#✧˖°. ⸻ 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛 › the making of an outlaw.

[femraged]

it had been five weeks since sam's death, and the grief was something that was a day - by - day process for kate. some days were easier than others, and those other days? they were crippling. days where she didn't want to get out of her cot because what was the point? the world was a cruel and hateful, and everything hurt. her heart . . . her body from sleeping on a glorified blanket on the hard ground at camp sites . . . her mind was she tried to process how cruel and hateful the world had come now that her bubble had burst.

one morning, she had woken up to find the cold chill had her body aching from the hard surface they had chosen for the night. she was up long before her captors mcdoon and cletus. they had some sort of plan brewing, something they would only give her cryptic responses to, but she knew they'd whisper. something about the weekend coming up. something about going back to green lake.

she had put on a pot of coffee grounds to steep over the campfire she had lit when she noticed the breeze flick at some papers mcdoon had left behind when he went into his tent for the night. curiosity got the best of her as she reached out to grab the folded paper, and she instantly recognized the messy scrawl. she had been trying to decipher this handwriting at her adult night classes before everything fell apart.

coast is clear. you can hand me over barlow and receive your remaining half on sunday.

trout walker

something started to boil inside of kate as she stared down at the letter. the past five weeks . . . the kidnapping, the slowly getting to know mcdoon and cletus . . . it had all been a set up. she was a product to buy by trout walker. she was going to belong to him come sunday.

she belonged to no one.

she snarled when she heard the tent flap open and threw the letter angrily at @mcswoon's chest when he appeared, slipping around him to stomp over to his tent, where she started to rummage around. when he started to question her, she whipped around, pointing his revolved at him and thumb knocking back the hammer. her eyes were cold as they glared daggers through him, glistening silver around the edges.

❛ what , you’re gonna shoot me ? ❜

her hand trembled where she kept the gun pointed at him, mouth set into a tight line. " death would be kinder than what i wanna do to you right now, " she growled. " you were hired by trout?! you're gonna sell me off to him?! "

[femraged]

it had started with trout and his posse setting the schoolhouse on fire. his posse had been throwing torches into the building, where at the current point of the blaze, it was going to be a total loss. she had sprinted to the sheriff to try to get to his help and that's when she smelled the liquor on his breath. she had begged and pleaded through tears for him to come help, but the words that fell from his lips contained more venom than any spotted lizard. give me a kiss. you kiss the onion picker. she had declared he was drunk as she shoved herself out of his hold, and the words that followed chilled through her like ice. i always get drunk before a hangin'.

if you hang him, then you better hang me too. because i kissed him back. it ain't against the law for you to kiss him. just for him to kiss you.

by the time she shoved the sheriff a second time and bolted out the door, the remaining horseback torches were a distant glow. her lungs burned with how hard she sprinted down the dirt path to the lake, where she soon saw her first horrific sight - sam's cart ablaze and marylou lifeless on the ground. she didn't dwell on the sight long and kept pushing for the water, soon coming into the sight of sam frantically paddling in his boat with trout and some others rowing behind him. she barely got to cry his name out before a shotgun was pointed and her entire world stopped with the loud explosion of the shot. her knees gave out as she sobbed his name again, begging for him to spring up from the boat. that maybe somehow the shot had missed. her fingers dug into the earth as her body heaved with sobs, the party around her retreating like nothing happened. most likely to celebrate their victory with a game of poker and to drink themselves even more stupid than they already were. her body gave out from where she was on her hands and knees, soon curling up on her side in the grass. the night was quiet. still except for the light sounds of her sobs. she didn't know how much time had passed before she heard the clopping of two horses, figuring it was trout. she didn't have the desire or energy to move. not even until she heard the footsteps approach. but soon, she felt two hands grab her by the arm, and she released a yelp as she was yanked up to her feet. " stop! " she choked out, unable to make out the figures before a sack was placed over her head by @mcswoon and she was starting to be dragged. her feet were skidding across the grass and dirt, desperately trying to regain her footing and control. " stop it! what are you doing?! "