(Chapter 15: On the move)
Jack was goaded into heading into West Elizabeth, in a new small town that had been built at the start of 1915. He wasn't one hundred percent, but he muscled through the pain. His trip into the town was quite safe, no one knew who he was. As he was making his way out of town, a bounty hunting team noticed him riding back towards Fort Wallace. The bounty hunting gang slowly followed after Jack, only getting near him once he was close to the gang's hideout.
"Marston, we've come for you!" The leader shouted, Jack ignored the bounty hunter, and continued to run away.
A few people were hiding in cover, behind bushes and trees as Jack ran down the dirt road path towards Fort Wallace. He was around one hundred meters away now, he could see it coming up. Since Jack didn't want his trusty steed, Arthur, to get shot, he hopped off of his arabian horse. Jack ran around a corner, with the five bounty hunters still following after him.
Jack continued to run, slight amounts of dust kicking off of the ground as he ran. He could hear the horses of the bounty hunters galloping close behind him, he could hear their hoofs pound into the ground. Jack dug into his holster to pull out his cattleman revolver, as he got within nine hundred feet within the Fort, he quickly spun around. He aimed at the horse with the leading bounty hunter on it, and fired, the horse collapsed to the ground with it's rider falling off with a thud as he landed.
Jack noticed another rider aiming at him, he did a combat roll, timing the shot just right, the bullet missed his head. Jack then got to one knee, and fired at the other rider's throat, killing him instantly too. Jack turn to ran, in the middle of his turn, he was shot in the arm. Then a few of the Marston gang came out of hiding to help their leader.
Bill Pierce used his volcanic pistol, to put down a bounty hunter close by. Elias Bowen came out from behind a tree with a throwing knife, launching it at a bounty hunter from behind. Caleb Anderson threw a decent sized rock at the last remaining bounty hunter's skull, it took him to the ground but did not kill him. Caleb was quick, mounting the hunter, and beating him to death. The african american could not stand racists, so he continued to beat down on the corpse of the bounty hunter after he had beaten him to death with just his fists. Adams Shaw, another member of the Marston gang, seen what Caleb was doing.
"My friend, I think that man is dead."
Caleb turned his head at Adams after he spoke, he snickered a bit before shaking his head "no". He continued to ram his right hand into the dead bounty hunter's skull. Jack, favoring his arm, approached the angered Caleb.
"Calm yourself, the man is dead." Jack reprimanded.
The members of the Marston gang, carried the corpses of the bounty hunters, and launched them into the water from on top of the cliff. A waterfall overlooked the river at the bottom, the bodies made a loud splash once they hit the water.
Jack and the crew that helped him, walked back to the hideout. Rebecca was awaiting his arrival with a look of concern on her face.
"Someone is dying, Jack.."
Jack's eyes widened, he approached the nursery with the same look of concern on his face as had Rebecca. He entered to see a young boy laying on a bed with a white sheet of linen thrown over his body.
"J..Jack!" The boy called out, Jack Marston approached him and crouched down to one knee.
"I am here, young one."
The boy looked up at the gang's leader, Jack was unfamiliar with this kid, yet the young boy was too fragile to be alive in the cruel wilderness with panthers roaming around the area.
"I'm not going to live any longer, they attacked since I wasn't giving any information out.." The boy struggled to say, having to stutter a few times just to say a sentence.
"Who attacked you?" Jack asked.
"Men in black, all wore dark clothing. I was told that this land was free, and it's wilderness was beautiful. I was raised to go against the rising civilization.. I wanted to be with you guys.." The kid moaned in agony, blood slowly drooling out of his mouth.
Rebecca, and Bill looked at Jack with a look of sorrow yet concern on their faces. Jack sighed and wiped the blood off of the child's chin.
"The damned BlackJacks.." Jack said to himself, he then looked back at the boy.
"I overheard police talking about how your gang didn't like civilization, so I tried so desperately to find you people. I begged and prayed for your location, now I have arrived but in poor condition.." The boy said in agony and in despair.
"You've found us kid, you've found us." Jack said, tearing up at the end of his sentence, his voice was breaking as if he was trying to hold back tears.
"I heard that Rebecca McIntyre, and the champion of Saint Denis, Bill Pierce, are in this gang. I must have been dreaming, but now my idols are here with you." The boy groaned, tears rolling down his cheeks from the physical pain he was going through.
