Chapter 7:

Tyler stared blankly at the road. His hands moved the wheel instinctively and he let his thoughts take over his mind. All he could think about was Faith. She was nothing like he expected her to be. She was kind. She had empathy, which most people have told him was just her way to get into their heads. She needed a friend. Sure, she had a family and an army of supporters who would give their lives for her, but that wasn't friendship. The look on Faith's face when he agreed to be friends was enough to confirm that. He got snapped out of his thoughts when Seb snored off to his right. He was lucky to have friends and allies to help him on his journey. Without them he would've been dead a long time ago. Tyler kept driving past where a cult shrine used to be and headed along the dirt road. As he got closer to the Youth Camp, he parked near the start of the dirt path and nudged Seb awake.

"Where are we?" Seb groaned as he slowly let his eyes open and adjust to the change of light.

"Home…" Tyler said. He didn't agree with what he said. This place wasn't home. Nashville was where he wanted to be, not here in Montana. Tyler and Seb unloaded their car and started the short walk up the path to their cabin. Once they arrived, they were met by a surprise. Two ATV's were parked by the trees and dirty footprints were all over the deck. Tyler took out his handgun and motioned for Seb to duck down. They crept towards the door and peaked inside the cabin. 4 people were sitting next to each other with their backs to the door. Tyler snapped into the doorway and before he could yell at the strangers, he was knocked over by a fast flying object. He was too shocked to figure out what had happened but was surprised when he felt something wet on his face. Tyler looked at what was on top of him and he just smiled as he scratched the dog behind its ear.

"Hey boy," he said. Boomer licked at his face again and his tail wagged vigorously.

"Off boy," came another voice. A hand pulled him up from the ground. "Deputy, it's been a while." Tyler grinned and hugged his friend.

"Nick," he said through a broad smile. "Holy shit man, how've you been?" Nick laughed and stepped back which allowed Tyler to see who else was there. Grace, Hurk, Sharky (who he'd rescued only a week earlier and sent to the Holland Valley), and Jess. "It's so good to see you all again." He said. Grace walked up to him and smiled.

"It's great to see you again Tyler."

"You too!" He was so happy he wasn't trying to hide his excitement. Tyler then thought about the person behind him. "There's someone I want you to meet." He gestured to Seb who was leaning on the doorframe with that same awkward look he had on his face when he first heard about Tyler's friends coming back. "This here is Seb," Tyler said as he walked over to his friend and put a hand on his back. "He's been with me the last few weeks to help me take down the cult." Nick was the first one to step forward and extended his hand without hesitation.

"I'm Nick," he introduced himself. "So good to have another member of the team." Seb took his hand and shook it firmly.

"Nice to finally meet you," Seb said. Tyler could see that he started to relax. "Tyler's talked non-stop 'bout you all." From there, Tyler and Seb helped his friends settle in and they set up all their equipment so they could start using the cabin as a proper headquarters. Before Tyler went to bed, he pulled Seb away from the cabin and they sat down.

"You wanna know what happened with Faith today?" He asked. Seb nodded and gave his full attention to Tyler.

"Did she just look for pity?" He asked. Tyler shook his head.

"No," he said. "She actually asked me about myself and my personal life." Seb now had a look of surprise on his face.

"Wow," he said as he started to chuckle to himself. "She was true to her word."

"Yeah," Tyler said as he looked at the trees as they swayed left to right in the wind. "Not all of the rumours are true." Seb whistled and laid on his back and looked up at the sky.

"Do you know why you're so invested in this whole Faith Seed shit?" Asked Seb. Tyler had never thought about this. Sure, he wanted to find out about all of the people he was tasked with arresting or dealing with. However he couldn't help but realise he had really been looking into Faith's life and he still wanted to know more. About what her life was like before, even though he already knew she was a previous drug addict. Why she joined the cult? What she enjoys doing?

"No, I have no idea." Tyler said as he too laid down on his back and stared the stars. "Maybe she is more than just Faith Seed." Seb grunted to say he acknowledged him.

"Maybe," he said. "I guess we'll find out soon."

Tyler rolled over and was met by the bright sunlight streaming through the cracks in the boarded up window. The glare removed all thoughts of going back to sleep so he sat up and looked around. Memories of last night came back as he saw all his friends on the floor still sleeping. Tyler decided he needed to get out and walk around for a bit so he left a note on the door frame saying, Hi all,

Just left to get some fresh air and a walk. Should be back soon.

Tyler.

He walked out of the cabin but heard a voice behind him.

