***sorry it took a while to update this, was away on vacation for a bit. Anyway, I'm back and here the next chapter, enjoy!***

Road to Damnation

Ch 4: not easy being sheriff

The next day was partially hard on Rango, he was still a bit traumatized by the scene he witnessed yesterday, for him it was still hard to believe someone could do something so horrible, now he knew how that desert mouse felt after seeing it for his own eyes. Rango spent most of the day in his office, not wanting to talk to anyone, still thinking long and hard about his job as sheriff, wondering if it was really worth the trouble. Beans said scenes such as an entire town burning to the ground by outlaws was normal around here, if that was considered normal, he hate to see what wasn't. What a messed up place I live in Rango thought to himself. Rango soon thought of quitting his job as sheriff here and now, but if he did, who would take his place? This town certainly needed some type of law enforcement to keep the outlaws away. Naturally, the next candidate would be wounded bird since he made his deputy, but Rango thought not even he would have all the qualifications to become sheriff. Then he thought of all the people in the town, of Beans, Priscilla, wounded bird and all the other citizens of Mud. He remember when he first became sheriff they all put their faith in him to bring the water back, they all believed in him. Despite how messed up this place was, he did like being among the people in this town, it was much better than his previous life of being just stuck in a cage. They needed someone to protect them and too continue to believe in, so then Rango decided it was best to stay as sheriff, put on a brave face and bear whatever lay ahead of him, he wouldn't do it for himself, but for the people in this town.

Suddenly, Rango could hear yelling from out outside, he rushed out of his office to see what it was. It was another person fanatically running into town on a roadrunner crying desperately for help, which soon grabbed the attention of most of the town. Rango had no choice but to see what this fallow wanted.

The animal on the roadrunner soon stopped a few feet away from, Rango could see he was another desert rodent of some kind, but he was covered in blood, there were blood stains all over his cloths and had a horrible wound at one of his shoulders that was roughly bandaged up by a piece of cloth.

Before Rango had the chance to speak, the rodent shouted "please sir, I'm in desperate need of help! Horrible train wreck not far from here, several people wounded or dead!"

Rango face spread in shock once he heard that, of course he didn't want to go, but he had too, it would never turn down a stranger in need.

"Alright, stay calm! We'll help!" Rango soon said and then rushed over to the staples to get his roadrunner.

Soon everyone in the town got the news and anyone that was willing and able to ride out quickly saddled up on roadrunners, Rango quickly saddled on his roadrunner with beans in toe. Doc quickly brought his wagon out in case they needed to take the injured back to the town. Everyone started gearing up their firearms just in case there was trouble. Soon enough everyone was ready to ride out, and quickly raced out the town with Rango in the lead following the desert rodent back to the sight of the train wreck.

When Rango and the rest of his posse finally reached the site of the train wreck, they were all utterly shocked by what they saw, train wreckage and debris was scattered all across the desert landscape, and part of it was still burning in flames. There were people that were still alive and not badly injured frantically running around and dragging the more seriously wounded away or already dead from the train wreckage. As Rango and the others walked farther into the wreckage, they saw dozens upon dozens of desert animals sitting or lying on the ground trying to their nurse the wounds, some had really horrible wounds, one had a huge gash across his chest that was roughly wrapped in bandages while another had a badly broken and twisted leg and there were those that did not make it all, most of the dead bodies just lay were others managed to drag them out too before going off to help more people. To Rango's dismay there seemed to be more dead people then alive. It was all too much for Rango to bear, he was to the verge of making down again, but he remembered he had to stay strong; he was needed more than ever now.

Soon beans and others in the group dismounted their roadrunners and immediately went off to help whoever needed it while Rango continued on looking for someone to give him answers as to what the hell happened here. Soon Rango came upon a gentleman that was sitting on the ground that seemed conscious enough to talk too, despite half his face was bloody and wrapped in bandages. Rango dismounted his roadrunner and leaned down towards the gentleman.

"Pardon me, sir…" Rango started to say.

The gentleman practically jumped once Rango spoke and quickly turned towards Rango, Rango was a little taken aback by his reaction. Once the person looked at the badge on the lizard's chest, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"A sheriff, thank god." the gentleman said as he turned his head away.

"Umm…pardon me, sir, but can you tell me what happened here?" Rango spoke again.

The gentleman then quickly turned his head back towards Rango, this time with the look of fear in his eyes; like he had seen a ghost and he started to speak "T'was the devil's work I tell ya! One minute the train was going along fine, the next it goes flying off the tracks!"

