Part 8:

Doubts

White noise stirred Jack out of his rest the next morning—it has started out as a dull hum, then as he slowly gained consciousness, the cacophony rose into an annoying crescendo. Blinking away his grogginess, Jack sat up in bed and looked around the room, once again being reminded that he wasn't back at home in his comfortable ranch house, but in a small ramshackle of a room that lacked all the warmth and comforts of where he yearned to be. Frowning, he focused on the noise, only to realize after several long moments on pondering that it was the sound of a crowd. Jack blinked in rapid succession, utterly confused, when he pinpointed where the sound was coming from within the room. He stared at the bedroom door for another long moment before deciding to investigate.

He looked down by his right side when his wife stirred in her sleep. He bit down on his lip with rising guilt, hoping he hadn't awoken her, but he relaxed when she merely rolled over on her side with her back facing him and the door. He brushed his hand through her long dark hair, letting it slide through his fingers and fall over her shoulders and back. He glanced back up at the door, then down to Maddie, and back again at the door indecisively. To get out of bed would risk waking her, but he knew something was amiss outside the door. Curiosity got the best of him, and he gingerly swung his legs out from under the covers and stood up off the bed. Not once did Maddie move nor make a sound as he quietly got dressed. Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, Jack tiptoed to the door and left.

He blinked as he walked into sunlight—dawn had arrived without his knowing, and as he looked about El Presidio with squinted eyes and a tired frown, he was taken aback when he saw all of the citizens were gathering in the center of the fortress. He rested his elbows on the railing and took in the scene before him with a mixture of awe and concern. The walls of El Presidio were lined with armed soldiers, while all the commoners were assembled in one giant crowd. Standing above the crowd on the elevated walkway, before a ladder that led to one of the cannons, was the Presidente himself, Abraham Reyes. Two other soldiers stood behind him, as well as who Jack guessed was Captain Gonzalez—the former soldier had been stripped of all his clothing except for raggedy pants and a shirt. His face was marred by cuts and bruises, his shirt was stained with blood and dirt, and his hands were chained behind his back. The man looked like he'd been nearly tortured to death, but Jack held no remorse for the former captain's suffering—he'd betrayed Mexico and deserved such heinous treatment.

Then Reyes began to speak so that all could hear. His proud voice boomed across the fortress, rising above the sounds of the waking world around them as he addressed to the crowd below in Spanish. From what Jack could guess, he was rallying them to him. Curious, Jack descended the steps and joined the people, not necessarily blending in with them but nevertheless taking his place as one of the common folk. He and the remaining citizens of Mexico looked up at Reyes as he reached back around him, grabbed Gonzalez by the back of his neck, and threw him forward, presenting him to the people.

Again, in Spanish, Reyes spoke to the crowd, motioning to Gonzalez with a disgusted countenance and angry hand gestures. Jack didn't have a clue as to what he said, but he could only assume that he was telling the commoners what he'd found out last night and how Captain Gonzalez betrayed them all. All the while, Jack kept his eyes to Gonzalez fiercely, studying his frail, beaten body and pained, defeated countenance. The man was surely defeated in all ways a man could be defeated, and the shame in his bruised, blood-shot eyes made it all the more clear to Jack that he was disappointed in himself for not only failing La Phantasma, but perhaps failing Mexico itself.

That poor dumb bastard, Jack thought with a shake of his head. He deserved what he got for betraying Mexico. He shifted his attention to Reyes as he continued to preach valiantly, if not flamboyantly, to the crowd. What an idiot, he couldn't help but think. The President seemed to be putting on an obsequious show to his people, looking as if he were promising them great things and restoring hope. It's all a political act, Jack concluded, feeling almost sick to his stomach.

Suddenly, at Reyes' command, the soldiers who had held him before came forward and seized him once more before leading them down the stairs and through the crowd. As the people turned to watch what would unfold next, the soldiers tied Gonzalez to a pole beside the blacksmith's workstation with his back facing the crowd. The man stood atop a wooden platform; the wall behind him was littered with dried splatters of blood and bullet holes. With a sickening feeling that rose in his gut, Jack realized what was about to happen.

