Fallout: The Red Star
Prologue
War, war never changes. In the post apocalyptic world after the Great War desolated the landscape, civilization has tried to rebuild itself time and time again, with no success due to the strong threats that impose themselves upon the unforgiving region. In the midst of all of this death and destruction rose a civilization in the remote region of the Irradiated Outback. Very few vaults were built in Australia, for Vault-tec was an American-based company, but a handful of bomb shelters were built in the Outback as a precaution. After the nuclear fallout set in, many families arose from those bomb shelters to find their majestic landscape torn to shreds by the disastrous quarrels of man. In the year 2280, the thriving city of Red Star has been standing in the center of the Irradiated Outback for 154 years.
The walls of Red Star are constructed of the metal walls of the bomb shelters around the region, and the buildings are made of scrap from various airports and cruise liners around the Australian coast (now known as the Hazard Coast), which has become a very irradiated and hostile environment. The city itself is possibly one of the largest civilizations in the Fallout Universe only rivaled by New Vegas. Red Star is run by a group of mercenaries called the Crimson Ringz. They were the group that helped build the town and fight off the Raiders in the region that were prominent for a long time.
This story begins with a young man by the name of Kruste, who was born in a farm west of Red Star called Humbler's Pasture.
Part I: Welcome to the outback
Chapter I: humble beginnings
Kruste looked out the window in awe as the Kungas hopped along the horizon of the misty sun. Kruste always wanted to go up to a Kunga and pet it on the nose, but his father always warned him of doing that due to their sharp teeth and timid nature. He was broken from his trance by his mother who tapped him lightly on the back with a ladle. "Daydreaming again, I see?" she said in a playful tone.
"I just love to watch the Kunga, they make you wonder what they looked like before the radiation transformed them", Kruste said in a wistful tone.
"They didn't have four arms, glowing saliva, and scales. They also carried their children in a pouch. Now, does that answer your curiosity so you can go milk the Brahmin?" His mother stated.
"Okay mom, I'll go get us some milk so we don't have to drink glow water." Kruste left the house with a bucket in hand and went to milk the Brahmin. He pulled the bucket underneath the two headed creature and proceeded to the milking process, but then he heard a gunshot in the barn. Kruste dropped his pail and rushed to the tin built barn to find his dad, rifle in hand, standing over a radscorpion.
"Damned vermin nerly' got to the Brahmin. You see, son. That thur," his father said, pointing to the bullet wound in the radscorpion's forehead, "is a clean kill and an accrite' shot. I learned that in my days as a Crimson Ring. Damn! That was the life right thur. All the guns, booze, and whores a man can ask for. I'm sure though ya don't wanna hur bout the old days, but just remember if anything happens here to Gloria and me, then ya get yur keeshter to Red Star."
"I know, Dad. You've told me this a million times. And what could possibly happen to you and mom in the seven months until I turn eighteen and move to Red Star anyway?"
"Son, a lot of shit can happen in a short time. Hell, it only took the world two hurs to blow itsulf up!"
"Good point, but I think we're pretty safe out here."
"You do have a lot ta lern, boy."
3 months later…
Kruste awoke to a dead silence in his house. Usually, at this time, he would hear his mother cooking something rather delicious and his father would be making idle conversation with her. But this morning, nothing filled the house. He made his way out of his bed lit up by the murky sunlight from his window. The door creaked as he pushed it gently. Then, his jaw dropped at the sight he witnessed. The house was ransacked, and he saw his mother positioned on the wall with a pitchfork stabbed through her chest. Tears filled his eyes as he trembled to the ground, but then, he spotted a message on the wall written in blood. It read, "We exact revenge upon those who drove us to madness". Kruste sat for hours staring at the ponderous message left while hot tears stung his face. He picked up his father's revolver he found on the kitchen countertop with the Crimson Ringz logo on it. He then lifted the gun to his mouth, with his finger on the trigger.
After two hours of sitting with the gun positioned in his mouth, he pulled it away slowly and collected his thoughts. He had only one resolution to this unfortunate occurrence. Kruste would have to make his way to Red Star to uncover the truth of who killed his mother and ransacked his home. He had an even more prominent question in his mind; what happened to his father?
