The 4 exhausted travelers sat crammed in the carriage as Buck and Clara finished unfolding a map of the mines.

  “Can we just rest a minute?” Carol sighed “We just barely made it out alive.”

  “You can rest all you want on the ride.” Buck said. “Now we got you out alive like we said, here is the problem we have.”

  “And there it is…the price.” Hudson smirked, “Never a free ride. We put a hurtin to your competition and now we get to hear what we owe you? I’m gonna wager a wild guess, that leg and some favors.”

  “He said he didn’t want the leg.” Jen muttered as he hesitated and looked guilty.

  “Let’s negotiate on that part a little. Meet in the middle.”

  “Are you fucking serious?” Jen asked as Tom casually cocked the hammer on his sawed-off. “We had a deal. You said you wanted to keep us alive and safe, and that the information was more valuable than the leg, and how the MINES were the price.”

  “Show me the leg first. Call it curiosity.” He said discreetly flashing a red snubbed nose revolver in Tom’s general direction. “We can be civilized and everyone can win here. If everyone stays calm and just communicates. I want to SEE the leg.” He insisted. Carol hesitantly lifted her dress over her knee.

  “It doesn’t come off.”

  “I heard, but anything is removable, depending on your determination. That titanium, how far does it run?”

  “Clear to the knee, through the bone. Glued and anchored.” She said coldly.

  “Well then it’s a very good thing you chose the side of the least greedy rich asshole who wants that leg, because Prima would not waste a good 6 inches of metal for your convenience. I propose we cut it, carefully, 2 inches below the stub, you could permanently fit and glue a polymer prosthetic over that and nobody would ever know the rest was there. You wouldn’t need to risk surgery. It would be painless and you’d only be without a limb for the time it took to fit and set the new one. You wouldn’t be a target anymore. That would more than cover the replacement and protection. I didn’t feel like negotiating that in public, so a little deception was necessary. As for the other part of the deal, I only need Hudson and Jen to go with Clara. You two could stay behind and safe with me at the estate.”

  “Why me?” Jen asked.

  “You’re good with a lever gun, and you have early stages of yellow-eye. The wolves get into the mines sometimes They can smell that venom. You and Clara are safer than anyone else under there, and unfortunately Hudson knows the mines better than we do so for him it doesn’t matter much. Now if you lied about that, then this whole plan is pointless and a lot of men are going to die marching on those mines shooting Buchanan’s men and probably civilians in the crossfire. And if you have no use to us, you can leave. We’re not a charity protecting the world’s refugees, we’re making a deal for the downfall of Buchanan’s chokehold. Tom is about useless as you are unless you have something, anything on the mines.” Buck explained.

  “I know some. This here is a team, and Tom killed Prima for ya, that’s hardly useless.”

  “Wounded, he may live. The mines are dark and full of things a sword or scattergun won’t help with. Buchanan apparently never goes anywhere without armor, so neither opponent has been eliminated yet, and a smaller team of smaller people is key to navigating the mines. We have dynamite and armor piercing ammunition, not enough to go very far and only two guns that favor them. So Clara and Jen will be armed and carrying the explosives, Hudson, you need to show us where to put them where they would do the most damage.”

  “People gonna die in there of you collapse the mines.”

  “People die in there every day. It’s one of the most dangerous mine operations yet, nobody knows why. More will die every day till Buchanan has mined enough iron to arm his troops, and then the real death toll starts. What’s your value Hudson?” he asked. He sighed and looked at the map. He tapped an unmarked spot confidently.

  “Right here. That entrance is probably closed off, but nobody knows it’s on the maps so it wont be buried, just boarded up. I remember this mine entrance runs right past a volcanic vent they bricked off for safety long ago. I remember my daddy using the phrase we can’t mine use gunpowder to mine this tunnel or the whole place could go. Seems like a great place to pack a bunch of your Dynamite to shut down the whole mine. Once that starts drainin out the whole mine would flood and freeze over. Won’t stop a man from digging it back out but it could take years to bypass all the cave-in and get the mines runnin. By then, I bet nobody’d be jumpin at them mining jobs anymore.” He said.

