Fear is a funny thing, To Arthur Warner, he grew up believing it to be shades of terrifying grey as the world he lived in was a cruel and unforgiving one.
The world, as awful as it is, was still in its infancy, everything was still trying to work itself out as twenty years ago, without reason or warning, the sun turned red and the radiating heat increased ten thousand fold, and in a single day, everything was incinerated, forests were reduced to ashes, deserts scorched into glass, cities melted, leaving all metal building bent and twisted in absurd ways, into either looking like abstract sculptures or oceans of metal hills, the sea level dropped significantly as the red sun evaporated chasms of water. And of course, any and all life perish quickly.
Any underground animals that were protected by the soil died when they came to the surface as the sun's radiation bathed the land, making the land inhospitable for years to come. Anything on the surface that miraculously survived the heat was washed away as the ice caps melted completely and flooded the world, the seas partially returning to a normal level again, but no one ever saw it. the earth had become devoid of life, the red sun was so unexpected, no political leader could put anything in action, nobody knew what to do, there wasn't anything one could do.
Just after twenty-four hours of the Solar Armageddon, seemingly without reason, the red sun stopped, in a matter of hours it reverted back to normal and then some, it wasn't as bright as it used to be, it was either much further away then it's usual resting spot or it shrunk from burning so brightly, but even then the sun was barely visible during the day as a thick layer of ash polluted the atmosphere properly encasing most of the world in an impenetrable shield from the sun's rays making the possibility of life regrowing very slim. Nights were like winter, cold and dark, blindingly so, if the moon was still present, it reflected zero light across the land, making traversing the night impossible, as if there was anyone to wander the night.
But despite all the devastation that was wrought without warning or reason, after a decade, life slowly regrew, the ash trapped in the atmosphere eventually fell to the earth, coating the land, layering the world in excellent fertilizer, plants and trees grew back with such a force it was like the radiation that imbued everything was powering their regrowth and stretched far beyond its original boundaries, swallowing entire cities in lush green. And after another five years, animals began reappearing, emerging from caves and other forgotten crevices, albeit with minimal physical mutation from years of breeding under light radiation, and nature took its course, the herbivores grazed on grass and carnivores ate them, life was simple in a way, eat or be eaten, just as nature intended, then as the new world's second decade passed, bunker doors began to open and once again, and man stepped out into the light of day, bathing in the weakened sun. Man saw what laid before them, a dangerous world full of perils and resources with no one to claim them, it would only be a matter of time before fighting for those things began, those trapped up in their metal tombs were restless and more than ready to rebuild what was lost, soon the wilderness would be home and life would begin anew. it was a new dawn.
And in that new dawn is what made Arthur realize just how wrong he was. at the age of twenty he was thrust into a world where had to fight to survive, and once he had proven himself, he was pulled into group who would come to be his family. And it was that where he found he was wrong, fear was either was black or white, your either afraid or you're not, he first really felt it the first time he had to kill a man, his arms shook with such force as he levelled the gun to the charging man, and even when the trigger was pulled and the men fell, fear clung to Arthur like a cloak tucked tightly around him as if to fight back the winter's cold.
But the undoubtedly worst fear he had felt was when he thought he really was going to die, moments before it happened he was just minding his business aboard the train he called his home, for you see the group the pulled him in and made him family wasn't just your ordinary group of scavengers trying to survive, they were a group of men and woman, who all vehemently followed their leader; Thomas Rush, a man who took it upon himself to try to restore as much damage as he could and rid the world of those who would prey on the weaker.
Of course anyone would think this was a fools errand, but Rush had something no one else didn't, the men and woman who followed him are all skilled in combat, engineering and bio farming, as they all worked with Rush before the world fell, they had all lived military lives and were used to such harrowing conditions, and together they would make the world just a little bit better, and it didn't hurt that Rush also had a train, a train the would carry them all across what was once America, making stops here and there to do what they can to help before moving on, the train tracks were indeed weathered from the solar bombardment two decades ago, but somehow they still held true, allowing the train to run over with an understandable bounce and shake.
And in that train, that chugged furiously towards a place once called Hope County, is where Arthur found himself, about to fear for his life, peering at himself in a mirror, to himself he looked just the same as the last time he saw himself, a twenty five year old African American man, his black hair cut millimeters short so no enemy could grab it, strong cheek bones, sharp blue eyes trained to notice even the smallest of details, and lean, toned muscles as his life had shaped him to survive his climate. His body was adorned in the standard attire Rush gave to everyone, an almost military fatigues themed jumpsuit, loose enough to do anything you needed to do while keeping you protected.
