(Chapter 25: Setting up)
A wild boar squealed out in pain as a shotgun shell was blasted into its side, it turned around and charged at Dred, the man who fired at it. The african american general of the Marston Gang was elusive enough to swiftly dodged to the side and avoid the hog's charge, Bill lunged on the hog with a knife in his hand from the shadows. The blade plunged into the boar's back, causing it to squeal out in pain, it charged a few more feet forward before collapsing onto its side. The boar went limp seconds later, after the feral hog had collapsed, Bill stood up and winked at Dred.
"You're welcome." Bill said, having a smartass tone to his voice. Dred snickered at it, not thinking much of it as he helped the Saint Denis brawler skin the animal and took some valuable items to sell for money, slicing off the tusks.
At the same time, a pair of scissors went into Jack Marston's hair. It snipped a chunk of his long dark hair from his head, Rebecca McIntyre was cutting it for him with a cheerful smile on her face.
"Why were you wanting to cut your hair?" Rebecca asked as she snipped away, watching the dark hair fall to the ground before him and her.
"Well, I've got to hide my identity in the only ways I know how. If you cut my hair down to almost a clean shave, and shave my facial hair off, I think we should be fine. Remember, we only need to rob a store, we aren't going to go all out and start robbing banks yet."
Rebecca giggled as Jack explained why he was wanting his hair to be cut, she smirked as she snipped at his long hair again, another dark chunk fluttering to the ground.
"What's the matter Jackie? Are you afraid to start robbing banks?" Rebecca teased playfully with a cocky laughter trailing off, this made Jack laugh silently.
"No, we don't need to have the law on our butts. I do, however, like the will you have to go the distance. Such a strong value from you, miss McIntyre."
Rebecca smiled sweetly after Jack gave her that compliment, feeling proud of herself for all that she has done so far in the gang.
"Well then, Mr. Marston, heh, I have a question to ask you."
"Fire away my dear."
"When you killed that man, Edgar Ross, did you have any regrets of it? How did his wife react?"
Once Rebecca asked that question, Jack had a vision of the past. Not too long ago, but a good while back. In the year of 1914, before he even knew any members of his gang, he even had doubts of ever leading a gang in those times.
(Flashback)
Jack Marston stood by the cabin at Lake Don Julio, satisfied in achieving redemption for his father. The body of Edgar Ross was slowly pushed by the waters as his wife slowly emerged out from the front door, she cried out in horror once she seen bullet holes all up her husband's body.
"Christ! What have you done to him!" Emily Ross screamed as she rushed over to where her husband was beginning to float.
"I've done what needed to be done, that is all that needs to be answered." Jack answered, looking down at Emily and her dead husband with a look of pathetic disgust in his eyes, with his arms folded.
"You killed my husband you monster!" Emily Ross wailed, Jack growled in anger in response to the woman calling him a monster.
"He killed my father, he used him, and lied to him. He shot him like a dog, I am giving you a chance to get on out of here before you join your beloved husband." Jack warned, slowly reaching down for his revolver.
Emily looked down, tears streaming down her cheeks in regret and great sadness for what the gunslinger had done to her husband. His body had went cold, his lips turned a ghostly white. The pupils within his eyes had dilated, he was no longer among the living, he was among the dead.
Jack left the woman alone to suffer in silence, entering the cabin and locking her out. This would be his temporary home, it wasn't permanent. The Marston boy looked out of the window to see Emily Ross slowly pushing her husband into the lake, and his body slowly vanished beneath the waters forever. She was seen sitting on her knees in silence, before getting up and leaving.
Deep down, Jack Marston felt sorry to end an elderly man's life. It wasn't right, but anger had clouded his mind and good heart. He had to make the person responsible for killing his father pay, it had to be done.
With Edgar Ross slain, he sat down on the couch and took in a sigh of relief. The man had did it, he vanquished the person responsible for killing John Marston, but it was all bittersweet. This is what John Marston didn't want him to do once he grew up into an adult. Thoughts ran through his mind about future goals now that there was no longer a menace in his life, there would be no more struggles.
