Author's Note:
Welcome to the next chapter of my New Dawn story, in this chapter more allies will be made and more Highwaymen will die.
Six more days have passed in the war between the Scavengers and the Highwaymen. The Captain's leadership allowed the Scavengers of Hope County to form an effective resistance against the Highwaymen. He plans the attacks on the outposts by scoping them out, locating the alarms and planning the best approach.
Prosperity has grown more in that time, Sharky set up an explosives lab in the old Hangar of Prosperity and is managing to make some pipe-bombs and dynamite to use against the Highwaymen; More people have come to join in the fight against the Twins, Marcus has given the people of Hope County hope that they can win this war and they will live to see another day.
"Hey Hunter, can you hand me my wrench?" Nick asked as he was working on the Plane's engine, Hunter didn't respond though,because he couldn't hear as he was using a blowtorch to fix some exposed holes on the hull of the plane.
Hunter and Nick were working on the "Carmina" in the Boathouse outside of Prosperity getting her ready to fly so Nick could teach her daughter how to fly when she turns Eighteen. The plane wasn't ready when Marcus and Nick brought it Home, it had no wings and the engine wasn't completely finished. The plane also sustained some damage when the Captain and Nick escaped together in it; The engine got shot a few times and some bullets pierced the hull.
Nick was working on the engine making sure it would work properly; Hunter was filling in the bullet holes with a blowtorch, he wore protection to prevent getting burned. Nick didn't like Hunter using the blowtorch but he's proved that he could handle it.
"Hey Hunter!"Nick yelled, trying to get his attention but Hunter didn't respond. Nick sighed then turned away from the engine and walked over to Hunter as he was filling in another bullet hole."HUNTER!" He shouted, trying to get his attention for a third time.
Hunter stopped welding, he turned off the gas valve on the tank, put the torch down and looked up at Nick as he took off the welding mask over his head."What is it?"
"I was asking if you could hand me my wrench, but you wouldn't say anything." Nick said.
"Sorry, this mask makes it hard to hear anything." Hunter apologized as he held the mask up.
"Whatever, can you just hand me my wrench, it's in the toolbox right behind you." Nick asked, pointing to it.
"Alright" He nodded, he walked over to Nick's toolbox and pulled out his wrench then walked back over to him."Here you go." Hunter offered, holding the wrench out to him.
Nick looked at Hunter, smiling at him then took the wrench from his hand."Thanks man" Nick then went back to working on the engine, while Hunter went back to work on fixing the bullet holes on the plane.
After Hunter fixed the holes on the plane he walked over to Nick to see if he needed any help on the plane's engine.
"Do you need any help Nick?" Hunter asked, Nick looked at Hunter and nodded."Yeah I do in fact need some. Can you help me with the engine, this will be easier with two people."
"OK." Hunter nodded and walked over to Nick to help him with the engine.
Nick taught Hunter a lot about vehicle maintenance when he was a kid, he always wanted a son but he got a daughter instead but he was still happy to have Carmina in his life. Hunter felt like the son that Nick always wanted in his life, he helped Jerome take care of Hunter when they first met up, he taught him a lot about cars and planes: How they work, how to fix them, and some of their other functions. Nick wanted to teach Hunter how to fly a plane too, but Jerome forbade Hunter from learning until he turned eighteen. Kim had the same rule, she wouldn't allow him to teach Carmina until she turned eighteen.
They worked on the engine for a while until they took a break from working on Carmina. They sat together looking at the plane, it was coming along nicely but it still needed a set of wings, some new windshields and it could also use a paint-job; because part of its hull has Highwaymen markings and some of the paint is badly faded.
"The plane is coming together nicely Nick, but it still needs some work."Hunter said, then grabbed a water bottle and took a sip.
Nick nodded then took a sip from his beer."Yeah, it does."
"Ya know it's good to be home Hunter, thanks for rescuing me." Nick thanked.
