A decaying corpse, wolves gnashing their teeth into a wailing deer, ripping and tearing the flesh, a deer skull.

Rook's vision was bombarded with these images and other gory pictures, he wasn't sure how long he was looking at such things, but for a long time now, it burned his eyes and cooked his brain, words sporadically echoed through his ears, his head felt to fried to decode what was being said, but it merely sounded like an alien language, an aggressive one. Although his mind tried limply to fight to look away, his body had completely given in to it, his eyelids felt stuck, his eyelids barely moved, it was both a struggle and an ease to blink, he wanted to shut his eyes to hide from the images but found he couldn't, he was compelled to stare at the screen before him, his fists were stuck, curled up into fist and unable to unfurl, his knuckles popping with white and fingernails digging into his palms, threatening to break the skin, his joints rigid and taut, making him unable to move as if he was frozen in place. He was completely subservient to the visions before him. Rook didn't really know what Friedrich Nietzsche meant when he said, beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster, for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. But what he did know was he was most certainly gazing into the abyss, and the abyss was most certainly not gazing back.

Before Rook ended up in the position he found himself in, he was stuck in a truck with a bag over his head and hands handcuffed before him, scared out of his mind over what was going to happen to him and to Jess. Eventually the truck stopped and everyone climbed out before they dragged him out, throwing him into the dirt and mud, as he squirmed around on the ground, trying to get up, one of them picked him up, but forced him onto his knees, then something thick wrapped around Rook's neck, crushing his windpipe and cutting off oxygen flow, making Rook thrash and writhe , but all that did was cause the thing around his neck to tighten, the thing squeeze Rook until his movements became sluggish and dulled as the lack of oxygen was shutting down his body into unconsciousness, and then, he blacked out.

When he eventually came to and his blurry vision slowly reformed, he was face to face with Staci Pratt, his co-worker and fellow Junior Deputy, Rook wanted to cry out to him, but before he did, he felt a sharp sensation in his wrists, his dizzy eyes looked down to see not only was he in a chair but Pratt was fastening the straps that held him to said chair.

"You shouldn't have come for me, you should have run" he whispered, scared as he tightened the thick leather straps around Rook's wrists.

Rook wanted to call out for his co worker to help, but found he lacked the power too.

Then Pratt disappeared from sight, vanishing off to Rook's side and fleeing into the darkness of the room the two men where in, but all was not total darkness, there was enough light ahead of him, two people at his ten and two O'clock, also tied down to a similar chair to his, they seemed to be in similar states as him; groggy and disoriented, the two people and him were facing a wall meters away, a projector screen stretched across it.

With proper air in his lungs again, Rook coughed a few times before trying to assess his surroundings and the people before him, but his coughing must have signaled to his captures he was awake, then a slide projector flicked on producing an image of a group of strong, fierce wolves tearing apart a clearly inferior, weaker wolf, blood coating their maws and fur, thus beginning the hellish loop he was stuck in.

And after what felt like burning eons to Rook, a voice spoke up, coming through his skull like sunlight through a window.

"The world is weak, soft, we have forgotten what it is to be strong" the voice said as a man sauntered past Rook's immediate left and towards the projector screen, his body obstructing the majority of the projector behind him, casting the man's shadow upon the screen.

Once he reached the screen, he turned to face the two people and Rook, the projector illuminating him, giving Rook a clear look of the one and only Jacob Seed, clad in army fatigues and thousand-mile stare. Off to the side of the projector screen was Pratt, arms crossed in front of him, motionless and staring straight ahead.

Jacob then began pacing around in front of the projector screen and began giving a speech as he occasionally pressing a button on the small box in his hand, making the project display the next slide. For some reason his words stuck like glue in his mind.

"You know our hero's used to be gods and now our hero's are godless, weak, feeble, diseased, and we let the weak dictate the powerful and then we are shocked to find ourselves adrift, but history knows the value of sacrifice, of culling the, so that it stays strong, over and over, the lives of the many outweigh the lives of the few, this is how we survived and we've forgotten, and now the bill has come due" Jacob said.

Then he stopped pacing and slowly turned to Rook and begun approaching, the projector images appearing on his chest as he still obstructed the device, he walked right up to Rook until he towered right over him.

"Now the collapse is upon us, and this time the lives of the few outweigh the many, and when a nation that never known hunger or desperation descends into madness, we'll be ready" he said quietly as he reached for something in his pocket.

He produced a tiny wooden box, it looked just like one that would hold a wedding right, but instead Jacob twisted a little tab that protruded from the box a few times before opening it, revealing mechanical work inside, a music box.

"Together, we will cull the herd and do what needs to be done" he said as the tune became to play.

It was an eerie melody creeped out and polluted the room like an apparition wailing in its haunting grounds.

"Only yooooooou" the box sang.

Something about the noise it produced made his body go haywire, like his body was allergic to the sound, his body spasmed as if he was being electrocuted with a million volts, his brain shut off as his mind pushed to break free from his skull, his heart swell and filled with fire, igniting the gasoline that was his blood, his body screamed a distant war cry to complete some un-understandable goal, Rook was pretty sure the other two people on the room were having the same reaction, Jacob and Pratt were nowhere to be seen.

Then, Rook shook and rocked so hard that the chair he was tied too tipped over, he knew the fall didn't knock him out, but he did lose consciousness before he hit the ground.


When Rook came to and gained some semblance of awareness, the room spun and shifted, the world looked like a Jason Pollock painting as everything dripped onto each other, he felt truly awful, this was assuredly the worst day of his life as his brain swelled and every inch of his body pulsed in stiff, unmoving anguish, his tongue felt much to big for his mouth and eyes stung like they have never seen light before, he felt dead.

But what he could decern from the madness that was his existence, was something that sounded like music from the early sixties played in the background, but among the shifting colors, he could make out something different, it almost looked like blurry figures danced in his vision, they had no outlines or concrete shapes, and it was like they were talking into tin cans.

"What a mess, it a damn slaughterhouse in here, Wheaty check those chairs" What Rook thought to be a man's voice said.

"They've been stewin' in their own filth for days, Walker get some windows open" Another voice said, or as Rook assumed.

Then the undefined shapes moved and separated from one another, most likely to explore the room, Rook was unable to guess how many there were.

