Guns & Roses

Chapter 3: Conducted showdown

[The Sheriff]

The Sheriff froze, if he had water he probably would have spit it out the second he registered the words.
"What?" He said, still dazed.

"You, Sheriff, will be the one to lure them into the trap." The auditor stated calmly, leaning back as if amused by Sheriff's shock and panic. Sheriff placed both his hands on the table, accidentally using too much force and slamming them instead,
"But sir, why me?!" Sheriff almost yelled, trying to keep himself collected in front of Auditor.
"Well, I couldn't fill the role since I've been the one running everything. Jebus couldn't since they would get suspicious as to why he doesn't use his power to get them out. You, however, make the perfect fit."

Sheriff was at a loss for words
'I've gone too far with this damn plan, should have just let Jebus come up with something else', he forced through his thoughts to find a coherent idea to get him out of trouble,
"But wouldn't it make more sense to send one of the guards? Besides I've tried killing Hank so many times why would he-" The Auditor raised his hand, signalling Sheriff to silence himself, lest he wanted tempt fate.

"Since you're so keen on arguing this let me explain why I chose you." Sheriff backed down slightly as the shadows around the room almost seemed to get sharper.
"The soldiers have only proven to be trusted enough to defend our buildings, you however oversee how all buildings should be defended. You have also continued to work with us despite close encounters with death many times. This means you are fully loyal to our cause, are you not?" The Auditor challenged, as badly as Sheriff wanted to argue, he knew it only meant death, so instead he stuttered out a compliant response.
"Y..yes sir." He felt helpless in this situation, Auditor was dead-set on making him take the role, but taking the role was also suicide, 'Damn it, think, what can change his mind?' Before he knew what he was even thinking he has starting speaking

"Sir.. What traits do I possibly have that make me good for this role?" He asked, kicking himself for saying it so meekly. The Auditor stayed silent, and Sheriff felt a temporary relief wash over him, until Auditor started to speak again,
"You have proven to be good at thinking on your feet, as example throughout this meeting." Sheriff subtly looked over to Jebus for help, to which he only received a small shrug.
"You have also showed to have high charisma while talking with the soldiers, these are the reasons I believe you'll be perfect for this role." Auditor finished, looking over to Sheriff as a dare for a response.

Sheriff had no ideas left, everything was true, but he was hoping for one last chance at an argument point,
'I just need to think of something..'

"And before you question about who will do your job, I will take over for you." The Auditor stated, finished with the argument. Sheriff felt beat, there was nothing left to argue and by the looks of things Jebus wasn't going to think of something to get him out of this situation. After almost a minute of silence had passed, he let himself respond,
"Alright, sir, I'll take the role." He sighed, defeated.
"Good," The Auditor said simply, satisfied with his answer,
"If we're all in agreement then this meeting is over." At this simple statement Sheriff stood up and walked to the door, keeping his head low.

Just as he'd begun opening the door he'd heard the Auditor speak again.
"Oh, and Sheriff?" He stopped and turned his head slightly, letting The Auditor know he was listening.
"Just so you know, if you fail the mission on purpose, I will personally kill you in the most painful way I know." Sheriff didn't bother with a response and instead walked out the door, pulling his hat down he began the walk back to his room.

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"You know, you don't have to do this, I'm sure I can convince Auditor to assign someone else to this." Jebus had told Sheriff. He sighed, turning to face Jebus.
"You can't. Auditor is set on having me do this, besides, what could you offer to make him change his mind?" He stated, hoping Jebus would just stay quiet
'I'm in no mood to argue, why did I even respond?'
To his surprise Jebus just sighed and kept on walking, not wanting to trail too far behind he temporarily quickened his pace so he and Jebus walked side-by-side again, falling back into silence other than their footsteps echoing through the halls.

They took a swift left and a feeling of dread began to gather in the pit of his stomach as the glass door ahead exposed the world outside, it almost felt like it was taunting him. Feeling he was about to panic, he closed his eyes and forced himself to keep moving forward, using all energy he had to keep his breathing steady. After what only felt like a second he re-opened his eyes and stopped, the door was right in front of him, the world outside dead and rocky, illuminated by a harsh red sky. Hesitating, he forced himself to reach out and grab onto the metal handle.

"Before you go, I want to ask, why did you support my idea? I'm sure I could have thought
of something else.." Jebus said softly, causing Sheriff to almost lose composure.
"Well, I had to save your ass, didn't I? Last thing I need is being the only one left to deal with Auditor." Sheriff replied after a moment of silence, feeling a strange mix of dread and sadness wash over him.
"..But in this way you leave me alone, surely if we work together we can think of something else just as good that'll make him drop this idea." Jebus replied, this made Sheriff realise how terrified Jebus must also be.
"Yeah... sorry, but I doubt there's anything else, besides, I'm sure you'll be fine, you're the smart one." Sheriff said, hoping this might at least help cheer them up. Jebus didn't respond, after a second they pat Sheriff's shoulder and began walking back, considerably slower than the pace they had walked here with.

Sheriff closed his eyes again, taking a deep breath and fighting the urge to run back and practically beg Auditor to choose someone else. After opening them he stared at the red void in the sky, willing himself to move, and to his further dread, he did, and the door swung open as he stepped outside to begin his journey.