Above them, Reyes barked another order, and from out of the main building, a line of soldiers and prisoners marched forward. Jack stared at the ten men who were clad in similar clothing to Gonzalez, and it suddenly dawned on him that these men were also former soldiers of Reyes' army. They must've also been in league with La Phantasma, he realized with a gaping mouth. He flicked his gaze back to Gonzalez and blinked. They must've tortured him for answers, names even. I bet that's what happened last night.

The soldiers lined the betrayers up against the fortress wall behind where Gonzalez stood tethered. The crowd turned and gathered before the former soldiers. Reyes barked another order, and a soldier briefly disappeared inside the building, only to reappear carrying a brutal-looking whip. Jack stared at it, and gasped as he realized what it was reinforced with. His eyes snagged on the broken shards of metal and nails that had been attached to the end of the whip; the metallic surfaces reflected the morning light with a sickening sheen, looking eager to draw blood. It was as if Reyes had the soldier go through the camp the night before and collected all the nails from the army's horse shoes and the bits of metal from miscellaneous parts of the barrier fence that surrounded El Presidio—somehow, he had faceted them to the end of the whip and then sharpened it. The soldier came to stand before Gonzalez briefly to rip off what little of a shirt he had, and with Gonzalez's back now fully exposed, he backed away several paces, gathering the whip in his hands as he did so. He drew back his right arm in preparation as he glanced back over his shoulder up at Reyes, who nodded and shouted a command. Gathering his strength, the soldier threw his arm forward, and the whip followed through.

Gonzalez screamed in agony and arched his back, his stomach slamming up against the pole, as the shards of metal and nails shredded his ragged shirt and tore into his flesh with a sickening wet sound. Large tendrils of fresh blood began to flow down his back and stain the traitor's torn, soiled shirt.

"¡Otra vez!" the President commanded above them.

The soldier tugged the whip back as it fell down to the ground, only to throw the whip forward once more. Again, Gonzalez shrieked. Again, flesh ripped and blood oozed. Jack cringed, as did the people around him. The man's scream of excruciation made his ears ring and his skin crawl. He swallowed thickly, feeling nauseous. Jack glanced back over his shoulder as Reyes barked the command again.

"¡Otra vez!"

Above them all, the President smiled sadistically, looking like he was enjoying himself too much.

Minutes passed achingly slow as Gonzalez was whipped time and time again until his back was a ragged red landscape and his blood ran down his backside and legs like a stream. On the tenth strike, he fell to his knees and began to shiver from blood loss and shock.

"¡Basta!" Reyes finally said, and he pointed at the line of betrayers who stood before the wall. In rapid Spanish, he shouted more orders at the soldier, who then nodded and took out a knife and cut Gonzalez free from the pole. Gonzalez collapsed to the ground like a torn-up ragdoll, collapsing in his own puddle of blood, but just then the soldier grabbed him, brought him to his feet, spun him around so he faced the crowd, and with the help of a nearby soldier, tied the former captain back to the pole, forcing him to stand.

As Gonzalez slumped forward, the soldiers rejoined their ranks when the other men marched forward and stood in a line facing the ten betrayers. Jack felt his eyes bulge as he realized what was about to happen next. Just as he suspected, the soldiers drew their revolvers and waited for Reyes' command.

"¡Listo!"

The soldiers brought up their revolvers. The ominous chorus of clicks sounded as the soldiers drew back the hammers.

"¡Punteria!"

The line of men pointed them at their appointed targets.

"¡Fuego!"

Ten revolvers fired off simultaneously, causing all the spectators to flinch and cover their ears as the ten betrayers fell to the ground dead. Pools of blood quickly covered the ground where the men had fallen, and as soon as the firing squad had carried out the execution, they came forward and drug the dead bodies away to the gates, which opened slowly. Sickened and terrified of the horror they'd witnessed, the crowd of civilians broke apart, and the men, women, and children retreated to the corners of El Presidio to comfort one another and talk amongst themselves about the event that transpired before their very eyes.

Jack was the only one who remained rooted in his place. His eyes followed the blood trails that led outside the fortress, past the fortified wall, and out into the wild, where the soldiers finished disposing of the dead betrayers by piling their bodies up. Not even five minutes had passed before a pack of wolves appeared to gorge themselves on the feast of flesh. Clouding the sky above circled dozens of vultures waiting for their opportunity to take advantage of the feast below. Jack watched as the alpha wolves ate their fill and growled at the other members of their pack who dared take a chance to sneak a bite or two from the carcasses. Thirty yards away from the bodies stood a handful of coyotes who paced around waiting for the opportune moment to sneak in and have their share of the humans.

