Esther Reed | 28 y/o | Female | Second-In-Command (Soon-to-be leader)

The sound of guns firing and yelling came from all sides. It was safe to say that things had gone south, far far south. This had been supposed to go smoothly, a simple bank robbery, with enough money to get them out of here and live comfortably while staying safe enough but by the looks of it, it had been a set up.

They had gone in quietly as per Jacob’s orders. Isaac and Rosa had stayed outside, keeping watch for lawmen and to make sure no one entered or exited the bank. They had been supposed to go in, get a banker to open the vault, grab the money and go, no lawmen were supposed to show up until they were able to get away safely. No one was meant to get hurt, that wasn't supposed to be necessary.

William, Vera, Slicker and Morgan had been put to watch the civilians, keep them all in check, letting no one leave and having them stay calm and quiet, nothing that should be too hard, all you had to do was point a gun at someone's head and hope no one tried playing hero.

Bertha had gone with her and Jacob into the vault where they had started gathering all the money in their saddlebags, all while Esther had held to banker at gunpoint, watching him intently to make sure he’d do nothing stupid.

A single gunshot and the smattering of hooves had been the starting signal for all hell to break loose.

Frank, the camp cook, had insisted on coming with them on what was supposed to be their last mission. Jacob had been reluctant to let him go but had finally agreed, stationing him near the horses to ensure that no one would do anything to stop them.

They had been set up though, there was no other explanation. Things had gone smoothly, everything was calm and quiet until a gunshot rang through the town. Frank had been shot right off his horse as lawmen surrounded the bank, the gang’s horses scattering when Frank’s pinto took off in a panic.

Rosa and Isaac threw themselves towards the door, trying to get inside and behind cover but Rosa was shot before barely having time to move and Isaac fell through the door, a bullet having gone straight through his head as he crashed to the floor with a thud, resulting in chaos spreading through the civilians. Something that could be heard into the vault.

“Jacob you hear that?” Esther spoke, her eyes shifting off the banker and over to her leader who both he and Bertha had stopped. She watched as the bearded man reached for his pistol, clenching his jaw a little, something he always did when he got annoyed.

“I hear it alright, what the hell is going on out there?” The man muttered before turning to Bertha, motioning for her to continue with the money, “Esther, you're with me, we’ll help them others out, Bertha, get the money, we need outta here, and fast.”

William Brant | 19 y/o | Male | Member

Everything had been calm and going according to plan when suddenly a gunshot could be heard, causing William to put his back against the wall and look out the window, holding his sawed-off shotgun firmly, his aim was terrible so his beloved shotgun was the easiest way to ensure a hit, at least at close range.

A pinto dashed past the bank and up the street, Frank’s limp body dragging after it as the cook’s foot had gotten caught in the stirrup, followed by a couple of the other gang horses. William cursed quietly at the sight, seeing how lawmen had started surrounding the bank too, they would need to shoot themselves out of this mess by the looks of it.

Isaac came crashing through the door, his head hitting the floor, splattering blood over the floor from the open wound going straight through his skull. The man hadn't been much older than William himself and it was quite the gruesome sight to see the man falling dead on the floor.

The sight caused panic amongst the civilians that he and the others had so far kept relatively nice and quiet and William turned his gaze to look at the other gang members in the room.

His search for the others’ eyes was cut short though as a hunter with some newfound courage swung at him with a knife.

If there was one thing people who’d known William for a bit was aware of, it was to not do anything that would trigger a fight or flight response in the man, he always chose fight, his body chose it for him. It was like flipping a switch and there was no stopping it, the man would always protect himself at all costs.

The one-eyed man managed to catch the wrist of the hunter, stopping him from stabbing him. William kicked the hunter in the stomach and sent the man stumbling back a few steps as he fired his sawed-off shotgun right at the man.

Everything went silent for a second before the chaos continued, panicked screaming coming from civilians as well as a sharp yell that broke through every other sound, “Will, how ‘bout you shoot them sons of bitches outside instead of civilians!?”

The one-eyed man glared across the room at his leader before the window next to him shattered as a bullet came flying through it and the young man took cover once again as he holstered his shotgun and grabbed a pistol instead, knowing that with how far away the lawmen where, his shotgun wouldn't do much help.

“Vera! Help Bertha, and look for another way out,” the leader ordered, barking out commands through the chaos and doing his best to keep a leveled head. “The rest of you, we ought to keep the lawmen back!”

“Slicker” | 21 | Male | Member

Gunshots. Loud, echoing, and booming before the door opening and—

Fuck!

Minutes prior, Slicker had been in charge of making sure the civilians didn’t act up, keeping them in line and in control so no one got hurt. As much as Slicker trusted his companions, Morgan, Vera, and Will were all a bit trigger happy at the slightest hint of aggression. They had just stormed the place when Morgan was clearly toying with one man who she chose to torment with threats from her knife and Vera had already threatened to beat two of them in Spanish, raising her fists as their one and only warning to shut up. William on the other hand was William. He would not attack unless physically attacked first, but that did not mean he pulled the trigger far too soon in some cases. It was for reasons like this that Slicker felt alienated from most of the other group members. While the others seemed to thrive off of being in a gang, Slicker was only here because he needed the money to survive and he doubted anyone would hire him for anything. Maybe that’s why Slicker was put as a hostage organizer: to keep the others in line so no one had to die.

Of course, people quickly began to die as gunshots rang out and Rosa and Isaac crumbled into the door, busting it open to expose their lifeless bodies to the civilians and Slicker.

