“My, my, Mister- No- no time for that, get off me!” Kate yelled in a completely new tone and pushed Will to the side trying to scramble from under him while he did his best to roll off without getting kicked. He got off and spun, dropping back to a knee, and grabbed his cavalry carbine, making sure he had a round in the chamber.

“You can stay here if ya want…” Kate said and ran to her bakarna but rather than jumping on it, she slapped its rear and sent it running with Void following suit without hesitating, abandoning Will in the process, “But I’m not dying today.”

Kate turned and smashed the window of the house, using her revolver to clear the glass then stomped on a rudimentary lock on a wooden panel set into the foundation of the house. It took her three tries to break it open, having ripped the nails out of the boards instead of breaking the lock. Without waiting another second she dropped down and scurried under the house.

Will looked at the couple that had been hiding behind the water trough, they were dead. So he did what he could, he grabbed his other rifle, slung it across his back, and squeezed his way into the crawlspace under the house. Shimmying around to close it behind him.

He turned and through the gaps in the floorboards above and a few cracks in the foundation he could see Kate. She pressed her finger to her lips and pointed with her finger in an arc. Will had no idea what she was pointing at until he saw a shadow cross one of the cracks as she pointed at it. Then another, then a third. She was tracing the route of someone running around the outside of the house.

Will slowly pulled out his revolver but she stopped moving her hand before the person got the crawlspace access.

“Damn, they’re inside! Broke the damn winder!”

She began moving her hand again more rapidly and Will could hear the man as he kicked the walls while climbing through the window. A moment later and the door flew open with a bang. Will carefully removed his rifle and rolled onto his back, ready to throw his hammer back and fire. He looked up towards Kate and saw she was laying on her back as well, a revolver in each hand.

“Thought you said theys was in here!”

“They were! Saw two fuckin horse chompers running off but they din’t have no riders.”

Will took the chance to ready his weapon during the shouting.

“You stupid fuck! Theys were probably hanging off the other side of the damn saddle! Come on!”

The floorboards shook when they ran out of the building, slamming the door behind them and Will started to move but froze. He’d glanced up to Kate and saw her in the dark shaking her head rapidly and holding out a hand to stop him. She pointed repeatedly at the hatch. He didn’t understand but shifted so he could cover it, that’s when he noticed the dust falling from the floorboards above.

Only one left…

He drew his other revolver and sat it next to and took a prone position with his sights on the hat-

*Bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang*

Will started to look towards Kate but saw a light and his head spun back to the hatch in time to see a hand with a revolver pointing in. It was pointing randomly and it was nowhere near the mark. Still, he activated [Quick Shot] while focusing on the back of the man’s hand..

*BOOM*

His ears rang from the 0.5 round going off and he heard a cascade of gunfire behind him and the tight crawlspace quickly started smelling like spent gunpowder from his and Kate’s salvo.

He wasn’t sure if she got her-

Thump

She got him, or at least dropped him, as for the other outlaw, Will wasn’t completely sure of his status other than he was screaming and he didn’t have a whole hand anymore. Will quickly crawled over to the hatch and looked outside to see the other outlaw desperately trying to wrap his hand in a handkerchief. Will lined up the shot and put him out of his misery. He immediately popped open the drum and reloaded it before looking back to see Kate already crawling his way.

“Go, if they see either of them, they’ll be comin’. They’ll probably just set the place on fire and wait outside… go!” She actually yelled but with the random screams and gunshots coming from around the town it wasn’t likely that anyone heard. Will grabbed the strap to his rifle and carbine and pied the entrance the best he could before crawling out and swinging his sidearm back and forth. There was no one there. He got out and Kate quickly followed. She grabbed for his carbine, but he resisted.

“Can you shoot two long guns at the same time? Or not?” She asked. Will saw her point and let go but right as the transaction was taking place a man came around the corner with weapons drawn. They both moved to point at the outlaw but Kate fired first… And oh did she fire.

She hadn’t pointed with her revolver or the carbine, she pointed with her finger and a torrent of fire erupted from the end of it, shooting out like a primitive version of a plasma thrower… well that would just be a flame thrower. Which is accurate.

The man screamed and dropped to the ground writhing in pain while the ammo on his belt and bandolier cooked off.

“What was…” Will looked at Kate.

“[Sorceress]. You don’t need to know my exact class,” She explained and began to run towards the back of the building.

“You know mine,” Will protested.

