Deadman

We arrived at the small house surrounded by plots of different fruits and vegetables growing around it. The house itself was made up of wood with a scrap metal roof. From the outside it looked like it held maybe three rooms in total, and I could see a small outhouse a ways away from it. JD approached the door and knocked on it twice.

I could hear some rustling, and smell two people inside. After a few moments a woman opened the door. She was wearing a plain brown dress, her hands were well callused and worn, and her eyes were puffy and red from crying.

“JD, did you hear something? Have they found her?” There was a note of desperation in her voice that would’ve made a weaker heart tremble.

JD took off his hat and held it at his chest. “Fraid not Deb, but we did get some help offered to us by a Marshall.”

She took a moment to wipe at the corner of her eye with her hand. “A Marshall? All the way out here?”

I stepped into view, nodding at her, but making sure there was at least a yard between us. Didn’t want her blubbering in fear, wouldn’t help much for questioning.

I saw her eyes widen, but she managed to stay composed. “The dea-” she corrected herself. “The Courier?”

“I had a change of job recently.” I made an effort to speak in my sincerest tone. “I’d like to help.”

She didn’t look comforted, but instead looked at JD.

He looked back at her, and nodded before adding. “He’d just like to ask a few questions. Is that alright?”

“I, I suppose so. Uh, come in.” She stepped outside the doorway and JD and I walked in. The inside of the place was as unimpressive as the outside. Dust covered the floor, the walls were covered with pictures from books and old ads, and there was a small wood stove in the corner. In spite of the mess and plainness there was a kind of warmth to the space that I was unused to. Pictures of each family member were placed in some areas, coats hung by the door, and the smell of cooking clung to the air. I approached a picture of Mary and took a few moments to memorize her face, then followed into the room.

I sat on a worn out couch and JD sat on the far end of it. Deb sat on a chair across from me.

“Your husband?” I asked.

“He hasn't left his room for a few days. I don’t think he’s up to talking,” said Deb.

“When was the last time you saw your daughter?”

“About a week ago? We were all at the dance together.”

“You see her leave with anyone?”

“No.”

“Was she with any specific group, or dancing with anyone in particular?”

“It’s not really that type of dance. Partners are switched all throughout.”

“Your daughter have any friends?”

“Well, just about all the kids are friends. We’re not a big town. She mostly liked to see her friend Sherry, especially at the dances.”

“Boyfriend?”

“No, she was too young for that.”

Hmm, that gave me pause. I’d been a teenager in Pott’s field. Even deadmen with our ugly mugs were courting one another any chance they got at Mary’s age.

“What was she wearing at the dance?”

“A pink dress. I’d just sewn it for her," she started to choke up, "She hugged me when I gave it to her.” She broke down. This was all the information I’d be able to get.

“That’s all I need.” I got up and walked out the door before she began crying. I waited a few minutes outside, letting JD comfort the woman for a bit before he left the house.

He shot an angry glare my way.

“Take me to Sherry’s place next," I said.

“You gonna make her cry too?” JD asked.

“Maybe. You going to lead me there or am I going to have to go door to door?”

JD cursed under his breath, but started walking and I followed. “Why’re you asking all these questions?”

“Just trying to get a clear picture. Figure out who may have done it.”

“There’s no point asking anyone here anything, an outsider did it. If I were you I’d be searching around outside the walls.”

“Well, thankfully you’re not. Which means figuring this out is actually possible.” I could’ve tried to explain that missing people like this were just as often taken by people within a community as they were without, but I knew it was no use. Settlements like this were close knit, trusting of one another. It was them against the wastes, the raiders, the monsters. They never thought that the trouble could be one another.

JD shook his head and led us the rest of the way in silence. This house was closer to the center of Kind, and there were a number of them clustered closer together. I got a lot of stares as we walked, but no questions. I was sure that word from the cantina had traveled fast to those residents that hadn’t been there themselves.

In front of the house sat a young woman on a bench, her eyes were staring ahead, but it was clear she wasn’t seeing anything. She didn’t react until JD waved at her, breaking her out of whatever thoughts she’d been deep into.

She looked up at him, then past him to me. “Here to ask questions about Mary?”

I nodded, stepping past JD.

“I don’t know where she is,” she said.

“I’d figured. That’s not the only question I had.”

“What else is there?”

“First off, where did you last see her?”

“At the dance. She was getting some food at the main table.”

“Did you see her talking to anyone?”

“No, but I was dancing a lot of the time.”

“She have many friends aside from you? Maybe a boyfriend?”

Sherry looked at JD, I could see a flicker of concern on her face.

