Deputy Hudson doesn't know what to feel as she stares at the gigantic statue of Joseph Seed that towers over the Henbane River region - it's strange to be seeing it from this angle - up high in a helicopter that's whirring past the behemoth of concrete at a level which allows her to look into the stony eyes of this supposed prophet and silently ask it what the real Joseph has done to her partner. Junior Deputy Cassidy Rook has been considered a victim of kidnapping for the past four months, disappearing suddenly after following up on a call from a citizen worried about Eden's Gate.
From what they can tell, that's when they took her. Nobody knows why, though Cassidy is a beautiful, capable young woman so maybe it's really just as simple as that - Joseph or one of his Heralds liked what they saw - so the cult snatched her up. It would be easy to believe if not for the appearance of 'the Mother', the counterpart to Joseph's persona as 'the Father' - the face of the woman is always conveniently obscured in the cult's propaganda broadcasts, but Joey hasn't been able to shake the heavy feeling in her gut that it's Cassidy, with her sunkissed skin and distinctive golden tresses.
Needless to say, tensions between Eden's Gate and the local law enforcement have been mounting ever since Rook's uncharacteristic disappearance. With little else they can do without sufficient proof, Hudson, Pratt, Whitehorse and the rest of the department have consumed themselves with building the case against Joseph and his cult; eventually, this endeavour bore fruit by way of the Marshal's arrival in Hope County with an official warrant in hand. All that's left to do is serve it.
The Sherriff spends most of the ride over trying to convince Marshal Burke that a peaceful, understated approach is the best strategy, while Pratt does his best to make Joey smile, obviously concerned that the slight frown on her face is going to stick if he doesn't.
They step out into the entrance of the compound and immediately something is off. The people just watch them, gazes heavy but only vaguely hostile, as if they are a necessary annoyance rather than an unexpected threat. Hudson doesn't trust it, but Pratt's back with the helicopter and the Sherriff is too far ahead, bickering with Burke - there's no-one she can raise the alarm to - that same heavy weight she's been carrying around with her since Rook's disappearance hangs over her, trying to slow her down in order to avoid the oncoming doom. The compound is packed, suspiciously overpopulated given the number of properties Eden's Gate owns throughout the county; the members of the cult crowd them so they can only follow one path towards the church at the center.
They ease the doors open to reveal the man himself - Joseph Seed stands as the focal point, an enraptured audience hanging on to his every word, devouring his every movement. Joey shields her eyes against the light until she adjusts to it, searching for the familiar blonde deputy among the people who stood behind the preacher.
She's there.
Cassidy stands in the background with the Heralds of Eden's Gate, radiant in an elegant white summer dress, flowers adorn her long blonde hair and she exudes this aura of warmth and love that would have put Hudson completely at ease had the situation been any different. Furthermore, she looks healthy, skin just as sun-kissed as it had been, if not more so, eyes bright and blue and shining - the only visible signs of distress are pink, jagged words detailed across her skin. Most prominent is the WRATH that stands out across her chest, the neckline of her dress sweeping just below it. In places along her arms and legs are other sins like LUST, PRIDE and GLUTTONY. Cassidy wears them with pride, like badges of honour she is more than happy to show off for everyone to see. Joey's stomach roils, Cassidy's blue eyes meeting her own brown ones across the room. The former deputy looks happy to see them, her colleagues, but not in the way they might have come to expect - rather than looking at them with relief she regards them with a gentle welcome - gaze so loving it's borderline sickly.
"Joseph Seed!" Burke jumps the gun in exactly the way Whitehorse fears he will, "this is a warrant for your arrest under suspicion of abduction of an officer of the law as well as multiple citizens of Hope County." The Marshal shoves the offending warrant in Joseph's face, and all Joey can register is the unaffected expressions on the faces of the Heralds. They show no inklings of surprise and Cassidy, whose role is still to be uncovered, is still smiling like they're her guests of honour.
