04/05/38; Freedom Fighters' Camp; Aleister's Home
As the leaders are standing around a table, looking at a map, Aleister strategizes.
"If we can have a distraction here..." Aleister points to the area in front of Sight Haven's gates, "we can have a second team sneak up and take out the guards."
"My camp can provide the distraction. The Sight still somewhat trust us." Seth informs.
"Hellfire can take the guards out." Draven adds.
"Great. Chris, you and your camp are with us then. Once they take out the guards, we will enter in our vehicles. Once there, we will all spread out to find four key members- Victor Constantine, Evan Neal, Kenneth Angel, and-" Aleister is cut off by Zane Walker almost busting down the front door.
"Someone is approaching the camp!" Zane yells. Aleister is about to start moving, but Silas Frost stops him.
"I've got it." Silas mutters and follows Zane as the leaders continue planning.
Outside
Zane and Silas begin to storm through the camp. Silas sees Jason Sabre. "Come on kid, we've got business." Silas commands to a surprisingly excited Jason. Zane leads them to the edge of the camp, where they can see a man walking through the field, Cedric Hawkins. When CJ notices them, he smiles.
"Are you the Freedom Fighters?" CJ yells.
"Get your ass over here!" Zane yells back. CJ hurries over and, the second he gets to the edge of the camp, Silas grabs him by the back of his neck and pushes him towards Sabre's home.
Sabre/Detrick's Home
"Hey esé!" Detrick smiles brightly as Sabre enters.
"Get out of here, Detrick. We have to interrogate someone." Sabre points towards the door.
"I've gotta see if I can help Will Ralston with his pneumonia anyways, holmes." Detrick replies before leaving. Not long after, CJ is almost thrown into the living room by Silas.
"Ah man. That really hurt." CJ rubs his shoulder.
"Time for good cop, bad cop." Sabre smirks.
"Who are you?" Silas mutters as he glares at CJ. CJ feels like he could very well crumble under Silas' glare.
"My name is Cedric Hawkins, but some call me CJ Hawk." CJ stands up and introduces himself.
"So, you are a bird?" Sabre raises an eyebrow, mocking CJ.
"I am n-" CJ is cut off by Sabre.
"Ca-caw!" Sabre flaps his arms in a lazy manner. Both begin to notice the room getting darker. Sabre looks over at Silas, who is zoned out. He notices that shadows seem to be coming from Silas. He also notices that black circles have surrounded Silas' eyes. "Silas?"
"Hmm?" Silas snaps out of it as the shadows return to him.
"Nothing..." Sabre rubs his eyes. "Where did you come from, birdbrain." Sabre looks over at CJ.
"I was originally a part of a Sight camp that was relocated from America to the United Kingdom." CJ starts out, noticing Silas begins to become interested when he mentions the UK. "My father supported a group known as The Silence. He said that if I wanted his love and approval, I would join. Of course, he didn't love and approve of me anyways, but I grew to like The Silence. Once we got rid of The Sight...we were given orders to enforce strict rules on the people we had just freed."
"Seriously?" Sabre raises his eyebrows.
"Yeah. We had the civilians wear these devices called Silencers. They were placed over the mouth and stopped any and all sound without preventing breathing." CJ informs. "I became friends with one of the civilians, a man named Thomas Davies. He helped me escape from The Silence."
"I'll have Aleister check on you, Mr. Hawkins." Silas mutters before leaving the room. Sabre and CJ follow behind.
Meanwhile
Toby Myers and Anna Jones are scavenging in a neighborhood. They meet in the street.
"How much did you get?" Anna asks.
"A backpack full. You?" Toby throws the backpack over his shoulder.
"Same here. Looks like today was a good day for a supply run." Anna smiles as she does the same. They walk back to the car, a black minivan. They put the backpacks in the backseats before Toby gets in the driver seat and Anna gets in the passenger seat. They begin to drive away. There is a minute of silence between them as Toby tries to build up his courage.
"H-hey Anna." Toby speaks up, his voice shaky.
"Yeah?" Anna looks out her window, noticing something.
"There's something I...I want to t-tell you..." Toby takes a deep breath.
"Can that wait a second?" Anna asks.
"Uh sure..." Toby nods.
"Stop the car." Anna mutters. Toby does and follows Anna's stare, seeing The Defiant on a hill, watching them. They get out of the minivan and start to head in The Defiant's direction. Once they get to the top of the hill, they find a camp of The Defiant. There is a big fire in the center of the camp that some are sitting around. All The Defiant turn towards the two and part into two lines. Anna and Toby walk down the aisle made of people before sitting in front of the fire as The Defiant return to leisure. After a couple moments, they hear someone.
"New here?" A soft male voice is heard from behind them. They turn and see two men. One is the man with the Red Bandana. The other has a shaved head and bushy black beard, along with light blue eyes that almost look familiar to the two. He is wearing a black jacket like the rest, but his not only has red tape, but yellow tape as well. He is slim and not even 6'0", unlike Red Bandana.