Fuck!

Slicker stared in horror for a moment, their bodies entirely lifeless with Issac’s blood dripping from a fresh bullet hole in his forehead. Issac had just turned twenty. Twenty for fucks sake! If Issac was dead, Rosa was too. She only joined the gang so she could get money to organize a search party for her brother who she lost when she was younger. She only came on missions that the others guaranteed would be safe and she believed this to be one of them. She had not even turned eighteen yet. Not even eighteen! She joked with Slicker that she had wanted to find her brother and have him be her birthday gift. Fuck, she did not have to die today!

Focus, Slicker!

As Slicker heard a mother and her little boy scream in terror, Slicker snapped back to reality and looked to see William shooting a civilian, sending everyone into more chaos. Slicker sent a glare his way, knowing that William only made the situation worse for everyone involved, especially the innocents who had just witnessed not one but two people shot before their very eyes.

Even with all the commotion, Jacob’s voice rang clear as he ordered the gang with clear intent. Jacob was a true leader after all even if there was terror stricken in his steady tone. Slicker watched as Vera, with steely determination, nodded and sprinted off to the back of the bank with Bertha despite both being visibly shaken from Issac’s visible corpse acting as an opening that kept the large doors propped open. Before Slicker could even ask for more orders, more shots rang out and Slicker quickly ducked for cover behind the bank’s counter where Morgan sat with her head in her hands whispering to herself.

“Morgan, I need you to—”

“No, no, no, no, no!” Morgan’s terror spilled through her crooked teeth as she raked her hands through her shaky and spiky hair like Issac once did with her. “He can’t be dead, he can’t be!”

“Morgan, please—”

“W-We were going to live happily together after this and-and-and now we can’t because he’s— No, he’s not—!”

“Morgan, focus!!” Slicker shouted, grabbing her shoulder, the woman froze, her fierce amber eyes clouded with fear and tears for the first time Slicker had ever seen. “I need you to tell me how many lawmen we got on us right now, okay? Can you do that for me? Just shout out how many there are on this side so we can get the numbers kicking and tell me where they are so I can shoot them.”

Morgan shook with terror but slowly nodded, swallowing down sobs and wiping her nose. Morgan took a deep breath, looking at Slicker and forcing a smile and Slicker smiled back, muttering “atta girl” under his breath once Morgan’s confidence returned within an instant. Her hands still shook and eyes still appeared wild and frantic, but she held her gun tightly and readied herself.

Within a second, Morgan stool abruptly, raised up, looked briefly before firing, and narrowly missed being shot by copers as she threw her head back in laughter as a thud and shouting could be heard from the other side of the bank wall.

“Seven on this side now!!” Morgan called out so the whole group could hear before turning to Slicker. “I got one of them on the left and the two closest to you are on your nine and ten. Can the great Slicker sharp eye get them both in one go?~” Despite losing the person she loved most in this world, she carried on and was even acting like her normal jovial self. Even Slicker who was known for keeping morale up envied her abilities.

“The great Slicker sharp eye could do three in one if he wanted to,” Slicker replied with a chuckle, cocking the hammer one of his revolvers as twirled the other around his finger. Standing up and placing a dirt covered boot on the counter before— with two bullets and a bit of flair— two bangs, two thuds, and many more bangs followed with metal cylinders of death gliding through the air in a poor attempt at hitting him. A cocky smile spread across his face as he blew at the smoke that left his gun. While Morgan laughed, the people inside looked terrified at him. “Look, no one in here is going to die so long as you people stay low and safe. We’re not here to go on a murder spree so just scrooch up and no one has to get plunked. Y’all are gonna survive this so everyone take a deep breath for me, ya hear?” Slicker paused as he looked over the crowd before looking at William. “Hey, pretty boy—” Slicker’s favorite nickname for William— “how many you got on your side over there??”

Alice An Taylor | 27 | Female | Civilian

“So I found out from the bartender that Henry was spoonin’ and smoochin’ and-and spoonin’ with Julie, right?” Cathline’s Southern accent was thick like Molasses, so much so that even Alice could not stand it. Sobbing into one of the pink floral pillows of Alice’s couch, Cathline’s poster was that of a sober lush who desperately needed more to drink which forced Alice to suppress a scoff at her unlady like persona. Her eyes were all a mess and— Gee! Could she not keep crying into my pillow? It was a fairly nice pillow now drenched in tears, snot, and mascara that Cathline used to brag her husband got her from France. Thank God Cathline was starting to stop loving her husband as much. “And I was— Well I was heartbroken! I thought I outta just storm home and ask my hubby myself!”

“Mh-hm.”

“And you know what I find when I get up to tha bedroom? You know what I find?? They’re doing it dirty in the teal, silk sheets from Paris! From Paris!!”

“Mh-hmm.”

“Oh but Alice!! They were in the silk sheets and all naked and—!” Cathline broke off into more sobs and Alice rolled her eyes. “And the worst part is this— this dirty snake of a woman— oh she just gave me such a dirty look!! You would never believe it Alice! I’ll tell you, she was the temptress herself!!” Cathline wiped the ugly tears from her face and weakly slammed her fist down into the pillow. “A temptress sent by the devil, I tell you! And my husband— oh, Alice!— he said that he just simply doesn’t love me anymore! How can anyone say such a thing? I mean, I am so lovable! I am positively bursting with lova— lova—”

Sluuuuuuuuuuurp.

