Chapter 29: Collapsing Armageddon
Kyle woke up to almost total darkness. The only light was coming from the cracks underneath the door. After their adventure with the Ryes, he and Faith had returned to Pastor Jerome's church. He welcomed them back with open arms and even surprised them when he announced that he had made enough food for them to have dinner with him. After they ate, the fatigue quickly set in. The day had been a long one between chasing Jacob Seed and getting Kim Rye to the clinic as fast as possible. Kyle wanted to talk about recent events including the growing feelings they shared but Faith seemed exhausted. It didn't take her long for her to pass out on the bed. Kyle tucked her in and then took a spot in front of the bed. Despite their growing relationship, he didn't feel it was right for them to share a bed yet.
Kyle showered then headed out for some fresh air, being careful not to wake Faith. It was a nice early summer morning. The sun was still rising and so there was some darkness. As expected, the streets of Falls End were empty with everyone else still sleeping. Enjoying the fresh air, Kyle thought back to the time when the streets were filled with peggies. He, Jess and Boomer had liberated the town from the cultists who had trapped the residents inside the Spread Eagle. He remembered how soon after they had taken care of the cultists that a plane had attacked the town. If hadn't been for a machine gun on top of one of the buildings, they might have been in real trouble.
As he thought about that day, he felt something on his right arm. He didn't have to look to know that it was Faith resting her head on him. But wasn't she asleep? Had he woken her up without realizing it? It was also strange that he didn't hear her approach.
"Did I wake you?" He asked.
"No, you didn't. I was already up when I heard you move around but I didn't want you to know until I saw where you were going." She started massaging his back with one hand. "What are you thinking about?"
"How do you know I was thinking? Maybe I was just gazing at the scenery."
'Because you were just looking in one direction. I know how you are. So what's worrying you?" Her words were soothing.
"Just thinking about when Jess and I liberated the town. It was our first real action and the first time I dealt with one of John's planes."
"I remember that." She said with a smirk. "John was pretty upset. But I saw that you put a lot of fear into him. He was hoping that the rest of us would help him out."
"Seems like he didn't get the memo." Kyle said. "He dug his own grave when he kept coming after me and especially when he came after you. I'm glad he's gone."
"Me too." Faith said and they silently watched the sun rise from the horizon.
Later that morning, they had everyone meet at the Spread Eagle to discuss what to do about the remnants of the cult that were residing in John's old bunker. Almost everyone had gathered there, Grace came with her group including Wheaty, Adelaide came, and Whitehorse and Tracey also showed up from the jail which surprised Kyle.
"I wanted to see things through for myself." The sheriff said when he showed up. "Besides I'm pretty sure we owe you a hefty sum when the job was finished." He chuckled.
Kyle waved it off. He honestly had forgotten all about the payment he was promised. He had been given a decent amount up front but from how desperate they were, they had promised a lot of money to come his way. "Don't worry about it sheriff, its not important anymore."
"It's the least we can do with how much you've done for us." Whitehorse responded. When we finally have access to the rest of the world, you'll have some money to go have a much-deserved break." He smiled and nodded curtly to Faith before taking his seat at the large table that had been set up.
Jess had also returned but when Kyle had asked what she had been up to, she was evasive. "I just had to take care of some stuff. Don't worry about it." She hurriedly took her seat to the right of where Kyle was sitting. Faith, of course, was seated on his left while everyone else took their seats. When everyone was seated, Kyle rose to address the gathering.
"I want to thank you all for coming here this morning. As you probably know, the last of Eden's Gate, including Joseph and Jacob Seed are taking refuge inside of John Seed's old bunker. This is their last stronghold. Once we take this down, Hope County will finally be free. However, this bunker will be our biggest challenge to date. The only reason we were able to get into the bunker in the Henbene is because we had a passcode for an alternative entrance. It will be much more difficult for us to force our way inside this one."
"So we can't just bomb the place from the air huh?" Nick said. Kim was still at the clinic with the baby but she had told Nick to attend the meeting even though he wanted to stay by his wife and newborn daughter.
"I'm afraid not." Kyle responded. "The bunker is heavily fortified. It would probably take military grade explosives in order to pierce it. I know that you have bombs but they are all HE types. We basically need bunker busters."
"What about any other entrances?" Tracey spoke up next. "Like the one you guys used. They're gotta be another way in besides the one door right?"
"No dice on that one either. We've scouted everywhere and anywhere else that could be breached is heavily fortified. The bunker door would probably be the weakest area but even then, we still don't have the means to blast through it."
"We could always wait them out Kyle." Whitehorse suddenly rose. "I know you're eager to end this as much as anyone else but look at it from a different perspective. We have them trapped with only one way out for them. As long as we keep an eye on it, we can wait them out. It may take a long time, but they'll eventually start running low on supplies. In the meantime, we'll work on getting back our connection to the outside world. Once we do that, maybe we can ask the army to finish the job for us. We don't need to be in a hurry as long as they're not a threat to us anymore."
