Far Cry 5: The Collapse
Chapter 33: Accessory
With Tammy having been put into her place there was no further resistance to them entering the bunker as Eli lead them down the staircase. The ceiling was barely tall enough for Roger to stand with his hat on and every doorway was no taller than six feet meaning even his father let alone Joey and himself had to dip down to various levels to pass.
They passed a few militia members who were lounging aimlessly. When they heard their coming their faces were ashen at first, as if part of the endless grind of the war against the cult had sucked the color and in general the life out of them. But as they recognized the Sheriff and the badges that he and his deputies wore, cautious smiles sprain forth, that perhaps despite whatever Tammy most likely had been feeding them was wrong. Help was out there and help had come.
Toward the back of the group Wheaty walked beside Mack. "Hey uh Mack I have to ask but have you seen anyone else from school? I haven't seen anyone under 25 since the start of the war."
Mack cast a sideways glance at the younger teenager. "Yeah... Wheaty I can't lie to you, we lost a lot of people. Last count that I had done before deploying for the lumber mill we had about 110 high school age students. I think we are up to about 80 between junior high and elementary age kids."
He felt his heart stall for a moment hearing the news. "What about... everyone else?"
"Dead. Not including you guys or anyone else from this neck of the woods I think we are sitting at just over 1,200 people surviving. From what I heard from Virgil Minkler, the county commissioner we had over 21,000 living the county not including however many peggies there were. Turns out fucking cultists don't pay taxes or fill out census records." Mack continued wearily.
He sighed heavily. "Goddamn... so much for staying positive."
Mack smiled. "Oh there's stuff to be positive about alright. In just a few weeks we have retaken most our home and gotten rid of the cult in those areas, so when this is over we never have to deal with their bullshit again. Hey Wheaty?" The football player asked changing the subject.
"Yeah?" He grunted back.
The older teen continued. "You used to help run the school radio station right? Well I was thinking after the battle at the mill, Jacob started playing his music and triggered his brainwashed people to attack us." He paused for a moment as he remembered walking in on the gory aftermath in the warehouse. Just another thing he packed away to be processed much later on.
"Yeah... we've seen a lot of that. Tammy lost her husband that way and had to kill him herself, it's really messed her... well maybe all of us up. Never know who might turn out to be a ticking time bomb." Wheaty commented while Mack dealt with his internal thoughts.
Mack finally drug himself back to the present. "So why don't we strike back? Make them listen to our music for a change? I know you had a reputation for having some interesting tastes in music and having an eye for the new stuff before it goes big. We all have skills and this war is showing us new ways of using them against the cult."
It was like a thousand light bulbs suddenly started lighting up in his mind. If Holland Valley was held by the Resistance that meant the school was probably safe as well, that meant he had a transmitter and the equipment to broadcast everything and anything he could think of.
"Get me to the school and I'll bring out everything I got. Hell you might have heard we got in trouble once for hot wiring our transmitter to the point it started overrunning just about any other weaker radio signal. So I might not be able to blank out his radios without doing the same to us but I can block whatever he has on the AM/FM bands! Oh fucking A! I got the perfect Jamaican heavy metal band to kick things off and start melting their faces off." He exclaimed with a grin.
Mack grinned even if he couldn't even begin to imagine what a Jamaican heavy metal band would even sound like. "Ok then next time I head back to Fall's End I'll take you up to the school and help you get settled. If you need help running things I'll have Jose see who we can drum up that can help. Welcome to the Cougars."
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Roger couldn't help but smile as Mack naturally recruited Wheaty to help combat Jacob, he also had to give him credit to the idea of turning Jacob's use of music against the cult. If Wheaty knew how to work the school's radio equipment then he could practically override anything Jacob probably had at the veteran's hospital save for perhaps the left over broadcasting equipment at the PIN-K0 radar station.
'That has to be pretty high on the list of places to hit. It's not just the left over radio transmitter the air force left up there we have to worry about. From there they can potentially get the radar equipment working and track any aircraft we send up, hell they could probably do fair job of spotting by just setting up a watch tower and pair of high powered binoculars.' He thought as Eli lead them to a small and rather bare looking barracks style room. Inside traditional steel folding bed frames had modest mattresses with white linens and dirt brown blankets all clean and folded with neatness and care.
"You guys can rest your heads here. This particular room has its own bathroom in the back. We used to have enough people to fill this place but even at the start of the war the cult grabbed a lot of our people before they could make it here. Whitetails don't leave people behind but... what Jacob turned them into wasn't human that's for sure." Eli rattled off as the group filed into the room. "Well I'll come grab you at 0800 tomorrow for breakfast and then we can go over what needs doing. Good night."
With the door to the room shutting behind Eli and Wheaty they were left alone to sort themselves out as they settled down for the night.
"Roger, give me your armor. I saw that you took a hit earlier and if Joey's armor came close to failing I need to know how much damage yours took as well." His father said turning to him while the others started claiming beds.
A few moments later the two Rook's were looking at his own trauma plate. The brass slug was the same as what hit Joey but the extra half inch of thickness on Roger's plate had handled the force far better but not perfectly.
"Yeah you can see and feel a notable bulge on the back. Looks like you are getting an extra quarter inch of thickness as well. That said you are old enough to know that you should stay behind the .50 cal and not in front of it." Marcus chuckled as he ribbed him.
"Yes Dad, I am aware of that." He replied with light sarcasm. "Anyway so what do you think of Eli and his people?" He then asked as he claimed a bed beside Joey's and gingerly sat down and listened to the bed frame groan under his weight.
The elder Rook sat on his own bed and focused on flipping the disk like remains of the brass slug from his sons armor in the air as he gathered his thoughts.
"I don't think we will get much of anything from these Whitetails. They are too burned out and scared. The kid with the long braids was probably the closest thing to a viable resource which by the way Mack good job on recruiting him." He started speaking.
Mack smiled and beamed at the praise from the commando. "I only just happened to think about stuff that might counter Jacob's music he used earlier and Wheaty was one of the school radio guys. I don't know if it will do anything psychologically to the cult but it has to be better than whatever the hell he is playing over the radio."
"Sounded like a music box to me, or at least something small and tinny sounding." Joey added.
"Whatever it is we will hopefully be able to find a way to counter it especially if this plan of Wheaty's works. As for Eli... he cares about his people but its clear that he is in over his head. The cult in this area must have attacked fast and hard, disrupting any plans the militia had to group up and get organized. After that you started getting influxes of people like Tammy who are clearly not part of the militia before the war to help fill the ranks, but there after you start seeing Jacob doing his conditioning to those people and as the Whitetail's free those people bit by bit or Jacob actually releases them to be taken in..." He started saying as the Sheriff finished.
"Planting human bombs in the militia, breaking their trust in outsiders and in each other. That's one way to divide and conquer." Marcus nodded at his friends assessment.
"Given how the other members looked at us as we passed I think that no matter what Tammy or Eli want they are willing to follow anyone that has enough support behind them to start taking the fight to the cult, most importantly I think they want someone else to start shouldering the burden. Eli might be able to be reasoned with to a point. Tammy however... she is going to be pain that's for sure but how much I can't say though. Roger, you did a good job of showing just how out of her depth she is." Marcus continued.
He growled inwardly and worked his jaw side to side in thought. "Maybe. I will admit it wasn't probably the best way to handle her but I will admit my tolerance for bullshit is at a all time low at the moment. I doubt she will back down so easily though, we did just suddenly come out of nowhere and pretty told them point blank that we are taking over."
Jess huffed loudly. "At least you are doing something and getting actual fucking results. Last time I was here a few weeks ago, when they had at least double the people there was a lot of sneaking around and doing light hit and run attacks." She got up and started pacing around the barracks. "Day after day these so called 'hardcore' militia types would strap up and even joke about how the softer folks in Fall's End or those living in the mountains of the Henbane are probably hunkered down and are hoping that the government would come and save their asses. Yet one by one, two by two, they would loose folks to the cult and then those that were only captured either got loose or were freed by the Whitetails."
