Chapter 32
By the time Vin and Jolon arrived home, it was already very late. The reservation was mostly quiet in the dead of night, and neither man thought it would help their cause to rouse the elders out of a peaceful sleep to tell them what they had learned.
They agreed that the conversation could wait until the morning but not too far into it.
Vin woke in the small one-room home he had been provided by the tribe.
It had been another entirely too-nice gesture provided to him by a people who seemed to want absolutely nothing in return.
It was this kindness that warmed Vince’s heart and made him want to protect the reservation and keep Chainz and his criminal scum from invading these lands and butchering these people.
As he opened his eyes, Vince’s first thoughts centered around the cruelty man enacted upon man.
Here was a society built on respect, love, and kindness.
There was such strength in that, such a powerful will to be able to look at this world and all the horrible things that happened in it and hold onto your optimism and kindness through it all.
The old man had been like that, and Vin had always thought him na?ve. He had believed there weren’t enough like-minded people in the world to create a working society built on the ideals and morals Deb’s father had held so close to his heart until his final days.
He had never been happier to be wrong.
But it broke his heart to see the worst of the worst of modern society trying to bring its stain of hatred and greed into this kind corner of the world. Chainz and his followers were like a cancer spreading through the land, infecting it with their evil.
Vin wasn’t going to stand for it. After freshening up, Vin got dressed, put on his black cowboy hat, and walked out into the sun. He wasn’t shocked to see Jolon already waiting for him outside his door.
“Jesus, kid,” Vin said, “Can’t wait until I’ve had my damn coffee?” Vin looked over at a large cooking fire where he knew several pots of coffee were undoubtedly being heated up,
“Sorry,” Jolon said, scratching his head in embarrassment as he looked away. “I didn’t sleep much last night.”
“Yeah, that’ll change in the future,” Vin said. “The more screwed up crap that you see in this world, the easier it gets to compartmentalize.”
“I can’t imagine ever getting used to things like that,” Jolon said with a shake of his head.
“Yeah, we'll hang around me for long enough and you’ll see,” Vin replied sadly, thinking about how these horrible situations seemed to follow him wherever he went.
“We need to speak to the elders,” Jolon said, insistently breaking through Vin’s morning musings.
“Yeah, we sure do, kid,” Vin replied with a nod. “Come on, let’s go find Uncle.”
“He’s going to be very upset that we went near the ranch,” Jolon said sadly.
Vin nodded in agreement. “Probably more so to find out that we tortured information out of a man,” he said with a shrug, watching the color drain from Jolon’s face. “Well, that I tortured him. Don’t worry, kid, your hands are clean in this.”
“If only that were true,” Jolon said, his voice sounding far away in a manner Vin was intimately familiar with.
He was reliving the events of yesterday in his head.
He could clearly still hear the screams of the sentry, and he could see the blood on his hands.
Vin’s heart went out to Jolon at that moment.
Situations like these were never easy, and he tried to find the right words to offer the young man, to relax him and make him focus on what was really important.
“In times like these,” Vin said, as the two walked toward Uncle’s house, “it helps to think about what you’re fighting for.
” Vin gestured around them at the folks walking through the dirt roads of the reservation, at the children playing.
“You do the harsh stuff as a protector because you don’t want them to have to deal with something even harsher.
You stop evil out there before it has a chance to pop up here. ”
“So, you’re saying the ends justify the means,” Jolon said, working it all over in his head. “Those means.”
“Yeah, I guess I am,” Vin replied. “Someone has to do these dirty jobs. It’s the only way to keep innocent people safe.”
A loud commotion sounded from the center of town, and Vin saw a group of people running toward him. They were terrified Natives, many of them clutching children.
“Hey!” he called out as they ran past him. “Hey! What’s going on?” But the frenzied panicked public made no move to stop, no move to inform them.
“Wait!” Jolon yelled out, stepping in front of one young man roughly his age, stopping him in the street. “What’s happening?”
“Outsiders,” the young man stammered, pointing back. “A whole group of them!”
“Shit,” Vin snarled, looking toward the center of town.
He took off running toward the commotion, confident that Jolon was right behind him. As they approached the center of town, the two of them could see a large crowd gathered. These were those who hadn’t fled, who stayed either due to some sense of curiosity or duty.
Uncle walked into the clearing, flanked by four other elders. They approached a ground of about a dozen men. Vin strained to see them through the mass of humanity, but when the leader of the group spoke, Vin froze in place.
“You’re the elders of this tribe?” an instantly recognizable voice said.
Vin’s perceptions snapped back to his ordeal in the desert following the train heist as he lay there dying and looking up at his would-be murderer.
That voice, which had been with him through most of his life, had been many things to him over the years. The voice of a friend, of a brother, of a fellow soldier and mission partner. The voice of a romantic rival, and finally, the voice of an executioner who had failed in his dark task.
Sean had arrived on the reservation.
And from the looks of it, he had not come alone.
“Shit,” Vin cursed, and Jolon perked up at the sound of his voice.
