Nobodyman123

Frontier of the Damned

With the prospect of public speaking before him, Josh suddenly found himself wishing for the undead hordes to return. At least the zombies wouldn't care if he embarrassed himself. Still, this was what he signed up for, so he found a decently sized soapbox to stand on. Those who looked on were terrified, but they still looked to him for guidance.

"Alright, everyone." Joshua began simply enough. Best to look at least somewhat confident, even if he didn't feel it. "I'm sure you all heard, but the Devil himself is coming to town in seven days. The mayor is dead and running is pointless. I'm sure the telegraph lines are already cut, so we can't expect any help." A quiet murmur fell over the crowd, which Josh ended with a quick raise of his arms.

"That leave us with two choices. You can lock your doors and hide, which I won't judge you for. I, on the other hand, would rather die on my feet." At that, the cacophony of noise erupted from the crowd. The townsfolk yelled at the sheriff as well as each other. The sheriff raised his arms again, and the townsfolk took a little longer to get quiet.

"Like I said, if you want to hide under your bed and wait for this to be over, I won't blame you. However, anyone who wants to stand and fight, step forward and I'll deputize you."

Star Wars: A Legend Reborn (Nobodyman123 and Mistress Dizzy)

"I..." Eskel said, trying to find words after Kijani told him what to expect. He tried not to let his fear and disappointment show. "I understand." He finally said, setting resolve on his face. "I'm not much for violence, but I will think on what you have said."

With that, he rose from the table and bowed as deeply as he was able in the confined space. "I will return to my ship for now. I hope to speak with you again in the morning."

Once he was out the door, Yoda came to sit at the small table near Kijani. "Fine young man, he is. Means well he does." With a wry smirk, he looked to his Padawan.

"Wish for him to be Adam, perhaps?" Yoda said teasingly.

Frontier of the Damned

The battle raged on for only a few moments more, as the modest horde of undead was shot to pieces. When there were only a few shambling corpses left, a few of the survivors quickly finished them off. Rutherford, amidst the chaos, had vanished.

Sheriff Joshua slid his revolver back in his holster as he looked through the corpses of those killed in the attack. He thought he had seen the mayor go down during the fight, but Josh needed to make sure. If he was truly dead, that would make Joshua the leading town official. Not that anyone else would want the job of managing a town that was one week from literally going to hell.

Once he made sure the mayor was gone, Joshua made his way to his office. A few of the townspeople were still milling about. Some attempted to clean up the corpses, while many other simply sat, guns held close.

This town was doomed, and everyone knew it. But even Joshua, as terrified as he was, knew that he would rather go down swinging than wait patiently for the devil to arrive. Hopefully, many in town felt the same way. After putting the word out that an emergency meeting would take place outside his office, he opened up his gun locker. Every weapon he ever confiscated or came across in his duties as a lawman would now be used to arm the the town.

Frontier of the Damned

The chaos erupted all at once around Josh, and he soon found himself firing along with the others. Knock Knock kicked hard against the sheriff's shoulder, and the heavy buckshot slammed hard into a zombie. With both barrels empty, he opened the breach to reload a pair of fresh shells. As he broke the shotgun open, he suddenly felt it ripped from his hands and onto the muddy ground. The stock was completely shattered.

Josh looked up at the now thinning horde of zombies and saw the man in black, with his nasty looking colt firmly in his hands. With his black hat tilted up, Josh got a good look at the man's rotted face. Even after years of decay and ruin, the sheriff still recognized it from nearly every dime novel and penny dreadful he read as a boy.

It was Clayton Rutherford.

If you believed the old tales, Clayton was a Confederate guerilla, killing pro-union folk from Kansas to Colorado. Some say he was killed not far from Longwater, shot in the back by his own men. Either way, he was staring down the sheriff, murder in his murky dead eyes.

Even over the din of gunfire, no bullet seemed to pierce the revenant. He spoke with a voice that everyone in town could hear clearly.

"This is but a taste of the hell that awaits you, folks. he said with a thick southern drawl. "The Devil is on his way, and in seven days, his train will pull into the station. After that, no angel in heaven will give you mercy. If you fight, you will die. If you run, you will die. If you submit... well, you'll still die, but it won't be as painful as the other two options.

Clayton brought his boney fingers to his lips and blew, bringing a stallion of black fire into view. You can pray, for all the good it will do you. Every night, you will be met with horrors worse than this. You only have yourselves to blame for this. With that, he tilted his hat forward and road off into the morning, leaving the rest of his undead to attack the towns folk.

