Disclaimer: I do not own Red Dead Redemption or any of its characters, except for my OCs

Reviews and comments will be appreciated

Warning: Rated M for nudity, swearing, smoking and rape.

Summary: After murdering Edgar Ross to avenge the death of his family and surviving a brutal attack by a savage outlaw gang, Jack Marston is found by and rescued by a small family of ranchers, whom nurse him back to health and take him in. But when a tragedy befalls the family who took him in, Jack sets out on another quest of vengeance; not as an outlaw...but as a bounty hunter.

Chapter 1

The sun had shined brightly in the clear blue sky over the US/Mexican border and the desert was completely silent, except for the sound of foot steps echoing out as a lone Kentucky Saddler trotting across the dry sand with a young man in his late teens, Caucasian with thick brown hair, goatee and mustache wearing a beige jacket over a white button up shirt, dark black pants and a red bandana tied around his neck and a black brick cattleman's cowboy hat. The young man's name was Jack Marston and just a few hours, not too long...he had murdered the man who betrayed and destroyed his family.

Seven years ago, his father, John Marston a former and rehabilitated outlaw had been blackmailed by the US government to assist the Bureau of Investigations in hunting down the surviving members of his former outlaw gang: Bill Williamson, Dutch van der Linde and Javier Escuella. John had fulfilled his end of the bargain...but his handler: B.O.I Agent Edgar Ross and his partner Archer Fordham had betrayed him and launched a full scale assault on the Marston homestead; where both John and their family's life long loyal friend, Uncle had fought valiantly against the Bureau, US Army and US Marshalls before they were eventually and tragically gunned down while John's wife Abigail and their teenage son, Jack escaped during the chaos. And three years later...Abigail sadly died from natural causes, which left Jack the sole surviving member of his family name.

Shortly after he had buried his mother and paid his respects to her, Uncle and his father, Jack had tracked down Ross to Mexico, where he was duck hunting along the Rio del Toro and confronted him about the day he attacked his home and murdered his father. Although, as soon as he approached him...the confrontation quickly escalated: due to Ross not showing any remorse for his actions and insulted Jack's family; as he called his mother a slut and whore who made money throwing herself at random men and his father a lowlife thug whom nobody would miss...and the final straw that pushed Jack to reaching his breaking point was Ross claiming the only thing he did feel 'bad' about was not killing him alongside John and Uncle at his family ranch. As soon as those cruel words came out of his mouth, Jack and Ross simply and glared at each other...as they reached for their own revolvers and after glaring at each other in silence for several seconds, Jack had pulled out his gun first and fired a single bullet that struck Ross dead center in his chest, right through his heart and watched as Ross collapsed dead right near the river bank.

Although, even though he had avenged the death of his father and Uncle and got justice for his family...Jack was left empty and broken: as had became the one thing his parents and more importantly, himself never wanted to be...an outlaw, a man running from the law; just like John. As he rode on his horse through the desert, Jack had simply glanced at his gun; a Colt Single Action Army revolver that he carried in a holster clipped to his waist...the gun, which he used to shoot and kill Edgar Ross, whom he left lying near the river and fairly assumed that either the crows or turkey vultures were feasting on the corrupt agent's corpse. As he continued to ride his horse across the hot and barren desert and entered the American side of the border, Jack immediately recognized the route he was on as it led back to Cholla Springs; which was a settlement on the outskirts of Armadillo, New Austin.

However...as he continued to ride his horse, Jack was completely unaware that he was being watched until a gunshot echoed and a bullet whizzed right past him; which caused him to duck in surprise! After the initial gunshot, Jack immediately glanced around and his heart partially froze: as he spotted a group of 6-8 men, all riding different horses standing on ledge of a cliff at a far away distance...and caught the small glimpse of one of the men aiming a Winchester Model 1873 lever action rifle directly at him with smoke emitting from the barrel!

"Oh, fuck! Run Sapphire, run!" Jack muttered underneath his breath as he immediately knew the group of men were outlaws/bandits and ordered his horse, whom he named Sapphire to run as fast as she could and she gave a simply loud 'neigh' before she galloped down the desert valley.

Although, as soon as his horse started sprinting, Jack glanced over his shoulder and his eyes widened as the outlaws had given chase and were just a few feet behind him; due to their horses being just as fast as his own! As the bandits pursued, three of them had drawn out a revolver and fired a single round towards Jack, which thankfully missed; due to them being too far to get a clean shot and Jack's horse being slightly faster. As the bandits continued to chase him for what felt like 10 whole minutes, Jack eventually drew out his own Colt SAA revolver and fired two rounds in retaliation towards the bandits; whom immediately fired back in return.

