Chapter two – The Bunker
"Hurry up, Cross!" Burke called over his shoulder.
Shaking off Joseph's words I gently pushed him forward, trying to make him pick up the pace. We reached the chopper despite his people being riled up, running after us. It was frightening how they were behaving. We might not be able to leave the compound. Hudson hopped on the chopper and reached for Joseph, pulling him in and pushing him into his seat. She then sat across him. Peggies were running up to the chopper, ready to get Joseph out.
"Let's go," Burke ordered, climbing in and sitting beside Joseph.
I quickly settled in as well and sat across Burke.
Joseph started singing amazing grace, still behaving like he was going on a stroll. The man had confidence in his own words which was something to admire. He clearly believed God would somehow stop us from taking him into custody.
"Let go!" Burke yelled trying to push off a peggie.
They were everywhere now, jumping on the chopper while we were slowly getting up in the air. Pratt tried to keep her steady but it was a difficult task when random people started to jump on. The entire time the alarm kept blaring and red lights were flashing Joseph remained calm and kept singing.
"You're not leaving Hope County anytime soon." The sheriff grumbled.
We held on knowing what was going to happen. The chopper crashed, loudly and with a lot of force. It wasn't God who interfered, his followers were the ones who crashed our freaking chopper. Fuck, I was not leaving Hope County anytime soon. My vision blurred while the sounds around me were drowned out by Nancy's voice calling. I tried to focus on it but the white pain which shot through my body only made me groan out in pain. Her voice kept calling though, sounding anxious maybe she was worried about us. Reaching for my safety belt I tried to undo it but my vision was so blurred I couldn't see what I was doing. Instead, I started to reach for the headphones, inching forward as much as I could to grab it. I pulled away realizing Joseph wasn't in his seat. Sudden movement beside me caused me to jump, my heart beating out of my chest. My breath hitched in my throat when he grabbed my wrist and gently settled in down.
"I told you." He quietly spoke up, "God wouldn't let you take me." While he took me in I reached for my seatbelt again, struggling to undo it, "Soon you'll have a choice to make, marshal." He then reached for the headphones and quietly spoke to Nancy.
"Dispatch, everything is just fine here." He told Nancy, realizing what he was doing I tried to reach for the headphones.
"Nancy!" I called out.
Joseph grabbed my wrist and gently pushed me back, "No need to call anyone."
"Yes, father." Nancy called out, my blood running cold hearing those words, "Praise be to you."
He released the headphones, his eyes searching mine, "No matter what you'll do after this, I will always forgive if you just believe." He then turned his back to me and climbed out of the chopper on Hudson's side of the bird.
With a lot more strength I started pulling on my safety belt, sighing in relief when it finally let me go. Reaching for Burke's safety belt I started to undo it when Joseph's preaching reached my ears. Was he still at it? I glanced at my right noticing he was standing on top of a car and spoke to his people about a collapse and taking what they needed. It worried me.
"And kill all those who stand in our way."
"What?" I grabbed Burke by the shoulders, "Wake up!" I whispered harshly, slapping him on the cheek, "We're going to die out here." At least I presumed we would considering Joseph's words.
I felt a hand on my arm and glanced aside, noticing Hudson woke up as well. She looked at me with pleading eyes. Since Burke's safety belt was undone I reached for hers, tugging on it with harsh movements.
"Begin the reaping!" Joseph yelled.
"Fuck no." Hudson and I both started to harshly tug on her safety belt as the peggies started to approach the chopper
"Go!" She yelled at me, "Run!"
"No, I'm not leaving you here." With one last harsh tug, it came undone.
I started to climb out of the chopper on my side when Hudson started to scream. Glancing over my shoulder I felt a little sob creep up on me when I noticed her being dragged out by several men. This was horrible.
"Burke, move!" I kicked his boot a few times hoping he'd react, "We need to go, now!" I jumped out and ran together with Burke. We had no idea where to go, we weren't familiar with this place.
