Far Cry 5: The Collapse
Chapter 9: Questioning a Demoness
The scraping of feet on the steel floor and the subsequent clanking of the cell door opening signaled to Joey that once again John had 'summoned' her to his 'atonement' chamber as he called it.
Once or twice a day this would happen though without her watch and no sight beyond the steel and concrete walls of the bunker she had no hope in hell of knowing what time it was or even what day it was. For all she knew this could still be the first day she was here and the beatings were happening by the hour.
'I wonder if Joseph will show up again today?' She wondered. Joseph had been there for the second or third time she had been drug into John's chamber and had simply watched with that damned lifeless stare. She remembered him looking at her as if she was a mere object and nothing more.
'You got to be pretty fucking pathetic to fall for that kind of guy and willingly follow him to hell.' She wondered as the two door guards undid the restraints that held her to the floor and transferred her into a office chair and bound her again with rough hemp ropes.
She had exhausted herself by the fourth beating trying to actively resist the men so now she simply laid limp not resisting but not helping either. Downside of course was that the two men regardless of what the cult may say about being above the sin of 'Lust' happily took the opportunity to avail themselves the chance to 'accidentally' grope her as they moved her into her rolling office chair turned transport.
Being rolled out of her cell and to John's chamber some distance away was the only chance she got to see how the rest of the cult was doing. The first time she was rolled out they had looked at her with intense loathing calling her 'The Harbingers Harlot', amongst other colorful titles. All of the peggies she saw then were smiling and openly happy about what they were doing here but by the second or third time that seemed to change, there were far fewer members than before that was for sure apparently lost during some massive attack just outside the bunker itself but it was the whispers that matched what she heard from her door guards saying to each other.
"'The Collapse' is coming for us. The Father said he would protect us from 'The Collapse' but why is he still killing so many of our number." Joey heard around her at that time.
Now though there were even fewer people around as they passed various rooms. She noted a lot of members seemed to be getting punished for 'their lacking of faith in John and The Father'. She heard two members talking about how there was another round of mass suicides yesterday after something called 'The Revelator' was destroyed by no less than 'The Collapse' himself.
'Who ever is this 'Collapse' guy is I owe him a drink and maybe a date.' The brief happy thought made her wince as her body and face reminded her of all the various blows she had endured from John's hands and numerous paddles and canes.
Finally their trip was at a end and the guards opened another armored door this one far thicker than most others she had seen. She suspected that this wasn't John's normal 'atonement' chamber because it seemed impossible for any screams or pleas for mercy to escape from this room. No, she suspected this was John's private room and the endless screams of people that never seemed to fully die down were being done in other rooms. Sound seemed to travel unnaturally long in the bunker as she had clearly heard John making some great speech and ending it by chanting his slogan of 'YES!'.
'No. I will not break. No. I will NOT convert. No... I will not betray myself.' Joey reminded herself as she prepared for today's session.
As always John was inside already clean and dressed in his fancy silks and leather but this time the smug look he usually wore was gone as was... the predatory glances.
Joey had by now figured that she was a special case both in that only John was allowed to work her over but also he was limited probably by Joseph in how far he could go with her 'conversion'.
'That would explain why John has his own private, probably soundproof room without the usual door window. Wouldn't want the lesser members to see anything... inconvenient from their Herald.' She thought grimly as her chair was stopped once centered in the room under one of its few ceiling lights.
Once the guards had bowed and showed their respects to their Herald they shut the massive door behind them and John continued to stare at her in a clearly unhappy manner.
"Deputy. Hudson. Today is going to be a bit different. You see right now I need help from you to convert another wayward soul, and given your resistance to... my direct methods such as they are. I feel that while as far as you are concerned you will resist to the bitter end any attempts to atone and redeem your own sins... you would much more likely do it for the sake of others." John said as he slowly circled around her chair a lone finger tracing a path across the back of her shoulders and tracing across her front at the top of her black undershirt.
"Fuck you John." She snarled as best as she could.
John sighed heavily. "Well then... lets go ahead and start with you since you are so repulsed by talking about the salvation of others."
He walked over to a desk that was covered in his various tools of punishment and picked up a very thick folder and walked back to Joey and continuing his orbit of her.
"Let's see here Josephine Helena Hudson. Born on the 14th of December 1990 in Hope County Montana. Mother was the County Treasurer and late father was a Hope County Sheriff's Deputy until he was killed on December 16th 2004 by a snowplow that had hit ice while going down a hill." John said now fully assuming his lawyer persona.
He continued. "In school you were either at or in the top five of all your classes, involved with numerous shooting sports from a young age, and a avid and well known hunter and tracker in your teens. You worked various summer jobs until you graduated High School and went to the University of Montana with a full ride scholarship in Geosciences... whatever that is."
"In layman's terms Geology." She interrupted.
"Seems thrilling." John deadpanned before continuing once more on his monologue. "You changed majors in the winter of 2009 and started the University of Montana's Criminal Justice course where you graduated top of your class. You changed jobs several times during your course eventually winding up as a 'dancer' at the Iron Flagpole Gentleman's Club. I bet your mother was simply thrilled to hear her baby girl was resorting to stripping to make it through school."
Joey scowled hard. "Hardly. First question she asked was how much I was making a night. After that she was more than proud of me. Is there a point to reviewing my entire life?"
John's only response was to hold up a finger and continue. "After you graduated you were immediately hired by Sheriff Whitehorse and sent to the Montana Sheriff's deputy academy where again you were at the top of your class. Then after only a year of service you were sent back to school again on the department's dime no less for a degree in Computer Forensics where you again topped your class. Among all this you continued to accumulate numerous marksmanship awards which is helpful considering that to date you have been involved in no less than twelve different instances of being part of a officer involved shooting one of which resulted in the death of a senior deputy Danny Wilson."
She really didn't like being reminded of that particular event. She slipped up once and it cost the life of her partner and for a while wrecked her mental health until she finally worked through that issue.
John closed the folder and came up behind Hudson draping his arms around her in a sort of hug and whispered into her ear.
"The reason for all this is to give you an example of what I need from you. I need to find every sin committed by a certain man but his records are... spotty to say the least. Now after reading all this I have to say I see that the sins he told me however mockingly he may have done it, are actually rather applicable to you as well." John pulled the photos he had picked out from the folder and held them up for Joey's consideration.
