When Faith burst into the room, Amanda tried to hold her back. They knew Gordon had done something horrid yet again to assert dominance, but what Faith saw this time took the cake, and Amanda desperately tried to shield her from it, but yet, she still failed.
The second Faith stepped into the large, cold common room of her bunker, Faith's legs buckled and gave out, making her fall to her knees, in shivering disgust upon seeing Gordon's newest work, she could tell Gordon was off to the side, preaching something, but she couldn't hear a word, nausea overtook her, her jaw clenched shut, hoping to keep the bile down. Amanda swopped in at her six, dropping to her knees, pulling her in and cradling her in her arms, trying to bring some comfort to her, but it was a wasted effort, Faith was too taken aback at the sight before her.
Gordon had yet again had the men loyal to Faith killed, but what made it so gut wrenchingly heartbreaking was that Gordon had them commissioned the bodies to be used as a grim warning, their limbs being bent and contorted, all twisted to fit around a large Eden's Gate logo they had been fastened to. What made it sickeningly worse is that the logo themselves were suspended two feet from the floor as logo backs were attached to thick metal poles that were embedded into the ground. A few bodies yet to be strung up dotted the ground and were currently being picked at by angels that had been let loose, it was like watching cavemen investigate something entirely new, poking and prodding the corpse, sniffing, and ogling it. Faith never had a problem with making angels and using them as she saw fit, they made efficient all-purpose scarecrows among other things but, something about seeing them, people who were also loyal to her and the Father, now gnarling unpeople, almost playing the with the bodies of other loyals, it was so... Disturbing, so... Raw.
And as the vivid horror of it all final settled like the calm after a violent storm, comprehension of sound returned to the distraught young woman, she could feel the cold floor press against her legs, Amanda warm arms around her waist, the tense presence of the dozen of her flock who stood in rapt attention, listening to Gordon's cruel words reverberating off the hallowed walls.
"And let it be known, any and all who still follow the treasonous witch; Faith Seed will be punished to the fullest extent of my power, for to long have we suffered under her half effort rule, under Jacob's watchful eye I have been trained, molded into something designed to lead us out of such adversity, I know the Father has proclaimed we require the Junior Deputy, and I will deliver in all due time, but right now, we must purge the evil within before we can turn our gaze outward, if you are with me, then please stand tall along side me as we push back this heartless darkness!" Gordon preached with expertise of John, and the ferocity of Jacob, it was scary to watch, with each and every word, he cast his spell on them and it took hold on them like a tightening boa constrictor, and what was really the twisted knife in Faith's chest, the way Gordon stood there preaching with an Eden's Gate bible tucked tightly under his arm, he looked so much like the Father.
Before Faith or Amanda, or anyone for that matter could counter the great speech that was going on, the faces of everyone who was in the room turned to Faith, they all once looked up to her with such respect and reverie, now looked at her with scorn and indifference, Gordon's slow diligent work had finally paid off, whatever was left of her flock, was no long hers, be it they truly followed him or they did so solely to survive.
Faith could feel her jaw and tongue move, she tried to say something, but nothing came, Gordon's menacing glare scared her voice away, before her voice could return to her, two pairs of arms came down and gently grabbed Faith by her own upper arms and carefully yet quickly pulled her to her feet, slipping free of Amanda's grasp.
"Come on Girl, we gotta git you outta here" a voice came, belonging to one of the arms that pulled her from the cold unforgiving floor, it reminded her of Joseph, and how she missed his gentle touch, Benjamin's gentle touch, both men made her feel so safe and she yearned for it once more.
Her neck felt so weak, so weak it was a struggle to turn her head, she didn't want too, a part of her expected her to be killed right then and there by someone just trying to impress Gordon, but yet she did anyways, by sheer willpower or desire to see who would take her head and saw that the person on her right was a rather gentle looking, large barrel-chested man, he reminded her of a living teddy bear, and on her right, a small black lady at her other, she reminded her of the mother she never had. Something in her head rattled around and fell forth to tell her their names were Frank and Emily.
"Please, keep quiet and let us handle this" Emily said quietly as she pulled her gaze from Faith and peered at the many that stared down at them sinisterly.
And as the pair lifted Faith off the ground, Gordon finally spoke, tired of the blatant treason in front of him.
"Stop right there!" Gordon ordered loudly, pointing at Faith her band of three loyal followers.
With that, the indoctrinated peggies slowly circled around behind them, cutting off their exit, causing Amanda to swear under her breath, feeling they're chances of getting out of here dwindling.
"You're not going anywhere Traitors, you have a lot to atone for, your treason and while I spent my time dealing with those who refused to stop serving you swindlers of progress, your good friend; Benjamin Rook had killed our deployed men and women who valiantly risked their lives to reclaim lost territory!" Gordon explained fiercely as he walked right up to Faith almost breathing down her neck, practically towering over her as Frank and Emily stood bravely at her sides like perched gargoyles on a skyscraper.
"How do you know?! How do you know if he killed everyone?! who told you?!" Faith yelled, swallowing the lump in her throat and pulling herself from her allies' arms. Things weren't looking good, not at all, but if Rook taught her anything, never stop fighting, albeit she barely had an aggressive bone in her body, but after everything she'd been through, she wasn't going out laying down.
