"Code JD repeat Code JC" a sterile, dead voice echoed out of the overhead intercom system, alerting every single person inside the bunker.

Rook swore at its arrival, something vitriol also dripped off Jess's lips but was lost to him over the blaring repeating message, it stated over and over again that the Deputy was in the Bunker, not where he was or what he was doing, perhaps that was his only saving grace. Regardless, the pair rushed back the way they came as fast as they could before the were spotted, through the hallway with countless arrows, and down many other hallways, they all seemed identical to Rook and found it impossible to perfectly retrace his steps, but even if he did, what were they going to do? Climb up the cargo elevator, ride the fucking missile out?

Rook chose not to vocalize these thoughts as for right now, their mission was to kill Jacob, and dared not to distract Jess with such trivial matters of escape when she clearly had murder on the mind, so was so ready to do so that she was the one that led the way, running a few feet ahead of him, bow at the ready, she too had no idea where to go, but she acted as if she did.

They worked their way through multiple corridors and rooms, still no one had yet to meet them, it was just the constant wailing of the alarms, but that isolation was short lived as barely hidden under the alarm he and Jess could hear heavy footsteps coming from around the corner ahead of them, then a singular man came around the corner, but as quick as he came around the corner, he fell, an arrow in buried in his chest, Rook didn't see her prepare the arrow, but he was glad to see she hadn't lost her aim under Jacob's grip. The arrow that killed the man was quickly pulled from the corpse as Jess ran by, reloading it into her bow, she knew where she was and how many peggies were down here with here, she needed to make ever arrow count. That very same sentiment carried over to Rook as well, he had to be careful with evey shot, sure he could always pick up another gun, but he wouldn't trust every gun had a full clip of ammo.

While lost in bullet based thought, more cultists came, this time more then one, by the sounds of it, it sounded like five, maybe six, but it mattered not, Rook was ready for them, as soon as they filed out of the doorway, Rook raised his shotgun and pulled the trigger repeatedly, pumping the shaft with every pull, but to his fury, it was not a assault weapon he was so customed too, it was a shotgun with a very low shell count, and it emptied out quickly.

"God fuck!" Rook grimaced as he tossed the empty gun to the side and unholstered the handgun from his waist band.

And with such fluidity, he brought the gun up and continued firing, not missing a beat, or shot as he repelled the threats, dropping a few more people, but one remained, Rook chose to stop firing to conserve bullets, the last person didn't last long as Jess took them out, again Jess retrieving her arrow as she passed. Turning the corner to be met yet another long, long hallway, but it was much wider than the others, and full of large crates, their contents were unknown, but large, nonetheless.

"Hey, things are going to get rougher, the closer we get to the surface!" Rook hollered over to Jess as they continued to run through the halls.

"Yeah whatever, we'll kill them all!" Jess bellowed back indigently.

"I have like, twelve shots, there are countless down here!" Rook cried.

"I have arrows, there unlimited!" Jess yelled back dryly.

"Alright fine, I'll let you do the heavy lifting!" Rook offered back, his mouth growing far to dry from all the running and talking.

"Good, just let me handle everything!" Jess responded warily.

Then almost as if the bunker itself was listening, the door at the end off the hall, burst open and the hallway swelled with peggies, ten filing down the sides of the hall, towards the various obstructions in the hall in hopes of using them for cover, those leading the charge fired at the invaders, attempting to discourage them from firing back just long enough for the troops to get into proper position, it made the duo to dive behind a large crate of something important, the top edges shredded by gunfire.

"Alright, how you wanna play this!" Rook shouted over the intense gunfire.

"Just do what we always do and fuckin' kill!" Jess yelled as she raised herself up just enough to fire an arrow over her cover.

Her comment made Rook look down at his gun with discontent, three bullets was not going to kill all of them, even on a good day, he needed a better weapon, a better plan.

Then the large box of cover, crumbled a little bit more under the express duress of constant, suppressing gunfire, revealing a slight crack in it's side and in turn it's contents, hoping it was guns or explosives, Rook looked inward but to his disappointment it was full of books, thick, hardcover books, if he were to throw them, they would assuredly hurt it they hit someone.

"Alright, let's do it!" he replied, grabbing a book, he felt like he was a fucking idiot but if it worked, it worked.


It was a slow slog for the pair as they picked peggies off one by one, but it was a doable slog, Jess and Rook worked in perfect tandem, like two pieces of the same machine, they were so familiar with how one another worked that even the impossible seemed possible, even ending one life after another in a single corridor until there was none left, the last few were quite panicked from how they entire unit fell to arrows and distracting books, and that panic did not grant them mercy, Jess and Rook took them out all the same, leaving them in a corridor littered with bodies, it was something neither of them wished to dwell on, and hurried out the door all the recently dead came from.

