•Tombstone• Brothers Under The Sun

Chapter 49

𝓐𝓷 𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓶𝔂, 𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓮.

Night rolled in as the robbers piled into the caboose that held Doc, Elle and thirteen other passengers. Elle watched carefully as the robbers looked around at their hostages. Their guns held high on their bodies as they scared the fellow passengers.

Elle looked to Doc who also watched them carefully. His pistol was close to his hand, still in its holster. Elle glanced down to her belt and saw her gun was missing.

She lost it in the valley while being chased by the cowboys. She was unarmed.

Swallowing her anxiety she watched as what looked like the head of the group of robbers joined them. He pulled his banana off his face and looked around the caboose.

Elle put her head down as he looked her away, avoiding the gaze of an all too familiar face.

"What is it?" Doc whispered to her.

Elle looked up, her hat covering her face, she watched as the man turned to another man and yelled for him to start looting the passengers.

"That man, with the scar on his face." Doc looked up and spotted the man his wife was talking about. "When I first met Virgil I shot him over a card game."

"What?" Doc questioned.

"Hey!" One of the robbers yelled towards the two, causing them to shut their mouths and look up. "You two!" He pointed his gun at them.

The leader looked towards the yelling as his henchmen walked towards Elle and grabbed her by the arm, pulled her away from Doc. Doc reached for her but caught a slap in the face by the robber.

Elle was pushed out into the isle of the train and fell to her knees. The leader walked towards her as she lifted her head up to the man.

"Well, who do we have here." He smirked. "Ellanora Raycroft. What a lovely surprise."

"Peter." She growled under her breath.

"Funny running into you darlin." He moved around her like a hawk stalking it's prey. "Last time you shot me."

"And I'd do it again."

Peter laughed and looked around at his fellow robbers, they all joined in the laughing feast too. Elle looked over at Doc Holliday whose cheek was red from the slap. His eyes were locked onto Peter as he laughed at his lover on the ground.

"I don't know if you've notice darling but," he got down, kneeling to Elle, "you're outnumbered."

He stood up and looked around the caboose. "Boys!" His voice boomed. "Last time I met Miss Raycroft, she shot me because she cheated at the table. I had spent weeks in jail because of your friend Virgil Earp." Peter turned back to her, "He should have locked you up, not me."

"You're still hung up over a stupid game?" Elle chuckled.

The passengers around her seemed to have a change in emotion. They were frightened before, but now they were terrified. Ellanora's attitude towards Peter seemed to make the people around her worry for their lives.

Peter chuckled again, kneeled down to her and lifted up her face to his. I always win a game, you stole money from me. I want it back."

Elle spit in his face. Peter growled and hit her across the face with his pistol. He grabbed her throat and brought her to her feet, she clawed at his hands that grasped tightly on her airway. "You're bounty alone is worth more then this train." He growled to her.

Doc Holliday took this moment to pull out his pistol and shoot the man next to him. He groaned as the bullet hit his neck, blood flying everywhere. Peter dropped Elle as the man fell to the ground, his pistol sliding on the ground next to Ellanora.

Doc shot the next man who drew his gun on him, and kicked him out of the way. People screamed and cried around him as blood painted the caboose.

Elle picked up the pistol that lay next to her. Peter drew his gun and pointed it to her, causing Elle to point her's at him. Both fired the same time. One bullet hit the middle of his head, the other grazed the women's shoulder, just cutting her skin open.

Ellanora scrambled to her feet and held her shoulder and blood just started to seep through the fabric of her coat. She turned to Doc who breathe in a sigh of relief. Yelling came from the front of the caboose as more robbers from the caboose ahead realized what was going on.

"Come on!" Doc said grabbing her hand and pulling Elle to the back of the train.

The two, hand in hand, ran from on coming shots as they burst through the next caboose. People were already hiding in their seats as Elle and Doc shot back and killed a few men. They ran through the next caboose as Elle remembered the lawmen on caboose number six.

They were in the middle of caboose five.

Elle pulled Doc down for cover behind a table that was flipped over. "We can't go to the next caboose." She said as she fired her gun over the top of the table.

"Why not?" Doc asked as he shot back.

"There are lawmen on the next caboose." Elle looked at him for a moment.

Gun fire started from behind them as Elle and Doc saw one lawmen come forward. His gaze landed on the pair and realized who they were. Elle fired the men in front of them as the men behind her started to team up and slowly make their way to Ellanora and Doc.

Looking around the caboose, Elle needed to find a way out now. The train was going too fast for them to just jump out an open window. Looking up, she saw a hatch to the top of the caboose. She nudged Doc as he fired his guns to the robbers.

"The hatch! We can take the top of the train out of here!" She yelled over the gun fire.

A bullet hit next to Elle's face that came from the lawmen behind them. Elle pushed a table over with her legs to shield their backs.

"I'll cover you!" Doc said.

Doc Holliday stood up from his hiding place, both arms extended to both side of the caboose. Elle climbed on the table at pushed opened the hatch. A bullet grazed her leg causing a yell in pain to escape her lips.

She used every bit of strength she had to push the hatch up and pull herself up with her two arms. Laying on top of the train, the wind slapped her face as the train, shot down the tracks like a bullet. Elle looked down into the caboose and saw Doc still shooting the men behind and in front of him.

"Doc!" She yelled, her hand extended down to him.

He grabbed Elle's hand as bullets flew past him. Ellanora pulled Doc up with two arms and used everything she could to pull him up to safety. Doc stumbled on top of her when she pulled him up. Elle looked up at Doc who was half on top of her and smiled meekly. The two scrambled to their feet and reached for the hatch to close.

Elle looked down and saw a robber right there, his hand reaching up to stop it. Elle started to close it but his hand stopped it. The man groaned as the metal door hit his hand. Ellanora, she then swung her legs over to the hatch and kicked the robber in the face. He fell back into the train as Elle slammed the door shut.

"Elle, look!" Doc pointed to the front of the train.

Up on the horizon, was a bridge, its old wood barely still holding up after the many years of train service.