Standoff

|21| The End of it All

"What about your burns?" Dante asks, concerned, but Aaron shakes his head and points to Laurence.

"You carry him, the towns not too far away." He turns away from him and peers out from over the rocks they were sleeping against, seeing the town in the horizon.

I just hope I'm not too late.

Aaron nearly sprints, seeing the town grow in front of him. The people give him shocked looks and some look almost happy to see him.

He scours the streets, and finds that Aphmau had already gone, so had Mason's sickly old horse.

Dante rushes up behind him, Laurence hung over his shoulder, out of breath.

"How the hell did you move so fast...?" Aaron doesn't answer him, and just takes Laurence from his shoulder and into the clinic.

"Hello? How may I-" The secretary at the desk starts to ask, but seeing the injured and tired men in front of her she quickly ducks into the back room.

"Sit down. The doctor will be right with you all." Aaron lays the brunette's body down, yet in a moment turns for the door.

"Aaron? Where are you going? Your burns-" Aaron turns to him with such a fire in his eyes he needn't have said a word to make him fall silent.

"Stay here, and recover. I'll be back to check on you two, if I can." Dante nods and as Aaron steps out, a black shadow moves behind him.

Eclipse steps out from the shadow of a building, his beady eyes glistening with a silent rage.

"Do you know where they went?" Aaron steps forward to pet his friend, and Eclipse huffs in agreement, Aaron slides onto his saddle and takes out his backup revolver stashed in his saddle.

"Take me to them." Eclipse whinny's and breaks into a run, it was the hardest and fastest the horse had ever gone, dust billowing up behind them as the sun climbed higher and higher in the sky.

He didn't know how long he traveled, but long enough that the sun had climbed to It's peak and started to fall again, and finally, a wagon with a pepper and chestnut colored horses forms in the horizon, with a third, brown skinny one.

And it's rider.

Aaron stops and Eclipse huffs, pawing the ground in an expression of the rage the both of them felt.

He waits before riding up close to the wagon, hiding his face, his clothes are darkened and tattered to the point where he's unrecognizable, and his ears wet graced with loud Spanish shouting.

He slides off Eclipse and sneaks around the back of the wagon, to see Aphmau shouting and cursing and Mason, who looks just as furious and shouting back in English.

Malachi, shouting at him as well, his gun pointed directly at his head and tears welling in his eyes.

Aaron points his gun and the back of Mason's head, and clears his throat loudly to get their attention.

Mason looks at him, not realizing who stood in front of him, Malachi turns his head in confusion, and Aphmau falls silent.

"Who the hell are you?" Mason remarks coldly,  Aaron glances at the bulge in his pocket and his insides burn in rage.

"Take a wild guess, Friend." Mason's face goes white, and Malachi's sullen face breaks into a smile, Aphmau grips the red bandana around her neck.

"No... You're supposed to be in prison." Aaron removes his hat, revealing his face, and Aphmau gasps in relief.

"Me? Oh Mason, you know no prison can hold me." Aaron speaks coldly, reliving the conversation where all of this began.

Mason pulls out his pistol pointing at him as well.