Whiskers started to sprout across his face as he had yet to shave for some time now, looking at the stubble now he wished he had done so, he hated having stubble, he always found it to be so itchy. Before he could really do anything about it, everything slid forward, as the screeching sound of chugging wheel halting and crooked tracks rang out and could be heard from every train car.
Arthur knew exactly what was happening as he regained his balance; Rippers, or rather bandits, or Highwaymen or whatever one would call the opposition in the post apocalypse, everyone one the train called them Rippers as they tended to destroy everything and take it for themselves, ripping apart a chance at new beginnings.
But this was different, Arthur could tell something was wrong, no one has hit the train this hard before, or was about too, whenever Rippers would try to attack the train in motion, they would usually try to construct a blockade on tracks, hoping the train would stop, and in that event, the conductor would just speed up as a sizable cow catcher was attached to the front and would easily cut through whatever the Rippers built. But this time, whatever the Rippers did, it was enough to bring them to a stop. Leaving Arthur ready to break out into a sprint for the adjoining train car, but then the thing he knew his train car derailed, going sideways, sending everything everywhere in a spiraling free fall, countless items slamming into the man as he bounced of the wall.
And as the rolling train car lost momentum and finally came to a stop and settled in the dirt and wild vegetation, Arthur had been knocked out.
Darkness permeated Arthur's vision, leaving him quite disorientated and nauseous, what he could hear in his surrounding wasn't doing him any favors either; yelling, gunfire, booms, and the crackling of fire. He tried to move as best he could but found he had no strength, or rather something was pushing him down, was it the enemy? they weren't barking orders or forcefully articulating his body, so that must meant something had fallen on him, something big. As his vision slowly returned to him, he could understand just what kind of predicament he was in. The room was almost unrecognizable from how bad everything was thrown around, the car had to have done at least three rolls, it would also explain the state he was in now, as he soon discover a shelving rack lay across his back, pinning him to the floor, he wanted to call out for help, but when he did, it was a jumbled mess of words, perhaps he took a hit to the head, it would explain his weakness.
Despite his jumbled words bouncing off the train car walls, it caused some nameless shape to shift within the darkness, it had been motionless up until now and avoid Arthur's awareness as more pressing matters were at hand. As the thing moved closer Arthur now realized what it was, it was a man, leaving him to feel his air catch his throat as death was assuredly at hand now, but then the shape opened it's mouth and spoke, crouching down to address him.
"Holy shit, Captain! is that you?!" he whispered loudly as he tried to squat down and examine him through the displaced shelves.
It was Barnes, Second lieutenant Barnes, scared out of his mind and begging a disoriented, trapped man for help, something was defiantly wrong, very wrong. He must have hid in here, and failed to notice Arthur's unconscious body.
"You gotta get up, its the fucking Rippers, Captain!" Barnes said hurriedly as he urged the man to dig himself out.
Barnes kept referring to him as Captain, as that was his rank, somehow Arthur had proven to Rush that he could handle the role of Security Captain despite being the young of twenty five, both men felt that not everyone on the team felt OK with such a promotion but there was no evidence to say otherwise, so everyone just grinned and bared it.
"I can't!" Arthur finally grunted, finding his words, as painful as it was.
Then there was a horrible bang on the train car's door, something was obviously trying to get inside.
"It's the Rippers!" Barnes yelped, shaking. "They're going to kill us, fuck you got to get up Captain, get up!" Barnes fearfully begged Arthur.
Then the door slammed open and a man stomped into the train car, causing Barnes to yelp in fear as he thought the worst, but due to a light shining in from behind, both men could see it was actually Thomas Rush entering with the confidence and determination of a man who set out to rebuild the new world.
"Jesus Barnes, you keep screaming like that and you'll bring them all down on us" the Commander and Chief said as he walked by Barnes and examined the predicament the Captain was in. "Now help me get the Kid out of there" he said as he bent down and strained to lift the shelf off him.
"No, we we don't got time, we gotta go right now" Barnes argued, stepping towards the now open door.
"Barnes!" Rush barked, demanding his subordinate's assistance. "We are not leaving the Captain behind!" he ordered before trying to lift the shelving again.
