It was colder then usual down within Faith's Gate then usual, at least to Faith it was.
Of course, the Gate had to be a certain lowered temperature to maximize efficiency in the production of Bliss, but it was a lot lower to her, perhaps it had something to do with the ball of dread that rested in her stomach, she felt such a sense of oppressive dread for sometime now, Jacob had been listening to her every word via radio communication, and just a few hours ago she had let slip she was directly responsible for freeing Benjamin Rook, Jacob had yet to say or do anything about it, but that only contributed the gnawing tension within her. It was only a matter of time until the news reached the Father, and then, replacement, or worse.
Even as she feared what may come for her, a thought rolled around her skull, Rook had offered her asylum, if she put out the word, Rook's men would come and take her to safety, but surely, they would ply her for information after that, she was a well of knowledge on how her cause worked, a goldmine for them, would Rook still give her clemency at that point?
But before she could actually come up with anything to secure her safety, a series of knock came from her office door, causing her to jump in fear. She quickly rose to open the door just as she always did when someone knocked, but before she could get to the door, it opened from the other side, someone came in without her permission, no one was allowed to do that, not even her High Priestess or any other high-ranking officials, this was something else entirely.
"This is it" she thought, feeling the noose finally tighten around her neck, and now someone was coming to kick the chair out from beneath her.
And as the heavy metal bulkhead swung open, she could see just as she expected to see, a group of six armed men came hurrying into the room with Jacob Seed in tow. The soldiers spread out in a line against the far fall, guns in hand, while Jacob came sauntering right up to Faith, a smirk on his scarred lips and whistling the song he used to condition.
Fearing the worst, Faith took a few instinctual steps back, dreading what her brother would do now that they were face to face.
"Evening, Faith" Jacob said, exaggerating her name.
"J-Jacob! What is the meaning of this!?" Faith asked, her voice shaking.
"You know why I'm here" Jacob nodded, his face now taking on a sterner look as she glared down at the small woman before him.
"I-I'm doing as The Father a-asked, what your doing is too c-cruel, we need him, not another monster" Faith cried as she took another step back.
"I really don't, I really don't care" Jacob sighed, shaking his head.
"You broke the rules Sweetheart, you did explicitly what you were told not to do, and now, your going to be punished for it" he said.
Faith's voice hitched in her throat at his words, she knew this was going to happen, and since it was Jacob that was here to deliver her punishment, who knew what he was going to do, a whole new level of fear overtook her, if Jacob could have his way then if she was going to live through it, she'd never be the same ever again, she needed to get away, she should have called Rook's friends long ago, and now it was to late, she might as well be dead, one way or another, even if there was still a glimmer of hope, what was she to do? Jacob was so much bigger than her in every way, there was no way she could harm him if she could bring herself to do it, she'd most likely hurt her fist if she punched him.
"Lady Faith!" A woman's voice came loudly from the open doorway.
Upon hearing the voice, everyone turned to view who had unfortunately stumbled onto the scene, no one recognized her except for Jacob and Faith, it was Amanda, Faith's High Priestess, her right hand and most trusted of her flock, she was breathing heavily as she leaned against the metal door frame, she must have ran here.
"I'm sorry Ma'am I tried to stop them but there was to many of them, they just showed up here with no notification.
"You have duties to attend to, get back to work making Bliss, Rabbit" Jacob ordered lazily looking over his shoulder at her.
But the High Priestess, in a surprising act of boldness, ignored the order and stomped her way passed the guards and placed herself between the Seed's.
"Even as The Father's brother, you are not at the top of the command chain here, we are in the Henbane River, therefore Lady Faith's word, is held in a higher regard then, and you have broken many rules, coming here with no announcement, you are clearly threatening Lady Faith, and I will not stand by and allow you to do this!" the High Priestess ranted, if was almost like she was scolding the veteran.
But Jacob was not fazed by her admonishment, it just washed off him, like rolling waves of a rocky cliff.
"Get out of my way, Girl" Jacob as calmly, but it was evident it was a threat.
"No Sir I will not! You have no authority here, and if you cannot abide by that then perhaps, we shall call the Father to sort this matter out!" Amanda boldly threatened as she crossed her arms tightly, not giving an inch.
And again, Jacob was unmoving and unflinching, her warnings did not faze him, he was so untouched that he had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes, he refused to fall to their level and trade idle blows, he had a reason for being here and he will carry it out. He suddenly leaned in close to the High Priestess, his chin almost touching her shoulder and began whispering something in her ear, Faith who watched from behind could not hear what was being said, but when he finished and stood at full height again, Amanda shuttered before taking a step back then to the side, allowing Jacob full access to Faith, and allowing Faith to see how her stalwart Priestess fared, and was shocked at the state of her, Amanda looked shook, like a child coping with the harsh scolding of a parent. Whatever was said to her, rocked her to her core.