"Silence!" Gordon barked, his arm swiping out swiftly, the back of his hand colliding with her cheek with a loud smack, electing a pained gasp as she recoiled back, falling back first onto the floor, a clear red hand mark was quickly developing across her right cheek.
As she fell, all three of her friends dove for her with gasps and curses, trying to catch her, and when they got, they're hands on her she was engulfed in fear again, shivering like a child paralyzed by the monster in the closet.
"That's what I thought!" Gordon shouted angrily, looking down at the trembling woman being clutched by three traitors.
Looking down at her now, he couldn't help but be disappointed, this was the woman that he was stressed about this child parading with the body of an adult, was what kept him from protecting the Father's dream, if a single smack was enough to bring her down, he should have done it so long ago.
Before he could berate her any more, a sharp ringing echoed the room like a reverberating metal on metal, it was a sound Gordon awaited with bated breath, he turned to face the sound only to see a nervous peggie jog right up to him and sharply took a knee before holding up a small silver dinner tray they were carrying, on it sat a ringing phone in its cradle, phone cord trailing behind the peggie like a stretching snake, the phone was the very phone Faith used to talk to the Father and him alone, and everyone knew who was on the other end, he ordered everyone to remain silent as the grave while he talked on the phone, he placed his bible he held onto the trey next to the phone, as he reached for the phone, just about half of the peggies in the room, lurched forward, swarming the four like the room was suddenly filling with water, crashing into them, multiple thick hands shot out and covered Faith and her ally's mouths so they could not call out to the Father, they held them in place so they could not move, they came at them so fast no one had any time to gasp or yell or do anything, dozens of hands entrapped them.
And then Gordon picked up the phone, it was clear he was nervous, but he did his best to shove it down, not many were graced with being able to talk directly to Joseph himself, this was such a high honor for him. With deft fingers, he gently lifted the phone and brought it to his ear, white noise lightly humming in his ear.
"Hello Faith" Joseph's voice came, and cool and collected as ever, but yet, it sounded like an exhaustion ran though him, Gordon knew the Father was in his early forty, but his voice cared the wisdom and experience of someone twice that age.
"H-Hello Father" Gordon stuttered ever so slightly, he didn't mean to lose composure for a second, but he couldn't help it, Joseph's voice sent shivers down his spine every time he spoke.
"Oh? And who am I speaking to? Where is my sister?" Joseph asked, the gruff male voice caught him off guard,
"My name is Gordon Sir, I was under Sir Jacob's watch before moving to Lady's Faith's she asked me to speak on her behalf if she could not take your call on time" Gordon explained,
"And where is Lady Faith? This is the first time she has ever been late for our little get togethers" Joseph questioned, he said in such a way Gordon could feel Joseph's brow furrowing in confusion.
"There was a problem with Bliss production, something went wrong with the pipes and see was required to repair it" Gordon explained, it hurt to say such a blatant lie to the Father himself, but it the grand scheme of things, it would be worth it.
"Hm, sweet little Faith only knows botany and the bliss serum recipe, she never mentioned she took it upon herself to take a more hands on approach with the large machines she has always found so intimidating" Joseph supposed,
"I do not wish to put words in her mouth or anything of the like, but I'm sure she said she was doing it to make up for her recent failings" Gordon lied, making up whatever he could.
"Then can you kindly pass along a message to my dear sister?" Joseph asked politely.
"Of course, Father, I'll do anything you ask" Gordon agreed quickly, trying not to sound excited.
"Oh, I'm sure you will" Joseph replied, but what was odd to Gordon, was that it almost sounded like the Father was disappointed.
"Tell my sister that even though we stand with the Collapse looming over us just as Goliath stood over David, we are still far to behind for far to long, you have fallen to far behind, in your own duties and your brothers, as much as it pains me to say it, the prison must fall and rebellion quelled within a week or you, dear sister will be unfortunately removed, tell her that and only that" Joseph asked.
"Yes Sir, I can do that, is there anything else I can do for you?" Gordon asked, unconsciously he twirled the phone's cord around his finger like a teenager talking with her crush.
Joseph was silent for a time, thinking if there was anything he want to say to his follower.
"Are you well my child of God?" Joseph asked, sounding tired again.
"Yes Sir, thank you for asking, I am very well, are you well Sir?" Gordon said quickly, nodding as if Joseph could see him.
"I'm… conflicted, I feel as if God is testing me again, he has been silent for weeks now and I am lost to many decisions way on me and I have lost those on conferred with" Joseph admitted, sounding defeated.
"Maybe I can be of some help Sir, I serviced both Sir John and Sir Jacob" Gordon offered, he truly hoped he would accept his invitation.
"What is your name, Son?" Joseph asked, not paying any mind to the proposal.
"Gordon, Sir" Gordon reply.
"Goodbye Gordon, I will pray for you" Joseph sighed before hanging up.
"Goodbye Father" Gordon said to no one before hanging up, staring at the phone for a few seconds.
Although he was silent, he cursed mentally, the real stress was kicking in now, it made him run a hand through his hair as fast as he could, this is what he was waiting for, the opportunity to show he was more useful than Faith and in turn replace her, but amidst the golden opportunity there was a snag, he expected this chance to come weeks later, he wasn't ready to move on the prison on such a small window of time, but he had to make it work, the Father counted on him, he was praying for him, it had to be a sign from God that victory was possible.
