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Chapter 24: Looting
Apart from the very special case of Kieran, the rest of the ODriscoll Gang grunts who showed up later had far worse luck.
Seeing their Gang crumbling in defeat, they scrambled in panic onto their horses, desperate to flee the terrifying battlefield.
Yet Javier and Lenny, remembering Arthur's earlier instructions, coolly fixed their sights on those still struggling to mount.
Their weapons spat tongues of fire, drilling the men who were frantically trying to swing into saddles.
Meanwhile Arthur, the far better shot, handled the riders already galloping off. He moved like a cold reaper; every bullet flew as if guided, dropping its mark without fail.
On the other side, Johnny gripped a pair of mighty lemat revolvers, crouched steady at the corner of the doorway.
He was like a venomous Western diamondback, waiting for one unlucky soul after another to wander into range.
To push his progress in both Dead Eye and Western Cowboy, Johnny was going all-out.
Whenever three enemies appeared in his vision he snapped into Dead Eye and cut them down in an instant.
After each volley he bit off a chunk of prepared wolf meat to steady his mind.
Even so, the prolonged use of Dead Eye split his skull like an axe.
Still, Johnny clenched his teeth—no one could escape, or everything would be wasted.
Real war is often this plain: no slow-motion hero shots, no twists, just five short minutes and over a hundred corpses on the ground.
Had Johnny been watching from above, he would have been stunned by Arthur's T0-tier lethality.
Arthur fired once, a man fell; alone he coldly dropped more than forty.
On another flank, Dutch and Micah showed their own brutal strength.
Dutch charged like a tempest, every move drenched in killing intent; Micah sprayed rapid fire to make up for lesser aim. Each claimed over twenty lives.
As for Johnny, he held good ground and faced mostly broken, terrified stragglers, letting him scrape together eighteen kills.
When the gunfire finally ended, Bill stared wide-eyed, jaw slack, and blurted:
'God almighty, Johnny! Never thought your shooting could reach such godlike heights. You've left Sean in the dust!'
He thumped a thumb up at Johnny, admiration plain.
Once they were sure no one was left breathing, Dutch strode to Colm's cold corpse.
He gazed at the man who had haunted their nights, feelings too tangled for words.
After a moment he sighed and said:
'Who would've guessed? The once-invincible Colm ODriscoll ends like this...' He turned to the gathered men and called:
'Gentlemen, listen! We turned this plan into perfect reality—not only lining the Gang's pockets with fat rolls of cash;
more importantly, it'll fire up every soul here and let them see hope's light! And today we wiped away years of blood-feud with Colm ODriscoll!'
A thunderous cheer erupted. Dutch waved them quiet and continued:
'All right, you fearless Cowboys! I know what you're waiting for—go claim your rich spoils!'
The instant he finished, the men dove like wolves, snatching up money and weapons scattered across the ground.
Of course, everyone silently left Colm and his loyal lieutenant for Dutch to handle.
Johnny turned into a ravenous fiend, looting like the legendary Fourth Calamity.
He feared that a split-second delay would cost him some treasure.
Amid the frenzy he kept glancing at Arthur.
Arthur searched with surgical care: every corpse had its mouth pried open so he could peer inside for gold teeth.
When he spotted one he smashed the butt of his gun down and the tooth popped free.
The brutal efficiency opened Johnny's eyes—'Learned a new trick,' he thought.
Knowing time was short, Johnny dropped his usual habit of stripping everything.
He focused first on cash and gold teeth—easy to carry, high in value.
Clothes and sidearms could wait; the bodies would be buried soon anyway.
After a frantic sweep he counted up a rich haul:
Ten glittering pouches of jewels, eight golden earrings, seven fine platinum pocket-watches, sixteen gold teeth, and fifty dollars in cash.
There were also odds and ends—gun oil, bottles of moonshine of unknown blend.
Satchels soon overflowed, so they stacked the loot to pack into saddlebags once the horses were called.
Dutch searched Colm and his lieutenant, finding only ten-thousand-dollars' worth of bearer bonds, six hundred in cash, and Colm's valuable antique watch.