#! drabble

Would’ve was the keyword in that sentence, if Injustice wasn’t ready for just about any fight at all times. Cinder had gone up to keep the train going, Neo and Red stayed near the front with her together and Rusty and Chuck were in the back clearing out their pursuers who fired at them, Rusty was armed with his Lancaster and navys, he didn’t bring anything else and not much spare ammo, not believing he’d need it. Maybe he really was just an idiot.

“KILL THESE BASTARDS!” His right hand man screamed out, a bullet going into the horse one of the lawmen rode and knocking them both down. Afterwards, the officer was quickly trampled by one of his allies, Rusty didn’t think he was breathing anymore- at least it didn’t seem like it. Then again, he couldn’t see shit through the snowfall, it was cold. Very, very cold. The ravenette was barely able to keep his shaking hands steady due to it, but he fought against it and continued their defense of the train. It was heading towards the Grizzlys, maybe they could hide out there for a bit while they waited. He didn’t know, he never planned it out going this way. A mistake he could never make again.

A scream from the front made Rusty snap his head, unsure of whose it was. It could've been any of the 3, but he was mostly concerned about Cinder. “Son of a- keep these sonsabitches back!” Rusty shouted, not waiting for Chucks response as he began to sprint through the train cars to get to where they were. He had never moved faster, nothing could slow him down as he ran. The bullets that were shot at him seemed like nothing, he didn’t care if any of them hit him. (Which, shockingly enough- none did.) 

He jumped down from a car and stared ahead, Neo being kneeled down next to a bleeding Red behind boxes. Cinder wasn’t hurt, and that was good, but Red was- and he seemed to be hurt badly. Rusty slid down towards them, now behind cover himself he examined Reds injury. A bullet straight into the side.. “He got shot in the lung..” Neo breathed out, watching as Rusty inspected him, very clearly confused. “The air one.” He grumbled, he could practically see the lightbulb pop up above Rusty's head as he realized the severity of the wound, “Red.. yer gonna be alright, okay?” He tried desperately to not show the fact he wasn’t worried but even he could tell he was failing at that. 

Chuck had begun running up the train, having taken out the current wave of the law that was chasing them. They couldn’t stay on the train, their horses were gone so they couldn’t just outrun them, and most of them weren’t dressed ready for the cold the upcoming area would’ve brought. He climbed down the car and moved quickly towards the leader, paying no mind to the wounded Red. “We gotta-” “Get off the train.” Rusty cut him off with a nod, turning back to look at him. He wasn’t sure what they could do with Red, the guy was shot in the lung and was 200 pounds of dead weight at the moment.

As if Red could read the outlaws mind, he sighed. “Leave me.” It caught the attention of the three around him, getting their gaze on him. “I’ll.. I’ll stay on th’train, keep it going.. Get their attention off of you guys and you run…” He wheezed out, it surprised Chuck the most. A man who’d been riding with them for less than a few months, and here he was. About to sacrifice himself for a crew who he really didn’t know too well, that one action saying so much. “Are yew.. Are yew sure?” Rusty asked softly, receiving a nod as an answer while Red began to stand up. “Someone has to do it, right?” He chuckled, coughing a little after. He walked to where Cinder sat, and between mumbles- she came out in his place. Looking back as she dropped down to them, “We really doin’ this?” She asked, looking over the railing and out at the passing by land. “Yeah.. we don't have a lotta time, so we gotta do this fast.” He told the three, he certainly didn’t like the idea of jumping off of a moving train, but what other choice did they have?

They all stood there for a second, unsure of who would go first. A loud sigh being let out by Chuck, “Guess I’ll go first..” He didn’t hesitate upon saying that, running forward and putting one foot on the rail, pushing himself off and launching forward, Neo quickly following. “If your friends all jumped off a bridge..” Rusty mumbled, taking a deep breath and dashing forward, diving off of the train and crashing against the ground. He tumbled and rolled, closing his eyes until he came to a stop. 

