don't believe it. The Hurricane Harry! I never thought that you'd show up in our town!"
"Me neither," I muttered.
"I'm the sheriff of this town. I tend to get a little edgy when it comes to outsiders. I don't know if they're thieves or not. So tell me, what are you doing here?"
"I'll tell you as soon as we get in town... and you put that gun down."
Apparently, the man forgot that he was still aiming his gun at me. He quickly put the gun back in his holster. I let my hands drop to my side. I stared at him for a while. He was so familiar. If I just had a picture, or something, I'd remember.
"Follow me," The man said. "I bet you need something to eat. Am I right?"
A small grin appeared on my face. I hadn't eaten for a while. Anything would have been good at the time. The man faced the officers and told them move out. They quickly ran off towards the town. The man soon walked off. I quickly went off after him with Meryl and Millie quickly following me. I didn't let my eyes off of the man. His name... it was on the tip of my tongue. However, my thoughts were interrupted when Meryl walked up next to me.
"Why do you keep on staring at him?"
"Haven't you seen his face before?" I asked.
Meryl took another look at the man. She had a curious look on her face. I beginning to think this guy was a public figure before. Must have been a performer or something. Or maybe... he was a bandit. If that was the case, why didn't he shoot me down earlier? It didn't matter now. I was just wanted to relax after what happened the day before hand.
"So where ya from?" The man asked me.
"I'm still trying to find that out myself. I've traveling for so long, I don't know where I come from let alone where I'm gonna settle down."
"You'd settle anywhere with an attractive woman, am I right?" Meryl asked me.
"Are you asking me out or something?" I replied, grinning evilly.
"No! I'd never ask you out!"
I chuckled quietly. I put my around and pulled her closer to me. She growled loudly and pushed me to the side. I just stared at her and let out a sigh. I tried at least. Than again, I tried a lot. Why this kind of thing still disappoints me I don't know.
"You really try too hard Mr. Harry!" Millie said cheerfully. "If you're trying to get together with miss Meryl, you need to find out what she likes first!"
"Don't encourage him Millie! He shouldn't be together with any woman!"
"I think everyone should be together with someone," Millie replied.
"Stop encouraging him! I don't want him to keep grabbing me!"
"Sorry, ma'am."
I chuckled. I looked at the man. He had a toothy grin. I grinned back. He turned his head and looked ahead once again. I looked at Millie. She glanced at me. I had a big smile on my face. I mouthed thank you. She smiled brightly and nodded. I turned my head to face Meryl. She gave me an evil look. I grinned and chuckled nervously. I quickly looked away.
"So where are we going, anyway?" Millie asked the man.
"We're going to my home. It's the least I can do since I almost shot you people down."
"Oh! That's so kind of you!" She said cheerfully.
"Yeah. I try to be kind when I can."
I stared at the man again. I needed to know his name. I would not rest until I found it out. Luckily for me, that wouldn't be necessary. I would find it out soon enough. Soon enough, we arrived at town. I looked around the town. Company buildings were everywhere. There were a lot of people who wore suits walking around town. There were barely any homes... or normal people walking in the streets for that matter. Everywhere I looked, it was mostly just businesses, inns, and rich snobs.
"That's what the business industry has done to the world today," The man said. "The companies take over the land, squeeze out our money, and look for any chance to kick us off the land. We need to do something about this. Odds are we won't be able to."
"So there's nothing you can do about it?" Meryl asked.
"Only thing we can do is try to find some quick cash. There were rumors floating around that there was a mine around here. There's supposedly enough materials that if you cash it all in, you would have about a quarter of the bounty of the Humanoid Typhoon."
I stared at him. I was surprised he would say something like that. A lot of people don't speak their minds. It didn't matter. Usually a man's thoughts couldn't change a thing. Well, that's in my opinion anyway.
"So how much farther till we get to your home?" Meryl asked.
"Luckily for you it's only a couple minutes more."
He was right. We arrived at his home in about two or three minutes. When we arrived, I examined the home. It was small, but it was well kept. The exterior looked as if it was freshly painted, there were decorations hanging around it, and there was a thomas stall on the side. You would expect this place to be cheap. Most of the homes looked like that. Why would anyone struggle in trying to keep their homes?
"Come on in," the man said. "My wife is making dinner. Just don't do too much staring."
"Why would you say that?" I asked.
"You'll see," The man said with a grin.
The man opened the door and walked inside. We followed him inside. Meryl and Millie looked around with surprised looks on their faces. I was a little surprised too. It had a rustic charm to it. There were style tables, chairs, carpeting... you name it. I looked at the man again. He was standing next to a woman. He whispered something into her ear. She turned to face us. I stared in shock. She was absolutely gorgeous. She had long blonde hair, fine body, green eyes, and and clothes you would find a female chef wearing.
