Ambivalence
Chapter 11: Expectations
By: Knowledge Eater
Disclaimer: Ubisoft owns Far Cry 5, I just like to play with their world and characters.
The next day Aiden was practically dead to the world. He slept through most of the day and was only awake for meals. The day after he was still tired and prone to a few naps, but he felt rested enough that he didn't feel lightheaded from exhaustion.
His entire body was one giant bruise and incredibly sore, but he was in better shape than Jess. Turned out that the bump he gave her over the head gave her a mild concussion. She slept more than him and the few times she was awake she sported headaches that put her in a bad mood. Well, in a worse mood than usual.
By the third day, when there was some semblance of order in the jail, the sheriff called Aiden for a private meeting. With the jail much more crowded the only place they had relative peace was the top floor that Aiden had reserved for him, his friends, and most importantly Faith. Thankfully her presence in the very place she nearly destroyed remained secret.
Aiden found the sheriff in one of the cells they used as a makeshift meeting room. The cell was technically two cells, but the wall that separated the two had been knocked down. A small table and folding chairs sat in the center. The sheriff stood leaning against the edge of the table, his attention on a map of Hope County.
The rookie deputy had expected to see some of the others present for the meeting, he was used to always seeing one of his friends nearby and ready for any type of meet up. But Jess was sleeping off another headache, Nick left to check on his family, and Grace and Adelaide were helping the Cougars with delivering some supplies. So that left Hurk and Sharky on guard duty to prevent anyone from approaching the floor they occupied.
"Rook," the sheriff announced. He hadn't looked away from the map. "Nice of you to finally join us in the world of the living. How are you feeling?"
Aiden cracked his neck in response. The jail mattresses were stiff, but still so much better than the cold, hard ground. "Much better." His cyan eyes drifted to the table and noticed the many lines, arrows and circles that were littered on the map. "I see you're working on your drawing. Any word on Joseph's location?"
The sheriff sighed as he straightened and pointed to said scribbles. "The first place we sent some scouts to was his church, the place where all this started. Unfortunately, the place was empty."
Aiden frowned. "If he's not there he could be anywhere. With the Gate's gone, he'd have to be in one of the few outposts the Peggies still have."
"That's what I thought as much as well," the Sheriff said. He pointed to the circles on the map. "It would be simple for the resistance from all the regions in the county to ambush the remaining outposts. But things are never simple, the resistance may have the slightly better numbers than the Peggies, but the cult still have weapons, the Bliss, and most importantly, they have…goddamn air support."
"The Chosen," Aiden announced, "that's what they're called."
The sheriff finally tore his eyes away from the map and looked at him. "I take it you've dealt with them before, rook?"
The deputy nodded. "One of them came to the rescue during my scuffle with John. Fortunately, Nick distracted it while I hunted down John. We owe our lives to Hurk for taking it down."
"Wait, wait, don't the Chosen pilot jets?" The sheriff paused while Aiden responded with a nod. "How does one take down a jet? And Hurk of all people?"
Aiden grinned and then shook his head. "Months ago, Hurk and I infiltrated the training camp that Jacob ran up North. They had a small cache of weapons and Hurk ended up taking a rocket launcher for himself. We're very fortunate he never had a use for it until that Chosen jet showed up."
"That gives us some hope for a fighting chance against jets at least."
A bad feeling churned in Aiden's gut. There were still a few things that he hadn't caught up on, like why the jail was full to bursting with people. "I've come across enough notes to know that the Chosen were a last resort for the Heralds. Since I only ran into one, I imagine Joseph is using them now."
The sheriff nodded and pointed to the map, specifically the crossed out portions across all three regions. "While you were getting your beauty sleep, Joseph released a broadcast. Word of Faith's death reached him and to say the man is furious is an understatement. He wants blood."
Aiden cursed mentally. He would have wanted to see that broadcast. No doubt it would still be playing or someone would have a copy for him. He made a mental note to ask about that later. But as the rest of the sheriff's news sorted through his head, Aiden had an idea of why so many of the resistance outposts were attacked.
"Let me guess," Aiden muttered as he approached the map on the table. There were numerous places circled and even more crossed out. It didn't look good. "Was it the Chosen that attacked the resistance?"
The sheriff nodded gravely. "Joseph didn't even want to reclaim the outposts. The jet's flew by, fired, and left."
