Far Cry 5: The Collapse
Chapter 2: Prelude to a Warrant.
Dawn brought with it another day and another morning run on the treadmill. Roger felt that running in the area besides risking a bear attack also risked contact with the cult which wasn't likely going to be positive. After his run he did his stretches and sets of weightlifting. Even though he didn't compete anymore in the power lifting circuit since graduating high school, lifting still was one of the cheap and productive means he had of relaxing alone.
'If I'm patrolling with Earl today then he likely wants to get us out of the office so we can talk more freely. Hopefully he will tell me who else in the department I can trust though it's probably Hudson. At least I hope to god its her.' The thought bothered Roger to no end. It was bad enough that most of his coworkers couldn't be trusted to hold to their oaths but to have so many that even the Sheriff couldn't move against them.
Every moment he spent thinking about the situation he realized that this was a bomb waiting to go off and it had probably dozens of potential triggers. If the Sheriff fired all the traitorous deputies then there would be little doubt that the cult could pull off another hit like what happened to Grace and her father and off the Sheriff.
This would leave just him and Hudson with questionable authority from a legal stand point with the death of the Sheriff and the near disbanding of the department, then of course why stop with killing the Sheriff and go after both of them as well. That would end the threat of the Sheriff's department and mean that only the compromised police departments would be the only local law enforcement in the area giving the cult a lot of room to move boldly and openly against the local population until new blood could be brought in.
'They could just as well probably get a pro-cult Sheriff if they have all the power that people claim they do. At that point it would take a massive federally backed purge to reform the entire law enforcement infrastructure of the county meanwhile dismantling the cult and its hold over the county. That's not likely to happen short of open armed insurrection and even then it would be a long bloody affair.'
Roger put his weights away and showered like a man about to walk into hell.
"My god... Earl has had to live with seeing all this come to pass every morning for years now. No wonder he's loosing his hair." Roger said aloud.
Finally dressed he donned his body armor. It was a complete plate carrier with matching shoulder pads in all black. It was heavy even before adding the level IV trauma plates but as he had quickly learned in the service his definition of "heavy" was warped enough that he could choose his equipment differently without going over weight.
A few times over his career the fact that he would carry triple or quadruple the standard amount of ammo or explosives had saved himself and his squad mates several times. So carrying an extra twenty or so pounds of armor was nothing.
The drive to the local bakery for some donuts and then into the office was peaceful at least, though it still felt like he had a dark cloud looming over him.
Entering the office sure enough he saw Nancy at her dispatch radio who turned and politely smiled towards him. He returned the gesture now for sure marking her as a high risk person to deal with especially given her position as dispatcher she could just as well leave them hanging at a critical moment.
Several of the other deputies were at their desks typing away probably making reports on the latest responses. Pratt was leaning back in his seat, coffee in hand as if all was right in the world. Rook had the feeling that this was likely to be the norm for him but it would be interesting to see if Hudson's guess about his 'rehabilitation' panned out.
'Can't hide in the basement pretending to do your job anymore Pratt. Sooner or later everything gets drug out into the daylight and the truth is laid bare before the world.'
He walked on down into his basement office and not knowing what else to do started to chip away at the pile of books that was still on his desk. Just like in the Army you could build a sizable fortification with all the bureaucracy that was present in law enforcement, most of it had a purpose in one scenario or another but as always there was bloat and he had to know how to navigate this mess if he was ever to be taken seriously in this job even if it was ultimately temporary.
Maybe two hours had passed before the vault door opened and in stepped the Sheriff.
"Well Rook time to do some work. We will talk more in the truck. By the way I forgot to give you your hat. I was going to get you the normal green hat but Hudson suggested the black alternative. I think she was right." The Sheriff said as he handed the Stetson to Rook.
Rook put the hat on and smiled greatly "Well Hudson of all people would know. But at least now I look the part."
The Sheriff looked as if he was going to ask about that statement but a quick finger to Rooks lips stopped that.
The two men marched out of the basement and passed by the other desks. One of the other deputies commented as they passed. "Probie must be afraid that someone will shoot him with all that damn armor on."
Rook didn't stop walking even as the Sheriff started to slow down to respond to the verbal jab.
"Says the man hiding behind a desk in a brick and stone office." Rook replied not breaking a step.
He could clearly hear Pratt and a few other laughing at the unexpected come back. This probie had some teeth already and wasn't going to be beaten around so easily.
The Sheriff lead them to a marked Ford pickup and had Rook drive.
"We are going to the Hope County Clinic. Dr. Ferguson has written up a full report on his findings on the Armstrong case. I also got a suggestion from your father the other day that I wanted to try out so we will need to stop by his workshop and pickup some tools he is loaning us."
As they passed the Green-Busch Fertilizer plant the Sheriff finally spoke again. "So Rook you want to explain by what you meant earlier by 'Hudson would know.'?"
Rook smiled "Hudson and I have known each other since we were both ten years old. We dated in high school but both agreed to break up as she was going to college and I was off to West Point. I can't see any problems between us but I can imagine that the others might not see it that way. Mind telling me who is the other 'trustful' deputy sir?"
The Sheriff rubbed his forehead "You probably already guess it as being Hudson. She is with the death of Danny the man whose spot on the roster you are filling in the longest served deputy outside of Nancy but she is exclusively running the dispatch position. Hudson I know for sure is against the Cult as the last few times we have had to butt heads with them she has pulled no punches and fully enforced the law on them."
The Sheriff stopped and paused for a moment as if bracing himself for what he had to say next.
"Everyone else has given more and more leeway to the cult over the years even to the point of undermining our own operations. Those times we had to back down don't sit well with me but their actions forced my hand unless I wanted to start a shoot out that I couldn't hope to win. Nancy doesn't even call the peggies a cult but refers to them by their more proper name 'The Project'. If I had to take my suspicions to the extreme I would say she is a full member but without proof its hard to move against her given her otherwise excellent service record."
So far nothing the Sheriff said was surprising him. The situation was breaking down and the next moves might determine the end game.
"Well sir, you have my phone number and I will start to keep my radio on me at all times. Day or night if you run into trouble or think you are in trouble I will come running in hot. You wanted a big stick so all you have to do is reach out. I'll make the same offer to Hudson as well. Is she..." Rook wanted to ask.
"She's as briefed on the situation as you are now and yes I appreciate your offer and I am happy to hear you extend it to Hudson as well. I can't rule out another Armstrong style attack on the road either on myself or Hudson and you are the only one that they won't immediately go after though I would expect at least for them to at least try to send their missionaries after you sooner or later." Sheriff was silent for the rest of the ride as he struggled with situation before him.
Rook's own thoughts weren't much happier. He couldn't see any peaceful way out of this with the resources at hand locally and he didn't have anything to indicate that the Feds involved would provide enough back up to make a solution possible.
They pulled up to the clinic where Nick Rye and a very pregnant looking Asian woman with a very modern haircut were walking out of the clinic.
Nick looked up at the two lawmen approaching. "Oh hey Sheriff and... holy hell that you Roger?"
Roger nodded "Hey Nick long time no see and you must be... I want to say Kim?" He held his hand out to the woman who accepted it warmly.
"Yes and I remember you too but I don't think we ever spoke. I'm sorry to cut things short but my feet are killing me right now."
The two started to walk towards their truck as the lawmen continued inside.
