The Whitetail State Park Ranger Station

The Deputy sighed as he watched Palmer run off into the distance. Jacob would get to her soon, there was no avoiding that. She was at the mercy of the eldest Seed. There was no telling what else that bastard would do to her. She might be tortured, converted, or even end up dead. It wasn't his problem though. She had actually believed that whole bullshit little speech he gave her. He hoped that it would give her some comfort during what was to come.

He stood up from the chair and put his hat back on. Despite the loss of one of his GFH's, today was a good day. They had successfully taken the outpost without any casualties. And the guns they obtained from here would help the resistance. It was another step closer to defeating the cult. There was still a lot of time till that happened, so right now he was going to relax. He walked back down the hill to where the rest of the Whitetails were waiting for him.

Sharky had already arrived. He had heard that there would be booze and he sped right over. Shocker. If there was one thing that Sharky loved more than setting things on fire, it was party liquor. Dep also saw Adelaide's chopper landing. He had recruited her awhile back by himself. He'd never really called her in much. It had nothing to do with her skills, she was an amazing pilot. It was more because that he wanted to spend as much time with Jess as possible. Whatever time that there might be left...

So far, the only one that knew was Liz. He hadn't meant for her to find out but she had seen them that night on Josephs's island. It was surprising no one else had found out, but hopefully it stayed that way. He didn't want the whole resistance breathing down his neck about it. He didn't plan on finding someone in all this shit, but he did. Maybe it was too early to say it, but he loved Jess. He loved her fire, confidence, and even the scars on her face.

Love had been all too rare in his life. He had taken this job in Hope County because he had nowhere else to go. He ended up getting more than he signed up for. Most people would have thought their lives were destroyed by this war. Dep though, his life was just beginning. He had friends, a woman he loved, a couple of mentors, and a cause to fight for. Things couldn't be better for him than they were right now.

He walked over to Adelaide first.

"Well, hey there hot stuff. Long time no see." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. He had actually missed her a whole lot. He should call her in more often.

"Hey Addie."

"So I see you've been kicking these Peggie's asses, without my help. But you haven't stuck it to one of the Seeds yet. You ever gonna get around to that?"

He rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, jokingly. "Soon. I promise. It takes a bit of time to kill an asshole as big as Joseph."

"It better be and I better be invited when you do. But… not too soon though. I've got Xander convinced that it's the end of the world, and you have no idea what that does to a man in the sack." She purred.

He couldn't help but laugh. Same old Addie. She could find a sexual innuendo out of any situation. She would definitely be invited to the final battle, whenever that may be. She wasn't wrong about what she said though. End of the world sex was better than all others. Jess would probably agree with that.

He patted her on the shoulder. "Always good to see you Addie."

He spotted Sharky and Wheaty resting by his truck. They were arguing about something. Sharky probably ate some of Wheaty's bunker snacks. He honestly didn't even want to know. They barely even stopped when he walked over.

"Hey Dep. Where's Liz at?" Wheaty asked. He looked all around for the girl but couldn't spot her. Of course, he would be the first to ask about her. It was obvious that he liked her. It was all over his face every time he saw her. They had danced the first night she showed up. Dep didn't blame him; she was objectively cute. But if Wheaty knew everything, he wouldn't. He would stay far away. His trust was very misplaced.

"She'll be back." Dep said.

"Yeah but she was here earlier. And I wanted to show her my new flamethrower…" Sharky said.

"I said, she'll back." He spat.

That shut them both up. Dep could tell them the truth, but he wasn't going to. It was better that they were just left out of all of this. He was trying to spare them both. They didn't need to get more attached than they already were.

"Have you guys seen Jess?" He asked.

"Yeah she's out past the shooting range." Wheaty pointed over into the trees.

"Thanks."

Dep walked past them and out towards the woods. All the chatter of the Whitetails disappeared as he searched for Jess. He found her shooting arrows at a tree. That was always how she calmed down. He loved seeing her all riled up. To everyone else she was terrifying like this, but to him she was just… cute. Which usually wasn't a word used to describe Jess Black.

He accidently stepped on a branch, causing her to whip around. There was an arrow pointed straight at him. He slightly raised his hands up to mock her.

