Jack Marston is at a low point in his life. His family is dead, Beecher's Hope is in ruins, and he has nothing left to live for. Most days he spends so drunk he can barely remember anything, he kills and robs people at will, and there isn't an ounce...
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Eva awoke the next morning to the pleasant aroma of coffee. Jack's rifle lay by her head, but he was awake already. She could see him across the built-up fire, brushing Buell while the horse ate some oats off the ground. She watched him for a moment, gathering her thoughts before she got up. She was quite tired, anyhow, and not particularly keen to get up just yet.
The desert at night was cold. Temperatures could drop precipitously from highs well over 100°F (37°C) to plunging lows in the forties (about 4-9°C) in a matter of hours. Eva could see Jack's breath that morning, even as the sun cautiously peeked over the mountains to the southeast that cut off Nuevo Paraiso from the rest of Mexico. It would be hot as the devil's asshole soon, but for now, in Eva's bedroll by the fire, it was comfortable and warm.
"Mornin', Eva!" Jack said with a smile as he stowed Buell's brush away in his satchel. Somehow, he'd noticed she was awake despite her not moving much.
Eva did not smile back. She'd been slipping up lately and showing too many emotions around Jack. If last night was any indication, however, he still was not safe to trust. He'd ruined what meager hope of Eva trusting him that existed by leaving her alone with a gun she did not know how to shoot while he went hunting. She still had not quite forgiven him for that.
Her belly rumbled, though. Last night's stew had been good enough, but she found herself hungry again as she sat up in her bedroll and held her hands out to the fire to warm them. Eva's eyes didn't leave Jack. She watched him like some sort of bird of prey while he came towards her and poured her a cup of coffee. Angry at him as she was, she still liked a good cup of coffee in the morning, and she would be a fool to say no. She took it in silence, refusing to return his gaze.
"You okay, Eva?" he asked her, settling himself beside the fire with his own cup of coffee. "Are you ready to learn how to shoot that rifle today?"
She watched him thoughtfully, but still said nothing.
"Look, if you're still angry about last night-."
"I'm not angry," Eva lied.
Things never seemed to end well for her when she grew angry at men. After their time at Las Hermanas, she had become convinced that Jack at least thought he meant to sincerely help her, but there was still an uneasiness and a mistrust that prevented Eva from being truly vulnerable with him. Letting her guard down with men had netted her plenty of pain and suffering in the past, and she was not about to make that mistake any time soon.
She had to admit there were positives to traveling with Jack, though. She hadn't been hit in a while, for starters. Her skin still bore faint, yellow marks from her time with Mario, but when those faded, it would be the first time in her entire memory that no bruise marred her skin. She might even feel a bit like a normal woman if that happened.
"That's bullshit, and you know it," Jack said, calling her bluff. "Any idiot could tell you're angry. So speak your mind. I won't hurt you for something as simple as having an actual opinion."
