(no subject)
We backtrack a little this episode, to the early morning of Day 8; the previous recap ended saying 'the posse sleep well', and that's true for the most part. Evie, however, tosses fitfully in her sleep. This isn't a night terror, it's something else entirely. In her dream, she's stood high on a mesa above the Fingers of the Earth, watching a long line of settlers from all walks of life heading towards a portal between the fingers - businessmen and gunslingers and whores and everyone in between, men and women and children. They have been shackled at the ankles and neck, much like in future!Cliffside. Leading the line is a familiar face - Sticks / Anthony / whatever the hell you want to call him. As Evie watches she's aware that she's standing in the shadow of a building; as she turns to look she's dimly aware of a blast of heat...
… and she wakes up.
Cut back to the bar, where we left the posse. The Prospector shoots them a toothy grin, and says they'd better take a seat for this one as well. Nathan and Jacob head to the bar - Nathan because what does he know about their fucked up group dynamic, Jacob because alcohol makes everything better - and Evie smirks and asks the Prospector who this one “isn't supposed to be.” The Prospector corrects her, saying this one is someone. Evie shouts back to Jacob “... screw glasses; think we're going to need the whole bottle for this one” and the figure in the chair, in a familiar voice, says that he's already got that one covered, slamming a bottle down on the tabletop.
And Evie sinks into the chair opposite and seizes said bottle up, draining a measure as Father Rudepar Saint rejoins the party. The good Father is now hooded, and has a ghost-steel mask over his features, but the voice - and the love of whiskey - is unmistakable. At the corner of the mask one can see lumpy, scarred flesh, like it's been daubed back onto his bones in irregular chunks. That's not what's freaking Evie out, though - aside from noticing that there's something darker than the average harrowed (which is pretty dark) behind the good Father's eyes, whether it's because of her connection to the Hunting Grounds or something else she gets a glimpse of his Manitou. Or Mal's, as she's accustomed to thinking of it.
She doesn't really plan on telling anyone this. Sam spoils things for her somewhat by asking if the guy in the mask is Mal, and she says no, it's Rudie. Sam says he knows Nathan isn't Mal now but can see the thing inside him and it's the same one that was in Mal so that makes him Mal, right? Evie tries to explain how Harrowed work and mostly fails, and Sam sulks. This combination of failure and sulking / strop-throwing will become a running theme.
The posse debate for a moment what the best plan would be; in what will become another recurring theme, Evie suggests that they take the time to grab supplies because the Maze is a fucked up place and they'll want water, purifying tablets, whiskey for the Father... and everyone else vetoes that and opts to go as quickly as possible. Sam in particular is especially scathing of Evie's suggestion, snarling more than once that they should just get the fuck on with it already and pointedly moaning that it's a shame it took Mal dying for his opinion to start meaning a damn. Isaac goes off on his own (due to player absence) saying he'll catch up with the party in the Maze.
They make it to the station, and Jacob treats everyone to a rendition of the ”I really fucking hate trains” song - no, really. Nathan joins in with the counter-refrain ”I can shut him up if you want me to”. Evie asks if it's the sort of shutting-up that would draw attention, and Nathan says no, it'd just wind the cunt up a bit, which Evie says she doesn't have a problem with. Jacob overhears all of this (because they're not being sneaky about it; if anything it's pointed) and starts playing with his cards. Luckily it doesn't escalate beyond glaring (god bless the overdeveloped survival instincts) and Evie, Rudie, Nathan and Sam all board the train easily enough. Jacob stays on the platform singing his song for a bit longer while Evie tries to get one of the men to drag his ass on to the train (“... we're leaving the woman to do this? Fuck you all” - there's a slightly awkward moment, too, when she uses 'Jesus fuckin' Christ' as a curse and Rudie pipes up with “He is listening. He is with you.”). Jacob clings onto the rails either side of the door, wavering like he's dipping one foot in a swimming pool; he eventually steels himself to make the jump onto the train, and Evie rolls her eyes. “Very brave, Jacob; and your next trick is?”
Nathan and Evie have a brief disagreement about ghost rock. Evie being Mz. Technology, she thinks it is the best thing ever (unsurprisingly, she's been quick to sing the praises of anything they've run into in Denver - electric lighting, ghost rock, steamtanks - to a less-than-enthusiastic Mal-lookalike), while Nathan reckons there's something unsettling about it - any fuel that screams when you burn it...
Jacob - eventually, because he's bracing himself against the walls of the corridor - makes it to the cabin that the posse have secured for the journey, and sets about shutting all the windows, pulling down shutters etc. Sam foils that slightly by opening one of them and staring out of it (Evie considers mentioning that this is his first time on a train, but that's for another lifetime). Nathan heads off to find himself another carriage and settles on the one opposite, which houses a young family - husband, wife, daughter and son. Rudie tries to go to see the driver but is stopped short of the engine and told to return to the carriages as they'll be leaving shortly.
Evie and Rudie catch up a little; she asks how much the Prospector told him, and fills him in on where they're going and why. Rudie says he's with them until the end, Evie responds 'I'll drink to that' and they share some whiskey. Rudie points out that he'll need more; Evie asks how much he's had already (so as to estimate how pickled he is) and does some mental maths as to how long they've got before he starts smelling of death. In the wake of this Rudie and Jacob excuse themselves to go get more whiskey.
Over in the cabin with Nathan he notices that the family seem to have everything they own packed and stashed with them. He asks if they're headed to pastures greener, trying to make conversation (which he's not very good at) and the dad isn't in the talking mood. Nathan says that's fine, ain't none of his business, but he hopes they're not headed for LA because it's no place for children. The mother apologetically pipes up that she'd tried to tell 'Dan' (the father) that, and Dan continues stonewalling Nathan.
