The Town Of Outlaws

By J.L. Melton

In the year 2040, in an unknown desert on Earth, lies a town untouched by time. The Town Of Outlaws is rules with an iron fist by Chairman Lindey Mason and his accomplices.

Mason is the sheriff, judge and jury of the town, maintaining an eerie semblance of order. Amidst a raging storm, the unsuspecting Banks family stumbles into town on their journey to California. Unfamiliar with the town's law, Timrod, Shari, and young Jason Banks are wrongfully accused and imprisoned by Chairman Mason.

Their sudden appearance sets in motion a series of events that shakes the town down to its very core. Soon, allegiances begin to shift, and scores will be settled. As the sun sets over the town, who will emerge victorious?

A compelling futuristic adventure, J.L. Melton's THE TOWN OF OUTLAWS is a unique mix of the science fiction and western genres.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Next Chapter
• Release date: Sep 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798890081759

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

WELCOME TO THE TOWN OF OUTLAWS, PARTNER

WELCOME to THE TOWN OF OUTLAWS, partner . The location of this town is in an unknown desert, located on Earth. This is a new year in The Town Of Outlaws. Today is January one, and the year is 2040. This is a town that appears to be an old western town. However, it is far from it, even though it has everything an old Western town should have, like saloons, hotels, cafes, a sheriff’s office, a general store, a bank, a blacksmith shop, gallows, and many more. It is not a normal old Western town.

The town is mostly owned and run by the man they call the chairman, Lindey Mason. He doesn’t do it all by himself; he has two outlaws that help him. They are Barney Bates and Parker Riley.

Chairman Lindey Mason arrived here in The Town Of Outlaws, after he was once a high-paid judge in a big city and turned bad, sentenced to ten years for manslaughter. He killed a young woman in the (city that never sleeps). Then one day, three years ago, he found himself here in The Town Of Outlaws.

He was chosen by the people in town to be the chairman of The Town Of Outlaws. He is sixty-one years old, bald, has green eyes, is tall, is extremely obese, and has an ugly long-gray beard. He loves being dressed well and buys very expensive suits and big cigars from the general store in town, which he now owns.

Barney Bates can’t read or write, and he is dirt poor. He owns only the clothes on his back, which are: a blue shirt, a black vest, black jeans, and a raggedy old black cowboy hat, worn-out black boots. He lives in a run-down shack at the edge of town, with his cousin, Parker.

Barney is very good with handguns and rifles. Barney carries a .45 caliber pistol with a brown gun belt and holster. The back of the gun belt has slots for over fifty bullets. He is in his late forties, and he found himself and his cousin here in The Town Of Outlaws after he and his cousin Parker killed an old man and robbed him in a small town in South Carolina. Barney has brown hair, one green eye on his left side, and a brown eye on his right side, and most of the time he has a handlebar mustache and goatee. He is the third cousin of Parker Riley. Barney is only five-foot-three inches tall and weighs about one hundred and forty pounds. He is in his late forties, but because of his bad lifestyle, he looks like he is in his sixties.

Parker Riley also can’t read or write and is dirt poor. However, he does own two sets of clothes, which are the same: a brown shirt, a black vest, blue jeans, and an extra-large fairly new white stetson hat. He always wears his brown boots and keeps them shiny and new looking.

Parker is also in his late forties and is more of a clean-cut type, and his main duty is to keep his third cousin Barney in line. Parker is over six-foot tall, weighs about two hundred pounds, and has blue eyes and a regular mustache. Parker is a marksman when it comes to shooting a pistol or rifle. He never misses, and usually kills what he shoots at. Parker also carries a .45 caliber pistol and wears a black gun belt and holster with rhinestones all around it.

Barney and Parker are extremely loyal to Chairman Lindey Mason. They usually obey his every command; no matter how difficult or downright evil it is. Yes, these two outlaws are very obedient, and they won’t hesitate to shoot or hang someone the chairman has found guilty of not following his rules in The Town Of Outlaws.

So you see, Chairman Lindey Mason wears many hats here in town. He is the sheriff, the hotel manager, the bartender in the saloon, president of the town bank, and his biggest hat is being the judge and jury here in town.

This town is occupied by mostly villains, murderers, bank robbers, and just plain evil folks, but they are a few that could be considered good folk. Sometimes, though innocent folks end up here in The Town Of Outlaws. The chairman loves it when that happens because he loves to pick on the innocent folks and threatens to hang them and put their remains in an old tree outside of town for the buzzards to eat.

