Hey guys! :) I'm so incredibly sorry for the delay. I've been busy with work and all. I'll be updating this much faster from now on so don't worry, be happy! :D
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Chapter 3: Thirteen
"Miss Allison... we're wondering if you've seen our father this morning?" Fred Campbell asked timidly as he entered the clinic with his ten year old brother in hand.
"I'm sorry Fred... the last I saw him was at the shop yesterday afternoon... he didn't come home last night?"
Little George junior began crying. Allison crouched down to comfort the poor boy with a hug.
"No M'am I... I don't think he did..." Fred said, his voice breaking mid sentence.
"It's okay... I'll help you both find him." Allison squeezed Fred's shoulder comfortingly, "He's probably just out picking herbs and hunt-"
Allison was interrupted by a man shouting for help. The three of them ran out of the clinic towards the voice. A large crowd was gathering just by the entrance to the town.
"Help us! Help us!"
The three heard the crowd gasp, some women even screaming in horror.
Allison broke through the crowd to find Sheriff Johnson placing the body of Uncle George on the ground. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock. Her beloved friend, Uncle George, had been shot in the head.
"Doctor Cameron, help him! Please..." The sheriff pleaded.
Allison dropped to her knees in despair as tears filled her eyes. It was clear to her and everyone else that Uncle George was already dead.
"What happened, Sheriff? Who the hell did this?" Someone in the crowd asked.
"It was them! Thirteen and his gang of filthy outlaws! They tried to rob George! I was patrolling the area for those bastards when I heard him screaming. So I went towards the sound. But I was too late... they had already shot him. I couldn't leave him there just like that... I couldn't!"
The crowd began crying angrily for justice to be served immediately.
Allison used her hand to shut George's bloodied eyelids. She looked up through her teary eyes to see Fred and George junior sobbing and hugging their mother who was crying hysterically. She had never before felt so much hatred for someone she hadn't even met in her life.
The funeral for Uncle George took place in the towns centre that night. Allison, and other townspeople, paid her respects and was about to head home when she saw Sheriff Johnson motion her over to his office.
As the young doctor approached his office, a smirked crept onto his face. He faked a sad smile when she got closer.
"Didn't pay your respects tonight, Sheriff?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"Did it earlier on, you just didn't see me." He said as he scratched the back of his neck with one hand, and held his cigar in the other.
"Well why did you call me over here for?" Allison asked impatiently.
"I received a telegram earlier today from the university in Blackwater."
"And..?"
"Looks like you're being certified and honoured for your hard work as a female doctor. They want you up there as soon as possible to accept a grant or a medal or something..." Sheriff said shrugging, reaching into his pocket to pull out the telegram.
Allison grabbed the paper in disbelief, eyes darting from left to right as she speed-read it.
"Oh my God... oh my God! Thi-this is HUGE!" Allison read it a second time just to be sure, "Finally I'm getting some recognition." She sighed sadly, "If only Uncle George could be here to see this."
Sheriff Johnson rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah whatever, hey listen to me, woman, since you're going to Blackwater, it would be extremely kind of you if you could me transport a few packages there."
"Sure, whatever..." Allison said distractedly, folding the piece of paper into half, "I can visit mum and dad when I'm up there!" she said to herself excitedly.
"And those outlaws, you don't have to worry about them, apparently they're far away from the route you're taking." He lied.
The mention of the outlaws made Allison cringe with anger, "I'm not afraid of those murderers."
"If you do happen to run into them, I suggest you tell them you're an innocent civilian passing through and offer them some cash. Whatever you do, don't let them take my packages. They are extremely important for the state of New Mexico."
"If I see them, they'll be dead in 5 seconds." Allison said bravely, "What are those packages anyway?"
"Oh just some medicinal stuff Blackwater wants to do research on..." The sheriff waved a hand to dismiss her, "I've already arranged for two horses and a carriage for your belongings and the packages. I suggest you start packing now; you leave tomorrow at the crack of dawn. Good luck."
With that, Allison left for home to pack and Sheriff Johnson left for the pub to celebrate the success of his brilliant plan – getting someone else other than himself to deliver the packages.
Dawn came and the carriage was fully packed with all of Allison's belongings, medical equipment and the sheriff's packages. She said her goodbyes and left as soon as the sun began rising, knowing she had a long and tiring journey ahead of her.
The first day of the journey was fairly smooth. Travelling in the forest where there was much shelter from the horrid sun was easy and Allison knew it would get harder over the next few days where she had to go through the desert heat. She kept an eye out for the mysterious outlaws, keeping her pistol by her side at all times, and spent her first night in a makeshift tent, eating food she had prepared that morning before she left. Her rifle hung at the side, just in case she got an opportunity to do some hunting.
Thinking about getting honoured by the state and seeing her parents in Blackwater made her smile and kept her going. She hadn't seen them in a few years. They would be incredibly surprised to see her and Allison was certain they would also be as proud as her of her achievement. Getting recognised and certified as a doctor was one of her dreams. It made her feel accomplished and important.
