Jess's plan wasn't completely crazy. Only 90% suicidal. It was less hare-brained than some of the past schemes she had come up with. Compared to the time she invented the idea to rig a truck full of remote explosives and drive it directly into John's bunker, this was relatively simple.

Step 1. Get into the Whitetail Mountains

Step 2. Find the Cook's trail

Step 3. Kill the evil bastard

Step 4. Get the hell outta dodge before anyone knew they were there

Step 5. Profit

Rook stared over Jess' steps again.

"Why'd you write 'Profit', at the end?", she chewed on her pencil. The Huntress was swinging her legs over what was left of Grace's porch roof. They were outside, enjoying the rare scent of the rain-damp earth. It had finished showering a while ago, and the Lionesses were quietly plotting by the entrance to the bunker. It did them good to get some fresh air, instead of being trapped underground for ages. Grace and Dep traded worried looks, both sitting on the wooden bench that was out front.

"Because we'll profit from that evil motherfucker in the grave!", Jess was frightfully cheerful for someone who had just told them the story of how her entire family had been murdered. Dep looked to Grace for input.

"Technically… she ain't wrong?", the sniper shrugged after a moment of silence. Dep sighed, rubbing out some of her notes and altering them. This plot was something she imagined Sharky to come up with.

"Listen Jess… I don't know if this is gonna work. But…", she set down her pencil and paper. They'd been talking over the idea of taking out the Cook since this morning, and still hadn't gotten anywhere. Jess's excited smile momentarily cracked, sending a pang of guilt through Dep. Damn it.

"But…?", the Huntress sucked in her breath.

"…But if this means that much to you, then sure. I'm in". Jess practically flew across the porch and squeezed Dep half to death. Her eyes flew wide open, feeling like her bones were on the verge of snapping. She winced, patting Jess in a some-what thankful gesture. While she was being partially-strangled, Grace picked up the paper, examining it thoughtfully and frowning. She turned back to her team, looking defeated.

"…Aight", the sniper relinquished.

XXX

They had to move quickly. The trail Jess had got of the Cook was essentially just a tip-off ("A shit-hot tip, if you ask me", as the huntress put it herself), but the squad had voted – and agreed. It would be a perfect opportunity to get a lay of the land, and try to ease the pressure Eden's Gate was putting on the Whitetails. Once the cult realised there was a breach of their security, she assumed they would be on extra high-alert, but at least that would shake-up the soldiers. If they thought external forces could come in, that gave them more to worry about than just the Whitetails. They might be able to distract the cult for long enough to give the Militia more time. Dep could assume from the amount of horror stories and increase of Chosen in the rest of the county, that the cult had been recruiting and slaughtering people twice as fast. The warpath that Jacob was carving out towards anyone who resisted his authority was clearly going to have devastating effects on the Whitetail Militia, who were likely bleeding bodies by the day.

Although their most-obvious priority whilst in the mountains would be to contact Eli, Dep had no idea where he and his faction were, but was aware of the conflict that was taking place. Eli never revealed to anyone outside of the Whitetails, resistance or not, where his hideout was. "Security reasons", apparently. In her opinion, it was better to not interact with Eden's Gate or the Whitetail Militia while there. They could lay low, learn how the mountains were being operated and possibly take out a high-value target as well.

Rook made all the necessary radio calls. She talked to Dutch about it first, letting Jess speak with him. He hadn't been happy about the idea when the former woman spoke about it, and clearly disapproved. Dep and Grace could hear the argument Jess had with her Uncle for a long time, but when Jess gave Rook her radio back, she looked determined, all the readier to fight. Hopefully this would give her some closure at least.

They rode into Fall's End directly, speaking with Pastor Jerome. Since lots of radio channels went in and out, if there was anyone listening in at all to the Resistance's radio frequencies – which was possible – then Rook wanted to avoid any chances of slip ups. She had driven into town with her crew plus Hurk as back up, despite not telling him the real reason of why she had to meet with the Pastor privately. Hurk was a gem but if there was one thing in particular he sucked at, it was keeping his mouth shut. Jerome was concerned when he heard of the plan to sneak into the mountains, but he supported it nonetheless.

"You've proven to me Deputy that you're more than capable to solve any problem I put before you. I trust you'll come back to us safe". She laughed and told him that was the idea.

However, there was still one problem that rested on the table. They needed a way to get into the mountains.

