Lifesaver [Engl.]

41. My revenge

Rango felt his leg with trembling hands. The arrow had pierced the fabric of his pants and was stuck in the outside of his hip, the point sticking out a little. He quickly took off his scarf and used it to tie off his leg to reduce the bleeding at the puncture site. He paused when he heard a low, dark giggle. Suddenly Frank appeared from behind a rock. Armed with an arrow and a bow.
"Don't hold it against me, Mister Rango. But you cannot go on living under these circumstances. You are just too annoying for me for my plans."
At that moment Madog appeared next to him and pointed his revolver menacingly at the chameleon.
Turtle Frank grinned. "But now it will be my great pleasure to kill you. With my method."
"Leave him!" Madog interrupted. "He's mine."
The turtle snorted. "You're wrong, he's mine."
Madog growled angrily. "Oh no, another mistake, he's mine. So I have the right to kill him." His gaze wandered back to Rango. "With a narrow shot through the heart. Or no, even better, in the stomach. That usually causes a very tasty, painful death. He becomes whole bleed to death very slowly."
Rango's eyes widened in horror when Madog pointed his revolver at him again.
Suddenly the mongoose was pushed aside.
"No, it's all my revenge!" The turtle shouted at him. "After all, the whole thing here was all MY idea. You were just the minor character."
"Don't get on my nerves now, gaffer! That is entirely my business!"
Frank raised his eyebrows. "You better shut up now before I get carried away!"
"What are you saying? Are you threatening me?" Madog approached him furiously. "Look here. Nobody threatens me! And a lame turtle like you, certainly not."
That was too much for the turtle and wanted to shoot the arrow right away, but Madog was much faster. He snatched a bow and arrow from the turtle's hand and pushed him to the ground. Frank fell back so that he lay on his back and all fours were dangling in the air.
"Stupid armored shell," growled Madog and turned around. "Okay, now to you..."
Madog froze. Rango was gone.