"So she's a cook," I muttered. "Lucky SOB. He got two things for the price of one."
"Hello. I'm Marianne. I'm Tobias' wife."
Tobias. I was starting to remember the name. It was a robber. I was sure of it. I just couldn't think of where (and when) he was a robber. I shook the image from my mind. I walked up to the woman and smiled. I stuck out my hand.
"Hello ma'am. My name's Harry Johnson. Nice to meet you."
She smiled brightly. She grabbed my hand and shook it lightly. I chuckled quietly. As soon as she was done, I gave a slight bow. I when I stood up straight, I quickly turned around and walked towards Meryl and Millie. I looked at Meryl. She had a shocked look on her face.
"Why didn't you "bother" her?" Meryl asked in a quiet but irritable tone.
"I only "bother" women who aren't in a relationship."
"Well how do you know I'm not in a relationship?" Meryl asked coldly.
"For one thing, you seem to get mad rather easily when talking to a guy (probably because of some crack he would make). Second, most men would probably too scared to even look at you."
Meryl gave me a cold and evil look. She growled quietly as she crossed her arms. I chuckled as I gave her an evil grin. Millie switched her gaze between the two of us. She had a confused look on her face.
"You said the last time you were with another man was five years ago."
"Millie!" Meryl shouted. "Why did you say that?!"
Tobias came into the room. He had a grin on his face. He chuckled quietly.
"Is something the matter?"
"Yeah. I'm doomed to be with this man right here."
She groaned quietly as she rubbed her head. I laughed quietly. Tobias also started to laugh. Meryl gave us an evil look. She growled quietly. I stopped laughing. That look was starting to send a shiver down my spine. I turned around to face Tobias. He still had that grin on his face.
"So how long till lunch will be ready?" I asked.
"Actually, it is ready," Tobias replied.
"Hooray!" Millie said with a big smile. "We can finally eat! I was starving!"
I looked at Millie and chuckled. Meryl looked at her and sighed. Apparently she was already having a bad day. She needed to learn to take pressure. My thoughts were soon interrupted as a scent filled my nose. I turned my head to see where it was coming from. I saw plates and platters on the table with an abundance a food. I stared at the food with wide eyes.
"Alleluia!" I said loudly. "This is an all-you-can-eat buffet!"
I started to drool. Soon, I felt a quick blow to the back of my head. I clenched my head and groaned in pain. I turned my head to face Meryl. Her hand was clenched in a tight fist. She had an evil look on her face.
"You really need to control yourself," she said.
"Is this why no one wants to date you?" I muttered.
"Well, it seems that your even hungrier than I thought," Marianne said.
Meryl and I turned our heads to look at the table. Millie was already eating what she could. I looked at Meryl and gave her an evil look. She started to sweat.
"You were saying?" I said coldly.
She just stared at me for a couple seconds. She let out a sigh as she walked towards the table. I followed her. We both pulled out a chair, sat down, and started eating. I ate rather slowly, but Millie was just pigging out. I stared at her with disbelief. I have never seen a person like her for a while. It scared me to be honest.
"Isn't this food great?" Millie said with a mouth full of food. "I haven't had like this in so long! Have you?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full," I replied with a grin.
"You really like to joke around, don't you?" Millie said after swallowing the food.
While she said that, she slapped me in the back. Unfortunately, I was eating something when she did that. WHen her hand made contact, food became lodged in my throat. I gasped. I grabbed my throat as I tried to get it down. I tried to breathe, but I couldn't.
"Are you okay?" Millie asked me.
After several seconds, I swallowed the food. I breathed heavily as I gasped for air. My breathing slowed down a little as I sat upright. I let out a quiet groan. I looked at Millie. By the look on her face, I could tell that she couldn't tell that I was choking.
"Don't do that next time," I muttered.
"Are you all right there Harry?" Tobias asked.
"Get back to me on that one. Uh, I never got you last name."
"Oh. It's Harrison."
"Ah. Thank you. Can I talk to you in private?"
"Uh... sure. Marianne, I'll be right back."
"Okay. But hurry. I don't think you'd like my food cold."
"Of course."
He stood up and headed towards the door. I quickly stood up and followed him. We went outside. The sun was hanging high in the sky. Shadows covered the land where we stood. We both looked left and right, making sure no one was watching us. I then looked at Tobias. He was giving me the same look that I was giving him. I chuckled.
"Tobias Harrison. Infamous robber and kidnapper. Held up fifty banks and made off with over $$250,000. Kidnapped only five people but made off with over $$750,000. Had a bounty of $$1,000,000 on his head until he stopped for a mysterious reason approximately seven years ago. After three years, it was decided that he would no longer be hunted down."
"Hmmm. It seems that you know your stuff kid. I'm impressed.