That would explain why there were so many injured people that showed up at their doorstep, Aiden thought.
"The outposts here in the Henbane River have been hit the hardest. The attacks spread the Bliss. If we didn't lose people from the Chosen, more were lost to the Angels."
Another curse escaped the deputy, only this time he voiced it aloud. "The few aircrafts we do have are just helicopters and planes. Even with weapons equipped, we don't stand a chance against jets."
"Exactly, rook." The sheriff motioned to the map again. "It's just as important that we find their base as it is to find Joseph."
"And with the Chosen flying about, it's dangerous for us to be in the air to try to find their base as soon as possible."
"You're right. Thankfully, Adelaide and Grace decided to remain grounded before they could be attacked. They originally wanted to transport some supplies by air. But once we found out about the Chosen, we radioed them just in time."
Worry over his friends washed over Aiden like a bucket of ice, but the feeling quickly melted into warm relief to hear that they were okay. "Okay, so we find where the Chosen park their jets or we find the source of their fuel. Jet's can't fly without juice. Do we have any theories on the location of either of those?"
"Well that's where the bad news comes in."
That bad feeling twisted in Aiden's gut again. The Chosen attacking people wasn't the bad news?
"Some people in Whitetail reported that they saw the jets fly over the mountains. So there's the possibility that their base is in the outskirts of the county."
Aiden felt his heart drop into his gut. "That is bad news. We're literally land trapped within the county, and if the Chosen control the air it'll be difficult for us to fly out."
The sheriff nodded. "So far it seems like we have two options. We can try to take out as much of the Chosen with weapons. Even if we arrest Joseph we still have to get out of here. And there's no guarantee that we won't be attacked even with Joseph in our possession."
"What about backup? I've managed to fix a few radio towers in the county. Can't we radio for reinforcements? Taking on jets is a little out of our league."
A sigh escaped the older male. "Unfortunately, there's still something that's jamming our signals when we try to radio outside of Hope County."
The deputy let out another curse. "You said we have two options. What's the second?"
"We have one of Joseph's siblings."
Aiden shouldn't have felt surprised, but he did. It made sense to try to get information from Faith, but he had a feeling she wouldn't be willing to do anything that went against Joseph, she was too devoted to him. Tracey hadn't told him what she did to make her talk about how to destroy her Gate, but he knew she had to be forceful. Forcing information from people left a bad taste in his mouth. And now he wondered if the sheriff wasn't above that considering their current stakes at apprehending Joseph as soon as possible.
"Oh don't look at me like that, rook." The sheriff said. "I'm not saying we hurt the girl. But it's quite common to offer deals in exchange for information."
Aiden felt relieved at the idea. It was true, it was common practice to offer shorter prison sentences in exchange for information. Still, he had his doubts it would work on Faith. But it definitely didn't hurt to try.
"I'll trust you to talk with her. We need to know where Joseph or the Chosen are hiding."
"Wait," Aiden felt his eyes widen in surprise. "You're going to leave me to make a deal with her?"
The sheriff's mustache twitched, it tended to do that when he smirked. "You saved her life, rook. She'll probably feel a little more comfortable talking to you."
"But, what kind of deal should I offer her? I don't even know how long she'll be locked up for all of this."
The sheriff scratched at his mustache and his eyes drifted upwards to the ceiling. "Hell, deputy, I don't care what you offer her. So long as she doesn't walk free. We really need information."
Aiden sighed and felt his shoulders sag in defeat. "Fine. Just don't blame me if all she gets is a slap on the wrist and probation."
As consciousness slowly roused Faith, the first thing that she felt was the cold. It took several more moments for her to realize that the shaking she was feeling was her own shivering. Since she couldn't do so much as lift her eyelids she thought about just letting sleep overtake her again, but the cold was too bothersome. Then she came to realize that it was wrong to feel cold at all. She faintly remembered that before she was so hot she was sweating.
Curious about what was going on, she tried to lift her heavy eyelids, but only managed to crack open her eyes slightly. Her vision was blurry and the cold air that brushed against her exposed eyes hurt. That one small pain seemed to have awoken the rest of her nerves. Her shivering became worse and she could feel a breeze cooling the exposed skin of her hands and arms. Even though her feet felt cold too, the air didn't lick at her skin.