"Someone shut that music off" the first voice said.

Then the music clicked off, plunging the room into a silence, one Rook didn't know he craved, with the music gone it felt like he could think again, his brain was able to relax from the lack of stimulation. But with it gone he quickly realized the side of his face was coated in something sticky and wet.

Suddenly one of the people shapes appeared right on front of him, probably examining something on the ground.

"Christ it's Sully, when did they get him?" the person said, this time their voice sounded under water.

The blob of lines and colors looked like it stood up.

"Why are we even bothering with this they're all dead?" it asked.

"Because I still owe Black a favor, one I intend to keep, now check 'em anyways" a voice echoed around the cavernous chamber Rook believed to be in.

Something about that sentence sparked some kind of recognition in Rook's mind, he wasn't sure what or why, but it did.

The blob came back down to Rook's level, he did something and Rook's whole vision shifted, everything turned on its side colors and lines became more disjointed as any concepts of perception or depth went back out the window.

"Why am I always on corpse dut- Holy Shit!" the blob muttered before yelping.

Then the room seemed to explode, the other lines and colors came rushing towards him, their tinny, underwater voices washing over him and devouring him, the sounds and sights were just to much for him, everything was becoming far to much for him to comprehend, his entire being found it easier to simply fall back into unconsciousness.

And so, Rook passed out for what felt like the millionth time.


When he finally woke up again, he was feeling marginally better as he could see properly, but he still felt physically terrible. His head still felt funny and his joints stiff, if there was anything in his stomach, it would have been ejected right now if not any time before. He had blacked out, knocked out and received head trauma far too many times to be deemed healthy.

Still believing to be in the hands of Eden's Gate, he limply tried to rise from his spot but found no energy to do so and also once again found he was bound at the wrists by heavy leather straps, but this time he lay upon a cot.

Rook groaned as he went limp, frustrated and tired he could not free himself.

Defeated, Rook looked around the room to figure out where he was to find it looked like he was in a bunker of sorts, dry goods and containers lined the wall ahead of him, and fluorescent lights hung from above just like John's bunker. As he looked around the room, be it his deadened senses or his exhaustion, he failed to notice that on his right was a kid, standing a few feet back, probably eighteen at the most, he was slightly overweight and wore an open dark green button up over what looked like a rock and roll shirt, a long, braided rat tail hung over his shoulder.

"Holy shit" he muttered as he witnessed Rook coming to life.

Rook turned too look up at the child froze, he didn't expect too see someone so young so close to him, he was half expecting the kid to stick him in the neck with something sharp or God knows what, but instead, the kid simply spoke.

"Uhhh, hey Dude" he said timidly.

Rook forced his jaw and tongue into forming words, but before he could, a middle age woman walked into the room behind the kid, she also wore a dark green button up, the second she saw Rook was awake, she exploded.

"Are you fucking out of your mind!?" She yelled before marching across Rook's vision, too the other side of the room.

She stomped across the room, towards the darkened corner of the room, Rook was unsure with what she was doing until his eyes adjusted to the dark and saw a man hiding within the shadows, he stepped out as the woman approached, ready to address the yelling woman. He was a much older man, old enough to be the kid's father, he almost looked like a homeless man with long shaggy hair and beard, but what set him apart from the homeless was the dark green camouflage button up and jeans, more put together then the usual vagrant.

"Now hold on a minute, Wheaty and I agreed-" the man tried to say before being cut off.

"Oh, you agreed?!" the woman spat, turning to the kid; his name now Wheaty.

"Woah, woah, woah, I'm an impartial observer!" Wheaty yelled nervously as he back away from the woman, holding his hands up.

"This is stupid and dangerous and you both know it!" the woman yelled as she marched right up to Rook.

Rook couldn't say or do anything except watch the woman approach him, he wasn't sure if they were peggies or not, but it still scared him, nonetheless.

"What was I supposed to do?" the man huffed, not enjoying the woman's spiel, stepping into the light.

Rook could see handguns strapped to everyone's hips, they could kill him at their leisure if they wanted too.

"Leave him to die!" The woman shrugged aggressively.

"Tammy, Black cashed in her favor, I'm a man of my word, you and Wheaty should know that better than anyone else" The man said.

"He's been in that room for God knows how long, I've seen what that shit does to people, you haven't, you trust this one" The woman addressed as Tammy said.

"That's what everyone said about you" the man said, taking a step closer to Tammy.

"But luckily, I didn't listen, this is not up for discussion, we need him, that's all there is to it, understand?" He said.

Tammy didn't reply, she glared daggers at the man for a few seconds before looking at Rook, then stomped out off the room, clearly angry.

"Your right, she took that real well" Wheaty said as soon as Tammy was out of earshot.

"Out" The man snapped.

Wheaty sighed and sulked out of the room without putting up a fight.

"I didn't even do anything" he sulked as he left.

With Wheaty gone, the man walked right up to Rook, towering over him in the cot.

"Hey there Deputy" He said.

"I'm sure you got lots of questions and don't feel to good, so I'm going to give you a few answers then your going to get some rest" the man said.

"My name is Eli, Eli Palmer, I'm in charge of the Whitetail Militia and we're in the Wolves Den, it's the Militia's HQ, the reason why you're hear now and not back with Jacob Seed being his little tin soldier is because your friend Jess Black came banging on door last night, begging for our help, now normally I would have turned her away as we have much bigger things to worry about, I owed her a favor for something a long time ago, so, we let her in and she gave us a rather... Colorful description of you from and then we started poking around a few of Jacob's reconditioning places, we also told her we told her we'd help her on one condition; she stay behind and wait, she was clearly too emotionally close to this op and risked us being comprised and you will see her once you rest up" Eli said, but once he finished, it seemed like a grim air suddenly surround him.

And it made Rook nervous.

"I'll be honest with you Mister Rook, you didn't get away Scott free, as you can tell, Tammy there, didn't seem to take to kindly to you, that's because Jacob subjected you to his classical conditioning stimuli… brainwashing, he did something to you and now whenever you hear the song Only You by The Platters it will trigger the sleeper cell indoctrinate within you and kill everyone you see, now I will admit I have never seen a triggered agent activate and start killing, and honestly I don't know how to get rid of it, if there even is a way, hell I don't even want you here with all my friends so close, Wheaty's barely an adult, but you still here only because you killed John, we need skill like that, now more then ever, but don't get me wrong Deputy; if I believe you to be under Jacob's brainwashing and are a threat to everyone here, I will kill you" Eli declared.

