Chapter 20: Return to Sender
"Fuck, fuck fuck!"
Kyle was in a panic. Jess would never leave her bow behind unless she was forcibly separated from it. Now it seems like his worse fears had come to pass as Jess had most likely been captured.
"Kyle, you need to calm down." Faith said, watching him pace back and forth.
"We need to find out where they took her."
"I don't believe she was taken Kyle."
He stopped pacing and turned towards her, flickering hope in his eyes. "How do you know that?"
Faith pointed at the bow still laying against the tree. "They probably would have taken the bow too. They wouldn't just leave it there."
Kyle was experiencing mixed emotions, happiness that Faith's reasoning made sense, worry that Jess was still out there bleeding profusely, and anger at himself for letting his emotions get the best of him. He took a deep breath and quickly returned to a calm expression.
"If that's the case, she might be around here somewhere. Stay behind me but keep your eyes and ears open."
Faith nodded and followed him as he started off in the direction the blood trail had led. She didn't know if they would find Jess but it was better than standing around in a panic. After wandering around the forest for a few minutes, Faith heard voices.
"Kyle…" She whispered but got his attention. "Over here" She led him over to where she had heard the voices. As they got closer, they spotted two male cultists talking to each other. Kyle and Faith stayed behind a large tree as they listened in.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. I nailed her right in the upper leg."
The man seemed to be unconvinced. "You have to be sure Greg. Do you know how many times one of Jacob's boys claims that he shot Jess Black and then winds up dead shortly after. If you really did get her, how come we haven't found her yet?"
'I'm not sure. She's always been good at hiding in the woods. But I'm sure as hell that I hit her. She was yelling in pain when I nailed her with that poison arrow."
"Then why didn't you move up and capture her?" The first man asked skeptically.
The second man shrugged. "Its like you said. She's dangerous. I wanted to be sure I wouldn't be dropped the second I moved up. I did eventually make it up but all I found was her bow and some blood. Its like she was a ghost."
The first man crossed his arms. "Well if you did really get her, she couldn't have gotten far. There's not really places to take shelter around here."
"You're right. I think I saw a trailer somewhere around here before we set up out post. Maybe she's in there?"
Faith had been listening to the conversation with anticipation. But now at the mention of somewhere Jess could be, she now wanted to do something heroic, and maybe stupid. She shot up from her hiding spot aiming at the two cultists, not focusing on any particular one.
"Hold it there! Where is this trailer you spoke of?"
The two cultists turned towards her with looks of shock. Faith noticed that the first man had an assault rifle and the second man had a bow. "Drop your weapons!" She commanded.
The cultists made no move. They continued to stare like they had found a lost treasure. Finally the man with the bow turned his head to the first man. "Its Faith…"
The first man nodded and then both of them turned back towards Faith readying their weapons towards her. Faith was like a deer in the headlights. Which one should she aim at? Her body was frozen and didn't move. She closed her eyes and thought she was going to die when two shots suddenly rang out. Faith opened her eyes and say that the two cultists were lying dead where they had been standing. She turned over to the side and saw what had put them there. Kyle had stood up from the tree and had aiming in their direction. He put the rifle back over his shoulder and looked at Faith but didn't say anything. She squeaked out a 'thank you' before he moved to check on the fallen bodies. He examined them for a moment and after finding nothing of interest, walked back towards Faith.
"We should probably try to find that trailer they were talking about." He said softly before turning to continue into the woods.
Faith felt like he was pissed at her for trying to be a hero. She had wanted to make him proud by doing something on her own for a change but it ended up with him having to save her. Pushing down her thoughts, she followed behind him. Whether it was because of luck or Kyle had an instinct; they soon came to a clearing from the trees. The trailer they were looking for was right in front of their eyes. Kyle stopped suddenly a few yards from the trailer door.
"We don't know exactly who's in there. Stay behind me." He ordered.
Faith did as she was instructed and moved so she was right behind Kyle's back. Satisfied, he closed the distance to the door. He made he could grab his m-4 quickly then knocked on the door. The door opened and on the other side was a mulatto looking woman with medium length black hair. She immediately noticed Kyle's weapon and her eyes widened in fear for a moment before going back to neutral.