"I have to know this stuff. I'm a bounty hunter."
"So what are you gonna do now?" He asked with a grin. "Are you gonna shoot me?"
"No," I replied, shaking my head. "There's no point in doing so. For one thing, I won't get anything out of it. Besides, you're living a different lifestyle. For all I know, you really are the sheriff for this town.
"Yeah. I am. Heh. Good thing too. I'm the only one here that actually stands up for the rest of the town. Without me, this place would have been one huge corporation a long time ago."
I stared at the man. He was still grinning. I grinned too. I had a bad feeling though. It seemed like trouble was growing. It started to bug me. I looked around again to make sure no one was around. The streets were empty. I faced Tobias again. He was heading inside. I quickly followed him. When we got inside, I shut the door behind me. We went back to the table and started to eat again. Meryl and Millie just looked at me.
"What went on out there?" Meryl asked me.
"Oh! Nothing went on out there!" I said with a big smile. "We were just having a little chat!"
"What were you talking about?" Millie asked me.
"Yes," Marianne said. "What were you two talking about out there, Tobias?"
"Nothing important," Tobias replied. "He was just asking me about the town."
"Oh. I see."
We continued to eat. However, we stayed silent for the rest of time that we ate. I couldn't help but feel like someone was following me. I wanted to ignore the feeling, but I learned to trust my instincts. It saved my life on more than one occasion. As soon as we were done, I quickly started to leave the house.
"Hey!" Meryl said loudly. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to get a drink. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Yeah! We're here on business! We're not here for fun!"
"Fine then. I'll buy you a drink and we can talk business. How does that sound?"
"You just don't quit, do you?" Meryl replied coldly.
"I want to come!" Millie said cheerfully.
"NO!" Meryl shouted. "You'll end up getting drunk at the worst time!"
"Man," I replied. "You really are uptight. I'm sure a drink or two will be fine. Besides, the more the merrier. Let's go!"
Millie smiled and chuckled. I headed for the door. Millie quickly followed me. I put my hand on the knob, but I stopped. I turned around and faced Marianne and Tobias. I bowed and gave them my thanks. After that, Millie and I headed for the saloon. I had to have lost track of time. It was already three o'clock. I didn't care. I was still gonna have myself a time. I looked at Millie. She had a big smile on her face.
"So how long have you been in... your field of work?"
"Oh, about a few years. Meryl's been around about as long as I have."
"I see. Uh... has she always acted the way she does?"
"Yep! She stresses out pretty easily!"
"That easily seems like an understatement for her. It sounds more like her personality."
She chuckled quietly. I chuckled too. I turned my head and looked straight ahead. We neared the saloon. I pushed the door open and headed towards the bar. I pulled the seat back and sat down on. Millie soon sat down next to me. I looked at her and gave her a small grin. She gave me that big smile she almost always had. The bartender looked at both of us. He grunted as he cleaned a glass.
"So what'll it be?"
"Give me the best thing you got!" I said cheerfully.
"Me too!" Millie said.
"Huh. So you too are the rich types, huh?"
"You could say that!" I said with a big smile. "I got more than $$23,000!"
"What?! How could you have that much?!"
"He's the best bounty hunter there is!" Millie said loudly. "He's as good as Mr. Vash!"
"You mean Vash the Stampede?!" He said with a shocked expression.
"Hell yeah!" I said with a big smile.
"Now enough with the chit chat! Give us the best you have!"
He groaned quietly. He reached back and grabbed a couple of bottles. He gave them to us. I looked at her. We knocked the bottles together and took a swig. I exhaled loudly and had a big smile. I looked at Millie. Even her smile seemed larger than normal. I just laughed. We took another swig.
"This stuff is the finest!" I yelled out. "Keep 'em coming !"
"This stuff is so good!" Millie said. "Please give us some more!"
The bartender sighed. He turned around, grabbed more bottles and handed them to us. This seemed to go on for about an hour or two. We laughed loudly as everyone seemed to get in the mood for now. Once again, I was buying for everyone in the bar. It was starting to become a habit. It didn't matter though. I was having to much fun to even care about it.
"This is so great!" Millie said with slurred speech. "I'm so glad you let me come!"
"C'mon!" I said cheerfully. "What are friends for? Why wouldn't I let you come? Hey, barkeep! Did I tell you to stop giving those things to us?"
He grumbled. He grabbed more bottles and gave them to us. I laughed loudly. Millie took another swig. To be honest, she chugged he whole thing down. She smiled brightly. Her face was red. I was so drunk that seeing her face like that made me laugh again. I took the bottle and started to drink again. I leaned back. In fact, I leaned so far back, I fell off of the stool and landed on the ground. I yelped as I made contact. I groaned as I sat up.
