"I, am going to teach YOU, courage, teach you how to say YES, so you can confront your weaknesses, CONFRONT your sins, YOU WILL SWIM ACROSS AN OCEAN OF PAIN AND EMERGE FREE!" John screamed as he stood in front of Hudson, long dead and dried blood surrounded the several stab wounds along her body. Rook, who was tied to chair watching all this, was powerless, all could do was watch the horror show before him, watching the mad man scream and pace violently, completely at John's mercy, about to met the same fate as his co-worker or worse, and it absolutely terrified him.
Then Rook woke up in his bed.
He quickly sat up in his bed as soon as he did, he did so in silence, he was getting used to awaking with a start which was fine with, but the only problem was his brain moved slower than his body. He sat there in silence, his memory slowly chugging along, after a few moments he remembered what happened after his little fit of anger involving the town grouch, he had stayed on the roof with Jess for a time, cracking jokes and poked fun at each other as they watched the waxing moon slowly drift into the sky, he enjoyed it, being able to sit town with someone he cared about and talked about whatever even though the person he was talking to had the sole interest in murdering cultists, to counter it, he tried to get her to explain her favorite movie again; Blood Dragon Two, but the change in subject was short lived as she began talking about bio-luminescent animals, predominantly Tyrannosaurus Rex's, corrupt military figures fighting their supposed allies in a post apocalyptic setting and a meaningless training montage. All of it made no sense to Rook as he had not seen the previous film, leaving much to be misunderstood, Jess refused to explain the prior movie as she did not wish to ruin the cinematic masterpiece that was the Blood Dragon universe, and instead began talking about her theories on what would happen in the next movie.
His lack of understanding allowed him to switch to a subject in which he enjoyed; music, he talked of various artists and bands he had idolized one time or another in his life, but of course just as Jess's words flew over his head, his words went right over hers, leaving him to give a catch up speech of how impactful of some of the most famous bands of the last thirty years have been. Jess merely feinted interest for a very short time before moving the conversation to something both of them could understand. And they continued to talk and joke for a few more hours before they called it a night and Rook retired to his bed.
Mentally caught up, Rook slowly rose from his bed with a groan, now a days his body was sore in some compacity, his body ached and his head hurt, it was a small price to pay for being able to survive what he had been through. He grabbing his shotgun that hung around one of the bedpost, hung by the vinyl wrap attached, he looped his arm through the strap, allowing it to rest comfortably on his back, once he was ready to go, he slowly shuffled towards the door, still not fully awake, he meandered down the hall and into the living room, hoping he didn't sleep in to late again, the last thing he needed was to give John get a step ahead of him again.
As he entered the living room, and quickly found that Jess was asleep on the couch, a small pillow under her head and her jacket draped around her, using it as a blanket, Rook couldn't help but marvel at the sight, it was one of those rare times where Jess had taken off her jacket. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen it off her body let alone if he ever had before, as he watched Jess he could see out of the corner of his eye a familiar ball of grey, sitting in the corner left of the couch. Rook drifted his eyes over to the swathe of grey to see Boomer sleeping in the corner of the room, curled into a ball, sleeping peacefully.
Seeing the two resting tranquilly, he decided to leave them be, he knew better not to wake a woman with such a short fuse, instead, he tiptoed over the door and quietly let himself out of the house.
The second he opened the door, warm sunlight shined down on him, blinding him slightly, making him grown his disappointment as he brought up a hand to block the light. The light was as harsh on his eyes as it was on his mind, by the height of the sun he could guesstimate it was around ten in the morning, with it being so late in the morning Rook didn't put it past John to put out some scouts to case the town or something just as sinister, after depriving the town of food, gas and electricity, and an attempted purging, who knows what other lows he'd stoop to get his way, more so now that all attempts to wipe out the resistance has been futile.
But seeing as the town looked like it was still in one piece from his front porch, perhaps everything was alright, but that little nagging voice in the back of his told him something was going down and wouldn't rest until he made sure everything was ok and Rook wanted to sate the voice and the only way he could think that would do the trick was to do a lap or two around town to make sure nothing was amiss, it was also a good way to stretch the legs.
Rook closed the door behind him and stepped down off the porch, he worked his way to the church and did a loop around the far side before swinging around and crossed the road towards the general store. But as he crossed the street, a voice called to him from behind.
"Oh shit, hey there, Partner!" the voice cried.
Rook turned to see Nick trying to catch up to him but struggled as he didn't have his usual gait, instead he hobbled forward as if his right leg didn't move as it should, like it was made entirely of wood. Memory flickered through his mind and told Rook he walked like that because he was shot yesterday.
"Dude, are you ok enough to be moving around?!" Rook asked, quickly moving towards his friend as he eyed his bad leg, ready to catch him if he fell.
"Yeah it looks bad, but it's all good, didn't hit bone or anything... Tis but a flesh wound" he said overdramatically in some European accent.
"But yeah, Kim wasn't exactly thrilled to find out what happened, I'm kinda glad the docs kept me overnight, otherwise I woulda been in the dog house when I got home" Nick sighed as Rook cleared the distance.
"But your totally fine right?" Rook asked, carefully watching his friend for anything that looked like injury.
"Yeah, I'm sore as hell, but yeah, probably shouldn't go jogging, the docs in the church patched me up real good" Nick shrugged.
"But other then that, your fine" Rook asked again.
"Yeah man I'm fine, chill, your starting to sound like my wife" Nick said, waving a limp hand at Rook.
"But what are you doing man, working on something to stick it to John?" Nick asked mischievously with a matching grin as he rubbed his hands together.
"Naah, not really, just doing a quick patrol around town, making sure everything is ok" Rook replied.
"Sweet, I'll keep you company, could use the walk anyway" Nick said, giving Rook a solid pat on the shoulder before shuffling passed him.
Rook quickly spun around face his friend again and took a few large steps forward to catch up.
"You sure, I got to go around the whole town?" Rook offered, hoping to dissuade him from overexerting himself.
"Yeah man, I can do more then just fly a plane" Nick grinned as Rook matched his stride.
The two now moved at a comfortable pace as they crossed the street, towards the back of the general store, not a walk and not quite a crawl.
"Alright dude, I trust you" Rook said as he still eyed his stride nervously.
"So, what you been up to after we scored that food?" Nick asked.
"I uhh, stole a truck" Rook stuttered, looking back up at his friend.
"Oh shit!" Nick laughed.
"Fuckin' cop man steals a truck, what's this world coming to?" he chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah, the worlds coming to an end real soon" Rook jokingly agreed, not wanting to get into the escapade that was the Widowmaker.