… and back in the posse's cabin Sam says “... you might want to see this.” and Evie takes a look out of the window to see a long line of people being shepherded by demons. Their shackles are new - at the back of the line, with her keen eyesight, Evie can see them being fitted - and their destination unclear, but this is unmistakably the same line from her vision, and at its head she can make out a familiar form. As if that's not enough, in the distance and on the horizon fires are burning; Evie reckons they're several of the smaller settlements in the Disputed Territories.
Nathan also spots this in his cabin, and tells the family to keep their heads down and whatever happens not to go outside but to keep the children hidden. He promises not to let anything happen to them.
Back in the posse's cabin Sam turns on Evie, saying this is all her fault and asking why she allowed him to be born - why she didn't let him die. Before she can respond he runs out of the cabin and she's at first too stunned, and then just plain reluctant, to follow him (she reasons he's better off having some space to himself - or tells herself that's the reason, at least. Yet another sterling example of her parenting style). Sam bolts towards the saloon, where Rudie and Jacob are (along with a lot of other passengers, most of whom seem to be intent on knocking back a few shots after seeing those demon things) and collapses into his dad's arms, sobbing.
Nathan is the first to return to the carriage and fails to pick up anything being wrong with Evie (the chick is pretty damn good at masking her emotions, apparently - is anyone actually surprised by this?). He says that one of these days he'd really like to know what the fuck is going on with them, and Evie replies “It's a long story, and I ain't got anywhere near enough whiskey”. Nathan conveniently produces a hip flask which Evie drains and hands back to him. She's on the verge of telling the whole story when Rudie returns, and instead asks him if they can talk privately when he has a minute. He says he's going to bed and she doesn't drop it, saying “When you get up, then.” before asking how Sam is (he's okay, says Rudie, but wants to be left alone).
In the saloon, Sam has found a table for himself and produces a deck of cards (not the ones Jacob gave him; Jacob has, in fact, never seen this deck before), performing various tricks Jacob's never seen. It's a little worrying. Jacob wanders over and tries to make conversation, and Sam spouts a load of colourful and venomous curses (which might not come as much of a surprise given his upbringing - Evie maintains that his first word was 'cunt' - except that he's generally been very well-spoken and left cussing to Mal, Evie or Jacob) which Jacob responds to in-kind as if he were bantering with Mal before pulling up a seat in the saloon and falling asleep.
Nathan heads off back to the other cabin where the father has fallen asleep, and finds that the son (Dan Jr.) is staring at him in something like awe, having noticed the resemblance between him and a particular moderately-famous outlawed gunslinger. He does the whole fanboy thing over Malcolm before moving on to ask questions about Jacob; he's particularly interested in whether he's “as bad as they say” and if there's any truth in the rumour that he can disappear. Nathan says that he's more annoying than bad.
At some point during the night Evie and Rudie are both awake and alone, and Evie opens by telling Rudie that she'll understand if the Harrowed Preacher thing is still a little weird but hopes he's up to take a confession: “Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It's been... wait, does it still count as confession if you're only doing it to maintain a cover story?” Pointed glare from Rudie. “Stupid question. It's been 27 years, 3 months since my last confession.” Rudie takes a deep pull from the bottle of whiskey and Evie rattles off her list of crimes - leaving out one, of course, because she's not really ready to admit to using her unborn son in a deal (though perhaps this is the one she ought to confess to now), but going through everything she's done at the Agency and all of the mess with Jacob and Anthony. She becomes a little hysterical when she mentions Sam - “I knew what I was carrying and I let him live and he's right, you were right, I should have listened to you and oh god, I'm going down the tree and I'm so scared, I'm a stupid selfish bitch and I'm going to burn” and so on and so forth. Rudie tries to calm her down, talking about how there's still time to redeem herself - Evie's not convinced, because she's pretty sure she's not walking away from this one - and how she'll be okay if she follows him, then makes the sign of the cross and hands her a bottle of whiskey. She asks him one more favour - that he'll promise to keep an eye on her son if it should transpire that she can't do it herself, and he says he'll look out for both of them. Evie: “I'll drink to that.”
And so they do, and when Jacob rejoins them (having left Sam asleep in the bar - he notices, before he leaves, that Sam's been crying in his sleep, and that with his feet up on the table and his hat pulled down he looks painfully like a young version of himself or - more poignantly - his brother). Evie is a little drunk and responds to his query as to where 'Mal' is by saying “He'sh in the Hunting Groundsh, I hope. Nathan's... shomewhere. I'm drinking.” Jacob goes off to find Nathan (or 'Mal') and Dan Jr's eyes widen all the more, though Jacob is a little more concerned by the fact that Dan's woken up and is pointing a gun at him. He leaves, though not before throwing the kid a red joker (using some huckster tricks to make it dance in the air before landing in his hands) and telling him it will bring him luck.
The posse arrive somewhere in the Great Maze, where the Union Blue railroad ends (it doesn't go all the way to Lost Angels because Grimme's declared that a nation in its own right), and face another one of those choices between going to get supplies or charging straight towards the goal. This time it's Rudie who pushes hardest for the 'supplies' option because he wants his cart back, and Sam gets bored with the argument and rides off. Jacob follows, because he goes where Sam goes, and Evie tries to keep pace with Rudie and Nathan for a bit before it becomes clear they'll be wasting a day if they go on foot and tells Rudie to get on her horse while Jacob doubles back and suggests Nathan gets on his. Nathan point blank refuses and says he'll wait for the posse at the train station (he doesn't 'do' horses, apparently, which is probably why he has a pack mule) while Evie encounters a little resistance from her horse (which she's inherited from Mal) as animals don't generally take too well to the living dead. Jacob decides to stay with Nathan (or Mal, as he sees it) - Sam and Evie might not be talking, but she's still his mother so he's not exactly alone and defenceless - and Evie rides off with Rudie. It's hard work keeping the beast going with its unusual passenger, but Evie manages to ride far above her skill level and thankfully having to concentrate on keeping it going leaves her little time to dwell on Sam.
