CYOA: Nights Hotter Than the Barrel of My Gun: New Edition

[Bretimus_v2]

Page 22, Hard Spirits

Saloons. Oases of liquor and happiness. Capable of offering a temporary reprieve from the harsh reality of Western life. Countless droughts, bad harvests, cattle rustlers, flash floods, and earlydeaths. But how much sadness could this oasis absorb?

Luke could hear the music. A jaunty tune played on an out-of-tune piano. Laughing and conversation. Forced revelry. The sound of people trying to forget, growing louder and louder in his ears. Until...

"Dios mio," cried Hector from behind the bar. All the laughing and all the music fled from Luke's presence. The handful of those present stared silently at the bloody figure in the doorway.

Silence. A silence as forced as the now forgotten happiness. Luke stood there scanning the crowd. The bright lights hurt his eyes and cast hard shadows within the room.

He searched for three faces. And found one.

Shakily, he raised three fingers. Then he tucked one down. Two. He tucked another.

With a yelp, the man fell backwards out of his chair. Fear in his eyes. "You gotta help me," he pleaded. But the crowd merely parted as he scrambled through them towards the back door.

One.

Gun, page 4.

Give chase, page 11.

Grab a drink, page 40.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

There are times to fight and times to drink.

This is one of the latter.

 

[Icepick]

gun the mother fucker, send a message, I am luke and I am not to be fucked with

 

[NickKmet]

There are times to fight and times to drink.

This is one of the latter.

Agreed. Gotta numb some of that pain, too.

 

[used44]

Pg 40

 

[HK-47]

Gun him down, let the saloon goers know Luke ain't nothing to fuck with.

 

[cyberjim2000]

Guns

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Page 40, Burn

The dark-haired man scrambled out of the back door. It's amazing, how in a panic, one can take the least quick, least direct route...and make a hell of a lot noise in the process. As the door slammed behind him, the room fell silent. The only sound came from Luke.

"Heh."

He shook his head and turned towards the bar. The townsfolk watched quietly. Some unable to take their eyes of the grisly figure, others trying their hardest to look anywhere else. Hector, the barman, was the former. With each step his eyes grew wider, with each step his hands trembled more. The tension in the room grew as Luke closed the distance to the man. Luke stopped in front of the bar and placed two bloody hands atop it.

"Whiskey..."

Hector obliged and poured out the drink. Luke grabbed his wrist.

"Leave the bottle."

The poor man looked at this stained shirtsleeves and nodded slowly. When Luke let go, he dropped the bottle on the bar. A loud thunk resonated, followed by the shuffle of the barman's feet as he backed away quickly.

Luke drank. It was exquisite. A burn filled his mouth, warmed his throat, and then rested in his belly. That burn was mirrored by the burning pain he felt on the outside, but they were both engulfed by his burning rage. Admittedly, he felt a little better. He was glad he took the time for himself. Sometimes you have to treat yourself. Especially with what layed before him. Three men. And now they knew he was alive. They knew he was looking for them. Every moment meant time to run or prepare for them now.

He dropped the glass to the bar, grabbed the bottle and turned toward the room and its occupants.

Make a speech, turn to page 7.

Make a scene, turn to page 36.

Make haste, turn to page 20.

 

[danielrbischoff]

Make a scene.

 

[NickKmet]

Make a scene.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Hell nah, it's time to be dramatic.

Drunken speech time.

 

[HK-47]

Tell them drunkards and wenches what's what, whose the head honcho, the big kahuna and whose the top dog in Dodge; speech.

 

[Icepick]

drunken speech, punch drunk rocky style "we can all chayange"

 

[used44]

"Whiskey..."

Hector obliged and poured out the drink. Luke grabbed his wrist.

"Leave the bottle."

Total power move.

 

[cyberjim2000]

Make a scene

 

[UghRochester]

Man, I wanted to hear this speech.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Page 7, This rounds on me

He took a long pull on the bottle. As he lowered it, he scanned the crowd. Why wouldn't they move? Why wouldn't they just run off? He bit his lip...did he want to let it out? Could he trust himself to stop when he needed to?

"Cattle! All of you! Stupid, slow, indifferent, cowardly cattle!!! Filled with yer damned herd instincts! Unwilling...no...incapable of realizing the strength your numbers provides! The simple fact that the dozens of you...dozens! Could more than easily rescue a trapped calf from the encircling wolves," he trailed off, looking at the floorboards.

The silence was uncomfortable. A few of the women wept. Those patrons who had been glued to his bloody body could no longer look. This was shame. This was what they were trying to forget this night.

He looked up with a fire in his eye. "I see this place for what it is! I used to ignore it, figuring that it was an oasis. A place where you could refresh yourselves and find the strength to toil and sweat as you labored in your fields. But it's all a god damn lie! You come here to drown! The only men that leave these doors are dead men! Dead men walk these streets, not caring for the living."

He realized that the crowd was slowly backing up, pressing against the walls. It was then he noticed that at some point he had drawn his gun. It sat in his hand, lazily hanging it at his side. He raised it up, staring blankly at it. Then he looked up at the crowd and laughed once.

"Well, it appears I overstayed my welcome. I believe I have some wolves to attend to."

Head out the front, page 4.

Head out the back, page 19.

Head to the balcony, page 36.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

The balcony, for sure.

 

[NickKmet]

The balcony, for sure.

 

[cyberjim2000]

The balcony, for sure.