As he did, Barnes hesitated for a moment before grunting in frustration then moved to help Rush and lifted the heavy shelving off Arthur, as soon as he was free, not missing a beat, Rush yanked Arthur to his feet, and turned back to Barnes.
"They're coming in fast, we need to stick together, understand?" Rush announced.
"Sure, let's go already" Barnes hissed as he clambered towards the door, daring himself to poke his head out and see what waited for them.
"Cap, your time to shine, you good to go?" Rush asked, looking back to his captain and unholstered a handgun, handing it to him.
Arthur stared at the gun before taking the gun and nodded numbly. "Once I get moving, I'll shake the lead out" he said.
"Glad to hear it" Rush said quickly, giving him a pat on the back. Alright boys, let's move, on me" he ordered, taking the lead and stepped out of the train car, brandishing another handgun he had on him, Arthur and Barnes close behind him.
As soon as they stepped out, it became obvious that they were in a tunnel, a good as place as any for a choke point against a train. not only that but the train cars ahead of them were all trashed, Arthur's car wasn't the only one derailed, all of them were just as bad if not worse; on fire, torn open, dead inside.
Arthur tried not to think about it as the three men moved quickly through the tunnel, whoever did this was up ahead and he needed to be ready, he needed to get himself together, no matter how much his head or right leg hurt.
When the three found there way out of the tunnel, they could see the train, or what was left of it, much like the train cars in the tunnel, the rest were ruined and torn open, this time the Rippers still there, taking what they wanted and storing it on their numerous vehicles as they scanned for more people to kill. It made Arthur want to rush in and kill as many as he could, they were killing good men and women, the closest he ever had to family, but he knew Rush would stop him in an instant. He forced himself to swallow that pain and kept moving.
Weaving through the remains of his home, Arthur could hear everything, the crackling of fire, the Rippers, Barnes scared, heavy breathing, he could hear everything, life had honed his skills to be aware of everything, but despite all that, it was not enough as it was either Barnes or his own failings, as they were quickly spotted, a lone Ripper shouting as loud as he could of their whereabouts, alerting everyone else, making all of them to doggedly pursue them.
"Run!" Rush yelled as he push the other men forward, hearing all the gunfire popping off behind them.
Arthur wasted no time and broke out into a sprint, he could only help Barnes did the same. He knew running further into the mess of train cars was suicide, instead he opted to off to the side, away from the site entirely. But that running felt futile as the gunfire got closer and closer, even some instead, jumped into their buggies or jeeps so they could run them down.
As they ran, he could hear Barnes freaking out and Rush telling him to shut up, as irritating as it was, Arthur couldn't blame him, he could hear that the Rippers were hooting and hollering as they chased them, enjoying the hunt like foxes after rabbits, it made him push himself as hard as he could, his leg and head throbbing with every step and breath, he hadn't feared for his life like this.
He turned off everything in his head so he could focus solely as running, hoping this would somehow make him run faster, he wanted to believe, he had nothing else. Then, amongst the darkness and gunfire, Rush suddenly stopped him.
"Stop!" Rush suddenly exclaimed, grabbing both men and pulled them back harshly, before either of them could question why they should dare stop now of all times, Rush pointed ahead and downwards, revealing that, hidden by the night, they were meters away from running off the side of a cliff. As Arthur and Barnes looked back, preparing for what was to come. Rush carefully looked over the edge, a lake rested serenely at the bottom among the dark of night, but any more thoughts of the lake evaporated just like the dark melting away as countless headlights drew closer at high speeds, illuminating the three men.
As fast as the cars came, they stopped, screeching to a halt a dozen meters away, the sheer amount of headlights blinded the men, preventing them from seeing how many Rippers were coming after them. With the engines clicking off, Arthur could hear a few Rippers chuckling to themselves from behind the lights.
"What do we do?" Barnes asked nervously, twitching and jittering.
"Keep your fingers off the triggers, let's see what they want" Rush said quietly, hoping things could end reasonably.
Arthur silently disagreed, that was the worst thing to do, these men weren't looking for pleasantries, they were looking for blood.
Then out from the blinding light, two people stepped out, causing many lights to turn off, revealing that they were in fact woman, they disrobing their motorcycle helmets, revealing they were also twins, and clearly the ones in charge.
"Merry fucking Christmas everybody, Santa came early and delivered a whole damn train of goodies" one of the woman said, her voice confident and arrogant, she was having fun.
"What do we have here? the other woman said, her voice cold and calculating.
"Rabbits by the looks of it" the arrogant woman replied.
