(Chapter 14: Jack VS Nicholas Lanza)

It was nine in the morning the next day, the rescued inmates and other members of Jack Marston's gang had been setting up tents for the extra members on the outside of the fort. The others had taken to eating their breakfast, Jack Marston had gone out alone. He left without announcing it, he was in Annesburg.

Jack Marston strolled around on his horse through the train station/mining town portion of Annesburg, he made his way over towards the bridge that crossed over into the town part of Annesburg. The part where he founded his gang, and the same area that he had robbed. As he strolled on the bridge, he noticed an all too familiar patch of dark clothing passing behind a thick tree in the distance. It was a BlackJack member, it was Nicholas Lanza.

"What…" Jack said to himself, he didn't expect the BlackJack gang to stick around so far away from West Elizabeth.

Jack looked up and seen the hill that once had the home of Bill Pierce on, nothing but dark remains of the house was all that was left standing. Jack suddenly felt Bill's pain, he missed living a lavish lifestyle in a home gained from his winnings.

Jack loaded up his cattleman as he strolled over the bridge, being careful to not alert the BlackJack elite. The gunslinger wondered about how he could hide, and continue his search for Tonya. As he rode Arthur through the town, he seen a poster on the wall of the Annesburg sheriff's office. It was him, Jack Marston was wanted for a price off.. 500 dollars!

Jack's eyes widened in shock, he wondered why he was wanted for five hundred dollars, that was loads of money just for him alone. He then realised it was all because of the massacre at Sisika Penitentiary, he figured the BlackJacks would find out at some point. He put his bandana on, so nobody would recognize him, as he put it on, he received some looks from the citizens of town. A citizen had recognized the outfit of the gunslinger and gang leader.

"It's him, it's Jack Marston!" The citizen shouted, Jack rolled his eyes as his cover had been totally blown.

Jack put down the innocent citizen with a single shot to the chest with a cattleman revolver, no mercy. Nicholas Lanza rushed at Jack on his dark shire horse, Jack sped away on Arthur.

"Get your ass over here, Jack. Your bounty is mine, the BlackJacks need this money!"

Jack ignored Nicholas as he turned around a corner, he fled through an open gate. This gate would lead down a path into the forest, the thunderous hoofs pounded into the dirt as Jack's arabian horse sped up a hill and turned right, continuing up the hill. He was still being pursued by Nicholas, the BlackJack wouldn't give up the chase just yet.

The terrain was all new to Jack, no buildings except for Bill Pierce's former home had been built in this hilly area. The Marston boy was filled with a sense of curiosity, he was ready to explore this area and possibly set up camp within these hills and forests.

"Come here Jack, make this easy!" Nicholas could be heard shouting, Jack shook his head as he seen the hat of the BlackJack elite coming in from down the hill.

Jack came up on top of the hill where the scorched remains of Bill's house were, he could see across the Lannaheechee river now and the other side of Annesburgh. The gunslinger heard a revolver go off, it belonged to Nicholas.

"Shit." Jack said to himself as he ran further and further away from civilization, out into uncharted land. To the North of him was fields upon fields, it was like the Great Plains but ten times larger. To his West was forests, and hills.

These forests were more dense and deep than Tall Trees were, the large pines in Tall Trees were spaced out but this one was all compact and close together. Perhaps Jack could hide within this new forest area, he jerked the reins on Arthur to the left and his horse turned left into the forest. Nicholas was not too far behind him.

"Yah!" Jack shouted, making his horse go faster and more deeper into the woods. Once Jack found himself deep enough, he jumped off Arthur and stumbled a few feet. He struggle to keep his footing and fell face forward.

He tumbled down a rocky hill in which was covered up by moss and fell about five feet down into a creek, water splashing up and over him as he landed. He had escaped Nicholas, at least for now. He heard a faint sound of a revolver going off, Nicholas was close but not too close. Jack noticed a rock formation in which looped over an open area, forming a tunnel. Jack's dark outfit would provide great camouflage in this tunnel, he hobbled over and crouched down inside the naturally formed tunnel.

A few moments later, Nicholas came into view without his horse. He held his revolver in one hand, and searched around. Jack watched him intensely, not wanting to reveal himself. He stayed low.

"Come on out, Jackie. Ain't that what that irish whore calls ya?" Nicholas taunted, trying to draw Jack out, it seemed to almost work as the gunslinger grit his teeth in anger.

Jack started to shift backwards to make his way out of the tunnel and to make a mad dash away, he ran out of luck when Nicholas seen a shadow move out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to view the tunnel, and seen the top of Jack's hat.

"Jack!" Nicholas shouted, rushing towards the tunnel. Jack had to move now, he turned around and ran. He heard the revolver gunfire echoing off the rocky walls of the tunnel. He looked to the right and seen a five foot drop down again, he slid down this hill of dead leaves, and took off his hat.

Jack's dark hair blended in with the forest floor of dark colored leaves, dead leaves. His heart was racing rapidly, he was by himself and was fighting against one of the BlackJack elites. He was breathing rapidly yet quietly to stay silent, he looked up the hill to see Nicholas emerging from the tunnel.

