The next day Jack noticed Faith's bunker looked different from what he remembered but that was likely because he was not high on bliss this time. He explored the bunker thoroughly and to his surprise, no one seemed to mind or care enough to stop him. Despite his efforts however he found no trace of sheriff Whitehorse or anyone else, either Faith was keeping him somewhere else or Jacob kept them all.
Even though now he was a technically part of the cult Jack couldn't just walk over and demand his friends to be freed, no, he had to earn the trust of everyone and he knew just the way.
Although Faith's bunker seemed more medically inclined than those of her brothers it had an armory with more weapons than Jack had ever seen, his first instinct was to simply take as many as he could but this time he couldn't just solve everything with a bullet. Resistance would get worse if he just killed and fought in the name of the cult, with that in mind Jack took a pistol and bow with as many bliss bullets and arrows as he could carry.
He had felt the effects of them first hand and while fighting was a last resort it didn't hurt to be ready for anything.
Before he left Jack wandered around for a while, unlike the few times he actually managed to rest in a resistance outpost no one in the cult came to ask him to do anything in particular and he wondered if he should offer to help. Instead, everyone who he asked seemed to be ready to do as he said when he said it "We are here to serve champion" Was the most common response he got and Jack started to wonder if Faith had anything to do with it.
Outside, even the air itself seemed to be loaded with bliss, It didn't take long before orbs of light appeared everywhere Jack looked and he ran to the closest truck, jumping in his seat as Faith appeared next to him in a puff of smoke "Where are we going?" She asked with a smile.
"Hope County Jail, that's where the heart of the resistance is here" Jack replied, the feeling of bliss in him growing stronger the more Faith got close to him "I could have someone accompany you, it is a dangerous place to go all on your own" Faith offered but Jack simply shook his head "They would shoot the moment they saw them, I can handle this alone" Faith closed her eyes and finally nodded.
"As you wish but you should know I'm will be watching with great interest"
Before Jack could ask what she meant Faith vanish in a puff of smoke once more, leaving the deputy wondering if she had actually been there.
-BREAK-
Dutch aimed his shotgun at the bunker door "Who's there?" "Cheeseburger, who else?" He sighed with relief at the sound of his niece. Dutch closed the door behind them and quickly walked over to his camera feeds "So? what was so damn important you had to call me all the way out here?" Jess questioned as she followed.
"We have a problem" Dutch started to say but Jess rolled her eyes "No shit, fucking peggies are running around doing whatever they want" Dutch pointed at one of the screens as he played the recording "Not just that, look at this" Jess groaned but took a seat in one of the nearby chairs and looked at the screen. the video was in the middle of the night and the date at the bottom of the screen revealed the date.
"You recorded this last night?" She asked but Dutch pointed at the screen once more, a helicopter came into view and landed right in the middle of the camp, while the video was a little blurry she recognized sheriff Whitehorse right away. He along with 3 other people walked towards the chapel and disappeared for a couple of minutes.
The video continued and after a while and her patience was starting to run out but before she could say anything a flash of light happened near the chapel, she saw all the peggies around run towards it while some stayed behind and climbed inside the helicopter, dragging the body of the poor bastard that been left behind out. Dutch speed up the video a bit and she saw a mob of peggies carrying something inside the helicopter before it finally took off, her eyes glued to the deputy that had been left behind.
"What the fuck was that?" Jess asked but Dutch simply shook his head "It was a damned trap, they took everyone but him" Jess frowned at the news but she knew better than to think this was all her uncle wanted to say.
"Jess... we need your help, the sheriff and his deputies are gone. Eli's militia is hanging on by a thread, Jerome and Mary May are not doing any better either, Virgil keeps losing people to the bliss-" Jess slammed her hand down on the desk "Fine! I get it, just... what am I supposed to do?" Dutch smiled and pointed at the map in the wall.
"First, we need to take back this island and get the radio tower working again, we need to warn everyone..."
-BREAK-
Jack left the truck out of sight once he was close enough to the jail, he checked himself in the mirror for a moment. His uniform was wrinkled and his eyes did a poor job of hiding his anxiety, rubbing his face one last time he began to walk, corpses of cultists littered the entrance filling the air with the stench of death.
"That's close enough, who are you?" A voice called out to him from inside the walls, Jack placed his hands in the air "I'm one of sheriff Whitehorse deputies, I'm here to help!" No one answered but he could hear people talking, finally, the door opened and two members of the resistance came out checking the area around them.
"Come on, get in here" One of them said and Jack wasted no time getting in, the place was filled with people and Jack wondered how many had died while he was busy dealing with John last time.
