Almost a month has passed since the Security Captain "Marcus" arrived in Hope County and in that time he's really helped the people take the fight to the Highwaymen.
The next day after Hunter's disappearance the group picked up where they left off in their search but they couldn't find a single trace of where Hunter was taken by the unidentified person. Two days have passed since Hunter has disappeared, everyone in Prosperity is growing more concerned by the day.
The Judge continued to watch over Hunter every moment he could, he often sneaked away to check on him every chance he got. Hunter's wounds were slowly getting better but he still needed more time to recover as he was still asleep in his bed.
Marcus eventually continued his plan to rescue Thomas Rush, as much as he wanted to help search for Hunter there were more important matters right now than the life of one child. Carmina was furious by Marcus's decision, but understood, she and Jerome were continuing the search for Hunter.
The people of Prosperity gathered around to discuss an attack plan to rescue Rush from the Highwaymen. Marcus called Carmina and Jerome over to the talk, he had something terrible to tell them, they've been wasting fuel in their search and they needed everyone here in case the Highwaymen launch an attack. So as much as he didn't want to tell them, he needed to.
"What the hell do you mean we're calling off the search for Hunter!?" Carmina yelled incredulously at the Captain. "We can't just leave him out there!"
"I don't like it either, Carmina, but we're wasting too much of our resources in our attempts to find him, I know you care about Hunter a lot, but he would want us to worry about the people here and fighting the Highwaymen. Right now we have to focus on rescuing Rush from the mines he's being held at right now." Marcus said.
Kim sighed, she and Nick walked over to their daughter and each placed a hand on her shoulders. "None of us wanna stop searching for him, Carmina, but Marcus is right, we've been wasting too much resources in our search and we need to focus on Rush right now. We need him to help us take the next step in this fight."
"Your mom has a point kiddo, none of us like the idea of leaving Hunter out there, but right now Prosperity must come first. We need Rush so he can help us take things to the next level here." Nick told his daughter.
"As much as I hate to admit it, they all have a point. Carmina, Rush is who we should be focusing on right now, not Hunter. With Rush's help we can really step things up here." Jerome said.
Carmina looked at everyone with an angry look, then she just crossed her eyes and walked out in anger. After she was gone everyone went back to their briefing on the mine.
"Now, I did another sweep on the mine an hour ago, and it still hasn't got any reinforcements, so it's still vulnerable." Marcus stated. "So, Rush will be easier to rescue."
"But the mine will still be well guarded." Said Grace.
"True, but it will still be easier to rescue Rush." Kim commented.
Nick agreed. "The less people, the better."
"But the Twins will likely send people to the mine, if they get word of an attack." Gina said.
The group went on a little longer, Marcus decided to go on his own to rescue Rush from the Highwaymen. Everybody was against it but he convinced them to let him do this on his own. He's handled worse than this in his life.
As the Captain was about to leave the front Gate out to his truck, he saw Carmina sitting by the Doors crying, with her knees up, her arms wrapped around them,and her face buried in her knees, Marcus walked over to her, kneeled down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you OK?"
Carmina looked up at him with tears running down her face with her eyes reddened. "No, Hunter is out there, probably dead or worse, and I'm just sitting around here doing nothing."
"I know it sucks, but you have to be strong right now for the people here, I'm sure wherever Hunter is he's OK." Marcus reassured.
"How can I, Hunter, my boyfriend and my closest companion, is out there and he could be in trouble." Carmina said, crying.
"I know, but you're strong Carmina, you know you are. I promise that we'll continue our search for Hunter when we rescue Rush, but right now try to do something to help out around here." Marcus suggested to her.
Carmina looked at the Captain for a second, he was right. Prosperity must come first, and there were other things that she could do here and they could help her focus on something other than Hunter, but that didn't mean she was gonna forget him. Carmina got up and nodded at the Captain. "Alright ,thanks captain."
"Anytime." He said appreciatively, Carmina went over to Nick's garage to help him out with the cars.