While chasing after Sam Rudie tells Evie that when they get where they're going - which is some no-name outpost - he wants to say some things to Sam and would appreciate her not interfering. Evie has been using the time to try and psyche herself up to doing some actual 'parenting' rather than sitting back and letting Mal / Rudie do the job for her, and puts up a little resistance. Only a little, though.
Back at the station Nathan notices several Lost Angels. He and Jacob try to loose them in the crowd (Jacob toys with the idea of smoking them where they stand, but luckily realising a panicking crowd is not a good idea) but that doesn't work, so Nathan tells Jacob to hide and tries to lure them into the train where the fight can go down without witnesses. The Lost Angels do the job for them by clearing the crowd, saying it's official church business. Jacob sees a familiar shape in the distant sky as Nathan discretely cuts the palm of his hand and lets the blood drip onto the knife where it writhes around the blade like a hungry living creature (heartseeker, one of his Blood Magician spells) before closing on the Lost Angel. The winged creature swoops, taking out Jacob's legs.
Meanwhile, the rest of the posse arrive at the outpost. Sam dismounts and is dealing with his horse when Evie and Rudie pull up. Rudie leaps off Evie's horse and storms over to the boy, grabbing at his collar - Sam's a slippery wee bastard, but Rudie eventually gets a hold, and forces him to his knees. Sam protests, loudly. Evie pointedly pretends not to notice suddenly finds that Mal's horse demands a lot of her attention. Rudie removes his mask - Sam laughs: “You think you can scare me? I see worse than that when I sleep” - and Rudie tells him to shut up. Rudie lectures Sam about how he didn't choose the path he's on - didn't want to become what he is - none of them did, but all they can do is try to make some good out of that. Sam asks if Rudepar was there in the caves when he and Evie 'died' and Rudie admits that he was and tells Sam that Evie's doing the best she can but is only human, and loves him very much. Sam responds by saying that if she really loved him she'd have let him die, and raises his voice pointedly to criticise how she hasn't the nerve to face him herself, just keeps sending everyone else to deal with her problems. (which would have been the perfect moment for her to cut in, of course, but being Evie....) Rudie counters that Sam needs to pull himself together, have a little faith and help the rest of them stop the apocalypse already, saying that he's going to help him and that if he sticks with him he'll be okay. Sam starts crying, and Rudie lets him have his moment before they awkwardly part; Sam says he'll go pick up the supplies. Evie asks Rudepar if he still thinks she should have left that to him, but thanks him for trying.
They both notice that Sam is getting stronger the redder the moon becomes, and it worries them.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party are in trouble. The Lost Angel tries to attack Nathan and misses; Nathan counter-attacks and slashes him across the guts. As the Lost Angel falls Nathan turns back just in time to see the winged creature almost tear Jacob in half. Jacob collapses, passing out from blood and wind loss. Now alone, Nathan spots another two of Grimme's men approaching and the winged creature closing in for the kill on the unconscious huckster. He sprints towards the creature, spinning the knife in his hand ready to attack just before it hits Jacob, thrusting the blade deep into its gizzards. It lets out a howl of rage and pain and wheels away, taking the blade with it. Nathan turns to the remaining enemies, tossing his second knife to his good hand, spinning it around and slashing both palms. As the blood runs down it begins to steam and hiss and turns into a ball of flame (Nathan casts crimson fire) which he hurls towards Grimme's men who screams and writhes but isn't dead; Nathan finishes him with the blade, but not before sustaining a wound himself. The last remaining angel engages in a little knife-play but is hopelessly outmatched; Nathan cuts him once - “That's a wound” - twice “This is a kill” and he joins his brothers in the dust. Nathan dashes over to Jacob, who is still in a bad way, and in a final cast (cauterize, the standard blood magician 'heal') drips more blood onto his blade which causes it to glow like an iron fresh from the furnace and cauterizes Jacob's wound before bringing him back around with more conventional first-aid.
Back in town Sam returns with a cart and hands the reins to Rudepar. He smiles awkwardly at the reanimated preacher when he thanks him, and tells him to look in the back - and Rudepar rejoices to see a crate of whiskey. Sam's a good kid sometimes, apparently, though his good mood doesn't last and he grunts in Evie's direction saying that if she's coming she'd better hurry the hell up. She says she'll stay on the horse, he says that's probably the best idea, and they ride awkwardly back to the train station where Sam, Jacob and Nathan all fall asleep in the back of the wagon while Evie and Rudie ride through the night - Evie navigating, because this is familiar turf, and Rudie driving the cart and drinking - to bring them to the Fingers of the Earth by morning. There's a few painful moments where one or other glances back and sees 'the Forge boys', and others where they look up and see that the moon is now red enough that the light has a sickly crimson glow.
They pass the City of Lost Angels, giving it as wide a berth as possible. In the centre of the city they can just make out Grimme's tower (or 'Cathedral', as he calls it) and the flame at the top of it; luckily for Rudie this is all he can see, but Evie's keen eyes are her undoing and she gets the full view - the fire's spitting out creatures. To those in the city they'd look like angels. Evie having been through the hunting grounds she's apparently immune to Grimme's 'glamour' and sees them for what they really are - abominations. Grimme's clearly taking full advantage of the weakening of the wall between reality and the Deadlands.