"Jack, you're the leader. Do this for me, bring the BlackJacks to their end. Take down the ones that hurt me, take civilization away… Please.."
A single tear rolled down Jack's cheek, as a leader, he tried to stay strong and not weep, but his kind yet brave heart didn't allow it to be so.
"I want to see my idols." The boy said, looking at Rebecca McIntyre along with Bill Pierce.
The two former fighters of Saint Denis, approached the bed. The boy decided to speak to the undefeated champion, Bill Pierce, firstly.
"Bill, once I pass from this world. I want you to keep fighting, I beg you. Never stop, the perseverance you shown, how you never gave up. It inspired me to not give up my search for this gang. Please keep on fighting in my memory.."
Bill nodded his head and placed his hand on the child's forehead, it was going cold, the child wasn't going to last any longer on Earth.
Rebecca approached next.
"I'm here, darling." Rebecca said softly, the boy smiled and reached out for her hand. The two held hands momentarily.
"Other than Bill, I always favored you. You were the perfect combination between beauty and combat,I was always stunned by how great you were when my dad would take me to see all of you. You guys are truly a dream come true to meet you."
The boy tried to groan out since he was feeling pain, a choked gurgling noise came from the kid's throat as his eyes teared up. Tears then flowed down from his eyes, it was the death rattle, a sign that death was very close..
As a last act, the kid took Rebecca's hand, and kissed it passionately before his eyes fluttered shut. Rebecca fell to her knees, her head buried into the child's chest, she cried loudly. Jack was silently weeping, Bill sighed and then left the nursery.
Jack left the nursery, to leave Rebecca crying for the sweet child in whose last act was to kiss her hand.
"I will not see another death of an innocent, this poor young soul was beaten to near death, and he suffered all the way until he found us. The cause of his death is because of those dastard BlackJacks, the same ones that locked me up at Sisika. The ones who burned down my house, the ones who destroyed the graves of my parents. Show no mercy around those bastards, we shall kill their leaders one by one, I don't care how long it takes!" Jack announced, wiping away a tear from his eye.
The rule to never kill an innocent or let one suffer had been enforced, Jack sat down on a log close to the campfire even though the fire wasn't lit since it was early morning. Bill approached Jack from behind.
"We need to kill those bastards for harming that little boy, we need to seek revenge." Bill suggested out of sorrow for the poor little child, Jack shook his head.
"No, they'll know that I am alive. We need to lay low first, we find Tonya first. Then we take down the BlackJacks, but right after we get Tonya back, we perform our first robbery. We need money to accomplish our long term goals." Jack said, not taking revenge for an answer.
Dred approached Jack, he was hopeful that Tonya had been found. His hopes were not correct, Tonya had not been found yet.
"We couldn't find her, I went into town to where several people had gathered, I heard word that she is being transported into Mexico to serve as a whore." Jack explained, he would allow the rest of his gang to continue eating their breakfast and have some time to talk before they would move.
(One hour later)
It was in Blackwater, Nicholas Lanza and Douglas Mulligan were explaining the death of Jack to Archer Fordham, Nicholas didn't know that Jack was alive and just playing dead. Archer Fordham seemed aware that the Marston boy was alive.
"His father could take loads of bullets, I'm sure that he can take two shotgun shells. I remember killing John Marston along with a group of several American Soldiers, he was still on his feet after all of those rounds we put in him. I'm sure Jack can take loads more." Archer said, taking the five hundred dollars back.
"He was playing dead then, Nicholas." Douglas sighed, his head in the palm of his hand. Nicholas growled and slammed his fist on the desk.
"Shit fire!" Nicholas cursed in anger, Douglas sighed in disbelief and in disappointment.
"If you found him up by Annesburg, travel around that area. Maybe you'll be able to find him up in that area." Douglas explained, Nicholas sighed, he was in denial that Jack Marston yet remained part of the living.
"I'll find him, he won't be standing a chance."
(Back at Fort Wallace)
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make!" Jack exclaimed, getting the attention of everyone outside of the camp and within the fort. The entire gang entered the fort to hear what their leader had to say.