Marcus walked out of the front gates and into his truck. "Don't worry Rush, I'm coming to get you."
Hunter's eyes slowly drifted open he let out a small groan, his head was pounding like he was in a fist fight and got punched repeatedly in the face, he felt really tired, his body felt very sore, he wasn't sure if he could even move. Hunter slowly tilted his head up to look around and figure out where he was, but his vision was blurry and unclear, he slowly brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes, clearing the blur out of his sight. Hunter had no goddamn idea where the hell was, what he was even doing here, or how long he's been asleep, he could be in a Highwayman Camp or be under the roof of a psychopath, to either be taken as a prisoner or used for target practice, he needed to know where he was.
Hunter looked around for a moment and realized that he was laying in a bunk bed on the bottom bunk inside of what looked like an old prepper's bunker. He couldn't've been held by Highwaymen otherwise he'd be at one of their outposts, but he could still be held by a psycho. Hunter needed to get out of this bed now, he slowly sat up but a shot of pain quickly spread through his chest.
"Augh" The pain caused him to fall back down onto the bed. Hunter brought a hand up to his chest, and he felt himself touching his skin, he looked at his chest and saw that he was shirtless, there was a set of bandages wrapped around his chest, and two others wrapped on his arms. His boots and other equipment were also removed, he only had his jeans on.
"What the fuck?" Hunter muttered to himself. He raised his left arm and looked at the bandage that covered it, he slowly undid the bandages and it revealed a claw mark, but the cuts on it were stitched up. Hunter tried to figure out the last thing he remembered before he woke up here, then memories suddenly came flooding back into his head. He remembered that he was hunting for meat, he caught a Buck and was about to skin it, but a bear suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked him, he and timber ran like hell, but the bear eventually caught up to them and slashed him in the chest with his claws also destroying his bow, he laid in a pool of his own blood as the bear made its way to him to deliver the final blow, he thought that was it for him, but a mysterious masked strange appeared and saved his life, killing the bear, that's all he remembered.
"Oh my god." Hunter muttered, the masked man saved him, he thought he was going to die but a man saved him and he was probably the same person who cleaned and stitched up his wounds.
Feeling a little safe from what he remembered, Hunter tried again to sit up on the bed, he reached up and grabbed onto a rail on the top bunk to provide leverage for him to stand up. He pulled himself up and it allowed him to sit up, he turned around and placed his feet on the floor and brought his hands up to his eyes, rubbing them. Hunter raised his head up and looked around for anyone else, but he was the only one in the room. He stood up from the bed, but as soon as he did he fell down to the floor, his legs felt like they haven't been used in days, he grabbed on to an old pipe and used it to pull himself up off the floor, he leaned on the wall so he couldn't fall again, it was taking all he had to not fall, he felt really weak.
Hunter slowly made his way to the other room and saw a masked man sitting on the couch. It was the same man who saved him; the guy wore clothes made from animal leather, a pair of handmade boots, had animal fur wrapped around his shoulders, a wooden mask and a hood covering his entire head. The masked man sat quietly on the couch, just mixing some herbs into something. Hunter wasn't sure if he should get his attention, he could try to escape the Bunker and run, but given that the man saved him he felt that he should trust him.
"Umm...excuse me...dude." Hunter silently called out to the masked man.
As soon as Hunter finished the last word, the masked man shot up from the couch and quickly turned to look at him with his eyes widened through his mask. That made Hunter jump back a little in fear, but he kept his arm on the wall to avoid falling down again. Hunter looked at the man for a second then looked closer and saw his backpack and his clothes and boots sitting by the couch.
"That's...that's my bag." Hunter said, he raised his arm and pointed to it. Hunter then lost his balance and began to fall down, the man quickly ran over to him and caught him before he could touch the ground. The man wrapped an arm around Hunter, and helped him up. The Masked man brought him to the couch and sat him down on it, he sat down right by Hunter.
"Thanks man, I appreciated that," Hunter thanked him, taking a few breaths then got comfy on the couch.