Sadly, sometimes innocent people do get hung here, and if they have family members, they are put to work in town, and in the gold mines, just a few miles outside of town. They become prisoners of the town and servants to the chairman.

There was one such family that came into town one day by accident. They were the Banks family.

Timrod Banks is forty-two years old, is five feet eight inches tall, and is average-built. He has brown eyes and hair. He mostly wears his jeans and tee shirts.

Shari Banks is Timrod’s wife, and she is forty years old, and she is five feet five inches tall. Average built with blue eyes and blond hair, and she is a beautiful woman. She mostly wears blue blouses and faded blue jeans.

Jason Banks is Timrod’s and Shari’s son, he is sixteen years old, and five feet nine inches tall, with an average build, blue eyes, and brown hair. He loves wearing his flannel shirts and brown jeans.

The Banks family is your average family. This day they are traveling on vacation to the West Coast. They are going to California and plan to see as much of the state and the sights as they can in three weeks. They are traveling from their hometown in Timmons, South Carolina.

Mr. Banks has been waiting for this vacation for five years. He is a bank president at the Town Bank of Timmons. He has been there in that position for fifteen years, and today he is happy that the vacation that he had been waiting for is finally here.

They are traveling in the state of Texas, on the interstate, when it starts thundering, lightning, and pouring down rain. The road is becoming hard to see, and Mr. Banks pulls over to the side of the road to wait and see if the rain lets up.

We will wait here for a while. The conditions are too treacherous to keep driving in at the moment, Mr. Banks said as he sighed and exhaled heavily in disappointment at having to stop for the storm.

Jason, please, get us some drinks and snacks out of the cooler while we wait for the rain to let up, Mr. Banks said as he looked at his wife and smiled, even though he wasn’t happy about having to stop for the storm.

Dear, please, don’t be upset, the rain will let up soon, and we can continue our journey to California, Shari Banks said reassuringly.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise was heard by all the Banks, and in front of them, a tremendous blue light, shaped in a circle appeared. The circle was over eight feet in diameter. The loud rumbling noise was coming from the blue light, and it started moving closer to the car. The Banks were startled, and in disbelief at what they were seeing. Then the tremendous blue light started pulsating, and it encircled the car.

What the hell is going on? Timrod Banks exclaimed as he looked at his wife and son.

Mrs. Banks started crying, and then she grabbed her husband’s right hand, looked at her son, and said, I love you both…so much.

Several minutes have passed now, and the Banks are in their car, and they are disoriented. They are shocked and frightened at what they see in front of them. It is a large wooden sign, painted white with red letters on it. That is strung across two large poles, and on the sign are these words:

WELCOME TO THE TOWN OF OUTLAWS, PARTNER

Timrod Banks rubs his eyes and looks again at the sign hanging at the entrance to the town. He looks at his wife and son and sighs because they still are in a daze. Their eyes are open, and they are looking straight ahead, but they are not fully sentient of what is happening around them.

Timrod nudges his wife on her shoulder and says, Shari! Shari, you okay, hun?

His wife does not answer; she is still looking straight ahead in a daze with a frightened look on her face.

Suddenly, a dust cloud starts coming toward town rapidly, and it’s coming up on the Banks family’s car. Then they all hear loud neighing, and when the dust settles, in front of his car is a Palomino horse, with her hind legs on the ground and her front legs kicking up in the air, and neighing.

The Palomino horse is named Mongo and used to be Chairman Mason’s favorite horse until he bit the chairman on his butt two years ago. Chairman Mason was so angry that he got Barney Bates to take Mongo far out into the desert. He tied the horse to a cactus and left it. A week later, the horse died of thirst, starvation, and heat exhaustion.

Mongo is now a ghost horse, and he comes back into The Town Of Outlaws every time innocent people mysteriously appear in town. Not knowing what has happened that caused them to be here and not aware of what will happen to themselves in this strange town. Mongo tries to persuade innocent people to leave town. Sometimes he is successful, and sometimes he is not.

That is the case with the Banks family; they arrived against their will, and they want to leave, but they can’t leave. The evil that’s in this town won’t let them leave.

Timrod Banks was getting frantic because Mongo was now pushing against the front bumper of the car with his right hoof and looking at Timrod Banks while breathing heavily and neighing, and moving his head up and down. Banks decided to try to move the car away from the horse that appears to have gone ballistic. But when he turned the key to start the car, nothing happened. It was as if the car battery was dead. Banks got out of the car and left his wife and son still inside, and still in a daze. He raised the hood and looked at the battery and engine, while the horse was jumping around and neighing and breathing heavily.