"Now as I was saying" Jacob said, grabbing Faith's attention again.
"It's time you come with me to fully discuss your actions and how you did them" Jacob said as he stepped towards her.
Faith instinctively brought her hands up in case to she had to push the large man back, she wanted to run but fear kept her legs stationary asides from frightened trembling, she wanted to fight back and protect herself, but she had not a single violent bone in her body, all she could do was screw her eyes shut, she couldn't do anything yet again, fearing for whatever was to come, be it pain, manhandling, or even death.
But to her surprise, something cold and hard wrapped around her wrists, causing her to flinch at the sudden contact.
Curious yet scared, she nervously cracked a single eye open only to she a pair of handcuffs had been clasped around her delicate wrists.
Both eyes shot open with a gasp, this was one of the things she did not expect, but this opened the door to many other things, with her hands bound, she was completely at Jacob's mercy.
"W-What are you doing!?" she gasped, she didn't know what else to say, she was at a complete loss for words, she just wanted all this to be over with and her be ok.
"Your coming with me back to the Mountains, we have a lot to talk about, you've had a direct line on my judge for quite a while now, and you've been passing info along to the enemy, I need to find out what else you know and told the opposition on my own time, my own way" Jacob said coldly as he grabbed the chain that linked the cuffs together and pulled her forward before roughly pushing her passed him and towards the door.
"Y-You can't do this, The Father wouldn't just have me removed without having a backup prepared, this is a detriment to our cause, The Father wouldn't take such a risk!" Faith cried as she shook her fists as if it would free her.
Jacob remained unusually silent, as he pushed against her back and began pushing her towards the door, normally he would provide some sort of evidence, he was a very methodical person, there is always a cause and effect with him.
Then it hit her, a rebellious idea wormed its way into her head that made everything fall together, she was right, Joseph wouldn't be ok with this, but he wouldn't raise his ire if he was simply unaware of what was happening.
"The Father doesn't know about this, does he!?" Faith cried, almost choking on her words, in shock from Jacob's audacity and boldness, she stopped and peered over her shoulder to look at the man.
"Joseph… doesn't understand, what needs to be done if he wants to succeed, I'll explain it to him once I think he's ready" Jacob calmly explained, not forcing Faith to move again.
"You claim I committed treason, but you're doing the same thing, you can't usurp me like this, The Father won't tolerate this when he finally finds out!" Faith cried as she completely turned around to fully face the Veteran.
"Maybe you're right, but he can't do anything if I stall for time and delay when he finds out, and when he does, perhaps he won't care if I can offer him a better solution then you, you've been replaced for less after all" Jacob supposed.
"W-What do you mean?" Faith asked, a tremble in her voice, there was something more to Jacob's thinking then just taking her away, he had prepared for this, he had something planned.
"Your up, Soldier" Jacob ordered with a snap of his fingers.
Upon snapping his fingers, one of the men shambled forward from the wall and stood by Jacob, back straight and a hand raised to his brow in a salute.
"Gordon here is one of my top guys, he knows a lot and is going to take over for you in your absence" Jacob explained.
"You can't be serous!? There's no way just one of your men can just take my place, do you have any idea what Amanda and myself do on a day to say basis?!" Faith cried in disbelief.
"Your right, he can't do it alone, that's why your High Priestess is going to help him find his way, isn't that right, Priestess?" Jacob said, looking over at the crestfallen Amanda who sill stood idly by off to the side.
"Y-Yes Sir, of course, Sir" she said, her voice trembling.
Amanda's affirmations to help Jacob in his treacherous, brash scheme left her in silent awe, she couldn't believe whatever was whispered to her but her in her place just like that, outside of her family, her High Priestess was the person she trusted the most, and now she was essentially gone, leaving her all by herself once more.
She took her eyes off the once trustful High Priestess and looked back up at Jacob, fighting back tears, she was terrified of what was going to happen, to her and the county.
"You can't do this" was all Faith could pitifully offer before she began completely choked up.
"Oh, but I can, my brother has entrusted me too keep us safe from all threats, internal and external, and that includes you, and your precious little Deputy" Jacob countered.
Faith didn't offer a reply, she didn't have one, she merely bowed her head slightly in submission, her jaw quivering.
"Then it's time to get a move on, shall we, you've wasted more then enough of my time" Jacob said before snapping his fingers yet again, this time, the remaining men who stood silent and unmoving up until now came to life and circled around Faith, standing very close to her, so close any on lookers could no see the handcuffs were not visible, they were escorting her out of the bunker without raising any alarms.
