Okay everybody, here is chapter six. Hope you guys like it. Sorry it took so long, but I've been suffering from writers block and I also got a new job that involves working almost nine to ten hours a day, so I haven't had much time to write. Hopefully my work will satisfy you all and make up for the wait.

Chapter Six

New places, new friends, old woes.

Thirty miles northeast of Las Vistas in a grass filled valley beneath a lean-to made of pine branches, Joseph was sleeping soundly after completing another days work of helping the people of New Eden settle into their new home. But as he slept, Joseph began to dream.

Begin Dream

Joseph walked through the valley he and his people had settled, when he came upon a tree. But not just any tree, but an apple tree like the one that sustained Joseph and his people through the famine and pestilence that came after the collapse, and that gave him and his chosen great power, including the Shepard.

As he looked at the tree in front of him, Joseph heard a thunderous voice speak to him before his vision turned dark.

End Dream

Joseph woke and immediately got out of bed, grabbing a small leather pouch from under his pillow while doing so. But in his rush, he left his sunglasses. From there he walked to the north gate and found two chosen guarding it.

"You two, follow me and bring torches. We have work to do."

The chosen didn't question the Father as they did what he instructed and followed him into the wilderness. But as they followed him, they couldn't help but wonder why the Father would be wandering the valley at night, until they came across a small creek.

"Stop! This is it." Joseph then got on his knees and started digging a small hole. As he worked, one of the chosen worked up the courage to ask the Father the very question that was burning at the back of their mind.

"Father, why are we here?"

As Joseph turned and looked at the two chosen, they could have sworn that he had a slight yellow glow in his eyes. But then again that could have been from the flickering light of their torches.

"I have been granted another vision by the voice, and have been given instructions." Joseph then pulled out the leather pouch and opened it.

"What did the voice tell you?" Asked the other chosen.

Joseph pulled out a tiny object, throwing the now piece of useless leather aside as he held it up between his fingers to show the two chosen while answering their question. "Plant the seed." He said, taking the apple seed he held and planted it in the small hole. Joseph then ran to the creek and cupped his hands in the water before walking back and poured the contents of his hands into the hole, watering the seed. Once that was done, Joseph refilled the hole with dirt.

As he finished his work, Joseph and his chosen heard the sound of a distant horn to the west. Looking in that direction, the three saw the faint glowing lights of a train going south towards the ruined city. "The Shepard has arrived." Said Joseph as he turned to the chosen. "Let us return to the village so we may tell our people the good news and send the Judge to aid him."

On board the train, everyone was sleeping peacefully in their cots until they heard the loud horn of the diesel engine blare as it slowed to a stop, waking everyone from their slumber. Well, everyone but C.J. that is.

"Cap, wake up. We're here."

"Hmm? Wha-?" C.J. opened his eyes to see Carmina shaking him awake. By the look of her face, he could tell that she was just as tired as him, but was still excited at the prospect of starting a new settlement. "I said we're here, Cap. We made it to Los Vistas!"

C.J. groaned as he sat up in his cot and turned to Carmina while looking at the watch on his left wrist. "Dammit Carmina, its three in the morning! Couldn't you wait a few hours after sunrise to wake me?"

Carmina shook her head. "Nope. Sorry Cap, but the train can't go any further because another derailed train is blocking the tracks. We either wait for the engineer crews to remove the train cars from the tracks or we start unpacking and form a convoy to continue on."

C.J. just rubbed his eyes and sighed. "I'd rather not travel through unfamiliar territory at night, but screw it. Lets start offloading the train and form a convoy to take everyone to that old gated community."

"Sounds great, Cap. Everyone else has already gathered in the dinning car. Meet us there when you're ready." Carmina then left C.J. so he could switch out of his sleep clothes and into a regular outfit.

Twenty minutes later.

Everyone who was involved in either building the future settlement or fighting along side the C.J. in the field was helping themselves to an early morning meal when they heard the shudder of a door open and close.

Entering the dinning car was C.J. himself in full gear, greeting his friends despite his obvious lack of sleep. "Hey guys. (Yawn) Everyone doing okay?"