  “You really serious?” Carol asked. “About cutting the titanium off and leaving the integrated bar?”

  “We’ll sign papers. In the event of your death, I’ll take the other part, as long as you’re alive to use the leg, you keep it. Cooperation and agreement works better then threats and butchery, unless you’re Lee Buchanan. Then my policy changes to butchery first and negotiations can take a vacation. Hudson, if you have any interest in venom, my wife has a few tamed wolves at the estate.”

  “Oh I’ll just risk the wolves, thank you. You ain’t getting that shit in me.”

  “It’s actually not bad once you get over that first bite.” Clara grinned devilishly.

  “That’s kinda my point. Only thing worse than detoxin off that shit is startin to like it.”

  “I’m sitting right here guys.” Jen sighed.

  “Well you didn’t get there intentionally, so I won’t hold no judgment to ya. I’ll keep my wits, my dignity and my choice, thank ya. So did anyone even put a dent in Buchanan? I saw Prima bloody and draggin his ass before Tom put 2 barrels of glass at his carriage, he’s not a threat to nobody for a while or forever, of god blesses us with an infection and a slow death. Hope willin.”

  “I cut his hand…” Tom sighed. “Buchanan didn’t seem to give much of a shit or get much impeded.”

  “Then he’ll be makin a move. You got something that will go through that fancy coat of his?” Hudson asked, as Buck removed a bullet from his coat and held it up.

  “Lathe-turned tusk bullets, poly-coated, lead-filled. Those take hours to make by hand, each, so we don’t have boxes of em to burn, and it takes a lot of gunpowder to get this to speed. Most guns won’t handle the pressure, I got 2 that will. One for Jen, one for my wife.”

  “I don’t get no fancy gun?” Hudson joked.”

  “Well there’s 3 of you and 2 AP guns, My wife get’s priority protection so Hudson, you value yourself over Jen’s life?” He asked darkly.

  Hudson shuffled, carrying a lantern and his blue 35 revolver as the girls followed, both armed with shortened lever guns, mag-fed and obscenely thick framed. He checked the map again and felt moderately lost, refusing to say anything about it. He turned a corner and slipped slightly on the ice as she backpedaled and grabbed Jen’s mouth, silencing her before she could yell something stupid.

  “Wolves.” He whispered. “And they’re right down the damn tunnel we need to be in.”

  “Can we go around?” asked Clara.

  “I barely know one rout to this spot, let alone a backup rout. I’ll lead em down this way, you gals unleash hell with those armor piercing guns.” He said firmly, cocking his revolver and stepping out, firing a shot and waiting for them to rush. Two rows of eyes grew closer as Hudson cut hard right and lead them around the curve and to what he realized was a dead end and a locked gate. The lumbering shadows growled darkly, as the green V of dots glowing got larger, and gunfire broke out, sending them both howling and slumping over.

  A rumble from the walls intensified as the tunnel broke free and collapsed. Cutting off Hudson from the group. Jen rushed to the cave-in, trying to dig her way through.

  “Hud, can you hear me? We can’t move the rocks!”

  “I hear ha, but I got a locked gate and two dead wolves and a debris pile blockin me.” He sighed, firing a shot at the lock and watching it deflect off and scatter chips. “And I’m not getting through that lock.” He said as the rumble happened again. “This whole place is gonna cave in, you gals go on, git!” he said.

  “He has the explosives.” Clara sighed,

  “I have an idea, Hudson stand back.” Jen said. He heard a series of shots and levers racking, followed by silence. Hudson watched as one of the wolves shifted, drawing his gun towards it and jumping at the splatter of bone and meat he puzzled at the gun barrel now protruding from the wolves mouth.

  “Grab it!” Jen yelled with a muffled tone. He yanked and freed the gun.

  “Jen are you hanfway inside a dead wolf’s carcass?” Hudson asked.

  “Don’t ask, just try that gun.” She said from the gaping maw of the dead wolf.