“Desirability,” Alice sighed as she finished loudly sipping her tea, placing her teacup down delicately on the plate in her hand. Alice studied Cathline with unamused eyes before a small smile formed on her face as she tilted her head. “I think the word you are looking for is desirability. ‘Lovability’ is not a word, love.”

“Oh, right. Of course….” Cathline was always a bit of a pinhead so she always gladly accepted others correcting her, in Alice’s eyes at least. Cathline finally seemed to fix her posture, no longer hunching over Alice’s pillow and pressing her knees together with her hands resting on her lap. Despite loving those little women who kept their legs delicately pushed together and stare at the tea in their hands or sheepishly at her, Alice could never sit like that, always having one leg draped over the other. “Well… I uh… Well, what do you think I should do to gain back his love…?”

“You don’t,” Alice replied, shaking her head.

“Wha— How could you—”

“Cathline, love, you don’t have to win back your husband’s heart when he clearly doesn’t have one!”

“Alice!!”

“I am simply telling you the truth,” Alice replied with a shrug as she uncrossed her legs and stood. “If he cheated on you and admitted to your face that he does not love you, than why should you be loyal to him?” Cathline stared with wide eyes at Alice as she stalked closer, her black boots clicking against the ground as she approached. “People fall out of love so often in this world so why should you stay faithful to someone who has not been faithful to you?”

“A-Alice, what you are suggesting is—”

“—is that you find someone who actually loves you.” Alice waved a hand through the air as she placed her left hand on Cathline’s left shoulder as she looked past her before looking down at her with a smirk. “Them being good in bed would also be preferable.” Cathline looked away sheepishly as her pale cheeks grew the scarlet color of her dress. She opened her mouth a few times before closing it and looking down at her shaking hands as they laid down in her lap. “Use your words Cathline…~”

“I-I just… uhh,” Cathline struck under Alice’s gaze, “I just want to keep my marriage together though! And I want to keep my marriage together and— Oh, you know how those women— with their leering eyes and- vulture teeth— would gossip about me if I do not stay faithful in my—”

“Marriage—” Alice spat the word out like it was pure poison on her tongue— “is just to keep your dearest daddy happy, to have money to spend, and to pump out children like the factories in the east pump out tactiles.” Alice paused, toning down her harsh voice and making it sweet as honey as she relaxed her touch on Cathline’s shoulder, gently massaging her gloved hand into Cathline’s shoulder. “Marriage is not about love so why make it so? Don’t be loyal to anyone but yourself and especially not your husband. God knows I am not!” Alice laughed as she trailed her fingertips on Cathline’s back before resting on her opposite shoulder as Alice sat down beside Cathline. With Alice’s breath on her ear, the tiny woman shuttered. Alice’s hands drifted up the woman’s neck and to her face, turning Cathline to look up and face her. Alice’s smirk only grew as she could feel the woman apply pressure to her hand and melt into her touch. “But I am your best friend and I am willing to help you with—” as Cathline opened her mouth to protest, Alice gently smoothed her thumb over her lips, sealing them shut while Cathline shuttered— “whatever you need, okay?” Cathline nodded with half-lidded eyes, looking adorable even with her smeared and dripping makeup. “Good. Now let’s get you all cleaned up and sent on your way.”

Yet another pawn under the chessmaster’s thumb.

Roxie Sweet | 24 | Female | Ex-Member of Philip’s Gang |

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“Are we there yet?”

Those same annoying words she had heard all day, and the day before that, and the day before that. Roxie turned her head and narrowed her eyes angrily, looking back at her horse that was now trotting up beside her, a man riding on top.

“No, we aren’t Ollie. Be more patient. We could have been there two days ago but all you’ve done is complain.”

“Shut up Roxie, you know this shit hurts. Ain’t my fault I’m like this right now.”

She sighed and looked up at the man, who was plastered in bandages, looking quite pissed. It had only been two weeks since he’d gotten the injuries, and she could tell they were obviously very painful, but they had been holding the two up a lot. A one day trip from PurePoint to Harmony’s Bank turned into three days, having to take a lot of breaks to allow Ollie to rest, even though he’d hardly walked. Roxie had gotten tired of his complaining and tried to walk ahead of them, but her horse Bessie wouldn’t let her go too far. The feisty mare didn’t seem to appreciate Ollie’s grumbling either, and Roxie could tell why.

They’d been heading to Harmony’s Bank in hopes of finding something new to do since they’d technically retired from their old job. She was just glad they were almost there since she would finally be free from Ollie for a while. Stupidly, it was Ollie that insisted they go to Openshaw, even though he was badly wounded.

“What are you even going to do when we get to Harmony’s Bank?” Roxie asked. “You're practically useless right now.”

“I can still walk, I still have both my legs. Can’t say the same for my eyes, but I can at least try.”

“Yeah right, you ain’t doing shit. If you pass out somewhere I ain’t coming to save you. At least take Gwynn with you if you want to go places.” Roxie looked back at the two dogs that trailed behind them. A smaller mutt, and a large border collie. Maggie and Gywnn were two good dogs, Maggie being Roxie’s and Gwynn being Ollie’s.

Roxie then looked back in front of her, a familiar line of trees appearing in her vision. “Haha, finally! We’re almost there Ollie, we’ll be free from this Hell soon!”

“Thank god, that was rough.” The man sighed impatiently.

“It surely was.” Roxie chuckled. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

-

Ollie Bright | 31 | Male| Ex-Member of Philip’s Gang|

-

Ollie sighed with relief as they got through the trees. He could see Harmony’s Bank over the hills, and was glad they were finally there after having to camp two days in the snow-covered Deadrise Mountains. Roxie hopped back on top of Bessie, and clicked her tongue. The horse took them down the hill and towards the town, their dogs running behind them.

