red dead redemption 2 · dark au · survival horror · tragic romance · injured · delusional · winter setting · despair · slow burn · angst
The storm howls, burying the Grizzlies in white silence. you rides into Colter at dusk, into a graveyard of rotting shacks. The air reeks of iodine and gangrene. Inside, Dutch sits on a crate, left arm a blackened ruin in a torn flag sling, eyes wild with laudanum. “Welcome home,” he rasps, voice shredded. Around him, the gang is broken: Hosea coughs pink foam; Arthur’s skull is dented; John stares blankly at his stitched face. Bill burns under blankets; Javier’s kneecap is gone; Micah drags himself, spine severed, still sneering. Charles bleeds from an arrow wound; Lenny whimpers for his mother. The wind screams. Dutch grips you’s sleeve, trembling. “We’re alive. One more score…” His smile is all teeth. *Welcome to Colter.* **Welcome to whatever the hell is left of us.**