Arthur slowly pushed himself up from the wreckage with a groan, brushing dust and splinters off his coat.
"Billy… you alright?" Arthur asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Right as rain, pal," Billy replied as he climbed to his feet and rubbed his head with a wince.
The two of them carefully climbed toward the front of the wrecked train car and found Rebecca lying on the floor.
"Wake up, officer. Your job's not done till we're in a cell," Arthur said gently as he helped lift her to her feet.
Rebecca groaned softly as she slowly regained consciousness.
Arthur fished a small flask out of his satchel and handed it to her.
"Where are we?" Rebecca muttered as she took a swig.
A split second later she violently spit it out.
"What is this?" Rebecca coughed, sputtering.
"Oh shit… that one's bourbon. This one's water," Arthur said quickly as he handed her a canteen.
Rebecca stared at him with visible annoyance but took the canteen and drank anyway.
Billy, however, held his hand out expectantly toward Arthur.
Arthur grinned and passed him the flask.
Billy took a long swig and sighed in appreciation.
"What else you got?" Billy asked.
"Well, I've got some cheese, some smoked meat, and some bread," Arthur said as he rummaged through his satchel.
"You've had food this whole time? God damnit man, share," Billy said in frustration.
Arthur laughed and sliced everything up with his knife.
Soon the three of them were sitting among the wreckage taking a quick break while eating smoked meat sandwiches.
As they ate, Rebecca couldn't help herself.
She looked toward Billy.
"Did you actually kill twenty-three innocent people?" Rebecca asked quietly.
Billy sighed heavily and then told them the whole story.
Their mission had been to attack a guerilla stronghold.
But the intel had been wrong.
Instead they had found an innocent village.
Billy's commanding officer refused to let the mission be a waste of time.
So he ordered them to kill everyone.
Billy had not only refused.
He had tried to stop the others.
So they pinned the entire massacre on him.
"Did the military not think something was fishy about that story? I mean I'm not even law enforcement or military and even I think it'd be mighty suspicious that an entire unit just watched as one of their guys lost his shit and gunned down a whole village," Arthur said angrily.
"Yeah well… too bad you weren't the guy who arrested me," Billy said with a sad smile.
"Billy… I'm so sorry. Is there really no way to prove your innocence?" Rebecca asked sadly.
"Don't worry about it, Rebecca. That ship's long sailed. Let's just finish eating and focus on getting out of here," Billy replied.
Once everyone finished eating, they moved forward through a sewer tunnel and eventually climbed up a ladder.
Arthur pushed the hatch open and climbed out first.
He looked around.
The room they had entered looked like an old Gothic manor.
"Who the hell has a sewer tunnel as their secret entrance?" Arthur muttered as he helped Rebecca and Billy climb up.
"What is this place?" Billy asked as he looked around the dim hallway.
"I don't know," Rebecca replied.
"Well whatever it is, we need to find a way out. I doubt this place is safe," Arthur said cautiously.
"Right, we should—"
Billy stopped mid-sentence.
Arthur pointed a finger at him.
"I swear to God if you say split up and search for clues, you and me are gonna fight."
"No, Arthur, it's the best idea we've got. We need to search this place quickly," Rebecca said firmly.
She opened her pack and pulled out a radio.
"Here, Arthur. I grabbed this off Edward's body. It's tuned to the same channel me and Billy are on."
Arthur took the radio and clipped it onto his belt.
"Alright… but Rebecca, you stay here in the lobby. That way if me or Billy need backup you can get to us quickly," Arthur said insistently.
"I second that. Better us criminals risk our lives rather than a cop with a bright future," Billy said with a laugh.
"Hey, speak for yourself. I only got into a bar fight. I'm as innocent as a newborn baby," Arthur said with a chuckle.
"A baby doesn't carry around all those weapons, Arthur," Rebecca replied with a laugh.
