The dedication to the capturing of Nathan and Faith displayed by many in the Resistance was something Jerome knew was bound to cause way more problems than it was attempting to fix. They became blinded by paranoia and hatred towards Eden's Gate that their way of "keeping the county safe" was to kill the man who had saved them. Not everyone was like that thankfully, there were many who were very vocal in opposing the murdering of the deputy.

Jerome knew Holland Valley was mostly contempt with the deputy. Though they weren't happy with Nathan's decision, they weren't going to immediately open fire when they saw him. Everyone except Charles Ford and his group of hunters. That man was a perfect example of the hatred the Resistance had towards anything related to the Cult. His unwillingness to listen to reason, much like many others, was sure to cost him dearly. Jerome only hoped he could understand that before it was too late. Those same hopes applied to everyone in the other regions who were not willing to stop the manhunt.

He had spoken to Sheriff Whitehorse a few days ago about the situation and the Sheriff agreed that it things had gotten very out of hand. Sadly, Sheriff Whitehorse wasn't making much progress attempting to convince his people that Nathan wasn't a traitor.

Now, Jerome stood feet away from the entrance tp the Whitetail Militia headquarters. The infamous Wolf's Den, the place Jacob had been so desperately trying to find before his demise at the hands of Deputy Rook. Jerome was on a meeting with the new Militia leader Tammy to attempt to convince her see the Deputy's side of things. He didn't necessarily want to leave Falls End, but he knew that Mary and the others would keep it safe.

Waiting for someone to let him in, he turned to see a sheet of paper stapled to a tree and upon closer inspection, he could see it was a wanted poster. Jerome frowned as he saw a picture of Nathan and another of Faith. Where they got them was a mystery to him, especially Faith's. He figured they got it somewhere from the Henbane River.

His thoughts were interrupted by a militia soldier stepping out of the bunker. He briefly looked at Jerome then looked around the area. Seeing as there was nothing out of the ordinary, he turned to Jerome.

"You can come in Pastor, Tammy's waiting for ya'"

They walked in and the man led him through the corridors to a room where Tammy and another young man were. The soldier cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Tammy, Pastor's here to talk to you." And with that, he excused himself. Tammy turned to address the Pastor with a firm handshake

"Pastor Jerome, we haven't seen each other in a while. Let me guess, you're here to talk aboutall that's been going on..."

Straight to the point, huh? Jerome smiled and nodded at her. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, and more than likely not be able to change her mind in one day. Still have to try for your sake Deputy...

"Yes, Tammy don't you think this has gone long enough? The deputy was falsely accused of being a traitor for saving an enemy. We've had defectors many times before, what was the change of heart with this one?"

Tammy frowned and took a deep breath, seemingly trying to keep her composure.

"It was no change of heart Pastor, this is Faith Seed we're talking about, not your run of the mill peggie. She and her brothers caused all of this, they don't deserve mercy. The deputy was well aware, yet he ignored it all and saved her." Tammy finished by looking at a picture of Eli. Jerome noticed how her face softened for a moment

"She could be valuable to finding the Father don't forget that, but this isn't just about her. Nathan was immediately discarded by what were supposed to be his allies. That doesn't sound like fair treatment for the man who singlehandedly saved most of Hope County" Jerome needed her and everyone else to understand just what they had done to Nathan. A young man barely in his mid twenties had his whole life ruined by an entire county's unwillingness to listen to reason.

Tammu laughed humorlessly. "Ah yes, who could forget Junior Deputy Nathan Rook? I'm sure you're well aware of his little conditioning. The same conditioning that took Eli Palmer's life and the same conditioning that's waiting to be triggered at any chance." She stopped and stared intently at Jerome

"Pastor do you know that we're dealing with an extremely unstable person here? At any moment that damn song can play and it all goes to hell... We've learned our mistakes, keeping him around is like keeping a time bomb. You don't know when it'll happen, and you'll be unprepared when it eventually does..."

Jerome understood their concerns but that still didn't warrant completely turning on Nathan. They could've made an effort to try and help him.

"Who's to say that the conditioning can't be reversed? Maybe someone knows about the effects and can help the deputy." There could be doctors in Hope County that hadn't been taken by Eden's Gate.

"We've tried Pastor, we've looked all around for anyone that could help. He hasn't been the first to go through that, many before him did." Tammy didn't feel pressed to look anymore, Jacob was gone and that was all that mattered to the Militia. No more Jacob meant no more conditioning.

"The people here haven't got a clue to what even causes the conditioning, let alone how to treat it. Only people who might know anything are the Seed's and their lackeys." Tammy finished.

"So you think she might know something?" Jerome asked. Tammy shrugged, not too sure.