She then stopped and regarded the others in the room. "Then Jacob played his music and his pawns got triggered. It's probably part of the reason why they didn't bother to make coming after me much of a priority, too much risk."
"Can't say I'm surprised, the Whitetails never struck me as much of militia at least compared with others I have heard about." Joey piped up.
Marcus struggled to contain a dismissive growl. "Having formed militia's in other countries these guys don't rate much more than teenage mall ninja's. If we can get Eli to tell us about the highest value targets and missions in the region we can show them we are a strong functioning force and subvert any control that Tammy has and likely take the weight off of Eli. That is all for the morning though so lets get some sleep first."
A silence descended in the room until he decided to ask the next unanswered question. "Sheriff? Dad? What's going on with Drubman and the cult?"
If things were quiet before they were now quiet and extremely tense. Of course it was Jess that broke both things. "That fat fuck is damn near sleeping with the cult. They stay out of the valley where his house is and he doesn't help the Resistance. The bastard has enough military hardware that even Jacob would have to step lightly if he were to bring it to bear."
"Like what?" He inquired.
"Tanks, at least two helicopters with guns and rockets, I think he even has a few actual cannons, and of course a gun stockpile that is probably second only to your own if what I have heard is true." Jess answered.
He glanced at his father and the Sheriff as they seemed to be holding their own silent private conversation.
"Mack, Jess. What you are about to hear shouldn't be passed along to anyone until I say otherwise agreed?" The old lawman asked aloud.
With the two of them nodding in agreement he started his explanation. "Hurk Drubman Sr. right now is looking at being charged with a lot of 'Accessory to Terrorist Acts' at the minimum and maybe more. Grace and Dmitri found a printed and signed order from Jacob to the garrison at Baron Lumber to stay out of the area per an 'agreement' with Drubman. No patrols by land or air and any of their people that so much as makes eye contact with Drubman is to be punished by the most severe means."
"Do you suspect that he knew that the cult would turn violent before we tried to arrest Joseph?" Joey asked.
The Sheriff nodded. "I suspect that this agreement was in place before the war. Like a... what's the term you used Marcus?"
"A non-aggression pact." He the commando said grimly.
It was Roger's turn to get up and start pacing around the room. This was a serious charge to bring about on Drubman hence the Sheriff playing everything very closely. If Drubman had learned about the cult's plans to attack and hold the county and failed to report it he could potentially be looking at a lot of jail time and certainly wrecking any hopes of a career in politics.
'Of course politics doesn't necessarily run on logic and this whole thing can easily turn against us in the aftermath of the cult.' He thought grimly.
He stopped and turned to his superior. "So I assume then you and Joey will likely question him sooner rather than later?"
"Yes and no. In normal times given your and your families history and frankly even Hudson's history with you I would go alone as stupid as that might be, it's not like even before the war I had a lot of trustworthy deputies that would likely stand up to Drubman. He still has his fingers in a lot of places in this county and as much as people generally don't like the man, most don't have the means to take the hits he can deliver should he flex that 'muscle'. Points for at least recognizing the conflict of interest though." He sighed and now sat on the bed he had claimed.
"Given everything that has happened I'm going to wait and question Eli on what he knows before deciding anything concrete. If nothing else we will make the trip to Fort Drubman and inform him of Adelaide's death. It should go without saying that we will be going in quietly and peacefully so let me do the talking."
He and Joey nodded then a small smile broke across his face. "So much for getting our names in the paper."
That brought a chuckle between the three officers as everyone looked on with mixed levels of understanding. Finally with everyone more or less as unwound as they would get lights were turned off and soon sleep was achieved. The bed was a full size so he had the luxury of almost enough width but it was tempered by the fact that it was nearly two feet too short for his height. A quick glance over to Joey showed she too was just a bit too tall but had the ability to curl herself up to fit, if he tried the same thing he strongly suspected that the bed frame would snap from his body weight being too concentrated.
So he resigned to sleeping half upright against the wall with only the pillow to provide at least a minimal level of protection against the cold concrete walls that made up the bunker.
'Get me a one of those Alaskan King size beds and I'll have enough room to sleep normally and of course have room to spare for fun and games with Joey.' He thought as sleep finally came.
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The bunkers lighting was on a timer to simulate a normal day/night cycle which meant that this early in the morning it was still dimly lit with only a quarter of the hallway lights turned on. That suited Tammy just fine as she quietly crept around mindful to minimize the noise of her footsteps.
Eli had finally gone too far just letting strangers into the bunker like they were fellow Whitetails. Even Jess Black should have been better isolated so they could see if she got triggered by the next time Jacob plays one of his songs over the radio.
It was just one of a dozen little things that she had against Eli since she and her husband had been taken in. Eli was too timid and cautious, hell it seemed that he was holding out hope that he could talk Jacob out of supporting Joseph. It was bullshit of course but everyone followed him and his orders even as their numbers were nickled and dimed away, then there were the conditioned people being triggered that caused everything to go from bad to worse.
She and her husband broke out of the prison van when they were being moved around from camp to camp early in the war, but in those early days they were mostly kept separate so she didn't know at the time the danger of her husband being programmed by the preachers and wardens of the cult. When they broke out of the van and ran into the forest they thought their nightmare or at least the worst of it was over.
Then one night one of the night watch guys turned on the radio to see if there was anything different being broadcasted by anyone else in the county. That simple innocent action suddenly turned over thirty of their people against them including her husband.
Nearly a third of their number now attacked them from within screaming Jacob's tag lines all the while. 'YOU ARE MEAT!', 'TRAIN! HUNT! KILL!', and 'SACRIFICE THE WEAK!' amongst others. She remembered every time she closed her eyes having to empty a hastily grabbed .357 magnum revolver into her husband before he took her head off with a wood ax. When the last of the triggered Whitetails were put down they had lost the bulk of their remaining manpower.
Since then they tried to power through and keep hitting the cult but even then they were met with failure. The last group got captured at the park's visitors center not a mile away and now they had not only a lack of manpower but also a very clear reason to not go and rescue POW's something that had caused no small amount of fighting between her and Eli.
It was for that very reason why she was now creeping around this early in the morning looking for their latest 'freed' POW. She had in poking around in Wheaty's workspace found a old Sony Walkman cassette tape player and a external speaker that attached to the headphone jack, more importantly she had found a working cassette tape with the latest song Jacob seemed to be using.
Her plan was to sneak into the barracks Eli had given their 'guests' and find Jess's bed. Once there she would play his song and see if the young woman would turn on them like so many others before her.
Tammy quietly opened the barracks door thanking whoever thought to bother to oil the hinges and was met with the nearly pitch blackness of the room beyond. Only a dim nightlight over the door of the bathroom offered her enough light alone with what little came in from the hall behind her to see who was who in the room.
Immediately to her right was the giant deputy. She had of course heard of the Rook's and apparently the family scion was said to large in stature, something that she could now readily confirm. He was so big in fact that he had to prop himself up against the wall which made her think he was awake, but after a moment of staying stock still he didn't move save for some slight breathing.
'Ok the big guy is asleep and it seems so is everyone else. Time to do what needs to be done.' She thought as she pressed on past the other beds to where Jess laid huddled deep in her blanket.
She readied the Walkman and the same .357 magnum that she had grabbed to put down her husband when he turned.
"Kinda figured something was up. Still didn't think you would go through with it though, I guess Jess will have to give me an apology after all." The figure in the bed in front of her said freezing the housewife's thumb on the play button.
The figure on the bed unfurled the blanket and revealed itself to be Mack with his M60 drawn and pointed up at the Whitetail.
"Wheaty said that loosing your husband and a lot of your people to Jacob's songs had messed you and lot of the others up. It went along with what I had heard Eli tell Mr. Roosevelt when we first were able to get you guys on the radio." The young man said with a smile that glowed in the darkness.