As soon as they clambered through, they were met with a decision, left or right as they were met with a two-way intersection, a fork in the road.

"Which way should we go!?" Rook gasped.

Before Jess could respond a great noise came from behind them, far back, curious and scared, they quickly turned and looking through the still open door and down the long hall, they could see even more peggies, more then they just killed, rapidly advancing on their position, shooting to kill.

"Doesn't matter, just keep going! We'll meet up further down the line!" Jess shouted, pushing Rook down the right path before breaking for the left.

"What!? How?!" Rook yelled back, her statement carried no truth, she did not know if the tunnels would link up again.

Not only that, but why the fuck were they breaking apart, they had a much better chance together, but any chance to argue was gone as Jess had taken off, leaving him in the dust. With a frustrated grunt, he continued down the path he was thrust upon, even as he continued alone, the halls were nothing but the same, making him lost and confused, he feared he'd never see Jess again, not only that, as he ventured, he came across a surprising lack of peggies as he ran through the bunker's guts, he could only assume it was because of Jess, she was laying down a bigger warpath then he ever could, like she said before, she essentially had unlimited ammo, and that would cause a bigger problem then a handful of bullets ever could.

But despite Jess's revenge fueled onslaught, he still did come across a couple scrambling peggies trying to stop him, they were disorganized and nervous, they were scared the Junior Deputy was in their home base, but they still put up a bold exterior, and an even bolder defensive strategies, whenever he entered a confrontation with peggies, he fired off a few conservative shots, when he killed them all, by his count he had three, or at least that's what he believed, and with all nearby enemies were dispatched, he resumed running again, sprinting through endless identical halls, and pushing through multiple doors, as he did, no peggies yelled at his presence, which made him increasingly afraid, he expect to hit a wall of cultists, that fears stayed with him up until he finally ran up on them at another T intersection.

"Aw fuck!" Rook swore loudly, before shooting off down the hallway that wasn't populated.

And of course, the multiple peggies gave chase, shouting and yelling after him, they didn't plan to kill him, they wanted him alive, but thankfully adrenaline coursed through Rook much longer then it did them, give Rook the edge he needed to escape as he sprinted down unending hallways, winding up at an ajar door, he hoped he could use it to separate himself from the peggies barely a few meters behind him. As soon as he made it through he quickly turned around a pushed the door closed as hard as he could with both hands and begun hastily spinning the wheel as fast as he could, he didn't remember seeing a valve on the other side, but he didn't care he had to try, not long after the valve could spin no longer his unsureness was met by hard knocking from the other side, accompanied by barely audible yelling, they weren't going to get through.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he leaned in on the door, his forehead lightly resting upon the doors cold steel, for some reason he felt safe.

"I was wondered when you would show up" a gruff voice came from behind, make a shiver run down Rook's spine.

Peeling himself off the door and slowly turned around, again, he knew who the voice belong to, despite his desire to find that person, but he just felt exhausted, physically, emotionally and mentally, Faith was right, he was way over his head and things just went from awful to horrible; a few feet away, Jacob stood before him with a smirk as he used his thumb to push on the other four knuckles on his hand, cracking them all in sequence.

It was obvious Jacob wanted something along the lines of witty banter before the two collided, but Rook on the other hand had other ideas. Just seeing his stupid face made Rook so anger, he was the one responsible for take Jess, he was the one the turned him into a ticking time bomb that will go off at the play of a song, he was a sophisticated monster, a terrorist on home turf.

"Eat shit!" Rook yelled scornfully as he pointed his handgun at Jacob.

But the gun proved all but useful as in a blink of an eye, Jacob lunged forward and with a single swing of his thick arm and closed fist, Jacob was able to smack the handgun from Rook's hand, causing it to skidder across the floor, far from where the two men stood.

"Not that, was disappointing" Jacob sighed as he rubbed the spot on his forearm that hit the gun

"Shut the fuck up and just fight me" Rook spat angrily, raising his fists, preparing himself for a fist fight.

"Well if you insist" Jacob shrugged with a smug smile

Then he squared up just as Rook did, but before Rook could even prepare his punch, Jacob shot forward with a straight jab, hitting Rook square in the stomach, pushing the air out of him, the hit knocked him back as well, almost knocking in his back. Taking the hit made Rook realize something obvious, he was out of his depth, Jacob was a vet, he fought and killed for this country, he had no chance, but that wrath he carried for God knows how long said otherwise, it told him to straight himself out and swing back with the intensity to rival a truck, to rip Jacob's head off and parade it across the bunker to warn all of who dared challenge him.