"Ow. That hurt."
"Are you okay Mr. Harry?" Millie said with an even more slurred speech.
I nodded as I began to stand up. I shook my head. When I looked at Millie, I smiled like an idiot. I walked up to the barkeep. I gave him a goofy grin. He gave me a confused look. He quickly looked away as he grabbed the bottles. Apparently, he thought I was going to make trouble. I wasn't though.
"Tell me, where's the juke box?" I asked with a slight slur.
"Huh? It's in the corner back there."
"All right! Time to get some music on to lighten the mood!"
"When do you mean lighten?" The bartender shouted. "The lot of you are as drunk as you can get! How can the mood get any better?"
"See?" I said drunkenly. "That's what I'm talkin' about! You're too high stung! Relax!"
I laughed loudly as I headed towards the juke box. I deposited some coins and hit in some numbers. Some light rock came on. I grinned. It was one of the better songs. I got on one of the tables and hollered at everyone.
"C'mon people! Find a partner and get with the beat!"
I laughed loudly again as I fell off of the table. I yelled out as I fell off. I groaned in pain. I still wasn't drunk enough to be numb to pain. I growled in irritation. I quickly got up. I looked at everyone. They stared at me. I grinned. and threw up my arms.
"I'm not done partying yet!"
They all let out a loud cheer. I laughed loudly. I just got back on the table and started doing some jig. Everyone cheered louder. I just laughed loudly. After a while, I went over to Millie. I gave her a big grin.
"How 'bout you join me!"
"I'd love to!" She said with slurred speech. "Dancing is so fun!"
She got on the table with me and started to do the jig to. Everyone shouted with drunken cheers and laughter. We just laughed throughout the whole thing. After a while, we finally stopped. Millie collapsed during the thing. Apparently she had too much to drink. After that, I helped her up, paid the bartender, and headed out. The bill wasn't too pleasing. I had to pay the man $$2,000. Still, even then we were still singing. We had our arms around each other and drank the bottles in our hand occasionally.
"Now that was a day I wish we could live everyday!" I shouted.
"Maybe if you check out that mine you found, we would be able to do that!" Millie said with slurred speech. "We would be so happy!"
"We don't know if it's a mine yet," I said drunkenly, pointing at her. "But let's just hope so. We'd be rich!"
We laughed even louder than before. We walked down the streets and continued to sing some nonsense song. Along the way back to Tobias' home, we were approached by some people. They were gruff looking men, both wearing black coats and hats. The clothes were so dark that they looked like they were part of the night. Millie and I stared at them.
"Who the hell are you?" I asked.
"We're just some people who wanted to ask you something," One of them said.
"Uh... is it directions or... time?" I said hesitantly.
"It's not that. We heard you say something earlier. It was something about a mine."
"Oh yeah!" Millie shouted. "We found what looked like a mine out in the desert! I just hope there's a lot stuff that's worth a lot! I could buy anything!"
"Er... right," The second man. "You see, there's a problem about that. We can't let anyone talk about that mine."
He took out a gun and aimed it at us. I just stared at it. I started to chuckle. The man stared at us with disbelief. Millie and I took out our guns and aimed at them. They stared at us nervously. Millie and I had big smiles on our faces. I aimed it at them. I shook my head and stared at them.
"Well this isn't good," I said drunkenly. "I see four of you!"
"Huh?" One of the men said. "They're drunk!"
"We're not drunk!" Millie said. "We're just really happy right now!"
"Yep," The first man said. "They're drunk all right. This will make things all the easier."
I heard a loud click. I looked left and right. I couldn't tell which one did it. Soon, there were two gunshots. Millie and I shouted and I fell on my back. I heard two thuds. I rose my head to see what happened. The two men were on the ground. They were groaning loudly. I looked up. I saw Tobias with a smoking pistol in his hand. I chuckled as a huge smile grew on my face.
"Hey Tobias! Perfect timing!"
I laughed loudly and let my head fall down. I fell unconscious. Soon after that happened, a dream was reoccurring. It was that one I saw at the inn. I went through that same thing. This time, however, I saw more. The man, he got closer. Blonde hair waved left and right as he neared. He took out a gun and quickly rose it up. The barrel was pointed right at me.
"Wake up you lousy drunk!"
Something whacked me right across the face. I sat up at lightening speed. I yelled in pain as I grabbed the spot where I got hit. I looked around as I did this. I was in a dimly lit room, resting on a rather comfy bed. My gun was on a desk next to me along with my sunglasses. I groaned in pain. I looked at Meryl. She had an angered look on her face. I growled quietly. I knew that she was the one who did it.
"You didn't have to hit me," I said quietly, "I heard you the last time."
"You mean you finally heard me after about a half an hour?" She said loudly. "Well too bad! Right now I hope your head is hurting as bad as your face right now!"
