Morning arrives slowly. The gas station is quiet except for the occasional creak of old metal cooling in the desert air.
Neeko is wearing her Ringo-skin and sits slumped at a card table near the center of the room. His hat is tilted low over his eyes. A deck of worn cards lies scattered between him and the very small gecko perched atop an overturned crate.
The gecko nudges a card forward with its nose.
Ringo nods solemnly. "A bold move."
The gecko chirps.
The front door swings open and several townsfolk file inside. Sunny Smiles enters first, rifle slung over one shoulder. Trudy follows. Easy Pete. Chet. A few others.
The room goes still.
Ringo nearly falls out of his chair.
The gecko freezes with a card halfway in its mouth.
Sunny takes one look at the scene, and sighs and shakes her head. "Morning." Her gaze narrows. "Ringo."
'Ringo' straightens immediately. "Yes! I am Ringo."
"I see you've…" Sunny cocks her head at the gecko. "Got yourself a new friend?"
The gecko blinks.
Neeko just stares. Oops.
She sinks lower in the chair, glancing around the room. Every face is looking at her. Waiting, judging. Especially Sunny. She does not like it.
Chet cuts in. "Can we get straight to the rather pressing matter at hand?" His voice is sharper than usual. "The Powder Gangers—how it is they're gonna come and blow us all to smithereens any minute now."
The room immediately sobers.
Neeko sits up. Right. That. The whole reason she is here.
She clears her throat. "Uh, I have a plan."
Sunny groans but Neeko ignores her:
"I will talk to them."
Several people stare. A man chuckles.
But Neeko presses on: "This is a misunderstanding."
"Is it?" asks Easy Pete, brow piqued.
"Yes!" Neeko rises from the chair. "Nobody has to fight," she says. "Nobody wants to. Not even Joe Cobb, or his Powder Gangers. It is only because they are scared. Goodsprings will be safe if we make them un-scared."
Sunny folds her arms, turning her head to the side.
Neeko continues, bolder still, gesturing toward the townspeople. "Scared people make bad decisions." She nods firmly. "But if everyone stops and listens first—"
Sunny steps up. "Ringo."
Neeko looks at her warily. "Yes?"
"Remind me…" Sunny paces, her eyes narrowing slightly. "How'd this all start?"
Neeko blinks. "Huh?"
"What was it that you did to piss off Joe Cobb so much in the first place?"
Neeko hesitates. "I…"
Sunny stops. "You took a shot at one of his goons when they tried to rob you."
"Neek—er, Ringo wouldn't–"
"Course it was just you defending yourself. Any of us standing here can relate. But Cobb don't see it that way. He reckons he's king around these parts, that he can come and take from us fair folk as he pleases. And so if we go and surrender and give you up now, begging for our lives without a fight, he may as well be."
The room is completely silent now.
Neeko opens her mouth but nothing comes out.
Sunny sees the realization forming.
"So tell me," she says. "You think Cobb wants an apology?"
Neeko fidgets. "Well…"
Sunny shakes her head. "No. He's out for blood. Plain and simple."
The words land heavily.
Neeko looks around the room. Nobody is nodding along with her anymore. Nobody is smiling. Nobody looks hopeful. Only afraid.
She hates that.
"Still, maybe I can explain—"
"No." Sunny's voice is firm. "We're past talkin'. Cobb will kill you. And after that he'll probably blow up half the town anyway. Whether you're looking to parley now or not, we've already made our stance clear on the matter, so we're in it 'til the end."
A murmur of agreement ripples through the room.
Neeko looks from face to face: Trudy. Easy Pete. The others. Slowly, one by one, they begin drifting toward Sunny's side.
Sunny turns toward the group.
"We'll fortify the saloon."
Heads nod.
"We set our rifles where they'll do the most good."
More nods, yips of approval.
"Anyone who can't fight stays indoors."
The room begins to move.
Plans are drawn. Positions discussed.
Neeko remains seated. Still wearing Ringo's face, holding a dud hand of cards.