"They're getting away." We heard behind us.
"This is fucked up!" Burke whispered harshly.
"I want to fuck up Nancy," I growled.
"You and me both." He muttered
We quieted down and tried to blend in with the surroundings, making sure our steps were as quiet as possible as we slowly moved forward. There were only trees and bushes up ahead, the path being so dark I had no idea where we were headed.
"I see a trailer up ahead," Burke whispered.
"Should we approach it?"
He nodded, "It's our best option, let's move in soft."
"Got it."
We made our way to the cabin, thankfully not running into anyone. Their voices were surrounding us though, the peggies loudly communicating with each other about their search. They were definitely hunting us and they had the advantage considering they were familiar with these parts.
"Burke," I called.
He glanced over his shoulder, "Cross, what's wrong?" He placed his hand on my shoulder, "You hurt?"
My heart was racing and it still felt like someone hit me with a bat against the head but I couldn't explain why I called out to him. Maybe the fear of dying here. He squeezed my shoulder.
"We're getting out of here, Cross. Then we'll come back with the fucking national guard and grab that son of a bitch. No, you know what, we're putting them all away. The whole fucking insane family."
I shook my head, "I left her there."
"What?" He stopped his rant and looked at me.
"Hudson." I felt tears stinging my eyes, "I should have gotten her out, I unbuckled her safety belt. If I stopped for one second I could have helped her."
"No, you couldn't." He firmly told me, "They already took her by the time you realized what was happening. Don't beat yourself up on it, focus on what you can do right now."
"Okay," I whispered, relying on Burke to take charge of the situation because I had no fucking clue what to do right now.
We moved into the trailer, he pointed at his right, "Check that room."
Doing as told I cautiously entered the room, no one was there. There were also no supplies we could use. I did see a mirror and quickly checked my appearance. My dark hair escaped my hair tie, it now cascaded over my shoulders hitting my back. It was going to be in the way but I had no spare hair tie. I ran my fingers through it, trying to fix the mess. Wide blue eyes stared back at me, those were my eyes filled with fear. I lightly tapped my cheeks, trying to wake up and focus on the task at hand. Reaching for my holster I sighed in relief when I noticed my gun was still there.
"Cross?"
"All clear," I called back.
Burke was moving from window to window, probably looking for a way to escape.
"There's a road out there." He announced, "We're going to head that way and drive to Missoula."
"They're in there!" We heard someone yell.
I stared up the ceiling in exasperation, these people were relentless. There was a car out in the back but no way we'd make it. Burke and I both had our handguns and from what I've seen at the compound these people were armed a lot heavier than us. We'd die. I couldn't save Hudson but I could make sure Burke would make it to Missoula County and send help.
"Head to the car." I told him with newfound courage, "Drive straight to Missoula and come back with the national guard." I stood up and reached for my gun.
"We're leaving together, Cross." Burke firmly told me.
"We won't make it out together, I'll distract them while you will get help."
"Cross-"
"Go!" I told him and then moved to the window, jumping when someone threw a rock through it
"I'll come back for you." Burke promised me, "Hold out until then."
"Yes, sir!"
Inhaling deeply I then moved to the window and jumped out, those peggies definitely didn't expect that. I shot the guy on my left in the knee, watching him fall down with a loud growl. Heading toward him I grabbed the shotgun, slipping my handgun back its holster Shotgun was so much better than a handgun right now.
"We found her." I heard a woman call.
The static of a radio making me realize she was informing someone. One of the Seed siblings?
"We won't harm her." The woman promised.
Following her voice I pointed my shotgun at her face, watching her communicate through her radio, "You won't?" I asked her, "Can't say I can make the same promise." I then slammed the gun across her head, knocking her out cold.
Grabbing her radio I placed it on my belt, hoping it could guide me through this by listening to their communication. I needed to take out as many peggies as I could so they'd forget about Burke. I noticed two of them heading my way and decided it was best to shoot since it would make a loud noise. I shot one of them in the shoulder and the other who started charging in while yelling in the side.
