"OK, we're going this way." Sadie said as they reached a fork in the road, gesturing down one of the paths. "Blackwater ain't much further. We can book a room when we get there."

"I thought you didn't like hotels." Levin commented.

"Round here I make an exception." She told him, fetching out her repeater. "The Great Plains might look deserted, but there are cougars out here."

"Cougars?" He asked, with a note of panic in his voice. She just nodded.

"Thing about cougars is, you don't see them, they see you." She said sagely, leaning in and whispering reassuringly to her horse. "This old girl gets a little skittish around 'em, so we should know in good time if there are any but...still don't pay to hang around out near Beecher's if you can help it."

"You sound like you've got experience of such matters." He said, looking around warily. Like many people of the era, he did travel with a weapon, but right now his cattleman, which he had fortunately yet to fire in anger, felt more than a little inadequate. Levin preferred reading and writing about gunplay to actually taking part in it. If any of his protagonists was in a bind, he could easily tear out a page or re-write a few lines to get them out of it without any blood being spilt. In real life though, there were no re-edits if that particular chapter didn't go well.

"A cougar got the jump on me a couple a' years back." She told him. "Fortunately another hunter were nearby. He got himself a nice pelt, and I spent the next couple a' weeks laid up and a lot of money in medicine. I'd show you the scars but...well...they ain't somewhere I can show without undressin' and as much as I like you, I don't like you that much Mr Levin."

"You like me?" He asked with a little bit of a smile. He caught the faintest hint of a smile from her in response.

"You're growin' on me." She responded. "Most of the travellin' companions I have aren't so friendly to talk to. Then again usually I am takin' 'em to jail or the gallows so you can understand that."

"Speaking of unfriendly..."

"Yeah, that were...that were some day alright." Sadie answered, casting her mind back.

Back in the past, the Van Der Linde Gang rode out of Roanoake, blazing a trail towards the Heartlands. It was the first time Sadie had ridden with the whole gang at once, and it was quite a thing to behold. Dutch Van Der Linde, Bill Williamson, Javier Escuela, Charles Smith, John Marston, Arthur Morgan...all legends in their own right, some of the most feared and legendary outlaws the country had ever seen riding into war. Dutch's sermons had created a congregation of sorts, and driven them to a level of strength and devotion that defied sanity. There were men in Government that could never inspire the loyalty of people so strong in their entire lives.

It didn't seem real to her now, to think how he had even spurred her on to his side in the few months she'd been with the gang. Even now it was only days since she'd started to see the mask slip and seen what Dutch truly was, a man with a talent for finding the broken and the lost and turning them into dangerous and fanatical followers. Only a couple of weeks before she'd have taken it as a great honour to ride with the Van Der Linde Gang, but now...now she was riding for Arthur.

As much as the gang was together, the ride continued to demonstrate the cracks that were showing in the gang. Arthur had already stated that the gang was pretty much over, and now that he knew his time was growing shorter, he was trying to save those he could in the time he had left. He'd set his sights on John, Abigail and Jack, but Sadie was already hoping to encourage the others to go too. She had given the nod to Mary-Beth to try and slip out with those that could as soon as they were gone, but with Micah, Cleet and Joe remaining at the camp, she could only hope that she could somehow slip out before they realised that there were people gone.

"What else have you been doing behind my back?" Dutch asked accusingly, calling over the thundering hooves of The Count. The mood in the gang had been building now for a while, and it was no longer a secret that the rift was widening between Arthur and Dutch. Dutch was referring to the fact Arthur had gone to Waipiti to help Rains Fall try to avert a war with the army. Unsuccessfully unfortunately, but the fact he'd done it at all, Dutch seemed to take as a betrayal. Eagle Flies was just another person he used, an angry, foolish young man that Dutch had egged on to create the distraction he was hoping for to cover the gang's escape. What happened to him after that though, Sadie doubted he cared about.

"I was trying to stop this mess from getting worse!" Arthur protested defiantly. Sadie could only glance around the gang as they rode. Arthur was trying to stop Eagle Flies starting a war that would likely see his people annihilated. Whether he could defeat Favours or not was immaterial, Natives destroying an army garrison would only bring more soldiers, far more than they would ever be able to stand against. Dutch, however, only saw Arthur interfering in his plan to use the war as a distraction for his own plans. "Clearly that didn't work! Why the hell would they attack the oil fields?"

"What do you mean? It's perfect!" Dutch responded.

"This was your idea?" Arthur asked him. It wasn't as though Sadie could doubt it was the kind of thing he would do, even she had to think that this felt a lot more like Eagle Flies' idea.