More moments passed and Faith realized that a thin blanket was draped over her lower body. Another wave of the shivers hit her and she just wanted to curl under the blanket to conserve as much body heat as she could. When she tried to bend her knees a sharp pain chased the drowsiness further away. The sharp pain eased eventually, but now Faith definitely couldn't pull sleep's embrace closer with the cold and now the ache that didn't want to go away.
Eventually it wasn't so difficult to lift her eyelids. The earlier exposure to the cold air left her eyes watering which also helped clear her vision. The first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. Instead of the usual concrete ceiling she was used to waking up to, the ceiling above her was made of stone. The bare walls were also made of stone and the wall opposite of her had a small, glassless window that was much too small for even her to squeeze out of. Then she noticed what looked to be iron bars that would make squeezing out of the window impossible. But that very open window would explain the cold breeze.
The sunlight seeping in through the window gave her an idea of the general time. Last time she was conscious she could have sworn it was in the evening. She wondered how long she's been asleep.
Another thing that Faith came to realize was the pain in her leg had lessoned considerably. Before she remembered her leg was a furious throb that made her nauseated. Now it was a constant ache.
Sudden movement next to her attracted her attention. She was truly hoping she would find the Father standing next to her, a warm smile on his face, and his honeyed voice ready to sooth her. Instead, she felt disappointed to find Aiden looking down at her. Despite her disappointment, she was quick to notice the concern in his eyes. Her disappointment quickly turned to relief. She should really be grateful Aiden was with her. At least he treated her well, unlike Tracey.
"Where," once she started to speak she realized how dry her throat was. Her throat seized up and she fell into a coughing fit that brought tears to her eyes. Aiden must have anticipated this would happen because he was ready to offer her a bottle of water.
It was a struggle to sit up, her body ached in protest at the movement. There was a painful tug on her arm, she looked and found that she was hooked up to an IV. Still confused by everything, Faith dismissed her thoughts and focused on hydrating her dry mouth and throat. Just the act of drinking left her feeling heavy and exhausted. She laid back down and closed her eyes.
A large, warm hand rested on her forehead.
"Your fever broke. Looks like the medicine is working," Aiden told her. "How are you feeling?"
Faith opened her eyes and studied the deputy's face. There was that concern again that confused her. "Better. Tired." Her leg still hurt though. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again the room was lightened by artificial light, the sky outside the window was dark. She just wanted to rest her eyes and she slept until evening?
Her body didn't protest as much when she sat up this time. The small, hard cot she slept on was pressed against a wall so she leaned against it as she looked about the room. There was another cot on the other side of the room, a metal toilet and sink between them, and metal bars that prevented her from leaving the room.
"You're awake."
Faith jumped out of her skin. She hadn't noticed Aiden standing just on the other side of the bars. The cell door creaked loudly as he opened it and stepped inside. It was then that Faith noticed the plastic cup in his hand. He stepped next to her and handed her the cup. Despite the dim lighting she could see steam rising from it. Her cold hands welcomed the warmth. She took a careful sip and savored the salty taste of chicken broth. Her stomach growled in response and she was suddenly taking large gulps.
Aiden waited patiently for her to finish. While she was drinking the soup he had stepped back outside and pulled in a chair and plopped on it.
"So," he paused and scratched the back of his head. "I guess I should say, welcome to Hope County Jail."
Faith choked on the soup. She looked at the deputy and could feel the blood draining from her face.
"Relax. You're safe here. Kinda."
She wasn't hungry anymore. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, she wouldn't be surprised if Aiden could hear it.
"What I mean is, so long as the Cougars don't know you're here, you'll be safe. And it's temporary. You really needed medical attention and this was the only place with a doctor."
"How long have I been here?" She asked. Knowing that she wouldn't be crucified by the Cougars, her hunger returned so she resumed drinking the last of the soup.
"A few days. And now that you're awake, we can go over a few things."
Faith lifted one thin eyebrow.
"Like I said, the people here don't know that you're, well, alive. It's just me, the sheriff, and my friends that know. Oh and the doctor, of course. We have this top level of the jail to ourselves. This cell will obviously be yours. You'll eat your meals here. Luckily there's some showers on this floor, so you can shower every other day. I don't recommend bringing attention to yourself. I may have my friends making sure that no one else comes up here, but if word gets out that you survived and if people storm up here, I've told my friends not to risk themselves. Against a mob, they'll step aside."