Very soon, a certain important man came strolling up to him and stood beside him. Reyes and Jack exchanged looks, each portraying a different emotion from each other. Reyes appeared relieved, triumphant, and practically glowed with confidence. Jack, on the other hand, eyed the President with a new lens that was now tainted with disgust and falsehood; he took a worried step back from the President and looked at him like a dog beaten by its master and wary of trusting the man. The display of aggressive power he held over the citizens of Mexico made him on edge, and in that moment, he debated on which side his allegiance should lie.

"You look…uncomfortable, Marston," Reyes noted with a concerned countenance. "¿Por que?"

Jack shrugged and instead turned his attention back to the wolves tearing at the dead bodies. He motioned to them with a jerk of his head and began, "So…those men…"

"Sí, what of them?"

"What were they executed for?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

"They sided with La Phantasma, señor, just as Gonzalez did," Reyes explained, sounding dumbfounded by his question. "That traitor needed some…persuasion…but afterwards, he told me of all the men he was commanding behind my back. Marston, they set to conspire against me."

"What were they planning?"

"Those ten men were some of her assassins, given direct orders from her to kill all those who chose not to join her. They were ordered to turn the cannons and Gatling guns upon all who opposed."

Jack felt his eyes bulge. He stared at the President. "Jesus Christ…"

"Indeed, mi amigo." He clapped a hand on Jack's shoulder and said with a charming smile, "Luckily, you stopped all that from happening. I have you to thank, Jack, for single-handedly stopping what could've been a massacre."

Blinking and overwhelmed by the realization, he half-smiled and struggled to breathe.

"You truly are your father's son."

With a disbelieving chuckle, Jack bowed his head in appreciation. "Thank you." He shook his head, though, out of sheer embarrassment. This man thinks I'm a god or something, he thought with an inward snort. He felt his face burn, and in an effort to get past his discomfort, he cleared his throat and looked back up at Reyes. "So," he continued, "what happens now? La Phantasma's men have been taken care of. What's your next move, Presidente?"

"We exorcise the demon, Marston, in her own home."

Jack blinked slowly. "You're planning on taking the fight to her..."

"Of course! What better time than now to finish this? Her plan to eradicate us has failed; no doubt she will be attempting another way to kill us all, and I think it's best we beat her to the punch. I will take her out with full, unrelenting force, and I will exterminate her and every single gutless renegade who follows her lead." He beckoned Jack to follow as he headed for the main building. "But first, you must assist me in some things."

"Such as?" Jack asked hesitantly as he fell into step behind Reyes.

"If we are to be successful in finally purging Mexico from her anarchy, we're going to have to plan accordingly. Our attack must be fool-proof, and from what I've heard of you, Mister Marston, I hear you're experienced with warfare—your tactics at Gaptooth Breach were splendid! You're a living legend, just like your father."

Annoyance snapped within Jack as he grabbed the President by the shoulder, turned him around, and looked him in the eyes. "Stop saying that. I'm no hero. I know what you're trying to do here, but with all due respect, mister, stop trying to make me into something I'm not. I'm a retired bounty hunter, formerly a criminal, and who was also raised by outlaws. I'm no legend or saint or nothin' of the sort. I'm just a troubled man with a hell of a past, one that I would neither care to tell anyone in detail nor hope to have them experience themselves. I'm no angel, that's for damn sure. Just ask my wife—she's helped me get through my dark days. And besides, it's because of her that I am who I am today. Were it not for her, I'd either be dead, in jail, or still on the run. I simply can't take all the credit you're trying to put on me."

"Pero, you were the one who led the charge, who slayed all those criminales in the mines! You cheated death many times over! You've brought in so many men even before that famous battle! How can I not praise you for all that you've done? Do you not realize how many corridos are sung about you and your father, the grand legacy of the Marstons?" Reyes turned to face him fully and looked him sincerely in the eyes. "Jack, you are the son of a legend, a son who's undoubtedly lived up to his father's name and expectations. Whether you like it or not, you're a legend by lineage. Take myself for example: I was born in a lineage of wealth. My father was a nobleman. And then, with the help of your father of course, I overthrew Ignacio Sanchez and the tyrannical government this county once cowered beneath. For a time, I ruled it peacefully."

