When Ellis awoke the next morning, Mary-Beth wasn't at his side. He looked around for a moment before deciding to eventually get up, putting his gun belt around his waist.

"Where's that damned hat?" Ellis grunted, searching around the cabin for it. The hat was nowhere to be found. Ellis left the warmth of the cabin and out into the snow. The storm had calmed down now and the snow was just gently falling.

"How you doing?" Ellis turned to see Arthur talking to him.

"Fine, and you?" He asked.

"Going hunting with Charles soon," said Arthur, rubbing his hands together. "Well, you've seen my skills with a bow," both men chuckled lowly, entering the cabin where most of the members are sat, including Mary-Beth with Ellis' hat.

"Lost something, dear?" She smiled innocently up at him. Ellis laughed, closing the door behind Arthur and him. He then walked over to the fireplace where Tilly, Abigail and Mary-Beth are sitting. He puts his hands in front of the fire for a second to warm them up.

"Real funny, Miss Gaskill," said Ellis, clapping sarcastically. "Should become a comedian."

"Thank you, thank you," said Mary-Beth, bowing as she giggled. She leant up and placed Ellis' hat on his head and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I'm here all week."

After a moment of silence, Abigail spoke up.

"Hello, Arthur," she said unsurely.

"Abigail," Arthur nodded. Abigail stood up.

"Arthur..." she paused. "How you doing?"

Ellis chuckled at the brief pause that came from Arthur, the older man staring suspiciously at Abigail. "Just fine, Abigail... and you?"

"I need you to... I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry to ask but..."

"It's little John... he's got himself caught into a scrape again," Arthur teased.

"He ain't been seen in two..." Abigail began angrily, before taking a deep breath and calming down. "Two days," Abigail finished.

"Your John'll be fine. I mean... he may be as dumb as rocks and as dull as rusted iron... but that ain't changing because... he got caught in some snowstorm."

"I'll go," Ellis spoke up, causing Abigail to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Are you sure, darling?" Mary-Beth spoke up from where she sat, playing with the fingers of Ellis' left hand. She ignored the heated look Abigail sent her way, placing all of her concern to her partner, who seemed like he'd drop asleep at any moment. "You need your rest too."

"I'll be fine, promise," Ellis sent her a reassuring smile, raising her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss upon her palm. "Besides, I like to think John would do the same for me."

"If you're sure, sweetheart," Mary-Beth smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Javier?" Said Hosea, standing from his seat.

"Yes?"

"Javier, will you ride out with Ellis... to take a look for John?" Hosea asked, causing Javier to nod. "You're the two best fit men we've got."

"Now?" Javier and Ellis asked in unison.

"She's... we're all... we're pretty worried about him," Hosea reasoned with the two of them, causing them to nod.

"I know if the situation were reversed and... he'd look for me," Javier repeated what Ellis said. Javier stood up and handed Ellis a Sawed-off Shotgun. Ellis took the weapon and loaded it.

"Thank you," Abigail told them both gratefully.

"Have fun hunting," Ellis mumbled to Arthur, who only smirked in response.

"You stay safe, no matter what," Mary-Beth told Ellis. He nodded, leaning down and capturing her lips. "I love you, Ellis."

"And I love you, alright?" Ellis squeezed her hands. "See you in a minute," Ellis smiled. Javier and Ellis exit the cabin, mount their horses and set off.

"This way. Last I know, John was headed up the river," Javier explained over the storm. "He wouldn't just leave. Not like that."

"Well, wouldn't be the first time," Ellis muttered under his breath. Ellis and Javier headed up to the mountains through the blizzard.

"Hey, I see some smoke. Come on, let's take a look," Ellis and Javier ride hard up the hill.

"At least it ain't O'Driscoll's" said Ellis when they stopped by an abandoned campsite. Javier dismounted his horse, walked over to the abandoned campsite and inspected it, along with tracks he found.

