How It All Goes Down
- Two days later, Fitzgerald is sitting with Glass while Bridger gathers wood. Fitzgerald is nervous about the native tribes, so he's been building up a large store of jerky in case they need to bolt.
- Fitzgerald grew up in New Orleans. Violent from a young age, he ended up running away from the Big Easy after killing a prostitute he was in love with while she was with a client.
- Fitzgerald ended up a barkeep and bouncer in Memphis, where he got big into gambling. Although he was able to make serious cash at first, he quickly got into thousands of dollar of debt.
- Naturally, Fitzgerald ran away again, this time ending up in St. Louis. That's where he found an ad for Captain Henry's crew and impulsively signed up despite having no trapping experience.
- Although he planned on deserting pretty early on, Fitzgerald's come to enjoy life on the frontier. Frankly, it's a great place for a sadist like him.
- Back in the present, Fitzgerald examines the Anstadt. He's been jonesing for it since he met Glass and considers killing him right now to get it over with.
- Before Fitzgerald can do that, however, Bridger appears. He suggests making broth for Glass, but Fitzgerald shoots the idea down. He has some good points, too—every day spent here is riskier than the last. There's no point in keeping Glass alive.
- Bridger doesn't know how to feel, but he thinks back shamefully to the "admiration" he felt from his peers when he volunteered to stay behind (1.5.35).