Well, shit's just gotten real now. Elizabeth has her (probable) happy ending, but Moscow is glass and the next world war is starting exactly as scheduled.
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
I wish Elizabeth would get a happy ending
Sorry for the lack of an update! I got Kenshi the other day and I have been hooked solid. I have not abandoned this, and an update is in the works!
Murphy’s Law, the idea that anything that can go wrong will eventually go wrong, was never something that President Trump thought was true. The events of the last two weeks changed that view for him almost entirely, and definitely not in a good way.
The power keg had lit.
While China was in turmoil, another nuclear bomb was detonated in Taiyuan China and Chennai India, killing millions of civilians and practically levelling the cities. Documents were leaked onto the internet blaming Russia for the bombing of Taiyuan and China for the bombing of Chennai, which led to the various communist generals of China to declare war on the Russian Federation and India to declare war on China, starting the largest war to rock mankind since World War II. Mongolia was invaded by both countries in a mad dash to invade the other, and the war turned into an absolute dog-fest, while India rushed forces into Southern China. On normal conditions, China would probably easily defeat the weaker Russian and Indian armies but the fact that China was in a civil war of its own evened the odds dramatically, leading to Russia making serious inroads into Manchuria and Inner Mongolia and India into parts of Tibet, which rose up into revolt led by the Dalai Lama. The war was total, and billions of people were caught in the path of vengeful soldiers. NATO declared neutrality, but the possibility of a complete Chinese collapse spooked them deeply, as Russia would undoubtedly gain in both resource power and manpower.
As for Sueno, Bowman had been interrogating him around the clock for a week now. Trump was incredibly eager to hear what he had to say, so he had Sueno and Bowman both come to the White House after several heated and intense discussions with his cabinet. His team was incredibly divided, with some wanting intervention and others
“Mr. President,” his secretary phoned in. “Bowman and Sueno are here.”
“Bring them in,” Trump replied without looking up from the documents he was looking at—more reports from what was being described as World War III already.
Bowman came in first with Sueno right behind. She was dressed rather casually, with a normal shirt and cargo pants, whereas Sueno was wearing a large suit that seemed to barely contain his massive muscles. “Greetings Mr. President,” Sueno said graciously as Trump gestured for him to sit down.
“You know Sueno,” Trump began, “I’m going to be real with you…very real. Shit is going down, and you correctly got me out of Moscow. What is going on?”
“I will be forthcoming friend, since you have so far upheld your ends of the bargain. My men in Bolivia have captured most of the country, and are just waiting for my arrival.”
“So…” Trump said somewhat exasperatedly. “What is it then?”
Sueno leaned onto Trump’s oval office desk. “This will sound very loco, but trust me. All of this is a part of a global conspiracy started by some people right here in this country.”
“Pardon me?”
“He’s right,” Bowman interjected. “I couldn’t believe it myself, but it all makes sense.”
“You see President,” Sueno explained, “there are those who believe that America is evil and that the world has become…infected. I am…was…one of those people. All I wanted was to establish a safe haven for my people, but how could I do that when you yanquis could just come and wipe us out? Russia was no help, and China wanted me dead and replaced, so I turned to the logical solution, wiping everyone out. Now that you are my ally, I need to stop this plot.”
“Plot?” Trump inquired.
“Yes, plot. There is a group in Montana, called the Project at Eden’s Gate, led by one Joseph Seed. His man, I believe his brother, Jacob, came to Bolivia to purchase ingredients and knowhow to create a perfect drug that his group uses. We found that agreed on more than many things. He has followers all over the country, including many at Malmstrom Airbase. He gave us the information and some bombs, and we sent it to Russia, who gave us more nuclear weapons in return—they were in on the plot to begin with, but they were useful idiots really. We smuggled them into North Korea, from where, they were distributed to cells across the globe to activate when needed. All of this had a purpose…to cleanse the world and to start anew. It’s all been working according to plan, and World War III has begun. All that needs to happen is for missiles to be launched against certain cities and the world will be bathed in nuclear fire.”
Trump leaned back in his seat. “Who is this Joseph?”
“He’s a charismatic preacher. He has a whole army of militia and paramilitary elements in Hope County Montana. I would not be surprised if he controls Malmstrom Airbase already, which, as you know, has nuclear weapons. He believes that God spoke to him in a vision, telling him to execute His wrath. It’s truly scary.”
“He has…nuclear weapons?”
“He does,” Bowman responded. “Or at least that is what we believe. This is truly an Empty Quiver situation sir. It is worse than I could have ever dreamed of.”
Trump took a deep breath. “I will call the army…”
“No sir!” Sueno begged. “Joseph is twitchy and will strike at any time. His people are not yet in position globally, but they have bombs in places that even I do not know. Be cautious. I recommend using…the Ghost Unit that was sent after me. Arrest him silently and bring him to you before he can rally his followers to war. That may be the only way.”
Trump sat in his desk and stared at the wall behind Sueno. How did the world get so crazy? He knew what he had to do, however. The Ghosts would be sent in.
All of them.
The power keg had lit.
While China was in turmoil, another nuclear bomb was detonated in Taiyuan China and Chennai India, killing millions of civilians and practically levelling the cities. Documents were leaked onto the internet blaming Russia for the bombing of Taiyuan and China for the bombing of Chennai, which led to the various communist generals of China to declare war on the Russian Federation and India to declare war on China, starting the largest war to rock mankind since World War II. Mongolia was invaded by both countries in a mad dash to invade the other, and the war turned into an absolute dog-fest, while India rushed forces into Southern China. On normal conditions, China would probably easily defeat the weaker Russian and Indian armies but the fact that China was in a civil war of its own evened the odds dramatically, leading to Russia making serious inroads into Manchuria and Inner Mongolia and India into parts of Tibet, which rose up into revolt led by the Dalai Lama. The war was total, and billions of people were caught in the path of vengeful soldiers. NATO declared neutrality, but the possibility of a complete Chinese collapse spooked them deeply, as Russia would undoubtedly gain in both resource power and manpower.
As for Sueno, Bowman had been interrogating him around the clock for a week now. Trump was incredibly eager to hear what he had to say, so he had Sueno and Bowman both come to the White House after several heated and intense discussions with his cabinet. His team was incredibly divided, with some wanting intervention and others
“Mr. President,” his secretary phoned in. “Bowman and Sueno are here.”
“Bring them in,” Trump replied without looking up from the documents he was looking at—more reports from what was being described as World War III already.
Bowman came in first with Sueno right behind. She was dressed rather casually, with a normal shirt and cargo pants, whereas Sueno was wearing a large suit that seemed to barely contain his massive muscles. “Greetings Mr. President,” Sueno said graciously as Trump gestured for him to sit down.
“You know Sueno,” Trump began, “I’m going to be real with you…very real. Shit is going down, and you correctly got me out of Moscow. What is going on?”
“I will be forthcoming friend, since you have so far upheld your ends of the bargain. My men in Bolivia have captured most of the country, and are just waiting for my arrival.”
“So…” Trump said somewhat exasperatedly. “What is it then?”
Sueno leaned onto Trump’s oval office desk. “This will sound very loco, but trust me. All of this is a part of a global conspiracy started by some people right here in this country.”
“Pardon me?”
“He’s right,” Bowman interjected. “I couldn’t believe it myself, but it all makes sense.”
“You see President,” Sueno explained, “there are those who believe that America is evil and that the world has become…infected. I am…was…one of those people. All I wanted was to establish a safe haven for my people, but how could I do that when you yanquis could just come and wipe us out? Russia was no help, and China wanted me dead and replaced, so I turned to the logical solution, wiping everyone out. Now that you are my ally, I need to stop this plot.”
“Plot?” Trump inquired.
“Yes, plot. There is a group in Montana, called the Project at Eden’s Gate, led by one Joseph Seed. His man, I believe his brother, Jacob, came to Bolivia to purchase ingredients and knowhow to create a perfect drug that his group uses. We found that agreed on more than many things. He has followers all over the country, including many at Malmstrom Airbase. He gave us the information and some bombs, and we sent it to Russia, who gave us more nuclear weapons in return—they were in on the plot to begin with, but they were useful idiots really. We smuggled them into North Korea, from where, they were distributed to cells across the globe to activate when needed. All of this had a purpose…to cleanse the world and to start anew. It’s all been working according to plan, and World War III has begun. All that needs to happen is for missiles to be launched against certain cities and the world will be bathed in nuclear fire.”
Trump leaned back in his seat. “Who is this Joseph?”
“He’s a charismatic preacher. He has a whole army of militia and paramilitary elements in Hope County Montana. I would not be surprised if he controls Malmstrom Airbase already, which, as you know, has nuclear weapons. He believes that God spoke to him in a vision, telling him to execute His wrath. It’s truly scary.”
“He has…nuclear weapons?”
“He does,” Bowman responded. “Or at least that is what we believe. This is truly an Empty Quiver situation sir. It is worse than I could have ever dreamed of.”
Trump took a deep breath. “I will call the army…”
“No sir!” Sueno begged. “Joseph is twitchy and will strike at any time. His people are not yet in position globally, but they have bombs in places that even I do not know. Be cautious. I recommend using…the Ghost Unit that was sent after me. Arrest him silently and bring him to you before he can rally his followers to war. That may be the only way.”
Trump sat in his desk and stared at the wall behind Sueno. How did the world get so crazy? He knew what he had to do, however. The Ghosts would be sent in.
All of them.
The pacing is good, don't worry.
I feel you are getting way too little feedback though, this story deserves more replies by far...! I for my part am sorry I haven't been able to keep up. Just read 4 updates in one, and it's a great read!
The pacing is good, don't worry.
I appreciate it!
I understand the lack of feedback, as this is not an AAR in the traditional sense and this is certainly takes a longer time to digest than a standard one. Either way, I'm having fun and I hope that everyone is enjoying this!
Elizabeth plopped down onto a dining chair as she began to eat the breakfast she had prepared for herself: sausage and eggs, her favorite breakfast meal since she was a child. She didn’t have a ton of time so she ate it fairly quickly…she couldn’t leave Keanu Reeves and the crew filming John Wick 4 waiting after all.
The last two weeks of her life were probably the best of her entire life since she was free of any and all obligations besides her family. Her body ached all over from the abundant time she spent with her husband in the bedroom; she swore he was a teenager all over again. He was definitely making up for all the months and years that Elizabeth had spent on deployments away from him, and he most certainly made up for them, and she wasn’t pregnant after all of that, then she would probably never have another child. As she sat there, she knew that she would defiantly be able to have another baby: she was only thirty-five, so child number four was most certainly in the cards. She hoped it was a boy, since William was quite outnumbered as it was.
“Hey dear,” Andrew grinned as he entered the large and open kitchen space and kissed Elizabeth on her forehead. “I’m sad that I have to go back to work.”
“Oh I know,” Elizabeth laughed, playfully reaching for his chest. “I have work as well!”
“But your work is far more interesting,” he protested in jest.
“I think making missiles and supplying World War III is pretty darn cool myself,” Elizabeth joked, holding Andrew’s hand. “Pretty cool.”
“I’m surprised they are still filming even with the world like it is.”
“I mean China has no filming scene, Bollywood doesn’t affect us, and Russia ain’t got nothing. We have an ocean between us, and tons of people who want to forget about everything.”
“Fair enough,” Andrew replied, gently grabbing at his wife’s rear. She yelped and stood up in a small fit of laughter.
“Andrew!” She giggled.
“I can do that,” he answered back, giving his wife a quick kiss. “I’ll be back tonight. Have a great time filming your movie dear.”
“Oh I will.”
After getting ready for the day, she drove off towards the filming site, which was in a makeshift outdoor set not too far from Fort Bragg. She read over the script for the day: she was going to be interrogating Laurence Fishburn’s character on the whereabouts of John Wick, but for some reason, she had no lines. She would have to ask Keanu about that obvious omission. Later on in the movie, John Wick was going to kill her character with a ruler…a fricking ruler right down her throat. That was going to be sick and more than a little bit bloody, and she was excited. As she pulled into the lot, she saw that Keanu was waiting for her, sitting on a bench and drinking some coffee. That man was something else.
“Elizabeth!” He exclaimed. “I’m glad you found the place. It’s easy to get lost finding this lot.”
Elizabeth hugged him in a friendly manner. “I really appreciate the offer Keanu. You’ve saved me in more that one way if that meant anything.”
“Oh it’s the least I can do for a badass like yourself,” he nodded,, patting her on the shoulder. “Are you ready for your first day in the movie industry?”
“I guess so,” she replied nervously. “But I have a question. Why did I have no lines for the day?”
“Walk with me,” Keanu motioned as they entered the set, built in the style of a random American suburb. The set was abuzz with activity, as movie producers and workers buzzed back and forth prepping the scene at a pace that bewildered her. She was most definitely not in her element here. “What you did with Carzita back in Bolivia was fucking unbelievable. I want you to improvise the next scene where you interrogate Laurence Fishburn. Please include the hand sanitizer line if you would. I think that would go well in theaters.”
“Oh I can do that,” Elizabeth laughed. “I can go all in if you want.”
“I’m serious,” Keanu nodded I agreement. “Go all in. Bash him up a bit if you want. Just do what you did in Bolivia and everyone here will be happy. They all thought I was insane when I hired you onboard, so make it count soldier. Perhaps Chad Stahleski will add you in another movie if he likes you enough.”
“I’ll blow his socks off,” Elizabeth raised her fist and punched her hand gently. “I gotta pay the bills somehow,” she sniggered.
“That won’t be an issue…this is Hollywood,” Keanu replied. “Go get em cowboy. Let’s go meet the director and get ready for this shit.”
The scene was simple. The Bowery King, an ally of John Wick’s, had been captured by a team of US Navy seals, and it was up to Elizabeth’s character, an unnamed seal, to interrogate the shit out of him and find out exactly where John Wick went, an important task since the High Table had already lost multiple members, some of which were high ranking government officials. The Bowery King was tied up in a random person’s living room, and Elizabeth was ready to enter and do her thing.
“Action!” The director yelled as the scene began.
Elizabeth was nervous, but it faded once she entered the house and went directly for the Bowery King. “Look asshole, I am going to give you one fucking minute to tell me where John Wick or I am going to put a hollow-point right into your god damn skull. Do you understand?!”
The Bowery King laughed and practically spat in her face. “You won’t get SHIT out of me! Do you understand?”
Elizabeth smiled briefly and pretended to be defeated, before racking the slide of her handgun back and digging it into his skull. “Do you want to try again you piece of shit?!”
“Blow me honey,” the King responded.
“Fine,” Elizabeth replied. “Have it your way.” She walked away from the man before swiftly turning around and shooting a bullet into his foot. Laurence Fishbourne was a phenomenal actor and played the part perfectly, screaming in agony as Elizabeth rushed him and pushed his chair down onto the ground, letting him fall onto his back with a loud and painful sounding thud.
“I have money!” The Bowery King screamed. “How much do you want?!”
“Money?! I don’t give a fuck about money asshole! I work for the US government, we spend billions on hand-santizer alone. Pork Barrels fuckface!!!!!”
