Notice: In this chapter you will find an Easter Egg to the first Red Dead, you will be able to find various Easter Eggs as the story progresses. Thought I'd mention it, it adds more fun to the story. Anyways, I hope you all are enjoying it so far, feel free to leave a review behind. Be sure to add critique to what I can improve.

Enjoy this chapter!

"They approached us at the scorched remains of Beecher's Hope." Jake said, sitting on a large box in the corner of the room. Jake and Shaw had arrived at the wreckage of the Serendipity, the inside of the rotten steamboat had a strange green glow. Giving the doomed vessel a ghostly feeling to it, civilians say that the boat is haunted.

"So they did, why didn't you bring him back?" Douglas questioned, Shaw then entered the room from the outside.

"We are giving them a chance, we want their numbers to grow. When we see them again, we want to watch them bleed." Shaw said as he leaned into the doorway, Douglas scoffed at this response.

"We can't let them get too big in terms of numbers, we're good at where we are now. Right now, we can overpower them. Who were these folk with Jack?"

"There was some Irish girl, and a tall man with slicked black hair and a fine mustache. Man had to be around six foot and three inches tall." Jake answered, Douglas nodded his head.

"Very well, give them a chance to scramble around. We'll get them at some point, we've got to get used to our surroundings in this new state we are in. We might need to perform a Lewis and Clark style expedition, we will take note of everything around us." Douglas said.

Meanwhile, Jack and his two comrades, were on their way back to the home of Bill Pierce. There was a growing feeling in the back of Bill's head, that something was wrong.

"Hey Jack, ever thought about when our first robbery is going to be?" Bill asked, feeling curious about his gang status.

"I don't know when, I will make arrangements when the time is right to do so." Jack replied, as of now, there was no need to rob any bank or store. The home of Bill Pierce would suffice the three for now.

"I wonder how large this gang will be." Rebecca said, the thought of the new gang life coming into her mind. "You seen how many men that was on the hill back there at your old ranch?"

Jack nodded his head once, that really got him thinking. There was fifteen BlackJack members all aiming down upon him and his newly found friends, even two elite members. The gunslinger knew that this gang must have been huge.

"This gang, the BlackJacks. That isn't no gang, it is a damn militia family. I can only imagine how many more members are at camp. Must be the size of a small army." Jack said in a serious and slightly concerned tone.

"At least they don't inbreed like the Appalachian Hillbillies." Bill joked, getting a good chuckle out of Rebecca and a smirk from Jack.

"So Bill, I already heard from Rebecca about her past life. How was yours?" Jack asked, feeling curious.

"I was born in Texas, in a pretty bad spot. People were rough around where I lived, eventually it would get out of hand. My family made some decision to move up North as far as we could go, we would reach Canada. I spent most of my life up in Canada, I always hated the cold. There was some good game animals up there like Moose and others among those lines, that was the only good thing to me. I hate the cold, I disdain it. I'll do anything to stay from it."

Jack smirked at the last few moments that Bill was speaking, he found Bill's hatred of the cold quite amusing to him.

"I bet you like it when the winter rolls around." Jack would say in sarcasm, Bill chuckled and shook his head.

The three continued to ride over to where Bill Pierce lived, little did they know, another threat was about to make his presence known. It wasn't a member of the BlackJacks, it was a face similar to Jack Marston. Or the offspring of a face similar to Jack Marston, he wasn't in no gang. This man was sort of a lone wolf, he worked for both sides of the society spectrum, he worked with the outlaws and he worked with the law.

BlackJack members had began to scour across the land, looting whatever they could from homes. Some traveled as far up into the Grizzlies Mountains, two members of the BlackJacks had made it to the Aurora Basin. They discovered a cabin right next to the large pond, snow covered the entire area. The two members expected the cabin to be abandoned, the door was shut. The windows were boarded up, once a member tried to open it, the door didn't budge.

"Open up!" One member shouted, no response was given to the BlackJack.

A man was inside of the cabin, dual wielding pistols. He had crouched down in the corner of the small cottage, right behind the bed. The dark blue of his clothing made him blend in to the low light visibility of the cabin's interior. The man had dark colored hair, as well as a mustache and goatee. His hair was fairly long too, but not at shoulder length. He had moved a large piece of furniture in front of the door.

"Come on in." The man said quietly to himself as he clutched his dark blue pistols, then a loud bang was heard from outside the door.

"Kick the door in!" A BlackJack member shouted, another loud bang was heard. The wooden door crashed to the snowy ground on the outside.

"What the Hell?" Another member said, seeing the large piece of furniture in the way. The other member took a few steps back and charged forth, ramming his shoulder into the furniture.

The unknown man within the cabin stooped down low, making sure to keep himself hidden within the shade of the room. He even crawled under the bed as the tall piece of furniture crashed into the wooden planks of the floor, the light from outside the house was enough for him to see. He seen the boots of the two members enter, he aimed both pistols at their feet and followed their movements. Looking down the enhanced sight.