  “Startin to like that girl.” He said blasting the lock and watching it splinter and the door swing open. “That’ll work. You gals make a run for it. Get everyone movin!” he yelled as Jen pulled herself out of the wolves stomach, just as the ribcage began to crunch and flatten, closing the path. She turned to ask Clara what they could do to help and there was nobody there. No gun, no blonde, no light in the distance.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Oh you absolute bitch.” Jen sighed, reaching for a pistol and finding for the first time she didn’t have one, just a candle lantern and a bloody tusk knife.

  “Hud, what do I do?” she yelled through the stone cracks.

  Evacuate these people. Leave me behind, I got this.”

  “I don’t have a gun!” she barked.

  “Just tell em there’s a crazy old black man with a bomb runnin around lookin for trouble. They’ll move.” He grinned.

  Hudson strolled along, looking through the dark and checking his map. He turned the corner and noticed a group of workers, racking the lever gun. “Everyone get out of the mines, I’m blowin this place to hell. I’m burying this iron deeper than it ever was. Buchanan wants iron, he can dig it himself.” He boasted.

  “What iron? We’ve been down here for 2 weeks in shifts digging rock and dirt, haven’t found any iron yet.” Said one of the men, all too willing to give up and leave.

  “None of you seen a lick of iron in weeks?” Hudson puzzled. “Should be tons of ore to justify minin it for a little metal.”

  “Old man, we ain’t seen shit, not since we got here or ever. This mine don’t have a damn bit of iron in it. Everyone’s talking about it, nobody’s findin it. I don’t think there ever was any.” A younger man sighed.

  “Then where did he get iron, and why hire the workers? Even Lee Buchanan ain’t gonna pay men to fuck around if there’s nothin here.” He insisted as they shrugged and left. He noted the way out and kept going, looking around the walls for some trace of iron ore, finding nothing but the occasional pile of wolf shit or belongings of humans left behind. He came to a locked gate and un-locked it with his lever-action key to make his way to the brightly lit open cave where the sound of people in cages got his attention. He spotted a man holding the keys, and before he could reach for his pistol, Hudson put a round through his skull and grabbed the keys. He started unlocking the cages, as men and women darted out frantically, looking starved and eager to run without any explanation, some thanking him as they left. He grabbed one young lady by the arm and stopped her as the rest kept running.

  “Is it my time?” she asked with a sad look for defeat.

  “Your time to get the hell out. But before you go…why are there people in cages? Buchanan lockin up people who don’t work themselves to the bone or is he just using y’all as leverage for other workers?”

  “He didn’t say. A man approached me while working, told me I was selected to go to another spot where small hands could reach, and he put me in a cage…just like all the others. Dozens.” She shrugged. Hudson gnashed his teeth, thinking about the sick enjoyment Buchanan was probably getting out of them.

  “You run and get out. Anyone you see you tell em the mine’s are floodin, because they about to be floodin real soon.” He said taking out his pack of explosives and setting up near the bricked-up wall. It looked just like his grampa described. He packed the bundle into the support arch and began unwinding the fuse as the jangle of an armored coat strutted into earshot, heavy boots and heavy breathing.

  “Hudson.” Said the voice as he sighed and put his hands up, tucking the lever gun in his belt.

  “Hello Lee.”

  “Mister Buchanan to you. Where’s the girl?”

  “Which one, I know a lot. I’m popular at the whorehouses.” He grinned as Lee pulled into the light, the same girl that had just tried to escape. His heart sank.

  “The million dollar bitch. You lie to me again this little one dies.”

  “Well that depends on how fast you can draw that big heavy brass gun of yours, don’t it, shithead?” he said, waiting for his reaction. Buchanan opened his coat and flashed the famous brass revolver, waiting for him to move.

  “You start.” He insisted, eye’s locked.

  “Now you got a heavier gun, and that bulletproof coat weighing ya down. Looks brand new like you got a spare fresh one. I got half a man that ain’t covered by a hostage, and the rest covered in armor, you really call that fair?” Hudson asked.