When they entered, children were running around, men doing their work, and women going about their day, shopping and doing chores. They started riding further into town, noticing quickly the streets were mostly empty, besides a few people hiding in the dark corners of their porches. Roxie and Ollie watched curiously, wondering, when suddenly loud gunshots rang out. Bessie was visibly agitated by the sound, and started grunting aggressively as she swung her head towards the direction of the noise. Ollie looked around, spooked, and annoyed. He didn’t expect a gunfight this early in the morning. Bessie started backing up, and Roxie bent down to pick up Maggie who was trying to jump up onto Bessie with her. Gwynn stayed on the ground, though snarling and barking angrily at the loud shots.

“Bradshaw Brothers? The damn O’Connor’s?” Ollie glanced over at Roxie.

“No, can’t be. The O’Connor’s shouldn’t be on the move right now, and the Bradshaw Brothers have almost been completely wiped out. We killed their leaders, remember?”

“Yeah, right. I remember you and Victor picking them off. Rightfully so.”

“Let’s investigate further…” Roxie suggested.

“That's an awful idea, what if it really is the O’Connors?” Ollie grimaced.

“If it is then we shoot them down. If it's not, we’ll help em’ or some shit like that.”

“Why would we help some random robbers?”

“We’re also random robbers.”

“Not really. Our names are in the newspaper, again. And on wanted posters…”

“Our names might be on wanted posters, and in the newspaper for the wrong reason, but that hasn’t stopped us from being famous before.”

“Yeah, the most famous, infamous gang around…”

“Exactly, so we sneak around the back and take a peak.”

“I’ll kill you if we die.”

“Go for it Ollie, you can’t even shoot without your glasses on. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you. Then Mary Jane would kill me…”

“Shut up.”

Roxie laughed and left Bessie at the nearest post. Neither bothered to hitch the horse since she's never run away before. Roxie took an apple out of pocket and handed it to Bessie, who took it gingerly. Maggie stayed with Bessie as normal, while Gwynn trailed behind Roxie and Ollie, keeping a sharp eye for anything suspicious. Ollie loved his dog, and her cautious, calm nature. A good dog who saved his life more times than he could count. She acted a lot like his eyes, since he was practically blind and had a late reaction time. They traveled keeping close to buildings, and as they got closer to the gunshots, they got closer to the buildings. Gwynn gave a quiet bark, and stepped in front of Roxie, leading them towards the sound. When they passed a corner they saw lawmen outside the bank, shooting at the windows. Gwynn led them back a row of houses and behind the bank. They stalked towards the large building carefully, and finally reached a window where they were able to peer inside.

“Oooh yeah, there's definitely a gang in there. They look different from all the other gangs we’ve seen. Not as many people in this robbery as the big ones we’ve faced, more like our gang, small and simple. I see an opportunity to gain a job Oliver…”

“Yeah, you do Roxie? Well I don’t see shit.”

“Like always. Here, take these and see what I see.” Roxie reached over to Ollie’s pocket and took out a pair of small, square glasses. Ollie took them from her and slipped them on, glaring into the bank again.

“Guess so. My plan is that we wait out here, and if they really start getting into any more trouble we lead them this way. No way of knowing if they’ll come but pretty much, gain their trust from the get-go. There will be no mistakes, and if they start shooting at us we will leave immediately.”

“Alright.” Roxie nodded, glancing back inside the bank. “Now, to wait…”

Aiden | 18 | Male | Member

“I can’t believe I’m stuck babysitting the little baby boy again,” Aiden grumbled as if Del was not right in front of him and he was not poking his face like a child poking a frog. “Look at you, fucking squishy baby face. I could have been exploding a bank today and now I gotta make sure you don’t explode your diapers.” Aiden paused before poking him again. “Why are you so small? Just grow already.” Aiden was, in fact, slightly taller than him by at least an inch, maybe two. Aiden’s height was only more than Del’s because he was standing on one of the logs that they used as seats while looking down at the younger teenager. Aiden paused for a moment, seemingly sizing Del up as he finally stopped touching him and placing his hands on his hips. “Yeah, I could take you in a fight.”

“Aiden, knock it off,” Nike instructed with a huff, slightly smacking Aiden upside the head who just gave a whine in response. “Plus, we both know you can’t fight for shit.”

“I can too!”

“Nah, you’d try to hit him,” Nike stated in a matter-of-fact tone as she took a drag from her cigarette and walked over to the dying fire, “and you’d miss and fall flat on your face.”

“No….” Aiden’s face had gone bright red as he huffed and folded his arms. Despite Nike being the one who scolded him, Aiden still glared at Del before sitting down on the log.

Compared to Nike, Aiden was borderline chaos incarcerated. If it weren’t for Esther, Aiden was sure Nike would be the second-in-command. She was fierce, strong, and seemed to always keep a level head, qualities Aiden only wished he could have. Then again, Aiden loved how he could have fun whenever he wanted so maybe it was not so bad to not have Nike’s amazing qualities. Plus, it was because of her qualities that she was put in more dangerous situations. On their last mission, Nike wounded her arm pretty badly since she was busy protecting the crew from some annoying dirtbag. He tried to stab her in the face, from what Aiden had heard, and she heroically blocked even as he dragged the blade through her forearm. She grabbed the blade and stabbed him between the ribs. So badass.

