American Rust, Arcadia Bay Oregon, October 11th, 2013, 8:37 AM
James opened his eyes and let out a gasp as he finally awoke. He stared up at the sky which was dark grey in color, the rain falling down in sheets was cold and relentless against his face as it soaked his whole body, the wind howled as it tossed his hair around his face. He let out a sputtering cough as he tied to remove the rainwater that had accumulated in his mouth, he took a second to gather his surroundings when it hit him. Everything that had happened the previous night was real. Caulfield was nowhere to be seen, his whole face ached with dulled pain, and when James wiped his nose from something dripping down from it, the entire side of his right pointer finger became stained with crimson blood. And when he looked to his right he noticed the lifeless body of Chloe Price sprawled out on the ground. James got up and walked over to her body "This isn't real" James kept telling himself over and over in his head, he examined the body. Her eyes had already glazed over, devoid of the life that used to fill them, there was a bullet hole in the center of her forehead. A small trickle of blood streamed down the side of her head, pooling with the rest of the splatter on the ground.
James knew he needed to get out of there and fast, Caulfield was more than likely in danger and he would be dammed if he was going to let Jefferson do to her what he had done to so many others inside that bunker, James shook his head "I'll need her keys, that gun, and any spare bullets she has on her" he thought to himself. He didn't like the idea of having to loot the body of one of his former friends but it was needed in this situation. He meticulously searched around her pockets, starting with her black leather jacket and moving onto searching through her jean pockets, even having to move her over onto her left side to check the back. His search had been somewhat successful, as not only did he find the keys to her truck, but also three spare bullets inside her coat. Finally concluding his business he moved her hands together and gingerly lifted her up, slowly placing her body back onto the ground next to Rachel's grave, he searched for a minute to find something to cover her with, settling with a blue tarp thrown over some old motorcycle. He grabbed it and placed it over both Price, and the makeshift grave next to her. Standing in silence for about a minute overlooking the small memorial he threw together he finally nodded and walked over to where Chloe had discarded Nathan's handgun when she was shot. He grabbed the firearm, and checked to see if it was still operational, and more importantly. Loaded. "I'll make sure that son of a bitch pays for what he did..." James said turning his head one last time to look over at the tarp. Then he set off for Price's truck.
As soon as he approached the vehicle's doors he pulled out the keys and placed them inside the lock, turning it until he heard a loud click, then he opened the door and climbed inside the driver's side of the cabin, pulling the door shut James took a second to breathe. It was the first time since he woke up that he wasn't out in the pouring rain, and he had become increasingly aware of how cold he actually was. He also became more aware of the constant, unending assault of the rain outside the truck. The rain came down so much that it formed a sheet over the windshield making it impossible to see. James also became aware of how dire the situation was becoming. Judging by how well their last encounter with Jefferson went, with all three of them being ambushed simultaneously James knew it would be suicide to face Jefferson alone, he needed some kind of help. but from whom? James checked his pockets until he managed to find his own phone on him. Thankfully Jefferson hadn't taken the liberty to rob him while he was unconscious. He unlocked the device and realized he had several messages from multiple people, like his roommate, some of his classmates at Blackwell, and also his mother. James also became aware of the time, it was still early in the morning judging by what his phone's clock told him, meaning he had been out for hours. James opened up the contacts list on the device and searched for any name that he thought would have been a good idea to call, when he found it, "D. Madsen" listed in his contacts. James wouldn't have normally asked for his help given that Madsen was always such an authoritative figure who often got in the way of James' work. But he had also learned that the Blackwell Security Guard had been close to this case as well. And frankly, James needed some kind of adult to help him with this situation, he pressed the contact name and confirmed the option to initiate a phone call.
It took a second for the line to be picked up "David Madsen, head of Blackwell Academy security, who am I speaking to?" Madsen asked on the other end "David, It's James Makintosh. Listen to me, I need your help" James said quickly trying to make his message clear before David could hang up "We found out what happened to Rachel Amber and who was responsible, but he ambushed us and Max is missing" James was not one to panic, but that fear of what could have been happening to her right now was making him act all the more urgently "What are you talking about? Who's responsible?" David asked, confused to the young man's phone call "It Mark Jefferson, he was in cahoots with Nathan, they killed Rachel and they own this... Fucked up studio in an old barn off of Pope Road" James said frantically "alright calm down son, I'll make a call to the Police, if you think this is some kind of emergency you ought to be with 911 right no-" David spoke calmly but was cut off "I can't David!, you need to trust me on this! That bastard Jefferson kidnapped Caulfield, they're probably there right now, If you don't help me he's gonna kill her!" James raised his voice, trying to convey the severity of the situation to the man. "Fine James, I'll meet you outside of the campus. Drive safely young man. The roads are hell right now with this storm going on.." David sighed before the line went dead. James sighed in relief at the fact Madsen would help him. He put the key inside the ignition and turning it. It took a couple of times for the truck to start properly, James even hitting the dashboard a couple of times in frustration, but eventually it did, James then set the windshield wipers to their highest setting so he could have clear visibility before pressing his foot onto the gas peddle and driving off away from the Junkyard.