The sheriff's words made sense. There really was no rush. As long as the peggies were confined and watched, they would be of little threat. As much as Kyle had his personal vendetta, perhaps it would be easier to just wait them out. "You have a point sheriff…"
Just then Mary May came rushing out from behind the bar. "Guys, you might want to see this. Joseph's making a broadcast." She turned the TV toward the table as all eyes fixated on it.
On the screen was the man himself. Joseph was shirtless and looked tired. But the most surprising thing was who was next to him. On his left was his older brother Jacob. But on the right was John Seed, the man everyone thought to have been killed.
"How the fuck is that bastard still alive?" Jess mumbled before Joseph began to speak.
"The time is almost upon us. Soon the collapse will begin and wash away the filth that has plagued humanity. I have always strived to build a better future for those who heed my warnings. Despite the sinners' best attempts to destroy us, we still stand. Now they shall be punished for their transgressions." Joseph looked more intently into the camera. "The sinners and traitors will perish and when it is all through, God's children will return to build the world!" The screen then went to fuzz.
"He sure likes to rant." Mary May commented.
"Does he really believe that this collapse is still coming?" Asked Grace to no one in particular.
"It doesn't matter. We have him trapped in the bunker. He's delusional." concluded Tracey. The others nodded their heads in agreement and talked amongst themselves. Kyle was skeptical. How could Joseph be so confident? His brothers may have survived to join him, but like Tracey said, they were now all trapped in the bunker with no way out but to certain death. Kyle knew that Joseph was not the type of man to ever surrender so why the speech? Maybe he has gone crazy with everything that has happened. At one point, it looked like Joseph had it all. But then he almost everything to a mercenary who should have never been involved.
Suddenly there was static from Kyle's radio and Dutch's voice came up. "Kid?! Kid?! Are you there?!" He sounded frantic which worried Kyle.
"I'm here Dutch. What's wrong?"
"You saw Joseph's speech, right? Is everyone else with you?"
Kyle put the radio on the table for everyone to be able to hear him. "Yeah, we're all here Dutch. We all saw it. Joseph can talk but we have him trapped in the bunker with no way for him to escape. He's gone nuts." Kyle assured him.
"You don't understand kid! You need to get in there as soon as possible!"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. "Why Dutch? Like I said, we have him trapped in there and we're watching the entrance. He has no way of harming anyone."
"You don't understand kid! Joseph could fuck us all over! There's a nuclear missile in that base!"
There was an audible gasp as everyone processed what they just heard. After some silence besides a few murmurings, Kyle spoke again. "Are you sure Dutch? How do you know?"
"John's bunker used to be an old military base that deactivated but was still garrisoned with personnel. When Eden's Gate came, they managed to convince the military personnel to join them. Its how they got a lot of their military grade weapons and aircraft. Eli also used the design of that bunker to build the other ones. But the one thing he didn't replicate is the nuclear missile silo."
Kyle's confusion gave way to anger. "How come you didn't tell us this before?!
"It slipped my mind! Besides, when I thought you killed John, I assumed the threat was gone. I wouldn't have imagined the Seeds going back there." He sounded apologetic. "You have to stop them!"
Kyle tried to think of solutions. "Is there any way we can disable it from the outside? How much time do we have you think?"
"There's no way of disabling it from the outside kid. You're going to have to find the control room and stop it that way. As for how much time you have, I don't know. Based on his broadcast, it seems like he's going to use the missile to start his own Armageddon. It could be hours or it could be days but you have to stop him asap!"
But they had no way of getting into the bunker…. Kyle wanted to tell Dutch that to see if he would have a solution. Dutch's desperation, however, would have had him already have mentioned a way in so Kyle assumed he had no solution. "Alright Dutch. We'll get in there and stop him." It was all Kyle could say.
"If anyone can do it, you can kid. Good luck. The world is counting on you."
Kyle put the radio down gently as he tried to think. All around him there were whispers, some in panic, some in confusion. Unable to think of anything, Kyle turned to Faith.
"Did you know anything about this?" He asked. He tried not to sound accusing.
Faith shook her head. "No. When I came into the project, I was mostly around the Henbene. Like I said before, I was only at Jacob's place a couple of times and John's only once or twice for business. There was never any mention of a nuclear missile. The Father also made it seem like the collapse would come from the outside." She looked up at him, frowning. "We have to stop him! One thing I know about The Father, he will not hesitate to use that missile if it furthers his goals."
Kyle sighed. "I know. But the problem is getting in there…."
Faith gripped his arm soothingly. "You'll find a way. You always do."
As reassuring as Faith was trying to be, Kyle still had doubts. It could take time to come up with a way inside. There was a good possibility that they didn't have that time to spare. A dark thought came to his mind. Perhaps they should preempt the missile and try to take cover in the bunkers, let the world burn but as least they would survive.
Just then, a voice came from behind him. "Excuse me, Kyle?"
Kyle turned around to see Wheaty standing nervously behind them.
"What's up?" He asked.
The kid tried his best to compose himself. "I think I have a way we can get inside the bunker."
Kyle and Faith were intrigued. "How?"
Wheaty took a what looked to be a keycard out of his bag. "I think this unlocks the door to the bunker."
