(Chapter 16: Bloodsoaked memories)

Bill raced down the road on his horse, he couldn't believe that he was alive. The BlackJack gang had murdered a child, leaving the poor boy to die once he reached Fort Wallace. The prize fighter rode through the Scarlett Meadows of New Hanover, memories going through his head as he rode down the dusty road. The word useless continued to haunt his mind, though it reminded him of life back at the Saint Denis Fighting Pit, and life before being a brawler.

(1901)

Bill Pierce was thirteen years old in the year of 1901, he was given a lancaster repeater by his father, Joseph Pierce. It was a snowy night, his family lived in a log cabin up in Canada. Pierce would soon move out of Canada, and down into Saint Denis. His family had been starving, a huge winter storm had barreled into the extremely small town, everyone had evacuated except for Bill's family.

The family was starving, if they were starving, they were weak, and if they were weak, they could get sick and possibly a deadly disease. Bill was the youngest and most healthy, he wouldn't give up. He would provide for his family, not matter the cost.

Bill laid on his stomach, buried in the snow, looking down the sight of the repeater. His dark colored jacket had been coated in a sheet of glistening white flakes that had fallen from the sky. The teen shivered as his thin jacket didn't provide that much of protection against the cold, harsh weather of the North.

"I wish I was still in Texas.." Bill groaned to himself in between stuttering shivers, amidst the snow, a large dark figure was walking. The snow was falling so much that it caused a huge whiteout, the only thing Bill could see was white. This creature had to be big.

Bill slowly inched closer, now he could see the outlines of big antlers. He had encountered a moose, it would provide perfect big game meat for the family, an excited smile cracked on Bill's face. He placed his shaky finger on the trigger of the repeater, he then heard a faint voice call out to him from a good few feet behind him, yet close.

"Son!" The voice called out, startling Bill since he was so focused on the moose, Bill accidentally opened fire. The moose would proceed to run away, squandering any opportunity for food.

"I'm worthless!" Bill cried out, letting go of the repeater, pounding his fist into the snow. His father approached from behind.

"You tried son, you did." Joseph said, crouching down to his sobbing son.

"I'm useless dad, I have tried to provide for you through this storm. Nothing has worked, we're going to die in this storm, aren't we?" Bill sobbed, the thoughts of the teen were hopeless at this point. It was almost if he had no reason to cry.

"You're not useless son, you have a purpose in this world, we all do." Joseph Pierce said to his sad son.

(1915)

Bill snapped out of his memory, his memory of attempting to hunt down a moose for his starving family. A tear had left his eye, and made its way down his cheek, he tried to fight against the urge to cry, but he couldn't help it. He started to sob, his breaths hard and huffs would come out.

"I'm..Not useless." Bill sobbed, his voice breaking as he struggled to say those words. He remembered of how he was almost killed by the BlackJack elites back at Fort Wallace. Those words could've very well been his last ones.

Bill suddenly thought of his place in the gang, how he was put in fourth in command, the lowest rank to command the gang. He remembered on how he was slapped by every single member of the gang as they left, he remembered how Jack Marston and Rebecca McIntyre taunted and teased him when they first shown up at Doverhill Laboratory. He remembered on how his house was burned down by people he once thought as friends. It all reminded him of how he had to depend on the gang, despite them humiliating him everytime he tried to speak his opinion. It reminded him of how.. Useless he would be without the gang…

"I'm not… useless!" Bill cried out in a loud sobbing yell, balling up one fist. Bill was twenty seven years old and Jack was only twenty, he couldn't believe that a person almost ten years younger than him, was bossing him around. He then had a memory of his first fight at the Saint Denis Fighting Pits.

(1911)

Bill had moved back down South once he turned twenty years old, now he was twenty three years old. He stood across the pit from his first ever opponent, Landry Dell. Ever since that fateful day in 1901 when his father told him that he wasn't useless, those word drove Bill to never quit. The crowd booed both fighters since they were rookies, Bill balled up his fist in anger.

"I'm not useless." Bill said to himself as Landry charged at him, once Dell was within range, the man from Canada slammed his fist into the jaw of Landry Dell. The rookie was knocked onto his butt from the uppercut motion from Bill Pierce.