"Uh yes... I'm Gov, this is Widow." Toby introduces himself and Anna.
"Nice to meet you both. People call me Echo." The man introduces himself. "This is Free." Echo introduces the man in the Red Bandana. "Mind if I sit with you?"
"Of course not!" Anna smiles. Free walks off to deal with business as Echo sits opposite of Toby and Anna.
Freedom Fighters' Camp
"Can we trust him?" Sierra Noblesse asks.
"I'm not sure yet." Aleister sighs.
"I think so. If Jason trusts him-" Arieana Aryn starts out, but is interrupted.
"Weren't you mad at Jason, like, yesterday?" Sierra raises an eyebrow.
"...maybe." Arie rolls her eyes, catching Aleister's attention.
"Arieana, is everything okay?" Aleister looks over.
"It's just...I'm still trying to recover. My dad betrayed you, Aleister." Arie reminds before Aleister looks down at the ground and bites his lip. "I know it might not mean much, but I'm sorry on his behalf."
"...it's fine. Don't worry about it." Aleister mutters.
"If I ever meet him, I'll...I'll..." Arie takes a deep breath.
"What do I always say?" Aleister looks over at Arie.
"...An eye for an eye and the world goes blind." Arie recites.
"Exactly. No matter what he did or didn't do, you cannot kill him." Aleister informs.
"Yes sir..." Arie sighs.
"I'll talk with Silas. If he trusts this Cedric, he can join." Aleister says before walking away.
Defiant Camp
"So, where are you two from?" Echo asks with a smile.
"We are from the Freedom Fighters' camp." Anna informs.
"Oh really?" Echo smiles. "Why are you out here? Low on supplies?"
"Yeah. We were on a supply run for any food and medicine we could find." Toby replies.
"How much did you get?" Echo questions.
"Just two backpack fulls." Anna says with a sigh.
"That little?" Echo gives them a concerned face before calling Free over. He whispers something in Free's ear, causing Free to look at Toby and Anna with caution before nodding and walking away.
Freedom Fighters' Camp
Detrick has Will Ralston sitting on the examination table. Detrick is digging through his cabinets. "Ah here we go." Detrick pulls out two small containers. "Okay, so I'm putting you on two medications- the macrolide antibiotics will stop the growth of any pneumonic bacteria that you have while the ibuprofen will numb the fever and any aches and pains you have. I recommend taking the antibiotics twice a day, once in the morning and again at night. I also recommend that you take the ibuprofen with every meal unless you feel like you don't need it. Finally, you should stay in bed until you have fully recovered." Detrick calmly informs.
"Thanks doc." Will sighs as he takes the bottles.
"Nah holmes, just call me Detrick." Detrick smiles. "It's a lot friendlier that way."
"Alright..." Will nods and stands up. "How long have you been here?"
"A couple years now." Detrick replies. "I was living in the Sangre Roja Safe Zone beforehand. I was almost done with my medical training before I escaped."
"Why'd you leave?" Will asks.
"...my brother." Detrick looks down. "Him and I had very differing views. He was going to drag me into The Sight's Militia with him. I couldn't. I just couldn't. I still love my brother, but I wish he made a better choice."
Defiant Camp
Free and two other Deviants return with three small boxes. "Two are filled with food, one is medicine." Echo calmly informs. "They are for you."
"What?" Anna and Toby both go wide eyed.
"We can't take this. You have your own camp to worry about." Anna shakes her head.
"We are fine, I promise. It's getting late, you should go home." Echo smiles as they both only now notice how dark it's gotten. "If you ever need anything, shoot this into the air." Echo hands them a yellow flare gun with three yellow flares. "And if you ever need a safe place to stay, follow the sun and head true east. There, you will find our main camp."
"Thanks. It means a lot." Toby grins as Anna takes the flare gun and rounds. The Defiant put the boxes into the minivan as Toby gets in the driver seat. Anna gets in the passenger seat and, after some goodbyes, they drive off. After a couple of minutes of silence, Toby has regained his confidence. "Hey Anna...I really like you. I've liked you for a long time."
Nothing. Absolute silence.
Toby looks over and, lo and behold, Anna is sound asleep. Toby can't help but smile as he drives back to the Freedom Fighters' camp.
Freedom Fighters' Camp
As Toby and Anna arrive and hand out the supplies, Aleister brings everyone together. "Ladies and Gentlemen," Aleister addresses the group with Silas beside him. Draven, Sabrina, Chris, Scarlet, and Seth have returned to their respective camps. "Tonight, we welcome a new member to our camp- Cedric Hawkins." Aleister points towards CJ and everyone applauds.
"Thanks everyone. I can't wait to help you all." CJ smiles.