"Partly...the army, the government, the industrialists, they've taken everything from these people." Dutch preached. Sadie could see the same charisma, the same gospel that attracted people to him, but now she saw it in a new light. He was the minister of his own flock, the leader of a cult that wormed his way into the minds and hearts of those that needed somewhere to belong. Like those preachers who whipped up crowds into frothing, frenzied acts of violence. Glancing around, she was now seeing that the two men were fighting far more than each other, they were fighting for the hearts and souls of the gang. They both knew that the time was coming that people would choose to follow Arthur or Dutch. She glanced around the gang. She already knew which side she was on, but the others...she was trying to figure out.

"You've handed them a death sentence." Arthur put down flatly. "Just like John, if we hadn't gotten him out of that prison!"

Sadie glanced towards John, seeing him remain quiet, though noticeably perk up at the mention of his name. All of Arthur's efforts were for him, if John didn't side with him, then it was all for nothing.

"Hey, show some God damn respect!" Bill spat out. Sadie locked onto the huge man, seeing the burning in his eyes as he looked at Arthur. As much as Sadie didn't doubt who would come out on top, she was now in little doubt which side Bill would come down on if push came to shove. That was one that she needed to watch.

"You'll know when I ain't showing respect Bill!" Arthur responded gruffly. It seemed like it wasn't lost on Arthur that Bill had made his decision.

Sadie didn't hear much of the rest of what was said. She was too busy trying to decide who was likely to turn on Arthur and who was likely to side with him. Charles, she felt in her heart she could rely on Charles. He knew what kind of man Dutch was; he had seen it up close in Waipiti. He had even tried to warn Sadie, though she was too thick-headed to listen to him at the time. John...she hoped he would side with his 'brother', but when that meant siding against his 'father', she wasn't quite so sure.

He heard words like loyalty and dissent being used, but she wasn't hearing the words, just seeing what they did. Javier was looking more to Bill than anyone else, and while she thought he might be questioning, if he was looking to Bill for guidance, she didn't want to stake her life on him joining them.

"Look, up ahead! It's one of them!" Charles called out. They could see one of the braves heading towards them, slumped over in his saddle. He was bleeding so heavily that it was staining his horse. Only the fact the horse wasn't favouring any of its legs let Sadie know that it wasn't the horse's blood.

"You alright son?" Arthur asked.

"Eagle Flies. He needs help!" The young Brave panted. "They all need help..."

"Somebody help him!" Arthur called out.

"No...no, go...please help him!" The Brave begged them, steadying himself on the saddle. "I'll be..."

"Come on!" Arthur called out as they rode past. Sadie spurred on her horse as they passed him, never once turning back. She still had no idea if he made it back to the reservation or not.

The rest of the way, not a word was spoken between the gang, but a lot of looks were exchanged. By the time they came out of the hills, even a couple of miles out, they could see and hear the battle raging.

The oil fields, the very epicentre of Cornwall's old empire was ablaze, the smoke and the deep red glow extending so far it was said afterwards they could be seen as far away as Valentine. Gunfire rang out over the plains and the air itself started to get thick and choking the closer they got. It was as close to Hell as Sadie could imagine ever existing.

They pulled up a little way out, by some Braves who had managed to ride away from the refinery, but started to regroup when they saw Charles. They'd seen him help them often enough that his presence stopped their flight and encouraged them to return. The smoke and the heat ripples making it difficult to see. Arthur and Charles pulled out their binoculars.

"It's a massacre!" Charles said with a pained expression, one borne of anger and dread. This was exactly what Rains Fall had wanted to avoid. The soldiers of Fort Wallace were a holding regiment, barely more than boys straight from the recruiting office, but under the command of Colonel Favours, an aging man whose career had faded during the war, desperate to claim back some glory before he retired and sought to do it by provoking a war he could win with the Natives. The pride and the hatred on both sides was more than enough to spur on a blood bath.

"Can anyone see Eagle Flies?" Arthur asked.

"There, going across the walkway!" Charles answered, pointing. Dutch looked to both men, a distinct note of disgust in his expression.

"You got what you wanted Dutch." Arthur growled as he put away his binoculars.

"You coming Arthur?" Dutch asked, gesturing to the main offices.

"I'm gonna go try and save him!" Arthur replied. "This fight is unwinnable! If you go and distract them and let me get to him." Dutch glared at Arthur for a good few moments. Sadie's hand slipped towards her revolver.

"Have it your way." Dutch replied. "The rest of you, ride with me! Let's meet up at the factory! LET'S RIDE!"

Dutch, Javier, Bill and John all rode off, leaving the Braves, Charles and Sadie with Arthur. She wasn't going to leave his side, not now. He looked to Charles.

"Go with him, try and help there!" Arthur beckoned him. "I'm better off alone."