Shirking off the stress and worry, he put on a bold from as he turned to address the masses that were now clambering off the four they were restraining, and forming a grid of bodies around them, making sure they didn't try anything.
"Alright everyone, listen and listen well!" Gordon bellowed for all to hear.
"The Father himself has personally called me to inform me of our new great labor, we must overthrow the sinners who have taken roost in the aptly chosen prison, we will carry out this task within the coming hours, fear not as are assured victory, the Father is praying for our victory and God is watching over us, with the prison in ruins and sinners purged, victory will finally be ours, we will be fully prepared to withstand the Great Collapse, are trials will be over until the world ends, are time is nigh, this is what we've been preparing for!" he proclaimed confidently.
But yet again, he was met with negativity under the happiness and glee of the peggies, Faith was stupid enough to open her whore mouth once again.
"You can't!" Faith pitifully chirped again, making everyone fall silent to her what she had to say, not like it mattered.
"And why not, Witch, what scheme to stop us could you have possibly crafted now?" Gordon asked, irritated, but almost tauntingly.
"Because they are to well fortified, they're walls are thick and high, nothing we have can break it, my flock will be lambs to the slaughter, please reconsider! Benjamin is there, he will kill them!" Faith begged the man to no avail.
But Gordon just sneered at her.
"See how she refers to the Junior Deputy by his first name, see how much she consorts with the enemy, so familiar with him,
"Please, put your pride aside! Stop this madness before it is to late!" Faith begged.
"How about this!" Gordon proclaimed, now addressing the mass of peggies.
"What say all you?! Do any of you choose to follow this dissenter into hell, denied being carved into the annals of human history by the Father himself?!"
No one spoke, no one moved, no one did anything, they're minds had been made up already.
"And there you have it" Gordon said coldly, turning back to Faith.
"The people have chosen, no one wants you" Gordon said before addressing the troops again.
"Alright everyone who wishes to bring the Father's ambition to fruition, listen up, I have a plan and I will only say it once!" he announced.
And with that, everyone snapped to, forgetting all about Faith and her three companions, they all moved and shifted, forming a perfect grid standing at attention save for the same gap that formed around Faith and her three, their existence was a blemish on the perfect grid of people, and in Gordon's eyes, a blemish on the whole Project, the peggies that made up said grid, completely lost all interest in the supposed traitors, and listen to Gordon, they wanted to hear his grand plan that will save them from annihilation, and as he spoke, his powerful voice drowned out Faith's weak whimpering.
"Amanda, I'm- I'm sorry, I'm not strong enough, I can't stop him, I couldn't stop him" Faith sniveled, almost crying, still on the floor in the arms of her three saviors.
"No, I am sorry" Amanda replied quickly, positioning herself so she could look at Faith head on.
"I'm sorry, this is my fault, I should have done what I felt was right in the first place, I must do it now, I must kill Gordon" She whispered.
"What?" Faith gasped, trying to keep her voice muted as possible, she dared not let anyone hear her, she couldn't handle yet another failure on her part.
"I will remove the evil for your Gate and then you will take back your place and put us back on the track to salvation" Amanda reasoned, ignoring Faith's pleas.
"Do not let anything ever happen to her" the former High Priestess ordered grimly to Frank and Emily who nodded stoically before refocusing on Faith.
"Wish me luck sweet girl, save our wretched species" Amanda almost whispered before wrapping an arm around Faith's head, cupping the back of her head, she pulled her in and placed a chaste kiss upon her forehead, before breaking away standing up to carry out her plan.
Despite Faith begging for her to not go, Amanda slipped through the grid of people with ease, no one tried to stop her, they were unflinching and dutybound, even at her touch they were uncompromising, it was like walking among the Terracotta Warriors, and Gordon was their emperor. Once she cleared her once fellow peggies, she was face to face with his Gordon, mid speech, but as soon as he saw her approach, he stopped and stared back at her scornfully, distrust and indifference in his eyes, she was Faith's backbone, she was the only thing keeping her up, and with the timetable he was working with, she had to go as soon as possible.
"Are you surrendering now so you can save yourself the fight before the execution?" Gordon asked snidely.
Instead of responding, the High Priestess, dropped to her hands and knees, head hanging low, spine relaxed, completely passive.
"I see the error of my ways Sir, I'm sorry, please, welcome me back into the fold, she blinded me from the Father's brilliance, please save me" Amanda groveled sorrowfully, placing a single kiss upon his boot.
This was something Gordon had not anticipated, he expected her to fight or argue, or even bargain, she was Faith's second in command for a reason, she was resourceful and cunning, despite being on the opposition just like the sinners, she could be very useful, perhaps even useful enough to turn the tide against the prison siege, if he was to hear her out, she would have to be watched relentlessly, this could be a ploy, a trick, but that decision weighed on him, with everything that weighed on his shoulders, paranoia would soon mount, every choice was as serious as the collapse, if she wanted to come back on board, he had to make her work for it, lest this was a trap.
"Very well, if your words are true then rise" Gordon ordered, putting on a brave front, he had seen John welcome new recruits into the Project countless times, it was nothing he couldn't do.
