"You will follow me and speak to no one," Jacob said, turning on his heel and walking through the gate. Mercy and Pratt followed him inside the compound to a tent with a table and a few chairs. "Sit here and stay until we come for you."
She exchanged a brief look with John before the two Seed brothers went inside the main building. Sighing, she sat in one of the chairs and glanced around her new surroundings. There were many soldiers here, all wearing the same uniform - red balaclava and long black coat. Some were going through an obstacle course, others were going through weapons drills that she herself had done before. It was clearly some sort of training facility, and a well-protected one at that, judging by the number of lookout towers and snipers she could see.
Pratt sat next to her and folded his arms across his chest. "Welcome to the Stone Ridge Chalet, training ground of the Chosen," he said in a monotone. "This is where Jacob's elite come to train."
"I guess you need soldiers at the end of the world too, huh?" she asked somewhat sarcastically. She hadn't been told where they were going but had enjoyed the car trip anyway, singing along to the radio with Pratt like they used to do. Now she was here she was expected to sit and wait obediently while John and Jacob were inside, which annoyed her - had she not proven her trustworthiness and loyalty?
"Jacob doesn't trust you," Pratt said as if he could read her mind. "Doesn't want you in the main building in case you report back to the Resistance."
She rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "What will it take, Staci?" she asked. He simply shrugged. They sat in silence for a while, watching the soldiers train, until she got bored and stood up. "Screw this, let's go for a walk. I need to find a bathroom." she said, tapping him on the shoulder.
"We shouldn't-"
She grabbed his hand. "Come on, they'll probably be in there for ages. They won't know."
He closed his eyes briefly and then stood. "You're going to get us both punished." he moaned, following begrudgingly. She poked her tongue out at him and started to walk away from the main building along the fence line. "Must be nice to be granted so much freedom from your captor," he mumbled.
She paused. "I'm with him willingly," she said quietly.
He stopped and grabbed her wrist. "Are you? Or is it that he took away all your freedom and you've just become dependant on him? Ever heard of Stockh-"
"Shut up." she snapped. She didn't want to acknowledge that he might be right. She had become dependant on him. Being back with Pratt, despite how much they'd both changed, gave her a sliver of her old life back, and she was reluctant to let that go. She didn't want to think that her feelings towards John could be an illusion, and that the conversation they'd had the night before could just be another way of controlling her. He seemedgenuine.
They walked in silence to a small creek before turning left towards a small stone building. They made their way up the hill behind it and she spotted an outhouse. "I'm going in here for a minute," she said, walking in and closing the door. It was filthy and dark. Quickly, she unzipped her jeans and squatted over the toilet, trying not to touch it.
Almost immediately he was knocking on the door. "Mercy, hurry up! I think the Whitetails are here!"
Hurriedly, she fixed up her clothes and opened the door. Staci was in front of her, staring to the left where three men were quietly approaching, guns raised and pointing at the chalet. She glanced to the right to see another five men, also moving towards the compound. She grabbed Pratt's arm and tried to pull him back towards the stone shack, but then the men to the left fired towards the training ground. Things seemed to happen too quickly - one minute they were headed towards the compound, the next Pratt had turned her around, charging past the outhouse and into the trees. The ground became quite steep and Mercy slipped, grazing her arm on a rock as she slid past it. Pratt was over her in an instant, trying to pull her up, his fingers digging into her stinging skin. As he helped her up, a woman approached them with a bow and arrow pointed at them.
"Not another step. Who are you?" the woman asked sharply. She had long dark hair and several angry-looking scars across her face.
Pratt was the one who spoke. "Oh thank God! I'm Staci, and this is my wife, Mercy," he said. "Please, we need your help - we were kidnapped by a group of men, we don't know where we are!"
Mercy looked at him incredulously. What was he doing? She heard gunfire from behind them and turned in the direction of the chalet. What about John-
Pratt put his arm around her shoulders. "We're going to be alright." he said, giving her shoulders a squeeze.
The woman looked at them suspiciously and walked to stand next to them, bow still raised. She flicked her head to the left. "Move."