And so he did, against his better judgment, Rook readied himself again, raising his fists, taking a step forward, towards Jacob who watched him in morbid curiosity.

"Heh, you can still keep going huh, I didn't hurt you to bad did I, Wolf?" Jacob taunted, balling and unbaling his fists.

This time Rook didn't give in to the provocations, instead he took another step forward, a much bigger one then before, jumping slightly as he unleashed a strong right hook. But yet again, Jacob had the prefect counter ready, blocking Rook's blow and hitting him back, this time in the face, this time making Rook following onto his back, his left eye watering, a bruise would surely form around the socket.

"We will have much to work on once all is said and done and we have all the time in the world" Jacob sighed in disappointment, looking down at the knuckles that collided with Rook's face.

As Rook lay on the ground, writhing slightly, things drifted through his mind, he had no intent of rising to Jacob's expectations, but he sure as hell wanted to kick his ass, even if it was a single punch to the face, some sort of violence needed to enacted, that feeling made Rook stand back up with a groan, he was going to be sore tomorrow.

Jacob watched Rook rise to his feet with bored eyes, his movements and posture were sloppy, his plans and follow through seemed hair brained as if he was making it up as he went, it was a very disappointing thought, he wanted Rook to be so much more, how did he kill John?

Then Rook lunged forward again, swinging his fist again, trying to catch the man in the jaw, but Jacob merely took a step back, disinterested in the sloppy combat, the backstep made Rook swing again, lunging forward with a jab, but it only made Jacob back up again, completely dodging the hit, but as he jumped back Rook noticed something swing from Jacob's neck, it glinted occasionally as the sterile ceiling lights gleaned off it, focusing on it, Rook saw it was a small plan, brass key, affixed to the Seed by a length of twine, it took he a second for it to click in his head that just like John, Jacob had the key to his bunker around his neck, the realization made him gasp slightly, he needed to somehow get that from him.

This time when he stepped forward to meet Jacob again, he waited from him to swing first, trying to bait out some aggression, Rook raised his fists ready to fight again and moved in, he moved with the intent to strike, but that was merely a feint, as soon as he got within striking range, Jacob swung, he swung much faster than he expected, Rook planned to dodge it, but due to the speed all he could do was block, and it hurt like shit, Jacob's fist slamming into his forearm was one of the worst punches he'd ever taken, it was a trained, calculated hit, designed to hurt, but as it collided with Rook, he still pushed forward, swinging for the jaw, and against all odd, his fist collided with Jacob's jaw, it made him show clear signs of distress as one would when getting punched in the face, but it lacked any oomph, Jacob was much more hardy and could take much more pain then Rook, and that scared him, it meant he had to go beyond his limits if he wished to simply get away not damaged.

But then Jacob recovered, shrugging off the blow and grabbing Rook by the scruff of his shirt, lifting him off the ground with a single hand. But Rook did not take the manhandling in stride, to rebuttal Jacob's grab, he brought his feet up and planted them firmly on Jacob's chest and kicking back as hard as he could, it hurt him more then enough for him to drop Rook and stagger back, his balance fleeting, it was that lack of balance that Rook planned to capitalize on, landing on his feet again, rook shot forward on deft feet and slammed his shoulder into Jacob's chest with all his might, the shoulder tackle had added to his disbalance, causing the great man to fall backwards, with hard thud, even still with Jacob on his back, Rook still pushed forward, daring not to waste even a second, he quickly swooped in taking a knee directly next to him, inches away, he was much to afraid to plant his knee into the man's chest, fearing he'd get his kneecap broken. He looked down at the man, startled that he had been upturned like a turtle, albeit his fall and near immediate rise would be barely five seconds, it moved much slower to Rook, all due to adrenaline Rook assumed. But as he looked down at the vet in the slowed time he really, really wanted to sink his hand in Jacob's throat and squeeze as hard as he could, it wasn't viable, Jacob could easily counter and crush him, instead Rook aimed lower, his chest and plucked the key that dangled from a length of twine as fast as he could, he yanked it back, snapping the twine and placing the key in his possession, it happened so fast it even made Jacob gasp slightly as he did not expect Rook to set aside his wrath just long enough for him to rob him of one of his most valuable possessions, he had to get it back.

The missing key caused Jacob to shoot up, arms swinging wildly trying to grab Rook, but as he rose, so to did Rook, standing to full height and harshly backpedaling, trying to escape the crushing grasp of the Seed. As Jacob came to full height again, he stared down at Rook with a newfound motivation and desire to crush the man before him, even with everything he planned for him, he was going to break him first.

"C'mere" Jacob muttered as he lunged at Rook.

But again, Rook back pedaled, moving out of harms way.