Rango tried to remain calm and asked "did you see what caused it?"

"No, sheriff, I was in the third passenger car, no idea what went wrong up front, I'm just as baffled as the rest." Said the gentleman

Then Rango obviously knew he was not going to get much info out of this guy, but he tried to dig deeper anyway.

"Was there anything else you saw before the train went off the tracks?" Rango asked again

"Wait, now that I think about it, two snakes rushed by the train just before it went a flyin'." The guy said.

Rango heart's skipped a beat once he heard that statement and he soon spoke again "Two…snakes? What kind were they?"

"Don't know, they raced by so fast, I didn't get a good look at them, but-I don't know whether it was just my mind playing tricks on me- I swear one of the snakes had its body completely on fire!" said the guy.

Well, this was a new one for Rango, he had heard of some real crazy things out here on the desert, but a snake with its body completely on fire? A little too hard to believe, Rango then figured this gentleman was too traumatized to get any valuable information out of.

"Okay, thank you for your time sir." Rango soon said and then stood back up and walked away.

Rango talked to a few more people that he was able too, but they gave him the same answer, no one had a clue as to what made the train derail off the tracks.

Soon then Rango decided to start to investigate the train wreckage by himself, hoping it would give some clues to this mystery. Rango did find it odd how far away the train cars had scattered away from the tracks, usually derailed trains laid close to the tracks. Rango soon spotted the train engine, or what was left of it, nothing but a burning twisted mess of metal. Rango figured the train engine must have exploded, but what could have made it explode in the first place? It must have taken a serious impact to do that. He also noticed the train engine was further away from the rest of the train wreckage that seemed to be very odd too, this had rango completely stumped.

Rango soon searched farther out on the edge of the train wreck for more clues, he soon spotted a bullet lying in the sand, he picked it up and once he did he instantly recognized the type of bullet it was. This bullet belonged to Jake. Now Rango's worse fear was soon realized.

Through the course of the day, Rango, beans and the rest of desert animals in the group helped everyone they could that was horribly injured. Doc put as many of the wounded as he could on his wagon to be taken back to town, though those that could still walk would have to go on foot. As for the dead, there were so many bodies that they just piled them up in a huge pile and burn them, Rango thought that was a really gruesome way to go, but it would take too long to dig graves for all the bodies. Once everyone made sure all the wounded were tended too and all the dead bodies were disposed of, they all started to head back to the town. They went at a very slow pace to compensate for the badly injured going on foot, the journey back was made pretty much in silence, and no one said much to each other, not even Rango and they all had sober expressions on their faces.

Eventually, they made back to the town, the rest of the citizens in town were pretty shocked on how many of injured people brought back, but even more distort once they heard the news of how many did not make it. Doc immediately started tended to the injured people and properly dressed their wounds while everyone else helped them find a place to rest in the lodge in town or wherever there was a bed available. By the end of the day everyone was exhausted, both psychically and mentally, especially Rango, he had constantly make sure everything was going smoothly and nothing else bad happened. Eventually doc tended to all the wounded and they were all placed in a place to rest for the night. Everyone had a hard day, so they all piled in the saloon for a few quick rounds of cold drinks before they turning in for the night. Meanwhile, Rango was in his office thinking of what to do from here. First a whole town on fire, then a huge train wreck, what could possibly happen next? Rango sure hoped all this chaos would not come to Mud. He wasn't sure if he could take much more tragedy.

He took the bullet he had found on the ground with him and examined it more closely; there was no doubt about it, the bullet was definitely Jake's. Rango's worse fear had now come to pass, Jake could very well be the one behind the train wreck. But then Rango thought, could he really do something as horrible as this? He was an outlaw after all; he would do just about anything for money, but what could he possibly gain from derailing that train? There was no money on that train as far as Rango could tell; if he did wanted to rob it he wouldn't go as far as destroying the train and almost all the passengers to do it. It could have been another one of jobs he was hired to do by someone else, but who could possibly want to do something as horrible as this? Rango's mind was swimming with dozens of more questions, but it all came down to one thing, if Jake was truly the one behind this, Rango would have to arrest him and put him in jail. Rango hated to do it, capturing a snake of his size would no easy task, but he was the law after all, it had to be done. At this moment Rango felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, not only he had to continue to protect the town, handle a crisis of dozens of injured people, but now find Jake and make him pay of his crimes. Now Rango did wish he was back in his cage, when things were so much more simpler.

Suddenly beans came in through the office door, Rango quickly hide the bullet away, he did not want her to see it.