'Nick Rye as a father. Well at least something in this County is improving!'
The meeting was short between the doctor and Sheriff but as they spoke Rook took a look at the slugs that the doc had pulled out of Greg and like his father said they were heavy 9mm rounds probably 165 grain loads by his judgment having used the same rounds in a few targets in the past. It was clear that Greg Armstrong was murdered by someone who was taking action to hide the act and the local police were either helping directly or their inaction was part of the murderers calculations in their hiding.
'We need to find something that makes it clear that a gun was used at the scene... we need to find the cases from the weapon used assuming we aren't dealing with a revolver or someone smart enough to clean up their brass.' Rook thought to himself.
With the paperwork safely in hand they drove to Rook Industries. The small workshop sat within sight of Fall's End if one were to stand on top of the general store and look south. While the building that was visible wasn't all that big most of the tooling and production space was spread out through 3 basement levels, and it was from these basement levels that the real work of Rook Industries took place making new and custom equipment for government agencies or the military.
Walking in the front door behind the Sheriff they entered the civilian show room part of the building. Ever since the change on automatic weapons laws in the US any gun manufacturer worth their salt was either making full auto guns new or reproductions or doing conversions, so it wasn't surprising to see the walls lined with bright and shiny M60s, MG42 reproductions, nearly every WWII and Cold War Soviet small arm and dozens of AR variants in every flavor of caliber, barrel length, or furniture color.
"Home sweet home." Roger said as he slowly walked behind the Sheriff eying the gun racks on the floor to see if any of the older milsurps caught his eye.
"Careful Sheriff if you don't keep an eye on him you'll see your entire budget disappear in to filling your armory with 100 year old relics. Lord knows I had to fight to keep him from blowing his paycheck when he worked here before he even left the shop." Marcus called out as he stepped out of the back office and met the lawmen in the showroom.
The Sheriff chuckled. "Well I think we have enough old guns in that armory to keep him busy for a good awhile before I need to worry about that. Do you have that metal detector around?"
Marcus reached back into just inside the back office and pulled out a metal detector.
Roger smiled "Well I guess my hunch was right. We are looking for brass casings aren't we?"
"Exactly Rook, we prove that a gun was used at the Armstrong crash then I can take this to the Fall's End police department and demand they reopen the case as a murder investigation. If not well then myself and Minkler are prepared to call in everyone state level on up." The Sheriff said his voice riding the edge of being outright angry.
"Everyone?" Roger asked carefully.
Marcus replied for the Sheriff. "Yep. The Montana Bureau of Investigations, state police, and the FBI. The nuclear option that will hopefully bring a hammer down on at least on part of our cult problem."
Roger milled over this news for a moment. "So long as they bring a big enough hammer and do so quickly. I'm beginning to fear that anything less will just let the cult turn openly violent against any and all forms of government authority. Once that happens its only a matter of time before they turn that hate on local population and if I'm not off my mark we can see locals rise up against the cult violently."
The Sheriff sighed heavily "I'm hoping to avoid that outcome if at all possible Rook. But if things go as bad as you think they will then I can say I agree that these people won't take it laying down. All they would need is someone to lead them and since I'm the Sheriff that's going to be on my plate probably."
Marcus clasped the Sheriff on the shoulder and looked between him and his son. "Don't worry Earl you can rest easier knowing myself and this company are on your side. I even give you my only begotten son."
The three of them finally laughed at the comparison and soon left with metal detector in hand. A hour later of driving brought them to the crash site near Sunrise Farm. The road clearly showed where the Armstrong's car had skidded off the road and into a shallow drainage ditch.
"The site is old enough now that I doubt we will find any more evidence of another vehicle. Personally I think that what probably hit the Armstrong's off the road probably had a massively reinforced front end so there wouldn't be any additional broken glass or plastic aside from the Armstrong car." Sheriff explained.
Roger nodded and added. "Also makes the attacking vehicle far heavier maybe even enough so it absorbs the impact through sheer mass thus lowering the chance of leaving another set of skids on the road. Of course we have nothing to prove any of this."
Rook took out his .45 and racked the slide and ejected a round on the grass. He then switched on the metal detector and waved it over the cartridge. Sure enough the detector beeped loudly and showed that it had detected something that was part brass and part lead.
He pocketed the loose round and worked out with the Sheriff were he needed to sweep relative to where the car had crashed. It took only seven minutes to find the first case in the high grass then another few minutes to find the second and third case. Whitehorse was documenting and photographing the evidence and Rook picked up the first completed plastic evidence bag with the first case found.
'Freedom Munitions 2018. Premium Ammo brand that only a few shops would carry any local stock of course if they ordered online then we would still have nothing to go on.'
"Sheriff if you don't mind I'm going to call my dad on this. These casings are from a premium ammo maker that isn't that common unless things have changed, maybe we can trace down when some was sold and see if any security footage from that time still exists. My dad's shop is likely the only one in the Holland Valley region that would sell this brand."
The Sheriff thought on this. "What if the killer bought the ammo online?"
"Then we will have struck out but still have confirmation that Greg was murdered. I'll admit I'm not used to doing this sort of investigation so I'll go by your judgment." Rook admitted.
"Don't call your old man on this then. Speak to him face to face and do it quietly. We will keep your idea in our back pocket but right now my main goal is to force the local police to do their jobs or catch them in such away that I can request outside help due to their failure to act. Still good thinking Rook." The Sheriff smiled and gathered the evidence bags up.
"Lets get back to Fall's End and head to the police station. When we get there let me do the talking while you do a 'Speak softly and be a big stick' act got me Rook?" The Sheriff said seriously his eyes boring into Rook's own.
"Yes sir."
Later they pulled in front of the smallish white brick building that served as the police department of Fall's End. Rook hopped out of the truck first and held open the door for the Sheriff before falling behind his right side the regulatory half step behind his superior.
He had to admit that his heart was racing like he was going back into a combat situation and he kept scanning the room halls they walked through marking where doors were and ID-ing any people they came across.
They came to the main office space that wasn't much different than what they had at their own office save for at least double the number of desks. Finally the Sheriff stopped at a desk that was beside the door marked 'Police Chief Edward P. Jacobs'.
"Sheryl I need to speak with the Chief immediately." The Sheriff stated flatly to the woman who was serving the secretary to the police chief. She half rolled her eyes to look at the Sheriff before they grew wide at the sight of Rook looming over his shoulder.
"Ok give me a moment Sheriff." she pressed a intercom button on her desk phone. "Chief. Sheriff Whitehorse and a deputy are here to speak with you."
A long tense pause was finally broken by a reply. "Ok send in the Sheriff but tell the deputy to stay outside."
The Sheriff grumbled but nodded for Rook to stand outside the door as he stepped into the Chief's office.
Rook assumed a well practiced parade rest beside the office door facing the rest of the room still slowly scanning the office before him. More than a few of the police officers were clearly intimidated by his presence let alone size but that was the reason the Sheriff had brought him instead of going alone or maybe riding with Hudson.
A moment later the Sheriff marched out of the office clearly angry which was a rare thing to publicly see.
"With me deputy." The Sheriff snapped.
Rook instantly fell in step with the Sheriff who didn't stop until they had left the building and got into the truck.
"Get us back to the office. I got a shit storm to start unleashing." The old lawman grumbled.
Rook started driving and the Sheriff started explaining.
