Left to Rot - Red Dead Redemption

The Train Robbery

"Isabel, wake up. Es hora de irse. We have a train to rob." A familiar voice woke me up in the early hours of the morning.

"A train? Now, Javier? We don't even have a plan." I rolled over to see the sun rising behind me. Arthur and Bill were over by the campfire. I could vaguely hear them talking about all the cash that would be on the train and arguing over the best way to get on.

"Then come over here and we'll make a plan. The train comes through the station at noon."

I walked over to the campfire and sat down on a log. Everyone else was still sleeping, except for Reverend Swanson who just got back to camp, his Bible clutched in hand. I couldn't believe he still thought nobody knew he hid morphine in there to avoid having it taken away by Mrs. Grimshaw. It was sad really, what killing one man turned him into. He would have been better off not saving Dutch's life in the first place.

"So, Javier told me there's a train coming through in a few hours and we have no plan on how to board it," I said to Arthur and Bill.

"I think we should hide in the trees and jump on when it gets near the rail bridge. There will be some flat cars we can jump onto and no one will know. We can kill the guards quietly, take out the engineer, then rob the sad sacks riding. We'll get away before anyone knows it's been hijacked," Bill said. The plan seemed doomed from the start. Bill Williamson never did anything quietly. If it didn't involve dynamite and guns, he'd ruin it, and we couldn't risk leading anyone back to camp.

"Why don't we just, like, buy tickets?" I asked. "It would be easier to disguise ourselves as farmhands and board legally. There are constantly people going out east to work on ranches and no one would question us. We could wait until we knew we were far enough from the stations then take out the guards and rob the riders before anyone even knows what happened. And speaking of the riders, how do we know this is even worth it? What kind of money do you think the people out here have?"

Everyone just looked at me like I'd given the worst idea ever, but the last train robbery cost us two lives. Granted, they weren't very good with guns and were the most annoying people I'd ever met, but that didn't mean they deserved to die. Playing it smart was better than taking a chance at one of us never coming back to camp. Every one of us knew that every time we stepped outside camp we were flirting with death, but I don't think any of us actually wanted to die.

"So you want to just...board the train? That's your whole plan? And you really think they won't see through it?" Bill said, obviously doubting my suggestion.

"No, no. It's not the worst idea. She's right," Arthur said. I was so glad someone agreed with me. "We'll just be four guys riding to start a new life out east. They might see our faces, but why would they remember us? By the time it's over, the station clerk will forget he ever sold us tickets. If you can keep your cool, Williamson."

"That's what we're doing then. Go get ready. Look the part," Javier said. Bill looked displeased that we weren't going with his plan, but eventually walked away to get ready for the job. That was always my least favorite part. A teenage girl couldn't go around robbing trains. Sure, no one would expect me, but afterwards I'd stick out like a sore thumb, so any time I was on a job I couldn't be Isabel. Wanted posters for Ian Morgan hung in five different states by the time I was thirteen, but no one knew Isabel Morgan existed. I was proud of that. I was the only one who could go out after a job without the fear of being recognized.

I put on old blue jeans, a button up shirt and a loose-fitting brown vest, then tied my hair up to look even shorter than it already was and put on a straw hat, clipped to my hair so it couldn't fall off. A better farm boy there never was.