"Cassidy," Matilda hissed, jerked him, so pulled the bounty hunter from the terrified haze. "What on earth is it?!"

"I don't," he looked back to see the smoke roll over a traveler, who made it to the station.

The pagan train stopped. In lightning's flash and thunder's crash it grew still with a smoky flourish, which rolled out onto the platform. Over the stunned men and women it settled. Screech of metal on metal died. Ribs of the train opened, flayed to unveil the corruption within. Eyes of ruby flame opened to be followed by others. Another bolt from the heavens collided to the street. Revealed in the momentary dazzle, the figure looked out onto the station, eyes caught the light. Waxen features ended at the upper teeth, and split into mandibles. The traveler jerked; her face drained to a sickly white, and she clapped both hands to her face. It burst from the dark, and her shriek was cut off. Down into the smoke it pulled her.

More shot from the train, but the travelers were too slow to react. Cassidy pulled Matilda away, though she tried to aim for one of the humanoid creatures. "Too late," he said, and tears filled her eyes, "and I mean to see you and yours free of this madness."

They left the main thoroughfare, so prayed the storm would conceal them. Between houses, through alleys, Cassidy ran with them in tow. Heavy rain from gutters splashed them; flashes of brilliant bolts guided them. Frantic, the bounty hunter tried to think of an escape. Without horses, all they could do was run or hide, but the clicking buzz of the locals was everywhere. Screams were cut short, buried under thunder. Cassidy coughed, water splashed up. The boy and girl cried in mute horror, yet followed. Steel was Matilda's spine, and moved with a mother's fortified resolve.

Out of the shadows, ruby eyes opened in an alley. Cassidy whirled. The blow caught him, force knocked him to the mud, and gray bit into the edges of his vision. Rain slapped his face, as the boy yipped and the girl let out a tiny squeak. Matilda raised the gun, but the bounty hunter saw she was too slow. He drew.

The bullet struck the chest of a man, though skin broke like the carapace of a bug. Lightning flashed, God's cruel joke to unveil another horror. Both arms ended in sickle blades, black as Stygian night. Another set, just below the chest, ended in more delicate feelers, which his terrorized mind insisted was its hands. Legs bent like a grasshopper, and it would stand incredibly tall, if fully extended. At one time, the creature had been human, but now, it was more bug than man. Angry fury turned on Cassidy, eyes blazed.

Thunder shook Old Cimarron. Matilda fired. The warrior cast of the monstrous beasts had already shot forward. Upon the ground they crashed. Cassidy pushed the still twitching corpse, and told himself it was natural, an infected person. All things have an explanation, though some where stranger than others. He eschewed any thoughts of their nature, lest the mind falter or break.

They moved, though slower. The creatures from the train flooded the streets, and the locals, who'd served the travelers, searched throughout. Away from the ruby eyes Cassidy led them. Between houses, under the storm ravaged sky, they moved. All soaked by the downpour, none dared to look back. The bounty hunter paused to reload, instructed Matilda the same, as a pack of locals moved past. Less screams filled the night. More of Lamp Light's abominations swarmed ever closer.

"Into the church," the bounty hunter whispered, and inside they crept, covered by the storm.

A small door at the back led out into the desert, but abominations already gathered around. Cassidy searched about the interior, but every exit was guarded, yet none dared enter. April and Robert began to sob silently, and Matilda comforted them. To Cassidy she looked. A maniacal, frantic rage built in him, images of his family flashed in hellish tableau of abattoirs. Out behind the church, next to its cemetery, a single horse had it reins caught in an iron gate. Before it a crowd of dark figures, eyes aflame, and each flash of brilliance turned to silhouettes like tombstones.

"Why don't they come?" asked Matilda, and a hand crept to her heart.

"I don't think they can," he replied, yet looked at the burned wood.

Odd thump of a heavy tread arose. Cassidy shoved pews to bar the door. It pushed in, but was held closed. Past the door, a figure stood, wide brim hat low, and lit by the hellish lamps. Each drop of rain was as blood. Boom, abominable blow shook the church; Cassidy jerked, moved in front of Matilda. With a second might blow, the pews jumped back, and a saber cleaved the burned wood in two. Captain Lee pushed the ruin away. From behind Barnabas, the hungry buzz of the locals chittered, clacked, and thrummed. Out of the darkness in Cassidy's mind, he thought of cicadas, when they came in droves—they would drive him made as a child.

"I ordered you to kill me, Bullock," the Captain said, held up the saber.

"I…couldn't," the bounty hunter felt a slash upon his heart.

"I told you to leave," he added, measured step thoughtful. "Now, you'll never have closure, but you'll certainly have release."

"I don't—"

Across the room Barnabas dashed. The dusty black duster was wings, Cassidy saw in stupefaction, and it launched the Captain at incredible speed. In a clean arc, the officer's saber came down, gun knocked from his hand. A fist stuck the bounty hunter. Over a pew he toppled. Gray returned.

"You thought you saved me," Barnabas said, amused but bitter. "You have no idea the harm you caused me, the HELL!" He struck Cassidy, back hand knocked him flat.

"I couldn't," he struggled up, saw the gun, and ran for the weapon.