Faith felt the color drain from her face again. Tracey may have hesitated to kill her, but she knew the others wouldn't do the same. She nodded her understanding.
Aiden smiled sadly at her. "Good. So the doctor will be stopping by shortly to check if that IV can come off. We were…lucky that he was willing to treat you, and keep your survival a secret. So I don't recommend doing anything to betray that trust."
Faith frowned and shook her head. She was at everyone's mercy, she wouldn't do something so stupid to jeopardize her safety. "Why are you telling me all of this?" She asked.
Aiden shrugged. "It's just something I learned. Things tend to go easier when you set expectations."
They both sat silently for a long moment. A cold breeze rushed in through the window that made Faith shiver. Aiden was abrupt when he stood and left the cell without a word. With him gone, Faith did her best to curl up under the blanket. Even though she just woke up from a several hour long nap, she felt the familiar tug of drowsiness.
She was just starting to doze off when the sudden clank of the cell door opening and closing nearly had her jumping out of her skin again. It was Aiden with a bundle of some sort of cloth in his grasp. He unfolded the cloth, which revealed to be another blanket, and he handed it to her. His kindness was confusing, but she was grateful.
"Thank you," she whispered. The blanket was much thicker than the one she was currently using. It wasn't the softest, but it helped warm her enough for the shivers to stop.
Aiden sat in the chair. "Can't have you getting sick again after you just got better, right?"
Faith didn't respond. She just wrapped herself in the second blanket as best as she could without moving her injured leg. There had to be a reason for his kindness.
"What happens to me now?" She asked.
The deputy rubbed the back of his head. It seemed to be a habit more than an actual itch, Faith guessed. "Once the doc gives the okay for you to travel, we'll sneak outta here. I'll take you back to the private bunker where you'll be safe. Once we apprehend the Father I'll return for you. From there, well that's when the justice system will start for you both."
Hearing Aiden's plan to arrest the Father brought a small smile to her face. He proved all those months ago when the sheriff, his deputies and the marshal arrived that he wouldn't be allowed to be taken. She would have to find some way to escape and return to the Father, but for now all she could do was play the compliant prisoner.
"You may be able to take me," she told the deputy. "But God won't let you take the Father. That's been proven already, hasn't it?"
Aiden watched her with a blank expression, his head titled to the side just slightly. After a moment he inhaled deeply. "I know you were there at the church, I saw you." He paused and glanced outside the window. Another breeze drifted in but it didn't phase him despite him only wearing jeans and a T-shirt. "But I didn't see you at the helicopter crash. I was lucky to gain consciousness and get away before your people got there. Are you aware that Joseph's influence goes beyond Hope County?"
Faith frowned. "Of course. His influence stretches across the country."
"Yeah well," Aiden paused and scratched his cheek. "When we crashed, dispatch was trying to get in contact with us. I was trying to reach for the radio to request help, but Joseph intervened. The woman with dispatch called him Father too. So that's when I knew he was expecting us and had everything planned out."
He looked at her, but she remained silent. There was nothing to say. She knew he was trying to say something to make her doubt in the Father.
"When the helicopter went down it wasn't because of the Peggies that were climbing on it. Helicopters are sturdy, pure metal. Flesh and bone can't damage it. But the helicopter just…stopped working."
"The Father told us all that God wouldn't let you take him. So of course the helicopter would just stop," Faith defended.
Aiden offered her a small smile. "Was the helicopter malfunction because of God's will, or was it because it was tempered with? If dispatch had one of his followers, I'd think he'd get a heads up that law enforcement were going to be on their way to arrest him. But now that I think back on that crash, the Father said something that makes me wonder."
Faith frowned and shook her head. He was just saying things to make her doubt in the Father, in God. She wasn't so easily dissuaded.
Even though she didn't speak back with him, Aiden continued telling her his theory. "The Father said the first seal was broken and that the collapse would soon begin. Isn't it awfully convenient that the end of the world is set into motion when the law finally makes its move to arrest Joseph? And if he has followers outside of Hope County…"
Surprise filled Faith. She tried to hide her shock, but she looked at the deputy a little too sharply, her eyes wide. He noticed her reaction, however. He watched her with a knowing grin.
"Is this why you told me that even if I don't listen to him he'll still be right?"
Faith was at a loss of how to respond. She had said too much that day, when she thought she was going to die. It was too late to take those words back and she doubted she could convince him to believe in anything differently.