"But what about you, besides the leg and stuff, what's up with you?" Rook asked.
"A whole lot o' nothing" Nick sighed loudly.
"Just the doctors poking and prodding me for a bit then Kim came down here with Carmina and gave me the gears for getting clipped, Oh Nicholas, what if you got killed, what if this, what if that" Nick paraphrased.
"So, I guess your grounded so to speak until you get better" Rooked offered.
"Well I'm not going anywhere even if I want to, Lord knows I can't hoof it with you on your next shindig and I can't get my plane in the air on account of John's planes so I guess I got to sit my ass down until you do something I guess" Nick groaned.
"Don't worry man, you won't miss a thing with everything going on, it's all highly dangerous stuff that for some reason only I can do" Rook said, accidentally sounding a little more grumpier then he want to sound.
"I don't know about that but uhhh… speaking of highly dangerous things" Nick said, as he couldn't help but hid a sinister smirk.
"How's that Jess lady you hang out with all the time" he grinned.
"She's fine" Rook squeaked.
"Uh huh" Nick nodded with a knowing grin.
"So, you gonna tell me how you two are or what?" Nick asked.
"We're cool, just hanging out, doing our thing, killing peggies and all that, y'know, the usually" Rook said dryly, unsure how to quantify his relationship with Jess.
"And where is this mystery woman now, I hope not wondering where you are" Nick questioned.
"She's sleeping back at my place" Rook shrugged.
"Hoh, Hoh, Benjamin, you sly dog, you!" Nick laughed as he elbowed Rook's side.
"No, come on Dude, it's not like that, she's just sleeping on my couch, it's the safest place to be" Rook said, almost whining.
"You got a lady sleeping at your place, come on man, seal the deal" Nick leered.
"She'd rather kill me then do anything like that with me" Rook said, his voice cracking slightly.
"Then apply some of that Benjamin Rook charm that you seduced the resistance with" Nick grinned as he wiggled his fingers to add to his point
"Trust me dude, she's not like other girls, she's completely self sufficient and all that" Rook explained, slowly losing his awkwardness and recomposing himself again.
"Oh, I sure she is Partner" Nick grinned before falling silent for a few seconds.
"But uh, speaking of those types of woman, I actually, I heard ol' Addie is in town, her and her boy toy what's-his-name, spent who knows how long fixing her helicopter, and are at Mary's bar now, celebrating" Nick explained.
"Oh shit, really?!" Rook questioned, he was surprised at how fast they worked.
"Yeah, it's not hard to miss her, especially if Hurk and Sharky are also there, enjoying the festivities" Nick sighed.
"Damn, I can't imagine what a party with three of them if like" Rook said, shuttering ever so slightly.
"Trust me dude, it's not fun, take from me, they're to much" Nick preached.
"What's the worst that could happen?" Rook asked.
"Do you know what a twisted raccoon is?" Nick replied, sounding like he had just stepped into a cold spot.
Rook and Nick spent the rest of the slow walk around the town talking about this or that, Rook was quick to change the subject after Nick explained some of the Drubman party rituals, despite catching up with his friend, Rook made sure to keep a keen eye out into the distance, watching for anything that looked like a peggie, but thankfully he didn't see anything suspicious. As the two men just about looped around the town, Rook noticed he looked a little worse for wear, the wounded leg appeared to be slowing him down, but seeing as they were in close proximity to Mary's bar, Rook asked him if he needed a breather as he pointed to the bar to which Nick happily agreed before moving towards the bar, leaving Rook to watch him shamble over to Mary's bar despite the Drubman family partying over something inside, Rook wanted to offer to help him get to the bar but he had a feeling he would be rejected. But with Nick gone, it left Rook to do one more loop around the town, just to be safe, as he went about his patrol, and circled the town with ease with nary a peggie or anything that even resembled a threat, it made him feel safe to see everything looked ok, but as passed the church and headed for the general store, with the crackling of his walkie talkie, signalling someone was trying to reach him, how he felt was about to drastically change.
"Deputy, are you there, Deputy you must answer right now!" John Seed demanded, frustrated.
Rook thought about just clicking the walkie off, just hearing his voice made his skin crawl with anger, it reminded him of all the mutilated corpses and needless slaughter for something that wasn't coming, it reminded him of being in the chair, he just wanted to forget it all.
But that little voice in the back of his head spoke up once more, it yelled in defiance to answer the call and tell him to fuck right off. But before Rook could make a decision, John kept on talking.
"Do I have to make another attempt at burning down your disgusting little town again to get your attention" John gripped, tired of not getting his way.
Just hearing the idle threat, twisted Rook's stomach in anger, how dare he casually threaten more innocent lives like that in an attempt to goad him into a conversation.
It was all Rook needed to tear the walkie from his belt and bring it to his mouth.
"The hell do you want?" He spat.
"I need you to listen to me very carefully, Benjamin" John seethed, saying his name slowly as if he was sounding out each syllable.
"With each passing day you make it harder and harder for me to do my job, the Father is growing impatient and so am I!" He cried.
You are making things so much harder than they need to be, can't you see how many would be alive if you just say yes?!" John barked before signing heavily in discontent.
"You are capable of doing so much good, but yet you squander it and try to save every sinner squirming in the mud, forget about them, we have done the work for you, the saved are ready to file into our gates, all we need from you is to help us prepare" he sighed, clearly tired.
"I am saving people, John" Rook replied gruffly.
"I'm saving people for a cult run by family of assholes, who are preying on the mentally fragile and making them murder, loot and destroy everything in an innocent little county just for a spot in a hole in the ground for an apocalypse that is never coming!" Rook barked, getting riled up.
John was silent for a few seconds after Rook stopped talking, he thought he was just stuffing his anger down before preaching more bullshit at him, but when he spoke, it wasn't what he was expecting.
"You know Deputy, a part of me was hoping you wouldn't saying something like that, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt like the Father has but you make it oh so difficult, as yet again, you are sinking further and further into your wrath, you just lash out at anything you don't like without even taking a moment of consideration and the opposition and what they have to offer" John seethed with quiet anger.
"Are you being serious right now, asshole!?" Rook cried into his walkie, unable to believe the angle John was playing at.
"After every little thing you've done how could you possibly, POSSIBLY expect me to just look at the benefits of signing up with you god damn psychopaths, you friggin' ordered people to murder a whole town of people a few days ago, you starved and tortured people! you're a manipulator and a liar! A monster and a coward who hides while people do your dirty work, why the actual hell would I ever think it's a good idea to join you, you terrible, terrible person?!" Rook yelled, getting louder and louder.