When suddenly, gunshots were fired, and the bullets hit the dirt close to the car. Then horse Mongo immediately took off running back toward the desert.

Timrod Banks ran to the side of the car and knelt to stay out of sight of whoever was firing the shots at the horse.

Hello! There, stranger, what y’all doing here in ‘The Town Of Outlaws?’ a man said as he started walking toward the Banks family’s car. That man was Barney Bates.

Y’all, know y’all are trespassing. Don’t ya? The chairman doesn’t like trespassers. Now come out from the side of that car…so I can see ya. And tell that woman and kid to get out of the car…now. Dah…ya…hears me? Barney exclaimed as he stepped up the pace and walked around to the side of the car where Timrod Banks was kneeling.

"Well, lookie here…we got ourselves a freaking…coward," Barney said as he pointed his pistol at Timrod Banks.

Get up…stranger; you, your wife, and the kid are gonna come with me. We are going to Sheriff Mason’s office. So, he can have a lookie at ya, and when I tell him y’all are trespassing…he is probably gonna put all three of ya…in jail. He! He! He! Barney said while chuckling and making the Banks family walk in line to the jail with him holding the pistol to Banks’ son’s back.

When they got to the door of Sheriff Mason’s office, Barney yelled out as loud as he could, Boss, we have got us some more visitors trespassing on your property…sir.

Then they heard a loud commotion coming from inside the office. Acting now as the sheriff of The Town Of Outlaws, Lindey Mason fell out of his chair behind the desk. He was sound asleep, and Barney’s yelling scared the hell out of him.

Sheriff Mason got up off the floor and pushed his chair close to the desk. He shook his head and took another sip of whiskey he had in a glass jar on his desk. Today he was dressed in his sheriff’s attire. With a leather vest, brown shirt, blue jeans, rough-looking boots, and a black ten-gallon hat. He inhaled deeply and exhaled, and made a loud belch.

Hang…on…there Barney…I am getting ready. Okay…now y’all can enter, Sheriff Mason said while tapping his hat and knocking the dust off it on the side of the desk.

Boss…these…folks…came into town in a steel horse. They are trespassing. What…you gonna do with ‘em…boss? Barney said as he stood at the door with his pistol still prodding the back of Timrod Banks’s son.

You mean a car…don’t you, Barney?

Yeah, I reckon that’s what that thing is. I hadn’t seen one of them things in a long time…boss, Barney said while sniffing and coughing and twirling his pistol around and around on his forefinger.

Okay, what are your names, and why are you here in my…town? Acting now as sheriff of The Town Of Outlaws, Lindey Mason said curiously.

If y’all are here in my town…then y’all are trespassing. Because only those with a special invitation, given by me of course, are allowed to come into my…town, Mason said as he walked from behind the desk and looked at Timrod Banks, his wife Shari, and their son Jason with a frown and a furrowed eyebrow.

Sheriff, we didn’t want to come to your town. We were in a bad storm and pulled over to the side of the road on the interstate in Texas when a bright blue light appeared and encircled our car. The next thing we know…we are here in your town…sheriff. That is the truth…sir, Timrod Banks said as he was becoming nervous and afraid for his wife and son. Because Barney was walking back and forth across the office with his pistol pointing and waving in their direction.

I have heard of some tall tales…but that one beats…’em all. Sheriff Mason said as he looked at Barney and back at the Banks and sighed and lit up one of his big expensive cigars.

I swear, sir…it is the truth. Banks said while looking at his family and wishing now that they had postponed their vacation to another time.

Well, I don’t believe it. Barney, lock ‘em up in the back jail. I will decide their fate in the morning. Now, I am hungry. I am going to the saloon and get me some supper. After you lock ‘em up, go and get your cousin and move that car and put it behind y’all’s shack…until I can decide what to do with it.

Sir, please…I beg you to listen, Timrod Banks pleaded while holding his wife and son close together.

"Lock ‘em up…Barney now. And you Banks…shut the hell up," Sheriff Mason said as he puffed on his big cigar, and slammed the sheriff’s office door shut as he walked out on his way to the saloon.

CHAPTER 2

THE SALOON PARTY

The chairman enters the saloon through the brown and red-stripe swinging doors and shouts squeakily, Sylvie, are you in here…my darling?

The piano man is coming out of the back, smiling ear-to-ear, looks at Sheriff Mason, and says to him while chuckling loudly, She’s gone to the bank, Sheriff. She said for me to see after the saloon while she was gone. Do you want a drink of whiskey? Do you want me to play something for ya?