The deputy's grin faltered and he looked at her almost in a sad manner. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out the Father has orchestrated all of this. The crash and now quite possibly the collapse itself. I read that note you left behind, just North of here actually. You were starting to doubt the project. Was that when you found out about the Father's influence outside of here?"
Faith glared at him. She was still dumbstruck that she was so careless to leave a confession note out in public. Though she suppose she was lucky that it was Aiden that found it.
"Ah, but I digress." Aiden waved his hand as if to dismiss their conversation. "I came, actually, to make a deal with you."
Both fear and anger twisted in Faith's gut. She felt angry that her loyalty to the Father was thought to be so easily bought. But she was also fearful of what may be done to her if she didn't play along. Her leg and head throbbed just from remembering what Tracey did to her. But Aiden has been nothing but concerned and kind to her since he arrested her. What would he do to get her to give him the information he wanted?
"What kind of deal?" She asked. Though she already knew what he wanted.
"I want to know more about the Chosen."
That wasn't what Faith was expecting to hear. She honestly thought he would ask her about the Father's location. She shook her head. "You're asking the wrong person. Jacob would've been the one to ask."
"Hmm," Aiden hummed. He lifted a hand to his chin and tapped his index finger on his cheek. "So you know nothing about them at all?"
Faith already said too much about Jacob being the one to ask and she noticed something calculating in Aiden's eyes. "I don't know anything about them."
A smile grew on the deputy's face. "Surely you know something about them. Like how to get in contact with them. Or where they're stationed."
She didn't bother to respond lest she say something else too revealing.
Aiden noticed her hesitation. "Listen, if you help us just by giving us some information we'll help you."
A scoff escaped her throat before she could help it. "How could you possibly help me?"
"Faith, you have a whole life to live. And it isn't worth living behind bars. If you help us we will be sure that you do as minimal time in prison as possible."
The younger woman shook her head. "What do I have to live for? You destroyed my family, my purpose. And now you want me to betray the only family I have left? No. I'm not helping you."
She winced when Aiden lifted his hand, but he didn't strike her. Instead, he rifled his fingers through his hair and sighed. He opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of footsteps echoed loudly in the cell. Someone tall stepped up in front of her cell, a man, but she didn't recognize who he was.
Aiden glanced at him before he stood up. "Faith, this is the doctor I was telling you about earlier. I trust that if he doesn't come to any harm we won't have to restrain you to the bed for all of his future visits."
Faith rolled her eyes. As tired and weak as she felt there would be no way she could attack or hurt the doctor. Still, she was quiet and compliant as he checked her vitals and answered his questions. Her leg was still tender when he removed the bandage, but it wasn't as terrible as it was before. He wrapped her leg with clean bandages and then moved towards her arm that was connected to the IV. It stung when he removed it, he didn't have gentle hands, but she was glad to finally be free of it.
The doctor looked towards Aiden as he cleaned up the used bandages and the IV bag. "She's healing well and can move on to tablets. Make sure she doesn't walk on the leg too much, though I doubt she has much energy right now to even consider walking."
Faith felt annoyed to be discussed like she wasn't even there. But she kept her thoughts to herself. Once the doctor turned his attention away from her she felt the persistent tug of drowsiness again which was made all the more enticing now that the second blanket warmed her. She got as comfortable as the stiff mattress would allow and closed her eyes. She jolted when the cell door opened and shut loudly. She opened an eye and found that both Aiden and the doctor departed, she could still hear their heavy footsteps and could only understand so much of their soft mumblings. She was just glad to be alone, for now. All she wanted to do was rest.
Faith hadn't realized she fell asleep until she was woken up by voices. It was so quiet she could hear them as if they were talking in her cell.
"I had noticed something from all your scribbles." It was Aiden speaking.
Next to speak was a woman's voice that Faith didn't recognize. "What's there to notice? They're taking out every outpost, one by one."
Another woman spoke. "No, he's right. You can see it with the other regions too. All the minor outposts are destroyed, but there are three places that are left alone."
A male spoke next, this voice Faith recognized it as the sheriff. "Fall's End and this very jailhouse remain untouched."
"This location is a bunker, it's the main base of operations for the Whitetail Militia," Aiden announced. "I think that the Chosen are taking out all of our strongholds one by one to herd us into one location. Or in this case, three locations. Once that happens, we'll be sitting ducks."