“Alright alright!” The Bowery King yelled in agony as Elizabeth whipped his chest with her pistol. “What do you want?!”
“I want John Wick!”
“Cut!!” The director yelled, clapping his hands in awe. “Cut! That was amazing! Absolutely amazing! You my friend are a natural!”
“My goodness,” Laurence Fishbourne gasped as Elizabeth helped him to his feet. “You had me scared there for a second!” He laughed. “That was intense my friend! Where did you learn all of that?!”
“From the best,” Elizabeth giggled. “Sorry to scare you.”
“She’s was a US special forces soldier,” Keanu said proudly. “That was sick Elizabeth. I’m sure the audience will love that stuff.”
“I’m going to have fun working with you Elizabeth,” Laurence said responded breathlessly, wiping dust from his shirt. “That was something else.”
“It’s an honor,” Elizabeth replied in admiration for an actor that she loved. “I never thought that I would be working with two actors that I respect so much.”
“You’re one of us now,” Keanu cheered. “Well, maybe not nearly as famous, but you are an actor! Enjoy it while you can!”
“Oh trust me, I’m enjoying it.”
Elizabeth spent the next few hours hobnobbing with everyone on the set and getting to know the ins and outs of the industry. While she was certainly not in an environment that she was used to, she enjoyed it more than any other job that she had up to that point. It was a relief to actually not feel like there was constantly a target on her back, and for the first time in many years, her work did not involve being shot at. She was getting paid large amounts of money to be stress free and act like herself. She was in heaven. Her children would be so popular when her classmates realized that their mother was in a major action movie with Keanu Reeves and other famous actors, and more importantly, she would no longer be the absentee mother that she had been for the entire duration of her children’s lives. She sat next to Keanu and silently thanked God for the turn of events that had befallen her. It was entirely an accident, but one that she certainly would not say no to. Everything was going to be good now. That was for sure.
“Elizabeth!” Came a random movie producer as he sprinted into the actor’s lounge. “There are some guys who want to see you in the front.”
Elizabeth was laughing at some random joke that Laurence Fishbourne told and didn’t notice the producer.
“Elizabeth!” He yelled, waving his arms.
“Sorry,” she said, still laughing at the joke. “May I help you?”
“Yeah,” the producer gasped. “There are people who want to see you in the front.”
“What people?” Elizabeth wondered, confused.
“I don’t know, but they looked angry.”
“I’ll talk to them,” Elizabeth answered, not knowing what was going on.
She walked off of the movie set and gasped with horror as she realized that Scott Mitchell was standing there with Rubio and the rest of her team. Scott looked incredibly angry, but the rest of the squad looked almost sad and wary—they turned their heads in shame as Elizabeth left the set and walked towards the squad of ghosts.
“Hello Major Chandler,” Scott Mitchell seethed.
“I retired!” Elizabeth said harshly, not even bothering to shake his hand. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Scott dug his shoe into the ground. “I am going to be straight with you. Uncle Sam is in need of your service.”
Elizabeth couldn’t believe it. She shook her head angrily. “Tell Uncle Sam to take a fucking hike. I don’t care about that life anymore.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
“You can’t do shit to me,” Elizabeth hissed. “Now get out of here before I call security to kick you all out!”
“You are wrong about that,” Scott grinned ominously. “You have committed many war crimes, from killing surrendered enemies to committing extrajudicial interrogations and slaughtering civilians and other non-soldiers. I am sure Congress and the FBI will be delighted to make an example of such a heinous criminal.”
Elizabeth turned white like a ghost. “I…” she stammered.
“That’s not all. I am sure that the IRS would love to audit your family and find every little mistake you all have made. It would be a real shame if Andrew were sent to jail and your children put in foster care.”
“You piece of shit!!!” Elizabeth screamed so loudly that her throat ached.
“Look,” Scott explained. “All of this will go away if you come back for one more mission. I do not enjoy this, but nuclear weapons have gone missing. This is the most serious mission that I have ever had to authorize, and most of our other ghost squads are abroad rescuing our operatives. I have to do what I have to do, I hope you understand that.”
Elizabeth looked at Rubio, but he could not look back. He was clearly incredibly disturbed and not happy. “Alright Scott,” she sighed in utter agony. “I’ll do your mission, but after this, if I see you again, I promise that I will fucking put a bullet right in your god damn skull! Do you understand?!”
“I sure do, and I hope I never see you again as well Major Chandler. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at the airbase. You will head to Montana and be back by the end of the day. This should be quick.”
After saying her goodbyes and briefly explaining the situation to everyone, Elizabeth left the set in her car. She pulled over onto a curb and screamed so loudly that she lost her voice.
The last two weeks of her life were probably the best of her entire life since she was free of any and all obligations besides her family. Her body ached all over from the abundant time she spent with her husband in the bedroom; she swore he was a teenager all over again. He was definitely making up for all the months and years that Elizabeth had spent on deployments away from him, and he most certainly made up for them, and she wasn’t pregnant after all of that, then she would probably never have another child. As she sat there, she knew that she would defiantly be able to have another baby: she was only thirty-five, so child number four was most certainly in the cards. She hoped it was a boy, since William was quite outnumbered as it was.
“Hey dear,” Andrew grinned as he entered the large and open kitchen space and kissed Elizabeth on her forehead. “I’m sad that I have to go back to work.”
“Oh I know,” Elizabeth laughed, playfully reaching for his chest. “I have work as well!”
“But your work is far more interesting,” he protested in jest.
“I think making missiles and supplying World War III is pretty darn cool myself,” Elizabeth joked, holding Andrew’s hand. “Pretty cool.”
“I’m surprised they are still filming even with the world like it is.”
“I mean China has no filming scene, Bollywood doesn’t affect us, and Russia ain’t got nothing. We have an ocean between us, and tons of people who want to forget about everything.”
“Fair enough,” Andrew replied, gently grabbing at his wife’s rear. She yelped and stood up in a small fit of laughter.
“Andrew!” She giggled.
“I can do that,” he answered back, giving his wife a quick kiss. “I’ll be back tonight. Have a great time filming your movie dear.”
“Oh I will.”
After getting ready for the day, she drove off towards the filming site, which was in a makeshift outdoor set not too far from Fort Bragg. She read over the script for the day: she was going to be interrogating Laurence Fishburn’s character on the whereabouts of John Wick, but for some reason, she had no lines. She would have to ask Keanu about that obvious omission. Later on in the movie, John Wick was going to kill her character with a ruler…a fricking ruler right down her throat. That was going to be sick and more than a little bit bloody, and she was excited. As she pulled into the lot, she saw that Keanu was waiting for her, sitting on a bench and drinking some coffee. That man was something else.
“Elizabeth!” He exclaimed. “I’m glad you found the place. It’s easy to get lost finding this lot.”
Elizabeth hugged him in a friendly manner. “I really appreciate the offer Keanu. You’ve saved me in more that one way if that meant anything.”
“Oh it’s the least I can do for a badass like yourself,” he nodded,, patting her on the shoulder. “Are you ready for your first day in the movie industry?”
“I guess so,” she replied nervously. “But I have a question. Why did I have no lines for the day?”
“Walk with me,” Keanu motioned as they entered the set, built in the style of a random American suburb. The set was abuzz with activity, as movie producers and workers buzzed back and forth prepping the scene at a pace that bewildered her. She was most definitely not in her element here. “What you did with Carzita back in Bolivia was fucking unbelievable. I want you to improvise the next scene where you interrogate Laurence Fishburn. Please include the hand sanitizer line if you would. I think that would go well in theaters.”
“Oh I can do that,” Elizabeth laughed. “I can go all in if you want.”
“I’m serious,” Keanu nodded I agreement. “Go all in. Bash him up a bit if you want. Just do what you did in Bolivia and everyone here will be happy. They all thought I was insane when I hired you onboard, so make it count soldier. Perhaps Chad Stahleski will add you in another movie if he likes you enough.”
“I’ll blow his socks off,” Elizabeth raised her fist and punched her hand gently. “I gotta pay the bills somehow,” she sniggered.
“That won’t be an issue…this is Hollywood,” Keanu replied. “Go get em cowboy. Let’s go meet the director and get ready for this shit.”
The scene was simple. The Bowery King, an ally of John Wick’s, had been captured by a team of US Navy seals, and it was up to Elizabeth’s character, an unnamed seal, to interrogate the shit out of him and find out exactly where John Wick went, an important task since the High Table had already lost multiple members, some of which were high ranking government officials. The Bowery King was tied up in a random person’s living room, and Elizabeth was ready to enter and do her thing.
“Action!” The director yelled as the scene began.
Elizabeth was nervous, but it faded once she entered the house and went directly for the Bowery King. “Look asshole, I am going to give you one fucking minute to tell me where John Wick or I am going to put a hollow-point right into your god damn skull. Do you understand?!”
The Bowery King laughed and practically spat in her face. “You won’t get SHIT out of me! Do you understand?”
Elizabeth smiled briefly and pretended to be defeated, before racking the slide of her handgun back and digging it into his skull. “Do you want to try again you piece of shit?!”
“Blow me honey,” the King responded.
“Fine,” Elizabeth replied. “Have it your way.” She walked away from the man before swiftly turning around and shooting a bullet into his foot. Laurence Fishbourne was a phenomenal actor and played the part perfectly, screaming in agony as Elizabeth rushed him and pushed his chair down onto the ground, letting him fall onto his back with a loud and painful sounding thud.
“I have money!” The Bowery King screamed. “How much do you want?!”
“Money?! I don’t give a fuck about money asshole! I work for the US government, we spend billions on hand-santizer alone. Pork Barrels fuckface!!!!!”
“Alright alright!” The Bowery King yelled in agony as Elizabeth whipped his chest with her pistol. “What do you want?!”
“I want John Wick!”
“Cut!!” The director yelled, clapping his hands in awe. “Cut! That was amazing! Absolutely amazing! You my friend are a natural!”
“My goodness,” Laurence Fishbourne gasped as Elizabeth helped him to his feet. “You had me scared there for a second!” He laughed. “That was intense my friend! Where did you learn all of that?!”
“From the best,” Elizabeth giggled. “Sorry to scare you.”
“She’s was a US special forces soldier,” Keanu said proudly. “That was sick Elizabeth. I’m sure the audience will love that stuff.”
“I’m going to have fun working with you Elizabeth,” Laurence said responded breathlessly, wiping dust from his shirt. “That was something else.”
“It’s an honor,” Elizabeth replied in admiration for an actor that she loved. “I never thought that I would be working with two actors that I respect so much.”
“You’re one of us now,” Keanu cheered. “Well, maybe not nearly as famous, but you are an actor! Enjoy it while you can!”
“Oh trust me, I’m enjoying it.”
Elizabeth spent the next few hours hobnobbing with everyone on the set and getting to know the ins and outs of the industry. While she was certainly not in an environment that she was used to, she enjoyed it more than any other job that she had up to that point. It was a relief to actually not feel like there was constantly a target on her back, and for the first time in many years, her work did not involve being shot at. She was getting paid large amounts of money to be stress free and act like herself. She was in heaven. Her children would be so popular when her classmates realized that their mother was in a major action movie with Keanu Reeves and other famous actors, and more importantly, she would no longer be the absentee mother that she had been for the entire duration of her children’s lives. She sat next to Keanu and silently thanked God for the turn of events that had befallen her. It was entirely an accident, but one that she certainly would not say no to. Everything was going to be good now. That was for sure.
“Elizabeth!” Came a random movie producer as he sprinted into the actor’s lounge. “There are some guys who want to see you in the front.”
Elizabeth was laughing at some random joke that Laurence Fishbourne told and didn’t notice the producer.
“Elizabeth!” He yelled, waving his arms.
“Sorry,” she said, still laughing at the joke. “May I help you?”
“Yeah,” the producer gasped. “There are people who want to see you in the front.”
“What people?” Elizabeth wondered, confused.
“I don’t know, but they looked angry.”
“I’ll talk to them,” Elizabeth answered, not knowing what was going on.
She walked off of the movie set and gasped with horror as she realized that Scott Mitchell was standing there with Rubio and the rest of her team. Scott looked incredibly angry, but the rest of the squad looked almost sad and wary—they turned their heads in shame as Elizabeth left the set and walked towards the squad of ghosts.
“Hello Major Chandler,” Scott Mitchell seethed.
“I retired!” Elizabeth said harshly, not even bothering to shake his hand. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Scott dug his shoe into the ground. “I am going to be straight with you. Uncle Sam is in need of your service.”
Elizabeth couldn’t believe it. She shook her head angrily. “Tell Uncle Sam to take a fucking hike. I don’t care about that life anymore.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
“You can’t do shit to me,” Elizabeth hissed. “Now get out of here before I call security to kick you all out!”
“You are wrong about that,” Scott grinned ominously. “You have committed many war crimes, from killing surrendered enemies to committing extrajudicial interrogations and slaughtering civilians and other non-soldiers. I am sure Congress and the FBI will be delighted to make an example of such a heinous criminal.”
Elizabeth turned white like a ghost. “I…” she stammered.
“That’s not all. I am sure that the IRS would love to audit your family and find every little mistake you all have made. It would be a real shame if Andrew were sent to jail and your children put in foster care.”
“You piece of shit!!!” Elizabeth screamed so loudly that her throat ached.
“Look,” Scott explained. “All of this will go away if you come back for one more mission. I do not enjoy this, but nuclear weapons have gone missing. This is the most serious mission that I have ever had to authorize, and most of our other ghost squads are abroad rescuing our operatives. I have to do what I have to do, I hope you understand that.”
Elizabeth looked at Rubio, but he could not look back. He was clearly incredibly disturbed and not happy. “Alright Scott,” she sighed in utter agony. “I’ll do your mission, but after this, if I see you again, I promise that I will fucking put a bullet right in your god damn skull! Do you understand?!”
“I sure do, and I hope I never see you again as well Major Chandler. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at the airbase. You will head to Montana and be back by the end of the day. This should be quick.”
After saying her goodbyes and briefly explaining the situation to everyone, Elizabeth left the set in her car. She pulled over onto a curb and screamed so loudly that she lost her voice.
Hope County, Montana, is truly one of the most beautiful places in the entire world. Endless golden plains of lush grass, mountains peaks, long flowing rivers, and vibrant forests all blended together to create a sort of paradise, one where people could come to and carve out their own little kingdoms in the middle of the United States. Some came to get away from their past, some for work, others came to embrace a more simplistic life, but regardless of their reasons, everyone who came left awestruck at the beauty of the land that was now their home. It was a land of pioneers, outdoorsmen, a place of rugged individualism, one where one could easily buy a gun anywhere, even a gas station if one really wanted to. It was almost like a small garden of Eden in the middle of the nation.
It was also apparently home to an apocalyptic death cult bent on destroying the world.