Kyle was astonished but like before, annoyed that this was only being brought up now. Faith saw his reaction a rubbed his back to calm him down a bit. "Where did you find this?"
"Well, I was thinking of ways of how we could get inside the bunker. When that man, Dutch, mentioned Eli's name, I realized that I had a bunch of stuff from Eli's things that looked like keycards. I'm guessing that Eli had this from when he designed the bunkers. He probably had access to John's bunker so he could study it as a template."
Kyle slowly took the card. "We'll all be thankful that he had this." He stood and turned around to face the rest of the group. "Everyone, looks like Eli had a way for us to get inside the bunker. Get your things ready, we're moving out now!"
Kyle made sure to find Nick before he left. "Nick, I know you have a newborn daughter now so how about this. Just stay in your plane and watch in case anyone comes out. You'll most likely not have to do anything, and it'll keep you safe, for Kim and Carmina."
"I appreciate it partner." He gave him a small bro hug and then quickly departed.
Everyone scrambled to board their vehicles. Kyle got in the driver's seat of their truck with Faith entering the passenger seat. They were joined by Jess, Whitehorse, and Hudson. The others boarded the vehicles they had outside with Adelaide taking flight in her helicopter. The convoy was soon on its way to the John's bunker. Along the way, Kyle saw Faith was looking downward like something was troubling her.
"Hey" he said, getting her attention. "Don't worry. We'll stop them."
She shook her head. "No, it's not that. It's just that…."
Kyle grew concerned. "What?"
"The Father. I'm a little anxious about seeing him again."
"You won't face him alone. We'll all be with you." He assured her.
She gave a faint smile. "Thank you."
The convoy soon reached the bunker. The area outside was deserted as expected. Kyle couldn't be sure if there were cameras that could spy on them but at this point it didn't matter. As soon they started unloading, he got on his radio.
"Adelaide, I need you to stay outside here with your helicopter. Nick will be here soon. We're going to leave two people out here on the ground. You guys make sure no one comes out. In the event that we fail….you get the hell out of there and alert as many as you can to take shelter."
There was a moments of silence before a response came. "Roger that darling." She said solemnly.
Kyle had Hurk and Sharky stay outside. The duo complained but Kyle did his best to convince them which was helped by Jess staring them down in order to gain their compliance. Once that was taken care of, the rest of the group moved quickly toward the bunker door. So far so good. Kyle took the keycard out and swiped it. There was a confirmation beep and the door unlocked. After giving a silent thanks to Eli, Kyle led everyone inside.
Surprisingly, there was no resistance just inside. Joseph might have figured that no one would be able to get through the bunker door and thus there wasn't a reason to post any sentries. They would know that there was a breach soon if they didn't know already. Everyone had their guns drawn and on high alert. Kyle listened for sounds of any footsteps, but he didn't see or hear anything until they got to the first major hallway.
A peggie who was taking a break saw then and took cover when the group tried to take him out. "It's the sinners! The sinners are here! They're in the bunker!" He shrieked. He finally picked up a weapon and tried to engage the sinners but was gunned down. However, he had been successful in raising the alarm and a swarm of cultists came rushing into the hallway, taking fire and exchanging fire with the intruders.
"We can't let them stall us! We need to push forward!" Whitehorse shouted before popping out of cover and taking a few shots with his pistol. While taking down what cultists he could, Kyle tried to see where the hallway led to. But he also remembered from Faith's old bunker that these structures would be confusing with their network of hallways and adjoining rooms.
"Are you sure you don't know where to go?" he asked Faith while they were under fire.
"If its similar to my bunker, maybe I can guide us." She replied. "But like I said before, I've never actually been here before."
Kyle nodded. "It's better than nothing. Let's go!" He then gave orders to his group directing them to fire and cover others' advance. Slowly, the peggies gave ground as they lost more and more people to the more disciplined and better equipped group. Soon, the cultists gave up the fight and ran back down one of the other hallways. It was something that Kyle had experienced before and like before, he would divide into two groups.
"Sheriff, would you be able to lead a group down that way?" He pointed to where the cultists had fled to. "We're going to go this way."
"I can do that but who are you going with? Don't tell me it'll just be you and Faith?"
Kyle nodded in affirmation. "We'll attract less attention that way. The peggies will focus on the main group allowing us to get around them."
"Oh no you don't!" Jess interrupted. "This time I'm going with you. If you run into Jacob or Joseph; I want to be there. Besides, someone's got to keep an eye on you two."
Kyle smirked. He was glad that Jess had insisted on coming. With all three of the Seed brothers alive, it was better if Jess was with them for the inevitable confrontation. Jess joining him also meant that Whitehorse was now fine with the plan.
"You guys be careful." He warned. "If you see the Seeds, give them hell for us, alright?"
"Will do sheriff." Kyle responded. "You be careful too."
Whitehorse nodded then started leading his group down his hallway. Even when Kyle's group proceeded down the other way, he heard the sheriff barking orders to Hudson.
