“I will,” Deadshot promised, hoping that it was a promise he would be able to keep.
Deadshot checked all of his guns again. He had his Colt Army tucked into his gun belt. His rifle was secured in a sleeve on his back, and his pockets were full of bullets. The other side of his gun belt held his knife. That was all he was taking in with him. He was going to go in guns blazing and hope for the best. Without knowing what to expect inside, there was nothing else he could do.
“Stay here,” Deadshot instructed again. “There’s going to be a lot of gunfire and probably a lot of screaming. Don’t come into the cave. I will come back for you. I have no idea how long this is going to take, but hopefully, it’ll all be over soon. If I’m not back in, let’s say, two hours, then run.”
The kid’s eyes grew wide. “What do you mean, run? Where would I even go?”
“If I don’t return, it means that they captured me or killed me. I won’t tell them about you, but they might suspect that I wasn’t working alone and come to look for you. You do not want to be caught by these types of men. So you run, you take the horses, and you go home as fast as you can. You know how tosurvive in the desert now, and if you use the compass, you’ll be able to get home in a straight line.”
“I don’t think I can do that on my own.”
“Of course, you can. You were taught by the best,” Deadshot chuckled. “But don’t worry. You won’t have to. I’ll be back in no time.”
With those words, Deadshot turned around and walked away. There was no point in arguing with the kid. They both knew what had to be done, and it was time to do it. The cave door had stayed closed, and it was getting darker outside. Soon enough, all the light would be gone. Deadshot sneaked up the mountain and found a spot to hide behind a small rock.
He waited and listened for a little while. From where he hid, he could see the boulders where he had left the kid, but the kid had remained out of sight, which was a good thing. Deadshot took a deep breath and then slowly approached the door. Removing his Colt Army from his gun belt, he pulled open the door and stepped inside.
Deadshot wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but it definitely wasn’t what he saw. The cave had been transformed into what looked like the inside of a house. Instead of stepping into a cave, he had stepped into an entrance hall with rock walls and a high rock roof. Shocked, he took in his surroundings. There was actually a bench, coat hangers, and a couple of shelves with items on them.
Confused but focused on his mission, Deadshot continued further into the cave. He kept his Colt ready. There was nobody in the entrance area, and it branched off into two separate directions. Since he had no idea what lay beyond, Deadshot went left. Heading further into the cave, there was absolutely no light. It was darker than night, but up ahead, he could see the signs of light flowing into the makeshift passage. He followed the light, knowing that that was where he would find the men he was looking for.
Deadshot’s instinct had never let him down before, and the light, in fact, led him right to where he needed to be. He stepped into what looked like a kitchen; there were four men. One stood in front of the stove, while the other three sat at a table.
There was no time to ask questions, and even if there was, he wouldn’t. Deadshot had spoken more in the last couple of months than he ever had in his life, and the time for talking was over. The man standing at the stove had his back turned to Deadshot. The other three looked up in his direction, and Deadshot aimed his Colt at the first one. Before the man even realized what was happening, Deadshot pulled the trigger. The .44 slug hit the man in the chest and sent him tumbling backward.
Within a split second, Deadshot already had his gun aimed at the next man. This was how long it took them to realize what was happening; the man behind the stove had spun around, and the other two were in the process of getting to their feet and drawing their weapons. Deadshot pulled the trigger again, sending the second man to the floor. A bullet whizzed past him and hit the rock wall. The men were still stunned at hisappearance, and their aim wasn’t good. Deadshot was thankful for this.
Instead of aiming for the next man at the table, Deadshot focused his attention on the man behind the stove. The bandit had already spun around and had his weapon ready to go. He must have been the one who had shuffled around. Wanting to eliminate the possibility of being shot, Deadshot aimed for the bandit’s hand and pulled the trigger. The slug took some of his fingers off and caused him to drop his pistol. Moving quickly, Deadshot aimed his pistol a little higher and pulled the trigger again. This time, he hit the man square in the chest. He fell back, knocking the pots off the stove and sending them and their contents flying across the floor.
Another bullet came flying toward Deadshot, and he stepped out of its way just in time. His reflexes were still as sharp as ever, but his knees ached and protested against the sudden movements.