"Can I help you?"
"I hope so. We're looking for a young woman, brown hair, tough looking, a few scars on her face, usually wears a hood over her head, have you seen her?"
The woman narrowed her eyes at him. "Haven't seen anyone like that around here. You with the project?"
Kyle heard some laughter inside. "No, they're not with the fucking project Sarah." A voice from inside called out.
The woman turned her gaze inside. "How do you know that?"
"Because when he talks to strangers, Kyle is always so damn professional." There was more laughter.
Kyle finally recognized the voice as Jess'. She was alive! He toned down his sudden excitement and composed himself. "May we come in to see her?"
There was more snickering and the woman turned again to look at the noise. She turned back and with a sigh, moved out of the way. Kyle entered and looked to where the woman had been looking. There was Jess, sitting down, but smiling. Kyle also noticed she was clutching her right leg.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up." She said as he came over and sat next to her. "I'm a bit pissed that you gotta see me like this but I'm glad you made it."
Faith had entered right behind Kyle. The woman obviously recognized her and she frowned when she saw Faith. She remained silent however, and Faith was used to those looks anyways. What she was not used to was seeing Jess Black in pain. She was talking to Kyle with a smile on her face but she was clutching at a part of her leg that had been bandaged. Faith could tell she was trying to hold back from grimacing.
"We took care of the two guys who ambushed you." Kyle stuck his thumb out towards the side. "Luckily, they were loud and stupid, so we found out there was a trailer around here. Figured that's where you would go."
Jess chuckled. "I should have been the one to take those fuckers out. I was sloppy and one of them nailed me in the leg…." She stopped talking as she hissed in pain.
"May I see?"
Jess nodded and slowly pulled the bandages off, trying not to flinch too much. When they were off, Kyle and Faith could see a large purple wound where the arrow had lodged itself. The wound looked like it was infected.
"Geez, it looks bad." Kyle commented.
"Sarah over there found me limping and helped me out. She managed to get the arrow out and bandage me up but…
"I don't have any medicine to treat it." Sarah finished for her. She had been silently observing up until now.
Faith took a closer look at the wound with Kyle and Jess especially giving her odd looks. She then pulled back and turned to Sarah. "Do you have any herbs by chance?"
Sarah crossed her arms defensively. "I might, why?"
"I need all the herbs you have, a mortar and pestle and a bowl." Faith asked in a commanding tone.
"Why do you think that you could make something to help her?" Faith nodded.
"Give me a minute." Sarah started rummaging through a bunch of jars and cabinets.
As Faith waited patiently, she observed that Kyle and Jess were talking with each other, ignoring everything else. From what Faith could overhear, Kyle was filling Jess on what she had missed since she had headed into the mountains. Jess did her part to listen intently but every so softy she would hiss in pain and Kyle would stop to ask her if she was alright. Faith was so fixated on them that she didn't know that Sarah had her herbs until she said something.
"Here's everything I have. Luckily, studying local wildlife gives me time to pick some of these." She held them out waiting for Faith to turn her attention to her which she did after a few moments.
"Thank you" She said, taking the ingredients with a small smile.
Sarah watched as Joseph's 'sister' started mixed the herbs together, smashing the, mixing them up. This past week had been like a whirlwind. Jacob had forced her to help with exposing dogs to the bliss. He claimed he was using it to capture a wayward sinner, the man who had found her trailer a few minutes ago. Jacob's plan had not worked so his forces tore through the area in search of their target. Jacob's people had asked Sarah if they had seen a hooded woman with a bow anywhere around. She was truthful and told them she hadn't. they had left without incident until Sarah had heard gunshots outside her trailer. She burst out only to find all of her team dead. Apparently, Jacob wanted to leave a warning in case she had harbored the enemy. Sarah didn't know if the cultists would be back thus, she packed what she could into her trailer and moved out to the western part of the region. Jacob's forces were scarce in that region besides the radar station. Sarah figured she would be safe from any more reprisals and would be able to stay out of the war between Jacob and the whitetail militia. But it seems conflict still followed her and now the cult's two biggest enemies were taking shelter in her trailer.