And Amanda silently complied, rising to her feet and stared Gordon in the eye, and he back at her, both awaited the other to do something as they stood there, they sized each other up, they both saw something in the others eye that screamed of intent, and whatever that intent was, was unknown to them until it actually happened, but until then, Gordon carried out his plan, quickly turning around to retrieve the bible from the tray, still held by the peggie behind him, and while he did this, unbeknownst to him or the masses behind Amanda, she flicked her wrist subtly, causing a small blade to fall from her sleeve and into her palm, it was a slender thing, but more then enough to do the job.
She held the blade high like Norman Bates Famously killing Marion Crane in the shower before lunging at the man, aiming for the neck, but to her despair, she never pierced her target, maybe the tray holding peggie tipped Gordon off, maybe she screwed up and he heard her, or maybe he just knew she'd pull something like this, but as the blade came down, Gordon turned in a flash, grabbing her striking her arm, and twisted it downward, her wrist snapped below her waist before the knife was ripped from her with his free hand, once he seized the blade he hit her with a powerful headbutt, breaking her nose and disorienting her, the sudden counterattack caused her to gasp, but her breath caught in her throat.
"As predictable as always, hm girl?" Gordon growled before kicking her in the side of the knee, making her lose her balance.
But Amanda was too shocked to reply, bewilderment and fear struck her like thunder bolt, staring dumbly into Gordon's cold eyes.
And with that, Gordon delivered a cruel kick to her knee, throwing her off balance just enough for him to twist her around and trapped her in a chokehold, pressing the knife against her exposed throat. Before taking it any further, he looked over Faith dead in the from within the crowd as, how weak she looked on the floor in her ally's arms, it was all the more incentive to carry through his actions and slammed the blade into her neck, so far in the hilt pushed into her throat, causing Faith to shriek in horror, it was an unbearable, unthinkable sight to her. He then metaphorically and literally twisted the knife, rotating the blade and dragged it across her throat, blade scrapping against bone and hyoid, erecting a crimson shower to spring forth from her ruined throat, all the while no one dared to move, opting to remain statuesque as blood started to pool at the feet of the peggies in the front of the crowd as Faith sobbed and shrieked over the lost her greatest friend.
And as Amanda's pained gurgles and convulsions began to slow with the spray of blood, Gordon released her, letting her fall to the floor, creating a small splash within the pooling blood. And with her disposed of Gordon looked down at his free hand and how it was covered in blood, it wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last, he had to protect this Gate after all. and with Amanda's death, on the other side of the room, Frank and Emily kicked into action.
"Ok time ta' move!" Frank said aloud as he and Emily hoisted the shrieking woman to her feet and dragged her out of the room, Emily trying to cover Faith's eyes, so she didn't have to stare at it, but it didn't really matter.
But on a better note, Faith was easy to move, she was a limp doll at this point, one that screamed and wept, and as they carried her out, still no one broke rank and tried to stop them, they weren't going to until Gordon ordered, and stranger yet, he never did, he just oddly stared at his hand, giving them enough time to push their way to the end of the room and shoved the door open, succeeding in the escape. And once they were gone, Gordon finally pulled himself from the visage of his palm.
"Should we go after them? Punish the traitors?" the trey holding peggie asked from behind.
"Leave her, we have bigger things to worry about, they can't hurt us now, they're time will come soon enough anyways" Gordon muttered callously, clutching his bloody palm.
Rook sauntered unevenly back into the cool grasp of the prison interior.
Food and water were scarce these days as they were such high priority products, all picked clean within the first few days of Eden Gate's attack, but alcohol was a different story, no one really bothered to knock over a liquor store, sure most of it was smashed or taken by peggies as drinking was a sin or some such nonsense, but a decent selection still remain, and Rook indulged, not enough to get shitfaced or anything of the sort, just enough to have a good time, and a good time he did have.
"Deputy Rook! There you are!" Virgil hollered as he suddenly burst from a doorway, as nervous as usual.
"Virgil!" Rook cried, he wasn't sure if he was happy or angry to see him, sure he was a pleasant enough man, put he voted to kick him out, he wasn't sure if he could trust him or not.
"I need your help, please! All his not well with Mister Whitehorse!" Virgil begged the man as he almost ran to him.
"What'do ya me?" Rook slurred, wiping his nose, we really didn't want to deal with more pull shit, he just wanted to bang Jess and call it a day.
"As soon as he got back, he's been acting different, like he's pained, he says it's nothing and retired to his personal quarters despite being told to go straight to the infirmary! I believe it's his heart, I knew he shouldn't have gone out there" Virgil explained quickly, wiping his moist brow, feeling his nerves get the best of him.
"Yeah, yeah I'll handle it, just tell me where he is" Rook waved off, he was beginning to stop taking Virgil seriously.
"H-he's in his office, you know here that is right?" Virgil stuttered as he rubbed his hands together.
"Yeah, don't worry Dude, I got this" Rook said casually as he walked, he knew where the Sheriff carved out a little corner of the prison and called it his office, he cleaned out some file storage and deemed it his office.
Rook took his time walking to the office, he didn't particularly feel rushed or have a timer over his head, it was surprisingly relaxing not to rush for once, so relaxed that he didn't notice the few people in the halls he strolled down, he didn't notice how they all looked at him with such unnerved uncomfortableness, a former friend of his; Nick Rye had told them all of what the Junior Deputy had done.
