Far Cry New Dawn: A New Path

A New Dawn

When the bombs fell, my parents started throwing things into the bunker. Food, water bottles, clothes, books. God I hated those math books. When they took me down into the bunker, we thought things were gonna be ok.

That was until the bunker door wouldn't close. My dad had gone to close it.

He never came back.

I was too young at the time to understand what the end of the world meant. I waited for days for my father to return. My mom hadn't stopped crying since we came down here. About a month passed before mom told me to stop waiting by the ladder.

That dad was gone.

We lived on the outskirts of Hope County. We had no idea what had happened there.

Years went by and Mama got sick. She told me she wasn't long for this world one night and that she wanted me to sleep with her and read her a story.

That night Mama died. At the age of 18, after the world had ended, I was all alone.

Two years of agonizing loneliness and silence were spent talking to pictures of my parents, checking the radio everytime I got up and before I went to bed.

Of course, there was no one out there. I was afraid I was the last one alive, that I would die alone. That no one would know what happened to my Dad or Mama. That no one would know what happened to me.

That was until I heard him.

10 years of radio silence, and we finally found someone. In my excitement I called into the empty bunker for Mama, and was reminded that I was alone.

He said his name was Sheriff Earl Whitehorse. He said he was with his Deputies Joey Hudson and Staci Pratt. He said that any survivors that remained near Hope County should make their way towards Falls End. So, I made my way there.

On my travels I met a brother and sister. The brother called himself Wrench and looked like he came straight out of an apocalypse game.
The sister called herself Ares, and she definitely had the attitude to match. They had heard the same thing, and were headed that way in a car, something I thought was long gone when they picked me up.

What follows is our journey. Our memories. The people we met, and those we lost.

This, is my story.

Somewhere south of Hope County

"Hey Ares you don't think the Highwaymen caught up to us yet do you?"

Wrench sat in the back of the car, rolling a coin on his knuckles.

"No, we should be about a day ahead of 'em."

Angelo looked over towards the driver of the vehicle.

"Hey, whose the Highwaymen?" Ares opened her mouth to answer, but Wrench beat her to it.

"Nasty piece of work. Basically bunch of warmongers on wheels run by twins Mickey and Lou. If your with 'em, they dub you a "Problem Solver", if you ain't, they call you a "Problem Maker" and deal with ya."

The look on Angel's face made Ares laugh. Her smile wide.

"How long have you been above ground?"  Her gaze was almost accusing. He shrunk under her gaze.

"Barely even a week?" His voice shrunk as well as he spoke. At this point Wrench had also sat up and joined the conversation.

"Whatever you think you remembered about the world, forget it. Things are different now. It's about survival now. You learn that now or you're gonna end up in some ditch. Alright?" After saying his piece he had laid back down and began to play with his coin again.

A loud explosion could be heard moments later in the darkening Montana countryside as all three fixed their gaze onto the column of smoke that was thrust into the air.

The siblings shared a knowing look with each other before Ares jerked the wheel towards the source. The air was tense.

"H-hey, what's going on." The slightest bit of fear held to his voice, like a mosquito that wont go away.

In unison, their voices named one group, and his body quaked with fear.

"Highwaymen."

As their car crested the hill, a knocked train laid on the valley below a bridge that was likely its original location. Wrench threw down the middle seat and grabbed three guns.

Setting the sniper down in Ares lap, he loaded a clip into his AR-C, and placed an M9 into Angelo's lap. His eyes widened and the added weight.

"If you don't know how to shoot, point at the thing you want to kill, then pull the trigger, easy!" With those final words, Wrench and Ares climbed from the car, and embarked towards the wreckage.

Dumbfounded, Angelo sat there, staring at the gun in his hand. Slowly, he stepped from the vehicle and followed.

Gunshots and shouting surrounded him, overloading his senses. What was he supposed to do? What would his Mama and Pa do?

Something yanked him down behind protection, shocking him from his stupor. Wrench shook him while yelling. What was he saying? The ringing in his ears was too loud for him to understand.

Another three men approached. One had short black hair, the other brown, and the final wore a motorcycle helmet.

Sound finally began to return to him as he realized that this man, Rush, was talking to Wrench. Asking who they were.

"Name's Wrench, pansy number one here is Angelo, he's new to the whole above ground thing. My sister, wherever she is, is Ares, can't miss her. White hair, short, big sniper, red jacket, can't miss her."

Shell Shock.

That was the one word that would describe Angelo. The fight progressed, until the six of them were forced down to their knees by Mickey and Lou.

"Then a bunch of troublemakers join in our little party on the wrong side." The one in pink motocross gear says while yanking Angelo's face upwards. Her pink helmet dangling dangerously close.

"You look too clean to be a problem maker." He grit his teeth as she looked at him.

"Hey hey hey hands off him." The one in the blue jacket kicked Wrench across the face dropping him to the ground.

"Wrench, you, we thought you were a problem solver, solved plenty of our problems. Didn't he Ares?" Everyone looked towards the girl in question, who stood up and stepped to the twins side.

"Ares, the hell you doin?" The look of confusion and hurt on Wrench's face said all that was needed to know.

"Doing what's gonna keep me alive Wrench. See Wrench, I listened to you because you're my older brother look where we ended up. Almost dead." Before anything more could be said, she drew a pistol and put a round into Barnes head.

The ensuing chaos found Wrench, Angelo, and "The Captain" all thrust off the cliff, and plummeting to the water below.

He didn't know how long it would be before he woke next, if ever.