Rebellion

Rescue Me

Rescue Me

​It had been three days since Chester had been taken and now the group was ready to head out. Dave was loading his gun when the screens in the room flickered and turned on. Everyone stopped what they were doing. Mike was sitting on the couch while Isaiah and Draven were playing together on the table. His team was gearing up. But they all stopped what they were doing. And then there were voices.

​"So you were held captive by the rebels correct?"

​"Yes."

​Dave saw Mike's eyes shoot up to the screen. They were shocked to see Chester up on the screen. The two boys had stopped playing. Dave swallowed. Chester looked terrible. He was extremely thin and was dressed in a simple black t-shirt and pants. He was pale and had dark circles around his eyes. He looked extremely sick. His body was shaking. Mike had stood up and was walking over to him but Dave's attention was back on the screen.

​"Is there anything you'd be able to tell us about them?"

​"They're killers. They'll hurt anyone to get what they want and the only way to stop them is to eliminate them. They tortured me.....hurt me...I'd done nothing wrong. I told them they could kill me if they wanted but they refused. They found it fun to see me suffer."

​"What did they do to him?" Mike asked softly, "That's....That's not a drug that we know."

​"Mike, we're going to save him okay? I promise, we're going right now," Dave said. Mike nodded his head and sighed.

​"Just bring him back for the boys okay?"

​"You know we're going to do what we can."

​"You ready?"

​Dave turned to see his small group standing there. Bono, Brad, Joe and Keith were all standing there. He smiled at them and then motioned for them to follow him. They'd gotten a location and it was just a little farther out from the city. It wouldn't be hard to get to. They needed to be close to hack their feeds like that.

​"Let's go," he said with a smile. They headed out into the rain and were climbing into the car when he heard a call from behind them. He turned and saw a figure jogging towards them. He frowned and watched as the man approached him.

​"Are you going to rescue Chester?"

​Dave recognized the other elite that had been drugged, "Yea. Why?"

​"Can I come with you? You could use some extra firepower."

​Dave thought for a minute but then nodded, "Okay. Do you have weapons?"

​"I got a gun."

​"Alright. Get in the back with the others."

​Austin nodded and then climbed into the car. Dave hopped into the truck with Joe and checked to make sure the other four were with him.

​"Alright. Drive."

​They started their short trip. It would most likely take them about an hour to get to the base. They had no idea what the place would look like and no idea where Chester would be being kept.

​"So you got a plan Dave?" Bono asked.

​"We get in and find Chester. That's the first and only priority. I don't want to kill Charles Bennington unless he's stopping us from getting to Chester. I want to get Chester and get out."

​"Alright."

​"Any idea of what the inner layout is?"

​"Nope. We'll just have to stick together and cover the place."

​"Okay then."

​Dave sighed. He hated leaving Mike behind, he knew that the man was a good fighter. But he was injured and Chester did have something wrong with him. It would be better if they were separated for a bit. He was worried about Isaiah and Draven. The boys had been through a lot but it would be terrible if they got their dad back but he wasn't the same. Chester was obviously under the influence of something. If they couldn't figure out how to help him, he might not be alright.

​"We're here."

​He glanced up and saw the building. It was small but Dave guessed there were underground areas and stuff like that. They clambered out of their car and the rain made them damp instantly. They shouldered their guns and hurried to the doors. Dave pulled on it and nodded when it opened easily.

​"Are we dealing with a couple amateurs?" Bono asked and Brad snickered. They crept into the building and Dave's eyes widened. There were three different hallways leading out to different areas. They were screwed.

​"Okay fine," Dave sighed, "We'll split. Bono, you go with Keith. Brad, you and Joe. I'll take Austin with me."

​"Dave, I can...."

​"I'll be fine," Dave assured him before they headed off into the different hallways. Austin walked slowly behind him.

​"You guys don't trust me?"

​"If we didn't, I wouldn't have allowed you with us."

​Austin nodded slightly. They started through the dark hallways. There were lots of different doors and they began peering inside them without interrupting others. They heard footsteps approaching and Dave grabbed Austin and pushed him forward into a dark corner. They ducked down and waited as people passed by them.

​"Why is it so dark?" Austin asked quietly and Dave shrugged. They headed back into the hallway and continued searching. There was no one here.

​"Why is this....not right?"

​"I don't know," Austin said. They continued through the darkness and then they heard shouts. They spun and ran towards the noise. The dark was tricky and they took a few bad turns before they ran into the noise. Brad and Joe were fighting against a few men who must've seen them sneaking through.

​"Well they know we're inside," Dave said as he shot one of soldiers and then ducked back.

​"Wasn't that the goal?" Austin asked him sarcastically and Dave laughed softly before shooting again. The soldiers vanished and Brad smiled at him.

​"Thanks for helping out."