"Then I got to ask you rabbits a question" the cold woman demanded. "The fuck you think was going to happen?" she asked, taking a step forward.
"Riding in on a giant chunk of iron, just pumping out all that smoke, you really think we wouldn't notice?" the arrogant woman chimed in as she to started to walk forward.
"What do you want?" Barnes cut in, only to be quickly hushed by Rush.
But that outburst was all the twins needed to turn their attention solely on Barnes.
"We want to know it you are problem solver, or problem makers" the arrogant woman asked, getting real close Barnes now, the other woman just behind her. "Our Pops always told us, people either solved problems or made 'em, the worlds got to many fucking problems, and we're looking for people to help us solve problems, our problems" she said with a laugh.
"If your a problem solver, we got you covered" the cold woman said, placing her hand on Barnes shoulder and forcefully pushed him down onto his knees before doing the same to Rush as the arrogant woman moved on Arthur.
"Food, clothes, guns, anything you could need, even health insurance" the arrogant woman bolstered, pushing Arthur down as the goon's slowly moved in, reinforcing the feeling of claustrophobia as they knelt at the edge or a cliff.
"So Rabbit's you all problem solvers or problem makers?" the cold woman asked again as both woman took a knee to look them all in the eye.
Arthur's mind chugged to to come up with something, he needed to live up to the title Security Captain, but what could he possibly do, they were surrounded, out numbered and outgunned, there was nothing he could do.
"We solve problems!" Barnes suddenly blurted out, much to Arthur's and Rush's chagrin, making the twins focus solely on him. "We've been doing so all over this country, we can give you fresh water, build shelters, anything you need" he continued desperately, as he did, Rush repeatedly told him to shut up but Barnes failed to comply, nor did the twins care, they were far to interested in they're catch.
"You can really do all that?" the arrogant woman asked, taking an genuine interest and almost believed him.
"Well... not me personally, but Rush here" Barnes muttered, raising his hand to rush, causing the twins to look over at the man, who was clearly angry at Barnes now, but the twins heard all they needed too, immediately losing interest in Barnes and moved to Rush.
"You will be our number one problem solver" the arrogant woman taunted, looking down at her new prize.
"Go fuck yourself" Rush spat roughly, unlike Barnes he had no intention in playing them, if this was then end then it would be the end.
Rush's crude remark made both woman fall silent for a moment before they chuckled and looked at one another before turning back to Rush.
"OK" the arrogant woman shrugged with a smile before tightening her grip on her helmet before striking Rush in the face with it, almost knocking him over as it left a large bruise on the left side of his face.
"You handle this, I got shit to do" the cold woman scoff disinterestedly as she turned away from the four and walked back to the many parked vehicles and disappeared behind the many goons, most likely to sort through everything that was on the train, leaving the arrogant woman alone with the three men.
The aspect of being freed from her twin's supervision excited the arrogant woman as now she could do whatever she pleased.
"Alright, let's try this again" the arrogant woman cackled as she stomped over to Arthur, failing to see the real fear build in Rush's eyes, before he could do anything, one of the twins goons stepped forward and restrained him, whatever she was about to do, they wanted him to watch
"So Rabbit" the arrogant woman spat, grabbing Arthur by the chin, forcing him to look into her eyes, looking for any sort of weakness. "Are you a problem solver like the old man over here?" she demanded.
As she roughly interrogated, she failed to take into account that, Rush, wasn't where he was from sheer luck, Rush was every bit as strong as the twins, while the woman was distracted, Rush threw off the man who held him and shot forward, causing Barnes to gasp, making the woman just in time for Rush to throw himself hard into the woman's center, knocking her off balance just long enough for him to turn and with all his might, turned, grabbed Arthur, and did his best not to lose momentum as he continued to move with the Captain in his grasp, and through both of them of the cliff and into the black water that waited down below, as they fell, all Rush could think was that he hoped it was deep enough to break their fall, as where Arthur did have time to think anything as when they hit the water, again, he blacked out.
Upon waking up for the second time in what he thought was the same day, he was already getting tired of it, instead of having a shelf crushing him, he was laying in a bed, staring up at unfamiliar ceiling, it didn't help that his head hurt pretty bad. He turned his head to the side, trying to get is bearings, did he get captured?
But that worry was quickly dissolved as he saw Rush a mere few feet away, he was slumped over in a chair, arms crossed and head tipped downwards as he was asleep, bruise still fresh on his face, despite being asleep for presumably hours, Rush looked just as exhausted as he did last night, but then again, Arthur felt like Rush looked.
