Subject has escaped and is currently unaccounted for. The project head does not seem to mind, though, as if it was all a part of the experiment. That worries me. I want a search party out there ASAP.
On the way to the lab site, the rescue team found an abandoned Winnebago in the woods about a mile out from the barbed wire fence. A portion of them split from the group to investigate under the direct orders to “leave no stone unturned”.
One member of that group comments, "Boy am I glad we checked that van when we did. Poor kid stole a rifle from one of the guards when he escaped and was hunkered down in there for God knows how long. He's lucky we got a good look at him before he finally noticed us and reared up to shoot, or we would have thought he was an undercover guard. Couldn't land a shot to save his life, though. Too disoriented from fear, too weak from hunger, too shaky from the cold. If we had been there even a little earlier, he probably wouldn't have missed, but if we had been there even a little later, he probably wouldn't have made it. Trying to pry the damn thing out of his hands was quite an ordeal, even after he wasted all the bullets. He kicked and screamed like we were murdering him. It tore me up inside to see a kid like that, so defensive and scared, breathing all heavy like a bird caught in a trap."
While being treated for hypothermia, pneumonia, and severe malnourishment, the boy's spirits gradually began to rise. He even often found himself joking with the rescue officers that came to visit him, leading to the teasing nickname "Goldbullet" for his lack of precise aim. Soon after he was given a clean bill of health, he was adopted by the agent who lead the group to the van. His new legal name has been truncated on this record to protect his privacy: Gaston B.