The three didn't encounter many cultists. What cultists they did find they surprised, and Kyle had Jess be the one to drop them so they wouldn't raise the alarm. Faith led the group as best she could when the coast was clear. She used both signs and her knowledge of her former base to guide them along.
"I think we're getting close." She whispered.
After a bit, they saw what looked like to be a big open room at the end of a hallway. Kyle figured that they had finally found the command room, but he was suspicious of the fact that there weren't guards around. While most of them may have been drawn off to engage the sheriff's group, he thought there would be at least a few guarding the command center and especially guarding The Father. When they finally did reach the room, it was much larger than they thought. On the other side, there were three separate hallways. But blocking those hallways were the Seeds. Joseph stood in the middle, Jacob was to his right and John was to his left. Jacob and John was scowling but Joseph had a slight grin on his face.
"You continue to surprise and amaze me." Joseph spoke as if he had rehearsed a speech. "With everything you have been able to accomplish, it almost makes me think that God is working miracles through you. But I know that cannot be true. It is evidenced by who is beside you." He pointed an accusing finger at Faith. "The fact that you convinced her to turn away, to turn away from salvation, confirms that you are indeed a servant of the devil."
Kyle chuckled to himself. "You really are into your own bullshit aren't you? I know exactly what you did. You took advantage of a situation. You took advantage of a woman of a woman who had fallen on hard times but had enormous potential. All for what? So she could be a pawn in your cult? To be used to convince others to join you. And when she was of no use anymore? You would cast her aside like all the others."
He clenched his fists. "But she was stronger than you knew. Even when I first met her, I knew something was different in her. Faith is smart, smarter than you know. I only had to reveal what I found out and everything clicked for her. She saw through your bullshit." Faith couldn't help but smile and she placed her hand on Kyle's arm.
Joseph's smile still remained. "I wouldn't call her smart. She turned down a chance for hope and salvation to follow a man who only knows war, violence. A sinner. How many have you killed just to get to me? You only know of destruction, but you will fail to destroy me." Joseph's smile dropped and his eyes hardened.
"I'm destruction? Yet you're willing to launch a nuke to cause global Armageddon?" Kyle yelled back. His anger was rising quickly.
"Humanity's sins need to be cleansed and there are only few worthy of salvation. They are gathered here in this bunker, the ones that survived your murderous rampage. But I'm noticing you are in no mood to talk so I'll wrap things up. If you wish to stop the missile, you'll need three keys to disable the launch. Jacob, John and I each have a key. You will have to kill all three of us and turn the keys to stop the launch. But I already know you will fail."
Kyle didn't even make a retort. He raised his gun to take a shot at Joseph but John and Jacob who until now were patiently standing by The Father's side, beat him to it and opened fire. Kyle, Faith and Jess ducked behind cover to avoid the gunfire. Kyle peeked his head out and saw that the Seed brothers had split up, each taking a different tunnel.
Jess had apparently seen it too. "As much as I want to put an arrow through The Father's brains, I have a score to settle with Jacob. Put a bullet in Joseph for me would ya?" She then ran off to where Jacob had gone too.
Kyle and Faith exchanged glances. The Seeds expected them to split up but that didn't mean they had to do what the brothers wanted. "Let's go after Joseph." Kyle suggested. "John can wait, we our own issue to settle with The Father."
But Faith shook her head. "No, you go after John. I'm sure you'll be able to handle him easily enough. I'll go after Joseph." She held up her pistol when Kyle gave her a skeptical look. "I'll be fine! You taught me how to shoot right? I can handle Joseph."
Kyle was hesitant. It was true that Faith knew how to fire a gun. She had even killed a few cultists before. But the kills she had gotten had been on those who were distracted, when she wasn't under fire. But Joseph would have his full attention on her. Even if he wasn't trained with guns, Kyle knew he was crazy enough to be dangerous.
"Faith, its too dangero….." He was unable to finish his sentence as Faith unexpectantly gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. After a few moments she pulled away and had a look of determination.
"This is something I need to do Kyle. I must confront The Father on my own. I'll be careful….now go on." She motioned towards where John Seed had gone to.
Kyle started walking hesitantly in that direction but then he stopped to turn around and look at Faith one more time. "As soon as I'm finished, I'm coming back. Don't take any risks." He then headed after John.
Faith smiled to herself. Kyle was a bit overprotective of her, but she knew that he had a good heart. It would be that emotion, their love for each other that would be her strength against Joseph. With these thoughts in mind, she started calmly walking the path that The Father had gone down.
Jess found herself in a dimly lit room. It was large, almost like a warehouse. She wondered how vast this bunker actually was. But she quickly set aside those thoughts. All that mattered now was Jacob. He was hiding somewhere in this darkness; Jess could feel it. All of a sudden, she noticed movement and heard a shot. She quickly ducked down behind some nearby boxes, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a sniper shot.
"You were a worthy foe, Black." She heard him say loud enough for her to hear. "All this time, not only did you manage to elude my forces but whenever I sent men to find you, they would always wind-up dead." Jess tried listening for where Jacob could be. She narrowed it a location and fired an arrow. She heard it bounce off the wall harmlessly.
