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Seeing Montgomery Striker was the last thing I expected comin’ here. He had been a good friend and occasional guest of Mike's when he was alive. They worked together on a few local issues and Mike really seemed to like him.
“You know.” Montgomery starts as we follow him down into the lower level of the station. “I came out to Arizona when I heard about Mike, but you had already cleared out. I never expected to see you again. I would have thought you went back to your family. Didn't think you'd go rogue.”
“Had nothin' to go back to. Parents were killed a month or so after Mike died.”
“I didn't know...” He gets quiet, then sucks the air in through his teeth. “That's why you're here. You think Jimmy had something to do with your parents?”
“I know he did. I got the surveillance photos, well I had ‘em.”
“You actually took out Robert the Mauler Callahan, I hear. Took his head clean off.”
“Exaggerations. I snapped his neck in two. There's a difference.”
“Did Mike know? I mean about your condition?”
”Conditio—Oh you mean the Werewolf thing? Nah, it happened just a few months back. Been a wild ride ever since.”
“I would think so.” He laughs, lookin' back at me with a smile. I must have blushed, because all of a sudden J.D. is right next to me, takin' my hand in his with a gentle, not so gentle, squeeze.
I cock a half grin and give him a short playful shove to the side for actin' jealous. He raises an eyebrow at me and shoves back with a laugh. Causin' Montgomery to glance back again and see the display. Which I figure is the whole point.
I clear my throat. “So what are we doin' down here anyhow? What's you got to show?”
“During the war they started diggin' tunnels to get people out, it’s a little known fact that while they were diggin' they hit a silver vein. That silver helped fund the rebuild. And we here at the Municipality have been in charge of its distribution since it was discovered. It had been dilapidated years ago, but with this Werewolf thing we got desperate. Started mining again. It's been a rough couple months. The pack raids at night so we work during the days. Locking ourselves in for the added security. We help who we can, when we can. But mostly it's just been about finding a weapon. We can't take them head on. We lost eight men the last time we tried. Since then it's only been us. The other Marshalls abandoned their posts to stay or flee with their families. We here don't have any so we continue to try and maintain order.”
“The people who have stayed are good.” Giovanni adds from the back of the line. “They help take care of each other. Share food, supplies. The Ferryman keeps the channel open to those who might help.”
“That explains him. At least.” I mumble. “So you've been diggin' and what nothin'?”
“We hit another vein yesterday. Been pulling it out ever since.”
***
WE GO THROUGH A STEEL door and are surrounded by wood beams and earth. Some of the beams must have been over fifty years old. I can hear nature workin’ all around us. The rats in the tunnels, insects crawlin’ through the dirt. I swallow hard. I don’t do tight spaces very well. As though sensin’ my constrictin' lungs, J.D. appears again, takin' my hand.
“It's okay. These beams are really strong, got twelve inch steel spikes through ‘em to keep them together. We're safe.”
“It can get a little tight down here, before we go any further I do want to ask. Does the silver actually work?”
“That part of the mythology is quite on the head.” J.D. answers. “You guys were smart in that. But what do you plan to do with it? Throw it at them?”
Montgomery chuckles. “Fortunately, I was a gunsmith in another life, before I became a Marshall. So I know how to cast bullets fairly quickly. I've been making the molds while the others dig for the silver. It will take me a few hours once we have all of the materials. We have a store of gunpowder down here as well.”
I smile wide. “I may have some use for all of that.”