"A lifetime of 'Pride' be it from a ten year old with a shotgun too big for her, to a helplessly consistent string of academic awards." John showed the next picture of her father's funeral. "Even when God sent a warning that you should be humbled. You. Ignored. Him." John whispered.
Old memories of that entire month threatened to break her exterior. Her father had thrown a great 15th birthday party and had given her the same old 1998 F350 she drove today for her to fix up by the time she was 16. He was going to help teach her how to do the work. But that ended two days later when a county snowplow coming down the hill past Gardenview Food Packing hit some ice and slid sideways into her fathers parked patrol car. It was either the impact of the heavily loaded plow truck or the tree that the patrol car was literally batted straight into that killed her father but no matter the deed was done.
The flowing Christmas was... grim to say the least and probably the only time in her life that the Christmas tree was fully taken down the next day and not some time in January.
Anger was now coming up from the bowels of her soul, how dare John claim that her father's death was God's way of saying she needed to humble herself. She never backed down from stating her accomplishments when challenged but she didn't smash them in other people's faces like Mr. Drubman did on a constant basis.
"Ah there is the next of your sins. 'Wrath'. Something I know a fair amount myself, and from your professional file even when compared to a LEO in a major city for the number of years that you have thus served I would say you are above average when it comes to drawing your gun out. Probably to show off just how good of a shot you are." John said as he changed pictures to show a shot up Sheriff's department F150. "Again God gave you a warning against this sin as well. Those that lose themselves in 'Wrath' often are slain by the same acts." John continued as he changed pictures to show now all three of her High School Proms.
"Now we come to your last two sins. 'Lust' as seen here and 'Greed' as we saw in just how far you are willing to go to acquire wealth. Tell me Hudson how many times did you sell your body yo get a few dollars more? Ten? A hundred? One thousand times? Of course as we can see here 'Lust' has been with you for quite some time if those dresses are anything to judge by, and I'll bet that your mother was just peachy with it so long as you were paying for it out of your own pocket or were you selling yourself back then as well?" John said as one of his fingers traced random patterns over the exposed skin above her undershirt before for one pass he slipped below the hem of the shirt by the slightest amount.
Joey was breathing hard. She was angry which was better to show than her nervousness at how close John was and how handsy he was getting with her.
"You see I have been gifted by God to find and expose everyone's sin. To layout their entire life so that person must come to terms and atone for those sins before God, to have them ripped from their flesh. Now it is only through 'The Father's' direct instruction that you not go through that particular process such is God's will, but that is fine by me as much as I would prefer... more direct and intense means of bringing you to the point of saying 'YES!' and willingly asking for your sins to be removed. I came to the same point by fist, paddle, and cane by my adoptive parents and so there is no reason why you can't eventually follow the same course." John monologued as he finally resumed his orbiting around her.
"Ok so you laid out my life of so called 'sins'. You didn't do this for my benefit at least today so who is it that you are trying to get information on?" She asked as John crossed in front of her.
"Yes! The reason why we are gathered here today in holy matrimony! I want to know about Deputy Roger Rook. Who is he? His life story. How does he tick? Help me layout his life before him just as I have done for you." John enthusiastically said as he gestured his arms widely to a unseen audience.
Joey looked on dumbfounded for a moment then smiled which turned into horribly embarrassing giggling and then outright laughter.
"Oh... Oh god... That's what all this was about? John had you just asked I could have saved you the mountain of paperwork you and Nancy probably did to get all that info on me." Joey said as she finally recovered from her laughing fit.
John for his part during all this was utter confusion followed by a surge of wrath to learn that he could have known this days ago before he had lost the majority of his territory and increasing numbers of his flock.
"Then tell me Hudson! Tell me who is Roger Rook!" John said as he grabbed his prey by her shoulders.
Joey smiled. "Roger Rook is the best man this valley has ever produced which considering his father is saying something. He is a polymath, a Renaissance man if you will with his main ability being a 'human calculator' which is why he was always an unnaturally good marksman even at extreme ranges. When I first met him he wasn't much a people person. He was very polite but ridged in his thinking when it came to dealing with people, a idiot would probably be foolish enough to try and place him somewhere on the autistic spectrum but in truth he hadn't for lack of a better term solved the mental equations needed to interact with people and get the result he wanted. Empathy isn't his strongest point."
"So he is a control freak that can do some math." John said his own anger being apparent from his piercing gaze but Joey was high right now off of feeding from John's reaction to what she was saying so she pressed on.
"Control freak is a bit of a stretch. He has a powerful dominate personality that is always pushing for the next goal. He is driven and will do his damnedest to boil as much of a situation down to numbers so he can throw his sheer mental capacity at the problem to get the best outcome that gets him his goal and sets himself up for the next one. If what your people have been whispering in the halls is accurate, I'd have to say that he must be this 'Collapse' guy that your own people killing themselves over. That just means that you are in some very serious trouble." Joey finished with a big smile.
John pushed himself off of Joey and started pacing around the room angrily.
"Explain! How is he so good at killing people? Is it something he learned in the Army?" John finally asked.
Joey smiled again. "Oh you think you and your fellow peggies rate as people in Roger's mind? The thing to remember is that as he grew up and learned how to interact and manipulate people he would start placing a value on them. That first value would determine if he would speak with them at all without something to give him a reason to increase their value in his eyes. Then if he had time he would ask people he trusted to calculate how he should handle this new person otherwise he had to 'leave those variables blank' so to speak until he started talking to this new person. People who he likes have a high base value like family or close friends. Enemies like you and your family along with the rest of the cult have a very low base value then you factor in your actions."
"I'm getting a headache already." John said as he rubbed his temple.
Joey pressed on. "Ok then let me put it this way. Roger is God's own personal head of Accounts Receivable. You, your family, and your fellow members are deep in debt and past due. So to balance the accounts he going to take all your assets: your land, food, weapons, and yes even your lives because that is the only thing that will settle a given persons account."
"But I have things he must value. After all I have you Deputy, a man like him must have some powerful lusts towards a beautiful woman such as yourself." John said trying his best to regain the upper hand in the room.
Joey shook her head. "You are right, I am valuable to Roger but how valuable to him I am is variable and regardless you are so deep in debt that even if you handed me over absolutely unhurt it wouldn't be enough. The other part of Rooks calculations the ones that govern his morality is something he developed when we were teenagers. He will factor in following all rules and regulations to the letter so long as it leads to a morally positive outcome, if he can't do that on his own then he will pass the responsibility on to the next person above him and try to influence things at that level but otherwise he is no longer going to feel responsible for the outcome or its morality since he is only a influencer and not directly involved."