Still not liking an of this, Arthur sat up, leaving him hissing in pain as his hand shot to his temple, feeling gauze had been affixed there, it startled him in a way, he knew he was banged up, but not this bad, what was more, his moments caused Rush to stir, he must have awoken him. Rush's eyes fluttered open, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes before seeing Arthur in pain and trying to leave his bed.
"Woah there Kid" he gasped, standing up slightly so he could gently ease Arthur back into the makeshift bed, much to Arthur's resentment.
"What's going on, where are we?" Arthur asked, trying to grab on to Rush's sleeve as he tried and failed to keep himself.
"We made it" Rush sighed, there was something about it that made Arthur nervous, Rush never sighed like that. "Hope County, Prosperity more specifically, we found the people who begged us to come here" he said.
"So what happens now? are we going to go hit the Rippers back soon or what?" Arthur swallowed trying to take everything in.
"Your going to stay here and rest up, you took a pretty bad hit from the fall, and from the crash but I was able to drag you here, the people here patched you while I did some favors from them, sticking it to local Rippers and all that" he continued. "Listen Kid" Rush leaned in. "While I'm out, stick around here and see if you an help out in locking this place down, we might be here a while an we can't get our asses kicked a second time"
"Security Captain reporting for duty" Arthur nodded after a few seconds. "But I got to ask" he swallowed. "Are we the only ones who made it?" he asked, but as soon as he did, a part of him regretted it as Rush's never before heard sigh came back.
"I don't know" he sighed, his voice turning gravel for a moment.
"We're so far beyond enemy lines, Kid" Rush relayed, anxiously rubbing his hands together for a moment, the reality of it all sinking in for both men. "If anyone is still alive, we aren't going too see them any time soon" he gulped.
"So what the plan? like long term?" Arthur asked, trying to to think about all his dead friends.
"I don't know" Rush said again, the gravel reappearing
He then slowly began to back away, not looking away from his Captain. "Just... get better soon so we can mount a scouting op" Rush gulped before turning around to properly leaving the room, he took a few steps before stopping. "Oh, before I go" he muttered, turning back around, he approached the bed and reached for something under the bed, and handed it to Arthur.
"I left it right here Kid, just thought you would be more comfortable with it off" Rush commented.
Seeing what he was being presented with, Arthur gasped before his hands shot for his right leg, just below the knee, running his hands over the pant leg to discover what he was looking for wasn't there as obviously Rush was holding it.
With an uncomfortable sigh, he relented, he didn't like being disarmed like this but Rush was right, he was more comfortable with it off. He threw off his blanket and struggled to roll up that same pant leg to reveal that his leg, passed the knee was gone, just a sore stump in place of a leg, carefully, Arthur turned and retrieved his prosthetic leg from his commander and equipped it.
The prosthetic was of plastic and metal, by no means doctor approve as it had be built from materials found laying around, and built by the engineers on board the train, a long time ago in his childhood years, his leg was taken from him, for a few months after that he lived hobbling around on poorly constructed crutches before someone could make him a just as crude prosthetic.
He never let the prosthetic get to far away from him, without it, he was dead.
"Alright then" Rush said, putting his hands together. "With all that out of the way, I'm going to head out, I got a lot of work to do, you stay here will I'm gone, don't do anything wild while I'm gone" He said promptly before leaving the room, and in turn, Arthur.
Usually being left alone like this would have left Arthur felling abandoned, a broken kid with one leg, left behind while the adults worked, but this time, he wanted it. He lay back down and closed his eyes, he waited for the pain in his head and body became manageable, he didn't know how long it took but it was a long one, he still felt like shit but yet eventually he shakily stood up, feeling what was left of his leg adjust into the prosthetic. Although he did indeed promise to stay out of trouble, but there was no way in hell he was going to take all this laying down. Once he found his balance, he staggered his way out the door and stepped out into the weird world he found himself in.
The second he stepped outside, he raise a hand to shield his eyes as he squinted fiercely. Despite the sun being half the size of what it once was it was still quite blinding to Arthur, he didn't know how something so small be so bright.
