Chapter Fourteen: This Town Is Plumb Full of Crazies
Ox did his best to simply avoid the monsters. He was pretty sure that they could smell blood and death and he knew that if he killed one more would come. Clutching the empty sacks and his rifle tightly, Ox went to the gun shop first.
It took his eyes several moments to adjust to the dark and dusty interior and then he walked to the back counter and eyed the small selection of guns that were left. It was clear they'd been picked over but he grabbed a stub nosed .38 that he figured would be easy for Evangeline to handle and then he grabbed a ten inch barreled .45 for himself.
He figured with a gun that big, even if he ran out of bullets, it would make a real good club. Next on his list was to fill the bag with every bit of ammunition he could find for both guns.
His pa had always been strict about not allowing guns on the plantation but Ox had kept them anyway. It was the only thing he had ever done against his pa's orders and Ox had done it because he had been good at shooting. It wasn't often that Ox found things he was good at and so when he did he tried to do it as often as he could. Guns and rutting, those were his two great talents. He wasn't much good for much else.
Ox saw a boot knife and a bowie knife lying behind the counter and he quickly scooped them up and dropped them into the bag as well. He figured the more weapons they had the better off they'd be.
"Gnaa..." Ox's head swung around and he saw the little boy entering the gun shop. The boy's jawbone was clearly visible on the right side of his face as his skin was rotting. The boy's clothes were torn and covered in blood and dirt and he was reaching for Ox with his thin arms, his dead gray eyes focused on Ox's face.
Ox let out a groan. He didn't want to kill a little boy. The boy lunged for him, his fingertips nearly closing around Ox's shirt sleeve before Ox manage to twist out of his grasp. Ox knew he'd have to kill the boy. If he ran out of here the boy would chase him and keep making those moaning sounds and that might alert more of the monsters.
Ox hated that this was how it had to be and he prayed that God would forgive him as he tossed down his sacks, grabbed the unloaded rifle and swung it with everything he had causing the boy's skull to cave in before his small body fell lifeless to the wooden floor.
Ox was shaking and he forced himself to swallow down the vomit that had risen in his throat. The monsters had turned Ox into a monster. He'd killed his pa, several women, men he'd once been friendly with and now a small boy. Ox had thought that the old world was hard but this new one was quite simply a nightmare.
Quickly Ox found a gun belt for himself and Evangeline, though he was sure he'd have to make a couple new holes in hers to make it fit her slender form. He slung his around his lean hips, loaded the .45 he'd picked for himself and holstered the weapon. He then loaded the rifle, threw the sacks back over his shoulder and left the gun shop, sliding around the edges of the buildings and moving slowly. He hoped that maybe if he jerked around like the monsters did then they wouldn't notice him quite so much.
Ox made his way to the mercantile, stepping over the tattered and rotting remains of what appeared to have once been a man, and entered the dark and dingy building. He used the butt of the rifle to quickly kill the two monsters that came around the counter, moaning and twitching toward him and then he busied himself stuffing as much canned fruit, beans and jerked beef as he could inside the sack. He saw the barrels of candy and couldn't stop himself from grabbing several handfuls. He was real fond of peppermint sticks and he knew that Evangeline liked the cinnamon ones.
He threw some extra food into the second sack for Thompson, Clint and Lita before throwing some matches and two blankets into his and Evangeline's sack. Their sack was nearly bursting and Ox knew it wouldn't hold much more. He did grab a lantern, holding it in his hand. He could always loop it around the saddle horn of their horse and it would provide them with a bit of light at night if they couldn't light a fire.
Now all Ox had to do was find the tailor shop and get some clothes for he and Evangeline. Especially for her. She couldn't very well keep running around the country in a bloodstained nightdress and robe.
He saw the tailors across the street and embarked on a jerking, twitch path in that direction, glancing over at the saloon and seeing his sister and their three new friends up on the roof watching him. He fought the urge to wave, worrying that that sudden movement might alert the monsters, and simply continued on his way.
The door to the tailors shop was locked but Ox was strong. He turned the knob extra hard, pushed just a bit and the door popped open.
"Don't take another step, no sirreebob you better not!" an excited voice exclaimed from behind a mannequin. "Who you might be?" it added.
Ox frowned at the skinny man with wild hair and sat down the heavy sacks. "My name's Ox." He replied. "I need a change of clothes for myself and my sister."
