"Help! Help!" Grace began screaming as the train drew closer. The roar of the train and rumbling of the rail road made her want to rip her ears off. She stared at the train, wiggling around to attempt to grab more attention. Panic began to pulse through her.
"Help! Stop! Help!" Grace continued, screaming louder. Grace wiggled more, wildly attempting to gain the train conductors attention. Immediately as the train continued to rush along, Grace's fingers fiddled for the rope. Her fingers clamped around a strand that hung out from the knot. Micah had done the emergency knot where if you pulled it, the rope would come undone. Just as she was about to pull the rope, she heard a faint cuss but loud enough for her to hear. The train's breaks began to slam, embers flying up. Grace squeezed her eyes shut tight, praying that if she gets hit it won't be painful and her death will be quick. The rumbling of the tracks stopped, signalling the train's halt. Grace opened her eyes, looking up to see the train had stopped not too close but enough that was disturbing. She noticed the train conductor's head peek around from inside the driver's engine.
"Oh shit! I ain't dreamin'!" He began before jumping down from out of the train. Grace began to cry hysterically, putting on a character. "Miss, what happened? How... are you okay?" He asked as he began to approach her carefully, her crying making him worried.
"They...they killed my family. We was camping and they..." Grace trailed off before bursting into a fit of tears again. The man gave her a sympathetic look before his body fell limply to the ground. Grace looked up to see Charles standing where the train conductor was, his shotgun being his stun weapon. "You're getting good at that," Grace joked as she felt his blade cut through the rope around her wrists before he moved to her ankles.
"And you're still cracking jokes," Charles' voice was muffled from his bandana. He stretched a hand down for her to take, Grace's gloved hand reached up and took it, pulling her to her feet. She reached for the bandana around her neck and tugged it up to sit on the bridge of her nose. "Come on, John and Micah are waiting by the train," Charles waved for her to follow. Grace and Charles jogged over to John and Micah who were waiting beside the steps up to the train cart.
"If I've got this right, this should be just folk on the train, no luggage cart. This train is just one to take 'em to Annesburg, the one at Annesburg is the bigger one," Micah explained.
"Why would we hit this one then?"John questioned, frowning. Micah turned to him, unholstering one of his unique revolvers. His guns always fascinated her with the black steel and red grip.
"Because they'll have their luggage with them, meaning we won't have to split from each other-"
"Hey, what's taking so long?" A voice was heard from by the steps. The four of them immediately jumped into the shadow of the train, sticking close to the cold metal. Grace heard steps shuffle down the steps, revealing a man in a blue suit, one from saint denis. His black hate screamed lawman, Charles realising what this meant and without a second thought he threw a knife into the back of his head, the man falling limp.
"It's fucking guarded!?" Grace spat, immediately turning to Micah as Charles removed the knife from the guard's head. "Did you know?"
"Of course not! Shit," Micah muttered, rubbing a hand under his bandana to scratch his chin. "Alright," Micah began, a plan springing into mind. He held a finger up as he spoke."We take them out, silently."
"Well if that's the case, you stay here and stay alert," Charles spat at him. Grace and John snickered as Micah rolled his eyes, moving to the steps and sitting on them.
"Fine. You lot go clear off the guards then," Micah hissed. The three of them drew out their knives, Charles still armed with his throwing knives and one arrow in his other hand. Charles moved to the front of the group, signalling John and Grace with a flick of his hand to follow. The three of them crouched as they ran silently alongside the train, keeping out of view of the windows. The group stopped as Charles peeked around the corner of the train cart before quickly ducking back into cover, turning to the others.
"Once they're down, you two go ahead," Charles whispered. Grace and John both nodded in unison, Charles removing his bandana from his face. He took a deep breath before standing up, moving his arrow behind his back as he walked out into view. "Hey," Charles announced his arrival casually. After that followed groans and thuds of bodies falling. Grace peeked around to see an arrow plunged into one guards throat and a throwing knife in one's chest. He quickly waved them to go ahead before pulling his bandana back up. Grace and John ran ahead to the next train cart, running alongside it before coming to another space. Grace peeked around to see one guard.
"You take the last cart, there'll be one guard," Grace informed. John nodded, sneaking ahead of her. Grace was glad he did that as it caught the guard's attention.
"Hey! Who's that?" He called out to John. Grace stayed quiet as the guard jumped down from the train cart, not taking the steps. He looked down the next cart to see John scurrying ahead to the next guard. Before the guard could say anything else, Grace leapt onto his back, bringing her knife in front of him and slitting his throat. She felt his warm blood envelope her hand before pushing his body to the ground, covering his mouth to silence the gurgling escaping his lips. She tucked her knife away as she moved away from the body, looking down the train cart to see John running back to her, wiping his bloody knife on his pants. He nodded to Grace, informing her the guard was down. Grace didn't want to kill anyone on this robbery but the guards had to go, there was no other way to get rid of them. Grace and John ran back to Charles who joined them, returning to Micah who was spinning his revolver on his finger.