Hope County was essentially Elizabeth’s second home, at least in her mind. She bought her first gun there off some random farmer in the woods and used it to kill her first animal, a small rabbit. It was in Hope County a that she learned how to skin animals, shoot weapons accurately, and live off the land, turning her from a young girl into a seasoned and tough outdoorsman. She always knew that it was this land that turned her into the person that she now was—a tough and rugged individual who could, despite her gender, hang with the best of them. She hadn’t visited the area in years, but promised that when she retired, it would be to a ranch somewhere near the town of Falls End, a place that she always viewed with a sense of nostalgia. Andrew wasn’t privy to the idea at first, but he would come around. He always did.
When Elizabeth first read the briefings, quite unwillingly at first, she couldn’t believe what she was reading at first. None of it seemed real. A random preacher named Joseph Seed, the same preacher that Ernie kept talking about, had managed to amass a small army of thousands of people, all armed with smuggled illegal arms and heavy weapons. They used the Cartel as a tool to do their bidding and managed to smuggle a number of nuclear weapons from friendly elements in Malmstrom Airbase into Bolivia, from where they were distributed to cells in Russia, China and India, where they were detonated upon a selected signal being sent out. World War III was their fault. In return, the Cartel sent large shipments of weapons, and curiously, a mindbogglingly large amount of food, medicine, and living supplies—they had to have been in on the plot. That would certainly explain why Jacob Seed, Joseph’s older brother, was in Bolivia. He was likely on a business deal of some sort.
The briefings were truly terrifying. Reports of drugging, kidnapping, and fanatical believers filled the videos that Elizabeth views. It was impressive that they managed to put together so much material on the cult in such a short notice, but once the nerds at the NSA knew what to look for, it was easy to spot. This would be an incredibly difficult and sensitive mission, and the fate of the world was in the hands of the eight ghosts being sent into the county. Some suggested sending in the military, but everyone was fearful that Joseph would panic and order his cells to detonate more weapons. All it would take was a number in certain cities to trigger a nuclear holocaust that would wipe the world. Nobody knew how many officials the cult had in their pocket, so no announcements were made or nuclear stock checks performed either. Everything had to be secret.
Humorously, the local police department, a treasure trove of information, offered to help and send in a few deputies to assist in the arrest. The request was turned out immediately. Why would anyone send in lightly armed sheriffs against a well-armed death cult that was clearly engaging in crimes against humanity? Only a fool would attempt something that idiotic and non-sensitive. Right? Such an idea was left to bad writers and into the rubbish bin of terrible plans.
Elizabeth let out a loud yawn as she shut down her laptop that was playing a briefing video and placed it on the floor of the helicopter. It was late at night and she was tired, but there was work to be done, work that she wanted to be done as quickly as possible. The Ghosts were a small unit of less than a hundred members, so everyone knew each-other quite well, and every single gathering was quite the party and was hard to keep a Ghost unit silent, but this helicopter was deathly quiet. Nobody could look Elizabeth in the eye. They had all heard what Scott Mitchell had done to Elizabeth, and deep down, they were shamed at what their boss had done. They respected her as a fighter and as a human being, so to see her forced back into service was disturbing to say the least.
“Liz,” Rubio whispered, fidgeting with his night vision goggles.
“What is it?” Elizabeth sighed sadly, staring out the window into the night skies above Hope County. It was so dark that she could hardly see anything below, as this was not at all a populated area.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, patting her on the shoulder.
“Let’s finish this, then we can talk,” she replied, shaking her head and gently removing his hand from her shoulder.
“Fair enough,” he said ashamedly.
Elizabeth didn’t reply. She turned her headset on and changed her channel to speak to the entire Ghost unit that was on the mission, as the helicopter made speaking to the entire squad impossible. “Alright men, this is a bit of a departure from ou…your usual work, so lets get to it. In and out, we get this bastard, then we leave. Clean and quiet. This is not your usual group, and I understand that our foes today are our own countrymen, but they are enemies nonetheless. The eyes of the government are on us, and the fate of the world may be in our hands tonight, but just know that you all are trained for this. Lock and load everyone. Hoowah?”
“Hoowah,” the squad replied a bit unenthusiastically.
“Crossing over the Henbane now,” the pilot of the helicopter, a local deputy, announced as the helicopter descended into the Hope County valley and out of the clouds. To their left, a large concrete statue of Joseph Seed appeared out of the clouds, his arms outstretched and holding a large stone Bible.
“Holy fuck,” Holt muttered. “There he is.”
“Crazy motherfucker,” Weaver gasped, staring intently as the helicopter quickly whizzed by the stature. “That man must have an enormous fucking ego.”
“We are officially in Peggie country,” the pilot remarked. “Keep that in mind everyone.”
“Peggie?” Rubio inquired. “Why do the police here call them Peggies?”
“Project at Eden’s Gate,” the pilot answered. “P-E-G, peggies. That’s what we locals call them. They started off harmless enough, but now, well, they are armed to the teeth and itching for a fight. Tread carefully.”
“You scared, pilot?” Elizabeth asked.
“A little bit,” he admitted. “These guys are not people we want to fuck with.”
“Don’t worry about them,” Holt laughed. “We can handle some militia.”
The helicopter continued for a few more minutes before landing in a small clearing in the middle of a vast and seemingly endless forest, just as the briefings indicated. Everyone gathered their gear, put on their baklavas and helmets, and were soon ready to head out to capture the madman. They were all eager to get the hell out of the area. “I’ll be waiting here,” the pilot indicated. “You’ll know where to find me.”
Elizabeth was once again picked as the boss for this mission because she knew the area quite intimately, and she picked their landing spot—a small clearing in the middle of Whitetail National Park. Joseph, according to intelligence, spent most of this time in the cult’s old headquarters located in an old church camp in the mountains, a place where Elizabeth knew quite well. From where the Ghosts landed, their entire approach would be covered by thick forests, making a stealthy approach that much easier. They set off, not saying a single word for most of the time aside from brief utterances to indicate the road crossings were clear of any potential Cult members. Aside from a few locals that happened to be driving by, the isolated forests of Hope County were empty of life. Nobody was really out and about at nine at night.
It did not take long for the Ghost team to reach the structure, and it was obvious that they had found what they were looking for. They snuck onto various positions surrounding the church, and quickly discovered that getting in silently would be very difficult. The church was packed and exceedingly well guarded. The parking lot was filled with an assortment of trucks and cars, and the music from the congregation hall echoed through the mountains as the congregants voiced out to song. The squad was busy marking targets and guards, but Elizabeth’s mind was lost in the music. It was catchy to say the least.
Oh Lord, this earth was made for us, singing, oh Lord, this sinful life just ain’t enough, so we'll take a stand cuz we must protect our land. Keep your rifle by your side!
“Nomad, Nomad?” Rubio asked over the headset.
“Sorry,” Elizabeth whispered. “Got distracted.”
“How should we go about this?”
Elizabeth pulled out her binoculars and examined the scene herself. The ‘guards,’ if one could call them that, were clearly not soldiers, but rather looked like ordinary men plucked from any small town in the heartland of the nation. Aside from their AR-15s, and tactical vests, the men looked like complete civilians that could come from anywhere. “This is the cult that managed to steal nuclear weapons?” Elizabeth asked in disbelief. “I grew up with people like this. Do we really want to barge in on a church service and cause what will definitely be an insane amount of chaos?”
“I mean, those are the orders,” one of the other ghosts replied. “In and out as quickly as we can.”
“Fuck the orders,” Elizabeth countered. “We will wait here until the service ends. I’m not going to risk innocents being caught in the crossfire, nor us getting spotted. We wait until people leave.”
The team waited for a while, and they got their wish. It was ten when the congregants finally left, getting into their cars and leaving the hilltop compound. As the final cult members left, Weaver called out that he had spotted their target exiting the building and waving goodbye at his congregants. Oddly, he was not wearing a shirt, and his black hair was tied back into a man-bun—Elizabeth giggled at the thought. Fortunately for them, he began to walk away from the structure and down a small dirt path that was right next to where Elizabeth was hiding. This was going to be easier than she had ever anticipated when she was forced back for this mission. This was the man that everyone feared? Going out like this? It was almost too good to be true.
“He’s heading this way,” Rubio whispered harshly.
“Stay where you are,” she ordered. “I’ll grab him.”
She held her breath as he stumbled by her, clearly deeply distressed. He collapsed onto his knees, and to her shock, began to weep profusely.
“God,” he begged, his arms raised into the air, “A seal has been broken. I cannot do this Father, I cannot! Remove this burden from me! I beg you!” He said, shouting almost a the top of his lungs. Tears fell from his face. “But if it is your will, I will do it Father. For you, and for your plans.” he said fighting back his emotions.
Elizabeth let him weep, but finally stood up from his hiding spot. “Joseph Edwin Seed,” she hissed, pointing her rifle at him. “Get on your knees and put your hands above your head and interlock your fingers! Now!!”
He seemed almost unsurprised and unfazed, but complied with the orders. “It is occurring, just as He told me,” he muttered, getting on his knees and interlacing his fingers above his head. “Why have you come with guns as you would against an enemy of the nation? I am no enemy of our country. The darkness and its power are yours this hour, but God will not let you take me.”
“Shut your mouth criminal,” Rubio boomed, running behind Joseph and cuffing his hands together.
“That’s it?” Holt began, almost in disbelief.
“That’s it,” Elizabeth replied. “Just like that. Let’s get this asshole back to the chopper.”
Having arrested him, the Ghost unit led Joseph back the way they came and down the mountain. They were noticeably more relaxed, and for the first time, even Elizabeth opened up a bit and started joking with her unit. She was giddily anticipating going home and being with her family and her new acting friends literally the next day, all without having fired a single shot of ammunition. Joseph, on the other hand, did not say a single word, only humming the tone to Amazing Grace the entire time. It was a bit unsettling, but Elizabeth did not pay him much notice.
“When I get back to Fayetteville,” Holt began, “I am going to get so fucked up. I think I deserve it this time. Three fucking deployments in less than half a year? The Old Man can suck my dick if he thinks I’m going again for a while.”
“Same here,” Weaver agreed. “I’m going to sign my divorce papers and go to the Bahamas. What are you going to do Actress?”
Elizabeth chuckled ever so slightly. “I’m going to spend a nice night with my hubby, then film the next day. Apparently, Keanu is going to split my throat open with a ruler.”
“A fucking ruler?” Holt laughed. “Man, why do keep getting all the good gigs?”
“Cuz I’m better looking,” Elizabeth clapped back jokingly, gently punching her teammate. “I’ll get you all tickets to the premiere.”
“I’ll go as long as it has an open bar,” Holt said. “I’ll cheer when you die.”
“And I’ll be counting my mad stacks of cash.”
“Touché boss, touché.”
It was a truly dark night, and the moon was barely visible in the sky. It was almost ominously dark, but they finally began to approach the helicopter that was waiting for them right where the pilot had landed it. “Approach your position,” Elizabeth announced over the radio. “It’s us, so don’t worry.”
“Rodger that Ghost Recon, welcome back. I hope the mission was a success.”
“Oh it was,” Elizabeth replied proudly. “Turn the thing on. As soon as we board I want to get out of here. The first moment the cult notices that their man has been taken they are going to go fucking insane and tear this place apart. I don’t want to be here for that.”
“Fair enough. I’ll start the chopper. We’ll be out of here in a jiffy.”
True to his word, the helicopter’s rotors were already buzzing when the squad arrived a few minutes later. “Get him in the chopper,” Elizabeth ordered. “I’ll be the last one on.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be necessary 2nd Lieutenant Davis,” came a familiar voice from inside the helicopter. To her horror, Jacob Seed stepped out from the interior of the chopper with a handgun raised right at her head. “Let him go Elizabeth.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Elizabeth roared, pointing her gun at Jacob, but a number of ordinary looking cult members stepped from the forest with guns trained at every single member of the Ghost Unit. They had walked right into an ambush and were now terrible outnumbered and most likely outgunned.
“I did as you asked,” the pilot said almost robotically, walking towards Joseph with his head bowed. “I did it!”
“You did well son,” Joseph remarked. “You brought them here. God will reward you richly.”
“You fucking traitor!” Weaver yelled, rushing the pilot, but Jacob fired a shot right into Weaver’s head and killed him instantly.
“WEAVER!!!” Elizabeth cried, running to her friend, but it was far too late. He was dead, a massive bullet hole was visible right in his forehead.
“I take no comfort I this Elizabeth,” Jacob said almost remorsefully. “ but if you want to prevent further bloodshed, I suggest you surrender your weapons and let our leader go.”
With tears in her eyes, she kept trying in vain to revive her friend. The Ghosts were yelling at the cult soldiers surrounding them, but it was clear that they were outnumbered and if any them attempted to fight their way out, they would all certainly be killed. “Fuck you!” She roared, tossing her gun at Jacob’s feet.
“Boss!” Holt yelled astonished. “What are you doing?!”
“Holt, if we shoot back we all die.”
One by one, the rest of the Ghosts slowly laid down their weapons. As the cult soldiers watched them carefully, one of them grabbed Joseph and broke his restraints, freeing him.
“Children!” Joseph began, stepping on-top of the small helicopter to speak to the gathered soldiers. “My children! You can feel it, can’t you? We are creeping towards the edge, and there will be a reckoning. That is why we started the Project, because we know what happens next! They will come, they will try to take from us, take our guns…take our freedom…take our faith! We will not let them! We will not let their greed or their immorality or their depravity hurt us anymore!! There will be no more suffering! Here they are, locusts in our garden! See, they came for me. They came to take me away from you! They came to destroy all that we built! Everything has unfolded according to God’s plan. The 1st seal has been broken, and the Collapse has begun. We will take what we need, persevere what we have, and kill all those who stand in our way. Jacob, give these servants of Satan the bliss. BEGIN THE REAPING!!!”
Before Elizabeth could react, a cult member behind her injected something into her arm. She immediately became light-headed and collapsed onto the floor. As she drifted out of consciousness, she heard gunshots ring out all around her.
It was also apparently home to an apocalyptic death cult bent on destroying the world.
Hope County was essentially Elizabeth’s second home, at least in her mind. She bought her first gun there off some random farmer in the woods and used it to kill her first animal, a small rabbit. It was in Hope County a that she learned how to skin animals, shoot weapons accurately, and live off the land, turning her from a young girl into a seasoned and tough outdoorsman. She always knew that it was this land that turned her into the person that she now was—a tough and rugged individual who could, despite her gender, hang with the best of them. She hadn’t visited the area in years, but promised that when she retired, it would be to a ranch somewhere near the town of Falls End, a place that she always viewed with a sense of nostalgia. Andrew wasn’t privy to the idea at first, but he would come around. He always did.
When Elizabeth first read the briefings, quite unwillingly at first, she couldn’t believe what she was reading at first. None of it seemed real. A random preacher named Joseph Seed, the same preacher that Ernie kept talking about, had managed to amass a small army of thousands of people, all armed with smuggled illegal arms and heavy weapons. They used the Cartel as a tool to do their bidding and managed to smuggle a number of nuclear weapons from friendly elements in Malmstrom Airbase into Bolivia, from where they were distributed to cells in Russia, China and India, where they were detonated upon a selected signal being sent out. World War III was their fault. In return, the Cartel sent large shipments of weapons, and curiously, a mindbogglingly large amount of food, medicine, and living supplies—they had to have been in on the plot. That would certainly explain why Jacob Seed, Joseph’s older brother, was in Bolivia. He was likely on a business deal of some sort.