Chapter II: unsettling events
Kruste could see the difficult journey which lay before him, so he knew he must be prepared if he were to face the Irradiated Outback. He gathered the only bolt action rifle left in his father's gun rack after the raid and holstered his signature revolver in a leather holster at his side. He ran his fingers through his long, brown hair as he contemplated on what else he would need for the journey ahead. Transportation would be a big factor in this because Red Star is across the Ligris Plain, which is a plain that is inhabited by Bullwolves, which are wolves that have been mutated to the point of hairlessness and have grown a spiky shell. So, walking is out of the question. Kruste checked the warehouse where his father kept a Runner, which is a specially made vehicle to traverse the terrain of the Outback that is kind of a tank-jeep hybrid.
He was greeted by a torn gate with the shed completely ransacked. The Runner was missing from its spot on the metal padding at the center of the warehouse. In frustration, Kruste thought of another plan for transportation. An idea then popped into his head after he saw the feed that his father borrowed from their 'neighbor' Mr. Craig, who lived about two miles from their farm to the north. He has a Runner and maybe able to help Kruste figure out what is going on because Mr. Craig is an old friend of Kruste's father. So, Kruste walked out the front gate of his family's farm, which he has lived on for the first seventeen years of his life.
He traversed the couple miles to Mr. Craig's home down the hill, which was fairly dark for the time of day. The trampled gate and shattered windows of his home did not give Kruste the idea all was well here either. He slowly approached the door to Mr. Craig's home, and he pushed the door open lightly, careful not to startle anything that might be inside. The house was desolate, but for a few trinkets and overturned furniture. Kruste slowly crept through the house until he happened upon the back door. Opening it ever-so slowly, he found that the Brahmin were all dead scattered around the yard. The Brahmin in his yard had all vanished. Kruste looked up to find a dead body decorating the ground in front of Mr. Craig's warehouse.
Kruste snuck up to the door and peaked inside to see about two or three indications of dead bodies in the warehouse's dark quarters. Kruste examined the body by the door, and it seemed to sport the clothes of a common raider with a strange insignia (a crescent moon with a dagger piercing the center) on the chest piece. Kruste slid the door open slowly after collecting his breath. As soon as he took one step inside, a bullet grazed the side of the door, and he could hear the hoarse voice of an old man. "whose there? Reveal yourself," the old, familiar voice said.
Kruste took one step forward and said, "M-Mr. Craig, it's m-me, Kruste." Kruste had a shaken tone from the day's events so-forth.
"Oh my god, I am so relieved to see you, what happened to Herald? Is he okay?"
"No, I… I woke up this morning, and… Dad was gone and Mom was staked to a wall."
"Shit! That means they got to him." Mr. Craig flipped a switch just above his head to turn on the warehouse light. He was sitting on the wall holding his right arm covered in blood. "One of those guys got me good with a spear."
"Mr. Craig, let me help you up."
"No, no, I can take care of myself; I've been through much worse. Now, tell me everything you saw at your house."
Kruste swallowed to speak of the details that he had just witnessed mere hours ago that had completely changed his life. "Well, I woke up to silence in the house, so I left my room to find Mom dead and Dad missing. There was a message written in blood on the wall that said 'We exact revenge upon those who drove us to madness'." The phrase slithered out his throat as he spoke it. Kruste could feel the threatening nature of the phrase that just stuck in his chest.
"Then it is as I feared."
"What did you fear?" Kruste said with a raised brow.
"A long time ago, Herald, a hunter named Gypsy, our friend Talisman, and I were a Crimson Ringz Elite squad known as the 'Stars Band'. One of our most prominent achievements was eradicating the heart of the most troubling Raider group in the region, the Silver Bloodhounds. We went into their camp and killed their leader, Snout. That man was a bloody piece of work. He would kill entire settlements and raid farms just to get a kick out of blowing their heads off. It seems as though they've returned and are seeking a bit of revenge."
"So, these Raiders are out to kill Dad!"
"I'm afraid to say they may have succeeded if Herald is missing, or he may have escaped, no way to be sure. But it seems like they had no clue he had a son if they completely missed you in their search."
"We need to get to Red Star."
"You just read my mind." Mr. Craig stood and holstered his 10mm pistol. "We can take my Runner. It's not the prettiest piece of equipment, but she gets the job done… for the most part." Mr. Craig used his good arm to pull off the tarp of his rusted Runner.
"Who's driving?" Mr. Craig looked at Kruste with a raised brow and chuckled. He lifted his wounded arm up to signal he would be riding shotgun. "I guess it's me." Kruste has some experience driving a Runner, but never out in the Ligris Plain where he could get ambushed at any time by a Bullwolf. He started the Runner, anyway. Mr. Craig laid the tarp in the back seat and proceeded to dig the bullet from his arm with his Trench Knife. Blood splattered on the tarp.