"Well... seems somebody left... recently... and... that way," he pointed to horse prints in the snow. Ellis just nodded. Javier and Ellis began going up the mountain again until they come across a small river. They cross the river and continue heading up the mountain with their horses.

"Do you think it's John?" Ellis asked hopefully, riding close to Javier.

"You tell me. These are horse tracks for sure, but... could be anyone. Let's just see where they lead," the blizzard began rapidly picking up at this point, as Javier and Ellis are now bracing for the oncoming winds. They come across an icy crevice as they travel further. The two come across a large mountain slope, in which the blizzard is stronger than before. They continue upwards.

"Damn snow's coming in hard again," Ellis grumbled, shivering.

"We'll lose these tracks if we don't move fast," Javier and Ellis arrive at a steep cliff, with only a relatively small section of ledge to move across. They do so, carefully and steadily. Their horses start showing signs of struggle due to the conditions of the area. It started to get a little bit more difficult for them to move forward as a result.

After a while of riding, Javier and Ellis come upon a wider path.

"Hey, look. Over there," said Javier, pointing at something on the ground. They continue towards the thing that Javier spotted, seeing a dead horse lying on the ground, partially mauled and bloodied. "John was riding that horse when we left Blackwater."

"Oh... sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph," Ellis grimaced.

Javier took out his revolver and fired a shot into the sky.

"Hey! Help! Here!" They hear a distant voice that sounds like John in the distance. Ellis and Javier look at each other and shrug, riding closer to the sound.

"It's coming from up ahead somewhere," Javier pointed out. The two dismount their horses, Ellis grabbing a Sawn-Off Shotgun from his saddle.

Javier and Ellis climb up ledges, crawl under tight rocks and Ellis nearly fell off the damn mountain if it wasn't for Javier catching him by the wrist.

"Thanks," Ellis nodded.

"Mary-Beth would have my cojones if you died," Javier joked, and Ellis couldn't help but smile at the mention of his partners name.

"John, can you hear me?" Javier called out after a bit more walking. "John! John, where are you?"

"I'm here! Out on the ledge!"

"He's down here!" Javier called out to Ellis.

"That's quite a scratch you got there, brother," Ellis grinned mockingly at John, seeing him lying against the ledge.

"Never thought I'd say this, but... it's good to see you, Sue Jenkins," John cracked a painful smile.

"Still an asshole I see," Ellis chuckled, climbing down the ledge and inspecting John's scratches. "You don't look so good."

"I don't feel too good neither," John grunted, swearing under his breath when Ellis picked him up and stowed him on his shoulder.

"I'm freezing," John grumbled.

"Aren't we all?" Ellis asked rhetorically. "Left my missus by the fire to come freeze my ass off for a sorry sack of shit father."

"Yeah, I'm really in the mood for the lecture," John said sarcastically as they traversed over the mountain and back to the horses.

"Look up there," Javier pointed to three wolves staring them down.

"Well, fuck me," Ellis grumbled, handing John over to Javier.

"You head for the horses, I'll keep John's friends off until you're clear," Ellis said, pulling his shotgun out of the holster and loading two bullets into it.

Ellis is whistled for the wolves attention, and cursed silently under his breath when they took their attention off John and began circling him.

"Shit!" Ellis cried after killing the first two wolves easily with a shot to the head, but as he went to reload the third wolf bit him on the wrist causing him to drop the gun. "You fuckin' motherfucker!"

Ellis kicked and punched the wolf repeatedly, before grabbing his hunting knife from the holster beside his revolver and jamming it through the wolf's eye.

"You got 'em all. Good work, Ellis," Javier nodded at him. "You okay?"

"Son of a bitch bit me!" Ellis grumbled, cradling his hand. He took off the black leather glove that was filling with blood and looked down to see the bite mark and mangled flesh of his wrist.

"That looks pretty bad, come on," Javier grimaces, snapping the horses reigns. Ellis quickly mounted his horse, quickly peeling off back down the mountain.