"I repeat do not harm her, the father wants her alive."
It was a voice I didn't hear before, it was smooth and pleasant to listen to while his words left no room for argument. He was giving out orders so he might be one of the siblings.
"Use bliss bullets if you have to and bring her to me."
The sheriff mentioned it before, the bliss was bad news. I doubted I wanted to get shot with a bliss bullet. I quickly got down when I noticed two men in different attire moving around the area. They were checking on the two guys I just shot. The air around them was different, they were calmer more efficient with their movement.
"They're alive." One in a leather jacket which reached his knees announced, turning around to face my way which showed me he was wearing a bulletproof vest and had two guns strapped to his hips, "She shot them at a close range." He pointed at my direction which he figured out pretty fast, "Go check over there." He ordered and then kneeled down, reaching for his radio.
Realizing they'd find out where I was if he used his radio I reached for the device wanting to throw it away but reacted too late.
"We need help out here, two men down-" I held my breath when his gaze was focused on my hiding spot, "Brother John, I'm taking her in."
I got to my feet realizing he knew where I was, turning around thinking I had time to run I ran smack into a large man who reacted faster than I did. He grabbed my wrist tightly and spun me around, the shotgun dropping in the process. I made a quick turn ready to kick him in the chest when I felt something cold press against my temple. The sound of a click making me freeze.
"Don't move, little girl." He warned me.
I held up my hands, the one who had been in the process of tying my hands behind my back moved in again and succeeded this time. He tightened the cuffs to the point they bit in my skin. It hurt and it must have shown on my face because the man who still had his gun pointed at me laughed.
"You'll go through much worse than that when brother John takes you in for confession."
"Confess what exactly?" I spat at him, "I haven't done anything wrong-"
He grabbed my arm and started to guide me to the lights up ahead, "Look around you." The man gestured with his free hand, "Is this not a sin you committed?"
I glared at him but the man remained calm, much like Joseph when we were trying to arrest him. His behavior was different from those other peggies. He moved with precise steps, the way his eyes scanned the area and his rather intimidating tone made me think he was trained. A trained peggie who was ordered to bring me in by John Seed.
"Ah, marshal Cross." I swallowed as my eyes landed on John Seed, a well-groomed man who also had a pair of shades on top of his head despite it being the middle of the night, he held his hands out toward me, inviting me closer, "So glad you could join us."
I struggled against the grip of the trained peggie and broke free, only a second later his gun was pointed at me which made me glare at the amused looking John, "I didn't have much of a choice."
He pushed away from the truck and walked toward me, grabbing onto my arms he pulled me in closer. I could smell his fresh cologne and when I nearly pressed against his body a more earthy scent caught my nose. Despite his appearance, he did smell like a fresh morning spring, like he spends a lot of time outside.
"The father wants you to atone." He whispered in my ear, his breath hitting the side of my neck which made a shiver run down my spine, "So you will confess." His hands trailed down my arms, his eyes meeting mine, "Only then you may stand in the light of God."
His hand pressed against my lower back which made me fall forward, my head leaning against his shoulder. My cheeks heated as I felt his hard chest pressed against me. He placed his hand on the back of my head and for a minute it seemed like a gentle gesture but then he tangled his fingers in my hair and pulled me away from him.
"We'll wash away your past, it will be painful but in the end, you'll be saved."
He pushed me away from him and trailed his eyes to the guy who captured me, "Get her to the bunker."
I jerked away when I noticed a white cloth closing in on my face, "No!"
John grabbed my neck, tightening his hold which kept me in place as he whispered, "Don't fight it, it's just a little bliss. I promise it won't turn you into an angel." He seemed amused by his own words but I had no clue what he was talking about.
Struggling to breathe distracted me from the cloth which covered my nose and mouth, John then lets go of my neck and I couldn't help but inhale deeply. My eyes widened realized he got me to inhale the bliss.
