The decrepit, decaying house was eerily silent. Five years hadn't been kind to it, neither to the bodies which had been left in the yard. A woman, a man and a young child, along with an old man; beaten, bruised and hung onto a noose atop the chimney. Inside of the house, Eugene Timothy Edwards watched closely through holes in the wooden walls as he could see dust being kicked up by a horse which was approaching the home. As it stopped, a boot stepped down into the vicinity, an angry fist clenched tightly as the boy searched for any sign of his opponent.
"Come out, you coward!" He yelled out loud.
"You care so much about those people!? You're a fool, to think that you could've gotten wealth beyond your wildest dreams?!" Eugene called back, his right hand twitching with both nervousness and excitement for the battle to come. The boy fiddled with his revolver as he replied.
"I'm a bounty hunter, I ain't no slave driver!" The boy shouted back. "People like you disgust me! You believe that you're so superior to others? Come down and prove it!"
"You better have chosen what kind of wood you'd like to be buried in, boy!" He called.
As the boy stepped out onto the yard, his eyes landed onto the various bodies left like useless garbage on the gravelly ground. Ultimately fuelling his determination to finally stop the madman.
The rotting door opened soon after a little commotion was heard inside the house. Eugene stepped out into the searing sunlight, kicking the mayor's body out of his way as he threw an expensive cigar to the ground. Snuffing it out with his boot before it reached the end of its life.
"Countless people and my men happen to 'hire' you." Eugene chuckled to himself. "What's your name, boy?"
He said nothing. Walking to the side, the boy mirrored this to keep him in his sight. Ultimately they began circling each other.
"You ain't doing this for the money, that's as much as I can take out of this. Why do you care so much? These people mean nothing to you, this town you've definitely never been in. You're doing this for the girl, ain't yah? Pathetic as anything..." He smiled as he mocked his opponent.
The two kept their eyes to each other, how close their hands were to their holsters was the thing that mattered more than anything. Meaningful enough to determine the outcome of this fight.
Eugene saw how far the boy's hand was to his pistol, taking it as a challenge. He furthered his hand from his own revolver just to humour him a little.
"You think you're so fast? This'll only end one way, no matter how far our hands are from our guns." Goaded Eugene.
Any sudden movements would trigger a response from either party. They kept their movements slow, mirroring each other in order to keep each other in their sights. Ready to draw quickly and fire if necessary. The fiery anger behind the boys eyes glared daggers at Eugene, seemingly speaking from a deeper part of him. Something locked far into his mind due to the sheer trauma of it all.
*****
A man walked past a burning ranch, a rifle slung on his back. Approaching four men surrounding a young child, with a man strung on a noose posted on his shoulders. The bleeding body of a woman lie only a few feet away from them.
"We got the money?" One of the men asked, who was reloading their pistol.
"Yup, after all. Haymond did say that there would be silver here." The gang's leader said.
"There's no silver here!" The father yelled in anger and sorrow at a younger Eugene. "You goddamn animals!"
Eugene glanced at the man angrily, then to the child beneath him.
"I wouldn't try it with that mouth of yours, 'specially since that's your boy here holding you up." He said, with a slight smirk.
"If there ain't any silver here, I'd have wasted bullets over nothing." Said Thomas.
"You animals just kill and nothin' else." The man on the noose spat out. Struggling to lessen his weight on his son. The hard farm life had given him just enough strength to hold his father up, but it wasn't going to last forever.
"Stay quiet, mister." Mike said to him.
"Can we shut this guy up?" Hugh asked as Grayson just sat on the fence, fanning himself with a hat while smoking a cigarette.
Eugene quickly drew out his pistol and shot the man's son in the leg. The young boy cried out in pain and fell as his dad lost his support and was slowly strangled to death by the noose. The man who had raised him, had taught him almost all he knew in life, was now dying without anything that could be done to help.
Mike visibly shuddered as Thomas and Hugh laughed. Grayson clapped slowly as he extinguished his cigarette.
"Gentlemen, congratulations we're all drinking well tonight." Eugene smirked, turning to leave along with the other four gang members as the child beneath him writhed in agony from the bullet wound coupled with the loss of his beloved parents and home.
"What about him?" Asked Mike. "Poor guy lost his family."
Eugene nodded a little and turned towards the child. Thinking for a few moments on what to do with him. He eventually settled on a merciful option.
"We'll give this guy a break. After all, he won't say shit. Won't you, boy?" Eugene smiled as he addressed the young kid.
"Come on, one bullet isn't gonna hurt." Hugh cocked his pistol, before Eugene made him lower his gun.
"Bullets cost money, besides little shit don't know our names." The gang leader said. "You said something about the big man but who's gonna believe him? Come on, let's get out of here just in case someone comes by..."
*****
That memory had been scorched into his head and locked down to the best of his ability ever since that day... He never forgot the man who had taken his life away from him. Once Thomas and Hugh offered him the job along with mentioning Renee Haymond, he knew that's where the men who had destroyed his home and family were/
It was then he realized that the circling was Eugene's attempt to try and get the sun's blinding rays into his eyes. Thus, he stopped where he stood, just a few feet shy of where he would need to be for the sun to reach his eyes. His opponent stopped as well, not wanting to close the range any further, but deprived of his key advantage.
"Cute little trick you tried." The boy smirked.
Eugene snickered a little, before anger began to crack through his calm, cocky facade. He had been checked where he stood, but he wasn't out of the game just yet.
The tension in the air was building, one of the two was practically daring the other to make their move. No mercy would be given and none would be asked. The boy, with unending rage directed towards the person who caused him great suffering. Eugene Timothy Edwards, infuriated with his past decisions that had led him to this moment nevertheless he was confident that he would finish what he started. Giving him the mettle to strike first and fast.
He reached for his gun, grabbing it quickly and precisely. He began to draw it out of his holster as he began to direct it towards the boy in order to finish him once and for all, it was just then as he was raising his gun to shoot that the boy replied with an even quicker draw than him.
The match was a close one, the boy fired first. Eugene felt like he had just been rammed in the chest by a charging cow. The successful and precise shot threw him off balance, causing him to miss his own gunshot which had come just milliseconds later. His wide fedora hat fell onto the ground as he collapsed into a kneel faced away from his opponent.
"I'd probably just kill you on the spot right now." The boy addressed, approaching the dying Eugene with intent. Five bullets still in his gun chambers, ready to kill at any moment. Raising his revolver towards his face as he got there.
Eugene stared up at him in confusion, bewilderment and curiosity as to who this person who bested him was. Dying was just the next thing to cross of on this list, he just wanted to know who this person was.
"But bullets cost money. You don't even know my name." He said as the sun shone a triumphant hue, he uncocked his pistol and holstered it to let him die slower.
With his own words thrown back at him, it was then that Eugene knew everything; who this person was, why this person came to Little Valley and how he came to be in the first place.
He gave a few strained breaths and tried to support himself with his hands as he attempted to cling to what little he had left in life, only to eventually give way, collapse and die on the spot. Left to rot in the afternoon sun.
Eugene Timothy Edwards was no more...