Another sound stirring further away in the very back of the barracks drew Tammy's attention.
"Ugg... fucking hell. Jesus tap dancing Christ Tammy, Mack was right you would probably try something." Jess grumbled tiredly.
"Why?" She asked looking back at the football player.
"Gut instinct. Here you guys are operating the way you want to more or less then we suddenly come in and shake everything up. There's going to be some hard feelings, I know more than a few of my people grumbled when the Deputies came and told us about liberating the jail and Holland Valley then turning around and asking for us to take the fight straight to Rachel Jessop AKA Faith Seed's shrines. They didn't like being told by a cop no less even if it was Hudson and Rook asking that they risk their hides in attacking the Shrines. But we did and soon with rest of the Resistances support the Cougars became at least ten times more dangerous, we could fight harder knowing we had more ammo, we could patch up our wounded better because we had actual medics to back us up, and we ate better knowing that we could request more rations from the rear. We did lose a few people here and there, yes but their deaths were paid in peggie blood a hundred fold. That is what you guys can do if you accept our help." Mack ended his speech as the sound of a AR safety being thrown could be heard from the door.
Wheaty stood there haloed in the dim light of the doorway rifle raised and ready. "There's something else he's not mentioned yet Tammy. If we keep being divided and watching each other for betrayal then that leaves it all the easier for Jacob to cut us apart until there is no Whitetail Militia left, hell right now we barely leave the bunker as it is and Jacob has free run of the area otherwise. Like it or now Tammy you too are dancing to Jacob's music looking at everyone like they are going to turn on us."
Finally she couldn't take anymore of this sort of back talk. "Shut up Wheaty! You don't know what you're talking about. Either we stick to our own or we will be cut down from within, that is how it is."
Tiredly from behind her the distinct sound of a hammer being cocked followed by a another safety being swiped down made her whip her head back. "Mrs. Barnes, while I am sorry to hear that your husband was turned by Jacob the fact remains that these boys are right. You can't stop the cult hiding out in a bunker too scared to go out or take a helping hand when its offered. Now put the gun down and all of us won't have to shoot you." The Sheriff spoke tiredly as Marcus leveled his own 1911 on her.
Looking around the two deputies had their own rifles raised and looked far fresher than the Sheriff was.
Looking back at Jess even she had gotten her bow up and nocked, it wouldn't take but a moment for her to draw and release at this point and the hard angry look made it clear that she was fighting herself to not just do that and be done with her.
"Fine." She said thumbing the play button and maxing out the volume wheel in one smooth motion. From the Walkman came the opening lines of the Platters 'Only You' and Tammy turned away from Mack and faced Jess thumbing back the hammer on the revolver but not raising it on the huntress.
"Only you and you alone... Can thrill me like you do and fill my heart with love for only you..." The song played and none gathered moved.
"Well what... do... you... know. You guys are what you say you are... for now. Don't think this means that I trust you people though, that has to be actually earned." The housewife said sourly as she let down the hammer of the revolver and turned to leave before stopping before Wheaty.
"You on the other hand have betrayed that trust." She said harshly before pushing past him and disappearing down the dim hallways.
Wheaty's face struggled to settle on showing only a single emotion as he warred within and questioned his own loyalties. Finally Marcus walked up and clasped the young man on the shoulder. "You can put all kinds of trust into a leaky bucket, but eventually no matter what the bucket will be empty at the end of the day."
The cryptic statement threw the young man for a moment until it's meaning dawned on him.
"Yeah I guess it was inevitable. I'll let you guys get back to sleep, breakfast is in a little over two hours." He said as he quietly pulled away.
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As Eli promised there was a unceremonious banging at the door that jolted the group of fighters from their snoozing and summoned them to a simple breakfast of boiled salted venison and small bowls of various mulberries harvested from the surrounding area. A simple breakfast but it was enough for the most part though he could have easily eaten double or triple the portion.
A quick glance to Joey showed that she was probably thinking the same thing. The physical changes brought on by the Bliss were so far more blessing than curse but having to eat more while not surprising was inconvenient at the very least.
'Well at least I don't have worry about weight gain probably.' He thought as Eli approached the table where they were eating at.
"Ok everyone's fed now lets get to business. Follow me I'll take you to the command center." He grumbled tiredly. The reason for his tiredness became clear when the group followed him to the the command center where Tammy was looming over the large table map that showed the whole county.
Green and Tan army men toys covered the map showing the last known positions of the cult and the Whitetails. Needless to say there were a lot of tan soldiers and precious few green soldiers.
"Ok so you guys wanted to know our status." Eli started as he gestured to the table. "We have lost a lot ground no two ways about it. However we have had some success in hitting various patrols and the odd supply convoy to some of the outposts. As of late though we haven't had the man power to even do that much and have really only been scouting."
"Even that has cost us people." Tammy muttered as a she scowled at the map table and folded her arms as if getting ready to have her opinion challenged by Eli.
Instead of challenging her the black bearded man simply sighed. "Yes. Yes it has cost us even more people. Cult caught several of our scouting parties as they were getting close to coming home. They are being held up at the parks visitor center not a mile away from us. Even with the amount of man power that you guys took out at the lumber mill there is still according to Wheaty about six peggies in well made defensive positions and they have the centers security cameras working so we can't just sneak in."
"To say nothing of the risks we take bringing POW's in here..." The housewife added.
"Oh for fuck's sake Tammy did nothing this morning get through that thick fucking skull of yours?" Jess nearly yelled as she slammed her hand on the map table.
"Enough! This bickering is pointless. We get it, you guys have no breathing room and you are worried about Jacob's human time bombs. Like it or not the game has changed again, you are no longer alone but you are also no longer in charge and like it or not the Resistance isn't going to sit on its ass and fret over whatever conditioning Jacob is using when instead we can start killing his people and taking his lands thus preventing the loss of more people." He spoke up just loud enough and harsh enough to get the Whitetails to listen including a number of other militia members who slipped into the room to see the newcomers.
"Benjamin Franklin put it best. Join or Die. This war isn't over and we will still lose people no matter what we do, so knowing that if we are going to be losing lives why not make it worthwhile? Now Tammy you can either do one of two things: A. Shut the fuck up and stay out of our way while we kill the peggies or B. Help us by giving us information and giving us some infrastructure to build off of. Your choice." Joey stated flatly.
The housewife didn't move for a moment until she huffed and unfolded her arms gesturing for Eli to continue the briefing.
"Yeah... getting... getting back on track here. What we have been able to piece together is that most of the major outposts like the F.A.N.G Center and the Ranger station are still down to three or four man garrisons at most for the moment but I expect that to change. The radar station on top of the mountain is a different story they were always heavily garrisoned up there but as of late its almost as if Jacob or someone is moving a lot of equipment and manpower up there."
"Maybe to make a last stand?" The Sheriff commented.
"Maybe. The more I look at it though it might be part of something else. I know that months ago before the war the cult was hauling a lot of long pillar looking things about as big around as a man is tall..." Eil continued as Marcus and Roger perked up.
"Anything that looked like rocket motors by chance?" The elder Rook asked.
Eli shook his head. "No but I did see the cult managed to squeeze something that looked one of those old Russian SCUD carriers up the road, but it wasn't carrying anything so I didn't think much of it besides the fact that the driver had to have had balls of steel to take something that long and wide up that road. Why?"
The Rook's exchanged a look and Roger broke the silence. "Joseph has managed to fund, develop, and construct three replica Minuteman III missiles and build dozens of ultra high yield nuclear warheads. Their purpose was to hasten 'The Collapse' if God willed Joseph to do so. We have secured John and Faith's missiles and as of yesterday disabled Jacob's missile though he likely isn't aware of that we believe. Right now I have NEST team that crash landed in Hope County a few days ago working on figuring out the details of the cults nuclear program but its of a nature that in some respects has out done even the US or Russian nuclear programs. Now you can kind of see why in the grand scheme of things some mentally conditioned victims don't rate as the worst thing that can happen right now."