"How far do you think you can take this!" Jack cried out, Nicholas looked around to see where the voice was coming from.

"Just come on out, Jack. Just surrender without me killing you, you'll be alive. You'll be sent far away from here though, to some other prison island."

Jack took a rock, and chucked it up and behind him. It managed to hit Nicholas right in the face, making him cry out in pain. The BlackJack elite stumbled into a rock, dropping his revolver, Jack took this opportunity to run further into the forest.

"I'm gonna kill you asshole, no more chances!" Nicholas screamed in rage as he placed one hand over his now bruised eye, he leaned down to pick up the gun.

"Time to party."

Jack heard Nicholas say as he ran through a few bushes, he heard a few shots go off from Nicholas' revolver. Jack's horse followed after him, giving Nicholas an easy thing to follow. The BlackJack elite reloaded his revolver and slowly made his way up the hill and around the bend, slowly chasing after Jack and his horse, Arthur.

Jack eventually came to a creek, running to a ledge and turning into a waterfall. He looked over his shoulders to try and see Nicholas, he didn't see any black clothing, he wasn't taking any chances though.

Jack made his way across the creek, he continued to make his way through the forest. He then heard a faint voice call his name.

"Jack!" Nicholas screamed far behind him, the BlackJack was still hunting the gang leader down.

Jack decided to go down the hills, and travel East. He noticed a large chunk of a tree still standing on the ground, most of it had fell to the ground. The gang leader had an idea, he took off his vest, and he took off his hat.

A few minutes later, Nicholas arrived without his horse. Still holding his revolver, aiming it everywhere until he seen the stump.

"Got you now, son of a bitch." Nicholas fired at what he thought was Jack, a hard thud was heard when the bullet connected, Nicholas raised an eyebrow, then the noises of dead leaves crunching could be heard behind Nicholas.

Nicholas turned around to meet a wooden stick, he was knocked to the ground as he was taken off guard. The tree limb snapped once it was smacked across the skull of the BlackJack elite, making a loud cracking noise that echoed off some more trees, the revolver had been knocked out of his hands.

Jack stood over Nicholas with the other end of the stick in one hand, holding his revolver in the other one. The BlackJack elite had been cut on the head, blood was leaking out of the cut and flowing down his face ever so slowly. Nicholas Lanza gave Jack a vicious snarl as he scooted back towards his gun, Jack fired at the BlackJack's revolver, making it roll out of reach.

"You should have never burned down my house, we would never be having these problems." Jack growled as he aimed at the head of Nicholas as he stood a few feet away from him, Nicholas groaned and slowly grabbed a rock from behind him as he tried to speak.

"I wasn't the one that burned down your house, dumbass. That would be Douglas, Douglas Mulligan." Nicholas growled through gritted teeth, he suddenly threw the rock and it hit Jack on the head. The Marston boy stumbled back, dropping his revolver.

Jack started to bleed from the temple of his head, both were bleeding now. Both were hurt, Nicholas picked up the end of the stick in which had been broken off from the impact.

Jack had fell back against a rock, the stick was standing up since it landed on one end instead of landing on the side. The gunslinger grabbed the stick, and faced off against the BlackJack elite.

"You should have stayed away, now I have to kill you." Jack growled as he rushed forward, shifting his body weight down and forwards, falling into Nicholas and taking him to the ground.

Jack was wanting to place his stick against the throat of Nicholas to choke him out, but the BlackJack member was blocking it with his stick.

"We're only doing it for money, you Godless outlaw." Nicholas seethed, kicking Jack off of him. Jack rolled away and kept his eyes on the BlackJack member, Nicholas took a swing at Jack. Jack ducked and the stick broke against the tree behind him.

Nicholas was quick and he jabbed the stick at Jack's head, it smashed into his skull three times. The last one being near his eye, Jack was stunned and had dropped his stick. Nicholas smirked, and grabbed the other limb. Jack wouldn't allow himself to be beaten, he tried to grab the throat of the BlackJack member, until he felt both wooden sticks smash against the sides of his neck. He started to gasp for air, collapsing to his knees.

Jack then felt a knee strike him in the jaw, knocking him from his knees, to his back. He looked around and seen Nicholas pulling out a knife, the BlackJack got on top of the gunslinger with the knife clutched in his hand.

"Jack, FBI head, Archer Fordham, wants your head for five hundred dollars." Nicholas went to slice off the head of Jack, the Marston boy snatched the hand that was going for his throat. Jack fought desperately with one hand as he reached for a rock with the other one, Nicholas was totally focused on decapitating Jack.

"No, the only time you'll ever see me being punished.. Is on Judgement Day." Jack struggled to say as he bashed the rock in the temple of Nicholas, busting him open again. Nicholas yelped out in pain, and rolled to the side of Jack.

Jack got up and ran, he didn't look back. Nicholas layed where he was, stirring since he had been partially knocked out. His vision was blurry, his head pounded. Jack continued to run further into the forest, eventually coming to a sudden drop down of about ten feet. He fell over the edge and crashed into a hill, tumbling down it. Nicholas slowly rolled over, grabbing the bottom of a tree to pull himself up.