"That reminds me. Rebecca, take this. You might need it," Arthur said as he pulled the sawn-off shotgun and its holster from his belt and handed it to her along with a handful of shells.
"Sawn-off shotguns are illegal, you know," Rebecca said with a small frown as she strapped the holster to her belt and pocketed the shells.
"Yeah well… you're already arresting me ain't ya?" Arthur replied with a crooked grin.
Arthur then began walking up the stairs.
He pushed through the double doors on the second floor, stepped into the hallway, and headed toward the door on the left.
Without hesitation he kicked it open.
The door frame shattered as the door slammed inward.
Arthur walked through and climbed a short set of stairs into a room that looked very much like an old dungeon.
Chains hung from the walls.
Stone floors.
Iron fixtures.
At the far end of the room stood a set of large double doors barred by two decorative suits of armor.
Arthur calmly pulled out a stick of dynamite.
He stuck it onto the doors.
Lit the fuse.
Then turned and walked away.
Moments later the explosion echoed through the stone chamber as the doors were blown wide open.
After the smoke cleared, Arthur saw a notification appear in front of him.
[Demolition Skill Level 1 Aquired]
Your explosives are now 10% more powerful
"Not a bad skill… and it's a good thing I've played this damn game before or I'd be running around like a chicken with his head cut off," Arthur muttered to himself.
With that, he turned and headed back down the stairs.
Arthur kicked open the side door he had passed earlier and stepped inside. Lying on the floor was a grenade launcher along with several rounds of ammunition and a box of shotgun shells.
Arthur crouched down, picked up the shells, and stored them in his inventory before lifting the grenade launcher and slinging it over his shoulder.
He then walked back toward the destroyed double doors and stepped through into the observatory.
Arthur crossed the narrow walkway carefully and approached the set of heavy doors on the opposite side.
Without hesitation he pulled out another stick of TNT, lit the fuse, and tossed it forward.
The explosion blasted the doors open in a cloud of smoke and splintered wood.
"I keep hearing explosions. What's going on up there?" Rebecca said over the radio, her voice filled with concern.
"I blew up a door and found a way out," Arthur responded casually through the radio.
"Damn, that was fast. Only thing I found is a shotgun," Billy said through the radio.
"Well you two make your way to me. Just follow the trail of destruction," Arthur replied with a dry chuckle.
Before long Billy and Rebecca arrived, following the literal path of blown-out doors and debris until they reached Arthur.
Arthur was standing in a doorway that led to a sheer three-story drop.
"This is your way out? We'll die or break our legs," Rebecca said in disbelief as she stared down into the dark space below.
Arthur calmly pulled out his lasso and tied it securely to the railing beside the doorway.
"You're kidding," Rebecca said as she watched him grab the rope.
Arthur didn't answer.
He simply swung himself over the edge and started rappelling down.
Billy grinned.
Without hesitation he grabbed the rope and followed Arthur down.
Rebecca watched the two men descend safely to the walkway below.
She took a deep breath.
Then grabbed the rope.
Rebecca slowly and carefully rappelled down the side of the tower.
When she was halfway down, her foot slipped.
She lost her grip and fell the rest of the way.
Fortunately Arthur stepped forward and caught her before she could hit the ground.
"So… how'd you like your first climb? Fun isn't it?" Arthur said with a teasing grin.
Rebecca crossed her arms and frowned up at him.
"I'm never doing that again if I can help it. Now put me down."
Arthur chuckled and set her back on her feet.
"Oh cheer up. Here… I got you a present," Arthur said as he handed her the grenade launcher.
Then he casually turned and started walking down the path toward an old church nearby.
Arthur walked around to the side of the building and pried the metal gate off its hinges with his Bowie knife.
He slipped inside, walked around back, and flipped the switch that powered on the elevator.
After that he returned to the others.
"Come on," Arthur said simply.
He led them to the elevator, and the three of them rode it down together.
"How'd you know that was there?" Billy asked curiously.