Jack clenched his mouth shut just then, afraid that dangerous words would spill forth and doom him; memories of all the newspaper articles he'd read throughout the years of Reyes' ruling filled his mind and were indeed hypocritical to what the pompous man before him just stated. Widespread executions of protestors, starved and overtaxed citizens brought to the brink of rebellion, and delayed elections while building up his palace were all stated in the clippings he'd seen. His dread and disappointment for leaving his home in the first place resurfaced as he looked the President over with declining respect and rising disgust.

His countenance must've betrayed him just then, for Reyes blinked with surprise and asked, "Marston, what is the matter? You look…troubled."

Jack shook his head, faked a trustworthy smile, and said, "Nothing. It's nothing." He beckoned to the President and added, "But please continue."

Reyes eyed him with suspicion, but it soon passed as he continued on, "But then La Phantasma appeared out of nowhere and swept across my country. She's destroyed so much and killed so many…"

His words left Jack's ears and floated from his concentration like a gust of wind as someone familiar caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Blinking, he paused in his steps and looked over his shoulder at the sight of Maddie standing amongst the locals. She was in the midst of them all, the beacon of hope that they so desperately needed—they crowded around her, ears and eyes fixated on her and the words that floated from her mouth. Jack had no clue as to what she or the people were saying, but the manner in which she looked at them all, and they in return, revealed all that needed to know. She was comforting them, guiding them even, and listening quite intently to what they had to say in kind. Some of the women clung to her for support and praise, to which she openly returned with a countenance of reassurance and understanding. However, as she caught sight of her husband, she politely excused herself and, with some difficulty, detached herself from the people to go to Jack's side.

"What are you doin' up?" he asked as she walked up to him. Immediately, his arms were wrapped around her in a warm, protective embrace. "I thought you'd still be asleep."

"I was," she answered, "until I heard gunshots. When I noticed you weren't in bed beside me, I got scared and ran outside to find you, and instead found a massacre."

Jack frowned and bit down on his lip. His gaze mirrored hers. Both knew what the other were thinking.

"I started asking around after the execution was over, and I've had a good ear-full from everyone around in here." She turned and gestured out to the crowd of stricken people before her and her husband. "Look at these people, Jack. They are terrified—more so than usual. They don't know which fate is worse now: to have Reyes be President after all this is over, or to be under La Phantasma's psychotic rule if she is proven the victor."

"I'm starting to understand why."

"It was brutal to execute those men in front of those people, even if they were traitors."

"But you gotta admit," he scoffed back, "he made a wonderful example of those who betray him." He shook his head as he looked around at the cowering citizens. A deep frown settled across his mouth. "I'm beginning to wonder whose side we should be on…"

Maddie nodded as she too stared at all the people who all appeared like frightened livestock—men, women, and children confided in each other, cramming themselves against one another in an effort to feign safety.

At that moment, Reyes hailed for Jack to join him in the main building. The bounty hunters turned and looked up at the President warily. Taking his wife's hand, Jack hesitantly made his way to the base of the stairs. Under his breath, he murmured, "I don't see how much good it's gonna do for me to sit in on this."

"What do you mean?" Maddie whispered, inching closer to him. She gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

"Reyes and every one of these damn people think I'm a legend or something, so the President thinks I should help him out in planning how to take back Mexico, even though we both know my help is not needed. He has all the help and the manpower to take it back himself."

"You make a good ally to have in this exact situation, Jack." Maddie chortled as she added, "It's all for show, darling. You are the son of John Marston, after all."

"Yeah, and it's really starting to piss me off," he growled back through clenched teeth. "I owe these people nothing, and yet they've all got it in their heads that I'm here on my own accord ready to devote my time and save them all like I'm some kind of prophesized hero. What kinda person do these people think I am? I'm nobody, just another man, and yet they treat me better than their own goddamned President."

"Keep saying that, and they just might consider making you that."

Before he could shoot back an angry retort, they'd reached the bottom of the stairs. Reyes stood at the top waiting for them with an amicable, patient smile. His beaming face faltered a fraction, however, as he looked from Jack to Maddie. A flicker of irritation danced across his eyes.