"Shit.." Landry groaned as he rolled over to his stomach, Bill looked at his tightly clenched right fist and a smile slowly cracked upon his face. Rodger Cornwall smiled from afar, liking Bill Pierce.

Landry was slowly trying to crawl over to the barricade, to pull himself up. Bill stalked his downed opponent, his right hand cocked and ready to punch. Landry slowly looked over at Bill, a right hand slammed into the temple of his skull, the knockout blow. The crowd cheered Bill like crazy, impressed that the rookie knocked Landry out with only two punches. It was on the twentieth show that Bill Pierce made his debut.

"Winner!" Rodger Cornwall screamed with excitement, walking over to Bill, and raising his hand.

"Impressive showing my man, keep it up."

Bill smiled at those words, he looked around at the cheering crowd and smiled on with pride being his only expressions. He felt that this place was home, a home he would have for a good few years at least.

(1915)

Bill smiled as he continued to ride through New Hanover, now approaching the town of Valentine. The memory of his first fight would always remain in his head, he now tried to focus on his journey to Mexico, following after the Marston Gang.

The Marston Gang was in New Austin now, just entering the region. They rode through MacFarlane's Ranch, it all looked the same. A new barn had been built, Bonnie watched the gang pass through her ranch. She looked at Jack as he rode with Rebecca on a wagon with other gang members in the back, she didn't know that John Marston had passed away, so she thought Jack was his father. She smiled at Jack, and Jack smiled back, not knowing who this woman was.

"Should we rest, Jackie?" Rebecca asked, Jack shook his head. He still wanted to get far ahead, he wanted to be as close to Mexico as possible. He then thought of a place, Fort Mercer, it would be a perfect resting place if it was to be empty.

"No, we rest once we reach Fort Mercer. My father told me about it time and time again, it is the perfect place to camp at. There are gatling guns, and even a canon has been placed there. However, it may be guarded heavily. Mexico is under the rule of a tyrant, so he might have soldiers stationed at this particular fortress."

(That night)

Caesar Chavez was a soldier from the army of Abraham Reyes, Chavez was stationed at Fort Mercer so no one could possibly attack Reyes. There was a few hispanic prisoners there, they were protestors of the tyrannical rule of Reyes.

"Chavez, we're starving, we need food!" A mexican prisoner shouted, Caesar marched down the stairs and approached the cells that housed these prisoners.

"I listen to no peasants, I only listen to Abraham Reyes, and Reyes only." Caesar responded, turning around to head back upstairs to watch out for people coming towards him, but as he headed towards the stairs, the prisoners continued to shout at him.

"You're so loyal, I wonder if you suck his cock!" A female prisoner shouted, Caesar gritted his teeth in rage, but then a wicked smile came across his lips.

"You talk like a whore, Ms. Gonzalez, how about I make you mine?" Caesar said deviously, turning towards the cells once more, now approaching them. Mr. Gonzalez could only watch in horror as Caesar Chavez unlocked the cell.

Ms. Gonzalez was fast, and tried to hit Caesar, but she received a massive backhand across her face. A yelp of pain could be heard from the young hispanic lady, her husband was furious.

"Don't you hit my wife! Damn you!"

"Guards, take my position and watch for anything that moves out there!" Caesar commanded, a few guards marched up the stairs with rolling block rifles in their arms. Caesar continued his approach on Ms. Gonzalez.

Mr. Gonzalez grabbed the iron bars of the cell, and shook it furiously, a loud rattling noise came from the bars but they wouldn't budge.

Caesar pointed his winchester repeater down at Ms. Gonzalez's skull, forcing her to remove her blouse. In tears, the hispanic lady removed her top, exposing her larger than average breasts.

"You've got some nice tits, bitch." Caesar complimented in a sinister tone, he removed his pancho, and then his shirt.

A loud thud was heard from outside of the cells, Caesar slowly turned his head to see what had happened. A guard had fell from the watching position, the other guard was taking cover. Caesar raised an eyebrow, and left the cell in which contained Ms. Gonzalez.

"Did Ricardo get drunk on the job, what the hell is going on out here!" Caesar shouted, furious to see that a guard had fallen. The highest ranking soldier in Reyes' army, seen blood slowly pouring out of the guard's head.