Listening to Eli's speech was just one blow after another, he couldn't imagine what kind of condition Jess was in as she fled from several armed peggies and now he was inflicted with a condition, it shook Rook to his core, the idea of music sending him into some Jason Voorhees-esqe rampage unnerved him, he adored music, he could imagine what would happen one day far from now after Joseph and his cult was gone and he'd be browsing the web for more tunes and he accidentally stumbles onto his trigger song, or hell, he could even click a video and a pre-video advertisement could feature the accursed song, and that was if he got that far, if Jacob wanted, he could fly helicopters over the mountains blasting the song on loop, he'd turn Rook into a monster.

"Now I'm sure this is a lot to take in" Eli said, shifting his weight.

Rook would throw up if he could when he heard Eli's speculation.

"Sorry, I'm not good at this kind of this, I'm better at getting things done, not delivering bad news, tell you what, let's get you rested huh, I'm sure you want to see Black" Eli said as he reached for something out of Rook's view.

He pulled his hand back to reveal a folded blanket, he quickly unfolded it and draped it over Rook, covering his body. Rook wasn't sure how he would just fall asleep after everything he just heard but the blanket was very warm, and he did still feel very exhausted. And with one big yawn, Rook was out cold once more.


Rook awoke again, this time feeling much better than before.

His head didn't feel like it was imploding and his body didn't feel like they were made of plastic, he sighed as he became reacquainted with his body, feeling his fingers and toes twitch in response to his commands, then his arms and legs, content with his range of movement, he brought a hand up to his face, and felt the slowly budding stubble that was building across his chin, but when he did this, he found that he wasn't tied down anymore, what was more was, he also found himself upon an old, beat up couch, someone must have deemed him safe and moved him to somewhere more comfortable, but still he expected Eli or Tammy to be towering over him, making sure he doesn't start killing, but no one was there, instead he looked like he was in some common room, a shelf was line with generic board games, a guitar sat in one corner in the room, and old CRT rested on a table and across from him on a old, rickety chair sat a woman, facing him, clad in a dark green jacket, a hood partially obstructing their face, a bow in their hands, balancing the tip on the ground and leaning against it like a cane.

Rook didn't need to be laying prone on the couch to see under the hood to know the person watching over him was Jess; she looked half asleep, like she was forcing herself to stay awake, staring off into infinity.

"Jess?" He mumbled as he slowly sat up, his body following his commands now.

It was like his words brought the woman back from the dead, her tired eyes drifted over to him before shooting open, seeing him awake and seemingly fine, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing as hard as she could.

"I'm… glad your OK to" Rook managed to say as she crushed the air out of him as he put his arms around her, returning the hug.

He was silently just as glad to see her well, she might have joined him in the brainwashing if she was not killed by her pursuers.

"How are you feeling, Dude" she asked, bewildered as she pulled away, but still held contact with him by gripping his sleeve.

"I'm really tired of just blacking out, my perception of time is so messed up right now" Rook complained as he looked over Jess.

Miraculously, she didn't have a scratch on her after all things considered.

"I mean Jacob had you like fuck, you got snatched by John three times, once by Faith and now by Jacob, dude you're a fucking legend" Jess declared proudly.

"You have no idea about the shit he does" she said.

Rook internally seized when she said that, it was a blatant reminder of the brainwashing he had endured, he couldn't tell her that he was now a constant danger as she might see him as a threat Instead of a friend, what if she hated him or what if she just ran off and do something dangerous, he couldn't let her hurt herself like that, he needed to protect her and himself.

"Yeah…" Rook muttered just as quiet.

Jess must have picked up on his undertones as she regarded him differently.

"I ain't no stranger to Jacob's bullshit" she said somberly.

"I get the sneaking suspicion that he hit you with that" Jess said quietly as she lightly poking a finger into his ribs.

Rook didn't know how to respond, he felt embarrassed and ashamed to admit it, like it was his fault or something, but maybe it was, with his eagerness to get to the Mountains and not heeding Faith's words, Rook genuinely didn't know how to move forward in the fight against Jacob, how could he when a doomsday switch had been permanently instilled in him.

As Rook sat in silence trying to think of something to say, the seconds ticked by and Jess took that silence as his answer, believing that silence to be a yes.

"Don't worry Boy Scout, I ain't bailing on you now that Jacob got his hooks in you, we'll find a way to defuse you" Jess said, lightly tapping his knee.

"And besides, if anyone is going to kill you, it sure as shit is going to be me, I haven't put up with your bullshit for nothing" Jess said, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

But she wasn't sure if it landed the way she wanted too, how could she, despite is the time they spent together, he was getting harder to read by the day, his demeanor was changing, he seemed more closed off by the day, his temper seemed to get the better of him more and more, becoming irrational at times.

And it all reminded her of herself.

But she was willing to deal with that another day, one where her Boy Scout wasn't clearly afraid of himself.

Then Rook lurched forward, grabbing Jess and pulled her in for another hug, burying his face into her shoulder.

"Thank you" Rook near whispered.

Jess didn't move for a few seconds, probably letting the man give gratitude, then she finally pulled away

"I uh, let a few people in the valley know where we are, y'know... Just in case" Jess admitted.

"Turns out the Drubman's and Sharky also migrated up here at some point since they live up here" Jess sighed, crossing her arms.

"Well I guess it can't hurt to have friends near by ready to help" Rook offered.

"You have a weird fuckin' idea of what help is" Jess remarked, rolling her eyes.

"Speakin' of friends that will help, Eli and the rest of his dudes are probably waiting for us, they know they need you if they want a shot at Jacob, and I'm the package deal" Jess stated.

"How do you know these guys?" Rook asked, looking up at her.

"Dutch kinda rolled with them for a little bit since there all a bunch of doomsday preppers and they really hate peggies, so it just made sense" Jess offered.

"I can't see you working with people, back then I mean" Rook said.

"Yeah well, I did whatever I could to find the Cook and well… it didn't go well" Jess sighed.

