"How long was I out?" Avery asked as she gratefully accepted a cup of coffee from her host.
Eli's hand retreated from the mug and returned to the edge of the table. "Almost 16 hours. How're you feeling?"
"I feel human. Still groggy but I probably overslept."
"You obviously needed the rest. It's completely understandable too. Sorry about Tammy waking you up. She means well, but, as you can tell, she's pretty overprotective of the Wolf's Den here."
Avery took a sip of the coffee, feeling the warmth pool over her tongue with the familiar bitterness.
Upon their return to the hideout, Avery was woken from a woman berating Eli and the young man that had rescued her. Despite Eli being the obvious leader, he took her chiding in stride. At least, until she boldly stated that Avery was a risk to them. A danger.
The comment came out of nowhere and startled the deputy. Why would she be a threat to them? She was on their side, after all.
Eli was quick to put the woman, Tammy, in her place by defending Avery. Something she found oddly reassuring when she hadn't even met him prior to that day. Even now, sitting across from him, he addressed her in a casual and friendly manner that reminded her of her uncle fondly.
"I'm not trying to cause trouble between you and your people," she began, still feeling the lingering tension from their confrontation. "I do appreciate you coming to get me out of the hotel, but it's not a problem for me to go somewhere else if it makes everyone more comfortable."
"Ah, never mind that. You're one of us. Dutch spoke highly of you, and I heard about the trouble you started in the valley. You've got our support."
Before Avery could comment further, a man entered the room calling for Eli.
"Hey, there you are. Todd is at it again with those damn pipe bombs and I damn well told him he's doing it wrong—Oh, hi," the man stopped in mid-sentence at the sight of Avery.
He was lean built, average, and draped in mismatch camo clothes. Age wise, he was closer to Eli than Avery with crows' feet settling in at the corner of his eyes.
Sensing the long pause, Avery raised a hand in mild greeting with a small smile, her other hand not releasing the mug.
"I put the gunpowder up, so Todd won't have anything to charge them with," Eli explained.
The man returned his attention to Eli. "I hope wherever you put it that its locked. He's determined to give this stupid idea a go."
"Of course, I did. Anyway, Jeremy, this is Avery. Avery, Jeremy."
"The Deputy of Hope County. It's nice to meet you," the man beamed as he held out a hand that Avery accepted.
"Nice to meet you too."
"Have they promoted you to Sheriff yet?"
Avery released a lofty laugh. "No. Not at all. I'm still the Rookie of the unit."
"Rookie? Psh, I'd be telling your boss to give you a raise then. You've been working your ass off and I bet they aren't paying you hazard rates either."
"Damn, I wish."
Jeremy moved to sit at the stool pressed against the counter that Eli stood at, making himself comfortable. Obviously, he wasn't that concerned with Todd's antics if the gunpowder was out of reach. Avery didn't mind. The man's cheery company instantly boosted her energy, overshadowing the mild feeling of being a burden to Eli.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Jeremy offered as he leaned an elbow on the counter and brought his boots to perch on the posts of the stool. Something told Avery he wouldn't care one way or another if he was.
"Nope," Eli replied. "I was just telling her that we're glad she's here."
"I'd second that." Jeremy nodded. "There's a lot of people here who'd love to have the extra support against Jacob."
Eli released a tense chuckle. "We're not sending her out against Jacob so soon."
Smile shrinking, Jeremey tossed a glance to Eli. "What? Why not?"
Avery couldn't help but wonder the same.
"We just pulled her out of his hold. I ain't sending her back right away."
"I mean," Avery started tentatively, letting her mug settle into her lap. It felt weird to have them decide her next moves for her, especially when she was in the same room. "Technically, I was just captured by his men. I wasn't in his hold, necessarily."
The look that Eli and Jeremy shared was one that spoke volumes. As if they were secretly exchanging information and she was clueless to what it meant. Any trace of a smile from Jeremy vanished as he turned to look at his dirty nails, leaving Eli open to her next questions.