Dep worked late for several nights, frustrated over her plans. Each Lioness had individually thought up of ways to get in unseen – but all in the end were thwarted by the roads being blocked off or the large lakes that separated the mountains from the rest of the county. Dep's gaze drifted once more to her corkboard, where she had strung up important places and people. Her eyes settled on one important individual in particular, and a shiver crept down her spine. The thought of possibly running into Jacob Seed was slim - he was far too busy trying to step on the necks of Palmer and his crew - but it made her nervous nonetheless. She hadn't even seen him up close and yet the thought of coming face-to-face again was enough to make her meticulous. The map of the Whitetails was looking incomprehensible from the amount of scribbles she had made. Rook traced every road, every hiking trail that lead over into the Northern territory.

"GRACE!", she let out a shout. From the sleeping-quarters, there was a loud thump and the word "Shit!". The sharpshooter rushed into the room so quickly she almost tripped over Peaches' tail that was flicking from side to side on the floor.

"You done it?", she panted.

"I'VE DONE IT!", Dep squealed, the euphoria and relief making her giddy. Jess stumbled into the room wearing a sweat-stained tank top, she'd been busy doing late-night sit-ups in the kitchen. Dep stabbed at the map, indicating to the lake with one finger.

"We're gonna swim across…?", Grace asked dryly.

"Of course, Dep. Let's definitely swim across the Silver Lake at night and pray that we don't drown", Jess scowled from behind her. She didn't like being interrupted during her workout.

"No!", Rook laughed, too wrapped up in her victory to pay attention to her friends' sarcasm. She brought up another map, tracing the northern border of the Henbane River with a pencil. "We won't get across by swimming across the lake, we'll walk right there".

"Uh, news-flash Dep. Unless you are literally Jesus Christ – which now that I think about it, if you were it explains why Joseph Shitface and his band of freaks are so obsessed about you - I don't think you can walk on water". Rook grabbed Jess's wrist, guiding her index-finger to a spot on the map. Grace and Jess leaned in, puzzled.

"Whitetail Mountains Rail-Bridge", Grace read out the name. "Huh, that could work". Dep nodded enthusiastically, her smug grin lighting up the room.

"Wait, wait", Jess shook her head quickly. "How'd we not see this before? It leads directly to the Lumber-Mill, but why isn't it on any of the other maps?", Jess rummaged through the other maps they had. There was no record of such bridge, only the "Henbane Rail Bridge" leading to the Holland Valley.

"It was built during the mining period", Rook crossed her arms over her chest, still beaming. "It's been abandoned and out of use since the trains stopped running. Since no one uses it anymore, it's been forgotten". She pulled out a book from one of the desk drawers – "History of the Hope County". It was pretty old judging by the yellowed pages, but Rook flipped through it as if she'd read it a hundred times before. She skimmed through the contents until she found a page on the old mining company who possessed a lot of the land before they went bankrupt.

"When the mines were deserted, the trains stopped running too since there was no need to transport all the minerals", she pointed to the abandoned rail-bridge, and the train tracks that originally lead out of the county, before the cult blocked it. "All the roads are cut off, but this could be our way in".

Jess marched over to the armoury, typing in Grace's pin-code and letting the electronic metal door slide open. Grace raised an eyebrow, an amused expression crossed over her features. Dep knew she'd never told Jess the code, since the huntress had her bow with her at all times and never kept her gear in the armoury. It wasn't surprising though, Jess had a will of iron when she wanted to find out shit.

"Never trust the silent ones," Rook whispered to the eldest Lioness. Grace crossed her arms with a smirk.

She disappeared momentarily, the sound of rummaging and clanking being heard, and emerged a minute later, wearing full body armour and holding Grace and Dep's snipe-rifles. She tossed each one to their respective owner. Dep caught hers nimbly, running her hands over it smoothly and inspecting the scope.

"Well then, what are we waitin' for?".

XXX

Author's Notes: This is a pretty short chapter compared to the others RIP. I hope my satirical humour is amusing for someone at least xD

We've finally chewed off all the tough exposition-exterior and now we're getting into the juicy events of the story :) Sorry it took so long to get it here. I'll try to update regularly but it's dependant on several factors:

I have a lot of over-the-summer projects to be working on before returning to school in September and me and my friends are going on a camping trip in late August to say goodbye to everyone before they all head off to Uni (I'm staying on at our secondary/high school 6th form for another year for different reasons). Some of my family members are coming to visit us as well since this is the first time we've seen them this decade (haha god I'm so bad at jokes) due to coronavirus lockdown keeping us apart. Luckily restrictions are becoming more lax in the UK so let's hope everything's somewhat normal in September?

Stay safe

xxx