Jess took cover from another shot. "It became worse after you teamed up with that mercenary. Even more of my people ended up dead including my best lieutenant. I wasn't sure how to deal with you."
Jess shot another arrow, dinging off a metal object. "But then it all became clear, especially when I dealt with Eli. All I had to do was let you come to me."
Jess narrowly avoided another shot. "You came here like moths to a flame. You expected us to be cornered but we were ready. Blinded by revenge, here you are, coming after me alone. Without your mercenary friend and the woods to give you cover, you are nothing! I will end you!"
Jess fired another arrow where she thought she heard Jacob from, but it was another miss. He continued to taunt her, while also trying to snipe her from a distance. Jess needed to land an arrow soon. Her supply was quickly dwindling.
Kyle cautiously entered the large room that the hallway had led to. He had expected John to try to ambush him and so he had been on high alert. But there had been no sign of the youngest Seed brother. When Kyle stepped into the room, which was fairly large, there was John Seed, flanked by two chosen.
"All by yourself huh?" He taunted. "Didn't bring either of the two bitches with you? That's a shame."
Kyle's anger started to rise but he remained calm as he scanned his opposition. A smile came across John's face as he saw that he had his opponent riled up. "You were surprised when you saw that I was alive weren't you? You all thought I was dead. When that bridge collapsed, I should have died. But at the last second, I decided to jump out into the river below, barely managing to avoid the explosion. I lost consciousness for a bit, but I survived. Now I'm back. I remember when you gave yourself up for that deputy. I should have killed you right then and there. But The Father wanted me to honor the deal we made."
Kyle only partially listened to John's speech. He was eying warily, John's two chosen guards. Both were carrying light machine guns. They stood menacingly at John's side as their leader continued to speak. He knew he could try shooting John while he was talking but there was a chance the guards would get him while he was preoccupied.
John continued "Then that traitor Faith, took you from my grasp. I HAD you! But now you've returned to this bunker. This time you won't be leaving. I'll make sure I send you to hell!"
As if on cue, the chosen opened up on Kyle with a barrage of gunfire with John joining in. Kyle took cover behind a steel container, but he had to act fast. Even though he had fought outnumbered before, this time the enemy was very aware of his presence. Furthermore, there was not that much room to maneuver. He had to think fast. If he just stayed in cover, the chosen would eventually flank him and he'd be trapped with no way of escape. He needed a plan.
Faith proceeded forth cautiously. She had been so confident when she spoke with Kyle earlier but now that she was alone, she was thinking that this had been the wrong move. She had let her pride get in the way. Faith had wanted to confront Joseph on her own. She had wanted to prove that she had grown stronger. A part of her also wanted to talk to Joseph one on one. It felt like it had been forever since she last spoke to him. But the last they had spoken was when Faith convinced The Father to have Kyle transferred from John's bunker over to her. She had used all her persuasion tactics to make it happen. Ironically, it would be a decision that would change everything for them all.
The hallway finally led to a large room. There were countertops everywhere with various things such as maps and models of buildings. But the thing that stood out to Faith the most were the pictures. They hung above every display. Some were just portraits of the Seed brothers but there were a few of Faith. As continued to gaze around the room, one portrait caught her attention. It was one with the entire Seed family, at least at the time. Joseph, Jacob, John, and Faith. They were all gazing forward and smiling like one happy family. Faith remembered exactly when that picture was taken. Everything had been going well for Joseph's project. It was shortly before the marshal led the attempt to try to arrest Joseph, before Kyle appeared.
"It takes you back doesn't it? A time when things were more simple, more peaceful."
Faith was jarred out of her thoughts by Joseph suddenly appearing in her peripheral. He had the same look as he did on the fateful day. He was just carrying an Ak-47 assault rifle. The man was shirtless, with all his markings being shown. The Father had various sins tattooed on himself as a reminder of what he believed he had conquered. They were also for his followers to see, to show that they too, needed to conquer sin. Although Joseph had seen better days, he was still carrying the triumphant smile that Faith remembered from the old days.
"Do you remember when you first came to me?" He asked.
Faith was thinking that Joseph had this whole encounter planned. "I do." She said simply.
"You were in desperate need of help. Mired in drugs, rejected by society, you were looking for somewhere you could belong, where you would be loved. I took you in and showed you a family would accept you and love you. Rachel Jessop was left behind and Faith was born. You loved your family and we loved you. You overcame everything that had weighed you down, held you back. You had everything! Everything that mattered! Everything you wanted!"
His smile vanished. "And here you are, returning to me. But changed. Now you seek to destroy everything, everything that I worked for, the people that accepted you with open arms. Why?
"Because I learned the truth. Your 'love' was never genuine. It was only there as long as I was useful, as long as I was obedient. I was merely a tool for an end, and not the first tool at that. You never actually cared. But I found someone who does. Someone who accepts me, doesn't try to manipulate me, genuinely cares for me. Kyle is the one I wish I would have met before, instead of you.
