Very well written!

The thudding of four dozen hooves woke Warren during the night, the approaching horses lightly vibrating the walls of his bedroom.  Warren felt under his pillow for his pistol and cylinder bag and reached for the shotgun underneath his bed, lifting it to his shoulder. Light-footing it down the stairs he tip-toed to the back door, opened it and crept into the night.  Barefooted he raced to the barn, opened the door and slapped his horse's rump sending it off into the distance.  Turning to the chicken coop he opened the door and snuck inside, queasily lowering himself underneath the roosting pole.  The hens cackled above him, pushing out late night droppings that plopped down upon his head, shoulders and feet.

Warren heard boots kicking in his front door...sharp and sarcastic retorts peppering the air as the thugs ransacked his house and barn.  He smiled to himself.  They could search all they wanted to, but would never find what they were looking for.  As insurance, he had safely hidden the investigation information and only one man had the key.  Behan pushed out through the front door onto the veranda and stopped, lighting a cigar, Pete Spence joining him.  Warren heard snippets of conversation float through the open windows toward him - "...not here...his horse is gone...nothin'...".  His focus on the talk in front of him was so great that he never saw the shadow approaching where he squatted, hidden among the smelly fowl.

Billy hadn't eaten in hours and the hunger gnawed sharply at his belly. He stepped to the slightly open door of the chicken coop in front him and reached for the handle...chicken sounded wonderful.  Wood dust wafted through the opening and into his nose, causing him to sneeze sharply.  Tobacco juice aspirated into his esophagus and he gagged. 

Warren stiffened as he heard someone sneeze outside.  He carefully raised the shotgun toward the door as it creaked open slightly, and pulled the 1st trigger setting off a squawking and cackling chicken frenzy as the poor birds darted and flapped in all directions.

A wave of nausea doubled Billy over and he spat his wad of tobacco into the dirt before him as a hollow boom splintered the door sending wooden pieces and lead shot blasting into the darkness.   The kinetic energy slammed Billy to his right hip and he rolled with the blow, drawing his pistol left-handed from the small of his back.  He switched it to his right and crawled to crouch behind the adjacent wall as chickens began fleeing the coop into the night.

"Ed!  Geoff!  The rest of you boys get out here, we got trouble!", Behan called into the house.  The gang split into pairs, exiting the house through the front back and side doors and even a few windows.  The first 2 pairs of outlaws rushed the front door of the coop, 2 entering guns blazing with the other 2 covering them.  5 shots rang out, 1 of the thieves stumbled out of the coop door clutching his belly tripping over a chicken, the other fell across the doorway his head a red and pink/gray shattered mess. The 2 covering spun away from the coop, one holding his right arm and the other with a hand to his face.  A moment later a single shot rang out and the wounded man's head snapped forward and he dropped to the ground.  The outlaw that was holding his head slumped to the ground and leaned back against the outside wall of the chicken coop to die.  Billy quickly grabbed one of the dead men's pistols and crawled on his belly away from the fight as more of his gang members sprinted toward the coop, arms extended and palms snapping the hammers of their pistols as fast as they could.  Hot lead sleeted through the coop from 2 different directions, punching holes through the walls and chickens in an avalanche of noise.  "Damn" Billy whispered harshly to himself as he felt the small hole in his pant leg that was oozing a trickle of blood. 

Inside of the coop, Warren was ducked down with his hands over his head as the hail of lead continued.  He thrust back with his legs, hoping the noise of the shots would cover his brute-force exit.

Behan and Pete reached the coop from the opposite side.  The sheriff swore as one of his bullets pierced both walls to hit one of his mobbies in the leg, spinning him to the ground.  Pete stood slightly back, eyes moving quickly from side to side, watching the fight in front of him.  He started as the boom of a shotgun again broke through the night.  A chicken exploded in a burst of pink mist and brown feathers and 2 more gang members fell to the ground twitching and moaning in pain.  He turned to gaze curiously at the barn.  Pete Spence may have not have been an honest Texas Ranger, but his decade old training was whispering to him and his instincts were as sharp as ever. 