"So uh, what's are plan, what do we do, moving forward?" Rook asked

"Well, we're already here so why not fuck up Jacob, the Whitetails are willing to work with us… unless you wanna fuck off and smack around that bitch; Faith?" Jess suggested.

"Faith won't be blasting that song that will make go crazy" Rook mumbled.

"Ok then let's go" Jess said as she stood up, then extending a hand towards up, offering to help him up.

Rook looked at his friends open hand, he wanted to take her hand and disappear into the Henbane River, he tried to put his hand in hers, put he just couldn't, his heart wouldn't let him abandon the Whitetails, they were just like the Falls End resistance, they were out manned and surrounded, and Pratt was under Jacob's thumb, his slave, his job was to help, not run away, he needed to save as many as possible, and if he did go to the Henbane, he couldn't bring himself to explain to Sheriff Whitehorse and Armstrong that he was a timebomb, they probably wouldn't trust him either. And besides, perhaps he could make up for John's murder by arresting Jacob, and if he got Jacob then there could be a chance of getting rid of this sleeper cell brainwashing.

With his mind made up, Rook took a hold of Jess's hand, making her squeeze his tightly before she pulled him to his feet, before Jess could move for the door, Rook met her gaze.

"I think we should kick Jacob's teeth in" Rook said firmly.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Jess grin cantankerously as she playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"Now come on, I'm sure they're waiting for us" Jess said as she turned and headed for the door nearby, not letting go of Rook's hand and pulling him along.

Rook offered no resistance as she led him through the various tubes and rooms that made up the Wolves Den the areas full of militia members how eyed them cautiously, she made it clear she once worked with them, but Rook didn't think she worked with them long enough to memorize their hideout's layout and remember it years later, but then again Jess proved she was full of surprises.

As they wandered down the halls, Rook quickly found that the Wolves Den was actually a underground bunker, as the tight corridors were lined with pipes and valves, carrying water or steam, the walls of the rooms were either harsh concrete of smooth metal as if shipping containers were refashioned, it was a much bigger commercial bunker then he had seen, it had to be ten or fifteen times bigger then Dutch's bunker. It left Rook unsure of how many Whitetails there were.

Eventually, they stepped into a larger room to see Eli, Tammy and five whitetails huddled around an elongated table, Eli leaned in on the table analyzing in carefully, when Rook entered the room, Eli stepped back from the table and greeted him.

"Glad to see you could join us" Eli said, giving him a wary look.

"You can't be serious, we were waiting for them?" Tammy sighed, disgusted as she too saw who had entered.

"Yeah, missed you too Sweetheart" Jess taunted as she sauntered up to the table, Rook in tow.

A few annoyed mumblings passed through the few Whitetails also at the table as the flagrant disrespect Jess brought was not a normal thing in the Wolves Den.

Rook wanted to apologize for Jess's attitude, but when he went too, he saw that everyone other than Eli regarded him the same way Tammy was, with disapproving looks aimed at him as well, it was clear they all knew he had been conditioned, they saw him as a walking time bomb.

"I'm just about sick of you Black, your al-" Tammy retorted angrily before being cut off.

"Tammy" Eli said sternly, not wanting things to get out of hand any further.

"If they can prove they can work with us, then they can help us for the sort term for now, we need all the help we need" Eli said just as sternly to the room, asserting his authority over his comrades.

Nobody said anything after that, not even Tammy.

"Now that's sort" Eli said, turning to address Rook.

"Since you found a way through John's defenses, perhaps you can help us get through Jacob's" Eli asked, waving Rook over to the table.

Rook silently agreed and walked over to the table to see what they were working on, as Rook reached the edge of the table, a few Whitetails stepped aside, not because they wanted to make room for him, but to get away from him. But Rook didn't know the difference and focused on what was on the table, Jess now joining him, resting a forearm on his shoulder, leaning on him for support.

The table before them was adorned with a miniature replica of the Whitetail Mountains, something a land developer would use, it was complete with little roads and blue plastic lakes and rivers, the replica was dotted with little house and other structures made from clay, Lego, and other representative items, this was there staging table.

"So, what are we looking at?" Rook asked, taking it all in.

"This is the road map to saving the mountains, we have enough info to do so, so let me get you up to speed" Eli said, before looking down at the map.

"Just like John, Faith and Joseph, Jacob is hiding in his bunker, with all his soldiers, peggies and brainwashed" Eli said, tapping an Eden's Gate logo taped near the base of the mountain.

"But he doesn't spend all his time there, his above ground headquarters is here; Saint Francis Veterans Center, it's where he stages everything short term and does his high profile conditioning, if we're going to get him, it's going to be during that transition period" he continued, pointing at a tiny plastic skull that sat just down the road from the bunker.

"Also, there are various bullhorn towers scattered around the mountains, we believe ten, Jacob uses them to blast high frequency waves inaudible to the human ear, he does this because he has wolves, called judges which have been subjected to mind altering techniques and he uses the sound waves to manipulate the judges regardless where they are… but I don't mean to put a fear in you, but I don't see why he wouldn't blast Only You from it so be ready for that" Eli said grimly as he gestured to the tiny, red Lego pillars.

Rook shivered at Eli's words, it truly scared him that he could just go crazy at a moments notice.

"We also know that Jacob's soldiers have been trying to move a few crates worth of explosives for a while now, they plan to blow open the McKinley Dam, they're trying to shift the river and lake levels of the whole region for some insane reason, we don't know why, but what we do know is a good portion of those explosives are going to be at a Park Visitor's Center, if we can get our hands on it, not only can we stop the dam's destruction, but we can put those explosives to use" Eli said, pointing to the plastic model that was the dam, and the Swiss army knife near the center of the table, symbolizing the visitor's center.

"We can blow up a building, Elk Jaw Lodge, it's the place Jacob uses to mentally corrupt wolves and turns them into the monstrosities that are the judges, with that gone we won't have to worry about the constant threat of a pack of wolves won't come out of nowhere and rip our throats out, well they're wolves out there now, but production will be stopped, and that would be a great help, so Deputy, Black you in?" Eli asked, looking up from the map and at him.

