LAST CHANCE → sean macguire ✔

five

pt.1

The snow bit Willa's toes, earning a teeth-chattering shiver from the girl. There were four other bodies with her, just dark shapes against the stark white of... Everything.

"This... Fucking cold. I'm gon'a be dreamin' of dancing in fires tonight." Sean grumbled, pulling his scarf further up over his nose. Despite her own feelings about the cold, and her own hell from the white stuff, she smiled and jabbed an elbow to her beloved.

"We might just throw you in the real fire. Food gets scarce out here."

"Hey, don't joke. That's completely possible. Although I think we'd eat John first. Eh?" Sean called to the front of their group, where John, Sadie and Charles were leading. They only got a chuckle in response, but it was enough to earn their tired and cold, delirious laughing.

Willa still thought back to when she had found the others. She was often hunched over a beer in the corner of the Valentine saloon, only ever getting up to piss, bathe, or kick someone's ass. She had just downed a man claiming to be the toughest around, wiping the mud from her pants, when Sean rounded the corner.

It was like Willa had stepped back in time, back to when she first met him. His eyes were bright and his smile even more so, with ginger hair still hanging around his shoulders like it always had and the hat that Willa hated perched atop his head.

She, on the other hand, was a little worse for ware. Fresh cuts and scars adorned her face and body now, from countless bar fights and bets. She reminded herself of Sadie Adler and the thought just made her miss everyone more so. Willa avoided mirrors after that.

But Sean looked at her like she was the only thing in the world. When she met his gaze, she was that young girl again from years back. Doe-eyed and infatuated.

"Willa-"

He barely got her name out before she threw herself into him. The cuts on her cheeks burned as she sobbed into his shoulder, all her built-up emotions spilling out before them. Her pain and her sorrow. Her loneliness and fears.

"I thought I'd lost you that night. I heard about Arthur... I thought. I thought they'd killed you, too." Sean spilled his own thoughts into her hair.

"I swear, Sean. I gotta stop losing you like that. It's taking a toll."

Sean had Libbie locked safely in a hotel room nearby, a shotgun in her shaky hands. Their reunion had been quick, but a million emotions passed between the girls with just a simple look. They met with John and Sadie a few years later, and that began the long path to where they were today.

Freezing on the side of a mountain, just a few more hours away from Micah Bell.

They were going to kill him. Willa had been there when he left, and she had been the one to hear Arthur's words. He probably would've preferred that they leave Micah alone and avoid risking their lives, but revenge burned hot in their hearts. They couldn't pass up an opportunity like this.

"Get some sleep, Willa. We'll keep watch." Charles nodded to the beds, which were set up below a fallen tree. It offered just enough protection for Willa to slow her shivering, even just a little, and she might've even gotten feeling back into her toes. Sometime during the night, Sean slipped in beside her and pressed his body against hers.

The next day was easier than the last ones. The wind died down and the air cleared. They came to a dip in between two large mountain peaks, which sliced into the sky. Their path led up through them and around.

Willa saw the man a split second before the gunshot went off, to which she tried to warn the others before the bullet was whizzing through the air. Someone shoved her from behind, then yelped in pain as they both tumbled from atop their horses.

"Charles!" John's voice was strained. Willa crawled closer to Charles, scrambling to examine his wound. The shot went right through his shoulder-- barely missing vital organs-- like his heart.

"I'm fine! Leave me here, I'll be alright." He coughed through his pain and Willa smiled.

"Sean, Sadie, let's see if we can take that guy out. Willa, make sure Charles gets through this." John ordered, then followed after Sean and Sadie. Willa pressed her hands to Charles' gunshot.

"Thanks... I would be dead if you hadn't done that." Her voice was soft as she put some dressing to the wound. Charles chuckled and licked at his chapped lips.

"That's exactly why I did it... Arthur would've wanted me to." He smiled, then, and Willa felt as though he'd punched a hole through her stomach. She had refused to think about Arthur for years now, and Charles had opened those old wounds without even knowing it.

"He... He saved my life. He saved all of our lives..." Willa closed her eyes, fighting a war with her tears, "I miss him so much."

A round of gunshots filled the air, then silence followed.

"Me too."

Willa finished dressing Charles' wound as Sadie, John and Sean came around the rock.

"Got him?" She didn't even look up, just fell into the security of Sean's arms. That had been a close call.

"We have to keep pushing forward. Charles, you follow behind us a fair way. Don't get close, but don't let yourself freeze."

"I'll hang back, too. Make sure he makes it." Sadie stated. That left John, Sean and Willa to lead the charge. Will slipped her rifle off of her back and clutched it close.

"This is it-- the last run. You guys ready?" John looked between Sean and Willa. She sucked in a quick breath, then nodded once. It was all he needed.

They were up in a blink, moving forward like an unmovable force. They fired at anything that moved, calling out to Micah every once in a while. Taunting him. Daring him.

"Get out here and finish what you started, Micah!" Willa called, while simultaneously shooting down an attacker who was trying to flank the group. Micah's gang members yelped and hollered frantically, but their caterwauls never lasted very long.

"Willa, you good?" John called. Sean tossed her a pack of ammo.

"Couldn't be better."

"That's m'a girl." Sean laughed. Willa let herself smile, too.

The three of them crested a steep hill, with Sadie and Charles not too far behind them. They paused at the top to scan the surrounding camps.

Willa spotted a cabin, standing alone further up, and immediately knew that he was there. Micah was undoubtedly the kind of guy to take the cabin for himself.

She lifted her finger, "There."

"Got it. Let's get down there and finish this." John fingered some bullets into his rifle as he spoke.

"Watch out!" Sadie's voice made Willa jump, then Sean was tackled to the snow. A knife glistened in the light and Willa had to fight her panic away.

She kicked out, striking Sean's attacker in the collarbone. He was shaken for a moment long enough for Sean to get a punch out. The attacker grunted and stumbled backwards. Sadie took it next, pinning him against the rock and brandishing her own blade that made it's home in his gut.

He wasn't dead, yet, though, and still had his grip on his knife. Willa saw it a moment too late, as he returned Sadie's attack to her. Sadie cried out, shoving the man away. He ripped his knife out, but was put down with one bullet to the head.

"Shit. Go on, you three. Me and Charles... Well, we'll catch up." Sadie grunted. Charles stumbled up and collapsed beside her.

Willa's heart ached for them, but they couldn't delay any longer. Micah needed to die, and fast.