Snake woke up from his sleep in the morning and was surprised to see that nothing happened to him. He had passed out in the middle of the wastes. He expected that he would be captured or killed by some group wanting that bounty on his head.

I guess God decided to let me live another day. Can't let that happen again. I doubt I'll get lucky twice. Better start moving again.
He got back to his feet, dusting off his suit and began traveling again, getting back to searching for Peach and Link. Problem was he didn't know where to look. The info Murphy gave him didn't give him a general location. So far he hasn't found a clue regarding their whereabouts. Though that wasn't going to last long. After traveling for 2 hours, he saw something familiar. It was a location where a massacre occurred. Though this was different from the one with the Koopas. These were corpses of Toads, and they weren't killed by monsters, the bullet holes all over the bodies made that clear. This was an ambush by one of the wasteland's scum groups. As tragic as it may be, the fact that they're Toads could give him a clue of where Peach is.

"Y-y-you there! C-c-come…h-here." A trembling voice beckoned to Snake.

A survivor?!

Snake ran to the voice, and found a mortally wounded Toad, slumped up against a rock. Snake instinctively tried to stop the bleeding.

"Don't waste your time. I'm lung shot. I appreciate it but you can't save me." The dying Toad said.

"What the hell happened here?!"

"We w-were escort-t-ting Princess P-P-Peach. But we were ambushed by s-s-slavers." He struggled to explain.

"What about Peach? I don't see her around." Snake asked.

"T-t-they took her. Said they were going back to their slave camp north of here. Probably planning to sell her."

"Shit!" Snake cursed.

"Please sir…can you please carry out a dying Toads wish? P-p-please s-s-save h-h-her." The Toad begged as his time was running short.

"Don't worry, I'll save her." He promised the dying Toad.

"I-it's g-g-good to see that there are p-p-people l-l-like you…in…the…wasteland." The Toad said with his last breath.

They didn't deserve this. It's a shame this is how I found out where Peach's location is. And Slavers! They're the worst. The raiders and bandits at least just kill you. The slavers take people alive to camps to be beaten, dehumanized, and sold for profit. It's the worse place that Peach could be. Since that Toad was still alive, the slavers must have attacked recently. I can probably get Peach out of that camp in before they sell her. Better haul ass to that camp to the north.

The journey took the entire day, arriving at the campsite very late at night. This didn't look like your average campsite. This slave camp was fortified, heavily guarded with security guards patrolling. You wouldn't see this at any raider camp. The difference between the raiders and the slavers is that the slavers were considered to be businessmen by some. Those who think that are obviously the ones that do business with them. Slavers don't raid for to steal supplies, they don't need to. Instead they kidnap people and can just trade them for supplies. In a nutshell, Slavers can afford better weapons and security than any of the other groups.

Snake took out his binoculars and began scouting the camp. The perimeter was protected by a fence. He decided that he would enter by cutting through the fence, as taking the main entrance would just get him killed. The outside of the camp was the prison area. There were so many cages, and so many people trapped in them.

Peach must be in one of those.

After observing the patrol patterns of the guards, Snake began infiltrating.

Funny. Looking at this place, scouting it and sneaking into it feels so…nostalgic. Can't say I have a great track record when it comes to rescuing people. Doesn't matter, cause I am not going to fuck this up.

He stayed in the shadows and was in front of the fence. This camp had electricity and lights to brighten to prison camp. Not many dark places for him to hide once he got inside, but there were many crates laying around that he could hide behind. Still staying in the shadows, Snake looked at the cages, hoping to see Peach in one of them.

Damn it! I don't see her!

He then noticed nearby two guards standing next to each other. He began listening in on their conversation.

"Hey, what happened to little princess that we captured earlier today? Don't see her in any of the cages."

"Don't worry. Davis had her moved to the indoor cell. She's not going anywhere." The guard said.

"Please! Let us go! Why are you doing this?!" A lady cried from her cell.

"Hey, go shut her up!" the guard ordered to the other. The other guard went up to woman and smacked her hard across the face. A male slave doing manual labor left his post and charged at the guard with fury.

"THAT'S MY WIFE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" the man roared. The guard pulled out a pistol and shot the man point blank in the head, killing him instantly. The man's wife burst into tears.

"Collins! What the hell! You can't be killing the slaves! That's our profit!" The commanding guard chewed him out.

"What? He was trying to kill me, it was either me or him."
The commander let out a frustrated sigh.
"Whatever, just get rid of his body. But I have to report this and you can bet it's coming out of your paycheck."

Snake had watched the events that just occurred. But that was all he could do…watch. As much as he wished that he could free the slaves, his priority was to get Peach out. Trying to save everyone was too risky and would only get him killed. It infuriated him, but he needed to stay focused. The one good thing to come out of that was Peach's location.

Inside the indoor cell. Thank God the buildings are labeled or this would be a pain in the ass.

Snake cut the fence with wire cutters, making space for him to crawl through. Now inside the outdoor prison area, he quickly took cover behind a crate. The indoor prison wasn't too far east of his location, so he went from cover to cover as he made his way there. He got close to the entrance but ran into a problem. A guard was standing in front of the door, and he wasn't going away. Snake could shoot him with his suppressed pistol, but if any guard saw his corpse, the place would be on full alert. He could use the old trick of making a noise to get him to move away from there, but he would have to deal with him as soon as he exited the building. Snake decided to try something different. He knocked on the crate, getting the guards attention. As planned, the guard began moving towards Snake's location. But he didn't sneak into the building, he stayed right where he was. As soon as the guard got close, Snake caught him in a strangle hold, in a perfect location too. They were behind crates, so none of the guards could see Snake as he broke the guard's neck. He lifted the guard over his shoulders, and rushed into the indoor cell.

