Due to my current addiction to Red Dead Redemption 2, my love for Left 4 Dead, and after seeing Linkin Park's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter trailer, I got the idea to conjure this story up. However, I still consider this as another project my friends and I are working on. So please give them credit too.

Anyway...let's ride, shall we?


"Fourscore and seven years ago…"

Gettysburg was a bloodbath. He stood in a daze trying to survey everything going on around him.

"Fire!"

A cannon was fired at the oncoming Confederates, taking out several of them.

"…our fathers brought forth, on this continent…"

"Look out, soldier!"

A fellow Union soldier pushed him out of the way as a stray bullet whizzed by.

"…a new nation, conceived in liberty…"

Then, emerging from the mist across them were more of the Confederate Army. And they were running right towards them. Curiously, they were not holding any weapons. They were just running hands free like wild animals.

"…and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

The last thing he saw was the…canine fangs…of one of those soldiers running towards him.


He awoke in cold sweat, panting. He looked around him. Nope. He wasn't in Gettysburg. He was in bed. In his home.

No cannons. No muskets. No rifles. No flags. No soldiers. Nothing.

Just him.

All alone.

He sighed in relief.

"Another nightmare."

Things weren't easy for Sergeant William Overbeck, or Bill as he liked to be called. The elderly Union veteran still had nightmares of his time during the war. He had lost many friends, comrades, brothers…

"Oh, we used to hold each other in the war."

Memories of the Civil War still haunted him. Almost none of them were pleasant. He thought about the battles, how bloody they were, as well as the address given by President Lincoln at Gettysburg. Yes. He was there to listen to it.

He just shook his head.

"What am I doing dwelling on the past? That was years ago."he told himself.

He sat down at his table, in deep thought, reflecting on the dream he just had. On the bright side, he got to see several of his dead friends again. It was refreshing to see their familiar faces. Even if they were just in a dream.

But that did nothing to brush off the strange feeling he had in his stomach. He thought that something was rather, "off" about the Confederate soldiers. He wondered why they weren't carrying any weapons. What kind of soldiers don't carry any weapons when they charge into battle?

"And what the hell were they doing biting my comrades on the necks?"

None of it made sense to him.

And besides, it was just a bad dream after all, right?


Nicolas DeBlasio was a con artist. He knew how to hoodwink people. He was smart, intelligent, cunning. That was what made him very well suited to being in the Van der Linde gang. Not to mention he was someone with a very formal sense of fashion. He always liked to dress in the best suits and jackets, even if they didn't quite give him the outlaw look.

He was standing in the mirror checking his reflection. Damn. Did he look good in that jacket.

"Mr. DeBlasio, please return that to Dutch's tent."

"What's the big deal, Miss Grimshaw?" Nick asked the gang's arbiter.

"The big deal is that you just took Dutch's jacket without asking him first."

"Well what would you expect? I'm an outlaw. We're all outlaws in this gang. We take things from people." Nick responded.

Susan Grimshaw just shrugged.

"Fair point. But just put that back where you got it. Manners still matter, you know."

Nick rolled his eyes.

"Will do."

Susan walked off, shaking her head. Then came Hosea, who walked towards Nick.

"Morning there, Nick." he greeted.

"Morning there, Hosea. Sleep well?"

"Very well. Thank you for asking."

There was silence for a while.

"I must admit, you look good in that jacket." Hosea spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Thanks. But I gotta put it back before Dutch sees me wearing it. I don't want him to kill me." said Nick.

"Don't worry, Nicky. Your secret is safe." Hosea said with a wink.

"Tell that to Miss Grimshaw. She was the one who caught me."

They looked to the distance and saw Sadie Adler, practicing knife fighting with no one in particular.

"How's she holding up?" Nick asked.

"She's still grieving." said Hosea. "But she's doing a whole lot better. Mrs. Adler's a strong one, she is."

"Damn right." Nick agreed. "I mean…remember how she killed those O'Driscolls before they had the chance to jump on us?"

Hosea chuckled.

"We all remember that."

Then out of nowhere, a gruff voice spoke up.

"Mornin' fellers."

The two men looked to see a mustachioed man heading towards them.

"Good morning, Arthur. Shaved the beard, I see?" Hosea greeted the man.

"Yeah. But as you can see, I kept the mustache. I like it too much."

"Can't blame you. It's always worth having cool facial hair." said Nick with a smirk.

Arthur scoffed in amusement.

"Any plans today, Arthur?" Hosea asked.

"Yeah. Planning on going hunting for more food with Charles, then we're gonna head to the saloon for drinks and a…couple of other things. Wanna come with?"

"I'll go!" said Nick.

"Sounds great, Nick. But be prepared for a whinefest, because we're taking Francis with us." said Arthur.

Nick groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Why does he have to come along?" he asked.

"We're trying to make him even more productive. When he ain't fighting, he's just as lazy as Uncle." Arthur responded.

"Hey, I got lumbago, you know?" said Uncle, who was walking by.

"Excuses, excuses, excuses…" muttered Arthur.

Charles Smith walked up to Nick and Arthur, holding his sawed-off shotgun at the ready.

"You guys ready to go?" he asked the other two men.

"Yep. I'm ready." said Nick.

Arthur nodded as well.

"Great."

The three men walked to their horses and quickly mounted them.

"Francis, come on! Let's go!" Charles shouted to the tall, goateed gang member who was drinking at a table with Reverend Swanson.

"What?! But I got lumbago too!" the outlaw responded.

"You're not old like Uncle. At least he can use that as an excuse. And plus, I saw you carrying a bunch of firewood yesterday without a problem. Now, let's get going, greaseball!" said Nick.

Francis grumbled. He pushed his glass aside and then walked over to the other men and mounted his Shire.

"Fine. But I hate hunting."

"Of course you do. You hate everything." said Arthur. "I hate things too. Such as your annoying ass."

"Shut. Up. Morgan." replied Francis.

Arthur just laughed.

"I know you love me."

With that, the quartet on horseback rode off from Horseshoe Overlook.

Hosea watched them ride off with a smile on his face. But the smile faded away as quickly as it appeared.

"What was that dream last night all about?"


That's gonna be it for now. The first few chapters of this story are gonna be relatively calm, but I assure you that the action will come before the tenth chapter.

Also, I would like to apologize for the fact that Duty Or Death still hasn't been updated. My friend is very busy with thesis papers and I still have some writer's block, but we plan to publish the next chapter when we can. Keep an eye out for it. I promise you, it's coming soon.