"We're under attack!" The remaining guard shouted, looking down at Caesar with a look of concern. This caused the other guards to take positions, watching over the land all around the fort.

Not too far away, Jack was hiding within a large bush. The moon was the only source of light and the lanterns inside of the fort, the gang had hidden their convoy behind a hill so the guards couldn't see them. The dark clothing of most of the gang allowed them to be almost perfectly hidden in the cover of night, Jack was armed with a rolling block rifle as well.

A shot rang out, and another guard fell from the watching position, hitting the ground with a loud thud. A few more loud and explosive shots rang out, the guards and Jack Marston trading shot after shot.

"Dammit, where is he!" A guard shouted right before he was hit in the head by a bullet from the rolling block rifle. Caesar growled furiously, and marched towards the back of the fort. On this side, a gatling gun was sitting on the upper level of the fort.

Jack slowly looked over at a few of his gang members, that decided to help him out with clearing the fort. The shots seemed to be getting more close, they could hear bullets fly by the bushes. They all remained silent, Jack was trying to plan out a way to get inside of the fort.

"Okay, we've got to make our approach soon. There is no back door to this fort, there is only a front. We need to throw some dynamite inside of this fort, to clear it out. Once we shake this fort up with the dynamite, we charge in through the front." Jack explained, he and his members rushed through the shrubbery to stay hidden from the guards. They could hear the shots of the rolling block rifles going off, some were close, some were far off.

Ms. Gonzalez looked over at her husband, she then looked at the guards opening up the front gates of the fort. She seen Caesar manning the gatling gun, her husband looked concerned. She had an idea, to set the other prisoners free. There was ten prisoners in total, all of them were locked in five cells with two people inside. The cell in which contained Ms. Gonzalez remained opened, forgotten by Caesar. She carefully made her way out of the cell, and ran alongside the cells, unlocking each of them by pulling the lever to the side.

Caesar seen the prisoners rushing out of their cells, and towards the ladder in which would lead to the upper level of the fort. He fired upon them with the gatling gun, downing a few yet most remained alive.

Meanwhile, Jack and the members heard the gatling gun going off. There seemed to be a lot of commotion within the fort, he made a mad dash towards the front of the fort. The members following after him, he pulled out his cattleman revolver, aiming it up at the guards with the rolling block rifles. Jack took in a deep breath as he ran, time slowed around him, using the dead eye ability, he downed all three guards with headshots. Dred tossed Jack a stick of dynamite, the Marston boy lit the stick up, and hurled it towards the front.

The dynamite burst, sending the guards flying into the air, Jack had heard the gatling gun going off. As he charged in with his members, he allowed his dead eye ability continue longer, he aimed at Caesar's knee, and fired three times in a row. The mexican soldier yelled out in pain, and collapsed to the floor. This allowed Mr. Gonzalez to approach the elite soldier from the army of Reyes, Caesar reached over and grabbed the gatling gun to pull himself up.

Once Caesar had pulled himself up, Mr. Gonzalez slammed a kick into his gut. Caesar grunted in pain, and fell off the edge. Falling to the ground..

Meanwhile, far away, Bill Pierce was about to ride through BlackWater. He was slowly getting closer to New Austin, yet still a long ways away from Fort Mercer. At the same time Caesar hit the ground, Bill had a new memory..

(1914)

Bill slammed into the dusty ground at the Saint Denis fighting pits, he was defending his championship against a large fighter, yet this man was tall. Lou Scherr, this large fighter from North Carolina always gave Bill a run for his money. It seemed that Lou would almost always win, but Bill would somehow come back into the fight to win it. Bill was twenty six years old, now sporting his famous mustache, he groaned in pain, reaching for the barricade.

"You want the barricade!" Lou Scherr boomed, dragging Bill up, and hurling him into the wooden barricade, putting splinters down his back. Bill looked like he wouldn't be winning this one, Lou marched towards the center of the room and let out a victory yell, getting the crowd seemingly on his side.

Suddenly, the prize fighter's memory entered his mind. "You're not useless." Bill heard his father say in the back of his head, Bill uttered the same words as he slowly pulled himself up with everything he had left. Lou looked shocked once he seen a bruised, and bloody Bill Pierce standing up again.