After the ghost-man rode off, and Joshua came back to his senses. He drew his pistol and joined the rest of the townsfolk still fighting. The sheriff could see the old soldier, Colm, not far off. "Still want a job, old timer?"

Frontier of the Damned

@Raylah@Silentfeather

Obviously shes a time traveler.

Frontier of the Damned

"Private?" Josh said, crossing his arms. Colm looked a little old to be a private, but if he managed to make it all the way to retirement, then he was likely a very good soldier. Still, he looked a little shaky.

"Look, friend. I'm sure you're very qualified, but this looks like simple grave-robbery. In spite of the odd circumstances, anyway. If it gets worse, I'll be sure to-" said Josh before he was cut off by a scream. Then another. Then a dozen more.

The Sheriff instinctually reached for his shotgun and made sure it was loaded before running outside past Colm. "We will discuss this later!" he yelled back to the old soldier.
------

Standing tall at the far end of town, past the saloons and underneath the shadow of a massive water tower, were a horde of the dead. Still dressed in their Sunday best, they unmoving throng were still familiar to those residents of Longwater who remembered them. At their head, pacing back and forth, was a tall man in a long black duster. On his hip sat an old Colt that still looked dangerous in spite of it's rust.

When Josh pushed his way pass the onlookers, he leveled his shotgun at the man and the mass of corpses behind him. The Sheriff tried to call out, demand an explanation, but found his throat to be completely dry. All he could do was stare in horror at the impossible sight laid out before him.

Star Wars: A Legend Reborn (Nobodyman123 and Mistress Dizzy)

Eskel lowered his hands into his lap, trying once again to look proper and put together. It was a little hard to do, of course, while half covered in swamp mud and sitting in a chair three sizes too small, but he tried anyway.

"I know that I'm sometimes removed from what happens in the galaxy, but I want to change that. I've seen the vids, and if the real thing is half as bad as what they say, then the galaxy needs to right itself."

Eskel then got from his chair and approached Kijani. "This was has to stop, one way or the other. Otherwise the galaxy will tear itself to pieces. I want to help, and the best way I can see of doing that is by uniting our houses."

The prince knew that this was all probably not what Kijani was planning on hearing today, but he was in too deep now.

"With House Organa and House Veruna, we can unite all of our resources against the Empire. We could end this war."

Frontier of the Damned

Josh made his way back to his office once he had finished examining the graveyard. Once he did so, he opened his desk and poured himself a glass of Tennessee whisky. He drained it even before sitting down at his desk.

None of this made sense. Whoever did this only wanted the bodies, since their will still plenty of valuables left behind. But who would need so many? Why wasn't there a single set of footprints? And how did they do this without anyone realizing it until this morning?

The Sheriff had his thoughts interrupted by someone walking into his office. Without looking up, Josh poured himself another drink.

"If this is about the graveyard, I have no answers for you."
-----

Father Stone was all too happy with the bounty hunter's apparent piety. "Thank the Lord for men like you, good sir. Your profession is a sinful one, but the heavenly father looks favorably on repentant sinners. Please, find our poor sheriff. He made need all the help he can get."

Frontier of the Damned

Father stone appraised the drunk Irishman who stood before him. The man smelled awful and appeared to be uneasy on his feet as the man offered the preacher a shaky hand.

"My son," Stone began, even though the other man was clearly much older than him. "Drinking to excess is a sin, and much more so in broad daylight." The preacher turned to the tall man in a duster with a smile. Finally, he found someone who cared for their own soul.

"The cemetery is defiled. The bodies of our flock have gone missing." he said. "The sheriff is investigating, but what can a man do against the devil?"
-------
Josh kneeled at one of the graves, examining the freshly dug hole. The grave maker was still intact, indicating that this grave had belonged to Bill Hatfield. Bill had been dead for about six years now, having been hung by the previous sheriff for murder and larceny.

When the voice of young Christina Emerson sounded from behind him, Deputy had already sauntered over to her. The perceptive dog could tell she was upset, and tried to nuzzle her hand and whine for attention.

Josh didn't know Christina that well, only having done some business with her competitor, Doctor Baum. But she deserved to know what was going on.

"I don't know, kid. None of this makes sense. Some of these bodies are decades old. Why on earth would someone go through the trouble of digging up some old bones? And how could they have done it without anyone noticing?"

Frontier of the Damned

Somebody ask for a Discord?

discord.gg/heHJV84F