Age of The Understatement

Part 2 - Black Plant

Tombstone, AZ

The two men finally made it to their destination. The mining business was really booming there, silver being their largest asset. Truly one of the richest towns in the Southwest, thus meaning the banks are bursting at the seams– practically begging for someone to come along and loosen their load, so to say. Although there were known gangs in town, Miles assumed they could slip in and out without causing any stir. As they approached the outskirts of town, they came to the realization that it wouldn't be quite of a quick exit as they assumed. The town was bustling. The two men stayed back, steadying their horses as they looked at the town and then to each other.

"So, what's the plan now Miles? Maybe newcomers won't be too inconspicuous.. just 'passing through'.." Alex said, tilting his hat back to see the town a little better.

"Maybe, we wait till nightfall. Let's scope out the town, get a feel for it and figure out what could be best." Miles' horse brayed and scratched one of its front hooves at the dirt road as Miles adjusted the guitar on his back. "If the bank doesn't seem too secured, I think breaking in at night would be our best bet. Let's see if they've got an inn we could rest up at."

The two men got their horses into a slow trot, heading into town. Many men and women strung in and out of the small stores lining the dirt roads. The town had to have stretched eight miles around itself, new home construction going on towards the edges of town. Miles started feeling uneasy– there's too many eyes here. They continued through, eventually coming up to a rather large saloon. Miles hopped off of his horse and started to tie the reigns to a nearby hitching rail outside of the saloon, Alex following his lead. Miles made sure the reigns were tight before turning to face Alex.

"After you." Miles said, glancing over to the batwing doored entrance to the saloon. Alex nodded before adjusting his hat, making his way towards the entrance. Alex was greeted with many tough and worn faces, clearly all regulars. Small wooden tables and stools cluttered the space, almost every chair full. Miles pushed past Alex and made his way up to the barkeep, having a seat on one of the few open stools.

"Two ryes please." Miles ordered, turning to look at the rest of the faces inside the room, praying that word of two gunslinging bandits reigning terror along the Mexican border hadn't reached Tombstone yet.

Alex cleared his throat, redirecting Miles' attention to him as he pulled down his hat further onto his head. Alex nodded in the direction behind the bar, a peculiar poster plastered on what looked to be the towns bulletin board, a poster Miles was hoping not to see. Two faces familiar faces and a decent sized reward sat for all to see. Miles' stomach rolled over, thank god they hadn't pulled their neckties down from their mouths yet. The bartender sat down to hefty pours in front of Miles, holding his hand out to take his money. Miles placed two bits into the bartenders hand, quickly turning to face Alex, you could see the fear in his eyes. Miles pushed one of the glasses of rye Alex's direction, his eyes glancing down at it then back to Alex's eyes as if to say 'drink it and we will get out of here.' Alex flipped up his necktie enough so he could knock back this shot, Miles following in suit. Alex was the first to stand up, looking over to Miles before heading back outside. They needed to find a well of some sort, if they were just going to split town they needed to at least fill up their canisters, maybe find some sort of non perishable food to carry too. Everyone in the bar watched them leave, they fit the description of the men on the poster all too well.
Miles untied the reigns of his horse before walking over to Alex who was doing the same.

"We need to find a well. Or some sort of market. We need food and water before we leave." Miles said.

"What do you mean leave? What about the bank–"

"Never mind that, there's too many people. And the.." Miles adjusted his voice to a whisper. "The poster. We can't risk it. We will just try the next town."

Miles hoisted himself back onto his horse, wrapping the reigns back around his arm as he waited for Alex to mount his horse. Miles let Alex lead as they continued to make their way through town, keeping an eye on every building they passed, eventually coming onto a general store.

"You go in, I'll wait." Miles said as they made their way to the stores hitching rail. Alex silently agreed to Miles' plan, hopping back off of his horse, wrapping his reigns around the railing yet again.

The walls of the store were lined with hats, soaps, denim, spices, and seeds. Alex's eyes bounced around the room, almost too much stuff cluttered the area, they even used product barrels to balance wooden planks covered in more items like sugar, hard candies, and even sewing supplies. Alex made his way to the back of the shop, eyeing a large glass case. He peered inside glimpsing at the few jewels and rings that laid out on display.

"Can I help you?" The assumed store owner said, making his way past the counter to speak to Alex. The man looked him up and down, a smug and demeaning look on his face. "Did you get checked at the lawman's office yet?" The man said, glimpsing down at Alex's gun holster attached to his leg.

"What?" Alex said, looking up at the owner, not quite sure what he was suggesting or trying to say.

"In this town, visitors aren't allowed weapons. And I've never seen you before." The man shifted his weight before continuing. "Listen, you seem like a reasonable guy." The man looked back down at Alex's holster. "I'll let you buy whatever you'd like but expect the law to be waitin' to disarm you outside." He cleared his throat. "Don't think of doing anything funny either, the whole towns already seen you and your friend. They know you're here."

Alex looked at the man confused. What kind of town has that kind of law? Alex nodded at the guy, unsure of what to even say to him. Alex backed away, walking over to one of the walls. He glimpsed out the front window of the building, looking at Miles who was still propped up on his horse, a horse trotting towards Miles in the distance– Alex assumed it was their sheriff. Alex quickly tried to gather some items, picking up a satchel of oatmeal, two small bottles of whiskey, and grabbing a few packets of crackers as well.

"Can I have some of your salted beef? Maybe a half pound." Alex asked the owner, pointing to the strands hanging by a hook above the cash register. The guy nodded, ripping down at least eight of the meat strips before tossing them onto the scale, perfectly measuring out to .5lbs. "Maybe a bag of tobacco too." Alex added, looking behind the man's head at the brown leaves stuffed into paper bags. The man grabbed a paper bag, sitting it down onto the counter.

"Is this all?" The guy asked, looking back at Alex as he took the items from his hands.

"Yeah that'll be it." Alex glimpsed back out the window, watching Miles talk to the sheriff, very obviously getting a little heated at being told to hand over any firearms of any sort. Alex quickly handed the cashier a few silver dollars as he started to wrap up all of the items. The guy seemed to be taking his sweet time, carefully wrapping and tying the items snug. Alex glimpsed back to the cashier and out at Miles multiple times, snatching all of the items once the cashier had finally finished before darting back out to Miles' side.

"I'm sorry sir, it's the law. You need to hand your weapon over now. If I have to forcefully remove it from you, I will." The cop spoke as Alex quickly stuffed all of the freshly bought goods into his satchels that slung across his horse. They still hadn't filled up their canisters with water. A few people started to gather around, trying to listen and figure out what all of the fuss was about.

"We're just passing through. I'm keeping my weapons." Miles huffed, wrapping the reigns around his hand tighter. Alex mounted his horse, looking over to Miles who's eyes were locked on the cop. "I don't care if it's your law."

"Sir, dismount your horse now." The cop said, placing his hand onto his gun which still sat in his holster as he approached Miles' horse. Miles swiftly unlatched his gun from his holster and pointed the barrel directly against the cops forehead.

"Any movement and I won't hesitate shoot." Miles said. The cop tried to make a move to grip onto Miles' gun to try and pull it away from him. Miles swiftly pulled the trigger, the cop was thrown backwards by the sheer amount of force from the shot, immediately falling into the dusty road with a thud. Most definitely dead by the amount of matter that laid splattered around his now mangled face and body. Horrified shrieks came from a woman's mouth who watched the scene unfold, a few more people running over to see what the clamor was about.
Miles placed his gun back into his holster and turned to Alex, nodding as he tapped his spur against his horse, making it jolt into a full cantor as they escaped out of the town, Alex following closely behind Miles.