The briefings were truly terrifying. Reports of drugging, kidnapping, and fanatical believers filled the videos that Elizabeth views. It was impressive that they managed to put together so much material on the cult in such a short notice, but once the nerds at the NSA knew what to look for, it was easy to spot. This would be an incredibly difficult and sensitive mission, and the fate of the world was in the hands of the eight ghosts being sent into the county. Some suggested sending in the military, but everyone was fearful that Joseph would panic and order his cells to detonate more weapons. All it would take was a number in certain cities to trigger a nuclear holocaust that would wipe the world. Nobody knew how many officials the cult had in their pocket, so no announcements were made or nuclear stock checks performed either. Everything had to be secret.
Humorously, the local police department, a treasure trove of information, offered to help and send in a few deputies to assist in the arrest. The request was turned out immediately. Why would anyone send in lightly armed sheriffs against a well-armed death cult that was clearly engaging in crimes against humanity? Only a fool would attempt something that idiotic and non-sensitive. Right? Such an idea was left to bad writers and into the rubbish bin of terrible plans.
Elizabeth let out a loud yawn as she shut down her laptop that was playing a briefing video and placed it on the floor of the helicopter. It was late at night and she was tired, but there was work to be done, work that she wanted to be done as quickly as possible. The Ghosts were a small unit of less than a hundred members, so everyone knew each-other quite well, and every single gathering was quite the party and was hard to keep a Ghost unit silent, but this helicopter was deathly quiet. Nobody could look Elizabeth in the eye. They had all heard what Scott Mitchell had done to Elizabeth, and deep down, they were shamed at what their boss had done. They respected her as a fighter and as a human being, so to see her forced back into service was disturbing to say the least.
“Liz,” Rubio whispered, fidgeting with his night vision goggles.
“What is it?” Elizabeth sighed sadly, staring out the window into the night skies above Hope County. It was so dark that she could hardly see anything below, as this was not at all a populated area.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, patting her on the shoulder.
“Let’s finish this, then we can talk,” she replied, shaking her head and gently removing his hand from her shoulder.
“Fair enough,” he said ashamedly.
Elizabeth didn’t reply. She turned her headset on and changed her channel to speak to the entire Ghost unit that was on the mission, as the helicopter made speaking to the entire squad impossible. “Alright men, this is a bit of a departure from ou…your usual work, so lets get to it. In and out, we get this bastard, then we leave. Clean and quiet. This is not your usual group, and I understand that our foes today are our own countrymen, but they are enemies nonetheless. The eyes of the government are on us, and the fate of the world may be in our hands tonight, but just know that you all are trained for this. Lock and load everyone. Hoowah?”
“Hoowah,” the squad replied a bit unenthusiastically.
“Crossing over the Henbane now,” the pilot of the helicopter, a local deputy, announced as the helicopter descended into the Hope County valley and out of the clouds. To their left, a large concrete statue of Joseph Seed appeared out of the clouds, his arms outstretched and holding a large stone Bible.
“Holy fuck,” Holt muttered. “There he is.”
“Crazy motherfucker,” Weaver gasped, staring intently as the helicopter quickly whizzed by the stature. “That man must have an enormous fucking ego.”
“We are officially in Peggie country,” the pilot remarked. “Keep that in mind everyone.”
“Peggie?” Rubio inquired. “Why do the police here call them Peggies?”
“Project at Eden’s Gate,” the pilot answered. “P-E-G, peggies. That’s what we locals call them. They started off harmless enough, but now, well, they are armed to the teeth and itching for a fight. Tread carefully.”
“You scared, pilot?” Elizabeth asked.
“A little bit,” he admitted. “These guys are not people we want to fuck with.”
“Don’t worry about them,” Holt laughed. “We can handle some militia.”
The helicopter continued for a few more minutes before landing in a small clearing in the middle of a vast and seemingly endless forest, just as the briefings indicated. Everyone gathered their gear, put on their baklavas and helmets, and were soon ready to head out to capture the madman. They were all eager to get the hell out of the area. “I’ll be waiting here,” the pilot indicated. “You’ll know where to find me.”
Elizabeth was once again picked as the boss for this mission because she knew the area quite intimately, and she picked their landing spot—a small clearing in the middle of Whitetail National Park. Joseph, according to intelligence, spent most of this time in the cult’s old headquarters located in an old church camp in the mountains, a place where Elizabeth knew quite well. From where the Ghosts landed, their entire approach would be covered by thick forests, making a stealthy approach that much easier. They set off, not saying a single word for most of the time aside from brief utterances to indicate the road crossings were clear of any potential Cult members. Aside from a few locals that happened to be driving by, the isolated forests of Hope County were empty of life. Nobody was really out and about at nine at night.
It did not take long for the Ghost team to reach the structure, and it was obvious that they had found what they were looking for. They snuck onto various positions surrounding the church, and quickly discovered that getting in silently would be very difficult. The church was packed and exceedingly well guarded. The parking lot was filled with an assortment of trucks and cars, and the music from the congregation hall echoed through the mountains as the congregants voiced out to song. The squad was busy marking targets and guards, but Elizabeth’s mind was lost in the music. It was catchy to say the least.
Oh Lord, this earth was made for us, singing, oh Lord, this sinful life just ain’t enough, so we'll take a stand cuz we must protect our land. Keep your rifle by your side!
“Nomad, Nomad?” Rubio asked over the headset.
“Sorry,” Elizabeth whispered. “Got distracted.”
“How should we go about this?”
Elizabeth pulled out her binoculars and examined the scene herself. The ‘guards,’ if one could call them that, were clearly not soldiers, but rather looked like ordinary men plucked from any small town in the heartland of the nation. Aside from their AR-15s, and tactical vests, the men looked like complete civilians that could come from anywhere. “This is the cult that managed to steal nuclear weapons?” Elizabeth asked in disbelief. “I grew up with people like this. Do we really want to barge in on a church service and cause what will definitely be an insane amount of chaos?”
“I mean, those are the orders,” one of the other ghosts replied. “In and out as quickly as we can.”
“Fuck the orders,” Elizabeth countered. “We will wait here until the service ends. I’m not going to risk innocents being caught in the crossfire, nor us getting spotted. We wait until people leave.”
The team waited for a while, and they got their wish. It was ten when the congregants finally left, getting into their cars and leaving the hilltop compound. As the final cult members left, Weaver called out that he had spotted their target exiting the building and waving goodbye at his congregants. Oddly, he was not wearing a shirt, and his black hair was tied back into a man-bun—Elizabeth giggled at the thought. Fortunately for them, he began to walk away from the structure and down a small dirt path that was right next to where Elizabeth was hiding. This was going to be easier than she had ever anticipated when she was forced back for this mission. This was the man that everyone feared? Going out like this? It was almost too good to be true.
“He’s heading this way,” Rubio whispered harshly.
“Stay where you are,” she ordered. “I’ll grab him.”
She held her breath as he stumbled by her, clearly deeply distressed. He collapsed onto his knees, and to her shock, began to weep profusely.
“God,” he begged, his arms raised into the air, “A seal has been broken. I cannot do this Father, I cannot! Remove this burden from me! I beg you!” He said, shouting almost a the top of his lungs. Tears fell from his face. “But if it is your will, I will do it Father. For you, and for your plans.” he said fighting back his emotions.
Elizabeth let him weep, but finally stood up from his hiding spot. “Joseph Edwin Seed,” she hissed, pointing her rifle at him. “Get on your knees and put your hands above your head and interlock your fingers! Now!!”
He seemed almost unsurprised and unfazed, but complied with the orders. “It is occurring, just as He told me,” he muttered, getting on his knees and interlacing his fingers above his head. “Why have you come with guns as you would against an enemy of the nation? I am no enemy of our country. The darkness and its power are yours this hour, but God will not let you take me.”
“Shut your mouth criminal,” Rubio boomed, running behind Joseph and cuffing his hands together.
“That’s it?” Holt began, almost in disbelief.
“That’s it,” Elizabeth replied. “Just like that. Let’s get this asshole back to the chopper.”
Having arrested him, the Ghost unit led Joseph back the way they came and down the mountain. They were noticeably more relaxed, and for the first time, even Elizabeth opened up a bit and started joking with her unit. She was giddily anticipating going home and being with her family and her new acting friends literally the next day, all without having fired a single shot of ammunition. Joseph, on the other hand, did not say a single word, only humming the tone to Amazing Grace the entire time. It was a bit unsettling, but Elizabeth did not pay him much notice.
“When I get back to Fayetteville,” Holt began, “I am going to get so fucked up. I think I deserve it this time. Three fucking deployments in less than half a year? The Old Man can suck my dick if he thinks I’m going again for a while.”
“Same here,” Weaver agreed. “I’m going to sign my divorce papers and go to the Bahamas. What are you going to do Actress?”
Elizabeth chuckled ever so slightly. “I’m going to spend a nice night with my hubby, then film the next day. Apparently, Keanu is going to split my throat open with a ruler.”
“A fucking ruler?” Holt laughed. “Man, why do keep getting all the good gigs?”
“Cuz I’m better looking,” Elizabeth clapped back jokingly, gently punching her teammate. “I’ll get you all tickets to the premiere.”
“I’ll go as long as it has an open bar,” Holt said. “I’ll cheer when you die.”
“And I’ll be counting my mad stacks of cash.”
“Touché boss, touché.”
It was a truly dark night, and the moon was barely visible in the sky. It was almost ominously dark, but they finally began to approach the helicopter that was waiting for them right where the pilot had landed it. “Approach your position,” Elizabeth announced over the radio. “It’s us, so don’t worry.”
“Rodger that Ghost Recon, welcome back. I hope the mission was a success.”
“Oh it was,” Elizabeth replied proudly. “Turn the thing on. As soon as we board I want to get out of here. The first moment the cult notices that their man has been taken they are going to go fucking insane and tear this place apart. I don’t want to be here for that.”
“Fair enough. I’ll start the chopper. We’ll be out of here in a jiffy.”
True to his word, the helicopter’s rotors were already buzzing when the squad arrived a few minutes later. “Get him in the chopper,” Elizabeth ordered. “I’ll be the last one on.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be necessary 2nd Lieutenant Davis,” came a familiar voice from inside the helicopter. To her horror, Jacob Seed stepped out from the interior of the chopper with a handgun raised right at her head. “Let him go Elizabeth.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Elizabeth roared, pointing her gun at Jacob, but a number of ordinary looking cult members stepped from the forest with guns trained at every single member of the Ghost Unit. They had walked right into an ambush and were now terrible outnumbered and most likely outgunned.
“I did as you asked,” the pilot said almost robotically, walking towards Joseph with his head bowed. “I did it!”
“You did well son,” Joseph remarked. “You brought them here. God will reward you richly.”
“You fucking traitor!” Weaver yelled, rushing the pilot, but Jacob fired a shot right into Weaver’s head and killed him instantly.
“WEAVER!!!” Elizabeth cried, running to her friend, but it was far too late. He was dead, a massive bullet hole was visible right in his forehead.
“I take no comfort I this Elizabeth,” Jacob said almost remorsefully. “ but if you want to prevent further bloodshed, I suggest you surrender your weapons and let our leader go.”
With tears in her eyes, she kept trying in vain to revive her friend. The Ghosts were yelling at the cult soldiers surrounding them, but it was clear that they were outnumbered and if any them attempted to fight their way out, they would all certainly be killed. “Fuck you!” She roared, tossing her gun at Jacob’s feet.
“Boss!” Holt yelled astonished. “What are you doing?!”
“Holt, if we shoot back we all die.”
One by one, the rest of the Ghosts slowly laid down their weapons. As the cult soldiers watched them carefully, one of them grabbed Joseph and broke his restraints, freeing him.
“Children!” Joseph began, stepping on-top of the small helicopter to speak to the gathered soldiers. “My children! You can feel it, can’t you? We are creeping towards the edge, and there will be a reckoning. That is why we started the Project, because we know what happens next! They will come, they will try to take from us, take our guns…take our freedom…take our faith! We will not let them! We will not let their greed or their immorality or their depravity hurt us anymore!! There will be no more suffering! Here they are, locusts in our garden! See, they came for me. They came to take me away from you! They came to destroy all that we built! Everything has unfolded according to God’s plan. The 1st seal has been broken, and the Collapse has begun. We will take what we need, persevere what we have, and kill all those who stand in our way. Jacob, give these servants of Satan the bliss. BEGIN THE REAPING!!!”
Before Elizabeth could react, a cult member behind her injected something into her arm. She immediately became light-headed and collapsed onto the floor. As she drifted out of consciousness, she heard gunshots ring out all around her.
Sorry for the less than stellar update frequency. I started a new job recently and I'm grinding mad overtime in the office
“Rise and shine!”
Elizabeth was jolted back to her senses by a large splash of cold water hitting her head, soaking her face and causing her to jump, but her arms were tied in place to the sides of the chair she was shackled to. She tried to break free, but her legs and arms were simply chained far too tightly to even begin to break free. In front of her, Jacob Seed stared at her with an emotionless and blank look, observing her fruitless and vain attempts to free herself. He seemed to take absolutely no enjoyment from what was happening, but made no effort to aid her in any way. He was content to watch her squirm.
“You aren’t getting out of these chains Elizabeth,” Jacob said, his voice full of an odd sense of compassion. “I always knew you were a good soldier, but a special forces agent? I mean, that’s impressive Liz, very impressive.”
“You piece of shit!” Elizabeth yelled, still desperately trying to unshackle herself. “You killed him! You killed him!”
Jacob shook his head. “No, he killed himself—he was weak and foolish. Such a shame, he could have really been something.”
Elizabeth groaned in defeat as she slunk back into the chair. “Look Jacob,” she pleaded frantically. “Just let me go. I promise I won’t come back. Please. I have a family that needs me.”
“We are your family now Elizabeth,” Jacob replied ominously, leaning into her personal space for effect.
“What are you talking about?” Elizabeth hissed, her tone full of poison and desperation.
Jacob Seed grinned ever so slightly. “I meant what I said. This Project, this bunker, this is your home now.”
Elizabeth looked up at the ceiling and realized that it was comprised mainly of exposed pipes and power lines. To her right and to her left, the concrete walls of the small room seemed to be tightening and compressing the room that she was imprisoned in, suffocating the air and blocking any hope of escape. Below her, the steel floor exposed even more utility lines. She was most certainly in some sort of bunker facility, and that was not a good thing.
“Where am I?”
“You are at Eden’s Gate,” Jacob explained, patting a concrete wall next to him with his hand. “God gave us this facility in order to wait out His punishment so that we may survive. We will survive.”
“Please Jacob, you know me,” she replied, her eyes wide and full of fear. “Please, I’m sorry.”