"Actually, how about fuck this!" Rook declared before running off from where Jacob originally came from.

He ran as if the devil himself was after him, as he did, he could hear Jacob curse his name before giving chase, his heavy frame loudly thumbing with each bound. He did feel good about just running away like this, he wanted to kill him, but this was different, Jacob was stronger, faster, and his handgun was quickly taken from him, but he got the key, that was good enough, the won just a little bit. But other then that, Rook still wasn't sure where he was going or which way was up, all he knew how to do was run, run from the monster, and for some reason he felt like that was a recurring theme with him.

The two men ran for a long time, so long that Rook was starting to loss steam, enough that Jacobs footsteps got louder and louder, to the point it sounded like he was about to grab him, but then all of a sudden the heavy footsteps stopped, like he just stopped moving, unsure of what was going on, he warily looked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't about to get got, but when he did Jacob was gone, like a ghost, he just disappeared, gone into the night.

Then a shadow loomed over from in front of him, it scared lights out of him, fearing it was Jacob somehow getting in front of him, Rook raised his fists to swing as he skidded to a stop, he turned to swing, but instead of Jacob, he was met with Jess, a bloodied arrow in her grasp and streaked with someone's blood with had death in her eyes.

"Holy shit!" Rook swore, lowering his fists so he didn't hurt her.

"Fuck! There you are, let's go!" she screamed as she grabbed his arm and pulled her as hard as she could, down some unknown hallway.

"Wait Jacob is around here somewhere, let's kill him!" Rook exclaimed as he tried to free himself.

"We got bigger problems!" she yelled back.

Rook was going to ask what could possibly be worse than Jacob Seed, but then he silently got his answer, out from an adjoining hall spilled a dozen or so peggies, all moving with the intent to capture. Seeing this. Rook swore loudly again, he was getting really sick of too much running and not enough killing, but he had no other choice, with a grunt he stopped fighting Jess and the two ran in tandem, moving from room to room again, they kept running and running until things started looking familiar again, familiar enough that Rook started giving direction to Jess who followed silently, and in turn they ended up in a very large rectangular room with a large elevator in the center, it was the very room that Rook had entered on, the room had been long abandoned and room cleared out, trucks and all, it was just them and the peggies.

"Get on the platform!" Rook screamed, pointing over to the raised platform as he ran over to the nearby control panel, it was covered in unknown buttons.

"What, you can move this?!" Jess screamed back warily as she ran onto the platform and looked back at Rook.

But he didn't respond, he was to busy furiously slamming all the buttons and switches he could, hoping to get the lift moving, he wasn't sure if he was even doing anything.

"Dude! What the fuck!?" Jess cried in disbelief, as she prepared her arrows for the ensuing fight as peggies had just broken in and swarmed.

Still Rook said nothing as he fiddled with the console until cordially, the elevator slowly began to rise, much to Jess and the cultists collective surprise, but that surprise Jess felt quickly turned to dread as the lift moved glacially slow.

"Holy shit, you did it" Jess cried, almost as if she didn't expect him to do it.

But her words went unheard as Rook yelled over her, he yelled at the peggies that crowded inwards, they had put their firearms away, intent on capturing him.

"Just fuck off!" he roared as he turned and mimicked pointing a gun at them, trying to scare the cultists back, they didn't know what he had.

While Rook ran for the slow-moving lift, Jess quickly pulling arrow after arrow out of her quiver and firing upon the peggies, giving Rook the time he needed to sprint for the elevator. When Rook stopped pretending to having a gun, he look back at the elevator again to see that the lift was almost seven feet in the air, if not for the expansive room and lack over walls on the elevator shaft, Rook would not be able to see the elevator. Sprinting as fast as he could towards the moving platform, as he ran, he could hear the peggies behind him bolster their resolved, prepared to push forward again, ready to shoot Rook in the back if need be, but he wasn't going to give them the chance, he was close enough to the lift if he jumped with all his might then Jess could grab him, he hoped she could figure it out in time.

He leapt as high as he could, hand outstretched and calling her name, hoping she'd grab his hand, as gravity kicked in and began to pull him down, for a second, he thought he wasn't going to make it, that he'd fall on his ass and be torn apart by the peggies.

"Ben!" Jess cried, dropping to her knees, and extending a hand downwards, preying he would take her hand in time.

but Jess, the blessing she was, snatched his arm and using what little physical strength she maintained from sitting for a week, she used everything she could to hoist him onto the platform, leaving them both heaving as they lay on the moving platform, trying to catch their collective breaths as they came down from the adrenaline, as the both heavily panted, they looked up at the darkened shaft above them, as the elevator slowly rose, the red lights lining the sides of the shaft began to light up in tandem as the surface doors slowly opened and the two were greeted by stars, it was early night.