She pushed them away from the compound through the trees, avoiding the lookout tower to the northeast. They picked their way down a steep, rocky path and found themselves back on the road they'd used to get to the chalet. There were five waiting vehicles, and the woman forced them into one, pulling a pistol from her jeans and pointing it at them as she got into the front seat. The car took off with another one following behind. Pratt held Mercy's hand tightly and she tried not to think of John and what he'd do when he realised she was gone again. What would Jacob do when he found out Pratt was gone too? He'd probably think she orchestrated the attack to try and get him out.
I'm fucked.
The vehicle eventually began a tedious, winding path up a mountain and came to a stop in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. The woman in the front seat got out of the car with the driver, and they both stood pointing guns at their captives.
"Get out," the woman ordered, and they scrambled out of the car. "Walk."
They were made to walk down another rocky path and came to a stop in front of the entrance to a bunker. The woman indicated they should enter, so they carefully stepped into the dark stairwell and down into the gloom. The first room was well stocked with food, whoever was down here was clearly prepared. They walked past a wall of lockers and came face to face with a man in camo gear. He had black hair and a bushy beard to match, and appeared startled by their presence.
"Jess? Who are these people?" he asked.
The woman responded. "They were runnin' from the compound when we attacked. Say they were taken by the cult."
The man looked at them consideringly. "Better take 'em though then."
They were pushed to another room to the left and her first thought was to turn around and run. The room was small, sparsely furnished and had a single light. It was what was under the light that made her want to flee. A man in a Chosen uniform was tied to a metal chair standing in a children's swimming pool, which was full of water. Jumper cables connected the chair to a voltage amplifier and a throwing knife was protruding from the man's chest. Mercy swallowed hard and tried to back out of the room.
"Easy, princess," Jess said. "He can't hurt you, he's dead."
"I see that." she said weakly.
She reached for Pratt, who took her hand and led to lean on the back wall. He put his arm around her shoulders again and kissed the top of her head. "We're safe now." he murmured. I can't tell if he's acting or being serious. she thought, leaning into him. Following his lead seemed the safest option.
"So," the man said. "Tell us about yourselves."
Pratt took over straight away. "I'm Staci, and this is my wife Mercy," he repeated. "Newlyweds… just a year. We were driving through Hope County on a road trip for our honeymoon when all the roads closed, we couldn't get any mobile reception… we've kind of been winging it. We came up to the Whitetail Mountains to see the Ringing Rocks and we were captured by a group of men. We were both in the army, they said they could use our skills. Put us through tests… said we were "chosen"... brought us to that compound. When your men attacked, we thought that was the perfect opportunity to run, and we ran into your associate here." He gestured to Jess.
The man considered them for a moment. "Pretty poor timing to have a honeymoon," he said finally. "How much do you know about what's been going on in Hope County?"
Pratt shook his head. "Just what we picked up from people. We started off in Fall's End, met a few people there, but then the cult or whatever… Peggies? Is that right? They came in, swept the town for a… reaping, or something. We were able to escape, and we picked our way north, scavenging whatever we could. We even traded our wedding rings for food."
"You guys been livin' rough for a year?" Jess asked as she looked Mercy over. "You don't look like you've been livin' rough. He does."
Before she could even think of an excuse, Pratt jumped in again. "I've been trying to take care of my wife. I don't care what happens to me, as long as she's safe." He pulled her in closer. She bit her lip hard and put her head on his shoulder.
"Good man," the black-haired man said. "I'm Eli, by the way. Eli Palmer, leader of the Whitetail Militia. And this bunker is the Wolf's Den. We're trying to defend the region against Jacob Seed. You know who he is?" They looked at each other and then back to him.
"Heard the name," Pratt said. "Don't think we ever got to meet him, though."
Eli launched into the story of the Seed family from his perspective, how they came in, and the horrors Jacob inflicted on the people in the area. He spoke of abductions, executions in the street, people being fed to wolves, often alive. He spoke of the pain and suffering inflicted on those around him, how he lost people he was close to, how it affected him. When he finished, he looked at them thoughtfully. "If you wouldn't mind, we could always use more help," he said.
Pratt nodded immediately. "Whatever we can do," he said. Mercy nodded too.
"Excellent! Jess, show 'em around would you?" Eli said before leaving the room.
Jess led them back out, past a wall of televisions. One of them was labelled Stone Ridge Chalet. Mercy stopped dead and pointed at it, pulling on Pratt's arm.
"Oh hey, you guys have surveillance on the cult?" he asked casually, peering at the screen.