He remembered Dutch Van Der Linde, how he had always wanted to leave for Tahiti or California. Those visions never came to be as the man lost his sanity once the old gang started to decline. A slight smile cracked onto his face, Jack wanted to gain retribution for his old gang leader, he wanted to leave America, and head for Tahiti. No more problems, just a lavish lifestyle and chopping mangoes.
To fly under the law's radar, Jack would remain in the cabin by Lake Don Julio. Leaving to Armadillo at one point in September to buy a beautiful Arabian horse, he named the beige colored horse: Arthur.
He thought that it would be easy to flee West towards California, and to buy his way onto a boat for Tahiti. As it would soon turn out though, the process would be very rough and hard. It would start a whole new adventure for Jack Marston, an adventure he didn't want. The year was 1914..
(End Flashback)
"I regret a bit, the old fart needed to pay. I felt sorry for the poor woman, but no one gets to hurt family and friends when I am around." Jack answered with a sigh, Rebecca smiled and hugged around his neck, squeezing gently.
"It's okay, look where you are, where we are now." Rebecca said trying to cheer her leader, and her boyfriend up.
"I've got many goals, and plans for the future of this gang." Jack then looked towards Rebecca after she got through snipping another chunk of hair off of his head. "I've also got plans for our future as well."
The two engaged in a kiss, looking into each other's eyes as everyone else slept. Jack felt a decent mixture of emotions when he was around Rebecca, he felt as if he could take on the world, the feeling of intense bravery. Pride rushed within his body, he felt the need to protect Rebecca as if she was family even though the two weren't related at all. The beautiful looks that the young irish woman had almost forced a prideful smile onto Jack's lips, Rebecca sometimes teased and laughed at the fact.
Jack didn't mind her laughing and teasing at him all that much, it shown to him that she was playful all while being a fighter and having a heart filled with fire. She could turn that playful, happy switch into one of a brave gang general. Jack looked for the content of character when it came to women, and also focused on looks too. Rebecca's character was just perfect to him, when he met her at the Saint Denis Fighting Pits a while back, it was love at first sight.
The two officially engaged in a relationship back when the gang was still camped up at Fort Wallace, a celebration was held with the gang that night, with Bill Pierce becoming drunk and stumbling all over the place, as a matter of fact, the fighting champion of Saint Denis accidentally lit his ass on fire after falling butt first onto the campfire. He was forced to strip naked which got almost the entire fort to laugh wholesomely, it was humiliating for Bill.
In Rebecca's eyes, she saw the same thing that Jack seen within her. Only, it was a greater feeling of utmost respect and love. The young irish woman was part of a family in which had migrated to the United States, her brother was in the Civil War with the Irish Brigade of the Union. He was sadly no longer among the living, she didn't even have a chance to meet him.
Jack Marston cleared out the thoughts of a brother she would never see, something about the outlaw lit up her world and she couldn't ask for a better man. She seen Jack as a noble leader, one who could potentially lead an army if he wanted to. Rebecca seen the Marston boy as a saint in a world of sin, she suddenly felt the kiss the two were sharing get more deeper, as a result of this more satisfying and amazing feeling, she let out a sweet and satisfied moan of pleasure from Jack's kiss. Then the two broken lips, looking at each other in the eyes.
"Rebecca, where did you learn to be such a fighter? Such a fireheart.." Jack said, amazed by his precious woman.
"My brother, my parents told me about my brother. He served in the Irish Brigade, died in a battle in the Civil War. I was taught that he had a bold heart, a will to win. He had to kill to survive, a very charismatic and strong man. I never got to see him, but the stories lit up something within me. As if his spirit.." Rebecca was cut off by Jack who spoke to her softly.
Jack placed a hand on Rebecca's shoulder and gave her a sweet smile.
"He lives in you, that is where you get that fire from. Your brother guides you, watching you from Heaven, he is leading you on the right path."
Rebecca became slightly teary eyed once Jack said those inspiring words, uplifting words. She was on the verge of crying but she held it in, embracing her lover in a tight hug.
"Thank you Jackie, thank you so much.."
Meanwhile, Dred and Bill was carrying a large load of game meat from the boar they had skinned not too long ago. They were ready to provide for the gang as much as they could, especially Bill.