"I am sensing there is more to that Hudson. I'm going to guess that there is a breaking point where his math skills fail and he is an out of control monster such as I have seen and heard from him so far." John said.
Joey shook her head again. "No because the only breaking point at play here is when he determines the value of laws and order to be negligible in the outcome he wants. What you and Joseph have done is disrupt his ability to pass on decisions to a higher level namely The Sheriff or even the Marshal if Burke was worth anything, so now you have made him the sole man in charge basically where the buck stops with him then you take over the whole country disrupting the rule of law. You have zeroed out the two biggest factors in how he approaches problems."
"What? I'm lost, so now that he is cut off from his superiors and higher powers he will no longer factor in other people? The people of Fall's End or perhaps your own health and safety which by the way is something that you too should be concerned with." John said frustration coating his voice.
"You are at the point where the harder you push him the thinner the veneer of empathy and civility get. He will start to make more brutally logical decisions as you push him to. Say if he had to choose to either let you go or shoot through my head to kill you John, Roger at this point would shoot through me without hesitation. Killing you will mean the rest of local area is safe, the cult will be damaged, Joseph will be damaged by your loss, and all of that out weighs whatever value I have to Roger because the morally right outcome is to save the masses over the one. On top of that he is likely still operating under the idea of being a Sheriff's deputy so that means he is even more motivated to protect and serve the wider community and that killing a fellow officer in such a extreme situation such as this while hard for him professionally and personally is needed because to reach the desired moral outcome because that is what the math requires."
"He is a heartless machine. What did you ever see in him? In fact what do you see in him now?" John asked off hand as he started to realize just want all of this meant to him and his goals.
"He is a 'Terminator' and yes he is looking for a certain John Seed at the moment." She joked briefly.
"As for what I saw in him back when we were dating was honesty. Lying is something that requires calculation and effort to be effective thus he must see the act as being worth the effort and risks to reach a desired goal. With me he never had to lie, he could tell me anything and I could do the same and we both got what we wanted with none of the extra effort that lying requires to work. Also once you get to know him he actually is a good person or tries to be, sweet and caring even if he is trying to make sure he can butter someone up at some point down the road. As for what he is now after not seeing him for ten years? I don't know. The cult kinda tainted the waters before a reading could be made." Joey replied.
John paced thinking out loud as he did. "How God do I reach a man that is more machine than flesh? Surely he knows that he will have to answer for his crimes even if somehow he frees the county from The Project. The proper authorities will hold him to the fire for everything he has done especially as you said as a Deputy operating without the least regard for the laws he was sworn to up hold!"
Joey sighed she was enjoying playing with John's head but she was now reaching for things that she wasn't comfortable saying. "Let me tell you of a story John about the last man that pushed Roger too far. There was back in '06 a scientist by the name of Dr. Larry Parker who came to Hope County and setup a laboratory outside of Fall's End. He was a crackpot but otherwise harmless, as we tend get plenty of nut jobs coming out here as you are so very well aware of.
Over that summer he hires a local girl to be an assistant, mostly write down whatever his machines are doing but it was very well paid work. So much so that eventually he also hired her little sister the middle child of three. Right before Labor Day weekend that year the two girls fail to come home and Larry Parker is no where to be found at his lab. However there was evidence that he might be heading for the Whitetail region so a manhunt was organized and naturally Roger and I volunteered as we knew the area and could handle going into the roughest places on our own as we had brought our hunting gear with us.
On the second day we hear the details behind this Doctor, turns out he was originally in prison in New York state and had escaped three times before to return to his often lethal experiments. He had actually been let go a forth time due to a clerical error with a Barry Parker. No relation obviously. With that now known the US Marshals came in to capture him and take him back to New York. What were dealing was a man that was in prison for over a hundred known dead victims yet given that New York doesn't have the death penalty and that he had gotten loose now four times previously. Well... everyone around here thought he was going to likely escape again or so everyone expected.
That afternoon the Sheriff and Marcus Rook find the girls bodies a few miles north of Drubman Marina. They had been viciously anally probed with a large lethally radioactive insertion then medically dissected, these girls were 16 and 14 years old so we knew them from school and their family was close friends with the Rooks and my own. I had even babysat for them at one point. They didn't deserve to die like that.
They had a younger sister only 12 years old at the time and when the Sheriff went to deliver the bad news to the family we found that Parker had struck again. Roger and I didn't learn this until later that she had been kidnapped the night before so when we went back out for day three of the search it now had a element of of desperation to it. Eventually Parker shows up with the last girl as a hostage at Drubman Marina demanding a float plane to take him to South America where the 'alien temple could be opened by the girl's blood.'. His words.
Roger and I were two miles away across Whitetail Lake and he could see everything happening at the marina through his scope and I through my binoculars. Whitehorse was trying to talk him down but wasn't having much luck and had called in a SWAT team from Missoula to help but they were two hours by air away from reaching us and the US Marshals backup was four hours away in Billings.
A plane not knowing the situation landed and the pilot got shot by Parker when he pulled up to the dock. So now the mad man had what he wanted and was going to get away. Even if he didn't get in the plane he was going back into the same prison he had escaped four times before.
Roger knew all this and did what he did best. He did some math and fired a single shot out of his .50 cal and took Parker's head off from two miles away."
"Sounds like murder or vigilantism to me." John said finally as he took in Joey's story.
Joey continued. "That's what I said and Rook told me to my face that it was worth him going to jail over if they found out. He wouldn't even blame me if I reported him to the Sheriff. The law had failed and the people Roger would have kicked up the decision to had already shown that they couldn't make a choice, so having known the girl and their family they had some importance to him over Parker and more importantly the legality of Rogers action. Roger will do the right thing at great cost to himself even if it is illegal because that is what the math he did worked out said would lead to the best outcome. You, John... have nothing. No matter what Roger's sins are he won't 'atone' for any of them because every single one is the result of careful calculation and planning. So you can make all threats to him you want but he won't be converted. Which is a problem because I am guessing Joseph demanded he atone or you will pay a great price instead."
"The Gates of Eden will be shut to me." John said flatly.
"Well John your Brother has given you a no win scenario then. You can't kill Roger because that goes against 'The Father's' wishes...
"God's will." John interrupted.
"Whatever. You can't convert him because even if you get him here and work him over like you did me. Which hasn't worked by the way. His personality leaves you with no means of reaching him. You also can't ignore him because otherwise he will just breach the bunker and kill you. No matter what, you loose John." Joey finished with again a big smile.
