The Fire -1-

-S1, Ep1: Chapter 5-

-Chapter 5: Time- 

"Frederico." Earl says, weakly.

"You got this, old man." Freddie replies. "Hold on."

"Tell Ramona I said goodbye, alright?" Earl asked.

"Ramona's been dead two years, Earl." Freddie explained, glancing at Richie again.

"46.02?" Earl asked, causing Freddie to look at him again. "That's a hell of a high price to pay for a bottle of hooch, isn't it?"

"It'll be worth it." Freddie said.

"Frederico, I may never get up off this floor." Earl said.

"You're gonna get off this floor if I have to carry you out myself." Freddie said.

"That's a real nice thing that you'll never get to do." Earl said. "Just like me baptizing your little girl. If I could...the answer'd be yes."

"You don't have to say that, Earl." Freddie said.

"I'm all out of days...Frederico." Earl said. "But you've still got yours. Make 'em good ones."

"I will." Freddie promised as the bathroom door opened and closed behind Seth, who walked out still on the phone.

"Do you know what you're asking us to do?" Seth asked, walking around the redheaded girl and the dog, who growled at him on the way by. "We have to cross the border, Carlos. We're never gonna make it." He stopped and leaned against a shelf. After a few seconds, he hung up the phone. "We gotta get moving. Carlos ain't comin'."

"I knew it." Richie said. "He's your guy. This is on you." A smile graced the younger brother's face as he leaned against the shelf. "Guess we do it the hard way." His eyes drifted to the rangers.

"No, hey, look at me." Seth said. "We are not killing any more people today. You got that?"

"Who said I was talking about them?" Richie asked, his eyes now drifting to the black dog that looked over at him. The dog growled at him, causing the girl to grab onto its collar again. Seth glanced back and saw what Richie was looking at before facing his brother again.

"We're not killing the dog either, alright?" Seth ordered.

"Frederico..." Earl said, drawing Freddie's attention away from the Gecko brothers, who were arguing about the dog's life once again. "...you promise me something. You kill these bastards, no matter what it takes. Even if you have to follow 'em to the gates of hell...you kill 'em for me."

"I swear in my daughter, I will." Freddie promised. Earl gasped softly before closing his eyes. Earl let out his last breath.

"Well, now..." Seth said, walking over to stand in front of Freddie. "Looks like it's just you, hero." Freddie stood and raised his hands in surrender.

"We finish what we started." Richie said, raising his gun at Freddie.

"Shut up, Richard." Seth ordered, point at his brother behind him.

"Listen!" Freddie said as Richie lowered his gun. "Listen to me!" Freddie pointed to the girls behind the brothers, the redhead and the dog. "I just wanna get these girls & the dog outta here and Pete some help. That's all I want. You guys can get in your car and you can go. Hell, you can take my car." Freddie pointed to his car that was still parked outside. "Ain't no one gonna stop you in that."

"This is where I draw the line." Richie said, causing Seth to look at him. "We leave this place, we're asking to get caught." Richie pointed his gun at Freddie. "These people need to die." He then pointed his gun at the redhead. "And the girl comes with us."

"Listen to me, I'm not going to waste my bullets, time or energy arguing with you about this anymore." Seth said, pointing at him. "And we're not taking any hostages with us. Shut up!"

"46.02." Freddie said as Pete opened the safe again. Seth looked at Freddie in confusion.

"What?" Seth asked.

"They were takin' about it earlier." Richie explained. "It's the price of a really nice bottle of hooch."

"Actually, it refers to section 46.02 of the Texas State Penal Code in regards to conceal weapons." Freddie corrected.

"What the hell are you takin' about?" Seth asked.

"A person commits an offense if that person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about him or herself a handgun, or illegal knife, especially if said handgun is no registered, and that handgun is used for protection on the premises of a fine establishment such as this one, right here." Freddie explained as Pete got his gun out of the safe.

"Can I please just shoot him now?" Richie asked, pointing his gun at Freddie, causing Seth to look at his brother.

"Pete, go!"