He then chuckled, his fingers barely brushing through my locks, "See you soon, marshal. Confession will be beautiful, I'll make sure you atone." He then turned around and walked away his back being the last thing I saw as I collapsed.
When I woke up again it took me a while to focus, the bliss whatever that was made me feel like I was floating. Floating in a sea of clouds and then falling down hard before I woke up. I then noticed I was strapped to a chair, my eyes scanning the dark lit room. Fear washed over me when I realized this was probably confession. I struggled against the restraints around my wrist, the rope biting into my skin, breaking it. I struggled harder when I heard footsteps approach, the echoing steps causing my heart race. I groaned in pain, my wrists feeling wet probably because my skin broke due to my obsessive struggling. The sound of a door opening and closing made me shift to whoever wandered in. I swallowed meeting the intense gaze of John Seed who strolled in with a toolbox in hand. He placed his toolbox on the empty wooden table at my right, humming a song which I was not familiar with. He opened his toolbox and started to take equipment out of it, making a show of slamming a screwdriver down on the table.
I hissed in pain when I jerked back in my chair. John noticed and moved closer to me, his fingers brushing over my tied wrist, "Stop struggling, marshal, you're only going to hurt yourself." He reached for the lamp beside me, made it face me and turned it on. The bright yellow light hitting me in the face which blurred my vision for a second, "My parents were the first ones to teach me about the power of yes." He started talking about his past. It was a tactic to make me talk as well, I wasn't going to spill every dirty little secret though.
"And I experienced pain after pain after pain." He was getting worked up, his hand slamming down on the table as he then reached into his toolbox, "And when I didn't think I could take any more, I did." He revealed a tattoo gun to me, holding it almost lovingly in his hands like it was his prized possession. He approached me and started to ensemble the gun which made me struggle again, shaking my head and sobbing as I realized what awaited me.
He placed the tattoo gun down on the table and closed in on me, brushing his hands over my arms in a way to soothe me. He then cupped my face, shushing me, "It's okay, marshal." He spoke to me in a hushed tone as if he was addressing a child, "You can take much more too. I know you can."
His thumbs caressed my cheeks as his eyes wandered over my face down to my neck and lingering around my chest. No! I tried to move forward, hoping to head bump him. Doing something which could break me free from this man.
"Burke," I whispered, tears streaming down my face.
John brushed his fingers over my hair, pushing it out of my face while his eyes almost lovingly looked into mine. He caressed my hair and tangled his fingers in my locks when I tried to look away from him, forcing me to meet his intense gaze.
"No one is coming to save you, they're all atoning in their own way, Gabriella."
I stopped moving and stared at his face in shock, I never introduced myself to him. Did he get to Burke and tortured it out of him? I was pretty sure the peggies forgot about Burke when I started to shoot them back at the trailer. Surely Burke must have left John's region, John was just trying to scare me.
"You're lying." I breathed, not believing anything that came from the man who had a torture room in his bunker and called it the confession room instead. He was delusional so I couldn't take him seriously.
He chuckled his hands which now rested on my shoulders, tightly holding on, "I do not tell lies, but I shall humor you and let you see for yourself." He pulled away from me and almost cheerfully approached the heavy metal door, firmly knocking on it.
The door opened and a peggie who was heavily armed rolled in a woman strapped to a chair. It took me two seconds to realize it was deputy Hudson. Like me she kept fighting against her restraints, her eyes landing on mine which made her call out. Her words were muffled by tape, her mascara staining her cheeks from crying. I assumed I looked quite similar to her but unlike her, my mouth wasn't taped shut. John stood in the middle of the room and pointed to Hudson.
"Hudson over there hasn't confessed either." He started to pace, looking like a predator as he started preaching to us, "We need to expose our sins for us to move forward. You need to have the courage to own your sin and wear it on your skin for everyone to see." He stopped at the table and grabbed the screwdriver, pointing it from Hudson to me, "So who is going to confess first. Who has the courage to own up to their sins, hm?"