"Don't need to stop on my account." He smirked.

"Screw you Dep! Scared the shit out of me!"

"Oh really? I thought you weren't scared by anything." He reached out and pulled her close to him. Her hood fell from her head, letting dark hair fall out. Blush formed on her cheeks. He pulled her in close and kissed her.

After a moment, Jess pulled back and slapped him right in the face. "Not here! Do you want everyone to see us?"

His face stung a little bit. "Oh, please Jess… That's never stopped us before. You're the one who always makes us late, remember?" He smirked. He leaned back in only for her to push him away once more. She flicked his cowboy hat off his forehead.

"I know, but I just got too much shit on my mind right now. I can't believe that fucking girl, Palmer, almost got us all killed!" She hissed. She wasn't wrong. Liz's little mishap had almost cost her life and everyone else's. It was a good thing that Jess put a stop to it.

"She's gone now." He said. Jess's head perked up and she lowered her bow. Dep continued, "Jacob sent his hunters after her. There's nothing I could do to stop it. She knows where the Wolf's Den is, so we're all as good as dead."

Dep still felt stupid. He had actually trusted Liz when she first showed up. He thought she'd been used and had no involvement. But he knew too much now. He'd been there for everything. Liz's first night in the Wolf's Den, she admitted that she trusted Jacob. He hadn't heard her whole conversation with Eli, but enough to know where her loyalties lie. The day they had helped Dr. Perkins, Liz had lied to sneak away and talk to him. Dep had seen her sitting on the rooftops talking to him and she had been... smiling. After that, it quickly became clear to him. She wasn't with the Whitetails, the Peggies, or even her Uncle. Her only loyalty was to Jacob. What kind of twisted mind could put their trust in a man like that?

"You think she's gonna tell him?" She asked.

"I don't know. I heard her talking to Jacob on the radio the other night. They didn't plan anything, it sounded like chatter. There was no way to be sure though. The whole 'capture' today could have been planned."

"I told you not to trust that girl!"

"I know, sweetheart..." Dep reached out to grab her hand, she let him. A wave of relief wash over him. He should have believed Jess from the beginning. He just wanted to believe that there was hope. That if someone tortured by Jacob could come back and fight; then maybe they could all succeed. That wasn't the case. If his mistake got Jess or his friends hurt, he'd never forgive himself. He had to fix his mistake before more damage was done.

"What are we gonna do?" She asked.

"Not much we can do. I'll make sure someone is always posted on watch. We can't tell Eli, he wouldn't believe us. And we can't have everyone in a panic without a reason to. But if something else comes up, I'll handle it. We're gonna win." He said.

A scowl crossed over her face. "Good. I'm ready for this shit to be over. I'm sick of that girl almost getting us killed!"

Dep opened his mouth to respond, but static came over the radio. "Hey Deputy, It's Eli. Heard you took back the Ranger Station. You're doing good work. And uh… how's Liz? Is she around? She hasn't been taking my calls."

Oh shit. Here he goes. Dep was hoping to avoid conversations about her, but this was unavoidable. "Yeah about that… she's not here." He said.

"What do you mean?" Eli asked.

"Jacob threatened her over the radio today. It shook her up pretty bad. She said she wanted to go to the Valley. She figured that there was a less chance that Jacob would reach her there. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen. She's terrified, and I can't say that I blame her." He said.

Dep heard Eli sigh over the radio. "Figures she'd run. I thought that maybe if I kept her in the Wolf's Den, she'd feel safe. But I guess I underestimated the hold that Jacob had on her. She was with him for a long time. It's probably best for her to leave."

"I completely agree, Eli. I told her that she should go to Fall's End and help out Mary May for a while."

"That's… that's good Dep. Thank you. Please check up on her for me and just tell her that I love her…" Eli said.

A small smile crossed Dep's face. Even Eli really cared about this girl for some damn reason. If only he knew. If only they all knew. They had 'let a locus into their garden', as Joseph had so eloquently put it. Their trust in her would be the thing that killed them all. He and Jess had to put a stop to it, unless Jacob didn't kill her first.

"Will do Eli…"