"Nope. And luckily for me it won't."
"Huh?"
"It's a birth defect. You see, I have a third kidney. It helps filtrate a lot more of the alcohol out of my system. Now are you happy?"
She gave me a sickened stare. She shuddered in disgust. I looked at her for a little bit. A small grin appeared on my face. She gave me a puzzled look. I started to chuckle quietly. Her eyes narrowed as she realized what was going on.
"That was just pure dirty," she said angrily.
"Well, it looks like I got you. I got two like any normal person. I just have better tolerance. Hell, I drank twice as much as Millie."
"Twice as much?! But she's twice as drunk as you! How is that possible?!"
"I was being partially honest. I do have some defect. It makes my body better at rejecting "foreign" chemicals. You could poison me if you wanted to with a normal lethal dose and I'd still be alive. Although, I'm not sure how long I'd..."
"That's besides the point!" She shouted. "What is important is that you and Millie nearly got shot. If I hadn't sent Tobias to check on you two, you'd be dead!"
"Oh," I said with a grin. "I thought you hated me. You must really like me a lot."
Her face went red. She growled loudly as she turned around and walked off. As she left, Tobias came in with a bowl in his hand. He looked at her as she stormed off. He looked at me when she left. We both grinned at each other. He walked up to me, handed me the bowl, walked over to a corner of the room, and sat down.
"I guess that means you sobered up?"
I nodded as I started to eat (or drink) the soup. It was nice and hot. It had a good taste too. I sighed as I put the bowl down. I rubbed my face a little more. That girl really had a good arm. How she could be scared of anything I wouldn't know. I rose my head to look at Tobias.
"So what the hell happened?" I asked. "And who were those people?"
"Those men? Those were some henchman by the looks of it. Probably one of those "security guards" for all I know."
"Security guards?" I asked in a puzzled tone.
"There's rumors in this town that there are people who are protecting the mine. Of course, they're doing it for themselves. If anyone else knows about it, they have a "meeting" them. I'm pretty sure you can guess what happens to them."
I nodded. I knew what happened to them. They were silenced. I shook my head. I couldn't help but feel sorry for those poor souls. I slowly stood up. I began to walk out of the room. However, I stopped. I looked at my gun. I just realized that I hadn't reloaded it since I left the last town. I took out two bullets from my pocket. I inserted the bullets into my gun. I looked at it and grinned. I turned my head to look behind me.
"Hey," Tobias said. "You going out there alone?"
"That depends," I said.
"What do you mean by that?"
"You can join me and help me with this, or I can go alone. Either way, I'm getting the stuff down there. So, what's your answer?"
Tobias stared at me. He had a hesitant look on his face. After what seemed like a few minutes, he shook his head. He sat down and rested his head on his hand. He let out a quiet sigh as he rose his head to look at me again.
"Sorry. I can't do that. I need to look over Marianne. If I die, I'm just leaving her alone without protection. You understand, right?"
I nodded. I turned around and started to head out. As I walked out, I looked at Millie. She was asleep, but she still looked like she was drunk. I looked over at Meryl. She apparently fell asleep while she was sitting at the table. I grinned. I continued on my way. Right when I got out, I felt a cold chill. I tightened my coat and broke into a run. I needed to get to the mine. I wanted to get everything over with.
I headed out into the desert. I searched for the place where my foot got caught. After a while, I finally found it. How it didn't get covered up yet I had no idea. I examine the hole closely. It actually got bigger. I stuck my head inside. The place was dimly lit. So there was something going on down here. I grinned with satisfaction I stood up slowly. Before I could jump down, I heard a click. I turned my head. There were three men The all had automatic weapons that were probably being aimed at my head.
"If I were you, I'd put the gun down on the ground," One of them said.
"Why should I? You'll just kill me anyway."
"You'll die even sooner if you don't do what I said."
I grinned. I reached for my gun. I held it high in the air. Soon, I let it fall to the ground. When I did that, everything around me seemed to slow down. The gun fell at such a slow pace. The men looked like they were paralyzed. I probably could have seen the wind at the speed everything was moving at. I stared at the gun as it slowly descended. Before it could hit the ground, I swiftly rolled to the left, grabbing my weapon in the process. During the roll, I fired three bullets. Each one hit one of the men. They yelled in pain and quickly fell to the ground. I stared at them as I stood up. The groaned loudly in pain. I just chuckled.
"Be glad I won't kill you unless you try that again."
I grabbed bullets from my pocket and inserted them into the gun's chambers. I put the gun back in my holster. I quickly walked up to the hole and jumped down. I landed quietly on the dirt below. I looked around. No one was around. I grinned. I adjusted my sunglasses and quietly walked down the path.