The blonde doctor was half way through her second day in the middle of the deserted forest when she sensed that something was wrong. It was far too quiet... She stopped the horses for a second, looking around her and listening intently for any sound of movement. Allison grabbed her rifle which had a scope attached to it; it wasn't as powerful as the scope sniper rifles had but it was good enough.
She looked through the scope and scanned the area thoroughly but found nothing or no one. She placed her rifle down by her side slowly, looked around cautiously, and started the horses moving again. Allison continued her journey for a minute or two before she spotted a figure about 80 metres in front of her. As soon as she spotted the familiar red bandana, she grabbed her rifle and hopped off the carriage, aiming it at the person who was on a horse in the middle of the path.
She looked through the scope, steadying her gun so that the crosshair aligned with the man's bandana. He definitely looked like the same person from the wanted posters but she wasn't entirely sure. To shoot or not to shoot, that was the question that ran through her mind.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" A man shouted from Allison's right hand side.
The startled doctor turned to her right and fired a shot out of reflex. The bullet hit the trunk of a big tree.
"Come out from behind the tree and face me like a man, you rotten thief!" Allison shouted as she quickly reloaded her gun.
"Come on now, we don't mean any harm..."
Allison fired again, this time at the voice that came from the left of the carriage. The bullet hit another tree dead in its centre. Allison struggled to reload her weapon speedily hearing the man on the horse riding towards her at full speed.
"Come on!" She muttered under her breath as she desperately tried to reload quickly. As soon as she heard the sound of the bullet clicking in, she aimed the gun at the horse-rider who was about 10 feet away.
A loud bang echoed through the forest.
Author's note: [Lol this was supposed to be a cliffhanger chapter but oh well since I've delayed my updates, you guys get a second chapter! :)]
Allison's rifle flew out of her hands as the horse rider rode pass her. She looked wide-eyed at the smoking weapon on the ground, shocked that her weapon was rendered useless just like that. The sound of the grass and bushes ruffling brought her back to reality. Allison immediately drew her pistol and prepared to fire at one of the bandits approaching her.
Her gun went off the same moment someone had grabbed her from behind and knocked the gun out of her hands. A loud and painful grunt was heard. She had missed his head but not his upper arm.
"LET GO OF ME!" She shouted and screamed heatedly as she struggled to let herself free from the man's arms that were wrapped around her tightly, "LET GO OF ME YOU FILTHY PIECE OF SHIT!"
"You alright, Wilson?" Kutner asked breathlessly as he tried to restrain the blonde doctor.
Wilson groaned, "Yep... think it's a through in through..." He said as he applied pressure with his hand against his bloodied wound and winced.
The horse-rider rode back slowly to where the three of them were and got off his horse.
He shot Wilson a concerned look.
"I'm fine..." He reassured the mysterious man, "Kutner stopped her in time..."
Allison was panting hard after trying to break free from Kutner's grasp unsuccessfully. She glared furiously at the man who was looking at her intently as he walked closer. He was wearing a dirty long brown trench coat, the colour matching his strands of hair that framed the sides of his face. The rest of his hair was covered by his hat.
"What the hell do you want?" Allison spat as he continued looking at her, sizing her up.
Allison's eyes drifted down to where she had dropped her pistol; an action that didn't go unnoticed. The outlaw picked up the gun and studied it.
"YEAH, why don't you just shoot me like you killed George Campbell, you fucking MURDERER!"
Wilson raised his eyebrow and mouthed, "George Campbell?" at Kutner who shrugged.
The mysterious outlaw chuckled dryly, the sound slightly muffled by the bandana.
Allison's face turned an even darker shade of red. Oh hell no, the man did not just laugh at Uncle George's death!
The blonde doctor clenched her teeth in anger, stamped her foot down onto a distracted Kutner's foot, breaking free from his grasp momentarily, and slapped the mysterious man with all her might.
Kutner ignored the pain in his foot and scrambled to restrain the blonde before she could do anything else.
The force of the slap was so strong that the red bandana had slipped down, revealing half the man's face.
Allison's expression slowly turned into pure shock as the person in front of her pulled the bandana down all the way so that it hung loosely around his neck. That mysterious outlaw was no man... he was in fact a woman.
Thirteen rubbed her reddening cheek softly and chuckled unamusingly, holstering the pistol in an empty slot around her waist. She looked up at the blonde whose jaw was on the ground.
"Tie her up, would you." She said irritably. Allison noted that that voice was undeniably a woman's voice.
Kutner dragged the blonde to the side and tied her hands behind her, tying her body up against a tree trunk. She was too in shock to struggle.
"Stay put yeah?" He warned in a quiet tone.
"Find anything?" She directed her question to someone behind the carriage.
Allison watched on quietly as Taub climbed into the back of her carriage and Kutner bandaged Wilson's shoulder. Her eyes connected with Thirteen's for a second before the outlaw looked away.
"It's positive." Taub stated, holding up one of the packages, "and there's loads of it..." he tossed one package out of the carriage and onto the ground.
"Take what you want and let me go!" Allison shouted.
"Search her belongings..." Thirteen ordered, unfazed by the glare she got from the blonde woman.