Rook could feel all eyes on him, Tammy, Jess and everyone else around the map, and it made Rook quite skittish, these people were a lot more hardcore and well put together the Falls End resistance, it was just anther sign that the mountains had been getting worse by leaps and bounds while he fought against John.

But regardless of how dangerous or hopeless, he still needed to try.

"Yeah… let's do it" Rook nodded, trying to put on a brave face.

"Yeah sure, whatever" Jess shrugged unenthusiastic ally.

"Glad to hear it" Eli said, bringing his hands together in a single clap.

"Then let's get a move on then" he said as he departed from the table, Tammy and everyone else following suit.

"Wait, we're doing it right now?" Rook asked, not expecting this much efficiency.

"Of course, what, you think those explosives will steal themselves" Eli said as he neared the doorway to the next room, not looking at Rook as the rest of the Whitetails and Jess followed him.

"Wait, hold on, hold, on, I need a weapon if things go sideways, I don't even have a radio, Jacob took it all" Rook"

"Sorry Deputy, if you want to roll with us, you got to play by our rules" Eli said, stopping and facing him, everyone else continuing on.

"Then what do you want me to do, then?" Rook asked.

"Jacob's soldiers severely surpass us, in numbers, weapons and tactics, the only way we are getting anywhere is silently, so please Benjamin, use these" Eli asked as he walked back across the room, passed the planning table.

On the other side of the room was a line of lockers, all squeezed together to maximize the usage of space, Eli walked up to the right most locker, next to another closed door, sealed by a valve. He opened it and rummaged around in it for a few seconds before pulling something out of the locker and faced Rook, brandishing a compound bow in one hand and a leather quiver filled with two dozen white tailed arrows.

"Trust me, these will get you a lot farther then a gun, Jessica told me she gave you a few lessons with a bow a little while ago" Eli said as he walked over to Rook and held out the items.

"Uh yeah, we killed a few guys with what she taught me" Rook replied as he looped his arm through the quiver's strap and rested it comfortably on his shoulder then looped his other arm through the bow, so it rested on his other shoulder, just as he had seen Jess do so many times before

"That's might impressive, Jessica is the best archer I ever seen, she could go national with her skills, shame she just can't get past all killing peggies" Eli commented.

"Yeah well, she seemed to trust me after I helped her kill the Cook guy" Rook offered.

"You helped her kill the Cook?" Eli asked with an astonished look on his face.

"Yeah, I helped her track him down and she did what she had too" Rook shrugged.

"I'll be damn Benjamin, we couldn't even find him, I think I'll let people know, something like that means something around here, maybe people would trust you a little more if they knew just how much your worth" Eli grinned.

"Thanks, I guess, whatever we got to do to get to Jacob" Rook replied.

"Indeed, now take this" Eli said as he turned back to the planning table.

He quickly grabbed something off the corner of the table and offered it to Rook.

In his hand, he held out a small burlap sack with a single arm strap.

"Put any explosives you find in here, or anything else you might find useful, be it food or otherwise" Eli offered.

"Yeah sure" Rook said, taking the bag and slung it over his quiver arm.

"What about a walkie, how should I stay in touch with everyone?" Rook asked.

"Well Benjamin, we don't have to many walkie talkies as we just can't get our hands on any and we're nervous Jacob might intercept those transmissions… and well… the very few we have, we don't hand out lightly, prove you'll be an actual benefit to us and I'll think about getting you one" Eli admitted.

"Ok, fair enough… but one last question, how do I get to the visitors center?" Rook asked.

"Your going to have to walk, vehicles are too loud and will give away our position" Eli explained.

Rook let out a groan of disappointment, as now he would be walking for at least an hour now.

"I guess I'll get to that now" he sighed as he turned for the door, hoping to catch up with Jess and the other Whitetails as he didn't know where to go.

"Hey" Eli said somberly, grabbing Rook's forearm, stopping him.

Rook stopped and turned, curious to what he could need.

"What's up?" he asked.

"You mean a lot to her you know?" Eli said softly.

"Are you sure?" Rook asked, tilting his head.

"She wholeheartedly refused to teach anyone her skills, but yet she taught you, a cop…. And besides, the way she told us about you, I've never heard her talk about anyone that way" Eli stated.

"Well we're a team, we need to be at a certain level if we want to get things done" Rook said.

Sure, Rook felt there was some truth to Eli's words, but not to the extent Eli believed.

"Just you wait and see, now come on, we have explosives to steal" Eli said as he tapped Rook on the shoulder and walked past him towards the door.

Rook didn't say anything, instead he quickly followed the militia leader with what he had said stuck in his mind.


From Rook's perspective, everything sucked.

His feet hurt, he was tired of walking, his leg wound was bothering him, he wasn't sure if the sun was rising or setting, which didn't help reset his internal clock and Eli forbade talking unless it was actually important.

Eli and Rook had quickly caught up with Jess and the Whitetails before they properly journeyed through the mountains, with the visitors center so far away, it meant they had to walk for a long time, and by Rook's guess it was over two hours now. The only positive prospect was Jess had taken her place next to him the entire expedition, but the five whitetail Militiamen, Eli, Jess and Rook moved in such a tight formation, not even whispers between the two was not quiet enough. The trek was slow going with Eli leading, they all kept low and they ventured through the woods and fields, everyone keeping a sharp eye out for anything remotely peggie.

But nothing engaged them, they safely navigated the region as if Eli was following a predetermined path, and after even more walking, Eli suddenly stopped moving if front of some large rocks and raised his arm, bringing the group to a halt.

"Alright folks, we're here" Eli said just loud enough for all to hear.

His words made the whitetails spread around him, lining themselves along the rocks to see what lay before them, Rook followed Jess as he didn't know their protocols yet. Once he was against the rocks, he saw what was ahead of them. Before them lay a road that ran across the terrain, bleeding into the horizon, a single jeep with Eden Gate logos on either side was parked in the middle of the road and three peggies hung around near by conversing with each other while a forth peggie poured gasoline into the jeep, on the other side of the road sat two houses surrounded by trees; the left most was a barn style building, the edges of the room were lined with awnings and the walls were windowless, the entire building installed into the side of a large hill, a few meters above road level, a few peggies patrolled the perimeter, and of course, the building was littered in cult propaganda, the right most was a much smaller and all the walls were lined with windows, it was just as marked up as the other structure.

