The Unkindness of Raven

He was no ordinary outlaw but a pest of the wastelands.

Raven was in a small town in the Cochise County. He had been travelling from state to state and left a long trail of mayhem behind. The thirst for violence was in his blood, a curse that he was given.

As he stepped out the doorway of the Wagon Hill Motel he was rudely greeted by a speeding bullet. Three bounty hunters had waited patiently for him in front of the motel. It was always only a matter of time before they would find him. The three men had cornered him well. There was a rifleman on the rooftop and two in the street.

The first shot was only the warning and if Raven had failed to comply then the next one was him taking a dirt nap. They should have wanted him dead and not alive. Raven had a slippery reputation when it came to bounty hunters. So many had attempted and so many had failed.

Raven waited for no invitation and immediately shot back with a colt revolver in each hand. A skilled gunslinger by default, he slipped around the corner out of sight.

"You won't get away this time” Sexton spat a tobacco blotch to the ground, “One way or another but your head is ours outlaw”

You won't get away this time? Who do these numbskulls think they are? Raven would never give in without a fight. Not even if they were more than a dozen men and his chances were none. Even then he would take the risk!

"It's like I can feel the money in my pocket”, said Trego as he grinned at Sexton with greed for money in his eyes, “This will be our biggest pay yet”

"Hold your horses there partner, this one is slippery”

Trego rolled his eyes, “This hound dog has nowhere to hide. With Jameson up on the roof his chances aint even slim, they are nothing at all”

They had him cornered well and Raven felt the space around him closing in. I have to find a way out or shoot my way out. Raven filled his gun with bullets. This was going to turn ugly. If he could make his way to the next building then just maybe he could slip out of the rifleman's sights. From where he was standing it was a death trap. One peep and Jameson would blow his face off. “Times running out outlaw, you need to make up your mind”, bellowed Sexton, “We don't want to come in and fetch you”

"Yah! Either you come quietly or things are gonna turn ugly”

Then ugly is what I will give you. He had to move across to the second building. There was a balcony that stretched the entire length of the structure. Once under, there was no way the rifleman could see him, and if the rifleman couldn't see him then his chance at escape was possible. Without a second doubt Raven came out of hiding with blazing guns. He kept a constant movement that made him harder to target. Jameson fired one round after another but only hit the gravel close to Raven's feet. Sexton dived out of Raven's accuracy but Trego remained dead front and centre. The outlaw had made it unharmed but Trego was not as lucky.

"I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding! Help me, I don't wanna die”, he cried out to Sexton who crawled back to him.

"You shot real bad partner”, he held his friend tight but there was nothing he could do. He was shot real bad! Three bullets hit him in the chest and one in the stomach. It was inevitable, death had knocked on his door and slowly his eyes faded as his life drifted away.

"Is Trego dead?” Jameson screamed from the rooftop.

They had been riding together for years and felt like family.

"You better get him Sexton, you better get him good. He killed Trego”

Sexton stared at his friend's blood on his hands. The rage began to brew like a thunder storm with lightning. Bounty or not he was going to kill the outlaw. He was going to strangle Raven with his bare hands.

"I'm coming to get you. You hear me? I'm coming to get you Raven and you are gonna pay” He screamed as he ran towards the outlaw with a revolver in the hand. He ran point blank like a crazy person with a death wish. Raven stood up as well, crazy enough to accept Sexton's challenge. The two ran on a collision course and emptied their revolvers. They had emptied it alright, emptied it into each other.