"The son of a bitch of a police chief outright accused me of fabricating evidence and even getting a false medical report. All in the name of a 'witch hunt' against the project. At this point I'm going to take everything we got and send it to everyone MBI, FBI, the state police. Everyone! This is clear cut dereliction of duty and corruption and I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!"
Rook was white knuckling the steering wheel. Besides the legitimate anger of the Sheriff over this case and the police response this was showing that clearly the cult was now a clear and present danger to the entire county. Right now there was the thinnest of facades of law and order at play and it would take next to nothing to break that.
They pulled in to the Sheriff's department parking lot but before Rook could step out the truck the Sheriff stopped him.
"If anyone asks we didn't find anything. If Hudson asks with in earshot of anyone else you tell her the same. You did good Rook for right now people aren't sure what to make of you but I think its safe to say that you might start attracting the cults attention after today. Be careful kid, I think we are in the wild west again."
Rook nodded his head quietly and followed the Sheriff in before returning to his basement office.
He looked at the remaining pile of books he had to read through but decided that at that moment he was too worked up over what happened so he unlocked one of the rifle lockers and grabbed one of the M-16's.
It was indeed a early production M-16A1 rifle and besides being dusty from never being handled in god knows how many years it looked like it was still in working order still he wanted to unwind and cleaning this thing would be a nice break.
He glanced at the clock on the computer at his desk and saw that he had two hours to kill so he had plenty of time.
He had just finished running the last cleaning patch through the barrel when the vault door unlocked and swung open. Hudson stepped through and deliberately shut the door behind her.
"Ok Rook what happened today. I don't think I have ever even heard let alone seen the Sheriff so angry."
Rook finished reassembling the rifle before turning to Hudson. "Hudson we found the cases for the three slugs pulled out of Gary Armstrong. They are of a premium brand of ammo specifically sold for suppressor use and its a brand that isn't sold by many local shops, my dad's shop being one of them.
Whitehorse and I took everything to the police chief here in Fall's End and he outright accused Whitehorse of fabricating evidence in order to pursue a quote 'witch hunt' against the cult and its members. He is going to being calling in everything he can to get outside help here FBI, state bureau of investigation, and the state police."
Hudson actually grasped slightly at the revelation.
"Rook we have to be real careful now. Chief Jacobs is not a idiot or at least not enough of one to not figure out what Whitehorse is planning we can't rule out he is going to try and discredit us some how if he doesn't try to off us. It really depends on how much he wants to gamble on this."
Hudson started pacing around the vault deep in thought.
"Whitehorse would have likely made those calls today and remember that Mayor Minkler has the same power to call for outside law enforcement so even if the Sheriff is dead the dominoes in this case have been set in motion and dead whistle blower is a lot harder to ignore in the short term. I think for right now our chances of getting assassinated aren't any greater than they have been but I think right now information control is key. The vault is probably safe but from here on out no radio traffic and no phone calls on any departmental phones. If anyone asks what set the Sheriff off it will be that we didn't find any evidence to support our theory on the Armstrong murder." Rook finished.
Hudson stopped pacing for a moment before continuing Rooks train of thought.
"I assume then only us three in the Sheriff's department and Jacobs know about the casings."
Rook smiled at Hudson's quick pickup.
"Exactly now if we start hearing otherwise we know that there is a leak of some form from the police chief especially if its one of the other deputies asking about it. I am going to be asking my dad to look up some sales records and maybe security footage so we can ID a buyer for the ammo so he will also know but now that I think of it he loaned us the metal detector so he probably already knew from the start."
Hudson finally sat on top of a empty workbench at gave a tired look at him.
"Roger be honest with me. Is there any way out of this mess? We are acting like we are in some damn spy movie."
Roger closed his eyes in thought and re ran the numbers in his head knowing full well that nothing had changed.
"Joey... if we don't get any outside help at all we probably will be silenced at some point. If we get too little outside help then we could push the cult to start waging open insurrection against the local government and all forms of law enforcement because we will have given them a clear enemy to target, a face if you will. Once any law enforcement is suppressed then they will no doubt believe they have free run of the county and will start oppressing the local population."
He paused to lean back in his office chair and put his feet up on his desk.
"At that point there is a real chance the local population having no greater government or law enforcement to rely on will fight back with nothing held back. That said many will either be too scared to fight or may even join the cult so as to achieve some sense of safety. Given the cult's militant stance they are likely better armed and supplied than all but the most dedicated of prepper's and they also have a major manpower advantage even then... I'm sorry Joey but out of three scenarios two end with our deaths. Obviously we too could surrender to the cult but... I can't bring myself to stoop to that level, not after everything I saw in the Army. I will die before I accept outright failure."
The cold air of the vault felt heavier than ever as the weight of everything came crashing down around them.
"Roger. I can't accept that outcome either." Joey finally said then she continued "Stepping back from the upcoming shit storm I also wanted to tell you will be riding shotgun with me tomorrow on patrol. Whitetail Park Service as requested our assistance in taking care of a bear that has so far killed three hikers and two rangers. So at least we will be doing something that isn't related to internal politics or the cult believe it or not. Good night Rook I will see you extra early tomorrow, the rangers want to start before first light."
Rook sat in his office for a while longer. Old memories from his Army and later CIA days laying themselves over the back drop of Hope County. Could he justify those acts again if they had to happen here?
'For Dad, Mom, Joey, Grace, Mary May, and everyone else... I would have no choice but to act in the fullest against this cult. To make them fear me more than their so called 'god'.'
He stopped that line of thought and packed up to leave all the while saying a little prayer in his heart that for once in his life he would be dead wrong about what was going to happen next.
Finally leaving the office he stopped at this house to change out of his uniform then preceded on to his parents house. It was kinda awkward feeling having to knock on the door to the house that he had grown up in but he didn't want to be rude.
His mother opened the door shocked to see Roger come by unannounced but welcomed him in all the same.
"Roger had you called I would have made a place for you for dinner." Jessica said.
"Sorry Mom things are... getting bad at work. I don't feel at liberty to say exactly what but I do however need to talk to dad immediately also just future reference don't call anything besides my personal cell phone. I can't guarantee that my other means of communication are clean any more."
Jessica Rook was smart enough to realize just the gravity of what her son had just said and shook her head understandingly.
"Your father is in the basement. Tell him that you guys can take your time I'll put dinner on hold."
Rook navigated his old home and ducked down into the basement. The first, oldest, and blackest of black workshop in Rook Industries. It wasn't until he was in Delta that he realized that some of the things he had helped his father prototype or even test as a kid were designed for the special forces community and more tellingly that most of the things that were built in the basement were the truly sensitive projects that absolutely had to stay blacker than black.
For the moment though the workbench down there was clean and empty and none of the machine tools were in use. His father was laying on the old couch he had down here watching what appeared to be the 1964 hit movie Zulu on the big screen TV.
"Roger? What in Sam hill are you doing here lad?" Marcus asked.
Roger inhaled and steeled his resolve. "Dad I need some information from the shop but this has to stay black. No calls or notes only direct contact in a safe place."
Marcus quickly hauled himself up off the couch and looked his son in the eye before speaking softly. "Dirty lines?"
"Very likely. Personal cell might be safe for emergency contact but otherwise nothing black. Sheriff is calling in all available assets and is down to three man strength. Local law enforcement is dirty and no longer within proper control of the government."
