I rushed toward her without thinking. Blood pushed between her fingers as she tried to hold the wound closed. She was still breathing, but every breath came harder than the last. Jeb Merc Mercer dropped beside me. Wade, don't go outside.
I did not even look at him. I raised the Winchester toward the broken window. I fired once, then twice, then a third time. The bullets vanished through the smoke, and I no longer cared whether any of them struck their mark. I wanted only one thing.
I I wanted Silus Crow dead. When the rifle ran empty, I threw it aside. I drew the old colt that had hung from my gun belt through all those silent years. Then I kicked the front door open. The cold morning air struck my face.
Silas was still standing in the open, waiting for me, as though he had known from the beginning that everything would end exactly this way. A slight smile appeared. Now I recognize you, Marshall. I charged toward him. I was no longer thinking.
No, no longer measuring distance. No longer counting bullets. I simply ran. A gunshot cracked. The bullet grazed my shoulder.
I kept moving. I fired twice. The first shot missed. The second struck Silus in his left shoulder. He stumbled back one step, but he did not fall.
When I reached him, we collided with the force of two runaway horses. My colt flew from my hand. His revolver landed in the dust beside it. We hit the ground and rolled across the dirt, striking each other with everything we had. Fists, knees, elbows.
There was no skill left in the fight, only rage. Silas was younger than I was, faster, stronger. One punch split the skin above my eye. Another drove the breath from my lungs. I tried to rise.
He knocked me down again. Then both his hands closed around my throat. He squeezed with all his strength. Darkness began closing around my vision. I tried to force him away.
I could not. His face remained unnervingly calm. You should have accepted my offer. With every word, his grip tightened. My lungs felt ready to burst.
The strength began leaving my arms. I thought of Rose. I thought of Eli. And I wondered whether this was the ending I had secretly been waiting for during those five empty years. Then I heard a cry.