The BlackJack member wiped some blood off of his face with his other hand, he looked down at the dark glove to see the crimson liquid. He heard Jack yelp out once the gunslinger had fell off the edge, now Nicholas knew where Jack had gone.

"No escaping, you're mine!"

Jack could hear Nicholas' voice far off behind him, it was faint yet it was audible. He staggered up to his feet, his head was spinning after tumbling down the hill, and his body ached, but Jack knew he had to keep going in order to keep his gang alive.

He cursed to himself between gritted teeth, as a way to kill the pain for just a moment as he made a limping run towards a river. He noticed that there was a star shaped shore across this river, he was curious about crossing this river, but he needed to have the gang's caravan.

By this point, Nicholas was already up on his feet, and making his way cautiously towards the shore. Jack was unaware that the BlackJack member was already up. He stood on the edge of the shore now, contemplating of crossing. There was a sandy beach, it wasn't huge though. Past this sandy beach was a huge grassland, looking like the Scarlett Meadows in New Hanover with how green the grass looked. In the distance, he seen massive hills, beyond these hills were huge mountains, these mountains were very far in the distance, Jack could only see the snowy tips of these mountains.

Jack whistled for Arthur to arrive, the gunslinger was never taught to swim since his father couldn't swim. He needed a horse to cross it, the arabian horse made its way towards the shore. It would take the horse a bit before it arrived, Jack turned his back to the forest for a moment. Two explosive shots rang out, he felt two thuds go into his back. These shotgun shells to his back caught him off guard, he slowly fell forwards, collapsing into the river bank. Nicholas stood over Jack's body with a grin on his face, satisfied with Jack's death, he nudged the corpse into the river to let him sink to the bottom.

Nicholas would end up leaving the scene, knowing that he had killed Jack before he could have the claim to fame. As he made his way up to the ridge and into the forest, heading back to Annesburg, Jack slowly opened his eyes. He was wearing a vest, it slightly prevented the shells from being fatal. It softened the blows that the shells made into his body, not completely though. Jack indeed had been hit pretty hard, but not to the point of death.

Jack allowed the river to take him upstream, heading East of where he currently was positioned at. He felt a peaceful sense of calmness as the cool river waters washed over his body, even though he had clothes on. He felt refreshed once the waters went over his face, his body didn't sink, he allowed it to float. Jack was never taught how to swim, but he was taught to stay calm in all situations, this allowed him to float.

His horse followed his floating body on the shore, soon the sandy beach turned into a grassy hill, turning into a forest further up. Jack started singing a popular folk song at the time, it was called "May I stand unshaken." Arthur Morgan had sang this song as he marched back towards the Van Der Linde's base at the old plantation house, once he arrived back from Guarma.

Jack's body eventually came to a resting point along a rocky beach, it wasn't a huge rocky beach, it had tiny pebbles, almost gravel like ground. He let out a sigh, Jack liked the cool rivers carrying him towards his destination.

The leader of the Marston gang slowly rolled over onto his stomach, he pressed his hands into the gravel, and pushed himself up slowly. He managed to get to one knee, he felt light headed and hot from the sun beaming down on him as he floated down this river with no name. He turned back around to take a quick drink of water from the river, he didn't care what was in the water, thirst had overcame him.

After his tongue was blessed with the feeling of cool water, he guzzled it down. Jack felt relieved, but he hadn't forgotten the task at hand. He had to find Tonya before something bad would happen to her, he continued to rise up to his footing, and then climbing onto his horse before speeding back towards Fort Wallace with some news to carry.

After a good little trip, he arrived at the front of the wooden fort. He was pleased to see that some camp members had already set up tents on the outside of it, happy to see progress so far. Now if they could get Tonya back, they could start their campaigns of robberies. The gang was off of a rocky start, soon it would have proper footing.

Bill hobbled his way towards Jack once he seen him as the gates were opened, Jack had a look of slight pain on his face, as if he was trying to shrug off something.

"What's wrong, Marston?" Bill asked, Jack rubbed the small of his back, where the bullets had went into.

"I got shot close to my ass, twice, shotgun shells."

Some gang members gasped, Bill had a smug grin on his face before breaking out into a snicker.

"Great, now the leader is injured!" The prizefighter stated loud and proud, as if this was some sort of accomplishment.

Jack limped his way past Bill and growled at him from being agitated by these words.

"I'm fine, Bill."

Jack made his way towards the nursery, sitting on the top bunk where Rebecca McIntyre was laying. He decided to have a conversation with this beautiful young irish woman.

"What happened to ya?" Rebecca asked, Jack slowly removed his dark colored vest, dropping it to the floor below.

"I got shot in the back, by a BlackJack member. He chased me through some forest out by Annesburg, I played dead, he fell for it."

"Damn, that sounds rough."

Jack groaned as he stretched out, feeling the pain in his lower back once more as he outstretched the holes in his body where the shotgun shells hit.

"How are we going to get Tonya back?" Rebecca asked, Jack thought for a moment and sighed.