Bad Company, Memories Of A Once Famous Outlaw!

[Gabriel Creed]

June 14th, 1862
Just before 2 p.m.
Outside Colorado Springs, Colorado

The day was hot as the sun beat down on the gang of men riding along side the train. Gabriel Creed, possibly the most well known outlaw in the West is their leader. "Come on men. Keep riding. I know that they've got some great prizes on this train. We take this and then we can ride on to the next town and have all the booze, horses, and whores that we want." He lived for this. The thrill of the ride. The feeling of robbing someone. Just taking all their possessions and using them to his benefit and pleasure. The men made an audible cheer at his words. Oh how he could stir them up. He knew just want to do and say to keep these men following his every order. As they approached the train he pushed his horse, Satinka, harder and faster. And then it happened. They pulled up directly beside the ladder off the train. This was where it got truly interesting. He took the reins in one hand as they got close enough. He reached out with his free hand and grabbed the ladder getting a firm grip on it. He pulled his feet out of the stirrups and placed of foot on the back of his horse before pushing off and semi-jumping the rest of the way. He gathered his wits about him and smiled looking down at the ground. He saw that his men were doing the same. He climbed over to the platform where the door to the train is. He drew his two Colt revolvers as he awaited the arrival of the men he had appointed to join him. Among them being Gavin Thomas his friend and mentor. He looked at the men and nodded before kicking the door in and stepping inside. He reveled in the shocked screams and looks of the people he faced as he stepped inside. "Well now. It would seem that this is a robbery. Now don't try anything stupid and nobody will die." He stepped forward. He didn't have to worry about his voice being muffled because he didn't even pull the bandanna up around his nose and mouth. He wanted them to see the face of the man who robbed them. He wanted them to memorize it. He wanted them to see the face of one who could instill fear with just a look.

He loved it when they screamed. They always screamed. "Give us all your money. Your gold. Your belongings. Anything and everything of value. Put them in the bags and no one will get hurt." He of course would be made a liar because someone always tried something heroic, stupid, or both. He loved to shoot a man down. He got a thrill from killing. So it was no pressure on him if some man thought he was big and bad enough to go against him. He looked around and noticed the couple in the front of the car. The woman was quite obviously pregnant. He never could kill a woman or child, he thought to himself. He might be cold hearted but he's not that cold. He smiled as he saw the man sitting across the aisle from the couple. A dandy no doubt. He looked like a lawyer or a doctor of some sort. Someone with a lot of money. His smile grew as he walked down the aisle surveying the victims that they had with them. He caught a quick movement out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned and pointed his gun the young man who could be no older than 18 years. The man held his hands up quickly and Gabriel saw that he was only reaching for a book "Don't...do anything stupid. You are liable to get yourself killed making a move like that. Don't you know? And I'm not the kind who is afraid to kill. Actually I enjoy it. I love the thrill of it. So don't move again." Then he heard the deep gruff voice come from behind him. "I wouldn't do that if I was you Creed." He smirked to himself. "Let me guess. We've got a lawman on board with us today?" The man spoke again "That's right. Deputy Marshal James Irvine." And he could hear the sound of the man's gun cocking back.

Gabriel's smile broadened. "Well. Deputy Marshal James Irvine. You chose the wrong day to ride this train. And don't think that I can't kill you even with your gun drawn and the hammer cocked." He said and before the man could say anything in return Gabriel turned quickly and with his the pistol in his right hand he put a new bullet through the deputy marshal's chest forcing the man backwards and slamming against the wall. The smile still remained on his face as he heard the panicked screams and yells from the passengers. The deputy marshal was inevitably dead. He knew it by the empty look in the mans cold eyes. And all he could do was smile more. "Now see. Someone had to go and do something stupid. And I was forced to kill him. You understand now? I mean he had his gun drawn on me and everything. I had no choice. He said feigning innocence before letting out a laugh that had a certain sharpness and at the same time a fluidity to it as well. The gang members let out their answers of yes at varying spans of time. They had seen him do this countless times. He walked up to the now dead deputy marshal and reached down taking the tin star that the man wore as a badge. "Now. Are we going to have any more problems? Do I have to kill someone else? Because I will. I won't hesitate either. All you have to do is give up all your money and possessions to us and you will all survive this. And you'll have a great story to tell your children and grandchildren. How you survived a train robbery by the most famous man in the West." he surely did like to boast about himself. He wanted every person who heard his name to shake with fear at the thought of him. He liked that idea.