"We will be moving towards Mexico, it is a great distance away. We cannot travel as a single massive group, I fear law will become suspicious. So we will make our movement, squadron by squadron. Our elites will lead the squadrons, we have four elite members. Me, Dred, Rebecca, and Bill." Jack said, loud enough to for the whole gang to hear him.
Jack approached Dred, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Dred, you will be leading the colored people of the gang. You have more of a bond with them rather than me, or the other two."
"Sure." Dred responded.
"And also, because you're the most healthy out of us all. Bill will go last since he is the most hurt, but if he wants to be smart about something, he will go first."
Jack then walked back to the center of the circle of people, he looked amongst the people and nodded his head towards Dred.
Dred would lead all of the blacks out of the fort, they would all make their way towards Mexico. It would be a long way to Mexico though, so the gang would have to camp before they reached the final destination.
"Now that Dred is making his way out, we will leave towards Mexico to find Tonya. We will make best efforts in saving her, she is an important member to this gang and for Dred." Jack continued to speak, Bill rolled his eyes.
"In my opinion Jack, we need money before anything. We need supplies so we can get to Tonya in the first place, we barely have enough horses. Even though we stole some not too long ago, we are going to run out. We need more guns, some of these rescued inmates haven't ever held a gun in their life. Those people need to be trained, we don't truly know where Tonya is being held at Mexico. What if she is being held at some other fort?" Bill asked, leaning against a wall and smoking a cigar.
"We will get them trained eventually, we lost many inmates at Sisika, but all of the inmates that stand here with us are good with guns and rifles. Once we get Tonya back, we would get them properly trained." Jack responded.
"Jack, you do realize that Tonya is one person. As far as I'm concerned, she isn't an elite to this gang. Rebecca is the only female elite, that colored woman isn't. By the time we reach Mexico, she would either be killed or have been sold into being nothing but a prostitute against her will, they will find out that she is a former inmate."
Jack approached Bill, not getting in his face, but a close enough distance to make a normal person uncomfortable. Bill was against the wall, Jack was close enough that he could easily shove Bill back into it if the prized fighter was to make a move.
"We will make her into an elite, I can see a fire in that girl's eyes." Jack responded, now sounding serious and straight to the point.
"And how did all of us become elites of this gang? Huh? We automatically had it, I'm a prized fighter of Saint Denis, you're the son of a notorious outlaw. Rebecca is Irish, she has fighting blood, and Dred has the leadership quality due to his time at Sisika. What has Tonya done to get into elite status? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Bill growled, raising his voice to the leader.
"Bill, you're fourth in command of this gang. You shouldn't talk to your leader like that." Jack reprimanded.
"This is America, I have the right to say whatever the hell I want!"
Jack looked back at this gang and mouthed the words to them all "He's gonna doom us all one of these days, I swear."
"What was that!" Bill shouted, he could tell that Jack had said something smart.
"Bill, I'm not going to argue with you. We're going to get Tonya, period." Jack responded, then turning around to continue explain the mission to the rest of his large gang.
"Tonya is not an elite, Jack, or should I say Jackass? That woman is nothing worth than dirt on the bottom of our boots.."
Those words enraged Jack, everyone else looked extremely angry at Bill Pierce. Jack was fired up, and he marched right into Bill's face.
"Bill, if you keep it up with that smartass mouth, you won't have a place in this gang, I'll kick your tail right out of it. Then you will be the one that amounts to dirt under our boots." Jack growled, getting eye to eye with Bill.
"I already amount to dirt, you pissed all over my name. I had fortune and fame with my glory days at the Saint Denis Fighting Pits, I was undefeated since the very beginning. Then you wash it all down the drain by placing me in fourth place, ever since I joined your petty ass gang, nothing but bad things have happened to me. My house was burned to the ground, I got shot up at Sisika, this gang is nothing but a curse to me." Bill responded, sounding calm rather than Jack, who was angry.
"Well Bill, you're legacy has came to an end. You can rewrite it in my gang, or you can leave and suffer within the wilderness." Jack sighed, seeming that there would be no way to make Bill Pierce change his mind.
"You want to talk about legacy Jack? How about I take you back to the year 1911, your father's legacy died."
Jack smacked Bill at full force across the face, making spit fly out of the prize fighter's mouth, even knocking him over since the slap came out of nowhere. Jack then hooked his arms underneath Bill's, and forcefully dragged him to the gates of the fort.