But Faith Seed was here too. Why? Why was she with the cult's biggest foes. Admittedly she was isolated from any news in this area but still…. If Sarah had any doubts that this was Faith Seed, mostly stemming from the fact that she was not in her white dress but in some tight clothing; thoughts doubts were dispelled at the speed in which Faith had used her herbs. In the pestle, she had created some sort of powdery substance. In the other, she evidently had grabbed a nearby water bottle and mixed it with some ingredients to create a light-colored liquid. Was that an antidote for the poison?
Faith grabbed both of her mixtures and turned back towards Kyle and Jess who were still talking. She cleared her throat to get her attention.
"I believe I have something that may help." She said softly
Kyle looked up at her with a confused expression. "Help? You mean help with the poison?" Faith nodded in response.
Kyle turned to Jess. "Are you alright with this?"
Jess narrowed her eyes at Faith, looking for some sort of reaction but Faith stood there patiently. Finally, Jess relaxed, sighed and turned to Kyle. "Let's get this over with."
Kyle moved himself so he was out of Faith way who kneeled next to Jess on the side where the wound was. "First I need to seal the wound with this powder. This will clear the poison on the surface and make sure that no more seeps in. I have to warn you however, its going to sting a lot."
Jess gritted her teeth. "Do what you have to do."
Kyle held Jess' arm both to give her comfort but also hold her back in case she tried to take a swing at Faith for introducing more pain. She dabbed the powder and her fingers and rubbed around where the wound was. Jess grunted in pain, suppressing every reaction she had to the sting. A minute seemed like an eternity as Faith rubbed the rest of the powder over the wound with Jess trying not to flinch or hiss in pain. When she was done, Faith stood up. "I would wrap that up. It will allow the powder to soak in and prevent any contamination."
Kyle nodded. He grabbed the new bandages that Faith offered him and wrapped Jess' leg. When he finished, he let out a big sigh, content that this was finally over.
"There's one more thing." Faith said dashing his hopes. She held the bowl of light-colored liquid in her hands. This is for the poison already in your body. It will neutralize it." Faith handed the bowl to Kyle obviously knowing that Jess wouldn't take anything from her. Kyle starred at it for a few moments then looked at Jess to see if she was alright with it. She shrugged and he handed her the bowl which she quickly gulped down, grimacing at the taste.
"Ugh, tastes like shit."
Kyle stood up and looked down at Jess with a grin on his face. "How do you feel?"
Jess frowned at him and yawned. "For some reason…tired."
"That's an effect of the mixture." Faith explained. "It puts your body at ease so it can get rid of any toxic elements."
"Fucking sucks…." Jess said groggily dozing off.
Kyle suddenly turned towards Sarah. "Do you mean if she stays here a bit longer?"
She nodded after some hesitation. "We should be fine. Jacob's people usually don't come out this way and if you took care of the two that were out here; they won't send anyone else for some time."
"That's good because we need to take care of some business first. Come on Faith."
He headed outside with Faith close behind. "Wait!" Sarah shouted from the door. "Where are you going?"
"Like I said, we need to take care of some business first." He looked at the sky to see the sun beginning to set. "We should be back before it gets completely dark."
He continued his trek back to the truck at an usually fast pace that Faith was surprised by. She was also surprised that he also clammed up, not saying anything until they got back to the truck which was surprisingly still in the last place they left it.
"We're headed to the radar station" he said simply. As soon as Faith got in, he started the car and continued taking the road north. Faith expected him to be silent but after a few moments he spoke up again. "So why did you do it?"
"Do what?" She was so surprised of him speaking that she responded with a stupid question. Of course she knew what he was talking about.
"Why did you make those mixtures for Jess? I wouldn't have thought you'd be willing to help her with how she's treated you in the past. She doesn't have any trust in you like I do. So, when you suddenly came up with an antidote for her poison, I was both shocked that you could do that and the fact you were willing to do it."
Faith examined his face. Kyle seemed serious about this. There was no hint that he thought that Faith had ulterior motives for helping Jess. He was genuinely confused about what she had done.
"Well…" She started trying to find the right words. "I knew about the poison that she was inflicted with. Jacob selected that particular poison because it eventually caused pain so regularly and so debilitating that the victim would usually be much more amendable to any demands in order to be rid of it. It usually ensured compliance."