​"Yea no problem. You know where Chester is?"

​"No. We've been searching through every door. We even headed downstairs. Nothing."

​"HEY! HEY!"

​"I say we check it out," Dave said and the four of them headed quickly down the halls. They made their way through the darkness and this time ran into Keith who was firing down the hall while Bono dragged a screaming and fighting man out of the line of fire.

​"I think we found him."

​They ran down the hall and reached their other partners. Bono groaned as he threw Chester down to the ground and then hit him in the side of the head with the butt of his gun.

​"Austin, it's your job now. Carry him," Dave said. Austin nodded and shouldered his gun before lifting Chester's limp body off of the ground. They headed back, Dave leading the way while Keith took the rear. Joe and Brad were behind Austin who was right behind Bono. They ran out of the base and back to their truck. As soon as they were out, Joe ran to the front seat while the rest of them piled into the back. Brad went shotgun and Dave sat down next to Bono, giving the man a pat on the back. "Nice work."

​"Thanks," the Irish man smiled slightly at him and then turned back to Austin, "We should tie him up. He's dangerous."

​Dave nodded and Keith tied Chester's hands behind his back. The ride home was quiet. They had Chester now. But they had no idea how to help him. It was night time so hopefully Mike would be putting the boys to sleep.

​"How hard did you hit him?" Dave asked.
​
​"Hard enough to keep him unconscious for about an hour," Bono replied. He nodded and then looked out as they drove. The rain continued to pound on the windows and then Keith looked at him.

​"They let us go."

​"I know."

​"Why?"

​"Not sure. But it's obvious they let us go. Apparently Charles Bennington is a bigger dick than we thought."

​"True," Brad said from the front seat. They grinned and then the Capitol appeared. He sighed and then looked over at Brad.

​"If you see Mike, try and distract him okay? We need to figure out what's wrong with Chester before Mike or his kids see him."

​"Sounds good to me," Joe replied, "We got it."

​The truck pulled up and Dave sighed as he saw Mike standing in the doorway of the building. It was dark out but it was obvious Mike was waiting for the news.

​"Here we go," Dave said and they nodded. Brad and Joe headed up to the building. Dave climbed out with Bono, Keith, and Austin who carried Chester's body. He heard arguing and saw Mike stalking towards him.

​"Is he alright?"

​"Mike, go. We don't know what's going on."

​"Is he alright?"

​"Yes," Dave said and then gave Mike a gentle shove, "Now go back inside."

​Mike glared at him and headed into the building. They headed inside and Dave led Austin down to another room. They opened the door and Dave sighed before motioning for the taller man to lay Chester down on the bed.

​"Can you get Jeremy Hummel for me?" Dave asked and Austin nodded before leaving the room. Dave sat down in one of the chairs and waited. He heard shifting and then Chester's eyes were blinking open. In an instant, the former elite was struggling against his bonds. Dave approached him slowly and looked at Chester who seemed completely normal apart from his behavior. He jumped back as Chester kicked out at him.

​"Stay away from me!" Chester yelled. Jeremy came in and Chester growled in his throat and struggled again.

​"What's going on?" Dave asked Jeremy. The therapist made his way over to Chester and sighed. He put his hand on Chester's shoulder who flinched away from him and glared icily at him.

​"Piss off!"

​"He's afraid," Jeremy said finally. Dave backed up as Jeremy pushed Chester back on the bed and restrained his ankles. "Just a precaution."

​"What? You got that out of 'piss off'? How the fuck did you get that he's afraid out of 'piss off'?"

​"I can tell," Jeremy said simply. They headed out of the room and Dave turned to Jeremy.

​"What's going on?"

​"It's called Fear-Conditioning, but this seems like a more severe case."

​"Hang on, let's tell everyone," Dave said and Jeremy nodded. They headed out to the main room where everyone else was hanging around. "Take the boys out."

​"No!" Isaiah said as he stepped forward, "This is our dad. We deserve to know."

​"Let them stay," Jeremy said, "There's a possibility they could help."

​"So what's the problem?" Mike asked quickly.

​"From what I could tell, Chester has been.....played with mentally," Jeremy said, "It's called Fear-Conditioning. It wasn't common in humans, especially older people. What it does is associates a certain image with pain. This plays with the mind and eventually makes the person afraid of that thing."

​"So we just talk to him, explain the whole deal," Mike said.

​"But like I was telling Dave, this is a more severe case. Chester isn't.....afraid. He has somehow been conditioned to want to defend himself against us."

​"So he views us as a threat?" Dave asked, "That's why he was struggling."

​"Most likely."

​"Well then we can talk to him," Mike said, "We can convince him we won't hurt him."

​"That's the thing Mike, Chester isn't in the mindset of 'they're going to kill me'," Jeremy said, "He's in the mindset of 'I have to kill them before they kill me'."