The older brother picked up his receiver and spoke with a calm yet irritated voice. "Code red, everyone. Code red..." Jacob groaned, irritated at both, himself and at Charlie.
"What the hell do you mean?! How the fuck could you lose her?!" John was the first to instantly yell through the handheld transmitter.
"Things happen for a reason, John. You mustn't let Wrath take control of you." Joseph jumped in, leading John to hide a groan of frustration, "What happened?" He questioned calmly.
"I..." Jacob fell silent for a moment, "She ran and jumped down a waterfall right after I set her down." He lied, not wanting to bring up the real reason.
"Fucking Christ..." John spoke lowly to himself before pressing the button to respond, "Did she make it down safely?" He asked, trying to stay calm as Joseph suggested.
"Yeah, but it appears she's in the hands of the Dep now." Jacob growled.
"You got to be fucking kid--screw it. What do we do now, Joseph?" John huffed, trying not to lose it.
"We'll get her back soon. John, keep watch on your side if you see any of the Deputy's main allies and Jacob..." Joseph fell silent for a moment, taking a deep breath to keep himself calm, "Go find her. I don't want her to take part in any of this, but if she has to, we need her to side with us at all costs. Understood?"
"Roger that..." The brothers responded with a deep sigh before putting their intercom away.
"Shit..." Jacob growled, irritated at himself for losing her, both in the past and now.
"Fuck..." John gripped his receiver, trying to keep himself at ease.
Joseph sighed, praying they find her soon.
Meanwhile...
"I think we're safe now." The Deputy let go of her hand, catching his breath.
Charlie's hand automatically went cold, making her slightly depressed which confused her. What the hell...? She thought to herself, looking at her hand.
The Deputy cleared his throat, looking over at Charlie, "What connection do you have with the Seed brothers? Are you on--"
"No. None. Not anymore at least..." She replied instantly, sighing deeply as she looked down.
Rook wanted to question on why they called out to her, but with the look of sorrow on her face, he bit his tongue. Without saying anything, he grabbed her hand again and lead the way, not telling Charlie a single thing. Charlie didn't ask, she just followed, wondering why her mind didn't tell her to yank away. She guessed she had a gut feeling she'd be able to trust him. So she did.
Once they reached an abandoned church, he released her hand again, heading to a safe. Charlie looked over at him, curious of what he was doing. The safe opened within seconds and he grabbed some things out. He looked hesitant for a moment, but turned, looked at the items before looking at her.
"Here. You'll need these." He held out his hands, holding tons of important things.
Charlie jolted once noticing a gun, "Why the hell do I need a gun?!" She stepped back.
"With what we're dealing with, you'll definitely need these." The Dep responded with a small laugh.
Charlie was hesitant at first, before giving in and picking up the items, "Why do I need all these?"
"The gun is for in case of emergency, a first aid in case you get hurt, the vest is to keep you safe enough so you can find a place to hide, the map is to help you find safe zones, the intercom is for you to get a hold of me if we get separated, the watch is to keep track of time of course and a compass is on the top of the twelve so you can find your way around." He pointed out all the items and how important they all are, "And... here." Rook handed over a set of clothes, I hope these fit... he thought to himself, "These set of clothes are so you can move faster, flexible enough to avoid shots and getting detected, keep you both warm and cool enough so you don't have to carry a jacket, the lotion is to keep you from getting sunburned, of course," he chuckled, "and lastly..." He turned grabbing another item, "To keep the sun out of your eyes." He laughed lightly, placing a hat on her head.
Charlie looked at all the items, examining each one, "Wow..." She looked up at him with a crooked smile, "How do you know all this?"
"Well, I'm a sheriff. I prepped myself for anything." He laughed a little, "Survival and self-defense are always important whether needed or not." Rook smiled, "As one saying goes, it's better to--"
"Have it, not need it, than to need it, not have it." She cut in with a smile, "Yeah, I learned from my dad. Always gave tips on life before I left this hometown of mine." She laughed lightly, looking back down.