"Doesn't hurt nearly as much as getting slapped in the face by old Nova." Mr. Craig chuckled as he winced at the blood from his arm spewing onto the seat. Kruste started the Runner and proceeded out the front gate after going into Mr. Craig's house and grabbing a couple of firearms, food, and a first aid kit from the basement. The murky sun beat down on the flat, dead plains as Kruste drove the Runner past families of Kungas.
[intermission]
The Ligris Plain came into view as the Runner proceeded over a small hill, and the Bullwolves could be seen running by in a pack of over 50. The bombs did damage the landscape of Australia, but most of them hit the coast, so the Irradiated Outback took the fallout of the blast, keeping the wildlife mutated but intact. The bombs did do massive damage to many coast cities, such as Sydney and Southport.
Red Star began to come into view as they roamed over the Ligris Plain, seeing no threat to their being… yet. Then, the Runner began to slow down and make a coughing noise in the back. "Dammit, I think the Runner's out of gas. Stop it and grap a tank of gas from the back. I always keep a spare." Kruste killed the vehicle and proceeded to retrieve the gas tank from the back. He could see the sun was setting and they had no chance to reach Red Star by nightfall, and Mr. Craig's arm may be sowed and bandaged, but he is in no fighting condition.
Then, a menacing growl forced Kruste to turn around. A Bullwolf was looking him straight in the eyes with hunger and prowess. Kruste slowly reached for his father's revolver to kill the wild beast. The Bullwolf jumped at him, and he leaped to the side, causing the Bullwolf to slam into the side of the Runner. Kruste lifted the gun up to the creature with his breath held and finger on the trigger. The beast stood up and stared back at Kruste. It then lunged again at him with full force. He pulled the trigger and a bullet lodged itself in the forehead of the Bullwolf. It lay dead at his feet. Kruste refilled the tank with gas and got back in the Runner.
"Holy shiznit! Boy, you took down that Bullwolf like it was nothing, but you are your father's son after all. And he was always a crack shot-"
"He IS a crack shot. We shouldn't assume he's dead until we know for sure." The threat of tears protruded Kruste's eyes.
"I'm sorry, kid. I loved, I mean, love Herald like a brother. I want to see him just as much as you do."
"It's okay, we're going to find him," Kruste said with a determined look on his face. He started the Runner up and set off toward Red Star. Toward the answers he is hoping to find.
Chapter III: the loss at hallows reach
The large walls and lights of the city came into full view as Kruste and Mr. Craig approached Red Star in the Runner. The roads around there are lonely and desolate, yet the city is so alive. There is no transition from wasteland to metropolis. It's just one big leap on the spectrum of apocalypse and redemption of humanity. The Runner rolled onto the abandoned road towards the sprawling city. A guard stood at the steel gate into the city with an assault rifle in his hands. Kruste stopped the Runner and said, "Sir, we need to get into the city!"
"What business do you have here? If you have none, you'll need to pay an entrance toll of 150 caps."
"We don't have any caps, but-"
The guard cut him off by raising his gun. "Then I suggest you turn around"
Mr. Craig raised his hand and said, "Sir, I am a retired Crimson Ringz Elite, and I have been wounded and am in pain. I was just almost assassinated by a group of Raiders that may ring a bell, the Silver Bloodhounds?"
The guard shuddered at the mention of the Raider group and said, "and who is this?" he pointed his gun towards Kruste.
"That is the son of Herald Langston, Crimson Ringz Elite."
"Fine, you can pass. I suggest you go speak with Taer. He may want to know what you just told me. His office is right inside the gate at the Conference building." The guard waved at the man on the balcony above to pull the lever to open the gate. Light flooded the road as the metropolis of makeshift buildings towered before their eyesight. They started the Runner up again and drove into Red Star. Kruste stared in awe as he slowly rolled towards the conference building a little down the makeshift road. They stepped out and walked through the front doors. A woman sat at the front desk in a blue dress. The air oddly smelled nice.
"If you're wondering what smells so good, it's called air freshener. And what are you here for?" the lady said with a monotone voice.
"We're here to see Taer, we have critical news for him involving the Raiders," Mr. Craig said, holding his bandaged arm.
"Third door on the left to the hallway on the right," the lady said in a bored voice.
