Kennedy Hoss of Musket

Chapter 12: Snakebite

Song: Snakebite by David Wingo ft. Lucero (Mud Soundtrack)

I walk slowly to Allderman's, with the ring if keys jangling from my belt loop. When I reach the place I notice two men standing on either sides of the front door. They're not the tallest guys, but just as menacing. They wear off-white one piece uniforms with small spikes running down the spine. In their gloved hands they hold large guns as long as their arms fitted with two bayonets that have the fangs of a snake on the ends.

We have one particularly bad breed of snake here that we call blackbacks. They're all black with slightly lighter undersides, and about as thick as a quarter and can kill you with just one bite. We get all sorts of tracks here, but the Z shapes ones of A blackback can make a Musketinian run faster than wildfire. There have been a fair share of sketchy people that aren't from Musket coming through here, mainly people hunting the blackbacks for profit. Needless to say I've seen many people get bit and die. The only reason these strange folk risk their lives are for the blackback skin and fangs, two treasurable items to people who can afford it. Mainly the fangs are used for bayonets, like the ones the guards have.

Other than the strange men, I don't see anything has changed about Allderman's. Did Rosary seriously think he needed GUNS to protect him from children? Did he really think it was just to USE guns on children? I didn't think so. Nearby the edge of the fence there's a small group of younger children playing a game with a string of twisted scraps of cloth attached to stick. The crisp colors waving around them reminds me they are still innocent, and don't know what they've been deprived of.

Taking a breath, I continue walking towards the front door. I don't really know what I'll say when I get in, or if I'll get in, but I know that Hannibal is a good place to start and nobody's gonna get me to apologize.

From the small group of children I hear one of the little girls cry out as her string flies off of her stick. It rolls through the dirt and stops just underneath the fence. She runs after it, and the guard on the right runs briskly after her.

I watch in horror as he grabs the back of her dress and starts yanking her. Suddenly my legs are moving, and I run up to them. Before the guard has time to acknowledge what is happening, there's a crunch as my fist collides with his nose and he drops the girl and his gun to clutch his nose. Blood is leaking out through the cracks between his tightly closed fingers, staining his white gloves. My fist hurts a little, but I ignore the pain and just stand there, glaring at him. My brain is shrieking for me to run, but I refuse. No way in hell was I going to run away again.

I break my icy stare in time to allow the girl to retrieve her string and tell the kids to go home. They don't hesitate. The bleeding guard calls out in a gruff Jefferson City accent.

"Cecil!" he cries as the other guard runs up.

I know these men are here only because of what happened last night. We're getting smarter, steadier, and they know it.

Cecil grabs my arm and I writhe and twist in his arms. He lifts me off the ground in a fireman's carry. Without much hesitation I sink my teeth into his arm, and he flings me backwards onto the ground. I spit out a hunk of flesh just in time to pick myself up and run as the two guards dash into Allderman's. I wipe my mouth. Who cared if they bled out? What have I got more to lose?