Chapter 28: Where It All Began.
"Son of a bitch! I knew that idiot would fuck it up!" Jess swore out load and reflected what the rest were thinking though maybe less extreme. They had all seen the same thing. Jacob Seed has survived to fight another day. His helicopter started disappearing from view heading south.
"Where ya think he's going?" Sharky asked, intimidated by Jess' anger.
"Looks like he's headed to Joseph's compound." Faith answered.
"Where it all began…." Hudson mused.
Kyle just watched for a few more seconds in silence before turning around. "Let's get back down. We're going to follow him."
"Joseph fucking Seed, its about time." Jess said as they all made their way downstairs. The exited the building to find Grace and a dejected Hurk waiting for them.
"Sorry I missed amigo. I rushed the second shot so I didn't get a good lock."
"Its alright Hurk." Kyle said reassuringly before turning to Grace. "We need to move our right away to pursue Jacob. It looks like he's headed for Joseph's compound."
Grace frowned. "Unfortunately, we have some wounded. I'd rather not bring them into another combat situation."
"How many and how bad?" Kyle asked.
"Nothing life threatening but two got serious bullets wounds that they're not really going to be moving around at all. We got one that took a shot but it wasn't too bad and she said she can keep fighting. I have to say though, that kid Wheaty, he has been a big help. He may be young but he's real smart. Kid's been helping tend to the wounded."
Kyle nodded approvingly. "Alright. I'm sure Jacob probably still has supplies here. We'll leave one truck here with you as well. Who needs to stay?"
"Actually Kyle, looks like Jacob left some vehicles here in his retreat so we're good on transportation. I don't think the peggies will be coming back so if you leave with the kid and two other people, I think we'll be fine."
"Alright, gather everyone together. Grab your two people and tell the rest to mount up in the second truck. We'll take the first truck and they can follow us."
"Hey, does this mean that I get to go with you guys?' Hurk asked
"Yes Hurk, butt make sure that launcher is loaded and keep it in the back." Kyle ordered.
"You got it amigo!" Hurk ran off to get himself ready with Sharky following behind him to talk his ear off, and to get away from Jess.
"You are too nice Kyle." Jess complained on the way. "Can't we just leave them here? They'll be more space in the truck too."
"Sorry Jess, if we're going to Joseph's compound, we need all the firepower we can get." Jess grumbled but said nothing more.
They all piled in the truck with Kyle's crew sitting up front and the rest sitting in the truck bed. It was a tight fit, but they all managed to squeeze in. Faith took her place up front with Kyle. Jess sat on the far left with Hudson to shield her from Hurk and Sharky. The pair mostly chatted among themselves and didn't bother anyone else. Kyle tried to drive as fast as he could without throwing off his passengers in the back. There was no telling what Jacob would do when he got to the compound. Would he tell Joseph to relocate and hide while fighting some sort of guerilla war in a manner they had been subjected to? Or would an ambush be waiting for Kyle and his team at the compound? Whatever was the case, the crew would be ready for a fight.
Entering the island where Joseph's compound was, Kyle eyed the long fence that shadowed the road. It was a bit surreal that he was going back to the place where it all began. It had been the attempted arrest of Joseph that had roused the cult to really clamp down. That day seemed so very long ago. Kyle turned onto the driveway that led from the main road to the compound but pulled over when he was halfway there.
"We're going to go on foot from here. Follow me." He ordered. Everyone hopped out and armed themselves with their weapons. They all then slowly advanced toward the compound. As it came into view, Kyle expected there to be a hoard of cultists waiting for them. But as they got closer, it seemed that the opposite was the case. Unlike the last time he was here, the place now looked completely deserted. The helicopter that Jacob had been flying in was nowhere in sight and there were no vehicles present as well. Kyle was suspicious of an ambush with how quiet it was but as they entered through the eastern entrance, nothing appeared.
"Fan out. Hudson, you take a team and look around these buildings. We'll head for the church. Yell or fire your weapon if you encounter anyone." The group split off with Kyle, Faith, Jess, Hurk, and Sharky heading for the church and Hudson leading the rest to search the outer buildings. As they got closer to the doors, Kyle kept having a feeling of uneasiness. Where was everyone? The last time he was here, there was a whole congregation waiting for them. Would that be the case here?
