"Hello? Are you still in there?" Doctor Adams loudly knocked on the wooden door to get Johns attention.

John sloppily shot up from his resting place on the floor and accidentally snorted. "Give me a second." John called out.

He rubbed his eyes and groggily stood up, looking for his belongings only to remember that they had either been stolen or were being held as collateral. He felt sun hit his face as he opened the door. Blocking the sun from his eyes he looked to see Doctor Adams waiting to his left, holding a small black bag.

"Would you be so kind as to give me my hat?" John asked. Doctor Adams smirked and shook his head.

"I made it fairly clear in our agreement that you would receive your apparel and weapons in due time."

John was irritated but accepted that he couldn't do much without being kicked out of the only source of stability he had left. He didn't have anywhere else to go in the meantime.

"Well, what do you even have in mind for me to do? I'm not exactly in a state to do much if you can't tell." He put his hand on the blood stained bandage he had on his waist.

"Well, do you know how to handle a repeater?" Adams asked. John chuckled at the question. "Yeah I would say I know the basics. What for?"

Doctor Adams motioned for John to follow him as he walked back towards the cluttered shack. As he was walking along the docks he looks at the wrecked ferry, remembering how Dutch had tried to ambush him there not even a few months prior.

After picking up a large wooden box Doctor Adams looked at John. "Do you think that you could pick up the other one? You should be able to despite your wound."

Nodding, John picked up the large wooden chest and followed the doctor as he walked toward a wagon stationed besides the dock.

"So you didn't really answer my question." John stated. "Where are we going and what are we doing?"

Doctor Adams loaded the crate onto the back of the wagon before responding. "Sorry about that. We're just headed down to Thieves Landing to pay off some debt I owe and considering they aren't the most reputable of people I think some protection would be appropriate."

Climbing aboard the wagon Adams pulled out a Carbine Repeater stashed behind the seat of the wagon and handed it to John who had seated himself next to him.

They began their descent in silence until Doctor Adams began to speak. "So, what's your name?" John hesitated, trying to remember the name he had come up with previously when conversing with the man who took him to the doctor.

"Andrew...Morgan." He had said it with a noticeable pause between the words as he internally scrambled to remember what he had chosen. Looking at him suspiciously Adams continued further with his questioning. "So what line of work are you in Mister Morgan?"

"I'm work on a ranch not too far from here.." John answered semi truthfully, happy that he didn't have to lie about quite everything he said.

"Truthfully, I find that a bit hard to believe."

John turned his head to meet Adams, although he was still watching the trail. "Excuse me?" John said, mildly offended by the implication that he was lying however correct it may have been.

"I've seen all the bullet holes and scars you have when I was operating on you. You don't get those from ranch work and you certainly don't forget your name halfway through saying it.." Adams stated it in a matter of fact way, keeping focus on driving the wagon.

John snapped at him for the accusation. "Mister I don't want to make this any more serious than it needs to be but what information I tell you is my business and quite honestly I don't like what you're implying."

John waited a few seconds before he was met with a reply from Adams. "All I'm saying is that I don't quite buy your story and I value honesty." Doctor Adams let out a sigh and John turned his head to the right of the trail, pointing his gaze towards nearby trees. The rest of the trip was spent in an awkward silence until they neared Thieves Landing.

Doctor Adams cleared his throat as he pulled the wagon up to the warehouse nearest to the right entrance. "I just need to take the containers we loaded to that warehouse. If it sounds like I may be in trouble then don't hesitate to come to my aid."

John nodded as Adams dismounted the wagon and pulled the chest that they had loaded onto the back out and began walking behind the warehouse. He returned and once again unloaded the other box that they had taken.

A few moments after Adams disappeared behind the building John heard him yell out followed by a crashing noise. Taking that as his queue John quickly jumped off the wagon and rushed over to the source of the disturbance.

Turning the corner he was met with a man holding his hand over Adams mouth with a Double Action revolver to his chest. Noticing John the attacker pointed the revolver at him. "This doesn't concern you, move along."

John put his hands up and slowly started taking steps forward, motioning for him to lower the weapon.

"I'm afraid you're wrong there, I would suggest putting the gun down before this becomes anything more than it needs to be."

Despite his attempts the man persisted in pointing the weapon at John.

"I'm going to give you to the count of three before I sho-"

Before the man was able to finish his sentence John grabbed the barrel of the revolver and yanked it out of his hand. The man let out a surprised yell before he was hit in the head with the handle of the weapon. As the man staggered John grabbed him and pushed him over the rotting wooden fence surrounding the docks and surrounding area into swamp like mud.

"Come on, unless you want to wait around for someone to find us." John motioned for Adams to follow him. Heeding his request they swiftly hurried to the wagon, leaving Thieves Landing as fast as they came.

"What was that about?" John asked as they began to ride away from the warehouse.

"They're some friends that I owe money to and apparently they don't appreciate small payments." Adams rubbed his throat to ease the pain.

"Well they certainly don't seem like frie-" John was cut off by the noise of a gunshot. Turning around he saw multiple men on horseback riding towards the carriage firing off rounds from their rifles.

"Just keep driving the wagon i'll take care of them."

John pulled out the Carbine Repeater and took aim at the armed riders. His first shot nearly hit one of the men but narrowly missed, he winced as he felt pain in his wound from the recoil but he continued to take shots.

Firing another shot he managed to shoot one of the men in the chest, causing them to fall of their horse into the dirt. One of the attackers shot a bottle in the back of the wagon causing it to shatter, startling both of the men. After a few missed shots John once again landed one however it was on one of the riders horses, causing it to buck the man off and ride into the plains.

"Do you need any assistance?" Adams asked.

Waiting until he fired another shot to reply John responded. "I just need you to keep driving the wagon!"

