TITLE: THE LAST BULLET (added scene after "Vendetta")
AUTHOR: The Desperado's Daughter
ARCHIVE: Yes
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. No money is being exchanged as this story is strictly for the enjoyment of the fans. The Magnificent Seven belong to Mirisch, MGM and Trilogy. If I've missed anyone who has rights to these characters, it is an unintential oversight.
SPOILERS: Vendetta
The silence was eerie. The carnage was everywhere. Vin Tanner looked around the broad street. It was as though the town had frozen in tableau. Chris still knelt beside Hank, Buck standing behind him. God, Buck must've been hit. He was swaying slightly, and it seemed like he wouldn't be able to stay on his feet much longer.
The tracker's eye was drawn to the odd iron carriage in the middle of the street. Somebody had said it was steel? Well, it looked like a big metal hearse, come to take the dead and the damned to hell itself.
Truth in that, Vin thought. He'd never seen the likes of that moving fortress before. If the criminals were going start riding around in those things, the peacemakers wouldn't stand a chance.
And yet, they were alive--maybe worse for wear, but alive.
Weren't they?
Vin took a head count. Chris and Buck--Josiah, there with the old woman--Nathan seeing to the wounded who had a little life left in them.
Wait, where was Ezra? Vin walked out into the street and looked around.
The gambler was leaning in the doorjamb of the saloon, guzzling a bottle of hooch. Vin grinned in spite of himself. Hell, he didn't blame Ezra. The dapper Southerner had taken on that steel fortress armed only with a bottle. . .
And had damn near gotten himself blown to bits.
What had he been thinking?
Vin shook his head. They were all losing their minds.
Thank God the kid had missed the gunplay.
JD . . .
Somebody ought to check on him. The Nichols boys had beaten him badly, and Nathan hadn't had a chance to look him over good. Any sympathy Vin felt for the dead and dying Nichols was driven out by the thought of JD lying on the floor of the saloon, still wanting to help, still saying he was "fine".
Vin couldn't stand the thought of the kid facing all the Nichols boys alone. They'd had it in for him ever since they'd first walked in looking for Hank. Well, at least JD hadn't paid with his life.
Satisfied that no one on the street needed him, Vin headed over to the boarding house to check on the kid. All the others guys were busy.
Vin never saw the gun aiming at his back. He never even sensed Peter Nichols rising up out of the dust like some evil Lazarus. It wasn't until he heard the volley of gunfire and spun around to see Peter Nichols go down for the last time that he realized he'd damn near been killed.
Who had saved him?
Vin looked around the street, but everyone was as bewildered as he was. Chris and the others had drawn their guns and were taking cover. Once they knew there was no more danger, they started emerging from behind troughs, wagons, stores. Josiah had pulled Mrs. Nichols to the ground and protected her with his own body. Maybe Josiah had taken Peter out.
Yeah, it had to be. Vin nodded to the preacher. "Thanks," he called.
But Josiah shook his head. He hadn't drawn his weapon.
And it dawned on Vin.
JD was the only one who would have been able to hit Peter from that angle. Vin looked up at the windows of the boarding house, expecting to see the kid, bruised and battered, still watching their backs.
He wasn't prepared for what he saw.
There was a body hanging halfway out the window--a body with jet black hair and a familiar hand still clutching a pearl-handled Colt.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vin screamed and he ran as hard as he could into the boarding house and up the stairs. God, don't let him be dead. . .
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Chris Larabee sat in a daze beside the body of his father-in-law. As much as he knew he should get up and see to his men, he couldn't let go. Memories of Sarah rushed him as he studied the face of her father. Four Corners started to disappear, as did his men, and the Nichols, and the steel beast in the street. He was just going to sit for a moment and study Hank. He could see the man Sarah had loved. He could see the shape of her eyes and the definition of her cheekbones in her father's face.
And he remembered. . .
He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there.
Gunshots!
Chris reached back and grabbed Buck. He half dragged him back into the saloon, nearly knocking Ezra Standish to the ground. Where the hell was the shooting coming from?
Once inside, Buck had collapsed beside him. Chris pulled his friend's head down and covered it with one arm, as he trained his gun on the door with his other hand.
As quickly as the shooting started, it ended, leaving the eerie silence once more.
A split second later, Vin Tanner's scream cut through the momentary calm.
Chris leaned over to Buck's ear. "Stay down!" he ordered, and he bolted from the saloon.
