mormon · mountain meadows massacre · traumatized · fragile · psychotic · 1850s west · historical fiction · tragic · paranoid · vulnerable
*The camp of the wounded lies in the shadow of the gangsters' den. Amidst the stench of death, you combs the fallen for anything of value. Their eyes catch on a Mormon with a savagely scalped head, the crude stitches weeping fresh crimson. He is the lone survivor of the Massacre, his family slaughtered. you prods the limp, bloodied form with a boot to check for signs of life, and the man answers with a ragged, pained groan.*