John Seed looked at the cocky Deputy before him. "You are wrong about one thing Deputy. I do have leverage... you. I will bring him down here and make him watch as I drive nearly 2000 acupuncture needles in your arms until I reach bone. Each one being a life that he or those he commanded took from my flock. He might be willing to pay a steep price personally but I will force him to watch as those he does still care something for are made to pay the price he was meant to pay. Your screams will shatter his out look, break whatever math he can do in his head, and then I will ask him about the power of 'YES!' and watch him cave to save you and then you will follow him. He is still at some point human. I just need to reach it and he still probably cares enough about you that no matter how much you claim that he is a machine. That when its your screams he hears, he will finally listen." John turned and left soon after sending for the guards to wheel Joey back to her cell.
'Roger wouldn't break would he? I'm his friend...his best friend... his... ex-girlfriend. He wouldn't break even at the cost of losing me. He would still put the rest of the county ahead of me wouldn't he? Unless... he had gotten softer in the last few years and developed some cracks in his armor. Or he had a plan to get... inside. Oh Roger you magnificent asshole. You aren't just playing the peggies, you are playing John as well from multiple angles no less. You want to be brought into the bunker, you want to be in the same room as John and I. I just so happen to be the bait. That simplifies everything in his mind. Roger will come. He won't leave me here. Not on purpose at least.'
In Fall's End the mood was good among the Resistance. With the 'Revelator' destroyed John's main form of projection of power was through three smaller armored convoys that without the heavy shock provided by the now destroyed war rig could only slow down any movement between outposts on along the major roads.
With the coming dawn in the Spread Eagle sat Roger and Marcus alone in the bar as they finished setting up the satellite video phone and made a call that hopefully would get the ball rolling on solving their problems.
In a operations center in Langley, Virginia a ancient man sat a massive oaken office desk surrounded by numerous computer monitors that gave him the wealth of information a man in his position needed. Vincent Yeller was the single oldest active man in the CIA at 93 years old. He had started his service at 17 in WWII in the OSS where he had quickly shown a natural skill for organizing and running complex operations. Since then he had been what later became the CIA go to man for running the most critical operations of the last half century and well into the new millennium.
Though at his age he couldn't hope to participate in any sort of physical role his mind was still ferociously sharp hence his continued presence as the Assistant Deputy Director of CIA for Operations, the penultimate position for all espionage missions run by the CIA. High enough to be feared but just low enough not to be caught in the political warfare that came with the Deputy Directors position which did wonders for his ability to stay in the same position for the last 40 years.
This morning had been quiet as far as new potential issues were concerned, things were being stirred and others being baked in the oven until they were ready. One of his screens then alerted him to the fact that he was getting a FLASH call from a field agent via secured sat vidphone.
"Willis? What the hell is that prick up to now?" The old spy said as he accepted the call. What he saw was a much better outcome than he had expected.
"Black Cardinal this is Black Reaper you copy?" Roger said.
Vincent recovered from his shock and replied. "Black Cardinal copies. I thought Black Pope put you on ice?"
Roger nodded. "Yes sir he did but my freezer got compromised and I am now in a world of hurt sir. I would have called Black Pope but he doesn't get in until noon your time and I needed privacy on my end so you would be the next man up the food chain in the office at this time.
"So tell me why did you show up as Agent Willis? I am lucky enough that he is dead?" Asked Vincent.
"No sir as much as I would like to have killed him after what he has done out here he needs to face a trial or have a higher power make a choice on his fate. I commandeered his equipment as its the only way to get word to the outside world at the moment." Roger finished.
Vincent's ashen colored face now was sternly focused on what Roger had just said. "The only means of communications? Explain yourself Black Reaper."
Roger then launched into a full retelling of everything that had happened since he landed in Fall's End and Willis's treasonous actions. Afterwords Vincent laid back in his luxuriant office chair. He had in nearly 80 years of service seen and heard a lot of shit but this had to be one for the record books.
Vincent spoke finally. "Ok Black Reaper. Here is the first problem I see. I can't just magically summon the National Guard to go there, the Governor would need a better reason than 'The CIA told me there was a problem in Hope County that required the full mobilization of the Guard into a hot combat zone no less on American soil.' otherwise any efforts to get aid out to you would be tied up in bureaucracy since as I think you already suspect the system as a whole isn't geared to deal with something like this out of the blue."
Roger sighed. He knew he had a lot of people relying on him to get them help fast but he now was facing having to tell them that it could be days or god help them weeks before a relief force could be sent. A lot of innocent people were going to die in the mean time.
The director continued. "Even if say the US Marshals, the railroads, hell even the Montana Department of Transportation started asking 'Why can't we reach anyone within Hope County?' Who would be sent? Any law enforcement that would try to fly in would be shot down thus shocking the system further as the various agencies decide what procedure to follow to escalate to the next level. Mind you they will be doing this on a 9-5 schedule probably and not work weekends either.
I can't legally deploy any proper US military assets which is what you would need at this point if the cult is as large as your intel suggests without the President using the Insurrection Act and that is a whole new can of worms there. Eventually things would happen but you guys sound like you need help now rather than in a month at best correct?"
Roger only nodded. He wasn't at all surprised at any of this but this was getting bleak by even his standards.
"I will get with the Holy Spirit and Jesus to see what we can do for you, probably also just take all this to Jehovah and pull on that string. I am not stupid enough to expect you to sit idle during all this so if you find some way to communicate your situation to the outside world you have my full support to do so. Do you have anyone there you could trust to watch this line for updates." Vincent asked.
Marcus now slid his chair into the cameras view range. "Grey Cardinal this is Grey Reaper be advised that Grey Squad is also on hand."
Roger's eyes went wide. 'Grey Reaper... wait he is that Grey Reaper!'
Vincent was now laughing. "Grey Reaper... I had wondered if you were still active with all of this going down. I see your son is more than a bit shocked at the news, I guess you didn't share any old war stories with him."
Marcus chuckled now. "Well isn't that what we are supposed to do sir? Keep our mouths shut?"
The directed nodded in agreement. "Well I am giving you clearance to inform Black Reaper of anything about your past operations assuming you can do so securely. I'm old enough to know that the passing of such stories is sometimes how old forgotten solutions to problems are rediscovered and reapplied to today's problems. I will be in touch. Oh and if it wouldn't be too much trouble punch that traitorous son of a bitch Willis for me. I'm so glad I will not have to order clean ups for his work anymore."
