Ready, Aim, Fire! (Round 4) (Ghost Town)

[Silkenfist]

Three scavengers roam the sky over Western Utah. Some time ago, there had been a great feast for them, but since then, times have been dire and they would soon need to find prize again. In wide circles, the vultures fly over the desert, searching. A number of small shapes below catches their attention. Keeping their height, the vultures narrow their circles, hopefully following the trek.
A few dozen feet below the birds, a band of riders is travelling west. They have endured the scorching sun for the last few days and they are just as tired and dried as their steeds, that trot at a slow pace to conserve energy as long as possible. The road to the western coasts has usually been used by the settlers who were better prepared to travel large periods without water supplies. The band of riders, however, had neglected to enhance their usual loads of potable water. With the next town being only a few miles away, however, their parched calamity would soon find an end.
We take a closer look at that group and their hardened faces. A few months ago, they had been cowboys, being employed by the farmers of the Great Plains to lead cattle drives from their Texan Ranches towards the settlements in Kansas. It was an easy life for them, since the ever growing population caused a high demand for the meat, only the cowboy treks were able to meet. Year after year there would be more cattle drives with even more cows. Then, in the year 1875, several farmers agreed to form one big cattle drive together. They employed a large number of cowboys and wranglers, assigned them a herd of twenty thousand animals and sent them North. This was the biggest mission, each of the men has ever been entrusted to and the nervousness between them was evident. For the first weeks of the trail, everything worked perfectly and as they were passing the second border, their flurry was gone. Then, disaster struck…
Late in the evening, just as the cowboys were going to camp, they spotted thunderheads, approaching them rapidly. Hastily, they broke camp immediately and began circling the herd but they were not fast enough. The thunderbolts rolled over them, striking the trees around them again and again. Quickly, panic spread within the herd and helplessly the cowboys had to watch the stampede begin. Experienced as they were, they knew what to do: They backed away from the rampaging herd and rode in front of it to try and bring it into a circle. However, the density of the vegetation, the downward slope and the repeated strokes of lightning crushed their feeble attempts to control the gargantuan herd. They proceeded to rush downward, even running over one unlucky herder. As the sky cleared, the cowboys saw the aftermath of the storm. Thousands of cattle had escaped, and even more of them had gone down one of the deep gaps, killing or injuring many of them. About half of their trek has been lost, which would undoubtedly infuriate their owners, as soon as they would hear of it.
This has been several weeks ago. The cowboys concluded that it would be a good idea to be far away, when their former employers got word of their failure. Together they formed a caravan in order to move west and try to begin a new life there. This has led them on the desert road through Colorado and Utah to the Western Coast and its young cities where there would be no bounty on their heads. And even Lady Luck seemed to be on their side again as they finally reached a town. The silhouette of a small town becomes visible on the horizon, causing mute cheers to escape from the cowboy’s dry lips.

To be continued...


How does this game work?

1) Each round, each player sends me a message with his action.

2) There are three possible actions. Shoot yourself, shoot in the air or shoot someone else.

3) Shoot in the Air: This has no effect on you, anybody else or anybodys action.

4) Shoot yourself: If you shoot yourself and noone else tried to shoot you, you die.
4a) If you shoot yourself AND at least one other player tried to shoot you too, you remain alive and all assailants die instead.

5) Shoot someone: You have to specify a certain player that you want to shoot. You shoot that player and they die
5a) Exception: If your victim has tried to shoot itself, you die instead (See 4b)

6) After each round, the survivors are put together in a new standoff and the next round ensues. This continues until there is only one player left.
6a) If all players die simultaneously in one round, that round is repeated.

7) One round will last for about 48 hours, with each update there will be a deadline for your submission.
7a) Players who don't submit an action within the deadline are treated as if they shot the air.
7b) Players who don't submit an action twice in a row are removed from the match.

8) You can't join during a match but once a winner has been determined, there will be a new match with new signups

9) Don't take games too seriously and have fun.


Registration for the round is now open and will end on Sunday 7 PM Eastern. Register by replying here.

Previous Winners
Round 1: DarkLightDragon (14 contestants)
Round 2: B-Man (8 capos)
Round 3: Bookman (12 pirates)

Possible Themes for Future Rounds (All suggestions are welcome)
Feudal Japan (Samurai, Ninja, Shogun)
Thirty Year's War
Pop-Science-Fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars)
Highwaymen (Richard Turpin, Tom King)
Cavemen
Matrix
Fighting Jackie Chan style (Drunken Mastery & arbritary use of improvised equipment)
Royal intrigue (Roman senate, Hamlet scenario, Japanese daimyo...)

Contestants
Lucky
Tom McFaerwain
Kantur
Moon Called
Alarra
DarkLightDragon
Bookman
Atreyu, the Masked Llama
weebl
Jamie Swiftbow (still known as Lord Herman)
Selrahc
B-Man
Deckmaster
Beta
Captain van der Decken
Altharis