  “Fair is judged by the man standin, the man on the ground don’t get to say what’s fair. I’m givin you the chance to draw first. That’s all the farness you get. Take what you can old man.” He snarled.

  “Nah, I like a challenge. You whip that cannon up first, I’ll reply.” He insisted. Buchanan chuckled at the audacity, almost respecting it, and then he draw his 50 cal, feeling the hammer on his thumb and feeling the sudden jerk of it peeling out of his hand as Hudson stood, pistol smoking at his hip.

  “Fast son of a bitch.” Buchanan sighed, trying to hide the pain of his broken fingers. As Hudson holstered and took out the lever gun.

  “This here can go through a wolf skull like butter, one of Your friend Buck’s toys, armor piercing just for your cheatin ass. Now I can draw a light wood prima 35 faster than any man, let alone a man drawin a 5 pound block of brass, but can I reach back and cock a lever gun faster than you can lift that 50?” Hudson asked. “Didn’t wanna risk it. You got very few uncovered spots, figured shootin the gunhand was the softest thing to aim for. So let the girl go and I might just let you try that quickdraw again, without the coat. Fair and square. Winner gets the mines and all that iron. I’m fixin to just, bury for another day.” He said as Buchanan laughed.

  “What iron? Hudson you damn fool, the mines are full of iron because I lured the iron in. There ain’t no iron, no metals in Timber but what the new arrivals bring. Human blood is the only iron here. Every worker that enters that mine to die, is a little bit of iron to me. The fewer the people, the easier they are to control, and the more iron there is to control them.

  “You’re paying people to work empty mines, to die in the mines, to harvest them for iron? Why not just use animals?”

  “Just like the soil and the rocks, there’s no iron in their blood. We tried that. Copper, Can’t even make bronze without the tin and nothing here bleeds tin. Humans bleed iron. You take down this mine, you accomplish nothing. There’s hundreds of barren mines and all you gotta do is offer high wages and the iron comes to the mines. Walks itself right to ya. Workers defect jobs for better wages, Prima and Renich lose their workers. Competition falls. Buchanan Brass rises. Buchanan iron is born. Iron is king. The man who has the iron is God. So what do you hope to gain by blowing up the mine and driving the workers out?” he asked.

  “Won’t it still bury you?” That fancy Iron resurrects the dead now, asshole?”

  “Bury us both. Kill this poor girl. You didn’t draw that armor piercin gun because you ran out of bullets.”

  “Got one left.” Hudson sighed.

  “Shoot then. Hit an arm or a leg and hope I don’t break her neck before I get to you. You wont shoot through this poor girl, especially knowing your one shot may not go through armor once it goes through a hostage, and you wont risk a headshot with her face that close to mine.” He said lifting the girl by the neck and holding her up like a human shield.

  “You’re right…I won’t” Hudson said taking aim and firing, as Buchanan dropped and the girl rolled away, limping and catching herself mid stumble, taking off down the tunnel, the empty lever gun smoking and racked open as Buchanan wheezed on his knees.

  “Shootcha in the dick though. Plenty of room there. That coat stop the bullet, or don I just call you Misses Buchanan now?” he asked, drawing the pistol as lee stopped, hand on the big brass 50. Aimed at the wall.

  “You can kill me before I kill you. But I can hit that bundle of dynamite and we die together. You holster that piece and walk away, we can take this matter up tomorrow.” He huffed. Hudson slowly holstered the gun and began backing away, both men looking for a move to make. Hudson stepped behind the cover of the exit tunnel, drawing his pistol again and lighting a cigar. Taking one good drag and enjoying what might be his last smoke before putting the sights of the gun on the bundle of dynamite.