I trailed my eyes to Hudson, it looked like the woman had taken a beating. She had a black eye, dirt covering parts of her face while she kept struggling against her restraints, kept fighting in hope to break free. The pain I experienced so far was inflicted by myself mostly, I could take more, unlike Hudson. I could do it.
"Who is going to say yes?" He asked.
Though Hudson was also in the room and much more present than I was due to her sobs and muffled screams, John only focused on me. As if he knew as if he could sense who'd say yes first.
"Someone has to go first, ladies." He pushed away from the table, pointing the screwdriver at me, "All you have to do is say yes."
"I'll go first," I told him in a small voice.
He stopped in his tracks and faced me, "What was that?"
He wanted me to say the damn word? Glaring daggers at him I clenched my jaw, trying to bite back some colorful curses which were threatening to come out.
"Yes!" I told him loud and clear, "Yes, I'll go first."
He seemed ecstatic about that, moved forward to the table and slammed the screwdriver down with such force I feared the table would collapse. The sound echoed through the room and it made Hudson more anxious.
"You won't regret this." I held my breath when I noticed him taking out a hunting knife from his toolbox, he then slowly approached me and pointed the knife at me, "I promise." He lowered his voice, his eyes trailing to my chest, "Now, let's get you out of this vest first." He cut up the sides and easily slipped the material away from my body, tossing it carelessly to the side. A sob left my lips when the cool metal of the knife pressed gently against my neck and slowly trailed down over my chest and to my stomach, a sob leaving my lips.
"We need to expose your sin." He murmured, setting the knife on the table next to his tattoo gun. He brushed his fingers over my neck, lowering them to my right collarbone. His eyes wandered to different places on my body, he was probably figuring out where to tattoo my sins. He then grabbed my arm and brushed his fingers over the inside of it, "Yes, this will do-"
We both snapped our attention to the heavy metal door when a knock echoed through the dark torture room. He pulled away from me and walked to the door. I lowered my gaze to the hunting knife. Gently I leaned toward the table and stopped breathing when I managed to lean against it with my shoulder. Across me Hudson became very quiet, she probably noticed what I was doing. I leaned my weight against the table and moved slowly back to my chair, the table rolling with me. When it was close enough I strained to brush my fingertips over the handle of the knife. I managed to touch it. Slowly, biting against the pain of pulling against the ropes I pulled the knife toward me. I exhaled when the knife fell next to me on my seat. Managing to take hold of the handle I had to make a very awkward angle to slowly saw through the ropes on my left wrist to break free. I had to hurry but the angle my wrist was in hurt a lot. Sawing through the material very slowly I pulled my hand up forcefully which broke my left wrist free. Blood was trailing down my arm as I cut through the rope on my right wrist and freed my legs. I glanced at the door which was still closed and quickly ran up to Hudson freeing her from the chair. We stared at each other, feeling hopeful about this escape. Hudson reached for the tape across her mouth and slowly pulled it away.
"He's one crazy fucker." Hudson hissed, "We need to get out of here now." She stepped to me, her eyes full of concern, "You okay?"
I glanced down at my bleeding wrists, "I will be once we get out of here." I whispered back.
She nodded, "Keep your eyes on the door, I'll search this place." Hudson ordered.
I moved to the metal door, my eyes widening when it suddenly opened, revealing John who had a massive grin on his face because of me greeting him to his torture room.
"Someone has been resourceful." He grabbed my hands and raised them, his eyes trailing over my wounds, "What a shame." He whispered, "We could have done better, Gabriella." The way my name rolled off his tongue made me shiver. Hopefully, he thought it was because of the wounds on my wrists.
I trailed my eyes over his shoulder, noticing the heavily armed peggies who were now going to guard his torture room. We couldn't leave through this door, you didn't bring a knife to a gunfight after all. One as in singular knife. We'd be overpowered and then John would probably use that knife to skin us alive. Taking my chances I turned around, quickly scanning the room to see Hudson hovering in the far corner of the room, John didn't spot her yet. She nodded toward her right, obviously, she found something. She could make it out here alive. She should make a run for it.