"You don't need to thank me Nick, you're one of my closest friends and after everything you've done for me and everyone else I'd give my life for you." Hunter said proudly.
"Whoa don't go that far Hunter." Nick said, not wanting to hear that from him.
He admired Hunter's selflessness but he didn't want him to throw away his own life to save his. Hunter was still a child and still had much to do with his life. Nick wouldn't be able to live with himself if Hunter gave his life for him.
"Why? You would do the same for me so why shouldn't I do the same for you?" Hunter asked.
Nick placed a hand on Hunter's shoulder and said. "I know you would."
The Captain stood in the courtyard of Prosperity giving orders to some of the Scavengers. As he was finishing giving orders Sharky walked over to him with Hurk right behind him. "Hey Cap, you got a second?" Sharky asked as he walked over to him.
Marcus groaned in annoyance as he heard Sharky's voice, he still hasn't forgiven them for poisoning him and the teens with ethanol. He turned over to face them."What the fuck do you guys want?" The captain asked, annoyed by their presence.
"Look bro, I know you're still mad at us, but we got a huge favor to ask you." Sharky said.
"What is it?"Marcus asked, wondering if they were gonna ask something stupid.
"We got a real good news bad news situation brewin' here man and we really need your help with this."Hurk said.
Marcus looked at them seeing both happiness and worry in their eyes, what they were about to ask was probably worth his time so he decided to listen to what they were gonna say to him.
"What's the good news?" Marcus asked.
"The good news is we found Gina, Blade's birth mommy and the love of my life." Hurk said proudly.
Sharky then explained the Bad News to the Captain. "Bad news is the Highwaymen snatched her up and she's being forced to drive in the Prisoner Run."
"What's the Prisoner Run?" Marcus asked, unsure of what it was but judging by it's name it clearly wasn't good.
"It's how they punish those disloyal to the gang, and the winner gets their freedom back. The only problem is it's totally rigged so nobody wins and everyone dies horrible grizzly deaths."Sharky explained in a casual tone.
"Wait, she's a Highwayman?" Marcus said, surprised that Blade's Mom and the love of Hurk's life was a part of the most dangerous gang in America.
"She was, but not anymore. They were pissed when she gave Blade to us instead of them so they took her and charged her with betrayal to the gang."Hurk replied.
"Yea' I guess even helmet heads love babies,I mean they're so special." Sharky muttered.
Hurk then got to the point of this conversation."Look we need to make sure Gina wins that race, so she can get out of there alive, because that's the love of my life and my son's Mommy. I'm not gonna let anybody fuck with my family like that." Hurk said confidently.
Marcus thought about it and decided that Gina could be a useful ally against the Highwaymen, she may know of a few things that could help them out in their fight and thinks having her around with Blade would be better than Hurk and Sharky.
"Alright, let me find Hunter or Carmina and see if they can help out." Marcus suggested.
"Actually, Carmina is babysitting Blade for me, because I was gonna go with you to get my girl back."Hurk said.
"Alright, I'll see if Hunter can help out." Marcus replied. Marcus looked around for Hunter but didn't see him anywhere, he walked into the house and found Kim at the command table looking over some maps.
"Hey Kim you got a sec." Marcus said to get her attention.
Kim looked up at the Captain."Hey Captain, do you need something?"
"Have you seen Hunter? I can't find him anywhere." Marcus asked.
"He's with Nick helping him work on his plane down at the boathouse." Kim told him.
Marcus sighed in frustration that there was nobody else to assist him at the moment. Jerome and Nana were out liberating prisoners; Hunter and Carmina were both occupied; and the dog Timber wasn't the necessary ally for this situation. Marcus didn't like the idea of having Hurk fight beside him, he may be good with a rocket launcher, but he wasn't willing to put his trust in him, he seemed too excited and incompetent in his opinion.
"Alright, I'm heading out, do you have anyone to spare?" Marcus asked.
"Unfortunately no, we only have enough people to keep Prosperity secure right now, so we can't spare anybody."Kim explained.