Marcus leaned over the map and eyed the radar station. "Its a long shot but they might be... they might be trying to rig up the ability to launch a shorter range missile. Think about it Jacob is the most pragmatic of the Seed clan and I will bet that having that nuke in his bunker and not being allowed by Joseph to launch it is chewing at him."
"So he builds a missile even a short range one even if he only has one warhead on it then he has options right? Either use it on us, the government when they eventually roll in, or maybe send it toward a major city and kick off what he can of 'The Collapse'. Even if Joseph doesn't call for it." Mack interjected.
Marcus nodded. "If we are to use the term 'lucky' loosely and he is using a SCUD platform then his range is... 180 to 380 miles of course if what Eli described is true and the cult is getting creative they might be able to jury rig a launcher for a full blown ICBM even if on launch it destroys the launcher and anyone nearby."
Eli looked on dumbfounded and for once Tammy was in agreement. "Nukes? Goddamn Jacob what have you done? You might not know but I worked construction before all of this went down, I helped build a lot of the cult buildings in this area so I know Jacob pretty well. I... I didn't think he would be capable of pushing the button but now..." He trailed off in thought before continuing. "We had a lot in common. Having trouble adjusting to civilian life after being in the service, not trusting our government to even vaguely care about our best interests. We both even questioned religion and God himself. The only difference was I didn't have a 'Prophet' for a brother... Jacob followed him and asked me to do the same but I said no. I had kinda hoped that somehow I could get him to see reason and walk away, I guess that's not an option anymore."
Mack stood up straighter and looked the older man in the eye. "Mr. Palmer, if there is one thing that we have been operating on since this war has started it's this: 'See Peggie, Kill Peggie, and Save the World'. There hasn't been any hope of any of the cultists or Seed's surrendering at all including Jacob, I'm sorry but we have to kill him if we are going to end this war."
Mack's words were met with muttered agreements from the other gathered militia members. Finally they died down and the Sheriff spoke up.
"Eil do you know of any other Resistance groups in the area? Family's holding out on their own? Anything along those lines?"
Eli looked at the map and pointed at a lake in the far northwest corner of the county. "I think there is a medium to large group of people hold up near the Rattlesnake trail bridge. From what little we have found through the cult is that they are harassing and raiding near the Grand View Hotel and the nearby roads but that area is used as a training ground for his Chosen so they haven't been able to take any ground. Whoever they are they know the land and are very good at disappearing though." He then moved to the far southeast corner of Jacob's region.
"Early in the war before our numbers got cut down we made contact with a team of conservationists from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Tried to get them leave the area, though that was before we knew the extent of the cults actions to lockdown the county. They didn't listen of course thinking that their brains could somehow save them from the cult. Kinda iffy on if they are still alive, but there you go."
"Anyone else?" The Sheriff probed.
Eil growled and pointed at a nearby homestead just north of the conservationists camp. "Fort Drubman. Early in the war we tried to enlist their help but Drubman made it clear that he didn't want us anywhere near his property. Later on we noticed that peggies don't even drive down that road and Jacob's helicopter patrols don't even get anywhere close. Credit where credit is due apparently even Joseph Seed isn't willing to tangle with the arsenal of Hurk Sr."
"More like the fat fuck is in bed with Joseph." Jess added helpfully.
"Jess has a point. Eli we found up at Baron Lumber a printed and signed order from Jacob himself ordering the cult to stay way from Drubman per an 'agreement' of some kind. Given what Jess and now you have stated it would seem that there is something a foot and if Drubman is working with the cult in even a nonactor role then its my responsibility and the responsibility of my deputies to see him brought up on charges." The lawman announced.
With the questions answered the fighters broke up. Roger with Joey and the Sheriff would first free the nearby POW's at the visitor center while Marcus would take the others plus Wheaty back to Fall's End to start working on replacement armor for Roger and Joey while also getting Wheaty to the school to start engaging Jacob in radio based warfare.
Jess would tag along so she could get back to her uncle but was quick to promise that she would be back in the area to hunt peggies again.
The Whitetail scouts were more than happy to offer up a trio of ATV's to the Sheriff and his deputies for the run on the visitors center as Marcus and company woke the pilot up from his spot in his beloved chopper.
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"Ok you two I'm going to suggest that one of you run point while I bring up the rear. The visitor's center isn't all that big so you guys focus on clearing out the cultists and I will deal with freeing any prisoners." The Sheriff said as he mounted his vehicle.
He and Joey nodded in agreement. "I'll take point and hit the souvenir shop on the upper level, Joey take the information center."
"Just remember that Eli said they have the security cameras up and running so they will see us and its mid morning so they will be up and about probably." Joey added.
The Sheriff shrugged. "Won't really matter if they see us as these ATV's are about as quiet as your shotgun. Speed and shock will be our best bet so lets get going."
.
Jacob watched passively as the last of the men from the latest batch of disobedient members were publicly fed to a number of Judges and Bliss enhanced Bears in the massive cage they had erected outside of the veteran's hospital. They weren't the first of the day and they would be far from the last, a fact that dug at him to no end.
'This is going to take almost all damn day. Then there is the reorganization and all the little hang ups that will pop up.' He thought grimly as the animals finished rag dolling the last bit of dead meat around the cage before growing bored with it.
'Then there is the supply issues...' He continued as his mood somehow soured more. Losing manpower was bad enough and the lost holdings were even worse but the blind panic attack on the lumber had cost him something that he simply couldn't ignore, the lost trucks.
Even shifting his manpower around after he finished purging the weak to cover the remaining outposts and provide minimum patrols along the most important roads could paper over the fact that they had lost in the last day due to either combat damage or just plain bad driving half of his fleet of pickups and most damming all but two of his heavy flatbed trucks.
He sighed. 'I guess this is what I get for not starting the backup project sooner. We now at least with Joseph cut off don't have to sneak around quite so much.'
In the last year he along with a few men that were closer to his mindset than Joseph's had carefully pieced together the parts needed to build a crude missile that would be under his control and not Joseph's. The fact that he was sneaking around his younger brother's back at this scale was something that tore at his soul as he wrestled to justify it again and again.
The world was weak. That fact hadn't changed but instead of relying on God to bring about 'The Collapse' they... he would trigger it. Like starting a prescribed burn in front of a forest fire that you controlled to keep a far larger and out of control forest fire from spreading where you didn't want it.
The fact that he was keeping this operation secret from not just Joseph but most of his own people had greatly slowed progress then making matters worse was the timing of 'The Reaping' and the attempt by law enforcement to arrest Joseph, it slowed everything down more and more.
The silver lining to the current situation was that with them being cut off from Joseph and the firm hand that he was now using to restore discipline within his followers he could move things a bit more openly and quickly without questions.
Another group of meat was shoved into the massive cage and the beasts within obeyed their handlers and set upon the meat. Things were moving into place and only time would tell who would get to their next position first. The Wolf or the Bear.
.
The last Chosen peeked over the IBC tank of Bliss at the Ozhigwan Falls lookout. The tourist stop was in the middle of a tunnel and situated behind the waterfall thus provided a scenic view of much of central Hope County namely Joseph and Dutch's islands. Before his bit cover was four of the hated Whitetails on their knees. They had been chosen from their number to be so unworthy of a simple bullet or fed to the wildlife that the only death they had earned was by being cast off the edge of the outlook.
Right now none of that was helping calm the veteran fighter as he blinked away the light spots from a flashbang that someone had tossed. Through the spots he could see three figures emerge from the darkness of the tunnel and with it a surge of fear that he had never felt before even during his tours of duty through the world's most violent hotspots.
He didn't think, to do so was pointless at this point given all that his mind could focus on were the figures as they strode toward him weapons raised. His body moved however toward the only direction that remained to get away from the figures.