Jacob grabbed her shoulder reassuringly. “Confess your sins, and you will be freed.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Brother!” Came another voice from down the hall. Two men, one them Elizabeth quickly recognized as Joseph Seed, still shirtless for some incomprehensible reason, and the other a younger looking man who looked related to both Joseph and Jacob. From here, Elizabeth could see the true extent of Joseph’s tatous—his entire body was covered in them, nasty and gruesomely done as well, all depicting sins like lust, sloth, and others, and several of them had been crossed out with slash wounds. The other man was dressed in a nice suit with his hair tied back into a manbun. It was strange to see these guys dress like California hipsters for sure.
“Good to see you two,” Jacob nodded, respectfully shaking Joseph’s hand and giving the other man a fist-bump. “How do the other’s fair John?”
“Most are dead or captured. One managed to get away, the slimy bald sinner…”
Holt, he got away! Elizabeth thought in relief. He can get help
“My soldiers will find him,” Jacob reassured his young brother. “They will bring him to us.”
“I don’t understand why you waste your time with these sinners,” John protested, glaring at Elizabeth with a look that could probably kill. “Look at her, the sinner,” John hissed. “They send soldiers to kill us and take away our brother, and now you capture them? I don’t understand why we don’t just kill them and get it over with! She’s no good to us anyways. She is far from repentance. We should just put a bullet into her skull. Her men killed several of the Chosen.”
“Brother,” Joseph grinned, giving John a weak yet affectionate hug. “God is wrathful, yes, but He is merciful above all else. God says to forgive those who persecute us and pray for those who sin against us. She is here, and she will repent. Despite all that she is done, she is not beyond salvation. She is not here by accident or by chance. She is here by the Grace of God. She has been given a gift, but it remains whether she will embrace it.”
“I will make sure that she embraces the gift,” Jacob volunteered. “I know her from years ago. Her soul is pure. She will become a fine servant of God.”
“I know,” Joseph nodded. “I know. Come John, let us leave our brother to work. We know he has much of it.”
Elizabeth watched as they left, still in somewhat of a daze. John gave one last hate filled look before walking down the hall and out of her sight.
“I am sure you have many questions,” Jacob began, sitting in a chair and wheeling it closer to his old friend.
“What is going one here?!” Elizabeth gasped in agony.
“Let me tell you,” Jacob began. “I don’t know if my brother—he claims to hear God—I don’t know if he does, but he right on something. We have lost our way as a people, as a society, as a species. The world is soft and weak. WE have forgotten what its like to be strong. Our heroes used to be Gods, and now our heroes are godless, weak, feeble, and diseased. We let the weak dictate to the powerful and then we are shocked to find ourselves adrift. History knows the value of sacrifice, of culling…the herd so that it stays strong. Over and over, the lives of the many have outweighed the lives of the few, but we have forgotten. The Bill has come true.”
At this moment, Elizabeth realized that her old friend had gone mad, yet, he was full of conviction. He rose from his seat and leaned forward, inches away from her face. His eyes were full of hate and…love. Love for her. Love for their friendship. A desire to see her see his ways. It was odd, yet true.
“Now, the Collapse is upon us,” he said in a breathy and panicked tone, “and this time the lives of the few outweigh the lives of the many, and when a nation that’s never known hunger or desperation descends into madness…we’ll be ready.”
“You built this…” Elizabeth stammered, “to wait out a nuclear holocaust?”
“We built this so that the chosen elect of God will survive!”
Elizabeth once again began to fight with her restraints. “You people are fucking insane! Causing a nuclear war?! How many people will die? So many innocent people will be killed!”
“There is none righteous, not even one,” Jacob said in a hushed tone, almost a whisper. “There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless. There is none who does good, there is not even one.”
“Romans 3…” Elizabeth said.
“You see,” Jacob acknowledged, standing back up from his chair and clapping his hands, “you are not like the others. You know the Word and I believe that you practice it…yet for some reason you don’t at the same time. It’s bizarre.”
“What are you talking about?” Elizabeth gasped. “Just let me go!”
“America is the most wicked nation ever to exist. We are weak. Look at our culture, our society, and you will see a sick and demonic soul. Pride parades with children dancing around practically naked, men dressing like women, men chopping off their genitals and ‘becoming women,’ transgender rights and drivers licenses. Normal people who find this all abhorrent are proclaimed as bigots, and even the White House is lit in the colors of sin. People advocate to literally be able to murder a child moments before birth. Tell me Elizabeth, is this not a sick society? We have become weak, and we let the mentally insane and sexual degenerates rule us. We make Sodom look like heaven itself.”
“I agree,” Elizabeth grimaced. “America is a sick place.”
“Then why do you serve it? Why?”
Elizabeth couldn’t come up with an answer.
“We have millions of guns, millions of people…sixty three million people voted for Donald Trump so that we could erase Obama. Why are we not gunning homosexuals in the streets, why are not bombing abortion facilities and freeing children from perversion? Why have we not invaded California and crucified the tech leaders in their homes? Why?! We have the power, yet, for some reason, we do nothing. Why have you done nothing?”
“You want civil war?”
“I want Justice!” Jacob roared. “I want God’s justice!”
“Does that mean killing billions?”
“Why not?” Joseph countered. “You know the story of Noah right? God wiped the earth clean and left a remnant to survive? When God let Ahab rule Israel, he kept a remnant of people who followed Him. Time and time again, God extends His fury, but keeps a small portion of faithful to survive. We are that elect…that faithful, and we will survive. When God wipes the world clean of sin in His holy fire, we will survive here, and we will come out and rebuilt the New Earth in His image. The degenerates will not hurt us anymore. They will not take from us. They will not steal from us. What I am offering you, dearest Elizabeth, is a chance to join us while its not too late.”
“You fucked up,” Elizabeth said, staring him in the eyes. “You killed special forces agents. They will send more.”
Jacob smirked. “They know. We told them if they try again, we will activate our remaining cells and the world will descend into nuclear apocalypse in response to our limited bombings. You are alone here. Very much alone.”
Elizabeth stared down at her legs. Deep down, she knew they got her. “What do you want me to do?”
“Now that’s more like it Liz!” Jacob began, perking up and patting her head ever so softly. “You will be baptized in the water, the water that will wash away your sins. Then, your sins will be publicly be placed on your body before being ripped away as a sign that they no longer control you. Please, just go along with this Liz. We have…we have had to force sinners, and its never a pretty sight. The pain will be much, much less if you do not resist.”
It sounded gruesome, but she knew that she had no choice in the matter. “Alright.”
“Good!” Jacob grinned. “Now, as a sign of my faith, I will untie you.” Jacob walked behind her chair, and quickly cut her restraints off with a small knife. She gasped with pleasure and relief as the ropes loosened, allowing her to move her arms and legs once more.
“That…feels so good,” she gasped.
“I’m sure it does Liz. Now, follow me. I will take you to Joseph, he will inspect you, then you will undergo the atonement if you are deemed as worthy. Please follow me.”
Jacob gave Elizabeth his hand and helped her up from her chair and led her down a narrow steel corridor and into the bunker proper. Elizabeth gasped a the sheer scale of it all—every single inch of available space was covered in boxes of food, water, and vast amounts of weapons. Down every single hall was a room that was filled with dozens of bunk beds and personal effects. Hundreds of cult members were hard at work, buzzing to and fro and moving supplies wherever they were told to. Most surprising to Elizabeth, however, was just how cheery everyone seemed to be in the face of what they believed would be a nuclear apocalypse—everyone was humming old hymns, smiling, and nobody was complaining. Everyone seemed just happy to be there.
As Jacob led her up several flights of stairs, Elizabeth noticed that the cult members were eying her suspiciously. Some muttered things under their breath, calling her a sinner or a demon. She simply kept her eyes forwards and didn’t look anyone in the eyes.
After two more flights of stairs, they reached the administration level. “Brother!” Jacob called out. Sitting in a giant table next to a large kitchen, Joseph looked over and stood up.
“Jacob,” Joseph smiled respectfully. “Why have you brought her here?”
“She wishes to atone.”
“So quickly?
“Yes brother. I told you she was a pure soul.”
“Let us see,” Joseph replied. “Come child, come here.” Elizabeth stepped forward ever so cautiously, but he reached out and pulled her close, digging his fingers into her forehead. “Dear child, why do you want to repent?”
“I…” she stammered, seeking words to try and placate him. “I am sorry. I see my sin of serving such a…wicked nation.”
“What is your sin?”
“Wrath,” she said almost at once. “I was upset to see what your congregation has done and wanted to end it. I see it now.”
Joseph seemed to accept it, Elizabeth’s heart almost stopped when she saw him contort his face in wrath and toss her backwards against a wall. “Do you mock God?! I see you for what you are!”
Elizabeth raised her hands to protect her face. “Please Joseph!” She begged. “I want to see my family again, I want to see my husband and my children. I was forced into this…please I beg you!”
“I mean you no harm,” Joseph answered harshly, calming himself and sitting down on his knees next to her. “You are just not yet…there, but my brother believes in you. Brother, put her back int the prison until nightfall. There, we will bring her and the other sinner who confessed to the river. We will baptize her and cleanse her sins in the waters. God may be full of wrath, but His mercy is great. Elizabeth, you will not be harmed, I promise you that.”
“Th…thank you.”
Elizabeth was jolted back to her senses by a large splash of cold water hitting her head, soaking her face and causing her to jump, but her arms were tied in place to the sides of the chair she was shackled to. She tried to break free, but her legs and arms were simply chained far too tightly to even begin to break free. In front of her, Jacob Seed stared at her with an emotionless and blank look, observing her fruitless and vain attempts to free herself. He seemed to take absolutely no enjoyment from what was happening, but made no effort to aid her in any way. He was content to watch her squirm.
“You aren’t getting out of these chains Elizabeth,” Jacob said, his voice full of an odd sense of compassion. “I always knew you were a good soldier, but a special forces agent? I mean, that’s impressive Liz, very impressive.”
“You piece of shit!” Elizabeth yelled, still desperately trying to unshackle herself. “You killed him! You killed him!”
Jacob shook his head. “No, he killed himself—he was weak and foolish. Such a shame, he could have really been something.”
Elizabeth groaned in defeat as she slunk back into the chair. “Look Jacob,” she pleaded frantically. “Just let me go. I promise I won’t come back. Please. I have a family that needs me.”
“We are your family now Elizabeth,” Jacob replied ominously, leaning into her personal space for effect.
“What are you talking about?” Elizabeth hissed, her tone full of poison and desperation.
Jacob Seed grinned ever so slightly. “I meant what I said. This Project, this bunker, this is your home now.”
Elizabeth looked up at the ceiling and realized that it was comprised mainly of exposed pipes and power lines. To her right and to her left, the concrete walls of the small room seemed to be tightening and compressing the room that she was imprisoned in, suffocating the air and blocking any hope of escape. Below her, the steel floor exposed even more utility lines. She was most certainly in some sort of bunker facility, and that was not a good thing.
“Where am I?”
“You are at Eden’s Gate,” Jacob explained, patting a concrete wall next to him with his hand. “God gave us this facility in order to wait out His punishment so that we may survive. We will survive.”
“Please Jacob, you know me,” she replied, her eyes wide and full of fear. “Please, I’m sorry.”
Jacob grabbed her shoulder reassuringly. “Confess your sins, and you will be freed.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Brother!” Came another voice from down the hall. Two men, one them Elizabeth quickly recognized as Joseph Seed, still shirtless for some incomprehensible reason, and the other a younger looking man who looked related to both Joseph and Jacob. From here, Elizabeth could see the true extent of Joseph’s tatous—his entire body was covered in them, nasty and gruesomely done as well, all depicting sins like lust, sloth, and others, and several of them had been crossed out with slash wounds. The other man was dressed in a nice suit with his hair tied back into a manbun. It was strange to see these guys dress like California hipsters for sure.
“Good to see you two,” Jacob nodded, respectfully shaking Joseph’s hand and giving the other man a fist-bump. “How do the other’s fair John?”
“Most are dead or captured. One managed to get away, the slimy bald sinner…”
Holt, he got away! Elizabeth thought in relief. He can get help
“My soldiers will find him,” Jacob reassured his young brother. “They will bring him to us.”
“I don’t understand why you waste your time with these sinners,” John protested, glaring at Elizabeth with a look that could probably kill. “Look at her, the sinner,” John hissed. “They send soldiers to kill us and take away our brother, and now you capture them? I don’t understand why we don’t just kill them and get it over with! She’s no good to us anyways. She is far from repentance. We should just put a bullet into her skull. Her men killed several of the Chosen.”
“Brother,” Joseph grinned, giving John a weak yet affectionate hug. “God is wrathful, yes, but He is merciful above all else. God says to forgive those who persecute us and pray for those who sin against us. She is here, and she will repent. Despite all that she is done, she is not beyond salvation. She is not here by accident or by chance. She is here by the Grace of God. She has been given a gift, but it remains whether she will embrace it.”
“I will make sure that she embraces the gift,” Jacob volunteered. “I know her from years ago. Her soul is pure. She will become a fine servant of God.”
“I know,” Joseph nodded. “I know. Come John, let us leave our brother to work. We know he has much of it.”
Elizabeth watched as they left, still in somewhat of a daze. John gave one last hate filled look before walking down the hall and out of her sight.
“I am sure you have many questions,” Jacob began, sitting in a chair and wheeling it closer to his old friend.
“What is going one here?!” Elizabeth gasped in agony.
“Let me tell you,” Jacob began. “I don’t know if my brother—he claims to hear God—I don’t know if he does, but he right on something. We have lost our way as a people, as a society, as a species. The world is soft and weak. WE have forgotten what its like to be strong. Our heroes used to be Gods, and now our heroes are godless, weak, feeble, and diseased. We let the weak dictate to the powerful and then we are shocked to find ourselves adrift. History knows the value of sacrifice, of culling…the herd so that it stays strong. Over and over, the lives of the many have outweighed the lives of the few, but we have forgotten. The Bill has come true.”
At this moment, Elizabeth realized that her old friend had gone mad, yet, he was full of conviction. He rose from his seat and leaned forward, inches away from her face. His eyes were full of hate and…love. Love for her. Love for their friendship. A desire to see her see his ways. It was odd, yet true.
“Now, the Collapse is upon us,” he said in a breathy and panicked tone, “and this time the lives of the few outweigh the lives of the many, and when a nation that’s never known hunger or desperation descends into madness…we’ll be ready.”
“You built this…” Elizabeth stammered, “to wait out a nuclear holocaust?”
“We built this so that the chosen elect of God will survive!”
Elizabeth once again began to fight with her restraints. “You people are fucking insane! Causing a nuclear war?! How many people will die? So many innocent people will be killed!”
“There is none righteous, not even one,” Jacob said in a hushed tone, almost a whisper. “There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless. There is none who does good, there is not even one.”
“Romans 3…” Elizabeth said.
“You see,” Jacob acknowledged, standing back up from his chair and clapping his hands, “you are not like the others. You know the Word and I believe that you practice it…yet for some reason you don’t at the same time. It’s bizarre.”
“What are you talking about?” Elizabeth gasped. “Just let me go!”