"Looks like she's a doctor..." Kutner said, holding up a bag of medical equipment and accidentally letting some of it drop out. Taub rolled his eyes at him.
"Hey! Be careful with those!" The blonde scolded.
"...And she's heading to Blackwater... for this..." Wilson handed the telegram to Thirteen with his good arm.
"Don't touch that!" Allison yelled.
Thirteen ignored her and read the piece of paper. She furrowed her eyebrows and called one of her men over. He was a tall fierce-looking African-American man, dressed in a long dark brown coat, and looked like he could break Allison in two with ease.
Thirteen showed him the telegram and Foreman shook his head lightly in response.
Thirteen glanced at Allison who was staring at them curiously.
"Who gave you this?" Thirteen asked.
"None of your god damn business!" Allison barked.
"Miss..." Thirteen glanced at the paper, "...Cameron? Whoever gave you this... this fake telegram... probably gave you those packages as well..."
"Fa-fake? What are you talking about? That telegram is real!" Allison argued.
Thirteen grabbed Foreman's flask and poured a bit of water on half the document, making the black ink run down the paper with the water.
"Hey! STOP THAT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Allison shouted and struggled against the tree.
"Look... if the telegram was real, the ink wouldn't run because it would have been printed. Somebody forged it with fresh ink." Thirteen explained and tossed the piece of paper onto the ground in front of Allison for her to see.
Allison shook her head with disbelief, "No, no that can't be... why would Johnson give me a fake telegram? Why would he do that?" She refused to believe that her hopes and dreams were dashed just like that.
"Wait, did you say Johnson?" Wilson asked and furrowed his eyebrows, "As in Sheriff Johnson?"
Thirteen looked at Wilson with concern while Foreman folded his arms.
"Johnson's in charge of the whole south shipment of the packages..." Taub piped in, "He's been at it for months..."
"No surprise he would let an innocent woman transport his packages alone." Wilson said, shaking his head.
Allison stood there quietly, half listening and half thinking about how much she wanted to punch Sheriff Johnson.
"Maybe she's working for him?" Kutner guessed.
The outlaws shifted their attention and gaze on the blonde doctor who looked back at them, confused.
"I don't think she even knows or cares about what she's transporting..." Thirteen said frowning.
"What I care about now... is heading home to South Wheeler since there's no point in going to Blackwater anymore." She said bitterly, "And also to stick a gun up Johnson's ass..."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that..." Thirteen said.
"Oh yeah I forgot, you guys are fucking murderers... you're going to kidnap me and kill me later!" Allison spat and tried to struggle free again.
"Exactly right..." Thirteen muttered, annoyed, as she walked to her horse.
"ARGH! You bitch!" Allison screamed, "RELEASE ME!"
Foreman cleared his throat and pointed to the darkening sky.
"Foreman, Wilson and Taub, you guys take the horses and carriages. Kutner, you take her." The outlaw ordered as she got on her own black stallion, "Let's head back to camp for the night."
"Hold still..." Kutner said as he untied her body from the tree.
With her hands still tied but legs untied, Allison took the opportunity to try to escape.
"OW!" Kutner screamed and grabbed his nose, when the blonde doctor head-butted his face and ran dashed off.
Foreman drew his pistol and got on his horse.
"It's okay. I'll take care of it. You guys head back first." Thirteen ordered and rode towards the blonde who was running away.
"You're like the worst outlaw ever..." Taub commented as Kutner wiped his bloody nose on the sleeve of his shirt.
Allison huffed and puffed as her running turned into brisk walking. She heard the sound of a horse galloping toward her but ignored it.
"You wouldn't last a few hours." Thirteen said from atop her horse, when she finally caught up to her.
"Fuck off!" Allison said, not bothering to look up at the outlaw.
"You don't have a gun. You have no food, no water, no horse... and your hands are tied..." Thirteen stated.
"I rather die out here then die in your hands." She panted.
"Look, I'm not going to kill you..." Thirteen said as honestly as she could.
Allison stopped walking and stared at the woman, "You really think I believe you? What do you think I am, a fucking fool?" She continued walking quickly.
"I actually think you're incredibly smart... you're a doctor, I could use you."
"BITE ME!" She yelled.
Thirteen sighed in frustration, "Please don't make me use my lasso."
Allison ignored her and continued walking.
Next thing she knew, a loop of rope had been thrown around her, slipping down and tightening around her legs, tripping her.
"FUCK!" She yelped as she fell forward and hit her head on the stony ground.
"Would have been much less painful if you listened..." Thirteen used her all her strength to carry the screaming blonde over her shoulder and onto the back of her horse, all the while trying to stop her from thrashing about.
"Will you shut up already?" Thirteen took off her red bandana and stuffed it into the blonde's mouth, turning her screaming into muffled groans.
"It matches your face..." Thirteen smirked at the furious doctor before getting onto her horse, "It's going to be bumpy... I suggest you stop moving around so much."
Allison breathed heavily though her nostrils in anger. God she hated this woman.
And here begins the Action/Adventure/Romance/Humour part of the story... Hope you guys stay tune and thank you so much again for the reviews :) sorry for any errors.