[center][img]https://s22.postimg.cc/cyjhf1vsx/chowpunisher4.jpg[/img]
[b][color=black][u]Evening
The Crossroads Saloon; Warpath, Texas[/u][/color][hr][h3][color=black]ISSUE #15[/color]
[color=#f92a0e]GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY[/color]
[color=black]PART FIVE[/color][/h3][/b][hr][/center]
They wouldn't stop coming. I only had a few rounds left, and I picked my shots carefully, letting Greg go after the others. But no matter how hard we fought, it seemed that for every Hunter we killed, two more rose in its place. We had to make sure this place blew and fast. We were down to our last leg. As if sensing my thoughts, I heard Greg call out:

[quote=@DocTachyon]
[color=#f92a0e]”Frank! End game time, compadre! Meet ‘cha out back!”[/color]
[/quote]
Time to go. I nodded to him, breaking out into a sprint to the backdoor of the saloon. I waited for Greg by the door, keeping my pistols at the ready in case any of the Hunters found their way back here. We'd set up the trip wire in the doorway. As soon as it went, we had about ten seconds to get away before the whole place went up in flames. Hopefully, that'd be enough time.

[b][i]*CRASH!*[/i][/b]

The window to my right turned into a cloud of glass, a Hunter bursting through and swinging a hatchet at me. I stumbled backwards but recovered quickly, firing off a few rounds at him as I fell to the ground. He disappeared into a cloud of smoke as I landed on my ass with a thud. Pulling myself up with a grunt, I realized that I had went through the doorway... And pulled the tripwire along the way. [b][color=black]"SHIT! GREG! GET OUT!"[/color][/b]

I could only pray that he heard me and began to run. I ran away from the saloon, counting to ten in my head all the while. I didn't run into any Hunters as I got a block or so away. They were probably all in the saloon by now. Hopefully, it was only them in there...

[b][i]*Krak-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*[/i][/b]

The saloon exploded in a ball of fire behind me, the force being enough to send me face first into the ground from a block away. I pushed myself up and turned around, staring in awe at the fire. The saloon was nothing but a pile of rubble, and what was left standing of it was burning down fast. That definitely took care of the Hunters.

And as I looked around, I didn't see Greg in sight.

[b][color=black]"No... Oh, God, no."[/color][/b] I began to sprint back towards the saloon, shouting my partner's name all the while in the hopes that he had somehow made it out in the nick of time. My cries went unanswered, and I fell to my knees. It was just as I had dreaded: Greg Saunders was dead. All I could do was choke out a small sob as the knowledge hit me.

I don't know why I was so affected by the death of a man I had only known for two days. Maybe it was because he had offered camaraderie like I had never felt before. Maybe it was because he was the only other vigilante I had met who didn't want me to rot in jail. Maybe it was because it was my fault that he had met his untimely death.

I hung my head, sitting in front of the remains of the Crossroads Saloon.