After killing some more wolves with his less dominant hand, Ellis took a deep breath as he began to feel more drowsy.

"You still with us, Ellis?" John called back to him, not looking the best either.

"Just about."

"You're both gonna be okay," Javier tried his best to reassure them. "We have some shelter now," he told John.

"Thanks for coming for me," John grunted.

At some point, Ellis passed out from the blood loss, but he awoke as they rode back into camp.

"Come on! Someone help John and Ellis down off the horses!" Javier called out to the group.

Ellis watched from atop his horse as Abigail rushed out of the cabin, quickly followed by Bill and Lenny to help John off Javier's horse. They carelessly pulled John off the horse and the Marston man groaned in pain from his injuried leg.

"Ay, careful idiotas, it's his leg!" Javier scolded them both before he turned to Ellis and with Hosea's help they got him down.

"You look like you've been through Hell, son," Hosea commented, looking at his blood soaked hand.

"Getting mauled by a fucking wolf does that to a person," Ellis grunted, shaking off Abigail's thanks before freezing in the doorway when he seen Mary-Beth.

"I thought you said you'd be safe!" Mary-Beth said worriedly, rushing to Ellis' and Javier's side.

"Didn't expect to meet a wolf, darlin'," Ellis grinned at her but his face fell when he saw the worry etched onto her face. "I'm okay, Mary-Beth, I promise."

"No you ain't," Mary-Beth scolded him, helping Javier bring him into the cabin they shared. Javier bid them goodnight before leaving them alone.

As the door creaked shut behind Javier, the warmth of the cabin enveloped Ellis, causing him to sigh in relief. He leaned against the wall, his breath coming in ragged gasps as Mary-Beth knelt beside him, her hands trembling slightly as she examined his wound. The flickering light of the oil lamp cast shadows across her face, showing the deep concern in her eyes.

"Ellis, you're bleeding too much," she whispered, her voice barely above a hush. "We need to clean this up before it gets worse."

"Yeah, I know," he replied, trying to sound more nonchalant than he felt. "Just a little scratch. Nothing I can't handle." He winced as she gently probed the bite with her fingers, the sharp pain pulling him back into reality.

"This isn't a scratch, it's a wolf bite!" she exclaimed, her tone a mix of frustration and fear. "You could get infected, or worse!"

He watched her, taking in the way her brow furrowed in concentration, the worry in her eyes cutting deeper than the pain in his wrist. "I didn't mean to worry you, sweetheart," he said softly, trying to lighten the mood. "I always come back, right?"

"Not like this, Sue!" She shot back, her voice cracking. "You can't keep putting yourself in danger like this."

"I'm just doing what I gotta do," he defended weakly, though the conviction behind his words started to falter as he watched her work.

"I know you are," she replied, her expression softening as she wrapped a bandage tightly around his wrist. "But you're not invincible. You can't save everyone, not if it means killing yourself."

Her hands moved deftly, and he couldn't help but admire how focused she was, despite the worry etched across her face. "And what about you? What if I hadn't made it back? You'd have been stuck worrying about me."

"I'd rather worry than lose you," she said, tying off the bandage with a firm tug. "Besides, you're too stubborn to die anyway." She gave him a small, teasing smile, though it was tinged with anxiety.

"Guess you got me there," he chuckled, feeling the warmth of her presence ease the ache in his chest more than the bandage could ease the pain in his wrist. "You know, you're a real lifesaver, sweetheart."

"Well, someone has to keep you in one piece, cowboy" she replied, her smile widening as she leaned back to assess her handiwork. "Just promise me you'll take it easy for a while, alright? You need to let this heal."

He nodded, even though the thought of being still made him restless. "I promise."

"Good," she said, a sigh of relief escaping her lips. "Now, let's see about getting you some food and maybe a little whiskey to keep the pain at bay."

Ellis chuckled softly. "You're the best, darling."