The Sheriff watched the last cultist sprint for the edge of the lookout and sail over the low stonewall there. He had already been aiming at the man and pulled the trigger on the 50 caliber hand cannon just as the man had reached the apex of his leap and watched the round enter his lower right back and burst out from the top of his left shoulder as his body began to dive downward.
What ever hopes the man might have had about somehow surviving the fall into the water over 300 feet below were now dashed by his recently reorganized internal organs.
Joey let out a relaxing breath before turning to the other men beside her. "Well that's was almost too easy. Let get these people freed and I guess head over to Drubman's then?"
Roger bent down with his knife and cut the binds on the closest Whitetail has he spoke. "I wouldn't recommend it. We should head back to Fall's End and top off on ammo and get our fresh armor. Not to mention I have to report in to Black Cardinal still especially now that we might have a fourth missile at play."
The Sheriff nodded in agreement.
With the four Whitetails saved and riding back to the Wolf's Den on Joey's ATV they rode on down the mountain toward Fall's End on their remaining vehicles. Joey had naturally leapt on to the back Roger's ride though it quickly became clear by the slower speed and fully compressed suspension that the combined weight of both Deputies was the upper limit of what the four wheeler was meant to ever hold.
Still it didn't bother Roger much as the slower pace was a nice break from the near constant moving and fighting that they had been under since the roll out against Jacob.
'The way Joey is hugging me I would say that she isn't opposed to the break either.' He thought as they finally reached the truss bridge that separated the Whitetail and Holland Valley regions. As they drove passed the guards posted at the bridge cheered wildly.
"We're getting close Roger." He heard Joey say in his ear.
He could only smile and nod. They were making progress and they were near the end but the war wasn't over, and there were still a lot of cultists willing to die for Joseph and his perverted version of God.
Finally they reached Fall's End and made a beeline for the Sheriff's office where they traded their ATV's for a marked pickup that Marcus had upgraded with twin .50 cal machine guns and the same APIE Tracers that were loaded in his own truck. While they weren't expecting to be on the front lines today in Roger's personal unspoken opinion Hurk Drubman Senior did have a vast collection of weapons thus having a decent mounted weapon during the meeting was far from a bad idea.
Their next stop was the Rook gun shop.
.
Roger guided his coworkers down into the familiar depths of his family store and its sublevels until they were met with the strangest of sights.
"Dad... what the hell did you do to my warbear?" He asked as they approached.
Marcus and the other Grey's present chuckled at the newcomers reaction as Cheeseburger now dressed in a panoply of black Kevlar and carefully placed and cut steel plates capped off with a steel helmet complete with ear holes.
"Grrraah!" Cheeseburger roared happily as he plodded over to Joey and nuzzled her in greeting.
"Pop open the little hatch on the helmet and you can give him his ration of head scratches." Marcus added with a smile as Joey obliged.
"Dad... just... how? Why?" He asked with a smile as he too gave Cheeseburger some love while looking at the armor. It was well thought out and produced as expected of anything that his father would have made. Joints and vulnerable points were covered where possible with Kevlar or better yet steel plating.
Against someone with a rifle depending on the caliber and projectile involved would find Cheeseburger even harder to down than before but there was one thing he soon realized. An animal be it a wolf or another bear wouldn't stand much hope of getting a critical strike on the giant bear.
"Well when we got here I noticed Cheeseburger hanging around enjoying the sun. Well after we finished your guys replacement armor, I saw him again and then... I started thinking." Marcus replied.
"Oh God. That's always dangerous." The Sheriff commented as Marcus continued.
"Yeah I started thinking, and then I started roughly sizing, and the next thing you know I am holding the plasma cutter and sending one of the guys into town to grab some fish so I could get Cheeseburger down here to be fitted and now you have a uparmored war bear. A well aimed shot will still do a lot of damage to him but against Jacob's monster animals he can weather a lot more damage than even they can." He concluded.
All during the explanation Roger couldn't keep a matching evil grin from spreading across his face. Like it or not this was how often times he came up with solutions to problems and it was always amazing to see just what his father could pull off sometimes.
Now with both Deputies rearmed and armored Marcus brought out a third notably lighter and less bulky armor set to the Sheriff. The senior lawman looked at his friend and then frowned at the offered armor.
"Marcus... we've talked about this... at length." He started to say as the gunsmith cut him off.
"And in normal times I can agree with your view on how it looks for you to be up armored, but we aren't in normal times and damn it Earl, is it really so hard to believe that Hurk could try to pull an Adelaide and use the chaos caused by the cult as a means to remove thorns in his side that otherwise couldn't be easily removed?"
The two friends stared each other down. A part of Earl understood Marcus's logic but couldn't feel like by taking the armor he would betraying his oath to protect and serve. That meant not assuming hostility from everyone he met, like a solider.
Marcus was a solider thus assuming hostility was as natural as breathing but that logic just wouldn't work with what his job was. He had already bent that rule with Roger before the war when he had nothing else available to resist the cult's influence and again to make exceptions to the fact that Roger like his father before him was a solider thus would be better used as a form of tightly controlled intimation against the cult's own intimidation.
A feminine hand appeared on his shoulder as Joey spoke. "Earl please, take the armor. No one will think less of you and if push comes to shove we are going into a contested region and as the highest ranking member of law enforcement left alive in the county you thus require more protection than normal."
He took one last look at the armor. It was like Roger and Joey's armor, large hard paldrons emblazoned with embroidered Sheriff's department badges unlike the crude sewn on versions that his deputies had originally. The chest and groin plates were black save for having 'Sheriff E. K. Whitehorse' embroidered on the front chest plate carrier nametag in gold lettering versus the silver lettering of his underlings.
It was finely made armor with a eye towards quality and aesthetics. Something fit for someone that wasn't expected to have to march into a war zone everyday.
He sighed in defeat. "Oh... damn it, fine. I'll take the armor. I assume its level IV?" He asked.
Marcus chuckled. "You think I would send you out with anything that wouldn't stop a full power rifle round? Especially considering that Drubman is either going to load all of his guns with the hottest most exotic loads that he can buy or custom make his own loads. Based on Joey and Roger's recent ballistic tests that thickness will stop a .50 cal at range but you'll be hurting still and might still be knocked out with some broken ribs but ultimately alive."
Finally with the Sheriff now armored everyone left for St. Isidore to tend to the penultimate task.
.
"Reapers! Just where the hell have you people been?" Alvarez barked much to the distaste of Yeller and Archer the former openly rolling his eyes hard.
Roger stood behind Foley and Ramirez with his father at his side and Dr. Niwa on his other. Before making the call to the brass they had confirmed that Jacob had a late model Russian MAZ-543 and what appeared to be a partially assembled Minuteman III. He was expecting that little bit of news to smooth over any hurt feelings... in the minds of most of the brass.
"We've been busy gaining control of Joseph's last missile and getting in contact with the remaining local resistance in the area. By doing so we are now aware of an attempt by Jacob Seed to build another missile at the old PIN-K0 radar station. We can't say if this is authorized by Joseph but given Jacob's personality displayed thus far he is pragmatic enough that he maybe pushed to disobey Joseph and launch the missile he is building." Marcus rattled off letting the bureaucrats bluster roll off of his back.
"Sir we have been able to confirm by Oracle that the cult seems to be using a SCUD TEL truck as a framework to assemble the next missile. At this time they are at best half done with the fuselage but we have no idea if they have a warhead at this time nor do we know if they have any of the avionics." Foley added trying to move the conversation away from the long wait the Reapers had put the big wigs through. In his opinion as a simple solider Alvarez wasn't used to having to deal with the realities of field work.
That sometimes meant that you had to hurry up and wait for other people and pieces to fall into place before you can even start to plan your next step with any hope of that plan being accurate.
"So when will you move on this next missile site?" Yeller asked the Reapers calmly.
