Lebel 1886
LEBEL 1886. (See also, RIFLES) The Lebel 1886, adopted by the French Army, was the first military-issued smokeless powder rifle. It stayed at the forefront of armaments when in 1893 the majority were retrofitted with an improved bolt-action receiver. Smokeless powder was evolutionary, and at the time the Lebel outranged all black powder weapons. The namesake of the rifle was Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas Lebel, who designed the 8mm round. He protested, as in his belief General Tramond who led the team deserved the namesake.
The Lebel sported an eight-round barrel magazine, which was relatively light. Cartridges were brought to the barrel via an elevator. Reloading the magazine was also done through this elevator, making the process relatively slow, especially compared to magazine fed rifles. The cartridges, though full length, were only 8mm. This made them lighter to carry, reduced the recoil, and their power was compensated for by smokeless powder
Unpublished manuscript, "Bad As They Seem"
Author: Hayden Collins
Undated
Bleached paper, typewritten, 8.5x11 in
-8-
Jos lay sprawled on the floor of the small cabin, and the deflated leeches she had cut from her body littered the floor around her. She wrapped her fingers around the handle of her sledgehammer, a sweet comfort. She could not move her legs, and she did not know when the numbing effect of the leeches' saliva would subside.
Fin stood beside her, her back to the mountain of flesh on the floor, dead and motionless at last. (Had it ever truly been alive?) She faced the small man who huddled on a small cot near the dead fire and began to reload her gun. The man shuddered, muttering quietly as his eyes darted between the two women. He was covered in sores and caked in dirt, obviously terrified and desperate, but there was an intelligence in his eyes that moved beyond the fear.
Outside, crickets chirped incessantly, punctuated by a mammalian moan, an owl's deep-voiced call, or the low gulping of a toad. Night had fallen upon them as harshly, and as suddenly, as the Meathead.
Fin finished reloading and stood staring at the man as he continued to mutter. "Never at night, never at night, they've, cabin, never, my notes notes notes, night notes."His words fell in staccato bursts. His cheeks were caked with puss and blood, washed clean only where tears streamed down his face.
"Who is the woman on the tree?'Fin asked.
His body went rigid and then his face fell into his hands in a moaning slurry of words: "Oh Mary Mary Mary, oh Marv Marv Marv Marv Marv. I. I. I."
Fin looked to her sister, catching her eye for the length of one nod, looked back up at the man, and shot him in the head
Unpublished manuscript, "Bad As They Seem
Author: Hayden Collins
Undated
Bleached paper, typewritten, 8.5x11 in
-9-
Twins. Doubles. Deux. Qupa. The oath of two was all the more powerful when they spoke it, doubling as it reflected between them. Two mirrors facing each other, infinite, and expanding with each utterance. They found comfort in the repetition of the words. In the name of two, bound by blood. Let us drink from the fountain of death. Here's to the hunter. Here's to the hunted. For we are the blood and we are the body. We are the bullet, and we are the knife. Let us drink from the fountain of death. Our thirst shall never be quenched.
It was as on any other day, though on this day, they had slaughtered a monster, had peeled fist-sized leeches from reddening skin, and had killed a man for torturing an innocent woman. Since their initiation, many other days had been just like it. Mirrors in time.
The violence of their lives - begun in death and blood, and riding along that slick surface still - was the violence of their days was the very fabric of the world. People said the West had been won, but Jos and Fin knew there were still wilds, had seen and destroyed what roamed the deadlands, had cut the blackened hearts from the chests of callous and evil men. As they walked out of the swamp they spoke idly of dinner. As on any other day.
Lynch watched them, biding her time, looking to the cards for patience. They were almost ready now.
