Chapter 39
The weeks passed by slowly. Everything looked the same, and they weren’t finding anything helpful.
Deadshot could tell that the kid was losing hope, and he did his best to keep him positive.
Deadshot had never been much of a talker, but to keep himself sane, he helped the kid, who spoke a lot more.
They shared stories about their past, which was something completely new and unexpected for Deadshot.
Surprisingly enough, he didn’t mind it at all.
In fact, it felt great to be able to talk to somebody about things like that.
The kid had told Deadshot so many stories about his family that Deadshot felt like he knew them. They truly did sound like wonderful people, and he had never before hoped so much that he would find somebody alive.
Since the accident with the scorpion, they had been lucky when it came to water.
They had run out a couple of times but managed to find some every time.
Of course, they had been drinking sparingly and making sure their horses had what they needed to survive, too.
The desert was the worst place in the world to search for somebody. It was unforgiving and cruel.
Finding Quincy and bringing him and his men to justice would be the highlight of Deadshot’s career, but he was more than ready to go back into retirement. His body was reminding him exactly why he had retired in the first place, and he missed his bed terribly.
Deadshot wasn’t even sure how long they had been in the desert anymore.
After a while, everything started to get distorted, and he was wondering if he had made a mistake by suggesting they search for Quincy in the desert.
Maybe there was no secret hideout there.
Maybe Quincy and his gang were in Mexico or somewhere up north.
“I know that you know where we are and where we are going,” the kid said, sounding tired. “But to me, it feels like we are going in circles. Everything looks the same.”
“This is tough. I won’t lie, but don’t get discouraged.” Deadshot took a sip of his coffee and looked up at the stars. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the moon was full. It was a beautiful night. “We’ll find Quincy. If not in the desert, then somewhere else.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.” The kid added some branches to the fire, making it bigger than it needed to be. “Even if my mother and sister were alive, I doubt that they’d still be.”
Deadshot shrugged. “Maybe that’s true,” he agreed. “But there is no way of knowing unless we find Quincy, so that is what we are going to do. Whether we find him here or someplace else, we will find him, and I will get answers for you.”
Deadshot and the kid carried on searching.
They searched for days but found nothing.
To keep themselves entertained, they trained a lot.
They continued to practice, and the kid grew more skilled by the day.
They should also continue to help him train Atlas.
The creature was truly remarkable and learned so quickly.
Despite their aches and pains, he also taught the kid some physical movements—how to punch, how to kick, and how to duck and roll out of a fight.
These were all important things to know.
There were many other survival tactics that the kid needed to learn as well, and the desert was one of the best places to teach him.
Deadshot taught him how to track animals, how to hunt, and how to forage.
He taught him which berries and plants were edible and which were poisonous, and the next time they ran out of water and needed to dig in a riverbed, the kid was the one to break through.
It felt great to pass along all of his knowledge.
It wasn’t something that they should have ever thought of doing or knew that he needed, but now that he was actually doing it, it felt like he was doing what he was always meant to do.
He had no idea what the kid’s plans were for his future, and he hoped that the kid decided to run his family’s ranch.
But if he did decide to do something else that required any of the skills that Deadshot was teaching him, Deadshot would feel happy that he had somehow contributed.
Unfortunately, finding food and water wasn’t the only thing they had to worry about in the desert.
The animals weren’t exactly forgiving, much like the desert itself.
They simply seemed to want to kill whoever intruded on their territory.
The insects were dangerous, and the mountain lions were hungry.
One night, while sleeping under the stars, the kid found out just how scary a mountain lion could be.
Deadshot woke up to the kid’s screaming and immediately reached for his pistol.
Fortunately, the fire was still going, and the moon was bright, so he had enough light to see what was going on.
The kid was running, and behind him was a mountain lion.
Now, the kid was fast, but no human could outrun such an animal, and Deadshot had to act quickly.
He didn’t particularly like killing innocent animals, but it was a matter of life or death.
He aimed and fired his pistol without having to think about it. The actions came naturally and within a split second. The sound of a gunshot echoed through the desert, and the animal collapsed to the ground. Once again, the kid learned why it was necessary to keep your pistol ready at all times.
Deadshot and the kid had scoured almost every inch of the desert, and he was seriously considering the fact that he might have been wrong about Quincy and his gang hiding in the desert.
He didn’t want to tell the kid that they needed to find somewhere else to look until he had figured out where that somewhere else was.
While thinking this over, a ray of hope appeared.
Deadshot knew the desert. He’d been there a couple of times before, but he had never explored it as he did this time.
For the first time ever, a mountain range came into view.
It was just barely visible, but it was there.
Deadshot stopped Bullseye in his tracks, his heart beating like crazy in his chest.
The kid came to a sudden stop right next to him. “What is it?” he asked.
“Mountains,” Deadshot replied, pointing ahead. “I think we might have found what we’ve been looking for.”
The kid followed the direction in which Deadshot was pointing, a small smile growing on his face as he noticed the mountains too. “You think that’s where they’re hiding?”
“It has to be,” Deadshot replied.
“Okay.” The kid let out a long breath as he adjusted his hat. “What now?”
“We move closer, see what we can see,” Deadshot replied. “But we have to be extra careful. We can’t allow them to see us if they are there. Stay close to me at all times and don’t make any unnecessary noise. If you have to speak, speak softly.”
The kid nodded in understanding. “You’ve taught me well. I’ve got your back.”
Deadshot couldn’t help but smile at that.
He knew that the kid did, in fact, have his back, and that the kid would do whatever he could if he thought that Deadshot needed him.
Deadshot, however, would have preferred for the kid to be anywhere but there right now.
He knew that he had taught the kid well, but that didn’t mean that the kid was prepared for the kind of fight that lay ahead.
Deadshot could handle Quincy and Quincy’s men, but he could not handle it if anything happened to the kid.
Considering the circumstances, it was best to keep the kid close for now.
At least with the kid by his side, Deadshot could protect him.
Of course, there was no way of knowing that Quincy and his gang were, in fact, hiding in the mountains until they got a closer look, so that was what they had to do.
Out in the desert, there weren’t many places to hide, and Deadshot was scared that the gang, if they were there, would see them approaching.
There was nothing he could do about that.
The mountains were still far away, and from the angle, he couldn’t see where any entrances would be, so it wasn’t as if they could go around the back. The only thing they could do was approach with caution and hope for the best.
Under usual circumstances, if they were, for instance, in a forest or even open prairies, Deadshot would have been able to look for horse prints or wagon tracks, but in the desert, those weren’t easy to spot. The wind blew away every trace in its path, making tracking almost impossible.