Len stared in disbelief as Tony fell to the ground, blood and brain matter spilling over his trademark blue bandana and onto the grass.

The kid stood there, couldn't be more than twelve, thirteen years old, wearing a cowboy hat. He held a pistol in his outstretched hand, still for a moment, letting the echo of the blast fade.

The kid took a few shaky steps towards some dead guy on the ground before Len shoved him hard. The kid stumbled and fell, dropping his gun. Len kicked him in the side before he could get back up and bent to snatch the kid's gun.

Gasping, the kid tried to get up again. He was a persistent little punk, Len would give him that much.

Someone else was coming.

Len grabbed the back of the kid's jacket and yanked him to his feet.

"Dad, no," the kid was trying to say something, probably to the dead guy lying beside Joe.

"Shut up," Len ordered.

He held the kid in front of him, one arm tight across his chest, pinning his arms down, his other hand gripping the pistol.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Len pointed the gun at the kid's head as another person showed up.

A dark-skinned woman with long dreadlocks and a fierce expression slowed to a stop in front of Len.

"Easy now, don't make me do this!" Len said, looking her over for weapons.

She wasn't carrying a gun, as far as Len could tell, but she had something slung over her shoulder. Len was almost certain that was a samurai sword. Who did she think she was, Xena the Warrior Princess?

"Let him go," the woman said evenly.

"Nah, not just yet," Len retorted, adjusting his grip on the kid.

"Dad..." the kid whimpered and struggled. Didn't look so tough now, without his hat and his gun.

The woman's eyes flicked over to the third dead man on the ground near Joe and Tony.

"Now, hand over the sword, Xena, and nobody gets hurt, alright?" Len said, knowing that it was a lie even as he said it.

The kid had shot Tony in cold blood. Len didn't even like Tony. Hell, he had practically strangled the guy over a claim to a bed just last week. Still, it was the principle of the thing. The kid had to pay for what he did.

"Carl, look at me," the woman said, holding her hands out in a placating gesture.

She took a small step towards Len, then another.

"Hey, listen to me," she said.

"Did you hear me, woman?! Toss the sword on the ground or the kid gets it!" Len yelled. He didn't care if any of those blasted corpses heard him, he wanted this over.

The woman's right hand moved slowly up and back, towards her shoulder. Her angry scowl was seriously off-putting, but Len let his eyes trace over the length of her body.

Well, on second thought, maybe he wouldn't kill her right away. After all, it had been weeks since-

"Carl, close your eyes."

Len looked up again at the sound of her voice and opened his mouth to shout another command but the words died in his throat when he caught sight of her expression.

The woman's face was calm, serene even, a look of focused concentration with the vaguest hint of a smile at the edges of her lips.

It was strange really, after all the death and sickness and horror that he'd witnessed since the world changed, it was that singular expression that frightened Len the most.

There was a flash of morning sunlight on silver, then red, everything red for a split second, then nothing.