Fueled with some liquid courage, Rook eventually found Whitehorse's office, he looked around to see if anyone was around before entering, and sure enough, no one was. Rook opened the door to see the Sheriff immediately, his back was to Rook, sitting at a desk fiddling with something, his ten-gallon hat sitting next to him on the table.
"Hey there Earl" Rook tried to say casually as he stepped in and closed the door behind him.
He really didn't know how to go about this, a few hours ago he literally told him he was going his separate ways, but yet here he was, enquiring about his health. And as expected, Whitehorse didn't respond, he was too preoccupied with what he was doing.
"Boss?" Rook repeated, a little louder.
"How did you know Burke wasn't going to do anything?" Whitehorse asked.
"What?" Rook chirped, the question catching him off guard.
"How did you know Burke wasn't going to do anything?" Whitehorse asked again, back still to Rook.
That was a good question, how did he know that again? It felt like it's been so long since that happened and the alcohol in his system wasn't helping any.
"Oh yeah!" Rook thought, remembered the truth, snapping his fingers in realization.
He was going to keep him on ice for a while as a last case emergency in case he couldn't get to Faith by his own means even though he still didn't know what he'd do to her just yet, but of course, he couldn't say all that out loud, he had to skew the truth, with the clearing of his throat, Rook tried to push himself into sobriety, he needed to get serious.
"I thought you'd want him alive, he came here with, thought you'd want to leave with him" Rook explained, trying to craft a decent lie.
"Do you wanna try that again" Whitehorse said with a long sigh.
"What? what's wrong with that?" Rook shrugged unbeknownst to the Sheriff.
"So be it" Whitehorse muttered as he stood up and turned around, revealing he was holding his revolver, holding it close to his waist as he pointed it at Rook.
"Alright, no sudden movements Son, let's take it slow now" Whitehorse muttered quietly, yet his voice steady and strong.
"Uh, what you doin' Earle?" Rook asked, his back snapping straight as pole, heart rate picking up.
"I was right, you are a peggie" Whitehorse replied, his voice still low and steadfast.
"What the fuck are you talking about!?" Rook gasped, taking a step back and raised his hands defensively.
"I know what you've been doing; you've been threatening Burke, making him think we're all planning to kill him so you can squeeze as much as you can out of him, keeping him quiet, but that's all a façade, you're colluding with him" Whitehorse explained.
"What the fuck are you talking about?! I'm just putting pressure on the traitor, the fucking peggie!" Rook quickly explained, hoping it would make him put the gun down.
"I thought that to, but I remembered that whenever you ain't here, rumors fly like crazy around here, I've heard what's being passed around, what you've done here, in the Valley, and Mountains, executing unarmed, surrendered cultists, hell I've seen it firsthand, so did other people here" Whitehorse clarified.
"Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have gotten drunk" Rook thought, the alcohol had altered his inhibitions, but regardless of all that, the accusation made his anger flare up.
"You have made it painfully clear you have no problem killing unarmed peggies, and for some reason you didn't even make a comment about killing him even before he admitted he had first aid training, it was almost like he knew you would to bail him out of any potential fire, that's why he was so calm" Whitehorse added.
"Boss what the fuck! I was just trying to help us, just calm the fuck down!" Rook yelled, his voice a mix of shock and anger.
"Kid, I'm only going to say this once, put down everything on your person then were going to set you up in a cell until we can figure out what to do with you" Whitehorse said as a single teardrop slipped out from his aviators and disappeared into his thick mustache.
"No! fuck this! you can't do this! You're just firing off with conjecture! You're just looking for a reaction, if this was real, more people would be here to help you! y'all will die without me! I'm the hero around here! So but the fucking gun down before someone gets hurt!" Rook shouted, his hands balling to fists as he got angrier as he went.
And by the looks of it, it looked like it almost worked, hearing his words, Whitehorse lowered his gun a few inches, but it was still aimed at Rook nonetheless, and by now, Whitehorse's gun was shaking, his nerves getting the best of him, he couldn't handle it, and Rook noticed, but with a quick inhale, Whitehorse raised the revolver again.
"I talked to Pratt while you were gone you know, he told me about what you did with the Whitetails" Whitehorse said.
"Supposedly you've killed the leader of the Whitetails, you've killed another man you've been at constant odds with… Redd or something, someone who was always in your way, the Whitetails and everyone of importance are gone, the only loose end is Pratt, who you want dead, unlike Burke, I know what Faith is capable of, it's not out of the question that out and Burke fell under her spell, and I'm inclined to believe all of it for now, it would explain why your so different from the proud young man I once knew" Whitehorse said sadly.
"I don't know all the pieces of this puzzle but we're going to figure it out, together, and I'm sure that Jess you've been running around with holds a few" Whitehorse supposed.
"You stay the fuck away from her!" Rook boomed his voice raw and vitriol.
"There we go, there's what I'm talking about, the second we get a little to close to something you don't want us to, and you just lash out, I've seen plenty of people act just like you are now, guilty people" Whitehorse commented.
Rook swore again, his chest was locking up, this was a different type of scary then he was used to, he knew there was no was he could stop Whitehorse without getting real, the only was he was going to stop this was he had to give up a little truth if he didn't want to wait the cult put from within a cell, and as much as it tore him up inside, he had to do it.