"Alright, I'll take Hurk" Marcus sighed.
"Don't worry Cap, Hurk way be stupid but he can handle himself well." Kim reassured.
Marcus walked back to get Hurk so they could rescue Gina, Sharky provided the location of the Prisoner Run on his map. They both walked out of the Front Gates to his Truck that was parked right beside the Gates. Marcus got into the driver's seat and Hurk got into the passenger seat. Marcus grabbed his key, put it in the ignition and they were off to the Prisoner Run.
"So how did you meet this Gina of yours?" Marcus asked curiously as he drove. Marcus wondered how Hurk got a Highwayman Enforcer to betray her people, and even get her to have a child with him.
"Oh man dude, it is one hell of a story...some time ago Me and Sharky were running a Distillery, making Booze, Molotov's and partying really hard until one day the Highwaymen came to take over the place. Gina was one of the Highwaymen sent to take over our distillery, I fell in love with her the moment I saw her as she was holding me at gunpoint. Sometime after that I randomly confessed my love for her. She later fell in love with me soon after that."
"Why the fuck would you fall in love with a woman who took away you and your cousins Distillery?" Marcus asked incredulously, still surprised that Hurk fell in love with an enemy.
"She was the most beautiful woman I ever met, she may have been a Highwayman or Highway-woman but I still believed I had a shot with her."
They talked about it a little more before they arrived at the Prisoner run, they got out of the car. After Marcus got out of the truck he walked over to Hurk who was grabbing his Rocket Launcher out of the back-seat."Hurk, if we're gonna rescue Gina I'm gonna need you to not try and do anything stupid."
"Don't worry man, I'll be careful." Hurk reassured him, he didn't feel reassured by his words however, but Hurk wasn't going to sit by while his woman was competing for her life.
"Alright, come on." Marcus said.
The Captain and Hurk quietly made their way up one of the ladders that lead up to one of the guard towers overseeing the Race Track.
"AND THEY'RE OFF!" The announcer shouted on the P.A System.
"Shit, the race is starting." The Captain muttered to Hurk as they climbed up the ladder.
"Come on man, we need to hurry." Hurk said, they quickly climbed up the ladder.
When Marcus climbed up he saw a guard watching the race as it was starting. Marcus turned to Hurk who was climbing up the ladder right behind him, he held his hand up."Wait here, I gotta take out that sniper." Marcus whispered.
"Hurry." Hurk begged, Marcus quietly crouched down and moved up to the Sniper then wrapped his hand on his mouth and snapped his neck, he let the body fall to the ground then he signaled Hurk to come up. Hurk climbed up and ran to the railing to see which vehicle his Gina was in.
"Which one is her?" Marcus asked. "If we're gonna rescue Gina we need to know which vehicle she's in."
Hurk looked at the racers as they made their passes and saw his Gina in the yellow buggy."There!" Hurk Yelled pointing to the yellow buggy, getting hit hard by the other racers.
"Hurk, use your rocket launcher to destroy the other Racers and keep them off of Gina." Marcus ordered as he picked up the dead Highwaymen's sniper rifle.
"I'll take out the other Snipers." Marcus said.
Hurk nodded and readied his rocket launcher.
"Alright, let's get to work."
Hurk aimed at two ATV's making a pass below them, he fired a rocket and it hit them both in the middle destroying them both.
"WHAT THE... WELL LOOKS LIKE WE GOT OURSELVES SOME ROUGES HERE. DEAL WITH THEM BOYS BEFORE THEY RUIN THE RACE!" The announcer shouted over the P.A System.
A few minutes later Snipers climbed up to the other Watchtowers to take them out, Marcus aimed his rifle and shot the other snipers before they climbed up to the other Watchtowers and before they could open fire on them both.
The Highwaymen eventually retreated as Hurk destroyed the other racers and Marcus killed the snipers and the guards. After the track was clear Marcus and Hurk both climbed down to the track and ran over to Gina. Gina stopped her buggy close to them then hopped out and angrily stomped her way over to the Captain and Hurk.