Apparently whoever was doing the mining spent a lot of time down here. They had lighting (although it was rather poor), buttresses, and tracks. It would have had to been someone pretty high up to pay for this. I continued to look around. I could tell I was gettin' closer to the where the main mining was going on. I could here drills and pick axes tearing off the dirt. Surely enough, I was right. There were hundreds of people working. They grunted as they ripped the dirt off of the walls of earth. There were pieces of heavy machinery nearby. I looked even more closely. Many of the people were normal citizens. They were stuck working down here? That explains why there were so few of them around.
"I'm pretty sure Tobias would be pretty interested in this," I muttered.
I turned around and looked directly into the barrel of a gun. I tilted my head slightly to the left. It was another guard. He had an evil look in his eyes. I just stared at him. His hand was shaking. EIther he was scared or he was crazy. I started to think it was both.
"Can I help you?" I asked sarcastically.
"Don't screw with me," The man. "Now listen up. The boss is offering you mercy. You either work down here like a dog, or I shoot you like a dog."
"So either way I compromise my dignity and make myself a dog. I think I'll take option C."
"Oh? And which would that be?"
I grabbed the gun by the barrel and pushed it upwards. The barrel of the rifle whacked him right in the face. He grunted as he staggered back. As soon as the rifle made contact with his face, my gun was drawn. I aimed it at his head. He stared ar me in shock. I had an evil grin.
"Option C is when you tell me what's going on and who's in charge of this. If you don't, I'll blow your head off. Right now, I am very trigger happy, so you better start talking."
"You son of a... fine. We're emptying out this mine. We're using the resources for a little "project" of ours. We're using citizens who find out about this place to find the materials in here. Cheap and effective."
"And who's the one your working for?"
"How the hell should I know? We being hired by some guy from a company called "Flames of Hell" or something like that."
I growled quietly. I knew who he was talking about. There are only a small amount of people who know about the group. They were a lot like the infamous Gung Ho Guns. However, these men are inhuman. They feel no pain, emotions (not even pleasure from killing someone), mercy, and supposedly not even souls. They only thrive off money, killing, and torture.
"Well, thanks for the info."
I bashed the butt of my gun on the top of his head. He grunted and fell to the ground. I stared at him for a couple seconds. I then turned around and headed to where everyone was. The noise grew louder. I started to hear the machines even more than before. The echo just rang in my ears. It started to irritate me.
"I think I'll take those out first," I muttered. "Nah. I'll screw with the guards first."
I drew my gun as I walked into the huge cave of workers. They all stared at me as I walked by them. I didn't take my gave off the six men that were positioned to watch over them. It took them a while for them to notice me. When they did see me, they aimed their guns at me.
"Who the hell are you?" One of them shouted.
"I'm the new guy who's in charge," I said, aiming my gun at them. "Here's the new orders. You let them go, along with a share of the materials, and get the hell out of here, or else I'm blowing this place up along with us."
"Hah! You got to be kidding me! I bet you barely have any ammo left! Besides! Even if you did shoot us down, the minute a bullet gets fired, men are gonna come pouring in here!"
I let out a sigh. With my other hand, I opened up my coat. Underneath it were the four belts that held fifty bullets each and ten grenades. They couldn't see it, but I had another gun. It was a special gun. It was the first one I used... back when I saw Vash.
"Now if I were you, I'd get the hell out of here. Give those workers a fair share while your at it. But do it quickly. You may not want to stick around for what I'm about to do."
"Grrr. Fine. Everyone! Move out!"
The soldiers ran off. I could here them cursing me under their breath. I grinned with satisfaction. I looked at the workers. They stared at me with disbelief. Apparently they could believe that I would do something this suicidal. I just chuckled. They started to grab what they had and ran off. I watched as they disappeared in the dim light. I stuck my hand under my jacket and grabbed a grenade I stuck my finger in the pin and got ready to pull. However, I stopped. I could hear footsteps. I turned around to see thirty men. They all had automatic guns.
"Crap!" I shouted.
Bullets flew everywhere. I dived out of the way behind a piece of machinery. I heard more gunshots. I could here people screaming. I flinched. The prisoner... that must have been them. I growled loudly. I peeked my head a bit to the side. More bullets were fired at me. I retracted my head. This was really starting to get me irritated. I realized that the grenade was still in my hand. I grinned. I threw it above my shoulder. I could here a thud and the soldiers screaming. One of the men approached it. He chuckled.
"That idiot!" He shouted. "He didn't pull the pin! He must be out of his mind!"
"Nope!" I said loudly. "My mind's in the right spot!"
I quickly dived to the left. Everything started to slow down again except for me. I aimed the gun at the grenade. The soldiers started to raise their guns, but it was too late. I pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced the outer shell of the grenade. It exploded on contact. The soldiers flew back, all of them screaming loudly. They either hit the earth or hit the dirt walls. Either way, after that happened, they were all yelling in pain. I quickly stood up. I had an evil smile.