"Well go on then... but do it quick! Quick. Quick. Quick. You broke my door. You did. You did." The man came around the mannequin and Ox bit back a laugh when he realized that the man was barely five feet tall. He was very skinny and his clothes were little more than tattered rags that hung off his thin frame. He had crazy eyes, that seemed to be looking in every direction at once and his face was covered in scratches. Ox figured he'd scratched himself since he was currently digging at his face with his dirty fingernails as he studied his broken door.
"Sorry about that, sir." Ox said politely as he quickly went about picking two simple dresses out for Evangeline. He hoped they would fit her good but either way they'd be better than what she had now. He wondered what she'd think about dresses that weren't covered in satin and lace. She probably wouldn't like them.
"That's okay, it is. A piece of wood and a nail will make it good as new!"
Ox had never in his life seen a man like this one and he found himself chuckling with amusement as the man bustled quickly from one side of the shop to the other, words leaving his mouth with every breath he took, though none of them were clear.
Ox stuffed the dresses into the sack and then blushed furiously as he shoved some underclothes in there as well. He grabbed some long johns, the only pair he could see that would fit him and then began to look through the pants. Sometimes being so big was just a lot of trouble.
"Where is your sister that you mentioned? You left her alone out in that mess? Bad bad brother!"
"No, she's over at the saloon with those nice folks there." Ox replied, grabbing a pair of pants from the bottom of a pile and holding them up to himself to see if they looked big enough.
"What?!" The skinny man exclaimed as he ran up to Ox and stared up at him with shocked and scared brown eyes. "No. No. No. You left her with those crazies? They are crazy crazy crazy. Might as well tell her goodbye you should! They love the women. Rut and sacrifice that's what they do!"
"Huh?" Ox asked as unease washed down his spine and he shoved the pants into the sack, along with a shirt that seemed large enough.
"The men will rut with her and then sacrifice her to the monsters! That's what they do. They are crazy crazy crazy. They believe if they sacrifice the living then the dead won't eat them." The skinny man waved his hands in the air. "Crazy I tell ya."
"Sacrifice?" Ox asked, his forehead screwing up tight as he racked his brain to understand what the man was saying and then it came to him and his blood froze. "They're going to kill my sister?!"
"Rut her first, yep. Yep. Then kill her. Hope ya said goodbye cuz she's gone like the good mayors face!" the skinny man cackled as he began to nail a piece of wood to the door to secure it closed.
Ox hadn't ever felt a desperate angry rage like the one that came over him in that moment and then he heard his sister's ear piercing scream followed by silence and that that desperate angry rage only intensified.
Letting out a roar that was more animal than human, Ox took off at a run, plowing through the newly repaired door and onto the street. He looked up at the roof of the saloon just in time to see the rifle aimed in his direction. He barely had time to dodge before the shot was fired and the bullet thudded against the wall of the tailor.
Ox saw Thompson aiming the rifle again and he could no longer see his sister or Clint. Ox was surprised when Lita jumped at Thompson and grabbed the gun and the two began to argue.
"Evie!" Ox cried out and then he ran fast for the saloon, fully aware of the attention from the monsters that the commotion was drawing.
***
Evangeline knew something was wrong the moment Ox entered the tailor shop and Clint turned to her. She had told Ox that she didn't trust these people but her brother was innocent in a lot of ways. In his eyes everyone was good. There were no bad people, no evil in the world. He genuinely liked, trusted and cared about every person that he met.
Evangeline wasn't quite so open minded.
And that was why when Clint stepped toward her with a gleam in his eye, Evangeline held out the spear that Ox had crafted for her.
"You need to simply remain over there." She warned. "I do not want any trouble. My brother will be back soon enough and trust me when I say that you do not want him angry with you."
"I ain't afraid of your brother. We're gonna kill him anyhow." Clint replied with a grin and Evangeline gasped while Lita huffed and put her hands on her hips.
"I wanted to have some fun with him first. I'm tired of taking all my rides on Thompson. He's old."
"I don't hear you complaining when I'm riding you, sweetheart." Thompson countered with a snort and Lita sneered.
"That's because I'm too busy swallowing bile to speak."
"Lita, the answer is no. He's too big and we can't control him. We have to sacrifice him before he gets back. We have to appease the appetites of the flesh eaters or they'll come for us." Clint informed his sister patiently and Evangeline glanced toward the door that would lead back into the saloon and away from these brain addled crazies.