"You grew up here?" He asked, surprised.
"Born and raised." She grinned, "Oh, by the way, do you have a pouch I can have? I feel I'm gonna need one to collect herbs and ammo after seeing what you just handed me." Charlie looked at her supplies, checking every one of them.
Rook looked at her, slightly surprised of hearing this, "Hm? Oh! Y-Yeah, of course. Here." He pulled out a small backpack from the safe.
"Oh, thanks! This will make things much more easier!" She smiled, setting down the supplies before picking up the backpack, "Thanks so much." She set the supplies in the backpack, "What about the ammo?" The young woman looked up, "With this kind of gun, I'm gonna need more than this to survive in this hellhole I assume." She laughed, "Having a handgun with only seven rounds is not good enough. At least not for me with what I have for now." She opened the magazine, checking the amount of bullets inside before pulling back the slide.
"How do you--"
"How do I know all this?" She looked up with a smirk, "Well, like I said, I was born and raised here so my dad helped me on hunting, camping, shooting, and self-defense." She stood up, "Oh, do you also have a holster. Possibly a rifle or a shotgun, too?" She looked at him, curious, "With those kind of fuckers, I assume I'll be needing more than this."
"Um... y-yeah..." He pulled out one of his shotguns and handed a spare holster, "Are you good being up close and personal?" He laughed.
"What do you think?" Charlie's smirk never left as her face was only a few inches away, grabbing the shotgun, pulling back the fore-end with one hand, "Thanks, Rook." She chuckled before backing away, checking out the shotgun, "Any ammo?"
"Y-Yeah. Here." He handed some over, still trying to process her sudden professionalism on guns.
"Thanks, Dep." Her smirk turned into a soft smile, "Hope you can show me around seeing as to how nothing looks the same last I was here..." Her smile faded.
"Of course." He smiled softly with a nod.
"Seeing as to how we're in Jacob's territory, let's head--"
"Deputy..." A sudden chuckle came from his receiver, "I assume you happen to have my girl. I'd like her back."
"Your girl? In what way do you know her?" The Deputy's eyebrows furrowed, glancing over at Charlie.
"Oh, we happen to know each other from long ago." A faint laugh escaped, "You have my lady. I want her back. If you don't let me have her, my men will kill yours in a matter of seconds and I'll take you both back to my camp, personally." A growl escaped.
"Fuck you, Jacob Seed!" Charlie grabbed the intercom instantly, "I do not belong to you! I do not believe your threats! And if your men come after me or even him... I swear to God all of your men that come toward us will die by the cause of me. I will have their blood on my own two fucking hands with no goddamn regrets!" She growled, "I do not take threats so lightly. So if you want me... come get me your goddamn self without the use of your men or else I'll find you and kill you myself if I ever see your men come after us. Fucking got that?!"
"Oh, man... the first thing that made me fall in love with you." He laughed, "This'll be fun. Just you wait and see."
"Fuck you, you fucking bastard! Bring it on, asshole!" Charlie yelled, wanting to throw the receiver down on the ground, hard by the cause of frustration, but Rook got it before she did anything to it, after seeing how furious she was.
"We're already at war with them." Rook spoke, putting his receiver away, "Be ready for the worst. He won't kill us since Joseph won't allow him to, but always keep your guard up."
Charlie nodded, trying to cool herself down after what just happened. She placed her hand on her chest to calm her racing heart. The woman closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly, once she opened her eyes, she held up her gun and shot towards the Deputy, leading him to freeze.
"I hope that was one of his men. 'Cause that asshole was aiming right at us." Charlie spoke, putting her gun away.
Rook turned around to look, still in shock seeing as to how he saw a bullet to the head. He sighed with relief, catching his breath, "Yeah, those are one of theirs." Dep looked back at her, "A sharp shooter, too, hm?" He let out a chuckle, looking at her with amazement.