Cultists filter out of the church at Joseph's request until it's just the Sherriff, Hudson and Burke vs Joseph and his Heralds. He's quoting some scripture, the passion in his voice the only indication of negative feeling among his twisted congregation. The family stand and observe from their positions behind their prophet, only moving to close in around him when Joseph offers his wrists up to be cuffed. Joey's distantly aware of her superiors ordering her to do so, but she can't take her eyes off of Rook's. She thought that she had known this woman, had been friends with this woman - only to realise now that she had never even scratched the surface. Hudson forces herself to focus on her task, knowing they can only get Cassidy back once they've put Joseph Seed behind bars.
Holy shit, is that a wedding ring?
Joey stares in disbelief at the hands turned upwards in her direction for far too long, simply because she just can't comprehend what she's seeing. Joseph Seed has a band of gold wrapped around his ring finger. Heart hammering, she tries to ignore the knowing look Joseph is giving her as she slides the handcuffs onto him and locks them shut; there's no reason to panic. As she places a gloved hand on Joseph's shoulder she glances at the assembled Heralds behind her - Cassidy waves, a dainty golden ring glinting in the light as she does so - and in that moment all of Joey's wildest fears are confirmed.
What the fuck have you done to her, she wants to demand of him but knows better than to engage in a conversation with a megalomaniac like Joseph Seed. He's silent the whole way to the helicopter, never once speaking; hardly doing anything other than staring.
The helicopter crashes, Joseph escapes, and Hudson finds that she doesn't actually feel all that surprised when she runs for her life from the bullets the cultists fire in her direction.
I will not die here, she repeats to herself.
Everything is going according to plan. They came for him just like he said they would, blindly stumbling onto the path that God had laid for them and setting off a chain of events that would lead to the end of the world as they know it.
Though she knows full well that it is God's purpose, Cassidy still finds it difficult to watch her husband be taken away in handcuffs. When the doors close behind them, John, Jacob & Faith look to her despite themselves, knowing that she speaks for Joseph in his absence. The cries of the faithful outside rise in volume, people sobbing and pleading with the Lord to bring the Father back, to save him from the clutches of evil.
"And so it begins," she remarks softly to her Heralds, and leads the way out of the church to soothe the howling masses. Jacob clears a path for her, Faith and John bringing up the rear as their small procession makes its way through the crowd to reach the podium that Joseph uses to speak to the compound at large every morning. Her brother in law gives her a hand up and the moment it becomes apparent she is going to speak a silence falls over the grieving flock. "This is the day that we have been waiting for," she begins, taking a moment to smile out at the adoring faces before her. "Long ago, the Father first heard of the Collapse when God whispered of it in his ear. Since then, as we have prepared and carried out God's plan, the Father has heard more from Him, saw visions of what was to come - the fate that awaited the world because humanity refuses to seek redemption. Everything that we have been working towards, everything that we have done according to God's divine direction will today bear fruit. Joseph told all of us of the harbingers that would come to take him from us, he gave us plenty of warning but told us no more than that. My children, I can now share with you that Father Joseph foresaw these events to be the ones that would set off the chain of events that will lead us towards the Collapse! Soon we will stand hand in hand in God's new world - the new Eden that He has promised us!" A steady hum of excitement passes through the compound's population, faces lighting up with wonder. "Begin the Reaping!" Cassidy proclaims, met with a mighty roar of joy from her people, who immediately get to work.
Her husband returns to her with some cuts and bruises but otherwise no damage done to him by the helicopter crash he crawled out of. The pride in his eyes as he looks upon her, praises her for playing her part so well eases all of the niggling guilt she had felt bubbling under the surface of her skin. Joseph cradles her face with the loving reverence of a man holding an angel in his embrace instead of the ordinary woman that she really is, and in turn, she clings to him as if she might die if she lets go; gently pressing her lips to his injuries and wishing she had the power to bear them in his stead.
The next morning, as they wake to the welcoming sight of each other, Cassidy does her best to focus on Joseph instead of the reports coming in over the radio that Deputy Joey Hudson is dismantling their hold on the small island at the centre of Hope County.