"Yeah, you'd better run varmint, cuz' no one's a comin to rescue you!" One of the bandits, speaking in a plain Western accent cried out while whooping in excitement, along three other members of their gang as they continued to pursue the young Marston.

"Just let me pass! I'm warning you!" Jack cried out in return as he ordered the bandits to leave him alone while firing another round, which also hit nothing and crouched down as one of the outlaws fired at him in return as they continued to pursue him for another six minutes.

But unfortunately for Jack...the chase eventually ended: as the bandit armed with the Winchester rifle fired a precise bullet that struck him in the back of his left shoulder, which caused him to cry out and lose his balance as he fell off Sapphire as she kept running!

"Ahhh! Ahhh, shit..." Jack softly muttered as he glanced between his left shoulder, which was bleeding badly and watching his horse flee before turning to see the bandits quickly approaching him on their horses!

"Whoo whee, you got him Roper!" One of the outlaws cried out with a dark grin on his face while two others whooped out and laughed in glee!

As the outlaws advanced towards him, Jack had swiftly scrambled for his Colt Single Action Army revolver, which he had dropped after he fell off Sapphire and attempted to defend himself...but sadly never got the chance: as the bandit riding in front of his group had shot the revolver out of his hand with a single bullet from his own revolver; which caused him to gasp in shock and dismay! After he recovered from the shock, Jack attempted to pick his gun up again...only to cry out: as the bandit who shot his SAA out of his hand delivered a swift and strong kick to face; striking him directly in his nose/mouth! As Jack stumbled and fell on his back from the force of the blow to his face, he weakly struggled to pick himself up as the bandits climbed off their horses and laughed/chuckled darkly as they approached the wounded young man.

"Well, what do we have here?" The leader of the bandits; a Caucasian man in his mid 30's with jet black hair in a Curly Mullet hairstyle and dark brown eyes wearing clothes similar to his own and pitch black Pinched Front cowboy hat asked sarcastically with a dark smirk on his face, along with the rest of his group.

"Tsk, just a stupid young kid. What a disappointing catch." A different outlaw, a dark skinned man also in his mid 30's with black hair in a short curly hairstyle and light green eyes answered while scoffing in disappointment after seeing the man he and his fellow outlaws had been chasing was in fact a teenager.

"Don't matter much! Let's just rob 'em of what's he got." Another outlaw, a tan skinned man in his late 20's with brown-reddish hair in a short spiked mohawk hairstyle and light blue eyes countered, showing that he didn't care if Jack was just a kid and wanted to rob him of what valuables/money he had on him.

"Y-You bastards are wastin' your time. I don't have anything on me. No money, nothing!" Jack angrily spat as he revealed to the bandits that he didn't have anything of value on him!

"Then what do ya think you're doing ridin' through our territory, boy?" The leader of the bandits asked, demanding to know what Jack was doing in the outskirts of Armadillo while claiming Cholla Springs as their 'turf'.

"I had some personal business in Mexico. I was just heading back home to Armadillo!" Jack answered half truthfully, claiming that he was simply returning to New Austin after taking care of some 'personal business' back in Mexico.

"Heh, oh really? Well, then...welcome home 'friend'." The leader of the bandits stated sarcastically with a dark grin on his face, which caused Jack to slightly tremble and open his mouth in fear...as the man raised his right foot up and smashed the sole of his boot with his face!

After the initial strike Jack had cried and groaned in muffled pain as he covered his face with both hands: as the outlaw leader had broke the ridge of his nose and blood had oozed out his nostrils while his fellow desperados simply pointed and laughed at his pain for their own amusement. As Jack continued to moan/cringe at the sharp pain he felt; as he instinctively guessed that his nose no doubtingly broken, he attempted to crawl away...and was met with a strong kick to his side, that caused him to cry out and fall onto his stomach.

"Where do ya think you're goin'?" The tan skinned outlaw asked with a dark grin on his face, along with his fellow outlaws as he sarcastically demanded to know where Jack thought he was running off to while landing another kick to his side which caused the young man to cry out in pain as he forcefully rolled him over onto his back.

"J-Just let me go...I...I said that I d-don't...(cough) don't have anything." Jack weakly gasped as he struggled to breathe and begged for the bandits to spare him as he didn't have anything of value for them to steal while crying out as the 20 year old bandit stomped his foot down on his stomach/ribcage two times!

"Ohh, really? What a shame." The tan skinned bandit stated sarcastically with the dark smirk on his face before turning to his boss, whom placed a hand on his shoulder and brushed him aside as he approached Jack; whom was wheezing and coughing in pain with blood covering his mouth and lower jaw as he glanced at the outlaw leader; whom looked at him with dead eyes.