"What? Am I missing something?"
Eli's brow twitched upwards for a split second. "Don't you remember where we pulled you from? You were in the hotel room, starved and bound to a chair. That's part of the trials that Jacob uses to convert his followers."
"Or kill them," Jeremey added.
Avery's lips tightened. She recalled it all perfectly. "Yes, but I was clarifying what you mentioned a second ago. It was only his followers that put me through the trial."
The look in Eli's expression was unmoving. Almost statuesque as he stared at her with his arms coming to intertwine across his chest. "Tell me what you recall from the trials."
Brows furrowing, Avery obliged, using the opportunity to tell them about her being captured, taken to the fire station and then to the hotel. She explained how they had shifts of people watching her cage and that there were only two people that conducted the presentation with the music. The only things she left out were the actual process with the doctor and the deterrence of sleep or food. If they knew about the trials, they didn't need a full breakdown of her experience.
"See?" Eli asserted. "You understand why we can't let you get captured again. These trials are used to disorientate people and condition them into becoming Jacob's acolytes."
"I don't think I'm following," Avery admitted slowly.
As if the topic was weighing on him, Eli pulled out a stool to sit down, ignoring the sidelong glance from Jeremy.
"Jacob typically forces locals to join Eden's Gate, capturing and torturing anyone who resists, and forcing them to kill one another to cull the weak in "trials" to the death. The slideshows are violent images that are supposed to shock the person and weaken their mind for the music to set in."
"Right," Avery drawled, still not sure what he was trying to get at, "but music and gruesome wildlife pictures aren't exactly what I'd call brainwashing material."
"Not in normal settings, correct. You've heard of Pavlov's dog, though?"
"Yes, with the food and the bell."
"Exactly. The bell creates a response based on the pattern it is presented to the subject. Under normal settings, a bell is just a bell. But when applied, the bell becomes a trigger."
Something heavy started to settle in Avery's stomach as what he said started to make sense.
Not getting a countering response from the deputy, Eli continued, "The music forces someone to respond predictably on instinct or a conditioned response, instead of having the reasoned reaction to a situation. That's how he brainwashes people."
Memories from the last trial began to resurface, breeching the thoughts in her mind. She could recall the floating emptiness and distant echoing of music. The feeling of being locked inside a dark room with no hope of escape. Then the small pin drop of light that burst through the shadows, which was her way out to consciousness.
Was that the result of the trial? What did that mean? Was she just passed out from exhaustion or was that part of the process of brainwashing?
Suddenly, Avery felt sick. As if some part of her was violated and she was none the wiser to it. What exactly did it mean if someone was brainwashed? What would Jacob have them do?
It felt like what they said was some prank. As if they were in on a joke to see how gullible she was to it. Brainwashing was a stuff of movies, not reality. And yet, she could recall stories from World War victims rumored to have been manipulated by the enemy.
A hand clasped over Avery's shoulder, causing her to startle. Dragging her gaze up, she met Eli's shaking head.
"Don't worry, kid. The trials take a while to set in. That's the whole reason why we were so quick to get you out of there."
"How-exactly... How long does it take for the conditioning to take hold?" She tried to push the nauseating feeling down, and with it, the fear that she had already started to lose control over her mind.
"You were only there for four days or so. The conditioning process usually takes around two weeks to start being effective. I think the earliest was a week and a half."
A heavy breath released from her lips, filled with tension leaving her body. The relief was sweet and soothed her repulsion. "Oh good."
I'm just being paranoid. It was probably the lack of sleep that made me delusional.
"But you can see why we don't wanna risk you getting captured again, right?" Eli pressed as his hand fell back to his side.
"I get what you're saying now. I didn't know he had actually mastered a way to condition people. I thought when it was mentioned, they were just exaggerating."
"Unfortunately, not. We've lost many people to Jacob's trials and I'm sure we'll lose many more. But you're the important one. We can't lose you to them, Deputy."