"Ok! Fuck just calm down for a second, ok!?" Rook shouted, holding a hand out, hoping the Sheriff would relent and thankfully he did, backing down a little bit so he could talk.
"If you really want to know… I've been talking to Faith for like… I don't know, a month now, I've met her in person once around the time Nick's daughter was born" Rook admitted reluctantly.
"Jesus, Ben" Whitehorse muttered sadly in disbelief, he truly couldn't believe what he had heard.
"I'm on your side, I want to put an end to this whole thing, but I need you to trust me, just let me keep doing what I'm doing, and this will be over before you know it, just keep this between us" Rook pleaded, he couldn't read the Sheriff, if this was landing, he couldn't tell.
Whitehorse was silent for a moment as he was blindsided by all this, he was breathing in slow, deep breaths, his shoulders were slumped as he pitifully shook his head before squaring his shoulder and firmly pointing his revolver at Rook, center mass.
"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law" Whitehorse began, reading out Rook's rights as he planned to formally arrest him.
"Earle, come on!" Rook scoffed, now furious his confession didn't fix everything.
But the Sheriff ignored him, continuing to read out his Miranda Rights to his increasingly angry former junior deputy, with every word Whitehorse said, the anger Rook got, going from annoyed prattling to almost yelling at him to put the gun down, he even dared to take a threatening stomp forward, causing Whitehorse to take a nervous step back, he didn't want to shoot, be he will if he had too.
"God fucking damnit old man are you listening to me?! Put the fucking gun down! I mean it!" Rook roared as his teeth ground together, as his fists were so tightly clenched his nails were cutting into his palms, it felt like his blood was soon to boil due to the intense hate that was raging within him, how dare Whitehorse do this to him, he wasn't going to take this laying down.
Everything within him to do something, to attack and fight, anything to get him out of this situation, the Sheriff was such an easy target, gun or not, whatever was building in him was to strong, he could no longer maintain the turmoil within him, it all just exploded out of him, and it manifest in the form of him charging Whitehorse, he didn't mean to do it, but he was pushed into a corner and he wanted out. Whitehorse made some sort of bark as Rook charged, maybe it was a call for him to stop or be shot, maybe it was a cry for help, either way Rook didn't hear it, the war drums in his head banged with such intensity, the whole way to stop it was to appraise it. And as soon as Rook cleared the distance, he reached out grabbing the long barrel before Whitehorse could pull the trigger and thrusted it upwards so if he pulled the trigger the ceiling would be adorned with a hole. But the momentum Rook generated to get to Whitehorse so quickly transferred into him, inadvertently tackling him to the floor, causing Whitehorse to hit the floor with a hard crash, letting go of his gun and arm instinctively flailing out, hoping to grab onto something that would break his fall, but all it surmounted too was his arm smashing against table, sending his hat flying off it.
Rook wasted no time leaning over the man and tried to wrench the gun from the Sheriff, he tried his damnest to keep a hold on the gun as he begged Rook to stop but he just couldn't keep his grip, the heartbreak of Rook's confession, the sudden and harsh fall and now subsequent fight for the firearm was a dangerous cocktail that threw him off his game and into the pits of depression, all this was just too much.
As Rook ripped the gun from him, Whitehorse shuttered, repeatedly gasping for air like a fish out of water, a cold, hard fear hit him like a tidal wave and was drowning him with a deep, crushing fear. Was Rook going to shoot him now? Was he going to kill others after him? Rook could do so much damage and no one would know until it was to late. The thought was so incalculably horrid, it felt as if his heart was about to punch its way out of his ribcage and into his throat, and then Whitehorse felt as it truly did.
Meanwhile, Rook didn't even look at the gun as he took it from Whitehorse, he simply threw it over his shoulder so he could continue berating the fallen man.
"Are you happy now?! Is this what you want?! To roll on the floor fighting like children?! Can we just talk like adults now?!" Rook shouted as he watched Whitehorse gasp over and over again as he convulsed lightly.
It took Rook a few seconds to notice Earle wasn't listening, to busy with doing... Something on the floor, he wasn't sure what Whitehorse was trying to achieve as he tried to sit up with a loud pained gasp, he clutched his heart tightly as his other arm shot upwards, clawing at nothing, a strong stream of saliva ran from his mouth, his eyes were bloodshot and stared blearily at the ceiling, a horrible clicking sound croaked from his throat before falling back down again, wheezing weakly. Seeing him struggle so curiously it was then he had calmed down enough and realized what was happening, the Sheriff was having another heart attack.
"Oh fuck!" Rook exclaimed as he clamped his hands around the sides of his head, gasping in disbelief. He didn't know what to do, he had no heart attack training and Burke was much to far away, if there was something to be done, it had to be done now but then he'd be back to being sentenced to a cell, or worse.
Then a dark thought entered his head. He could just leave the Sheriff to his fate.
He'd certainly take his secrets to his grave, with him gone he could just keep doing what he was doing, one less person to deal with and he would have a tighter grip on the prison's day to day, it was either that or be locked away with Pratt or be in a gulag-eusqe state like Burke.
