The Retirement

Two of the gunmen moved about fifteen feet down the path while the last moved next to the man with his pistol out. Abby refused to be intimidated by these thugs, even though she didn’t expect to survive more than a minute. All four men looked at her, and she met their gaze defiantly. The intensity of the rain began to increase again, blending the greens and grays of the forest into a blur. She looked at the two men down the path just as the forest seemed to reach out and grab the one farthest away. There were some muffled noises, and the man dropped to the ground. A greenish-gray shadow moved quickly to the next man, and within seconds, he too dropped to the ground. Abby couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her eyes must have given away her surprise, because both of the gunmen next to her turned, raising their weapons to meet the threat.

Flame erupted from the mysterious shadow, followed by a series of gunshots. Both gunmen collapsed near Abby’s feet and didn’t move. The closest man looked back at her with lifeless eyes and a bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

The figure down the path took his time checking each of the fallen gunmen before approaching Abby and James. Abby took a deep breath and controlled the fear. She couldn’t defend herself, but she wouldn’t leave her fallen comrade. She checked the sheriff quickly. He was still unconscious, so at least death would be painless when it came. Her mind was racing, thinking of all the people she wanted to have the chance to say goodbye to before her time came, when she suddenly realized she was looking at a pair of boots.

She looked up and was struck by how quiet and peaceful the weather had gotten. The rain had stopped. The loud chorus of rainfall had been reduced to the steady pitter-patter of rainwater dripping off the forest canopy above and hitting the forest floor.

In front of her stood a man dressed entirely in camouflage, from his boots all the way to the floppy hat on his head. He cradled a rifle in his left arm in such a way it reminded her of one of those pictures of the frontiersmen who carried their muskets like that. For some reason, Abby thought it looked almost natural. The man’s face and hands were painted shades of green to match his clothing. He had appeared out of nowhere and moved so fast. He took out four heavily armed men in seconds and didn’t even seem to be breathing hard.