Marcus paced around stopping to pause his movie as he thought about the situation.
"I will send out my own warnings to my outside assets but its doubtful they can or will act until after the blast. Now what do you need?"
"We found the brass for the three rounds that killed Greg, Freedom Munitions case marks with 2018 head stamp dates. Our shop is the only one that would locally stock that sort of ammo but I can't imagine its high volume. If we can track down the last buyers and get security footage it could give me a lead on a potential killer. If I strike out here then I know there might be another gun shop over by the Elk Jaw Lodge and Nolan's Fly Shop always carried high end odd stuff for bear defense." Roger finished and hoped that his father would agree to his request for info.
"I will see about getting what you need tomorrow and don't worry it will stay black. If it was sold in my shop I will bet it was one of the guys turned cultist that I had for working for me a short while that did the sale. Need anything else?"
Relieved that his father was willing to stick his neck out for him he remembered tomorrows task with Hudson. "I need to grab my heavy guns and my bow. Hudson and I have to go hunting tomorrow for some bear that has already killed five people."
Marcus laughed loudly "Well I got to say that your choice of a first date is unique I'll give you that."
Roger sighed and rolled his eyes before trying to correct his father. "Dad Joey and I aren't trying to date hell she is technically my superior now. It would be a real mess and at least so far no one but the Sheriff knows of our past dating status, besides we ended it amicably and moved on."
Marcus raised his eye brows at the words 'Moved on' but decided not to call out on the bull shit at this moment.
"Well you know the code for the vault door just be sure to grab ammo as well for both you and Hudson. Last thing I want to hear is that either of you got killed because you were using some limp wrist police load against a grizzly."
That said Marcus marched up stairs to see about dinner as Roger opened the safe room at served as the family armory. Literally half of the room was dominated by his military surplus collection. Mausers, Enfields, and Mannlichers of all sorts of rare variants and nationalities lined the racks. However one section was dedicated to his more modern long guns.
He grabbed and check his 'old' competition rifle a Barrett .50 cal M107 again a gift from his father's military connections that he had used to dominate the big bore rifle shooting matches taking numerous gold medals, titles, and more than a few records.
'I still think to this day that the only reason why Grace tolerated me was because I never entered the small bore divisions thus threatening her chances of taking a title. If I had maybe life would be different. Maybe I wouldn't have been so quick to join the Army and instead go deeper into competitive shooting. Maybe follow Joey to college... damn it Dad you just had to get me thinking about that particular 'What if?' didn't you? No matter what's done is done.'
Then grabbed his favored "Assault rifle" though most would question the use of that term for his prized HCAR. The large .30-06 modernized Browning Automatic Rifle was his answer to everything that didn't need a half inch hole from his Barrett. It sported an extend barrel and large suppressor along with the latest generation of drum mags designed by his father with his sons input, like all of his guns it was seen as large and unwieldy to most men but to him it felt right and his performance tended to shut down any comments against his set up.
Lastly he grabbed his compound bow. He had taken up the bow in junior high finding the return to such a basic weapon appealing and over time he had come to enjoy the efficiency of bow hunting. There wasn't an animal in the county that he hadn't taken with this bow and he had modified it repeatedly over the years to grow with him. Now part of him hopped to take down this killer bear with his bow if the situation allowed him to do so.
Looking through the shelves he grabbed a few boxes of 12 gauge magnum load bear slugs for Joey knowing that she would at the least be bringing her shotgun on this trip. Now loaded down with his modest load out he bid his parents goodbye and left them to their dinner, the trip home was quiet with no signs of the cult looming around but that was hardly comforting all things considered.
Coming to his house he warily looked out across his property watching and listening for any out of place movements.
'Nothing but crickets... for now.'
He checked all the window locks before finding some left over broken down moving boxes and proceeded to cut them to fit over each window. They would serve two purposes firstly to block light from getting out thus making it harder to determine where in the house he was if in the house at all. Secondly they would help absorb the impact of anything sent through a window like a brick or a rock of similar weight this also extended somewhat to thrown explosives like grenades but it was hardly steel plate armor.
His task done he locked up his weapons again stopping to just listen to the world. Again he heard nothing out of place for the moment, though he knew all too well that sooner rather than later if the cult stayed true to form he would receive some form of attention from them. The fact gnawed at his mind as he laid in bed, he was used to being pro active against threats even just gathering information was better than sitting and waiting for the other side to dictate the terms of the next meeting.
Finally he gave into the need for sleep.
Dreams of unspeakable acts ended sharply with the screaming of Rogers alarm clock. The bright red numbers showing that it was indeed 3:00 am. He went through his morning work out again pushing harder than he probably should have given what the day was likely to hold but that unease about the greater situation with the cult motivated him to step up his workout up to his full military PT routine. A quick shower followed by a large breakfast and packing a equally large lunch and a days worth of MREs for backup all packed into a large rucksack along with a full load out of ammo and arrows.
Roger looked upon his work and the opening song of Gilligan's island started playing in his head. The roads leading into town were dead silent save for a cougar dragging a buck deer across the road. Roger honestly was more nervous about hunting cougars than even bears or wolves. The latter two had no problems stating their presence and intentions when you came a cross them but cougars hid or actively stalked you so you often only had moments to react when they did decide to attack. The only upside was that a grown man could fight a cougar off even bare handed and they often would break contact and run once they realize their chosen prey wasn't going down quick.
Pulling into the Sheriff's office he noted Hudson just stepping out of her own truck.
"Rook, I should have known you would actually have shown up on time. Last time we were asked to help the rangers with a dangerous animal Pratt was nearly two hours late." Hudson said while suppressing a yawn.
Rook smiled as if unbothered by the early hour and opened up one of the pockets on his sack and handed Hudson her a few boxes of ammo for the hunt.
"While I hope that you wouldn't go out using the regular slugs the department issues I decided to cover our bases and bring you gifts of premium hunting ammo."
Hudson took the gift trying not to smile too hard. "I can't stress it enough Rook its good to have someone reliable around here. Thanks for the ammo. I'll be sure to give you the left overs."
Roger shook his head. "No, absolutely not. I wouldn't give you ammo if I didn't have plenty at home after all given my family's line of work I'm not short on high end ammo. If I had more lead time I might have given you some of my hot hand loads instead."
Hudson started walking towards the front the door calling out over her shoulder. "Rook I may be a recoil queen but even your slug hand loads are a bit much for my tastes. I assume you brought your .50 cal with you?"
Roger caught up with her as they reached the door. Both nodded to the night dispatcher and the lone deputy at his desk waiting for a call to come in.
"Yeah I got brought the .50 and the big .30-06, and of course my bow." Roger stated proudly.
Hudson froze at the last part. "No... you surely can't be serious?"
Roger met her with a deadpan reply "I am serious and don't call me Shirley. But yes I hope that I get the chance to take this bear by bow and arrow. Maybe then the rangers will have enough of the body left to figure out just what might have caused the bear to rampage like this. After all I got you to backup me up at least and who ever the rangers might be."
They had a good laugh as Hudson took care of some last minute paperwork and Roger leaned against the wall looking out over the almost empty room.
'If this bear is as big and dangerous as everyone says it is maybe I can at least get the head mounted. I wonder if Miss Mable is still doing her taxidermy business.'