"I'm no more important than your other people," Avery frowned. "I'm just an officer doing my job."
"You're doing one hell of a job too. Which is why the Seeds are throwing all their resources into stopping you," Jeremy justified behind Eli.
"I'm flattered, but you're giving me too much credit. Really, I'm just glad that I was in a smaller compound with less people, so you guys could get me out. Especially, since Jacob wasn't there. I'd hate to imagine the fight that he would've put up."
The attempt at humor to her situation didn't reach the two men in the room. Sensing the awkwardness, the corner of her lips fell. Eli and Jeremy didn't respond right away as they exchanged those secretive glances before the leader faced her.
"He was there. He just didn't bother putting up a real fight."
Jeremy nodded. "Probably because he didn't have that many people, as you said."
"But…" Avery's brows furrowed once more, remembering the times she tried to get the followers to tell Jacob she wanted to talk to him. "I never saw him there."
"Trust me, Deputy," Eli reassured. "He was there. There's no way he'd leave your trial, of all people, to his followers."
The sickening feeling was returning, but she stubbornly tried to reason that they were mistaken. There were only the guards, the doctor, and the follower who conducted the presentation. No one else, at either location, wa-
Avery felt her eyes widen, but she schooled the rest of her features before she made it apparent to the others in the room.
It wasn't just those people. There was another.
The man that stood in the shadows behind her. The one out of sight and handled her every time the doctor needed to get his readings from her.
Feeling exposed was the least of her worries. Because in the pit of her stomach, she realized the truth; that it had to be Jacob. And the entire time, she was none the wiser. The soldier had touched her, grabbed her hair to hold her still, and she never knew. The entire time, she was convinced that it was only the followers that were around. A mix of emotions whirled within her; the bitterness of being deceived, the sour vulnerability she was in, and the naive confidence she displayed while he was in the room.
She never fucking knew.
Eventually, Avery had recovered well enough to leave the Wolf's Den with Eli's blessing and a handful of promises that she wouldn't openly seek out Jacob. Of course, she swore that she wouldn't look to get his attention, along with instigating a fight against the skilled soldier. What she failed to include in the promises was pursuing Pratt's location.
It was true that she had no intentions of catching Jacob's attention anytime soon, especially after hearing more about the conditioning process. But Avery wasn't a fool. She knew there was a risk—and likelihood—that it was an unavoidable scenario. Her only hope was to play it smart and prolong the inevitable for as long as possible. That being said, she opted to press further into the range where Eli suspected Jacob's headquarters to be, while sticking to smaller tasks.
Eli had plenty of discrete errands for her to accomplish for the Whitetail Militia. The first was a time sensitive assignment at the Visitor's Center to the west. Apparently, the Peggies thought that taking a few hostages was a good way to get what they wanted from the Whitetail Militia. Eli was keen to put that theory to rest.
Seeing as there were lives on the line, they both agreed that stealth was the best approach to free them. After making it to the Visitor's Center, Eli directed Avery over the radio to drain tunnels that led beneath the building where the hostages were located. The tunnels conveniently placed her at the bottom of the stairs of the center and, effectively, behind a few guards behind pickup trucks. Between them was one hostage and a view of other Peggies on the stairs.
It was a little tricky taking out the two guards by the truck without the others noticing. The car park offered sporadic cover from different angles, but it did little to protect her from the view above. Fortunately, she was getting pretty good at sneaking around alone on these missions of hers.
After rescuing the last hostage, Eli sent a slur of praises through the radio before calling for her to return to the Wolf's Den. That caught her off guard, and Avery was quick to argue with the older man about it. She needed to stay in the mountains to find Pratt's location, after all, and being in the bunker was not going to provide her with the clues she needed. Eli tried to be understanding over her situation, though was unmoving when it came to her safety.
"You won't be useful to Pratt if you get captured and brainwashed, Dep," Eli had countered firmly.