C.J. was quickly welcomed by his friends as he walked up to Kim as she was serving breakfast. "Hey Kim, whats on the menu today?" He asked with a yawn.

Kim held up a bowl of hot food and gave it to the tired Captain. "Oatmeal, Cap. Now eat up, we need to have a quick recap of what we'll be doing before we take off for the gated community."

C.J. nodded in agreement with what Kim said. "Your right, Kim. Alright guys, gather 'round! Its recap time!" C.J. then spotted Bean and pointed at him. "Bean! Did all of your scout teams survey Los Vistas before gathering at the rally point?"

The skinny young man pushed his glassed up his nose before answering. "Well...Yes and no. Out of the eight two-man teams I sent south, only three reported back. I don't know what happened to the other five teams as they've all gone silent on their radios, but if you get the time after we establish ourselves in the new settlement, I'll give you more details about the missing teams and where you might find them."

While the news about the missing teams was concerning, C.J. still needed to push on with the meeting. "Well, what did the returning teams have to say about the city?"

Bean quickly gave C.J. some folders full of what the scouts reported as he explained what they learned. "The scouts reported that Los Vistas is just like the satellite images; fertile soil capable of growing massive plants and trees. Great for farming crops and producing ethanol. Reasonable weather and many sources of water that we could use for irrigation and plumbing. Plus the city itself will naturally be chalk-full of scrap and other useful stuff for us to scavenge."

Bean was practically beaming as he said all this. And while the report the scouts had made did sound good, C.J. found a few details in the written reports that seemed off to him. "Bean…Whats with this population ratio?"

"The what?" Bean turned to C.J. wondering what could be wrong with the report.

Again C.J. repeated his question. "The population ratio. The scouts estimate the population of Los Vistas to be about ninety-eight percent mutes and two percent humans. Why is that?"

Bean scratched the back of his head before answering. "Well, while the scouts were searching the city, they noticed that while there are many mutes and mute based factions, there were very few humans observed. Its probably because most of the humans fled the city during the great mute outbreak and the collapse that came after. So the way I figured, once the humans were gone, the mutes just moved in."

C.J. nodded in agreement with Bean. It was a logical explanation for the high population of mutes to humans. But then again, C.J. should have remembered this from his past experiences. "Well, as long as the local mutes aren't unfriendly towards humans, we shouldn't have a problem with them."

Before C.J. could ask Bean any more questions, Hurk spoke up. "Hey buddy? What if those other mutes are unfriendly to humans or human friendly mutes? Will we have to fight them?"

While Hurk might not have been the brightest person, he did raise a good question. Thankfully, C.J. was ready for a question like that. "No Hurk, we won't fight them right away. We'll try the diplomatic approach first and see if we can change their minds about humans and mutes coexisting and eventually bring them to our side if we can. That's what Thomas Rush would have done."

"But what if those other mutes are still unfriendly or even downright violent towards us, even if we try to be friendly to them? What then?" Asked Grace.

C.J. then turned serious. "I expect you all to defend yourselves against them or avoid them completely, just like I told both the settlers and my soldiers. And should the locals continue to be violent to us, we'll give them the same treatment we gave the Highwaymen and use gunboat-diplomacy instead."

The way C.J. spoke about how they would deal with any unfriendly mutes cause everyone in the room to once more become uneasy with how their friend was acting. Sensing the growing tension, Carmina changed the subject.

"Hey, Cap? Have you thought about what we should name our new settlement? We can't keep calling it 'the old gated community', its too long. We need a name that will inspire people and give them hope. Any ideas?"

C.J. thought for a moment then spoke. "Well...I remember when I was helping you all in Montana, a woman at Prosperity talked about how she wanted to name the place Haven, but was out voted. So how about we name our settlement New Haven?"

"Why New Haven? Whats so special about a name like that?" Asked Gina as she cradled a still sleeping Blade in her arms. Gina was always somewhat of a pessimist, even when it came to something trivial as picking a name for a new town.

"A name like New Haven will make our new community sound like a place of refuge that people of all walks of life, both humans and mutes, can find a new chance at a better future with new opportunities to succeed in life for themselves or their families. At least that's what I think." Explained C.J.

