Bad Beginnings (A RDR2 Fanfic)

Past and Future

Arthur returned to camp that night and ate his candy bar while drawing, deep in thought.

He could not get those men from earlier off his mind. That was the first amount of real kindness he was shown ever since he left Aurora Ridge.

As he was thinking, however, he noticed another orange light though the trees. A campfire, that was definitely not his own.

Without thinking, he finished up his treat, put his journal away, and creeped through the trees. The camp was in a clearing and he was crouched behind a bush in the tree line when he realized who was out here.

For Christ's sake. It's like they were following him! Of course it was Mr. Van der Linde and Mr. Matthews.

Arthur didn't mean to seem ungrateful, but the horrible and poor part of him spied the pair of boots near the edge of camp.

Of course, Arthur crept forward for a closer look. Arthur's had his current boots for years and were tearing at the seams and just getting too small.

With closer inspection, he saw that the boots looked around his size. And not falling apart.

While hiding behind one of their tents, he observed the men more closely. Mr. Van der Linde was loud. He was just a loud talker and a loud laugh, even though he was shorter than Mr. Matthews, who was quieter and seemed wiser for some reason.

While the men were laughing especially loud at a joke one of them cracked, Arthur snuck forward, grabbed the boots, and ran.

"What the hell?" he heard Dutch yell. "Let's go after him!"

Arthur ran through the trees and he managed to stumble on every root and log on the ground. Eventually, he made it out to his camp, and ducked behind his tent.

He heard the two older men crash out of the forest.

"That son of a bitch stole my damn shoes!" Mr. Van der Linde said to Mr. Matthews.

"We'll find him, Dutch," Mr. Matthews replied. "You don't think that could've been the kid from earlier?"

Dutch hummed. "Maybe. Let's find him first."

Arthur's heart sped up. He was trapped behind this tent. Dutch was coming from the right and Hosea from the left, leaving him cornered.

Before they could get too far, he sprung to his feet with the shoes and started running. Of course, this would be the time when some of his shoe's stitching would come undone, making him lose his footing.

He tumbled to the ground and soon felt a weight press onto his back. His chest pressed into the boots underneath him, making it hurt to breathe.

"I can't believe this...," Mr. Matthews said with a sigh.

"It's the kid from earlier!" Mr. Van der Linde replied, finishing the other man's sentence. "After what we did for him."

Dutch flipped Arthur over, the tons of dirt on his face not being able to conceal Arthur's red face.

"Mr. Morgan, what the hell did you think you were doing?" Dutch asked.

Arthur gulped. This was very overwhelming. What happened next shocker Arthur as much as it shocked the man on top of him.

Arthur couldn't breathe. He couldn't with the larger man on top of him. It reminded him of when his father would....

He burst into tears. "I-I'm sorry sir!"

He managed to cover his face before Mr. Van der Linde and Mr. Matthews could see what a mess he was, as tears streamed down the sides of his face and into the dirt.

Dutch and Hosea paused and shared a look. They needed to talk about what the hell they were going to do with this kid.

Dutch climbed off of Arthur, snatching his boots out of Arthur's hands. "Sit in your tent. If I see you try and make a run for it, I'll shoot you."

Arthur gulped and nodded, before stumbling into his tent as he was told. He heard Mr. Van der Linde sigh.

That's when the arguing began. Yelling always made Arthur nervous, so he tried to stay away from it as much as possible.

"What the hell are we going to do with this kid!" he heard Hosea yell.

"I don't know, but we have to help him!" Dutch replied, startling Arthur. "He was trying to steal boots for heaven's sake."

"He's a no good criminal! He's got no morals and no respect! Even after what we did for him!"

Arthur appreciated Dutch defending him, but knew the argument was over. He wouldn't trust himself either. The yelling got louder, and Arthur's anxiety got worse.

It reminded him of home, when his father would always yell at him before hitting him. The loudest and angriest his father had ever been was the first time he used Arthur sexually, not just beating him.

Arthur tried to slow down his breathing, but couldn't as the yelling of the men surrounded him along with the memories of his past. The red slap marks on his face, the bruises on his knees, and the dark, hungry nights.

Arthur's lungs just couldn't take in enough air, and the corners of his vision were going dark as he heard Dutch say, "We save ones as need saving, and we kill ones as need killing. This is a boy. A child, Hosea."

The world went dark and Arthur's head hit the dirt. His father chased him into his nightmares.