Reaching the church entrance, Kyle and Jess did their usual tactic and stacked up next to the door with the others behind them. Jess then opened the door slowly as Kyle aimed inside. But there was no one to aim at as the place was completely vacant."
"Jess, coast is clear." She moved in behind him and saw for herself that the church was empty.
"Where the fuck are they?" She said, clearly irritated.
Hurk and Sharky entered next followed by Faith who seemed reluctant to go inside. She joined Kyle who was staring at the chapel while the others check around.
"Nothing…." Jess told him after checking the back rooms. "It looks like they cleared out."
"Take Hurk and Bonshaw and see if the others found anything." Kyle said without looking at her.
Jess stared at him, a bit annoyed that he was ordering her around and not even looking at her. But then she saw how he was staring at the chapel and remembered that he had been here once before, where everything had begun. Jess decided to give him a break, but Kyle would owe her for saddling her with Hurk and Sharky.
"Alright you two, lets go and don't do anything unless I tell you to." The pair looked at each other in confusion but they knew better than to cross Jess. They duly followed orders and made their way outside. Jess took once last look at Kyle and Faith then joined them.
"Its not much different from when I was here last." Kyle said when they were alone.
"They've kept the place clean." Faith said quietly.
Kyle was having a flashback to that day. Burke had just stormed in against Whitehorse's advise and had started making demands. The sheriff had problems with keeping the cultists from coming after them. It was only after the strange intervention of Joseph that the peggies filed out of the church. Joseph had been supremely confident that day, claiming that God would not let him be taken. He had held up his hands, daring someone to slap the cuffs on him. Kyle remembered his hesitation but also remembered the figures that had been standing behind Joseph. His two siblings, John and Jacob were watching him menacingly. But beside them was also Faith, who had a different look, a look of curiosity.
"Do you…..?" He started.
"I remember." She finished for him. "I remember you standing there, with the marshal and sheriff. I could tell right away that you were different, you were out of place. I could see the hesitation in your eyes. But behind that hesitation was also confidence, confidence in that even if things went to hell, you'd be able to get out of it.
Kyle grinned a bit. "Maybe, I also saw you for the first time. Where Joseph had arrogance and his brothers had malice, you didn't show any ill will. Even though one of your 'family' was being taken away, you were only curious."
"It feels like a lifetime ago." Faith said with a sigh.
Kyle turned towards her. "So much has changed since then."
She turned towards him. "A lot has including me, but one thing that hasn't changed is you." She smiled. "Your eyes still have that confidence, and you have the ability to achieve amazing things."
He grinned back at her with some embarrassment. "I guess so. You may have changed a bit but one thing that hasn't changed is how beautiful you are. Even when you were with the cult, I was still startled by how gorgeous you looked."
She leaned in closer to him. "I could say the same thing about you." She whispered. "Your eyes weren't the only thing I was looking at."
In sync, they both went to kiss the other. Their kiss was much more passionate than the one at the conservatory as they wrapped their arms around one another. They were so lost in the moment that that failed to notice when Hudson and Jess came into the church. Hudson was shocked but Jess just put a hand on her face in disbelief.
"Am I interrupting something?" Hudson finally said out loud to get the pair's attention. They broke the kiss and transitioned to walking to meet them like nothing had happened.
"What's up?" Kyle asked
Hudson took a few more moments to compose herself before answering. "Uh, right. So we didn't find anyone. The place is completely deserted. What's more, is that they seemed to clear the place out of all the supplies. Its like they knew we were coming."
Kyle pondered for a few seconds. "We saw them head this way. Where could they have gone?"
"Its possible that they landed somewhere remote and are preparing to wage a guerrilla war, kinda like we did to them." Hudson suggested.
"Someone must have seen them. There's no way that helicopter moved around without being spotted. We're just going to have to ask around and find out where they were really headed." Kyle concluded.
"Either way, we have those fuckers on the run now." Jess growled.
"Right, I think for now we should head back to Holland Valley to rest and figure out what to do next. We've been out all day and I think all of us could use a break." Kyle suggested.
