160
You try to persuade the family to come with you to Tucson, to join up with your colony and make a new start in California, but they dismiss your request out of hand. ‘I’ve told you: we can look after ourselves,’ retorts Steve, the bearded brother. ‘All we want is to be left alone.’
Then his wife appears at the door to the corridor and calls out: ‘There’s another one movin’ around outside.’
Steve looks worried. He checks the magazine of his pistol, cocks the slide, and then points it in your direction. ‘OK, you two,’ he says, his voice wavering. ‘You’re leaving here right now.’
Knott tries to reason with him, telling him that he is sentencing you both to certain death by forcing you outside to face the sniper, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. ‘No one invited you here,’ Steve spits. ‘If you an’ that guy outside have got a problem, it’s your problem not ours. We don’t want no part of it, is that clear?’
Reluctantly you allow yourselves to be escorted along a corridor that leads to the reinforced front door. The bolts are drawn and the door is thrown open. ‘Get out!’ screams Steve, and you feel his hands thrust against your back, propelling you into the blinding glare of the sunlight. Knott soon follows, and then come your weapons, clattering on the beaten earth floor of the crater.
As you stoop to retrieve your guns, the heavy door slams shut. The sound is echoed immediately by another that chills your blood: the sharp crack of a high-velocity rifle.