"Everyone, on your way out of this fort, give Bill a slap with all of your might. He will learn the hard way to screw with the leader."
As the gang made their way out of the fortress, squadron by squadron, each member gave Bill smacks across the face. The whole intention was to humiliate Bill, and to make him know his place within the gang. It would also serve as a final warning to Bill, if he did anything else, he would be kicked out of the gang. There seemed to be a rift growing between Bill Pierce and Jack Marston as every situation became serious and more unlikely for the gang, these events seemed to prove if Bill was faithful to the gang or not.
Bill was the last left standing, he didn't decide to make his way after the gang, instead he remained at the fort. He watched everyone leave his sights, going in separate directions to avoid being caught by the law enforcement. Once everyone was gone, he went back inside of the fort, sitting down on a log by the campfire.
Bill didn't like the idea of him being in a gang anyway, he never even wanted to have a gang lifestyle. He knew the old West was dying out, he declared that 1911 was the turning point in history as civilization slowly took over wilderness, and the cowboy and outlaw way was dying out. Bill was seemingly forced into the gang, he didn't see a life without being a prize fighter for Saint Denis.
(BlackWater)
It had been a few hours since the Marston Gang had began to make their way towards Mexico in separate convoys yet they would meet up at the Ramit de la Baya bridge, although they would add more members to their gang as time went on. The bounty hunters had not returned, the two BlackJack elites reported back to the BlackWater town hall to speak with Archer Fordham.
"Where are my bounty hunters? those were my best ones!" Archer Fordham shouted, these bounty hunters were the best in all of West Elizabeth or atleast to Archer.
"Well, it seems that your best isn't going to do Mr. Fordham." Douglas sighed, Nicholas sat up and looked over at the BlackJack leader.
"Well, you were the ones that burnt that bastards house down, I'd expect you to take care of them. Continue to fail me, and you'll have no chance of making it in this town." Archer warned, Douglas rolled his eyes.
"We're trying, we don't know where that man lives nor his gang. All we know is that they are up in Roanoke Ridge."
Archer Fordham then snapped "Then look in that area!"
The BlackJack members were given the command, the two went back towards Thieves Landing to discuss matters with the other elites along with Markus Van Der Linde.
(A few hours later)
It was in the afternoon as of now, Bill Pierce continued to sit alone at Fort Wallace. He had eaten the provisions in which were left behind, he liked it better alone, it felt calming to him. As he sat by the campfire, he heard what sounded like someone entering the Fort. Bill turned towards the front gates to see none other than a dirty William Barlow standing before him.
"Ho-How the hell did you get here!" Bill shouted, quickly aiming a schofield revolver at the former owner of Sisika Penitentiary.
"Wanted posters all over town, I tracked you up here. I assumed that these soldiers belonged to some sort of fortress, the wanted posters for a man known as Jack Marston, said that he was last seen up in Roanoke Ridge. The only fort I know up here is Fort Wallace, and look who I've found sitting all alone by the campfire." Barlow explained, Bill aimed at Barlow's hand as he could see that the cruel man was going for his holster.
"Pull a gun out, and I shoot your hand right off." Bill warned, William Barlow raised his hands into the air as in surrender.
"Now leave, get out of here." Bill growled as he fired a round into the air, Barlow slowly backed away.
"I haven't came for you Bill, I am hunting for Jack, maybe you can tell him where he is gone off to." Barlow said, suggesting to the prize fighter an easy go to option. Bill did not like Jack, but he would not rat the gang out.
"I'm not telling you anything, he is going far away from here, I am not giving any specific location out." Bill answered, Barlow then simply walked away.
After William Barlow had suddenly barged in, Bill decided to close the fort's large wooden wall. He headed into the watchtower to see if any threats were coming towards the fort. He patiently stood still with a carbine repeater in his arms, waiting for anything to approach the fort.
Minutes went by with nothing happening, up to an hour, Bill didn't move from his spot and his eyes were fixated on both the dirt roads in front of the fort. Then, the prize fighter felt the urge to piss, so he went out of the watchtower and pissed onto the wooden logs for the campfire.
Once Bill returned, he looked out of the watchtower window to see six people riding towards the fort from the big path out in front of the fort. They had appeared so sudden, and startled Bill. He reached down on the floor for the repeater.