He looked around, laying on his stomach. Since each of them had jumped off the same side they were able to see one another, each quickly got up once they had spotted one another and gathered around a small sign. Backs turned to the tracks in case the law came from there, they stayed in silence. Rusty looked down at his uncovered and cut up arms while they waited.

This gave him the opportunity to begin to think about what had caused the robbery to go that awry, it had to be an ambush.. But who would’ve caused it? That thought was immediately followed up with the thought of Darius.. And the letter he had left the morning he ditched the gang, something rather out of character for him. He had originally been a rather large part of this robbery- then the day it was meant to happen…

No.

His skittish and standoffish behavior the days they were planning.

No.

His letter, only saying “Please forgive me.”

NO.

He did this.

Darius, a man who he trusted with his life- had just set them up, tried to get them killed. And it was taking Red out as they spoke.

The Braithwaite manor was guarded, watched and the law were never too far from it. It made anyone else think it to be nothing short of insane to attempt to attack it, but Rusty and his crew weren’t anyone else, he’d been watching the manor for a good bit now and having the others go around to watch any person that left it and where they went. It was mostly useless information, but the ravenette truly believed they might need every little bit of information they could get about the bastards. Even if they were all going to die anyways. 

“Well?” Docs voice snapped Rusty out of his trance, head turning from the binoculars and looking over at the bigger male. “I think we’re just ‘bout ready to hit these sons’a bitches.” He told him with a small nod, stashing the item into his bag. “You want me to go get the other two?” Doc asked, to which he got a small grunt of confirmation. “I’ll go get up ahead, once you hear the whistle- charge. Rusty instructed, grabbing his Schofield out from his pocket and cocking the hammer. His double barrel shotgun was hung around his back with a tightened strap. Doc simply gave a nod of understanding, turning and walking away. 

Caldwell couldn’t say he wasn’t kind of excited for this, so he wasn’t going to. He was ready to hit these guys hard and without warning, maybe others would hear of the gang if they already hadn’t from their past.. adventures, he’d call them. Felt better than saying it outright somehow, maybe it was worse. Either way, he didn’t have time to think about that. He began to move quickly as the manor was in sight. He had counted 5 guards around the manor itself, 1 on the balcony, and 3 on patrol. Although he did know there’d be more to come, which he wasn’t jumping for joy about.

He had thought about keeping the attack quiet, slipping in- taking out any opposition and then vanishing into the night. But he decided going loud and leaving a lasting impression was more his and the others style. Especially since trying to sneak around had never done them any favors, well, at least it hadn’t done Rusty any. His mind pondered different things as he walked along the fence that was on the north end of the building. Only one was back there at the moment, he just wanted to get inside and take over from there. Once he was in, then he’d let it turn into a shootout.

He stopped once he found an opening, he crouched down before walking through the small entrance. The dark provided enough cover for him to be able to quickly move to a red pot of water and take cover behind it. He peeked over to see the situation ahead, the guard had left and been replaced with a man sweeping up the porch. Poor guy.. 

Rusty got away from the pot and began moving again, this time going behind a small wall to keep himself out of sight from anyone. Being closer to the lights, he did need to be more careful. Something he had also written down in his journal. He didn’t spend long there, going to the left side and going around. He put his revolver away and grabbed onto his knife, taking it out and beginning to move behind the male. He raised up his knife, ready to stab into his neck and end him, just before he heard a shout from someone else. Jackson.

“TAKE THIS YOU SONS OF BITCHES!” The moonshiner shouted out, shots following soon after. Rusty knew it was too late to keep sneaking around, he swung down and got the man in the neck. He tore the knife out and put it into its sheath, if there was no point in staying quiet, he deemed it appropriate to take a hold of his shotgun. Pulling the rope over his head and taking the barrels and grip into both hands, upon doing so he charged inside. Catching the attention of a guard he hadn’t been able to account for, he slammed down on the trigger as the shotgun was down at his side. Blowing the guard back and loading his chest full of pellets, he pulled it up and pressed the stock of the gun against his shoulder as he continued to move through. Upon seeing a figure at the front doors, he nearly immediately fired, only stopping once he recognized the voice that was speaking behind it, well. The two voices, Doc and Jackson seemed to be arguing. 