A sentry bot rolled down the hall as Kruste and Mr. Craig proceeded past it. Mr. Craig knocked on the door, and mere seconds later, it swung open. A middle-aged man in a black mercenary outfit greeted Mr. Craig with open arms. "Taer, it's so nice to see you again!"
"The feeling is mutual Craig. So, what brings you back to Red Star with Herald's boy?"
"You know who I am?" Kruste asked.
"Of course, you look just like your father did when we were kids."
"Taer, I need to talk to you about something."
"Okay, what is it?" Mr. Craig sat down in a cracked leather chair which sat next to a metal desk at the center of the room and explained to Taer all that had transpired at his farm and told him all that Kruste had told him.
(After the explanation…)
"Oh crap, this is bad. If the Silver Bloodhounds are back, they're going to want blood, specifically, the blood of the Crimson Ringz. These guys don't play around," Taer said.
"Do you have any idea of what we should do next?" Kruste said in a worried tone.
"Well, we're going to have to find Herald, but that may prove difficult if we have no leads to where the Silver Bloodhounds took him. A more solid move would be to investigate Hallows Reach because it's a city that has a beef with Red Star, they may be housing the Silver Bloodhounds. That's just a hunch, but we better investigate to be sure."
"I don't think antagonizing Hallows Reach is the best way to go about this situation. I know you don't like them, but to assume they're housing our enemy is kind of-"
"I know it is a rash move, but we're only going to take a look around there undercover to see if we detect anything that smells like Silver Bloodhounds," Taer said, cutting off Mr. Craig.
Kruste and Mr. Craig nodded and looked back at Taer. "Would you mind if we do it tomorrow? We are quite exhausted."
"Of course, I'll have you set up in a room at the RaDen, free of charge. All the commodities, not a single cap will be charged to you."
"Thank you, Taer. We can find our way there; I can still remember where that old hotel is. Spent almost every night there." Taer and Mr. Craig laughed at this.
Mr. Craig and Krusta left the Conference building and made their way down the lively street. They saw mothers spending time with their children and mercenaries conversing among each other happily. Mr. Craig and Krusta made their way inside a small, clean building at the end of a quiet street. Mr. Craig greeted the owner warmly, with a wide smile. Kruste stood there and spotted a woman standing at the bar that looked over at him and gestured him to come towards her. Krusta saw no harm in going over to meet this mysterious black haired girl dressed in what looks like mercenary clothes. "Hey, what's your name?"
"My name's Kruste. And you are?"
"Name's Dusk. You look like you've been through hell, if you don't mind me sayin'."
"No, I don't mind. I've…. been through a lot today. I lost my family to Raiders and now I have no clue how I'm going to help them."
Oh, you poor thing, well…" she began to rub his leg. "I can try to help." Kruste looked into her eyes, and they screamed of sincerity. She lifted him from his seat and led him to the back room. As the door closed, Mr. Craig shook his head in approval with a smile on his face.
Mr. Craig looked at the inn keeper Skull-Smith, an old friend and said, "looks like the boy is gonna get a taste of what Red Star is all about tonight."
The next morning…
Kruste slipped on his brown coat and his black boots. Dusk looked at him, half-dressed, and said, "Did that make you feel better?"
Kruste nodded and blushed. "I feel like I took advantage of you last night…"
"Oh, no… for some reason, I find you a very interesting person. If you need someone to shoot for you, I'm an experienced fighter, if a bit young at the age of 18."
Kruste saw no harm in allowing this girl to tag along on his quest to find his father. "Sure, I'm gonna need all the help I can get to find my father. We're going to Hallows Reach if you want to come."
"Of course I do. Red Star tends to get stuffy after a while. I need to get out and see the Outback."
One hour later…
Kruste and Dusk met Mr. Craig at the gate of the town with a brand new Runner ready to go with about 3 other Crimson Ringz. "Why's that pretty young girl coming with us, hm?"
"Hey, I can shoot a person's brains out the back of their head just as well as you can, old man," Dusk said with a smirk on her face.
"Fair enough," Mr. Craig said, "what's your name?"
"Dusk, and your name?"
"Craig, if you will."
"Ok, so let's get going then." Dusk jumped on the back of the Runner with a Chinese Assault Rifle in hand. Mr. Craig raised an eyebrow to Kruste. One of the Crimson Ringz started the Runner after everyone boarded it and road off outside the city and began heading south.
"So Dusk, what makes you want to help us so much?" Mr. Craig asked her.