Warren poked his head through the hole in the back of the coop and slowly moved his head from left to right looking for enemies.  Seeing no one within sight he crawled through the opening and crouched outside, his vision crystal clear and his hearing sharply tuned to the sound of footsteps and gun shots. He replaced the cylinder in his pistol with a fresh one, dropping the two remaining cylinders into the pocket of his night gown and the bag onto the ground.  He leaned forward slightly with his gun in hand and the silhouette of a man appeared off of the right back corner.  Warren raised the pistol toward the sky and fired upward through the man's jaw, a fountain of blood and bone fragments jetting out of the top of his target's head.  Even before the man had begun to fall, Warren fired again 3 more times at the man standing next to him, the lead angels of death transfixing his heart and exploding out of his back.  Warren peered around the corner to
see one man on the ground clutching his leg and another crawling away. He pressed the fingertips of his left hand on the ground, leaned forward and sprang upright sprinting toward the barn, the rear flap of his night gown fluttering in the breeze.    The outlaw on the ground grimaced and raised his pistol as Warren sprinted past, his arms pumping furiously.  The thug blinked and shook his head to clear his sight; he couldn't focus through all of the pain.  In his peripheral vision, Warren saw the man raise his gun and he swept his right arm out, pistol extended, and launched a single round through the man's left eye. 
He swiftly reloaded, breathing heavily as he ran.

Sheriff Behan saw the figure running toward the barn and turned back to Pete, "Come on let's...Pete!. He turned around 360 degrees and saw no sign of Pete Spence. He jogged around the coop to find Billy Claiborne still on the ground.  "Get up and fight, you coward! You're not running from this one!"  Billy grunted with pain as he rose unsteadily to his feet and followed Behan toward the darkened structure, accidentally stepping on a chicken along the way.  The bird screeched in pain and darted off to the left.

Warren slowed to a trot as he approached the open barn and aimed himself at Betsy's stall.  She was an older mare and not as swift as Petunia, but tonight hopefully she would save his life.  He felt the sharp sting in his shoulder a split second before he heard the shot.  Warren slammed against a support pillar, his ears ringing, lost his balance and fell to the ground.  In front of him Betsy reared up and whinnied in fright as he rolled to his left gaining protective cover behind a rusty plow.  Peeking over the plow he saw the corrupt sheriff and Claiborne.  Behan and Warren looked at each other silently.  No more words were necessary.  Tonight only one of them would walk away from this.  In a blur of movement, Warren had his pistol over the top of the plow and was firing rapidly at both outlaws who ducked and turned to avoid the flurry of lead, finding themselves cover behind the barn's support pillar and cast iron stove.  Warren's pistol hammer clicked on an empty chamber and he lowered the gun in front of him, reaching into his pocket for the last cylinder.  His left hand trembled and fumbled with the cylinder, his shoulder blazing in agony.  He pulled the lever and the empty cylinder dropped free to the ground.  He shakily began to insert the loaded one when he felt an unbearable pressure in the middle of his back and warm sticky fluid splashed out of his chest onto his hands and pistol.  All sound stopped and he dropped the pistol as he pitched forward onto his hands and knees, stunned and deaf from the point blank gun shot behind him.  He barely had time to turn his head over his right shoulder and register the image of Pete Spence holding a pistol just inches from the side of his head, when there was a flash of light and fire.  Everything went dark and Warren knew no more. 

Pete Spence watched as Warren pitched forward, his ruined head thumping against the plow in front of him, and slid to the ground.   "Tsk..." Pete said with his tongue against his right front teeth, "well damn, son!  Tonight just wasn't your night."  He looked up and saw a beautiful young mare walking uncertainly toward the barn, her nostrils flared and twitching.  Holstering his pistol he smiled warmly and called out, "Hey there pretty girl!  You're coming home with me."  Pete reached into his pocket and pulled out a half eaten apple.  He reached out with it in his left and clicked his tongue at the horse.  "Come on girl...got a treat for you."

Warren Earp (Gwynedd) is now dead.

*** It is now day phase.  You have until 0200 to cast your votes ***

Righto!

In honor of Gwyn, I present you, our 2nd mobbie!  Lets do this people!  I'm an investigated townie:

09:00    Torqez    why so mobbie?
09:00    Gwynn|gone    not mobbie at all
09:00    Gwynn|gone    for instance
09:00    Gwynn|gone    i know you were investigated by oxygen and are a townie
09:00    Gwynn|gone   
09:00    Torqez   
09:01    Torqez    how do u know this?
09:01    Gwynn|gone    i just dont trust you because you are psycho
09:01    Gwynn|gone    if you werent playing this round so strangely i would trust you with that info
09:01    Gwynn|gone    bu as you persist with being random, no
09:01    Torqez    umm
09:02    Torqez    Do you not think i'd still play in town's interest?
09:02    Torqez    that hurts, coming from you
09:02    Torqez    you basicalyl say i'm like flint
09:02    Gwynn|gone    i hope you would, but im not so sure whether you would or whether you'd play for the long term goal of playing any role
09:02    Torqez    pft, thats what hurts
09:02    Torqez    that you'd think so little of me
09:02    Gwynn|gone    hmm
09:02    Gwynn|gone    in any case, if i hadn't changed my mind i wouldn't have mentioned you being investigated, would i
09:03    Gwynn|gone    we need our town on side
09:03    Torqez    yep
09:03    Torqez    It's cos I have someoen else pming me
09:03    Torqez    telling me stuff
09:03    Torqez    but i dont trust them
09:03    Gwynn|gone    who?
09:03    Torqez    so i took a hunch and pmed u
09:03    Torqez    since
09:03    Torqez    before all this hit the fan
09:03    Torqez    i trusted u
09:03    Torqez    can't say atm, cos he has 'some' credible info for now
09:03    Gwynn|gone    im warren earp, the cop and roleblocker
09:03    Torqez    ok, proof?
09:04    Gwynn|gone    hence how i know you are townie
09:04    Gwynn|gone    you were investigated
09:04    Gwynn|gone    lol
09:04    Gwynn|gone    ive been working with arby and oxy from the start