Then the group moved, forcing her to move in tandem, making her move towards the door and most obviously, too the Whitetail mountains. Amanda who silently, shamefully watched her leave with the group, Jacob following slowly behind, she wanted to help, she wanted to save the woman who gave her the chance to earn her way into the new world, and when she was needed most, she couldn't do anything, besides being the maid to some limping man was now rifling through Faith's desk, trying to garner as much information he could get, he was in line to seamlessly take over the Henbane River, and what burned Amanda the most was that she knew he could pull it off.
As Faith unwillingly walked through what was once her halls, she couldn't bring herself to look straight ahead, to address the more curious members of her flocked who watched her be escorted from afar, unsure of what was happening. She couldn't bring herself to look at the many portraits and paraphernalia likened to the Father's image and what he stood for, he had picked her up out off the gutters and cleaned her up, made her an actual woman again, gave her a chance at life, a purpose, and now, Jacob aimed to take it all way, he wanted to extinguish whatever Joseph saw in her, and if he did so, where would that leave her?
While the escort party drew closer and closer to the surface, Faith was too lost in her thoughts and emotions to notice, it had been a long time ago since she had been placed in handcuffs and escorted somewhere, it was years ago, back when she was still legally known as Rachel Jessop, both her and a trusted friend of a long time were both being taken away by the authorities due to drug charges, and what they did to procure more of said drugs, and right now, the same shame she felt back then came flooding back to her, the ride to the precinct, the mugshots, the booking, if Jacob intended to the anything like that, the same tears would come back, more so then they were about to.
And then sunlight burned her eyes, making her bring her restrained hands to her face, it had been far to long since she had returned to the surface, and her eyes felt it. what was more, she finally realized where she was, she was on the surface, with an armored van in front of her. And then soldiers that surrounded her came to life, breaking away from her and becoming very forceful with her, and by that, they started manhandling her as if she was part of the resistance, and in response to such treatment, Faith cried out in pain and fear as they forced her into the back of the van, she tried to save herself by trying not to move her legs any, but since she had such a small frame, the soldiers easily picked her up and loaded her into the vehicle as if they were moving a rolled up rug.
Now that she had been loaded in the van, Jacob who watched silently, appreciating his solders work, stepped forward to give more orders, he commanded three of him men to take her back to the Mountains while the rest stay behind and maintain the new order. Jacob then gave a few light smacks onto the rear of the van, signalling for the driver to depart, the engine revved as the tires spun up, kicking some dirt up before taking off, leaving Jacob and the chosen few behind. Before Jacob returned to his bunker to begin his interrogation, he needed to find out the truth of Henbane Resistance's strength from Amanda.
The van ride was deathly silent, it was to Faith at least, she was terrified, every little bump, rattle and every odd noise wound her up just a little bit more, it didn't help that across from her sat one of Jacob's men, a rifle balanced between his legs and continuously glaring at her with vicious, cold eyes. She didn't know where they were or how long they had been driving for, she could barely even look at the man across from her, the only thing that kept her together was her mind was desperately spinning and spinning to figure out some speech or anything that could convince the Father to spare her and forgive her for her transgression, she needed something to compete with whatever Jacob was planning,
But as fast as the van went, it suddenly came to a screeching halt, causing both Faith and the Peggie to almost fall to their sides, as soon as the man recovered his balance, he shot up and began banging on the thin metal that separated them from the driver's cabin.
"What the hell is going on up there?!" He shouted, still banging on the metal.
Every bang made Faith flinch slightly, whatever was happening was not apart of the plan, something was wrong. No response was made to the guard's banging and yelling.
"Hey, respond!" The man yelled again.
"Militia!" one of the men yelled from the cabin before the sound of both doors opening, shutting, and then, the fire of automatic gunfire.
The guard swore loudly as gunfire flanked both sides of the van, there were no windows in the van and he could not see where the danger was coming from, meanwhile Faith curled up in a ball from her seat at the sound of the gunfire, her cuffed hands curling around her head, fearing for her life. The guard prepared himself to lunge out the back doors and assist his teammates, but before he did, he turned to Faith, who was still balling herself up, he couldn't just leave her as is, she was an unknown factor, a traitor to their holy cause. Feeling like he was wasting every passing second, he quickly reached down and roughly grabbed her arm with a gloved hand and forced her upright and made her look him right in the eye.
"Don't you dare move from your seat, Heretic" the man ordered angrily as he pointed his gun at her with his free hand.
Faith didn't respond, fear kept her completely stationary as she looked at the barrel of the gun like a deer in the headlights, she never had a gun pointed at her before.