"I'm not useless.." Bill growled, Lou Scherr charged at him, it was almost like a repeat performance from his first fight. Bill let out a battle cry, slamming his fist into Scherr's jaw as hard as he could. Lou staggered back, rocked by the uppercut.

Bill wasn't done, charging at Lou Scherr with a jumping forearm across the skull. Scherr was spun around, yet he was still standing. Bill ran around Lou, and then slammed his right hand into the side of Scherr's skull. Lou Scherr collapsed to one knee, Bill stood out in front of his biggest rival in Saint Denis, and let out another battle cry. Bill Pierce backed up, and then charged at Lou for a final knockout blow.

The crowd gasped once Lou stood up, heaving Bill into the air. Scherr caught Bill in his arms, and went to slam him down with authority. Bill hooked one arm around Scherr's head and drove his head into the dusty ground with a DDT, yet Bill had all the air knocked out of him from the slam.

Rodger Cornwall walked over to the two downed fighters, this was no doubt the best fight in this companies history. Bill had his eyes open, although halfway shut, Lou Scherr was out cold.

"Ladies and gentleman, your winner of the evening, and still the champion!" The crowd roared and cheered once Cornwall announced that Bill Pierce remained the champion of Saint Denis, Bill was helped up by the son of Leviticus Cornwall, a smile cracked Bill's face as he adored the crowd.

(1915)

"Have you seen a girl named Tonya?" Dred asked aggressively, trying to intimidate Caesar into telling him where she was.

"I have no clue of who the fuck you're talking about, describe her." Caesar groaned, he had been beaten up by Dred and now thrown forcefully into a cell. The Marston gang had managed to clear out all of the guards, the rescued prisoners from this fort was now part of the gang.

"A beautiful young african american woman, with dark hair and a gorgeous body, tell me where she is!" Dred shouted, Caesar slowly got to all fours.

"I sent her to Abraham Reyes, El Presidio.." Caesar groaned, Dred nodded his head.

"But she might have stopped somewhere else down the road, I don't think Abe likes weak women.."

Dred growled, and proceeded to beat Caesar to death with his bare hands. The Marston Gang allowed this to happen, the convoy continued their trek towards the fort in which was now liberated. This fort was even better than Fort Wallace, instead of wooden logs for walls, most of it was made out of concrete. When the gang was inside of the fort, Fort Wallace felt cramped while this one felt more open and could fit more people.

Jack decided to welcome the liberated prisoners to the gang, which these hispanic people gladly accepted. Dred dragged Caesar out of the cell and thrown his beaten down corpse onto a pile of dead guards.

"Elias, haul these bodies onto a wagon, throw the dead into the San Luis River." Jack ordered, Elias nodded his head and went to to the task, Dred approached Jack.

"Caesar spoke of a place called El Presidio, Tonya is rumored to be alive, I still grow ever more worried for the woman."

Jack nodded his head after Dred delivered the news, Mr. Gonzalez gave the gunslinger some helpful information.

"El Presidio, stands for the prison, he is mentioning a large military stronghold. That is almost impossible to get inside, there is loads of cannons and gatling guns stationed at this fort. There is only two ways in, it sits on the edge of a cliff. The side entrance is a dangerous way in, because it is also close to there is a dangerous drop, one wrong step is fatal. To make matters worse, Reyes and his army controls it."

Jack had a growing concern within his chest once he heard this, it sounded like saving Tonya would be a bad idea, but he didn't want to lose a strong member in which was Dred Jackson.

"How do you suppose we get inside this fort?"

Mr. Gonzalez thought for a minute, thinking intensely. He had been at El Presidio before as a rebel with Abraham Reyes, he was then kicked out and jailed once he thought Reyes became a tyrant. This would greatly help Jack and his gang.

"We strike at night, El Presidio is in between two hills of rock, we have the best snipers take out the cannon at the front, from the hills. There is a watch tower that is perfect for sniping, take out that sniper. While this is happening, half of the gang will charge in through the front, while the other half will take the side entrance. The gates will probably be shut, so we'll blow them up with dynamite."

The elite members of the Marston gang, aside from Bill in whom hadn't shown up yet, agreed to Mr. Gonzalez's plan to enter El Presidio. The gang, rapidly growing in numbers, would storm the El Presidio stronghold the next night…