"Of course I'm wrathful John, anyone would be angry over the atrocities you and your family have committed on American soil, you, you make Jones-town look like an accident compared to this shit! If your really are trying to swing me around to your side like you say you are, your doing a god awful job at it, just threatening and strong arming every problem you have isn't going to solve everything, I'm not some unaware civilian, worried by your little congregations, I'm not some mentally fragile person you can push around, I am the guy who will arrest you! I'm the guy who will shut everything you made down!" Rook screamed his tirade, lightly panting once he was done.
"But I can fix you! I can cleanse you, God dammit! All this fucking needless bloodshed can stop if you can just get it through your thick! Fucking! Skull! And just let me pull those revolting little sins out of you! Then Joseph will allow you and me to just walk through Eden's Gates and we will be saved, we will survive, we will see the new dawn of man! I know you have done something wrong, there's no point in hiding it, just tell me what it is, you know I'm right! just say yes! Just say yes! Just say yes!" John yelled through the walkie.
As John yelled and preached, he started to sound less of charismatic Yes Man and more of a desperate man, clutching at straws, trying to get his way, but as quick as that desperation creeped into his voice, it disappeared.
"But then again" John said, skipping a beat, sounding as calm as can be.
"Perhaps your right, perhaps with you I need a more personal touch, maybe if you won't come to me, then I'll come to you... And then we'll see how willing you are to say yes, but who knows, maybe I can still have you see the light and that magic word" John mused.
"Thanks to you, the Sinners of Hope's County are getting more and more defiant, always fighting to take more, kill more, celebrate more, be more then they actually are, and I'm sure you can see why we can't have that" John said with that shit eating, better then you voice.
"Are you familiar with my brother; Jacob's methods?" John asked, sounding almost bored for some reason.
"What, no?" Rook replied disgustedly, unsure of where John was taking it, a little creeped out by John's sudden mood swings.
"Well, since you and your little resistance are sprouting like unkempt weeds, destroying the immaculate garden that is Eden's Gate, then it's time to put on the work gloves and do some work, to… cull the heard… so to speak" John supposed.
"What the hell are you talking about, your terrible with analogies!" Rook spat irritably.
"That's quite alright, you'll know soon enough… I need you to listen very carefully, Deputy" John said, his voice dropping low into a deep gravelly his, steeped in distain.
"I'm going to give you one last chance, one last chance Benjamin, to surrender yourself to me, or I will have everyone in your precious little town killed, including you, it won't be anything like my capture teams a few days ago, one way or the other, this will be your last day as the hero of your little so called resistance" John declared vehemently.
"This is what I'm talking about!" Rook exasperated.
"Threats and strong arming, that's all you know how to do, what are you even talking about, what could you possibly do that will kill everyone, are you going to bore us to death with your horrible sermons, oh god please no!" Rook moaned, Rook yelled, feinting fear.
In truth he was just sick of John's shit, he was like a broken record; going on and on about how he'd rue the day and when the threats didn't work, he'd resort to more threats. At one point Rook remembered what John was like when he thought nothing of him, a charismatic smooth talker that had made so much money for his brother with his knowledge as a lawyer, allowing them to buy untold acres of land, a man who ordered his troops he personally charmed, with no hesitation or concern, making sure his chokehold on the valley was still strong, but now, he sounded like a sick dog, barking and yapping at everything he disliked, trying desperately to hide his decay.
And he needed to be put down.
"No Deputy, I am using my ace in the hole, a little contingency I set up in case the valley's status fell into the red, I am deploying my Revelator to restore order to restore order to the valley and remove the thorn in my side that is you!" John declared.
"Your what?" Rook winced.
"Are you sending a Dungeons and Dragons monster after me?" he questioned, refusing to believe what he heard.
"No, you idiot!" John snapped.
"You'll see soon enough! Enjoy what little time you have left Deputy; everything is about to change!" John yelled before the walkie clicked off.
Rook stared down at his now disconnected walkie talkie, despite John's voice now gone, anger still boiled within him, and with John now gone, he had nowhere to direct that anger after hearing threat after threat after threat.
"Screw you!" Rook yelled at the silent walkie, hoping it would make him feel better.
But it didn't.
With angry grumbling, Rook harshly reattached the walkie to his hip before clutching his shotgun with both hands, sparks of pain dithered in his fingertips as he tightly gripped his firearm.
He stood there for a few seconds to process everything that happened, only making his anger grow, he tried to push it down like he had so many times before but found that it didn't do much for him.
Seeing as there was nothing he could nothing, with an loud, angry sigh he continued his patrol, nearly stomping around town from the general store to behind Mary's bar again, all the while grumbling hate under his breath, this time around, he didn't give as much care keeping an eye out for suspicious, he was far to distracted with how he felt about John and the things he would do if he got his hands on him, how DARE he threaten him and Falls End for merely not answering his walkie talkie in a timely fashion. If he went that far for not answering a call, he couldn't fathom what John does when something really went wrong.
But as he completed his second loop around the town, he stood behind the bar, he understood he was still to angry to do anything productive for the resistance, he needed to calm down and think clearly, he desperately struggled to think happy thoughts but all the things John had said and done danced in the back of his mind, keeping the anger lit. it was clear to him he need to do something, anything to take his mind off how much he hated John, but he didn't know what to do, there was no way he could take his anger out on patrolling peggies on their territory as his anger could very well cloud his judgment, Rook knew there was a few books littered around his home, but felt there was no way he could sit still and focus on the words on the pages, and when Jess who was still there, woke up, would most likely egg him on to do something he'd regret.
While standing there, trying to focus on something, Rook's eyes eventually looked over at the bar, seeing it made the things Nick said to him earlier echoed in his mind, about how the Drubman family is in there, maybe he could calm down via osmosis from the Drubman's little celebration party, it wasn't like they were ones to turn friends away, and Nick was also in there. But if Mary started giving him grief over what he said yesterday, he couldn't imagine anything good would follow.
With another angry, defeated sigh, he turned and marched around the side of the bar and approached the front door before he pushed open the door. He expected to see the Drubman family partying it up over something as Nick tried to stay as far away as possible, trying to gather himself after the strenuous walk around town, but as he entered the building he saw a few of his friends and a few regulars scattered around the bar and Mary behind the counter just as he expected, but instead of the loud boisterous attitudes he come to know from the Drubman family, they and everyone else who loitered around the bar was deathly silent.