Sadie was already shaking her head. She knew why Arthur wanted to go alone. He knew his time was coming soon enough, he didn't care if he made it back or not, but the others, he didn't want them riding straight into the most dangerous part of the battle. Sadie was not about to let him take on the fight by himself no matter how much he insisted.

"We're riding with you." Charles responded simply. He was of the same mind, and he respected Arthur so much he was never going to abandon him. Sadie drew her repeater from the saddle. Arthur looked to them, before nodding.

"Come on then!" Arthur called out, spurring on his horse. They all rode straight into the heart of the battle, towards the flames. The heat was intense as they approached, and there were already heavy losses on both sides. Getting to the heart of the battle, they leapt off their horses and set them running. There was no point in the poor beasts being brought into this as well.

Sadie took careful aim with her repeater as they rushed towards the buildings. The whole refinery was built around a couple of towers and a railway line, with a few buildings and walkways dotted around. The smell was the most foul and evil thing Sadie could ever recall, between the burning and the spilling oil. Soldiers fell before them as they charged through the refinery in a desperate search for Eagle Flies. Arthur was the one that found him, wrestling on one of the walkways with a soldier for control of a revolver. Not wanting to wait to see if Eagle Flies could best him, Arthur blew the soldier's brains out, before running over to him.

"Arthur." He said in surprise, seeing him.

"Get up!" Arthur ordered him, looking around for more soldiers.

"Thank you..."

"We need to go!" Arthur told him.

"Where are my men?" Eagle Flies demanded. "Where are my men?"

"We saw some fighting by the factory!" Sadie told him as she shot a soldier. Sure, they were fighting, fighting in a pointless battle that Eagle Flies had thrown them into that was going to get them all killed.

"That's where Dutch has gone." Arthur reassured him. "Come on, let's go!"

Sadie watched as Eagle Flies and Arthur ran back into the fray. She was angry that Eagle Flies had thrown his men into this massacre, but she had to respect that he was trying to get them back out of it and not just abandoning them to their fate. She looked to Charles, who was retrieving a tomahawk from the skull of a soldier. He nodded to her as he reloaded his sawn-off and they both rushed to back up Arthur. He might have been dying, but Sadie was determined he wasn't going to die today, not like this.

Favours might have had a regiment of raw recruits, but it was a regiment nonetheless. They just seemed to be pouring out from all directions as they worked their way towards the factory building. As soon as one went down, it seemed like there was another one ready to take his place. Sadie was knocked to the ground by one of them she hadn't seen coming from the side, but as soon as her hat fell off and he saw she was a woman, the boy hesitated. It wasn't a mistake that Sadie repeated, firing off her revolver through the bottom of her holster into his gut.

She heard an unearthly racket and some yelling and turned in time to see a train rolling in and the doors opening. Her eyes widened as she saw a Gatling gun on the back. She was barely able to dive for cover as the gunner cranked the handle, chucking out lead that tore through everything in its path, even some of his own unit! In his panic, he was levelling everything before him.

Arthur picked his spot, putting a shot straight through the man's forehead, mercifully before the man managed to hit one of the tanks. They were standing up to the heat of the flames, but she doubted they'd take the Gatling gun! They resumed the battle, helping the Braves that were still able to fight back to their feet and rounding the main building. They rejoined Dutch and the others.

"I don't see none of them standing no more!" Dutch called out to Arthur. Looking around that seemed to be the case. There were more soldiers riding in, but it looked like there were no more in the refinery. Sadie took up position behind some barrels and hunkered in to defend their position. She could see Arthur and Dutch talking. It hardly seemed the time for it. Right now it seemed more like the time to run like hell while any of them were still alive. Then she saw Arthur and Dutch disappearing into the factory. What the hell were they doing?

"Mrs Adler, if you wouldn't mind using that repeater of yours that would be greatly appreciated!" Bill yelled at her. Sadie shook her head clear and got back to the task at hand. Whatever Dutch and Arthur were up to in the factory, now wasn't the time to worry about it. Now was the time to stop some lucky kid barely out of short trousers from blowing her head off!

"Jesus, I thought this was just a joke regiment!" Javier called out, echoing the thoughts they were all having. "How many more of these bastards are there?"

"I just hope they run out of men before I run out of bullets!" John called back. They heard a crash as Bill wrestled one to the ground.

"WHO?" He called out, driving the man's head into a rock. "NEEDS?" He drove his head into it again. "BULLETS?"

The man's skull caved in under Bill's massive hands.

"Look, they're...they're turning tail!" John called out, allowing himself a little laugh.

"Hey...he's right!" Javier agreed. "Lookit! They're runnin' like scalded dogs!"

"I guess it's true, even the US Army ain't a match for the Van Der Linde Gang!" Bill agreed, taking up his bolt-action rifle and taking some shots at the remaining men as they ran. "Run doggies, run!"