As the sun rises on Day 10 the posse find themselves heading uphill, arriving at a mesa; the view from the top would, under any other circumstances, be fairly stunning - the shattered fragments of what was once California (now The Maze) spread across the distant sea, the sun rising behind a statue of two cupped hands bursting from the ground, silhouetting the lightening-struck tree behind them... but this is the Fingers of the Earth, and so it a sinking feeling.
Seeing the ruins in person rather than as Jacob's drawing brings memories flooding back for Evie; she and 'the old man' (i.e. Shelby) worked on this as one of their last cases for Sacramento. There were rumours it was some sort of portal, and that being their speciality they were dispatched to investigate... and then promptly pulled. Government orders. Shelby had not been happy. She also remembers the name of the scientist who replaced them at the site once the men in suits took over from the men in black dusters - Theopolis P Wilcox.
There follows more argument as to what they are supposed to do now. Evie asks Jacob and he... doesn't know, and can't remember ever mentioning this place (as a result of one of the many, many Black Jokers he's pulled - can't remember exactly which - he picked up the hindrance 'absent minded' and so will fail to remember important facts on a failed smarts roll) so she tells him to cast Hunch and try and remember, which he does. While he's spaced out Sam starts snarling about how they're wasting time and Evie spits back that charging in half-cocked isn't going to help matters. They get one shot at this and they're damn well doing it right. Jacob comes out of his trance with precisely zero useful information (or at least zero information he's prepared to share with the group) and while Evie remembers him mentioning a sacrifice she figures she can use this to her advantage (i.e. to keep Sammy alive) by not bringing it up. Nathan has made his way down, as have Rudie, and Sam turns and storms down which makes Evie's choice for her much as she's ranting under her breath about having to take the time to properly discipline Sam once this is over. Jacob also follows his son.
As they near the rocks the posse notice that there are a number of boxes set at the bottom of the fingers, and coils of copper wire spiralling around them. Evie notes that the boxes are full of ghostrock and emblazoned with the name 'Theopolis P Wilcox' but can't work out what they're supposed to do.
Someone steps out from behind the rocks, and the posse wheel around and train their guns on the man, who is flustered and nervous. Evie: “... Dr. Wilcox, I presume?” She's correct in that assumption, and some awkward conversation shoots back and forth between the Doctor, who wants to know why they're here (“not supposed to be, except maybe her... once. Not now. Before.”), and the posse, who just want him to go away. He's clearly completely nuts, and talks about various random things like whether turtles can hold spoons. He gets out this mysterious box and starts scanning people, taking particular interest in Sam - both Sam and Jacob apparently give off the same radiation, but it's stronger in Sam, and he's noticed the same radiation coming from the moon since it started turning red. Evie asks him what he's doing here, and he says something about how the government have told him he has to “keep those interfering bastards away from the portal”. He returns the question, and Evie (who's already established herself as a 'woman of science' by taking an interest in his scanning-device - though it should be noted that this probably doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things as Theopolis also thinks Nathan is a man of science because he uses the word 'thingummy') says they're investigating whether the resonance of the rocks is the third part of a series of correlations between Sam and the moon (her techie background coming in useful for possibly the first time ever, aside from gun maintenance).
Theo activates the device, and energy courses through the Fingers... and for a split second there's a tear in time-and-space, and Sam and Jacob feel themselves drawn towards it, and then it collapses.
Theo: “Fucksticks!”
Evie: “Sticks? Where?” (last thing she needs right now'd be her ex-husband turning up)
Rudie: “Fuck... sticks?”
Theo: “Shouldn't fuck sticks, idiot. You'll get splinters in your balls.”
There's an awkward moment where Theo asks who the parents are, is surprised at the idea of Evie and Jacob 'doing it', and leaps to the conclusion that she's slept with everyone in the group (which obviously isn't the case). He also takes an unhealthy interest in Mal's gun, saying it's 'been places'.
Rudepar, who's by now had some experience with portals, mentions lightening and asks whether that's the problem with the portal; he's not an expert, but he thinks it might need some energy. Theo starts looking at Sam with renewed interest, and asks if anyone's particularly attached to the boy which unsurprisingly has him looking down the barrel of Evie's 36 - Evie: “You could say that, yeah.” Sam is absolutely adamant that this has to happen; he's the key to opening the portal. Evie is equally adamant that that's not going to happen. She tries to reason with Sam at first, saying that charging in without thinking isn't what Mal taught him (and Jacob not-very-helpfully says there's nothing more in keeping with the family ideology than acting on impulse, and is promptly told to shut the fuck up), and he argues that they can't afford to waste time. She says she's putting her foot down; no fucking way she's watching her son kill himself in some stupid contraption on a 'feeling' it might be what needs to happen.
(Theo looks warily between the two of them, his hand on the button, waiting for permission - he seems to have decided that Evie's the one in charge, probably because he recognises her as an Agent).
Sam says he doesn't care what she thinks - he's done with doing things her way. All the posse ever do is kill - sometimes it's bad people. Most of the time it isn't. They've killed to feed Mal and (he says, worryingly) in time they'll kill to feed her, and he's done with that. He's also done with waiting around and doing nothing. They wait, all that happens is that they throw their lives away once Grimme makes it to the Fingers and there's no way Sam falling into Grimme's hands is anything but bad. He makes reference to Grimme eating him to gain his powers as one of the possibilities.
Evie: “Fine. If you're so fuckin' sure, Sam, you go kill yourself. Don't expect me to stand by and watch.”
