This two star  assignment was to write a terrible death ending for a choose your own adventure style book. It was a great assignment to incorporate the western theme; no shortage of deaths in gun battles in westerns. It was fun to take a typical western finale scene and create a silly twist that meant that the hero wasn’t going to go down in glory like usual.

You Chose Wrong!

The man that challenged you to a fight only looked like he was a loner. After venturing out in the street for an old fashioned draw, you noticed an ominous glimmer from a rooftop across the road. Turns out the whole thing was an elaborate scheme, and that the man on the roof whose gun barrel just revealed him was still sore at you for taking the sheriff job in the old 4 horse town you had left. Before you could draw your weapon or even turn tail and run, you heard the loud report from the rooftop rifleman and felt the bullet tear though the flesh in your abdomen. It was at that time that the man who called you into the street drew his revolver and fired two more well aimed shots. You were dead before you hit the ground.

I was happy about this assignment. Not the whole dying part but, you know, the nostalgia. I also decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to incorporate my noir character and someone else’s. After looking through some character dossiers I decided on having the person who “died” to be Rick Shannon, a character created by Ben. His dossier can be found here. His job as a cop was perfect for Layla who is apart of the mob. It all just fell into place after that.

You turn the corner and fall to your knees, out of breath. You roll your shoulders and stand back up. However, you freeze because one of the men who had been chasing you was now standing in front of you. He was tall and all clad in black with dark features akin to an eastern European. He grabs you roughly by the shoulders and throws you against the wall, head tilted slightly. You struggle against him and try to grab your gun but he holds you steady, easily keeping you pinned.

Soon, the other one who had been chasing you appears from behind him. They both look identical, twins maybe. They murmur a foreign language to each other, perhaps Russian. The other one pulls your gun from your holster and aims it at you. However, he doesn’t cock it and that means you know he won’t shoot you. Yet. They stare at you for a long moment, eyeing you up and down as the first lifts you slightly.

“So? Are you gonna kill me yet?” You grind out, struggling again.

“No. That’s what I’m going to do.” A voice says somewhere in the dark alley.

The one holding you lowers  you and pulls you towards the middle of the alley. Footsteps could be heard approaching you. They were loud like heels on concrete. A figure appears before you and you know she will be your death. She smirks and your adrenaline rises. This, this will be your end. She takes your gun from the other man and aims it at you. Not at your head but at your chest. She cocks it and you hold your breath.

“Goodbye, Rick.” She says. “Any last words?”

“Fuck you, Layla.” You shout and she pulls the trigger.

You fall to the ground, breath ragged and uneven. Your blood pools around you as the trio walk away. Life flickers away from you as you finally close your eyes.

THE END