Neither of them said anything as they ascended, they just stared upwards as they heaved, fearing that ropes would descend and men repelling down, but no one came, just the ever present stars stared down at the duo, and when they finally made it to the top, they tentatively step off, the world above was just as chaotic as it was below, just over a nearby hill, countless lights turned on and an equal number of shouts and alarms, the bunker's entrance was very close by and it was opening up to release a swarm of cultist to recapture them. They needed to leave now.

"Come on!" Rook huffed before breaking out into a sprint, leaving Jess behind as he disappeared into the dark.

"Where the fuck are you going!" Jess wheezed, trying to keep up with him.

"Getting us the hell out of here!" Rook gasped as he didn't slow down, he just kept charging into the unknown.

As they ran, a few spotlights shone overhead, trying to identify the escapees as if they were escaped convicts, but thankfully the woods nearby offered ample coverage from the exposing light, even the darkness shrouded them well enough so the peggies could not see them from the distance, nonetheless the still charged into the darkened woods, but it was a fools errand, Rook and Jess were very familiar with moving deftly through the forest and moved with great ease, avoiding any and all foes, and as they moved further and further away, the cries and alarms got quieter and quieter to the point where it was long gone, leaving the duo giggling with exhilaration as they got away, relatively unscathed, they were shaky from the freefalling adrenaline, they didn't know what else to do, they had done the impossible, they survived Jacob and his bunker, no one would believe them if they told their story, but they didn't care, they didn't care what anyone thought about them, they did it and that's all that mattered.


Rook and Jess giggled to each other slightly deliriously all the way back to the camper Rook used as a base of operations, by the time they had returned, they were just about crashing from lack of energy, neither remembered the last time they ate or drank, and the cross country jog took whatever little they had left. Their moods had shifting towards something that was almost akin to hungover, their fast movements became sluggish and tired, Jess became her usual grouchy self, and Rook was a quietly growing bundle of nerves. As he approached the camper door, he expected Faith to be on the other side patently yet unhappily sitting at the table, waiting for Rook to return, but as the door opened, he found no one was inside, it was just the ever present cluttered mess that was always there, for some reason he was bewildered that the woman wasn't there, but that astonishment was short lived as Jess brushed by him, shuffling by and entered the camper, looking around the cramped room before looked over at Rook who still stood in the doorway, he looked almost nauseous.

"You ok?" Jess croaked, eyeing Rook's changed demeanor.

"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine" Rook sighed, his eyes falling to the floor.

"So, this is where you've been hiding out?" Jess asked dryly, her eyes moving to the messy domicile's interior again.

As she did, Rook couldn't help but feel a little nervous as she did, he feared she find something that would scream Faith Seed was here, but Jess's demeanor didn't change, she didn't find anything.

"Hey why don't you do whatever you gotta do to get comfy here, I uh, I got to make a call, let people know your alright and all that" Rook said, looking back to the door, he intended to radio Faith, hoping to reconcile and bring her back.

"Yeah sure" Jess shrugged as she looked around the old camper for a place to get comfy.

And with that, Rook zipped from the door, slamming the door behind him and wandering a handful of meters away from the camper, he then took a nervous look over his shoulder to make sure Jess couldn't see or hear him. Once he felt the coast was clear, he brought his walkie to his mouth and called Faith.

"Hey, you there?" Rook asked.

No reply.

"Faith, can you hear me?" Rook asked again.

Again, no reply.

"Please say something, please" Rook said, trying to not sound like he was groveling.

A third time now, no reply.

"Just let me know your safe" Rook sighed, looking up at the starry night sky, his voice quavering.

After a few moments, this time he got a reply.

"I'm fine" Faith's voice finally came, it was somber and lonely sounding, just like it did when they first started talking to one another.

"Where are you?" Rook quickly respond, momentarily forgetting how loud was and how close Jess was.

"That is none of your concern" Faith replied, sounding bitter, he didn't blame her.

"So what? you're just wandering the county by yourself, I know you wouldn't bring that gun with you, so what are you going to do if you got caught?" Rook asked feverishly.

"Is Jacob dead?" Faith suddenly asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

"No… fucker got away" Rook she sighed reluctantly.

"That… leaves me… conflicted I think, on one hand my brother is alive, on the other, he will pursue my death… did you at least save your friend?" Faith sighed.

"Yeah, she's a pretty shaken up but I think she'll be ok" Rook nodded

"But things don't have to be like this, we can still fix this by talking things out, just come back" he pleaded.

"I'm not coming back Benjamin" Faith replied quickly.

"Why did you leave Faith, did I really hurt you that bad… I'm sorry" Rook sighed.