The cougars guided him towards the main office where Virgil was waiting "Deputy, thank god you are here. As you can see we could use all the help we can get" The man looked exhausted but despite that, he still managed to keep a friendly little smile on his face. Jack smiled back at him "Glad I could make it in time then" Virgil motioned for him to seat but Jack keeps looking at all the people currently holed up in the cell area.
There were too many people here, even if he managed to incapacitate the guards all the families in the cells would remain a problem "You're not alone..." Jack looked around at the sound of Faith's voice, the mayor patted his shoulder in a comforting manner "It's okay, we are safe here deputy. The bliss will get to you if you let it but we have a doctor here that can give you a check-up too if you wish".
Jack took a seat and shook his head "No I'm just... just paranoid I guess" Virgil nodded in understanding "Well if you are sure you are okay, plenty of people here have something that needs to get done but food and water are our biggest priority right now" Jack nodded and checked once to make sure they were alone.
"He will not accept whatever you propose" Faith whispered in his ear again "Let me help you rook... let me be your guide" Jack took a deep breath and considered his options.
He looked down at his hands and barely noticed when the mayor placed a cougars pin in front of him, it was a silly thing, and the both of them knew it. Despite that, Jack took the pin and placed it next to his badge. The feeling of happiness was quickly squashed by the memories that came to his head.
The marshal fired his gun, Blood splattered on the glass behind him.
Tracy cried as she held the mayor, her hands soaked with blood.
Faith reached out to him, tears spilling from her eyes.
"I accept" Jack said out loud and for a moment everything was silent.
Screams came from the outside and several cougars ran towards the courtyard, Virgil moved to leave the room, the last thing he saw was a hand covering his mouth and sharp pain on his thigh before the bliss took over him.
Jack placed the knocked-out mayor on the floor of the office and quickly got to work on the cell controls, trapping everyone inside. "Did you hear that?" "It came from the cells, lets go!" Jack cursed as he heard the footsteps coming towards him, he stepped away from the console and waited, a couple of cougars ran into the room without bothering to check around first.
Jack stabbed the one on the back with an arrow, the man screamed just for a second. His friend didn't even get to turn around before a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around his throat until his vision went black, once that was taken care of Jack ran towards the exit, the sounds of gunfire filling him with dread.
Once he got outside he heard the distinctive sound of angels, the cougars at the top of the wall screaming for someone to help once their guns ran dry "Where the hell did they come from? hey, watch the door!" Jack looked at the door next to the gate, the metal trembling under the continued assault of a dozen of angry angels.
With practiced expertise, Jack readied an arrow and fired at the remaining cougars, the bliss coating ensuring their pain was numbed almost immediately. None of them noticed the deputy behind them until it was too late.
The gunfire stopped as the last cougar fell unconscious, dozens of guards littered the courtyard as Jack took them all down. The door could hold no more as it finally broke down and the mob of angels ran inside, Jack readied his pistol just in case he had to stop them by force but they stopped in place once they saw the junior deputy.
"Is this the outcome you were hoping for?" Faith gracefully walked through the many unconscious bodies on the floor "No one is badly injured and none of ours were hurt either... I'd say this was a success" Jack smiled sincerely, while fighting had broken out at the end it didn't end in tragedy as he feared and now the heart of the resistance in Henbane river had been silenced with minimal resistance.
Faith's smile grew wider at the way rook mentioned "their" forces and she took his hand leading him outside "Transports are already on the way, I imagine you will want to deal with our newest recruits yourself?" Jack nodded in agreement "We have to save them but I won't let them be treated like animals... or angels" Faith's mood faltered at his demands "Well, If... your methods prove to be more effective, I'll allow them to continue".
Jack couldn't hide his joy this time as he hugged the bliss herald and spun around with her in his arms, the angels around the pair showing no emotion even as their leader begged to be put down.
"Fucking bitch got him wrapped around her finger" One of the cougar scouts said as they watched the scene from far away "We are too late Dutch, the cougars are fucking gone" Tracy said into her radio. "Damn it, don't do anything stupid now. I know about a few bunkers in the area, rest there and we'll think of a plan" Tracy glared as she saw the vans the peggies used to transport people arrive.
"Let's go, those fuckers won't get away with this" Tracy walked away and the scout group hesitantly followed.
-BREAK-
"-He's with them, don't trust the deputy! don't-" Jacob turned the radio off as he prepared to deal with the latest batch.
"Bet you are pretty angry right now huh?" The marshal didn't bother to reply "Outsmarted by your own lackey, what a disappointment" Jacob pulled a little wooden box from his pocket "Do you want revenge? do you want to set things right?" He questioned as he wound up the box.
"You, your brothers, and that son of a bitch are going to pay for all this!" The marshal struggled against his restraints and Jacob smiled "Prove it then" And with that, he opened up the box.
And everything went red.
-END-
AN: Now I'm feeling it