The camp was pretty well put together all things considered, high wooden walls and ramps, homes and farms, plenty of space, it was a very good place to live, and at it's center was a large house, somehow the house was relatively undamaged from the sun's bombardment and was no reinforced with metal panels, covering windows and weakened walls, Arthur still couldn't believe people owned such homes in the old world. While Arthur explored his new place of operations, the many people who lived in Prosperity paid him no mind as they worked around him, some even looked wary of him, he was an outsider after all, one who showed up unconscious and needed medical attention.
half way through his inspection of the settlement, he found himself at a sudden pause, caught by surprise as he saw something he didn't expect, a tanker truck sitting in the middle of the clearing, it was absolutely covered in all sorts of graffiti, clearly done by Rippers, obviously it was filled with ethanol as the ethanol written on the sides, faded and buried under graffiti. Kids ran around it, giggling and playing, they had never seen such a thing.
"Unbelievable, right?" a voice came from behind.
Curiosity striking him, Arthur turned to see a middle aged man approaching him, he wore ruined jeans and a red shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows, he had a shaggy beard, topped with old, cracked aviators and a equally old and dirty baseball hat that read Rye And Daughter Aviations.
"Your fella, Rush really pulled through for us, rolled in with you in his arms, promising us this an' that if we took care of you... I'll admit I thought about turning you guys away, seeing both of you like that made me believe everything my daughter told me about your group was all bullshit, but now... Shit" the man smirked.
"Wait, Rush did this?" Arthur asked, looking back to the tanker, then to the man.
"Yeah, it was part of the deal, that for us looking after you, name's Rye by the way, Nick Rye" the man nodded.
"Arthur Warner, Security Captain, at your service Sir" giving the man a standing salute.
"At ease Kid, this ain't the military, just keep it casual, alright?" Nick motioned, not looking for a very formal introduction. "And besides, Rush told me to make sure you stick around here no matter what until your good to go" Nick explained.
"Yeah I know" Arthur grumbled, not liking his situation. but I'm here now. "But I'm not one for sitting around, so if you want to put me to work, now's your chance" he said.
"Alright then Mister Security Captain, let me show you around for now, we got more defenses then just walls" Nick shrugged, before gesturing Arthur to follow, and follow he did.
Arthur followed Rye silently and anxiously, he didn't like the awkward silence as they walked, and he was pretty sure Nick didn't either, regardless of how much Rush was doing, the first impressions of Rush dragging his unconscious body to Prosperity, begging for help was not a good look. Arthur felt that he had to do something to prove his worth, until then, he'd try to integrate himself into the encampment until he was good enough to fight.
"You mentioned you have a daughter right? Carmina?" Arthur asked, before Rush and Co. Journey to Hope County or even knew what it was, he had spoken to a woman at length
"Yeah that's right" Nick snorted. "She's uh, not here right now, she's went out with Rush I don't particularly feel to comfortable with her running off with some guy, but Rush sure knows what the hell he's doing and Mina knows the county like the back of her hand so it's not that bad I guess" Nick shrugged, by the way he spoke and shrugged, it gave Arthur the impression that he didn't fully believe what he was saying.
"Hey so uh" Arthur stuttered before finding himself. "So back on the train I was the Security Captain, I mean, I still am but, what I'm trying to say is with the Ripper's latest victory, it won't be to long before they move here, hoping for a winning streak" he offered.
"Yeah, you know what, Rush was thinkin' something similar, y'all made one hell of a noise and everyone heard it, and I'm guessing it gave the Rippers one hell of a power trip" Nick nodded in approval. "I'll admit, we ain't got much in the way of defenses, just big walls and big guns I guess, nothing as impressive like a train, but we'll do" he joked.
"But other then right here, how's it looking? Up north I mean? that's where y'all were coming from, right?" Nick asked, scratching his beard slowly.
"Pretty fucked by old world standards I guess" Arthur shrugged unassuredly, he didn't know how to answer, he born after the world erupted into flames. "The Canada/U.S. border is the new arctic shelf, big wall of ice, we'll probably feel it in the winter months, beyond that, who knows" he said.
"Damn, that's some Game of Thrones shit right there" Nick mused, his eyes going wide behind his cracked aviators.
"Game of what?" Arthur squinted, utterly confused by the former pilot.
"Uh, never mind Kid, I'm just a old man reminiscing about old world crap" Nick sighed, a wandering hand finding it's way onto the back of his neck in anxious fashion.
Arthur could help but notice the pain and sadness in his words, he heard it when anyone talked about the old world, from what he understood, the old world was an wondrous and unbelievable place, a place he never knew as he was conceived after the world fell.