As Whitehorse, with a shaking hand tried to reach out for him with his free hand, hoping he would jump to and save him, but alas, Rook did nothing and watched, his hands slowly fell to his sides as he watched Whitehorse slowly succumb to his heart attack, he watched with morbid curiosity, he had never seen anyone die like this before, so unlike being shot, this was more impactful, more… Intimate, it was like it was just him and the Sheriff in the world. His curiosity got the best of him, he couldn't help it.
Rook watched with wide curious eyes as the once vibrant man he once knew lost motion and stilled, his eyes half open and glazed over, body rigid as if rigor mortis had set in early, Rook waited a few minutes to make sure death truly set in, and once he was sure the Sheriff was gone, Rook looked around the room committing every detail to memory, he knew better then to touch anything, and he needed to get his story straight when the time came, then he ran his hands over himself a few times, smoothing out the wrinkles or anything out of place, he cleared his throat before quickly swapping to a scared persona.
"Help! Help! I need help!" Rook exclaimed fearfully as he threw open the door and ran out. He wasn't a fan of it, crying for help for all to hear, it was rather belittling, embarrassing even.
It didn't take long to assemble a crowd, they all wanted to see what could possibly bring the feared Junior Deputy to such a state, they tried to peer into the room behind him.
"Do any of you know CPR?!" Rook exclaimed repeatedly to the crowd, trying to move his body in such a way that it would obstruct their view of Whitehorse's body.
As fast as the crowd formed, both Virgil and Nick pushed through the crowd, both intent of figuring out what had transpired, Nick more so than Virgil.
"What happened?" Nick asked, a subtle anger in his voice.
Rook frozen in feinted panic for a moment before moving aside to reveal the Sheriff's fallen form.
"I don't know! We were just taking and then he collapsed, I think he had a heart attack!" Rook cried.
This revelation caused a mass of panic to run through the gathered crowd and Virgil, the Sheriff meant a lot to them, they would have all died if not for his knowhow and grieved deeply, but Nick on the other hand, felt differently, he knew bullshit when he saw it, he stomped around Virgil and got real close to Rook, he made it clear he wasn't playing around or was looking to be jerked around, he wanted answers.
"What happened?!" Nick growled subtly, not taking any of Rook's shit, he knew something was off about it for a while now, and the Sheriff paid the price.
"I told you, he had a heart attack!" Rook repeated irritability, his demeanor changing to challenge Nick's tone.
"What caused it? these things don't just happen on their own!" Nick demanded, hooking his thumbs into his belt.
"Yes, they do, heart attacks happen all the time!" Rook barked unhappily.
Nick pushed forward again, this time grabbing Rook tightly by the scruff of Rook's shirt.
"What did you do, you son of a bitch?!" He yelled again, making no effort to his anger or suspicion.
"I didn't do fuck all!" Rook barked back, harshly shoving Nick off, balling his hands into fists on the off-chance things would get violent.
And everyone else could see what was building, they were all afraid of Rook, and Rye was the only one to do something about it, not even Virgil dared to break it up, he lacked the physical power to do so.
"Virgil told me himself! Earle was off when he returned here! so I checked up on him!" Rook retorted hoping to maintain his cover of innocence, he had to admit he as a lot less anxious about playing it all off, maybe the anger made it easier.
"Well… he's not lying, I did just that" Virgil admitted meekly as he unconsciously scratched at whatever lay beneath his eyepatch.
"See! You're jumping at shadows Rye, calm down" Rook yelled, pointing an indigent finger at the pilot.
"Well I find that hard to believe! for someone who's known him for so long, you sure as shit don't seem upset that he's dead! What the hell's up with that?" Nick rebuked.
"I'm mentally prepared for everyone's death, hell for weeks I thought he was dead!" Rook shot back.
"Your breath reeks of alcohol! Why should I take anything seriously?!" Nick yelled, the accusations in his voice very evident, any minute now. Nick was going to accuse him for the Sheriff's state.
And that caught Rook off guard, he needed to mix things up, get them off topic and onto something else before it was to late, and thankfully a great idea did come to mind.
"What!? what have you been doing, Mister Rook!?" Virgil gasped, starting to take Nick's side on the matter.
"That's Sheriff to you" Rook stated coldly.
"Excuse me!?" Both Virgil and Nick gasped in unison.
"You heard me, with Whitehorse gone that leaves me in charge as the defacto Sheriff, Pratt is behind bars and Hudson is on the other side of the County, someone needs to step up, and that's me" Rook reasoned.
"Like hell we're just going to put you in charge, for all we know, you're the one that caused all this, I rather be in charge then let you!" Nick fired back.
"And what? are you going to step up and take on all the extra rolls to pick up for the Sheriff, you going to keep the law around here? do you even know how to manage such a large group of people and their needs!" Rook spat.
This led Nick to a moment of hesitation, Rook was right, he was a pilot, not a leader, he still had a rough handle on being a father, but he had to try anyways, he couldn't let Rook get his greasy paws all over everything, no until he could prove his ill intent.
"We can put it up to a vote, we're all democratic and whatnot" Nick reasoned.
"Whatever, I'm done talking, what happened here was a tragedy that we have to move on from, while all of you grieve, I'll get back to work" Rook stated, walking away, he felt like he had done enough to create an air of innocence, if anything Nick was the only real problem, but yet again he could just take care of that problem again, it wasn't that hard, Nick wasn't that special.