Rudie: “... you might want to see this.
Evie: “No, Preacher. Don't ask me that.”
Theo flicks the switch. Lightening crackles. Sam screams. Reality tears in two. Sam and Jacob are gone, and the rest of the party throw themselves through the portal after them...
In-game music cue: Far Away (Jose Gonzalez>
… and she wakes up.
Cut back to the bar, where we left the posse. The Prospector shoots them a toothy grin, and says they'd better take a seat for this one as well. Nathan and Jacob head to the bar - Nathan because what does he know about their fucked up group dynamic, Jacob because alcohol makes everything better - and Evie smirks and asks the Prospector who this one “isn't supposed to be.” The Prospector corrects her, saying this one is someone. Evie shouts back to Jacob “... screw glasses; think we're going to need the whole bottle for this one” and the figure in the chair, in a familiar voice, says that he's already got that one covered, slamming a bottle down on the tabletop.
And Evie sinks into the chair opposite and seizes said bottle up, draining a measure as Father Rudepar Saint rejoins the party. The good Father is now hooded, and has a ghost-steel mask over his features, but the voice - and the love of whiskey - is unmistakable. At the corner of the mask one can see lumpy, scarred flesh, like it's been daubed back onto his bones in irregular chunks. That's not what's freaking Evie out, though - aside from noticing that there's something darker than the average harrowed (which is pretty dark) behind the good Father's eyes, whether it's because of her connection to the Hunting Grounds or something else she gets a glimpse of his Manitou. Or Mal's, as she's accustomed to thinking of it.
She doesn't really plan on telling anyone this. Sam spoils things for her somewhat by asking if the guy in the mask is Mal, and she says no, it's Rudie. Sam says he knows Nathan isn't Mal now but can see the thing inside him and it's the same one that was in Mal so that makes him Mal, right? Evie tries to explain how Harrowed work and mostly fails, and Sam sulks. This combination of failure and sulking / strop-throwing will become a running theme.
The posse debate for a moment what the best plan would be; in what will become another recurring theme, Evie suggests that they take the time to grab supplies because the Maze is a fucked up place and they'll want water, purifying tablets, whiskey for the Father... and everyone else vetoes that and opts to go as quickly as possible. Sam in particular is especially scathing of Evie's suggestion, snarling more than once that they should just get the fuck on with it already and pointedly moaning that it's a shame it took Mal dying for his opinion to start meaning a damn. Isaac goes off on his own (due to player absence) saying he'll catch up with the party in the Maze.
They make it to the station, and Jacob treats everyone to a rendition of the ”I really fucking hate trains” song - no, really. Nathan joins in with the counter-refrain ”I can shut him up if you want me to”. Evie asks if it's the sort of shutting-up that would draw attention, and Nathan says no, it'd just wind the cunt up a bit, which Evie says she doesn't have a problem with. Jacob overhears all of this (because they're not being sneaky about it; if anything it's pointed) and starts playing with his cards. Luckily it doesn't escalate beyond glaring (god bless the overdeveloped survival instincts) and Evie, Rudie, Nathan and Sam all board the train easily enough. Jacob stays on the platform singing his song for a bit longer while Evie tries to get one of the men to drag his ass on to the train (“... we're leaving the woman to do this? Fuck you all” - there's a slightly awkward moment, too, when she uses 'Jesus fuckin' Christ' as a curse and Rudie pipes up with “He is listening. He is with you.”). Jacob clings onto the rails either side of the door, wavering like he's dipping one foot in a swimming pool; he eventually steels himself to make the jump onto the train, and Evie rolls her eyes. “Very brave, Jacob; and your next trick is?”
Nathan and Evie have a brief disagreement about ghost rock. Evie being Mz. Technology, she thinks it is the best thing ever (unsurprisingly, she's been quick to sing the praises of anything they've run into in Denver - electric lighting, ghost rock, steamtanks - to a less-than-enthusiastic Mal-lookalike), while Nathan reckons there's something unsettling about it - any fuel that screams when you burn it...
Jacob - eventually, because he's bracing himself against the walls of the corridor - makes it to the cabin that the posse have secured for the journey, and sets about shutting all the windows, pulling down shutters etc. Sam foils that slightly by opening one of them and staring out of it (Evie considers mentioning that this is his first time on a train, but that's for another lifetime). Nathan heads off to find himself another carriage and settles on the one opposite, which houses a young family - husband, wife, daughter and son. Rudie tries to go to see the driver but is stopped short of the engine and told to return to the carriages as they'll be leaving shortly.
Evie and Rudie catch up a little; she asks how much the Prospector told him, and fills him in on where they're going and why. Rudie says he's with them until the end, Evie responds 'I'll drink to that' and they share some whiskey. Rudie points out that he'll need more; Evie asks how much he's had already (so as to estimate how pickled he is) and does some mental maths as to how long they've got before he starts smelling of death. In the wake of this Rudie and Jacob excuse themselves to go get more whiskey.
Over in the cabin with Nathan he notices that the family seem to have everything they own packed and stashed with them. He asks if they're headed to pastures greener, trying to make conversation (which he's not very good at) and the dad isn't in the talking mood. Nathan says that's fine, ain't none of his business, but he hopes they're not headed for LA because it's no place for children. The mother apologetically pipes up that she'd tried to tell 'Dan' (the father) that, and Dan continues stonewalling Nathan.
… and back in the posse's cabin Sam says “... you might want to see this.” and Evie takes a look out of the window to see a long line of people being shepherded by demons. Their shackles are new - at the back of the line, with her keen eyesight, Evie can see them being fitted - and their destination unclear, but this is unmistakably the same line from her vision, and at its head she can make out a familiar form. As if that's not enough, in the distance and on the horizon fires are burning; Evie reckons they're several of the smaller settlements in the Disputed Territories.
