Kill-Reward

The gang quickly broke into groups. 

There was the first group that knew what the train job was about and talked about it amongst themselves as they rode and there was the group that didn't. Henry was the only one in the second group but he didn't mind. 

As he rode, the wind blew against him and he had a bright smile on his face. He always got a sense of freedom while riding a horse. He could still remember his mount in his past life but when his thoughts went to how brutally the horse was gunned down by the law, he forcibly pushed the thoughts to the side. 

On a brighter note, he could feel Nyx's excitement as she whinnied and galloped. Had Henry not pulled on her reins a bit, he had no doubt she would have bounded forward and overtaken every other horse in the formation. 

Being at the back of said formation, Henry enjoyed the isolation. His eyes on occasion looked to the side at the blurring of the green scenery only to have that view blocked when a horse drew back from the formation to ride by his side. 

The rider, Triss, smiled at him,

"You nervous?" She asked. 

"A little," Henry admitted. 

He had been on many robberies and heists in his past life but never been on one without a weapon. He felt so powerless… almost naked. 

"Ah, not to worry," said a male voice and Henry looked to the side to see someone else draw back from the formation,

"Stay close and you'll be fine," the man said. 

Henry looked at the man and he must have appeared confused because the man smiled comfortingly,

"I'm Stefan," he said. 

"I know who you are," Henry told him with an acknowledging nod. 

Stefan was Triss' brother and the other half of their sibling criminal duo before they joined the Dionisio gang. Looking at them, you could easily see the resemblance. Same shade of hair (reddish brown) and good looks clearly ran in the family. 

"And I know you," Stefan said, a wry smile on his handsome face, 

"I admit, I wasn't very optimistic about you coming along for this job but Triss says there's something about you. 

Just try not to stray."

"Right," Henry said simply, looked forward and kept his sights trained ahead. 

The gang rode until they could see the town of New Freudein up ahead and then they took a small detour to hide in the cover of trees where they all dismounted. 

Angus pulled out binoculars and as he looked through them, he chuckled as the target train pulled into the station for a quick stop before continuing on its way. 

"Right on time. 

Joe, you'll watch the horses till we get back," he called out, "The rest of you, come along. We've got a train to catch."

Angus led the charge. The gang moved swiftly but cautiously, avoiding watchful eyes as they made their way to the New Freudein train station. At the very end of the target train was a cargo car that was mostly empty and had the least security. Everyone got on and they found cover while they waited for the train to get moving. 

Ten minutes later and the train let out a long whistle and with steady *Chugga* *Chugga* sounds, it pulled along the rail track and away from the New Freudein Station. 

Angus got out of his cover then and gestured that the others do the same,

"Alright, ladies and gents, this is it. I've planned this for a while and mapped out the swiftest and safest way to succeed,"

Angus found a horizontal flat surface and unrolled the map he had brought along with him on it. 

Henry remembered seeing the map on the table in the meeting room earlier that day. 

"Remember, we have an hour before this train reaches the intersection at which point it'll go past a second train that's on its way back to the New Freudein Station. We must get on that second train before it gets away. 

Alright, we'll move in teams. Stefan, Charles, Tony, you'll take Henry with you and shake up the passengers for all the valuables they've got. Use force if necessary but avoid any deaths if you can."

Charles snorted at that caution and Angus glared at him,

"We're not killers. Not unless we have to be at least. 

The rest of you will come with me. We're heading to First Class. That's where the real prize is.

Alright, masks on…"

"Here," Charles said as he held out a spare mask for Henry to put on. It was a black mask with cut outs for his eyes and nose and Henry promptly fashioned it on his head. 

"Let's move," Angus said as he walked out of the cargo car with Triss, Dana, Devon, and a guy named Kirk following his lead. They climbed up the next train car and made their way across the roof to the First-Class Car. 

"Come on," Stefan told Henry as they walked through the next two cargo cars before arriving at a door to a passenger car that he promptly kicked in. 

*Bang!*

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, cooperate and I won't have to give the walls a repaint with your brain," Charles said in a deep voice as he brandished his gun out at the stunned passengers. 

Collective gasps sounded out but everyone remained right where they were. This was especially the case when Stefan walked in with a gun in each hand,

"My friend is being unnecessarily crass but we do require your cooperation," he said with a smile. It went unseen because of his mask but somehow he was still charming. 

"Wh-what is this?" A man in a blue uniform asked with his hand reaching toward the holster at his waist. 

"It's a frickin' carnival, you dimwit. What the hell does it look like?" Asked Tony with his gun pointed at the uniformed man's head,

"Now, don't do something as stupid as pulling that gun of yours. Take it out slowly, place it on the ground and kick it this way."

The uniformed man frowned and twitched a few times. His eyes darted out behind him toward the window in the door that led to the next passenger car like he was hoping for support. When none seemed to be coming, he did as he was told and kicked the gun towards Tony. It arrived at Henry's feet instead.

Henry's eyes were glued to the gun. It was a revolver fully loaded with six bullets. 

For a good few seconds, Henry was transfixed. It wasn't just the fact that his choice weapon seemed to have been delivered to him but also that a notification had appeared in front of his eyes on a semi-transparent blue screen. 

*[Gunslinger Class: Master of the Gun-toting arts. You are most in command of yourself when you wield a gun. Your perception is heightened and you are scarcely to be caught off guard.] 

"Go on, Henry, pick it up. And try not to shoot yourself this time," Tony said. Charles and Stefan laughed as well. 

"Ha ha, very funny," Henry said while rolling his eyes but he was smiling as he reached down, picked up the gun, and pushed it into his waistband. 

"Take this," Tony said as he handed Henry a bag, "Go around so these fine folks can hand in their donations."

"Don't be stingy people. Give all you've got," Charles said in that deep 'persuasive' voice of his. 

Henry moved around and the people dropped their wads of cash, coin purses as well as other valuables into the bag. The handle of his newly gotten gun was out in display but no one dared reach for it. 

And then, when they were almost done with the passengers, Henry saw something out of the corner of his eyes;

The uniformed man took notice of the fact that the eyes and attention of Charles, Tony and Stefan were no longer really on him so he reached back and wrapped a hand around a spare revolver he had tucked away. 

In a split second, the uniformed man pulled out his weapon and pointed it at Stefan but right before his finger could clench the trigger…

*Blam!*

… Henry pointed his gun and fired a single shot right between the man's eyes. The death was instant and so were the screams of horror. 

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

As the screams rose in pitch, Henry received an alert from the entity in his head;

[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Kill-Reward System!]

[You have received 10 Exp]