GAMEPLAY
Resident I: Adam! Beers!
Bartender: Hold your horses!
Adam leaves the counter, putting an end to the conversation.
Argus: ...♪
Argus had arrived in San Laredo at midnight. After leaving the hunter to the deputy's office, she dressed her wounds again and then returned to the bar.
As the investigation reopens, the news that she caught the murderer spreads through the town like a prairie fire.
Now she's sitting at the bar, finally sipping on the Black Jack she paid for days ago. She isn't in a rush to ask about Kayla just yet, for now, she's enjoying the moment.
Same way she did when she saved that girl the first time, though she was just a baby then.
Wade: Hey, hey! Adam, Daryl!
Wade: Did ya hear? The Ruskie got away!
Argus: What the ...! You can't be serious.
Bartender: ...
Resident I: Ruskie? Oh, you mean the hunter? Who let him go? It can't have been the deputy, right?
Resident I: If he let him go, he must have had a reason.
Wade: Yeah, the deputy! And unlike how they dealt with the mercs, seems like he didn't even bring in the rangers!
Wade: Time ...
Wade stutters when he notices Argus.
Wade: Ugh!
Argus grabs her gun and stands up. She doesn't seem to pay attention to Wade's words.
Argus: Excuse me.
Wade: Where you going, Miss? The deputy let him go. What can you do?
Wade: Look, I saw you in action. You're the best bull rider and merc I've ever known. I don't doubt you must've cracked a whole heck of cases.
Wade: But you got the wrong guy this time.
Wade: That's ... That's what the deputy said, anyways.
Argus: ...
Bartender: Enough, Wade.
Bartender: Enough.
The hunter didn't leave the town after being released. He went somewhere Argus visited not long ago.
Argus follows his trail to the shallows before the forest. She already knows where the destination is. A broken iron gate ...
And behind that, the Red Wall.
Argus: ...
Argus: Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
Despite the wound in her leg shooting stabs of pain across her body, Argus runs across the shallows and enters the woods.
She rushes toward the Red Wall without stop.
The forest looks a bit different from what she remembered. Given that she only saw blurs that night, it's no surprise.
But Argus isn't focusing on her surroundings—just the trail.
Argus: He went that way? Then, he ain't heading for the Red Wall?
Argus: Wait ...
Argus: There's another wall.
Argus: It's the Red ...
Argus: No. It looks almost the same, but this ain't the Red Wall.
Argus: That wall looked much worse.
Argus: ...
Argus: Goddammit! Where'd he go?
Hunter: Ты ищешь меня.
Argus: ...!
Argus: Damn it!
The mercenary loads her gun and points it at the man, who appears as if from nowhere.
Hunter: You're looking for me.
Argus: Back off. Nice and easy.
The hunter does as she says.
Argus: Further.
Hunter: If I go, then you cannot hear me.
Argus: I ain't fixing to listen. I'm here to take you down.
Argus: But before that, I just need to know ...
Hunter: This is the Red Wall.
Argus: What?
Hunter: You understand English, yes? This is the Red Wall.
Hunter: Did I say wrong?
Argus: No, it can't be.
Argus: I've seen the Red Wall. It's covered in your victims' blood and the marks you left to boast about your slaughter. You even tricked their families into buying your furs.
Argus: Why? Why do you do it?
Hunter: This is the Red Wall. It has no ... no thing you said.
Hunter: Look.
Argus: No!
She doesn't intend to follow his instruction, but she can't help herself.
The wall is dyed red with apricots. The juice, which had to have been poured less than 24 hours ago, flows down like blood, as if it were inexhaustible.
No blood stains, no fur, only red juice and rotten pulp.
The apricots are piled at the bottom of the wall, all smashed up, laughing up at the Hundred-Eyed Giant.
Argus: No.
Argus: This ain't ...
Argus: This ain't the Red Wall.
Argus: You covered it up, cleaned up the crime scene, and someone helped you.
Argus almost drops her gun. She steps forward and grabs the hunter's collar, dragging him close to the wall.
She wishes somehow to see the blood stains and dead flesh that had been there before.
Argus: Someone helped you, didn't they?! Just look at the wall; the proof's all there! I can almost see exactly how you ripped those people apart!
Argus: Someone must've helped you. No doubt about it.
Argus: Otherwise, you couldn't have done this so fast. Not without leaving evidence behind.
The hunter says nothing to defend himself.
He just tilts his head and reaches out for an apricot that looks relatively intact.
Argus: You ...
Argus: What are you doing?
Hunter: This is абрикос .
He shows the apricot to Argus. It has rotted away on the inside and turned black.
Hunter: This is cattlehide.
He points at the rope hung at his waist.
Hunter: This is the Red Wall.
Then he points at the broken wall covered in apricot juice.
Argus: No, no ...
Argus: It can't be ...
Hunter: That is all.
Hunter: Simple truth.
Argus: What kind of simple truth is that? I don't get it. What in the goddamn are you even talking about?
Argus: If ...
Argus: If all those marks were just apricot pulp ... But there's no way. Apricots ain't red.
Argus: And I smelled the blood.
The hunter shakes his head. He looks at the Red Wall and bites the apricot in his hand.
Hunter: I do not know.
Hunter: Where I come from, абрикосы can be red sometimes.
Hunter: Red signifies "beauty." It's a good color.
Hunter: And this ...
Hunter: У вас тоже есть красная стена, не так ли?
Argus: I ...
Hunter: You have a Red Wall too.
Argus: ...
Argus: I have ...
Urgh, i-it hurts.
Argus, Argus. You've come to me.
Argus: What do I have ...?
Argus: The Red Wall. Did I fail to see through it?
Argus: Was it the Red Wall that I didn't see through, or ...
Argus: Kayla ain't here.
Argus: Phew! Never mind.
Argus: Look on the bright side. At least I found this ticket.
Argus looks at the sky. She still remembers what she had gone through in the motel.
She still remembers the sticky feeling that oozed from the mirror. To prevent herself from rubbing hands pointlessly, Argus checks the ticket again.
Argus: From Fort Worth to Houston ...
Argus: The passenger name is right. This is the best clue so far.
Argus: If the information is all correct, Kayla must've come through Houston.
Argus: But that can't be her final destination, I guess. She never liked big cities.
Argus: Hmm.
Argus: The buses travel between cities and the countryside twice a day.
Argus: Damn it, Kayla. Where on earth are you?