"I'm not comfortable with your friend, I don't trust her, I don't feel safe around her, and you should feel the same

"Can't we at least try to work this out, you're not safe all by yourself, completely defenseless with night approaching" he tried to reason with her.

"I have a better chance out here then back with your friend in the camper, I have a plan" Faith explained.

"Come on, no you won't, I get why you your afraid of Jess I won't let her do anything" Rook replied.

I know if you had to choose between me or her, deep down it will always be her, she will always come first to you and I can't compete, she will try to leave or kill us both when she sees me, I can't come back" Faith said.

"That's not true, I can reason with her, I know her, and she knows me, she'll understand if I explain it right, just let me try" Rook beseeched her.

"She already has her hooks in you and will lead you down the path of ruin, I tried and failed to save you, all I can do now is pray for your salvation, I'm sorry Ben" Faith said sadly.

"Wait Faith, no" Rook replied.

"Goodbye Benjamin" Faith said before the walkie clicked off.

Rook wanted to argue more with her, he wanted to say and do whatever she wanted to bring her back, she wasn't going to survive out there, she needed to be protected, but she wouldn't le him, and there was nothing he couldn't think up a way that would change that, meanwhile his heart said otherwise, it wasn't sure what it wanted him to do, did he want to cry? Did he want to get angry? But at who? Faith? Jacob? Himself?

Growing more and more upset, his breath shaky and hoarse with uneasy frustration, he was faced with yet another situation where he couldn't do anything, he didn't know what to do, but what he did know was that he wasn't at fault, he never was, he believed himself to be the hero that would stop the cult, he will stop the cult, he'd die before he'd let them win.

"Hey you alright?" Jess's voice came from behind.

Rook jumped at her voice before quickly spinning around to address the woman sluggishly in the doorway of the camper.

"Yeah, everything's fine" Rook nodded, clearing his throat, then quickly before looking back down at the silent walkie, he knew Faith wouldn't say anything more, but it still scared him that he was very close to being caught.

"Good, now get your ass back in here, I wanna talk" she said with a great wight in her voice before going deeper into the bunker again.

As he stared at the empty doorway, he quickly looked down at the walkie before sighing and placing the walkie back on his hip, whatever ties he and Faith had, he solidly killed it, she was lost to him. Pushing those thoughts and feeling downwards, he re-entered the camper to see Jess leaning against a counter, arms crossed and looking downwards.

"Hey what's up?" Rook asked curiously.

Jess looked up and approached Rook, still silent, she grabbed a handful of his collar and pulled him close, pressing her lips upon his in a hard kiss, when she pulled back, breaking the seal of their lips, Jess still didn't let go, instead she pulled him around before pushing him down onto the couch seats, his sore back colliding with the cushions.

"What are you doing?!" Rook cried, not expecting everything and trying to stand back up.

But Jess did not let him.

"Making you mine" Jess replied, pulling of her jacket, and climbing on top of him, resuming the kissing.

And this time Rook didn't fight it, hormones and instinct drove him, his arms wrapped around her waist before drifting downwards, his hands cupping her rear. Then Jess broke away again, this time sitting up right, straddling him, she breathed heavily as she roughly undid his belt, while she did that, Rook also sat up and began undoing the buttons of her shirt with shaking hands, despite having almost no energy, he was absolutely giddy, he was about to fuck the woman he had feelings for.

And with the sounds of shaking metal, the belt came off, Jess pulling hard and the belt slithered from around his waist, freeing his pants, whatever was about to happen next, they would both remember it for a very, very, long time.


Faith huffed and puffed ragged breaths as she continued her light jog, slick with sweat she had been moving all night, at some speed between waling and sprinting. Her clothes her spotted with dirt and tree sap as she had thrown herself into the dirt and trees and everything possible so she wouldn't be detected by the rolling convoys of peggie vehicles, she had learned barely enough from Rook how to remain hidden. But her skills were not enough to be completely invisible, as she had to be spotted a few times and had to take evasive maneuvers to evade gunfire and people trying to capture her, and it completely terrified her, it put a brain numbing horror she had never felt before, it was unbelievable, all her life she thought there was two states of being afraid and not afraid, she was not ready for this freakish shades over horror that repeatedly washed over her like spotted weather. But as she successfully avoided the peggies, she was allowed to be alone with her thoughts and feelings again, and the tired burning within her legs and lungs, not used to this amount of exercise, she was starting to regret the details of her goal, at first, she though it was a simple yet long task, just walk back to the Henbane River, she knew she could no longer wait in the camper for Ben and his lady friend to return, the event prior to his departure where very harsh on her exposed feelings, she hoped her confessions would pull him closer, keep him safer, but all it did was push him away, towards a woman who might not even love him back, and that upset her, she knew Ben would end up hurt or worse, just thinking about him made her very upset, she still cared for him despite his flaws.