"Your boss, says he's going out to do what he promised my daughter and start really kicking the Ripper's asses and making this county safe again" Nick said as he pointed out a few thing about the settlement's defenses.
"That's the plan, while I recover, Rush will fight and then once we're good to go, we'll meet up with the rest of our company" Arthur nodded in approval.
"Here's hoping, we need one hell of a Hail Mary" Nick muttered.
"So then how were things before we showed up?" Arthur asked.
"About the same as anywhere else, had it pretty good until some bad guys rolled up" Nick guessed. "I don't know, we never really talked to anyone outside the county" he said.
"How many guns do you have?" Arthur asked, analyzing some structural integrity.
"Not enough, but speaking of guns" Nick said, looking up at a particularly high wall where a lone woman stood. "This is our best gun, Grace Armstrong" Nick said, gesturing towards the woman up on the wall before whistling to get her attention, she turned to see what was up, upon seeing Arthur, her features seemed to droop, as if disappointment.
As she came down from the wall, Arthur could see her in full, her hair once dark and full, now tired a grey as age was catching up to her, easing into her sixties. Her face adorned with wrinkles and joints ached as she moved, she was old and tired, yet worked like she was half her age, a true fighter.
"So, your the Security Captain" Grace said unimpressed, running her eyes over Arthur quickly as she held out a hand intent on shaking Arthur's hand, as he went to do so, he couldn't help but notice that her hands and forearms were heavily disfigured, Arthur wasn't sure if they were from burns or cuts or something entirely different, all he could tell it happened a very long time ago and it was very painful.
"Yes Ma'am, here to help" Arthur replied, tentatively taking her hand, fearing he would irritate her mangled old hands, but when Grace took his hand, she let him know she possessed a vice like grip.
"Good, let's get you inside the manor, and get you fully debriefed" Grace looking at the large, slightly melted home that resided in the center of the settlement, it was obvious that's where the business happened.
"Sure, lead the way" Arthur nodded, he was more then eager to get to work.
A lone man carefully stalked the fresh ruins that was the massive train derailment. the man moved swiftly and quietly it was like he wasn't even there, he carefully examined each and every train car and the displacement around it, there had to be thirty cars in all with bodies littered in and around everyone one of them and just as many resources if they weren't destroyed by the derailment or fire, everything was picked clean. It was a fight between the bandits and outsiders, who ever they were, they must have been something as they possessed ample property and a train, but then again the local bandits successfully stopped it and killed the bulk of the passengers.
He paused briefly to consider what the Father would do before carrying on, he tightened his grip on his bow and quickened his pace as he wasn't the only one to hear the commotion, soon more would come to pick at the mess like vultures
Even as ruins the train had potential so long as he could get others out here to assist in the harvesting, but as he continued to scout the ruins, it was revealed he wasn't the only one to think this. The Judge had stumbled upon a single man was digging around in the wreckage, unaware of who was behind him, he was clearly wearing the garb of he Rippers, more than enough reason for him to be killed
Silently, The Judge prepared an arrow and loosed it, implanting it in the back of the man's head, it caused him to gurgle briefly before falling limp.
The Judge was silent for a few moments, waiting to hear any more movement, or anything to suggest he had friends, and when it was proven he did not, the Judge moved to the body and pulled the arrow out of the man and returned it to his quiver before staring down at the corpse, pondering.
And then without ceremony or reservation, Jacob Seed walked into his line of sight, wearing the military fatigues he always wore, standing on the other side of the body, examining it with a sour expression.
"It wasn't instant, he could have alerted someone" he scowled.
"Was the kill even necessary?" A second voice came from behind the Judge, he didn't turn to look, he knew who it was.
"Surely, the sap getting bumped off wasn't necessary, you could have gotten yourself an expendable pawn, or an extorted inside man. imagine what he could have done for you" John Seed said, glib, smoothing out the creases in his blue silk button up, ready to give a sermon on his philosophy.
"Don't you dare listen do these boys" a girl's voice then came, her lips inches from the Judge's ear.
Faith Seed then giggled in his ear before taking a step back. "Everyone is so used to violence and pain, a little kindness can take you a long way" she said as as she adjusted the ends of her white sundress she always wore, the ends of her white sundress kissing the tall grass.