He still had his back turned to the unlucky passengers as he heard a commotion and the rapid heavy footsteps of a man running toward him. Swinging his left arm up as he turned quickly he pulled the trigger putting a bullet through the would be heroes skull. Apparently the man had taken down two of his men by surprise and wanted to be a martyr or something. "Damn it. I told you. Don't do anything stupid. And no one dies. Again this is the kind of stupidity that you show. Two men are dead because they wanted to be heroes. Well I've got news for you people. There are no heroes in this story. Only us. Just us and a bunch of eastern tenderfoots who will be running back home in 6 months time. It's eat or be eaten out here. Kill or be killed. And I prefer to do the killing." But among the commotion he heard the pregnant lady in the front row scream. It seemed that there would be a baby on the way as her water had just broken and she was going into labor. He was reluctant but not completely heartless and so when his men found a doctor on board he let the man tend to the woman. As for Gabriel and his gang. They had collected all they wanted. And it was time for them to take their leave. He had killed two men in cold blood today. And he liked it. As they made their way out of the train car his smile widened and he picked up one of the bags of loot. He walked out the door and let out a whistle for his horse. As soon as he did Satinka came galloping up to the side of the train and he handed the pack to the man at his right and he maneuvered his way back on to his horse. He wheeled her around and made off toward the little unassuming town of Buffalo Creek Bay. That's where they would lay low for a bit and spend their claim.

[Gabriel Creed]

April 19th, 1858
11 a.m.
A village in the Dakota Territory

The young Gabriel had been through hell recently. He was 18 years old. He was a man. He was about to kill a man for stealing his woman. Yes that is correct. The outlaw and leader of the Crystal River Gang had been in love. And he had tried his best to work the good side of things. But it never worked out that way for him. He had been a member of the gang for three years ever since he came out west. And it was like second nature to him to resolve his differences at the end of a gun. He hadn't yet acquired the taste for killing that he would in the near future but he hadn't exactly hated it either. The woman who was the recipient of his love was a beautiful young woman named Belle McClure. She was only a year younger than him but they had been courting for a while. That is until he came back from his recent raid to find out that she had taken up with one Jake Klinger. He knew the man. He was a worker at the mercantile and some times deputy to the sheriff. Here they were standing on opposite ends of the street staring each other down. He was ready to draw and when it came down to it he knew he could out duel anyone in these parts and in his mind in the whole West. He was a deadly shot even from such a range. He left his rifle back with his horse tied up at the saloon. He watched the man practically shaking. He could see it from here. The look of anxiousness in the man's eyes. He knew everyone was watching them. And he loved the attention. He had challenged the man when he spotted him and Belle walking down the boarded sidewalk toward the small inn, probably to have a meal. Well their meal would be cut short. Here they were. "Well well well. Mr. Klinger. It seems you got yourself in a mighty tight spot right now. Because it would seem to me that, by the look of it, you've never so much as even fired that gun at a real human being before." He said loud enough for everyone to hear. The deputy shook his head slightly "I've drawn this gun before. But if you mean to say that I ain't never killed anyone. Then you would be correct. I'm fixin' to start today though."

He laughed. Gabriel actually laughed at the comment that the young deputy had made about starting today he was going to kill someone with his gun. "Oh? And just who might that be? Because I know your not talking about me. Let's face it Jake. You don't have the guts or the ability to out gun a man like me. I do believe that this will be your last meal." He saw the light glinting off the tin star badge that the deputy wore. He knew in his mind that he would take that badge after he killed the man. It was a souvenir of sorts. And he would make another notch in the handle of his guns. It would just be one more kill that he had. And that thought made his smile a bit more. He was getting more and more used to the idea of killing a man. Of course he would never kill women and children. But killing men was fair game. Innocent or not. He saw the deputy reach for his gun trying to take him off guard but Gabriel was just too quick and too smart for that. He drew one of his Colt Navy revolvers and dropped the young man with a bullet straight to the heart. As the young man's body dropped to the ground Gabriel walked up to him and stood over him. The screams of people in the crowd were coming from all sides. He had found that he relished in the screams. He leaned down and picked up the tin star badge the man had been wearing. He looked to the eyes of the young man and reached out closing the man's eye lids before placing the tin star in the his pocket and walking to his horse. It had seemed such and innocent movement from a man who just killed him. He pulls himself up into the saddle and looks to Gavin Thomas his mentor, father figure, friend, and right hand man. He was done with this village. "Leave no building standing. No -man- either. Burn it all." He said in that smooth but cold manner as only he could. He wheeled his horse around and made his way out of town as his men set to work killing the men of the village and burning it all. He had no use for them any more. This was the first, but certainly not the last, time that he had burned a village to the ground as he rode off out of sight.