Enter, Pursued by a Memory

John is missing

In the main cabin at Colter, Abigail tells Arthur that John has not been seen for two days. Arthur is reluctant and mocks John. He says John may be "as dumb as rocks and as dull as rusted iron", but that a snowstorm will not change that. Hosea tells him to at least go and look, and asks Javier to ride out with him, calling them "the two best fit men we've got." Javier agrees, saying that John would look for him if things were reversed. He hands Arthur a sawed-off shotgun.

Up the river

John was last seen heading up the river. Arthur suggests he may have "kept riding north and never looked back", and adds that it would not be the first time; Javier says John would not leave like that. Javier spots smoke, and they find an abandoned campsite with the fire still smoking. Arthur judges it was left "a few hours ago, at most" and hopes it is not more of O'Driscoll's boys. They follow horse tracks across a stream and up the mountain.

On the way, Arthur asks Javier, who was there, what really happened on the boat in Blackwater. Javier answers: "We had the money, it seemed fine, then suddenly they were everywhere." The attackers were Pinkerton agents. Javier also says that Dutch "killed a girl in a... bad way, but it was a bad situation." Arthur answers that it is not like him. The young woman was Heidi McCourt.

According to Javier, Davey, Mac and John were all shot, and nobody knows what happened to Sean. He adds that the men on the boat "were only just holding on" by the time Arthur and the others showed up on the other side of town.

John's horse and the climb

Higher up, they find John's bay mare, dead and mauled; Javier says John was riding it when they left Blackwater. Javier fires into the air, and John's shouts answer from higher up. The two men leave their horses and climb on foot.

They find John lying on a ledge, his face torn by wolves. John says: "Never thought I'd say this, but... it's good to see you, Arthur Morgan." Arthur carries John on his shoulder and tells him: "See, I told Dutch you weren't the right man for this."

The wolves

Three wolves appear on the slope. Arthur hands John to Javier, draws the wolves onto himself and kills them. On the ride down, more wolves attack and are shot. John thanks them for coming for him. Javier answers: "That bullet in Blackwater, now this?" They ride in the water for a while to lose the scent. Arthur tells John they will need a better story for the scar.

Back at Colter

Back at Colter, Bill and Lenny pull John off Javier's horse so roughly that Javier calls them idiots and tells them to mind his leg. Abigail thanks the two men and tells John that this is "a new low, even by your standards." Hosea thanks them as well.

Arthur asks how the gang will get out of this. Hosea, who has been talking with Leopold Strauss, says they will keep heading east when the weather breaks. Arthur is surprised at the idea of moving toward civilization. Hosea answers: "the west is where our problems are worse."

The mission closes on Arthur writing in his journal: "We have been running for weeks. We found shelter and been... resting here in some old abandoned mining town... while we wait the thaw. Hardly the spring I had been hoping for."

After the mission: camp life at Colter

After this mission, the player can walk around the camp, though not far from it. A small number of optional scenes can be seen at Colter, visible from the end of this mission until the second of Old Friends and The Aftermath of Genesis is finished:

• By the fireplace, Dutch tells Hosea he feels Hosea doubts him. Hosea says he is only worried. Dutch then asks Arthur the same question, and Arthur says he does not doubt him.
• In the main cabin, Sadie sobs over her husband while Mary-Beth Gaskill comforts her. Mary-Beth tells Arthur that Sadie will be alright, and he agrees. Arthur can offer Sadie food; she says she is not hungry.
• Susan Grimshaw gives the cabin a speech: keep warm, the mountain will be behind them in a few days, and the gang must stick together. Tilly Jackson says she hopes Susan is right. Susan asks Arthur for his opinion, and he agrees with her.
• Swanson reads Isaiah 40:20-31 aloud. Karen Jones asks what it means; he says he has no idea, but it gives him comfort.
• Abigail scolds the bedridden John for getting himself mauled by wolves. John says he has made his mistakes; Abigail takes offense, calls him annoying and tells him to rest.
• When Arthur approaches, John says "Oh God no." Susan asks Arthur what he wants. He says he came to pay his respects to "the fallen hero", and Susan tells him to leave John alone.
• Dutch asks Hosea to send someone "sensible" to bury Sadie's husband. Arthur can tell Hosea the body is in a wagon in front of the house, and Hosea says he will send someone. Arthur tells Dutch it was a good call; Dutch says it is the least they could do for Sadie. Arthur jokes about sending Micah, then changes his mind.
• Dutch and Hosea argue about what comes next. Dutch tells Hosea that he was "the one with the death wish". Hosea brings up the Pinkertons and bounty hunters; Dutch says nobody would follow them in this storm. He says the plan is to lie low, make money and get out of the country, but admits he does not know where to yet. He ends by saying they are not done yet.

Bill, Javier, Charles and Pearson have no camp events in this chapter. Arthur's health drains quickly if he strays too far from the camp during the chapter.

Deaths

• John's bay mare: found dead and mauled on the mountain.
• The wolves on the slope and on the ride down, killed by Arthur.

On the climb

• Arthur's stamina core drains on the climb and the game prompts the player to open the satchel. If the player does not use provisions, a short scene plays in which Javier gives Arthur a swig of Kentucky bourbon.
• If the player insists on taking the revolver instead of the shotgun, Javier comments on it.

The wolves

• Some of the wolves can be killed by trampling them with the horse, which saves shotgun ammunition and still counts for the no-damage objective.
• During the ambush by three wolves, the last remaining wolf runs away if the player fails to kill it in a single shot.
• If the player does not protect Javier and John from the wolves, a unique death scene plays.

Mission failure

The mission fails if the player:

• assaults, kills or abandons Javier or John, or lets either of them be killed;
• kills or abandons his horse;
• does not have a Sawed-Off Shotgun (this concerns replays, when the weapon is not in the current loadout);
• dies.

A wolf bite fails the first objective, but other damage, such as from a fall, does not count against it. The mission counts toward Gold Rush (70 Gold Medals in story missions) and Best in the West (100% completion).

• It's little John... he's got himself caught into a scrape again.

  Arthur, to Abigail, in the main cabin

• That's quite a scratch you got there.

  Arthur, on finding John on the ledge

• Don't die just yet, cowboy.

  Arthur, when John says he is freezing

• I knew a feller, got bit by a dog. Died an hour later.

  John, when Javier tells him his wounds are just like a dog bite

• None of us are lucky right now.

  Javier, when John says Arthur always calls him lucky

• So, freezing, bleeding, starving, damn near getting eaten to death, ain't good enough for you?

  John, when Arthur says he needs a better story for his scar

• After Arthur picks up John, a short piece of the main theme of Red Dead Redemption plays.
• On the climb, Arthur and Javier briefly leave the normal map boundaries.
• After the mission, an avalanche closes the mountain north of the ravine where John was found, and the area can no longer be reached.
• The title plays on the stage direction "Exit, pursued by a bear" from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, as does the later mission "Exit Pursued by a Bruised Ego".
• Besides the scars, John is left with a torn jacket and trousers after the wolf attack; by the epilogue he has repaired them.