No Innocent Men and Wednesdays: Chapter 1 – Killer with a Conscience

Chapter 1 – Killer with a Conscience

“Colton! We have company,” one of my watchers says.

Finally, they’re here. Getting my feet off the railing and tipping up my hat, I grab my rifle, and black cloak, and go out to meet our visitors. A pregnant woman and three men stop their truck in the middle of the road at the request of my friends who have their guns pointed at them. The group talks to one another before stepping outside with their hands up the woman leading the group forward while saying that they mean no harm and are looking for a safe place to live.

After shooting the ground in front of the woman to make her stop, I say, “We told you to stop, and let us search and question you before you settle down. What’s the rush?”

“We just want to rest since we’ve been on the road for so long. What’s wrong with that?” the woman asks.

“You’re not listening to our request. That’s what’s wrong.”

“I’m pregnant, we’re hungry and homeless. Why can’t you make an exception?”

“Because if random strangers walked into your home, wouldn’t you be cautious about them?”

“I thought this was a free state separate from America.”

“We are separate from them, but we still have rules out here, at least in this town. If you want a place without rules, then you could take your chances in the free states where there are none.”

“Are you kidding? You’d throw me to those wolves if we don’t listen to your rules?”

“Yes.”

The woman and her men pull out their guns and point them at everyone.

“Screw this! We want to be taken seriously-”

With my rifle, I shoot a hole through the woman’s head that takes out her and the man behind her before I shoot the other two. Everyone in town who witnesses this is shocked and quickly goes back to their daily lives when I look at them.

“Inspect their bodies and the truck they came in,” I tell my watchers.

Inside their truck, we find weapons, drugs, and various kinds of currency hidden in compartments that are revealed when a button is pressed. I also find a couple of boxes of birth control pills. There aren’t many pills and these weren’t as hidden as the rest of the products. It’s safe to assume that the woman used these pills to abort her pregnancy since these types of pills are meant for women who are in the stage of pregnancy where there’s a noticeable bump in her belly. I’ve also seen this trick before in my line of work used by trash women like her that don’t deserve the honorable title of mother.

“We’ve got more company, Colton,” a watcher says.

Looking into the distance with my cybernetic left eye, I see an APC approaching. Now it makes sense why these people were in such a rush to make their home here.

“Back away and keep your guns down. I’ll do all the talking,” I say.

I quickly put an eye patch over my left eye. The watchers do as I say as the APC drives closer to us before stopping in front of me. A squad of four armed and heavily armored enforcers step out with their weapons drawn. Their leader looks at what we’ve done and then looks at me in silence for a few seconds.

“Are you the leader of this settlement?” the leader asks.

“No. Just its protector. Take the bodies and everything in their truck and leave. I only ask that you let us take the infant out of this trashy woman and give it a proper burial. It deserves better than being thrown away,” I say.

“It seems you know the way we do things.”

“I do. That’s why I’ve made things easier for you so you can be on your way.”

“Ya’ll seem awfully patriotic for a rogue settlement.”

“We still care about America. Just not the one you serve. So, will you be on your way?”

The leader slightly lowers his head down and I can hear his muffled voice talking. He’s speaking to his other soldiers on their private comms about what to do. Sure enough, he agrees and allows us to take the infant out of the woman and give it a burial. After we perform the surgery, they take the bodies and the truck and drive away. With that done, we breathe easy. I tell my watchers to keep an ear out on the Old America radio, black network, and open network channels for news and an eye out on the road for possible trouble. I head into the tavern for lunch and a drink. Sitting at the bar, I order my typical beer and lunchmeat sandwich.

“Have you considered another option yet?” the bartender asks.

“Are you talking about my lunch choices again? I don’t see why I should,” I say.

“No, the other option that we always talk about.”

“What’s there to consider?”

“Maybe talk to them more before shooting?”

“I present my fair case in a cut-and-dry way. There’s nothing more to say as far as I know. Besides, my rifle is my best form of communication.”

“I get it, but you may end up shooting an innocent person if there’s a misunderstanding.”

“You know as well as I do that there’s no such thing as an innocent man. There are only two kinds of guilty men. One knows he is guilty and does what he can to make up for it and the other one doesn’t care that he is guilty and uses every excuse in the book to justify the evils he does.”

“Your mindset hasn’t changed much since your enforcer days, has it?”

“It’s been readjusted and corrected. Before it used to be arrest, shoot, or a mixture of both. I’d say I’m better off than I was before.”

“Speaking of them, it’s a good thing you have that eye patch on you. If they saw the crosshairs on your left eye, then there would’ve been trouble.”

“What kind of trouble that they would care about? Rogue enforcers are the last thing on Old America’s hit list. They’re more worried about riots, other states abandoning the union, and criminals and other countries who are trying to take advantage of the chaos like the ones we just gave to them. Old America won’t bother us if we don’t give them a reason to or make them know that we’re part of their country anymore.”

“What about the other rogue states? Shouldn’t we worry about the places that haven’t rebelled for good reasons?”

“I’ll take care of those neighbors and the other troublemakers in our state. I’m going to be heading out today to do that. I was just waiting for our visitors to arrive before I headed out.”

“Well then good hunting, but remember what I said about trying to talk first?”

“I’ll do it if I have a reason. You should do well to remember what I said as well. There’s no such thing as an innocent man. It’ll help keep this community safe.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Colton.”

After finishing my meal, I head out of the bar and almost make it to my motorcycle before Liah stops me. She’s a girl a little younger than me dressed in all light blue and an important person for me who pushed me to change. Looking at her now, I remember the day I met her when I betrayed the enforcers to save her and her family who were trying to flee Old America because they could no longer pay the high expenses of living and didn’t want to be forced to work to make up for it.

“Are you heading out, Colton?” Liah asks.

“Yes, I am,” I tell her.

“Aren’t any of the watchers going out with you?”

“No. I need them here protecting you and everyone else.”

“But you got hurt last time you went out hunting. Why can’t you take at least one of them with you just in case?”

“Because I need all of them here. If we had more watchers, I’d bring one.”

“Do you promise me that you’ll come back without a scratch?”

“I promise.”

With nothing more to be said, Liah hugs me and lets me leave town. When I’m a fair distance away, I look back so that I have a good view of most of it. It’s a quiet All-American town with farms, businesses, and churches. If you were born here, you wouldn’t know about the flying cars driven by the richest of the rich, the high taxes, corrupt universities, businesses, and the government. This is what America should look like. It shouldn’t be a materialistic dystopia where God, family, and country come last. It should be a place where people are allowed to find the truth freely and not have the government and corporations tell you how to feel and what to do.

Despite all the violence that’s happened these past few years, I’m glad that one sheriff killed the previous president and his criminal goons both in and outside of the government. It was the catalyst that woke up the rest of America to stand up to corruption. I was a soldier in the army and turned into an enforcer, but after what happened and the many things I did, I decided that America couldn’t be changed from within. Looking at the town from this distance is a good reminder and motivator for what I fight for now and why. I take off my hat and touch the rose that Liah gave me, which is another reminder I keep on me before putting it back on and driving away to start my work.