Poking at the fire with a stick, Nike sighed as she moved her thick black hair out of her face. She looked between Del and Aiden. Aiden instantly sat up and waited for whatever orders she may give.

“Can you both grab some wood?” Damn, that is a boring order, but Aiden was still willing to do it. “We should grab some more before we get going and Frank was saying he’s going to be making a big meal tonight after the mission so let’s get the fire going again so we don’t have to later.”

“Uuuuugh but that’ll be so booooooring!” Aiden complained as he had already sat up, grabbing his tiny bag of things. Nike just chuckled and rolled her eyes. “I was hoping for something more fun than that. Like, I dono, we could be building or destroying or… bleh.” Aiden pouted before kicking Del’s leg lightly. “Okay, let's get this done with, Tiny.”

Delaney O’Conner | 15 y/o | Male | Newcomer

The young teen was sitting on one of the logs around the campfire, staring up at the older one in front of him. He didn't make a move or say anything back when the man poked at and insulted him, he just smirked at him. Partly because Nike was there too but also because he was planning something else for Aiden, he hadn't decided what yet, but something. It was hilarious for Del to see just how much his existence alone annoyed Aiden.

“Yeah, I could take you in a fight.”

Delaney raised an eyebrow, his smirk growing as he opened his mouth to make a comment about how the only thing Aiden would be fighting, would be the ground. However Nike beat him to it as she smacked the back of the other boy’s head and told him off, causing Del’s smirk to grow as Aiden seemed to lose all confidence and sink down until he was sitting, still glaring at him even while Nike was talking to him.

Normally Del would be quicker to shoot back with a comeback when anyone was insulting him, or just in general when someone spoke to him, but not today. Quite honestly the young man was also bummed out by the fact that he hadn't been allowed to come with, he could have at least been allowed to be a lookout in his opinion. After all, it was supposed to be a quick and quiet job, at least that's what he’d heard when he’d eavesdropped on the older ones as they'd planned for the robbery.

“Can you both grab some wood?”

The black-haired boy sighed upon getting the order from the woman. The only reason he felt willing to agree to Nike’s order was because of the fact that there would be food in it for them, if the fire was going then they wouldn't have to wait while starting a new one once Frank came back and the sooner they'd get the cook’s delicious food.

“Okay, let's get this done with, Tiny.”

Del glanced at the older boy as he was kicked lightly on his leg and he finally spoke, “Careful ya lunk, or ya might trip youself over me leg.”

The teen jumped up, grabbing his hat that had been laying next to him and he put it on his head before looking over at Aiden, that same old smirk as always, plastered on his lips. “Come on now then,” he said as he spun on his heel and started walking, away from camp and out into the woods surrounding it, the sooner they got it over with, the less time he'd have to spend with Aiden, being called small and whatever else the man could come up with, which never really was anything awfully creative.

“Oh and Aiden? Ya might wanna use this time and think of some new words, small and tiny is gettin’ old now. Don't ya think?” he told the older boy as he walked past him, turning his head after a few steps to look back at him, “No wait, that's exactly what ya don't do,” he said, chuckling softly for himself as he turned his head back around and continued walking.

William Brant | 19 y/o | Male | Member

Using both hands, William did his best to aim as well as possible, firing at the lawmen outside the window and managing to hit one in the chest, another in the arm. All while hearing Morgan and Slicker somewhere behind him in the chaos. Those two had quite similar personalities sometimes and sometimes, usually, it got a bit too much in Will’s opinion.

“Hey, pretty boy, how many you got on your side over there??”

Pretty boy. There was only one person who would be calling someone that in the middle of a shootout, and that person was none other than Slicker who was referring to William himself.

The brunet turned around, his back against the wall as he looked back at Slicker, his whole face reading of anger and frustration. Things could never go as intended and now people had already ended up with holes in their heads because of it, the question was just; what exactly had gone wrong? Nothing they’d done should have alerted the law or drawn attention, they’d gone in separately, kept the crowd controlled and everything.

“If yer so curious come here and look,” he sneered as he pushed a few strands of hair out of his face. When he got the time he’d definitely have to cut his hair, it was getting too long.

If it had not been Slicker asking him something, William wouldn't have bothered to turn around and answer. He would never admit it, hell he hadn't even admitted it to himself fully. But the time he’d known Slicker for had made the other male grow on him and out of everyone, he probably liked Slicker the most. Or at least he did now, Frank had just died after all. Frank had sure been a good man, not one to force conversation or ask a ton of questions, he made the food and he did it damn well. He had made it damn well.

“Stop showing off before you get yerself killed, crazy idiot…” William rolled his eyes slightly and turned back around and went back to firing. His shot was still awful. It was frustrating as he’d had a pretty decent aim when he was younger and had just learnt to use a gun but now, despite it being years since he lost his fingers on his right hand and he still hadn't learnt to shoot with his left hand well.

Esther Reed | 28 y/o | Female | Second-In-Command

The woman glanced at the leader who left her side once he was done giving out orders and instead took position by a window, smashing it with the back of his rifle before starting to fire at the lawmen out front.

Esther could hear Slicker and William talk to each other across the bank and she rolled her eyes as she made her way through the crowd and over to William as she grabbed the rifle off her back. She knew the man was a bad shot and figured he’d need help if they were ever going to get out of here.

“Less talking and more shooting boys,” she said as she positioned herself on the other side of the window from William and peaked out the window quickly, “At least another six here!”