Kyle looked at her and Faith thought she saw hurt in his eyes. "Did you help design this poison?"
She nodded. "After Joseph had me perfect the bliss formula, he wanted me to focus on other solutions. He wanted a alternative somehow in case the bliss wasn't available. Its ironic that where the bliss puts a person in relative calm; this poison causes them unending agony." Faith wasn't trying to sound cruel. She was simply telling the truth.
Kyle was silent for a while and Faith figured it was because she was responsible for the poison. But he turned towards her with a hint of a smile at the edge of his mouth. "I don't blame you; you know. You did what you had to do at the time. Joseph was in charge. I'm glad that you knew how to cure it. Thank you, Faith." His mouth now curved upward.
Kyle thought the conversation was over at that point but Faith felt that she should tell him the whole truth. She already admitted that she was responsible for the poison. Now she would admit the other reason why she helped Jess.
"Kyle." She got his attention. "There's another reason why I made the antidote to help Jess."
He looked at her in confusion. "What is it?"
"I know that you care about Jess a lot. When you were panicked about where she was, I saw something in you that I thought that I would never see, fear. I never thought you of all people could be scared. But when I saw you in that state, I knew that you have a deep connection with Jess. She means a lot to you. I didn't want you to see her in pain. You already went through enough emotion in trying to find her. I didn't want you to be hopeful at finally finding her and then suddenly realizing that she was suffering without you able to do anything. I didn't want you to share in her suffering.
Kyle was silent, processing what she had said. He didn't show it but he was extremely happy. He was happy that Faith truly was a good person like he knew she was. Faith could have feigned ignorance and left Jess to her fate. It would be one less person who hated her and worse, was close to the one who had the most trust in her. He understood that Jess may seem like a rival of sorts for her. He and Jess had talked about their feelings but he never had that discussion with Faith. Faith's actions seemed to confirm that she cared about Kyle as he did her. What he didn't know was how strong those feelings were. Was it genuine concern or did she have the same sort of feelings about him as he did for her. Now was not the time but eventually they would have to discuss it, if only to satisfy curiosity.
Kyle suddenly realized he hadn't said anything for a while when he saw Faith looked at him with guilt. He smiled to let her know he understood. "It just proves how much heart you have in you, Faith. I think Jess will soon come around to see what I see in you. Everyone else will too."
She seemed reassured at that as she smiled back at him which melted his heart. But he needed to keep his eyes on the road. They were almost there punctuated by the fact that the road suddenly got steeper as it led towards the top of the mountains. Soon the road lost its concrete and became dirt. When they got near the top, Kyle positioned the car so it would block the route they had just came from. He turned off the truck and turned to Faith.
"We're going to hoof it from here. We don't want to spook them just yet."
Kyle grabbed his gear and waited for Faith to grab her pistol before the continued up the road on foot. They soon saw a sign that read 'United States Air Force Base, Whitetail Mountains.' The dirt road then curved inward and Kyle saw the base come into view. It looked like it had been abandoned before the cultists had got it up and running again. The base seemed to be in a state of disrepair as the checkpoint building was boarded up and unmanned while the warehouse was missing parts of its sides. Kyle scanned his surroundings to see if they could get a better view. He found it with a ridge by a communication tower. The duo slowly crept up and hid behind the rocks. From here, Kyle could see the guards who manned the base. There was one cultist who stood watch on top of a silo right next to a stationary LMG. Another cultist was exercising in the middle of the base, alternating between jumping jacks and push-ups. One cultist patrolled the back end of the base, moving slowly, looking around then doubling back. There was another that stood just by the cliffs looking at the land below. Finally, there was one sniper on the far building, on some catwalks. Besides the five cultists he saw in the open, Kyle figured there were more inside the main building.
Faith took a peek for herself then quickly ducked back down. "How are you going to do this?" She whispered. "They seem to have all angles covered and there's probably more than what we can see."
Kyle smiled with confidence. "We're just going to have to call in support."
Nick Rye sat on the ouch with his wide Kim. Things were going well. He had just a nice steak dinner that Kim had made for him. John Seed was gone for good which meant no more harassment, no more fearing for his family's safety. His wife was pretty far along in her pregnancy. She could be due any day now. Now that John had been taken care of, Nick would have no worries about taking her to the clinic when that time came. The expecting couple were snuggling with each other when Nick heard something from the radio he left on the radio.