They all heard some more gunshots, this time coming from inside the factory, followed by a loud bang. Dutch staggered out of the back door of the factory.

"Dutch! What happened?" John asked him.

"Favours...he got the drop on us." Dutch panted, looking at the factory. "A pipe burst, I couldn't get to him...Arthur..."

"We need to..."

"No...I think...I think Favours got him. I think maybe they got each other." Dutch told them. "We need to go..."

"ARTHUR!" Sadie called out as she saw the door being kicked open. Arthur came out, carrying the bleeding, injured form of Eagle Flies. As he came out, his eyes were locked on Dutch, burning a whole lot hotter with sheer rage than the entire refinery. Dutch looked to him.

"We need to go."

"You...you ran away." Arthur sneered in disgust.

"I did no such thing." Dutch protested. Sadie though just stared at Dutch. Was it possible? She knew that Dutch thought Arthur was trying to take control of the gang, but would he really just abandon him to his fate? "Don't be a fool. They'll be here any minute."

Arthur didn't respond, but instead continued to look on Dutch with a contempt Sadie had never seen in him before. It didn't go unnoticed by the others. Charles looked on in disgust. John started to look uneasily between the two men. Dutch instead just beamed brightly and held open his arms like he was looking for an embrace.

"We did it Gentlemen! We got some money, and with the train job, well we got a whole lot of money." He declared, appealing to their greed and desire for the new life he had been promising them all along, their land of milk and honey. Charles signalled to Paytah and together they helped Eagle Flies onto his horse. "Come on. Everything is coming together. Exactly as I planned."

This was a plan?

"I've got to take the boy to his father." Arthur said derisively.

"As you wish." Dutch said dismissively. "Usually is nowadays. Come on. We gotta get back to camp and prepare!"

As Arthur and Charles mounted up, they rode off with Paytah and Eagle Flies towards the reservation. Sadie considered going with them, but she could only think of one thing, the others back at the camp. She'd already asked some of them to leave, but she hadn't told all of them to go, knowing that it would look too suspicious if they all left at once. It was also uncertain if they would get away while Micah and his two rat-faced sycophants were keeping an eye on things. She looked to Charles, who just nodded gratefully, before riding off.

It was getting dark by the time they got back to the camp. Dismounting and hitching up, Dutch was beaming with glee. He pulled a stack of papers out of his waistcoat.

"Gentlemen, this right here is what it's all about. Thousands of dollars in State Bonds." Dutch declared proudly as his aching and weary gang looked to him for guidance. "Now we just need to hit that train, filled to bursting with military wages and we can leave this God Forsaken place once and for all! Did I not tell you I had this? Didn't I?"

There was a cheer going up from the others, and even a few celebratory gunshots, but Sadie couldn't help noticing that all John was interested in was going to Abigail and Jack. She saw Micah coming towards him with Cleet and Joe. "Micah! Sorry you had to miss this! MR PEARSON! Fix us all up something good to eat, because we are famished!"

"The cook's gone Dutch." Micah told him. Dutch just looked to him aghast. "The old man and Mary-Beth too."

"What?" He asked, before brushing past him. "Mr Pearson? Uncle? Ms Gaskill...?"

"They're gone Dutch!" Joe piped up...or was it Cleet? Sadie wasn't quite sure which was which. They were both so slimy she didn't see much difference. One of them was bigger...was that one Joe? Yeah, it was the bigger one; it was Joe that told him.

"What do you mean they're gone?" Dutch asked in a sinister, low tone.

"I mean I turn my back for five minutes and a whole bunch of our money goes missing." Micah informed him. "We find it a little way from camp, and by the time we're back, they're gone and so's all their stuff."

Sadie had to turn away to stop her smile being seen. Mary-Beth was a tremendous thief. She'd clearly used the missing money as a distraction to keep them busy while the others escaped. Now, only Abigail, Jack and Tilly were left, along with John if he could be convinced to go. Since Abigail was going to go, Sadie was sure he'd see sense and go too. At least, she hoped he would. Dutch let out a massive yell and kicked over a crate, spilling some cans of food on the ground. He started throwing around anything that wasn't nailed down in what amounted to a tantrum. Sadie could see the way everyone was staring at him. Dutch seemed to be aware of it too. He turned back to them and pointed at them.

"They...had...no...faith. No LOYALTY!" Dutch yelled at them. "Is a little God Damn loyalty too much to ask?"

They all just stared at him. Eventually Bill answered.

"All the way Dutch." Bill told him. Javier nodded.

"Right to the end." Javier agreed. If Sadie had any lingering doubts about where their loyalties lay, that was when they disappeared. Dutch took a few deep breaths as he tried to consider what to do next.

"Eat up and get some rest." Dutch told them. "Tomorrow, we have a train to rob."