Everyone seemed to like the potential name for the new settlement and was talking about it to each-other in excitement, until Nana got out of her chair and stood up on the table she was sitting at.

"Okay, kids! Settle down! I think I speak for everyone in the room when I say that our Captain has picked a real winner of a name for our new little town. But as he also reminded us, America is a constitutional republic with a democratic form of election. So, let us vote on it. All in favor of New Haven being the name of our new community, say 'I'."

An instant cheer of 'I' filled the dinning car, followed by more cheering and clapping. Nana then calmed everyone down as she spoke again. "Okay kids, the votes are in and its unanimous! Our town will be called New Haven. With that out of the way, is there anything else you want to talk about, Kid?" Asked Nana.

"Actually, there is." C.J. took off his pack and opened the top. "I have some new gear for everyone. These are radio headsets to go with your long range handheld radios. They're custom made by yours truly to fit each of your heads perfectly so we can all stay in radio contact while having both hands free to do other task."

As everyone examined the new gear they were being given, they heard a knock on the dinning car door.

"Permission to enter?" Said a formal voice from the other side.

"Enter." Said C.J.

The door opened to reveal a young soldier who saluted C.J. as soon as he saw him. "Sir! I'm here to report the status of the first convoy!"

C.J. returned the salute to the soldier before speaking. "At ease, soldier. Whats the status?"

"All vehicles for the first convoy to the new settlement have been offloaded from the train and are ready for you and your friends to depart, Sir."

C.J.'s face lit up with a smile as he thanked the soldier and dismissed him. "Okay guys, this is it! Our trip to New Haven begins now! So before we leave, I want to remind Nick, Carmina, Adelaide, and Roger that after we get our new community started and clear the runway up, Bean will whip up some leaflets about New Haven for you guys to drop out of your planes and helicopters around the city."

C.J. then patted Bean on the shoulder. "And Bean, aside from making the leaflets for our pilots, be sure to let me know if you happen to find an abandoned radio station for Wheaty. I'll be sure to secure it so we can broadcast our message throughout the airwaves and provide good music for our people to listen to as well. Got it?" Bean gave a nod to the captain. "Don't worry, Cap. I'll remember to tell my scouts to be on the lookout. You can count on me."

Happy with Bean's upbeat attitude, C.J. made his way towards the door, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Turning to see who it was, he was met by a concerned looking Kim and Nick. "Uh...Yes, Kim? Is something wrong?"

"Cap, could you wait a moment? Nick and I would like to talk to you about something important… in private."

C.J. gave Kim a nod and told everyone to go ahead, and that he would catch-up to them in a moment. The only person to not leave was Carmina, but whatever hopes she had at being part of the conversation were quickly shattered by her mom. "I'm sorry, Carmina. But when I said your father and I need to talk to Cap in private, I meant that everyone needs to leave, including you." Said Kim.

Carmina's smile dulled as she shuffled outside. Once she was gone, C.J. closed and locked the door. "Okay Kim, what's going on? And why did Carmina have to leave? She's your daughter for crying out loud." Asked C.J.

Kim took a deep breath before she explained. "Nick and I didn't want Carmina to get her hopes up because…well…" Kim trailed off in what seemed to be both concern and deep thought, causing Nick to pickup the conversation in her place.

"Well, you see Cap, before Carmina was born, way back before the whole mess with the peggies, Kim and I met when I flew up into Canada to do some crop-dusting on her fathers farm and from there we started dating and eventually got married. But the thing was that Kim's family hated me. I think part of it had to do with the fact that they were Canadian, but that's beside the point. Hell, they only stayed in Hope County for six hours for the wedding. But there was one member of Kim's family who did support our relationship."

"And who was that?"

Kim then pulled out an old photo and showed it to C.J. "My younger sister. She was so smart that after she graduated from high school, she got a science scholarship and chose to go to a university in southern California to get a degree studying genetics and stuff like that. I remember she wanted to help find a cure for cancer."