“America is the most wicked nation ever to exist. We are weak. Look at our culture, our society, and you will see a sick and demonic soul. Pride parades with children dancing around practically naked, men dressing like women, men chopping off their genitals and ‘becoming women,’ transgender rights and drivers licenses. Normal people who find this all abhorrent are proclaimed as bigots, and even the White House is lit in the colors of sin. People advocate to literally be able to murder a child moments before birth. Tell me Elizabeth, is this not a sick society? We have become weak, and we let the mentally insane and sexual degenerates rule us. We make Sodom look like heaven itself.”
“I agree,” Elizabeth grimaced. “America is a sick place.”
“Then why do you serve it? Why?”
Elizabeth couldn’t come up with an answer.
“We have millions of guns, millions of people…sixty three million people voted for Donald Trump so that we could erase Obama. Why are we not gunning homosexuals in the streets, why are not bombing abortion facilities and freeing children from perversion? Why have we not invaded California and crucified the tech leaders in their homes? Why?! We have the power, yet, for some reason, we do nothing. Why have you done nothing?”
“You want civil war?”
“I want Justice!” Jacob roared. “I want God’s justice!”
“Does that mean killing billions?”
“Why not?” Joseph countered. “You know the story of Noah right? God wiped the earth clean and left a remnant to survive? When God let Ahab rule Israel, he kept a remnant of people who followed Him. Time and time again, God extends His fury, but keeps a small portion of faithful to survive. We are that elect…that faithful, and we will survive. When God wipes the world clean of sin in His holy fire, we will survive here, and we will come out and rebuilt the New Earth in His image. The degenerates will not hurt us anymore. They will not take from us. They will not steal from us. What I am offering you, dearest Elizabeth, is a chance to join us while its not too late.”
“You fucked up,” Elizabeth said, staring him in the eyes. “You killed special forces agents. They will send more.”
Jacob smirked. “They know. We told them if they try again, we will activate our remaining cells and the world will descend into nuclear apocalypse in response to our limited bombings. You are alone here. Very much alone.”
Elizabeth stared down at her legs. Deep down, she knew they got her. “What do you want me to do?”
“Now that’s more like it Liz!” Jacob began, perking up and patting her head ever so softly. “You will be baptized in the water, the water that will wash away your sins. Then, your sins will be publicly be placed on your body before being ripped away as a sign that they no longer control you. Please, just go along with this Liz. We have…we have had to force sinners, and its never a pretty sight. The pain will be much, much less if you do not resist.”
It sounded gruesome, but she knew that she had no choice in the matter. “Alright.”
“Good!” Jacob grinned. “Now, as a sign of my faith, I will untie you.” Jacob walked behind her chair, and quickly cut her restraints off with a small knife. She gasped with pleasure and relief as the ropes loosened, allowing her to move her arms and legs once more.
“That…feels so good,” she gasped.
“I’m sure it does Liz. Now, follow me. I will take you to Joseph, he will inspect you, then you will undergo the atonement if you are deemed as worthy. Please follow me.”
Jacob gave Elizabeth his hand and helped her up from her chair and led her down a narrow steel corridor and into the bunker proper. Elizabeth gasped a the sheer scale of it all—every single inch of available space was covered in boxes of food, water, and vast amounts of weapons. Down every single hall was a room that was filled with dozens of bunk beds and personal effects. Hundreds of cult members were hard at work, buzzing to and fro and moving supplies wherever they were told to. Most surprising to Elizabeth, however, was just how cheery everyone seemed to be in the face of what they believed would be a nuclear apocalypse—everyone was humming old hymns, smiling, and nobody was complaining. Everyone seemed just happy to be there.
As Jacob led her up several flights of stairs, Elizabeth noticed that the cult members were eying her suspiciously. Some muttered things under their breath, calling her a sinner or a demon. She simply kept her eyes forwards and didn’t look anyone in the eyes.
After two more flights of stairs, they reached the administration level. “Brother!” Jacob called out. Sitting in a giant table next to a large kitchen, Joseph looked over and stood up.
“Jacob,” Joseph smiled respectfully. “Why have you brought her here?”
“She wishes to atone.”
“So quickly?
“Yes brother. I told you she was a pure soul.”
“Let us see,” Joseph replied. “Come child, come here.” Elizabeth stepped forward ever so cautiously, but he reached out and pulled her close, digging his fingers into her forehead. “Dear child, why do you want to repent?”
“I…” she stammered, seeking words to try and placate him. “I am sorry. I see my sin of serving such a…wicked nation.”
“What is your sin?”
“Wrath,” she said almost at once. “I was upset to see what your congregation has done and wanted to end it. I see it now.”
Joseph seemed to accept it, Elizabeth’s heart almost stopped when she saw him contort his face in wrath and toss her backwards against a wall. “Do you mock God?! I see you for what you are!”
Elizabeth raised her hands to protect her face. “Please Joseph!” She begged. “I want to see my family again, I want to see my husband and my children. I was forced into this…please I beg you!”
“I mean you no harm,” Joseph answered harshly, calming himself and sitting down on his knees next to her. “You are just not yet…there, but my brother believes in you. Brother, put her back int the prison until nightfall. There, we will bring her and the other sinner who confessed to the river. We will baptize her and cleanse her sins in the waters. God may be full of wrath, but His mercy is great. Elizabeth, you will not be harmed, I promise you that.”
“Th…thank you.”
Elizabeth was not going anywhere.
At least not freely.
Her hands tied behind her and a piece of duct tape covering her mouth, Elizabeth was rather hurriedly led through the large bunker, escorted by a group of cult members carrying a number of heavy weapons. If she tried to run, she would be gunned down in seconds, so knew better than to even try. All around her, every single room that she passed was filled to the brim with supplies such as food and water—the cult was ready to hold thousands of people in this bunker for a extended amount of time. As much as she hated the cult, she couldn’t help but be impressed as the level of logistical mastery all of this construction and resource gathering took. This was no amateur build, that was for certain.
“Move sinner!” One of the cult soldiers lashed out, kicking her in the back and thrusting her to the ground. “Keep moving!”
Elizabeth wanted to do nothing more than to kill him and gouge his eyeballs out with her bare hands, but that wasn’t going to happen. She gritted her teeth as much as she could under the tape and forced herself back to her feet.
She had lost track of time having been underground for what felt like ages, so she was surprised to find that it was nightfall outside. In front of her, a line of white vans flanked by armored pickup trucks was stationed, ready to pick the prisoners up and send them to only God knows where. She looked behind for a brief second and examined the entrance that she just came out of: it was well defended and cut directly into a mountain, with several sets of giant steel doors separating the massive bunker from the outside world. A front on attack would be suicidal. Several heavy machine guns were pointed at the road, and snipers guarded every possible route of entrance. Once the atonement was done and she was brought back, all hope of rescue was basically out the window.
“Get the sinners inside the trucks!” John Seed barked, exiting of the pickups. “Hurry!”
There was a group of maybe six or so prisoners already waiting on the pavement. One of them was manhandled, but as he was forced in, she made eye contact with him.
RUBIO! She tried to scream, but the tape was preventing anything from coming out. RUBIO!!!!
“Silence sinner!” John hissed, jogging over to her and grabbing her mouth. “I never told you that you could speak, did I? No matter. We are all sinners, every one of us. It is a poison that clouds our minds, but what if I told you could be free of it? All you must do is embrace an idea…a thought! Yes! It is just a simple word. A word with meaning! Do as I say, and do not speak unless I tell you to. Am I clear?”
Elizabeth whimpered as he gripped her even tighter.
“AM I CLEAR?!”
YES!! She tried to scream.
“Why are not speaking?” He laughed sadistically. “Whatever, men, put her in the back and make sure her trip over is very bumpy, if you know what I mean.”
“Yes John!” One of the cult soldiers answered back, grabbing Elizabeth by her shoulder and practically tossing her into an open van. She tried to peer out, but another soldier shoved her back with his rifle, leaving a nasty looking bruise on her cheek. He slammed the door and shut all the windows, which were tinted with such a shade of black that looking out of them was impossible. Nobody bothered tying her down or giving her a seatbelt, so as soon as the van drove off, she was tossed back and forth on the rough country roads. It was a painful experience.
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation;
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God….
In a moment, the van was hit by something directly from the side, sending it flying into the air and barreling over multiple times. Elizabeth tried to scream, but she was being tossed to and fro all over the interior of the vehicle. One particularly nasty hit on her head nearly caused her to pass out, but thankfully, the vehicle came to a stop on its side after hitting a tree, tossing Elizabeth backwards to a stop on the other end of the van. Her whole body ached, and her head was throbbing in an intense pain.
Immediately, gun fire broke out all around her and up and down the convoy of vehicles, and several bullets actually pierced into the van and ricocheted around her, forcing her to the floor of the vehicle and into slow crawl to the back door to see what was going on. A group of men, not dressed unsimilarly to the cult militia, were engaged in an intense firefight with the cult convoy and were freeing whatever prisoners they could from the vans. Elizabeth began to pound the back door with all of her might, frantically trying to alert whoever was attacking that she was inside the back of the van, and that she needed to be rescued—she certainly wasn’t going to rescue herself.
To her relief, one of the noticed her and quickly shot out the lock of the van. “Boss?!” Holt gasped upon seeing her. “Shit, you looked fucked up! Let me get that fucking tape off of you!!”
Elizabeth screamed in pain as she ripped the duct tape off without a moment of hesitation. “You asshole!! You couldn’t have done that any more painfully?!!!”
“No time boss!” Holt yelled as he untied her hands and tossed her gun into her hands. “Take your gun and kill some cocksuckers!”
“You piece of shit!” She hissed.
Elizabeth lept from the back of the van and immediately started to fire back, effortlessly picking off multiple cult militia, but they were incredibly well armed and their pickup trucks had machine guns on them. The rescue team was soon pinned down behind vans that they had captured, and it was clear that a signal had been sent out. More cult soldiers would be arriving in minutes, if not sooner. Holt and Elizabeth continued to mow down the untrained militia but were prevented from moving any closer to John by heavy machinegun fire.
“Holt!” One of the rescuers yelled, “we need to get the fuck out of here! More Peggies are coming damn it!”
“We can’t leave!” Elizabeth replied as she shot yet another cult member. “One of my friends is in the front of the convoy! We have to reach him!”
“What would he have us do boss?!” Holt screamed, trying to reason with her. “He would tell us to do our duty so that the mission could succeed! We will get him, I promise! None of this will matter if we fucking die!”
“FUCK!” Elizabeth cried, realizing the validity of Holt’s argument. “Let’s get out of here!”
“Everyone fall back!!!” Holt ordered. Elizabeth and the rest of the rescue team sprinted into the forest as bullets scythed all around them. It was in that moment that Elizabeth pledged to kill everyone who was in her way of getting Rubio back.
At least not freely.
Her hands tied behind her and a piece of duct tape covering her mouth, Elizabeth was rather hurriedly led through the large bunker, escorted by a group of cult members carrying a number of heavy weapons. If she tried to run, she would be gunned down in seconds, so knew better than to even try. All around her, every single room that she passed was filled to the brim with supplies such as food and water—the cult was ready to hold thousands of people in this bunker for a extended amount of time. As much as she hated the cult, she couldn’t help but be impressed as the level of logistical mastery all of this construction and resource gathering took. This was no amateur build, that was for certain.
“Move sinner!” One of the cult soldiers lashed out, kicking her in the back and thrusting her to the ground. “Keep moving!”
Elizabeth wanted to do nothing more than to kill him and gouge his eyeballs out with her bare hands, but that wasn’t going to happen. She gritted her teeth as much as she could under the tape and forced herself back to her feet.
She had lost track of time having been underground for what felt like ages, so she was surprised to find that it was nightfall outside. In front of her, a line of white vans flanked by armored pickup trucks was stationed, ready to pick the prisoners up and send them to only God knows where. She looked behind for a brief second and examined the entrance that she just came out of: it was well defended and cut directly into a mountain, with several sets of giant steel doors separating the massive bunker from the outside world. A front on attack would be suicidal. Several heavy machine guns were pointed at the road, and snipers guarded every possible route of entrance. Once the atonement was done and she was brought back, all hope of rescue was basically out the window.
“Get the sinners inside the trucks!” John Seed barked, exiting of the pickups. “Hurry!”
There was a group of maybe six or so prisoners already waiting on the pavement. One of them was manhandled, but as he was forced in, she made eye contact with him.
RUBIO! She tried to scream, but the tape was preventing anything from coming out. RUBIO!!!!
“Silence sinner!” John hissed, jogging over to her and grabbing her mouth. “I never told you that you could speak, did I? No matter. We are all sinners, every one of us. It is a poison that clouds our minds, but what if I told you could be free of it? All you must do is embrace an idea…a thought! Yes! It is just a simple word. A word with meaning! Do as I say, and do not speak unless I tell you to. Am I clear?”
Elizabeth whimpered as he gripped her even tighter.
“AM I CLEAR?!”
YES!! She tried to scream.
“Why are not speaking?” He laughed sadistically. “Whatever, men, put her in the back and make sure her trip over is very bumpy, if you know what I mean.”
“Yes John!” One of the cult soldiers answered back, grabbing Elizabeth by her shoulder and practically tossing her into an open van. She tried to peer out, but another soldier shoved her back with his rifle, leaving a nasty looking bruise on her cheek. He slammed the door and shut all the windows, which were tinted with such a shade of black that looking out of them was impossible. Nobody bothered tying her down or giving her a seatbelt, so as soon as the van drove off, she was tossed back and forth on the rough country roads. It was a painful experience.
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation;
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God….
In a moment, the van was hit by something directly from the side, sending it flying into the air and barreling over multiple times. Elizabeth tried to scream, but she was being tossed to and fro all over the interior of the vehicle. One particularly nasty hit on her head nearly caused her to pass out, but thankfully, the vehicle came to a stop on its side after hitting a tree, tossing Elizabeth backwards to a stop on the other end of the van. Her whole body ached, and her head was throbbing in an intense pain.
Immediately, gun fire broke out all around her and up and down the convoy of vehicles, and several bullets actually pierced into the van and ricocheted around her, forcing her to the floor of the vehicle and into slow crawl to the back door to see what was going on. A group of men, not dressed unsimilarly to the cult militia, were engaged in an intense firefight with the cult convoy and were freeing whatever prisoners they could from the vans. Elizabeth began to pound the back door with all of her might, frantically trying to alert whoever was attacking that she was inside the back of the van, and that she needed to be rescued—she certainly wasn’t going to rescue herself.
To her relief, one of the noticed her and quickly shot out the lock of the van. “Boss?!” Holt gasped upon seeing her. “Shit, you looked fucked up! Let me get that fucking tape off of you!!”
Elizabeth screamed in pain as she ripped the duct tape off without a moment of hesitation. “You asshole!! You couldn’t have done that any more painfully?!!!”
“No time boss!” Holt yelled as he untied her hands and tossed her gun into her hands. “Take your gun and kill some cocksuckers!”
“You piece of shit!” She hissed.
Elizabeth lept from the back of the van and immediately started to fire back, effortlessly picking off multiple cult militia, but they were incredibly well armed and their pickup trucks had machine guns on them. The rescue team was soon pinned down behind vans that they had captured, and it was clear that a signal had been sent out. More cult soldiers would be arriving in minutes, if not sooner. Holt and Elizabeth continued to mow down the untrained militia but were prevented from moving any closer to John by heavy machinegun fire.