The line was cut and the two Rooks sat in silence.
"Dad you... you were a Reaper as well?" Roger asked softly as if he was afraid of speaking too loud would draw unwanted attention.
Marcus smiled. "No I wasn't a Reaper. I am a Reaper. You never really leave the job and even just a few years ago I would get called in to handle issues worldwide short jobs yes but still jobs nonetheless. Like you I also got the same false DD-214 so I'm not a Captain like I told you I was, I'm a full bird Colonel. I could technically go for a General's star but even in my false retirement that would put me too close to desk driving for my taste."
Marcus opened a can of Coke and drank it down as Roger still processed everything. "Son. I will say this I am proud of what you have accomplished both in Delta and as a Reaper. Men like us are rare and I am proud to have raised someone worthy of taking on the worst jobs required of our nation and boy have you had some shit jobs. Kyrat? My god I don't think I would have ever thought of how to restructure an entire nation on my own and then sell the idea to the people so they would do the work themselves and limit our influence."
Roger smiled at his father's praise. "Yeah I learned a lot of things in Kyrat. Funny thing is if Willis hadn't fucked up so royally there I wouldn't have been sent. Still not going to give him any praise for that though."
"Fuck Willis." Marcus said as he took another drink.
Just then Mary May came down the stairs from her room with Boomer in tow as always.
"Oh you guys are already here. I hope you weren't waiting for too long, I'll start something if you guys are hungry." The blonde offered with a smile.
Marcus answered for them. "No need Mary May. We just got off the phone with Willis's contacts. Roger will explain once everyone else who needs to know comes in for breakfast."
With that she nodded and started preparing for the breakfast rush. Not long after the sound of sizzling stake and bacon filled the kitchen and the dinning room was full of idle chit chat as the members of the Resistance talked about the latest sightings of the cult, who was found dead, who was found alive, and the other topics that would come from such a group.
Jerome approached the Rook clan now joined by Jessica as they ate quietly in their booth.
"Deputy I have received word of a task that requires your skills."
Just the way the Pastor had spoken had the hairs on the back of his head tingling. He wasn't going to like this.
Roger glanced as the majority of the morning Resistance members left to reach their posts leaving on his father's men, the Rooks, Grace, Dmitri, and the Spread Eagle's staff.
"Ok Pastor what needs doing?" Rook asked politely.
"I have received word of a defector up at the Silver Lake Trailer Park. He barely managed to get there and now needs your help to make the journey from there to Fall's End."
Roger stared off into the distance as he started weighing the request. Marcus on the other hand spoke up. "A cult defector? This sounds like a trap to me."
Jerome's usual smile faded some at the older Rooks words but it was killed by Dmitri speaking up from the bar.
"Pastor Jerome I must agree with Marcus on this. Its highly out of character for any member to want to defect. Anyone that even had the least amount of doubt would have been sniffed out by the Preachers and reeducated or even outright killed long ago. This is likely an attempt to get a spy of some sort among us." Dmitri said.
The Russian had gotten a buzzed hair cut and now was clean shaven, he now looked as if he was a army recruitment poster boy. He was bare chested but his chest now had several bandages covering where his henna tattoos to the cult once were, the mad Russian had actually taken 1000 grit sandpaper to his own skin and rubbed the skin and tattoos off completely.
It was a sign of dedication that had gone a long way to making it clear that he wasn't a cult member.
"We could have said the same about you Dmitri." Jerome countered.
Roger spoke up with authority. "Different situation Pastor. We had a lot more signs to point to that Dmitri wasn't a true cult member, both from his position within the cult as a lead hunter and the Russian issued equipment he carried. Then of course its hard to argue with his recent sandpaper work that we didn't even ask for and also he did offer up a lot of info on the cults movements through the woods. Right now you are asking me to take someone on just faith alone unless there is something you haven't mentioned."
The Pastor shook his head. "No. This man wants to leave the cult, he is scared and confused and we need to show the hand of mercy lest we be no better than the cult."
Roger propped his elbows on the table in front and buried his face in his hands.
Marcus looked at the holy man. "Jerome this isn't some game. If this peggie is a spy he could do critical damage to us and don't forget that just because John is on the ropes doesn't mean that Faith or Jacob Seed can't roar in here with fresh forces and kick our asses through sheer numbers. Even Joseph might show up with whatever forces he has at his disposal and you can bet they will be the absolute best the cult can muster."
The debate continued between Marcus and Jerome with the tension in the room rising steadily with each moment. Roger meanwhile blocked it all out and did what he did best and worked out a solution.
'If I say no to Jerome then any toxicity from him will bleed into the rest of the resistance forces especially those that are close to him. If I say yes I risk this man either killing someone or destroying what resources we have. However if that happens then Jerome will lose face among the resistance thus in future decisions both my own and my fathers points will carry much more weight which could head off a future problem. I will have Dmitri watch this new peggie and I hope I am wrong.'
"Everyone shut up." Roger said sternly and the room got quiet. He stood up and stepped out of the booth and walked before Jerome. The Deputy towered over the preacher when he spoke.
"If anyone else asked for what you are asking here and now I wouldn't even consider this plan as it does go against our current policy of 'See Peggie, Kill Peggie, Save the World.'. But I will give you just enough rope Jerome to do this, but know this if this peggie defector is a spy, a thief, or worse an assassin, it will be on your head and your hands. Now when do you need this guy picked up?"
Jerome was slightly shaken by the grim warning from the man he once remembered being a nice boy growing up. But he steeled himself and answered. "This morning if at all possible. Merle says that they have noticed a up tic in patrols in the area looking for their lost brother. When you go I will send a boat to pick him up and take him to the dock near Kellet Cattle. I'll be there to take him back to town as I am making my rounds in the area."
Roger nodded. "Very well then I will leave soon then. One last thing though before you go Pastor, I suggest that sometime today you take a moment and read all of Deuteronomy chapter 7."
The Pastor simply nodded his head and left the bar.
Jessica spoke up for the first time. "Roger, honey... this... is a big risk you are taking."
Roger looked at his mother in the eyes and she could see that he wasn't happy with how his logic was playing out but he was being left with little choice.
"I know Mom, I hope for once I am wrong." He said as he turned for the door but not before putting a hand on Dimitri's shoulder and spoke in the mans native tongue.
