I try to kill Alexandra.

You move as fast as you can, but Alexandra’s distrust of you has exploded over the last few seconds, so when you drive for your sidearm, she already has her fingers around hers. She takes shots at you but doesn’t bother to aim. It’s about escaping right now.

Glass takes guides her horse away and dismounts somewhere. Once covered, she fires off a flare skyward, probably a form of communication with the rest of her caravan. If the shots weren’t enough for Amara’s attention, that flare probably did it.

You poke your head out, worried you might lose it when you see Alexandra sprinting down the road. You try to shoot, but she’s well out of range with your pistol. You curse and call out for Glass. “You going to terminate me?”

“Depends,” she calls back. “You going to get me killed?”

“Not part of the plan,” you say, breaking cover.

“Where are you going?” She breaks for you next, tossing the flare gun aside. “Then I should follow you around, right?”

You stop in the mud, almost slipping. “NO! Stay here and wait for me, please. I’ll explain all of this once we’re out.”

Glass pauses, trying to decide if you’re worth the trouble on her own. “You got 5 minutes. If you’re not back by then, I’m leaving, got that?”

There was no time for bartending. If you were too late, then you were too late. You couldn’t risk anything terrible happening to Flora now. So you sprint, figuring you could catch up with Alexandra since she still walks limply. Her head starts, however, were almost too much for you to overcome.

Your lungs started to burn, and your legs began to protest as they kept you moving forward and from slipping. You saw Alexandra halfway up the hill and cursed. There was no way you were going to make up there in time.

There’s a firefight waiting for you and possibly something worse. At the front door, you see stars in your vision. You try the handle, but it’s locked.

“Fuck,” you murmur, patting your pockets for the keys. You feel the metal build and pull at it, but before inserting it, you’re peppered by automatic gunfire through the door. Something tugs at you from behind, and you feel oddly safe for someone who is now hopelessly outgunned. You return fire, but it’s all blind, and you’re unsure if you hit anyone.

You advance slowly after reloading and unlocking the door. The house is dark and seemingly empty. You consider calling out Flora but bite your tongue. So, you poke around the corners, searching for Amara or Alexandra. By some kind of miracle, you get the stairs without getting killed. Still, your descending is loud enough that you know whoever is downstairs waiting for you know you’re getting closer. As you suspected, a figure at the bottom of the stairs wings off a shot at you. You don’t know where that bullet goes, but when you return fire, you hear a yelp and something heavy hitting the floor.

You practically jump down the rest of the journey and kick away from the gun used to fire at you. The figure on the floor is Alexandra. You thought she would curse or yell at you, but she instead started to laugh. “Fuck, this is ironic, right? Maybe I do suck at making friends? Two of them have shot me now.”

“I’m not your fucking friend,” you poke around. “Where are the others?”

“Gone,” she says. “Took off through the back when you were shooting through the door.”

“Fuck,” you take her rifle and search her for ammo. “Where are they going?”

“I can’t–” she wavers, her eyes are lazy. “I can’t remember. I was supposed to kill you, so I wasn’t listening to where Amara would take your girlfriend.”

Her hands are hovering above her stomach where she’s bleeding. You almost feel bad but can’t find it in your heart to pity. “I should have let Scarlet kill you. She wouldn’t have done any of this.”

“You’re probably right,” she moans. “But you better get going before I catch my second wind and kick your ass.”

With Alexandra signing her contract out of life, you run back up the stairs and remove the back door. But there’s another hiccup, Amara is outside waiting for you, armed and aiming. There’s no catchy comeback or snarky comment, she shoots once, and you know immediately that you’re hit. You fall, gasping, feeling your body in shock as pain overtakes your nerves.

You crumple up on the ground, crawling for concealment, but Amara is spitting out the the spent brass. You can’t help but find it ironic that the rifle she’s used against you was a basic hunting rifle– out of all the weapons she had at her disposal, she decided to use that one….

She kicks you over and smacks her lips. “Alex?”

“Dead,” you moan, “Probably soon, if not already.”

She shoulders the rifle and points the dead end of the gun at you. “I’ve never been one for conversations, Warren, but-”

“I have a question,” you start to feel cold. “I just have one question right now.”

“She’s fine,” she says. “She doesn’t know it was you. I told her to run out when I saw Alexandra return alone.”

“Oh,” you exhale. “What are you going to do with her?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because I need…I want her to be happy. You can’t promise me that, right?”

“Sell her off to her parents,” Amara says. “She’s rich, and I want to see how much they’re willing to pay for their daughter.”

You nod and close your eyes. “That’s fucked up. You should just give her back. She misses her folks.”

“I frankly couldn’t give a damn. What else you got in that head of yours?”

“Oh, now you want me to ask questions, huh?” You can’t think there are a million questions you had for Amara, and now you can’t voice them.

“I won’t let you suffer,” you shoulder the rifle and aims. “It’s been fun.”

The follow-up snapshot is distant. You hear it, though, and you’re still breathing? Amara falls next to you, as lifeless as you suspect Alexandra in the basement. You take a deep breath in and start panting. “Glass?”

“Warren?” It’s Flora. Her voice makes you cringe. She runs over and drops her gun. It was yours that she must’ve grabbed when she told me to run. “Oh, God is that– is all that your blood?”

She drops to her knees and places her hands on your gun wound. You close your eyes and lean back. I can help you. Let me grab a medical kit-”

“Stop. Flora. Stop, please. You need to get to town quick,” you swallow and shiver. You desperately try to hide the hemorrhaging you’re starting to suffer from. “Find the Benjiman Group and talk to Glass.”

“Wh-what about you? Let me just stop the bleeding–”

“Flora, please just listen to me. Listen.”

Flora’s eyes start flooding. She sucks in on her mouth and studies you. “I’m listening.”

“Go into town. Find the caravan group and speak to Glass. She has red hair. You can’t miss her. But you have to go quick, or you’ll get stuck here, OK?”

Go to town. Find the caravan and then talk to Glass,” Flora nods, but she’s far more concerned about you than herself. “And how about you? Can you if I get you up?”

She tries standing you up, but you push her back. “You’re going to fucking kill me if you do that, Flora. You need to get going; you’re running out of time.”

“I can’t leave you,” Flora bursts. “I shouldn’t have fucking listened to them! I left. I should have stayed and waited to see what was happening! Fuck! I’m so sorry, Warren. I’m so sorry!”

“I won’t hold it against you,” you push her back harder and shout. “Go now! Right now!”

She crawls towards you and wraps herself around you. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!! I’m so sorry!!!”

By now, you’re too weak to move. Blinking takes effort, and half the struggle is towards breathing. I’m sorry it had to end this way.

When Flora pulls back, she’s messy with sadness. Her eyes are red and puffy. Her nose is pink and running. She presses her lips against yours, and all you can think about is how hot she feels against you. You long for her warmth and almost cry when you push her away from you. “You must get going, or this’ll all be for nothing.”

She presses her mouth with her hands and nods frantically, then bursts again. “I love you.”

“I won’t forget you,” you blink, unsure why you said it. “I’ll wait for you.”

She blinks. “I’ll look for you,” Flora reaches for your handgun and looks at you again. “I’ll never forget you, Warren.”

You smile, feeling numb as your organs start shutting down. “Get out of here, hutch rabbit.”

Flora turns away and starts for the town with Tiny’s Tavern. The place that started this nightmare and dreams alike. You look up at the sky and see it’s started to snow again. The sound of the world around you is peaceful, but chaos surrounds you. Your body is torn, and the ground beneath you has your gore. You let it happen, then. You leave your body has a husk of everything you once were.