C.J. started to catch-on to what Kim was saying. "And the collage she picked happens to be in this city, right?" Kim nodded and gave the photo to C.J. "Yes, Cap. Los Angeles, excuse me, Los Vistas University." C.J. examined the picture Kim gave him as he listened to what she was saying. The picture showed Kim in her wedding dress standing next to who he assumed was the brides maid. The woman in question was shorter, thinner, and had paler skin compared to Kim. She also had long black hair in a braid that came over her left shoulder and dark brown eyes.

Despite the short amount of time he had been talking with Kim and Nick, C.J. could see the direction the conversation was going in. "Kim, you do understand its been twenty years since the bombs dropped, right?"

Kim nodded. "Cap, I know its crazy and a long shot, but ever since the collapse I've had this gut feeling that my sister is still alive. Please, if you get the chance, could you go to the collage and try to find any evidence of my sister, or at least bring back some of her things? It wound mean a lot to me."

C.J. gave a sigh and tucked the picture into the back pocket of his pants. "Sure, Kim. I'll give it a shot. But I can't make any promises. For all we know, that place might be nothing more that a bunch of ruins or even a crater."

"Just try, Cap. That's all I'm asking."

With the conversation over, C.J. walked over to the door and unlocked it. "Before we leave to join the convoy, just so I know…What is your sister's name?"

Kim paused for a moment, then answered. "Song…Her name is Song."

Despite the fact that the sun was hours away from rising, the full moon hung brightly in the night sky, lighting the landscape enough that a person could still see a good distance. But even with the moon lighting the way, many of the people in the convoy were still feeling slightly nervous, being in unfamiliar territory and all. Thankfully their fears were quelled by the accompanying soldiers and the three armed helicopters in the sky over them providing over-watch.

One of these helicopters was a classic Vietnam era Bell UH-1 'Huey' that just happened to be piloted by C.J. himself, with Timber in the seat beside him. The Akita gave a happy bark, earning him a quick scratch behind the ear from C.J. before he returned his focus to flying, only to then be interrupted by a radio call.

{"Hey, Cap? Are you there?"}

Sighing, C.J. answered. "Yeah Carmina, I'm here. What do you need?"

{"Listen, we've been on the road for a while now, Cap. How much longer until we reach New Haven?"}

C.J. felt something nudge his arm and saw that Timber was holding a clipboard in his mouth that just happened to have a map on it. Taking the clipboard from Timber, C.J. checked the map over while commenting Timber on how much of a smart dog he was. After a quick study of the map, C.J. gave it back to Timber and answered Carmina.

"From the look of the map, we have a good ten to fifteen miles left. And at our current speed, I'd say we'll be there in maybe thirty minutes. Don't worry, Carmina. It'll be nothing but smooth sailing from here on ou-" C.J. suddenly felt something was off, followed by a noise.

"Er, one moment Carmina." C.J. then radioed the other helicopters watching the convoy. "Hey Adelaide, Roger, I know this sounds weird to ask, but do either of you hear an airplane coming this way?"

Adelaide was the first to answer. {"No darlin', I don't hear a thing."}

Roger gave a similar response. {"Sorry Captain, no planes in sight. Are you feeling okay?"}

C.J. became nervous at his friends words. How could he be hearing noises, which to him was getting louder, when nobody else did? Maybe the lack of sleep was getting to him. Or maybe Selene was right about him becoming paranoid from being too high strung. His mind drifted off to thoughts about taking Selene up on her offer to prescribe him some 'medicinal herbs' to help him unwind and relax, until Timber started barking like crazy. "What is it, Timber? You hear something coming?"

A sudden barrage of bullets hitting the side of C.J.'s helicopter forced him to take evasive maneuvers out of instinct. The very thing he thought to be mere paranoia turned out to be a horrifying reality as the unmistakable silhouette of a P-51D mustang passed in front of him at blazing speed, causing C.J. to shout into his headset as he struggled to control his now failing aircraft. "SHIT! GUYS, I'VE BEEN HIT! I'VE BEEN HIT!"

{"Holy shit, Captain! You were right about the plane!"} Exclaimed Roger as he and Adelaide returned fire at the attacking fighter plane with their helicopters machine guns.

