Vandermatthews Drabble #3 “I won’t leave you behind”
“Dutch!” Hosea called amidst the chaos of the gunfire. A typical gunfight between the Van der Linde Boys and the O’Driscolls. This time though, it felt different. Colm was actually making an appearance and Dutch only saw red when Colm was around. “Dutch!” Hosea yelled at the man taking cover behind a downed log while he reloaded. “We need to run, we’re sorely outmatched! John’s pinned! Arthur’s almost out of ammo! And I don’t feel like dying for your blood feud today!”
Dutch turned around on the log unloading more bullets at the O’Driscoll’s trying his damnedest to get to Colm. Just one shot, that’s all he needed to bring that bastard down. Hosea growled to himself and looked at Arthur. “Get John and get the hell outta here!” he snapped.
“What about you two?!” Arthur asked.
“We’ll be fine! Dutch’ll run outta bullets soon enough. And I ain’t leaving him behind!”
“Just do as I say, Arthur! Just this once! Do as I say!” He yelled. Arthur looked at Hosea for a long moment and then nodded. He kept low while he ran after John and grabbed his arm. The two made a run for the tree line and hopefully back to camp.
Hosea was slightly relieved, at least he would’ve been if he wasn’t being shot at right now. He winced when a bullet came close to him. “God damn it all,” he muttered. He checked to see if he was loaded and turned from the tree he was hiding behind to start firing. He was not dying today, not until he gave Dutch a piece of his mind.
It seemed like hours, but it could’ve only been minutes when the shooting died down. Dutch took a few deep breaths and called over the log.
“Colm! Just come out! No one else needs to die today! This is between you and me!” he said.
“I don’t think so Dutch! You see, I have something you don’t!” Colm yelled back. Dutch rolled his eyes. Besides numbers, Colm really didn’t have anything he didn’t, but he’d humor him.
“What could you possibly have that I don’t?!” he called.
“Mr. Matthews!” Dutch’s blood went cold at that. No...no there was no way. Hosea was only a few feet from him. How the hell did he not notice that Hosea got grabbed?! Dutch looked over the log and his heart leaped into his throat when he saw Hosea on his knees with Colm’s gun pointed right at his head. Jumping up Dutch held his gun up to Colm his eyes darting between the two men.
“Let him go, Colm! Now!” Dutch screamed his voice cracking. This was not going to happen again to someone he loved. He wasn’t going to let Colm O’Driscoll ever hurt anyone he loved ever again. Colm laughed hard, nearly doubling over.
“You see Dutch...I don’t think I’m going to do that. You never got to see your dear Annabelle die, but that just made you angry. I have a feeling if I decided to put a bullet into Mr. Matthews’ head right now, it won’t make you angry. Oh no. It would break you, wouldn’t it, Dutch?” Dutch swallowed thickly his gun still aimed at Colm. He tried to do the math, tried to figure out a plan to get Hosea out of this alive. He couldn’t. If he fired, Colm’s bullet would hit Hosea faster than his own could hit Colm. Even if it did, there were other O’Driscoll’s all over the place. They could kill them both if he killed Colm. Then there would be no one to look after the boys.
There was no way out of this. Dutch bit his lip, tears burning his eyes. For the first time, he didn’t have a plan that could save their lives. One of them was going to die here and now. Dutch only had to decide which one. He knew the answer. Holstering his guns he put his hands up and made his way over to Colm and Hosea.
“Dutch...no! Just go get the boys and get out of here!” Hosea yelled. It was followed by a yelp when Colm hit him upside the head with the butt of his pistol making him fall forward groaning in pain. Rage bubbled up inside of him at the sight of Hosea trying to get up only to have Colm stomp his foot into his back pushing him back down. His gun was pointed right at his head.
“I ain’t losing you, Hosea. Not today, not ever.” Dutch said, trying to sound soothing, but he couldn’t deny his own panic. Hosea under Colm’s boot, his gun pointed right at his head. He stopped in front of them, his eyes resting on Colm. “Alright, you got me. Let him go,” Dutch said.
“Dutch…” Hosea breathed from the ground closing his eyes. They weren’t getting out of this. He could feel it. ‘I’m sorry boys, we love you.’ he thought. It wasn’t until he felt the pressure on his back lift that Hosea opened his eyes again. He slowly got up and moved to Dutch’s side and glared at Colm. “Sorry bastard,” he snarled at him.
“Hosea…” Dutch warned and looked over at him. “Go. Okay? You get the boys and you run. If I make it, I’ll find you. If I don’t…”
“I’m not leaving you behind god damn it,” Hosea said harshly.
“Just go! If I don’t make it you have to watch over our family!” Dutch snapped. He softened at Hosea’s sad eyes and leaned over to kiss him gently on the forehead. “Go.” He said again. Hosea closed his eyes and nodded turning to walk away. He looked back at Dutch one more time, then glared at Colm for a second before running through the tree line. Get the boys and run, he’ll be okay. Get the boys and run, he’ll be okay. That’s what continued to run through his head until he got to Silver Dollar and rode towards the camp.
