Silas looked at the corpse of the woman, her brain splattered in a halo surrounding her prone form's head. He was still slightly shell-shocked, sure he had killed before, even killed women before. But never had someone so blindly charged toward him, the complete disregard for one's own life was truly something Silas couldn't reconcile, he enjoyed living.

As he thought about his new-found lease on life a plan began to form in his head, he needed to get the fuck out of dodge. From what he had seen the bites of these... Things were turning the townspeople into monsters and Silas did not very much fancy being some dirt farming hick from buttfuck nowhere South Carolina's food. He needed to leave fast.

He holstered his pistol and began to frantically search for his horse, his plan was to leave town for a couple of days, wait for this to blow over then go back to the Marshalls office, they were bound to have some choice jobs after a fiasco like this.

Where the fuck is the bastard?! He thought angrily, forgetting completely where he tied it up.

He ran around to the back of the bar before he found the makeshift stables where travelers could house their mounts, and lo and behold there stood his horse, Prometheus. And on his back was a man who was definitely not Silas, this was going to be a problem.

Prometheus was one of the few things Silas could be proud of in this life, a massive black war-horse that Silas had "acquired" after raiding a horse thief's lair.

He pulled out his revolver and leveled at it the man and all though he had no intention of shooting him he did need to make a point, time was of the essence.

"You have 5 seconds to get the fuck off my horse boy," Silas said in a low threatening growl, pulling back the hammer of his revolver as he did so.

The man turned around and his eyes widened as he stared down a barrel of fiery death, he gulped loudly slowly lowering himself off the horse, he paused suddenly when the back door of the saloon, leading into the stable burst open with a horde of the ravenous townsfolk.

"I ain't dying here, mister!" The boy declared with new found resolve as he spurred Prometheus off into the dusty streets and out of town.

Silas watched as his prized horse ran off without him, looking around desperately for anything to help him retrieve it or, slightly more importantly, help him escape the monsters.

He found both.

A white mare stood in the stable, unsaddled but in a good condition.

Silas had no time for pre-riding preparation as he ran desperately toward the horse, swinging himself over its side and clutching onto its mane for dear life. He kicked his spurred heels into the beast's side spurring onwards toward the horse thief and away from death.

He burst out of the stable at a high speed and onto the dusty street of the town, he looked around spotting the boy heading toward the mountains to the north.

he rode the mare like a demon, streaking past the tows folk, their scenes of suffering barely registering as he tried his hardest not to fall off the white mustang.

Silas left the town without looking back, survive the quest said, ha ha ha ha how do they expect anyone to survive this? He laughed sardonically as he drew nearer to his quarry.

Him catching up was a mixture of the mountains slowing down the inexperienced horseman and the fact that Silas's current horse was far more suited to thundering these plains than Prometheus was.

Sure if he got into a battle with it he was damned sure it would bolt, but right now, out here on the plains the Mustang was king. Or queen? Whatever!

He reached about 10 meters behind the boy before drawing his pistol once more, its weathered steel frame sliding smoothly from its holster.

"Boy, I swear to god I will shoot your ass! Now get off. My. Fucking. Horse!" He yelled in a rage. Silas was having a shit day, first, someone tries to kill him, then this craziness with the system and now this?! The gods must truly be mad at me, he thought.

"Get away from me you bastard!" Yelled the boy as he turned back toward Silas, that was probably what did it, for as the thief turned his eyes away from the track Prometheus reared, annoyed at having an unfamiliar rider on his back.

Prometheus veered off the track and caught his foot on a root, the inertia of his motion ripping the leg straight out of the joint. Silas winced as he heard the sound. His pride and joy... Gone, if he found that boy he would do unspeakable things to him.

Fate, it seemed had other plans for him, as Silas, not having enough time to steer his mount away went crashing straight into the tangle of limbs and flesh that was the thief and Prometheus. But as he wasn't strapped into a saddle he went flying, tearing large handfuls of hair out of the horse's mane as he did so.

He sailed through the air with all the grace of a blue whale, flailing about in a futile attempt to right himself with the ground.

He stopped when his head smacked loudly against a tree mid flight knocking him into blissful unconsciousness.

Silas wasn't sure how much time had passed between then and now. Only that when he woke up he was greeted with two unfamiliar system messages.

Your actions have caused the death of the mare Dalmay +10 exp Welcome to the Howling Caves Dungeon, all exit will be restricted until the dungeon is cleared, time is dilated in a dungeon so please plan accordingly.

"Well Shit."