The woman made sure the rifle was loaded before taking aim and firing, shooting a coper in the head and watching him fall onto the ground with a satisfying thud before she started aiming for the next one. She was going to make sure to open the skull of every lawman in her path.

“Open yer eyes and try somethin’ more like 16,” William muttered out, motioning towards the bunch of lawmen riding towards them on their horses.

Esther turned her gaze to see what William was talking about, this causing her to lose focus briefly and not noticing the man firing at her until the bullet hit right above her head and she quickly pulled back. Turning her head, the woman looked desperately at Jacob, the man always knew what to do, as if he was prepared for anything.

“We hold our ground, keep them back til Vera and Bertha find another way out. No one else is dying except for the copers, we’ve got this,” Jacob called out to his gang while staying focused on what was going on outside, firing rapidly at the law.

The man’s jaw was tightly clenched, Esther could see that from across the room. He was stressed about the situation, he hadn't counted with this either, the woman knew that much and that made her a bit uncertain too. Jacob was the one person she trusted and believed fully in so if he was worried about the situation, so was she.

Lucile Mason | 27 | Female | Ex-Member of Philip’s Gang |

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Dark clouds covering the sun, wind rippling through the dull grass, and an old crows call echoing through the forest. Through the brush trotted an old gray stallion, his rider sitting tall. For a few minutes the forest was quiet, almost lifeless, except a single rabbit that nibbled on blades of grass and hopped around peacefully.

The sound of a rifle firing off rang out through the trees. The rabbit now layed on the ground dead, a bullet through its head. Lucile smiled, and climbed off her horse, walking towards her newly killed prey. She picked the rabbit up by the legs, and tied it to her saddle bag.

I’ll cook it later. It’ll have to do till I can get a real job again.

With the majority of her money left at her old cabin, she didn’t have much to buy food. Only $0.50 left, and she wanted to use it sparingly. After a few months in Mexico with her gang, they’d only come back about a month ago, and everything had gone downhill from there. Now she was out searching for a new gang, but without much luck.

It was difficult enough trying to live out in the wild, and she missed having a warm bed to lay in. Though it wouldn’t stop her determination to get her life moving again. She hopped back onto her horse's back. She patted him on the head.

“Muévete a lo largo de Viajero. No queremos quedar atrapados en una tormenta.” She said, and whistled for her horse to start moving. Traveler was a sturdy, and strong stallion, who was calm and gentle with people.

They climbed down a small bank and deeper into the RedWoods, keeping a close and cautious eye for any predators. Lucile kept her rifle close, hoping they could at least find a good place to stay till the clouds rolled off. She didn’t want to be caught in the rain again.

“Slicker” | 21 | Male | Member

Surprised that William did not instantly snap at him, Slicker only smirked and tilted his head at William. God, this man entertained Slicker to no end. For the two years William had been a part of the crew, it had been some of the most interesting two years Slicker happened to be in the crew when William had been there. Just teasing him was enough to provide Slicker with endless entertainment.

“As much as I would love getting closer to you, cutie,” Slicker spun his gun around in circles and flicking the cylinders of the other gun open as he seemed to be looking William up and down, “I think I would be too distracted with you to be counting other men.” Slicker slid more bullets into the cylinder, glancing over his shoulder and briefly peeping out of the window. Slicker turned to William again with an annoyed huff. “Plus, I got men comin’ up on me and Morgan’s ass.”

“Hold up,” Morgan interjected, holding up a hand, “Slicker, if lawmen are comin’ for anyone’s ass, it should be mine.” Morgan huffed after she spoke, hopping up briefly and shooting one of the lawmen before slipping back down again. “Have you seen my ass? Much better than what you call your mother’s face!”

“For one, the bull crap on the bottom of my boot is better than my mother’s face,” Slicker grumbled as he looked at Morgan, unamused by her poor insult. “Secon’, if anythin’, your ass is as good as hooch made with dirt. Bland, flat, and only people with piss-poor taste want it.”

“Gee, someone's acting like a schmuck…”

“Says you,” Slicker scoffed, hoping up quickly to shoot another cop in the leg (always trying to be as non-lethal as he could) with a smirk, blowing a fat raspberry at those who remain before quickly ducking down with a quiet yelp as Slicker’s hat was nearly shot off his head. Slicker quickly took his hat off which made his hair puff up before he inspected it for damage and sighed in relief. Looking up as William spoke again, Slicker could only smirk. “Aww, are you worried for me, pretty boy?~”

“Oi, stop flirting with the man,” Morgan huffed, shaking her head at Slicker after flicking the side of his head to get his attention. “Gee, you would think you’ve mistaked one-eyed Willy for a girl with long hair with how much of a flirty lunkhead you are with him. We need to hook you up with a real pretty lass at some point before you become a dotty folk or somethin’.”

“Ehh maybe… after we get outta this stick-up gone wrong, I’ll consider it,” Slicker laughed somewhat bitterly, focusing on the metal of his gun and tilting it until he could see his reflection clear.

No one can know.

Yeah, like hell he was telling anyone in the gang why he fled home and that he was less interested in ‘pretty lasses’ and more in ‘pretty boys.’ Slicker prayed— yes, he of all people, prayed— that no one would ever learn the truth. He was not ready to run from another family all over again. Plus, even if he felt gross with women, he’d rather force himself to be with one for a night than spend his life without the family he had been living with for almost four whole years now. He was not letting anyone take them from him; not the lawmen, not death, and especially not his own desires.

Just then, Bertha and Vera finally appeared.