"Ah shit, no one is here. Find something and take it, make sure it is of value. We need some food, a drink of any kind, and some ammo." One of the members spoke, giving the other one orders.

The man opened fire, hitting one of the members on the foot. The gang member screamed out in pain, sprawling into the corner of the house. The other one, in which had gave the orders, looked over at him.

"Jesse!" The gang member shouted out as he looked at his partner's bleeding boot. The man opened fire again, hitting the talking member right in the genitals.

"Fuck!" The member howled in agony as he clutched his balls, he collapsed to the ground as tears ran down his cheeks almost instantly.

The man then made himself known as he slowly rose out from under the bed, giving both members a cold look. The member in the corner groaned and aimed his gun up at the unknown gunslinger.

"Who are you?" The hurt member in the corner, asked while in pain. The man didn't respond and opened fire, the bullet going into the member's chest.

"I am Markus." The man said, revealing his first name to the last member. The one he shot in the manhood, the other member looked up at the man with fear in his eyes now.

"Markus Van Der Linde." The man revealed his full name, the BlackJack member's eyes widened at the sound of the name.

The other BlackJack member was silenced with a fatal shot to the head, the gun of Markus Van Der Linde was smoking from the fresh kills. Markus dragged the bodies out to the snowy ground, the white frost turning into a iron smelling scarlet color. He looted the bodies and discovered BlackJack playing cards, custom cards with the gang's own logo on them. The custom cards were enough evidence to the son of Dutch Van Der Linde, that the two were members of a gang. Markus assumed that this gang knew of his location, and it was time for him to move once again. His supplies were all stashed on his personal stagecoach, clothing was packed in the back of the stagecoach as well as some weapons and food, once Markus gave a whistle. His large white horse approached, pulling the stagecoach along with it. It was more of a wagon, one that a single horse can pull.

"Head down into West Elizabeth." Markus said as he hopped onto the horse's back, snapping the reins down to make it go. Markus began to guide the wagon towards the Blackwater area of West Elizabeth, dangerously close to where the BlackJack camp was.

Markus Van Der Linde was a one night stand, Dutch had roamed into town back whenever the gang first began. Markus was born at a time whenever the Van Der Linde gang consisted of only Dutch, Hosea, and Arthur Morgan. Markus was left behind with his mother, who would die of Tuberculosis when he was at the age of seventeen. Markus had only one intention, find his father.

Markus dreaded at not having a family, he brought it upon himself to travel alone across the country to find his father. He would trace his father's gang across the Grizzlies Mountains and down into Ambarino, right before he made his way into the Grizzlies Mountains from out West. He discovered that his father had been killed by the law, aided by John Marston. This angered Markus, he knew he didn't have a family at all at that point.

Markus was around the age of twenty five when Dutch killed himself by falling off a cliffside at Cochinay, a large fort like village up in the mountains. Now in the year of 1915, Markus Van Der Linde was at the age of twenty nine, the son of the legendary outlaw had a new target, Jack Marston. Since John Marston was the last person that Dutch seen before he died, Markus would stop at nothing until he found Jack and killed him by any means necessary.

(Many Hours Later)

It was the evening, the sun was slowly setting upon the horizon. The purple color of the twilight sky was a sight to see, Jack and his two comrades had safely made it back to the home of Bill Pierce without any sort of problem.

"Man, I wonder if those BlackJacks will come hunting for you. They seemed pretty ready when we are around. Especially when you're around town." Bill said as he headed into his room to put on night clothing. Jack was already in his gear for sleep, the past two days had been rough on his emotions and body.

"I feel like the whole world is after me and closing in, the age of the old West is over. Let's face it, we are all survivors of a bygone era in history. An era this world will never see again, so we've gotta do the best we can out here." Jack would say as he stretched his body out to prepare for the night.

Rebecca was in the middle of closing the curtains when around ten people approached the house, she had watched them come from the side of Annesburg in which trains usually are at, and all the way to the new side. One of them wore a sheep mask, the mask that Sam Taylor usually wore when he fought for the Saint Denis Fighting Pit.

"Jack, Bill, don't get sleepy so quick. We've got company." Rebecca said in concern, yet with a serious tone in her voice. Jack stood up and approached the window to see who it was.

Jack seen the ten fighting veterans of the Saint Denis Fighting Pit, the roster was several times larger. Ten members was just a slight few compared to the total roster, at the head of these men, was indeed Sam Taylor.

"Bill, Bill we've come for you!" Sam called out, wanting to get Bill Pierce's attention. Bill could not hear Sam as he was shutting the door to his room.

"Bill Pierce!"

The three gave no response, Jack headed across the living room and into the hall to knock on Pierce's door.

"What is it?" Bill Pierce asked Jack, who was now outside his door.

"We've got company Bill, seems like these men out here want you especially." Jack answered, Bill came out of the room in an all white pajama outfit with no shoes or socks on. Completely ready for bed.

"Dammit, I'm tired." Bill groaned, that was until he heard voices calling him from out the window and down the hill.