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Vin tried the door handle, but it was locked, so he backed up and kicked the door in. The kid was half in and half out the window.
"JD!" the tracker cried, running over and grabbing the boy's belt. "JD, come on now, I got you." Vin pulled his friend back into the room, and eased him to the floor. Slowly, he turned the kid over onto his back.
"God, kid. . . "
Vin didn't hear the thunder of footsteps running up the stairs. He didn't see the room around him. He only saw the gunshot wound at JD's temple. He could only see the blood trailing down the kid's already beaten face. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.
Vin put his arms around JD and pulled his lifeless body to his chest. He held him fiercely and started rocking back and forth.
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The sight was nothing short of terrifying. Vin, sitting on the floor, tears streaming down his face, holding JD in his arms. And JD, pale, still, with fresh blood covering one side of his face.
Nathan quickly knelt beside them and reached up to touch JD's throat, but Vin was cradling the kid's head in such a way that Nathan couldn't get to the pulse point.
"Let him go, Vin," he said, but the tracker seemed not to hear him.
"VIN!!" Nathan said sharply, and Vin turned bewildered eyes toward him. Nathan softened his voice. "Let him go. I need to check him out."
Vin nodded, but didn't move. Nathan had to pull JD from the tracker's arms.
Once JD was free, Nathan felt for a pulse.
Thank God! Nathan breathed a prayer. The boy's heart was beating -- strong and steady.
"He's alive!" Nathan said, as Chris and Ezra appeared in the doorway. Nathan began to bark orders. "I need water and clean cloths. And bandages." Ezra left to find everything.
Chris came in and sat beside them. The leader remained silent while Nathan studied the bullet wound on JD's head.
"Please . . . " Vin whispered.
After a moment which felt like an eternity, Nathan sighed and slumped with relief.
"Grazed him," he pronounced. "He's gonna be fine."
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Vin was dead.
That was JD's first conscious thought. Vin was dead, and Peter Nichols had killed him.
JD squeezed his eyes tightly. Why hadn't he been able to save Vin? He'd had a great shot, but Peter was faster.
And now Vin was dead.
"I'm sorry, Vin. I'm sorry. I tried . . . Not fast enough. I'm sorry . . ." In his brain his words made sense, but when he listened to them, they were all garbled.
He needed to wake up. He needed to tell the guys he hadn't been able to save Vin.
Why couldn't he open his eyes?
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The six seasoned gunfighters were gathered in Nathan's clinic. JD had been unconscious for . . . Buck looked at his pocket watch . . . two hours. This wasn't good. The kid needed to wake up.
Casey, her eyes wide as saucers, was sitting by the bed, holding JD's hand. A hitching sob shook her small shoulders and she spoke in a very small voice.
"I was mad at him . . ." she confessed. "Even after they hurt him, I was mad."
Buck went over and put his good hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, little girl. He knows how you feel about him."
"I was just . . . when I got him upstairs, he locked me out. I was so mad. I was so afraid he was gonna go get himself killed."
Buck squeezed her shoulder. He was about to say something else comforting when a thin voice piped up.
"They can't kill me . . ."
"JD?" Casey asked.
Buck moved in beside Casey and watch the black lashes flutter and the beaten face come to life.
"Thank God," somebody said, and Buck realized that his own eyes were stinging.
"Boy, you just can't do anything you're told."
JD seemed to drift off again. "JD," Buck said harshly. "Come on, son. You gotta stay awake."
It took another moment and JD opened his eyes again. The kid looked intently at Buck, and his face clouded.
"Vin . . ." JD said, his voice shaking and tears welling in his eyes. "Vin is dead, Buck . . ."
Buck backed up and let Vin take his place at the bedside. "No I ain't," Vin said quickly. "You saved my life, kid."
JD's lip quivered and the tears spilled. He started to say Vin's name, but he couldn't get any sound. Everyone watched as the kid reached up and squeezed VIn's shoulder--as if to assure himself that the tracker was real.
"I'm fine, JD," Vin repeated. JD nodded, then impulsively pulled himself up to hug his friend.
"You're gonna be fine, too, kid," Vin said as he hugged the messenger boy.
Chris spoke softly. "We're all real proud of you, son." Buck couldn't remember the last time he'd heard Chris Larabee say that about a man, but if ever one deserved to be told that, JD did.
Yeah, Buck was kinda proud, too.
THE END