"...Then there's no point in letting you crawl out of this desert...is there?" The outlaw leader asked bluntly with an equally sinister grin on his face, which caused Jack to whimper and look at him and his entire gang in horror as he drew out his personal gun; a Colt 1851 Navy revolver and fire a single bullet in his chest!

As soon as he heard the gunshot and felt the bullet striking/entering right through him...Jack simply gave a single gasp as he collapsed flat on the desert floor and coughed up a mouthful of blood that covered the sand while the bandits laughed/chuckled darkly at their handiwork.

"Alrighty boys, lets get outta here and find another poor bastard to rob." The outlaw leader stated while chuckling darkly before holstering his S revolver and walking away as he turned to his horse; a pitch black Cleveland Bay.

"But Wyatt, ain't we gonna finish this fucker off? He's still breathing!" The tan skinned outlaw exclaimed as he pointed out to his gang leader that Jack was still alive; as his breath was ragged and his chest was still moving.

"Why bother? He ain't goin' no-wheres. Besides, he'll be dead in a few minutes. If he doesn't bleed out...the coyotes will finish him off." The outlaw armed with the Winchester rifle, Roper asked while scoffing at his fellow gang member's stupid question as he pointed out there was no need for them to finish Jack off: as the coyotes would do it for them once they smelled his blood.

"Yea, but Roper..." The 20 year old man attempted to reply before he was cut off by his boss.

"But nothing Boonie! Now c'mon! I said let's go." Wyatt sharply countered, which immediately shut the tan skinned outlaw, whom was known by his fellow gang members as Boone up as he mounted on his horse and ordered his men to follow him before he rode off.

As soon as Wyatt climbed on his horse and rode off, his men immediately mounted up on their own horses and followed him as they rode off in the distance. Shortly after Wyatt and his gang rode and were no longer in sight...Jack had simply panted heavily as he stared lazily at the afternoon sky as he laid on the desert ground with his blood spilling out on the sand beneath him. Although, as Jack continued to stare at the sky with his eyes blinking every two minutes as he attempted to stay consciousness for what felt like 10-15 minutes, that was when he heard the unmistakable sound of galloping hooves and weakly moved his head to the right to see a stagecoach slowly approaching and a young man riding a horse; that he recognized as Sapphire.

As soon as the horses pulling the coach stopped, the drivers, a Caucasian woman in her early 40's with light brown hair in the Suicide Roll and teal blue eyes wearing a light blue blouse, black cotton skirt, small gold loop earrings and black sweetheart flapper shoes and a man, whom was also in his 40's, Caucasian with light brown hair and cobalt gray eyes, wearing rancher's clothing had gasped in shock and horror once they spotted Jack lying on the ground, near death.

"Oh my god." The woman muttered softly while placing her left hand over her mouth as the man, whom was no doubtingly her husband handed her reigns and climbed off the coach as he steadily approached Jack, along with the young man, whom also Caucasian with short dirty blonde/brown hair, wearing a coal blue/gray square patterned flannel shirt, cobalt grey pants, a deep blue bandana tied around his neck, cowboy hat and boots after he climbed off Sapphire.

"Is...Is he dead?" The young man wearing the cowboy hat softly asked as the woman's husband slowly approached Jack and lightly pressed his right ear against his chest and much to his genuine surprise, he heard a faint heartbeat.

"This man is still alive. He's breathing, but barely." The husband answered as he turned back to the young man, whom naturally glanced over his shoulders.

"Do you suppose he's the owner of this here horse we found further up the road as we left town?" The young man asked while fairly suspecting he was the owner of the Kentucky Saddler.

"S-Sap...Sap...phire." Jack softly whispered as he weakly attempted to reach for Sapphire, confirming that she was indeed his horse before he closed his eyes and passed out from exhaustion.

"That answer your question?" The male driver of the stage coach asked sarcastically while turning back to the younger man, whom simply gave a simple shrug.

"What do we do?" The young man in the cowboy hat asked as he and the older man glanced up; as they spotted a small flock of turkey vultures flying in the sky overhead.

"Well, we're not leaving him out here. I'll take his arms you get his legs." The older man answered plainly as he refused to leave Jack to die out in the desert and ordered the young man to lift him up by his legs whilst he carried him by his arms.

"Alright Pa." The young man answered, showing that he was in fact the man's and woman's son as he picked Jack up by his feet/boots while his father picked lifted him up by his armpits.

Once they had lifted him off the desert floor, the old man and his son carried and loaded Jack in the back of the stagecoach, the young man mounted back on Sapphire while his father climbed back up front of the coach. After he sat down, the man's wife handed him the reins and after giving a soft whip, the horses gave a loud cry before circling around and headed up the road with their son riding Sapphire right alongside them as they headed home with their unexpected guest.