"Fine you go off and play soldier, we'll just bury your boss, don't pay your respects or anything, we all know you only care about fighting!" Nick cried to the departing self-proclaimed Sheriff, shaking his fist at him.
But yet again Rook did not give in to his provocations, he believed himself to be better than that, and so to were his plans; he needed to secure a route to Faith, he didn't care how or what he'd do once he got there, he wanted to talk to her before making his move, and he was sure Faith would do the same, he counted on it, until then he had to keep his cards close to his chest, Nick now more then ever had quickly turned against him, more aggressively then Whitehorse was, and if he wasn't careful, Nick would spread his ideas to the more vulnerable, like Hurk and Sharky. He had to get to him before Nick did, if he wanted to with the fights in and out of the prison, he needed to build is team, now more then ever.
Emily slammed open the door and almost ran though, Frank in tow, a quiet Faith tucked in his large arms, they had just about ran to the other side of the Gate, trying to get as far away from Gordon as possible. As soon as both peggies declared the small room they were in was empty, Frank quickly deposited Faith onto a nearby chair before freaking out to Emily who was counting the bullets in her standard issue handgun.
"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Did ya' see that!?" Frank exclaimed fearfully, turning to her.
"Frank! Shut up!" Emily barked, stowing the gun and grabbing his forearm, and in turn grabbing his attention.
"Did ya' see that!? He jus' killed 'er! Frank freaked out, entwining his hands through his hair as he clasped his head.
"Yes Frank, I saw thank your reminding!" Emily exclaimed through grit teeth trying to keep a handle on the situation, her sake and Faith's.
"What are we gonna do?!" Frank cried, not taking the hint.
"I don't know, just stop yelling we have more then on problem!" Emily snapped, the raised voices just added more pressure.
"Wha'di'ya mean?" Frank asked.
But Emily didn't respond, instead she turned her head to look at the still silent and motionless Faith who waited in the chair she was dropped in. Emily had become increasingly worried about her as at some point she had become quiet, eerily so, a stark contrast to the wailing and sobbing minutes ago.
Tentatively, Emily slowly approached the grieving woman and walked around her so she could look into her directly but her visage only gave away her true emotions, wet red rings surrounded her eyes, despite that, she stared straight ahead at the wall, a calmness in her eyes, a small trail of mucus ran glacially from her nose and jaw locked painfully, her hands were in her lap and clenched into tight balls, her knuckles turning bright white, and possibly the most uncomfortable of all, her breathing was perfectly normal, like nothing was wrong. Concerned, Emily dropped to one knee, placing a hand on Faith's knee, looking deep into her eyes.
"Lady Faith, are you alright?" Emily asked cautiously.
"Yes of course, dear Emily, all is well" Faith stated neutrally, not moving or breaking her gaze at all.
"I-Is there anything I can do for you ma'am?" Emily asked.
"No thank you, I am quite alright" Faith replied, completely monotone.
Emily looked over to Frank who stared back worriedly, she hoped for some sort of reassurance, she had no idea how to address her obvious trauma she was currently dealing with or worse, but still she was apart of her flock, fifty percent of it in fact, and she had to stand by that, helping her any way she could, just as Amanda ordered.
"Alright then" Emily nodded, just trying to go along with it to keep her talking.
"What would you like to do? We still have some… hurdles to overcome" she questioned.
"I am going to keep praying for the Father's divine brilliance to give Benjamin the strength to care on and rescue us, like a knight, saving the princess from a dragon" Faith bleakly stated, as bland as ever.
Emotion was gone from her voice, her voice was as artificial as a talking doll, all of which made Emily increasingly uncomfortable, Lady Faith had always been such an epitome of emotion and kindness, but this, this was the anthesis of her, she felt like she was talking to a phantom, a specter of her former self. It was clear at least to Emily that Faith was coming up with whatever nonsense she could to cope with her environment, the stress of everything had been far too much for anyone, the pressure of being replaced if she didn't preform to Joseph's designs, the added work from Jacob and John's death, the dwindling number of peggies, her very strained relationship with the Junior Deputy, everything going on within her Gate, and Amanda's death had been the tipping point, she was gone, even if she got her way and the Deputy solved all her problems Emily wasn't sure if that would fix her, if anything it might reinforce it all
"Well, what about us? is there anything the three of us can do?" Emily asked nervously.
"No…. I don't think that is necessary, we shall continue to make Bliss just as I was asked until Benjamin arrives" Faith said.
Emily groaned internally, she knew she wasn't going to get a whole lot out of her anymore, she was far too concreted in her delusions to be useful.
"What do we do?" Frank asked, not to Faith, but Emily, his voice was unsure as the way Emily looked, neither of them could rely on her anymore.
Emily knew this, she carefully broke her gaze from the woman she looked up to and over to the heavyset man, trying to come up with something reassuring, not for just him, but for all three of them, and after a moment she parted her lips and said the only thing that made sense to her.
"I don't know" she said.
Thank you to Hyperlightflux for the help!
Also, here's a chapter a day early on account of good Sunday, also again, I don't know how many Jojo Bizarre adventure fans are reading this but in case you are; get fucking hyped, Stone Ocean just got confirmed.