"She might, but she'd rather use the conditioning to for her own benefit. I doubt she would help him in anyway possible if she's not getting anything out of it."

Avoiding the dangers of Nathan possible killing her might be beneficial for Faith, but Jerome suspected Tammy knew that already.

He knew that the conditioning wasn't the only reason Nathan was being ostracized by everyone in the Militia, neither was him saving Faith.

"Is all of this about Eli? Do you blame Nathan for his death?" He asked, he had a feeling he knew the answer already.

"Blame him? No. His conditioning did all the dirty work for Jacob so it seems his attempts to make him the perfect soldier paid off for him in the end. I told Eli that it was dangerous to keep him around, he foolishly didn't listen." Her voice became hoarse and strained near the end. She quickly changed the subject to avoid becoming emotional.

"We can't do anything to reverse the effects, so we'll just rid ourselves of the danger..." Tammy leaned back against a table and crossed her arms.

"Getting rid of him to save yourselves, is that really how you operate?" Jerome was slightly appalled by her statement, he didn't expect to hear that ever.

"Not just ourselves, but everyone else he comes near. You think that the conditioning will just go away with time? No, no one we know can provide any help so he'll probably live with it for the rest of his life. Not just that but he betrayed us... He chose Faith over the Resistance and we're still expected to try and help him?" Tammy asked, like it was the stupidest she had ever heard.

"Is there no changing your mind on this?" He asked. She shook her head. "The damage has been done Pastor, Nathan chose who his priority was and for that he has to face the consequences. Ask anyone in the right state of mind, and they'll tell you the same thing"

Jerome sighed in defeat, nodded and began to walk out but stopped when he heard Tammy call him once more.

"I suggest you drop him too, for your safety. At any moment that song can play and it's over... Besides, he's been long enough around the Seed girl, who knows of how much he's changed because of her..." Her advise fell on deaf ears, though Jerome didn't know if he should respond. He didn't, in the end he gave her one final nod and walked out.

I should've known this wouldn't be easy... He wasn't completely done with the Whitetail Mountains and it's people, there still had to be sympathizers who were willing to aid the Deputy. Tammy was clear on why she, and everyone else who did, hated Nathan: His conditioning, what he did to Eli, and saving Faith. Jerome knew that hatred would only make it more difficult for him to try and get the message through, much more so than now

His next destination, The Henbane River, wasnt going to be easy either, but that did have more people that defended the deputy than the Whitetails seemed to have. Their appointed leader Sheriff Whitehorse was against the manhunt. His subordinates like Deputy Hudson were also very defending of the deputy, asking to hear his side of the story before jumping to conclusions. The thing was that the majority there already had their minds set after what happened at the jailhouse and the murders at the garage near the jail.

There were still prominent figures there that respected the deputy aside from his co-workers, like the Drubman's. He knew Hurk and Adelaide spoke very highly of Nathan and, if his senator campaign posters around Hope County proclaiming Nathan as 'Campaign Manager', he had to assume Drubman Senior did as well. So there was a small group of people who were in support of Nathan but they were being drowned by the overwhelming amount that hated him.

Jerome would now return to Holland Valley for a few days, hopefully something turned up and the deputy was found. Something told him he hadn't yet been found, Jess or someone else would've contacted him already. Still, he needed to be there in case they did. It would also take much convincing to get Nathan to agree to meet up with him, he had to have harbored a great distrust towards everyone in the time he's been on the run.

How exactly can I help you Deputy?

Sure, Jerome knew he definitely would help him and Faith, but he didn't exactly know what to do when he managed to see Nathan again. They could hide out in one of the abandoned homes in Falls End, but Nathan would be definitely asked to be seen by his co-workers and boss over at the Henbane. Not only would Nathan crossing the still hostile river would be a foolish mistake, but Jerome doubted he'd leave Faith alone with people who still greatly hated her for what she did. So that meant they'd still have to be in hiding till things were hopefully settled in the Henbane specifically.

He thought back to what Tammy said about Nathan being around Faith too much. What if he had changed? And for the worse. Jerome prayed that if Nathan was found, he wouldn't immediately resort to violence to protect Faith. If being put through the worst that Eden's Gate had didn't change you, I don't believe she will either Deputy...

Only time would definitely tell if Nathan really changed as a person

.

Jess was at Falls End again, she wanted to unwind after a long day of searching for the little runaways. The Spread Eagle was the perfect place to do so, the beer was alright and no one dared bother her. Mary May informed her that Pastor Jerome had gone to the Whitetails to talk with the leadership. Good luck with that... Jess knew Tammy wouldn't listen to him, that lady also wanted Nathan dead like everyone else in that Militia. Not her problem though, Jess was looking to relax for a day or two, unless someone caught wind of Nathan.