"Alright, let's get this party started," Micah growled which followed a laugh. Grace didn't respond as she drew her revolver, holding it ready to threaten the people. Before Micah opened the door, he turned to Charles and John. "Why you two still here? Go rob the other cart," he hissed. Charles and John both glared at Micah.
"Who died to make you king?" John hissed before Charles and John jumped off the train and hurried away.
"He's got an attitude," Micah muttered before pushing open the cart door. Micah held his revolver in the air before shooting a random passanger in the chest.
"What the fuck!" Grace hissed at him as she fired her's into the air. Micah turned to her as the screaming began, shrugging.
"Someone had to die for them to know what'll happen," Micah spat. Grace shook her head in disgust, ready to cap a bullet into the back of his skull then and there. "This is a robbery! Cooperate and live, don't and die like this volunteer," Micah roared before searching the dead man's pockets. Grace walked ahead of Micah, furious from his actions. She walked over to the next passengers who were behind the dead man, blood covered them. They were both weeping in fear and horror at what had just happened. For the first time, Grace felt something. Regret.
"Come on, give everything you've got," Grace sighed. She tried to be more threatening but she couldn't, she was horrified at what Micah had done. Without hesitation they threw all their belongings they had on them, including money.
"Take it! Leave us alone you monsters!" The female cried. Grace guessed the man who sat beside her was her husband as she spotted a ring on her hand while her husband hugged her. Grace shoved all the collected item into her coat pocket. She moved onto the people a few seats down, across from where the murder had occurred. Grace's heart dropped when she saw a mother and a child, the child looked to be five.
"Please... don't kill me or my daughter," the mother pleaded. Grace looked over at the daughter who's eyes sparkled but not with delight. They were sparkling with tears, her cheeks stained.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Grace muttered, extended her hand out for them to load her hand with treasures. The mother didn't hesitate, quickly putting everything in her hand. The mother reached over to her daughter's hair, reaching for an expensive clip lined with jewels. "No, keep that. Just... hide it from him," Grace lowered her voice. The mother looked back at Grace, her eyes wide with shock. She quickly looked over at Micah as the mother tucked the clip under her daughters hair. Before the Mother could thank her Grace moved on to the next person.
"I ain't giving you nothing! I need it!" The man exclaimed as he saw Grace approaching. Grace stood there for a few moments, not knowing what to do or say. She knew Micah would have heard the man with how loud he was so she knew she couldn't just tell him to keep it. She pointed her revolver at him, warning him.
"Don't do this," she warned in a whisper. He shook his head at her, still refusing.
"You don't understand!" He continued, his face growing red in frustration. Grace looked over to Micah who was now looking over at them. He nodded at Grace, telling her to go ahead and handle the situation. Grace however didn't want to hurt him. She felt... bad.
"Look, just hand it over. I don't want to hurt you," She warned again. He shook his head, refusing again. With every bit of regret that pulsed through her body, she grabbed her revolver by the barrel and slammed the grip against his head, her strong impact knocking him unconscious. Gasps of horror escaped the lips of passengers. She reached over into his pockets, only grabbing some cash from him and leaving the rest of his things with him. She didn't want to rob him, not after he pleaded to her. He hardly had anything on him which meant this stuff was really needed for him. Grace stood up, looking over at Micah. "That's everyone."
"Alright. Nice doing business with you folks," Micah snickered as the two of them walked back to the door they came in through. Micah walked ahead of her, Grace closing the door behind them. The two of them jumped off the train to see John and Charles leaving the last cart. Grace pulled her bandana down, pushing Micah with her hands. Micah stumbled back.
"Why the hell did you kill that person? He was no threat!" Grace yelled at him. Her yell caught the attention of Charles and John, causing them to run over. "You're sick!"
"They had to understand the message!" Micah argued back. Grace shook her head in disgust before pointing back to the train cart they robbed.
"They already understood as soon as we stepped foot in. They were scared you son of a bitch," Grace hissed. John and Charles were both frowning in confusion.
"What happened?" Charles asked, looking straight at Micah knowing he had done something.
"He killed a man for no reason," Grace spat the words out like venom. Charles and John immediately looked over at Micah in shock.
"We'll finish this discussion later, right now we need to leave," Micah hissed before marching off. John, Charles and Grace hung back, Grace had anger pulsing through her.
"He ain't right in the head," John muttered as he pulled down his bandana. Charles pulled down his as well. "You okay?" John asked her. Grace shook her head.
"No," she answered before walking ahead. John and Charles hung back before following, shocked by the situation. Grace knew John and Charles would take care of the train. By the time she reached the horses, Micah was already gone.