AN:Schools out now so updates should be at least a little more frequent.

May 5th

I woke up and looked around to see Karen, Tilly, and Reverend Swanson still asleep. I added a few more logs to the fire yawning as I did so. I stood up and laid the blanket on the ground as I didn't really need it now that I had a coat.

I walked out to see it mostly dark outside, indicating it was early in the morning. I walked across the street to the other building and walked in. Ms Grimshaw, Hosea, Strauss, and Mrs Adler were the only ones awake.

Abigail lay next to Jack by the fire her arm wrapped around him protectively. Mary Beth lay on one of the benches while Uncle sat against the wall beside the fire snoring softly. John sat on the back table motionless almost looking like he was dead.

"Morning. You're up early," said Hosea, handing me a cup of coffee as he took a sip of his own.

I nodded in thanks before taking a sip, "I musta caught up on my sleep," I answered with a shrug.

Hosea nodded before pulling a book out and reading it.

"What are you reading?"

"The Awkward Age," Hosea responded, turning a page.

"What's it about," I asked before taking a swig of coffee. The effects of it waking me up even further.

"It's a coming of age story of a teenage girl in England," Hosea answered.

I nodded, "Sounds interesting."

Hosea nodded in return, "Indeed."

He suddenly had a thoughtful look on his face, "Can you read Andrew?"

I nodded, "Since I was little. My mama and a few older friends taught me."

Hosea nodded before going back to his book.

I turned to Ms Grimshaw, "How are you Miss Grimshaw?"

"As well as I can be Mister Booker," answered the matriarch of the gang.

I nodded before turning towards the floor where Mrs Adler sat. She now had a proper dress on along with a shawl over her shoulders.

"What about you Mrs Adler? Have you had anything to eat? Pearson's stew wasn't that bad compared to what I've eaten before," I offered.

She nodded looking up at me, I could see tear tracks running down her face from her crying.

"Yes thank you though," she said quietly.

I nodded feeling bad for her, the game never went into detail what happened to her besides her husband dying. So there was no telling what the O'Driscoll's did to her.

"It was the O'Driscoll's who went to your homestead right," I asked, squatting beside her.

She nodded, fresh tears running down her face, but she didn't make a sound.

"I'm going to make a promise to you, and I-I'm not taking this lightly but I'm going to hunt down every last of the O'Driscoll's. For my friend and your husband, how does that sound," I asked, holding out a hand to seal the deal.

"...make them pay," she almost growled out as she shook my hand. Her hands were a lot tougher and more calloused than mine and that was more than likely from farm work.

"I intend to," I said, giving her hand two pumps before letting go.

could have sworn I heard Dutch yelling just then but it may have been my imagination.

Tilly walked in along with Reverend Swanson. Swanson sat near the door while Tilly sat on the bench beside Mary Beth who was starting to wake up. I saw John stir so more than likely he was waking up.

Arthur walked in and looked around the room before spotting me.

"Come on kid. We got some work to do," he said waving me over before he walked back out.

I set my coffee beside Hosea and hurried outside, shutting the door behind me. I saw Javier, Lenny, Bill, and Micah climbing onto their horses.

"Arthur, what's going on," I asked as Javier and Lenny followed us on their horses.

"We're going to get you some guns and then we're going to take down some O'Driscoll's," Arthur explained, sounding a little gruffer than usual, we came to a stop beside his horse and the Count.

"Here you go Mister Booker. As promised," said Dutch holding out a gun belt towards me.

I grabbed it and started looping it through the loops on my jeans before tightening it, the loops already full of bullets. Dutch handed me what I recognized as a Cattleman revolver. I opened the cylinder to see it was already full of bullets.

"And something everybody needs, one Litchfield repeater," Javier said, tossing me the gun.

I looked at him confused, he shrugged.

"I don't use it so you might as well."

I swung it over my shoulder as he handed me a box of bullets.

"Alright we've wasted enough time as it is," said Dutch climbing onto the Count.

"Come on kid. You'll ride with me," said Arthur climbing onto his horse and holding a hand out.

I grabbed his hand and hoisted myself onto the horse.

"Mister Matthew's! Mister Smith! Mister Pearson! Would you please look after the place? There are O'Driscoll's about," Dutch called loudly before turning the Count towards the river, "Hyah!"

"Southwest, right Arthur," Dutch asked.

"Yeah! He said follow the main trail southwest," Arthur called back, "Their camped near some lake."