"Sure do," Eli said. "Had to pull out of there though, we didn't expect there to be so many men there ready to defend it. But we've got good intel, we'll try again."
A woman with short blonde hair walked into the room, striding towards Eli. "Eli, there's a rumour going around saying John Seed's here. One of the guys thought they saw him at the chalet," she said, stopping short when she saw Mercy and Pratt. "Who are they?"
"Staci and Mercy, we rescued them from the Stone Ridge Chalet," Eli said. "John Seed's here? Huh. Follow that up, see if it's true. I know a few people who wouldn't mind giving back what he dishes out."
Mercy squeezed Pratt's hand hard, digging her nails into his skin. He squeezed back harder, forcing her to ease up. "Hey guys, we've had a long day, is there somewhere we can sleep?" he asked.
"This way." Jess said. They followed her through the bunker to another storage room with mattresses on the floor.
"There's a double mattress there." she said, pointing to it. "You can have that. Back through here is the bathroom if you wanna get cleaned up." They followed her to the small bathroom.
"That's a great idea, thank you," Pratt said. He went with her to get some clean underwear and towels for both of them, leaving Mercy standing in the bathroom. He returned and closed the door, setting the items down on the closed toilet seat.
"Come on," he said. "Have a shower, it'll make you feel better. I'll have one after you." He turned around to face the door.
"Staci-" she started, but he turned to her again and walked towards her, pressing his lips to her ear. "We don't know if this place is bugged. Have a shower, I'll talk to you once you're in there." She nodded and started to undress, pulling off her shirt first with her back to him. "Jesus fucking Christ," he said, touching the marks on her waist. She recoiled from him, embarrassed. "Why?"
"After I came back from the jail," she whispered. "He was upset I'd left. I didn't feel it, I was out cold."
Pratt pinched the bridge of his nose. "And you want to stay." he said bluntly, turning around again.
She sighed and removed the rest of her clothes, stepping into the lukewarm spray. Pratt stuck his head through the shower curtain, looking at the ceiling. "Yes, I want to stay," she hissed. "But not here!"
"Jacob will find us. Trust me."
"I don't doubt that, but I don't want him tearing dozens of innocent people apart to get to us either!" she whispered angrily.
"Why did you join them?" he asked quietly. "What makes you want to go back there so badly? When I first met you, you were a tough-as-nails cop and nothing phased you. Now look at you - he's made you weak."
"You sound like Jacob." she said before she could stop herself. He looked at her, eyes narrowed, but said nothing. "Sorry. I don't know, Staci. Yeah, it's messed up, but I've spent my entire life more or less on my own - my parents were more interested in their church groups than their own child, and I was never good at building relationships with people. I know he's messed up, he's messed me up, but I've genuinely made a difference here, and the community they've built, it's changed me. You're right - he took away my freedom and made me dependant on him. Maybe I should have fought harder to stop that. From what you've told me of Jacob, I don't expect you/i to go back, but I will."
He laughed softly. "Alright, fine. Just play along with my story. If they want us to help, we'll help - see if we can escape while we're out on one of their missions. I don't want to be here any more than you do, trust me."
She groaned. "Aren't you glad to be away from Jacob?"
He was silent for a long time. "No." He said finally.
"Why?"
"For the same reason you want to go back to John, sort of."
She nodded and looked at the floor. Who was she to question him? "Why'd you pull us away anyway?"
"I didn't want to be shot and were heading straight for a firefight. Figured if it looked like we were running away from them, then we'd have a better chance of survival. You're welcome."
He disappeared and left her to her shower. Mercy placed her hands on the wall and hung her head, letting the water wash over her. She couldn't help but think of John again, and mentally kicked herself. Stay strong, Deputy. she thought. Pratt was right, she used to be tough, and she had to be tough again now. When she stepped out of the shower, Pratt had already disrobed and stood with his back to her. It was covered in scars and marks, some fairly new looking. Some even looked like bite marks.
"All yours," she said, securing the towel around her.
He turned around, clearly not caring if she saw him naked and stepped into the shower. She got dressed and waited for him. They went to the mattress together, hanging their towels from a shelf next to them to dry and lay down. He turned away from her and she pulled the thin blanket over them, wrapping her arm around his waist just as John did for her. Tomorrow they'd find a way out of there. They had to.