Barlowe Station

The mayor's plan to raise a lynching mob never materialized thanks to Ruby's patented SleepOMatic Tincture delicately (liberally?) applied to his wine.

Still you have been paid to watch the jail and watch it you do.

That night, at about one o' clock in the morning or there abouts, some of you may hear something.

Roll Notice checks. Apply a -2 if you think you'd be asleep, mayhaps taking turns to watch the night pass by in this sleepy and quiet tiny town.

Delilah Dillon is passed out on a bench, snoozing lightly with her hat covering her face when the sounds come...

Dirt had been expecting a fight, but a fight never came. Probably for the best, if he wanted to break from the old life. Wouldn’t be right to leave a trail of bodies all the way to his new abode.

By the middle of the night, he’s getting lax in his watch, but he keeps himself awake at the very least. He paces out front, counting his steps on the wood to keep his eyes from getting too heavy.

Ruby definitely gets her beauty sleep and since she takes a night out on the town, she is not on watch rotation. But before she gets to sleep, she hears the ghostly wailing of an eerie train whistle. "What now?" she grumbles to herself. She heads out to see who's on watch and to see if they heard what she did.

Dirt hears the wailing and it startles him from his relaxed watch. Not knowing what it was, decides to shake Dillon back to the land of the living.

"Reckon something awful just happened." he says, as a warning to get the woman in the right frame of mind.

When the chime goes a second time, he feels a bit stupid, especially with Ruby out to check on things too.

"I’m sorry, Marshal! I thought it was a woman. Reckon it’s just the next train coming through. You get yourself back to rest."

On his watch, Kane had a chance to assess things. No one had addressed the barefooted folks, if they were even folks at all. He chewed on that whole situation for a spell but came to no solid conclusions. Later when the creepy train whistle blew, he had an inkling, almost a premonition, that they might be connected.

"You heard that to did ya, Ruby? Mighty odd I'd say."

Dillon is quick to rise, though her head is a big foggy. She slept with her boots on, so getting up, putting on her gun belt and setting her hat straight is all that's really required for her to join the party.

"It's alright, Mr. Briggs. It's -- what is that? A train whistle?"

Listening more carefully, and doing some mental calculations that include the strange scream of that whistle, what they found at Barlowe Station and some stories told to her by her pa, DD pulls her Winchester from the bag she brought from the train.

"Suggest we prepare for anything," she says as she checks to make sure the weapon is loaded.

"As you say." Dirt responds with a resigned sigh, before gritting his teeth and checking his own weapons. He supposed the Marshal must be worried that the train is the key to the whole mystery, and it might be coming down the track to make itself known right this minute!

The train reaches Varney Flats less than 10 minutes after the second whistle. Anyone watching the tracks sees a train come to a halt at the station, an easy feat from the Marshal's Office.

The train appears old and weather-beaten from a distance. Behind the locomotive and coal tender are three other cars. The first two are windowless "sleeper" cars and the last is a freight car.

The train sits for a moment, the locomotive softly huffing like a great, panting beast. Then the whistle once again splits the night air. Closer, it’s wail sends a chill down your spines.

Immediately after the shadows grow a bit darker and the night air chills, doors at both ends of the sleeper cars burst open. Thirty frenzied people pour out of the train and into town looking for blood.

The creatures are going to spread throughout the town and even to the buffalo camp off to the side. That is, it won't likely turn into some kind of mass battle, but a series of chaotic skirmishes. It's also dark and hard to see what is going on.

A dozen or more come toward the Marshal's Office and then split up. Two try to get into the building you're in, rattling the locked door.

Your move.

"Marshal! We got raiders, looks like!!" Dirt calls, already holding his pistols up and leading the figures so he can get a shot off.

"I can’t see their feet too good, but there’s a lot of them!" he shouts, and opens up with both pistols on the ones that try to barge into the law office.

"Is it too late to go back to sleep?" she grumbles as the train disgorges a horde of crazies into town. "I have a bad feeling a lot of people are going to die tonight. Let's not be one of them. We need to barricade here and make a defensible position." Ruby moves to close all doors and windows, locking them if possible, moving furniture in front of them if not.

"I see 'em!" DD calls from the window she'd been looking out since the train arrived. "This must be the same crew that did in the poor station manager in Barlowe Station! We need to warn the townsfolk!"

Delilah nods and says, "Good idear," when Ruby starts barricading, and then the woman works the lever on her '73 and levels it at the door where two of the fiends are already pounding.

"Y'all gots till the count of three out there to back off or we open fire! One! Two!"

As they get to the door, you think they're definitely some kind of undead. Feral, unholy, ravenous. The two fling themselves at the door, hellbent to tear it from its frame.

Kane had his ever present Big 50 at the ready when he heard the strange whistle. Wheeling around he pointed the muzzle at the feral creatures and fired at one of them as they came inside.

"I don’t think they speak, Marshal!" Dirt says, as the beating on the door continues after the law-woman’s warning! He unloads his pistols at center mass through the door in concert with the others!

Kane's shot hits one of the creatures (Shaken)

Dirt hits with both shots: the first does no damage, but the second hits ( Wounded since it was already Shaken, which takes it out).

"Dead men tell no tales," Ruby says as she pulls her pistol and fires out of a small gap in one window.

Despite striking it with a bullet, Ruby fires no harm to the creature.