He was near death, whenever somebody finally showed up. The young boy couldn't tell who it was, but he knew just from the figure's stance, this wasn't one of the men who did this to him. It was someone that was going to help him; hopefully. It was raining hard, a thunderstorm that was worse than the last one that crossed the land; which was a month ago.
Lea had been out hunting for dinner, 'cause his Ma didn't have enough money to buy anything, and there was hardly any food left back at home. So, deciding to try and so something hunting-wise for the first time, he had hopped on one of the horses at their ranch, with his rifle, and rode off; not knowing about the oncoming storm that would, not only lead him off the path, but also end up with him being attacked for whatever he had; which was only his horse and rifle. No food, no money, nothing worth stealing.
They attacked him using a pistol to kill his horse, and a knife to harm the 15 year old, rendering him unconscious. That was almost Seven hours ago. He barely heard the man's voice ask, "You alright Son?" in a worried tone, as it was drowned out by a roll of thunder. Lea tries to respond, but all he can get out is a whine of something, before he loses consciousness once again.
-A few hours before-
The blonde 22 year old Ex-Vigilante had been riding through a rather small town, at around 3-ish in the afternoon. He knew there was a storm coming soon, but he didn't know how bad it could get, and had decided to stop and wait out the storm for once. But, just as he had hopped off his horse at the Deputy's office, to stop by and visit an old friend of his, he could hear a woman crying inside said station.
Instinct took over, and he rushed inside to see what was the matter; A young woman, around the age of 24, was sobbing, while the Marshall held her close, attempting to comfort her. He didn't know what was wrong, but Zell was sure as hell going to find out, one way or another. So, he stepped closer, asking, "Miss, what seems to be the problem?". The brunette-redhead looked up at the new voice, and had to wait a second, attempting to hold back the tears to talk.
She couldn't, however, as another wave of tears burst out, and she sat back down, while the Marshall walked outside; motioning for him to follow. As soon as they got outside of the place, the man sighed, and explained, "Well, old friend of mine, that was Miss Justice, Audrey Justice to be exact.. Her son went out a few hours ago, at around noon, hunting for food.. He hasn't been back since; and I'm afraid that there's gonna' be one heck of a storm blowing in here soon..".
"Is there anything I can do to help?" The Vigilante asked, quickly; knowing that if it was a young kid, there's no telling what could happen. "She said that her son had went out towards the Tall Tree woods to hunt, just a few miles up North. By horse, it'd only take a few minutes to get there before the storm rolls in, if you're lucky.. But, it don't take that long to get a decent bit of food for two people and return.." The Officer, Michael Ayers, says, showing the younger man a picture of the missing boy, and his Stallion.
"I won't come back till' I find 'im.." Zell murmurs, as he mounts his horse, calling, "Tell Miss Justice I said I'll find her son!" as he rides off.
It wasn't too much longer before he got to the forest, like Mike had said, and the storm started to roll in faster. He could already hear the thunder in the distance, and knew that he'd have to find this boy fast, or it'd be trouble for the both of them, if they weren't lucky. And here recently, Zell's luck has been very low..
But, just as the rain started to pour down on him, he saw the track of the horses' footprints, followed by three other sets of feet-tracks. It didn't take but a few minutes for the storm to unleash all hell, just as he found the unconscious redhead that he had been searching for. Shaking the boy gently, he tried to wake him up, but noticed that he didn't have to, 'cause the kid was already starting to wake up. "You alright Son?" He finally asks, but recieves no answer; only a soft whine from the injured person, before he lost consciousness again.
Sighing, Zell quickly picks the boy up, and hoists him onto the back of his horse, before mounting the Stallion himself, and riding off, back to the ranch that he had came from; ignoring the constant rolls of thunder that scared the horse; Steadying it quickly so as not to fall off.