When the Devil Cries (Arthur Morgan X Male OC)

12. Welcome to Civilization

From Arthur's POV

THE NEXT MORNING

KAMASSA RIVER

Well, here we were. Two lost souls on the run from God knows what as we rode across this "civilized" country, searchin' for a freedom that I wasn't even sure existed.

I mean, Dutch always described our gang as a community of free men and women, and yet the only thing I saw was a group of fugitives constantly bein' forced to evade the law. I supposed it was better than actually being caught by them, but...I still had to wonder what we was truly chasing here. 'Cause I sure as hell knew what was chasin' us.

Despite how tense our situation was though, I had to admit: it did feel good to get away from that dreadful cesspit of a city. Walking around Saint Denis always made me feel like I was strangling myself, and half the time, I wanted to strangle the people around me even more.

And things weren't that much merrier back at camp neither. There was always a pair o' fools arguing with each other -- whether it was about Dutch's so-called plan, or how bland Pearson's stew was that day -- and it drove me halfway to insanity.

But now that it was just me and Eddie -- surviving in the wilderness and ridin' in the open country -- I felt like I could finally breathe again.

It was nothin' but endless miles of lush grass and exuberant flowers out here. And we also had a more-than-magnificent view of the purple mountains in the distance, making me and Eddie feel like ants.

It was certainly a treat to be around nature again. And as strange as it sounded, I was almost excited to return to the humid town of Rhodes where I was pretty sure everyone was related in some way.

Hell, I even missed the mud-ridden streets of Valentine -- along with that rowdy saloon where I received quite the welcoming.

It just felt nice to be back in the wilds, despite how chaotic it could become sometimes. But I supposed that was the beauty of it.

There were no lawmen out here to restrain us, or ridiculous mannerisms that we had to hide behind. It was simply survival, and the things we did to achieve it.

I only prayed we could avoid the assassins for long enough. Things got risky enough back at the gala, and we had Dutch and Hosea helpin' us out. If them bastards tracked us down out here -- where we was all by ourselves -- well, we'd have one hell of a fight on our hands. And I intended to be prepared for it.

Splashing water onto my face, I scrubbed all the dried blood off and ran my canteen through the cool river, filling it to the brim before returning to my horse as I chose a new shirt to wear.

So far, things appeared calm enough. And we had yet to run into any other people, except the occasional passerby. For once, things actually seemed to be goin' according to plan. And it made me uneasy.

I knew I should've been grateful for gettin' outta Saint Denis alive -- and I was -- but part of me just couldn't shake the feeling that these men weren't gonna let Eddie go so easily. I mean, if they was willin' to send that many assassins after him alone, Lord only knew what they'd do once they figured out he wasn't by himself no more.

Well...I supposed we would find out sooner or later. After all, these men certainly weren't holdin' back, and I had no doubts we would encounter 'em again.

All I could do now was make sure Eddie was prepared for the next fight.

"You all cleaned up?" I asked the boy, pulling on my favorite blue shirt. He stood up from the river.

"Yeah," Eddie replied, wiping some droplets off his face. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm good," I answered, sifting through my saddlebag for another shirt before handing it to him. "Here. Put this on. It ain't nothin' fancy, but you can wear it until we get to Rhodes. Or keep it, if you want. I don't care."