Hearing of the attacking plane, C.J.'s radio filled with fear induced chatter as people began to panic. As if to add insult to injury, C.J.'s Huey gave a loud bang, causing the instrument panel to start beeping while a red light blinked on and off.

{"Cap, your chopper is spewing smoke like crazy! I'd bail out right now if I were you!"} Said a scared Kim.

"I would if I could, Kim. But the truth is that it looks like I'm gonna have to ride this one out and will be crash landing somewhere in Las Vistas. If try to bail out now, my parachute might get caught in the blades, and the last thing I'd want is to get cut to ribbons. Plus I can't carry Timber out with me and I'm not going to abandon him." C.J. continued to try and maintain control, but the situation only worsened. Not only was he losing oil pressure, but he had just lost tail-rotor response. With few options left, he adjusted his radio to contact all frequencies.

"Alright everyone, this might be my last message, so listen up! As you all know, we are currently under attack from an unknown aircraft, so hit the gas and speed it the hell up, don't stop until you reach New Haven. Second, to all troops, should I loose radio contact for any reason and go missing, I want you all to remember that your first priority is to protect the people and help fortify New Haven. You guys can start that by doing whatever you can to shoot that flying bastard down! And finally, I'm naming Lt. Colonel Grace Armstrong as commanding officer until I find my way back to you all. General C.J. Monroe, out."

As the helicopter continued to drift away from the convoy and into the city, Timber let out a fearful whimper. C.J. tried his best to comfort his furry friend with another quick scratch behind the ears, but it did little to reduce the fear in the dogs eyes.

"Listen, Timber. I don't know if this will be our end or not. But if it is, I want you to know that you're not just a good boy, you're the best boy!"

No sooner did he finish his words, the helicopter dropped down past a grove of trees before smashing down on a rooftop and falling through, knocking both man and beast out cold.

Nighttime for the Highwaymen in Las Vistas usually consisted of partying and drinking at their camps and outpost until they passed out. But tonight the Highwaymen were really living it up. Why, might you ask? The twin leaders of the Highwaymen, Mickey and Lou, were in a big tent at the park outpost where Wolf stole food from, hosting a dinner with their newly picked chapter bosses and the enforcers that led the expedition to Las Vistas.

Naturally the twins were truly impressed when they saw the city. The abundance of plant life allowed the Highwaymen to increase their ethanol production like crazy, enabling them to establish multiple outpost throughout the southeastern side city, including a prison in the middle of a desert that the Highwaymen were using to hold the mutes and humans that they captured for slave labor. But as Mickey and Lou enjoyed their meal of roasted snake meat and beer with the chapter bosses, an enforcer walked into the tent and up to the twins table.

"What now." Asked Mickey as the grip on her steak knife tightened.

"It's one of our fliers."

"What about 'em?" Asked Lou as she joined her twin in the round of questioning the uninvited guest.

The enforcer cleared his throat before continuing. "He found and attacked a road convoy. A big one."

The twins seemed surprised at this news. "How big?" Asked Lou.

"Real big. Like a mile long. The guy also said that he shot down a helicopter that drifted off into the city and then blew up a fuel truck and some cars that were near it, including a bus."

Mickey and Lou were now listening with great interest. "Did he say where the convoy is?" Asked Mickey as she and her sister leaned in closer.

The enforcer shook his head. "No. The dumb-ass just said something about going in for a third attack before his radio cut out. Nothin' but static since then. Moron probably got himself shot down."

Hearing this, the twins became disappointed and told the enforcer to leave. But then Mickey realized something. "Hey Lou, do you know how many supplies it takes to form a convoy a mile long?"

"Yeah, Mic. A fuck-ton of supplies, and fuel to go with it. It would've been a good score if we knew where it was."

"That's right, Lou. Plus someone to organize all that shit. And who do we know that can organize the supplies and ethanol for a convoy that big?"

Lou thought for a moment until she got what her sister was saying. "THE FUCKING RABBIT!" She screamed.