"How does it feel to be on Jack's soft side?Considering he puts me at the bottom of his totem pole like an idiot." Bill asked, curious to see how Dred would react to Jack Marston now that he was alone.
"I'm fine, my question to you Bill, is why do you hate him so much?"
Bill smirked at the ground after hearing Dred's question, the reason why he despised Jack should have been clear to every member of the gang.
"I don't hate the guy, I just think his actions are going to get us into loads of trouble. There are hardly any massive gangs left in America, the 1920s are approaching us. The old west is gonna be over, I am wanting our gang to be safe as can be. Jack resorts to violence, all he could've done is stayed at my mansion and waited for me to get the money from my winnings, I would have gladly shared my money for his travels. I was the richest man in Annesburgh."
"Would you share your money with him now?"
"I don't know how to answer that, Dred. If he is wanting to go to Tahiti, then I would stay. I would share my money with him for sure, if I am removed from this gang, I am homeless and hopeless. I can still find wherever my parents are, but it won't be the same from when I was younger, they've gotten older."
"Where does your parents happen to live?"
"Canada, all the way up there. They almost perished in a blizzard from starvation when I was a young teenager, I have been through cold and harsh conditions before, and I hated it. I am not going to like it when it becomes Winter, and we are in the Grizzlies and the Redemption Mountains."
Bill wouldn't like it when the gang finally set up camp in the snow tipped mountains of the Grizzlies or Redemption Mountains, it was still up to Jack Marston where they would all finally settle down.
(Mexico)
"Douglas, what can I do for you? I haven't been able to do shit while we've been to the East of the Grizzlies Mountains." Shaw asked, wanting desperately to have some sort of mission. Either to capture the Marston Gang or to kill one of their members.
"Shaw, when have you ever done shit?"
Shaw went silent after he was insulted by Douglas, the BlackJack leader still felt shaken up by the strange man. The man he had met for the second time on the rock plateau, he didn't know who he was. He didn't know how he could not even feel a bullet go into his body, if the bullet ever did enter his body. Shaw was angered by this, and stormed out of the room with a pissed off expression on his face.
"What is wrong Shaw, lighten up would ya. We've been putting pressure on the Marston Gang." Markus Van Der Linde said, Shaw stopped to speak with the long lost son of Dutch for a moment.
"He strokes the dicks of the Lanza brothers, I just know he does. It would be easier if we all had something to do in this large ass desert." Shaw growled as he noticed Douglas's wife, Elizabeth Mulligan, walking down the hall.
"He tends to his woman other than important matters, we could be on a boat to Europe, but no we've got to stay in this dry ass place called Mexico."
Markus chuckled at Shaw's annoyed anger, much like Bill, Shaw felt greatly neglected by his gang and wanted a second chance to prove himself.
"Relax Shaw, you'll get your chance of greatness. Hopefully soon with me, we can head on to Tahiti or California." Markus said with an optimistic grin on his face, Shaw sighed and continued walking down the hall.
The night came and went on to pass, when the morning would come, the Marston Gang would rise to full strength and with bright minds. The gang gathered around Jack, who was delivering some announcements and more of what was going to go down.
"Now that we have gotten enough rest, we should be ready to head on up into the mountains. I would like half of this gang to make their way over towards the Grizzlies, and I want the other half to head with me and the other leaders up into the Redemption Mountains. You fellas will be more safe in the Grizzlies, it is further away from here. You will need a leader to guide you, Bill Pierce will be the one to aid you all."
Bill looked at Jack Marston with a shocked face, once again he was sent away from the main part of the gang where all the other leaders were, it was like Jack was fucking with Bill Pierce on purpose for some reason.
"Jack! Are you out of your mi.." Jack would stop Bill Pierce before he could even finish his sentence.
"Bill, I don't want to hear it. We've got time to rest, I don't want to listen to your fickle."
After a few minutes of planning and arranging up the convoy once more, the gang was off in their separate paths. Each one heading for a different location, the gang was split in half now. The stronger half consisting of most of the generals was heading for the Redemption Mountains. Bill lead the half in which was going for the Grizzlies with an annoyed look on his face, he clearly wanted help leading a massive portion of the gang, he feared that he couldn't do it on his own…