"Well, Kruste just seems like a really interesting person. And plus, I feel like this mission he's on is going to be very dangerous and exciting. That's enough for me to wanna join."
"Whatever suits you, I guess." Mr. Craig looked over to Kruste. "You seem so shy and distant. Anybody else who had never been to Red Star before would be asking me a million questions an hour. Why are you so quiet?"
"I'm just a little preoccupied with the current situation to be excited over the wonders of the city… I do have one question, though."
"You can ask me anything, Kruste."
"Well, what was it like, you know, to be able to explore the entire Outback and even visit the Hazard Coast back when you were a Crimson Ringz member?"
"Kid, I will always be a Crimson Ringz Elite. But to the point, it was an amazing life to live. It could get lonely every now and again, but I had my three friends there throughout it all. But after your father met Gloria, the group just sort of fizzled out."
"You never met anyone to settle down with?"
"Well, boy, the Irradiated Outback isn't necessarily a bachelor's pad. But after the group disbanded, I spent a lot of time doing jobs for the Crimson Ringz before I became too old for it. I, then, spent these last ten years on that farm close to your father's, so we could be able to talk and hang out in our elder years. Guess that plan didn't work out so smoothly."
"Well, I'm sorry you never found anyone."
"I did, or something rather to keep me going."
"And what may that be?" Kruste said with a curious tone.
"To see every single last Silver Bloodhound Raider's head on a pike," Mr. Craig said with a smile across his face.
"That, my good sir, is the best drive you can get!" said a Crimson Ringz Agent.
"Thank you, uh…"
"The name's Anderson. Crimson Ringz Recruit, sir!"
"Ah, so this must be your initiation mission, am I correct?"
"Yes sir, I can pride myself on my close quarter combat skills with both shotguns and melee weapons such as my Trench Knife."
"That's a good field to master. Up close and personal. I have a feeling you're going to make a fine addition to the Crimson Ringz."
"Thank you, sir!"
"Ah, don't be so professional. We're all guys here… mostly."
"Fuck you, I'm more of a man than any of you pussies," Dusk said in a playful voice.
Everyone in the Runner laughed and conversed the entire way to Hallows Reach. Then the plateau which Hallows Reach sits below came into full view as the Runner swept over the dead grass in the plain. Hallows Reach is built into the plateau, with houses carved from the red stone. The Runner pulled up to the makeshift gate at the edge of the town. The town gate opened and the Runner pulled in and they parked in an empty spot of land. A robed man approached the vehicle to greet everyone.
"Hello, visitors. Six travelers such as yourselves are probably famished or tired. Feel free to use the services we provide here."
Mr. Craig tipped his head to the man and said, "We're just here as a rest stop, so that sounds pretty good."
"Then enjoy your stay here." The robed man left them and retreated to the inside of what looked like a pub. The group walked through the streets of the city and split up into two groups, three people in each group. Kruste, Dusk, and Anderson went down the main street with the market stalls lining the streets.
"Keep your eyes peeled for anything that looks like Raider activity," Kruste said with caution. The stalls sold all sorts of commodities. There were weapons vendors, medical stations, and produce stalls as far as the eye could reach. Anderson tapped Kruste on the arm to look towards a stall that had a man dressed in what looked like a raider outfit looking through the goods. The Raider-looking man turned to reveal the Silver Bloodhound insignia.
The Silver Bloodhound started to walk off towards the large tower at the center of town. Kruste, Dusk, and Anderson started to follow him, as discretely as possible. Though, the Raider then looked behind himself and noticed them about halfway there and broke out into a run. Kruste and Dawn ran after him, and Anderson ran to the right down an alley to flank him ahead at a turn on the main road. The Raider pushed down a man pushing a cart of 10mm pistols and frag grenades. He pushed the cart until he got enough momentum and jumped onto the cart rolling down the road. The Raider threw several grenades at them and shot at them with a pistol. The frag grenades exploded as they hit the ground, causing mass panic in the crowd.
Suddenly, Anderson jumped from the top of a shack onto the cart and knocked the Raider off. Anderson took two knives out and stabbed the Raiders hands to the ground. The Raider screamed in agony. "What the fuck are you doing, you fucking cunt!"
Kruste walked up and said, "What are you doing here, Silver Bloodhound?"
The Raider managed a menacing smile and said, "You know what faction I'm apart of… so that must mean you're Crimson Ringz members. Or wait, by your face, I'm guessing you're the son of that demon who killed our beloved leader. Yes, I can see the confusion and want of answers in your pathetic little eyes. I'm just going to tell you now to give up your hunt for answers, you're just going to get yourself killed."
