Iron Wasteland

Chapter 9

Night had settled over the town, and Irons was starting to regret his choice. He had forgotten how boring stakeouts could be. Him and Providence had been hunkering down in the shadows, eyes glued to the jailhouse for the past three hours, with nothing happening. Irons was beginning to worry this would be for not.

"Still nothing...I think you might've missed the mark on this one, Irons." Providence said, leaning back against the building they were scrunched up against.

"Possibly...you're welcome to go to sleep here if you want, I'm staying here."

"Can't we just go back to the inn? I'd be much more appreciative if I could rest on something soft tonight."

Irons cringed. "Well...I don't have enough cash. Spent the last of it on lunch earlier."

Providence sighed, sliding to the ground and falling over onto her side. "Fine. Wake me if anything happens."

"Will do!"

Irons returned his attention to the task at hand. However, with nothing really going on, his mind wandered a bit. He briefly glanced back at the fire goddess, her flame head not giving off any light. He wondered just how she was doing that. She had done it before, and it was still a little weird to see. The lava lamp comparison still held true. It was a neat party trick, at least.

He shook his head, refocusing on the jailhouse. He was confident that the sheriff in there was a bad guy. Everything about him was setting off alarm bells in his head. No idea about paperwork. Using such a shoddy makeshift jail. Being so late to a robbery in progress, despite being not too far away. A lot of red flags. That, and the man's general personality, but that was just his own bias, so he tried not to have that play into it. But, it was a little hard. So many sheriffs now-a-days were like that, and Irons wasn't happy with it. If he was still around, he'd probably lobby for some changes.

He had a backup plan if he still couldn't figure it out, but that'd put him in as much danger as the bandits. He rummaged around under his cover, pulling that backup plan out and looking it over one more time. A cylindrical metal tube, with a keypad and screen on the side. He tapped the end of it, debating. If he used it now, and duun really was a sheriff, he'd have one hell of a time getting away. If he waited...

A sound drew his attention back up. Damn, he really needed to focus. There was a flicker of movement, followed by the sound of wood clacking together. Irons reached over, shaking Providence.

"Hey, wake up!" He whispered. "It's go-time!"

The fire goddess sat up, blinking at him incredulously. She looked toward the jailhouse, then back to him.

"You sure?"

Another loud crack of wood confirmed it, and the harsh whispers that followed sealed the deal. They watched as a few figures emerged from behind the jail, followed by a much larger, triangular figure. Irons and Providence looked at each other, nodding. That was him.

"What now?" Providence asked, shrinking back more into the shadows.

"We follow 'em. If we can find their base, I can use a tool I got here to call for help. We'll have to book it outta there when we use it, but it'll be a good way to secure this town's safety."

"Are you sure you'll be able to do something like that? You look exhausted."

Irons shrugged. "Won't have a choice. Get ready to move!"

They watched the group of people vanished over a dune. They ran after them, stopping in the shadow of the jail. Inspecting it, Irons found that they had undone some of the boards, the hammers used still laying in the sand. Irons picked one up, and slid it under his cover. Hey, never know when you'll need one. They continued to stalk the gang of people, sticking to the shadows or waiting for them to leave their line of sight before dashing to the next cover. They traveled for a few hours, the town becoming a spec on the horizon, then fully vanishing. By the time the sun was beginning to rise, the duo was peeking over another dune, staring down at an odd sight.