Jake and the Suggs gang are almost to Dodge City when they come across Wilbarger’s horses. Dan wants to steal them and says he’ll kill Jake if he doesn’t help them. When they reach the horses in the dark, someone shoots Frog Lip in the groin. They manage to kill two of Wilbarger’s men in the ensuing gunfight. They follow the horses, then come upon two fleeing men hours later. Dan shoots them both. He then hangs them after they’re dead, and then burns them with kerosene. Jake’s hopes of escape dwindle with every moment.

Deets finds Wilbarger, who has been shot three times. Wilbarger wants to see Gus and Call. Gus tells Lorena that Dish will guard her while he sees Wilbarger and follows the horse thieves. They take Newt and find Wilbarger. As they wait for him to die, he shakes hands with Gus and Call. He leaves Gus two of his books. They bury him and mark his grave with a buffalo skull.

Lorena refuses the food that Dish brings to her. He thinks about her all night, even though she keeps telling him that she needs Gus. He sleeps outside her tent at night and has never felt lonelier.