Now inside the building, Snake dumped the corpse onto the ground. This room was rather small, and he couldn't hear any guards. However, he could hear a woman yelp in pain. Snake moved further into the room and found the source.

Peach?!

He found her. She was on her knees and handcuffed. Her face was bloody and bruised, and her signature pink dress was gone, and she was instead clothed in rags. A guard was standing in front of her, definitely the cause of her injuries. In a burst of rage, Snake turned the guard around and punched him right in the throat, crushing his windpipe. The man fell to his knees, suffering as he couldn't breathe. Snake snapped his neck and killed him. He took the key to Peach's cuffs off of his corpse. Taking the cuffs off, he gently cupped his hands on Peach's cheeks.

"Peach. Peach!" Snake repeated trying to get her attention. She looked like she was unconscious, but her face began to show movement.

"W-who are you?" She muttered.

"Peach it's me. I'm gonna get you out."

She opened her eyes as best she could in her weakened state, and looked at the face of the man in front of her.

"S-Snake?"

A small smile grew on her face before she passed out in Snake's arms. Snake himself smiled briefly. It wasn't much of a reunion, but he had finally found one of his old friends alive. He stood up and carried her with him. It dawned on Snake that now he would have to find a way to get both of them out of them camp. Having to worry about a second person made this all the more difficult. He exited the building and looked around the camp, trying to find anything that could help him in some way. Just to his luck, he saw the power generator for the camp.

If I can destroy that, then that means lights out for the camp. Maybe then we can book it and get both of us out of here.

Snake reached into his bag and pulled out a frag grenade. With a perfect throw, it landed right next to the generator, destroying it upon exploding. The place went dark, and all the guards panicked. Snake turned on his night vision goggles and pulled out his pistol. One of the commanders pulled out a mega phone.

"ALL SECURITY STAFF! WE ARE BEING ATTACKED BY AN OUTSIDE SOURCE! GET INTO DEFENSIVE POSITION!"

The guards all focused on the outside of the camp.

They think a group of raiders is attacking them? Well this is going better than I thought.

Snake sprinted with Peach on his back to the exit. The panicking prisoner's cries disguised the sounds of his footsteps. He got to the exit and killed the two guards protecting it, allowing him an easy exit. He had done it. He rescued Peach and escaped without getting caught. Yet he still felt some bad feeling. After making it up to the hill where he did recon on the camp, he looked back to the camp and thought of the people being held there as slaves. He promised himself that one day, he would come back for the rest of the slaves.

Finding a nearby cave, Snake went inside to use it for shelter. He gently laid Peach down and began tending to her injuries.

Just some cuts and bruises on the face and back. Thank God it's just that.

As he healed her, Peach woke up opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry at first, but after a few seconds it cleared up, and she saw the face of her rescuer.

"Snake." She said sounding exhausted. "It really is you" she cheered and embraced him.

"It's good to see you too. And to see you awake. You're pretty banged up though."

"It's not that bad. At least n…AAAAH!" She cried in pain.

"What's wrong?!" Snake panicked.

"My…right shoulder. I think they injured it really bad."
Snake quickly examined her right shoulder and determined the cause.

"It's dislocated." He concluded.

"Can you fix it?"

"Yeah…but…it's going to hurt."

The princess was frightened, but eventually pulled herself together.

"Ok."

"I'll have to pop it back in place. I'll try to do it as fast as I can but there's nothing I can really do about the pain. Are you ready?"
She nodded in agreement. Snake focused both of his hands on her shoulder. Positioning them just right, he was able to pop it in place in one motion. Peach shrieked out in pain, tears coming down her eyes. Snake wrapped his arms around her hoping to calm her down.

"It's ok! It's ok! It's ok! It's all over. It's done." He repeated as she finally stopped screaming. She held on to him tightly as the pain went away.

"You…you actually came for me."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"How did you know where to find me?"

"One of the Toads that was with you. He told me before he died."

"Those poor guys…just goes to show how weak of a leader I am." She cursed at herself as tears began to come down her face.

"What are you talking about?" Snake asked as he wiped her tears.

"I wasn't strong enough to protect them. I couldn't save them or myself."

"Being a good leader doesn't have to do with physical strength princess." He stated. She looked at him curiously, wondering what he meant.
"What really makes someone a good leader is their words."

"Words?"

"That's right. Many people say that actions speak louder than words but I disagree. Words and actions can speak at equal volume."

"Why's that?"

"You know the reason why those Toads have undying loyalty towards you? It's your words, your speeches. They give them inspiration, boost their morale. You make them feel good."

"But the ones that died…"

"They died with the intention of protecting you. That's what they wanted to do. I think for them that's the best way for them to go out. Fighting for the princess. As for strength, just take a look at me. I'm what you can consider to be strong, but do I really look like someone who can lead a large group of people? The answer is no." Snake lectured.

"The point I'm trying to make is that words can be just as powerful as the bullets in my gun. And you words are pretty damn strong."

Peach smiled at his compliment. "Thank you Snake."

"Alright, let's get some sleep. We'll figure out what to do tomorrow." Snake said and began to stand up.

"Wait don't leave!" Peach begged. Snake looked at her with confusion. "I…I want you to be close to me. I…I feel…safer."

Snake silently agreed to her request and sat back down next to her. She rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep. Snake was exhausted himself, and finally closed his eyes after she fell asleep.

Good night princess.

Morning came, and Snake opened his eyes. However what he saw didn't look good. A large group of men in armor surrounded him and Peach. Peach woke up and shrieked in fear, wrapping her arm around Snake's arm. He pulled out his pistol, fearing the worst. Then, a voice came from the crowd of soldiers.

"Well I'll be damned…"