I looked back at him. “JD, give us some space.”

“I ain't leaving that girl alone with you."

“You don’t have to leave us alone. Just give us some space. We’ll stay out here.”

She looked up at him. “It’s okay.”

He nodded and walked away a short distance. I was surprised that Sherry had encouraged him to move, but younger people in general tended to be less scared of me. Not the smartest group.

“So, Mary had a boyfriend?” I asked.

“She’d been telling me about someone lately. Said she couldn’t tell me much since he was older, but said she’d be able to tell me soon. A lot of the time that she told her parents she was going to come see me, she was really going to see him.”

“How long had this been going on?”

“A few years now.”

“Hmmm. Anything else she mentioned?”

“No, but I remember she had bruises. I asked if he was hitting her, and she said it was an accident.”

I thought that over for a few moments, then nodded. “That’s all I need. I’ll leave you be.”

I walked back over to JD, who was continuing to stare daggers at me. “Nothing right? I’m telling you, some outsider slipped in and took the poor girl.”

“Mind if I ask you a question or two?” I asked him.

“If it keeps you from bothering more folks, sure.”

“You have a lot of people go missing?”

“Well, we had Joe Daly get crushed when part of the wall fell. And Auntie Kay got taken by raiders posing as a caravan.”

“I mean, ‘missing’ specifically. Has anyone just up and disappeared like this before?”

JD scratched his chin. “Well, not for a few years. Thompson's daughter.”

“Young girl I’m assuming. Liked to dance?”

He squinted at me. “How’d you know?”

“All young girls like to dance,” I lied. This was not a complicated investigation. A girl was missing, she’d been seeing an older man, the town had immediately assumed it was an outsider and not done any questioning. That lack of investigation seemed to indicate that those at the top already knew and were purposefully deflecting. I wasn’t sure whether it was simple to me because of the points I’d so recently earned in investigation, or if it was the fact that unlike most settlements, Pott’s Field provided a basic eduation.

“Is the mayor married?” I asked.

That question surprised him. “Uh, no.” he looked around. “Always figured he enjoyed food more than women.”

As I was thinking of next moves the bald man approached us.

“Something up Jake?” asked JD.

“We found an opening on the wall, and some tracks. Boss thought you’d want to take a look Marshall,” Jake spat out the last word with a sneer and I noticed he still had his gun from the wall.

“Convenient that they found this just now,” I said.

“More people around the walls lately, we were bound to find it eventually,” he countered.

“Lead the way,” I said, gesturing for him to walk ahead of us as he did.

He started walking. First we went through the center of the settlement, then the outskirts, and finally we were at the furthest part of the wall from the town center. I could smell that there were at least two, possibly three men in the direction we were walking, but I didn’t see them. Once we reached the wall, I could make out a pretty substantial hole in the center of it. I could also smell blood, and rot, but it was further away. Jake led us through the hole and I could make out the tracks and a few small patches of blood leading toward a small cluster of buildings.

I bent down and inspected the trail. It was fresh. Far too fresh to be related to Mary Bell’s kidnapping. It also seemed that something had been dragged inside, rather than outside the wall. Beneath that trail though, I could tell there was an older one. A true trail hiding beneath this manufactured one. I started following it, keeping a mental track of Jake, JD, and the three I could tell were following us. I unholstered my pistol subtly and readied myself. I’d go along with it to see what answers I could find, and make my move when I got all the information I could. When we reached the buildings I realized it was an old storage facility. Most of the units were blown apart, but a few at the far end were sealed. The majority of the smell I was picking up was coming from there.

Before we'd fully made it there I drew my pistol and held it to the back of Jake’s head, grabbing the back of his shirt and whipping him around so that he was between me and the ones who were following us.

“What the hell!?” yelled JD.

I ignored him. “Show yourselves, or I take even more off the top than God already has.”

Two rifles and a pistol popped out from various pieces of cover around us. I recognized the gunmen as the people Boss had been whispering to at dinner.

“What’s going on?” asked JD.

“Boss is the man Mary had been with. Try to keep up,” I said, trying to determine which of the gunmen would be the best to target first.

JD looked completely flabbergasted, his eyes jumping from person to person in a kind of manic frenzy.

The gunmen looked at each other, then us, and I heard a click. The one on the far left looked at Jake and said, “Sorry about this man.”

“What do yo-” he was cut off as the men unloaded on us.

I tried to take cover behind Jake, but the rounds cut through him and into me. I popped off a couple shots with my pistol, and heard one of the gunmen cry out, but wasn’t standing long enough to see the result. I collapsed, riddled with bullets, and then there was blackness.