Jack stared in disbelief. John handed him the hat to him. "You're looking good boy."
"Thanks Pa." Jack wanted to ask his father a lot of questions. However John decided to ask the first question.
"So, who's the girl?" John said with a smirk on his face. Jack's face visibly reddened.
"First thing's first. What happened?" Jack stood up.
"I really don't know son." John lead him outside it was still night. The people looked at John with a mixture of confusion, fear and respect. "All I know is I'm still one of them. I know how to stop this."
Jack looked at him "How?"
"There's an old mask. It's cursed, raises the dead. We got to return it to an altar in Escalara"
Jack thought about what his father was saying. It sounded like an old book he read. "Okay, but where are we gonna find the mask?" John's face fell. He opened his mouth to respond, but the sound of a gun cocking caused them both to turn.
The Captain was standing pointing his rifle pointed at Jack's face. "You're gonna pay for taking my finger boy."
Jack reached for his gun but found was too slow. He felt the butt of the rifle connect with his jaw. John grabbed the Captain's neck and lifted him into the air. "That's my son you're hitting You're gonna pay for that."
The Captain laughed "I can't be killed by scum like you Marston." He shot John straight through the head sending him crashing to the floor.
"PA!" Jack yelled. He rushed over to his father who now lay on the ground.
"Well, I killed your Pa twice now Marston. If I shoot you in the heart, I can kill you twice as well. Good by Jackie boy." He raised the gun again. As he cocked the hammer he noticed that the barrel of his gun had halfed in length. "What the…?" he looked at the ground to see that half the gun was now laying there.
"Oh dear, I seem to have missed." Riain said mockingly whilst sheathing his sword. Jack took the opportunity to tackle the Captain and attack him with a barrage of punches. Jack was causing the Captain to bleed severely. But a voice stopped his outburst.
"That's enough Jack." Jack turned to see John once again on his feet. A small hole was in the middle of his forehead. A bullet emerged from the hole and fell to the ground with a dull clink, before the wound healed itself instantly. Jack and the Captain's eyes widened.
"But I shot you in the head. How are you still walking?" The Captain stammered. John grabbed his shirt and pulled him off the ground.
"I can't be killed by scum like you Captain." John took the Captain's revolver and emptied it before inserting a single round of ammunition. He walked over to the wall of the fort. He took a bottle of luminous green liquid from his satchel and poured some of the contents onto the ground below. The Undead that had been occupying the grounds around the fort began to wander towards the liquid. He put the revolver back into the Captain's holster. "One bullet Captain, use it wisely. I reckon you'll get about fifty yards before you shoot yourself." And with that he dropped the captain into an area that was free of the Undead who were all still gathered around the liquid John had poured out.
The Captain hit the ground with a heavy thud, which caught the attention of several of the Undead. Panicking the Captain quickly got to his feet, and began to run.
John, Jack and Riain all watched as he ran. John smirked, he reached his arm back and hurled the remainder of the bottle at the Captain which collided with his back and smashed dousing him in the remainder of the liquid. This caught the attention of the Undead who all turned and began to chase the Captain, into the Wilderness.
Jack turned to his father. "Pa what happened?"
John didn't have an answer. Luckily for him a voice gave the answer for him.
"Your father has been endowed with great power." Jack turned to see Matilda walking towards them. "You see, Mr Marston conquered the Four Horses of the Apocalypse. This act has never been done by a single mortal. It is said that whoever breaks them all would have access to potentially limitless power."
Then without warning she took an oil lamp and smashed it over John smothering him in flames.
Jack panicked but noticed John did not even flinch. The flames didn't seem to bother him. They weren't even scorching his clothes.
"Concentrate Marston. Feel the fire, control it."
John closed his eyes and concentrated. The flames all gathered around John into the palm of his hand. He clenched his fist and the flames extinguished.
Jack's eyes widened "No way."
Riain seemed to do a bow of respect. "You truly are the Shinigami."
John smiled slightly "Okay what else can I do?"