Joseph snorted. "Ah yes, the mercenary. All he knows is violence. That man will never know peace. How can you profess to love someone like that, who thrives on chaos and conflict? The mercenary's only loyalty is to himself. Any kindness will only be temporary, and then he will move on."
Faith grip tightened on her pistol. She wanted to shoot Joseph right then and there. But she stayed calm and resisted the urge to do so. "Kyle knows more about peace then you do. He's actually trying to help people. For all your talk of saving, you've only caused misery to everyone!
"The sinners needed to be purged. You know that well as you were a part of our vision. Until the mercenary came along, you seemingly had no issue with the way we dealt with the sinners. In fact, at times, I think you enjoyed it. You enjoyed it because it was revenge, revenge against those who had cast you out, who had bullied you, tormented you, made your life hard. You were so dedicated to the project; I was so proud of you. But you threw it all away for a heathen, demon whose future will be burning in hell."
Faith's anger finally got the better of her as she quickly pulled up her pistol and fired at Joseph. But The Father had been aware of her growing hate, and he quickly ducked behind cover and retaliated with a burst of gunfire from his assault rifle.
"I thought you had overcome your flaws Faith! But he has infected you with sin and you shall be purged with the rest of them!" He shouted as he continued to fire.
Faith managed to duck behind some cover, avoiding Joseph's gunfire. She was in a bad situation. The first shot had been her best chance to kill The Father. But she telegraphed her shot too early and now was stuck in a standoff with Joseph. Even though Joseph wasn't a soldier, he had an assault rifle. Faith only had her pistol and one spare magazine of ammo. She would need to make her shots count. But she silently vowed that she would kill that bastard one way or another.
Jess cursed to herself. She had just reached back for another arrow and found she had used them all. Jacob's taunts had caused her to use them all up faster than she typically did. Not only that but in the outdoor settings, Jess would be able to replenish her supply by picking up the arrows she had shot. However, in this room and with Jacob constantly pinning her down in gunfire, she was unable to retrieve her used arrows.
Jacob must have noticed it too as he stopped shooting and starting talking again. "You don't seem to be wasting any more arrows." He taunted sarcastically. "That means either two things, either you got smart and stopped wasting ammo or the more likely reason is that you're out of arrows. Guess I can turn the light back on now."
Jess listened closely and heard footsteps. There was an option to go charging where she had heard them but it was very possible that she would be fumbling in the dark just like she was when shooting her arrows. Not only that, she would expose herself fully to Jacob's weaponry and she was sure that bastard wouldn't miss an open target. A few seconds went by and the lights came on, blinding Jess briefly. When she regained her fully vision, she looked around and found that Jacob was standing in the open, smiling devilishly.
"You might as well give up now." He said shrugging while holding a scoped rifle in one hand. "I know you have a knife and I know how dangerous you are with it but its over. You can run around all you want but you'll never get close enough get me. You might as well let me come around and make it a quick death."
Jacob slowly made his way around the edge of the room, gun trained on where Jess was. She felt her person and found the knife and cursed to herself again. Jacob was once again correct. Jess wouldn't be able to get close enough to Jacob to use that knife, not with his marksmanship. She could always try throwing the knife but that would be a risky gamble. She felt around the inside of her hoodie again, desperately searching for anything that could prevent the inevitable. Her hand bumped into something and immediately remembered what she had. Jess used all of her restraint to prevent herself from revealing her ace. She impatiently waited as Jacob crept closer into position.
When Jacob finally reached a position where he had a clear line of sight, he took aim at Jess' head. But he noticed too late that Jess had something in her hand.
"Get fucked you bastard." Jess then fired the pistol she had hidden away, hitting Jacob square in the chest. A look of shock registered across his face as he realized he had been shot by Jess Black, with a gun. The first shot didn't kill Jacob but Jess quickly stood up and fire several more rounds into him, emptying the magazine. Jacob Seed collapsed dead with blood gushing from his wounds and his mouth. Jess was filled with satisfaction. Her family might have been brutally killed, but those responsible had been dealt with all except Joseph. But the huntress couldn't bask for too long. She quickly reached down and ripped the key from Jacob's neck. She then quickly went to retrieve her arrows which were scattered all over the place. Jess hurriedly went back the way she had came previously. A desire to murder The Father was present but she also hoped that the other two were alright.
Kyle was in a stalemate. Bullets kept flying at him from John and his two chosen and Kyle would return fire when he could. But this was a situation in which he would eventually lose if it continued. His three opponents, especially the chosen probably had more ammo reserves than he did. Eventually they would run Kyle out of ammo and he would be unable to defend himself. Thus, he needed to take the initiative. But it was easier said than done as the chosen's light machine guns mean they could lay down suppressing fire for a longer period, keeping the mercenary from being able to do anything. The only hope that Kyle had was taking advantage of an opening. Luckily for him, one presented itself. Though able to shoot for long periods of time, the weakness of the LMGs were that they took a much longer time to reload. Thus, when Kyle saw both chosen reloading at the same time, he took his opportunity.