Everyone stood in place, looking up at the old, grainy CRT TV that hung from the ceiling in the corner, right of Mary's counter. Once upon a time the beat-up television either displayed news or sports, but this time, it displayed John Seed.
He was monologuing about something with that usual charismatic smirk, perfectly manicured hair and faultless black vest over a silk blue button up that he wore every time he appeared on a broadcast. It looked like he was giving another one of his spiels, probably trying boast how great Eden's Gate is and how they are nearing their goal.
But whatever John was babbling about was wrapping up as he was bidding his goodbyes to the camera as he held and Eden's Gate bible close to his chest, blessing God for everything that had happened thus far. Then the TV cut to a large Eden's Gate logo that stretched across the screen's entirety, the second it did, the room exploded to life.
Mary, still behind the counter and pulled a set of keys out of her pocket as if it was burning her and began erratically locking the cash register, then a few cabinets behind her as the Cook in the kitchen behind her began grabbing a few important looking things before running out of the kitchen. The bar regulars shot up from their chairs, a choir of scarping wood on wood filled the bar as the chair legs skidded back, a few even falling over, Adelaide, Xander, Sharky and Hurk, who had claimed the back corner of the bar were doing a poor job of climbing out a nearby window, Addie ordering all of them to regroup at her Tulip, even Nick shot up from his seat, almost falling backwards as he did and limped away from the bar as fast as he could, not even placing down a few dollars for his drink, but with how everyone was reacting to John's broadcast, no one seemed to care, including Mary.
He ran straight for the door Rook came through and as he closed the distance to it, his shoulder slammed into Rook's as if he didn't see him, causing him to stumble to the side, his hand shot out and grabbed the edge of a near by table, feeling himself grow stable again, Nick stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath, unsure of what just happened, he looked up at what he ran into with frightened eyes.
"Shit Dude, sorry, I gotta go, gotta get back to Kim, you can come to if you need to hide!" Nick quickly as he saw who he bumped into before pushing himself for the door again and hobbled as fast as he could to the exit.
"Nick, what's going on!?" Rook asked, taken aback and scared of what was happening.
But Nick offered no response, instead he flung open the door and bolted out, a few of the bar regulars following close behind, nearly clogging the door with their bodies, just about clearing out the entire bar, leaving Mary and Rook alone in the bar.
As Mary still locked away everything that was important or nailed down behind the counter, Rook approached the unaware bar owner.
"Mary! What the hell is going on!?" Rook called out.
Upon hearing her name, Mary quickly turned to her caller, allowing Rook to see how she looked truly terrified.
"Ben!" She cried, seeing her friend, pushing herself up against the counter.
"John made just made valley wide announcement; Joseph is getting tired of John's progress at taking care of us so he's going to try to kill us all with the Revelator!" she cried.
"What the hell is a Revelator?" Rook asked again.
For a split second, Mary looked at him like he was possessed before remembering he was not around the last time the Revelator roamed the roads.
"The Revelator is John's ace in the hole, he brought it out only once before when you were in the Henbane, he paraded it around to remind people who's in charge, it's a weaponized big rig like the Widowmaker but much, much worse, it looks like something Sharky and Hurk would make if they had the know how, this thing could be the most dangerous thing we faced so far, I mean it Ben, no one will hold it against you if you want to hide from this one, I don't think even you can save the day on this one, just stay with me and let the thing shoot up the town, a resistance is a group of people not a town!" Mary explained, scared.
Hearing Mary explain what was going on and how frightened everyone was made everything click in his head; everything John had said to him earlier, what he meant by saving the town or save himself, normally as the clearheaded individual Rook was, he might have actually listened to Mary after making sure everyone was safe but anger was still biting into him and winding him up at the thought of John killing even more people and desecrating more homes.
Mary watched Rook, both in silence, she watched him as he was in deep contemplation, thinking up who knows what, and after waiting in silence for a few moments with bated breath, Mary watched him exhale before speaking.
"Alright, I have a terrible idea" Rook grimaced as he approached the counter and sat down on one of the off center bar stools, walkie talkie in hand.
"Care to share?" Mary asked nervously as she watched Rook fiddle with the settings on the walkie.
With another long exhale, Rook shared his thoughts.
"Your right, I can't save the day... Not by myself anyway" he muttered has he still fiddled with his walkie.
"What, you know someone with a tank?" Mary asked.
"No, but if we're lucky, we can hit like one" Rook offered as he appeared to be finished with the adjustment on his walkie.
Unsure of what he meant, Mary stayed silent once more, watching and waiting to see what the Junior Deputy could possibly be thinking.
In truth, his plan consisted entirely on gathering all his friends and allies together in a single concentrated attack, the combined strength had to be enough to stop just one big rig, with the severity everyone was putting on John's newest play, how could he do it alone.
All Rook could hope for at this point was all his immediate friends kept their walkies on the same frequency. Ready to speak he brought the walkie to his mouth and pressed the button and begun to speak.
"OK everyone, listen up; Junior Deputy Rook here, I know your all afraid, I don't blame you, I don't know what the Revelator looks like and I'm scared too, but we can't just run away when we see something truly scary, if we do then what's been the point of this whole thing, if we just give up and run now then everyone we lost, every home taken, every sacrifice made and every bullet fired would have been for nothing, a resistance is a group of people who stands up to an established organization, we can not resist if we are not there to resist, now I can't order and tell you what to do, but I'm going to try to stop this Revelator, and as of right now I'm doing it by myself, if anyone wants to help, come on down to the spread eagle bar in Falls End, I don't really have a plan besides hit it with some explosives or something, any help anyone can offer no matter how small will be a great help... God bless and please stay safe... Junior Deputy Rook, out" Rook said, then clicked off the walkie and placed it on the counter once he was done.
"Jesus Ben, you can't be serious?!" Mary cried in disbelief.
"What else do you want me to say Mary?" Rook said somberly, look up at her from the walkie.
"Like you said, I can't save the day this time, if it's really that bad what can I do?" he asked.
"Well you have to do something more then that, people are counting on you!" Mary practically begged.
"But I don't know what to do!" Rook cried, his frustration slowly coming back to him.
Then the Bar's front door flew up and Jerome hurried inside before closing it behind him, then turned to face the two people who watched him expectantly.
He wore his usual Pastor attire, but this time he wore a thick Kevlar vest over it, a pump action shotgun in his hands, and of course, just like everyone else, he looked quite nervous as beads of sweat dotted his brow.
"Glad to see not even you are bowing out of this fight" Jerome said, nodding towards Rook.