Matilda then began to explain and walked over to the four horses. "You have obtained a power from each horse. From Pestilence, complete invulnerability, perhaps even Immortality. From Famine, incredible speed. From War, control over flame and from Death, complete control over life and death."
"I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean." John said.
The gypsy motioned for them to follow her. She walked to her caravan and from within she took out a caged pigeon. "Touch the pigeon Mr Marston." John did as he was told, reaching into the cage he pressed a finger to the pigeon which promptly fell from it's perch to the floor of the cage, dead. "You can absorb the life force of other creatures and give it to anything else. Touch the bird again."
John touched the bird once again and it quickly got back on its feet and began to flap around. John looked amazed at this. "Can I control this one as well?"
The gypsy merely shrugged. "You are a vessel of great power John Marston. I recommend you learn to control them before you head out on this crusade. For another day at least."
John nodded. "Okay, I'll stay long enough to gear up and practice a bit more. He turned to "Jack gather anyone old enough to hold a gun and tell them to meet by my stagecoach." he then turned his attention to Riain "You, see if you can find some large pots, or Cauldrons or something, then find that Irish."
Jack nodded and headed off to gather the residents of the fort, Riain headed to the Kitchen area of the fort.
Several Miles West of Fort Mercer
The Captain was tiring but knew that stopping was not an option he had the luxury of choosing. The numbers of the Undead behind him were massive, and with only a single bullet he was unable to defend himself. He had removed his shirt whilst he ran which was drenched in Undead Bait. The cold air nipped at his skin. He turned his head and noticed that the Undead that had been chasing him had given up chase and contented themselves in wandering around the captains shirt.
Still running he came across a small campsite, it appeared desrted at first but upon closer inspection there were the bodies of two people lying on the ground, a bullet whole in each ones head.
The Captain looked inside a small chest finding a new shirt and a long green duster coat, and three rounds of rifle ammunition. He took another moment to catch his breath before leaving. The nearest safe location was in Gaptooth Ridge which was several miles away.
Just then a loud growling sound caught the attention of the Captain. He turned to see a large wolf that appeared to be ready to pounce.
Drawing his gun the Captain fired his gun hitting the animal in the head, but to his horror this only made the creature growl louder. It charged at him sinking it's large fangs into the Captain's shoulder, resulting in a loud scream of pain.
Fort Mercer
Daylight was creeping over the horizon as everyone gathered in the courtyard around the black stagecoach that was flanked by four demonic horses. Standing on top of the stagecoach stood John Marston. Jack, Riain, Javier and Irish stood at the front of the crowd. many of the people in the crowd were holding guns. Johon Called everyone to attention. "Okay everyone listen up. I know what's caused this plague. I've heard all the reasons that everyone blamed it on last time this plague. And I can tell you now, that I can fix this. I can make this all to go away. But I don't think I can do it alone this time."
A murmur went through the crowd, as several people realised that John was asking for help. The army recruits pushed their way to the front of the crowd. "Mr Marston. We'll help help you. You got rid of that piece of crap Captain, so we owe you sir."
John looked towards the men who now stood to attention in front of him. "No. You men were charged with guarding the townspeople. So do your Job. Anyone who wants to stay is welcome to. I won't blame you. I can't garuntee anyones safety."
Jack spoke to his father "I'm with you Pa." climbing onto the stagecoach next to his father. "
John nodded at his son. "Who else?"
Riain drew his sword and drove the blade several inches into the ground and "I will fight with you sir. If you will have me." John nodded. Several other men yelled in agreement icluding Javier and Irish.
"Okay, get your hands on all the ammunition you can, prepare food and prepare yourself. We head out in two days. I've done this before, and it will test you." John Disembarked from the stage coach. and headed to Riain. "You get the cauldrons?" Riain nodded and indicated where he had set up two fires and had the cauldrons hanging over them. John walked over to a large chest that was secured onto the back of his stagecoach, he began to take out various flowers. and began to mash them up, and put them into the cauldrons, he lit the fire with his bare hands and smiled "I could get used to this."