The mercenary finally moved from his original spot heading towards one of the chosen. John Seed was still firing at him but his shots were inaccurate. "Hey! He's headed towards you!" John shouted in frustration. But the chosen he was trying to warn was still trying to concentrate on reloading his weapon. By the time he finished, he looked up and saw Kyle's gun pointing right at him. One burst and Kyle had taken care one of his three enemies.
"Damn it all!" John shouted in anger seeing what had happened. "Kill him!"
The other chosen had finished reloading his weapon and moved to carry out his orders. But Kyle had the advantage. Not only was there one less gun trained on him, but now he was able to use the dead chosen's LMG to his advantage. With John's fire being too inaccurate, Kyle used his newly acquire weapon to keep the other chosen pinned in place while he maneuvered towards his location. Kyle moved to swiftly that despite John's warnings, the chosen was taken by surprise and gunned down by Kyle at close range. Two down, one to go.
"Even if you kill me, its useless! The Father's prophecy about the coming collapse is true! You cannot stop it!" John's rage was evident but it was also due how hopeless the situation had gotten. Just a few minutes ago, he and his chosen had Kyle on the brink of defeat. But now his guards had been quickly dispatched and now he was alone against an enemy that seemingly couldn't be killed. Kyle didn't have much difficulty in moving towards John's location. The Seed's rage was the thing that kept him going. When he tried to angerly reload his weapon, he found himself facing the barrel of a gun.
"You're dead! You and all you care about will be dead!" He screamed. "Especially that traitorous whor- "He never got to finish as Kyle blasted him in the head with anger on his face.
"If I do go, I'll find you in hell." Kyle said softly even though John was dead. He ripped the key for the nuke controls off his neck. Even with the world at stake of being launched into nuclear apocalypse, Kyle still wanted to back to find Faith. Even if the worst came to pass, and the world was plunged into nuclear fire, he still wanted to be with her and make sure she was all right. Making sure the LMG was reloaded, he went back the down the hallway hoping to find the one he loved.
Faith counted her ammo. Based on the number of shots she had taken, she had five bullets left in her magazine. It was her last one since she had forgotten to grab extras before coming to the bunker. Faith and Joseph had been trading shots at each other with neither being able to get a clear shot and hit on the other. Faith tried to peer over to see what Joseph was up to, but she quickly had to duck back down when a burst of bullets came at her. The only plan that Faith had was to hope that Joseph would try to get closer to get a better shot on her. With only five bullets, Faith had to make every shot count.
She looked over and didn't see Joseph which was strange. Had he ducked back behind cover to reload? Faith tried to listen but didn't hear anything. She waited a few more moments and still Joseph didn't pop up. Now she was beginning to panic. Joseph could have moved up heading towards her position and she had no idea where he was. Faith frantically looked around, but The Father was nowhere in sight. She crouched back behind her cover, hoping that Joseph didn't surprise her.
Suddenly Faith heard footsteps coming quickly behind her while she was trying to spot Joseph. The former Seed quickly spun around with her gun pointed at the intruder, ready to fire. But the intruder was Kyle who upon Faith pointing her pistol at him, raised his hands slightly.
"Hey, hey. Its only me." He said trying to comfort her. Faith was filled with happiness but also with fear. She had almost shot Kyle, her most treasured companion on earth. Faith dropped the pistol and threw her arms around Kyle's neck, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and squeezing him tight while sobbing.
"Sssssh, everything's going to be fine." Trying to calm her down.
"I almost shot you. I almost fucking shot you!" She whispered while sobbing onto his shoulder.
"But you didn't. You did nothing wrong." He brushed the back of her hair with one hand while holding her.
Faith broke the embrace and Kyle's heart warmed when he saw her smile. "I'm so happy you're back!" She whispered, a tear at the edge of her left eye.
"I am too." He said smiling back. "Everything's going to be ok. Jess and I killed John and Jacob. Joseph's the last one left."
Faith had a look of confusion. "Jess, where is she?"
"She's circling around right now." Faith noticed that Kyle was now lugging a LMG in addition to his regular gun. "Jess is going to flush Joseph out and we're going to finish this."
He took up a firing position, peeked over cover then came back down. "I don't think Joseph knows that Jess and I are here. But he's hunkered down. We need you to lure him out so we can get him in the open. I'll be nearby so you won't be in any danger. Just find a way to get him to show himself."
Faith nodded and Kyle patted her on the shoulder. He then moved himself so he way a few yards away from Faith but still concealed. He turned back toward her a gave her the signal to do her thing. She picked up the pistol she had dropped earlier, took a deep breath then stood up.
"Joseph, why are you so afraid? In the past you told of how you defied society, how you resisted those that mocked you while you were trying to find your brothers. You stood tall against those who wished to harm your flock, defending them when you moved here to Hope County. You inspired many to believe in you, in your message. But now you cower from danger. Do you not have your faith in God to overcome this trial? Or was this really an excuse for your ego to exert power, to gain revenge on a society that mistreated you so?"
She took her pistol and chucked it over to where he was. "Come out and face me if you're really the one God chose.
It didn't take long for Joseph to finally stand up from his spot. He glared at Faith and then he looked at the pistol she had tossed over. He stared at it for a few moments before returning his gaze to her.