Nathan also spots this in his cabin, and tells the family to keep their heads down and whatever happens not to go outside but to keep the children hidden. He promises not to let anything happen to them.
Back in the posse's cabin Sam turns on Evie, saying this is all her fault and asking why she allowed him to be born - why she didn't let him die. Before she can respond he runs out of the cabin and she's at first too stunned, and then just plain reluctant, to follow him (she reasons he's better off having some space to himself - or tells herself that's the reason, at least. Yet another sterling example of her parenting style). Sam bolts towards the saloon, where Rudie and Jacob are (along with a lot of other passengers, most of whom seem to be intent on knocking back a few shots after seeing those demon things) and collapses into his dad's arms, sobbing.
Nathan is the first to return to the carriage and fails to pick up anything being wrong with Evie (the chick is pretty damn good at masking her emotions, apparently - is anyone actually surprised by this?). He says that one of these days he'd really like to know what the fuck is going on with them, and Evie replies “It's a long story, and I ain't got anywhere near enough whiskey”. Nathan conveniently produces a hip flask which Evie drains and hands back to him. She's on the verge of telling the whole story when Rudie returns, and instead asks him if they can talk privately when he has a minute. He says he's going to bed and she doesn't drop it, saying “When you get up, then.” before asking how Sam is (he's okay, says Rudie, but wants to be left alone).
In the saloon, Sam has found a table for himself and produces a deck of cards (not the ones Jacob gave him; Jacob has, in fact, never seen this deck before), performing various tricks Jacob's never seen. It's a little worrying. Jacob wanders over and tries to make conversation, and Sam spouts a load of colourful and venomous curses (which might not come as much of a surprise given his upbringing - Evie maintains that his first word was 'cunt' - except that he's generally been very well-spoken and left cussing to Mal, Evie or Jacob) which Jacob responds to in-kind as if he were bantering with Mal before pulling up a seat in the saloon and falling asleep.
Nathan heads off back to the other cabin where the father has fallen asleep, and finds that the son (Dan Jr.) is staring at him in something like awe, having noticed the resemblance between him and a particular moderately-famous outlawed gunslinger. He does the whole fanboy thing over Malcolm before moving on to ask questions about Jacob; he's particularly interested in whether he's “as bad as they say” and if there's any truth in the rumour that he can disappear. Nathan says that he's more annoying than bad.
At some point during the night Evie and Rudie are both awake and alone, and Evie opens by telling Rudie that she'll understand if the Harrowed Preacher thing is still a little weird but hopes he's up to take a confession: “Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It's been... wait, does it still count as confession if you're only doing it to maintain a cover story?” Pointed glare from Rudie. “Stupid question. It's been 27 years, 3 months since my last confession.” Rudie takes a deep pull from the bottle of whiskey and Evie rattles off her list of crimes - leaving out one, of course, because she's not really ready to admit to using her unborn son in a deal (though perhaps this is the one she ought to confess to now), but going through everything she's done at the Agency and all of the mess with Jacob and Anthony. She becomes a little hysterical when she mentions Sam - “I knew what I was carrying and I let him live and he's right, you were right, I should have listened to you and oh god, I'm going down the tree and I'm so scared, I'm a stupid selfish bitch and I'm going to burn” and so on and so forth. Rudie tries to calm her down, talking about how there's still time to redeem herself - Evie's not convinced, because she's pretty sure she's not walking away from this one - and how she'll be okay if she follows him, then makes the sign of the cross and hands her a bottle of whiskey. She asks him one more favour - that he'll promise to keep an eye on her son if it should transpire that she can't do it herself, and he says he'll look out for both of them. Evie: “I'll drink to that.”
And so they do, and when Jacob rejoins them (having left Sam asleep in the bar - he notices, before he leaves, that Sam's been crying in his sleep, and that with his feet up on the table and his hat pulled down he looks painfully like a young version of himself or - more poignantly - his brother). Evie is a little drunk and responds to his query as to where 'Mal' is by saying “He'sh in the Hunting Groundsh, I hope. Nathan's... shomewhere. I'm drinking.” Jacob goes off to find Nathan (or 'Mal') and Dan Jr's eyes widen all the more, though Jacob is a little more concerned by the fact that Dan's woken up and is pointing a gun at him. He leaves, though not before throwing the kid a red joker (using some huckster tricks to make it dance in the air before landing in his hands) and telling him it will bring him luck.
The posse arrive somewhere in the Great Maze, where the Union Blue railroad ends (it doesn't go all the way to Lost Angels because Grimme's declared that a nation in its own right), and face another one of those choices between going to get supplies or charging straight towards the goal. This time it's Rudie who pushes hardest for the 'supplies' option because he wants his cart back, and Sam gets bored with the argument and rides off. Jacob follows, because he goes where Sam goes, and Evie tries to keep pace with Rudie and Nathan for a bit before it becomes clear they'll be wasting a day if they go on foot and tells Rudie to get on her horse while Jacob doubles back and suggests Nathan gets on his. Nathan point blank refuses and says he'll wait for the posse at the train station (he doesn't 'do' horses, apparently, which is probably why he has a pack mule) while Evie encounters a little resistance from her horse (which she's inherited from Mal) as animals don't generally take too well to the living dead. Jacob decides to stay with Nathan (or Mal, as he sees it) - Sam and Evie might not be talking, but she's still his mother so he's not exactly alone and defenceless - and Evie rides off with Rudie. It's hard work keeping the beast going with its unusual passenger, but Evie manages to ride far above her skill level and thankfully having to concentrate on keeping it going leaves her little time to dwell on Sam.