“Then gain some levels and [Identify] me, Mister Tempest,” She took a moment to look back at him with a toothy grin and then made her way around the back of the house, headed deeper into town. Will glanced the other direction and quickly confirmed Kate’s judgment. The town was surrounded by open land with no cover. Dusty fields and pastures. There was no way they could make that on foot without someone drawing a bead on them.

Will ran after her with his fifty ready to go and his hand on his other revolver with the rifle across his back. He didn’t know if he’d be able to really shoot with a weapon in each hand because he was never trained to. That was stuff from movies. Still, if he needed to throw lead down range to get into cover, then he had that option. It wasn’t like he had a fully automatic weapon to lay down cover fire with, though by the sound of it, the enemy might have something of that sort.

“Where are we going?” He asked Kate after she pressed herself against a wall and checked around a corner.

“The riverboat dock, she answered and sprinted across the street. Will checked the corner briefly and pointed his weapon towards the direction of most of the gunfire while he crossed.

“What? We get there and hop on the boat?” He asked when he caught up.

“If it’s there, doubt they’ll swim to get around behind us and if it’s in the river we swim. You can swim can’t you, Mister Tempest?” Kate asked.

“Yeah, I can swim. Thought I told you to call me William? What if it isn’t there?”

“Find us a nice brick warehouse to take cover behind and put the river at our back. We get swamped, we dive in,” She said quickly and sprinted across the other street. That time Will noticed she had the carbine sitting in the nook of her elbow pointing one direction but she had her index finger of her left hand pointed the other. No doubt to launch some sort of magical attack if she needed to…

“Not bad…” and he approved of the plan. The most fortified place they could find to dig in with one of their flanks protected? He could deal with that. He ran after her doing his best to cover himself and after he could see the water. He caught up to her at the next corner where they began to repeat the process. Only two more blocks to go.

But just before she could sprint Will spotted a glint on the top of a building and grabbed her by the back of the shirt yanking her back. The brick corner of the house exploded and Kate cried out as they both came to a stop on their backs. He didn’t waste time though and grabbed her by the collar and used his legs to kick off, sliding them further from the sights of the sniper.

“Gods damn them!” Kate yelled out with tears in her eyes as she rolled to the side, her hand on her shoulder. Will could see blood and pushed her onto her back and tore open her sleeve at the entry wound. She had a three inch long gash across the top of her bicep running diagonally from the trajectory of the bullet but he sighed in relief. “What do you look so damn happy for?”

“It missed the arteries and the bone… I’d say that’s something to smile about,” Will admitted. She would still need medical attention but considering the alternatives of dying of blood loss or being disabled, it was worth celebrating. Plus if he hadn’t pulled her back it would have been a shot at center mass.

“Well, got any ideas how to get around him? He knows we’re here now,” Kate asked.

Will looked around the area and paled as an idea came to him.

“Might have one idea.”

It took him a moment to get the corpse up against the wall. He had no idea if it was an outlaw or townsfolk but at least the lack of a badge told him it wasn’t a lawman. In any case, the poor soul would be giving one last thing... He looked back to Kate when he had the body firmly braced.

“Ready?” He asked and she nodded. His carbine stowed on her back and one of her revolvers in her hand. He leaned the body over to ‘peek’ around the corner and then with all his might threw it. No sooner than it crossed into the street it jerked sideways as a round hit it. Will was ready though and already bringing up his rifle with his eyes locked on the roof where he’d seen the glare from the sniper's scope. He caught a brief glimpse of the sniper’s head poking up but it was 100 meters away. Even with [Quick Aim] he wasn’t accurate when he fired. Too much of the rooftop was in his ‘focus’. But it still did the trick. By the time he fired the second round the sniper ducked.

“GO!” He yelled at Kate and ran across the street covering anything at street level while Will strafed sideways, shooting anytime he saw a bump appear on the rooftop. He only had six rounds though and as he fired his last one he dove to the side and quickly crawled the last meter to get his lower half out of the line of fire. He still ended up covering his head and running when above him a part of the building exploded and chunks of wood, nails, cloth, and who knew what else flew out before the roof started to collapse. He looked up at what might have been a large house or a shop with apartments above it. It hadn’t been explosive that did it in, there was a massive circular hole cutting through it, almost a meter in diameter.

“Dammit, they’ve got themselves enchanted ammunition! Come on!” Kate got up again and ran to the next corner. Will waited for a second and looked back at the hole in the side of the building. He’d thought it was a damn cannon.