"Jerome!" Mary called out nervously.
"Is everything ok out there?" She asked.
"It's become a ghost town out there" Jerome replied as he marched up to the counter next to Rook and Mary.
"But I've come to lend some aid any way I can" he declared.
"I appreciate the help Jerome, I really do but by the looks of things, it might be just you and me out there" Rook said sadly as he looked down at the walkie on the table, causing everyone else to look down at it as well.
"Well, it's like you said, we can't make people fight" Jerome grimaced.
"I don't suppose you got grenades laying around or know how to stop a truck with two shotguns then?" Rook asked out loud as he removed the shotgun on his back.
Whatever Jerome was going to say was cut off by Mary who spoke loudly once more.
"You guys can't be serious!?" Mary cried, slamming a hand on the counter.
Rook turned to Mary to address her again, expecting her to be angry to some degree, but when he actually looked at her, he saw the opposite, her jaw was clenched and stared at him with big wet eyes, she was scared of what could happen and what was going to happen.
"Mary, we can't just let John roll over us, we need to do something, if we don't what's stopping John from having this Revelator from rolling around the valley or even worse the whole county, all day everyday" Rook said trying to reason with her.
Mary was silent for a few seconds as her clenched jaw relaxed and began quavering lightly.
"What your going to do is insane, even for you, I ca- we can't lose you" Mary implored Rook, pointing a finger at him.
As Rook stared at her trying to think of a counter, he couldn't help but notice her hand was shaking slightly.
"I gotta try always" Rook said softly.
"But there's no one there to back you guys up" Mary said timidly.
Then as if on cue, his walkie crackled to life
"I'll gas up the Carmina and swoop in… Doubt other planes will be out and about with how fuckin' smug John was" Nick's voice came through the walkie somberly, almost defeated.
"Just make it sound like I was crucial in this shit when it's over, I'm already on this ice as is with Kim" he said.
Just hearing Nick's voice was like a breath of fresh air to the three of them, there was one other soul willing to fight the rolling terror and having air support, no matter how long was a marginal improvement to the eventual face off.
Once Nick stopped speaking, Rook quickly picked up the walkie and spoke into it.
"You got it, Partner" Rook grinned, feeling some sense of hope.
"Sweet… I'll like fly around town or something until we're ready to go or whatever" Nick said, sounding not very enthusiastic.
"Sounds good Dude, I doubt we'll be long" Rook said before placing the walkie back on the counter.
"There we go, see, things are looking up" Rook offered to Mary who was looking more relaxed down, but still wound up.
"But you still don't have a plan" Mary said loudly, rapping her fist on the counter.
"Yes, we do" Rook responded quickly.
"We do?" Jerome piped up.
"Yes, we do, Jerome and I will distract the Revelator somehow while Nick just dumps on it" Rook offered as he looked back and forth between Mary and Jerome.
"This thing has heavy machine guns, it will tear both of you apart!" Mary countered.
Then the walkie crackled once more.
"I know a desperate man when I see one, and John's really trying to score here let's show that Fuck Trumpets we're not that easy, huh?" Adelaide said in a somewhat confident tone over the sound of a whirling helicopter.
Hearing her voice, Rook immediately scooped up his walkie again and responded to her call.
"Thank you so much Addie, anything you and your tulip can do will be a massive help, you're the best" Rook praised into his walkie.
"You sure know how to flatter a girl Hun, let me just let me drop Xander off somewhere safe" Addie replied before the walkie clicked off again.
the second the line was dead, Rook let out a deep sigh
"Oh thank Christ" He sighed.
With Addie now on board, his hopes creeped up higher, he liked the idea of a helicopter and a plane laying into a big rig while the driver's focus is not on their attackers.
"Ok now you got air support, but we don't know if there are any peggies in the air or not so we got to hit them fast" Mary spoke up again, her voce sounding lighter again.
Then the walkie crackled a third time.
"Ok, Deputy Destruction, me an' Hurk are in, we're commin' back with Aunt Addie" Sharky said unconfidently over the sounds of the helicopter.
"Thanks man, I could really use your guys help, I need something crazy" Rook asked.
"Shit man, things are already crazy, have you seen the Rela-thingy, fucking crazy! It's all Mad Max up in this bitch, whatever we're doing better be supreme" Sharky responded before the walkie went dead again.
"There we go" Rook sighed, feeling like the day could actually be saved, placing the walkie back on his belt.
Hurk and sharky carried an aura of je ne sais quoi, two wildcards that marched to the beat of their own drums, despite their preceding reputations, he need crazy to fight crazy.
Then Mary chimed in to remind Rook about his plan's lack of detail.
"But what are six people going to do, you can't just wing it Ben, you could really die this time you really can?!" Mary
"Yes, Mary thank you" Rook groaned.
Mary then began going on and on about how worried she was about the whole thing going bad six ways from Sunday, but Rook didn't care, he was just thankfully for his friends to come to his aid and have his back after everything that happened in the last half hour.
Then suddenly, the door flew open with a bang, hitting the wall it was attached to, causing everyone to flinch at the sudden noise before turning to the door, expecting the worse. But found the sound was not made from ill intent but instead was a drowsy looking Jess, dragging her feet towards the three of them.
"Yo, what the fuck is going on?" Jess yawned.
"Where have you been?!" Rook cried, looking wide eyed at her.
"Fuckin' sleeping back at your place until your shit on the walkie talkie woke me up" Jess huffed, not liking his tone, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Of cour-" Rook sighed in annoyance as he rubbed his brow before trying to sum up the situation.
"John's gone off the deep end apparently and he's trying to tear up the valley with his Revelator" Rook said quickly.
"The fuck is a Revelator?" Jess asked, confused.
"Forget it" Rook sighed angrily again, before turning to Mary.
"Mary, can you get her up to speed while me and Jerome talk shop?" Rook asked hastily.
"You got it, Ben" Mary nodded.
"You heard her Jess, just trust me ok?" Rook said, looking back at his hooded friend.
Jess sighed in annoyance with a heavy eye roll before wordlessly agreeing and approaching the counter, she could tell something was gravely wrong so why fight one of the few people she trusted.
With Jess distracted, Rook tugged Jerome to the side, a few steps away from bar. Once they had a little space from the ladies, Rook spoke his mind.
"Alright we got a team together, Hurk has a big rocket launcher and Shark has a flamethrower, that and us will make a great distraction for Nick and Addie to bombard the Revelator a lot, is there anything you want to add?" Rook said in a lowered tone.