"What do you hope to accomplish by tossing your weapon? If you hope to negotiate with me, its too late. You made your choice. However, I can send you to God. He will judge you as he will judge all the sinners."
The Father raised his rifle to shoot Faith but the second he did, an arrow came flying from the left. Joseph saw it out of the corner of his eye and tried to dodge but the arrow still skimmed across his arm causing him to shout in pain. Ignoring it, Joseph moved from his position, backing up from where Jess had shot him from while firing his weapon. As he did this, he exposed his left flank to where Kyle was waiting. If on cue, Kyle stood up and shot a extended burst from his LMG. Joseph howled in pain as he was hit by multiple bullets and fell over, preventing Kyle from seeing if he was dead or not. He saw Jess stand up and give him a signal for both of them to advance on where The Father had fallen.
"Stay here." Kyle told Faith. "We're going to check and make sure the job is done."
But she shook her head. "No, I'm coming with you. I need to see this through as well."
Kyle shrugged but acquiesced. He moved forward slowly with is weapon ready toward where Joseph had fallen. Jess was coming to meet him from her end. Meanwhile, Faith proceeded forward and picked up the pistol she had thrown earlier. Making sure everything was in order, she then headed to where Kyla and Jess was converging. The three met up where Joseph was shot and a trail of blood led around the corner of some metal crates. At the end of that trail, they found The Father.
He was not in good shape. His torso and arms were covered with blood. Joseph's rifle lay next to him, almost covered in as much blood. His breaths were laborious, and he was clutching at his side where had been hit. His eyes regarded the trio as they approached him.
"Your presence here means my brothers are dead." He lamented. The last Seed sighed there was a flash of regret in his eyes.
"They have gone to be with God. Soon, I will join them." He sighed again.
Jess looked ready to finish him off with her bow, but Kyle stopped her from doing so. Jess gave him an angry look but she stood down.
"Perhaps I was wrong." Joseph continued. "All the suffering me and my family endured…..and in the end, all we did was spread it to others. I thought the voice had put me on the path God intended, to save the worthy. But it seems that it was for a different purpose. It was a lesson for those who would follow my path, to use grievances to justify inflicting suffering onto others. And I see that despite the evil that humanity and society can cause, humanity also has its good in the world."
He looked up at Kyle. "You lived by the gun, but even so, you still tried to help people. You helped people you didn't even know, had no ties to. I would never imagine a mercenary having such kindness. But it was my mistake to judge for you had more compassion than I. I see that now Kyle."
Joseph then turned to look at Faith. "Faith…..I regret the path that led you to join us. I should have not used trickery. I should have just offered my hand to help you. My ego got in the way. Those that came before you….they did their tasks at first but then they started to question. I felt they had lost their faith so they were replaced. You…..you ended up being the best one of them all, so loyal, dedicated, hardworking, if not for….." He stopped himself shaking his head.
"No, perhaps it was fate that you two would meet." He motioned to Kyle. "He showed you that there was still good left in humanity. My love was one with conditions but it seems you found one who will love you unconditionally and in turn you can fully embrace. I see that this unbreakable love is a major reason why in the end, you were victorious."
He removed the arm covering his chest and used it to rip the neckless with the nuclear key from his neck. He weakly held it out to Faith. "Take it. I was wrong to condemn humanity as a whole. While there may be evil, there is also good, a good that's worth preserving. So go, stop the launch…."
He started coughing. "I will go now to join my brothers. They are waiting for me with God. I hope they forgive me for all my sins." The Father then took his last breath and slumped over, dead.
Kyle, Jess and Faith, stood silently for a few moments, not as much out of sympathy but at realizing that the Seed family that they had fought against was not gone.
"Let's get going." Kyle finally said. "There's no telling how long we have until that nuke launches."
The girls nodded silently and the three quickly started making their way towards the control room. They ran into no cultists along the way, Joseph must have sent them all against Kyle's group previously.
When they entered the control room, the trio frantically looked for the place where they needed to insert the keys. They found it on the right side of the main console.
"ICBM ready for launch. Please insert key to fire." The console said robotically.
"How the fuck do we stop this shit?" Jess asked.
Kyle thought for a minute and then came up with a solution.
"Put the key in and turn to the left." He ordered.
Jess and Faith were hesitant. "You do know that that the computer just said to insert the key to fire right?" Jess said sarcastically.
"I'm guessing to fire you would need to insert the key and turn it to the right. I'm hoping that if we turn the key to the left, it'll stop the launch.
"You guess? Fuck, Kyle. You better hope you're right. Either we're going to stop the missile or launch it." Jess replied.
"It's a risk we have to take." Faith spoke up.
Jess shrugged and the three inserted their respective keys and turned them to the left. Then they waited anxiously as the console took time to process decision.
"Launch canceled. Retracting ICBM." The console finally spoke.
There were three sighs of relief. The collapse had been stopped.
Author's note: Sorry this chapter has taken so long to come up, lots of things going on with life now. There be one more chapter as a sort of epilogue. If you've made it this far, I thank you for reading this story.