"Well, I did learn from the best after all, Rook." She looked up with a confident grin, "Hope I don't frighten ya." Charlie chuckled faintly.
"If anything, you're impressing me more than frightening me." He laughed, his look of amazement still plastered on his face, "Anyway, shall we go?" He pointed the way, "Some allies of mine would love to meet a woman like you." He grinned.
Charlie's face became a little warm by the kindness she could see in his amber colored eyes. She couldn't tell what was wrong with her. In the back of her mind, she sort of knew, but she buried it, falling straight into denial so she can focus more on the tasks at hand. The woman tried to ignore the odd emotions as she followed the Deputy to see his allies.
"So... um..." The Dep cleared his throat, "How... how do you know them?"
"Hm? Oh... well... that's gonna be a long story to tell." She chuckled faintly, hoping that'll make the Deputys interest low so she wouldn't have to respond that.
"We have time." He laughed lightly, hoping she'd give in, "But... only if you want to that is..." He looked away, hoping he didn't make her uncomfortable on her first day.
"Okay... well... which one do you want to hear first?" A weak smile appeared with a scoff followed behind.
"Either brother is fine with me." He gave a crooked smile.
"Alright..." Charlie sighed, "First comes Jacob Seed..."
"Okay. Take your time if you have to. No rush." Rook spoke softly, hoping to reassure her.
"Yeah... thanks..." Charlie smiled weakly, "Well, Jacob Seed... he... he was quite a ruffian the first time I met him. And hoo boy was be stubborn as all hell." She laughed, "He was quite a handful that several, even himself, were shocked I stayed beside him. I didn't understand why, but the time I began to understand was..."
"Was...?" He cocked his head to the side, curious.
"Our time in the beginning was rough around the edges of course. We fought like any other couple." She giggled.
"Wait, you guys were together-together?" He questioned, in complete and utter shock.
Charlie nodded with a hum, "I saw him staggering and looking weak. I was worried and by instinct, I offered to help." She smiled a little, "I guess I got the kindness from my mother." Her smile turned into a genuine look, "Always helping others before herself. Anyway... the time it began we... I don't really know how to put it, but I guess we were not levelheaded at all." She laughed.
"Oh?" He laughed along, "What happened?"
"Well, it... it was complicated... we..." Charlie fell silent, trying to build up courage, but as she did, a sudden flashback appeared, one she was not prepared to remember.
'Why can't you ever get things right?! Why can't you listen you damn woman?! How can you fail at such easy tasks?! For fuck's sake! Just get out! Leave! I don't want to deal with you!'
'Fine you asshole! You want me to leave then I'll leave!' Charlie growled, 'I don't want to be around a man like you!'
'What the hell do you mean by that?!" Jacob walked up to her, grabbing her by the wrist.
'Let me fucking go!'Charlie struggled, yanking and pulling away from him as best she could.
'Not until you tell me what you mean by that!' He ended up tightening the grip, leading her wrist to bruise.
"Sonuva..." Charlie groaned, her eyes shutting tightly, "No... stop..."
"Charlie?" Rook looked over, concerned.
"Let me fucking go!" She covered her ears, dropping her shotgun, "Stop it, Jacob! Fucking stop it!" Tears began to shed, she covered her eyes, hiding her sobbing and look of pain as she fell to her knees.
"Charlie?" Rook looked deeply concerned, lightly touching her shoulder.
"Don't fucking touch me!" She screamed out.
Rook backed away instantly, holding up his hands as though surrendering, awaiting for Charlie to calm down. He watched her, pain spreading through his body as he witnessed Charlie's look of sorrow, wishing he could help and wishing he didn't ask about her past. Several minutes passed as Charlie continued to sob...
"Why did he do that to me...?" She choked out, "Why couldn't he just let me go away as he asked? Why, Jacob...? WHY?!"
"Charlie..." The Deputy breathed out, "I am so sorry." He whispered, guilt soon arriving...