"Oh man, Gina baby I'm so happy to see you alive." Hurk said happily as he ran over to her and wrapped his arms around them tightly. Marcus watched as Hurk hugged Gina, Hurk was clearly happy to see her,but Gina however didn't seem so happy.
"Hurk get the fuck off me!" Gina spat as she pushed him off of her then delivered a hard punch to his face.
"Damn Gina baby, what the fuck, we just rescued you!" Hurk said, surprised that Gina punched him in the face.
"I had that under control Hurk, you and your friend here didn't have to do that." Gina said angrily, then delivered a hard kick to his stomach.
Marcus joined in their argument before Gina could hurt Hurk even more."No you didn't, this race is rigged the Twins were never gonna let you have your freedom."
"Yeah Gina, the Twins were gonna kill you in an unwinnable race, so of course I would come for you." Hurk stated as he wiped the blood off his lip from her punch and kept a hand on the part where she kicked him.
Gina looked at the Captain then walked over to him and poked a finger into his ribs."Listen, I knew the stupid race was unwinnable. That's why I wanted to beat it, so I could shove that victory down the Twin's fucking throats."Gina calmed down a moment later, she took a breath then looked at Hurk and the Captain. "But...thanks. You both probably saved my life or whatever." Gina thanked them and walked over to one of the crashed cars and took a rusty M60 from the corpse of one of the racers.
"Don't mention it Gina." Marcus said as Gina walked back over to them.
Gina sighed and confessed."Look I'm not mad at y'all I just really wanted to win that race. I've had to put up with the Twins horseshit for years. I kept my mouth shut. I did what I was told. All I ever asked in return was for those two dingbats to leave my baby alone. And what did they do? They try to take my son away and sent me off to die in their stupid Death Race." Gina said then looked at Hurk then they both looked at the Captain.
"As long as the Twins are alive our baby will never be safe and I'm gonna pay the Highwaymen back for what they did to me." Gina said then looked at the Captain."You're alright in my book. Give me a shout if you ever need an extra gun." Gina offered Marcus.
Marcus nodded and smiled."Thanks, I'll need it." Marcus then walked off leaving Hurk and Gina to talk.
Hurk walked over to Gina and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I really missed you baby."
Gina scoffed and smiled at Hurk."I... missed you too Hurk."Gina stammered then asked. "How's our baby, is he OK?"
"Don't worry Gina, Blade's fine, he's safe and sound at Prosperity." Hurk told her.
"Wait, you named our baby Blade? Who the fuck names a baby Blade?" She asked incredulously at Hurk's name for their son, then swatted his arm off her.
Hurk looked at Gina in surprise that she hated the name he chose for their son. "Are you kidding me right? Fuckin' Blade was the coolest guy ever, half Man;half Dracula, all the strengths, none of the weaknesses."
"Vampires are stupid." Gina said bluntly.
"Half Gina he's half of a Vampire Dracula okay, just like he's half Highwayman. Damn Gina, I love you but you got horseshit taste." Hurk commented.
"Hey Guys, we should head back to Prosperity, the Highwaymen will likely send reinforcements over here and we should be long gone before they arrive." Marcus suggested to them.
They both turned to look at the captain and nodded."That's a good idea." Gina said.
"Yeah let's get the fuck out of here." Hurk agreed.
With that in mind they all ran out of the course and out to the truck and drove back to Prosperity before reinforcements could arrive.
Marcus pulled up his truck at the front gates of Prosperity, Gina and Hurk sat at the back reconnecting but it was mostly Hurk talking about movies and other stuff while Gina kept threatening to hurt him. Marcus had no idea how these two ever got together but decided not to question it, because it would be better that way.
"Hey guys, we're here." Marcus said, interrupting their talk.
Gina looked to see that he was correct, but she didn't seem eager to get out of the truck.
"What's wrong Gina?" Marcus asked, noticing her hesitation.
