#unsarable

– Arthur –

he called for you, but Arthur’s voice was muddy and distant; no matter how hard you tried, your vision couldn’t single him out from the haze

the only thing steadying you was that you was flat on your back; the rest of you seized in pain

bringing a shaking hand up to your ribs, you only found a wet, lumpy abscess; the bones normally there had shattered and mixed with your insides

your breath took on a choked rattle as someone slid through the dirt to your side---it was Arthur, though you could only make out bits and pieces of his frantic words

you’d taken up saddle with him, John and Bill as they took off to Six Point Cabin, poor Kieran in tow

when the element of surprise had been lost, unwittingly, and bullets began flying, blind rage for what the O’Driscolls had taken from you took over

you ran eagerly to the fray, and bull-rushing the offenders had taken some of them even further by surprise---a woman, of all creatures, running head first into a gunfight?

it seemed like the odds were in favour of the van der Linde’s, but someone shouting behind you captured your attention

an arm wrapped around you next, and your back was pressed against the rough hold of a goddamn O’Driscoll

you snarled and spit verbal poison, which only earned a harsh laugh as he pressed the cold barrel of a pistol into your cheek and called for the men you rode with

they were desperate, and their numbers dwindling---what better chance for redemption in Colm’s eyes, then, to take what van der Lindes they could as tribute?

but oh, woe unto the fool what thought you an easy target

you slammed your heel down onto the bridge of your captor’s boot before swinging a hard elbow into his jaw

you heard Bill, Arthur and John whoop in malicious delight, and the fight continued on

the rapid clicking of rifles being reloaded behind you was unmistakable, and you raised your weapons---

you spun, unaware of the shotgun barrel so close to your belly

you’d flown back and fell hard

everything spun, to a sickening degree---everyone around you was warped and painful to look at

you heard John yelling your name frantically and, though you tried to tell him off, to continue the fight, all that came out was a bulbous spurt of blood

there was a dull ring in your ears, but felt no one come to your side yet---good, take care of business first, but

the buckshot that tore through you grew in waves of pain

you grew acutely aware of feeling as though you were drowning, though there was no water anywhere close

“Lookit me, girl, stay with me--!”

ah, there he was; Arthur, pressing something bundled and thick into your ribs

it hurt, and you couldn’t do anything more than spit dark blood in his direction

he saw the light fading from your eyes, and you could feel his hands shaking through the wall of fabric, now soaked with your life blood

“Goddammit, Bill, why’d you have to go and surprise ‘em like ‘at---!”

you didn’t hear much of anything else

what a nice patch of grass you were lying in, and how odd a thought to come through so clear

it was