"Well, Miss Fairgrave did have a point, we would be sitting ducks if we went out there, we need some sort of protection" Jerome offered, just as hushed.
"Then what should we do, maybe if Grace Armstrong wasn't in the Henbane, maybe she could snipe the driver, but seeing as she's to far, we got to try" Rook replied.
"Hold on Deputy, allow me to think" Jerome said as he tilted his head away so he could think better.
He was silent for a few moments as tumblers in his head turned, all the while Rook waited in great anticipation, every wasted second feeling like a noose ever so slowly tightening around his neck.
Then Jerome gasped slightly before facing back to his friend, an idea on the mind.
"What if we are to take Miss Fairgrave's father's truck; the Widowmaker, I wouldn't put it past John to reverse engineer it so to speak, to create the Relevator, I'm sure Mister Fairgrave fortified his truck to take some hits considering what he used it for."
Jerome's idea hit Rook like a punch to the face, he never even thought about using the big rig in a combative nature, he didn't have much experience driving anything that big before.
"Alright, Alright, that's really good" Rook nodded, patting Jerome on the shoulder.
"We can use the Revelator, but I need you in shotgun, I can't operate all the guns and whatnot, I haven't driven anything like that before yesterday" Rook asked.
"That's understandable, I can learn the buttons as we go, if we act fast, we will have ample set up time" Jerome nodded, agreeing with Rook.
"So, what are we talking about?" Jess's voice suddenly whispered.
It was as hushed as his and Jerome's and it was directly in Rook's ear, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
With a muttered curse, Rook took one step forward instinctively as Jess's auditory proximity spooked him.
Rook then turned to see a surprised Jerome looking at Jess who stood right next to them, looking unamused and ready to go.
"So, let me guess, your going to do something stupid rather then hide like everyone else?" Jess sighed.
"Well of course, what else would I do?" Rook asked.
"No, dude, let's just go hide, he's after you right, so just hide and let John tank the town, the resistance or whatever can just move somewhere else" Jess shrugged.
"No Jess, I'm not abandoning anyone, I'm here to save everyone!" Rook declared irritably, verbally putting his foot down.
"What I believe the Deputy is trying to say is; to run away is to admit defeat" Jerome said nervously.
"Yeah, yeah sure whatever" Jess said, annoyed as she pushed passed the Pastor to get to the Junior Deputy.
With Jerome out of her way, she cleared the distance and got right up in Rook's face, almost pushed against him.
"Fuckin' come on asshole, don't get yourself killed over this shit, so what if he takes down the town, they can rebuild, they can't rebuild you" Jess demanded, prodding a finger into his chest to drive the point home.
"No that's not the point, dammit" Rook spat, smacking the finger in his chest.
"You know what I mean fuck face, just fuckin' come on, I got bunch of camps all over" Jess growled.
"Jess, screw off, I'm not abandoning my job, I'm going to take out this Revelator then I'm going for John, if you want to help on either project then great but if not then run away again" Rook barked.
But Jess's response only garnered more swearing and order giving, and this went on for a few minutes, they went back and forth arguing what do to until the sounds of a helicopter getting closer and closer could be heard from outside, it had to be Addie, landing her helicopter very close by. Hearing it, Rook looked at the front door briefly before turning back to Jess.
"Ok, whatever, we'll put a pin in it, help is here" Rook said, trying to wave Jess off.
Jess scoffed and said something rude as Rook moved back to the counter by Mary, Jerome joined him once he figured out what was happening.
With the previously loud helicopter now silent, an air of uncertainty filled the air, the helicopter was silent for a little bit now and no one had come through the door yet, a part of Rook's brain told him it was the peggies trying something fishy. He tightened his grip on his shotgun as his imagination began suggesting horrible things, but before he could voice any of them to his group, the door flew open again, not as hard this time, and sure enough, Addie, Hurk and Sharky piled in before slamming the door behind them. Somehow, they had flown here in the small helicopter with three people and rocket launcher and flamethrower that were now in their respective owners' hands. As the family sighed in relief that they made it to the bar safely, Rook didn't need to get a good look at them to tell they were shaken, just as everyone else, Addie seemed almost sunken down into herself, Hurk was trying his best to look confident but fear was slipping through the cracks, where as Sharky clearly looked uncomfortable.
"Thanks for coming guys" Rook offered lightly.
"No worries Bro, bro's don't leave bro's hanging" Hurk said, trying his best to sound as confident and boisterous as usual as he hurried away for the door and towards the group.
"Alright Hun, I don't suppose you have a plan?" Addie asked expectantly, following her son.
"I got something cooking up" Rook responded as he pulled the walkie off his belt again.
"I'm down for some big brain police planin'" Sharky said warily as he finally approached the counter as well.
As the family reached the counter, Hurk and Sharky put down their highly dangerous weapons, leaning it against the counter, then turned to the Junior Deputy.
"We're ready when you are, Hun" Addie said, tired.
Rook silently nodded then brought his walkie to his mouth and pressed the talk button to call Nick who he hoped was still in the air.
"Nick, you there?" Rook said as the walkie crackled.
"Loud and clear" Nick replied a few seconds later over the sounds of an active plane.
"Ok, I'm going to lay out the game plan" Rook declared as he looked at all his trusted friends that gathered around him.
"Roger that" Nick responded.
Rook took once last look at his friends before he spoke, he could feel a lump in his throat form, he was not one for public speaking, and the situation at hand didn't help, but he had to push himself into doing it if he wanted to save everyone, ready, he cleared his throat and activated the walkie.
Ok everyone, we're going to stop this Revelator by me and Jerome going head to head so to speak, with Mary's Widowmaker, drawing most of the attention, as that happens Hurk will hit the thing with his rocket launcher and Sharky will try to melt the tires with his flamethrower, Nick and Addie while bombard it from above" He declared.
Once Rook finished speaking, the group except for Jess murmured their thoughts on the plan, especially Mary, who mainly voiced her many concerns.
"Yeah, sure sounds good" Nick offered through the walkie.
"It is indeed the best we can do" Jerome stated.
"Fuck it, let's do it" Addie added.
Hurk made some obscene reference to something, all the while Sharky remained uncomfortably silent.
"Addie, on your way back here you didn't happen to see this Revelator?" Rook asked.
"I actually did" Addie replied.
"it's headed here, hitting up all sorts of places the resistance has on the way, I'd say we got maybe fifteen minutes tops" she guessed.
"Alright right, that's more then enough time to get ready" Rook said as he marched forward through his group of friends towards Mary and held out a hand.