"Where you going?" He turned around and saw Jess standing in the doorframe.

"Just for a walk, wanna come?" He asked. Jess nodded and caught up to him. They walked up the path that went further past their cabin in silence for about one minute. One thing Tyler loved most about each morning in Hope County was how it all slowly came to life as birds began chirping, the sun got hotter, the cars rolled into the streets and the guns started shooting.

"So how was the cleanup in the Valley?" Tyler asked to break the silence.

"We managed to take down all those fucking crows John nailed to the church. That was fucking disgusting." Jess started. "We then went through the town and helped clear out all the cult shit and went through the streets and removed all the Peggie checkpoints we could see, destroyed the remaining silos and helped out some of the folk in Fall's End." Tyler smiled to show he was glad that they were safe in the Valley.

"So the Peggies weren't a problem?" Tyler asked.

"Fuck no!" Jess exclaimed. "Took care of them with no trouble."

"Mary and Jerome are doing ok right?"

"Yeah, they were mostly helping out as well." Tyler sighed and looked at Jess as they walked through the trees into a small clearing. They could see the Rock Bass Lake and Raptor Peak. The view was quite stunning.

"I've missed you Jess." Tyler said as they stopped to look at the mountain. Jess scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"Yeah right." She smirks. "Now come on Dep, let's go kick some Peggie ass!" Tyler thought of something that was perfect for the two of them.

"You heard of Adelaide Drubman?" Jess rolled her eyes again and looked at Tyler.

"Hurk's whore of a mother, yeah I know about her." She said. "Why?"

"Peggies took over her Marina and are launching their water convoys from there. Wanna go liberate it?" Tyler explained and then asked. Jess nodded her head.

"Let's go to it." Jess said, she then started running down the hill towards the road.

"Where you going?" Tyler called out.

"The Marina," she called back. "You coming?" Tyler started to run after Jess.

"Yeah, let's try find an ATV." He said. They reached the road and started walking towards the Marina to try and find a quad bike. They finally found one before the bridge crossing the river. They sped ahead and headed towards the large smoke stack that signalled the location of a cult outpost and meant it was under cult control. As they drove along the road, Tyler noticed there was a smaller number of cult trucks than usual. The amount of cultist that patrolled early in the morning was high and today there were close to none. About 5 minutes later, they started to hear echoey music and the sound of Faith's voice. They were here. They both got off the vehicle and headed into the trees and layer eyes on one of the biggest Marinas Tyler had ever seen. Up near the road by the lodging was a line heavy gunner. On the roof of the boat shed was a rocketeer and it was likely several cultist soldiers were just roaming between the boat shed and the store. There were also two cultists on a boat on the lake.

"I'm gonna deal with the big gunner," Tyler said as he pulled out his handgun and swapped his ammo with armour piercing rounds. "You take care of the sniper and anyone who comes close to me." Jess nodded and ran off to find a good vantage point. Tyler snuck down the rocks and got to the fence surrounding the store. A female cultist was making her way along and didn't react fast enough as Tyler elbowed her in the throat before hitting her across the head with her shovel, breaking her neck in the process He dragged her dead body behind some crates and continued to sneak towards the other end of the gate. Tyler stopped behind the mesh and a conversation between two cultist caught his attention.

"Faiths starting to slip away I think." One male voice said.

"Why do you say that?" Came a female voice.

"She's been spending time with the sinner. Apparently she is on friendly terms with her. Tom said that they spent about 30 minutes together yesterday at Jessop's."

"She probably is softening him up for us." The female suggested.

"Yeah, I would like to think that Lady Faith was faithful to the cause." He said.

"So we meeting behind the shed tonight?" Asked the woman.

"Fuck yeah," the male said. "Make sure no one hears, I'll make you scream so loud." Tyler felt disgusted hearing this talk between the two cultists. They might be cleansed by John, but that didn't stop them fucking with each other. Thought Tyler. It was ironic as he remembered Hurk saying one of the cult rules was no fornicating. Tyler put those thoughts aside and kept creeping towards the heavy gunner and quickly twisted his neck and dragged his body into cover. He looked up and saw the rocketeer clutch at his neck and slide down the roof. Jess was stationed on the roof of the store. She gave him the thumbs up and pointed to the two lovebird cultist. A car separated the two so Tyler headed for the one behind the car. He got close enough to hear them still flirting with each other. Jess let an arrow fly into the woman's head and Tyler hit the man with his shovel and watched blood fly from his nose and mouth. Tyler looked up at Jess and had a look of disgust on his face. He motioned at the two corpses and suggested what they were doing. Jess got the message and her face also looked grossed out. Two more cultists wet by the store. Back to back but in line with each other. Tyler shot his handgun at the front cultist and watched as the bullet travelled through both their heads. One more was left on the board walk but copped an a rope from Jess. Just the two in the boat. Tyler looked at Jess as she loaded an explosive arrow into her bow and she let the arrow fly. It hit the engine and the boat combusted instantly.

