RDR2: Faithless

6: The New South

"I've never met a Van der Linde in my life," I replied quickly, glancing at John who was in a similar predicament.

"Oh, indeed," a man laughed, but we still hadn't seen who our kidnapper was, "Take them to that horrid bar that Van der Linde is in. I believe it's time to become acquainted."

"Well, this is a nice surprise," I commented to John as we were pushed in the direction we came from.

"We're being marched to our likely deaths," he growled back, his voice disbelieving.

"I was being sarcastic," I sighed, before groaning in pain as I was kicked to my knees.

"Van der Linde! Get out here!" the man who spoke to us roared as we arrived at the bar.

I caught sight of Arthur looking out the window, his eyes widening ever so slightly when he caught sight of me. He turned his head, likely to say something to Dutch, before ducking out of view again. I struggled slightly against the man holding me but he just jabbed the gun against my head again, causing me to hiss in pain.

"You don't know me, but you keep robbing me," the man continued "My name is Leviticus Cornwall. I am not a man to be messed with by the likes of you."

I knew Arthur and Dutch were working on a plan, they'd get us out. But if they didn't, a bullet to the head was a fairly quick way to go.

"Get out here, before I have these folk killed," Cornwall yelled.

Suddenly, the door was flung open. Arthur and Dutch stepped out, their arms raised slightly as Cornwall rode off, leaving his men to deal with us. Dutch began speaking, but my eyes were trained on Arthur. I gave him a slight nod as he looked at me, I saw his hand move towards his holster -

He drew his gun swiftly and shot two of them in a row. John and I broke away while Dutch and Arthur headed for cover. Hosea had been right, Cornwall wasn't a man to mess with. Not only had we robbed his train, but I'd stolen his oil. No wonder he had sought us out!

"More coming in!" John yelled as we dealt with the men who had surrounded us, giving us a chance to breathe.

We got rid of the brunt of them, including the lawmen who got involved, and ran to better cover.

"The horses are this way!" I yelled, leading them forward.

But I quickly fell to the ground, holding my shoulder as I hissed in agony.

"Ann is down!" John yelled, grabbing my arm and pushing me out of harm's way.

The boys kept shooting our way through Valentine. Dutch and John shoved me in a wagon and used it for cover, with Arthur shooting at the folks who kept popping up. I locked eyes with Dutch, he was looking at me with worry but calmed as I offered him a smile. It hurt like hell but I wasn't going to die.

We made it to the horses, John leading me and Dutch and Arthur covering us. We leapt on the horses, leaving the pile of dead bodies in Valentine behind us. It was a mess.

"Make sure nobody is following us, we'll get the others to pack up," Dutch told Arthur, riding off.

We arrived back at camp, Hosea was furious the moment he saw me. I was rushed into my tent, Hosea had no mercy as he fished around my shoulder for the offending bullet, wrapping my wound as tightly as he felt was necessary.

John gave me a pitying look as he watched, Dutch had left to tell everyone to get packed up.

"How long did it take you to get in this mess, Ann?" Hosea said angrily as he wrapped the bandage around my shoulder, "You barely even left for Valentine and now you're back!"