Jess and Hudson nodded and started making their way back to the vehicles. Kyle started to follow them but stopped when he noticed that Faith was still behind in thought.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked growing concerned.
"I'm still thinking about where Jacob, and also where The Father could have gone. I know for a fact that there are no other bases they could have gone to where they could land a helicopter and move everyone that was here. It concerns me."
Kyle gave her a reassuring smile and put a hand on her arm. "We'll find them eventually, don't worry. For now, we'll head to Holland Valley to rest a bit after we've all been through."
"That's it!" Faith exclaimed.
"What's it?" Kyle asked startled.
"They were heading south right? If they're not here, then they're at the one place we haven't been to yet."
"Where's that?" Kyle said, still confused.
"John's bunker." Faith said almost in a whisper.
Kyle's eyes grew wide. Of course! They had never gone there because they had lured out John and killed him. There had been no real reason to go to John's bunker just like there was no reason to go to Jacob's bunker. They had kept the place under watch but with all that had been going on, it was quite possible that the remaining cultists had retreating there. But now that presented another problem, getting in.
"It'll be difficult to get to them if they're hold up in there." He admitted.
Now it was Faith's turn to be reassuring. "True, but they'll be trapped inside. As long as we keep an eye on them, we can wait until we get contact with the outside again and let them deal with the bunker." She said with a small smile.
Kyle felt relieved. "You're right. Especially with how few they are now, I don't think they'll try much anymore. They're probably hoping to hold out in there as long as possible hoping for their "collapse" to happen. By the way, I never did ask you, did Joseph ever say how this "collapse" would come about?"
Faith shrugged. "He usually talked about it vaguely. Joseph preached that humanity would destroy itself through war and greed. He said the collapse was inevitable due to humanity's nature and that it was his goal to save as many as possible to rebuild after the world was wiped clean."
"He didn't do much saving." Kyle pointed out as they started walking back to the vehicles.
"Many of his followers believed he did save them. Most were downtrodden people who were rejected by society. To them, Joseph was their salvation. Even myself, until you came along, I was led to believe that Joseph had saved me from society's evils."
Kyle nodded. "You're right. Luckily, we have them trapped like you said. The sooner we can get everything back to normal, the sooner we can deal with them once and for all and nip this in the bud."
Faith agreed with him but privately she still had concerns. Joseph was not a man to hide away. If anything, The Father had always been upfront. He was always speaking his mind and he encouraged his followers to do so by maintaining an open-door policy. Even Faith went to him a couple of times when she was unsure about something. He may have been a fucking asshole when everything was revealed about him, but he still maintained an aura of confidence. What was he up to?
The drive to Fall's End was fairly quiet. Kyle contacted Adelaide to see if she could pick up Hurk and Sharky. However, she seemed reluctant to do so and Kyle eventually relented and told her that they would take them to Falls End. To calm Jess down, he had the pair ride in the other truck. Thus the trip was mostly just a lengthy drive with everyone gazing out at the landscape they hoped was finally free of cult influence. Once they arrived, most of the crew headed into the Spread Eagle to get some dinner. The only ones that were left outside were Kyle, Faith and Jess.
"So what are you going to now Jess?" Kyle asked. He figured she wanted a break from everything. Before Jess had met him, she seemed like a loner who disliked being around people. He figured she had wanted to get away and have some alone time.
"I gotta take care of a few things but I'll be back. I wouldn't want to miss Joseph getting his ass handed to him. I'll be back early tomorrow morning. Is that cool?"
"That's fine Jess. Go do what you want to do."
She gave a small grin. "Alright, I'll see you guys later." Jess then ran off.
"So what now?" Faith questioned, glad that it was just her and Kyle now.
I'm guessing that the Spread Eagle is pretty full right now. Why don't we take a walk around and wait until it thins out a bit then we'll grab some good?" He suggested.
Faith beamed and grabbed Kyle's hand to hold in hers. "Well, shall we?"
They began walking when Kyle's radio came to life. "Kyle? You there? Its Nick. You there bud?"
Kyle let go of Faith's hand, disappointing her, while he answered the call. "I'm here Nick. What's going on?"
"Where you at partner?" Kyle could hear panic in his voice.