As the bounty hunters ascended the stairs and came to stand before Reyes, a moment of pause ensued as the President eyed Maddie with skepticism before looking at Jack. His mouth twisted into a condescending grimace, but before Jack could come to his wife's defense, Maddie boldly stepped forward and declared, "I'll be sitting in on this meeting alongside my husband. I have just as much right to be a part of this. I have much insight to offer, just as much as he does…if you don't mind, señor Presidente."

The man looked appalled in one second and enraged in the next. The strong-willed and independent woman before him took him aback, and before he could say something truly damning, Reyes recollected himself and gave her a most obsequious smile and an agreeable nod. "Muy bien, señorita. Como quieras."

Playing along, Maddie flashed the man with a brilliant, unabashed smile and bowed her head in gratitude. "Gracias, señor Presidente," and led Jack forward across the threshold and into the main room. Jack did his best to hide the prideful smile all the while.

The large, rectangular table in the center of the room was crowded with Reyes' generals. Jack and Maddie quickly found their seats, but as soon as they crossed the room to the other side of the table, Reyes had entered the room. Upon their President's entrance, the men stood simultaneously and saluted him.

"As you were, gentleman," Reyes responded, still looking flustered from Maddie's previous statements. He shared a forced polite smile to his men and beckoned them to sit. "Please, let us all get comfortable. We have plenty of business to attend to, and time is of the essence if we are to win this war."

The men hesitated to sit, however, in the presence of the only woman in the room. Many cast judgmental looks in Maddie's direction, and all were met with indefatigable defiance from both herself and her husband. Their anger rebounded, the generals now looked to their President, whose smile quivered from the sudden embarrassment. He coolly shrugged it off and scoffed, "Gentlemen, please do seat yourselves. There is nothing out of the ordinary here in this room."

"Forgive me, mi Presidente," one of them spoke up, "but there is a presence in this room that is unfit to be here for this counsel."

Murmurs of approval floated around the table.

Before Maddie could defend herself as boldly as she had just done so with Reyes, Jack piped up, "Do you really have that much of a problem with my wife being here?" He looked at each and every single general in the eyes, his own unblinking and fierce. Against his previously stated hatred for his lineage, he used it to his advantage then and proclaimed, "Missus Marston has just as much reason to be here as me…who you all know is the son of John Marston, the man who helped your President free Mexico of the previous tyrant. Or have you all forgotten that?"

His piercing gaze was met by all with horror in their eyes. Many of the generals blushed deeply and turned their defeated gazes down to the table instead.

Jack smiled triumphantly before turning his attention back to Reyes. "You were saying, mister President?"

Reyes, once again ruffled and hot under the collar, did his best to collect himself before stating, "Let us not get into semantics. Let us all just sit and begin this council like civilized men. Shall we?"

At his word, everyone took their seats. Reyes took his at the head of the table, and all eyes turned to him. "Now," he began, "we can no longer afford this Phantasma to plague us further. She needs to be annihilated, with as much force and precision as we can put forth. We need to take definitive, offensive action—she tried to kill us first, and we know how that panned out for her…"

Across the table, snickers and chuckles issued from the soldiers. Jack and Maddie, however, stayed stoically silent.

"So how are we to do this, gentlemen?" he asked, looking around the table at them all. "What sort of tactics should we bring to light this morning? Let us hear what each of us has to say."

"It's either them or us in the end," one of the generals on the far end of the table chimed in. "It just depends on whoever decides to start the fight. I agree with the President: we start it up before she does. We might not know what all she's planning, if she's planning anything at all at this point, but at least we should make sure we have a definite plan should she try to overthrow us again."

Maddie nodded in agreement and added, "And we should keep the fight from the civilians, if at all possible. There's already been too much blood spilt upon this country's soil."

The men around the table, save for Jack of course, acted as if she hadn't spoken.

"What is the son of John Marston's decision?" Reyes suddenly suggested, looking at him pointedly. "What say you in this matter?"