"Okay, let's go find these bastards before they find us, and rob this score their plannin'," Dutch said confidently.

The group settled into silence as we rode over half an hour. Finally I just had to know, "Arthur. How come Dutch wants me to come," I asked quietly to not let Dutch hear.

"Seems tah me that he wants to see if you can do this. 'Sides its O'Driscoll's that killed your friend isn't it," Arthur asked, glancing over his shoulder suspiciously at me.

I nodded, "Yeah, it's not it being O'Driscoll's. It's just I officially joined the gang yesterday so immediately goin' on a mission just surprised me."

Arthur nodded, "Understandable. But like I said, Dutch probably wants to prove your worth, we also don't know how many of these O'Driscoll's are there. So it's always good to bring some extra firepower."

We went silent once more, other than a few whispers behind us.

About ten minutes later we slowed down as we started past some horse tracks.

"Horse tracks, quite a few of'em," Dutch said observing them, "Far as I can tell the only fools out here are us and them...they must be this way."

We started into a slow gallop as we followed them.

"You good Dutch," Arthur asked a few minutes later as we pulled up alongside him.

"Of course! Listen, I know you don't think of my ideas recently but this is the right move," Dutch answered.

"Okay. You know I got your back," Arthur replied matter-of-factly.

"I learned a long time ago that you hit Colm O'Driscoll. Wait for him and people you love will die," said Dutch hate filling his voice at the name of his adversary.

Arthur sighed almost tiredly, "This feud between you and him needs to be put to rest. One way or another."

"Heh. It will be," Bill called from behind.

"Some things I can forgive, others I can forget. What he did to Annabelle, I can't do neither."

"You killed his brother Dutch," Arthur replied.

"Yes! I did! And I hope the bastards will be reunited soon enough," Dutch retorted hate practically dripping from him, "That's how this'll end."

"Smoke up ahead," I called pointing over Arthur's shoulder to a smoke plume rising over a hill.

"Let's cut up here and take a look, they said it was near a lake so it must be close," Dutch said as we turned up the hill towards the smoke.

We slowed to a stop behind Dutch, "Let's hold up here," said Dutch as we turned to face the others.

Micah, Bill, Javier, and Lenny sat on their horses waiting.

"Alright boys, this is it. Are we goddamn ready," Dutch asked, his dark chocolate eyes steely.

"Ready Dutch," Lenny and Javier replied, while Bill nodded and Micah stayed quiet.

"Good. Now Mister Morgan and I were gonna head up here a little and see if we can get a sense of the layout of the camp. Mister Williamson, Mister Bell. You two take a hidden position outside the camp. Mister Summers, Mister Escuella. You two hold position here. Mister Booker, you stay here for now. Let's go," said Dutch before he, Arthur, Micah, and Bill climbed off their horses.

I climbed into the horses saddle and patted its neck affectionately as Dutch and Arthur stopped on a small hill.

"So where are you from Andrew," Lenny asked, sounding almost hostile.

"Saint Denis," I answered looking from Dutch and Arthur, who had just taken out their binoculars, to him.

I could vainly see anger pinching his face, I remembered reading somewhere about Lenny's family being slaves. So I won't blame him for taking a dislike to me.

"You don't have to worry though. I ain't like the rest of those bastards down there."

"I-I wasn't meaning to imply-," Lenny started, sounding shocked that I knew what was wrong.

I held up a hand to stop him, "It's alright. Most people think everybody down south hates blacks and anybody that's not white. But that's not true, it's just the ones that do that gives us a bad name," I said, giving him a grim smile.

Lenny smiled back, "Well alright then."

"Come on Mister Booker. We got work to do," said Dutch as Arthur pulled out a rifle from one of the sleeves on the saddle, "You two get up there and keep us covered."

"Heh. Sure thing," said Lenny pulling out a rifle. Javier doing the same thing although his looked like an actual sniper rifle.

I climbed down and followed him to where Bill and Micah had headed down.

"So have you ever killed anybody Andrew," Dutch asked, looking towards the smoke plume once more as we descended.

I shook my head, "No...maybe. I beat a few guys to where they weren't moving at all so who knows. Other than that not that I know of."

Dutch chuckled, "Then who else to be your first kill than the same bastards who killed your friend. Just remember revenge is a luxury we can't afford."

I saw Arthur nod in agreement.

We walked along an edge I looked over and gulped quietly. I had a fear for heights that went back to where I fell from a tree when I was little that put me in the hospital for a few days.