"That's why you should never get together in one group," I said.
I quickly but quietly ran to where I heard the gunshots. I quickly took out another grenade. I pulled the pin for the grenade. I pulled my arm back and got ready to throw it. However, my arm stopped right when I was about to let go of it. I stared in complete shock. The workers were all there. I saw Meryl, Millie, and... Tobias. On the ground laid men armed with guns. They had guns in their hands. Meryl had Dillingers, Meryl had her huge stun gun, and Tobias had a six shooter. A grin appeared on my face. They were grinning to, but their smiles disappeared as they noticed my hand.
"Mr. Harry?" Millie began to ask. "What's that?"
I gave her a quizzical look. I looked at my hand. My eyes opened wide. The grenade was still in my hand. My face turned whiter. Luckily there wasn't any change in pressure in my grip. If there was and the handle moved, the timer would have started and it would have blown up, taking me along with it.
"Everyone... go now. I'll meet you in a sec."
"No way!" Meryl said. "We don't know what you'll do! It'd be safer if you were being watched! But... what were you going to do?"
I turned around to face the machinery. I growled. I pulled my arm back and let fly forward. The grenade soared towards the machinery. I quickly turned around and broke into a run.
"That!" I shouted. "Now run!"
Everyone was soon running behind me. I yelled out in frustration as I counted down the timer. I saw an exit. Five. We all got closer. Four. We started to hightail it. Three. I tripped as everyone ran passed me. Two. Meryl's hand game out of nowhere, quickly helping me. She gave me a determined look as we started to run again. One. Meryl picked up speed and I dived for my life. Zero.
There was a loud explosion. Flames started to follow our path. In my dive, I grabbed Meryl, pulling her down with me. She grunted as we both hit the ground. I covered her with my coat. The flames flew over us. She yelled out as the flames roared even louder than before. Soon, everything seemed still. I rose my head. The flames had dispersed. I stood up, grabbing Meryl by the arm to help her up. When she stood up, she started to dust herself off.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah," She replied. "Thanks."
"I should be thanking you," I said. "If you hadn't helped me out, I probably could have been burnt up."
"What do you mean could have?" She asked.
"This stuff is flame retardant," I said. "This thing save my life plenty of times. Hopefully it saved yours."
She gave me a small grin. I gave her one in kind. However, it disappeared when I realized something. I looked up. There were different things falling from the sky. I looked closer. I realized... that they were the materials from the mine. When they fell to the ground, everyone cheered. Gold, silver, and other materials hit the ground. People grabbed whatever they could. All I could do was stare at them. They could finally get away from their troubles. They could finally build new homes. They could be free.
The next day, I stopped by Tobias' home. The girls were waiting at the entrance to the town. It was about noon when I arrived. I knocked on the door. I looked around. The streets were busy again. It made me feel good. I heard a click. I turned my head to find Marianne at the door. She had a surprised look on her face. She then gave me a small smile.
"Harry. It's good to see you again. Come in."
"Thanks."
I walked inside and looked around. It looked the same. It seems like the only thing that won't change. I chuckled. I went into the dining room and sat down on the wooden chair. I looked at Marianne as she was walking around the house. I looked at the door. It was still open. I guess that meant she felt safer. I looked at Marianne.
"Uh, do you know where Tobias is?"
"He went out. He should be back soon though."
"Oh. Thank you. I have a couple more questions."
"What are they?"
"First off, do you know why he stopped his, previous lifestyle?"
"He said he stopped... because of me. He said he never saw a more beautiful person. Funny thing, too. I was a hostage of his before."
"He took you as a hostage?"
"No. One of his old cronies did. When he saw me, he canceled the whole ransom. He let me go unharmed. In fact, there was another "incident" when I got in trouble. He came to rescue me. After that, his spree slowed down. He started to see me more and more. He was so infatuated with me, he stopped his crimes completely."
"I see. Amazing how a woman can change a man."
She gave me a small smile. I grinned back. When I said that, I started to think of Vash. I wondered why he stopped his crimes. Was it for the same reason? Or was it something else? I shook the thoughts from my mind.
"Uh, one more thing. Why did he decide to come to the mine?"
"I'm not sure. I guess it was because of what you did. You seemed to be the only one who actually rebelled. But I heard him say something like "I'm not protecting, I'm hiding," or something similar to that."
I chuckled. He really did care about her. Probably more than any person I've ever met. You don't see many people like that nowadays. This place needed more people like him. It would definitely make the town better. My thoughts were interrupted when Tobias entered. He gave me his toothy grin. I just gave him my normal one.
"Well, I thought you would come back here."