For as much as she wanted to, Jess couldn't stop thinking about what Pastor Jerome had told her. What the hell would she do if Nathan responded aggressively when Jess confronted Faith? If they, God she hated thinking it, had infact form some sort of bond while on the run, then Nathan would definitely respond.

She previously had caught a small glimpse of his protectiveness towards the flower whore. At the jailhouse he demanded she stay away from Faith, after finding out Jess had beat her when Nathan was at Faith's Gate and that was the first time Nathan had ever directed any anger towards her.

She of course, responded by threatening him that if he ever spoke to her like that she'd kick the everliving shit out of him. Looking back, she knew she wouldn't have or probably could have. Nathan, while not the most skilled hand to hand fighter, was still pretty strong. Strong enough to survive out there without much help and though he could, the same couldn't be said for piece of shit with him.

Jess felt that maybe there was more to just hating Faith because she was part of Eden's Gate. Was it jealousy? Fuck no, like I could ever be jealous of that whore... She felt she was lying to herself. Did she harbor more than just friendly feelings towards Nathan? Maybe, but it was definitely too late now to know if he ever felt the same. Jess knew she only had herself to blame, for as friendly as Nathan was she never really opened up to him as much as he had to her. Sure they were close friends, but that's as far as they got, as far as it seemed she wanted it. The closest they ever got was when she could call him Nate without him bitching about it, still don't like being called Jessica...

If Nathan really had formed some sort of relationship with Faith outside of just protecting her, then it would make the whole killing her process nearly impossible. She was still doing it regardless, she just needed time to think on how.

As she continued drinking her beer she overhead two men to her left talking. She wasn't a nosy person, mainly because she didn't give a shit what others had to say but she did now as soon as she heard 'The Deputy' being mentioned. Pretending she was engrossed in her drink, she listened closely to the two men.

"So apparently Charles and his guys went out looking for the deputy and Faith. Left a day ago, hasn't made it back yet. It's surprising cause you know how that man rushes to the bar any chance he has."

Jess was familiar with the man in question. Charles Ford was quite the annoying individual. Sometimes she'd stick around to hear Pastor Jerome's sermons, not out of any religious belief or anything, and he'd usually talk about Nathan. It was then when that man's mouth ran off. Talking about how the people shouldn't be forgiving of a traitor, how keeping a Seed alive was bound to cause trouble etc. She wouldn't be at all surprised if he met his end by pissing Nathan off, it'd be a relief

"Ya' don't think he died or something?" The other man asked. Jess knew Nathan would only be fucking up his chances of redeeming himself if he engaged with any Resistance soldiers. Intentionally or not, the people of Hope County didn't take kindly to someone attacking one of their own, fucking ironic...

"It's either that or he left Holland Valley, which don't make much sense given the guy lives here." The first man responded.

If Nathan had infact gotten into a firefight with the man, then he'd most likely be out of ammo. The day before she came to Holland Valley, she had resupplied at the jailhouse. There she saw that all of the weapons Nathan had collected were still there collecting dust. The Cougars didn't use them, either out of the hatred or they just didn't need to. The day he escaped he only had his AK-M and his pistol, not enough to get him through. If he hadn't already, hed be bound to run out soon and when he did he'd begin to get desperate.

Jess knew it wouldn't happen immediately, he was still more than capable of surviving with just the bare minimum, he was taught by the best after all: Jess Black! Still, he wasn't as skilled as her and was far better suited to firearms. Her attention was diverted back to the two men.

"I did hear gunshots when I was driving near the Sawyer Residence, y'know the abandoned home Mrs Drubman tried to sell. I didn't wander too long, but If I had to guess, he must've caught up to the deputy and well..."

He didn't need to finish, the insinuation that Nathan killed him somewhere was all Jess needed to get back to work, after a quick night of sleep. She wasn't a machine, even she needed rest.

Finishing her beer, Jess payed Mary and stepped out into the night. There was a slight breeze but far be it for her to feel cold. Okay, so now she had a lead, all that was left was to contact Pastor Jerome and let him know.

Walking over to her ATV, she contemplated on where she was going to crash. She could always just camp out in the fields, stars were pretty nice tonight. I might as well...

She knew it wouldn't take long before she caught up to Nathan, it would be then when she would know who he really was with and if this whole chase had been for naught.

She hoped she wasn't wrong to have placed such trust in him...

AN: Next chapter will have more intimate Nathan/Faith interactions and their views on the situation. The conditioning Nathan was put through will be also brought up more in the coming chapters.