"May I have the keys, please" he asked.
But Mary offered no response, instead she regarded him for a few moments.
"Jesus Ben… you're really going through with this, huh?" she said gently
"Unless you got a missile or something, we got no other choice" Rook responded, just as gently.
Mary sighed gently before sticking her hand in her pocket, before rummaging around for a few seconds before pulling a set of keys out and dangled it inches above Rook's open palm.
"Promise me you won't do anything extra crazy" she almost begged.
"I promise, Mary" Rook said.
"Thank you" Mary replied, almost sadly as she dropped the keys into his hand.
With the keys in his hand, Rook looked down at the for a second before clenching his fingers around it, then turned back to his waiting and nervous friends.
"Alright folks let get to work" he proclaimed.
As the group began to make their proclamations of being ready to go, Sharky finally spoke up.
"Heyo Dep, can I uh, talk to you, Amigo?" Sharky said nervously.
"What's up, Shark?" Rook replied, pocketing the keys.
Sharky didn't reply, instead he walked up to Rook as he pulled a phone from his pocket.
"So uh, on the way here, when Aunt Addie flew us here, we uh, kinda flew passed the Reve-whatever and uh, I kinda took a picture of that mean machine on account of how fuckin' awesome it looked, all things considered but uh... You might wanna check this" Sharky said anxiously as he held up a cracked smartphone.
Rook leaned in to see what he was being shown, the photo was slightly blurry and out of focus due to it being taken from a helicopter, but Rook could still see what the Revelator looked like..
It looked like a big rig, the same model as the Widowmaker, but it was much different, it was plated with heavy looking metal that cover every window, openings or anything that could be considered vulnerable, making the drivers cabin and engine completely protected, attached to the grill was a large pointed cowcatcher, more then enough to stop vehicles or people, attached to the big rig looked like a semi trailer, it was just as heavily armored, covering every square inch of the trailer and wheels, the top of the trailer was lined with sheets of metal and heavy machine guns attached to the front and back, two peggies in bomb refusal suits manned said guns.
But the worst thing to Rook, about this rolling death machine, was what decorated the sides of the trailer; on either side of the trailer was three people, men and woman, chained to the sides, shirtless with various sins tattooed to their torsos, blood leaking from their wrists and ankles as the chains pulled and chaffed their limbs. They didn't look like they were screaming in fear, but who knows how long they had been strung up there and they had already screamed their throats raw.
"Holy shit" Rook muttered in horror.
Rook was in absolute shock, he couldn't believe how John would allow such an atrocity to be committed, there was no way Joseph was even aware of this, how could he justify this to his masses, meaning this disgusting act of evil had to John's desperate attempt to regain control over the valley. But despite the horror of it all, it made sense to Rook, the chained victims made a perfect defense, and John's defense was working, with the six tortured people hanging on the sides, he couldn't order Nick and Addie to open fire on them or he'd feel just as unethical as Joseph himself.
"We can't go through with the plan anymore" Rook cried vehemently.
The room then became alit with confusion and disbelief, once the initial wave calmed down, Jerome's voice fought to the forefront, asking him what he could have possibly seen.
"Look for yourselves!" rook cried as he pushed Sharky's extended arm, so his phone faced the group.
With Sharky's phone now facing the group, they all almost huddle together in an attempt to see what was on Sharky's screen, and after a few screen of leaning in and squinting, the bar was alit with outcries once more, but this time in horror and disgust.
As Rook's mind raced to figure out a way to save the six captives and stop the Revelator as his friends made their appalled comments to what they saw and Jerome explaining to Mary what the problem was.
"Jesus H. Christ, I was too focused on getting us away, I didn't notice it!" Addie cried in disbelief.
Addie's comment somehow cut through Rook's frantic brainstorm, pulling him back to reality long enough to watch Jerome then took a few steps forward before turning to the group trying to clam them down so they could plan accordingly.
"Now everyone, I know we are all disturbed by the recent turn of events, but there is still a problem that needs to be dealt with" Jerome said, trying to restore order to the bar.
"What are you trying say?" Rook demanded.
Jerome then turned to Rook, revealing an uneasy look on his face.
"Now Benjamin, I can understand you do not wish to engage our assault on the Revelator but… we must follow through regardless… if we don't, countless will die" Jerome said, trying to be as gentle yet matter of fact as possible.
"What you can't be serious?!" Rook barked.
"Now hold on Deputy, let's just talk about it" Jerome quickly offered.
But Rook did not calm down, nor stop.
"There are people strapped to this thing, our people, we have to save them, or we would just be murderers if we carried on!" Rook cried.
"And if we all stand around and refuse to do anything we will be murdered" Mary said.
"But we're not going to do nothing, we're going to save them!" Rook said, slamming his fist on the counter.
"Ben, it's to risky, there's no way we can free them, you saw the photo, there's a big cow catcher looking thing and at least two fifty calibers guns mounted on it, how can you get close, let alone make a meaning effort… Ben I really want to save these people, but I really do, but we have no other options" Jerome begged Rook to see the only answer to this problem.
"Well I'm in charge of all the high priority stuff, remember so I say no, we aren't doing this!" Rook demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Jerome.
"But you're not the only one going into this, you said we can't make people fight, but you also can't make people not fight, we have a right to protect ourselves" Jerome said quickly, taking a step towards Rook.
"But we can't just start justifying us murdering our own to accomplish our goals, we would just be just like the peggies, we're not murderers!" Rook cried.
"Benjamin, we are just going in circles now" Jerome responded.
"fine!" Rook bellowed.
"Let's put it to a vote, we all decide what to do!" Rook cried as he turned to the group that watched him nervously.
"What do you guys think? Should we kill the people that depend on us to keep them safe just because it makes the job easier?" Rook demanded.
"People depend on me?" Sharky muttered to himself in confusion.
But aside from Sharky's almost inaudible the bar was uncomfortably silent, everyone all looked away, to afraid to make eye contact with Rook or Jerome, one or two of them muttering a half comment to themselves.
"Guys this is ridiculous, this is what John wants, the longer we stand around here, the more people will be hurt if not killed" Mary argued.
But her comment fell on deaf hears as no one responded to her, especially Rook.
"Guys, we don't have all day!" Rook ordered.
"I don't think we should do the thing" Sharky said awkwardly, causing everyone to turn to look at him, the room somehow become even more quiet.
It was clear he wasn't expecting to have all eyes on him as he looked even more uncomfortable as he looked at everyone looking at him, but still he spoke his mind.
