Skinwalkers (17 page)

“It sure as hell won’t do us any good sitting down here, gathering dust,“ the bounty hunter said. “Look, the private said there
ain’t
gonna be a sunrise. Sooner or later, we’re going to have to make a break for it. And who knows what we’re going to need
.
This thing could mean the difference in us getting out alive or ending up as dinner.“

Wilson nodded and then grabbed for one of several boards resting beneath the gun. In no time, they were heaving the Gatling gun up the makeshift ramp using ropes they’d found. They’d just finished rolling the gun out of the hole when the screams began.

“H
ell, boy
,“
Hank said
.
“Told you we’d make out like bandits
.“
Robby and Hank sat shoulder
-
to
-
shoulder beneath a starry New Mexico sky
. They passed
a jug of whiskey as beans cooked over their campfire. “Did you see that stupid Yankee hand over his money for that bogus claim?“

“I saw him, Hank
,“
Robby said. “I saw his dumb ass
—“
Robby paused as sick surged up his throat into his mouth. He could smell the stink of whiskey and half-digested beef fill his nostrils from the inside-out. He steadied himself and swallowed. “I saw his dumb ass sign the paper and throw
down
them greenbacks
.“

“You’re goddamn right you saw him
.“
Hank handed Robby the whiskey jug. “Here, have another drink. That’s right, drink up.“

Robby took a long pull and the world before him wavered. “We going to spend it in town, Hank? We going to buy us some whores?“

Hank belched and the stench of alcohol filled the air. “All the whores and whiskey two
sonsabitches
like us could want, Robby
.“

Robby
hooted in approval
as he handed the jug back to Hank. “I
ain’t
never had it as good since I done hooked up with you, Hank.“

“You’re damn right you
ain’t
never had it so good. Ol’ Hank will take you places, Robby
.
You just watch and see if he don’t
.“

“Can I have my share of the money, Hank?“

Hank paused in mid-drink and lowered the bottle from his face. “What the hell for? I told you I was keeping it safe for you.
Criminetly
, don’t you trust me?“

“
Course
I trust you, Hank. I just wanted
—“

“What, you going to run off and leave ol’ Hank? You going to take your share and run?“

“Gosh no, Hank. Hell no! I just wanted to feel of it for a bit.“

“And then
your
sorry drunk ass goes stumbling off in the middle of the night to take a piss and then wakes up the next morning with the money gone, lying God knows where out in the wild.

“You sure you’re not just wanting to let out on ol’ Hank?“

“No Hank,“ Robby said. “I told you, I
ain’t
never had it so good. I don’t never want to leave you. Never! I
…
I love you, Hank.“

Hank wiped his
mustachioed
mouth and looked Robby in the eye. “You do, huh?“

“Gosh, you know it, Hank
.“

Robby watched in silence as Hank unbuttoned his trousers and leaned back.

“Then
show me
.“

A
s the armory was being discovered, Robby sat in the main room, teary-eyed and sniffling as he stared at the inverted cross branded onto the end of his arm.

This never would have happened if you’d been here, Hank. It’s no good without you. I didn’t mean to lose you. Honest I didn’t. I just got scared
…
got lost in the fog. I
…
I
…
God, I need a drink
.
Just a little something to set me right. Just a swig. That’s all. Oh, Hank
.

Robby buried his face in his good hand and began to sob. “What am I going to do, Hank? What am I going to do?“

Robby
straightened
as three loud knocks echoed from the church doors. “What the fuck?“ Robby whispered. He looked to Pablo. The boy sat against the
eastern
wall
, opposite
the
stacked
pews. “Did you hear that?“ Pablo gave no answer.

Robby craned his head to stare at the curtain concealing the rectory. He
was considering
calling to the others when three more knocks sounded from outside. He started, his gaze locking on the door once again. His heart began to race. Sweat beaded on his skin like dew. “Is,“ Robby stammered, “is somebody out there?“

Robby
.

The word came through the door, low and drawn out, spoken as if by someone trying to remember how to use their voice.

“Oh shit,“ Robby whimpered. “
Ohshitohshitohshit
.“ He glanced at Pablo. “You had to hear that
…?“
Pablo sat mumbling to himself, oblivious.

Robby
.

“Hey
,“
Robby called to the reverend’s study. “Something’s going on out here
.“
He could hear movement and muffled voices on the other side of the
rectory
curtain, but no one answered his call.

Let me in, Robby.

Icy spiders of terror crawled the length of Robby’s spine. He began to shake and stuffed
he charred stump
in his mouth to stop his teeth from chattering.

Let me in, Robby. I’m all alone out here
.

“
Goddamnit
, who’s there?“

Help me, Robby. I need you.

Robby stopped shaking and rose into a crouch, a stupefied expression on his face. “Hank
…?
Is that you, Hank?“

Let me in, Robby
.

Robby got to his feet. He glanced back at the rectory curtain, considering what he should do.

Please, Robby. Hurry. They’re coming
.