Sacrifices? Appeasing the appetites? They were going to use Ox as monster food and she couldn't allow that to happen.
"I still say it's not fair." Lita pouted with a stomp and Evangeline tried to edge toward the door but Clint moved between her and the exit.
"Going somewhere?" he asked.
"Away from you." Evangeline replied, though her hands were shaking and she felt sick. She wasn't cut out for this! She just wanted to go back to the way life used to be. She had had it made on the plantation. Why had she ever complained about the pampered life she'd led? She'd be more than happy to go back in time and marry any stuffy man her father paraded in front of her if it would mean there would be no more monsters and fighting for her life.
"I don't think you are." Clint's hand shot out and he grabbed the spear. They wrestled over the spear for several tense moments but Clint was far stronger than she was and soon he was jerking it from her hands and sinking splinters of wood into her palms. "I'm gonna enjoy your body real good and proper and then let Thompson have his fill and then we'll feed you to those same monsters we're about to feed your brother to."
Evangeline backed up until she was pressed tight against the wall. There was no escaping Clint. She tried to kick out when he grabbed her, catching him in the shin but doing more damage to her own bare foot than his leg. She used her hands to claw at him but he laughed when she caught his face and then he maneuvered her body so her back was pressed tight against his chest and he was holding her completely immobile.
"Time to shoot me an idiot." Thompson said with a grin as he sighted the rifle toward the tailor. "Just gotta wait 'til he sticks that big 'ol head out. Least we got one that makes a real big target this time."
"Noooo!" Evangeline screamed. She was going to warn Ox to stay hidden but Clint clamped his hand tightly over her mouth and while she continued to scream, the sound was muffled and couldn't be heard. Then she felt the cold barrel of his revolver against her temple.
"Might as well quit fighting." He warned and she snorted. No way was that going to happen!
Evangeline struggled in his grasp but to no avail as he led her into the door and back inside the saloon. He took her to the nearest bedroom door and pushed her into the room, laughing when she cursed him and tried to get around him.
Clint grabbed her around the waist with one arm and tossed her to the bed. He pulled off his gun belt and tossed it in the corner just as a rifle shot from outside filled the air.
"No!" Evangline gasped as tears filled her eyes. Thompson had shot her brother. He had killed Ox! No she refused to believe that. She had to get out. She had to help him!
Thankfully her older brother had taught her a few things about fighting and it was time she used them. She had to stop being so scared and begin to pull her own weight. She couldn't depend on Ox to save her when he might very well be hurt outside and need her help.
Clint tossed his revolver down onto the table and then came toward the bed, pulling off his clothes as he moved. Evangeline watched him coming, that leering sneer on his mustached face making her stomach clench. She gathered up her strength and prepared her legs, pulling them into her chest and then kicking out with all her might when Clint came close enough.
His half naked body went flying backward, his arms wind milling in the air as he fought to catch himself. He was unsuccessful and his back crashed into the wall. Evangeline heard his breath rush out of his lungs in a rush. She jumped to her feet and ran for the table, but Clint recovered slightly and grabbed her by her dark hair just before her fingers could close around the handle of the gun he'd placed there.
She let out a screech of frustration and rage as she whirled around and clawed at his eyes, eliciting a cry of pain from him as she made contact. Breaking free from him once again, Evangeline went for the gun only to be grabbed by her hair once more and flung back onto the bed.
"Stupid, whore bitch!" Clint sneered, blood dripping from three long cuts along his cheek. Evangeline prepared herself for another fight when the splintering of wood filled the air followed by a primal bellow of rage from below them.
"Evie!" Ox's voice carried up to her.
"Ox!" Evangeline yelled back, relieved beyond measure to hear his voice. Clint jumped away from her and quickly went about buttoning his pants just as Thompson and Lita came bursting into the bedroom.
"Why the hell is that brute of a man in here and not dead?" Clint demanded.
"Your sister wouldn't let me kill him!" Thompson shot back. "She insisted she was going to ride him first."
"It's only fair, Clint." Lita whined with a loud pout.
"Evie!" Ox called again. "I'll kill them all if they've hurt one hair on your head!"
"Great going, Lita." Clint snapped before slapping his sister in the face.