While chasing after Sam Rudie tells Evie that when they get where they're going - which is some no-name outpost - he wants to say some things to Sam and would appreciate her not interfering. Evie has been using the time to try and psyche herself up to doing some actual 'parenting' rather than sitting back and letting Mal / Rudie do the job for her, and puts up a little resistance. Only a little, though.
Back at the station Nathan notices several Lost Angels. He and Jacob try to loose them in the crowd (Jacob toys with the idea of smoking them where they stand, but luckily realising a panicking crowd is not a good idea) but that doesn't work, so Nathan tells Jacob to hide and tries to lure them into the train where the fight can go down without witnesses. The Lost Angels do the job for them by clearing the crowd, saying it's official church business. Jacob sees a familiar shape in the distant sky as Nathan discretely cuts the palm of his hand and lets the blood drip onto the knife where it writhes around the blade like a hungry living creature (heartseeker, one of his Blood Magician spells) before closing on the Lost Angel. The winged creature swoops, taking out Jacob's legs.
Meanwhile, the rest of the posse arrive at the outpost. Sam dismounts and is dealing with his horse when Evie and Rudie pull up. Rudie leaps off Evie's horse and storms over to the boy, grabbing at his collar - Sam's a slippery wee bastard, but Rudie eventually gets a hold, and forces him to his knees. Sam protests, loudly. Evie pointedly pretends not to notice suddenly finds that Mal's horse demands a lot of her attention. Rudie removes his mask - Sam laughs: “You think you can scare me? I see worse than that when I sleep” - and Rudie tells him to shut up. Rudie lectures Sam about how he didn't choose the path he's on - didn't want to become what he is - none of them did, but all they can do is try to make some good out of that. Sam asks if Rudepar was there in the caves when he and Evie 'died' and Rudie admits that he was and tells Sam that Evie's doing the best she can but is only human, and loves him very much. Sam responds by saying that if she really loved him she'd have let him die, and raises his voice pointedly to criticise how she hasn't the nerve to face him herself, just keeps sending everyone else to deal with her problems. (which would have been the perfect moment for her to cut in, of course, but being Evie....) Rudie counters that Sam needs to pull himself together, have a little faith and help the rest of them stop the apocalypse already, saying that he's going to help him and that if he sticks with him he'll be okay. Sam starts crying, and Rudie lets him have his moment before they awkwardly part; Sam says he'll go pick up the supplies. Evie asks Rudepar if he still thinks she should have left that to him, but thanks him for trying.
They both notice that Sam is getting stronger the redder the moon becomes, and it worries them.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party are in trouble. The Lost Angel tries to attack Nathan and misses; Nathan counter-attacks and slashes him across the guts. As the Lost Angel falls Nathan turns back just in time to see the winged creature almost tear Jacob in half. Jacob collapses, passing out from blood and wind loss. Now alone, Nathan spots another two of Grimme's men approaching and the winged creature closing in for the kill on the unconscious huckster. He sprints towards the creature, spinning the knife in his hand ready to attack just before it hits Jacob, thrusting the blade deep into its gizzards. It lets out a howl of rage and pain and wheels away, taking the blade with it. Nathan turns to the remaining enemies, tossing his second knife to his good hand, spinning it around and slashing both palms. As the blood runs down it begins to steam and hiss and turns into a ball of flame (Nathan casts crimson fire) which he hurls towards Grimme's men who screams and writhes but isn't dead; Nathan finishes him with the blade, but not before sustaining a wound himself. The last remaining angel engages in a little knife-play but is hopelessly outmatched; Nathan cuts him once - “That's a wound” - twice “This is a kill” and he joins his brothers in the dust. Nathan dashes over to Jacob, who is still in a bad way, and in a final cast (cauterize, the standard blood magician 'heal') drips more blood onto his blade which causes it to glow like an iron fresh from the furnace and cauterizes Jacob's wound before bringing him back around with more conventional first-aid.
Back in town Sam returns with a cart and hands the reins to Rudepar. He smiles awkwardly at the reanimated preacher when he thanks him, and tells him to look in the back - and Rudepar rejoices to see a crate of whiskey. Sam's a good kid sometimes, apparently, though his good mood doesn't last and he grunts in Evie's direction saying that if she's coming she'd better hurry the hell up. She says she'll stay on the horse, he says that's probably the best idea, and they ride awkwardly back to the train station where Sam, Jacob and Nathan all fall asleep in the back of the wagon while Evie and Rudie ride through the night - Evie navigating, because this is familiar turf, and Rudie driving the cart and drinking - to bring them to the Fingers of the Earth by morning. There's a few painful moments where one or other glances back and sees 'the Forge boys', and others where they look up and see that the moon is now red enough that the light has a sickly crimson glow.
They pass the City of Lost Angels, giving it as wide a berth as possible. In the centre of the city they can just make out Grimme's tower (or 'Cathedral', as he calls it) and the flame at the top of it; luckily for Rudie this is all he can see, but Evie's keen eyes are her undoing and she gets the full view - the fire's spitting out creatures. To those in the city they'd look like angels. Evie having been through the hunting grounds she's apparently immune to Grimme's 'glamour' and sees them for what they really are - abominations. Grimme's clearly taking full advantage of the weakening of the wall between reality and the Deadlands.