"Bill come out here right now!" Sam Taylor barked, he and his gang of misfit Saint Denis Fighters looking up at his nice house.

"Is Sam this much of a sore loser, Bill?" Jack asked with a slight laugh at the end of his sentence, Bill nodded his head as he approached the window.

"Go away Sam, don't make me come out there and whip your ass once again!" Bill shouted from a few feet away from the window, Sam Taylor and his cronies still couldn't see him.

"Oh, we will be the ones beating your ass tonight. As well as your two friends." Sam responded in defiance of Bill, a man whom was never defeated before in hand to hand combat.

Bill's silhouette then popped into view for Sam Taylor to see, he could only see his silhouette due to the lighting within the house.

"Do you think I was born yesterday?" Bill said, looking down upon Sam Taylor.

Sam Taylor shook his head and slowly removed his lamb masked in anger, giving Bill a hateful look. Eyes glued to the undefeated prize fighter from within the house.

"I implore you to get down here and face me like a man, have ourselves a little brawl like the good old days." Sam said, trying to keep calm as best as he could.

"You implore me?" Bill chuckled. "What fancy words, I shall not do what you tell me. If you want me so badly, come and get me."

"If you insist.." Sam Taylor growled as he hopped off his horse and charged up the hill with the rest of his gang of misfit fighters, all carrying knives or other blade weaponry.

"Shit, they're coming!" Bill growled as he ran towards the door to lock it, Jack headed into his room to grab his cattleman revolver and Rebecca grabbed a kitchen knife since she had no gun.

Sam started to bang on the door and dig into it with his meat cleaver, Isaiah broke in through the window and he crashed through. Cutting his head open in the process, he took the pain and slowly rose to his feet. The other members in Sam's small gang, scrambled for the shattered window.

Jack fired at the window, shooting at all the fighters that dared approached the window. The staggered Isaiah, slammed his arm down on the table and the lantern fell off, the glass shattering and the oil getting all over the wooden floor. Rebecca would run at Sam only to get kicked in the stomach, she staggered back as Sam lit a cigar up. Jack prepared to fire at Sam but Isaiah took the bullet and fell to one knee. Bill Pierce ran in and heaved the big man from the Bronx towards the broken window, throwing him out of it. Isaiah crashed to the ground outside of the window, but it was too late. Sam had dropped the cigar down upon the oil, Jack had landed two shots into the abdomen of the veteran fighter and his last action in life was dropping a cigar onto oil.

The cigar ignited a fire, the flame quickly spread around the room. Rebecca pulled herself to her feet and Bill gasped at the sight, a fire in his home.

"Shit!" Bill shouted as his eyes darted around the room to find a potential source to douse the flames, it would be no use though. The flames climbed higher and higher, eventually reaching the ceiling. The fire continued to eat away and spread around the floor at a fairly quick rate.

"It is no use Bill, we need to move!" Jack shouted, making his way out of the door as the smell of smoke became more intense, and strong. Isaiah was getting up now, but Rebecca dropped him with a falling kick to the outside of the window.

Bill made his way outside of the window too and growled out in anger as he looked down at Isaiah and a few other gang members, one gang member was starting to crawl away.

"Which one of you assholes, gave Sam the idea to do a full on raid of my home, and my property!?" Bill cried, his face red hot with rage.

The member that was crawling away slowly turned his head with a smirk, spitting at the bare feet of Bill Pierce as a sign of total disrespect.

Bill Pierce had enough, and approached the man. Kicking him on the sides, making the misfit fighter roll over to his back. The undefeated fighter grabbed the member of Sam's gang, and pulled him up slightly, with only one arm.

"You were the one that orchestrated this whole thing, you son of a fucking bitch!" Bill growled as he rammed his right fist into the skull of the member, giving him a black eye instantly.

"Sam implored me eh? How about I implore you, to pay for the damage you and your friends fucking caused, you spineless hooligans!" Bill screamed in rage, slamming his elbow stiffly into the forehead of the gang member.

The two stiff elbows to the skull, busted the man open and he began to leak blood all over the place from a gash on his forehead. It was as if his head was a water bottle and the blood was the water pouring out of it, it was how bad and fast the blood came out.

"Bill, I'm going to ask you to calm down." Jack suggested, trying to calm down the livid fighter.

"I can't, I'm sorry. They burnt down my fucking house!" Bill screamed as he fell to his knees, hands on his head in anger.

"I felt the same way Bill. We've gotta move on." Jack said as he looked down the hill and into the town of Annesburg, Bill sighed and then looked up at Jack.

"What do you suggest we do then? Now we've got no home." Bill groaned, Rebecca looked down at Bill and gave him a serious look.

"Well. It seems that we have not much of a choice no more, I guess we should start chopping down trees and building settlements." Rebecca answered with a sigh at the end of her sentence, Jack sighed and looked up at the moon.

"Which means?" Bill asked.

"It means we live life hard." Rebecca added on, the three knew that they would need to work hard to live their life. Then again, life was never easy in the first place..