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RUST: THREE

by Christopher Ruz

Also by Christopher Ruz

Rust: One

Rust: Two

Century of Sand

Century of Sand 2: The Ragged Lord

The Eighteen Revenges of Dr Milan

Future Tides

Agent 806

Zero Error

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Previously, in Rust: One and Two

In Rust: Season One, Kimberly Archer was living in New York with her fiance Aaron when she was pushed in front of an oncoming C-Train. Moments later she woke in Rustwood, with a husband she'd never met before and a baby she couldn't remember having.

Kimberly ran from her 'husband' Peter Archer and infant son Curtis, but quickly found that all roads led back to Rustwood. She met a ragged man named Fitch who claimed to know the town’s secrets, but she rejected his assistance, believing him to be crazy.

Meanwhile, other forces were in play. Detective Goodwell, initially assigned to Kimberly's case, was actually reporting to the power that rules Rustwood. A monster was also stalking the streets, forcing innocent nurse Bo Tuscon to kidnap and kill strangers. Drawn by the strange energy surrounding Kimberly's arrival, Bo set his sights upon her as a fresh target.

With his only companion a strange creature living in the hip pocket of his jacket, Fitch found himself pursued by a posse of inhuman hunters. They chased him to the shore of Rustwood, where their leader, a woman in bug-eye sunglasses, was killed by a colossal monster in the depths of the coastal caves.

Fitch escaped, but Kimberly was caught by Bo Tuscon. Bo took Kimberly to his house, where she discovered his plans to use her as a shell for the creature growing inside him.

Fitch's attempts to track Kimberly led him to an old acquaintance, Mister Gull, a man of great but subtle power. Gull took Fitch's blood in exchange for locating Kimberly, allowing Fitch to help her escape. Together they fought and killed Bo just as Peter and Detective Goodwell arrived. Fitch, wisely, vanished into the night.

Days passed as Kimberly endured her husband's attentions. Fitch returned to ask for Kimberly's assistance in fighting the forces of Rustwood, and after finally killing the 'clicker' that had been living in Bo Tuscon's throat, Kimberly agreed.

As Kimberly left Peter Archer's house, a hooded figure stepped from beneath a tree, set on making Kimberly hurt. Finally, Detective Goodwell tracked down a trio of teenagers responsible for graffiti left across Rustwood. He found they were servants of the new, pretender Queen, the entity opposing his master.

With no way to cure the teens, Goodwell shot them and dumped their bodies down a well. Shaken by what he was forced to do, Goodwell assured himself that he served the right master, and that through his sacrifice the original, true Queen of Rustwood would prevail.

In Rust: Season Two, Fitch took Kimberly to see an old friend of his, Mrs Rosenfeld. Together, they discovered the heart of Rustwood was the Pentacost Convent, a poisoned place that even Fitch hesitated to approach.

Meanwhile, the woman in sunglasses who’d pursued Fitch into the coastal caves awoke beneath the earth. Repaired and revived by the pretender Queen of Rustwood, she set out to find Kimberly Archer. She began by targeting Goodwell’s boss, Commissioner Snow, whom she seduced and converted into a living puppet.

Goodwell had his own problems. Saddled with a new partner, Detective Karen Chan, he was tasked with investigating his own triple murder.

Peter Archer, left alone with a crying baby, was visited by a figure in a hooded rainslicker. The figure - faceless, genderless, weightless - paralysed Peter and took both him and baby Curtis to somewhere deep, dark and cold.

Kimberly and Fitch prepared for their foray into the Pentacost Convent by stealing materials needed to make Molotov cocktails. While Kimberly rested, Fitch was visited by his old friend Mister Gull. Gull gave Fitch secret commands and vanished into the night.

With Mrs Rosenfeld’s blessing and a backpack full of Molotov cocktails, Kimberly and Fitch set out to infiltrate the convent and find a doorway back to New York. Meanwhile, Chan and Goodwell followed a lead that took them to the old Hill family farm, where Goodwell had killed the three missing boys. Upon looking into the well where he’d stashed the bodies, Goodwell found they’d vanished. With their car broken down, Goodwell and Chan hiked back to Rustwood along a path that took them past the Pentacost Convent.

Fitch and Kimberly made their way to the heart of the convent and watched as the creatures hiding within - monstrosities that had once been nuns - opened a doorway into a strange bedroom. There, one of the creatures killed a small girl and dragged her body back through the doorway, leaving a copy of the corpse behind. Kimberly ran for the doorway as Fitch drew the creatures’ attention, but was cornered by the exit.

Forced to choose between helping Fitch or escaping Rustwood, Kimberly turned back. They fought the creatures but succumbed to the smoke filling the convent.

Detectives Goodwell and Chan were across the Pentacost River when the fire caught their attention. Goodwell, worried that Chan would discover his murders, attempted to shoot Chan in the darkness. Chan escaped across the marshes, finally arriving at the convent. Abandoning their fight long enough to drag the convent doors open, the detectives rescued Fitch and Kimberly.

Fitch and Kimberly stumbled into the darkness with the fire at their backs, fighting off the last of the creatures. In the struggle, Kimberly finally saw what Fitch carried in his pocket - a writhing, tentacled thing that latched on to one of the convent’s creatures and bored a hole through its skull.

Kimberly ran. After stopping to decapitate one of the dead creatures, Fitch followed.

Behind them, Chan and Goodwell fled the convent. With his gun in hand and Chan under control, Goodwell led her away into the darkness.

Finally, back in Rustwood, Mrs Rosenfeld was attacked by the woman in sunglasses. Kimberly and Fitch arrived at the Mission too late to help her, but the damage done in the attack revealed the truth - Mrs Rosenfeld was like the creatures from the convent, rotten beneath her skin.

She passed a message to Fitch, delivered by the woman in sunglasses: that there were two Queens locked in battle, an old withered Queen and an upstart newcomer, and that Fitch had to surrender before the New Queen turned him into a puppet.

Disgusted by Rosenfeld, Kimberly fled in search of her false husband. At his house she found the bathtub full of entrails, and both Peter and baby Curtis gone. Desperate for answers, she left the house with the mysterious Mister Gull, who spirited her away into the rain.

The story continues...