Seeing as she wasn't going to do anything, he roughly pushed her back, she was just a scared little girl, she wasn't going to attack him from behind, with her out of the way, the man turned and hurried to the van's doors and threw himself out before slamming the door behind him, then his voice and gunfire joined the cacophony of war, bullets firing off in countless numbers, the gunfire accompanied by loud shouting by the three men, it scared Faith to no end, all that separated her from the violence was thin metal panels, surely they could be penetrated if they were it.
But not even a minute passed before the gunfire and yelling faded into nothingness, silence, maybe there was some sound, Faith couldn't tell, she was breathing much to hard and her heartbeat pounded in her ears, hyperventilation threatened to overtake her system, she could not hear the Peggies shout conformations to each other that they won, just supposed silence, which meant the attackers had to have won, and there was only one thing that dare attack members of Eden's Gate; the Whitetail Militia, there was no way it could be the Henbane Resistance, they had no military training and couldn't best Jacob's men, and that also meant they were in the Mountain region, she was far from home and completely defenseless.
Then a shuffling could be heard from outside, right at the van's doors, Faith would have gasped in fear, but her respiratory system refused to obey, tears looming to run down her cheeks. Fearing it was the Militia Jacob occasionally talked about, if it was indeed them, she was a dead woman, but before she could write her own obituary in her head, the door creaked open and light shone through, as it opened, she forced herself not to shut her eyes and let whatever happen, happen, there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
She had lost, this was it, she was going to die if not tortured for information first or worse.
But as her eyes dilated and refocused upon what was coming in to kill her, she saw that instead of some crazed, bow and arrow wielding ne'er-do-well that Jacob fought against on a day to day basis, she was met with Benjamin Rook, clad in flannel, stain in a diagonal blood splatter across his torso, bow in hand and wore a look of great stoicism and determination.
"Benjamin!?" Faith gasped loudly, tears finally breaking free from their ocular prisons and streamed down her face as she truly felt alive again, she knew he wouldn't harm her, even if he wore bloodied clothes of the fallen.
"Faith!?" Rook gasped just as loudly, shocked and confused to why she would be in the back of a van, with cuffs on within the Mountain region.
"You saved me!" Faith cried happily, sniffling as scooting her way over to him, trying not to trip over the hem of her dress.
"I thought you were Jess, I was able to find out Jacob was transporting a single female back to his bunker, but what the fuck?! Why are you here!?" Rook asked as he took a step back in disbelief, almost feeling this was a trap, it was to good to be true.
"Please help me! Jacob kidnapped me! He chained me up like a criminal and tried to take me to be tortured!" Faith sobbed as she leaned out of the back of the van, holding up her shaking hands to show him the handcuffs that kept her bound.
"I don't understand, why would he do this?
"He knows! He knows about us and did something about it just like I said he would! He brought his men to my bunker and took everything over, he's doing something to make my termination ok!" Faith wept, all her fears and emotions came flooding out.
Rook was silent for a few moments, taking in her words, he was unsure what to do, he did feel guilty to some degree, despite she was the enemy, excommunicated or not, she was still a woman, crying, shivering and defenseless, like hell he was going to leave her out in the middle of nowhere with the animals, be it the ones in fur or human skin, but regardless of his morale's what was he to do? he couldn't babysit her, he couldn't just bring her back to her bunker, if Jacob truly was going to take her somewhere and torture her like she said, then Joseph had to have sighed off on it, meaning even the peggies would try to kill her now, she needed something long term, away from all factions and creeds, she was now hunted by everyone in the county, with the Junior Deputy as her only friend, but he had a job to do, he needed to find Jess, she'd slow him down, but then again, her knowledge could help him.
"Alright, let's get you out of there at least" Rook offered as he reached out to clasp her hand in his and helped her out of the back of the van.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you" she repeatedly softly as she tried to make herself stop crying, as she slowly lowered herself out of the vehicle with Rook's help.
Once she was finally one the ground and Rook let her go, she sniffled and hiccuped a few times before wiping her nose with the back of her hand, trying to pull herself together before addressing her savior.
"W-What's going to happen to me now?" She sniffled, looking up at Rook with big wet, eyes.
"Shit… let's just take this one step at a time… let's see those cuffs" Rook said, gesturing to her wrists.
Faith silently complied and held up her shaking hands again, allowing him to see what kept her hands together, making Rook silently examine it, his hand on his chin.
"Alright, I think I can fix this" Rook muttered to himself quietly as he removed the hand on his chin.