  “Hey, Buchanan…when you get to hell first, tell the devil I want the bounty for bringing ya.” He said, shooting the bundle and being knocked back by the wave of heat and air, followed by the sound of rumbling and water raining from the cracking ceiling above. He took off full sprint, holstering pistol, and trying to light a match as he ran, igniting the last stick of dynamite he had stuck in his coat in case Buchanan shot him first and send the place down anyway. He let it fly, caving in the tunnel behind him and turning to see the water still spraying out, more of a bad leak rather than a raging rapid flood. He made his way to the exit the people went for earlier, climbing the wobbly wooden rails as the floor began to cover with the sheen of liquid covering it. he felt the burn of his old lungs breathing the cold air, now wishing he had left the cigar for a victory smoke rather then a pre-workout. He reached the top, heading down one narrow icy tube and pushing on the door as it hesitantly swung open and he stumbled into the snow, watching the door shut behind him and almost vanish as the wooden slab hinged back into the center of the tree covering the secret entrance, no handle or sign it was even there.

  “Well that’s a damn good way to hide an entrance.” He panted as Jen hugged him and he sat down, exhausted.

  “You made it out!” she said with relief. “Is it over?”

  “It’s over. Nobody got out behind me, that tunnel is floodin as we speak and soon to be freezing solid. Nobody’s opening that door now. There was never any iron. Buchanan was harvesting human blood for it. Son of a bitch won’t be doin much of that now. Where is everyone?” he asked.

  “Most of the miners headed home, some waited for you. Clara didn’t even wait for me, I’m shocked she even bothered to keep the carriage here in case we made it out. Did we just win?” Jen asked.

  “The battle or the war?” Hudson asked.

  “What’s the difference? Jen shrugged. “We won.”

  “So we stopped 1 of the 3 worst men from ruling the world and ended the murderous Iron Age. Did we prevent the war or just make this 3 way fight a 2 way fight between plastic guns and air power? Prima is still as strong as ever, that son of a bitch may not be the best shot in Timber anymore with that hand shot up but he’s now the richest man in Timber. He can just hire the best guns. The Renichs may be just as bad as him once they got the leg, and on the verge of replacing brass and tusk with something only they can make. Did we really change anything?” Hudson asked.

  “We changed something. We can’t rid the whole world of evil, but you can’t skim the worst off the top and hope the whole batch is cleaner for it. Send a message to the people that if 4 assholes with grit can change the world, thousands banding together can fix it up nice. We made the Gods bleed, and that makes Prima and Renich look like mortals again. You buried Zeus in his own hell. We came here just trying to survive and we just changed the world. How high are your fucking expectations of us? We won. Let the world take care of itself now.”

  “I suppose that’s worth dyin for, must be worth almost dyin for.”

  “So are you going to retire, join sides with the Renichs? Disappear forever? Hunt prima down and circle back for Buck and Clara another day, or just…sit in the snow?” Jen asked.

  “Why don’t you give me a minute to decide that? I ain’t made plans to survive this trip, kinda makin up the plans now on the fly. You know you are one hell of a shot with a lever gun and one mean bitch when you wanna be.”

  “What’s the point?” she smirked. “Is that the Galloway way of telling a girl she can do better than settling down with a blind cavalryman and do a hell of a job killing rich people?” she asked.

  “Just makin sure you know you got options.” He smiled. Slowly getting up as water sprayed from the secret door and began freezing up, signaling to him that there was no longer any chance of a pissed off man with a brass 50 cal kicking through it. The ice was already thick enough to weld the wood shut and seal itself, nailing the coffin shut.

  “You know I think I just made my decision.” He said with a sinister smirk.

  “What would that be?”

  “I’ll let you know when you made yours. For now, that carriage is lookin ready to leave without us. Better get warm in there before it rolls away.

  “I’m shocked they haven’t just left us to die…nobody would know we didn’t die in the mines. Or leaving the mines. Anything left in that 35 revolver to start trouble with?” she asked.

  “Just enough.” He nodded, lumbering to the carriage as she stared into the dark at the yellow Vs of dotted eyes watching her, almost as if saying goodbye or congratulating her. They stood like statues as she casually made her way to the carriage, closed the door as she climbed in.

  The carriage began rolling and the flash and thump of 2 gunshots rang out, the carriage rolling to a gradual stop. The wolves sniffed the air, waiting patiently as the smell of fresh blood teased their nostrils, the carriage starting to roll again, no longer their point of interest as clawed paws stomped the snow and made their way to the pile of fresh meat.