Rango struggled to crawl on all fours on the floor. He clenched his teeth as the arrow in his leg gave him severe pain with every movement.
Suddenly something rushed through the air and hit the chameleon on the leg. Rango screamed and collapsed.
"If I were you, I'd better stop," Madog said in a nasty voice.
When Rango tried to stand up again, the mongoose swung the whip again and hit Rango on the injured leg. Rango screamed in pain.
"Well, you don't feel so strong now, do you, Sheriff?" Madog laughed angrily.
Groaning, Rango turned on his side and managed to get his revolver out.
But Madog was faster and knocked the revolver out of his hand with the whip. Rango's revolver flew through the air and landed yards farther on the ground.
Madog waved the whip again, without mercy. Rango gasped as the whip wrapped around his neck. Madog tugged hard and pulled the chameleon towards him. Rango had no choice but to crawl over to him to avoid suffocating.
Finally, Madog loosened his grip and marched with brisk steps towards Rango, who was lying completely exhausted on the ground. With a firm grip, the mongoose grabbed the chameleon by the neck and forced him to look into his eyes. Rango shivered with fear when he felt the hard metal of the revolver on his stomach.
Madog grinned broadly. "Enjoy your last painless seconds before I tear up your abdominal cavity."
He pressed his revolver harder on Rango's stomach.
"No, please don't ..." Rango convulsed as Madog moved the arrow in his leg.
"Yes, just whine," the mongoose sneered happily. "I like that. Unfortunately, it won't save you from the afterlife. Nothing at all."
He increased the pressure with his revolver. Rango narrowed his eyes and waited anxiously for the shot.
Suddenly Madog was blown into the air. Terrified, the mongoose let go of Rango. The chameleon, also startled, screamed, although Madog's scream drowned his own.
Rango was pushed aside, and the mongoose's scream never stopped.
Rango opened his eyes fearfully. He froze when he saw Jake, who had grabbed the mongoose in his mouth and tossed him wildly back and forth.
Rango didn't know how long he did this. Then the rattlesnake tossed the mongoose and Madog landed roughly on the ground.
Groaning, the mongoose straightened up again.
"You damn reptile!" Madog swore, furiously pulling his whip from his belt. "You think you won? I'm slowly fed up with your children's games. No reptile has ever defeated me until now. And you won't be the first one who..."
He stopped. Only now did he notice how dizzy he was. With every step he began to sway. Madog stopped in surprise.
Rango, still scared, didn't know what was wrong with the mongoose at first.
Rango's eyes wandered to Jake, who looked grimly at the mongoose leader.
Slowly, something dawned on the mongoose. He looked down at himself and saw the two visible punctures with some oozing blood that stained his dirty clothes.
Madog looked at Jake.
The Grim Reaper smiled coldly. "Die!"
At first Madog stood speechless. Then he began to laugh softly, maliciously and convulsively.
"That wasn't enough," he said, walking slowly on. With every step he began to sway. "Absolutely not enough. A snake has never defeated me. That is not possible. I am the greatest snake-killer in the world."
Rango caught his breath as the mongoose fell to one side and clasped up on his arms. Rango looked back at Jake. But Jake didn't change his face. She showed neither pity nor regret. Rango's blood froze in his veins. He had never seen Jake so cold-blooded before. The Grim Reaper was waiting until his victim died.
Madog was able to lie half upright for a while, but then he slumped with a groan. His breathing grew slower and slower. Finally, his body had no more strength to defend itself against the venom and breathed out his last breath.
For a moment there was complete silence. Rango's gaze wandered back to Jake. He hadn't let the dead mongoose out of sight for a moment.
Finally, the killer broke away from the sight and looked at the trembling chameleon.
The chameleon moved its lips hesitantly. "Is he dead?"
Jake sighed. "Yes. He didn't deserve more."
Again he looked over at the dead mongoose.
"A traditional vengeance. He had killed many cobras. My revenge for my fellow species... with my venom."
"I thought mongooses were immune to snake venom," Rango said in a shaky voice.
Jake smiled. "Depends on the amount. I also have longer teeth than the cobras. And I don't think they're immune to rattlesnake venom. They're just immune to the cobra's venom."
Rango frowned. If Jake said that, it must be true.
"Well, you have to know. I don't know that much."
His gaze wandered back to Madog's body.
"That life can be over so quickly," he muttered softly.
Jake raised his eyebrows. "It was self-defense."
Rango looked up. "Yes, that was it."
Rango wanted to get up, but immediately he sank back to the floor. Carefully, Jake looked at Rango's leg. Some of the blood was already encrusted and it was no longer bleeding profusely.
"But it got you well. It hurts right?"
"Too much," Rango hissed through clenched teeth, reaching for the arrow.
"Don't pull it out!" Jake hissed. "Not until the doc arrives, otherwise you could bleed to death."
Immediately Rango let go of the arrow. "Oh, of course."
There was a pause. "If this continues, we will still be long-term patients."
Jake smiled slightly. "I think he was busy. Come on, I'll take you away."
With that, Jake bent down to Rango and offered to climb onto his neck.
No sooner had Rango reached out his arms than the chameleon paused.
"Jake?"
The rattlesnake looked at him.
"Thank you."
Jake smiled slightly.
Suddenly there were several shots. Jake screamed and backed away several times. Rango fell to the ground, but immediately he stood up again. He stared ahead in shock. Jake lay cramped on the floor.
"JAKE!"
Without hesitation, Rango ran to Jake. The rattlesnake writhed in pain when Rango touched it. "No, no. Jake, are you all right?"
But Jake was completely unable to speak. Instead, the snake kept gasping for air.
Rango heard footsteps. Immediately the chameleon turned around. His breath caught. Frank was standing a few yards away. With a revolver in hand.
"At some point my patience will run out!" the turtle said threateningly. "Then even I prefer the fast method."
The turtle had picked up Madog's revolver from the ground and was now pointing it at Rango, who was standing in front of Jake in shock. Rango turned to Jake, who was breathing hard. The chameleon didn't know how many bullets the turtle had fired at Jake, but that drove an unspeakable rage in Rango.
"You sick idiot!"
"You will keep him company soon enough!" Frank cut him off. "And the time is now!"
Frank pulled the trigger, but the revolver only made a click. The turtle had fired all the bullets at Jake and was now standing with the empty magazine.
Rango, still outraged by the act, ignored the pain in his leg and hobbled toward the turtle. He lunged at Frank and repeatedly hit him in the face with his fists. But Frank reached out with his hand and hit Rango on the injured leg, where the arrow was still in it. Rango screamed in pain. Frank took advantage of Rango's defenselessness and pushed the chameleon away with all his might. Rango fell to the floor and held his leg with wailing.
Frank looked down at the chameleon without pity. "You lying creature," he scoffed. "You're just a reptile in an old western costume. But nothing more. You are a nobody. Absolutely nothing. But don't worry. I'll free you from your senseless existence immediately."
With these words, Frank turned and searched the ground for Rango's revolver, which the chameleon had previously lost in the fight with Madog. And the turtle didn't have to look far. No sooner had he spotted the revolver, then Frank walked up to it purposefully and picked it up. But no sooner had he turned around than he noticed that Rango had disappeared.
Frank looked around in surprise. But Rango was nowhere to be seen.
Frank grinned maliciously. "Tz, that's pointless. You can't hide forever."
Frank marched across the area with slow steps and searched the ground for traces. As a skilled hunter, he knew exactly what to look for. He had often followed his hunting victims to the end and until now nothing had escaped him. Frank stopped. A cold smile played around his mouth when he saw a faint trail of blood that led between the rocks.