Then he pulled out a gun from his person and held it up the chain that kept her hands together, barrel pointed straight down, and fired, shattering the petite chain. A sharp yelp escaped from Faith as the round went off, the suddenness of the noise frightened her, she had never heard a gunshot so close before, it seemed so much different from the gunfire she heard while in the van.
"There you go, that will do for now, I can probably get those off later" Rook stated.
"Probably?" Faith echoed nervously, unconsciously rubbing her cuffed wrist, her brow furrowed with worry.
"But what about me myself, where should I go to stay safe, what should I eat, I have nowhere to go, Jacob's men will surely shoot my on safe now, I can't return to the Henbane River, should I go to the Holland Valley?" Faith began rapidly ranting, the target on her back felt like it was the weight of the world was on her back.
Rook took another step back to think, as if it helped him, his eyes rolled to the top of his head as if he was looking to the sky, a slightly frustrated sigh escaped his lips before eyes dropping back down on her.
"Ok listen, here's what were going to do… you and me are going to return to a little hideout I set up kind nearby from here, we'll go there and worry about your cuffs there, then we'll get some food in you and figure out something long term" Rook reluctantly planned.
"This is agreeable, very agreeable" Faith replied, nodding quickly.
"Please let us depart quickly, the longer we're out here, the more I fear we will be seen" she said.
"Well before we go, if you're really going to run with me, you can't go around dress like that" Rook said, nodding to her clothes.
Faith couldn't help but look down at her clothes, her body was adorned with the same snow-white sundress and open toed sandals, she kind of understood what he meant, he daily fought for his life and the lives of others, and he was clad in jeans and flannel, a formal dress was not exactly practical when it came to survival with nothing but the clothes on your back, the dress wasn't that durable, and it didn't help that she wasn't wearing anything modest under the dress.
"Well what should I do?" Faith asked tentatively.
Rook contemplatively looked down at the corpse that had try to emerge from the back of the van, by sheer luck the body had tumbled in such a way when the when the arrow it their throat, they landed in such a position where none of the blood leaked onto their clothes.
"Well how about this, would these work?" Rook asked as he limply kicked the body at his feet.
"You can't be serious?!" Faith gasped, horrified and disgusted that she might actually have to wear a dead person's clothes, someone who died minutes ago.
"If we need to run, you're not going to get far in that dress" Rook admitted firmly.
Faith merely made a near inaudible whine as she looked down at the corpse by her feet, the very idea of touching the body made her skin crawl, it didn't hit her up until now but she had never been this close to a body before.
"Tell you what, I'll get the clothes for you" Rook offered as he stepped forward towards the body.
Faith wanted to object but she didn't know what to say as she watched struggle to strip the body down, then peel off their boots. She didn't want to wear them, but she had no choice.
Once Rook was done, he balled the clothes up in his hands before handing it over to Faith.
"Uh, here you go" Rook said, not sure what else to say, he could tell she was very uncomfortable with this whole thing.
Faith didn't say anything as she uneasily took the clothes from him and stared down at them for a few seconds, still trying to build the courage to put them on.
"Here, why don't you go in here?" Rook offered, making Faith look up to see he was holding open on of the van doors, hoping she would change in there.
Again, Faith didn't say anything, she was much to uncomfortable to do so, so she just did what she was used to: doing what she was told, she silently climbed into the van and closed the door behind her, a few minutes later, the van doors creaked open once more and Faith slowly climbed out in her new attire. She was clearly grossly uncomfortable with her new attire as the clothes were loose fitting and baggy, the top of the yellowish wool sweater kept sliding around her shoulders and the new acquired belt had been fastened much tighter than it usually had been by it's previous owner, the boots much to large and heavy for her.
"There we go, it's a little big but I think it will work" Rook commented, looking over Faith's form.
Faith merely shrugged at Rook's comment, she could smell the blood and sweat within the fabrics.
"And now that's finally got that over with, let's get the fuck out of here" Rook said impatiently.
"Are we going to drive you're your base of operations?" Faith asked quietly.
"Drive? No, I don't have one, we can't travel by road, Jacob's got him men everywhere and cars just make to much noise" Rook responded quickly.
"Then how will we get there?" Faith asked, getting nervous to what Rook could be possibly planning.
"We're going to walk there, it might take a bit with you in the party, but we'll get there" Rook sighed.
"You can't be serious?!" Faith gasped, looking up at the wooded hills that surrounded them, they were thick and unfriendly looking.
"I just made you put on a dead man's clothes, why would I joke about this, so please, can we get a move on, the longer we stand around here, the less time I have to save Jess" Rook complained.