"Nick, come in. Are you there?"
Nick perked up. The voice was familiar. It belonged to someone who had saved him and his family. Hell, he was saving the whole damn county. Nick had last heard from him when they took out John Seed. But soon after his meeting at the Spread Eagle with the gang, Kyle had disappeared, along with Faith. Nick was both suspicious and worried.
Nick picked up the radio. "Is that really you partner?"
"Yeah, its me. Who else could it be?"
Nick flashed a quick smile to himself before turning serious. "Where did you disappear off to? We were going to invite you for a victory dinner but Jerome told us that you never came back….with Faith." He said that last part hesitantly.
"Sorry about that Nick. We went to see if there was anything we could use at John's ranch and then on a whim, we decided to go find Jess."
"Where are you now?" Nick sat on the couch again next to Kim who had the same worried look as he did.
"We're in the whitetail mountains." Nick noticed that he said 'we'. He wasn't sure if it meant Jess or Faith or both.
"Actually, that's why I called." Kyle continued. "I need your help."
Now Nick was really worried. If Kyle was in some sort of jam then he really must be in trouble. "What do you need partner?"
"Would you be able to fly your plane over hear and give us some air support?"
"Like right now?" Nick asked with a bit of shock but he was also getting excited.
"If you could yes. We need all of your firepower so if you could bring as many bombs as possible, that would be swell."
Nick smiled getting more excited to finally be back in action. "They actually found a storage of plane munitions at John's ranch so 'Carmina' is fully loaded. But where exactly are you?
"We're next to the radar station in the northwest part of the region."
Nick frowned. Surely, they would have air defenses there. "Won't they see me coming?"
"I'll make sure to support you on the ground. As soon as they turn to look at you, I'll nail them. I just need you to blow shit up."
That was all Nick need to hop up from the couch. "I'll be there in twenty minutes partner. Stay safe until I get there."
"Will do. Thanks Nick."
Nick ended the call and turned to his wife to say goodbye but she still had a worried look on her face. "Nick, are you sure about this? Its almost dark. Are you sure you're going to be able to fly at night?"
He flashed a cocky grin. "I'll be fine Kim. I've flown at night plenty of times. Sometimes helped relieved stress. But Kyle needs my help. Don't worry, I'll be careful and come back as soon as everything is taken care of."
Kim slowly stood up and wrapped her arms around Nick. She gave him a length kiss then pulled back. "Go kick ass."
Kyle watched the sky which looked beautiful from this elevation. The sun was just about to vanish under the horizon. He hoped Nick would make it here before it got totally dark. He turned back towards Faith who had been gazing at the mountains opposite of the base.
"Is he coming?" She asked somewhat impatiently.
"He'll be here soon." He reassured her. He then turned serious. "But I need you to listen to me. When everything starts happening, I'm going to move. I need you to stay here where its safe. Keep an eye on your surroundings and don't let anyone sneak up on you."
She looked at him with sadness. "But what about you? What if someone sneaks up on you?"
"I'll be fine, don't worry. I can take care of myself."
She shook her head unconvinced. "But Kyle, you need someone to watch your back. I know that Jess watched your back. But she's not here and now I need to step up."
He frowned. He should have expected this. If Faith saw Jess as a rival then naturally, she would want to be able to do the same things that Jess did. But even though Kyle had taught her how to shoot, he thought she was too inexperienced.
He shook his head. "its too dangerous Faith. There's going to be explosions and bullets flying everywhere. I can't worry about you while I'm trying to help Nick."
"If not now Kyle then when? Sooner or later, I'm going to have to fight. I know I'm inexperienced. But when I'm with you, I feel safe even if there are explosions and bullets galore. So please….let me come with you."
Kyle cursed in his head. She had won the argument. Having trust in him to keep her safe in the most dangerous situation and wanting to help; he couldn't say no to that. Her stubbornness had prevailed.
"Alright fine. But you stick right behind me alright? No heroics."