Mickey nodded. "That's right, Lou. I bet the Rabbit is also the reason Alcatraz went quiet, too. So if the Rabbit took Alcatraz and the convoy is his, then that means…."

"The convoy came in from the north side of the city!" Exclaimed Lou.

"It also means that the Rabbit and his forces are moving south, Lou. Probably to take Los Vistas so they can increase their ethanol production and eventually come after us."

"Then I guess its time, right Mickey?"

"Damn right it is, Lou."

The then twins got up from their seats as Lou shouted at the other bosses. "Alright, listen up! We just got a report, and from the looks of it, the Rabbit and his nation just arrived in Los Vistas. So its time for us to move and take the whole damn city!"

"We want you to grab your crews, get out there, and take as much of the city as you can. Los Vistas is the most valuable place on the west coast and it's going to stay as Highwaymen territory. Don't let the Rabbit or his precious 'A.S.A.' get an inch of ground, because if they do, you'll have to answer to us." Said Mickey.

The now terrified bosses fled the tent, not wanting to anger the twins anymore than they already were. As they got in their cars and trucks and traveled to the other outpost, they spread the word over the land and through the airwaves that it was time to takeover the whole city and claim it for the Highwaymen.

Things were about to change for both Los Vistas and its inhabitants, severely.

The next morning, Timber awoke to the sound of a loud crash. Crawling out through the now broken windshield of the helicopter, the dog wandered the halls of the building he and C.J. landed in until Timber came across a girl feeding chips to a pig.

"Whoa. You were hungry, weren't you?" The girl then fed the rest of the bag to the pig.

Just as the girl was about to ask the pig if it wanted to try something fun, Timber gave a loud bark, gaining her attention. "Ohmygosh! What a cute doggie!" Exclaimed the girl as she ran up to Timber and began smothering him with all the love a dog deserved, much to the pigs annoyance. And while Timber did enjoy the affection, he knew he still needed to help C.J., who remained passed out in the wrecked helicopter. Quickly shaking out of the girls grasp, Timber gave a few more barks and ran down the hall.

"Hey wait! I still wanna pet you!" Yelled the girl as she and the pig ran after the dog.

After a short run, the girl and pig followed the dog to what looked like a cafeteria. The only difference between this cafeteria and the one at her school was that there was a crashed helicopter sitting in the middle of it. The girl then felt a nudge on her leg as the dog then walked over to the pilot side door and began pawing at it while whimpering. As she watched the dog, the girl then saw what looked to be an unconscious man wearing a dark green cap, a blue baseball jersey, and some kind of harness through the door window of the downed aircraft.

"Oh my goodness! Is that your owner!?"

Timber gave the girl an approving bark before stepping aside and giving the girl another whimper. Realizing what the dog wanted, the girl slowly walked up to the pilots side door and began to open it.

"Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead." The girl quickly threw the door open. With nothing to hold him in, C.J. quickly fell out and hit his head on the ground, waking him up.

"OUCH! DAMMIT! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!" Yelled C.J. as he got up and saw a girl and pig standing in front of him. "Who the heck are you?!"

The girl was startled for a moment but quickly regained her posture as she answered C.J.'s question. "Um, hi. My name is Kipo. I was wandering through this building when your dog brought me and my pig in here to help you."

C.J. leaned down and gave Timber a few pats on his head. "You really are the best boy, aren't you?" He said as Timber gave a happy yip. C.J. then turned his attention to Kipo. "So, Kipo was it? What are you doing here? Are you out scavenging with your parents?"

"Um...No. I'm not a scavenger. Its a bit of a long story."

"Well feel free to explain away. Its not like I'm gonna be leaving anytime soon. Maybe you could even guide me through this city once I've gathered my stuff out of this piece of crap." C.J. then gave the helicopter a hard kick with his combat boot, causing one of the doors to fall off.

Kipo became nervous at the mention of her being his guide. "Um, funny thing, I was actually wondering if you could help me get home, mister…?"

"Just call me Cap, everyone else I know does."

"Right. Well Cap, the thing is that I don't live on the surface. Well I kinda do now, but I'm actually from a burrow."