After reloading the repeater John managed to hit the last of the men in the head, causing a spray of blood to shoot out from the back of the man's head.

"Are there any more of ya?!" John bellowed out, ready to fire on any more men who would try attacking the wagon.

"I think that's all of them." Adams stated, hoping John would stop.

They continued the short distance until they were at the edge of Quakers Cove. They took a few moments to regulate their breathing and recuperate their thoughts.

"Can I have my hat back now?" John jokingly asked, breaking the tension. Doctor Adams waved his hand and started to climb down from the wagon.

"Yeah I suppose you've earned that much." He chuckled before walking towards the shack that housed his supplies.

John took a second to yawn and roll his shoulders back before sliding off the side of the wagon. He strolled towards the small housing that he had spent the night at and leaned against its rickety walls, still exhausted by the events of the last few days.

Doctor Adams came out with John's hat and handed it to him. Taking the hat he promptly put it on his head before reaching for his pouch pocket only to realize he no longer had any pouches.

"Do you have a cigarette?"

Adams pulled a small carton of cigarettes out from his jacket and handing one to John after putting one in his own mouth. He took out a match and lit the two mens cigarettes before taking a deep inhale.

"So you owed those men money?" John asked, exhaling.

"Unfortunately I do. And a lot of it as well. I was trying to make a sizable payment but it turns out they won't accept anything less than the full amount." Adams sounded aggravated and bitter while talking.

"How much do you owe them?" John asked.

"Somewhere in the range of five thousand" Adams answered.

John scoffed at the number. "Jesus, no wonder you charged me so much there ain't any way you're going to be able to pay off a sum that large."

Adams sighed and took another drag of his cigarette. "No doubt."

They stood there smoking in silence until Adams finally spoke.

"You said you were searching for some people?"

John nodded. "Yea. I lost some folk that mean a lot to me and I really need to find them soon. I fear they may be in danger with some nasty people." He felt guilty that he hadn't been able to protect them better or find a place for them to hide. He desperately hoped that they hadn't been caught by the government or worse.

Adams took a second to consider before he began to speak. "I have a proposition." He looked hesitantly at John.

"I believe that we could work something out that would be mutually beneficial to both of us." Adams paused, gauging Johns reaction.

"Well what is it?" John asked. Intrigued by the offer he figured that he didn't have much to lose all things considered.

"I was thinking you could possibly stay here as a means of protection for me and I could give you a place to shelter you and search for whoever you're looking for?.." he once again awaited to see what response he would receive from the unpredictable man.

He unpropped himself from the wooden shack. "I don't see any reason to say no." John briefly shook hands with him before Adams began to speak again.

"Are you ready to get some more work done?" Adams asked. John flicked his cigarette into the water and began to follow him. Adams slowly began to walk towards the end of the docks. "I think it is appropriate to rearrange my shop into a more pleasing state of array, would you mind helping?"

"I wouldn't assume I have much of a choice? Do I?" Adams gave him a response but he was too preoccupied looking at the wrecked ferry stationed beside them to listen to what he had said.

He was given a brief rundown of how Doctor Adams wanted things sorted and they got to work. John sorted dozens of tonics that had been strewn around different places in order of size and purpose while Adams re-mounted shelves. They worked in relative silence but not through lack of trying on Adams part to strike a conversation that was not met by a similar effort on Johns part. Eventually however, they finished.

Doctor Adams took a step back to look at the state of the interior. "I think it looks fine. The structure itself is beyond repairing but it's certainly better than it was before. Nothing inspires you to clean up quite like a brooding stranger."

John walked past him to the door frame. "What's next?" Adams looked disappointed at the lack of approval but nevertheless walked outside the shack. "I'm going to head into Blackwater to sell some supply, come along."

Taking a few more steps John stopped walking forward. "I can't go to Blackwater." He knew that if he went to Blackwater a police officer or government official would almost surely be able to identify and apprehend him.

Doctor Adams looked offended at the rejected. "What do you mean you can't go? No offense but I still expect you to help me with my work in exchange for staying here."

John threw his hands up a short distance. "I don't have the time to explain it right now but I would be in a dangerous circumstance that would most likely lead to both of us being in mortal danger."

He let out a sigh of disappointment. "Occupy yourself with something productive while you're here. I'll be back sometime around dark."

"Understood." John said as he nodded.

Adams waved him off before walking towards the wagon and riding up the hill out of distance. John waited until he was out of view before he walked back into the small shack that he and Adams had rearranged. He began opening boxes and looking into compartments trying to find his holster.

Although he had no intention of running off he wanted to at least be reassured that he would still have his holster and gun returned to him at some point. Although he looked in every logical place for it he couldn't find a trace of its whereabouts.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful for John. After giving up on finding his holster he opted to clean the shack that he himself had been sleeping in closer to the shoreline although it was much less of an undertaking than the mess that was Adams. He walked along the waterline and eventually met an older man who was fishing peacefully. He struck idle conversation with John and eventually offered to lend him a spare fishing rod he had taken with him. John, grateful at the opportunity to do something remotely interesting with his free time accepted the offer and they spent a portion of the day fishing.

The men parted ways and John headed back to the dock as the sky began to turn dark shades of gray along with large puffy clouds making their way across the landscape, indicating a storm. He took a seat on one of the crates stored in the structure that had been allocated to him by Adams. He wished that he had Arthur's journal in his possession still and was disheartened by the idea that he had lost everything written inside.

Seeing that Doctor Adams had still not returned he decided to lie down in a more comfortable position on the floor than he had the previous night as he stared into the ceiling. He decided to start making plans as to what to do next but wasn't able to rationally think as he slowly began to fall asleep just as a gentle rain started pelting the roof of the building.