“Who are they?” Jolon asked in a hushed whisper.
“No one good,” Vin replied in a low voice, starting to shoulder his way through the crowd.
He was close enough now to see Sean standing there in his familiar white hat. What was unfamiliar, however, was the black leather Chain Gang vest he now wore. He had finally and truly sold his soul to the devil, and it made Vin’s blood boil with the simmer of unconditional rage.
He was ready to pounce, to burst out of the crowd with his guns blazing, desperate to take out the monster who had nearly ended him and had handed his home and family over to the greatest evil imaginable.
But as his rage started to cloud his better judgment, it was Jolon who pulled him back to reality.
One of the young man’s strong and weathered hands clamped down on Vin’s shoulder.
Vin’s eyes snapped over to him, still inflamed with the burning hatred he carried in his heart for this Judas.
But Jolon’s eyes were calm. They were determined and focused.
He could clearly see in Vin’s expression and body language what he was thinking, and he gave a subtle shake of his head that communicated his thoughts.
They needed to hang back and observe, for now, to let this play out and see what was going on. While it was unlikely, it was possible they had arrived for negotiations only and that may be a peaceful solution could be reached after all.
It was a nice sentiment, but Vin wasn’t sure that it was realistic.
Chainz didn’t negotiate, and while Sean hadn’t arrived with an army, it was still a show of force.
If this was going to be a negotiation, it was going to be one-sided.
This was going to be Sean telling the Natives what was going to happen, and to believe anything else was just wishful thinking.
“I am Elder Kaga Tilzilani,” Uncle said, keeping his voice low and expressionless. “We bid you welcome to our home and ask what it is that brings you here today.”
“I appreciate your welcome, Elder,” Sean said, his voice low and threatening in the face of the kind welcome. “But I’m afraid what brings me here is not going to be pleasant.”
“We seek no quarrel with you,” Uncle said, nodding to Sean and the men who followed him.
Vin could see Maverick’s long black coat billowing in the morning breeze and cursed under his breath.
The contract killer’s presence was going to make this even more difficult if things moved toward physicality.
Sean alone was a match for Vin, and while he had never pitted himself against Maverick or seen him in action, he knew the killer’s reputation was vast and well earned.
“We’re not here to fight you, either,” Sean said, though there was a threat in his tone. “As long as you do as you’re told, everything will be fine.”
“As we’re told?” Uncle asked, his head cocked in confusion. “You’ve walked onto our land, sir. And we have treated you with respect as guests. I’d ask that you give us that same respect as your hosts.”
“We’re not guests, and you’re not hosts,” Sean said. “As of this moment, this land and all resources within are the property of the Chain Gang, and you’re trespassing on it.”
There was a collective murmur of shock passing through the village, and Sean swore silently to himself.
He thought he’d have more time. He didn’t realize the operation he had coerced out of the sentry was coming now.
He’d no time to warn the village, no time to prepare.
He had to do something, or all would be lost.
“This land has been ours by order of the government for years,” Uncle protested. His voice wasn’t angry; it was pleading. As though he were begging Sean to see reason.
“The government is gone, sir,” Sean replied, laying one hand along the handle of his pistol. “And all lands owned by it have become the official property of the man known as Chainz and his Chain Gang. As such, we’re within our rights to reclaim this space.”
“Please, sir,” Uncle said, his hands open in desperation. “We have elderly people and children. We have nowhere else to go. We will not survive an exodus through the desert. It will be another trail of tears. I am certain that this Chainz person does not want that on his conscience.”
There was a collective amused murmur throughout the Chain Gang members who stood behind Sean and Maverick. Sean, to his credit, kept his face a hardened mass of stone as he slowly shook his head.
“I think you’re going to find that you’re mistaken about that, sir,” he said slowly and with extreme finality.
“This is not a negotiation; it’s a proclamation.
Y’all have five days to clear out of here.
On that fifth day, the Chain Gang will come to claim what’s ours.
Anyone left standing on our land will be put down with extreme prejudice. ”
“You can’t do that!” Uncle proclaimed, panic settling into his voice.
Vin knew this was the old man’s greatest fear come to life, and he wished there was something, anything, he could do to stop this horror from occurring.
“We’ve already done it, old man,” Sean said, dropping all pretense of kindness. “Now get the fuck off of our land, or we’ll put you down like the dogs you are!”
“But,” Uncle said, taking a step forward.
Sean drew his gun and pointed it at the old man.
Immediately, every Chain Gang soldier that stood with him followed suit.
They were about to open fire. He had to do something.
A wave of panic spread through the crowd, with many screaming in fear and others reaching out as though they could somehow pull Uncle back to safety.
Vin knew there was only one thing that would draw their attention away. “Sean!” he called out, muscling his way through the remainder of the crowd and marching into the clearing.
Sean and the Chain Gang turned to face him, and Sean’s eyes grew cartoonishly large.
“What?” Sean asked in horror, holding up a hand to stop his men from opening fire as he holstered his weapon once more. “How in the hell…?”
“We need to talk,” Vin said, taking another step forward.