It seemed like he was starting to regret staying around as long as he did from the tone of his voice, it made Faith all the more nervous, he wasn't obligated to help her, she was lucky he didn't end her life like anyone else would have, if she wanted his continual help, she had to dance to his tune, even if that meant trudging through unwelcoming woods.
"So, you coming or what?" Rook asked, taking a few steps towards the woods he had come from, impatiently tapping his foot, waiting for her to make up her mind.
Even as a part of her wanted to just walk away and find a Eden's Gate member who had yet to hear the latest news, she silently agreed to go with Rook, he was guaranteed safety, with an apprehensive sigh, she began marching forward into the woods. Rook didn't say anything, he too turned and marched into the woods, at a much faster pace then Faith, but not enough to leave her behind.
And as time stretched on over the hike, Faith complaining multiple times that her feet hurt, she was not used to doing such long treks through the wilderness, especially in such a foreign garb, but then again, a lot of to day was very new and scary to her, keeping her from expressing the extent of her woes. But unfortunately, Rook was indifferent to her difficulties, he kept telling her to either think of something nice or toughen up as her complaining her journey feel even longer then it was.
Again, she wanted to complain some more as his words brought her no comfort, but her upbringing taught her not to back talk, leaving her to pout in disappointment, but despite her not like what she heard, he did have a point, she did understand mind of matter, looking to take her mind off the aching journey, her eyes fell downward at the ground and her feet, she focused on putting on foot in front of the other, watching each foot go up and down, listening to the soft crunch beneath her large boots
As this went on for who knows how long, she tried her best to push the concept of time from her head, thinking of better times, times where she wasn't a wanted woman or excommunicated from her family twice over, but even with all that she could not escape the aching in her feet, little by little it built up, growing worse and worse until she just couldn't take it anymore.
But right before her feet finally felt like they were going to explode, Rook who was always ahead of her finally stopped and announced that they had arrived. Faith looked up in wonderous optimism, hoping Rook's hideout wasn't as ghastly as his appearance, but to her disappointment it was an old run-down, out of the way old gas station, all the windows had been boarded up, the pumps covered in a healthy coating of cobwebs and rust, a nearby staked sign promoted something from the pervious year.
"It may look a lil bad but it's kinda homey inside" Rook offered as he picked up speed again, looking both ways before crossing the forgotten road the separated them from the gas station
But Faith merely made a conflict whine, inaudible to Rook, the station did not look homey, it looked quite inhospitable, it was a gas station, she had hung around her fair share of gas stations a life time ago, the things she had seen take place at such out of the way refueling zones.
Rook jogged across the road and up to where the building's door would have been if not for the wooden boards and peeled back the large particle board that covered the once glass door, the missing glass created more then enough space for anyone to walk right on through into the building. He nodded towards the opening, signaling for her to enter first, but Faith was reluctant to enter at first, but the impatient stare coming from the Deputy forced her to move forward and entered the building, Rook following right behind her, the particle board snapping flush once more against the building's door.
The interior was dark, thin streams of light leaked in through the spaces between the old boards, shelves that once held goods were pushed off to the sides to create more room, the air was hard to breathe as the room as humid and dust polluted the air, the perimeter of the room coated in dust, the room had an odd smell to it, it was like something was rotting, but she couldn't quite place it. Faith couldn't help but notice on what was the cashiers counter was energy bars, cans of soda, and other such treats were piled on the counter, she was curious to how he procured such items, but off in one corner of the room was a vending machine with it's glass cover smashed, that may have given her the answers she needed, next to the pile of goodies was an old wrinkled map, it was heavily marked up with a dull marker, the map had several large, frustrated looking X's covered the map in a ring around the gas station they resided at, they must have been where he had tried and failed to find his lost companion.
"Just give me a sec, I think I got something for the handcuffs" Rook stated as he approached the counter with the goods and hoping over the counter before pushing open the door to some back room, disappearing behind it.
With Rook gone, Faith couldn't help but feel alone again now that Rook had disappeared, she felt as if she was in a horror movie, the room's décor felt that oppressive, all that was needed now was a mask clad, machete welding fiend to complete the feeling.
The feeling was so strong that she needed to repeatedly look over her shoulders to make sure nothing was sneaking up behind her, she was already frazzled enough as is and didn't need to have another panic attack if a rat scurried by her foot.