"Fellow spy, I am entrusting you to watch this cultist. If he turns out to be a threat then kill him without hesitation."
"Without fail. Fellow spy." The Russian replied with a smile. At the door Boomer whined and tilted his head worryingly.
'Even the dog knows this is a bad idea.' Roger thought as he scratched the gun dogs ears.
"Be a good boy." Roger said as he marched out to his truck.
Grace raced out to join him but stopped as Roger looked at her.
"Let me guess you already have a plan?" Grace asked as she looked at her friend.
"Grace if you would either meet or escort Jerome to the Kellet dock see that this peggie gets to town. After that I have others to watch this peggie. Once that is done get with Nick and coordinate some air strikes on these convoys that are roaming around. I won't lie this whole fucking thing reeks to high heaven." Roger said as he started the 6x6 and drove off towards the trailer park.
As Roger approached the park his radio went off with Merle yelling. "This is Merle! Cult is marching on the Silver Lake Trailer Park trying to get their friend back! They even sent a whole bunch of Chosen in gun trucks!"
Rook could see now the trio of up armored F150's blocking the entrances to the park as the dismounted infantry fought from behind whatever cover they could find from the return fire of the defenders
He pulled over and jumped out of his rig with his HCAR in hand and sprinted the last 50 yards to the first cult truck whose gunner was calmly suppressing anyone who tried to fire out of a nearby trailer's windows. He climbed up into the bed during one of the bursts of fire and easily twisted the red hooded man's neck and tossed his body out of the turret ring.
Now he had two trucks on his left whose gunners where suppressing other trailers as other Chosen rush towards the doors of said trailers. On his right was a group of four Chosen who were attempting to get close to a smashed out window in order to breach the previously suppressed trailer.
Roger manned the M60 and put a short stream of fire on the closest group before swinging around just as one of the other gunners saw him and started to swing his own gun around. It was a tense moment as Roger fired and saw the mans chest and his gun explode from bullet impacts.
Without stopping he shifted his fire on to the last gunner and tore him apart just as his gun ran out. He slipped out of the turret ring and jump to the ground running toward the trailer the the quicker of the two gunners had been suppressing and saw the four man team still trying to smash and shoot through the door.
"YOU FUCKING PEGGIE BASTARDS CAN'T BREACH MY TRAILER!"
'Well we found Merle.' Roger thought as he put a burst of fire on the men standing around the door felling them like cut grass.
Running around to the other side of Merle's trailer he collided with something which turned out to be a Chosen. He grabbed the man by his shirt and hoisted him up off the ground before he could recover and used him as a human shield as his friends tried to shoot through their man to hit the Deputy.
Roger with some difficultly one handed the big .30-06 and sprayed in the cultists general direction until the gun clicked empty and the peggies were dead. In the following silence he could only hear people in the trailers move around crunching on broken glass with each step, he went ahead and reloaded before calling out.
"Merle! Jerome sent me for this so called defector! So don't shoot!" He roared and the front door to Merle's trailer opened.
"Deputy! Where are you?!" Merle called out as Roger rounded the corner of the trailer moving towards the front door.
"Right here. Now where is this fucker and what can you tell me about him?" Roger said sternly.
Merle scratched his head and slicked back his mullet. "Well the guy is one of those Preachers the cult has. Tough as nails but this guy had a story about a family he was converting and per Joseph's word the two children in that family were under 16 so they had to be executed. Apparently after killing them this guy can't handle the guilt no more. Last night while he was sleeping kept waking up and muttering 'I'm sorry.' repeatedly."
Roger still doubted the story and the fact that this was one of the cult Preachers meant he was likely souped up on Bliss as well making him dangerous and even less likely to want to defect.
'God this reeks...' He thought again as he followed Merle into the trailer. The interior of the trailer had been lined with 2 inch steel plates with a thick layer of Line-X backing to serve as a spall liner. So while the exterior was shredded the only things that looked out of place inside were the four or five inch deep layers of spent shell casings near the windows.
"Got to say Merle you weren't kidding about the Peggies not being to breach your trailer. You did a good job hardening this place." Roger complemented.
"Saw the cult as trouble makers pretty much from the moment they got here, so I prepared and look where we are now. Here he is." Merle said as he lead the lawman to the kitchen.
The defector looked like any of the other peggies he had killed in the last few days. Long wild hair, messy facial hair, massive numbers of cult related tattoos across his shirtless chest, and a thin build that suggested a limited diet though this one clearly had some extra lean muscle. Most worryingly though was the heretical red cult cross tattoo on his face. Though his eyes were red and bloodshot from crying they had a almost unnatural shade of smokey green tint to them.
Again Roger doubted the man but it was for that reason why he had laid backup plans.
The defector looked up and started shaking in fear.
"Oh god! Oh god! It... it's... You're 'The Collapse'!" The defector said as he started tearing up and whimpering in fear.
Roger looked on the man in disgust. "Yes 'The Collapse' has come but today is not your day to die. For now." He picked the bound man up off the floor hoisted him over his shoulder and walked out heading towards the nearby dock when the buzzing of ATV's could be heard in the distance.
Merle had been following Roger when he too heard the vehicles. "Sounds like the cult has a second wave! Keep going Deputy the residents of the Silver Lake Trailer Park will show these fuckers how we deal with problems!" The Mulleted man ran back to his trailer gathering the residents for the next round.
"Please don't let them take me back! I don't want to go back! I don'tIdon'tIdon'tIdon'tIdon't..." The defector kept muttering as Roger started jogging towards the dock with the sounds of ATV's getting louder.
"THERE HE IS! QUICK RESCUE OUR BROTHER!" Roger heard behind him as he spun and drew his Desert Eagle. The first .50 cal round tore through the rider and passenger of the ATV that had spotted him, as others raced through the trailer park dodging the residents fire as best as they could in their drive to close with the Deputy.
Roger simply kept walking backwards and letting his Eagle drop riders left and right as they came, when his gun ran dry he swapped for his 1911, still calmly tapping away as peggie riders kept pushing through the hail of gun fire from the trailer park. As he neared the dock the roar of a Zodiac could be heard pulling up.
"Deputy! We are here to get you out of here!" The man at the boat controls said as his friends came ashore and brought their rifles to bear quickly cleaning up the peggie situation.
Roger turned to the boat captain. "Ok you know where you are going to with this guy?"
The captain nodded and gestured where Roger could set the defector in the boat.
"With all the people I brought plus this guy plus the turret and ammo I can't have you come along Deputy I'm already close to being dangerously overloaded." The captain said.
