Age of The Understatement

Part 1 - Hang the Cyst

Mid-Summer, 1881
miles away from Tombstone, AZ

The air was brisk as the sun rose, sunbeams shining onto the fading embers of a campfire Alex had built just before falling off to sleep. The two men lay on opposite sides of the fire with thin blankets tossed over each other; A guitar laid against a nearby tree with two horses strung up on one of the low branches, braying as the sun began to hit their fur. Miles shuffled awake, groggily opening his eyes to see Alex across the burnt ashes, sleeping peacefully. The two had quite a bit of travelling to do today, the nearest town was more than 20 miles away and they needed to up on supplies for the even longer journey ahead of them.

The plan was to head to Cripple Creek Colorado and hopefully cash in on all the gold mining, maybe hit up a couple towns on the way and take a look at some of their banks– they've had a few successful stops along California, robbing at least three separate smaller banks along Mexicos border.
Miles pulled himself onto his feet and put on his dusty cowboy hat, folding up his blanket and winding it tight with a strip of leather before walking over to his horse, attaching the blanket to its saddle. Alex rubbed his eyes and sat up, looking around the campsite before landing on Miles, watching him readjust his horses saddle.

"Good mornin'!" Alex shouted, as he stood up, wrapping his blanket up the same as Miles did, making his way over to his own horse, hat in hand. "How'd ya sleep?"

"Like a rock." Miles responded, slinging the guitar across his shoulders before sliding his right foot into the stirrup, holding onto the horn of the saddle and pulling himself up and over. "And yourself?"

Alex readjusted his saddle, pulling a handful of feed from a satchel and offering it to his horse. "Just about the same. How long you think it'll take us to get to Tombstone?" Alex asked, now moving onto feed Miles's horse.

"I recon it'll take us about four hours, give or take. Good to leave now before the suns too hot." Alex nodded back at Miles' response, untying the reins from the tree and pulling himself onto his own horse.

"Well, let's get to it." Alex wrapped the reins around his hand, placing the other on the horn as he smacked his burrs against the horse, urging him move forward. "Walk on now." The horse moved, Miles trailing not far behind as the two started their journey.

2 hours later

Miles rode next to Alex as they made their way down a dusty trail, surrounded by nothing but desert. Miles pulled a rag from his pocket and tied it around his head, keeping dust from his nose and mouth. The sun was really starting to beat down, the dark fabric of Miles' jacket really making him feel like he was about to overheat. Swiftly, Miles pulled his jacket off and tucked it underneath his leg all while holding his reins steady. They still had a few hours until they were even close the nearest town in which they could possibly stop for a bite to eat, maybe a pint or two while they were at it. Lord knows the horses would need a break at that point too.

Alex tied his reins around the horn of his saddle, pulling a loose handkerchief out of a small bag he had tied to the tie strings, wrapping it around his face like Miles had done. "God what I would do for a bottle of Coca-Cola right now.." Alex groaned as he wrapped the reins back around his arms. "Let's maybe speed up a little, what do you say?"

Miles nodded back, tapping his spurs against his horses barrel, making them kick off and speed up into a steady cantor, Alex doing the same. Although the horses couldn't do this for too long it at least gave both men a little bit of a breeze with the speed of the horses. The sound of loose change and spurs jingling as the horses continued on steady, the sun almost in its highest place in the sky. Miles pushed his cowboy hat lower onto his head, small beads of sweat dripping down his face. It had been at least six days since Alex or Miles had found any body of water large enough to take a quick bath in, thankfully a town back they at least found a pump well that allowed them to fill up four of their flasks, but at this point they were down to their last few chugs.

As the horses slowed and another thirty minutes passed, Alex pointed out onto the horizon– a small town just out passed the mirage that clouded their view. Only had to be another hour away.