After a short, but heated debate, Avery reluctantly returned to the Wolf's Den only for Eli to be elsewhere. Apparently, he had some things to take care of and let Wheaty take over on giving her the next assignment. That left a bitter taste in her mouth, making her wonder if Eli left just so he didn't have to listen to the deputy's griping.
To make matters worse, the 'important tasks' that Eli had charged Wheaty with to give her was tedious more than anything. Raiding abandoned stashes around the county? Sounded more like busy work than productive.
Still Avery rolled her eyes, reloaded her ammunition and supplies, before heading out. At least the chore allowed her to travel the county where she could try to find Pratt's location. There could be worse tasks.
Of course, positive thoughts didn't last long with Avery.
While traveling offered the opportunity to learn more about the region and the workings of Jacob's followers, it provided very little in way of leads to her teammate. The journey between sites was lonely and quiet with miniscule skirmishes between followers and Judges. When she wasn't fighting pockets of enemy, she was covering miles, on foot or by vehicle, with only her thoughts to keep her company. It soon became apparent that that was Eli's entire plan.
If she was constantly moving and had little-to-no interaction with the Peggies, then there was less of a chance for Jacob to pinpoint her location and capture her. The traveling let her comb through the mountains for clues to her teammate while keeping her out of the Seeds' hold.
Clever, Eli.
By the time she found her third stash, her compliance in the task was paper thin.
It was around that time that a new opportunity presented itself to her when she was closing in on a fourth location that was near Hurk Senior's ranch. Starved for some kind of friendly—if one would call it such—interaction, Avery headed over to find Hurk in his usual throne on the porch, surrounded by even more posters than there were last time. How was he getting more campaign merchandise during these times?
Seeing Avery, he was pleased to extend a new job for her to take care of. One of… questionable legality, apparently.
"Murder is still illegal… right? Well, whatever the case," he chuckled forcefully, "the Peggies that won't vote for me just need to be handled in a permanent matter. If you catch my drift. It's not our fault if they trip and fall on a dozen bullets, right? Ha hahaa…"
"Yeah, good one," Avery replied dryly.
"Yup, so you can take my idiot son with you and—"
"Wait." Avery shook her head. "You're joking, right?"
"That boy means well, but he ain't right in the—"
"No!" Avery took a deep breath, collecting her impatience. "No. I was talking about the Peggies."
"Oh." Hurk Senior let out a hearty laugh as he rocked in his chair, shotgun across his lap like a seatbelt. "Nah, that was serious. Accidents happen all the time in the mountains." He finished it with a wink.
Avery felt her brow twitch. What an idiotic request. As if she would go kill people to even out the votes for a party. If ever she felt she was a hired gun, it was now of all times.
"Forget it," Avery stepped off the porch, not bothered by the flustered gasping of the man behind her.
"Wait right there! Where'd you think you're going?"
"I have other things to do. Have someone else take care of it."
"Everyone else is busy! And you're here. Hey! Come back here!"
Avery waved over her shoulder, listening as curses flew her way before the man ran out of steam. She half expected that he'd shoot her in the back, but it seemed he had enough sense for that. For now, at least.
Turning back to the map in her bag, Avery scanned the nearby stashes that still needed to be checked. There were two more nearby and several more further out. It made sense to stop by the fourth on the list seeing as it was closest, but the interaction with Hurk Senior left her in a foul mood.
Did he actually ask others to do the same job? Was that just an excuse they gave him, or would they have actually gone through with it if they weren't busy?
She didn't want to know. She couldn't know. Not until she got Pratt out.
Avery's face twisted, as if she swallowed vinegar as John's warnings returned like dredged up muck from a quagmire. Warning that she was just being used as a tool by the resistant members and those that she aligned herself with held their own motives.
What Hurk Senior was having her do was the same as countless corrupt politicians.
"He's fucking crazy. He doesn't know what he was asking me to do," she tried to reason her emotions under control, even if it was a silly attempt.