Roger nodded and walked over to a large three man jet ski and confirmed it had the keys and fuel. "I'll follow in this thing. Lets get going before more damn peggies show up, this is getting ridiculous with the numbers they are sending after this one guy."
Before he boarded the jet ski he did see on top of a nearby gun crate another M60 and ammo. It took the entirety of two heartbeats for his inner Rambo to seize the gun and sling it around him so he could shoot it one handed. The on board storage compartment was just big enough for two 200 round mag boxes to fit snugly and securely, all in all a nicer setup than he expected.
The two water craft didn't get 300 yards away from the dock when four cult jet skis supported by a pair of Zodiac gunboats were on their tail.
"Seriously! What the fuck is so important about this fucker?!" Roger roared as he twisted around with his machine gun and started shooting careful short bursts toward one of the fast moving cult jet skis.
The fire forced them to slow down and made them easier targets for the Resistance gun boat's gunner to target. Roger got on his radio. "Nick! I need air support yesterday! We are about to pass the railroad bridge east of Rae-Rae's farm, I have a lot of cult naval units on my ass!" Just then he looked at the on coming bridge and saw muzzle flashes followed by subsequent impacts on the water around him.
"The cult has people on the bridges! Watch the bridges!" He said as he dodged another burst of machine gun fire now from one of the closing cult gun boats.
Nick meanwhile had just refueled and rearmed after hunting down one of the Chosen convoy's when Rogers call for help came in.
"Don't worry Roger I'm coming just hold on!" The pilot said as he slammed the throttle forward as far as it would go and turned northwest toward the river. Soon he could see a explosion on the river ahead as one of the cult gun boats exploded. He put the plane in a steep drive and buzzed the cluster of remaining cultists with his 20mm cannon before pulling up hard barely avoiding the water.
Roger was struggling to maintain a zig zag pattern at full speed while fumbling to reload the M60 all the while the remaining cult forces kept shooting all around him.
"Damn you Jerome! Next time you come up with a stupid mission I will send you out to do it instead!" Roger grumbled as he finally got the belt to lay properly on the guns feed tray so he could close the top of the receiver on the action. Looking back he could see that he still had a badly smoking cult gun boat and two active cult jet skis, he could see Nick coming around for a another pass just as he launched a pair of Zuni's which struck just in front of the gun boat sending it flying in a hail of destruction.
Emboldened by the destruction of the last heavy pursuing unit Roger stopped zig zagging and spun himself fully in the seat now actually able to shoulder the M60 and use its iron sights and poured a long burst of fire into the closest jet ski. As he did this though the last one made a banzai charge and rammed Roger's jet ski sending both men crashing into the river water.
Roger had only managed to surface and get a breath in before from behind him he herd the last peggie scream. "I will wash away your sins heretic!" as he jumped on Rogers back.
From up above Nick could only watch the two men struggle in the water as they floated rapidly down the Henbane river and under the second big rail road bridge.
Meanwhile in the river Roger was at a decisive disadvantage compared to the peggie as he was still weighed down by all of his clothing and equipment and it took everything he had to fight off the peggie long enough to get a breath in only to be pressed down again. Finally though he managed to punch the bastard in the balls shocking the cultist long enough that from under water he could bring up the M60 that was still slung around his shoulder and put a few dozen rounds into the man.
Roger surfaced again and simply floated on his back for a moment catching his breath before making for the closest bit of shore. The swim there was absolute murder on his aching muscles and joints as each stroke reminded him that he had been fighting non stop for nearly five days straight with minimal rest.
As he crawled out of the river water and laid on the shore when his radio went off.
"Hey Roger you still alive buddy?" Nick asked as he orbited overhead.
Roger sighed at having his moment of rest disturbed but he knew Nick was just being Nick. "Yeah Nick I am still here. Nearly being drowned will believe it or not wear even me out. By the way where am I?"
Nick looked around for nearby land marks and saw the Hope County Co-Op Grain Silo. "You are about half a mile south of the Grain Silo. Isn't that were you found the Widowmaker?"
Roger managed to force himself to stand and start slowly marching toward the Grain Silo. "Yeah that's where the peggies stashed it. Had a high speed chase back then as well, nearly rolled the rig too." Roger said tiredly.
Nick laughed. "Yeah and if that had happened Mary May would make your warpath against the cult seem like a causal walk in the park when she would go after you."
Nick now could see a group of forest green pickups from the grain silo start coming toward where the deputy was slowly walking toward the grain silo.
"Hey Roger I got five trucks heading your way from the silo but they don't look like the normal cult trucks. Did you..." Nick started to ask when streaks of tracer fire shot forth from the trucks.
On the ground Roger saw the machine gun fire from the rapidly approaching trucks and knelt and prepared to fire the rest of his remaining ammo for the M60 before ditching it. The green trucks were up armored as well and the guns on the bed mounted turrets were proper .50 cals, he could make out that these men wore the red balaclava of The Chosen.
The trucks stopped about 25 yards away and the men inside the trucks got out on the far side of vehicle, already showing that these men were far more competent than the majority of their fellow brothers.
One of the masked men called out to Roger. "Deputy! Herald John demands your presence! You will be brought before him and made to answer for your sins against the faithful!"
Roger's only reply now that he knew for sure that these men were there to capture and not kill him was to open fire. He got three of the bastards before he felt a familiar dart hit his arm from a peggie that had crawled to his left flank, he turned to address the man but got more darts in his arms in legs for his trouble.
'I'm not getting away but that doesn't mean I have to go quietly.' Thought Roger as he fought through the both the drugs and exhaustion and charged the encircled trucks.
More of the Chosen stood up from their cover with their dart guns in hand only to be cut down as Roger raced as best as he could toward them. Then as he reached them even they the best of John's Chosen screamed in terror as now they had no cover from Rogers gun as he cut down a dozen of their number before running out of ammo.
One Chosen tried to jump on his back only to be shaken off on to the ground where he found his windpipe now being crushed under the merciless boot of the Deputy. Roger charged the remaining Chosen as best as he could but the dozens of darts of knock out Bliss were finally taking their toll and he could only managed a slow jog as his legs started locking up. He unslung the M60 and swung it by the barrel ignoring the heat building in his hands at a nearby Chosen that had backed into his truck and froze instead of trying to move away some more. His head made a loud wet cracking sound as the stock of the machine gun made contact.