"I didn't. I was checking for a road… found an elevator instead," Arthur lied casually.
[Deception Skill Level 1 Acquired]
Chances of Your lies and distractions working
Increased by 5%
The elevator opened up to a laboratory.
Arthur stepped out first, glancing around at the sterile white walls, metal tables, and flickering lights.
"A lab under a church… that's ironic," Arthur said with a dry smirk.
"It's a good hiding place. I mean, who would look for it here?" Rebecca Chambers replied as she scanned the room cautiously.
The three of them moved carefully through the halls and into the next room, their footsteps echoing faintly through the quiet facility.
Arthur quickly spotted a hole in the ceiling.
Without hesitation he pulled out the hook shot and fired it upward, the mechanism catching securely on the ledge above. A moment later he climbed up through the opening.
Once upstairs, Arthur barely glanced around.
He ignored everything he considered unimportant and went straight down the hallway toward a button mounted on the wall.
Arthur pressed it.
A low mechanical rumble echoed through the building.
Down on the first floor, the wall slowly slid upward, revealing a hidden passage.
Arthur immediately turned back, sprinted toward the hole he had climbed through, and jumped down.
He rolled as he hit the ground, popping back to his feet in one smooth motion.
He caught up with Rebecca and Billy just in time to see them finishing off another leech zombie.
Fortunately, they had already taken it down.
"This way," Arthur said, gesturing toward the newly opened passage as he started walking down the hidden corridor.
"How do you know?" Rebecca asked suspiciously.
"Found a map of the facility. This door up ahead leads to a cable car," Arthur replied smoothly, lying again without missing a beat.
[Deception Has Reached Level 2]
Chances of Your lies and distractions working
Increased by 10%
"Something tells me that's gonna hit a high level before the night's over," Arthur thought to himself.
Arthur calmly stuck a bundle of dynamite onto the door, lit the fuse, and immediately grabbed the other two by their shoulders and dragged them behind cover.
A few seconds later the explosion thundered through the corridor.
The door was blown clean off its hinges.
"How much dynamite do you have?" Rebecca asked in shock as she stared at the smoking doorway.
"The answer to your question is yes," Arthur replied with a grin.
The three of them stepped into the cable car room.
After searching around for a bit, they managed to get the mechanism working.
Arthur pulled the heavy door open.
Just as Rebecca and Billy stepped toward the cable car, an infected monkey suddenly dropped down from the ceiling and landed on top of it with a screech before lunging toward Billy.
Arthur reacted instantly.
He activated Dead Eye.
The world slowed.
Arthur raised his repeater and unloaded several shots into the creature.
The monkey slammed to the floor.
But the fight wasn't over.
Another leech zombie suddenly staggered into the room and lunged at the trio.
Billy and Rebecca immediately raised their shotguns and blasted the creature repeatedly until it collapsed in a writhing heap.
"Fuck me… get on the damn cable car before something else shows up, Jesus," Arthur said in exasperation as he stepped inside.
Once the other two climbed in and sat down, Arthur pulled the lever.
The cable car groaned and began slowly moving forward along the track.
Next to Arthur sat a dead man.
Clutched tightly in the corpse's hand was a high-powered Magnum.
Arthur casually put a bullet through the corpse's head to make sure it wouldn't get back up, then pried the weapon free from its stiff grip.
He tossed it toward Billy.
Billy caught it and looked at him.
"You sure? What about you?"
"Not my style, partner," Arthur said with a grin as he spun his revolver and re-holstered it.
Arthur then took a seat next to the other two.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Rebecca struggling to keep her eyes open.
Arthur gently removed his hat and placed it over her face.
Rebecca tilted it up slightly and looked at him.
"Take a nap while you can, Rebecca. We don't know when we'll get another chance."
Rebecca didn't argue.
She leaned back in her seat, pulled the hat down over her eyes, and fell asleep.