C.J. was completely caught off guard at the word 'burrow', causing him to do a double take of Kipo. "Wait? You're from a burrow?!"

"Is that a bad thing?" She asked.

"Not really, but to be honest you shouldn't go around telling strangers that your from a burrow. Many humans and mutes would literally kill for the location of a burrow, especially one full of humans." Warned C.J.

"Y-Your not...serious about the killing part, right?" Asked Kipo as she became slightly scared at what the man told her.

"I'm as serious as death itself, kid. So try to keep the fact that your from a burrow as secret, okay?" Said C.J. as he pulled out his backpack and weapons from behind the pilots seat and inspected them.

Given the fact that C.J. didn't plan on getting lost in Los Vistas on his first day in the area, his pack only had a few items and some crafting supplies, along with some personal things. There was a mix of different explosives, a few molotov cocktails, a handful of throwing knives, two first aid kits, a collapsible fly fishing rod, some regular and special ammo for his ranged weapons, a large coil of blue climbing rope with a grappling hook, a zippo lighter, an MP3 player full of C.J.'s favorite songs, a small solar charger for said MP3 player, a set of binoculars, and five smoke grenades.

As for weapons, C.J. had his A.J.M. 9 pistol 'Blood Dragon' in his hip holster, the saw launcher 'Bear With Me', and the sawed-off shotgun 'Blissful Agony'. For melee combat, C.J. had 'Reality', his modified shovel, along with his homemade trench knife. C.J. also saw that he still had room for one more weapon on his backpack should he find another. But there was one major problem.

Despite the supplies he had, C.J. realized that he failed to pack some food and water before leaving, and would need to forge and hunt for his meals. At least that's what C.J. thought until the sound of Kipo clearing her throat reminded him that he wasn't the only one lost. "So Kipo, how did you end up on the surface?" He asked.

"Well...I was rock climbing with my dad in our burrow and I was about break my climbing record when mutequake happened."

"What the hell is a 'mutequake'? I've never heard of something like that before." Said C.J.

"Oh! A mutequake is like an earthquake, but instead of being caused by shifting fault lines in the tectonic plates its caused by giant mutes when they pass over our burrow. We learned to anchor all furniture a long time ago." C.J. listened to every word Kipo had to offer, giving him information on a multitude of subjects as she continued to talk. "Anyway, I got thrown into the water canal and separated form my dad when the tunnel collapsed, and now I'm on the surface I and don't know where I am." Explained a now saddening Kipo.

C.J. wasn't sure of what to say to the lost girl, so he decided the most helpful thing to do was to just be honest. "Listen Kipo, I know we've just met, but it would be a dick move of me to just ditch you to fend for yourself when you obviously don't know any survival skills to help you stay alive, being that you're from burrow and all. So, even though I know you are going to be a pain in my ass because of how clueless you are, I'm going to do the right thing and try to help you get home."

Before he could react, C.J. found himself wrapped up in an unexpected hug from a now ecstatic Kipo. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me!" Said Kipo as her arms tightened around the hardened fighter while Timber gave a happy bark. Event Kipo's pig gave C.J. a joyful squeal.

"Alright, you can let go now." Said C.J. as he wriggled out of Kipo's grasp. "Now before we do anything else, I'm going take a moment and see if I can call my friends for some help on my radio. With some luck, we'll be riding a helicopter to safety in about an hour or less."

"Wait, you have friends out here?" Asked Kipo as her eyes got bigger with excitement.

"Yeah, I do have friends here with me. You thought I just came here on a whim with my dog? I was actually traveling with a convoy full of people to an old gated community that we were going to covert into a new settlement. We even picked out a new name for it; New Haven." Said C.J. as he tried to get a signal on his radio.

"Wait. So what you're telling me is that there are not just other humans living on the surface, but that you're thriving and building settlements as well?!". Asked an astounded Kipo.

C.J. just ignored her as tried to raise a signal on this radio, with no success. "Neck call, neck call! This is bluebird speaking, can anyone read me, over?" C.J.'s only response to his call-sign was a bunch of static. Frustrated, he began to shake the device in anger, only to get a rattling sound out of it. "Damn! My radio must've gotten damaged in the crash. Wait a minute, I got an idea!" C.J. quickly climbed into the pilots seat of the down helicopter as he began to push buttons and flip switches, only to get more pissed off.

