Twenty Bodies

Chapter five: The Migration.

Ace woke up the next day in a strange room that was decorated with the heads of deer and elk. The room smelt of stale old bedding.
He was in a rented room in the saloon. Ace looked down to see his hand was banged up and blood was still slightly seeping out of the wound. His head still rang from the blows of yesterday but thankfully not as intense as it had once been.
Outside his room he could hear many footsteps and the murmuring of multiple voices. As if they knew Ace was listening, the heavy footsteps started running towards his room. Within a matter of seconds there was a knock on his door...
"You alive, Ace?" A familiar voice spoke. It was Willy, who came in without an answer. "Oh good you are-. Oh god, you look like shit" His eyes widened.
"Thanks, Willy, just what I needed"
Ace got up with his back cracking and body aching. He looked in the mirror at the end of the room.
"My god when did I get so skinny? And my eyes look yellow!"
"The doc looked you over. He was surprised you ain't dead... and he's never seen anyone lose weight after being stabbed."
"What the hell am I?"
"Well I think you're an-" At that moment the deputy burst in the room.
"You're gonna wanna see this"
Ace walked out his room and looked over the bannister. He saw hundreds of people.
"THERE HE IS" one man shouted.
The huge crowd began to look up at Ace, Willy and the deputy. Ace could only hear different voices from the sonic of nosies coming from the crowd rather than words.

"LET'S HANG HIM"

"YOU KILLED MY SON, YOU SON OF BITCH!"

"GET THAT BASTED"

"He's a demon sent here to kill us all!"

"The devil sent him to kill the crops and take the water"

The murmuring and swearing continued with a flash of angry faces looking up at Ace. The deputy tried to calm the crowd down.
"People, please listen, please! Listen people, I am the Deputy. Please be quiet"
'I DON'T GIVE A SHIT IF YOU'RE THE QUEEN'S CAT'S SON" one bald man shouted.
The crowd carried on getting angrier by the minute when a thunderous
boom came from the barrel of a gun behind the crowd. They all fell silent.
Flo jumped on the bar and cocked her gun.
"Now, the next person who says a single word gets to meet God personally. This gun does not discriminate, it kills anything!"
The crowd stayed silent.
"That's better. Now, everyone listen to me. I know you have a lot to say and a lot of ideas but I also know you just want to see a miracle! I mean, who doesn't? But today ain't your day. You're gonna forget what you've heard and I'm guessing someone heard it from the dipshit deputy or the old kook but I promise you it's a bunch of lies. A fairytale to get you folks to pay money to see this 'angel.' But that's in heaven... not Haven! Jack is dead. This fella just looks like him. Now go on. Get on your way, fools."
Surprisingly the crowd began to disperse, leaving the saloon.
"Wait!" Ace shouted, the coughing song following. The crowd, again, turned back around.
Ace explained to everyone about the day before. All about him falling from the sky, the fights and the chaos. Some believed him, others thought he was One-Eyed Jack coming up with a ruse to try and escape the law. Some even thought he'd lost his mind but all of them were curious.
"I'll show you what I can do. Just follow me"
The crowd didn't stop staring at Ace. He was now limping and had lost the ability to stand on his left leg. Willy caught his arm as he made his way down the stairs and smiled at Ace, whilst handing him a walking stick the doctor had given Willy weeks before. Ace hobbled through the crowd and noticed a sea of faces that had been slapped hard by the working sun; farmers, miners, railway workers, lawmen, out of towners, beggars, landowners, veterans and doctors. He leaned over and whispered into Willy's ear.
"Who told all these people?"
"The kid, he couldn't keep his mouth shut that you bought him back"
"Yeah I guess that's a big deal"
"Hey" the deputy whispered "I told my friend Ben but that was it. He must have told someone and they told someone. I don't know, I'm sorry Ace"
"Don't worry about it kid" he smiled.