"I'm not really one for killin' dudes who didn't do anything bad, and well… I know I don't make the best choices every now and again, but I feel that… I should listen to Benny on this one, I trust him and this whole thing feels… fucky" Sharky said carefully, as if trying to choose his words.
"Thank you Sharky, I'm glad someone is using their head" Rook groaned, before addressing his friends as a whole once more.
"With Sharky's flamethrower, we can melt the rubber tires and then we can make a move after we take out the gunners somehow" Rook began saying quickly, trying to not let anyone jump in.
"To take out the gunners, we, we, shoot them… with, with, a gun, a sniper rifle from Addie's helicopter, it will be a tough shot but we can do it, and if they start shooting the helicopter then, then…" Rook stuttered and repeated himself as he desperately tried to keep the train rolling.
But he just couldn't come up with anything concrete, he knew he was struggling, and he could tell everyone else knew.
"Guys, while Dep comes up with something, lets all take a minute and let your good friend; Hurkmungous lay down some truth" Hurk said loudly, holding out a hand to get everyone's attention.
"Now I'm sure your all aware I've travelled the world, fighting all sorts of bad guys; pirates, militias, royal armies or whatever and yeah sure I had fun and did so cool shit, but… I saw a lot of horrible shit as well, and well, I know I may not be the smartest or the bestest with my words like my cousin, but I think I agree with Mister Jerome on this one, we gotta stop this truckin' sumbitch before they try to kill us" Hurk supposed.
"Hurk, remember how afraid you were when John made that announcement on tv, the people on the Revelator are infinity more afraid, let's help them get away like Addie helped you get away!" Rook begged, putting his scheming on hold.
"Hold on Bro, just listen; I had a tat-bro a long time ago; Jason, one time he told me, there are no hero's or villains in war, just the winners and losers, now I don't know about y'all but I wanna be the winner" Hurk explained, for once an air of maturity surrounding him.
"If we don't stop the truck thing, we're gonna die, and a whole lot more will too, so let's get them before they get us" Hurk said.
"People are dying as we speak, there will be countless more if we don't kill these six, there is no way we can just save them Ben, I'm sorry" Mary said gently from behind Rook, placing a hand on his shoulder.
While Hurk spoke, she walked around the counter and came up behind Rook.
Rook turned his head to look at the woman behind him, he locked eyes with for a few seconds, his desperate, pleading with her big wet eyes.
Then he roughly jerked his shoulder, removing her hand from him.
"Come on guys!" he yelled, stomping a few feet away from Mary so she couldn't touch him again.
What is the rest of the resistance going to think when they find out we are murdering our own if it make our job easier, that's not what I stand for, Addie said we got fifteen minutes, we probably have ten now, let's use some of that so we can all come up with something serious!" Rook insisted loudly.
Instead or counter what Rook said, Jerome looked to Addie expectantly as she had been silent up till now and was looking more and more apprehensive with each passing moment, as he stared at her, she met his gaze.
"Hey don't look at me Sweetness, I don't feel good about this at all, I don't want no part in killing our own" Addie said, anxiously, holding her hands up and taking a few steps back as if to protect herself.
"Thank you, Adelaide" Rook sighed loudly.
But before Jerome could say anything more, Rook's walkie crackled to life again.
"What's going on?" Nick's voice came through the walkie.
Hearing Nick's voice, Rook quickly responded and filled him in on what has been happening since they last spoke, hearing it all, Nick let out a pensive groan.
"As much as it kills me to say it, I'm with Jerome, I'll do whatever I have to protect my family" Nick said uncomfortably.
"Come on Nick!" Rook yelled loudly, very upset one of his oldest friends disagreed with him.
But as much as he hated his answer and reasoning, he couldn't just tell his friend his was wrong.
"Dude, you're just embarrassing!" Jess finally spoke, sounding very annoyed and bored.
And Rook did not like it.
"Excuse me?!" Rook barked turning to the sound of her voice.
Jess was off to the side of the group; she was lazily sitting on one of the nearby chairs.
"Your embarrassing, we get it, you're a bleeding heart, just let those six people go you don't even know them" Jess argued.
"Well excuse me for wanting to do my job" Rook spat, stomping towards her.
"You can't save everyone so just give them an easy out and bomb the fuck out of the truck" Jess said, eyeing his approach.
"So that means we should just murder them?" Rook demanded, towering over the sitting woman.
"You're not even going to be the one to do it, you don't even have to watch, just let your buddies to it and destroy the truck!" Jess ordered, standing up, standing inches from Rook.
"I won't order their execution!" Rook returned.
"Then let someone else do it, if I had to guess, they'd be fine with begin blown up, they wouldn't want to be hostages that let John kill their friends" Jess explained sternly.
"No! I don't want anyone to kill anyone on our side, that's the whole point, we're supposed to be the hero's or whatever, so let's just try to do our jobs!" Rook yelled.
"You can't just impose your will onto the world, just because you want something badly doesn't mean it will happen! Y'know you remind me of my brot-" Jess yelled venomously. But was cut off by the crackling of Rook's walkie.
Rook also turned to the walkie on the counter and marched towards it, he expected it to be Nick asking what was going on, as Rook reached for the walkie talkie, he was ready to tell Nick to hold on for a few more minutes so they could decide what to do, but before he could Nick started yelling.
"Hey guys! Are you still in the bar, we need to get moving, the Revelator isn't going from place to place shooting things up on the way to town anymore, I think it's bee-lining to town now, we need to move, now!" Nick yelled.
"Son of a bitch!" Rook barked; the limited time constraint was decreasing at an alarming rate.
His mind raced to come up with something that could save the day once more, but again he struggled as he was no tactician, and it didn't help that everyone was no panicking again, unsure what to do as no one was committing to anything, and it terrified him, yet again everything was resting on his shoulders, but amidst the budding chaos, what his friends said to him filtered into his mind, if he did nothing, everyone would die.
Understanding this and everything that was happening, with a very angry sigh, Rook ripped the Revelator keys from his pocket and addressed the group.
"Alright, we go through the plan, but if I see a chance for a new plan, I will give orders, be ready" Rook ordered gravely.
"Fuck yeah, you got it Bro" Hurk said, trying to be confident and boisterous again.
"You heard the Deputy, let's move out everyone" Jerome said, stoically, pointing to the door, tightly gripping his shotgun with the other.
And with that, everyone hurried out the door.
Thank you for reading thus far and I would like to give a special shoutout and thank you to Ragnarok666 for allowing me to use his idea on the dark twist on the Revelator.
Thank you for helping me make the story the best it can be.