Yeah, I want a double whiskey, a T-bone steak with four scrambled eggs, and some of Sylvie’s homemade biscuits, Sheriff Mason requested with a smile on his face while ordering.

I don’t want to hear any music right now. I am still thinking about what I am going to do with the Banks family. Just bring my steak, eggs, a large mug of beer, and a double whiskey to the table near the door… Raymond.

Okay, boss, your steak and scrambled eggs are coming right up, Raymond the piano player said with a chuckle as he headed to the back of the saloon where the kitchen is located.

Raymond D. Vanderbilt is sixty-five years old. He is six feet tall, heavy-set, with green eyes, gray hair, long sideburns, and an ugly gray beard that comes down to his belly button. But he can play the hell out of that piano. He wears a black suit with a white shirt, a red bowtie, and black boots.

Sheriff Mason goes over to the table by the door to sit down when he hears a welcoming sound, Hello, Lindey…darling…how the hell are…ya? Sylvia Clark said as she walked into the saloon humming a song, and dressed in a red dress, red boots, and a flashy red umbrella turning it around and around on her shoulder.

Sylvia Clark is the bar mistress that runs the chairman’s saloon. When the chairman is busy doing his other town duties. She is forty-four years old, brunette, with green eyes, and five feet eight inches tall, with red hair. Sylvia is slim and gorgeous, in the eyes of men who live in town, and those who live out of town. She dresses in the latest flashy dresses that the chairman buys her.

Well, hello to you too, darling. You are looking so beautiful today.

Thank you, darling. I do feel beautiful today.

Is Raymond getting your food ready, darling? If not, I will get right on it.

Raymond has already taken my order and is in the kitchen getting it ready. But he hasn’t brought me my beer mug or my whiskey yet, Sheriff Mason said while smiling and turning his head from side-to-side looking at Sylvia.

What are you so happy for today, darling? Did your gold miners find you another million in gold today? Sylvia asked while she walked to the bar to pour a glass of double whiskey and a large beer mug for the sheriff and a small whiskey for herself.

Well, I am happy because I am glad to see you, and we have the Banks family in jail awaiting trial for trespassing. I am trying to decide what to do with them. I am thinking about putting the husband to work in the gold mines, and his wife can work for you as a saloon girl here after she is trained, of course, by Mrs. Gena. I am still thinking about what to do with the boy.

Well, you’ll figure it out, darling. You always do, Sylvia said as she walked to the sheriff’s table with his beer mug and double whiskey, and hers. Then she sat down across from him.

Here I come, boss, your steak and scrambled eggs are ready. I’ll get your double whiskey and a large mug of beer… sorry, I forgot about it earlier, Raymond said nervously. He was breathing heavily because he knew that the sheriff would be pissed he forgot his whiskey before he went to the kitchen to cook the sheriff’s steak and scrambled eggs.

That’s all right, Raymond. Sylvia brought me my double whiskey and a large mug of beer. But you need to know that I don’t like my whiskey and beer to be forgotten. So, you will sweep the road coming into our town with a small broom until it is clean. Then you can return to the saloon. So, now get the small broom from behind the bar and commence getting the road swept… NOW! The sheriff demanded.

Raymond frowned and held his head down, swaying his arms back and forth rapidly when he went to get the broom from behind the bar to sweep the road.

"Lindey, darling, don’t you think that is a bit much? I am sure he didn’t do it on purpose," Sylvia said while looking around the saloon, shaking her head after hearing what the sheriff told Raymond.

The chairman’s saloon is your typical old western town saloon, with double swinging doors, wooden tables, and chairs. A table to play poker on, and a brown wooden roulette table in the middle of the saloon. The walls are wood, and the floor is wood. There are pictures of Sylvia, the chairman, Barney, and Parker on the walls of the saloon. There are two big windows on each side of the doors, and the bar is old wood and is very long. There are whiskey barrels, and there are beer barrels behind the bar and a large mirror in the middle.

"Well, Sylvia, do you want to join him outside sweeping the road into town, darling?"

No, Lindey, DARLING, I don’t want to join him.

So, don’t contradict what I do anymore, Sylvia, and everything will be okay, the sheriff said as he looked at Sylvia, reached over the table, rubbed the side of her face with his hand, while muttering something she couldn’t hear, and shook his head.

You know Sylvie, I think we need to have a party here tonight, don’t you think so?

"Anything you want, darling,