"I had too. I needed to ask you a few questions. Marianne did it for me, though."
"I see," He replied, followed by a chuckle. "Well, I was gonna find you, but you saved the work for me. What I wanted to do was thank you."
"Your welcome."
"I'm not done yet. I suppose you were wondering what I was doing. I cashed in the materials. We got about $$1,000,000,000 off of the materials. Now before I deposit this, I wanted to give you a tenth of the profits."
My eyes opened wide as he said that. $$100,000,000? That was too good to be true. I wanted to take that, but something was bothering me. I knew that they needed the money more than I did. I shook my head.
"Nah. That's a bit too much. I admit that would be good, but it's too good. Besides, I'd waste all on booze and bullets. I'll take $$100,000 instead. Okay?"
"If that's what you want," He replied with a shrug.
He took out what looked like a check book. He wrote in the numbers quickly. He tore off the paper and handed it to me. I stared at it. $$100,000. What a lucky day. I grinned as I put it in my pocket. I thanked. I thanked Tobias and his wife. I gave them my goodbyes and headed out. I walked slowly through the town. The sun was beating down on me, but I didn't care. I was in a good mood. Firing off that gun and getting paid can make me happier than most people.
I looked straight ahead. I saw Meryl and Milly. They were on the Thomases. Milly was waving at me and Meryl had her arms crossed. However, she had a small grin on her face. I laughed. That was a face I didn't expect to see. I started to run towards them. When I got to them, I waved the check in my hand.
"Looks like we got pay day a bit early," I said.
"I bet you got a huge chunk of money," Meryl said, still grinning.
"We could retire!" Millie said excitedly. "We could live any way we want!"
"Nah. I got a small amount (compared to the original reward anyway). I could have gotten $$100,000,000. I took $$100,000 instead for their sake."
Meryl and Millie stared at me with shock for a while. Either they couldn't believe that I didn't take the money or the fact I did it for the people. Odds are it was both. A smile started to form on Meryl's face.
"I didn't know you were the generous type," She said.
I pushed my sunglasses up to cover my eyes. My face started to redden. That was a little embarrassing for her to say that. I turned around. Meryl chuckled. I could tell it was an evil one though. Millie looked between us.
"Are you thinking of going out with him now?"
Meryl turned her head to give her an evil look. Millie chuckled nervously. I didn't pay attention to that. What caught my attention was a bus. That would defiantely be better than riding a Thomas (except for one thing which I'm sure you can guess). It would be faster and more comfortable. I turned my head to face Meryl and Millie. I gave them a grin.
"Who's in favor of a road trip?"
Meryl leaned a bit to the left to look at the bus. She blinked a couple of times. She looked at the Thomases and than me again.
"But... we can't just leave these things here!"
"Sure we can," I said. "I can get you a new one when the times right."
"Cmon ma'am! It would be better than riding these! It gets too uncomfortable. Besides! We can actually sleep on the bus."
"Oh fine," She said. "Let's go."
I grinned. I walked over to the bags and grabbed them. I hoisted them over my back as I slowly made my way to the bus. When I got to it, I threw everything on top. I didn't care if there was anything fragile in their. I needed to get the weight off.
"God! My back! What do you two carry?"
We took off about an hour later. The ride was a little bumpy, but at least we had cushions to sit on. Definately better than being on a saddle all day. The ride was better than I thought it would be. At night, I noticed Meryl was trying to stay awake. Her eyes were drooping, yet she was forcing them to stay open. She really was a dillligent one. She even tried to push fatigue to the side. She had to know when she needed to rest though.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Mm-hmm," she replied, slowly nodding her head.
"Just go to sleep. You need the rest. Hell, I'm the one who should stay awake. I'm basically the bodyguard here."
"I know, but I need to look out for Vash. He could be anywhere."
"I'll do that for ya. Now go to sleep."
She looked at me. She gave me small smile. She let her head droop on my shoulder. After a few seconds, she fell asleep right away. I looked at her and grinned. I undid my coat and covered her with the left half of it... along with my arm. I didn't do anything fishy though. I just let it hang to the side. For once, I felt that she had enough stress as it was.
"Sweet dreams," I muttered.
My head rested on top of hers. I shut my eyes. I was too tired to stay awake. I could hear Meryl snoring quietly. I didn't really care though. Just as long as I could get some sleep. Millie was looking at us. She chuckled quietly.
"They would be so good together!" She said.
I didn't hear what she said, though. I basically fell asleep right away. I got a good rest. However, it wasn't the best. I saw that dream again. I saw myself in the burning town again. I saw everything before. This time, I could see Vash as he got gloser. His gun rose. He fired his gun. I yelled out in shock right before he pulled the trigger. I didn't see any more than that, because I was soon woken up.