“Alright listen up cause we have a few ideas,” Bertha muttered, ducting low so she wouldn’t be shot before sliding beside William, tugging Vera along with her. Whenever Bertha and Vera were paired together, Bertha was always the one leading. Her signature orange bandanna was a clear sign that she was the leader even if she was not second-in-command. As Bertha sat down, she briefly checked out the window before whispering something in Spanish to Vera who replied gruffly. Vera had her arms folded with a fierce expression as she stared down by her feet. While wrapping and re-wrapping the bandages that covered her knuckles, only Slicker could see the distraught she felt. Slicker wished she could just hug the smaller woman. “Outside, they got a few lawmen gathering up the horses that weren’t spooked by the back entrance. Vera spotted that the men holding the horses don’t got much guns and could be easily overpowered. It might be easiest just to have us go out, shoot the few of them. There is a hole in the floorboard so we can take them by surprise that way or go out the back entrance and overwhelm them.”

“No olvides contarles tu plan,” Vera told her quietly with a nudge from her elbow rotted with burn scars, just barely loud enough for Slicker to hear.

“¡Sí, sí, estoy llegando!” Bertha shook her head before turning back to the others. Bertha took a deep breath and pointed upwards. “But it might be a smarter plan to send someone up onto the roof to shoot the water tower on the building next door and make a run for it after the distraction.”

There was a brief silence.

“If we blowin’ a fat hole in the water tower, I wanna be the one to do it!” Morgan replied excitedly, a toothy, wild grin appearing on her face.

Slicker was not too sure of the water tower idea though, shaking his head at Jacob in hopes the man would follow Vera’s idea instead because there is no way in hell that the person on the roof would come back down alive with all the lawmen outside.

Aiden | 18 | Male | Member

“Careful ya lunk, or ya might trip youself over me leg.”

“How could I trip myself over a twig?” Aiden shot back with a huff, glaring down at Del.

Aiden could not remember why he bickered with Del so much. Seeing as how Aiden got along well with most of the other members, one would think that Aiden would get along with Del since Aiden acted much younger than he was and Del was certainly pretty young. However, this was the opposite of true. The two seemed to have a rivalry for each other, but Aiden had always assumed it had been pure hatred instead since he was not good with social cues. The two would often get into heated back and forths, Dep often retorted cruelly when no one else was around so others still viewed him as such a golden child, and Aiden was constantly suppressing the urge to rant about him everytime he is brought up. In spite of this, Jacob had insisted that Aiden be put to watch over Del. Even though Aiden was excited to spend time with Nike, now even Nike was forcing him to be with Del more. Alone for that matter!

It was days like these that he wished he could be doing anything but what he was told, but he was too loyal to ignore their demands.

Of course, Del was trying to boss him and was trying to get him to get moving. Somehow, this only irritated him more as he glanced back at Nike with a look that said, “I want to beat him up so bad,” as his fists shook with rage. A soft chuckle left Nike’s lips, shaking her head as if she had been able to read his mind before turning back to the fire. Aiden grumbled under his breath, pouting like a toddler would as he took his red bandanna out of his pocket and used it to tie back his hair. It was not long into the woods when Del made the bold decision to talk to Aiden yet again.

I am going to destroy this little baby boy.

Explosives were probably not going to be an option since Nike would be made at him so Aiden decided that he would settle on insulting him.

“Oh well, you know,” Aiden walked ahead of Del, walking backwards to face him with miraculously not backing up into a tree, “I would use other words but yer little itty bitty brain cannot handle words with more than six or seven letters since ya can’t even fit bigger words in your brain, ya ignor-fuckin’-amus.” Aiden stuck his tongue out with a smirk, flipping him off with both fingers before turning back around. “I do think, which is a lot more than your peak brain can handle!” Aiden was quite proud of himself for remembering so many words that he had been taught when he was younger.

Before Del could protest, Aiden climbed an older tree to both get wood and get away from Del. This older tree had some pretty large branches towards the top that looked withered enough that Aiden could yank them down. As he wrapped an arm around the tree and had one leg wrapped around the tree and another placed securely on a sturdy branch, Aiden looked up to see— Perfect!— a long and withering branch that would be perfect to burn. Aiden paused for a moment as he thought about how he could get it down. He could not burn it because that might burn down the whole tree, and he definitely could not cut it down. Well… Aiden looked into his tool belt, searching it for supplies before smiling. After putting on his thick, ash-covered gloves, Aiden grabbed a thick metal wire and threw one end of it around the branch. Holding both ends with the center around the wood, Aiden gave the wire a strong yank, causing the branch to tumble to the ground and barely avoiding hitting Aiden.

Smiling at his efforts triumphantly, Aiden jumped down from the tree and rolled once he hit the ground, dusting himself off before putting his wire back into his tool set. “Alright, hurry up and get some wood Del, I wanna be done with this!”

Roxie Sweet | 24 | Female | Ex-Member of Philip’s Gang |

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Roxie jumped as the window next to them crashed to the ground in shards.

“Shit, we better be careful. We don’t want glass in our eyes.” Ollie growled, peering back inside. “Roxie, try opening up the window and getting somebody's attention. I’ll get Bessie.”

Roxie nodded and stood up carefully, while Ollie snuck over a few buildings and started whistling for the horse to come to them.

Roxie quietly slid the window into place and quickly rolled inside, Gwynn leaping in next to her. She looked back at the dog with a sigh. “Just don’t get hurt Gwynn…”

It probably wasn’t part of the plan, but she could at least try to help them. She hadn’t gone on such a simple robbery in so long, and here was her chance to do so, with complete strangers though…

Roxie took the rifle from her back, and she and Gwynn quickly darted from desk to desk till they were only a little ways from one man, who was skinny with brown hair.