"I'm sorry, Clint!" Lita whimpered, covering her cheek with her hand and grasping for his chest. "Forgive me."
"You stay." Clint growled at Evie as he shoved Lita back away from him. "We gotta go kill him..... He's too damn big to control, Lita! Surely you realize that."
Thompson went back out the door with Lita behind him and Clint went for his gun. Evangeline lunged for him, jumping onto his back, her legs wrapping around his waist and her arms tight around his neck.
"Get the hell off!" he bellowed angrily as he tried to reach for her. Evangeline used the fingernails of one hand to go at his eyes, desperate to keep him from getting to her brother.
"Ox, watch out!" Evie cried just before Clint slammed her back against the wall causing all the breath to squeeze from her lungs.
Clint grabbed his gun, while Evangeline clung to him. She knew he wouldn't be able to see enough to aim with the way she continued to tear at his face.
Clint stumbled out into the hall and Evangeline screamed with surprise at the sound of the gunshot that rang out loudly.
"Thompson!" Lita wailed and Clint growled as Thompson's dead body fell to the floor and Ox stood holding a revolver tight in his hands.
"You stupid bastard!" Clint roared. Evangeline knew she had to get off of Clint so Ox could shoot him. The sight of her brother the most welcome sight she had seen in a long while. It seemed Ox had always been good at showing up when she needed him to.
Evangeline jumped off of Clint then and ran for Lita who had grabbed up Thompson's rifle and was trying to wrench the lever to ready another shot.
Evangeline grabbed Lita by her long hair and then slammed her face into the banister, causing the woman to slump unconscious to the floor as Evangeline picked up the rifle. She turned back to Ox just in time to see him fire a bullet from that big revolver into Clint's chest. Clint let out a shocked gasp which quickly turned into a wet choke before the man fell face first onto the worn carpeting.
Evangeline ran to her brother and he hugged her tight. "Shit, Evie, I'm sorry... Dammit I'm so dumb sometimes! I should have listened to you!"
"It's okay, Ox, you're not dumb. You saved me."
"Shit, Evie, I just killed people... they wasn't monsters like the rest..." Evangeline could hear the disgust and pain in her brother's voice. She laid her hand on his stubble covered cheek and nodded.
"They were monsters, Ox. They might have been a different kind of monster but they were monsters just the same." A terrible moaning came from downstairs and Evangeline looked over the banister to see several monsters making their way through the door that Ox had crashed through. "You came through a boarded up door?!" Evangeline demanded and Ox shrugged.
"I just used my shoulder." He replied. Evangeline found herself smiling and then realized that the monsters were slowly making their way toward them.
"We have to get out of here, Ox." She stated and Ox nodded. Evangeline looked down at Lita and sighed. She couldn't just leave the unconscious woman out in the open for the monsters to eat... no matter how crazy the woman had turned out to be.
She handed Ox Thompson's rifle and then grabbed Lita under the arms and dragged her across the floor and into the bedroom before coming back out and closing the door.
Evangeline realized in that moment how much she was changing... A week ago the things she had just been through and seen would have had her paralyzed with fear and disgust. This sickness was going to change them all.... It was going to turn them all into monsters and animals. Fighting for every second of life they could manage to hold onto.
Ox had picked up Clint's gun from the floor and stuck in the waistband of his pants when she returned to him. "Stay behind me Evie. Shit, this could get rough but I gotta get us back to the tailor shop. I left all our stuff there."
Evangeline put her hand on Ox's back. "I trust you." She saw the guilt in his green eyes and she knew it would take him a while to get over what had happened. Ox was a sensitive soul.
Then her giant of a brother began to lead her quickly down into the saloon, swinging that rifle of Thompson's like a battering ram and knocking the monsters out of their way. Evangeline was happy to see the sunlight outside and even happier to realize that there weren't too many of those flesh eating monsters being drawn to them. They were all being drawn into the saloon and the scent of fresh blood that filled the place.
Ox led her a short distance down the dusty road to the tailor shop and a voice cried out from inside. "Don't break my door no more, no don't!"
"Who is that?" Evangeline gasped and Ox shrugged.
"Turns out this town is plumb full of crazies."
Evangeline shook her head and smiled up at her brother. "How about we get our things and then get far away from crazy town?" she asked.
"Sounds good to me." Ox replied. "Aunt Rachel's is looking better every damned second."