Chapter 31
“All right,” Vin said, his face illuminated by the campfire’s light as stars filled the desert sky. “Let’s go over this again, son.”
The Chain Gang sentry he and Jolon had incapacitated lay on the ground of their camp, writhing in pain. He was hogtied and bleeding into the dirt, the two tourniquets still doing their best to stop the heavy flow of blood from pouring out.
“Now, what business does Chainz have with the Native reservation?” Vin asked, looking down at the man through the flames as though he were the devil himself.
“I don’t know!” the man screamed into the dirt, blowing clouds of it away from his with every labored breath.
“So, you keep saying, son, but I find I’m having a hard time believing ya!” Vin replied, pulling a hot poker out of the fire. Its tip glowed red with molten intensity, and Vin blew on it softly, feeling the warmth of it spread along his face.
“I’m telling the truth! I swear!” the man cried out.
Vin looked over at Jolon, who sat off to the side, back turned to the grisly scene of torture as he looked out into the night sky.
Vin could tell that the young protector was greatly unnerved by this entire process, but it was an unfortunate necessity if they wanted to keep the tribe safe from Chainz and his ilk.
“I’m gonna ask you one more time, and then I’m gonna start getting upset,” Vin said, slowly stalking around the fire with the hot poker pointed threateningly at the man.
“Please, don’t!” he screamed in terror.
“Give me a reason not to,” Vin replied, inching closer.
“No! I don’t know anything!” He squirmed on the ground, wriggling like a worm.
“You’re lying!” Vin screamed into the empty air, his voice echoing like a thunderclap.
“Do you know what he’d do to me if I talked?” There it was. An admission that there was something to tell. It wouldn’t be long now.
“Maybe something like this?” Vin asked as he brought the poker down into the man’s chest.
The air filled with a sizzling sound and the stench of burning flesh as the man wailed up to the stars in utter agony.
An hour later, Vin had all the information he needed. A single gunshot to the head ended the sentries suffering, and Vin left him to bleed into the dirt. He had denied the desert vultures one meal when he had survived Sean’s attempted murder. He considered this making up for it.
He walked back toward the campfire, where Jolon sat, looking up into the sky.
“He talked,” Vin said, sitting down next to the young man.
“Yeah, I figured,” Jolon replied, not taking his eyes off of the stars. “When the screaming stopped.”
“Look, I don’t need you to understand why I had to do that,” Vin said, but Jolon cut him off.
“No, I get it,” Jolon said. “It was just a little shocking, is all.”
“That’s the real world now, kid,” Vin replied, leaning back and looking up at the stars as they spread out impressively through the desert sky.
“I suppose it is,” Jolon said with a sad sigh. “So, what did he say?”
“You were right,” Vin said sadly. “Chainz wants the reservation. He’s planning on driving your people off the land and taking it for himself.”
“But why?” Jolon asked, aghast despite his earlier belief that this was the case.
Vin believed Jolon had been holding onto a shred of hope that he might have been wrong.
“Because it exists, and he wants it,” Vin said with a shrug. “That’s how it is when men like that. But also, he’s probably trying to grab up as much land as possible because he thinks the government remnant is coming back.”
“And he just expects my people to leave?” Jolon asked, appalled.
“Probably,” Vin replied simply. “And if you don’t, I’m assuming it’ll get ugly.”
“When is this happening?” Jolon asked.
“He didn’t know,” Vin said, looking over at Jolon sympathetically. “That one I believed him on. He thought it was gonna be soon, though.”
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Jolon said, putting his head between his knees.
Vin leaned over and patted him on the back. “I know, kid,” he said. “It’s a harsh and cruel reality we’re living in. And the way I see it, you and your people got two choices. You can either give him what he wants and leave, or you can stand and fight.”
“If we fight, then people will die,” Jolon said.
“Yeah, they sure will,” Vin said. “But it’s the only shot you have of keeping what’s yours.”
“That’s not a choice I can make,” Jolon said sadly, shaking his head.
“I know,” Vin replied. “I’m hoping Uncle and the other elders will see the light on this one.”
“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” Jolon said, looking back up into the sky as if the answer to this problem were written somewhere in the stars. After a moment of silence, he looked back over at Vin. “Did he know anything about your family?”
Vin sighed. The sentry had known quite a bit about them, and he had detailed exactly what life in the ranch was like now.
He talked about Sean doing Chainz’s bidding and how he and Deb were forced out of their house into a little shack cabin on the property.
He talked about the brutalization of the ranch workers and the death of an older woman Vin believed to be Rose.
He spoke of Deb and Jimmy and how they were being treated day in and day out, prisoners on their own property.
He mentioned how Deb seemed ready to snap at any moment, how the weight of this new reality seemed to be bearing down on her.
Apparently, it was the talk of the ranch.
The thought of the Chain Gang members sitting around and gossiping about Deb’s misery made Vin shake with rage.
He imagined them laughing at her plight, watching the life get slowly sapped from her soul.
He wanted to fall on that place like the thunderstorm, striking down Chainz, Sean, and every other piece of criminal trash that stood between him and his family.
Vin vowed to himself that this was exactly what he was going to do.
It was what he had to do, not just for himself, not even just for Deb or Jimmy.
He had to do this for the men and women who ran the ranch, the people who were suffering and dying after he had told them they’d be safe on the property.
Those people were his responsibility. The old man’s legacy was now his responsibility.
The protection of his family was once again his responsibility.
He had to protect them from the harshness of this world, from the criminal element that had invaded their home, and from the man he had once entrusted with their safety.
Sean would pay dearly for what he had done. That day of reckoning was coming, and it was coming soon. Vin just needed a plan of action. But first, he’d help Jolon and the people of the reservation stand against the oncoming storm. He owed them that much.
After that, Deb and Jimmy were waiting for him, deep within the belly of the beast.
“Yes,” Vin said, coming out of his thoughts to answer Jolon’s question. “Yes, he certainly did.”