"Ok Rook I've pushed the bare minimum of pencils needed for today, now lets see about bagging a bear." Hudson said as she walked towards the front entrance. Rook pushed off the wall to follow "Let's take my rig. If this thing is as legendary as everyone is making it out to be I'll want to drag it over to old Mable and see if I can at least get the head mounted."
Hudson nodded in agreement and climbed into the massive 6x6 truck and just as Rook was about to do the same one of the cults large box trucks drove by, a reminder that the brewing storm was still very much upon them.
As they drove northward Roger had to admit that all other issues aside one thing that he loved about being back was seeing the beautiful landscape again. With the sun not quite up yet the surrounding mountains cast long claw like shadows across the river valley below and where the light did touch the land the morning fog was burned away.
It was a sight that he couldn't say he would ever tire of.
"Got to admit Roger never thought I would be riding in this truck again hell now that I think of it this feels like some of our hunting trips we used to take." Joey mused as they crossed the bridge separating Holland Valley and the official Whitetail region.
The memories of just the two of them even before they started officially dating came back, between them they must have bagged dozens of deer and elk over the years. It was a good time for the both of them and maybe helped him to actually get the guts ask Joey out back in his freshman year of high school.
'The world was a lot simpler back then.'
"Yeah it does feel like that. Hey Joey... maybe if this stuff with the cult ever gets resolved we can try to go out again." Roger replied.
She gave him a sideways look.
'Oh Christ, I stepped in it now.'
"Uh... I mean as friends again. In fact forgive me for asking and you don't have to answer if you don't want but are you seeing anyone?" Roger sputtered out.
Joey chuckled a little. Roger Rook was one of the smartest and capable men she had ever known but relationships where never his strong suit. He could negotiate and manipulate like the best of them but throw a off the cuff social situation at him where he wasn't after a specific goal and he either clammed up or walked all over his words.
"Right now, no I'm not. Haven't in the last few years... first two guys I dated back in college were ok but nothing clicked then I tried dating again when I moved back out here. That guy... he wound up joining the cult and then gave me a choice, either leave the department and join Eden's Gate or leave him. We'd only been dating barely two months when he dropped that bomb on me."
She noted that she had been gripping the cab grab handle rather tightly and forced herself to let go.
"I left him right there and then and never looked back. Since then I couldn't bring myself to try the dating pool again, not when everyday you hear about someone you thought you knew well start to praise the cult or make excuses for them. There are times when I wonder if its me whose outlook is wrong..."
Roger slammed on the brakes hard as they came around a bend and a faced a trio of moose crossing the road at just that moment. As they waited for the road to clear Roger looked over at his oldest friend with a hard steely gaze.
"Josephine Helena Hudson you listen to me right now and listen good. You. Are. Not. The. Problem. If the cult wasn't the problem here I wouldn't be investigating the death of Gary Armstrong, looking out for old man Fairgraves Widowmaker, being on standby to help Mary May at the bar, we wouldn't be hiding doing our duty from the bulk of our co-workers, watching what we say and who we say it in front of, and I wouldn't be watching my father's business begin to radically change to avoid the equipment he developed fall into the hands of the cult."
Roger accelerated a bit hard as the road cleared.
"Joey regardless of our dating status I am your friend and I don't see that changing anytime soon, I'm not joining the cult, and you know that you can call me day or night and my .50 cal will be at your service. Are we clear?"
Joey felt her eyes begin to water slightly. 'Roger, you piece of work.'
"Yeah Roger... god I sound like a broken record I can't express how good it is to just... have someone I can rely on beyond just my job. Sure Whitehorse would be happy to listen but... its not the same you know? Funny thing is that a few months ago I was on a traffic stop with one of the cults big trucks that had no tail lights, I was going to just give them a warning to get it fixed when the driver and passenger jumped out and spray and prayed my truck."
Joey stopped as she relieved that night. She was lucky that she had already undone her seat belt otherwise she wouldn't have been able to duck fast enough or low enough to hide behind the firewall.
"They dumped their mags and hopped back into their truck and speed off into the night. They managed to miss the dash cam and we had clear shots of their faces and guns. Before Whitehorse could get a warrant for the attack local police had said they grabbed them for a "drug possession" charge. We nailed them on the attempted murder charges but the cult paid bail, half a million dollars for both of them and they disappeared afterward.
I remember being on the side of the road trying to get help when your dad and mom pulled up and helped me get back to the office. That night your dad made it clear that if anything like that happened again I could call him day or night for help."
Roger nodded solemnly "I would expect nothing else from my parents."
The rest of the drive up to the Ranger station was quiet as each of them dealt with the revelations that each had dumped on the other. Pulling into the Ranger station had them find three park rangers eating breakfast at a picnic table outside of the station.
"Deputy Hudson, I didn't realize that the Sheriff's department had anything this big!" A older man about the Sheriff age walked over to greet Hudson as she stepped down out of the cab.
"No this thing belongs to the 'Great White Hunter' I got to come with us today. He is also the reason why we are actually on time for once." Hudson replied.
Rook stepped around the front of truck rucksack on his back, rifles strapped to his sides, and bow in hand.
"I have come hunt bears and chew bubble gum and I'm all out of gum." Rook quipped.
The old ranger turned to Hudson "This is already looking better than last time. I'm Ranger Clark over there are Rangers Kornel and Phillips."
Rook tipped his hat politely to the other Rangers noting that they were young probably barely into their twenties at best.
Ranger Clark led them over to another picnic table that had a map of the park. "We have determined where the bears lair is. Its just on the other side of this ridge line to our north along the trail that runs from the Grand View Hotel to the main road here. We sent a two man team to investigate the area after some hikers found the first bodies and that is when they were attacked as well. They were some of my experienced men so hence why I was so quick to call in for help."
Ranger Kornel then spoke up. "Sheriff I managed to send up a drone with a good camera to track down the bears to a cave overlooking the trail its not too far but enough that you would be hard pressed to see the cave from the trail without prior knowledge of it."
Rook nodded. "Actually I'm just a deputy. Do we have any idea why the sudden attacks? I haven't been in this area for over 10 years but the bears usually avoided the trails like the plague."
Ranger Clark "I have a suspicion of chemical exposure maybe a prepper or the cult is storing something nasty in that cave..."
"You don't know if the Project is at fault sir." Ranger Phillips snapped defensively. When Phillips looked up at Rook the top half of a cult cross on a chain could be seen peeking out from his undershirts collar.
'Ok now things are getting dangerous.' Rook thought.
"No matter. As far as I am concerned we are here to stop these attacks. The cause of them we can confirm after we do that much. Even then I would think being on Parks land it would be you guys handling the investigation if any after wards." Rook said settling the matter for the moment but he could tell that Phillips was still amped up from the accusation from Ranger Clark.
The group took to their vehicles and drove north until they came to the trail head. The trail itself was large enough for car traffic to drive down though it was rough enough that any vehicle without some off road prowess would quickly find itself either high sided on a rock or stuck in the loose gravel. A large river ran along side full of trout and salmon.
As Rook followed the Rangers down the trail he thought to Phillips reaction.
"I take it you noticed that Phillips was quick to defend the cults involvement." He asked Hudson.
"Yeah I noted that too. I think I saw he had one of their necklaces too probably a full member. Do you think he might be involved?" Hudson asked.
Rook thought on it for a moment.