The Judge gave a grunt of appreciation and a single nod, he went over to get the boy's clothes that he stitched up for him while he was unconscious, but he couldn't clean the blood off of them. He went back over to Hunter and handed him his shirt and hoodie. Hunter looked at them for a moment then took them from his hands, he looked at the patch job on them, it was good but wouldn't likely hold forever.
"Again, thanks." Hunter repeated then put his shirt back on his chest.
"Who...are...you?" The Judge asked in a quiet tone, below a whisper.
"My...my name is Hunter." Hunter introduced himself before he took a few more breaths.
"You're the man who saved me." Hunter stated, looking at the Judge.
The Judge gave another nod and let out a single grunt.
"Who are you man. I know you're a New Edener given your clothes, but what's your name." Hunter asked, but something felt familiar to Hunter about the guy, like he's seen him before somewhere in his life.
Judge stayed silent, not letting out a single other word to Hunter, he just gave a low grunt at him.
"You don't have one?" Hunter asked.
The Judge just looked down at the floor shaking his head.
"Alright, not much of a talker, then how long have I been asleep for, unnamed man?" Hunter asked.
The Judge brought up his hand and stuck two fingers out.
"Two...hours?" Hunter asked, The Judge shook his head at him meaning no.
"Two... days?" Hunter guessed, this time the Judge nodded meaning that this time he was correct. "What! If I've been gone for two days, then everybody must be worried about me."
Everyone back at Prosperity must be worried sick about him, Carmina above all of them, she was his girlfriend after all, and Jerome must be as worried as she is too. They all must be searching tirelessly for him right now, looking everywhere they can. He knew that he couldn't stay here while they were searching for him, he needed to get back to them. Hunter then grabbed his boots off the floor and began putting them back on his feet.
"Look, thanks for all your help man, I really appreciate what you did for me, but I really need to get back. My friends must be very worried about me." Hunter said as he put his boots on, after they were both on he quickly grabbed his bag and tried to leave the bunker but he quickly fell down to the floor, he forgot how weak he was and now he was remembering the hard way.
"OW." Hunter groaned as he tried to stand up.
The Judge came over to him and helped him up off the floor and put him back on the couch.
"Can't...leave...you...too...weak." The Judge told him.
"I'm not that weak, man." Hunter argued at the Judge, but his body was telling him otherwise, his chest was pulsing with pain along with his left and right arms, and his legs still felt sore from not being used. There was no way he was going anywhere, without at least a day of recovering to get his strength back. "I can't stay here. I gotta get back home to my friends." Hunter said as he attempted to get back up, he was stopped by the Judge before he could, he grabbed his arm.
Hunter looked at the Judge and he was offering him a canteen, he now realized how thirsty he was, he was asleep for two days after all, he quickly snatched the canteen from his hands, opened it and took in a big gulf of water. After he was done he took a few breaths of air, and handed the canteen back to the Judge.
The Judge gave a firm grunt, and crossed his arms meaning he wasn't gonna allow him to leave without at least a day of recovery.
"Alright fine, I'll stay for at least a day, but after that I'm out of here." Hunter decreed.
The Judge gave another grunt and nodded.
Hunter got comfy again on the couch, then after a second Hunter looked back at the Judge. "Ya know you look awfully familiar to me, like I've seen you somewhere before in my life." Hunter said as he tried to remember where he saw the man.
"Have we seen each other before." Hunter asked the Judge.
The Judge gave a shrug, so he wasn't sure if they had or not met before.
Hunter thought about it a little more and he finally remembered, he was only 5 years old and he and Jerome were searching for food. He was searching for food in an old car that was laying upside down. Jerome wasn't far from him; he was searching a house nearby so they were close to each other. Suddenly a masked man came to Hunter and offered him an apple.
Hunter was only 5 when he first met the Judge. "Please, let there be something, I'm hungry." Hunter muttered to himself as he searched the car.
Hunter and Jerome haven't had any food in over a day, the last meal they had was a cooked rat and it wasn't much. Hunter searched everywhere in the car: the glove compartment, under the seats and even in the trunk. There was no food in the car at all.