Faith was so happy that she hugged Kyle suddenly. He let her wrap her arms around him but turned his face away like he was looking for Nick so she wouldn't notice his blush. "Thank you" She said before she released him from her grip. They then both heard a sound. The sound of propellers, Nick was almost here. Kyle got ready and Faith was right there waiting for him to move, her hands gripped tightly on her pistol. Kyle noticed that the peggies had heard the sound too. The sniper and the guard by the stationary gun turned to look south at the sky. They readied their guns. Kyle grabbed his radio.
"Nick, there's a fuel storage tank by the cliff. Shoot that first, then bomb the shit out of the place."
"Roger that partner."
Kyle looked back and saw Nick's plane had come into view. He getting into position to make a strafing run. Kyle turned back and focused on the guard by the stationary gun. He counted a few seconds then took aim and squeezed the trigger. He timed it so when he shot the guard, Nick had started shooting at the fuel tank Kyle had indicated. There was an enormous explosion as Nick pulled up to prepare to make another attack run.
"Let's go!" Kyle yelled.
He ran to get in a better position to hit the sniper. It would be a bit of a long shot but the cultists were currently distracted with Nick's plane. A few of them poured out of the main radar building, the sniper trying to indicated where the plane was. Kyle lined up his shot and took out the sniper while Nick dropped a bomb to blow up the warehouse. By now, it seemed that all the cultists that had weapons were outside trying to shoot at the attacking plane. A few of them had RPGs which they fired in a futile attempt to hit Nick's plane. He easily dodged them as he was coming back for another attack run.
Kyle changed position once again with Faith sticking right behind him. He was now focus the group that had emerged from the radar building. He started picking them off and they finally noticed that there was a ground threat and returned fire. Kyle pushed Faith back behind them as they took cover around the corner of what remained of the warehouse. Just then Nick, dropped another bomb that obliterated the silo with the stationary gun. Faith was darting her eyes back and forth, watching for threats. Kyle was right to be worried about her reaction to the explosions and bullets. Even though she had expected it, her body was trembling with adrenaline on its own. She did her best to put on a brave face but her body was shaking on its own.
Just then Faith picked up a sound coming from behind them. She wondered how she was able to hear it with everything else going on. She looked back to Kyle hoping that he heard it too but he was focused on the incoming fire from the cultists in front of them. Just then, Faith saw what created the noise.
A cultist stepped around the corner armed with an Ak-47. He saw the sinner that had been giving them so much trouble. His back was turned. The cultist aimed and….felt something hit him. He looked lower and saw he had been shot. The cultist looked at where the shot had come from. The sinner's back was turned but right next to him was Faith who was pointing a pistol at him. He gritted his teeth and tried to aim at her but she shot two more times. The cultist's world went dark as he fell.
Faith had actually killed someone. She couldn't believe it. Everything had happened so fast. She saw him aim at Kyle and her body reacted, squeezing the trigger. The first shot had not been enough so she squeezed two more times before the cultist fell over dead. Faith alternated between looking at her pistol and the person she had just killed with it. She looked back at Kyle who missed the whole thing. But then suddenly he turned to her.
"We're going to pull back so Nick can clean up. Follow me." He took her hand which he normally didn't do and led her towards a whole that was in the disused fence. Faith took one last look at the man she killed before she concentrated on following Kyle. He led her back up to where they had been when they were scouting the base.
"Blow it all to hell Nick."
There was no answer except the sound of Nick doubling back and dropping a bomb on the main base. It leveled about half of it in an explosion. The surviving cultists were trying to flee to safety on the only road leading away from the base. But Kyle had the high ground and was blocking their only way out. Faith watched as he gunned the remaining cultists with absolute precision. It took one bullet to the head for each cultist, four in total. Nick came back and finished off the main station as the last cultist fell.
Kyle pulled up his radio. "I think that everything Nick. They won't be using this place any more. Thanks again for your help."
"Any time partner. You give me a call when you need me." Was Nick's reply. Faith saw him turn and head back south towards home.
She stood up and watch with Kyle the burning wreckage of what had been the radar base. Everything was still burning. They watched as the sun vanished over the horizon, its light now replaced by the flames that burned bright. Kyle had struck another blow against Eden's Gate. This time, Faith was right alongside him in the action.