"No otherwise I think he would have pressed harder for us not to go to the cave but to stay in the area maybe and try to stalk the bears or something. I think he just doesn't like the idea of the cult being blamed for something off hand."
The Rangers trucks finally pulled over and stopped. Ranger Clark was the first to step out and point towards a clear animal trail leading towards the top of the ridge line.
"You can see the path we need to take. I suggest we go guns ready from this point on."
Rook nodded and readied his bow. "Agreed I'll take point. My goal is to try and take the bear in as good of shape as possible so there is something to examine after wards so if you see the bear let me go first and only fire back if it charges you. How are you guys armed?"
Clark swung off of his back a common 16 inch AR pattern rifle and looking over to the other two they had matching guns as well.
'No wonder they need us to help they are at best armed for stopping a wolf or two at best.'
Rook continued "Ok then just make sure if you do have to fire that you dump as much lead into that bear as fast as you can manage. You are all running guns that I wouldn't use to go after a Grizzly on a good day. Hudson you stay between me and the Rangers if the bear gets past me its on you now to drop it quick. If I can't get a second shot off I'll switch to my Eagle or Barrett. Let's go."
The animal path was narrow and steep with a healthy number of loose rocks to catch anyone unaware. Even now he could hear Ranger Clark especially begin to huff and puff as they kept climbing though just about everyone save for him was breathing hard. Then they came across a cluster of trees along the path and saw what was left of two uniformed bodies.
Rook spoke softly. "Hold! I'll check for anyone hanging around, Hudson you are on over watch."
Hudson took a knee and leveled her shotgun at the brush along where Rook was approaching. Rook had finally reached the bodies and confirmed that these guys were the two dead Rangers that Clark had mentioned. One telling sign were the empty 9mm Glocks that served as the local Park Services sidearm.
'9mm hollow points don't work on bears. Still better to go down fighting.'
Rook waved the group over to his position.
Clark pushed himself hard to rush over to his fallen men. "Damn it damn it damn it. Wilson and Lloyd its going to be a closed casket funeral too. Thanks for getting us this far Deputy."
Rook nodded solemnly. "Don't thank me yet we still have a bear to kill. Lets take five minutes and rest here I'm going to sneak up the trail and see what I find but I will maintain line of sight with you guys."
Rook didn't wait for a reply as he crouched ahead. He glanced behind him and saw Hudson assume her position again between the three Rangers and his own position though she still hung back. It wasn't far to the top of the trail and at its crest he could clearly see the bear in question lounging in the warm morning sun on its back. Rook froze not daring to move lest he be heard, if it was just him or just Hudson with him he would have already put a arrow in the bears head but with so many other people to account for he would go ahead and wait for them to join him. A another minute he could hear the others scrape and crunch their way up the path towards his position, he turned and motioned them to get down and stay stealthy.
"Ok folks it looks like we have our bear. I'll go in for the kill Hudson you stay here and keep a eye on that cave entrance as this guy might have friends. Clark, you and your men fan out quietly to the trees closest to the cave on the right side if the bear charges you try to keep the tree between you and the bear so you can buy time to keep firing into its head." Rook ordered the group and even Phillip obeyed without argument.
Watching the bear still happily unaware of their presence he started to close but then saw a opportunity. The left side of the path was a almost vertical rock face but the section he was at had several places he could climb and get a height advantage and maybe even get a clear brain shot from the bottom of the skull... so long as the bear didn't roll over that is.
He shouldered his bow and climbed up several convenient ledges until he was right over the bear. He redrew his bow and fully pulled back on the 250 lb bow lining up the sight with where the base of the brain stem should be and loosed his arrow. It struck the bear with a loud thud that broke the silence that had dominated all of his actions up until now, then the Rangers cheered.
"HA! YOU GOT THE BASTARD!" Phillip shouted.
Before Rook could even start to silence the Rangers a loud roar came from inside the cave. Their bear did indeed have friends... many friends in fact. Rook swapped for his Barrett and shot the first bear that surged out of the cave from his elevated position then more bears came running out and gunning for everyone on the ground. Hudson responded with carefully aimed slugs caving in the skulls of every bear that came her way, Rook noting that for the moment Hudson was still ok began firing into the rears of the bears that moved against the Rangers.
Ranger Kornel was dancing around his tree as the deputy had instructed has he dumped a full 40 rounds of 5.56 into the bears head and it eventually stopped trying to get around the tree as its injuries caught up with it. Ranger Clark was lucky enough that one of Rooks shots had shattered his bears rear hips completely greatly slowing it down and leaving it open for him to fire at will in relative safety.
Ranger Phillip seeing the bear charge him fired a few bursts but he had moved away from his tree and into a more open spot, he must have expected the bear to go down with a few rounds and when it didn't he panicked more and tried to run down hill but tripped on the loose rocks.
From Rooks vantage point he lost the chance of even wounding the bear going after Phillip among the trees. He dropped down from his position into the killing field and dropped his rifle and pack.
"Hudson grab one of my rifles if you have to I'm going after the last one!" Rook yelled as he sprinted towards Phillips screaming, he drew his Desert Eagle and flicked the safety off. He saw a natural drainage ditch and elected to try and slide down it instead of risking falling down the hill like Phillip did. He had reached the bottom of the ditch right where it met the main trail and came within 6 ft of where the last bear was throwing the hapless Ranger around by the neck.
He didn't bother with fine aiming and dumped all 12 rounds into the bears head and chest blowing parts of its brain across the trail as a result. He half rushed to where Phillip was laying dying. Maybe if he was at this very moment on a ER table with a crack team of doctors he might stand the slimiest of chances but here and now he was as good as dead between the massive lacerations, partially crushed windpipe and likely internal injuries.
Phillip was looking to the sky as he shakily reached for his cult cross. "The... the weak have their purpose... the world is weak... I was too weak... forgive me Father..." With those last words Ranger Phillip was gone. Rook closed the mans eyes and looked at the sight not sure if he should condemn the man for being a cultist or pity him as a human being. The former sat better with him but he had more important people to tend to at the moment.
He raced back up the hill side that he had slid down, clawing at the earth and trees for purchase until he returned to the killing field. Hudson was kneeling beside the first dead bear still aiming her shot gun down at the cave entrance. Clark and Kornel had taken his other guns and took positions on either side of her also aiming at the cave entrance.
"Rook we still got one bear inside. By the way did the other Ranger make it?" Hudson asked.
"No he didn't, bear had him by the neck and was rag dolling him around." Rook said before thinking on how to tangle the last bear. As fighting in a cave against super bears that could take a .50 BMG to the body and not die immediately was not something he wanted to try his luck on.
He looked at Kornel who had his HCAR. "Kornel if I may have my gun back, Hudson and I will..."
He didn't finish the sentence when the last bear charged out of the cave towards him. The first bear he killed was definitely on the upper end of the size scale of a Grizzly bear and the others were smaller juveniles but the beast before him was almost as big as Cheeseburger back at the F.A.N.G center and he was nearly double the size of a normal bear already.
Rook ducked a swipe from the monster bear while Hudson was screaming at the Rangers not to shoot otherwise they risk killing him in the process. Rook forgot his pistols and reached for his Ka-Bar and in a feat that no lesser man could hope to manage he latched on to the bears back causing the bear to freeze in confusion at this odd development giving him the opening to repeatedly drive the knife in to the bears neck and as far up into the brain case as he could.