"We're in Falls End right now. What's wrong?" He grew concerned.
"I need you to come over here right away! Please partner! Kim's in a lot of pain. She's swearing up a storm."
"Okay, we'll be there soon Nick. Did she get shot?"
"No…..I think the baby is ready to come out…." He then hung up.
"So what did he want?" Faith asked with an annoyed tone.
Kyle started making his way back towards the truck with Faith following beside him. "It sounds like Kim is due…." He said, preferring the simple explanation.
Faith's eyes widened and her expression completely flipped. "Oh really? She said with excitement, getting in the truck. "Is it a boy or girl?"
"I don't know." Kyle answered, starting the drive toward the Rye's home.
"So they're letting it be a surprise?" She asked and only received a shrug in response. Faith also noticed that they weren't headed toward where the clinic was but in the opposite direction.
"Aren't we headed for the clinic?" She asked confused.
"They're still at their home, I think. Nick was panicking when I talked to him."
"Are you serious?! Faith yelled unintentionally. She was stunned. How had Nick not taking his own wife to the clinic by now?
The pair made it to the Rye's home to find Nick pacing outside, waiting for them.
"Oh, thank God you're here!" He spoke. "I don't know what to do. Kim says the baby wants to come out but she's in such a mood that I didn't dare go near her."
"Nick, why didn't you just take her to the clinic?" Faith scolded.
Nick was taken aback. Faith Seed was the last person he expected to lecture him. "Um, I don't know. I guess I was too much in a panic."
"We'll help you get her there." Kyle offered as they made their way into the house. Unfortunately, Nick was right. It took a great struggle to get her into the truck. Nick did her best to calm her down while he helped Kyle and Faith guide her to the truck, but Kim was swearing more than Jess usually did. The three felt relieved when they finally got her in but that was only half the battle. Now they needed to get her to the clinic quickly. Kyle did his best but there was an unusual amount of civilian traffic on the road.
"Ow!" Not so hard Kim!" Nick was trying to hold her hand to calm her down but in her state, Kim was squeezing as hard as she could.
"We need to get there! We need to get there quickly!" She yelled.
"Honey, he's doing his best. We'll be there soon." Nick tried to reassure her.
But Kim was not having any of it. "He needs to go faster! He's going too fucking slow! We need to get there." She screeched, squeezing Nick's hand again making him yelp.
Faith was trying to stay calm, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. She noticed that the more Kim yelled, the harder Kyle would try to drive. It made him reckless at times, narrowly missing a few passing civilian vehicles. She could also see the stress on his face as he concentrated on the road. Thus when Kim next complained again, Faith lost it and turned around.
"Kyle is doing the best he can so shut the fuck up so he can concentrate!" She then turned back towards the front. Nick and especially Kim were so stunned that Faith of all people would swear at them, they were silent for the rest of the trip besides a few groans of pain from Kim. When they finally reached the clinic, Kyle and Faith helped Nick get Kim inside then waited outside.
"I think a little of Jess has rubbed off on you." Kyle remarked with a smirk.
Faith smiled back sheepishly. "Well, she was being such a bitch, you were doing your best, and I just lost it when she kept going after you."
"Oh okay, then I can't wait for Jess to lose her temper to see what would happen. That'd be quite something to see." He teased, earning a playful push from Faith. The two waited outside for a few hours, mostly chatting about observations they had of other people. After what seemed like forever, Nick and Kim both came out with Nick pushing Kim in a wheelchair. Kim was holding her newborn baby girl.
"Her name is Carmina." Nick announced proudly. He had named his daughter after his plane.
"We would like the two of you to be the godparents if that's alright with you." Kim said.
"We would love to." Faith replied looking back to see a nod from Kyle. As she gazed lovingly at the newborn girl, Faith suddenly flashed back to the past. At one point, she had been rejected by her own family and had only one friend in the world in Tracey. This had led her to be lured into Eden's Gate by Joseph Seed. She thought she had a new family that loved her. That was illusion was dispelled by someone she found really did care for her, Kyle. They had grown close that Faith could safely say that they both loved each other. Now Faith would have a godchild. She had become part of a family where she truly belonged.