Mal’s head was still ringing. The bullet had cut a four inch path through his hair, above his left ear. He felt the gash on his tender scalp. It had already swollen and the blood was matting in his hair. He ducked into an alley shaking his head to clear the cobwebs.

There were two shooters. They had been pushing hard for the last ten minutes. They hadn’t followed him into the alley. Mal surveyed his surrounding, looking for an advantage. The small mining town on Three Hills didn’t offer much. The town folk had ghosted on him as soon as the shooting started, locking their doors behind them.

The sign hanging over the doorway at the end of the alley gave him hope, Mortician.

Mal tried the door and it opened.

The gunman entered the small office. A coffin rested on a gurney, five more leaned against the wall. Using the barrel of his pistol he lifted the lid of the first coffin. It was empty. As he moved around it he noticed a small trail of blood leading to the coffin in the middle.

“I got him” he spoke into his radio.

“Where ya at Nester?”

“Funeral Parlor” he replied.

“I’m a coming”

“Don’t bother. Go tell Terrance I got him and I’ll meet ya back at the stable.”

He moved back around the gurney leveling his gun at the coffin against the wall.

“Come on out now. No sense hiding, I seen the blood.”

What he didn’t notice was the blood dripping next to his boot.The first bullet struck him in the groin and stopped somewhere in his gut. He fell back, both hands clutching what was left of his manhood. The second struck him square in the chest. The last thing he saw was Malcolm Reynolds hanging from the bottom of the gurney.

Mal had circled the stable twice before approaching. Leaning against the wall he eased the door open. He saw a pair of boots lying just inside the door. Attached to the boots was the other gunman, faced down in a puddle of blood.

“Come in Captain. My apologies for Nester and Calvin’s behavior, they were only supposed to capture you. I have shown Calvin the error of his wa