Outlaw On The Run

Rattlesnakes. 

Venomous. Vipers. They love to prey on small creatures, but only attack when provoked. Most snake bites come from rattlesnakes. One quick bite from one could instantly kill their prey. No time to trap nor constrict. Even if they had made an attempt to survive and run away, the rattlesnake always had a way to find them again. And once they were found, the rattlesnake would finish the job just as soon as it started it.

And that was what she was. For six years. 

Six long years.

The Rattlesnake. The only outlaw alive in Horton’s Valley that could kill like the viper. Cunning, swift, sneaky, witty, and a downright predator. 

Locals from all places knew about her, knew not to mess with her and knew not to be entangled by her charm and honeyed words. 

Quick with a gun and could shoot a cowboy from a mile away. The sound of the spurs from her boots reminded people of the rattling tails of the reptiles. Her victims always knew she was about to strike once they heard the sound of her spurs and in seconds, they would already be dead. 

No one was alive to tell the tale. That they could return to the warm comfort of their beds or their campfires, sharing ale with their comrades after they encountered and angered the Rattlesnake. No one. Not one single soul. 

Over time, people had believed that the Rattlesnake was invincible. Because of the way she had always managed to escape once she got what she wanted. That no one, not even the best sheriffs and rangers from all over the valley were skilled or blessed enough to capture her. 

On the other side of the coin, people also knew that the Rattlesnake was a casanova. That women and men, who were blessed in features, had been spared just to have one night with her. Fucked to the point of madness. The outlaw would bed them, promise them things, and then for some reason, be brainwashed. 

That they couldn’t remember who she was, or what she looked like. Most of these folks didn’t even know that they had been bedded by the outlaw. And then they were left to wallow in their insanity. 

It was like a legend, words that had been spread far and wide, in what felt like a long, long time. That a young outlaw would be able to smile at death and escape it. 

But that wasn’t the case at the moment. 

Because the Rattlesnake may be invincible, skilled, or could smile at the threat of death. But people fail to remember that the Rattlesnake was only a human being. 

A foolish one.  

The sound of gunshots, taunting shouts and horseshoes galloping on gravel were loud and she could hear everything. 

Jimin was forcing her horse to go faster, even if she knew there was no one directly behind her, she needed to escape. Despite her wanting to take time to take off her Stetson just to pay respects to her fallen partner in crime, she couldn’t. 

She knew that if the law was able to take down Chaeyoung or not, her partner would have wanted her to keep running. So she had to. It was the only thing she could do. 

It wasn’t like Jimin was a coward and couldn’t face death. She was a woman of her word and she knew that Chaeyoung wanted her to live. Outlaws were like that, one needed to be alive to continue their legacy. 

Chaeyoung depended on her. That she would be the one to enjoy the spoils and continue doing what they did best. 

Unfortunately, they weren’t being careful this time around. They heard the sheriff was going out of town and thought that it would be a good time to strike on tougher coin than usual. 

But they should have known that the sheriff was anticipating their arrival, that it was all a ruse to catch them. Like a rat in a trap. 

It was foolish how they managed to get caught like that. That they were being chased down by the law yet again; only because Chaeyoung took too long robbing the goods and Jimin took her sweet time with the sheriff's married daughter on that bed. 

Oftentimes, Jimin hated the way she was, that she couldn’t deny a beautiful woman or man if she wanted to. But that young lady in that thin nightgown definitely wanted her as much as she did. 

It irritated her to a degree that she really could be stupid for a fine lady and allowed her cock do the thinking than her brain. 

Foolish, foolish, foolish.  

If she didn’t let her libido take the best of her, Chaeyoung would have survived the gunfight. She could have been much help. 

A gunshot could be heard from behind, it sounded close.

She took quick glances from left and right and it was evident that she didn’t know where she was. She was aware that her Quarter horse was exhausted beyond its capacity, but Jimin needed Cash to hold on just until they found a safe place to hide in. 

Another gunshot fired from a short distance. She took another glance and sure enough, the sheriff’s rangers finally appeared behind her. Emerging from the trees and bushes.

“You ain’t goin’ anywhere, you sick bastard!” It was the daughter’s husband. Of course, he wanted Jimin dead, since he was the one who caught her fucking his wife on their bed before the entire chase happened. 

It wasn’t a good fuck anyway, so Jimin still wanted to live. 

She heard another shot from a rifle, and she knew they were getting closer. With one hand she reached inside her coat, grabbed her revolver from the holster and shot a few bullets, one successfully hit one of the ranger’s shoulder, causing him to fall from his horse and the others were only a miss because of the terrain of the ground, making her lose her aim. 

There was another gunshot from behind and this time it hit her, she felt the bullet sink into her waist, feeling her skin burn and tear, the bullet was stuck inside, and her entire body was in pain.

“Fuck,” she hissed under her breath, deciding to ignore it. But that was deemed difficult when her sight started to shake, and she was slowly losing her senses. 

Jimin immediately shook her head, gripped her horse’s lead even tighter, and pushed her feet forward on the stirrups to make Cash take a hard right, away from the dirt path and into the depths of the forest around to them. 

This wasn’t familiar terrain, so she had to pray to whichever god there was out there that she would be able to make it out alive. 

But one thing was for sure, they were no longer in Fortnight. She wasn’t sure if she ran south or west, maybe towards Palomino Springs or towards the next town of Deadman’s Cavern, up to the mountain ranges. Then again, with the nip of the air, she knew they were far from the mountains.

Maybe she could seek refuge somewhere as long as the sheriff's men were no longer following her. 

Cash was still galloping, Jimin’s chest was heaving heavily, and she needed something to stop the bleeding on her waist. She could still feel the blood spilling out and seep through her shirt and coat. 

Jimin wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating or if she had gone insane, but from a distance she could see a light through the trees, usually that meant there was a building, and if there was building, that would mean there was a town nearby. 

Bingo.

“We gotta go to that light, boy.” Jimin grunted her words, gripped on the lead and whipped it gently but still with needed force. “Yah!” 

Her horse sped up again, traversing the uphill terrain and reaching out to escape the maze of trees. When they were at the exit, Jimin felt herself breathe when she indeed found a small, almost deserted town. She didn’t bother checking what was around but the big sign that said ‘Inn’ was enough for her to make a decision.

Jimin led Cash to the back of the building, relieved to have found a medium-sized stable, and it was unlocked. She pulled the lead towards her to make her horse stop. She jumped off immediately, with the amount of strength she had left, she rolled the door to the stable open and rushed her horse inside, ignoring the sounds of startled horses around them. She quickly walked Cash towards the end where there was one empty stall, she tied the lead on the picket fencing, finding the first big cloth she saw and covered him with it. 

She patted his snout and whispered. “I’ll be back, try to keep quiet ‘aight?”

The horse whinnied and then Jimin quietly exited the stable, closing the doors and started walking. Her body was growing weaker each time she took heavy steps. The bandana covering half of her face was starting to cut her oxygen and breathing was getting difficult. 

From what she could register, there was an inn and connecting to that from the side was a saloon, there were noises coming from the small building. So she needed to avoid that. Going to the inn was a better idea.

As she dragged her body towards the inn, she tried to limp quickly as she heard the horses and the familiar voices of the rangers from a distance. She was probably losing more time and blood each moment that passed. 

When she reached the window, she immediately spotted a woman by the counter, and without thinking twice, she rushed through the saloon doors and dragged herself towards the counter.