Bronson was nine years old, with dark hair and dark brown eyes. Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he never knew his real mother and father, and didn't have any other living relatives that he knew of, except for one. His mother had a cousin, a bubble-headed female cop who lived in Minnesota, but Bronson was often told by his older sister that the woman would never accept him because of what his mother did.

Years ago, his mother's cousin disowned her when she found out she had been involved with protecting Bronson's father, who was a criminal. His mother knew the truth for months, and yet, she refused to turn him in because she loved him. The Minnesotan cop threatened to take away her adopted daughter, but then decided to give her an even worse punishment by telling her to leave the state and never return. Her name was Elena Olmsted.

Elena died giving birth to her son in the year 1981. In the summer of 1980, she met the man responsible for Bronson's birth. After realizing she no longer had the trust of her cousin, Elena packed up her things and moved to another state. Within a few weeks, she began showing symptoms of pregnancy, and even though she was happy to be carrying a child, Elena knew that her life would soon be over.

Three months before she met Bronson's father, Elena was stabbed by a schizophrenic patient of hers, who was thankfully dead. Her insides were messed up to the point where she was told she could never have any children, but Elena proved them wrong. Even though she was told she would not survive, Elena was determined to bring Bronson into the world and give him a chance to live. She knew her son would probably never see his father, but if God was willing for them to meet one day, Elena prayed that Bronson would not go down the same path as him.

Soon after Elena died, Bronson was sent to a foster home with his adopted older sister, who met Bronson's father when she was seven-years-old. Her name was Sophia Burrows. Although they did not share the same blood, Sophia promised her mother she would look after her little brother and be the best big sister she could be. Growing up, Bronson was a happy boy and lived a reasonably normal life, but now that his sister was gone, he had become angry and resentful. All her life, Sophia suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The sickness finally claimed her life at the age of sixteen.

Just before her death, Sophia entrusted her brother with a necklace that had a shiny quarter hanging from a long piece of black thread. The coin was pure silver and had the year 1949 printed on the front. Bronson didn't know it at the time, but the coin was given to his mother by his father just before he left. He didn't understand the meaning behind the coin, let alone what his father's profession was, but nevertheless, he wore it as a way of remembering both his late mother and late sister.

After the funeral, Bronson's foster parents started to neglect him. Right before she passed away, Sophia foretold Bronson where he would find his real father, who he always thought to be dead. Taking her words to heart, Bronson stole some money from his foster parents and ran away from home in the middle of the night and hopped on a bus the next morning to head to Dallas, Texas. He doubted they would even notice he was missing.

Sophia told Bronson he would find his father soon enough, but what she didn't tell him was that his father was a professional hitman, who was just getting out of prison.

...

Anton Chigurh felt sick to his stomach when he heard Elena died in childbirth. There were many times where he thought about taking his own life, but he saw no benefit in doing that. It was a foolish thing to do, anyway.

On the morning of the first of June, Anton was released from prison. The minute he stepped outside, he shielded his face from the burning desert sunlight that hurt his eyes and waited a moment before lowering his hand to let his eyesight adjust and get used to the light before walking back out into the real world. All he had on him was the clothes on his back, the coins in his pocket and a photograph of a young woman. He had some money on him, but it would only last him a couple of days. Once he acquired a car and got back to doing what he was best at doing, his occupation would take care of the rest of his needs. He had no weapons, but he knew somebody he could gain access of some from them. It would take a few days, but it would be worth the wait. He no longer had a captive bolt gun, and he lost his silenced shotgun in a car accident ten years ago.

Anton wandered around until nightfall and came to a small town about twenty-six miles northeast from Dallas. The streets were deserted and there seemed to be nobody around. Hearing a man threatening somebody in Spanish, Anton came to a stop and turned to his head to the right to look down a dark alley, seeing a man was holding a young boy against a brick wall, threatening the child with a gun.

"Let him go", said Anton, calmly.

The boy looked over at him, before the man hit him on the side of his head with the handle of his gun, causing the boy to cry out in pain before he fell down to the ground, unconscious. The man had just enough time to turn his head before Anton grabbed him and held the man into a chokehold and snapped his neck with little to no effort. The man become limp in his arms. Anton released him and the man slumped dead on the ground.

Anton turned his attention over to the boy and knelt over him and was in the process of trying to wake him up when he noticed the silver treasure that laid on his chest. Taking a closer look at the object hanging around the boy's neck from a piece of black thread, he discovered it was a quarter. The date on it was 1949. A rare coin. Anton recognized this coin, for he had given this exact same coin to Elena. There was no doubt in his mind this boy was her offspring. Perhaps it was fate that smiled on him, but whatever this boy's name was, Anton was responsible for him now.

Looking around to make sure nobody had witnessed anything, Anton gathered the unconscious boy into his arms and decided to take him to a safe place. Whenever he was hired to kill someone, be it men or women, Anton made it a policy never to kill or harm children, for they should never be put through any act of violence. When he was five-years-old, Anton witnessed the death of his mother and father, an event that traumatized him and influenced him to turn evil himself once the war ended. He felt he had no choice and thought it was the only way to right the wrongful death of his parents. Though guiltless of his crimes, Anton didn't think much of them until he met Elena, who reawakened his humanity and unlocked his heart, something he thought he had lost forever. Once he heard she was dead, he thought for sure he was, too.