The gecko climbs onto her shoulder, but she barely notices. It feels like she's underwater, as around her, the voices of the townsfolk overlap.
"...set up on the water tower..."
"...Chet's got ammunition..."
"...if they come in from the south road..."
Everything blurs together into one long conversation about hurting people before they can hurt you.
Neeko stares at the cards in her hands.
One of them is the Queen of Hearts.
"...Queen..."
She thinks about how tiring it is to be the one in charge.
Sunny notices she hasn't moved. The others are already drifting toward the door, talking amongst themselves. Soon it's just the two of them.
Sunny walks over quietly. She pulls out the chair opposite Neeko and sits down.
The gecko looks between them.
It sneezes.
Sunny scratches behind its head absentmindedly. "You know," she says eventually, "I wasn't lyin'."
Neeko looks up. "When?"
"When I said you're a good kid."
Neeko says nothing.
Sunny sighs. "You've got a good heart."
"...just being nice isn't enough."
The assertion comes so quietly Sunny almost misses it as she studies the face across the table.
Ringo's face. But Neeko's eyes.
"No," Sunny admits.
Neeko lowers her gaze again. "I thought..." she says slowly, "...if Neeko understood why people were hurting..." She struggles for the words. "...then Neeko could make them stop."
Sunny nods. "If only things were that simple."
"They are all scared."
"That we are."
"So why..." Neeko grips the cards a little tighter. "Why do they keep choosing the scary thing?"
Sunny leans back. "Believe me, we would all prefer it if this thing could go down any other way. But sometimes fighting is the only language the other fella understands."
"Then everyone will be lonely and have no friends."
Sunny smiles sadly. "Maybe you're right."
Silence settles again.
Sunny reaches across the table and gently taps one of the playing cards.
"But you know what worries me?"
Neeko shakes her head.
"You keep lookin' for the best in folks. And critters."
"...Is that bad?"
"No." Sunny smiles. "It's just that one day somebody's gonna notice."
Neeko frowns. "Oh."
"If you're going around wearing your heart on your sleeve all the time…"
She sighs.
"Someone'll for sure mistake it for a target."
The words land harder than any rifle shot.
Sunny stands. "But anyway." She rests a hand on the back of Neeko's chair, scanning her eyes across all corners of the room. "I need Ringo. The real one, that is."
Neeko blinks. "You knew."
"I've known since I walked through the door."
Neeko looks down at herself. "...Sorry."
Sunny chuckles. "Honestly? You would've had me fooled." She nods toward the gecko. "But the little fella here?"
The gecko chirps proudly.
"—dead giveaway."
"Right." Neeko brightens. "Neeko will need to be more clever to fool the Powder Gangers."
Sunny snorts. "Oh yeah?"
"Yes! We won't even be needing real Ringo."
Sunny's smile fades. "Neeko."
"Mhm?"
"Where is he?"
"Victor took care of him."
"What do you mean by 'took care of him'?"
Neeko thinks very hard.
"He took him away."
Sunny narrows her eyes. "Away where?"
"Somewhere no one would ever think to look." Neeko's gaze drops to the floor. "Somewhere…peaceful."
Sunny says nothing.
Her eyes drift instead to the gecko. It has found an old length of hemp, bracing its tiny feet against the floor and tugging with all its might, growling proudly through a mouthful of frayed fibers.
Sunny recognizes the knot immediately.
She looks back at Neeko. Then at the rope. Then back again.
"...oh."
The rest of the morning passes in a blur. Men and women who, only an hour before, had been drinking coffee or sweeping porches, now carry rifles and busy themselves with preparing the town for war.
Windows are boarded.
Furniture is dragged into the middle of the street to serve as makeshift barricades.
Ammunition is counted and recounted.
Neeko, still wearing her Ringo-skin, helps where she can. The rifle feels heavy in her hands again, just the same as the first time she carried it. She doesn't know if she is ready for what is about to come.
It will be like shooting bottles! She tells herself. But isn't convinced.