Covenant:RickyHawkins

The headlines read ...

“Family prays for safe return of rebellious child”

Friday, June 14th – Jasper and Bernadette Hawkins will hold a candle light vigil Sunday night, June 16th, at the gateway to the Strip Mine where their son Richard was last seen three days ago. On Tuesday night, Richard and some friends were playing around near the strip mine when the young man crossed the barricade and enter the mine.

“We dared him to do it, but we never thought he actually would!” said Franky Schmidt, a friend of Richard since childhood. “We all knew we weren’t supposed to go in.”

The Hawkins phoned police on Wednesday morning to report their son missing. “He’s stayed over at friends’ houses before without telling us, but when he didn’t come home the next day we knew something terrible happened.” Said Mrs. Hawkins.

Police Sargent Ethan McHugh asked any citizens with information about Richard to contact the Covenant police department. McHugh strongly urged the Indentured to stay away from the mine.

“I can not stress this enough: the Strip Mine is a dangerous place. It is simply not safe for anyone and the barricade must be respected. We have no reason to believe Ricky is hurt. We think he is simply lost in the maze.” Sgt. McHugh had no comment when asked whether a police search team had been dispatched into the mine.

The candle light vigil will be held at Sunset at the first gate of the Strip Mine barricade. All in attendance are invited to bring photos of loved ones lost during The Apocalypse.

One of the Indentured Chosen (the citizens of Covenant) – Richard Hawkins – disappeared into the Strip Mine on Tuesday night, June 11th. He had been seen as a bit of a trouble-maker in the town. He could often be found at or near the scene of various vandalism, pranks, and rough-housing, as a young man is expected to commit. After all, he is only 16. Despite his regular truancy and no-goodnik status, he is beloved by many and is a whiz at science: small mechanics and electronics and such.

He was suspended from school last year following the Science Fair Debacle. Ricky claimed he could commune with the spirits of the damned and had created a box to do so. His project featured research from the town library into occult scientists such as Alister Crowley, Hildred Castaigne, and others. But the straw that broke the camel’s back was his device: a homemade CB radio capable of reaching people as far out as Chicago.

Ricky was given an F. He and his infernal contraption were sent to the principal’s office before he could get could finish introducing his taped conversation with “Black Jack.” The device and the recording Ricky brought to school were confiscated and destroyed. No one bothered to listen to the tapes. That is, except for Ricky’s friend and confidant, Caleb Lynch.

At first Ricky thought he was communing with the spirit of one of the unfortunate souls who perished on that fateful Halloween. But soon he became convinced that the story about the world ending really was just a fairy tale told to keep people in line.

What convinced Ricky that the Armageddon was fictional? Something about the strip mine. That’s why he went in when dared. It gave him an excuse and a plausible cover story. If he came back he could say it was all just part of a prank or a dare.

What is it about Ricky’s story that an outsider would find so believable? What about it would make them think that the secret to escaping from Covenant is hidden in that mine? What does Caleb have to say about this? What connection does he have to Ricky’s science fair project (or is he simply blamed for having filled Ricky’s head with mechanical nonsense)?

Could Ricky have unknowingly passed the first test to become one of The Watchers? The voice on the tape actually belongs to the recruiter for The Watchers. The mine is laden with booby traps and tests of skill and strength. Someone who manages to get past all the tricks and traps discovers the lair of The Watchers and is worthy of joining them. Not only that, but the spook-show they witness on their descent serves to warp their mind and make them suitable for conditioning once they reach The Watchers’ compound.

Does Ricky ever return to Covenant from the mine? If so, how has he changed? If we don’t go with The Watchers story line, what has he seen? Does he still believe the Armageddon was merely a bedtime story? Or is he now convinced there is nothing beyond the town?

How could we make the strip mine more than just a simple ‘dungeon crawl’? Are there people in there? What are they like? Why doesn’t the town know about them? Where did they come from?

Perhaps (if there are people in the mine) the people came from somewhere outside of Covenant. Like other outsiders, once they reach the town, they can not leave. However, the difference is that in passing through the winding and twisting caves their minds have been warped. Now they believe that the world they left behind was some apocalyptic wasteland. Their sense of time is distorted. When the Indentured Chosen of Covenant welcome the new arrival, both sets of beliefs are confirmed. On the one hand, the arrival’s talk of apocalyptic wastelands confirms the townsfolk belief that they are all that remains after the end of the world. The townsfolk’s explanation of the Armageddon helps the arrival make sense of their confused thoughts; they now think they suffered through some strange purgatory to arrive at salvation.