Kruste punched the Raider and said, "Tell me everything you fucking know right now before I put a bullet through your head."
The Raider looked up at Kruste and, with a smile, said, "Okay, I'll tell you why we took your father and why we are returning… on the condition that if I do, you become our number one target. I have a listening device on me right now and my leader has given me permission to strike this deal. Or… you can let me go, and I forget everything you've done."
Without a second thought, Kruste said, "Tell me."
"Fine, we have been resurrected by our new leader, and he has led us on small raids in the past months to help us gain more power in the region. We then decided to take our revenge upon the bastards that killed us off. We gained your father's location through an anonymous tip and the location of the greatest weapon anyone can have… an atom bomb!"
A look, one of fear and shock, swept across Kruste's face. "Where the hell did you find an atom bomb?"
"That, I am not at liberty to say, but what I will tell you is that with an atom bomb in our hands, we'll have undying power over the region. Now, prepare to be hunted." The Raider then pulled his hand up from the ground with the knife still stuck in it and used the back of his hand to slit his own throat.
Kruste stood up and looked around as people had gathered to watch the scene before them. Two tough looking men in ragged clothes came up to Kruste's group and said, "You're going to have to come with us, si-"
But before the man could finish his sentence, an eruption of screams came from the northern point of the town. Kruste, Dusk, and Anderson ran towards the noise, pushing the two men to the side.
They came up onto a disturbing scene. Many mercenaries and soldiers lay dead, and a Deathclaw roars in dominance at the center of the dead bodies. Two of the bodies on the ground were the two Crimson Ringz Agents that they came to Hallows Reach with. The Deathclaw turned to face Kruste's group with a predator's lust in its eyes. It lunged at them with frightening speed. But then, a grenade hit it in the side. Mr. Craig stood atop a stone building with an Assault Rifle in one hand and a grenade in the other. "Run!" The Deathclaw turned and dashed towards Mr. Craig. Kruste had to think of something really quick. Then, Anderson pointed toward a large boulder sitting atop a building hugging the plateau.
"You two go up there and push it when I give the signal. I can take this bitch," Dusk said as she withdrew her Chinese Assault Rifle.
Kruste and Anderson had no time to argue and ran up the stairs along the building the boulder sat. Dusk ran towards the Deathclaw and started shooting it in the back. The bullets had no effect, and they didn't even catch its attention. It was climbing running alongside the houses below Mr. Craig as he jumped from house to house in the town square. At one step, Mr. Craig slipped and fell to the ground in front of the pub called StoneSmith Drink. The Deathclaw then sliced into Mr. Craig's side with a right hook. Dusk ran up to the Deathclaw and stood in front of Mr. Craig's shaking body, merely inches from the deathclaw.
"You aren't so tough, bitch! Beating up an old man. I bet you can't hold your own against me." The Deathclaw did not understand anything she said, but became enraged by it nonetheless. She then dashed towards the building underneath the boulder with the Deathclaw quickly in pursuit. "Drop the fucking ball!"
Kruste and Anderson then pushed the enormous boulder off the edge and it landed on top of the Deathclaw, crushing it to death. Kruste hurried down the stairs towards Mr. Craig.
Mr. Craig looked at Kruste and smiled as blood soaked his side. "You guys took down a- (coughing blood) a bloody Deathclaw. Look, I'm not going to make it, I can see that. What I want you to do, Kruste, is fight the Silver Bloodhounds until you've found their leader and decapitated that bastard… can you promise me that?"
"Yes, I can," Kruste's eyes filled with tears. Mr. Craig then closed his eyes and his pulse went dead. Mr. Craig had been more of an uncle to Kruste since he moved to his farm ten years ago. The fact that Kruste had lost everyone he's ever known in about 24 hours fills him with dread and sadness. Then, a large group of soldiers erupted from the Town Hall.
"I'm sorry, we're going to have to arrest you for now. Even if you just killed that thing, we can't be certain you didn't bring it in here. Come with us," said one of the soldiers.
Dusk put her hand on her Chinese Assault Rifle, ready for a fight. Kruste then put a hand up to halt that action. "Let's just go with them for now, just until we can get this mess cleared up," Kruste managed to say with tears running down his face. Dusk and Anderson nodded and Kruste stood from Mr. Craig's cold, dead body. The soldiers then put all three of them in shackles and walked them towards the jailhouse.