Chapter 45
“Set them down here, but be careful,” Vin said as he and the Natives worked to unload the crates in the center of town. The entire community had come out to help put this plan into motion. There was a solemn feel in the air as the community stared at the ever-growing mountain of crates.
Everyone knew what lay within these boxes, and they knew what they represented. It was an end to everything they had ever known. It was an investment in a new future that could only be achieved by destroying the past.
Jolon walked up to Vin, his arm now free of the sling he had been using since his injury. It seemed a little quick to Vin, but Adriel was the doctor, and he didn’t seem to mind it, so who was he to question that medical opinion?
“Wow,” Jolon said, staring at the huge assortment of boxes. “That’s…more than I thought.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Vin said with a short laugh. “I just worry it won’t be enough.”
“I hate this,” Jolon admitted, looking around at his home with a tired and sorrowful expression. “I hate what we have to do here.”
“I know,” Vin replied, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. “But it’s the only option we have.”
“There’s just a lot of memories here,” Jolon replied, gazing around as if trying to memorize every last inch of this place. “Not just for me. For everyone.”
“I know,” Vin said again. “When this is all said and done, you can rebuild. You can make it bigger and better than it was before. Or you can rebuild it exactly as it is now. There won’t be anyone telling you what you can or can’t do.”
“That does sound nice,” Jolon said. “We’d finally be able to live the way we wanna live.”
“Freedom,” Vin said with a smile. “Real, actual, honest-to-goodness freedom. Not that fake freedom the government used to spew. A free and fair society.”
“One built on compassion and protection,” Jolon said. “And cooperation. That’s something I think anyone could get behind.”
“Well, not anyone,” Vin said with a shake of his head.
“They’re gonna fight us tooth and nail to try to stop this from happening.
But it has to happen. Because the alternative is just death.
More powerful people using that power to step on everyone around them and keep themselves on top of the mountain.
Not because they deserve to be there, but because they know how to manipulate, intimidate, and coerce people into doing what they want. ”
“The world has been broken for a long time,” Jolon said with a sad sigh.
“Yeah, it has,” Vin said. “And no one sees that better than you and your people. But the end of the world isn’t the end of the world.”
Jolon cracked a smile at Vin’s statement, and Vin returned it. “And your family is waiting for you,” Jolon said to Vin, acknowledging his struggle as well.
“I hope so,” Vin said sadly. “I need to believe they’re all right in there. Because if they ain’t, then I dunno what I have left in this world.”
“They’re all right,” Jolon said as if he knew this for sure. “I can just feel it in my gut. They’re alive, they’re healthy, and they’re waiting for you to come to get them.”
“Well,” Vin said with a short laugh, “I certainly hope that’s true. And I don’t wanna keep them waiting. Deb gets cranky when she has to wait around too long.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to have to sleep on the couch on your first night back with her,” Jolon said. “So, I guess we better hurry.”
“Yeah,” Vin replied. “We got a lot of work to do before this place is ready.”
“Vin,” a weathered voice said from behind them.
He turned to see the female elder of the tribe approaching. Vin couldn’t remember her name off the top of his head. It was long and very difficult to pronounce. She had smiled at him the first time he had tried and told him that he could just call her Auntie.
“Hello there, Auntie,” he said with a tip of his black cowboy hat.
Jolon smiled at the elder and gave her a nod before leaving her alone to speak with Vin. He walked over toward the crates, which were still being unloaded and stacked.
“So much,” Auntie said, shaking her head in disbelief. There was an unmistakable dread in her voice that matched what Jolon had previously shown. “You brought back so much.”
“Well, it’s gonna take all of it to do what we’ve gotta do here,” he said, looking out over the landscape of the town and starting to pinpoint areas of interest.
“Destruction and death,” Auntie said with an exhale. “It is not our way.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for that,” Vin replied with sincerity. “And no one wishes more than me that we could just talk this all out and come to some kinda understanding. But I think we all saw that’s not going to happen.”
“Indeed, we did,” she replied. “Adriel has volunteered for the second phase.”
“That makes sense,” Vin said with a nod. “He’s a good choice for it. He’s intelligent, well-spoken, and committed to seeing this through. Also, I doubt he’d be all that comfortable in a fight.”
“This is true,” Auntie said. “Of course, that could be said of many of our young people who are going off to fight for our future in this battle.”
“I know,” Vin said. “But they’re not going up against trained soldiers if that helps. The Chain Gang is mostly all criminals and bikers. They’ve got some training, I’m sure, but I think it’s gonna be about an even match-up. Your kids here are pretty tough, Auntie.”
“An unfortunate necessity of life on the reservation,” she said sadly. “It isn’t much, but it’s all we have.”
“All you once had,” Vin corrected. “When this is over, the community we create is gonna be open to all. And there’s gonna be no room for the mistakes of the past to pop up again.”
“I truly hope that is the case,” she said, watching as the last of the explosive crates were loaded off of the trailer.
“Hold on to that hope,” Vin said to her. “It’s gonna carry us through this storm.”
“And are you ready, Vin?” she asked, sounding concerned for him and his well-being. “Your job is the most dangerous of all.”
“Yeah,” Vin said, thinking long and hard about what he needed to do. It was his job to sneak undetected into the ranch, take out the sentries at the gate, and blow the doors open to allow the reservation forces to pour in. “I’m confident enough.”
“Let us hope your confidence in yourself is justified, young man,” she said, patting him on the arm as she walked away.
Vin started to walk toward the boxes. He needed to oversee the deployment of these tools while also mentally preparing himself for his task.
He knew that once the gates were open, the remaining members of the Chain Gang would fight tooth and nail to defend the ranch.
The Natives would have to fight for every inch of progress from that point onward.
And once that happened, Vin’s mission would change. He wasn’t going to fight on the front lines with them. As much as he wanted to, he had a vital piece of the plan that only he was skilled enough to undertake.
The Chain Gang was a vicious snake coiled around the entire area and growing more and more with each passing day. As they expanded into the region, that snake squeezed tighter and tighter, choking the land and its people to death.
Vin needed to cut off the head of that snake. He needed to kill Chainz.