Robby heard the howls of the
skinwalkers
begin to rise once again in the distance, and his decision was made for him.
Hank will know what to do
, he thought.
Get him in here so he can tell that nigger to go to hell and then he’ll sort things out.

“I’m coming, Hank
.“
Robby ran to the door. “Hold on, Hank. I’m coming
.“

Robby tried sliding the large wooden post out from the iron brackets holding it in place, but it wouldn’t budge.

Hurry, Robby. Hurry
.

“Hold on Hank
.
I’m working on it
.“

Robby went over to the post’s right side and grasped it with his stump and good hand. He leaned
in
, pushing against the post’s end with all his weight. “I’m,“ Robby strained, “coming, Hank.“ The post slipped one inch, then two. “Hold on, Hank.“ The post’s length slipped out of the nearest bracket. “I’m coming.“ Robby strained and pushed. Just as the post cleared the crease separating the two doors, they burst open, throwing Robby to the floor.

Robby looked up
,
and the smell of shit filled the room as his bowels released. The ancient’s dead eyes hovered in the fog outside the door, magnified a hundred times their actual size. Below them, four
skinwalkers
crouched, growling, their lips curled back to reveal giant, yellow canines. As the
skinwalkers
pounced, Robby left this world with Hank’s name as a scream on his lips.

“T
ake cover!“

The bounty hunter
—
then a soldier in the 54
^th
Massachusetts Infantry
—
dived for the
beach
. The ground
shook, erupting into
a
geyser
of
sand,
smoke and flame
beside him. Unable to see through the haze of dust, he
patted down his body, his hands moving quickly over his
sand-encrusted
uniform. He sighed in relief to find he was okay.

The soldier
scooped
up his musket and got to his feet. He scrambled through the sand to rejoin his company where they hid behind a large dune.

“Charge!“ a voice commanded. The
soldier
recognized it. It was Colonel Shaw. The
infantrymen
around him leapt from their hiding place and crested the dune. After a moment of hesitation, the soldier ran after them.

In the distance, rows
of silent gun blasts twinkled along their objective, the sand-mountain that was Fort Wagner.
The
lines of men in front of him convulsed and fell over, mowed down by Confederate bullets. The soldier had just enough time to scream in outrage before something scalding hot crashed into his hip and sent him hurtling backward over the dune.

He looked up and his outrage was replaced by horror as the dead, bullet-riddled corpses of his
squad
came rolling down the hill of sand to pile on top of him.

T
he bounty hunter entered the sanctuary, revolvers drawn.
The smell of blood and shit hung in the air, but it was what
he saw
that
made his gorge rise. Three
skinwalkers
sat hunched
over Robby’s mutilated corpse, feasting on his guts. Pablo sat against the wall rocking back and forth, his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. Another
skinwalker
crouched over
the boy. He sniffed
him, confused by
his
lack of fear.

“Pablo!“ Maxine rushed
past
the
bounty hunter into the sanctuary
. Wilson entered on her
heels
and caught her.

The bounty hunter fired at the
skinwalker
near Pablo. The
monster ducked its head
,
the bullet merely
grazing
its ear. The
skinwalker
whirled and
bared its teeth
.

“For Christ’s sake!“ Wilson said. “Shoot it!“

Got to be sure
this time
,
the bounty hunter
thought
as he took aim.
Didn’t get to reload
.

At that moment, one of the
skinwalkers
eating Robby took notice of them and charged. The bounty hunter fired. The bullet caught the creature beneath its jaw and exited out the top its head, a rope of brain and gore trailing behind it.

Maxine screamed as the
skinwalker
beside Pablo scooped up
her son
in a long, furry arm and scampered out the door into the fog-enshrouded night. The bounty hunter picked off the last two
skinwalkers
eating Robby’s corpse just as several more bounded in through the church doors.

Little Joe’s voice boomed from the rectory.
“Get down!“
The
bounty hunter
dropped to the floor.
 
Maxine and Wilson
dived
right. The sound of rapid gunfire
erupted
behind them. Bullets came in waves through the
rectory
curtain, shredding it to pieces before
sending
the
skinwalkers
to their deaths.

The Gatling gun came rolling
into the sanctuary,
still singing its
song of
death and leaving a trail of spent cartridges in its wake. Little Joe and Farnsworth emerged
behind it
. They rolled the mounted gun forward on its wagon wheels as Sanchez turned the crank.

Skinwalkers
entered the church in a berserker rage only to yowl and drop dead a few feet inside the door. Finally, the tide halted
,
the howls once again
receding into
the distance.

The Gatling gun quieted.

“Cover me!“ the bounty hunter charged for the doors. Little Joe followed suit. They leaped over the
skinwalker
corpses and wedged themselves behind the doors. Each man began shoving a door closed. It wasn’t any easier for them this time
around
. “Professor!“ the bounty hunter shouted as continued backing his door closed. “The
crosspiece
! Get the
crosspiece
!“