"Ok everyone, it looks like a standard sight, but let's stay on our toes and be ready for anything" Eli said

The five Whitetails joining them made noises of agreement.

"Grace, Zhang, Valdez, you're with me, we'll infiltrate from left, Freeman, Clarke, Black and Rook, infiltrate from the right, Freeman your on point, Black I swear to God follow orders just for once please" Eli commanded.

Again, all the Whitetails made noises of agreement while Jess groaned and bitched about something.

"Alright, then begin operation" Eli said before moving off to the left.

As Eli moved, three Whitetails broke off from the rocks and followed, the four of them removing the bows from their backs and loaded an arrow for when they bumped into something. Jess and the two remaining Whitetails moved to the right, doing the same with their bows, Rook lagged behind and mimicked everything they did, trying not to blow their cover. Both teams worked their way down to the road, taking a wide birth towards the building, scuttling across the road and working their way up to either side of the building.

The closer Rook and his team got to the building, the better of a view Rook got on the place, a singular stone staircase ran up the side of the hill connecting the ground level to the elevated building, leading to one of the entrances and more importantly, their way in. But on the top of the stairs was a peggie, leaning against the stone railing and keeping an eye on the peggies on the road, unaware of the two teams that slowly circled in on them. Rook wasn't the only one who was aware of the guarding peggie as the moment they passed the road and the unaware peggies, the Whitetails spoke up.

"Target in my sights" One of the Whitetails whispered.

"Roger that" the other Whitetail replied before breaking off from the group and sneaking off in a direction from the visitor's center, instead moving parallel with it until he vanished into the vegetation.

Rook wanted to ask what was going on but decided against it he felt he'd find out soon enough.

Then Jess and the remaining Whitetail stopped the second the other Whitetail broke off, Rook unaware of what they were scheming needed to be stopped as Jess held out an arm to keep him from advancing, once he was as still of them, they crouched down lower to the ground, Jess pulling Rook down, shushing him all the while. While she dealt with Rook the Whitetail lined up the tip of his arrow with the stationary peggie on the staircase for a half second before letting it go, launching the arrow. The three watched the arrow fly through the air and found its mark, burying itself into the peggie's chest. The peggie made a dull noise of pain as he dropped his gun, it clattered on the cement, seconds later the peggie hit the ground, dead.

The peggie had not been on the ground for barely a half dozen seconds before the vanished Whitetail appeared from over the stone railing and grabbed the body, dragging the corpse back into obscurity, firearm and all.

A bird call then echoed down from where the peggie once was, making the Whitetail whistle the exact same bird call.

"Zone is clear" the Whitetail said.

Then the Whitetail and Jess moved forward again.

Rook was left stunned over how effectual the Militia was, watching them was like watching a surgeon doing their work, if he had not been paying attention, he would not have noticed the peggie's life being snuffed out then the evidence being concealed, even the bird call went over his head, he had heard so many bird calls a day so the artificial call was common to him, this Militia must be operating under so many field rules, but he could now see why Jess couldn't conform to the Militia's standards.

With the party moving again, Rook boxed away his bewilderment and followed cohorts, going back to their path, they worked their way up the hill until they became parallel with the top of the stairs before turning to face it, the hurrying towards it, they hoped over the stone railing and regrouped with the missing Whitetail as he was waiting for them to catch up as he was crouched by the building's door and peered in as the door was slightly ajar.

"What are we looking at, Clarke?" the Whitetail asked.

"Looks empty inside, could be a trap, who knows, but it's a tourist trap, simple layout, nowhere to hide" Clarke said.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go say hello then" the Whitetail said, who Rook presumed to be Freeman.

Clarke stood up and loaded an arrow into his bow and stepped away from the door as Jess and Freeman approached instead.

"Just like old times, huh Black?" Freeman offered.

"Yeah, yeah, just do the fucking thing" Jess sighed impatiently.

And with that, Freeman silently shoved the door open, allowing him and Jess just as quietly swooped in, loaded bows first and ready to fire, they did a quick sweep of the imitate area, checking corners and securing the room, Clarke and Rook coming in behind them, just as ready, Rook was scared to what they could fine as he greatly preferred a gun over an arrow.

But the tense moment was quickly defused as everyone quickly found the room was devoid of peggies, instead the room was a complete mess, the shelves that lined the building in rows were bare, a few items that once sat on those shelves lay on the floor or was outright gone, the floor was matted in various pamphlets, posters were ripped from the walls and replaced with cultist propaganda, blood stained the cashiers counter, the stain was next to the register that had been long since smashed.

"Alright, fan out" Freeman ordered as he quickly took the arrow out of his bow and placed it back in his quiver.

Everyone agreed as they also disarmed their bows and began scouring the room, Rook was particularly slow in his investigation, as he wasn't entirely sure what to look for, he never handled explosives in bulk before and wasn't sure what the appropriate containers would look like.

With the Whitetails and Jess scoured the front half of the building, Rook decided to check the back out, making him wander up and down the small aisles, but he found nothing as the shelves have been picked clean, he could only imagine what the room looked like before the peggies tore it up, it would have felt warm and rustic, a place he would have enjoyed to work at during the summer in his teens. But fantasizing had to come at another time, as he needed to remain focused, for explosives and prowling peggies, just the thought of being caught made him move a little faster up and down the isles looking for anything out of place, but as fast as he began his search through the isles, it ended as there were only for and they were very short, it put a pressure on his shoulders as he really felt that always present strain of what if this was the moment that their luck finally goes down hill from here, but before he could turn to Jess and ask for ideas to find said explosives, he couldn't help but notice that tucked a little to neatly in the far corner of the room, next to an upturned recycling bin was a large cube object with a blanket over it, it was no taller than the recycling bin, the blanket obscuring what it really was.

"Hey guys, I think I found something" Rook said quietly, the pressure relieving slightly.

His words made his three teammates freeze momentarily before turning his attention to the Junior Deputy before advancing on his position.

"What do you got?" Freeman asked.

"Well, this looks pretty suspicious" Rook said, pointing to the mystery box.

"What are you waiting for, pull it off" Jess groaned.