“Is that what artificers make?” he asked himself but tore his eyes away and went after Kate. They cleared the last street without incident and didn’t look back as they ran to the water. They skidded to a stop though when they rounded a brick warehouse on the waterfront. Kate quickly dropped her revolver. Will raised his above his head and let go, letting it spin around his trigger finger.

“Hold! Who are you?” Someone yelled from behind a barricade of barrels, crates, and overturned wagons.

“Don’t shoot. I’m Kate Landry from Deathbane Ranch outsida Silverstead!” She answered back.

“And him?”

“He’s a bounty hunter by the name of William Tempest, we were passin’ through, we don’t mean anyone any harm… Unless you're with the Wilhups?”

There was a short conference between the men holding the line but one poked his head up and waved them over.

“Oughtta shoot you just for that! Grab that iron and get over here! Quickly now!”

Kate snatched up her revolver and they began sprinting again, quickly making for a spot they opened up in the barricade. They closed it right after them and Will took a moment to catch his breath, finally.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Miss Kate?” a familiar voice called out, “Thought I heard someone yell your name.”

Deputy Victor walked up, his smile fading when he noticed the blood. He tried to take a look at it but she shrugged him off.

“Good to see ya, Uncle Victor. You don’t need to do the whole ‘Miss’ thing, we’re family, remember?” Kate greeted him and shrugged him off again, wincing in pain while she did but she still didn’t accept any help, “I’ll be fine once I get Marigold back… Didn’t get a chance to grab a healing tonic out of my saddlebag.”

“Healing tonic? It ain’t one of those snake oil ones is it?” Victor asked.

“You think grandma woulda let me ride without a good one?” She pointed out.

“’Spose not… Still, got some of the womenfolk over there taking care of the injured. One of the docs is dead but the other’s injured and tellin’ em what ta do... Least let them get it cleaned for ya… Good to see ya Will. You escorting Miss Kate?” Victor turned his attention to Will. He noticed Kate shoot the older man a look but she didn’t say anything about him ignoring her bit about calling her miss.

“No… just had business in Fairpoint. We met just outside of town,” Will answered and gave the deputy a look. The man shook his head. He turned to look at Kate walking towards the medics and tapped the star on his chest before holding up two fingers then running a finger across his throat. It didn’t take much for Will to translate. The Marshall had sent two lawmen with Victor and both were now dead.

“Got two mothers to talk to when I get back to Silverstead too..” Will had forgotten the other riders that had joined Victor on the road to Fairpoint. He felt for the man and patted him on the shoulder. It wasn’t easy losing people under your command. The Marshall’s men might not count but the two young men from Silverstead did. He nodded thanks, “You go get yourself on the barricade somewhere… or if you’re feelin’ brave up on the roof with that rifle of yours. Someone shoots at you? Shoot ‘em. They don’t shoot? Leave that to the folk of Vicksby but if they say shoot… shoot ‘em. Simple.”

Easy enough rules of engagement.

Will decided he was brave enough. Or at least that his rifle would be best suited somewhere with a good vantage point and jogged over to a ladder alongside the warehouse and started climbing. There were already a few men up there lining the rooftop. Each one hanging over the peak of the gabled roof with their rifles pointing out into the town. A couple looked back when he started climbing up the roof proper but they returned to their post and he found a spot on the line.

“It’s a mess, ain’t?” the man next to him said and nodded to the town, “Towns burnin’, lotta good folk are dead, steamboat's run aground downriver, burnin’ too… Gods ain’t watching out for us today... Don’t think I’ve seen you around here before?”

“I was just passing through… came from Silverstead,” Will explained. The man nodded then leaned up and spit a gob of tobacco juice onto the far side of the roof.

“Abe. [Dock Hand]”

“Will. [Bounty Hunter].”

“Well, Mister [Bounty Hunter] got yourself a big one somewhere out there. With some luck, you can drop ‘em today.”

A big one? As in a big bounty? Will suddenly remembered where he’d heard of the Wilhups… They were the gang of outlaws that had a bounty out for their leader. A grand for anyone who brought him in, dead or alive… Will was glad he used common sense and didn’t try to take that particular bounty. He would have gotten himself killed with the amount of firepower they could bring to bear. But Abe was right. The Wilhups were in the same town somewhere. A lucky shot could take the man out and claim a massive cash fall. And More importantly, it might end the onslaught on Vicksby.