And as she continually looked around, she noticed that a small pile of various clothes was stacked up off to the side, it rested on the base of one of the few shelves, the pile must have toppled at one point and was more of a mess then a pile, but looking at the pile, Faith wonder why Rook had such a collection of garments, perhaps they were clothes to change into after his current clothes as there was no real way to wash them, seeing the pile she couldn't help but rummage through it, there had to be something in there better then the standard yellow woolen shirt. Faith tiptoed over to the pile, hoping not to be scolded for snooping or touching what didn't belong to her, but thankfully Rook did not come back in time to see her dive around, allowing Faith to delved around the pile quietly until she found something worth taking, it was a simple leather jacket, it looked beat up and a little small, even for her but it looked like it could keep her warm during the cooler of the night, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, she took it and wrapped her body in it, the jacket pulled snuggly around her petite frame, and in what felt like far to long, she finally felt warm.
"Find something you like?" Rook's voice came from behind her, causing her to flinch in fear.
Spooked, Faith quickly turned around, for some reason expecting Rook to admonish her for doing what she did, but Rook did not, he just looked completely neutral, well, as neutral as one could be while stressing out over the well being of a kidnapped friend, he stood on the opposite side of the counter, looking like a bloodied gas station attendant
"I uh, I… 'm sorry I didn't mean to snoop around!" she stammered nervously.
"Don't worry about it, as you can see I have many to chose from, now come back over here" Rook said, holding up what was in his hands; a bobby pin and paper clip, both equally bent so their ends could be inserted into the cuff key holes.
"Wrists on the counter" he ordered.
Faith had seen enough movies to know he was going to attempt lock picking. It wasn't a bad idea, far better then chasing after Jacob for the key, and there was no way was she going to protest and just go day to day with them on. Doing what she was told, she slowly moved towards the counter and tentatively placed her wrists upon the counter, giving Rook full access to the metal rings that clung to her, as soon as she did, Rook inserted both tools into the hand cuff and became twiddling them around, erecting soft clicking sounds from within, Faith could help but be transfixed as she watched him diligently work.
"You seem very well versed in this matter, where did you learn such skills?" Faith asked, hoping to break up the unnerving silence.
"Yeah, well… I picked up a few things from Jess here and there" Rook muttered quietly as he focused on the lock picking job.
And then the hand cuff, that clung painfully to her left wrist clicked open, the jaw popping upwards, allowing Faith to lift her hand out and feel freedom. Then Rook moved over to the other one, working just as meticulously as before, a few whispered swears escaped his lips as he worked, but sure enough, eventually the lock finally gave and fell onto the counter with a hard clank against the counter, now off, her wrists were adorned with two red lines across each wrist, they were sore to the touch and made her winch whenever she rolled her wrists to fast.
"Thank you, Benjamin, you have no idea how much better I feel now that I am truly free" Faith said, rubbing her tender wrists.
"Now that I helped you, I want you to help me" Rook suddenly said sternly, not wanting to beat around the bush.
"What do you mean?" Faith asked, looking up in surprise.
"I saved you, I got you out of that thing with Jacob in the van and I escorted you safely here to get those cuffs off, which would have killed you if they stayed connected, so now I need you to help me find Jess" Rook ordered strictly.
"I don't know how I can help, I've never met her let alone know her, all I know is what you have told me about her" Faith explained.
"Well it's not like I'm going to just leave you here by yourself, using up my very limited resources, without any further payment, if you want to stay here, you gotta help me" Rook asserted.
"What would you ask of me?" Faith asked, her head tilting to the side slightly.
"Like I said, I'm not going to leave you here by yourself while I find Jess, it's not safe enough, so as much as I hate to say it, you'll be coming with me, I mean, there's no way every peggie is aware of what's going on with you, that would shake up the whole cult, far to much to handle, so I think Jacob only told a select few, just enough to keep the Henbane on lock without anyone knowing, so we'll use that, so I'll find the peggies and send you to walk right up to them and ask about Jess, then when we get what I need, I'll blow them away"
"That doesn't seem right" Faith rebuked, not liking how long this venture could take.
"Neither does a group of emotionally weak people killing and looting because some guy said the world is ending, but here we are" Rook replied, rapping his knuckles on the counter.
"I feel that we're splitting hairs" Faith sulked.
"Well I don't need you to like it, it just needs to be done, like I said, it's not safe for you to stay here by yourself for God knows how long, who knows who might stop by, but if you stick with me you have a chance to not get caught again, and while you do that, it would make sense you help me since I'm going so far out of the way for you!" Rook sighed in frustration.
"Let's say this pays off and we find where your friend is being held, which will most likely be his bunker, then what?" Faith asked, placing her free hands on her hips.
"We'll keep doing what we're doing, you're the distraction and I'll take them out, you'll, you'll knock on the door and when the see you and open the door, I'll shoot, you're my trojan horse, and when it works and Jacob is dead, there's nothing stopping you from taking your place back" Rook affirmed.
"But with both John and Jacob out of the way… where does that leave me when you need to liberate the Henbane River?" Faith asked, fearing for her safety, was it really wise to work with Rook for this long.