"It's steep here, watch it," said Dutch as we started down the path.

I could faintly hear O'Driscoll's yelling as we came to the bottom of the mountain.

"Maybe I should take the lead on this one, their gonna be gunning for ya," Arthur said walking beside Dutch.

"They ain't got me yet."

"No but the way our luck's been running-," Arthur started.

"Hush, let's just get down there first," said Dutch as we neared a small walkway, "Follow me. Let's go to that building in front."

We crouched as we got closer to Micah and Bill.

"Okay get in cover," Dutch whispered as we got to an area that opened to the rest of the camp.

We got behind some cover I got behind a wall a little farther down from Arthur.

"So what are we doing Dutch? I can take the lead if you want," Arthur whispered, looking between Dutch and the O'Driscoll's.

"Just make the call. You wanna take the lead? Go."

Arthur hesitated before nodding, "Okay I'll go first."

Arthur lifted his rifle and started to shoot, "O'Driscoll's! You're dead, you sons a bitches!"

Dutch laughed as he started to shoot, "Let's go boys!"

"I'm moving up! Cover me," Arthur called before running out.

I took his place and popped out from behind cover and looked around. I saw one guy that just seemed to not understand what cover was and lifted the Cattleman up and aimed before hesitating.

A bullet hitting above my head startled me and caused me to pull the trigger. The man I had been aiming at dropped to the ground and didn't get back up.

"Not bad kid," said Bill before popping back out of cover and squeezing a few shots off.

I nodded breathing hard.

I just killed somebody!

"Hey snap out of it boy! We ain't done yet," Micah called to me.

I nodded and looked out before sprinting towards the building Arthur had run too.

I saw an O'Driscoll stick their head out and sent a few bullets their way. A second later the body was lying in the snow.

I ducked behind a wall as several shots started to hit it. I started to peek out only for something to hit my head knocking me onto my back and immediately giving me a headache.

"You alright Andrew," I heard Dutch ask as he turned me over.

I nodded and put my hand to my temple, I removed it to see blood on my hand.

"You'll be okay, it just grazed you," Dutch explained before taking a few shots towards where the bullet had come from.

He held a hand out, I grabbed the Cattleman out of my holster and grabbed his hand. He hauled me up and I growled, the ground spinning slightly.

It's either me or them, that's obvious enough, I thought as a shot a few times at an O'Driscoll who stood up to take a shot.

Two bullets later he lay on the ground soaking the earth with his blood.

I ran out the building towards the one right in front of me and pumped a shot into the man in front of the window of one of the little shacks. He fell back, his gun slipping from his hand.

A bullet whizzing by me caused me to immediately drop beneath the window sill.

I looked out the door to see an O'Driscoll behind some crates, oblivious to my presence. A well aimed shot sent him onto his stomach, part of his head now gone.

I reloaded the Cattleman as the shots came to a stop.

"I think that's all of'em," I heard Bill call.

"Search the bodies. Strip everything we can from them," Dutch called.

I turned to the man behind me and patted his shirt and jeans. I pulled out a silver pocket watch along with two dollars and thirty seven cents.

I walked out to the man behind the crate and searched him along with the man beside him. I managed to get a gold ring and five dollars and two cents, along with an unopened bottle of Kentucky bourbon and eight revolver bullets. Speaking of Kentucky it made me wonder what the United States looked like with five extra states.

"You recognize any of them Dutch," Bill asked as I searched a man behind a different crate.

"Of course not. Colm doesn't give a damn about his men. All he cares about is numbers, if you can shoot a gun, ride a horse, and kill without thought then you're in," Dutch answered as he waited by a fire, "Think how long some of you have been with me."

I started to search another guy beside that one.

"I imagine Colm doesn't even know half the names of these men," Dutch continued.

A bullet struck a crate right in front of me and caused me to fall onto my ass.

"Heads up boys! We got more coming in from the forest," Dutch called.

I pulled the Cattleman back out and ran towards a building close to the trees.

I slid to a stop in front of the porch and popped a few bullets into a man rushing towards me.

"Shit there's a lot of'em! What do you think, Arthur? Should we hold here or go after'em," Dutch called between shots.

I glanced at Arthur across the path behind some crates.

"Reckon we're better off holding here," Arthur called, shooting someone in the chest.

Somebody popped from out behind cover and started to fire at Arthur but it made them open for me.

I sent two bullets into him to make sure he stayed down.