“You dumb bastard, coulda gotten one of us killed doin’ that! Why didnt you wait for the signal t’go in?!” “Because waiting for one is boring! Plus, cmon. We’re all okay!”

Rusty almost laughed as he heard the squabbling, whistling as he was going to before Jackson-.. Was being Jackson, they both stopped and stared at the door. Doc being the one to come in, the other staying out. “Well, your plan went to shi- ARGH-!” He shouted out, hand grabbing onto his shoulder. The guard from the balcony having run down the stairs and getting a shot off, Rusty pushed Doc to the side lightly and stepped forward. Aiming and firing, the others' head turning into nothing but pieces that were now splattered over the walls. He turned back to look at Doc, “Yew alright?” He asked, breaking open his firearm and ejecting the used shells. Rummaging around in his pocket for loose rounds, that of which he did find and immediately grabbed onto. “Yeah, yeah.. ‘M fine, let’s keep going.” Doc nodded, Rusty loading his shotgun and snapping it back into it’s normal state. “Alright. Let’s go.” 

Outside in the front, Alexis and Jackson were having more fun than any normal person should be having in a situation like this. The laughter echoing throughout the field and sending fear into those who attempted to harm them, drowning out any threats they could even THINK of saying.

“YOU CAN’T FUCK WITH US!” Jackson shouted out, a bullet from his revolver piercing through one of the enemies chests and sending him to the ground with a thud. Alexis stood behind him, firing at the guard who had been on patrol by the docks and was now quickly approaching. A bullet went into his leg, she watched him stagger forward and collapse. Her barrel lowered slightly, firing once more into his head. 

They had done stuff like this anyways, but now it was more for business. At least that’s what they were told, in reality it was moreso for Rustys own pleasure. He wasn’t going to let a bastard like that get away, but he was losing confidence that they’d find him, he wasn’t inside like Rusty had expected him to be.. Almost as if he had found some other way out of the manor, but he didn’t see how he could’ve possibly done that!

Rusty and Doc were clearing out the manor, Rusty taking the bottom floor and Doc taking the top. Each ran into their own problems, Doc having to deal with a guard who rushed towards him with a rifle. That ended in Doc bashing his head with the butt of the navy revolver before unloading three rounds into his back as he laid there. Rusty dealt with a lone cleaner who tried to get the jump on him with a knife- nearly succeeding too, if his footsteps hadn’t been so loud. Rusty spun around and pulled the trigger, launching him back against the wall and covering it in blood.

“DAMNIT!” Alexis shouted, bursting through the front door. “Lawmen! And they’re comin’ in fast!” She told him, he knew this would happen. He had just hoped it wouldn't be so soon. “GET OFFA ME!” Jackson yelled from outside, a gunshot following it. It had been Doc shooting the officers throat who was grabbing onto Jackson. A thumbs up being given to Jackson from the enforcer, Rusty moved outside and wrapped the shotgun around him using the rope once more. He took his revolver out of his holster and aimed at one of the many lawmen in the distance. Taking a shot he missed, which was expected from this range. He got down behind the small wall, “Did y’find that Braithwate?!” Alexis yelled over the gunfire, only receiving a shake of the head. She scoffed before propping the barrel of the rifle against her cover and firing. Cheering upon hitting one directly between the eyes, they had already planned for Doc to steal a nearby wagon to ride around and get them the hell out of there, which is what he was doing right then.

He couldn’t lie, his shoulder hurt real bad from that bullet. But he knew he had to keep moving, if he just stopped now the others would be stuck under fire from the law. A grin spread across his face when the wagon got into his line of sight, he ran faster. Almost leaping onto it to begin moving, he climbed up and grabbed a hold of the reins with one hand, the other still tightly gripping his revolver. Doc raised up the hand that held the reins and snapped down,the horses immediately beginning to move when he did that, he directed it back around to begin heading to the manor.

