48 Hours a Day

We were in a small town with less than 50 people at the time. Everyone was hoping that a track would pass the town and make our lives easier. Reuben obviously knew about this, so he blackmailed the town’s sheriff into concealing his crime.” The sheriff seemed to dwell in his memory. He paused for a while before continuing, “The town’s sheriff was Mr. Thompson. He and the United Pacific Railway Company were on the same side, and he was a loyal dog of theirs. So, Sheriff Thompson insisted that Mary be taken and killed by the robbers nearby.

“Later, we attempted to unite the townsfolk in making Thompson and United Pacific admit to their crimes. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to stand with us. Everyone wanted a railroad more than making them pay for crimes. That was when the Lucky Horseshoes was born. Cook told the f*cking sheriff that if no one could give us the justice we deserved, we would create our own justice.

“...apart from us, Cook wrote to two of his friends at the time. Once they received his letter, they quickly rushed to the town. Coupled with another cowboy who worked for Cook, there were a total of six of us, the founding members of Lucky Horseshoes.”

Upon hearing that, Zhang Heng interrupted the sheriff, “Is the horseshoe-shaped imprint on your chest a result of joining the Lucky Horseshoes?”

Zhang Heng saw that mark when he searched the sheriff at the entrance of the river valley. He suspected that the latter was related to his main quest.

“Yes, that’s right,” the sheriff admitted, “Matthew and Cook had it on them too, but Matthew later carved out a scar at the spot to get rid of it. This happened after he left the Lucky Horseshoes. In short, once everyone had reached, the six of us covered our faces, and in the dark, we headed to Reuben’s residence. We planned to kill all of them while they were drunk and defenseless. However, the situation spiraled out of control. There were a total of ten people in Reuben’s residence. Other than the two playmates, the rest were security personnel assigned to him by his father. Needless to say, these guards were all useless.

“Matthew rushed to the frontline and killed the only two still awake in the room. After that, we started killing every single one of them. However, besides Rueben’s man, we didn’t expect two prostitutes to be in the house. I had an argument with Cook if they should be killed or not. Cook said that they could’ve been there when Mary was killed, but I said we couldn’t possibly be sure. We were there for revenge, not to kill innocent people. When we argued, one of the prostitutes attempted to sneak out of the house while we were distracted. So, one of Cook’s friends went after her and shot her dead. When he came back, he killed another prostitute.

“Then... Sheriff Thompson rushed over when he heard the gunshots. He pulled out the gun and wanted to shoot me. I had no choice but to kill him before he killed me. By that time, everything was messed up. Cook told us that it was too late to turn back after all that we had done. Everyone in town knew our grievances with Rueben. When the new sheriff came to the town, all of us would be sentenced to death. Since that would be the case, it was better that we simply killed everyone in town.”

“So, you really killed the entire town?” Wendy asked.

“Yes, we slaughtered all the men and women, from the elderly to the children. We mercilessly butchered all those who could breathe and walk. I will always remember that night. Everything in front of me was red. We left no soul alive by the time we were done. I told you that we lived in a small town, so we all knew each other. I even talked to some of them during the day. And that night, I had to kill them with my hands.

“During the early phase of the battle, we were gaining the upper hand. But later, more and more people who heard the gunfire armed themselves to retaliate, especially the last two families. They had many sons, and they blocked the door with tables and beds. After that, they started to shoot at us from the window on the second floor. It was a bloody battle that lasted until dawn. In the end, only three people were left alive in the town. And they were me, Matthew and Cook.

Everyone else was either injured or dead. I didn’t know what that was about. What I know is that the massacre was more than just vengeance.” The sheriff’s eyes were filled with regret as he spoke. “After the incident, the three of us sat in the middle of town and looked at each other. No one said a single word. Afterward, Cook dragged his wounded leg, returned home, and took the money he saved to split amongst us. Then, in the afternoon, the three of us went our own separate ways. “Matthew and I chose to remain anonymous, living the lives of ordinary people. Matthew went to Lincoln County, opening a ranch with the money he received from Cook. Not too long after that, he got married and had a child. As for me, I wandered aimlessly for a while before finally coming to Glen Town.

I drove out the two gangsters harassing and extorting the residents in a bar, and I was elected as sheriff by the locals. In the end, I decided to live here. As for Cook... I learned that he formed a gang later on. He told everyone that his gang was responsible for the small-town massacre. I knew he only did that to protect us, especially Matthew. Cook liked Matthew very much and always treated him as his son. After Mary died, Matthew became Cook’s only remaining kin.

“I don’t know why he wanted to disrupt Matthew’s peaceful life. More than ten years have passed since then. It doesn’t make sense to me,” the sheriff frowned.

“But he did go and look for Matthew,” said Zhang Heng. “If you want to stop him, you’ll have to stop them before they reach Lincoln County. I have fifteen people on my side, and they can get to Glen Town by afternoon. How many people can you bring with you?”.

The people Zhang Heng was looking for were the miners and farmers of Bliss. When it came to this matter, he could not seek help from other law enforcement officers. Still, fortunately, after a long night of negotiations, Bliss’s residents finally reached a preliminary consensus to help to deal with Cook’s gangthey selected fifteen of their best marksman. Zhang Heng and Wendy took off to Glen Town first to look for the sheriff. The rest followed them from behind.

“Four, it was the four people you saw that day,” said the sheriff. “They are the only people who can be completely trusted.”

“Sorry, are you talking about the guy who got tied up by me and later, thrown by the side of the road?” Wendy murmured, “Is that guy reliable? He looks no older than me.”

“It’s better than nothing. It means we’ll have twenty people. Although they outnumber us by a bit, I think it’s good enough that we start a fight with them,” Zhang Heng said.