Unshaken

Advertising, the New American Art

Liam arrived back in Rhodes. He put the memories behind him for now. He went and visited Alden at the post office for a moment, though he was an awkward fellow. It started to get dim out. Liam saw some of Rhodes residents heading to the parlour house. He walked outside to see what all the ruckus was. "Free hooch." He kept on hearing through the crowd. He walked into the saloon to hear Hosea Matthews talking to the crowd. Peters was nowhere to be found. Men played the piano carelessly and jumped and danced on the countertops.

"Put my brother Fenton to work! Another bottle, Fenton. These men are dry." Hosea told Arthur, who had a pipe in his mouth and a sour look on his face, serving moonshine to everyone in Rhodes for free. The men came in swarms. Arthur wasn't getting a break. Liam walked up. "Another one, Fenton!" He sarcastically said. Arthur rolled his eyes and grunted moodily while pouring Liam's drink. Liam then went to Hosea, who was still motioning the crowd to drink, to see what was going on. "What y'all got going on here?" Liam asked. Hosea smiled. "Mrs. Braithwaite generously gave us this moonshine to give out for free." He said. Liam knew about the moonshine they'd stolen from the Raiders with the Law in the swamps. He wondered why Catherine didn't want her liquor back. "That's odd, but funny nonetheless." Liam said looking at a grumpy Arthur.

He stood by Hosea on the staircase and enjoyed his time at the saloon. It was now dark out. "Drink up! Drink-" Hosea said cutoff by men bursting through the doors of the parlour house. "It's the Lemoyne Raiders." Liam heard one of the citizens say. "Good evening, gentlemen. Quiet libation?" Hosea asked. "You." The Raider said. "Me?" Hosea asked. "You're the bastards who stole the liquor we was gonna buy." The man said to Hosea. Liam looked at Arthur who was reaching for his gun discreetly. "Gentleman, we're in advertising. Come on in, have a drink." Hosea tried to calm them. "That's our goddamn liquor!" The Raider yelled angrily. "An honest mistake." Hosea told them. "Boys, get 'em!" The Raider commanded.

The shooting started. Hosea ran up to the second floor, Arthur ducked behind the bar counter and Liam jumped over the staircase railing onto the floor and slid over the counter to the bartender's area to assist Arthur. They shot at the men entering the front door. The Raiders flooded in. "Upstairs, hurry!" Hosea yelled. Liam and Arthur shot down enough men and got up to the second floor. "Arthur! Help!" Hosea yelled. A Raider had him by the throat trying to shoot him. Arthur shot the man off quickly. "Hey, hey, hey! This way!" Hosea frantically said. Liam shot a raider chasing them up the stairs and followed Arthur and Hosea.

As Hosea ran outside onto the balcony, a Raider came up the outside stairs and tackled Hosea over the railing causing them to fall two stories down onto the wagon Hosea and Arthur had parked earlier. Arthur and Liam rushed to the railing to see what had happened. Hosea shot the man off and yelled for the two to come on. Arthur jumped onto the wagon from the balcony and Liam followed. Hosea quickly rode off as the three were chased by Raiders. "I'm getting us outta here." Hosea said as they rode. Liam and Arthur shot the men on the balcony of the parlour house. "Ain't gonna let this go, are they?" Arthur asked. "They ain't the forgetting sort." Liam reminded him.

"Over there! They got out the back!" A Raider yelled as the three raced away into town. "Got more coming after us." Hosea told the two. "We see 'em." Arthur said as the two shot on. They rode straight through the main street of Rhodes. Raiders were coming out the alleyways. One of the Raiders shot the moonshine that was in the back causing it to go up in flames. Liam kicked the crate of moonshine that was on fire out into the road in front of the Raiders, causing one of their horses to flip over it. He staked his original position again. Arthur shot the massive amount of dynamite on the back of their wagon causing the wagon to explode and burning bodies of Raiders to fly into the air. The explosion lit up the entire area. Hosea rode out into Scarlett Meadows near the train tracks. Raiders surrounded every side of them. The moon helped them see clearer.