Gina looked at the Captain but stayed silent, she really wanted to see her son again but she wasn't sure if she could go in. "It's nothing dude, but I'm not sure the people there will be happy to see me given that I've tried to murder them in the past." Gina explained.
"Don't worry baby, I'll put in a good word for you." Hurk reassured her. Gina didn't feel reassured by Hurk's words; it wasn't that she didn't trust Hurk but he was a huge screw-up and his cousin was an even bigger screw-up. She may have entrusted her with her son but she still didn't trust them to take care of him.
"Don't worry Gina you'll be fine." Marcus reassured.
After talking about it a little more Marcus and Hurk convinced Gina to come in Prosperity. The people gave her odd looks given that she was a Highwaymen, she may be a traitor but she was still a part of the Highwaymen.
Marcus entered the House and walked over to Carmina who was sitting in a chair, but didn't seem to have Blade with her."Hey Carmina where's Blade?"Hurk asked her with Gina right behind him, eager to see her son.
Carmina looked at the captain."Oh Marcus, where have you been?"
"Hurk asked me to help him get the love of his life back" Marcus explained, giving a glance to Gina.
"Where's Blade?" Hurk asked again.
"He's with Hunter, I got tired and needed a break." Carmina explained as she rubbed her temples.
Gina then walked right in front of them and asked."Where's Hunter?"
"He's with my Dad by the Garage outside." Carmina informed.
Gina and Hurk ran out the garage where Hunter was sitting outside by the wall carrying Blade in his arms, he looked up and saw Gina rushing over to him.
"Wha- Gina is that you?" Hunter asked incredulously, while Blade cooed and slowly moved around in his arms.
"Here let me see him!" Gina demanded, quickly reaching his arms out to take him, Hunter gladly handed Blade to her. He didn't really like caring for Blade; he liked him but he wasn't really good with infants.
Gina carefully held her son in her arms and gently stroked his little head. Blade laughed at the sight of Gina he raised his little arms at her. "Hey there...Blade, I really missed you too little guy." Gina said, hesitant about using Hurk's name.
Marcus and Hunter deceived to leave them alone while Gina and Hurk reconnect with each-other and with their son.
When Gina was alone Marcus walked over to her."Hey Gina, you got a minute?" Marcus asked.
Gina turned to him and nodded."Yeah, you need something?"
"Yeah, you were with the Highwaymen and I was wondering if you knew anything that could be useful." Marcus asked.
Gina was the best lead on Rush that he had right now, the other Highwaymen he interrogated didn't provide any info and any Intel he found at the outposts didn't provide any info on Rush's location at all.
"I already told Kim of anything of note:Locations, supply routes I've heard about, and even prisoner locations." Gina explained.
"Do you know where the Twins could have taken Thomas Rush?" Marcus asked.
Gina thought about it for a moment and replied."Hmm, well I've been hearing rumors that the Highwaymen have been moving a lot of their important prisoners to a Coal Mine not that far north from here. I didn't tell Kim because it's just a rumor"
"Do you know where it is?" Marcus asked.
Gina shook her head."No not really, but I could narrow it down for you."
"That would be really helpful,"Marcus said.
Marcus gathered the people of Prosperity to discuss that he may have found Rush's location.
"We still have no confirmation on the location of Thomas Rush captain, I'm not sure that this Coal Mine is where Rush is being held." Kim said.
"But, it's still better than nothing." Hunter said as he leaded on the table.
"Hunter has a point, it's still a better option than anything."Carmina said.
Marcus held out a map with parts that Gina circled that show Locations that Rush is being held. There were precisely five spots where Rush could be held at.
Kim looked at the map and said."I'm not sure we can go that deep into Highwaymen territory, those parts are heavily guarded with stronger forces. I'm not sure any of us can go against them even if we combine our forces."
"Mom's right, besides the prison right here on the map only holds workers so Rush most likely isn't there." Carmina said.