The bear thrashed but already it was loosing strength and coordination with every passing moment. The ground was died red with the massive blood loss until finally the bear collapsed on the ground in its last moments trying to still command its body to fight. Having won the battle Rook put a massive overhead stab straight into the top of the bears skull ending its suffering.
The world was deathly quiet for a minute as Rook tiredly stood up from his latest kill. He didn't show it but he felt a sense of power that he hadn't felt in a very long time since when he shattered the state squat record. Now he can safely say he had killed a legendary level Grizzly Bear with only a knife.
"God fucking damn it Rook! You nearly got yourself killed!" Hudson yelled snapping him back to reality.
"Its not like I planned on literally wrestling with the local bear god! Something is going on here because bears don't get like this naturally often and to find an entire motherfucking DEN of these guys is a new level of bullshit!" Rook half shouted.
He swiped his knife clean as best as he could and resteathed it then saw that Ranger Clark had his cell phone out filming everything.
"Seriously Ranger you had to film all this?" Rook asked surprised that it wasn't the younger of the two Ranger doing the filming.
"I was filming everything before hand until Deputy Hudson said there was one last bear inside the cave then I grabbed that big rifle of yours. When we couldn't shoot back I just started filming again, after all I got to write up all of this and no one is going to believe me without seeing this." Clark said.
"Well at least you didn't film vertically." Rook replied.
"I'm old not stupid deputy." Clark snapped back smiling all the while.
Rook gathered his guns and rucksack before leading them into the cave with his HCAR in hand and Hudson as always shotgun in hand. The Rangers were far more relaxed now and Clark was now still filming their journey into the cave. Rook smelled something like a strong floral smell that made his vision swim and stars float across his field of vision as well.
"Anyone else feeling weird?" Rook said.
"I'll tell you why Rook. We got a bunch of Bliss containers in here and several of them are breached, even got a few peggies down here though hard to tell if they were dragged in here or were here to begin with. Everyone out before we get over exposed." Hudson said as she gently tugged at Rook's armor to motivate him to back down.
Rook could see the dozen or so green containers that held this 'Bliss' chemical. A few had their lids ripped off and slowly spewed a thick green cloud out of the container. They had a strange inverse pinwheel label on them as if to serve as a stand in for a normal Bio-hazard symbol but one thing was perfectly clear, the heretical eight pointed crosses of Eden's Gate on the containers as well. He followed the others out of the cave glad to be away from the chemical as his vision returned to normal, and he didn't feel so... off. For the first time he took a close look at the bears themselves.
They had a smokey dirty gray fur coloration and the color of their eyes was the brightest red he had ever seen. When he patted the super bear he was treated to a brief cloud of now familiar 'Bliss'. Could this chemical or drug really turn animals into damn near hell beasts of some sort?
Ranger Clark was on his radio calling in for as much manpower as he could reach to haul the dead bears and his fallen men out of the area. While they waited Rook ate lunch since it was almost noon. He gave Hudson a fair share of his lunch and offered his spare MREs to Kornel and Clark but neither was much in the mood for eating as they now had a major investigation of their own on their hands.
While the other two men were out of earshot Joey spoke. "Roger I really would prefer that you at least try to kill any future dangerous big game with at least your bow or better yet a rifle. That said I have to agree with Clark... that was a damned amazing feat you just pulled off."
Roger could only smile now that the danger had passed and basically their plates for however a brief of a moment were clear.
"Yeah now that I think of it that was a stupid but extremely impressive and I emphasize unplanned act of sheer grit and the power of man over nature." They shared a refreshing laugh as several Jeeps with trailers came crawling up the animal path.
Clark approached them now that his backup had arrived.
"Deputies I want to thank you both for everything you did and I want to say I'm sorry for not coming better prepared I honestly thought five on one bear even with less than perfect guns would still be safe enough. That mistake cost me another man and I alone shall bear that responsibility, my report will also note that you did agree that our guns were inadequate for the job at hand. I'll be keeping the Sheriff informed of our investigation though at this point again as you said its our backyard to watch."
He stopped to give some directions to the men now dismounting from their vehicles then continued speaking.
"There is a wildlife conservationist team from the state in the area studying the wolf population and they have agreed to look into our bears for us briefly to see if there is something related. The big female that you got with your bow and the God Bear once the scientists get a look at them will be sent to Peaches taxidermy and given to either you or the Sheriff's department as a gift. I won't take no for answer and the Sheriff has already agreed to take the bears if you don't."
Rook decided to take up the Rangers offer and figured that he would find or make a place for the bears in his office.
"Hey Ranger before Phillip died he said something odd about 'how the world was weak', that 'the weak have a purpose', and asked some 'Father' for forgiveness. What do you know about that?" Rook asked.
Ranger Clark's features darkened at the news. "I wondered if he was in the cult, I think I wanted to believe that my men were better than that but Phillip was always a oddball and a bit of a loaner by nature. I guess he was in deeper than I ever thought possible."
The older man sighed heavily.
"Well deputies I figure you both want to at least go back to Fall's End I'll e-mail some statements that I need filled out for my paperwork and I would appreciate it if you got on that ASAP. I'm going to have my hands full with all this especially now I know the cult is involved at some level. Nice meeting you Rook."
With that he walked off to look to his own responsibilities leaving the two deputies to pack up and hike back to Rook's truck.
'Well at least I don't have to worry about hauling 2000 lbs of bear all the way to Mable's.'
On the ride back Rook asked about what was this 'Bliss' that they had run into.
"You remember those white flowers that hang open end down? The 'Angel's Trumpets' they only grow in this part of Montana and into Canada. Well someone in the cult has come up with some refining method to turn the flowers into a hallucinogenic drug some say it can be used as some kind of mind control drug but reports are limited. When we first heard of its use as a drug among the cult members we found out they had reported it as a organic additive to their fertilizer complete with health hazard notices and everything. In that form its extremely explosive too." Hudson said.
"So basically its a industrial chemical and that anyone using it as a drug isn't using it as directed thus the cult is legally off the hook." Rook concluded.
Hudson shook her head in agreement. "Dr. Ferguson did his own study and said that this drug was a form hyoscine which causes hallucinations but this stuff was treated and refined differently than anything he had been able to find. Whatever it is, it has some bad side effects including death and worse there are variants we have found that have different effects. But as always..." Hudson trailed off.
"The cult found a way to get away with it all. God, please just give us something to work with a rock or a stick maybe." Rook thought outloud.
Hudson cracked a small smile "Its not much but I think God gave us a single big stick. We just now need to get a opening to use it."
They pulled into the Sheriff's office. Walking inside they found just about everyone huddled around Pratt's computer, the sound of a familar bear roaring in pain.
"Probie! Just what the hell were you thinking taking on that bear with a knife?!" Pratt said as everyone else in the office looked on asking themselves the same question.
'Well I guess Ranger Clark must have sent it to someone who sent it to someone else and so fourth... isn't this just magical.'
Rook replied in a bored tone "Oh dear, this big furry bastard is actually trying to eat me. How rude! I should stab him for this insulance. Or something along those lines."
Before anymore banter could be had the Sherrif stepped out of his office.