A few bullets from the other side of the trees caused me to duck and climb inside the house.

I waited until the bullets stopped before popping my head out only to pop it back in as somebody sent a few more bullets my way.

I poked my gun out and blindly started shooting where the bullets came from.

An O'Driscoll on a horse came galloping towards us but a bullet from me and a bullet from Arthur sent him flying off his horse only to be dragged by his foot as the horse turned and ran from where it came.

I climbed back out of the house as the gunshots had started to slow down as the O'Driscoll's started running.

"The cowards are running away! Good work boys! Back to the camp, we'll get what we need and clear out," Dutch called.

I emptied the gun of the empty cartridges and filled it with new ones before sliding it in my holster.

I noticed Arthur continue to loot some of the bodies in the woods.

"Okay, let's wait for Javier and Lenny...they're coming down with the horses," said Dutch.

"Keep an eye out for any more of the bastards," Bill added.

I squatted near the fire and tried to warm my hands as Arthur stopped beside me.

"Glad of you two to join us," Micah said.

I looked up to see Javier and Lenny riding in leading the rest of the horses.

"Is everyone alright," Javier asked, handing Dutch the lead to The Count.

"Besides Mister Booker's scrape I believe so," said Dutch climbing onto his horse.

I stood up and scratched my jaw, it was getting itchy due to me not shaving in the past couple of days.

Arthur frowned when he saw the drying blood but remained silent.

"Bill you search that wagon," said Dutch directing us, "Micah that building to my right. Arthur that building to the left. Andrew that building in front."

We each went our different ways, I knew Bill and I wouldn't find anything but I could still loot a body or two.

"Alright men, quick! Find those detonators, explosives, anything you can. Let's go," Dutch called.

I walked in and started to search the two bodies, I gained some gun oil, eleven bullets, and another eight dollars. As I was leaving a book caught my eye on the shelf, I grabbed it and opened it.

A list of dates and times were written along with some locationa. I frowned, was this a book for trains or something.

I shrugged and walked out, might as well show it to Dutch. Maybe he would know what it was.

"Did we get everything," Dutch asked as Micah handed him a rolled up piece of parchment.

"Think so boss. Found this on one of'em," said Micah.

"Found a book with some dates and locations. Don't know if it's worth anything," I said handing it to him.

"Huh...thank you," Dutch muttered, opening it and looking at it.

Micah chuckled, "This is perfect."

Dutch put the book up and opened the parchment, "Oh this is interesting. This something about the train they was gonna rob, by a Mister Leviticus Cornwall."

He finished looking at it as Bill and Arthur finished putting the dynamite and detonator in Brown Jack's saddlebags.

"Alright, mount up," Dutch said, putting it in the saddlebag of his horse.

I climbed back onto the back of Arthur's horse as we turned and headed out of camp.

"Proud of boys! All of you! Not a man down," Dutch said pride obviously in his voice.

"Good work fellers," Bill added as we started up the mountain.

"Not bad for a bunch of starving down and outs. They can pummel us as hard as they like, but we will always get back up and fight. That's who we are, outlaws for life fellers. Wait until we have John, Mac, Charles, and Sean back riding with us and I believe-I know. They will all be back," said Dutch with confidence.

"Well...we didn't get Colm but this'll hurt a hell of a lot more than any bullet in the head will," said Arthur satisfaction in his voice.

"Especially when we rob this train too," Dutch added.

Arthur laughed, "Yeah I guess we'll see about that."

"Oh indeed we will."

We settled into silence for a few minutes.

"You know he'll come after us," said Arthur.

"Oh of course he will, just like all the rest. But we're going to stay a step ahead of them, make sure we always know where they are before they know where we are. We allowed ourselves to get behind in Blackwater. That won't happen again," Dutch said with a nod.

Silence overtook the group once more. I could feel the adrenaline starting to fade and as it did the headache started to pound worse and worse. Not only that but the guilt of what had taken place was starting to get to me, I killed those men without a second thought.

Would I just become a mindless killer? Would I become wanted all over America like Dutch and Arthur and Hosea? I shook my head, I had to remember these were O'Driscoll's. If I didn't kill them they would have just killed innocent people.

I noticed we started to slow and focused on the world around me.

"Hey, you see that feller? Wasn't he at the camp with Colm," I heard Dutch ask.

I looked over Arthur's shoulder to see Kieran on a horse on the other side of the river.

"Get off kid. I gotta go take care of him," I heard Arthur growl.