All were riding dark colored shire horses, and all except for one was wearing black to dark grey clothing. The man that wasn't wearing dark clothing was Markus Van Der Linde, Bill had recognized him due to the face.
"Ah shit, here we go again." Bill groaned as he seen Markus, he didn't know what these men were coming for, but he knew it wasn't good.
The prize fighter decided to hide in the corner, letting the dark shade of the room hide him from the outside. He could hear the men speaking amongst themselves, their speech only getting more louder as they approached.
"Ah yes, look at all these tents around the fort. This is where the Marston gang is, no more hiding!" Douglas Mulligan shouted as he fired at one of the tents, the other men fired upon the fort. The bullets did nothing to the thick wooden logs that made up the fortress.
Bill was under siege by six men, all except for one was the big members of the BlackJacks. These had to be the elites of the gang, they had to be. The prize fighter remained hiding in the corner, he then heard a loud whistle, a bullet flew through the window and smacked into the wall.
Bill remained quiet, he started to get nervous, it was one person against six people. He seemed to be at a huge disadvantage, the six men continued to relentlessly open fire at the fort. Bill crouched down, and slowly walked out of the place of hiding.
"That's it, blow the damn gates in. Plant the dynamite and blow it up." Douglas growled, speaking to Shaw Jackson.
"Oh shit.." Bill cursed to himself, he ran down the stairs, making a mad dash for the gatling gun that was aimed right at the gate.
Bill didn't waste no time, and opened fire at the front gate, he wasn't going to let these six men get inside of the fort. The gatling gun rained bullets at the gate, putting tiny holes into it one by one. The machine gun eventually drilled a few holes through the thick wooden logs, breaking through and almost hitting the six men.
"Ah damn, Jack isn't giving this place up without a fight." Nicholas growled as he ran around to the backside of the fort, to avoid being hit by the bullets. The six men split up in pairs of two, and went on all sides of the fort.
Bill Pierce was being flanked out by the BlackJack elites and Markus Van Der Linde, he then heard glass shattering. A watchtower had caught on fire, a molotov had been thrown. Suddenly, he noticed a stick of dynamite flying through the air, he dove away from where he assumed the spot would be. The explosive stick burst, causing Bill's ears to ring, he growled loudly in agony as he covered his ears.
The prize fighter then looked towards the front gates, another explosion was seen, tiny splinters of wood went flying all over the place as smoke slowly clouded the front of the fort. Bill staggered up to his feet, ready for a final stand if this was to be it. He slowly reached for his holster, to get the revolver out. He seen Douglas Mulligan, and Nicholas Lanza charge in through the smoke cloud.
Bill quickly aimed at Douglas as he staggered around, Bill was still rocked from the explosion and his ears still rang loudly. He fired with not even paying attention, the bullet missed Douglas. The prize fighter then swung his revolver around sluggishly, firing at random. One of them almost hit Nicholas, but it missed. He was hit in the gut by a shot from a cattleman revolver, he growled out in pain, then collapsing. The voices of the BlackJack elites were blurred as they approached him.
"Wait a minute, this isn't Jack." Nicholas said as he put the gun back in his holster, he was the man who shot down Jack and now Bill.
"Jack isn't dead, you sons of bitches." Bill growled, as he seen the rest of the six men enter through the gaping hole in the gate.
"He's useless, let's dispose of this wounded animal now." Jake said coldly, aiming his double barreled shotgun right down at the prize fighter.
The word useless stood out in Bill's mind, in his mind, he was only good for being the prize fighter of Saint Denis, now he was alone and at the mercy of the BlackJack elites. Maybe Jack Marston was right, Bill couldn't succeed without the gang, maybe Bill's urge and feeling was right. As a possible last act of defiance he uttered the words "I'm not useless."
Bill waited for the killing blow, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see Markus Van Der Linde standing over him with a cocky smile on his face.
"Nice to see you again." Markus said before breaking out into devious snickering, Bill rolled his eyes.
"You're not useless, how about you prove it." Douglas growled, making a signal for Jake to put down his shotgun.
The BlackJack gang allowed Bill Pierce to live, out of fear for his own life, he sped down the road to try and catch up with the Marston Gang. Now after almost dying to the BlackJacks, he found that the Marston Gang was the only source of protection…