Roger decided to answer this time as it was something he had been wrestling with in the back of his mind on the way here. "Likely no sooner than tomorrow and even then the location is difficult to reach as the cult still holds control of the road leading up to the station and any aircraft would be spotted well before they get close and be subject to whatever they happen to have stashed there. Given how heavy the garrison is there its not as simple as what most of the other outposts we have had to attack."
Yeller nodded and rubbed his chin. Given the restricted airspace short of firing cruise missiles at the site or perhaps rocket assisted artillery there was no support they could offer, certainly not anything faster then just staying out of Roger and Marcus's way at least.
"Well we don't have much we can do on our end but if its any consolation given the resolved nature of nuclear threat at least at the time of your last report Jehovah has authorized Captain Foley and his men to be placed under your command." The old spy stated simply with Archer nodding in agreement.
On Roger's end he couldn't help but chuckle a little and clasp Foley's shoulder firmly. "Don't worry Captain you can now finally stop fighting from behind a desk and computer screen."
Foley grumbled in something approaching a happy tone as far as he was concerned. "Good, I joined the Army to fight on foot with a rifle in my hands. If I wanted a desk and a computer screen I would have joined the Air Force."
"Well if that is everything Reapers then I will leave you to your task. Go out and do what you do best and secure that site." Yeller said before quickly cutting the line on his end.
"That ending seemed a bit abrupt." The Sheriff said off to the side of the gathered soldiers with Joey beside him looking on equally confused.
Marcus smiled. "That Earl is what you call D.C. politics. Yeller I believe is in de facto command of our operations however technically the angry guy from the start is Ben Alvarez with the DHS so he might have to at least have some say in what our objectives and more importantly our restrictions should be. Yeller gave us our orders and hung up before Ben could try to muck around and put unneeded chains on us."
"Well lets hope that the old man is able to keep Homeland Security off of us then." Joey said as she looked between Roger and the Sheriff.
The end of the call meant that they now had only one planned task left today: The drive down to Fort Drubman to see once and for all what kind of deal with the Devil the overweight slime ball had made.
"Marcus I'll leave you to work with your Delta guys on what we can do next. Roger. Joey. Let's go make a call down to Drubman. That said... Marcus?" The Sheriff said before turning to his friend.
"Yeah Earl?" came the expected reply.
"If you don't hear from us in two hours... send in everything. Everything." He empathized. His meaning maybe not quite clear for Foley and his men but for the old commando it was more than quite clear.
If the Sheriff and his Deputies didn't return then there was to be nothing holding Marcus back from taking the fight to Drubman just as assuredly they would attack a cult outpost.
"You got it Sheriff." Marcus replied now with a grim determination.
.
It was just past noon when the three officers pulled into the gravel drive way leading up to the massive two story timber built manor. The surrounding grounds were mostly as Roger remembered them though the garage had been greatly expanded and behind it was a even larger hanger like structure that bored into the mountain side.
'Jess wasn't kidding when she said that Drubman had a lot of assets if he has this much storage over what he used to have.' He thought as they now parked at the base of the stairs leading to the front porch. There at the top of the stairs was a heavy set man sitting in a finely crafted rocking chair that probably cost as much as much as the safe house the CIA had setup for him in Fall's End, smoking a cigar that he could smell even from over 30 plus feet away that again probably cost a few hundred bucks if not more per a smoke. This beacon of extravagance and care free confidence even in the middle of a war zone was Hurk Drubman Senior.
He was dressed in a fisherman's vest and khaki pants while a food stained green shirt fought valiantly to contain his gut. This was all topped with some red cap proclaiming 'Veterans Forces' whatever in God's good name that was.
He sat forward and held up a AR carbine skyward before scowling at the sight of the three of them dismounting from the police truck.
"Hope you have a damn good reason to be traipsing on to my land Sheriff and you even brought help." He said with a gravelly smokers voice as he took another pull of his cigar.
"Mr. Drubman. We are here to speak with you peacefully." The Sheriff said as he started up the stairs flanked by Joey and Roger. They got to the top of the stairs where Drubman held up his rifle casually in one hand letting the mag rest on his right leg for support while the other kept busy swapping between holding his cigar or the glass of whiskey on the table at his side.
The Sheriff seeing this spoke calmly keeping his hands visible. "Hurk you can lower that weapon. We are here to talk to you."
Drubman cast his eyes over Roger with a touch of confusion as if he didn't quite recognize him but still his presence triggered some nagging old memories. He then switched over to Joey where his eyes lingered a bit longer but even they were tainted with a hint of confusion.
Not lowering his weapon he replied. "No I don't think I will do that Sheriff. After all 'A armed society is a polite society.' at least when you are the one with the gun in hand. Now how about we just skip everything and you guys show yourselves off of my land."
"Not happening Drubman. I have first come to inform you that your ex-wife is dead." Sheriff said now holding himself up a bit taller and looser in case he did have to reach for his sidearm.
The Sheriff's words sent Drubman laughing madly, pumping the air with his cigar and rifle even going so far as to fire off a few shots into the air that made the three of them flinch just a bit. What Roger focused most on was how he also kicked his thick fat laden legs around like a excited toddler and in fact did have tears in his eyes though obviously they weren't ones of sadness.
"Whoooooweee! That's the best goddamn news I have heard in weeks! Old hag finally kicked the bucket... let me guess drowned in the lake? Maybe crashed that fucking chopper of hers? Tell me Sheriff!" Drubman demanded happily as he refilled his drink and took a deep pull on his cigar. The act had forced him to set his rifle in his lap which he didn't go for again.
"Adelaide tried to murder Jessica Rook right in front of me. So of course I had to respond and she wasn't in a state as to obey verbal commands to stop." He said carefully choosing his words with care.
It took everything Roger had to keep his face impassive as the news as delivered and Drubman's joy was dampened somewhat. He growled a bit before speaking. "Did she at least get the bitch or did she fuck that up like she did damn near everything else?"
"No Jessica is still very much alive and unhurt. Considering the short range its a miracle that she got away unhurt in the first place." The Sheriff said as neutrally as possible as Drubman cut in. "Figures the bitch couldn't even shoot straight when it mattered. Oh well now I should be able reclaim my rightful property she stole from me in the divorce."
The Sheriff suppressed if only just his disgust at the other mans attitude toward his ex-wife and pressed on with the next bit of business. "Moving on with the next thing we have to talk to you about is that we have come across evidence and the testimonies of several others that you have made some sort of deal with the cult. I would like to give you a chance to explain these findings."
Drubman scoffed as he drained his whiskey followed by another pull of his cigar. "'Deal with the cult' Well I guess that is one way to look at it. You see about a year ago that one Seed... uh Jacob. He comes around with a offer to insure that his people and I can peacefully coexist as good neighbors. Even in case things get violent with the other locals."
"What kind of offer?" The Sheriff asked.
"The best kind of offer. Jacob keeps his people out of this entire valley including my property and the lake and in the upcoming election he will push hard for the cult to endorse me for the Senate race internally. Of course they can't publicly endorse me because that looks bad for them and the rest of the local's around here... well you know they never did like the cult after they started setting up shop." He said taking one last pull from his cigar before tossing it casually off the porch.
Whitehorse pressed on finding even his patience was starting to show signs of wear. "Ok that is what the cult agreed to do for you but what are you doing for the cult?"
Drubman chuckled. "More like what the cult thinks I am doing for them. I agreed to simply stay out of their business completely. I don't bother their people, I don't try to buy up their businesses from under them, and I don't speak ill of that man bun wearing lunatic in public. When this war if you want to even call it that, started Jacob came here and paid me another visit to reassure me that our agreement still stood."
He stopped and sighed with a wide smile as he basked in his own genius before continuing.
"You see Sheriff I know why you are here. Not long after Jacob came by I had various folks coming by begging like typical left wing nut jobs tend to do for everything, food, weapons, ammo, first aid supplies, and even my beer supply. That one hippy looking bastard Eli was real adamant that I help his little Whitetail commune thing with supplies and even vehicles... ha! I finally set him straight with a few bullets around his feet. Now you are probably asking why am I not helping my constituents to be?"