"Just letting you know just in case this is a trap" Rook replied as he turned back to the box and pulled off the blanket with a slightly shaking hand to reveal a large, bulky green case underneath.

"The explosives have to be in there" Rook commented, feeling a lot better.

"I think your right Boy Scout, visitor centers don't store hiking trail map in shit like that" Jess replied.

"Let's see what we got" Rook said as he went to pop the lid but was quickly stopped as the lid refused to move.

Confused to why the lid did not move, Rook looked down at the containers ridge to discover a decent sized lock pinched the lid closed.

"We need a key" Rook sighed in annoyance, stepping away from the box.

Rook stepping away allowed Freeman and Clarke to step in and begin their assessment.

"We need to go through the peggies and find the key" Clarke suggested, looking at the lock.

"No, we should signal Eli and give a sit rep" Freeman retorted.

As Rook listened to the two men go back and forth, it made him wish he had his shotgun, he could smash the lock with the butt of the gun.

"Doesn't Valdez have bolt cutters, he is ever the wildcard" Clarke supposed.

Then Jess shoved both men aside, approaching the box.

"Oh, get out of the fucking way you babies" Jess griped as she brandished a large knife that she kept in her quiver.

She slid the blade into the lock's hoop and pushed downwards, trying to force the latch from the lock, and after a few moments of using her strength and the knife, the lock broke free.

"And there you go, you big babies" Jess snarked as she pulled the broken lock free and popped the lid.

With the lid off, the party could now see the box was stuffed with C4, plastic explosives despite the room was dimly light.

"Fucking, pay dirt" Jess smirked.

"Quit your gabbing and start grabbing" Freeman ordered as he crouched down and removed the burlap sack from his shoulder and begun stuffing the bag with C4.

No one argued with the man as everyone else crouched down and began load the explosives into their bags as fast as they could.

As Rook loaded his bag with explosives to the point of being half full, he couldn't help but notice a dull tapping noise echoed into the room, it almost sounded like something was bumping against one of the man windows that lined the walls. Curious, he looked around the room to see what the origin of the noise was just in case it was not a peggie, he scanned the windows to see nothing, which confused him more so, so much he was willing to forget about it as no one else seemed to care, but as he was about to go back to filling his bag, he finally noticed the sounds source; through the dimly light, occasionally strobing light to see that Eli and his three Whitetails stood on the other side of the window, looking in.

It made Rook reflexively flinch as he wasn't expecting to be snuck up on like that, he almost forgot the room was surrounded in glass, and he couldn't help but notice that Eli had a little bit of blood splashed across his chest.

Not only was Eli gently tapping on the window to get their attention, he was also pointing to a simple lock that kept one of the many windows shut.

Rook instantly understood what Eli wanted and stood up, leaving the half-filled bag on the floor and walked over to the window and popped the latch before opening the window, the glass quietly squeaked as it went.

"Look's like you guys fared better then us" Eli remarked as he began to climb through.

"There's totally enough to put a sizable hole in the dam" Freeman remarked as he turned to look as his leader and cohorts as they came through the window one by one.

"Then let's get it ready to go ASAP, I don't mean to rush all of you, but we heard from our friends in the other building that this stuff is going to be moved really soon" Eli relayed.

"Sounds good to me" Clarke said, sealing his bag and standing up to step away so his cohorts could step in and fill their bags.

And soon after Freeman, Jess and Rook also finished, allowing their remainder to fill their bags. As they did so, Rook peeked out of the door they had come in to see the four peggies on the street and sure enough they looked like they were arranging to move the explosives once again as they were preparing a large dolley. He was ready for any of the peggies to notice that the peggie that stood by the door had mysteriously vanished.

Seeing this, Rook turned back to his friends, their time was quickly running out just as Eli foretold.

"Hey guys, we need to wrap this up fast, they're going to come up soon" Rook whispered loudly.

"Don't worry Deputy, we're just about done here" Eli said as he shut is bag closed, his bag struggling to seal.

"How much room you got boys?" Eli asked, turning to his Whitetails.

"Almost done Boss, almost full" One of the Whitetails replied.

Rook let out a quiet, uneasy groan as he lightly bounced up and down in worry, things were taking much to long for his liking, if they were caught, they would be killed or dragged off for more conditioning, and Rook didn't know what was worse.

Unable to watch the Whitetails hurriedly back their bags anymore he returned to the door and peeked out the doorway once again, but this time found something much worse, a single peggie was working his way up the stairs, he was half way up and carrying a large automatic rifle while the other three were still on the road, messing with the dolley.

The peggie scared Rook, so much that he had to bit his tongue to keep himself from yelping in fear or calling for someone to deal with him, all of Jacob's soldiers scared him, he saw what they were capable when they grabbed him, they were ferocious, precise, tactical, they were real soldiers, something he couldn't fight.

But that paralyzing fear also pushed him forward, Rook knew he had to do something, the man was to close for him to call one of the Whitetails to do it, Rook knew what needed to be done.

He pulled an arrow from his quiver with a shaking hand and clumsily loaded it into the bow just as Jess had taught him, he pulled the drawstring back until the string was taunt and the arrow was reared back, he took in a few uneasy breathes as the peggie's footsteps on the stone stairs got louder and louder, but Rook knew better, he had spent to much time fearing John's men, but no more, if he would die in Hope's County, it would be a warrior's death, not a cowardly one, he was a Junior Deputy of Montana after all, not a coward.

Rook swallowed the spit in his mouth and gritted his teeth in determination, a spark was igniting in him, he was ready to fight, he was ready to win, then in one quick movement, he swung through the door and lined up his shot.

In the few seconds the peggie saw Rook and Rook letting go of the arrow, the peggie went through a slideshow of emotions, surprise, confusion, anger, and then right as Rook let go of the arrow, it almost looked like acceptance.

Rook's arrow shot from the bow, flying a few meters before burying itself into the peggie's chest, center mass, making the peggie wheeze once before falling back as his body went limp, but since he was on the stairs, gravity pulled him back, making him tumble down the stairs, crashing to the bottom with a crunch.

The three peggies heads snapped to their fallen ally in unison, seeing the body at the bottom of the stairs with the arrow sticking out of his chest, they all understood what had happened, as quick as they looked at the body, they craned their necks upward to the building's entrance to see no guard or Whitetail, still they knew they were being hunted, and they didn't like it.

