'Mid the Sagebrush and the Cactus
by Victor Gijsbers (2010)
Genres: Western

They shot you in the leg, the sheriff or one of his men, but you still managed to get away. You always manage to get away. And while they're off pursuing you to, who knows, perhaps Colorado, you have quietly made your way back to where it all began. What better place to rest? In "'Mid the Sagebrush and the Cactus", the player will have to use a tactical combination of talking and fighting to survive a meeting with David -- the son of the man he has just killed.

action: %
response: `Mid the sagebrush and the cactus

Start new game - Easy      : Press E
Start new game - Normal    : Press N
Start new game - Hard      : Press H
Start new game - Extreme   : Press X
Restore game               : Press R
Quit                       : Press Q

game; although it is thematically important that the protagonist is dependent on the strumpet Fortune, it's probably more important for you to gently learn the system. Graduate to the normal
difficulty when you feel ready. The hard difficulty is for
those who have already learned to game the system and wish to test their skills. The extreme difficulty is only for those
seeking a formidable, perhaps impossible, challenge.
action: Go east
response: They shot you in the leg, the sheriff or one of his men, but you still managed to get away. You always manage to get away. And while they're off pursuing you to, who knows, perhaps Colorado, you have quietly made your way back to where it all began. What better place to rest?

With a grunt of pain you descend from your horse and lie down near the water. How good it would be to just close your eyes for a moment and sleep... but you know that you've got to take that bullet out first.

"They all said I was crazy, but I knew you'd be coming back
here," says a young voice behind you.

`Mid the sagebrush and the cactus

You are lying next to a small stream, screened off from the wider plains by the sagebrush around you. An ideal place to hide -- or so you thought.

David stares at you, a revolver unsteady in his hand.

"Why did you do it?" he asks, perhaps closer to tears than to pulling the trigger.
action: About yourself
response: Sweaty, blood-stained -- you have seen better days. But nobody would pick a fight with you in a bar.
action: You examine david
response: He's young, about the age you were when you left for the Mexican War. And not even as tough.
action: You explain
response: "Will you believe me when I tell you your father deserved to die? I doubt it. But it's true."

"I shouldn't be talking to you. I just ought to shoot you right now!" David blurts out.
action: Placate
response: (David)
"Maybe you should, but... you've never killed a man before, have you?" He doesn't reply, but you know the answer. Knew it before you asked the question. It's written all over him.

"My father was a great man. A peaceful man! He never did anybody no harm, he was no fighter. What did you have against him?"
action: You think
response: You sort of like this boy. His father... that was different. No regrets there.

(You are now slightly concentrated.)

"You probably think that just because you're a bad-ass desperado, and because I am a green boy, you are invulnerable and can toy with me and tell me all kinds of lies. But you're wrong!"
action: Placate
response: (David)
"Let's talk, David, there's no need to hurry. As you can see, I'm not exactly going anywhere."

"Even if you did have a reason to kill my father, how about raping my sister? Huh?"
action: You explain
response: "When a man and a woman meet and then have sex because they both want to, we don't call it rape, David."

"Yeah? Well, my sister called it rape, when I found the two of you here at the creek!"
action: Placate
response: (David)
"What about... what about you just ride into town and get a doctor for me? My leg is hurting like all hell. On a Sunday."

"I think I've heard enough of your so-called explanations." David grabs the gun with two hands in order to steady his aim, and points it at you.
action: You think
response: The moment the boy's father saw your face, he knew what you had come to do. "You're here to kill me," he said. It wasn't a question.

(You are now slightly concentrated.)

"My father will be revenged," David whispers.
action: You think
response: And you didn't answer. That would have been fatal: the second he needed to get to his gun.

(You are now somewhat concentrated.)

The boy's bullet hits you in the shoulder, only inches away from the jugular. You are in even more terrible pain than before. Your train of thought is derailed.
action: Placate
response: (David)
"Just calm down. We need to talk, before you start doing anything hasty and foolish."

David seems to pull himself together.
action: Placate
response: (David)
"Believe me, your father was no saint. If you had known even half of what he had done, you would have killed him yourself."

David seems to pull himself together.
action: You explain
response: "Well, if your sister said it, it must be true, mustn't it? I'm sure your father believed her as well, and didn't, oh, lock her up or anything?"

David looks abashed.

"So what did my father do to you?"
action: You explain
response: "He didn't do anything to me, but he did do something to a friend of mine called Billy. Billy was a nice boy, a little rough around the edges maybe, but at his core there was no evil. You remind me of him."

"Call that an explanation? You're just liar!" David points his gun at your heart, about to pull the trigger.
action: Appeal
response: (David)
"Come on, David, you've got to listen to my whole story."

"I'm listening -- but this had better be good." He wipes the sweat from his forehead. "Well, what about this Billy?"
action: You explain
response: "David, you see, Billy was with us in Pancho's posse, or whatever you'd call a bunch of citizens who went over the border to help with the war effort. And while in Mexico, this Billy guy fell in love with a woman. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen."

"But the woman fell in love with my father, they had a row about it, and my father shot this Billy of yours?"
action: You explain
response: "No, not exactly, no. See, this woman wasn't just any kind of woman, she was what we might call a drab, a whore, a prostitute. And your father and she had an... they had... O God my leg hurts! ... they had an argument, about money. About payment."

"So what happened? Billy intervened?" David spits the question at you as if it were a bullet.
action: You explain
response: "No, Billy did not intervene. I mean, he would have if he had had the chance, but he was too late. Because, you see, your father didn't like being argued with. And he didn't like being argued with by a whore, and even less being argued with by a Mexican. So he just took out his gun and shot her. Through the heart. Like, dead. Billy was waiting his turn downstairs, so he hadn't heard the argument. But he did hear the shot."