"Fuck," Hunter growled in frustration for not finding any food in the car he and Jerome have been searching for hours to find food but have had no luck at all. Hunter sat down on the ground and tilted his head down. He sat there for a few moments wondering if he was gonna starve, but suddenly he heard footsteps. It was probably Jerome coming to see if he had any luck finding food.
"I'm sorry Jerome, I haven't found any food." Hunter said somberly, he tilted his head up to look at Jerome but his eyes quickly widened in surprise and fear as the person that stood right in front on him wasn't Jerome, the man in front of him was a tall man who wore a ripped up shirt, a pair of dirty jeans, and had a bag over his head that covered his face, the bag had a weird marking painted on it. The man had Caucasian skin and a few scars on his arms.
Hunter slowly backed away from him, fear consuming him. The man slowly walked over to him, slowly raising his arms trying to calm him down.
"Please, don't hurt me." Hunter begged the man, not wanting to die.
The masked man looked at Hunter, slightly tilting his head. He slowly kneeled down to Hunter to get a better look at him.
Hunter was scared of what the man might do to him, the man looked at Hunter for another second then slowly raised an arm and gently stroked Hunter's cheek with the ends of his fingers. The masked man then looked over to a pack that he had on, he reached into it and pulled out an apple. The masked man turned back to Hunter and held out the apple to him.
Hunter's eyes widened as he saw the apple in the mans hands, he was surprised that the man was offering him an apple. Hunter snatched the apple from his hands and quickly took a bite from it, he was starving and didn't care if he took an apple from a stranger. The apple tasted so good with every bite he took, it was so warm and juicy; it felt good to eat freshly grown fruit instead of scrapes of food, he and Jerome managed to get their hands on.
The masked man raised his arm again and gently stroked Hunter's little face as he took another bite from the apple.
"HUNTER! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Jerome suddenly screamed, Hunter looked and saw Jerome running over to him raising his gun at the masked man.
The masked man quickly got up and ran away, disappearing into the trees. Jerome ran over to Hunter and snatched the apple from Hunter's hand then threw it away.
Jerome then took Hunter back to the Church, when they arrived he looked at Hunter to see if that man did anything to him. For some weird reason that memory was a good one to Hunter, it showed him that the Peggies weren't bad people like Jerome and the others described to him and Carmina.
The Judge's eyes widened through his mask in surprise that he helped the same kid that he helped long ago, it seemed like God kept putting this Boy in his path and he had no idea why God would do that, maybe to help guide this boy or something else. The Judge always felt some weird connection to... Hunter every time he saw him, but he never knew why he felt so connected to Hunter.
"Do you remember that?" Hunter asked the Judge, snapping him out of his thoughts.
The Judge looked at Hunter for a moment then nodded at him, he never forgot that day, it was the first time he felt his weird connection to the kid.
"I never got to thank you for what you did given that my friend and Caretaker Jerome shot at you, so thank you for giving me that apple. I would've starved if you hadn't given me it." Hunter thanked the Judge sincerely.
The Judge gave a nod and appreciative grunt.
"You...should...rest...need...strength." The Judge suggested then got up off the couch.
"Yeah, I'm gonna take a siesta." Hunter propped his feet up and laid down on the couch letting out a yawn. A minute later he was fast asleep on the couch. The Judge looked at Hunter as he slept, he didn't know why GOD kept putting this boy in his path. Maybe to guide him to his destination or something else, but one thing was clear GOD had a plan for this child and he was somehow part of it. Only time would tell what his role was in this path.
Marcus arrived at the Mine where Rush was being held at, he parked his car away so they couldn't hear him coming. He made his way on foot and began killing the Highwayman. The Captain eventually made his way inside the room where Rush was at, Rush looked like he hadn't had any food in days and one of his bones looked like it was dislocated. He was standing over a wounded Highwayman who he was beating to death with a lead pipe.