As the sun rises on Day 10 the posse find themselves heading uphill, arriving at a mesa; the view from the top would, under any other circumstances, be fairly stunning - the shattered fragments of what was once California (now The Maze) spread across the distant sea, the sun rising behind a statue of two cupped hands bursting from the ground, silhouetting the lightening-struck tree behind them... but this is the Fingers of the Earth, and so it a sinking feeling.
Seeing the ruins in person rather than as Jacob's drawing brings memories flooding back for Evie; she and 'the old man' (i.e. Shelby) worked on this as one of their last cases for Sacramento. There were rumours it was some sort of portal, and that being their speciality they were dispatched to investigate... and then promptly pulled. Government orders. Shelby had not been happy. She also remembers the name of the scientist who replaced them at the site once the men in suits took over from the men in black dusters - Theopolis P Wilcox.
There follows more argument as to what they are supposed to do now. Evie asks Jacob and he... doesn't know, and can't remember ever mentioning this place (as a result of one of the many, many Black Jokers he's pulled - can't remember exactly which - he picked up the hindrance 'absent minded' and so will fail to remember important facts on a failed smarts roll) so she tells him to cast Hunch and try and remember, which he does. While he's spaced out Sam starts snarling about how they're wasting time and Evie spits back that charging in half-cocked isn't going to help matters. They get one shot at this and they're damn well doing it right. Jacob comes out of his trance with precisely zero useful information (or at least zero information he's prepared to share with the group) and while Evie remembers him mentioning a sacrifice she figures she can use this to her advantage (i.e. to keep Sammy alive) by not bringing it up. Nathan has made his way down, as have Rudie, and Sam turns and storms down which makes Evie's choice for her much as she's ranting under her breath about having to take the time to properly discipline Sam once this is over. Jacob also follows his son.
As they near the rocks the posse notice that there are a number of boxes set at the bottom of the fingers, and coils of copper wire spiralling around them. Evie notes that the boxes are full of ghostrock and emblazoned with the name 'Theopolis P Wilcox' but can't work out what they're supposed to do.
Someone steps out from behind the rocks, and the posse wheel around and train their guns on the man, who is flustered and nervous. Evie: “... Dr. Wilcox, I presume?” She's correct in that assumption, and some awkward conversation shoots back and forth between the Doctor, who wants to know why they're here (“not supposed to be, except maybe her... once. Not now. Before.”), and the posse, who just want him to go away. He's clearly completely nuts, and talks about various random things like whether turtles can hold spoons. He gets out this mysterious box and starts scanning people, taking particular interest in Sam - both Sam and Jacob apparently give off the same radiation, but it's stronger in Sam, and he's noticed the same radiation coming from the moon since it started turning red. Evie asks him what he's doing here, and he says something about how the government have told him he has to “keep those interfering bastards away from the portal”. He returns the question, and Evie (who's already established herself as a 'woman of science' by taking an interest in his scanning-device - though it should be noted that this probably doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things as Theopolis also thinks Nathan is a man of science because he uses the word 'thingummy') says they're investigating whether the resonance of the rocks is the third part of a series of correlations between Sam and the moon (her techie background coming in useful for possibly the first time ever, aside from gun maintenance).
Theo activates the device, and energy courses through the Fingers... and for a split second there's a tear in time-and-space, and Sam and Jacob feel themselves drawn towards it, and then it collapses.
Theo: “Fucksticks!”
Evie: “Sticks? Where?” (last thing she needs right now'd be her ex-husband turning up)
Rudie: “Fuck... sticks?”
Theo: “Shouldn't fuck sticks, idiot. You'll get splinters in your balls.”
There's an awkward moment where Theo asks who the parents are, is surprised at the idea of Evie and Jacob 'doing it', and leaps to the conclusion that she's slept with everyone in the group (which obviously isn't the case). He also takes an unhealthy interest in Mal's gun, saying it's 'been places'.
Rudepar, who's by now had some experience with portals, mentions lightening and asks whether that's the problem with the portal; he's not an expert, but he thinks it might need some energy. Theo starts looking at Sam with renewed interest, and asks if anyone's particularly attached to the boy which unsurprisingly has him looking down the barrel of Evie's 36 - Evie: “You could say that, yeah.” Sam is absolutely adamant that this has to happen; he's the key to opening the portal. Evie is equally adamant that that's not going to happen. She tries to reason with Sam at first, saying that charging in without thinking isn't what Mal taught him (and Jacob not-very-helpfully says there's nothing more in keeping with the family ideology than acting on impulse, and is promptly told to shut the fuck up), and he argues that they can't afford to waste time. She says she's putting her foot down; no fucking way she's watching her son kill himself in some stupid contraption on a 'feeling' it might be what needs to happen.
(Theo looks warily between the two of them, his hand on the button, waiting for permission - he seems to have decided that Evie's the one in charge, probably because he recognises her as an Agent).
Sam says he doesn't care what she thinks - he's done with doing things her way. All the posse ever do is kill - sometimes it's bad people. Most of the time it isn't. They've killed to feed Mal and (he says, worryingly) in time they'll kill to feed her, and he's done with that. He's also done with waiting around and doing nothing. They wait, all that happens is that they throw their lives away once Grimme makes it to the Fingers and there's no way Sam falling into Grimme's hands is anything but bad. He makes reference to Grimme eating him to gain his powers as one of the possibilities.
Evie: “Fine. If you're so fuckin' sure, Sam, you go kill yourself. Don't expect me to stand by and watch.”
Rudie: “... you might want to see this.
Evie: “No, Preacher. Don't ask me that.”
Theo flicks the switch. Lightening crackles. Sam screams. Reality tears in two. Sam and Jacob are gone, and the rest of the party throw themselves through the portal after them...
In-game music cue: Far Away (Jose Gonzalez>