“Hello? You guys need any help?” She peered over the top of the desk at him just enough to see her eyes and the top of her head. Roxie kept Gwynn close to her, making sure the dog didn't jump or make any sudden movements or sounds.

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Ollie Bright | 31 | Male| Ex-Member of Philip’s Gang |

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Ollie sat down behind an old house, whistling for Bessie and Maggie to come to him. He looked around the corner to see the cream mare, and small brown mutt coming towards him slowly, ducking behind the house to get away from the loud gunfire that continued to ring out through the town.

He got up and patted Bessie on the head, and sat Maggie on top of her, before trying to lift himself up, though with his aching arms he had to stop, and sit back down again, panting. “I am not cut out for this right now.”

He got on his knees and peaked around the building back at the spot where he, Roxie, and Gwynn had been, when he saw her climbing through the window and inside.

“Fuck, Roxie, Gwynn! No!” He yelled. “What the hell are you doing?!”

But she didn’t hear him, and slipped into the shadow of the bank.

“Damnit… If she dies, it ain’t my fault I guess. But I can’t go in there to save her from getting shot. I’ll be shot. I can hardly move right now as is.” He sighed, pushing up against the wall. “I’ll… just take a minute to rest…”

Bessie laid down next to him, and watched the bank as more gunfire sparked from inside.

“Shit… This was not a good idea…”

William Brant | 19 y/o | Male | Member

They were rounding up the horses that hadn't been spooked?

William stopped shooting and turned to look at Bertha next to him. The anger on his face was clearer than ever. If there was one thing that man cared about, it was his horse, and he knew she wouldn't have spooked.

“Well what are we doin’ talkin’?” He growled, “Where's that damn hole then? Ain't no one taking my Scud.”

The brown-haired man quickly moved, starting off towards the back where the two women had just come from, however he was stopped by Esther who grabbed the back of his shirt collar and pulled him back, making him crash to the ground before she pointed her rifle at him.

“Calm down that head of yours Brant, you’ll get yourself killed at this rate” the blonde warned as she pushed the rifle against the young man's chest while he was glaring daggers at her. William had never been a fan of Esther and the worst part was that she knew how to handle his outbursts, in her own way. That way being; pointing a gun at him and threatening to shoot.

“Enough!” Jacob bellowed, making the pair shift their attention to look at their leader. The older man was looking around at his gang, he knew there would be casualties no matter what he chose and he could see Slicker shaking his head. Oh what to do.

Esther Reed | 28 y/o | Female | Second-In-Command

She hated William. Even after two years he was still far too much of a loose cannon. Whatever had happened to that young man, it had clearly scarred him and it made him unreliable. She couldn't see why Jacob kept on bringing him when he couldn't control himself.

The woman kept her rifle pointed at William as she looked over at their leader. Jacob turned and looked out the window. The law was gathering up quicker than ever, like they'd been nearby just waiting. There were just too many for this to be a coincidence.

“We’ll do both,” the leader finally declared. This made Esther raise an eyebrow, what was the leader thinking? She knew that this wasn't what he'd expected but was he that stressed out by the chaos?

“Morgan, ya go up to the roof. Be careful,” he nodded towards the woman who was grinning wildly. “Bertha, Vera, Esther, on me. Once Morgan blows a hole in the water tower, we slip away. William, ya get the horses and Slicker, ya keep him in check. We shake the law off and regroup at ca-”

When the voice of a new person could be heard, the leader turned his head in surprise and aimed his gun at her.

Both Esther and William seemed to forget their hatred for each other, Esther pointing her rifle at the newcomer and William grabbing his sawed-off shotgun. The woman looked far from a coper but they had been getting creative lately and it wouldn't surprise her if this was another of their tricks.

“Who are you?” She questioned, staring the woman down. She didn't trust anyone, especially not today with everything that had happened.

“Ya back off both of you, we don't got time. Will, Slicker ya might need the extra help, she's with ya,” the leader said as he lowered his gun and looked outside again before looking at Slicker and giving him a look to tell him to be careful. The leader knew he could thrust Slicker to keep a leveled head and deal with the constantly shifting situation.

Delaney O’Conner | 15 y/o | Male | Newcomer

Del watched as the older boy turned around to insult him. The black-haired boy only smirked at the attempt, it was amusing to see. Aiden always took their “fights” so seriously, he didn't understand why. The older one did annoy him so incredibly much, testing his patience and making his life hard.

It was easy for him to hate Aiden but he didn't, in fact it was a fun part of his day. These “fights” and “disagreements” had become part of his days and going more than a day without them would feel weird.

So yes, he did annoy Aiden on purpose and while he wasn't sure of what the other thought of him, he was most likely the closest thing to a friend that Del had. It was bothering to be around the adults, with them he had to behave and act well but around Aiden, he could just be himself.

Suddenly he had to jump back to avoid getting hit by the branch that Aiden had cut off. “Oi watch it!” He sneered at the older boy.

“Alright, hurry up and get some wood Del, I wanna be done with this!”

Del smirked at the other before looking down at his hands and picking some dirt from underneath his nails, “Hm, how about no?”

He glanced over at Aiden and shrugged a little, “I ain't in a hurry, do it yourself,” he told the other and leaned against a nearby tree. “Besides, if ya wasn't such a windbag we would’ve been done already.”