The only people that were safe from Roger's onslaught for the moment were the .50 cal gunners in the trucks as their carefully armored turrets were only vulnerable from the rear and they weren't worth the trouble yet in the Deputies mind. They were also preoccupied with trying to bring down or at least drive away Nick and Carmina.
In the air Nick could only watch as the Chosen closed on Roger. Any of his weapons would run the high risk of killing his friend and his plane had already taken some hits, the sense of worthlessness Nick felt was worse then it had been when his original escape plan fell apart. Now he could only watch his friend that had done so much to protect his family be surrounded by the cult.
Finally Roger was out of steam and he fell to the ground on the brink of blacking out, beside him was a peggie that he must have killed early on as he was missing his head. The dead peggie had like many of their number a cheap .357 snub nose revolver in his waist band, Roger seized this gun and through blurring vision shot in the general direction of the Chosen as they closed in on their prey.
At least two men cried out from the five or so shots he took before hitting the ground. The remaining Chosen now cautiously approached, out of 25 men that had been inspired by God to volunteer for this task only eleven of their number remained.
"By the Father we actually got him!" A Chosen said as he knelt down to take the revolver out the Deputies hand.
"Do... you... feel... lucky?" Roger struggled to say as he pointed and squeezed the trigger one last time when the peggie had lifted his arm. The last sounds Roger heard before blacking out completely were of a cultist gurgling from a throat shot.
'I guess I only shot five times...' He thought as his mind caught up with his body.
The handful of Chosen had jumped when the supposedly knocked out lawman kill yet another of their number and a few shot a few more knock out darts into Roger just to be sure that he was fully unconscious.
"Hurry up brothers! We only have so much ammo to keep this plane off of us!" One of the truck gunners called out motivating the foot soldiers to haul up the giant man into the bed of the nearest truck.
In the sky Nick watched helplessly as the Deputy was loaded up and the trucks now drove off. Not knowing what else to do Nick turned his wounded plane back home and got on the radio.
"Mr. Rook? Pastor Jerome? Its Nick Rye, I got bad news. John's men have captured Roger. I... I'm sorry I couldn't even get close to support him, and Carmina is shot up pretty bad. I... God help me I'm so sorry!"
In Fall's End Marcus sat in the Spread Eagle finishing lunch when Nick's call came in. The father in him wanted to march out then and there back to John's bunker again to intercept the trucks carrying his son as that was the only place they could be taking him but then the soldier turn spy remembered what Roger had said the night they picked rescued him from John the first time.
"I was kinda hoping to get inside the bunker and bust out Joey... Ok son I'll trust you to do that." Marcus said softly nodding all the while.
Around him his beloved wife, Mary May, Casey, and Dmitri looked at him.
"When Roger was first grabbed by the cult the plan he had come up with was to actually let the cult bring him to John, get him inside their bunker and then go to work. At the time I had figured that it was too risky as we faced retaliation from John's still considerable forces, but now we hold the upper hand unless John gets back up from outside Holland Valley which our scouts haven't even reported any sign off."
Marcus looked at his wife. "This time I think we need to trust our son's judgment."
Jessica didn't say anything as she leaned up against her husband trying to fight back her own tears. Marcus wrapped a strong arm around her and looked up at Mary May when she spoke.
"Well I think by this point if there is anyone that we can trust it would be Roger. If he were here I bet he would compare it to John taking a suicide pill or something." The bartender said trying to find some positivity in all of this.
At Rye & Sons Nick taxied the wounded plane to the hanger. He only just managed to haul himself out of the plane and sat on one of the floats exhausted and broken.
"Nick! Nick are you hurt!" Kim called out as she waddled from the house to her husband.
"Kim... oh god Kim... I couldn't do anything for Roger. I had to watch him get grabbed by the cult and drive off. I am I really that useless? First not flying us out of here and now this?" The pilot sad dejectedly.
Kim said nothing as she gently took her husbands head in her arms and held it against her massive belly. "You aren't worthless Nick. You did the best you could protecting our family, and you did the best you could helping Roger fight the cult. He wouldn't blame you for what you did or the choices you made, after all he is Roger Rook and you know how pragmatic he usually is."
Nick stood up and hugged his wife as best as he could given her belly. "The cult only took Roger, so that means there is still hope and knowing him he will find someway to make this work in his favor. Let's get some lunch into you before you start fixing the plane Sugar Bear." Kim said into Nicks shoulder.
Nick smiled as he started to walk hand in hand with his wife towards their house. "Thanks for cheering me up... uh... Muffin Top?"
"Nick!" Kim scolded lightly.
"I'm sorry baby, you know that I am terrible with coming up with pet names on the fly." The pilot replied defensively.
Meanwhile in John's bunker. Joey laid on her bed of cardboard listening to the all to familiar sounds of John's tortures happening around her when a excited voice was heard outside her cell door.
"The Chosen did it! They actually did it!" A excited woman said.
"What did they do? Did they retake Fall's End for The Father?" One of her door guards asked.
"No but close! Really close! They captured 'The Collapse'! John is on his way now to meet them on the surface. The path to Eden's Gate is now clear for us!" The woman said.
'Roger is captured! This could be the end of John or a new level of hell for everyone. No... no! Roger has a plan or he would make a plan. It's what he does, all I have to do is trust in him.' Joey thought.
"Always bet on Rook." She whispered into the room.
On the surface five mostly empty forest green trucks pulled up in front of the entrance to the old missile silo. On the outside John looked pleased at the sight of his returning warriors but on the inside even his smile faded.
'25 men went out and 10 came back. Even the trucks look worse for wear. Truly Deputy Rook you are the embodiment of 'Wrath', but now you will be made to atone for every life you have taken from us.' John thought as the Chosen struggled to unload the massive man.
John saw all the darts on the Deputy's arms and legs and sighed. Even given his great body weight with that many darts in him it would be at least two or three days probably before he could be expected to wake up.
"Brothers! You have done the work of 'The Father' this day and though many of your fellow Chosen have paid the ultimate price in his service it clearly was not in vain. Take Deputy Rook to my Atonement chamber, it will be a while before he could possibly wake up so he will just have to wait there until we can see what his path to atonement looks like." John said proudly, the weary surviving Chosen members boosted by the praise from their Herald.
John walked back toward the open bunker door and quietly said to himself. "Yes, you first will confess, then you will atone, and then you will finally be freed of your sins as I slowly tear them off of your skin. Yes! I will complete the great task that God and 'The Father' and set for me at last!"