I nod. I’m not surprised. Josie’s concerns aren’t silly, as much as I tried to downplay them to her face. Ain’t no point in worrying her for no reason.
“I got an idea,” Paris says.
That’s what I like about him. He never brings me a problem without at least having an idea for a solution.
“Oh yeah? What are you suggesting?”
“Splitting up,” he says. “You take the girl all the way out to the ranch. The rest of us will split into a bunch of groups. They’ll have to choose which of us to follow.”
“They’ll follow Josie and me.”
“They would, but we intend to cause enough trouble that they won’t get a chance. We’ll burn our way across this planet in all different directions. Every time they get close, we’ll go to ground. We’ll rob, murder, thieve… everything we’re good at. They’ll be so busy putting out fires they won’t have a chance to follow you.” He’s grinning broadly, his eyes lit with glee at the idea of spreading chaos across Patch.
“You’re a good man, Paris.”
“Naw. I’m a bad man. And that’s why this is going to work. I’m going to take some of my boys… our boys, and head off now. Tomorrow, Wrench will take his. Wait until you’re getting reports of mass hysteria on the radio, then head across the desert.”
Usually I’d be the one formulating the plans, but Paris’ idea is solid. Though, now I think about it, this is almost always his idea. Creating chaos is pretty much his MO. My main job over the last year or so has been getting a handle on his more violent impulses. Turning him loose on the world at large is the nuclear option, but sometimes, you gotta unleash the dragon. Or in this case, the Paris.
“You organized all this already, huh?”
“It was more of a team effort. We were talking about it while we were shooting bounty hunters.”
“Uh huh.”
“We were just saying, you two could get away easy. You could get the papers for the ranch, we could fortify it, do battle with the Imperium until there’s nothing left.”
“Mhm.”
I’m thinking. Weighing the lives that will be destroyed if I unleash this madness on the planet, and what we have to gain by getting this land. No sane man would say these means justified the end, but I’m not a sane man. I’m an outlaw, and I’m willing to do what it takes to keep my woman safe.
“They’re onto us, Orion. They’ve been getting closer and closer for months now. Every time we move, they follow. They’re taming this land out from under us, making it impossible to rob a man on the road. What is the point? We’ve got nothing to lose, and everything to gain.”
I can hear desperation in Paris’ voice. Fear that the world has changed forever and we might not have a place in it.
“The Imperium could be wiped out overnight,” I remind him. “They’re at war, a war that’s bigger than us.”
“So you just want to wait until the Imperium loses a battle? What will that matter if they take us out tomorrow? Sheriff Bunch is looking for you and the girl. You should let us take the battle to him.”
“You have a history of getting out of control, Paris. I don’t want to see you hang for anything you do.”
“They’re coming to hang us all,” Paris shrugs. “We always knew it would come to this. What we didn’t know was that there could be a way out. You take the girl. We’ll take on the Imperium.”
“Uh huh.”
I have a bad feeling about this. From the moment we found Josie, our lives have been subject to a new level of chaos. I’m losing control of my posse. Splitting them up, sending them out to commit mindless crime, it would be a distraction, but it could get them all killed.
“We want to do this,” Paris says. “The boys are tired of running. We want to take the fight to the Imperium. Let us.”
“He’s right, boss.” I hear a gruff voice coming from the darkness. It’s followed by another, and another. The men are awake. They sense action. Or they’re drunk and not really asleep. Most of the time those two things are the same thing.
“Alright. Git up! All of you! We’ll carry this plan out and see the Imperium in hell!”
Lanterns are lit. The camp comes back to life as quickly as it slid into silence. I hear guns being checked and loaded. Usually when there’s a call to wake in the middle of the night it’s because murder is going to happen.
“Listen up! I’ve been talking to Paris, and he tells me there’s some talk about splitting up, going off, creating chaos across Patch, hitting every Imperium gas station, warehouse, farm house, outhouse, and, you know, building you can reach.”