As quiet as mice they hustled to their jeep to retrieve a few more ammo clips before making their move upon the building.

Meanwhile, Rook quickly returned inside the visitor's center as the man plummeted down the stairs, he knew the other peggies would notice the corpse rolling down the stairs, he had to let the team know.

"OK guys, time to go" Rook cried, trying his best to remain quiet as he almost ran back to the group.

"Is everything ok, Deputy?" Eli asked, looking at him with concern.

"Peggies know we're here, I just had to kill one that was coming up the stairs, he fell down the stairs" Rook explained quickly.

"Good work taking care of it so quietly, and you are right, we've spent to much time here" Eli said before turning to the three Whitetails kneeling before the box.

"You done boys?" he asked as Jess giggled at the thought of seeing a peggie fall down the stairs.

"You know it, let's bounce" One of them said confidently as all three began sealing up their bags.

As the Whitetails closed their bags, Rook stole a glance into the large box too see that the box was not completely empty a few dozen bricks sat at the bottom of the box, everyone's bags had been filled to max capacity and could not carry any more, but what wasn't taken was not enough to break through the dam.

"So how are we getting out of here?" Rook asked, eyeing the door.

"Through the way we entered" Eli replied, slinging his bag over his shoulder before moving to the still open window.

"Alright Whitetails, time to ex-filtrate" He said before beginning to climb out the window.

Then one by one, everyone quickly filed out the window, making it almost appear as if they were never there in the first place, something Rook hoped to pull off time and time again in the future, but that actually happening remained to be seen as the mountains was a much different battlefield then what he saw in the valley, and he knew he needed to change along with it.

Then the three peggies barged into the visitor's center, guns aimed and ready to shoot anyone, checking corners and barking death threats, but by then, Rook and his party had all clambered out of the window and disappeared into the woods.


The return to the Wolves Den was a welcome one.

Despite how low key the mission to retrieve the C4 was, its success was the saving grace of the mountains as who know how much damage would be done if the dam had a hole punched through it. And so when they returned to the Wolves Den, Eli and his teammates were given a hero's welcome, complete with clapping cheering and a few salutes, they had gotten one over Jacob Seed, or at the very least waylaid his plans, but as the Whitetails celebrated the return of their leader and his teammates, no one seemed to give way to Rook, most likely due to their distrust of him as it was widely known he was another one of Jacob's sleeper agent's, ready to go into a killing frenzy at a moments notice.

But Rook wasn't the only black sheep, Jess was just as invisible as he was, obviously due to her long history of fighting authority and tendencies to do things by herself. But that invisibility felt like a good thing as while Eli and his troupe was being praised, Jess grabbed Rook's arm and pulled him into the depths of the Wolves Den, showing him around and giving him a lay of the land, showing him how things worked and where the important necessities were, once Jess finished with her tour, she pulled him into what looked like a communal sleeping quarters, it was a large room lined with steel pole bunk beds, the type you'd see in prisons, she told him it was the only place where he'd get any decent sleep before pushing him down into one of the beds before plopping down next to him, confused to what her intentions were, Rook wanted to ask, but Jess was one step ahead of him, she made it abundantly clear that she merely wanted to talk and catch up despite not having any personally time together since what he believed to be last night, which was weird to Rook as she was never talkative, it was like she had ulterior motives, but Rook didn't feel that was the case as Jess subtly seem to enjoy expressing her gripes and how much she hates following Eli's rules, she hated existing in such a enclosed environment with so many people and missed the isolation of Rook's home, she enjoyed that the Militia was actually well put together and capable of doing something worth while, unlike the Falls End Resistance, she even dared to probe him on information on the music he adored so much, and in time, Rook had his turn to express his feelings and thoughts, his fears of being a music triggered monster, his anxieties of being the Militia's black sheep, his worries of the what if's and could be's of what could befall his friends far away from him.

The two of them went back and forth for a long time, talking about whatever they deemed interesting enough, all the while poking fun at each other when the opportunity arose, they did this until Rook felt that he needed to ask Eli if there was anything he could do to pull his weight around the Wolves den. Against Jess's opinion he got up and left the room, Jess stating how she didn't want him to go but it was very clear that wouldn't stop him so she would be impatiently waiting for his return.

Rook wandered the halls, looking for Eli with slight confusion as Jess's tour had not fully sunk into his mind, leaving him to meander around the bunker, walking in big circles, trying to get a lay of the land, then on his forth loop through what he believed to be a dinning hall, he finally bumped into Eli.

"There you are Deputy, I've been looking for you" He said.

"Oh, hey Eli, what's up?" Rook replied.

"I just wanted to say that even though not a lot happened this evening but I would still like to say you did pretty good out there, thank you for assisting us, a lot of people had a lot of trouble getting the hang of how we do things in the beginning but it came natural to you, people like you are few and far between, we need that if we want to win, so, welcome to the Whitetail Militia Deputy, you and Black" Eli said.

"Hey, no worries, it's why I'm here, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to arrest Jacob" Rook replied.

"Well I don't know about arresting him, but until we get to that point, why don't you hold on to that bow and quiver, you seem like you know your way around it" Eli remarked.

"Are you sure, I don't want to be taking up all your resources" Rook offered.

"It's fine, no one will miss it" Eli said, waving him off.

"Ok thanks, so… what do we do now?" Rook asked.

"Now we move to prepare to destroy Elk Jaw Lodge" Eli replied confidently.

"Wait really, just like that" Rook gasped, shocked at the aggressive speed the Militia operated at.

"Well yeah, do you think we're just going to stand around and let Jacob do what he wants, give me some time to talk with Tammy and we'll piece something together, then we group together and lay down some really groundwork, sound good?" Eli grinned.

"OK, I'll wait, just give the word" Rook nodded, feeling glad Eli was such a capable leader.

"Take care Benjamin, keep an eye on Jessica for me" Eli remarked before departing, most likely to find Tammy.

With Rook all alone again, thinking on what Eli had told him, listening to the creaking of pipes around him and the faint voices from other rooms, he felt like he didn't need to ask how he could pull his weight anymore and instead, he returned back to find his way back to the sleeping quarters, and more importantly, too Jess.