None of them had expected the sun to begin rising so fast, Rusty had lost track of the time and started their attack just before it began to do so. Didn’t bother him much though, there were more important things to worry about. Like the fact they had retreated back inside the manor, Jackson covered the front entrance with his shotgun. A few had managed to slip through but he was backed up by Alexis with her revolver. Rusty covered the back entrance and some of the windows on the east side.

“WHERE THE HELL IS DOC?!” Rusty roared, sending a lawmen to hell with a shotgun blast that tore through his abdomen and spilled his guts out onto the floor of the building. Rusty stepped back, not wanting to get his nice dress shoes all dirty. They were expensive after all! “JUST GIVE HIM SOME TIME, RUST!” Jackson responded, backing up and stomping his foot down to signal Alexis to cover the front as he reloaded his gun. 

Rusty was never.. What were they called? Opti-whatever the fuck. So his confidence in Doc was dwindling with every second that passed without a ride out, they were trapped right now. And while they had managed to fight them off long enough to get a breather now and then, it never lasted long. The wagon might've been lost, Doc might have just gotten killed, he might've just-

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sounds of something pulling up out front, along with a shout of “GET THE HELL OUT HERE!” from Doc, Jackson was the first to run out. Being followed by Alexis, Rusty had a smile spread ear to ear knowing nothing had gone wrong. He began to move out before turning his head slightly and staring at the carnage they had left inside, each corpse spread out across. The sun shined brightly through the swung open doors, he turned back and sprinted out. Lunging onto the side of the wagon and hitting Docs leg lightly with the barrel of his shotgun. “GO GO GO!”

With that, Doc snapped the reins once more and the horses sped off. They weren't out of the woods yet, that was obvious enough. But they were close, the only thing on Rustys mind at the moment however was the fact that they had not found Bartholomew, but he would try to figure that out later. It was his own fault for not being thorough enough to know that.

"Cmon, let's go!" Jackson looked over with a grin spread across his face, although it didn't seem to be there out of joy. Almost there as if he was plotting something mischievous, then again, Jackson always looked like that. Full offense should've been taken to that. "Yeah.. yeah, let's go." The leader nodded with a deep sigh, slowly knocking on the door and standing there for a moment. Looking over at Jackson who stood there with his hands behind his back, oddly formal for a man like him.

"Who's there?" A rather deep and gruff voice spoke, Rusty flinching a little at hearing it. He had not expected the man to sound like.. that, "Are yew uh- are yew Mr. Samuel?" Rusty asked, honestly kind of wishing he had brought Doc or someone else to watch his back. "Maybe so, whos asking?" The two members of Injustice could hear the click of a hammer from a revolver behind the door, Rusty instinctively reaching over to grab onto Jackson's who was (unsurprisingly) reaching for his own navy. "We're frien'ly, y'ever hear of a gang called Injustice?"

Everything went quiet, and the rattling and clinking of locks cut through the silence. The door creaked open slightly, leaving only a crack to see into the darkness. "Injustice? Yeah, maybe I have." He said, a pair of eyes being visible through the crack now- he stared them up and down before the door opened fully and he stood upright.

What Rusty had expected was a roughened up male, guns on him, maybe scarred, most definitely a beard- what he got was far better. (Or worse, depending on how the next few minutes were gonna go for them.) The man was taller than both Jackson and Rusty, and nearly touched the ceiling with his head, scars went down from his hairline to the left all the way diagonally to the right side, stopping at his chin. Rusty nor Jackson wanted to ask or even imagine what the hell had happened for the man to gain the scar, "Names." Was all he said, Jackson about to speak but stopping himself as Rusty began. "This one's Jackson, please excuse him for being stupid- his momma dropped him on his head."

"Hey!" Jackson looked over, shrugging and staring at Rusty in a look that basically just asked, "why, man?" It got a chuckle out of him, but not out of the mercenary. "Names." He repeated, guess he wanted to know Rustys too. "Mah names Rusty, most folk call me Rust, or a murderer." He said, holding out his hand for him to shake it. It was ignored and the man turned around, walking further into his home. "Inside."