But there was a kernel of anger under it all, Rook's rejection her hurt deeply, she had never been rejected before, everyone ignored her in one life then threw themselves at her feet in the current, it also hurt to know just who he abandoned her for, it really ticked her off, what did that foul-mouthed harpy have that she didn't? it was Faith Seed that was always there for him, she was always looking out for him, she was the one who tipped off the Whitetail Militia of Ben's whereabouts, if not for her, Ben could have died many times over if not for her loving care, and he squandered it.

But no matter how anger or cut up she was about it, she knew it wouldn't help her in the present, Joseph had taught her as much; always look to the future for change, and the past for history, and that's what she planned to do, first, she'd eventually make it back to the Henbane River, and then, she'd somehow make contact with her High Priestess; Amanda, it was only her she trusted not to sell her out, Faith also painfully remembered that her Gate was heavily fortified with Jacob's men and one of his best men in charge of it all, masquerading as her until Jacob can prove it is a worthwhile change. Perhaps if her and her High Priestess, then maybe the two of them could expose what Jacob had done and retake their position.

But it was all a matter of how.

All she had was the clothes on her back and a walkie talkie, she couldn't bring herself to bring her gun, one death on her hands was far more then she could handle. All she could do was run, and run she did, for hours, putting her where she was now, a part of her wanted to give up, to curl up into a ball on the ground and what for something to find her, but she didn't give in to such base sentiments, as much as Ben hurt her, she knew he wouldn't give in if he were her, nor would he allow her to give in, if anything she wanted to see him again, even if it was just one more time, she wanted to try and convince him, face to face that he was wrong, that his war on Eden's Gate was folly, it was something she would do anything to change, it made her slowly built the determination to make the changes she was to afraid to in the past, all the while pushing herself forward despite her legs and lung protesting even more overuse, she moved faster and faster, making it even further, and as the sun broke the dawn, it's golden beams peaking over the massive expanse that was the mountains behind her, the colossal marble statue of Joseph Seed, could be seen, signaling she had made it to the Henbane's border.


The morning sun peaked over the hills, slowly and gently illuminating all that rested under it, one of those very things was a long-forgotten camper, its original owner murdered a month ago, it in lay two people, a man and a woman, cuddling deeply upon the could, they were both naked and used the woman's jacket as a blanket, the man; Rook had spent a considerable amount of time catching her; Jess up to speed with everything that happened since she was kidnapped, but he didn't mention anything about Faith, he felt that now was the wrong time to do so, but he would in better times. No sleep was gained the previous night, not due to the love making that happened, but soon after Jess fell into slumber, she would always wake up screaming, the effects of Jacob's torture was still fresh in her mind, and that scream would in turn awaken Rook in a frenzied panic, scrambling for a gun, but not matter how bad things got, the situation was always quickly defused, Jess never wanted to talk about, and Rook wouldn't just leave her be, so to compromise, Rook just talked to her about whatever came to mind, at first, it was completely one sided as she was just to freaked out to do anything but exist, but eventually she began talking back in anxious mutters, and slowly, she began to come out of her shell, and once she was properly back to normal, Rook circled back to what had happened in her absence and got down to business.

"And as amazing as it is, I doubt it will do us any favors, sure we got our way in, but that front door is a massive choke point, we can't just go in with sheer numbers, it would just be shooting fish in a barrel" Rook sighed as he looked down at Jacob's key that rested on the table.

"So, what should we do then?" Jess asked, also looking at the key before eyeing something that was stuck to the table next to key, a sliver of light slithered in through the dusted windows and reflected off a lone strand of long golden hair.

"We get our shit together and meet up with everyone at the dam before Jacob begins the firebombing, we just fucking, kill the shit outta everyone and everything there" Rook said trying to put on a air confidence and leadership, but in truth he was afraid, and angry.

But Jess merely chuckled at his idea.

"What's so funny?" Rook scoffed, he didn't tell any jokes, and he didn't like being laughed at.

"You said fuck" she grinned in response, running a finger up his chin.

"Yeah, so what?" Rook asked, looking at her oddly.

"You never swear" Jess quickly replied.

"Yeah well, while you were underground, I just saw shit, after shit, after shit, it really pushed all my buttons, fighting a fucking cult army by myself for weeks now" Rook huffed, the stress of it all was still with him despite what he had Jess had done to each other.

"Damn Boy Scout, you sure did man the fuck up to save me, huh?" she joked, looking up at him.