The last man standing was now advancing toward Deadshot. He was a big guy and looked like he had seen better days. Deadshot pulled back his free arm and swung it forward, hitting the man in the jaw. The big guy stumbled back, and Deadshot used the opportunity to put a slug between his eyes.
The kitchen was now empty, but Deadshot had no doubt that there were more men elsewhere in the cave, and the sound of the gunfire would have alerted them that there was an intruder. He had to move fast.
Spinning around, he grabbed a lantern that was on one of the shelves and hurried out of the kitchen cavern. As he stepped into the passage, two men were already running toward him. Deadshot immediately shot at the leading man. The bullet caught him in the abdomen, and he dropped his gun as he grabbed his wound.
Deadshot was good at keeping track of how many slugs he had in his pistol, and he knew he was all out and had to reload. The problem was that the second man was still advancing. Knowing he had to act fast, Deadshot grabbed his knife and flung it at the man. Much like with his pistol, Deadshot’s aim was true when it came to throwing knives as well. The blade sliced into the man’s throat, and he fell to the ground.
With the other man still clutching his abdomen, Deadshot had the time he needed to quickly reload his pistol. As soon as all six bullets were in the chamber, he fired off the first one, ending the man.
Deadshot rushed past the two bodies on the ground and into the next cavern. This one appeared to be a living room. There were four couches and some rocking chairs surrounding a coffee table. They even had rugs on the floor and a makeshift fireplace. These men had clearly gone out of their way to change the cave into a home.
More important than the furniture that filled the space were the men waiting for him, armed and ready.
Chapter 42
Deadshot jumped to the side, rolling in behind one of the couches. All around him, guns started firing. The sound was almost deafening in the confines of the rock walls. Deadshot had only a moment to take in his environment, and the decorations had drawn much of his attention. He still couldn’t believe that these men had actually turned the cave into a house. He wasn’t sure about the exact number of men, but he did know that there were more than four this time.
He could hear them moving around, and then there were some more gunshots. He couldn’t stay hidden behind the couch for long before a bullet hit him. He had to move, and he had to move fast. Ignoring the pain radiating from his left knee, Deadshot skidded out from behind the couch and focused his attention on the first man that came into view. He didn’t have time to plan, so he simply had to act. He pulled the trigger, and the slug hit the man in the thigh, sending him crashing back into one of the other men. Both of them tumbled to the ground, and Deadshot seized the opportunity to take out a third man. The bullet struck the bandit right in the chest. There was no way he was going to be getting up again.
The other two men were still very much alive, and they should have been, but first, he had to make sure that the men still on their feet didn’t get him first. With a quick glance, he saw that there were two more men, and both of them were advancing on him. Still on his knees, Deadshot swiveled toward them and shot off two rounds. One slug hit the closer bandit between the eyes. The other slug struck the man trailing behind in the chest.
Getting to his feet, Deadshot immediately focused his attention on the other two men. The one who had been shot was still holding onto his thigh with one hand, but he had his pistol pointed at Deadshot with the other. Surprisingly enough, the man that he had pushed over hadn’t gotten up yet. The bandit sitting on the floor fired off a round, and the bullet flew past Deadshot’s hip, taking some of his shirt with it in the process. That was a close one, and Deadshot did not like it at all.
Jumping to his left, Deadshot evaded another slug and fired off a round in the bandit’s direction. Unlike the bandit, Deadshot had good aim, and the slug hit the man right in the chest. During the fight, Deadshot had dropped his lantern, but luckily, there were a bunch more in the living area. Grabbing a new one that hadn’t been broken, Deadshot checked on the man who was still lying on the ground, unmoving. Standing over him, Deadshot could see blood pooling around his head. He must have hit his head as he crashed to the ground. It didn’t matter to Deadshot how the man died; all he cared about was that there was one less bandit for him to deal with. Satisfied, he rushed into the passage again, only to see that it was a dead end.
The rest of the rooms must be on the right side of the cave, so he retraced his steps, running down the passage through theentrance wall area and into the passage that led right. There, he came across a couple more bandits who were on their way to check out what the noise was. There were three of them, and all three had their weapons raised and ready. This time, only one had a pistol; the other two both had rifles.