Rango crawled forward between the rocks, his face contorted with pain. The arrow shot wound on his leg had started bleeding again after the turtle hit him so brutally. Rango felt completely cowardly. But there was no way he could fight the turtle with his injured leg.
"You cannot escape!", Rango heard Frank's voice echo in the mountains. "There is no escape for you!"
Rango crawled on quickly. The turtle was very slow without a walking stick, but in his condition, he could not run away from him forever. Exhausted, Rango sat down next to a rock to take a short breath.
"One, two, three. I'll have you in one minute!" Frank's voice came in the distance.
Rango was breathing hard and clutching his leg. Tears welled up in his eyes.
At that moment he heard a familiar voice.
"Sheriff! Get on! "
In surprise, Rango looked up.
Not far away was Ezekiel on his bat, who hastily waved Rango over to him.
"Come on!"
"But then he will escape," Rango said.
"Didn't you notice?" Ezekiel said. "The guy is totally insane. He's going to shoot us both if we don't get out of here right away."
Rango hesitated. "But then he'll come back and threaten us again. Somehow this guy has to be stopped. Didn't the others come with you?"
Ezekiel shook his head. "It's just my job to take care of you. Come on now. We have to get out of here!"
"Wait!" Interrupted Rango. "He won't get away that easily."
Several seconds passed before Rango finally spoke again.
"Ezekiel! Come here. You have to do me a big favor."
Curiously, Ezekiel got off his bat and ran to Rango. The latter leaned over and whispered something to him.
Ezekiel backed away in shock. "I should do what?! You are not serious, are you?"
"Just do it!" Rango yelled at him. "You said yourself that you had done this before."
"Yes, but that was an accident..."
"Now do it!"
Immediately Ezekiel jumped back on his bat and flew away.
At that moment a shot rang out. Rango winced. The shot was fired from close range.
"You can't escape me!" He heard Frank call out. "Once I've got rid of you, I'll get new people and destroy the city and all of their brood!"
Rango crawled on with difficulty. The pain in his leg, where the arrow was still in, tortured him. He would have preferred to stand still, but then Frank would have had an easy time shooting him. And he wouldn't hesitate for a second.

Frank grinned happily when he saw Rango disappear behind another rock.
"Just run, just run. I'll have you soon!"
Confident of victory, Frank climbed after the chameleon.

If Rango hadn't had a plan, the chameleon would certainly have collapsed long before exhaustion. But Rango bravely fought on. Fortunately, he knew the mountains and knew exactly where he had to go to get out of here into the free desert.
At last, he had reached the open field. Searchingly he looked around and searched the sky. For a while he stayed under cover behind a rock. Suddenly another shot rang out and narrowly missed Rango. The chameleon hastily left the mountains and hobbled across the open desert plain. Then he stopped.
"Yes, just go on."
Reluctantly, Rango turned around. Frank had also appeared on the open area and stared triumphantly at the chameleon. "I really would have thought you wiser, but trying to get back into town was the biggest mistake you could have made."
"And what if neighboring cities get wind of the fact that you have exterminated a city?" Rango asked.
Frank snorted. "I'll be over the mountains by then. I'm not interested in founding a new city. No. When I've done all of this, I'll retire to the lonely forests of California."
"You obviously forget that criminals like you will never win," Rango said.
"It's only like that in films," Frank said. "But this is reality. And you will obey this, too."
Rango backed away.
Frank grinned. "Just try to escape. It won't do you any good. Farewell, Sheriff!"
At that moment a large shadow passed over them. Shortly afterwards, something fell out of the air. Frank was so surprised that he only saw impassively how Ezekiel grabbed the chameleon with his bat in no time and flew away with him. Frank wanted to shoot immediately. But suddenly there was a harsh cry of a bird.
Frank looked up. But too late. The hawk had long since spotted the turtle and grabbed it with its long claws. Frank cried out angrily. Too late he now realized that the chameleon had deliberately lured him into the open field.
"You shall be cursed, you filthy creature..."
Rango couldn't hear the rest of the sentence. The hawk carried the turtle away with it. To a place where there was no turning back.
Relieved and exhausted, Rango hung down on the bat that held him with her foot-claws.
At that moment Ezekiel leaned down to him. "Where now, Sheriff?"