"You have no idea what the shit I've done to get you out, I'm going to be growing so many grey hairs from stress, I can't order the resistance around and help you, all those guys are such whiny pushovers, they can't do anything without me, they're almost as bad as the guys in the Holland Valley" Rook complained.

"Well I like this new you, so aggressive, so commanding, this is the shit we need to fuck up the cult" Jess grinned.

"Good, because this me isn't going anywhere, this new me is what's kept me and Fa- me and the face of this resistance alive, I ain't fuckin' going anywhere, not until I kill every last peggie" Rook seethed, his mind giving him a quick slideshow of everything he had been through.

"Sounds good to me dude, just tell me where to go and we can fuck them up together!" Jess grinned, leaning back into Rook and enjoying his body head against her back.

To Rook, Jess was uncharacteristically characteristic, what she went through should have broken her and anyone else, she should show some kind of change, he had to address it, he knew she didn't want to talk about it, but he had to try anyways.

"Do you want to talk about what happened to you down there with Jacob?" Rook asked gently.

Jess didn't respond to his question, she didn't even move, it was like she didn't even here the question, Rook couldn't see her face, but he could tell her whole state of being shifted, it shifted into something darker, much, much darker.

During the love making he had noticed that her body was covered in all sorts of damage, she had been beaten and tortured time and time again, she had seen horrors unimaginable and completely different to what he had experienced, he didn't expect her to even utter a word of it, but he had to try, they had such a rapport, she just much say something.

But she didn't say anything, she just silently shivered in his lap.

"Jess, I think you should open up" Rook offered gently.

"Just fuck off dude, leave me alone" Jess gently growled awkwardly as if she wasn't sure of her words

Instead of speaking Rook just sighing deeply at her lack of communication.

"Tell you what I'm going to radio home, get everyone ready to move in on the dam" Rook sighed, rising from his seat, he gathered his clothes that were scattered all across the camper and clothed himself before stepping out into the cool summer morning, Jess said nothing the entire time, Rook would let it go as he wished to speak to Pratt about what happened last night.

After walking far enough away from the camper, he spoke into his walkie.

"Anyone home?" Rook asked.

"I can here you, Deputy" Jacob's taunting voice came from the earpiece.

Rook bit his tongue at his voice, he was so sick and tired of him, he had his fill of him last night, his voice brought back images of Jess's damaged body.

"I must say, out off all the outcomes that could have occurred, I never expected you to steal the key and get you and your friend out, that's mighty impressive, I knew I chose right when I chose you to be Joseph's Judge" Jacob said, almost as if to praise him.

"You know, this will be the last time we speak before I commence my plans, and most likely we will talk at all, or rather what you'll remember in a suggestive state of mind" he continued.

"What the fuck do you want" Rook growled trying to reign himself in.

"You wouldn't understand… or maybe you might, perhaps you and I aren't so different in a way" Jacob mused.

"Get fucked, we're the same" Rook scoffed, disgusted in his assessment.

"I'm sure you remember what I told you when I had you back when I had you in that bear cage, the one where Joseph came to visit; me and my buddy, left for dead in the middle of now where, literally threw him to the wolves… so anyways when I got made it back to base and the boys back in Washington found out about what I did…. I didn't know what to expect, what they do or say, regardless it actually came as a bit of a shock that all I got was a pat on the back and pin a shiny piece of metal to your chest before pushing you back out there and telling you to do it all over again, and then that surprise melted into… anger I guess, they didn't give to shit about me, or the soldier they lost out in that desert, they didn't give a shit about me, they just want results… results, results, results, that's all anyone wants, it didn't matter who they trampled, so long as the wheel of progress kept turning, who cares, and as much as I disagree with it, their right, I too will do whatever it takes to get results, even if it means dethroning a woman pretending to be my sister, you see I'm telling you all this because I believe you can agree with me when I say we all want those results, and I know if you want even a chance of stopping me, to get those results, your going to have to make some real hard calls, your going to order men to willingly walk into the fire, and when they won't you'll have to do something so bad that the fire won't seem so bad, and well, I know I can, the question is, can you?" Jacob monologued.

Rook rolled his eyed and grit his teeth at every vile syllable that came out of Jacob's fucking mouth, he didn't care what he had to say, he wasn't really listening, he just wanted him to stop talking already, and when he finally did, Rook rolled out what he could from what he half paid attention too.

"I'm going to be there at the dam today, I'm coming for you, and I'm going to hit you with everything I got, and I will, I promise you, I will fucking kill you and tear down everything you have, you will be nothing but a fucking skeleton, I'll send your fucking skull back to your brother on a pillow" Rook threatened with all the audacity and authority he could muster.

Jacob was silent for a moment

"Maybe John was right about you" Jacob chuckled dryly.