Beans approach him by the desk and said "Rango honey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, beans." Rango said back.

Of course she didn't believe him for a minute and soon said "look, I know that was hard for you because you are not used to seeing that sort of thing, but I think you did okay today. You did everything you could."

"Yeah, I know." Rango said back.

"And if you really need someone to talk to, I'm here for you." Beans said once more

"Yeah. Thanks, beans." Rango said.

"You should come to bed, it's late." Beans said once again.

Rango had to agree, it was really late at night and Rango was way too tired to think straight about this situation now, so he hide the bullet in a safe place in his desk drawer and walked out the sheriff office with beans back to her ranch. Hopefully things would be better tomorrow.

When the nest day arrived, things were not much better, the whole town was swamped with caring for the injured train passengers, and many of them were in still in critical condition and seemed to be getting worse. Doc suspected many were not going to live much longer if not gotten better treatment. Soon enough Doc and everyone else agreed that this was beyond for one doctor in one town to handle, so they decide to take the critically wounded people in the next nearest train station where a train would take to a better town with a better hospital. Doc loaded up everyone he could on to his wagon and set off, with a few of the other townsfolk going with him just in case he ran into trouble along the way. Rango had to stay put in town, there was still a lot to be done here. He had to kept the townspeople from going into panic, no doubt the news of a whole town burned and a wreck train made them all very concerned of whoever was doing all this might come to Mud. The townspeople kept asking Rango questions on whether the town was safe or that he knew who was behind all this. Of course he would not tell them he thought it was Jake because that would only cause more panic. Beans was getting rather annoyed by everyone pestering him with questions, she knew Rango knew what he was doing and needed time to think, despite his mistakes in the past, Rango had gotten better at his job.

Again, Rango was sitting at his desk in the sheriff thinking of what to do next, now that the train wreck situation was almost done with, his priority now was to find Jake to find out if he really was the one behind the train wreck, but he had no idea where to start looking, Jake could be anywhere by now, and even trying to find a rattlesnake in this desert is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Plus if he just set off, beans would surely want to know where he was going and he didn't know how to tell her without the whole town knowing too. Yet again he found himself stuck.

Suddenly Priscilla burst in thought the door which made Rango jump a little, and she shouted "Mr. Rango! You're needed quickly!"

"What seems to be the problem, little sister?" Rango asked.

"A snake has been spotted heading towards town!" the desert mouse said.

Rango heart skipped a beat at the statement.

"Is it….rattlesnake Jake?" Rango asked nervously.

"Don't know, too far way to tell, but you better come anyway." Priscilla said.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." Rango said.

Rango did not like the idea of confronting this snake at all, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. He quickly took his pistol out of one his desk drawers and fully loaded it, even though he hoped he would never have to use it, but he wanted it with him just in case the confrontation got ugly. Soon Rango rushed out his office and out into the middle of the dirt street in the center of the town. The rest of the townspeople soon hid themselves inside the building fearing it was rattlesnake Jake again. Beans on the other hand sat outside the saloon with her shotgun ready, she was not going to be taken advantage off this time by a snake. Rango half hoped that this snake was Jake so he could finally get some firm answers as to what was going on around here, but he knew if Jake was the one behind all this things it would not end well.

Soon enough, Rango could see a silhouette of a serpentine figure on the horizon, Rango put up a brave face and stood firm with a hand ready at his pistol, ready for anything that might happen. But as the snake got closer, something was odd about it; this snake looked a little smaller and thinner than Jake with a different hat on, not the sleek flat rimmed black hat Jake always wore. Soon the snake was only a few feet from Rango and he got a better look at the new comer, the snake had a more traditional looking style black cowboy hat on its head, its body was more slender then Jake's with a lighter tan color to it and instead of a diamondback pattern, it had more of black spotted pattern. Black leather straps with metal studs in them crisscrossed its body instead of bullet belts, although one bullet belt was strapped its body further down and seemed to have a holster with a pistol in it. Rango also noticed its body seemed to be riddled was scars, especially a huge one around its underside. There was no rattle or gun attached to the end of its tail and its eyes had a more yellowish amber hue to them, not as piecing as Jake's, but still was a bit intimidating. This was clearly not Jake, but who was this stranger? Rango still stood firm, unsure whether this new comer was friend of foe. For a few moments Rango and the snake just seemed to stare at each other.

Finally the snake spoke "pardon me, mister, but could you help me?"

Despite the intimidating appearance of the snake, its voice was surprisingly soft toned; it was clear now this snake was female. Rango relaxed a bit and drew his hand away from his gun; clearly this snake was not a threat.