"Rook! Hudson! I'm glad to see you two back alive given the video that is being passed around by everyone and their mother it seems. That's the last time I send only two people to help the Rangers with any animal problems especially if they are going to be loaded so damn light. Still good work so go ahead finish that paperwork for the Ranger. Hudson I need to speak to you first though."
While the others continued to rewatch his fight with the bear he could barely make out the opening lines of Billy Currington's 'People are Crazy' coming from the Sheriff's office. As he walked towards the door leading to his realm.
A hour later he was hitting the 'Send' button on the email to the Ranger that had his full written report on what happened on the hunt including the death of Ranger Phillps.
'I literally can't go a day without running into the cult in one way or another. When will this end?' He thought to himself as he started to dig into another round of studying his required reading material.
Then the vault door opened to show Hudson who was looking increasingly stressed as she walked in and shut the door.
"Rook, good news and bad news time. Which will it be?" Hudson asked.
"Bad news." Rook said as he glanced at his rucksack beside his desk still loaded with his long guns.
"We have to report to the Spread Eagle to 'Celebrate' our hunt. Though the Sheriff will pass through before we get there to drop off new orders with Mary May. Good news we get the rest of the day off." Hudson said quickly leaving her a bit winded afterwords.
Rook saw where all this was going. Drop the orders with someone who is for sure against the cult and use them as a middleman or woman as this case would be. Only a few things would get the Sheriff to pull such a stunt one of which was any plan directly targeting the cult that would be reliant on shock and awe.
"Ok Hudson thanks for telling me. I'll see you at 7 or so?" Rook casually replied hoping that his vault was as secure and clean as he thought it was.
Hudson simply shook her head yes and left. She too had to have figured that big things were moving into place and wanted to get it over and done with.
Being freed of the burden of required reading Rook quickly packed up and left noting that most of the other deputies had at least returned to their desks though again Pratt was sitting pretty at his own desk having moved on to watching other funny videos.
'One of these days I have to ask about what sort of tricks did Pratt do to land his job here?' Rook thought annoyingly as he returned to his truck and drove home.
Evening had finally come and a freshed showered, laundered, and shaved Rook walked into the Spread Eagle which had a small crowd for a change. When he was noticed the crowd in the bar cheered and chanted 'Rook the Bear Slayer'.
He pulled up his preffered spot at the counter and Mary May took his order as normal as could be, Casey cooked and when he was finally handed his food Mary May also slid over a envelope.
"The Rangers got you and Hudson some gift cards as a sign of thanks." Mary May said. Rook noted that the smile she wore was slightly forced as she lightly drumed her fingers over the envelope.
"Thanks Mary May. Are you still doing ok?" He asked trying to change the subject.
"Oh yeah. Tonight is the busiest its been in the evening in months. Everyone seems to want to celebrate the work you did." Mary May said as Rook slipped the envelope into one of his pants thigh pockets taking the time to make sure said pocket was fully buttoned shut.
Rook was half way through his meal having to constantly stop and accept the congradulations of the various patrons when a familiar voice came from behind.
"So the good son has returned from the Crusades and doing his duty unto the Lord and even then finds time to protect the flock from the wolves... or rather bears in this case."
Rook turned to the new voice and saw that Pastor Jerome Jefferies has entered the bar. He was Fall's End local Catholic priest and old family friend. Rook had always liked the man who was quick to forgive and quicker to try and teach which had made his youth activies something that the young Rook looked forward to.
He shook the older black man's hand. "Yeah Pastor I have done my part in keeping the heathen Saracens from retaking Jerusalem. Now I have return to protect the home land as well. Its good to see you again."
Jerome continued "Will you be coming to church this Sunday? I have plenty of room."
"You always have room in your church and if you didn't then you would build a bigger church then and there." Rook joked.
A darkness spread on Jeromes face even as he tried to smile. "Well... these days... lets just say that I have a lot more empty pews then I once had."
Rook by now knew exactly what was going on. "Let me guess the Cult has taken a lot of members or scared a lot off?"
Jerome pulled up a seat beside Rook. "Too much of the first and the second. There are still some who refuse to leave like your parents, Hudson, Mary May and even the Sheriff has started to come again something that he normally didn't do since his divorce."
He paused as he ordered a beer from Mary May and took a deep swig of it.
"Everyday I come to the church and half expect it to be burned to the ground. I've had to replace the front door four different times because it was full of pistol caliber bullet holes and double aught buckshot. Your father even offered out of his own pocket to make a custom armored door."
"But you wouldn't do that Pastor. Better to replace a door then to make it uninviting to those seeking peace with god." Rook said in as he worked at his burger.
"Ha! Good to see you still remembered at least some of the things I taught you. But in any case I will leave you to your meal and again its good to see you back home." Jerome got up to speak with some of the other celebrating patrons.
The door to the bar opened again and in stepped Hudson dressed in a sung fitting Clutch Nixon tank top and jeans instead of her usual uniform.
'Joey you still look beautiful... damn it Rook shut that shit down before it gets you into trouble!' Rook admonished himself as Hudson took the seat made available with Jeromes leaving.
"Well Rook it looks like we did good today. We killed a dangerous bear and gave the local population a reason to celebrate." Hudson said as she ordered a beer and got her own 'gift card'.
Rook scoffed "People keep saying we killed 'a' bear when it was quite clearly a entire 'den' of bears and souped up bears at that."
Hudson smiled and brought her beer to her lips then quietly said. "Careful Rook people only know about the fight and not the cause for now."
Rook took the comment as a sign to drop the subject. The rest of evening was spent just socializing with those that passed through the bar, even Grace made a showing if only a brief one. Eventually Rook decided to retire for the night having stayed long enough to be polite but now he wanted nothing but to go home and open the 'Gift Card'.
As he stepped out of the Spread Eagle he noted another line of big box trucks with cult markings drive by.
'With how often I see those trucks the cult is hauling some serious tonnage. They have to be stocking up hard in prepration of something... god damn I hate having to follow ROE and local regulations. Just knowing what they are hauling would be better than sitting here waiting for the axe to fall on our necks.'
He once again banished any further thoughts down that road. Working for the CIA and in a role that pretty much meant that he ignored things like the law or international treaties among other things as a daily act had made him unsurprisingly uncomforable with being limited in what actions he could take.
It was always something that he knew that he would have to deal with especially if he moved back into the Army proper but even then there fewer laws and regulations than he had to dealt with now.
Finally driving home he did another check of the area and found once again that nothing was out of place another sign that increasingly worried him.
Now safely within his house he pulled out the envelope and cut it open with his knife. What he read made his blood run cold.
'Rook,
The U.S Marshals have issued an arrest warrant for Joseph Seed, the cult leader. Three days from now we will take the chopper down to Missoula to pick up the Marshal handling the arrest.
This is going to be a "quick and quiet" pick up on a Sunday night meeting when Joseph is holding a small mass for his select members and most recent converts, and as I mentioned there will be only one Marshal and us so I'm going to be bringing Pratt along as so far as I have been able to determined he is the least likely to be part of or sympathic to the cult but that is a gamble on my part.
I have expressed my concerns about running so light on this warrant but so far the Feds have been gun shy about rolling in any heavier units citing public relations concerns.
We won't discuss this opperation in the office at all until the very last moment but I will expect you to come loaded for bear, maybe if I am lucky seeing you armed and armored will drive home to the Marshal just how risky of a warrant this really is.
Earl.'
"And so the die is cast..." Rook finally said.