Still after all this, the Judge choice to ignore all three of them, not acknowledging their existence, he had been doing so for years now, he was unsure of why they were before him, it was either he had sunk into a new layer of insanity or he was genuinely haunted by them, either way he didn't want to know, it was too unsettling, they did the same thing every time they appeared, Jacob was critique him for any faults in his fighting style, John would drone on and on about using people for his own personal ends, and Faith would always swing for the most peaceful outcome possible.
Some days were harder than others, the frequency of their appearances and how long they stayed was always varied, nobody else saw them, nor did he ever mention his personal specters.
This was his cross to bear among many others, and he intended to do so.
He turned and stomped away from the corpse, the three siblings now vanished, banished to the inner recesses of his mind or some spectral plane, either way he needed to return home, others needed to know what had happened here, a radical shift was coming, new players; heavy hitters rolled in and got shut down and ripped apart, this wouldn't be the end of it, it was only a matter of time now before the whole County felt the repercussions of it.
That belief sent shivers down his spine, a sense of familiarity came with it, an inescapable one, one he didn't like.
Nick and Arthur entered the manor, despite the the ruined exterior, the interior was actually pretty nice.
Arthur could really get a feel for the opulence this place once held as it was well looked after, fresh coats of paint, a lot of sweeping, dusting and polishing, a hell of a lot of handiwork had been done to fortify the place.
But oddly enough one such wall was left untouched in it's old world state, the wall was, absolutely covered in graffiti, faded and aged, most of it was death threats to someone named the Father and the Seed family, and of course there was a multitude of crudely drawn penises and other inappropriate iconography and off to the side was an uneven message away from the rest of the mess, simply stating; the deputy was here.
The Captain didn't get a chance to ask about it as Nick led him to a lone, middle aged woman stood at a table, pouring over papers and maps, it was like she was working on an unsolvable riddle. She must have heard the two men as she looked up as the two approached.
"Ah, Captain, your awake" she said, putting down some papers with a tired sigh.
"Security Captain, Arthur Warner, reporting for duty" Arthur said, saluting.
"Good to see your feeling well" the woman said. And I see you've become acquainted with my husband" Kim said, looking at Nick.
"Careful around her, she's the brains around here" Arthur heard Nick say quietly, praising his wife.
"If she's the brains, then she must have a laundry list of things that need to be done around here" Arthur asked.
"You got that right" Kim replied. "I don't know what Rush has told you, so I'll give you the run down" Kim said, turning back to the map on the table.
"As you know, the Rippers got us pretty boxed in these days as were tucked in the most the south west corner of the County, with the nearest enemy base set up about a mile north east of us from in what used to be a town. The further south you go, the more Rippers you run into, it's so bad we can't pinpoint where their HQ is, Rush seems determined to really push through ranks, and for whatever reason the most northern parts of the county were destroyed when the world flooded, the dam up there didn't help, it's just a mess up there, but if for some reason if you do, do not interact with anyone up there, it is of the upmost importance you stay as far away from those maniacs as possible" Kim said in the highest gravitas in terms of seriousness.
"Sure, what's up with them? Cannibals? Rapists? something in between?" Arthur asked casually.
But his question only made Kim and Nick look nervously at each other before looking back at Arthur.
"So you know nothing, huh?" Kim sighed, crossing her arms uncomfortably. "Rush or Mina didn't tell you squat?" Nick added.
"Nope" Arthur shook his head. "Just people needing help, that's all we need to know really" he explained.
"All you need to know Kid, is those people, during the old world, were a doomsday cult" Nick said carefully.
"I don't know how important this is but... I was born a little after the collapse so I don't really understand certain things, so I got to ask... What is a cult?" Arthur asked carefully, he could feel his cheeks burning a little, he hated feeling so dumb around old world survivors.
"Oh Jesus" Nick grumbled, taking his hat off momentarily to rub his brow. "Ok, we'll fill you in then come up with a game plan for you, so until then, buckle up Bud, your in for a hell of a story" he said.
Hello all.
I hope this new year finds you all well, I would also like to apologize for the lateness of this posting, as quite simply this has fallen quite low on my priority list over the years. be it trying to find that perfect job, settling into my new home with my girlfriend, becoming more self sufficient, being bestowed new responsibilities by life, talking to publishers about getting a projected printed, but I wont go to into detail, what I'm trying to say is I have very little time, and there is absolutely no way of keeping a consistent schedule.
I'm not terribly thrilled on how chapter one shaped out, but as the ball rolls, it will shape up, I don't think it will be anywhere as long as the pervious story, but who knows,.
And most importantly, thank you for being patient, it means a lot to me.