"Enough talk!" David aims his gun at your head.
action: Appeal
response: (David)
"Don't shoot! I have so much more to tell you about your father."

"Sure you can tell me a lot... of lies."

The BANG of the pistol reaches your ear at the same moment that the bullet reaches your back. You feel your life slowly deserting you.
action: Placate
response: (David)
"If you'll just talk to me, I'll tell you everything. And then, at the end, you can make a decision. Shoot me or not shoot me. Is that a deal?"

David starts reloading his revolver.
action: You think
response: He didn't really stick out when you first met him, the father. Just one of the boys of Pancho's gang, one more gun against the Mexicans.

(You are now slightly concentrated.)

David finishes reloading his revolver.
action: Appeal
response: (David)
You need to do more explaining before you can appeal.
action: Placate
response: (David)
You have exhausted your store of placating things to say.
action: You think
response: But it didn't take long before he rose in the ranks, informal as they were. Might even have taken over Pancho's place if he hadn't been so reckless. Not that the other guys where much given to careful deliberation, but even in that group he was know as "the madman".

(You are now somewhat concentrated.)

"My father will be revenged," David whispers.
action: You think
response: He didn't really stick out when you first met him, the father. Just one of the boys of Pancho's gang, one more gun against the Mexicans.

(You are now slightly concentrated.)

"You're really gonna die this time," David hysterically tells you.
action: Taunt
response: (David)
You try to speak, but only a gasp of pain comes out.

The bullet goes straight through your brain. You stare at the sun. Was it ever this bright? you wonder as it slowly expands to fill your field of vision. Was it?

Then you sink down to the earth.
action: Go east
response: They shot you in the leg, the sheriff or one of his men, but you still managed to get away. You always manage to get away. And while they're off pursuing you to, who knows, perhaps Colorado, you have quietly made your way back to where it all began. What better place to rest?

With a grunt of pain you descend from your horse and lie down near the water. How good it would be to just close your eyes for a moment and sleep... but you know that you've got to take that bullet out first.

"They all said I was crazy, but I knew you'd be coming back
here," says a young voice behind you.

`Mid the sagebrush and the cactus

You are lying next to a small stream, screened off from the wider plains by the sagebrush around you. An ideal place to hide -- or so you thought.

David stares at you, a revolver unsteady in his hand.

"Why did you do it?" he asks, perhaps closer to tears than to pulling the trigger.
action: You explain
response: "Will you believe me when I tell you your father deserved to die? I doubt it. But it's true."

David wipes away his tears.
action: You think
response: Shooting down tough gunslinging asswipes is something you do for breakfast -- but this boy? That's not really your style.

(You are now slightly concentrated.)

"I shouldn't be talking to you. I just ought to shoot you right now!" David blurts out.
action: You think
response: And not just because he's so young and innocent... there's also, you know, that nagging feeling that he is justified and you are not.

(You are now somewhat concentrated.)

"My father was a great man. A peaceful man! He never did anybody no harm, he was no fighter. What did you have against him?"
action: You explain
response: "You haven't seen every side of him, David. I knew him long ago, in the Mexican war. Your father wasn't so peaceful then, when he was the most irregular of our whole band of irregulars. Not very peaceful at all."

David ponders his options for a moment.
action: You think
response: But then again: you can't afford to be sentimental right now.

(You are now highly concentrated.)

"You know, I didn't come here to talk, but to fight." David's finger tightens on the trigger of his gun.
action: Dodge
response: You try to roll aside in an unpredictable manner.

David's bullet flies past your head, harmless.
action: You think
response: But then again: you can't afford to be sentimental right now.

(You are now highly concentrated.)
action: You stand
response: "Don't move!", David threatens somewhat hesitantly, but you get up anyway. Seems you can stand, as long as you hold this sagebrush for support.

"You're really gonna die this time," David hysterically tells you.
action: Taunt
response: (David)
"You shouldn't be playing with your daddy's gun. Not that he'll need it anymore."

The deadly lead misses you. Another few seconds to live.
action: You examine the gun
response: (your revolver)
One of the wonders of human civilization.
action: You examine the david's natural weapon
response: Clenched fists, kicking feet--that kind of stuff.
action: You look at what you're carrying with you
response: You are carrying:
your revolver (3 of 6 shots left)
your knife
action: Ready
response: What do you want to ready?
action: Gun
response: (your revolver)
"Don't do that!", David warns, but of course you don't listen. It feels good to have a gun in your hand.

"You're really gonna die this time," David hysterically tells you.
action: Taunt
response: (David)
"You're going to shoot me here, right on the spot where I enjoyed your sister? How romantic!"

His aim is too careless, and David's bullet strikes the ground behind you.
action: Shoot
response: (David)
A hit, a very palpable hit! David staggers back, watching the shot wound in disbelief. "I... I didn't think you could hit me."
action: Shoot
response: revolver.

(David)
Your bullet lodges itself in David's leg. He grunts in pain and tears stream down his face -- but he doesn't seem to be ready to give up just yet.

"He was in the Mexican war? I... I didn't know. But that was twenty-five years ago! Who cares about that?"
action: Shoot
response: (David)
You take a deep breath, concentrate, aim for the head -- BANG. You close your eyes because you don't want to see what he looks like in death.

Exhausted, you fall into an uneasy sleep. When you wake up the sun is setting, and you know you must take the bullet out now. It's not going to be pretty, but you are tough. The toughest man this side of the border. It's only on the other side that you break down.