Who, Cerberus: An RDR Undead Nightmare Story [ John Marston x OC ]

xi. An old amica

John settled a sweating, yet freezing, Ruby into the bed, draping the quilt over her quivering body. He resisted turning around, finding the source of the voice, fearing his sanity had left him completely. It was only when he heard the speaker cross the threshold into the cabin, commanded him to turn, that he did, his hands hesitantly up by his ears, fingers anxiously wiggling.

And it was Lena, his brother Arthur's love, boring her dark brown eyes into his, lowering the shotgun she'd hoisted to point, neutral, at the floorboards. "How?" He gasped out, simultaneous to Lena's questioning "John? What's happened, who is this?"

When it was clear his question would go ignored, he cleared his throat, answered her: "This is Ruby Dufresne, a-a snake bit her, on the leg."

"Snake." Lena repeated, setting the gun on the table in the centre of the cabin, embracing John and stretching to kiss his cheek almost perfunctorily before gliding past him, peeling back the worn quilt to expose Ruby's legs, holding the younger woman's knee in a gentle pincer grip between her thumb and forefinger to get a better look at the bite. Realizing she'd pushed up Ruby's skirt and John was hovering at her shoulder, Lena twisted to look at him, made a shooing motion with her free hand. "Could you give us the room, please?"

John left the cabin immediately, his face burning. He paced back and forth across the small front porch, seeing glimpses of Lena's work each time he passed the window, as if in a series of vignettes. Setting a large, iron kettle onto the fire. Grinding a spray of red flowers and a few bluish ones in a mortar, adding them to a cup. Wiping Ruby's thigh free of blood (an extra-quick glimpse, John having clapped his hand to his eyes once he realized what he was looking at). Tipping the steaming cup to Ruby's lips, holding her head gently with the other hand, lowering her into the pillow.

Lena left the cabin to find John leaning against one of the posts holding up the porch's sagging roof. "She'll be all right," she stated, plainly, her accent rolling the Ls and Rs, just as he remembered. She fished a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and offered one to John before pulling another out with her lips, taking his proffered match with a nod. The grey shot through her dark hair caught the moonlight, as did the smoke streaming from her parted mouth.

After the initial shock wore off, only happiness remained in John's heart to see the woman before him. "You're alive." Lena held her cigarette between her lips to do a small curtsey, winking at him. "How?"

Lena looked off towards the moon, as if they shared a secret he couldn't possibly begin to know. "I heard a voice, John," she said, finally, "it implored me to live. So I listened."

John wiped at his mouth, disbelieving at first. Though, stranger things had clearly happened. "But why didn't you come to visit, then? Jack missed you, dearly." Lena smiled up at him, ruefully.

"You had enough ghosts following you around." Her voice was sad, and she squeezed his hand, her stubborn way of apologizing. He squeezed back before releasing her hand, hugging his arm around his stomach.

"Tell me about it," he exhaled. "You know all these undead running around? Abigail and Jack are caught up in it. No idea how to help them."

"Oh John, I'm so sorry," she said, and she meant it.

"Don't suppose you do know, then?"

Lena gave a grim shake of her head, put a comforting hand to his back, resting her temple against his upper arm.

John nodded in reply, looking towards the Grizzly mountains, lit dimly by the moon and silhouetted against the brilliant galaxy flung up and over their heads. This quiet life had always been the kind Arthur had wanted. His brother had been so sure about the woman exhaling a pretty trail of smoke from her lips next to him. John, on the other hand, wasn't sure about anything. His head swam at the memory of Ruby's weight in his arms, the sweetness of her flesh on his lips. He looked back, unbidden, into the cabin. Lena followed his gaze, cocked her head towards the window.

"She likes you, you know." Lena said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Oh, you reckon?" John replied sarcastically. "You picked that up while she was unconscious, did you?" Lena removed a royal blue token from her pocket; a small disc of glass with a dark centre, ringed by light blue and white, rubbed it between her fingers.

"You should have seen the look she gave me when I touched you," Lena continued, "I need to get her malocchio away from me." She peered through the window, watched Ruby's sleeping form for a moment. "She's certainly a nubile young thing."

John's cheeks flamed in embarrassment. "Hadn't noticed," he muttered.

Lena smiled wickedly. "Why John, you're as red as a...ruby!" John nudged Lena in her side, mock-forcefully, with his elbow.

"You're really gonna put the spurs to me after two long years, huh?"

"You're my brother," Lena seized his face in both of her hands, squished his cheeks together briefly. "I live to tease you." John smiled before pulling from her grasp, and stalked over to Thoreau, pulled an unopened bottle of the N.W. Dickens elixir from a saddlebag. His stash was a lot smaller than he'd remembered it being; though, he supposed they'd spent three bottles just getting out of Strawberry.

"Wondering if you might have any idea what's in this," he said, bringing it to her and gesturing for her to open the bottle. "Seems to be some kind of repellent to the undead." Lena uncorked the bottle while listening; nearly dropped it when she caught a hint of the stinking tonic within, gagged audibly.

"Stucchevol'," Lena's tongue lolled from her mouth, holding the bottle at arms' length from her as she forced the cork back in. "It stinks; I haven't an idea, John."

"Well, Miss Dufresne and I are heading on up to Annesburg, supposedly the font of all this swill."

"So that's why you're together," Lena nodded, squinting at him.

John waved a hand towards Ruby. "She's like my-my employee. I hired her to help me. You should see her with a gun; like Arthur reincarnate." Lena looked into the window again, as John asked, hoping it'd alleviate Lena's suspicions, "Don't suppose you want to come with us?"

"You know I don't have the stomach for these kinds of adventures," Lena replied, dismissing his offer with a swish of her own hand. "You should see the bullets I found in her pockets, there must be dozens of them."

"Well, I have some idea about that." The squint returned, scrutinizing John's face.

"I bet you do," Lena said finally, and he loved and hated her for her inability to let things lie. But then, mercifully, she did. They sat together on the porch, looking at the stars and talking, about everything and nothing, as they used to do.

Ruby joined them in the morning, the colour returned to her face, her leg sore but functional. Lena left them on the porch to make breakfast as only she could; fresh bread, eggs cooked up with leeks and chard from her garden, a jug of dark, bitter coffee. After they'd eaten, Lena kissed them each on the cheeks and bid them goodbye, pressing a second, uncut loaf of bread into John's hands, two firm apples into Ruby's. They mounted their horses and rode off east for Valentine, leaving Lena to the little life she'd reclaimed for her own.

*

Author's note: Hello! So, I thought I'd have some fun in this chapter with a cameo from Lena, the main character/love interest in my other RDR story, Vows of Returning. This doesn't change that ending; Undead Nightmare is a "canonical" AU, so I thought, fuck it, let's do this! I hope you liked it.