It took hours before she was feeling more like herself. Miles and miles of travel had finally provided enough distance between her and the Hurk's ranch to allow her to room to breathe. The two bunkers that were close to the area were ignored in favor of searching for supplies in areas she'd yet been to. Anything to put space away from Peggies and Resistant members alike. Maybe having some alone time wasn't so bad.
"I could get Boomer," Avery said to herself, finished with a scoff. "He's been the best company out of anyone… I probably shouldn't tell Grace that. She'd shoot me for sure and say it was an accident."
The thought brought a small smile to her face despite her bleak mood.
Finding a rocky ledge overlooking a gorge, Avery clambered her way to the top and sat down, eager to give her feet a break. Despite her boots being well-worn in by now, they were starting to get too soft in the ankle and rub against her heel. Blisters weren't going to do anything except help her enemies, so she was forced to slow her pace. Not that she was in a huge rush. It wasn't like she knew where Pratt was to save him.
Sighing, she tried to keep her temper in check. Frustration was becoming a companion at that point, always around, never far from reach. Why couldn't Eli let her help him? He was obviously searching for Jacob's compound, and it was highly probable that her teammate would be there as well.
But again, the man was more concerned with keeping her out of the Seeds' hold than helping the officers.
Avery let out a deep exhale, trying to keep the need to scream out her frustrations at bay. Opting for a moderate distraction, she pulled out the map once again to evaluate her progress.
The sun was setting over the mountain tops, but the overcast sky blocked the pastel colors from reaching her. A cool breeze was picking up and brushing through the tree canopy, lifting the edges of the map before she put rocks in the corners to keep it in place.
"12 miles from the Lumber Mill…. Only 8 from the northern region of the mountains. I haven't checked that valley, yet."
I suppose I should stay close to the stashes, so I stay productive for the Militia, she mused as her lips turned downward in concentration. Then again, Jacob's compound won't actually be near the stashes on the map or else Eli wouldn't still be looking for it. Was that his plan the entire time?
She clenched her fists and felt her jaw tighten as the urge to scream returned.
Why did she feel like the resistance members spent equal energy in helping her as they did in keeping her from her goals?
For the hundredth time that day, she sighed while folding up the map. Undetermined what her next location would be, she opted to decide that in the morning and work on getting a fire started for the night. Perhaps, after getting some rest, she could decide with a clearer mind. One that wouldn't be weighed down by her grumpy attitude.
Leaving the rocky ledge, the deputy went to work on gathering firewood from the surrounding area before piling it into neat stack to allow proper air flow. Routinely, she pulled her lighter out and set a flame to the dried material, gently nursing the fire to life.
Her pack was getting heavier from gathering items from the abandoned stashes, and luckily, had plenty of food options to choose from. Jerky wasn't going to be on the menu tonight.
Using her knife, Avery opened a can of green beans and set it beside the fire to warm before pulling out a wrap of crackers. From there, she sat back and waited, alternating between the saltines and water. The evening was closing in, the snaps and pops of the fire soothing her previous annoyances as she relaxed. The pain in her feet subsided, the ache in her back eased. She was ready for a full belly and restful slumber. Her worries could hold off until tomorrow.
Static from her radio followed by the receiver clicking into the station.
"…Y'know Deputy," a deep voice called, forcing Avery to freeze where she sat. "If it was up to me, you'd been dead a long time ago. But circumstances have changed, and I want to talk to you."
Are you fucking serious? Avery glared at the radio, realizing her arm was already reaching for her rifle. Now, of all times?
"… Don't worry. My hunters will bring you here. You don't have to do a thing…."
Hello everyone! This is the shortest chapter but what I have next is too long to really fit without making it a ridiculous length. Luckily, it's nearly all typed out so I'll be posting that shortly. Stay tuned!
Hope you enjoy it and love hearing from you. Thanks for the reviews!