"Go!" I said and then grabbed onto John's arm when he moved into his torture room.
"Ah, deputy Hudson is making a run for it." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer, pressing my front against his side while he turned to look at the guards who were ready to move, "Leave it, she won't be free for long. Let's let her think she can enjoy her freedom for now."
John then lowered his arm and wrapped his hand around my wrist, apparently not caring about the blood and if I didn't know any better it seemed like he enjoyed it when I screamed out in pain. He dragged me with him, pushing me back in the chair, his eyes flickering to the table where he left his knife. It was gone now though, I was relieved Hudson took it with her.
"We have a little thief on our hands." He sounded amused, "Leave us." He ordered the guards, "Confessions are meant to be private after all." He grinned at me.
He walked to his toolbox and revealed duct tape to me, he moved to my chair and taped my wrist to the chair, he left my feet free. He tossed the tape on the table and walked to the rolling chair which Hudson occupied before. He rolled it to the table beside me and sat down, reaching for his tattoo gun. He pointed it at me.
"Let's relieve you from your sins, Gabriella."
I glared at him, "I haven't done anything which I regret. Unlike your family, I try to live by the rules of society, John." I spat his name out, he seemed to like to use my name so I imitated him, hoping to get under his skin, hoping he'd slip up.
He chuckled, "Those who say that usually have a lot of secrets. Hiding their true selves, pretending to be someone they're not. But it's a lie, they're lying to those around them and they're lying to themselves." He triggered the gun and then moved closer, hooking a finger around the collar of my plain black tee and slightly pulled it down, I tried to move away but he ignored it. The needle of the gun brushing over the skin just above my breast, "Since this is your first time I'll help you out." He met my gaze, his lips curling up to a smirk, "Pride." He said the word slowly yet firmly as if he wanted me to really think about it.
I tried to move up on the chair by pressing my booted feet to the chair but nothing happened. Well, John laughed at me, obviously enjoying this a bit too much.
"You're wrong," I told him.
"Am I?" He asked, "Why are you here, marshal?"
It confused me that he addressed me as a marshal when he had been using my given name freely.
"I am here because you told your followers to bring me to you." I reminded him.
He pointed the tattoo gun at me, "Not here, here." With his free hand, he gestured around his torture room, "But as in Hope County here. Why are you here when you made it clear that you don't want to be here?"
Did he suffer from memory loss? Was he not paying attention when we barged through the church, wanting to arrest Joseph Seed?
"I'm here to do my job as a federal marshal, John," I said tightly.
He suddenly got up from his seat, the chair rolling back and hitting the wall. He seemed excited as he leaned in, "Exactly. You are here because you put your own desire before others." He told me, grabbing my face in his hand, his hand stained with my blood which was no doubt smeared cross my cheeks now, "You are here to make a name for yourself!" His eyes glittered, his voice getting a cheerful hint to it, "Therefore your sin is pride, dear marshal." He spat out my title to really push it.
"No!" I screeched when he suddenly grabbed the collar of my tee and pulled it down forcefully, revealing a lot more skin than before while he pressed the needle to the center of my chest.
"Hold still, otherwise it will hurt a lot more." He grinned at me, "I don't mind either way."
I kept fighting though and he needed to grab my thigh and push my leg down so he could reach me. When settled closely to me I took the opportunity and kicked him. I hit his side, making him stumble back and hit the table. He looked annoyed with me, unrestrained anger glittering in his blue eyes. I just fucked up. Without warning he got on top of me, using his weight to press me down on the chair. He held my shirt down and pressed the needle against my skin again.
"Fight, struggle a lot." He goaded me, "Let it hurt so we can scrub you clean."
He then started with the tattoo, the needle puncturing my skin which hurt so much I couldn't help but scream out. He seemed to enjoy it, his breathing picking up while a smile played on his lip. Hudson was right, he was one crazy fucker.