"Hello, miss, sorry about the rude welcoming, what I can help you with?" Rango said.

"I'm looking for someone, a snake by the name of Jake." The female snake asked.

Rango gasped a bit at the name, the female snake noticed it.

"Do you know him?" the female snake asked again.

"We've meet." Rango said.

"I've heard he has been to this town recently, have you seen him?" the female snake said.

"Umm… not recently." Rango said.

"Oh okay, then I'll be going, I won't trouble your town any more, good day sir." said the female snake has she turned away from Rango.

Then Rango quickly jumped in front the female snake and said " wait! I can help you find him if you want."

"Thank you for you kindness sir, but I can find him on my own. I don't want to cause trouble." said the female snake trying to get past Rango again.

"Nah, it's really no trouble at all. Besides he has been here before, it might come back again. You're welcome to stay here if you like." said Rango.

In all honesty Rango was unsure if Jake would ever come back to the town again, but he was curious has to why this female snake wanted jake so he tried to convince her to stay.

After giving it some thought, the female snake soon said "alright, I'll stay, but only if you help me find Jake."

"deal." Rango said.

Meanwhile, the rest of the townspeople who were hiding in the buildings were staring out though the windows at Rango and the snake, the two seemed to be talking normally and the snake was not attacking, so they figured this snake was not a threat and slowly came out of hiding.

Beans however soon quickly approached Rango and the snake with her shotgun raised and soon said in fowl tone "alright snake, what you want here?"

The female snake was kind of taken aback by beans pointing her gun at her, normally she would attack anyone that pointed a gun at her, but she did not was to be a threat to the town and cause any trouble, so she held herself back, but she did give beans an angry glare.

"Please beans, she means no harm, she is just looking for Jake." Rango said turning towards beans

"Hmph, all the more reason for her to leave." Beans said with her shotgun sill raised.

"Pardon me, madam, but I have no intention of harming you and anyone in your town, so there is no reason for your hostility. Once I find Jake I'll leave." said the female snake to beans.

"See, she even said it herself, so please put the gun down." Rango said to beans.

At first beans didn't do anything, but then a few minutes later she slowly lowered her shotgun and then soon said "fine, but I will be keeping an eye on you."

The female snake narrowed her eyes and hissed a little at beans.

"Sorry about her, we don't often get many visitors of your kind." Rango said to the snake.

Meanwhile, the rest of the townspeople started to crowd around Rango and the others, trying to get a better look at the stranger snake. The female snake tried to calm her mood has not to frighten the other townspeople, she even said hi to them to seem friendlier, but even so they were still a bit scared of her. Rango tried to lighten the mood by introduces the female snake to some the town's people.

Once Rango was done with introductions, he soon said "anyway, welcome to Mud, your welcome to stay anywhere you want, sorry we don't have many places for a snake your size to stay in."

"That's alright, I don't mind sleeping outside." The female snake said.

"Umm….okay, by the way, I don't think I got you name." Rango said

At first the female snake didn't answer right away, she was a bit hesitant to tell this stranger her name, but she figured there was not harm in telling the harmless lizard like him her name.

"Mona." The female snake said.

Once everything was said and done, the crowd of townspeople so despised and went back to their normal business. Soon after the female snake named Mona went into the saloon for a cool drink after her travels, of course she was nice to the toad bartender, and he gave her a drink without any question and she sat at an empty table in a corner of the saloon. Even though she didn't bother the other people in the saloon, the townspeople were still weary of her and she felt like her presence was unwanted, but she did not really care. She was not going to stay in this town very long anyway; all she wanted to do was find Jake and make him pay of what he had done. After spending the rest of the day in the saloon, she finally left it and looked around the town for a place to rest, she didn't mind sleeping outside, but she still needed some kind of shelter to at least keep the sun off her back. She soon found a small shack at the edge of town, it was empty, a little lopsided and just big enough for her to fit in all coiled up, it was not much, but at least it was something to get out of the sun. She slithered into it and coiled herself up in a tight ball, and soon after drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the desert not far from the town of Mud, Jake continued to race along the desert landscape, not stopping for anything. It was in the evening hours, it would be night time soon, but still Jake did not want to stop. Jake knew he was close to the town where supposedly the demon Legion was to make his appearance. He soon saw a town of in the distance and immediately raced faster towards it, but once he got closer to the town, he soon recognized it and froze in his tracks with his eyes wide. His eyes soon lay upon a town he hoped he would never see again.

"no…not here….not Dirt!" Jake soon said.