Short Ones

The Train

The train stopped.

Every safety system worked as designed. No one so much as spilled their coffee. whisper quiet and glass smooth deceleration.

One by one, conversations died, and commuters turned to the windows.

Never before had the Southern sea Mag-Lev line suffered a failure of this magnitude. A quarter century of reliability. Even after the invasion, workers and business people could travel quickly and safely through reanimate territory.

In ones and twos, they began to approach. Almost casually thronging together.

12:15. After a twenty-three minute delay, the breaker was fixed, and the 307 pulled in.

No one was aboard.

Antique

"I hate doing this," she claims, a hollowness in her voice. "Even before all these - troubles - it was accepted that capital punishment didn't work. Back then, especially now, there's enough death. but exile, its as good as..."

Your eyes meet hers. For a moment, they mist over like those happy times. Fuzzy late mornings together in bed the smell of coffee and her hair in the bars of sunshine.

"I broke the rules. They would notice if something was missing from the armory. But this is a museum piece, a replica Colt Single Action Army. Known far and wide as the peacemaker. Each bullet is inserted one at a time through a loading gate on the back, and the shells need to be knocked out of that same hole before reloading. Single action with no safety - carry it around cocked or fully loaded - and you'll shoot your foot off. Better than nothing out there."

The two of you stop outside the elevator that takes the condemned to the first level. She hands over the gun, and a half dozen loose .45 Long rounds. The horn grip is surprisingly comfortable, a wonderful balance and a four inch barrel of blued steel. It easily rocks back in the palm to let you thumb back the hammer.

With a single smooth motion, the gun snaps up, the barrel centered between her eyes. A click reverberates through the cavernous room as the hammer falls.

"I may have been married to you for ten years, but I'm still not stupid enough to give you a loaded gun."