"Dammit! The batteries are dead, so I can't use the helicopter radio either! FUCKING BULLSHIT!" Screamed C.J. as he slammed his fist down on the useless equipment. He was so pissed that he even thought about using his eden abilities to rip-up the worthless aircraft.

Kipo on the other hand was more concerned about C.J.'s language than being lost with no communications. "Hey! Don't use dirty language like that! It's wrong!" Said Kipo as she pointed a disapproving finger at C.J. while her pig gave a mad grunt. Even Timber gave an angry growl at C.J.'s choice of words.

If Nana had been here right now, the old woman most certainly would've made it her personal mission to wash his mouth out with lye soap for swearing in front of a kid, even though Nana had a habit of slinging out enough cuss words to make a sailor blush during gunfights, but that was different. So with few options left, C.J. simply chose to apologize.

"(Sigh) Kipo, I'm sorry I offended you with my swearing, but to be brutally honest, we have a lot more to worry about than me having a dirty mouth. Until I ether get my radio fixed or we find someone who can guide us to either your burrow or north to New Haven, you and I are pretty much lost in this city."

"Oh...I didn't think about it like that. Sorry, Cap." Said Kipo as she realized how serious the situation was.

"Its alright, Kipo. Lets just put this behind us and see about gathering some supplies. There's no telling how long we're going to be wandering around." C.J. then climbed out of the helicopter and put his backpack on while adjusting his harness.

"Oh! There's a vending machine up the hall I knocked over. You could gather some food from there, Cap." Said Kipo as she pointed out the cafeteria doors.

C.J. gave her a nod. "That's a good start, Kipo. You're already thinking like a survivor. So while I gather anything that's still good, you go see if you can find anything else we can use. And if you run into trouble, just yell out for me, okay?"

"Gotcha, Cap! Lets go, Mandu." Kipo and the now named Mandu ran down the hall as C.J. and Timber went the other way.

"Odd name for a pet pig, eh Timber?" The dog gave C.J. a nod as the two walked over to the fallen snack dispenser. With a quick use of his increased strength from his eden powers, C.J. flipped the vending machine over and began to pick through it.

After a few minutes of searching, C.J. only managed to scrounge up a few cans of soda, given the fact that canned goods would be the only good forms of food after twenty years, aside from food that was either fresh grown or gathered from the wild. All of the food that was bagged or boxed was too expired, and as such was no good and too risky to eat. And while it wasn't much, C.J. figured that a few cans of flat soda might just be the ticket to boost the spirits of small band of survivors.

C.J. quickly finished packing up and called out to Kipo. "Hey, Kipo! Quit messing around and get back here! Its time to go!" After a couple of minutes, Kipo and Mandu rounded the corner and met up with their new friends.

"Did you find any supplies?" Asked C.J.

Kipo shook her head. "Nope. But I did find some baby rabbits. They were so cute!"

C.J. chuckled a bit. "Well I guess there is nothing wrong with doing a bit of nature watching. Okay Kipo, lets get a move-on."

With that said, the group of four walked out of the school and into the woods. But after a bit of walking, Mandu ran ahead and started grazing on a fern until a small shadowy figure ran up out of nowhere and snatched up Mandu, causing the pig to squeal in panic before being carried of into the underbrush.

"Mandu!" Gasped Kipo as she ran after her pet.

"Hey! Get back here, you dammed pig thief!" Yelled C.J. as he and a now furious Timber chased after their friends, deeper into the wilderness.

Alright everybody, I know that there is more of episode one I haven't covered yet, but I've put this off for long enough, and after almost half a year I thought I should give you guys something to let you all know that I'm not dead and that I'm not abandoning this story either.

I'm just going to break my chapters into smaller chunks so I can get more out for you all to read. So feel free to read and leave a review, and I'll see about getting part two out as fast as I can. So here's a late Christmas present for everyone to enjoy.

Review dude 357, out.