“Holt!” One of the rescuers yelled, “we need to get the fuck out of here! More Peggies are coming damn it!”
“We can’t leave!” Elizabeth replied as she shot yet another cult member. “One of my friends is in the front of the convoy! We have to reach him!”
“What would he have us do boss?!” Holt screamed, trying to reason with her. “He would tell us to do our duty so that the mission could succeed! We will get him, I promise! None of this will matter if we fucking die!”
“FUCK!” Elizabeth cried, realizing the validity of Holt’s argument. “Let’s get out of here!”
“Everyone fall back!!!” Holt ordered. Elizabeth and the rest of the rescue team sprinted into the forest as bullets scythed all around them. It was in that moment that Elizabeth pledged to kill everyone who was in her way of getting Rubio back.
One thing that Elizabeth sorely missed about Montana was the picturesque night sky. Out here in the middle of nowhere, there were no lights to spoil the view, and a magnificent view it was. One could see the arm of the Milky Way, far away nebulae, and the entire sky shined brightly with the flickers of millions of distant stars all seemingly dancing in their luminescent glory. On an ordinary day, Elizabeth would have stopped to admire the view of the heavens that God had made, but this was no ordinary day. She was sprinting for her life, badly bruised and dazed with bullets cutting the branches and trees all around her. A man who was running next to her was hit with a bullet and he grunted as his body hit the floor. He was dead.
She was really fit, but nothing could really prepare you for this. Even when the bullets started to fizzle out and eventually stop, the team kept running through the pitch black pine forest. Eventually, she could go no further, and her bruised and swollen legs finally gave out.
“Boss!” Holt implored as he slid down right next to her. “We have to keep moving damn it!”
“I can’t,” Elizabeth wheezed. “Just keep moving.”
“We have to leave her,” one of the militia soldiers seethed frantically. “The Peggies will certainly sweep these woods and we can’t risk being found.”
“We aren’t far from our base!” Holt said, reaching under Elizabeth’s arm and raising her to her feet. “I will NOT leave one of us behind! Keep moving!”
With Holt basically dragging her, Elizabeth found the final strength in her reserves to keep moving, if only barely. He carried her through a bit more forest, up a narrow mountain path, and down steel and iron steps into a bunker. He placed her onto a couch where she collapsed almost immediately.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes and immediately was struck by both just how thirsty she was and how much her head was pulsating in shrieking pangs of pain. Her rough ride and van collision had certainly roughed up her far more than she cared to admit. Trying to figure out where she was, she tried to raise herself to her feet, but a hand gently pushed her back down onto her back.
“Woah there Nomad,” a familiar voice came from next to her. “You’ve been through a lot, you need to rest there.”
The voice was familiar and she wracked her brain trying to find out who it was from. He somehow knew her callsign. She turned her head ever so slightly and gasped as she saw a man that she knew quite well standing right next to a giant Confederate flag. He was sporting a long chest length beard and faux military fatigues and looked unkept, but she knew who he was even though he looked totally different than he once did.
“Whitetail!” She exclaimed. “Wh…What are you doing here?”
“That’s a story for another day,” Eli Whitetail smiled fervently, handing her a bottle of water. “Drink up, you must be thirsty.”
Elizabeth reached out and yanked the water bottle from his hand and chugged the whole thing in what felt like less than thirty seconds. “My goodness, that felt so good, you wouldn’t believe it man.”
“Oh I know how that feels,” he laughed. “Christ, how long has it been? Since Russia? That was what…a decade ago?”
“Since Russia,” Elizabeth slowly leaned up, resting her back against the back of the couch. “Those were fun times. You and I, blasting ultranationalists into the dirt. We were so young then weren’t we?”
“We sure were,” Eli nodded. “We both did good back there, but now I must ask this. What are Ghosts doing in this corner of Montana?”
Elizabeth frowned. “We were sent to capture Joseph Seed. As You can see, our little mission did not end up going very well. We were betrayed by our pilot, most of my team is KIA, and me and another Ghost were captured. I need to get out of here so I can bring up more men from the outside.”
“I’m afraid to break it you Nomad,” Eli grimaced, “but you ain’t getting out of here, at least not alive. The Cult controls all airspace, all roads in and out, and they have informants everywhere. You won’t last a few miles before being captured and sent back to that hellhole of a bunker. They have literal soldiers from Malmstrom airbase and more than a few ex-ghosts under their wing. They are truly formidable?”
“Ghosts?” Elizabeth cried. “They have ghosts? Who?”
“Walker, Yellowleg, Rosebud, and Flycatcher.”
“No…” Elizabeth whimpered, repeatedly banging her head. “Why…Why would Ghosts…good ghosts and good men…join them? I don’t understand!”
“I…” Eli paused, “I helped recruit them. I was once part of the cult.”
“What?!”
“Look, I know,” Eli began as he plopped himself onto a stool. “I was freshly retired, but the job never leaves you. It takes a special type of person to become a Ghost, and I couldn’t let it go. I went crazy. I got hooked on opioids, my wife left me, and I became homeless. One day, as I was sitting high as a kite on whatever drug I could scrounge stolen cash from, I was rescued by Joseph Seed. He gave me purpose. I helped build the bunker and train his army because I felt like I was doing a good. We were getting people off the streets and reshaping their lives. It was only when the Peggies started to murder people that I became disillusioned and left.”
“I’ve seen many ex-Ghosts go mad,” Elizabeth confessed. “We don’t know anything but killing.”
“You transitioned better than most I hear. You have a nice family…”
“I’m afraid I haven’t. I can’t do any job and I lucked out on a movie gig. I jump at every single sound and my son basically hates me. I’m not doing as hot as it may look.”
“Same thing happened with the other Ghosts I’m afraid. Joseph gave them purpose and now they serve him. If you want to get out of here, you need to kill them. Kill his family, kill Joseph, and break the cult up.”
Elizabeth stared at Eli with a blank and emotionless face. “I’m just a single woman. We have Holt, you, and a few militia apparently. What else do we have?”
“I have more than just a militia,” Eli replied. “People are scared. You kicked the Cult and they are lashing back, raiding farms and stealing whatever and whoever they can. Hundreds have fled into the Whitetail mountains, and I am arming them all with weapons that I managed to steal from the Cult. We have a network of bunkers and caches all over the county. We can’t win, but we can put up a fight and give you enough time to probe at holes we put in the Cult’s defenses. It’s a longshot, but its all we got.”
“Fuck me,” Elizabeth stood up, towering over the seated Eli. “I just retired, and now I need to kill an entire cult. Fuck my life.”
“We need hope Nomad,” Eli implored. “We need someone. Anyone. Anything.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Follow me.”
Eli led Elizabeth out of the small side room and into the main room of the bunker. There was a massive computer with a number of jury rigged monitors, all displaying various camera feeds that had been placed all over the County, and the room was packed with supplies and other essentials that a small militia would need to wage war. A small team of operators were manning radios, answering and sending out information and orders, keeping tabs on Cult movements throughout the County.
“Damn,” Elizabeth said, impressed with the setup. “You got a decent supply post here.”
“I appreciate it Nomad. Just yesterday, I heard from a cult spy that I have that the Cult is going to make an attack on Falls End today. I don’t have many men to spare and I’m needed here, but of you prepare the towns people into a hastily assembled militia, I’m sure you can beat the Cult back and give the people of the County some hope. It would go a long way.”
“I mean, I could help with that, but do you have 7.62 rounds on you?”
“I have those in abundance,” Eli smiled. “More than you will need.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Cult convoy sped down the empty country roads—there was no other traffic, not even a small tractor or car. Everyone was either dead or had fled by this point, so there was no expectation of any sort of resistance. The convoy quickly turned onto a side road and sped as quickly as they could down the smaller road that led towards the largest settlement in the county. It was expected to be an easy operation—the townspeople would flee just like all the others, and the town would be thoroughly stripped of all useful supplies and food that the Cult needed to survive the Collapse. They had done this time and time again, and it was almost like clockwork to them. Not a single member of the Chosen came this time; they simply were not needed.
It quickly became apparent that something was wrong, however As they got closer, they noticed that the town was full of people, and not only that, but the people were armed and prepared—they had even set up a makeshift roadblock with whatever they could scrounge up. Unlike every village or hamlet the cult raided, the people of Falls End did not run at the sight of the Cult attack. Against better judgement, the Cult convoy continued forward towards the town.
As they neared, the drivers of several of their vans were sniped from a distance with great accuracy, causing the cars to crash into trees or into each other. Still, the Cult continued onward, soon coming into small arms fire from the townsfolk. Every building had been barricaded, and fire was coming from all directions. Still, the cult kept moving.
They walked into a trap.
Fire erupted from the fields on either side of them, and a number of militia burst from the woods behind them and cut off the cult’s retreat. Several Cult cars tried desperately to turn around, but their drivers were sniped. One by one, the Cult soldiers surrendered or were gunned down by the angry townsfolk who took no quarter. The few surviving Cult members who were not captured fled back towards their bunker with their tail in their legs.
Falls End had been saved.
Their heroes left their stations: Elizabeth was on top of the church sniping, and Holt was stationed with the townsfolk in the woods. The crowd swarmed them with weapons raised in celebration, chanting their names and mobbing them with gratitude.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“You said she was a good soul,” Joseph Seed said ominously. “You told me. You swore to me.”
“She is,” Jacob sighed with his head bent towards the ground. “She is.”
“Good souls don’t kill our men!” John hissed. “Good souls don’t resist! We LOST today, and now, news of this disaster will spread far and wide. People will know we can be beat, and the Whitetail Militia will only grow. This is a travesty, an outrage.”
“Jacob,” Joseph sighed, “we need to deal with this Elizabeth Chandler before she becomes too dangerous. What do we propose here?”
“We should go after her family,” John suggested. “That would stop her.”
“No,” Jacob countered desperately. “God judges the innocent, but we have a sinner here. She was on the mission with her in Bolivia, I remember him. She might be fond of him. We need to use him to bait her from her hiding place.”
“Do it John,” Joseph ordered. “Do what you must, but you must bait her away from the Militia. Jacob, drug this sinner with the strongest drugs you have. I want him to become a loyal soldier of mine, one that could be used to…infiltrate and eliminate her.”
She was really fit, but nothing could really prepare you for this. Even when the bullets started to fizzle out and eventually stop, the team kept running through the pitch black pine forest. Eventually, she could go no further, and her bruised and swollen legs finally gave out.
“Boss!” Holt implored as he slid down right next to her. “We have to keep moving damn it!”
“I can’t,” Elizabeth wheezed. “Just keep moving.”
“We have to leave her,” one of the militia soldiers seethed frantically. “The Peggies will certainly sweep these woods and we can’t risk being found.”
“We aren’t far from our base!” Holt said, reaching under Elizabeth’s arm and raising her to her feet. “I will NOT leave one of us behind! Keep moving!”
With Holt basically dragging her, Elizabeth found the final strength in her reserves to keep moving, if only barely. He carried her through a bit more forest, up a narrow mountain path, and down steel and iron steps into a bunker. He placed her onto a couch where she collapsed almost immediately.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes and immediately was struck by both just how thirsty she was and how much her head was pulsating in shrieking pangs of pain. Her rough ride and van collision had certainly roughed up her far more than she cared to admit. Trying to figure out where she was, she tried to raise herself to her feet, but a hand gently pushed her back down onto her back.
“Woah there Nomad,” a familiar voice came from next to her. “You’ve been through a lot, you need to rest there.”
The voice was familiar and she wracked her brain trying to find out who it was from. He somehow knew her callsign. She turned her head ever so slightly and gasped as she saw a man that she knew quite well standing right next to a giant Confederate flag. He was sporting a long chest length beard and faux military fatigues and looked unkept, but she knew who he was even though he looked totally different than he once did.
“Whitetail!” She exclaimed. “Wh…What are you doing here?”
“That’s a story for another day,” Eli Whitetail smiled fervently, handing her a bottle of water. “Drink up, you must be thirsty.”
Elizabeth reached out and yanked the water bottle from his hand and chugged the whole thing in what felt like less than thirty seconds. “My goodness, that felt so good, you wouldn’t believe it man.”
“Oh I know how that feels,” he laughed. “Christ, how long has it been? Since Russia? That was what…a decade ago?”
“Since Russia,” Elizabeth slowly leaned up, resting her back against the back of the couch. “Those were fun times. You and I, blasting ultranationalists into the dirt. We were so young then weren’t we?”
“We sure were,” Eli nodded. “We both did good back there, but now I must ask this. What are Ghosts doing in this corner of Montana?”
Elizabeth frowned. “We were sent to capture Joseph Seed. As You can see, our little mission did not end up going very well. We were betrayed by our pilot, most of my team is KIA, and me and another Ghost were captured. I need to get out of here so I can bring up more men from the outside.”
“I’m afraid to break it you Nomad,” Eli grimaced, “but you ain’t getting out of here, at least not alive. The Cult controls all airspace, all roads in and out, and they have informants everywhere. You won’t last a few miles before being captured and sent back to that hellhole of a bunker. They have literal soldiers from Malmstrom airbase and more than a few ex-ghosts under their wing. They are truly formidable?”
“Ghosts?” Elizabeth cried. “They have ghosts? Who?”
“Walker, Yellowleg, Rosebud, and Flycatcher.”
“No…” Elizabeth whimpered, repeatedly banging her head. “Why…Why would Ghosts…good ghosts and good men…join them? I don’t understand!”
“I…” Eli paused, “I helped recruit them. I was once part of the cult.”
“What?!”
“Look, I know,” Eli began as he plopped himself onto a stool. “I was freshly retired, but the job never leaves you. It takes a special type of person to become a Ghost, and I couldn’t let it go. I went crazy. I got hooked on opioids, my wife left me, and I became homeless. One day, as I was sitting high as a kite on whatever drug I could scrounge stolen cash from, I was rescued by Joseph Seed. He gave me purpose. I helped build the bunker and train his army because I felt like I was doing a good. We were getting people off the streets and reshaping their lives. It was only when the Peggies started to murder people that I became disillusioned and left.”
“I’ve seen many ex-Ghosts go mad,” Elizabeth confessed. “We don’t know anything but killing.”
“You transitioned better than most I hear. You have a nice family…”
“I’m afraid I haven’t. I can’t do any job and I lucked out on a movie gig. I jump at every single sound and my son basically hates me. I’m not doing as hot as it may look.”
“Same thing happened with the other Ghosts I’m afraid. Joseph gave them purpose and now they serve him. If you want to get out of here, you need to kill them. Kill his family, kill Joseph, and break the cult up.”
Elizabeth stared at Eli with a blank and emotionless face. “I’m just a single woman. We have Holt, you, and a few militia apparently. What else do we have?”