Marcus crossed that location off the map and said."Gina says that the Highwaymen are transporting a lot of their prisoners to a Coal Mine, do any of you know where that is?" He asked, hoping for an answer.
Nobody seemed to have an answer but Hunter and Carmina spoke up."We might know." Hunter said.
Everyone turned to look at them."You do?" Kim said surprised.
They both nodded."Yeah we've been doing a lot of exploring and we've found a few interesting locations." Carmina informed them.
Hunter then pointed to a part of the map near the Forge."There's an old mine right here, but we've never gotten a good look at it though, but since we've been fighting back they've been focusing more of their men there." Hunter informed them.
"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Marcus asked.
"Because we didn't know about this until recently." Carmina explained.
Hunter nodded. "We only discovered it until yesterday." He told them.
The discussion lasted for a half hour, Marcus decided to scope out the place tomorrow and see if Rush was being held there. Hunter and Carmina volunteered to help along with Nana.
From afar the Judge watched through a scope spying on the community Prosperity. He watched his friends work hard on reinforcing the Community but not well.
The Judge felt sad that he couldn't help his friends but he wasn't loyal to them anymore he was loyal to New Eden to the Father, even still he missed his friends but he couldn't face them because of the guilt he felt towards them. He failed them, he failed to protect them and a lot of them died because of him.
He was once the Junior Deputy, a person who fought to save Hope County from an evil cult only to realise that the cult was right all along, he now fights to protect Joseph Seed's work from coming apart.
The Judge looked through his scope and saw his Goddaughter Carmina outside in the yard talking with a boy, it made him happy that Carmina was living a life but he wanted to be a part of that life, the last time he ever saw Carmina was when she was a baby and she was one of the most precious things to him. He swore to protect her and he broke that promise.
The Judge looked at the boy she was talking to through his scope and felt a sense of familiarity towards him, he was a child he tried to help long ago but there was something else about that child, he felt a strange connection towards the boy despite only seeing him a few times in his life. It just felt like he knew him somehow, he looked like someone he knew someone he loved, but he couldn't figure it out.
A man walked up to Carmina and the Boy, the Judge couldn't hear what they were talking about but as he got a good look at the man his eyes widened, that man was the Captain of Security, but he could also be the Prophet that Joseph has spoken of. Joseph described the man to him in great detail and that man looked like the man Joseph described.
When he was trapped in the Bunker with Joseph he said he saw a face of a man he's never seen before. Joseph prophesied that one day God will send New Eden his sword, who will be the true ruler of Eden but the Judge wasn't sure if that man could be him, but if it is him then he will find the book that Joseph safely hid away.
The Judge kneeled down,lowered his hood and took off his mask, he looked down at his mask and whispered."Father...the...time...is...nearly...upon...us." The Judge then put his mask back on and raised his hood.
Suddenly the Judge heard rustling in the bushes behind him, he quickly turned around and aimed his bow searching for the threat, he looked around the forest and saw nothing, he looked around the bushes where he heard the rustling and found a set of footprints he followed them for a while then saw a mysterious masked figure with a group of dead locusts all over the figure, the Judge took a closer look and saw that the person was female, but he couldn't tell anymore because that her face was covered and she was a little far.
The masked woman looked behind and saw the Judge spying on her as soon as The Judge spotted him he vanished disappearing from her sight.
The Judge wondered who that woman was, but who else could be fighting the Highwaymen besides the New Edener's and the Scavengers, she didn't look like a member of Prosperity so who could she be? The Judge wondered.
The Judge still needed to keep an eye on the Sinners but he decided to learn more about that woman when he had the chance. There was still much work to be done and not enough time.
Author's Note:
I'm gonna be honest this chapter didn't come out exactly the way I wanted it to. I may make some changes to it later.
Also the Judge will talk in this story but only rarely, and in simple terms because I think the Judge should be like that.
The Next Chapter will focus more on the Judge if anyone has ideas for the next chapter feel free to tell me.
And leave you comments to let me know what you think.