What Went Wrong With Arlow?

He wasn't going to let no murderin' and thievin' alien sons of bitches jump his claim, no sir, not on his watch. He would brook no parasites in this county. When he was sure the truck would keep direction, he jumped out of the cab.

The explosion deafened Carly and Taylor and the fireball finally broke them out of their indecision. There was no way authorities wouldn't notice this. The explosion did their job for them, all of their jobs. Luckily, they were shielded by a hill because it could have been so much worse for them.

"Guess those weren't mulch bags," Carly muttered watching the fireball grow, grimacing at her ears ringing. That poor cowboy guy knew what he was doing, she thought, but had underestimated the effect. She didn't think he vaporized himself on purpose. He'd sounded angry, but the kind of angry that wanted to punish. Just probably not at such a high personal cost. She was sad for him because what little she saw of him, he seemed like a decent man.

Carly then realized she owed him because she was no longer tethered to that machine, she could now find something new to work on. She'd heard, but never got his name.

When the authorities ultimately got there, all they found were two giant holes in the ground, one bigger than the other. But nothing else. The news reported about dangers of unlicensed dumping for days and called for more regulation. Given what'd actually happened, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea, Carly thought, it'd warn someone the next time.

After a few days of cautiously dealing with federal investigators and insurance adjusters and exhausting all their searches for the sack they'd seen, Carly and Taylor gave up. The authorities were out for blood, following the money trail to a crooked mayor. Carly and Taylor were beyond certain no one would believe what they'd witnessed, so they kept those details to themselves. In truth, they themselves weren't even so sure of what they'd seen.

They packed up and prepared to make the long journey home. In the glove compartment of the Barracuda they found the cowboy's parting gift, a signed pink slip, so they took the car back home.