The corner of Jack's upper lip twitched with distaste at Reyes' choice of words, and his expression darkened as all eyes turned to him. "It's not my decision," he answered frankly. "I'm not the President, and I sure as hell am not a part of your army." He gestured to himself and his wife beside him and continued haughtily, "We're just here for the bounty. We didn't come here to—"

"I think what my husband's trying to say," Maddie interjected with a firm grasp of Jack's shoulder and a stern sideways look, "is that we're not qualified to make such high-up decisions." Casting one last consternating glare at her grumbling beloved, she nodded at the President and said, "However, since we are a part of this council, I believe we should keep the fighting away from El Presidio. If we cannot attack Torquemada, then let us use a different approach."

"And that would be?" one of the generals across from her sneered.

She turned her attention to him and offered strongly, "We take her head-on out in the open. We drive her and her army out into the desert and attack her there. At least no further civilian casualties would be made, or do you even care about that?"

"I do, señorita, but how would you propose we drive her out of her own fortress?"

"Make her an offer she can't refuse. Or use someone as bait."

"And who would be foolish enough to do that sort of thing? What kind of nonsensical thing would we be able to offer her? And how can you be certain she'd even consider falling for such an obvious trap?"

Maddie angrily clasped her hands together and leaned forward on her elbows, raising her eyes expectedly at the man. "You've been so quick as to dismiss my ideas, señor. Why don't you kindly tell us all your thoughts on the matter? What are your plans to defeat La Phantasma?"

"It's simple: we wait for cover of nightfall to take over Torquemada."

"Torquemada sits on the very top of a large mesa," Maddie countered quickly. "One can easily see for miles up there. Even in the dark, she'd still see us coming. Unless there's a night where there are absolutely no stars and no moon, or if by some pious act above that brings one hell of a thunderstorm, we're never going to be able to get anywhere near that place."

"What about attacking her at dawn?" another man offered. He sat nearest Reyes and looked up at the President with raised eyebrows, hoping to gain his support.

"Again, she'd be able to see us coming," Maddie confirmed. "It wouldn't matter if it was day or night—there's no way of getting up there without being spotted. Torquemada has one entrance and one entrance only. We can't sneak up to her via another path, so what else are we to do?" She looked around at the table of awestruck men and flashed her eyebrows, impatiently waiting for their input. She gestured to them, hoping they'd offer more ideas.

"Why would we even need to leave El Presidio in the first place?" a different general growled near the middle of the table. "Why worry about drawing her out or attacking her fortress when we have such a heavily-fortified base here? We have cannons and Gatling guns and high, strong walls, and we also have a high vantage point."

"But there are a myriad of ways for which she can approach us," Maddie argued. "There are two main roads that lead up to this place, and by the time we spot her, it would be too late. And where would the citizens go? They're packed in here. There's barely any moving room for neither soldier nor civilian. How would we be able to fight La Phantasma when we'd be so busy clamoring over each other to get to the Gatlings and cannons?"

"What about sending scouts?" Jack suggested. "Would it work if we sent a handful of people up there at night to scope the place out, maybe even try to sneak in and take out the guards?"

"That's too high of a risk to even consider," another man countered, though he seemed not as aggressive as the others. "The success of that small of a party would be very low. Plus, as your wife so wisely stated, sneaking up to Torquemada is nearly impossible."

"How about meeting with her?" a previous general suggested. "A council, if you will. We could discuss the terms of where and when the battle would take place."

Reyes shook his head. "La Phantasma has no honor and she is wildly unpredictable—her actions leading up to this point clearly show this. Even if we were to somehow goad her into meeting with us, there's no way of doing so without the threat of her and her men ambushing us where we stood."

"So what do you suggest, mi Presidente?" Maddie asked, and with her question, all eyes came to rest on Reyes.

Reyes chanced a glance at Jack, looking for any other support or suggestions, before he scanned the men before him. "The fight will be away from El Presidio; this is nonnegotiable. My people have suffered enough, and as Missus Marston so wisely stated, enough of their blood has been spilt. As God as my witness, I will see an end to this madwoman's anarchy! The fight will be taken to her, and we will annihilate her with all the force of God's army in heaven. If she wants La Limpieza, to happen, then so be it. We shall cleanse the country of her, not her of us."

Around the table, the men exchanged nods and murmurs of approval. Maddie and Jack glanced at each other with mixed countenances.

"Qué será, será, supongo," Maddie uttered.