Rook was silent for a few seconds as he thought of what to say, he could see the fear in her eyes, he couldn't say anything to damning, if he scared her off he'd be dead in the water, he needed Faith, but he couldn't outright lie, despite being a vulnerable little girl, she could pick out a lie when she heard one, to bad she couldn't see Joseph's.
"We can burn that bridge when we get there" he finally said gruffly, not wanting to dwell on the implications.
Now it was Faith's turn to stare in silence, she wasn't sure if she like that answer or not, she didn't even know if she should run right out the door and get far away as possible, but that would be a death sentience, as much as she didn't feel her safety was secured, she had to go along with it, only for now.
"I'll do it" she sighed, in defeat.
"Good, glad to hear it" Rook said, picking up a happier tone before reaching for something under the counter.
"With that sorted out, I want you to take this" Rook said, presenting her with a simple handgun, placing it on the counter.
Faith's eyes widened at the sight of the death dealing tool, she had never touched one before, and she had no inclinations in doing so now.
"I can't, I refuse to harm someone, let alone take a life" Faith said firmly.
"Oh come on, you can't be fucking serious" Rook scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Yes I am serious, I will not become a murderer because my brother has decided to go against the Father and do as he pleases, if anything this will add more nails to my proverbial coffin" Faith countered.
"You won't even get a coffin if you don't take this, I can't cover both of us out there! some people know you're a traitor and will try to kill you or whatever, you need to keep yourself safe!" Rook rebuffed, getting louder this time, he was not looking for another argument.
"Benjamin, I refuse to take the gun, I will not take a life, I will not sink to such a horrible level despite my current station in life" Faith replied again.
"Ok fine, Miss High and Mighty" Rook spat, looking down his nose at her.
"Then how do you explain your angels?" he asked bitterly.
"Pardon?" Faith flinched, not sure where he was going with this.
"Your angels! They are people you overloaded with Bliss, turning them into fucking brain dead monsters
"They… they're sinners" Faith said quietly, afraid of how Rook would take it.
"Sinners!? You mean everyday hardworking Hope County citizens merely protecting themselves and the loved ones!?" Rook cried in a mix of anger and disgust.
"You don't understand… my flock brought them to me, they said they really are sinners, they were killers, rapists, kidnappers, all of them, worth enough to be the mindless that swarm at the gates of the…" Faith said quietly again, feeling more and more unsafe as Rook got louder and louder.
But she cut herself off, she wanted to say sinners again, but that would defeat the very purpose of the argument.
"Well what!?" Rook said, commenting on her silence.
"Were you going to say sinners!?
"See! It's this shit I'm talking about!" Rook yelled, slamming his hand on the counter a couple of times.
"Do you actually think that there's that many bad people in this county alone, I've seen dozens and dozens of angels, God knows how many others are hidden around, making someone a zombie is not Do you really think this is what God would want?!" he yelled.
"I'm sorry" Faith muttered nearly inaudible, taking a step back as she stared at the seething man with wide eyes, was he always this aggressive?
Then Rook paused, he shut his eyes tight and breathed heavily, trying to calm down.
"Listen" He sighed heavily, trying to blow the anger off.
"You are no better then me or my friends or anyone out here, we are all doing things that aren't good so we can survive, and it will be this way until we are all dead, all of us, and that will happen, not if we do something about, so please Faith… Racheal, fucking help me save as many people as I can, regardless if the end is coming or not, let's just help people" Rook monologued quietly, he tried to go soft but his emotions always kept him on point, a edge of wrath poked out of him.
Faith was silent as she thought of what he said, coming to terms with it, she didn't want to agree, but apart of her did, another part didn't trust him, but yet he still pressed upon her morals, she really did want to help the less fortunate, just as the Father helped her, a life was a life, they were all equal in the eyes of God, and anything to do with angels was shoved downwards into a unnoticeable void to prevent any further mental confrontation.
"Ok" she finally said quietly, bowing her head and slowly reaching out for the gun that still waited for her on the counter before her.
Rook didn't stop her while she picked it up, it was a lot heavier than she believed, she didn't know how Rook could carry around the bigger guns all day everyday, it was almost scary. She didn't even know if she could do this, could she point it at someone and pull the trigger? Unsure where to put it. she simply tucked it into her jacket's side pocket, the butt of the gun slightly sticking out.
"Good, I'm glad we can come to an agreement" Rook said uncomfortably, clearing his throat.
"So what happens now?" Faith asked tentatively.
"Now" Rook said gruffly, his eyes hardening as he stared at the girl before him.
"Now we get to work" he said.