I climbed off and Arthur immediately started chasing after him.

"Just bring him back alive! He could be useful," Dutch called.

"Here."

I turned to see Lenny holding a hand out towards me, I grabbed it and climbed onto the back of Maggie.

"Alright let's dig in some ground! Shouldn't have too far till we get to camp," Dutch called.

We started back towards camp, a wave of dark clouds followed us. Arthur disappeared into the snow and wind.

"By the way thanks for letting me take Maggie yesterday, she was really gentle," I said quietly.

Lenny grinned, "No problem."

He seemed to get bashful for a moment, "Sorry about earlier. My pa always said never trust southerners. Plus six generations of my family was born into chains."

I shook my head but quickly stopped as it made my headache flare, "Relax, it's fine."

"So...what's Saint Denis like?"

I sent a quick thanks upward as I glad I had done research on every place in RDR2.

"It's ugly but beautiful at the same time. Ugly from the people there but beautiful at the things they create," I answered.

Lenny chuckled, "I believe that."

We settled into silence for another twenty minutes or so before we neared camp.

"How'd you get on," Hosea asked as we rode into Colter.

"Well we took them out and maybe got a job we could do," Dutch said with a grin as he climbed off his horse.

Hosea seemed to let out a sigh of both relief and almost dread, "Well that's something off our backs."

"Indeed it is," he said before walking into the building he stayed in, followed by Hosea.

Lenny, Bill, Micah, and Javier all headed inside the building they stayed in while I waited beside the fire for Arthur.

Around half an hour later Arthur came galloping in before stopping in front of the cabin Dutch was in.

"Here you are, you sack of shit. Let's introduce you to the boys," Arthur said climbing off his horse and pulling Kieran off of it. He tossed him onto the ground and started to cut his legs free.

I walked over as Dutch walked out of his cabin.

"Heh. Found the little shit did you," Dutch asked.

"Yup. I got him."

"Very good. Welcome to your new home. Hope your real happy here," said Dutch with fake cheerfulness.

"You want me to make him talk," Arthur growled out to try and scare Kieran.

"Oh no no. All we'll get is lies. Mister Booker, Mister Williamson. Tie this maggot up somewhere safe. We get him hungry first," said Dutch.

Bill grabbed one shoulder roughly while I grabbed the other pretending to be tough but being as gentle as I could without getting caught. Mostly because I know Kieran wasn't a bad person.

"I have a saying my friend," Dutch said getting up close and personal, "We shoot fellas as need shootin', save fellas as need savin', and feed fellas as need feedin'. We are going to find out what you need."

Dutch laughed as we started to drag Kieran towards Pearson's shed, "I can't believe it! An O'Driscoll, in my camp!"

"I ain't an O'Driscoll mister," Kieran called, "I hate that fella!"

"Oh whatever you say son," Dutch called.

"I'll tie him up while you keep a gun on him," said Bill once we entered the shed.

I let go of Kieran and pulled my Cattleman out and pointed it at him but didn't cock it.

A minute or so later Bill stood up, "Don't even think of trying to escape," he growled in Kieran's face.

Kieran leaned away, fear in his eyes and face. I holstered my gun before turning and leaving with Bill.

"You did pretty good today kid. Dutch said you're gonna be staying with us," said Bill as we walked towards the buildings.

I nodded, "Yeah. I am. You did good today too Bill, don't forget about that," I replied patting his shoulder before turning and heading towards the other buildings.

"Hey kid, how's the cut," Arthur asked as I neared the building where I slept.

I turned my head to the side so he could see, "It's okay. Got a splittin' headache though."

Arthur chuckled, "Imagine so. Here," he reached in his satchel and pulled out a bottle of something, "Some whiskey. Wash it and it'll help clean it."

I took it and examined it before looking up at him with a grin, "Guessin' you know all about this stuff."

Arthur laughed softly, "You could say that," his face slowly grew somber.

"You okay kid?"

I frowned at his less than usual gruff voice, "What da ya mean?"

Arthur looked at me before looking towards the rest of the camp.

"I mean you okay with what you did today," he asked quietly, not looking at me.

I sighed and nodded looking towards the ground, "Yeah. It was either me or them."

I looked up to see Arthur looking at me seemingly searching for something before he nodded, "Okay," he smiled slightly and patted me on my shoulder, "Get some rest kid. You deserve it."

I nodded and watched him walk away before shaking my head and walking into the building.