"Oh I've missed this Jess." Tyler said as Jess hopped down from her vantage point.

"Me too." She said. "Now c'mon let's get Adelaide outta that shed."

Jess and Tyler were returning from the Marina. They had spent nearly half the day trying to find Adelaide's prized chopper and had to defend the Marina from more cultists. She agreed to join their team but had to wait for the end of the day as she refused to miss watching Xander do his sunset yoga. Her reasoning was not surprising after meeting her for real. The Sheriff's description was right. She was a pistol. They returned to their cabin and were met by everyone as they swamped them with questions.

"Holy shit," Nick had said when they arrived. "Some walk that was!" He exclaimed. Seb, Hurk and Sharky were all looking at the map of the Henbane River now nailed on the wall. They looked to be pointing at some marked locations. Seb had removed some of the pages from their log book and had managed to make a to-do-list with the help of Grace. They had them categorised as task, outposts and prepper stashes. Grace then left with Jess to go find one of the stashes at the Howling Cave. Once they all got an idea of what needed to be done, Seb pulled Tyler over.

"Hey man, I found something at the Administrators Cabin," he explained. "I think might be important."

"Alright, let's go then." Tyler said. They both walked down the hill and Tyler recounted the events of the morning to Seb. He was especially surprised at the cultists hitting on each other. Almost instantly after he finished laughing, Tyler's radio crackled. He expected it to be Grace or Jess but was surprised when he heard another voice.

"Hey Tyler." He smiled as he figured out who it was.

"Hey Faith. How are you?" He asked.

"Actually not too good," she said with a hint of displeasure in her voice. "I heard from someone today that you and someone else took over the Marina and stole a helicopter from one of my VIP's. Is that true?" She asked.

"Yes it is," Tyler said, "Even though we are friends, it doesn't mean I agree with your principles. I have a job to do." Faith scoffed on the other side.

"Sure, but you are destroying this project. My life's work and my family's. Please stop, can we talk in person tomorrow? Joseph wants to speak with you peacefully." She said the last part with a little hesitation. Tyler looked at Seb who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok, but I'm bringing a friend for protection." Tyler said.

"Ok, but I promise that you won't be hurt." She says and Tyler can hear the honesty in her voice.

"I'm sure you won't hurt me," Tyler says. "But I can't speak for the rest of your family."

"Yeah, I can see what you mean." Faith says. "Anyway, see you at the bridge to Joseph's island tomorrow morning."

"Bye Faith." Tyler says and closes the channel. Seb and Tyler eventually reach the cabin and there was a small shed. On the floor was a telephone.

"Go on," Seb said as he walked in. Tyler hit the voicemail button and it beeped before Tyler heard a strange noise. It sounded like whimpering or crying. Big tears. "Record the audio on you phone." Seb said as he hit replay. Tyler recorded the audio and couldn't see what was important about that. Who or what was that? Why were they upset?

"You know who I think that was?" Seb asked.

"No idea, who you think?" Tyler asked.

"Faith, I reckon we might need to search this region for more of these. This can't be the only one." Tyler thought about it and pieced it together. It made sense. Faith wasn't a blood relative and he distinctly remembered her admitting she was terrified when she joined the cult. She must've recorded several messages around to get rid of all the thoughts that plagued her mind. She was alone once Tracey abandoned her. Tyler started to think about something. Someone like her who promised happiness to all her followers, she really want happy doing this herself was she? Seb nudged Tyler and snapped him out of his thoughts.

"C'mon. We've gotta go hit that Brewery today." Tyler nodded and they both headed towards their parked truck and started to make their way towards the Brewery.

Note:

Hi all,

Sorry this chapter didn't come out yesterday. I had to keep tweaking this one to get it as good/ smooth as I could. I hope you are enjoying where this story is going so far. I am enjoying writing, so unless I'm told otherwise, I'll keep at it. I would love to hear your thoughts about this story so please leave some kind of feedback as it helps me become better at writing and this story might find a way to get some true momentum. Have a great day and I'll see you y'all soon.