"The thought did run across my mind Mr. Drubman." The Sheriff said feeding the man's ego to see where it would finally take them.
"It's all about timing. I kinda figured that the cult wouldn't last very long before they start tearing at each other or the locals would kick their asses. Well now that both sides have been fighting for a while the cult is almost ripe for me to roar in with my chopper and pump some rockets and machine gun fire into their little operation. So in a hour or two's worth of work I swoop in, kill the cult, save the day, and secure a lot of votes. Hell there's a good chance I could build off of this little opportunity to run for president, after all I am just a modern day minuteman with a armed helicopter instead of a musket." He said refilling his whiskey glass one last time before tossing the empty bottle over his shoulder without a second look.
The Sheriff growled at the revelation. "So you would willingly let folks die doing the heavy lifting just so you can supposedly swoop in and grab the glory... Drubman you are a piece of work you know that? A disgusting piece of work. Trading lives for goddamned votes."
"Do you realize how many people the cult has killed already? Most of the county has been depopulated for God's sake!" Joey's resolve to stay silent finally snapped."
"Humph... well excuse me for using more than two brain cells. I have a... highly placed friend in D.C. who told me that there is a real chance coming up that the cult could become violent and that if I play my cards right I can do the proper American thing and capitalize on such a opportunity. After all its a surefire way to show off just how patriotic I am and that sort of thing has always polled real well... well outside of Portland... or San Francisco... or Chicago... New York too... ok it polls well in most other places." Drubman said his words just starting to slur a bit at the end.
"Let me guess your friend would be Agent Willis Huntley of the CIA?" Roger said also breaking his silence and instantly pegging himself.
Drubman cast a mean look toward the giant. "Roger motherfucking Rook. My God just what kind of and how many steroids did they feed you in the Army to get that big? More importantly when the hell did you get back and get hired to be a deputy?"
"Not much to do in the sandpits but either sit around eating whey protein donuts and working out or doing paperwork. Glad to see that you are still the slimy asshole that I remember." He growled back.
The Sheriff rested his hands on his hips. Weighting his next words carefully. "Hurk. How did you know the cult would turn violent?"
Drubman's anger now turned from Roger back to the Sheriff. "What do you mean 'how did I know?'? Besides the fact that every Tom, Dick, and Harry in Hope County could have told you that the cult was off of its rocker? Willis told me that the U.S. Marshals had issued a federal warrant for Joseph's arrest and that it would likely set the cult off. I even went so far as to try and stop the violence from happening by calling Jacob and letting him know. So you are welcome that I tried to deescalate the situation."
Instantly he recalled what Joseph had said in the church when they were staring down a wall of Joseph's followers. "'We knew this moment would come...' God damn it Sheriff, Joseph was tipped off. While I doubt Drubman is their only source of info a source is a source."
Finally the Sheriff had enough information to move forward. "Hurk Drubman, I am going to have to charge you with accessory to Terrorism and attempting to aide and abet a federally wanted criminal. You're under arrest."
With a quick flick of his wrist the Drubman primarch with surprising speed brought his back up rifle up and leveled it at the Sheriff the moment the words left his mouth.
The deputies drew their sidearms in return. "Drop the weapon Drubman!" Joey shouted.
No one moved when from the house behind them stepped out the sole heir to the Drubman name.
"Hey Dad I saw you finished your whiskey and brought you another..." Hurk Junior tailed off as he took in the scene.
Hurk Junior was in many ways like his father before him. Dark haired, overweight, and born with a strong desire for alcohol. However unlike his father he was missing more than a few dozen brain cells and the kind of 'tender loving care' he was raised with was found to say the least, somewhat lacking in love or care.
He wore a faded red Clutch Nixon T-shirt that had its sleeves crudely torn off. His pants were a tattered pair of baggy American flag printed paints that Roger couldn't quite decide if they were sweatpants or pajamas. In one of the over sized pockets he could see the clear outline of a bottle of Grey Goose vodka, beside that on his belt though was the holster for a Beretta 92FS and a familiar looking Kyrati Kukri. Across his back in a form of logic that only Hurk Drubman Jr could justify was a RPG-7 as if it was just another rifle.
"Dad? What is going on?" He asked dumbly before recognizing Roger. "Oh hey Roger! Haven't seen you since Kyrat!"
Roger rolled his eyes. "Hurky... do you realize how much trouble you caused back there? There is a bounty on your head for God's sake."
"How much?" Drubman Senior asked with all seriousness still holding his gun on the Sheriff.
"25 million dollars alive, 10 million dollars dead with his head as proof, $500,000 with any other body part given as proof subject to approval." He rattled off.
The numbers caused Hurk to raise his eye brows in shock and for Drubman Senior to start laughing. "Well boy you're finally worth something. Still too bad you can't collect, dumbass here being a American citizen and all that." He gestured with his head.
"I don't care about the money but he has committed serious crimes in Kyrat and it would do well for US-Kyrati relations to bring him in."
"What did he do?" The Sheriff asked using the distraction to shift around and place his hand on his revolver.
He let out a breath and raised his eye brows as the list of everything Hurk had managed to do both under the old regime and new one came to mind. "The list is... long and storied. However what earned him his bounty was getting high on a local psychoactive mushroom that had been cultivated by the previous regime. Once he was tripping hard he ran naked through a major village screaming about 'carrying out the will of the Monkey King' then coming upon a children's birthday party and the rescued elephant of religious importance that the birthday girl wanted to raise money for to help buy a prosthetic ear tip to replace the one that got shot off at some point."
"Doesn't sound all that serious but figures a bunch little mountain pygmies would blow things out of proportion." Drubman scoffed.
He ignored Hurk Senior's ignorant evaluation of Kyrat and continued his recounting. "Oh it gets better Mr. Drubman. Hurky here then races into this party, climbs up the elephant's rear and proceeds to rape said elephant. Any attempts to pull him off were met with a kick to the face, if that wasn't enough after he finished he climbs up on top of the elephant, sticks on a pair of 20 lb satchel charges to its head and sets off the timer forcing everyone nearby to evacuate. All the while he was going on about how the Monkey King is not satisfied and how he has to make sure that he doesn't create a 'Hurkyderm' hybrid that will destroy all of humanity. Then he jumps off and runs off into the mountains in the direction of the airport." He finished angrily.
Everyone gathered looked back at Hurk Jr. who rocked side to side before shrugging. "I don't remember doing all that but that sounds pretty logical as far as the Monkey King thing goes."
He continued, watching Hurk Sr.'s gun hand lower a bit as it got tired of balancing it on his leg. "So yeah... after publicly raping and blowing the head off of a sacred elephant then getting out of the country understandably there was a bit of a reaction from the local population."
"I think your making it sound a bit worse than what it was..." Hurk Junior tried to say but he spoke over him anyway.
"Hurk, you have the dubious honor of being the first bounty ever placed by the new government! Over and above Pagan Min's remaining generals who were all charged with actual crimes against humanity. I was there when the orders were signed by President Amita, and Bhadra I know is keeping a eye out for you while she is going to school over here in the States. So no, I am not making it sound worse and you..." He turned to Hurk Senior.
"Even if somehow you avoid the accessory charges involving the cult you'll still have to contend with the stories of Hurky's past escapades haunting you. It will be a PR fiasco that you won't live down because its so outrageous."
"Best turn him in and yourself if you want even a slim chance of recovering from all this waiting bad press." Joey added.
Hurk Junior continued to look at the group in confusion as he tried to process everything to the best of his ability. Hurk Senior was doing much the same but was making much faster progress at it.
"You fucking Rook's." He muttered spitefully as he flipped the rifle back up at Roger and squeezed the trigger.
