Kingsman: The Devil's Gamble

Chapter Eight

It was one of Balor's henchmen. Apparently, one of the dumber ones he has. I'm sure he's incredibly booksmart, but sometimes...he doesn't have any common sense. It goes straight out the window when the temptation of alcohol gets in the way. I mean, I only assumed this based on what I've learned over several years. High school, college, life...every experience I had taught me a lot about how to judge people based on first glance.

I'm not saying it's a smart thing to do, but sometimes, it helps for the sake of your safety.

I figured it was one of Balor's henchmen, judging by the looks of him. But maybe I'm wrong because I've been on the run from the "big boss man" himself for two years, and it made me paranoid in a way. It wasn't until Whiskey asked about it that we both went down a rabbit hole to figure out who this person was.

"Now, Rocky, who exactly was that guy you punched in the bar?" Whiskey asked as we headed toward another part of Stockyards City, where a cattle auction was set to take place soon.

"I'm not sure, Whiskey," I answered. "Really, I don't."

Luckily, Whiskey was patient enough with me. "Well, what did he look like?"

"He had jet-black hair, these—light-brown eyes, and a fairly muscular build," I answered. "He had slightly tanned skin. Not quite dark, but just slightly tanned. He looked like an American who had a bad day at the tanning salon, almost."

After we sat down front and center for the cattle auction, Whiskey did his best to calm me down as best he could. "It sure sounds like he's part of Balor's ring. But there's always a chance that we're all safe. Don't worry, sugar. We have concealed carry licenses, just in case things go to hell."

I nodded. "You might be right. There's probably nothing going on. I'm probably just crazy or some shit."

Then, Whiskey and I went on as if nothing happened, but my mind still circulated through all the questions I had about all this. I was still paranoid by the fact that Balor could quite possibly be closing in on us, so I had to think it through just in case anything happened.

What if it was one of Balor's men?

What if he only behaved like that in order to set a trap for Whiskey and I?

But even though my thoughts kept circulating through my head, I had better things to focus on. The cattle auction! Whiskey and I had no intention of buying any cattle—maybe in the future, if we're lucky—but we just wanted to see one in person. Both of us had never seen a live cattle auction before, so it was an experience that we could go through together.

One by one, beautiful cattle were brought out by trained handlers for the general audience to see. It was nice to see some variety among the cattle—from young to middle-aged to old, to black and white and everything in between. I sure as hell didn't intend on buying any one of these, but—maybe someday. Maybe someday, I can have my own cattle farm with Whiskey.

I'm thinking too far ahead, aren't I?

As the auction went on, different people got different cows. Even some of the kids that managed to get cows were so excited about bringing them home. For me, it was a great experience to see what exactly a cattle auction entailed, and it was totally not what I expected at all. And being with Whiskey made it all better.

And then...everything went south rather quickly.

Right after a beautiful, "teenage" Hereford cow was auctioned off, I heard a loud gunshot that echoed throughout the area. Multiple screams erupted, and mainly everyone was drawn away from the auction and to what was going on. Even little kids were being shielded by their parents just in case they had to protect them from any stray bullets. Whiskey and I immediately stood up to figure out what was going on, and as soon as we turned to the main entrance of the building, we soon figured it out.