"The last fragment of a once living planet." "Its body blasted into dust by the madness of its own inhabitants, while its head was cursed to roam aimlessly through time and space, screaming in pain and sorrow." "In legend and in fact, it is known as" "Metal Hurlant." "The sheriff?" "Yeah, you'll find him over there." "Thank you kindly." "So you had a look around." "This is the town of Totem for you." "Not much to look at." "But we kinda prefer it that way." "Wanna drink?" "Things got quieter these days." "Much quieter." "But since you're here," "I guess you've heard the stories." "And of course about the doctor." "This was a long time ago." "Doc!" "What happened?" "The hell you think happened in our town?" "He got shot, and I need him." "Maybe the Murphys." "Hold his head and fill him with whiskey." "Well, the doctor was something like the opposite of what a man would call an expert." "Whiskey was never enough to save 'em on his own." "It's gonna be a long night." "Oh, God." "Hey, bite this." "This is gonna hurt." "Not again." "Well, doc, maybe one day you'll save me a witness." "I should have gone easy on him at the time." "It would have helped ease things for later." "I think you need to be alone, thinking about your inadequate skills." "Well, those, um, skills were soon to become a major problem." "How could I kill him?" "I've sworn an oath!" "I swore to save them all!" "3:00 o'clock in the morning." "How can I be so drunk on my own?" "I can't save anybody." "I'm a..." "I'm a..." "I'm a two-bit apothecary." "These hands belong to a shill in a medicine show." "The Hell?" "Aah!" "My hands!" "Oh, god!" "My hands!" "Oh, god!" "From this night on, nothing would ever be the same." "Down this side, don't get a wild reputation unless it earns it." "Men shooting Heaven and Hell out of each other." "It was a long time ago." "Back then, we had doctor's surgery with hardly any medical equipment." "To speak of." "Hell, we had whisky." "As disinfectant for the wounds..." "Yep, yep, I know." "I know." "Here you go." "Here you go." "As something to dull the pain." "That..." "And a doctor with a healing touch." "Vibrations from Doc Rowan's fingers moved bullets away from vital organs, making them much easier to remove." "Bullet was lodged dangerously close to the artery, my friend." "Or so he claimed." "You'll live now." "Thing was, the proof was there for all to see." "An overcrowded one, at that." "It'd be another month before the man from the city came collecting for prisoners." "In the midst of a man..." "Playing a god." "It was as if a hand had been under the blood and guts and sinew of the town..." "And exposed everything in there." "All the tensions within Totem suddenly... unleashed." "With long standing squabbles coming to the surface." "And nothing holding 'em back." "At least not the fear of death." "You guys are lucky." "Few months ago, you would have been dead meat." "But by God..." "I can do more than just patch you up." "You know, being patient is one important quality if you don't want your doc to mess up." "Well, it's a sure bet you won't be winning any beauty pageants soon, but in some sort of odd way, this might improve your life." "Help me, doc." "No, I'm not forgetting about you." "Please." "Be a good patient." "The wounds a man should rightly die of..." "Rowan, using his gift as good as his word, he did more than save and patch 'em up." "As good as sending 'em out to do it again." "I was overrun." "Faced with the prospect of arresting the whole town." "Word was spreading'." "Say a feud to settle, or looking for a wild time." "You come to Totem." "Sure of the knowledge the wounded have a much higher chance of surviving..." "So came the Murphy gang." "Sheriff Jones, looks like we've got some visitors..." "You're telling me." "It's the Murphys." "They've been a pain in the backside for so long." "They feel invincible." "as if that tattoo on their arm helps them to cheat death." "Tattoo?" "Yeah." "Every member of the gang gets one on their left forearm." "Supposed to bring 'em luck." "I'll say..." "Done right up till now." "Well, I'm not sure they're lucky as I am." "Keep an eye on them, Ben." "But watch yourself." "I don't want you involved with them in any gambling games, you hear me?" "One time in your damn life, you just stay out of trouble." "Yeah." "You have my word." "Come on, come on, boys." "You and I, we should go upstairs." "Well, I guess..." "This is my lucky day." "Man, I'm sure my missus will know how to thank me, guys." "This is gonna be Ben's day." "Or not." "Nobody move." "A gang of cutthroat thieves she could ever hope to meet." "The Murphys." "By this time, my options were fewer by the minute." "Okay, let's play again." "Town had gone to Hell." "And I know who was to blame." "Doc, a word?" "Can't you see I'm busy, sheriff?" "I said a word." "All right." "We can use the side room." "It ends here." "You leave this town now." "You know, when I came to Totem," "I had nothing." "No equipment." "Whiskey's all I had." "Some call it the water of life." "But then..." "That light hit me." "My hands." "Are you blind, sheriff?" "Something miraculous is happening." "And, uh, life is precious." "And Totem is my calling." "You may recollect, doc," "I put a gun to your head." "That kind of bullet so aimed would put even one of your miracles to the test." "What'll it take, doc?" "How much you prepared to lose?" "What the--?" "Which one of you Murphy bastards is killing my townfolk?" "Thank you." "Too much anger." "Hands shaking." "Never had a chance." "The taste of blood, whiskey in my mouth." "Guts hanging in the wind." "Bullets are wedged deep, sheriff." "Tore a hole right through your stomach." "Normally, be too difficult to remove." "Normally, you'd bleed to death." "But you're in my hands now." "Murphys." "Yeah, it's not your problem anymore." "Soon, you'll be better." "And I'm sure you'll find the wisdom to deal with them." "Deal." "What deal?" "I stared into his eyes." "I knew he had a hold over me." "He saved my life." "He'll never leave Totem." "I had to do what anyone with an ounce of sense would do to save this town." "Murphys soon tired of the place and left." "But not before Doc helped them on their way." "Using his skill in the wounded, his miraculous healing touch." "That was the deal, apparently." "Of course, they left." "But not without a sting in the tail." "Not before burning most of Totem to the ground." "But the town people, they stayed." "They built the place back up again." "So..." "I guess you wanna settle in?" "You're not the first one who comes to town with hopes of being the new doc." "Truth is, we don't need a doc here anymore." "Like I said, things are quieter now." "You know, most of the docs usually excuse themselves right now." "And thank me for my time." "But something tells me you're not planning on doing that." "You got that right, sheriff." "Now, where do I sign up?" "Bad call." "Totem used to be known for its doctor." "But now it's quieter." "Now people say, "here's the place the sherriff can't be beat by death no more."" "Oh, and the whiskey?" "Found another use."