One of the female voices cursed. "Then what are we waiting for? We find the Chosen bastards and kill them before they bomb us all."
The sheriff was next to respond. "It isn't that simple. We have no idea where their base is. And as much as you all have traveled across the county, the fact that you all haven't come across an aircraft base heavily implies that their base isn't even in Hope County."
"And if we want to leave we'll have to fly out of here. All the tunnels that lead into the county have been destroyed," the second female voice stated.
"Whatever we decide," Aiden announced, "we'll have to act fast. In three days we've lost all the progress we made in months. I know we can't radio outside of the county, but we can still communicate with the other members of the resistance in the other regions. We'll have to work together."
"There's another problem," a third male voice replied. Faith also couldn't recognize who the voice belonged to. "Even if we succeed in flying out of the county there's still a lot of land to cover. The Chosen have the advantage of knowing our location so we'll be vulnerable to being ambushed."
"Rook," the sheriff said abruptly. "Did you have any luck finding out where these Chosen are?"
Faith's heart beat faster.
"Ah, well about that," Aiden sounded nervous. "She refused to have any knowledge."
"Bullshit," one of the females replied. "That flower bitch knows."
The sheriff spoke next. "I take it she didn't bite with a deal offer?"
"No," Aiden answered. "To be honest, she's been under Joseph's influence for years. She didn't just serve them for the sake of survival. They accepted her into a family she never had. She loves the Father and not just as a symbol of a religion. It won't be easy to get her to talk."
"Then you just weren't convincing enough." This voice made Faith's heart beat even faster, it was Tracey.
"All right, all right," the sheriff interrupted. "We have a lot of planning to do, and it's late. Let's get some sleep and tomorrow we'll get in contact with Whitetail and Fall's End."
There was a scraping of chairs against concrete and then the pounding of numerous footsteps. Faith closed her eyes in case anyone peeked into her cell, she didn't want anyone to know that she overheard their plans. Not that she posed as any risk to their plans, unless she managed to escape.
For the remainder of the evening sleep eluded her. Overhearing Aiden's meeting at least warned her about one thing, while she remained at the jail she was at risk of being attacked too. She had to find some way to escape, but her injured leg made that next to impossible. Even if he relocated her back to that bunker she feared of being left there alone forever if Aiden were to perish. With the dire situation they were all in, the possibility of Aiden dying seemed all the more likely.
Hours later the room lightened as the sun rose and Faith still hadn't slept a wink. She was tired, but fear of what would happen in the next few days kept her wide awake. So she figured she'd try to walk around. If she wanted to escape she'd need to rebuild her strength, and laying around wouldn't help with that.
As Faith detangled herself from the blankets and stretched her sore muscles, she could immediately hear the difference the jail had from night or day. A few hours ago everything was so quiet and now all she could hear were a mass of distant voices. She had just sat up and was steeling herself to stand and put weight on her leg when something hard struck the metal bars of her cell. It seemed like she was never going to get used to hearing the sudden loud metallic bang, she jumped and looked up.
It worried her that Aiden or the doctor weren't the ones visiting her. Instead, it was a hooded woman. At first she thought it was Tracey, but then she noticed the light color of her skin and hair and she had a compound bow draped over her shoulder. Faith didn't recognize her, but she noticed the look of anger and pure hate emanating from the woman. Her heart began to beat loudly in her chest.
"Rise and shine, flower girl." The woman snarled as she opened the cell door. She didn't walk into the cell, however. "Let's go."
A/N: So, so sorry for the delay with this chapter. With the holidays and what not things have been a bit busy and progress on the chapter had been a little slow. I also wanted to point out that I totally fangirled upon the announcement of New Dawn, and as much as I would love to finish this story before New Dawn's release I don't think it'll happen. Regardless, New Dawn definitely won't be changing what I have planned for this story's ending, the ending was one of the first things I planned when I though about writing up this story. But I may write an epilogue.
I also wanted to mention the reasoning for my alteration to the use of the Chosen. As annoying as those people were, I found it to be very unlikely that people in aircraft can easily spot a little ant of a person running around in clusters of trees. So while they were a bit of a last resort for all the heralds, I found it to be more fitting that they're used more as a last resort from Joseph instead. And we never do find where they even sprout from, so I added those thoughts into the story. Anyhow, thanks for reading and big thank you to those that take the time to provide their thoughts.
