Breath Of Death

Pain.

I let him ignore me the whole trip to the next town. We split up to look for food and more supplies. I found a can of beans in a pantry and a lighter in a box of cigarettes. I've never been tempted to smoke in my life until now. I lit one and let the tobacco hit my lungs. It burned immediately and I coughed hard but I kept going and the pain subsided eventually. I finished it and moved on.
The sun shined brightly over the houses and stores. It was calm and quiet all around. Moments like these make me wish I was with my family again. I crouched down to a wildflower that presented itself to me and lifted its tiny petals. I've always liked wildflowers better than store bought ones, no matter what happens to them, they always find a way to adjust and grow wherever they see an opportunity.
As I'm admiring the beauty of it, a gun fired in the distance. Tristan was my first thought. I ran in the same direction but creeped in the shadows to be cautious. I looked past each building to see if I saw him. Then I heard yelling.
It was too far for me to hear so I followed the voices until I found it. There were two men circling Tristan on horses. Tristan had his gun pointed in one of their direction. They were laughing as they held up theirs.
My gun was out of bullets and all I had was my knife. I glanced down and noticed a rock on the ground so I picked it up and aimed it at one of their heads. I moved out of sight and ran to a different building. It seems that I've hit one considering their laughing stopped.
Tristan saw an opportunity and shot one of the men. They fell off of the horse and it took off running. Now it was a fair fight but I didn't want anything to happen to him. I took out my gun and stepped out of hiding. I knew it wouldn't hit the man but he didn't.
"Off the horse." I said not taking my eyes off.
"I'm not getting off shit." He said angered.
"You will if you want to live another second." I responded.
"A life for a life." I could see tears dripping down his face as his jaw clenched from hatred.
I reached his dead friend and picked up his gun. I reloaded the rifle with one hand and put my gun away so that I could aim a loaded one finally.
"You're fighting a losing battle."
"No one asked for your fucking input."
Bang.
I watched as his body dropped like a popped balloon. His eyes never left me even after he hit the ground. Tristan hopped on the horse and took off leaving me alone once more. I searched the dead men to see if they had anything needed and all I found was a knife and some pictures of their loved ones.
I felt sorry for them. I felt sorry this is what the world came to. Sorry it was kill or be killed. I closed the unnamed man's eyes for the last time and stood back up. I turned around to the other man and jumped when I saw him turned to me with a gun pointed at my head.
"Please-"
His hand started to fall Im guessing from the loss of blood but he fired anyway. Making a single bullet strike right through my abdomen. Blood immediately dyed my shirt but I couldn't feel any pain. I took a couple steps back before I tripped on the other man and fell.
I heard someone coming. I heard hooves hitting the ground. Tristan I thought and it was. He rushed over to me and I saw his mouth moving but I couldn't hear him. All I could do was stare into his blue eyes.
He lifted up my shirt and revealed the missing chunk of my stomach. I watched as he held his lighter underneath a knife and poured whiskey over his hands. He poured some on my stomach too and even then I didn't feel anything. Then he dug his fingers into the hole and took the bullet out. All the pain arrived when that happened. Hit me harder than the actual bullet. I screamed even louder and harder when he held the burning knife over it. The air from my lungs left me along with my will to live. I didn't care to keep fighting. I let the bullet win.