Story: 'Night Trials', IX

Here we go again, and this time things actually happen! Previous part here.

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Night Trials, Part IX
(Parts VIII , X)

Sheriff Tom flagged down the stage a mile out of town. He had had trouble believing that it had been less than a week since this whole trouble started but then finally realised it had to be so. It seemed as if months had passed since the lights took over town and the blackness knocked him out.

The stage rumbled to a halt a few feet in front of him and the driver looked down, obviously anxious to be on the move but not willing to cross paths with a man with a badge. 'What ya be wantin', Sheriff?' was all the man asked, and then he chewed his tobacco contemptuously while he waited for a reply.

Tom knew he wasn't the most impressive looking representative of the law at the moment. He'd been on the run for days, eating at best lightly, still had some gunk on his shoes, and had most disgustingly at all gained a few days of beard growth. He hated every itchy minute of it even though on the realistic scale it was completely irrelevant.

'You got supplies to make it back to Poon Hill?'

'Nope.'

'Spare a horse?'

'They ain't my horses, mister.'

'Well, one of them is mine now. Wandering Yip is thataway, as you very well know.'

'Nope.'

'Yep.'

The driver looked at Tom steadily, saw something he didn't like and didn't want any part of, before finally harrumphing around and releasing one of the animals. He then carefully and slow trundled off down the trail to Wandering Yip and Tom took his tired horse down to his secret base, watered him and did his best to feed him. The following day, after so much fretting and impatience, the Sheriff took off for civilization at a canter.

Poon Hill was civilization, but it was also one other thing he hadn't anticipated. It was occupied. Alien sentinels stood guard over the moonlit city boundary.


To be continued...