Marcus entered to see Rush beating a Highwayman, Rush turned his head to look at him and he had a surprised look on his face at the sight of his Security Captain. "Oh my god...Jesus, I thought you were dead." Rush said incredulously.
Marcus chuckled "Heh heh, not so much." Marcus looked at the wounded Highwayman on the floor, he pulled out his pistol, aimed it at his head and pulled the trigger. "But, he is." Marcus finished.
"You came back for me, Marcus. You crazy son of a bitch, you came back for me." Rush said as he let out a groan of pain.
"Sorry, it took so long, it took me awhile to find you." Marcus explained as he pulled out his knife and cut rush's binds.
"Don't worry about it Cap, let's just get the Hell out of here." Rush quickly suggested.
"Yeah, I got a truck stashed not far from here." Marcus informed Rush.
"We don't have time, there's a modified Bike just outside this room. We can take that and get out of here." Rush said.
They both ran outside and Marcus saw a modified bike with a machine gun armament, it was pretty impressive what the Highwaymen could do to vehicles. Rush got in the driver's seat while Marcus mounted the Machine Gun and they were off. Highwaymen vehicles came to intercept them but after a long heated conflict Marcus managed to drive them off.
Near prosperity Rush stopped the bike. "You're gonna have to drive the rest of the way. My knee is too fucked up to drive." Rush explained to the Captain.
"Alright." Marcus helped Rush out of the Driver's seat of the bike and helped him onto the MG of the Bike. It felt good to have Rush back with him. Now we can finally step things up at Prosperity and help Prosperity fight back better against the Highwaymen, everyone's been doing a good job so far but the Highwaymen are beginning to push back and they may soon attack Prosperity.
Marcus got in the Driver's seat of the bike and drove, they were about two miles from prosperity, so it shouldn't be long before they get there.
"Didn't think I'd get out of there alive. Thanks for risking your neck to save me Cap." Rush tanked the Captain.
"Anytime Rush, you'd do the4 same for me." Marcus said.
"You wouldn't believe the things I saw. One night the mine was attacked by people who looked like they were from the Stone Age. They were fighting the Highwayman's shotguns with bows and arrows. They kept getting shot at and just kept coming."
Marcus was surprised to hear this.
"I think I know who you're talking about." Marcus told Rush. "I heard about a group in the north that's waging their own war against the Twins."
"Listen, I don't believe in wizards, or magic or whatever but those people had something, something that... I can't explain. If we can find out what their secret is, maybe we might have a chance against the twins." Rush said.
Soon, they pulled up to Prosperity, and once the guards on the wall noticed them, they all started cheering, things were gonna change for the better now that Thomas Rush was out of the clutches of the Captain helped Rush off the turret of the Bike and brought him into the community. Once they were both inside, Carmina ran over to them.
"Mom! Whoa, slow down, slow down." Carmina gave him a once over. "Jesus Rush, they really did a number on you."
"It's nothing. Day or two and I'll be fine." Rush assured her.
"Did I hear right? You Thomas Rush?" Kim asked as she came out of the house and over to them.
"You must be Mrs. Rye. Carmina and Hunter told me a lot about you. Your daughter and him are as tough as they come." Rush commented
A face of sadness quickly took over Carmina making her shed a single tear. "Are you OK?" Rush asked her.
"Let's not worry about her right now Rush, right now we need to help you." Marcus stated.
Kim helped Marcus guide Rush to a bench by the front of the house where he could sit down, Kim sent Carmina to get alcohol to help. Rush's injury wasn't that bad, a dislocated knee, which they were able to pop back into place after a few minutes. Rush wasn't in a good headspace, given the loss of all the specialists from the train, his captivity, and the situation they were now in, but Carmina and Kim gave him the hard shell.
Eventually, Rush looked at the Captain to get his view on this.
"You think we can handle this?" he asked, seeing the Captain's opinion.
"We do the best we can with what we have right now." Marcus answered him.
Rush looked at Marcus and smiled. "Alright, let's get started."
And that concludes this chapter of the New Dawn
Leave your reviews and tell me what you think about it.