𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐭 ~ 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐝

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

Laurie and Billy traveled for days, galloping as fast as their horses could take them. They passed through many sceneries, some were fields, others were rivers, and some were valley's between the mountains.

They arrived back in Chihuahua in the dead of night, the two walked through the town. It was quiet now and the stars and moon in the pitch black sky were their only source of light. Artax snorted as he shook his neck, huffing as Laurie glanced around before she dismounted Artax, loosely tying him to the post with Billy's horse before following the older outlaw, both with their guns drawn. Laurie looked like a fawn trying to intimidate a pack of wolves whenever she held her gun, she was probably the least threatening thing on the planet, even when she held a weapon.

Billy and Laurie snuck around the sheriff's office, ducking behind a window when they saw a shadow pass by it, indicating that someone was still inside. The front door opened, making Billy and Laurie duck down again and hide behind the ramp that led to it. Laurie's heart raced as she watched a man exit the building with a lamp in his hands, whistling a soft yet cheerful tune as he went over to a nearby bush and started pissing. Laurie looked away.

Men, she thought to herself.

Billy silently got up, glancing at Laurie and putting a finger over his mouth, indicating her to be quiet as he snuck up on the man who was still urinating in the bush. Billy suddenly clasped his hand over the man's mouth to keep him from screaming for help as he pressed his gun against his neck. Laurie quickly got up and followed him, holstering her pistol as she picked up the lantern, holding it tightly as she watched to see what was going to happen next. Billy let the man continue peeing before he forced the guy back into the house, followed by Laurie.

Once they were inside, Laurie closed and locked the door behind her. Taking a deep breath as she looked around the dark house, shivering a little bit from the chill in the air.

"You have a prisoner in here? Melquiades Segura?," Laurie asked in Spanish as the guard kept his hands where they could be seen, he was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"Yes. He's in the upstairs cell," the guard confessed.

"Is anyone else here?," Billy growled, keeping his gun digging into the guards back, making sure the guard knew that he was the one in charge here.

"No, sir," the guard answered quickly.

Billy nodded as he pushed the guard forward. "Let's go then, fucker."

Once they were up the stairs, they followed the guard into the guard room for the key, Laurie was in front of Billy, neither of them saw that a guard had snuck behind them until Billy turned around, saw the other guard and shot him. Laurie looked behind her, trying to see what had happened, which meant that she didn't see the first guard come at her with a knife until it stabbed her in the shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain. Billy felt his protective instincts flare up and he attacked the guard, headbutting him and pushing him away from the injured child as he aimed his gun at him.

"Show us to the cells, now," Billy hissed, his eyes wide. He knew that the gun shot would have alerted more people. "Hurry!"

Laurie followed after Billy and the guard, keeping pressure on her wounded shoulder as blood dripped onto her hands, staining her shirt and her hands. The guard led them to Segura's cell, unlocking it as Laurie continued to bleed from her wound.

"Billy, Laurie, you came," Segura said, sounding a little bit surprised, as well as concerned for Laurie upon seeing she had just been stabbed.

"We had to," Billy said as the guard continued to fumble with the keys to the cell. "You're in here because of me." The cell door opened and Segura walked out, taking a close look at the wound on Laurie's shoulder before ripping off a piece of his shirt and giving it to Laurie so that it could act as a makeshift tourniquet.

"How many guards are there, usually?," Laurie breathed, tightening the fabric over her bloodied arm.

"Three," Segura replied as Billy knocked out the guard and threw him into the cell. Segura looked at Billy and Laurie up and down. "The two of you seem different." Billy ignored the comment as he closed the cell, locking the out cold guard in it before he cocked his gun and turned the corner.

The trio walked carefully, Laurie had unconsciously drawn her gun as well, her heart racing as they slowly trailed down the hallway when the third guard suddenly appeared, causing Laurie to panic and shoot him in the leg, causing him to yell and fall down the stairs.

But Laurie didn't stop shooting, she was scared, she wasn't really thinking.

She fired at least five rounds, her blue eyes wide as she stared at the lifeless body at the bottom of the stairs. It was like something in her had switched and she came back to reality, realizing what she had just done.

She had just killed a man.

"You are different," Segura said, staring at Laurie and then at her gun.

The comment didn't make Laurie feel any better, she felt so guilty for killing the guy. Even though it was either she shot him or he shot one of them, it didn't make a difference about the fact that she had still murdered someone. The guilt was overwhelming and she felt sick to her stomach, a lump formed in her throat and she thought she was going to throw up.

Was she a monster?