ergo..

Voting EvilRunt.

No time to waste now!

Voting ER

Late shift tonight, gonna go ahead and cast a vote for Tia to make sure I get one in.

Voting Tia

Indeed, I'm missing Torqez' reasoning behind voting ER, as he isn't mentioned once in the posted logs

Voting Tia

01:20:27: <Gwynn|gone> arby contacted you?
01:20:35: <Torqez> yes
01:21:07: <Gwynn|gone> after you were investigated?
01:21:18: <Torqez> yes
01:21:29: <Gwynn|gone> mm, i told him to, i just wanted to make sure
01:21:40: <Gwynn|gone> so where in that do you get that er is the mole?
01:22:15: <Torqez> no, im just suspect him of him knowing too much
01:22:17: <Torqez> based on nothing
01:22:22: <Gwynn|gone> mm
01:22:23: <Torqez> ie, i dont see oxy having a reason to trust him
01:22:31: <Gwynn|gone> problem is i dont know how much info oxy shared with him
01:22:35: <Gwynn|gone> i dont think oxy told him he was cop
01:22:36: <Torqez> point is
01:22:39: <Gwynn|gone> he told him he was the pivot
01:22:41: <Gwynn|gone> in fact
01:22:57: <Torqez> if he was the pivot, still a reason to get him killed
01:23:11: <Torqez> er is a good player - its definitely in his limits to play this kinda role
01:23:17: <Torqez> not saying he is, just saying to be wary
01:23:42: <Gwynn|gone> this is from yesterday:
01:23:46: <Gwynn|gone> well partly
01:23:52: <Gwynn|gone> and partly from day 1
01:23:53: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:24] <EvilRunt> only person i think i have a real line on is alundra
01:23:53: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:24] <EvilRunt> and i think shes townie role or special role
01:23:53: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:24] <EvilRunt> so speak some words with her
01:23:53: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:24] <Oxygen>
01:23:53: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:24] <EvilRunt> later and see what you can extract
01:23:53: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:24] <Oxygen> I'd rather you do this, if possible
01:23:53: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <Oxygen> work as my pivot?
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <EvilRunt> and speak of the devil
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <EvilRunt> she pops online
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <Oxygen> lol
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <Oxygen> you think you could work some words on her?
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <Oxygen> to see if she's a power role?
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <EvilRunt> i'll talk with her
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <Oxygen> I could really use doc as protection
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <EvilRunt> and see if she has anything worth mentioning
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:42:17] <Arbolio3> I sent message to Torqez
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:49:09] <&Gwynn|gone> fuck i hope we have this right
01:23:54: <Gwynn|gone> [11:40:15] <&Gwynn|gone> [13:26] <&Oxygen> [21:25] <Oxygen> so I can at least do one useful thing
01:24:32: <Torqez> <Oxygen> I'd rather you do this, if possible
01:24:32: <Torqez> <Oxygen> work as my pivot?
01:24:36: <Torqez> <Oxygen> I could really use doc as protection
01:24:38: <Gwynn|gone> mmm
01:24:40: <Gwynn|gone> yeah
01:24:41: <Torqez> yeah, he knew alright

Then later...

01:50:33: <Torqez> if we stop being so paranoid
01:50:35: <Torqez> and consider er as town
01:50:43: <Torqez> could perhaps block him instead
01:50:46: <Torqez> and investigate someone else?
01:50:56: <Gwynn|gone> nah, id rather investigate ER
01:51:04: <Torqez> k
01:51:06: <Gwynn|gone> if he is mob, then we can come out in the open
01:51:21: <Torqez> k

nothing has come out in the open???
but straight speculation

bleh, that last line is:

01:16:43: <Gwynn|gone> so im a dead man then

Because I am the investigated Townie.  Even as per ER's admission

since he's feeling neglected...

voting EvilRunt  =^.^=