The first round impacted against the groin plate of Roger's armor before the recoil carried the next shot upwards into the main torso plate. The shock of the first shot was more than what even he could withstand as he fell back grunting in pain as he got a shot off at Drubman.
It would have only hit the man in the shoulder but it was a moot point as Joey put two hot loaded .45 cal slugs in his chest almost immediately followed by a single massive shot from the Sheriff's hand cannon blowing apart the mans heart before proceeding to blow apart a large chunk out of the expensive rocking chair's back.
Joey turned her gun on a shocked Hurk Junior. "HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!" She yelled as he very slowly and numbly complied for once.
"Hudson I got him so put some cuffs on him. Rook you still alive?" The Sheriff asked as he leveled his massive revolver on Hurk Junior.
It wasn't anywhere close to being the most painful thing he had ever experienced especially thanks to Rachel and Feeney's science experiment but damn it even he can't tank a crotch shot! "I am not dead and I am pretty sure I still have my balls but holy fucking shit is this uncomfortable!" He managed as he slowly got up.
Now cuffed and disarmed Hurk was lead to the truck just as another pair of Resistance pickup trucks roared down the driveway one of them being Marcus's own personal rig.
The elder Rook stepped out and approached them followed by Jessica, Casey, and a few of the other Grey's. From the other truck Grace, Dmitri, and interestingly enough Nick emerged.
"Earl besides Roger is everyone else ok?" He asked as he jogged up the stairs toward the group.
"Yeah we are, but why are you all here?" The Sheriff asked as Joey started leading the last Hurk down to their truck.
Marcus shrugged and smiled. "Well to tell you the truth my paranoia was acting up something fierce. So I was going to just come down here with Jessica but pretty soon damn near everyone at the Spread Eagle was loading up. Nick is at least here to take a look at Drubman's aircraft so he has a better excuse to be honest."
"And if things went further south than what they already did what would you have done Marcus?" The elder lawman asked with a smile.
"Oh I was set up with a finished prototype of a 20x102mm conversion for a Denel NTW-20. Hurk Senior would be the first living target I have used this thing on, but I guess I will just have to settle on this being further proof of the effectiveness of the Doom Cannon." He said looking at Drubman's dead body briefly.
"By the way Earl just in case if you need it Dmitri was kind enough to bring out some of his fun Russian spy gear. We got video and really good quality audio of everything Drubman said so if there is any blowback you'll be ready." Marcus finished before he turned to Roger. "Roger you sure you're ok?"
The younger Rook nodded. "Yeah... yeah I am but Goddamn Dad does that not feel good. When you replace my armor next can we triple up on the groin padding? Hurk Senior hit me with a 556 and it hurts and if Jacob decides to try the same with a 50 BMG I don't think just stopping the bullet will be enough to save me."
Marcus nodded. "No problem. Wouldn't want to risk your future porn career... or Joey's wrath."
The bright redness on Roger's face combined with his stuttering attempts at a comeback were quickly left behind the two snickering men as they left the house and made their way to the garage.
Soon enough Nick and Casey caught up to the men.
"Well I can't say that I have not been curious to what Drubman has been hiding in here for all these years." Nick commented cheerfully as Marcus slid the garage door up and the gathered men gasped.
Before them was a honest to God tank and behind that was a folded up artillery piece.
"Holy shit when and how the hell did Drubman get a M777?" the men heard behind them as Roger approached from behind.
"The tank is a M60 but it has a upgrade package on it probably Raytheon judging by the gun... Jesus Christ. When Jess mentioned he had tanks and cannons I was expecting some old Vietnam or WWII era stuff but this stuff is damn near factory fresh." He continued.
Marcus nodded when Casey called out from deeper in the garage. "Sir! Roger! Found ammo for both of these things and more. I got some Russian 203mm shells and 155mm American shells in all kinds of fun flavors. Even got some of those new GPS guided shells If I am reading some of these lot dates correctly some of these shells are only months old."
The Sheriff grumbled. "I wonder if his friend in D.C. was the one supplying him with these toys?"
Roger and Marcus shared a look before both nodding. "Sounds like Willis. He probably knew that Drubman was in contact with the cult too and was using him and his ego... and greed, as a possible means of controlling the cult to a degree so they didn't go off the deep end when he wasn't ready." Roger said.
"Willis probably figured by telling Drubman about the warrant on Joseph and thus letting Jacob know, that Joseph would be taken away quietly and eventually the Marshals would expand their man hunt elsewhere thus keeping the pot from boiling over." Marcus continued.
"Only Joseph didn't run and hide. Instead he stayed and declared his war against Hope County. But why give Drubman all this?" Nick asked gesturing around them.
"A Hail Mary. The idea that Drubman might be able to take this stockpile like he said and use it at the right time to save the day and likely kill Joseph, maybe even the rest of the Seed's. If he screwed up then it wasn't on Willis head that Drubman mistimed his attack, he just supplied the tools after all." The Sheriff concluded.
"Sounds like Willis. We will have to grill him... literally if needed once this is all over and we can focus on just how he primed everything to go." Casey ended as the group moved out of the garage and toward the hanger bored into the mountain.
.
Waiting for the massive three story doors to yawn open took only a minute or two but it felt so much longer to the gathered men as they were greeted by even more military hardware that at this point even Roger and Marcus had to admit out classed anything they had.
A massive black Chinook helicopter dominated the hanger space. It's long refueling probe marking it as likely a Special Forces variant. Compared to its twin rotored partner the second helicopter in the hanger lacked in size but made up for it in firepower and in Drubman fashion, a distinct lack subtlety in the paint job department.
"Oh Jesus what did Hurk do to you?" Nick bemoaned as he quickly scrabbled over the UH-1Y Venom the latest of the legendary 'Huey' helicopter family.
Drubman had repainted the black helicopter's tail rotor in red, white, and blue while the front and sides of the chopper were emblazoned with 'Vote Hurk for Senate' logos. However what took everything over the edge were the clearly extended side weapons mounts to increase the armament from a pair of Hydra rocket pods to four pods and then add on the outer edge of the mounts a pair of heavy .50 cal miniguns on flexible mounts. All this while retaining on the passenger doors a pair of more humble 7.62mm miniguns for the door gunners to use on anything the pilot might have missed.
The Sheriff took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose as he mentally dealt with the sight before him. "You know as much as I hate to say it. I can now understand just why Hurk thought he could just swoop in and wreck the cult with this thing."
"Right up to the moment one of the cult Air Wardens fires a MANPAD at him or Jacob breaks out that AA tank of his. He was licensed to fly like Adelaide but neither of them were more than average on a good day." Nick stated with all the expertise of being part of a flying family himself.
As the men moved to the back of the hangar it was dominated by only two things. Firstly another large tracked vehicle with a equally large tarp over it and a wall of exotic guns on display hooks.
"I know Hurk is technically in his 40's but Drubman Senior really should keep his guns locked up instead of on display." The Sheriff said as he reached up and grabbed a revolver off the wall.
The high polish blue of the gun shined in stark contrast to the light colored wood grip and both combined to make the stainless steel muzzle brake look even more out of place.
"Mateba Autorevolver... never saw one of these outside of a book." The lawman muttered when Marcus looked over his shoulder.
"With that brake I bet that's the .454 Casull model too. Look at this Earl." The commando said as he grunted as hefted a massive belt fed machine gun.
"Man portable-ish .50 cal machine gun. All thanks to the mad Russian's at the Degtyaryov Plant. This one is the export model based off of the markings so it shoots .50 BMG." He stated proudly.
"Roger would like that a lot I'll bet." Earl replied.
Marcus smiled and nodded. "We both have been looking for one of these for the collection and even I have had trouble sourcing a export model like this..."
"Well that explains the big Russian artillery shells!" They heard Roger belt out getting their attention from the wall of guns to the now unwrapped tank or rather artillery piece.
"Late model 2S7 Pion. At this point I think we need to deal with Hurk Junior and start thinking how we can turn all this... bounty into something we can use against the cult."