“I have more than just a militia,” Eli replied. “People are scared. You kicked the Cult and they are lashing back, raiding farms and stealing whatever and whoever they can. Hundreds have fled into the Whitetail mountains, and I am arming them all with weapons that I managed to steal from the Cult. We have a network of bunkers and caches all over the county. We can’t win, but we can put up a fight and give you enough time to probe at holes we put in the Cult’s defenses. It’s a longshot, but its all we got.”
“Fuck me,” Elizabeth stood up, towering over the seated Eli. “I just retired, and now I need to kill an entire cult. Fuck my life.”
“We need hope Nomad,” Eli implored. “We need someone. Anyone. Anything.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Follow me.”
Eli led Elizabeth out of the small side room and into the main room of the bunker. There was a massive computer with a number of jury rigged monitors, all displaying various camera feeds that had been placed all over the County, and the room was packed with supplies and other essentials that a small militia would need to wage war. A small team of operators were manning radios, answering and sending out information and orders, keeping tabs on Cult movements throughout the County.
“Damn,” Elizabeth said, impressed with the setup. “You got a decent supply post here.”
“I appreciate it Nomad. Just yesterday, I heard from a cult spy that I have that the Cult is going to make an attack on Falls End today. I don’t have many men to spare and I’m needed here, but of you prepare the towns people into a hastily assembled militia, I’m sure you can beat the Cult back and give the people of the County some hope. It would go a long way.”
“I mean, I could help with that, but do you have 7.62 rounds on you?”
“I have those in abundance,” Eli smiled. “More than you will need.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Cult convoy sped down the empty country roads—there was no other traffic, not even a small tractor or car. Everyone was either dead or had fled by this point, so there was no expectation of any sort of resistance. The convoy quickly turned onto a side road and sped as quickly as they could down the smaller road that led towards the largest settlement in the county. It was expected to be an easy operation—the townspeople would flee just like all the others, and the town would be thoroughly stripped of all useful supplies and food that the Cult needed to survive the Collapse. They had done this time and time again, and it was almost like clockwork to them. Not a single member of the Chosen came this time; they simply were not needed.
It quickly became apparent that something was wrong, however As they got closer, they noticed that the town was full of people, and not only that, but the people were armed and prepared—they had even set up a makeshift roadblock with whatever they could scrounge up. Unlike every village or hamlet the cult raided, the people of Falls End did not run at the sight of the Cult attack. Against better judgement, the Cult convoy continued forward towards the town.
As they neared, the drivers of several of their vans were sniped from a distance with great accuracy, causing the cars to crash into trees or into each other. Still, the Cult continued onward, soon coming into small arms fire from the townsfolk. Every building had been barricaded, and fire was coming from all directions. Still, the cult kept moving.
They walked into a trap.
Fire erupted from the fields on either side of them, and a number of militia burst from the woods behind them and cut off the cult’s retreat. Several Cult cars tried desperately to turn around, but their drivers were sniped. One by one, the Cult soldiers surrendered or were gunned down by the angry townsfolk who took no quarter. The few surviving Cult members who were not captured fled back towards their bunker with their tail in their legs.
Falls End had been saved.
Their heroes left their stations: Elizabeth was on top of the church sniping, and Holt was stationed with the townsfolk in the woods. The crowd swarmed them with weapons raised in celebration, chanting their names and mobbing them with gratitude.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“You said she was a good soul,” Joseph Seed said ominously. “You told me. You swore to me.”
“She is,” Jacob sighed with his head bent towards the ground. “She is.”
“Good souls don’t kill our men!” John hissed. “Good souls don’t resist! We LOST today, and now, news of this disaster will spread far and wide. People will know we can be beat, and the Whitetail Militia will only grow. This is a travesty, an outrage.”
“Jacob,” Joseph sighed, “we need to deal with this Elizabeth Chandler before she becomes too dangerous. What do we propose here?”
“We should go after her family,” John suggested. “That would stop her.”
“No,” Jacob countered desperately. “God judges the innocent, but we have a sinner here. She was on the mission with her in Bolivia, I remember him. She might be fond of him. We need to use him to bait her from her hiding place.”
“Do it John,” Joseph ordered. “Do what you must, but you must bait her away from the Militia. Jacob, drug this sinner with the strongest drugs you have. I want him to become a loyal soldier of mine, one that could be used to…infiltrate and eliminate her.”
I was referring to the story of Ghost Recon One! As much as I would love for the COD universe to mix with the Ghost Recon One, I'm not sure how that would work
Falls End was a very small town. Founded in 1865 by a gold prospector, the town saw many ebbs and flows of boom and bust cycles, as travelers came and left based on economic conditions in Montana and elsewhere. The manufacturing era of the fifties and beyond were a very uplifting time for the town, and hundreds of people moved in to make their fortunes in the steel, coal, and mining industries in the County. The town paved its roads, new churches were built, and numerous homes were constructed to fit the ever growing town. Those who came were rewarded by a natural paradise, a place that was unspoiled by the forces of the outside world—a veritable garden of Eden in the middle of the United States
In 2019, however, the town was practically dead. The factories and mines closed due to competition from abroad, killing hundreds of jobs and forcing many to move away for work away from their homes. Very few young people remained. More recently, the opioid crisis hit the area incredibly hard, causing dozens of overdoses and devastating the community that was left. The one stop light in the middle of the town was shut off, several churches were forced to consolidate into one due to a lack of attendees, and most of the stores were closed due to a lack of sales. The only shops remaining were a dingy looking general store that sold guns, and a rather crass and rotting bar. Hope was hard to come by here, and the recent addition of the Cult only compounded the troubles that the remaining townsfolk suffered.
Despite all of this, their victory gave them their first taste of hope in years. Elizabeth and Holt were treated like heroes, but Elizabeth didn’t feel like one. The town that she remembered fondly in her head was nothing like the vibrant one that she remembered from twenty or so years ago.
“Say,” the owner of the establishment, a younger woman named Mary May said as she handed Holt yet another Beer. “That was sick what you did back there. We really appreciate the help. You gave us our first taste of something different in years, and it really does feel fucking amazing.”
“I do my best,” Elizabeth shrugged.
“Do you want a drink? It’s on the house!”
“I don’t drink,” Elizabeth said, sadly declining the offer with a longing sigh. “It’s a religious thing.”
“More for me then!” Holt giggled, grabbing the glass that was meant for Elizabeth and downing it in just a few moments. “Shit, this shit tastes like fucking piss, but I feel so good I could drink this all day.”
“Is something wrong Liz?” Mary May asked, sensing that Elizabeth was not feeling well. Elizabeth shook her head and pursed her lips.
“My friend is still held my those maniacs. I’m scared for him.”
“Moping around won’t save Midas,” Holt put his hands around Elizabeth’s shoulder, his words slurring into one another. “We need to take…our vi..victories where we can.”
“I just don’t understand,” Elizabeth complained. “I wanted to come back here but everything is different. Where’s the pastor? What happened to the hunting store? Why here?”
“All the old timers either died, are in hiding, or have fled,” Mary May explained. “Those who are left here are too stubborn or unable to leave, but what you did back there gave us a little bit of hope. Your friend is right…if you want him back, you need to pole the Cult in any way you can.”
“Do you know anything about their bunker?”
“Their bunker?” Mary May said with a hint of fear in her voice, “I mean…I’ve never been inside, but it was the talk of the County when it under construction. Practically everyone who could work was in on the project because it put food on the table and money in their pockets. It is supposedly the largest Bunker in the world outside of a military base. The Peggies were nice when they came in, buying up useless land and employing anyone who needed work. Those were the good old days I suppose.”
Elizabeth sulked back in her seat. Getting in would be tough, if not completely impossible. If she wanted to rescue Rubio, she would either have to fight in what was basically a suicide mission, or grab him while he was outside.
“Put some sports on!” Holt demanded drunkenly, slamming his glass against the bar counter.
“Alright alright!” Mary May laughed. “Chill a bit! Jesus!”
The TV flashed on and off for a few seconds before finally displaying a very hazy and weak signal of a football match. It played for a few minutes before flickering into a hard static. “What the hell is wrong with the TV?!” Holt raged in a drunken slur. “Fix this shit!”
“It’s not usually like this,” Mary May countered exasperatedly, fidgeting with the antennae. As she messed with it, several other weak channels began to play before it settled on a clear and high definition one. Elizabeth perked up almost immediately as she heard Rubio’s voice.
Rubio was seated…more like strapped…to a chair in the middle of what looked like a water plant, surrounded by a number of armed cult guards. These guards, however, were not dressed like the normal ragtag group of militia. They wore terrifying white or black masks, and were dressed head to toe in a mix of what looked like animal skins and professional military gear. It was clearly a live feed of some sort.
“The Chosen…” Mary May gasped. “The Cult’s enforcers.”
“So…” came a perky voice from off the camera. It turned to display a beautiful young woman with golden brown hair wearing a knee length flowery white dress. She skipped playfully next to Rubio, giggling ominously the whole time. “I hear your name is Rubio…care to tell us what you did? Your sin?”
“I…” Rubio began, but he was not himself. “I was prideful before God. I came thinking I could take God’s messenger away from the holy congregation. I thought I knew better than God himself, and for that, I repent. I am sorry.”
“You have a friend out there…” the woman said, standing behind Rubio, putting her hands on his shoulders and starting directly at the camera. “What do you want to tell her?”
“Come here and repent, Elizabeth. We sinned, you know that. Come here and be with the true family of God.”
“Your friend decided to fight against us. What do you say about that?”
“You sinned Elizabeth. Repent in sackcloth and ashes.”
“If you are watching this,” the woman began, walking in front of Rubio, “then know that we are forgiving people. You have been marked for atonement. Know that you don’t even have to come here…we will hunt you down and come for you instead. God Bless.”
“Wh…” Elizabeth stammered. “WHERE IS HE?!!?!!”
“Don’t be hasty…” Mary May cautioned. “That was Faith Seed, and it looks like your friend is at the water plant miles from here.”
“Great…another fucking Seed?!” Elizabeth groaned in anger. “Tell me how to get there. I’m leaving right now.”
“Are you crazy?” Holt exclaimed in a moment of clarity. “The Cult wants you to be there! They know you are coming and they will be waiting for you…this is such an obvious trap!”
“Your drunk friend here is right,” Mary May implored. “They even haven Chosen there. You’re tough, yes, but they are just as tough and more numerous. You won’t come out alive unless you’re in their chains.”
“Look,” Elizabeth hissed, tightly gripping the bar counter with her right hand. “I don’t care. I’ll do their atonement, I’ll do whatever. All I want is to get out of here with my friend and be with husband and children back home. That’s it. If it means I get captured and be forced to tattoo some sin on my chest, so be it. I just want out. At least if I go, I have a chance. Who knows what they are doing to him at this very moment.”
“Boss!” Holt roared, tossing his glass against a nearby wall belligerently. “Are on you on a deathwish? What will this accomplish? Nothing at all. You were captured once already, I won’t let it happen again!”
“Midas is there. You came for me, I am going to go for him. I don’t care if you go with me. I can handle a few Chosen…I am a Ghost after all.”
“So were they!”
“He’s my friend Holt. I won’t let him down. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a friend to free.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was rather warm on this particular night, but wind blew down from the mountains, causing even the warm valley air to have a bit of an edge to it. Thankfully, it was pitch dark outside.
The Hope County Water Treatment Plant was a rather large water treatment facility that appeared to have been randomly place in the middle of nowhere. It was situated in the middle of a dense forest, nestled in a small man made valley which had been flattened years ago in order to make way for the necessary components to make the facility work. Fortunately for Elizabeth, the forest gave her cover all the way until she was essentially at the facility. She was armed to the teeth, with 7.62 magazines strapped all the way around her body—she was ready for war.
The facility was, as expected, tightly guarded. She couldn’t see Rubio, but Eli at least, while calling her a bunch of foul names, watched the facility for anyone leaving and confirmed that not even a single car had left. He had to still be there. Using her binoculars, she counted four members of the Chosen, and at least five or so Cult soldiers. There were two small buildings which housed the controls for the facility, so Elizabeth figured that he was being housed somewhere in one of the structures.
I am an angel of death
She pulled the bolt of her rifle back, sending a round into the chamber.
I am a harbinger of justice
She found her first target—two Chosen had made the terrible, at least for them, mistake of exiting the facility and patrolling the outskirts.
You will burn in the lake of fire
She took a breath.
May God have mercy on my soul
Her first two shots found their marks and dropped the Chosen in a instant. She froze, waiting to see if she had been made, but the Cult were none the wiser. She knew that the other two would soon realize that the other two were gone so she had to move quickly—all she had was a few minutes at best. She crawled down the hill with purpose and snuck through a hole in the fence that separated the Plant from the outside world. Immediately, she noticed an alarm right in her view, so she quietly shot it out. One cult soldier was coming her way and towards the alarm, so she neutralized him with a simple trigger pull. Six left.
“Ominciron, this is Flycatcher, confirm your position,” she heard over a fallen Cult soldier’s radio.
Shit
“Omnicron, this is Flycatcher, confirm your position.”
They were asking questions already. A Cult soldier exited one of the structures, so Elizabeth dropped him as soon as he stepped into some bushes. Five left.
“Men, fan out and search for Ominicron!” Elizabeth heard…she knew the voice. Flycatcher was an old comrade of hers from the mission in Kazakhstan. It was shame that she would have to kill him today. “Something is wrong! Call the alarm!”
One of the other Chosen ran for the alarm, but he froze upon realizing it had been broken. Right before he shouted for help, Elizabeth shot his brains out. Four left.
Time to go hot
Elizabeth slowly ducked from her cover and began to fire at the remaining soldiers. One Cult soldier saw her and tried to fire back, but he was gunned down and his chest full was pumped full of bullets. Two of the remaining cult soldiers lost their nerve and panicked, running for the hills, but as they sprinted away they were gunned down…but not by Elizabeth.
“NOMAD!!” Came a shout. The lights of the facility went dark, leaving everything shrouded in pitch darkness. “Show yourself sinner!!”
She knew better than to answer. She turned her night vision goggles on and slowly prowled around the facility, making sure that her breath was silent and that every single step she made was calculated and silent. Flycatcher was once a Ghost, so he had the same exact training that she did.
“Nomad,” He hissed, his voice echoing from somewhere. “You don’t have to be one of the enemies of God. Join us…you would be a useful member of the Chosen. We judge the unrighteous and send them to Hell. You would be a fine Judge.”
She didn’t reply. In that moment, it was so silent in the facility that she could hear leaves falling on the ground. It was shattered but the sounds of rushing boots coming straight for her. She turned around and got some shots in, but Flycatcher shrugged them off like they barely affected him. He jumped and tackled her, sending them both flying into the outside of one of the two structures.
“Fucking sinner!” He screamed, pulling some sort of syringe from a pocket and thrusting it towards Elizabeth’s chest. She managed to stop his arms, but he was far stronger than her and the syringe drew ever closer to her chest. It was just about piercing her skin when she was able to grab one of her spare magazines from her vest and slam it into Flycatcher’s head, temporarily stunning him. She pulled a knife from her vest and with a great shout, slammed it right into his skull, but the force was not enough to actually pierce it. Using her other hand, she hammered it in with a great shout of exertion and killed him right there.
“FUCK YOU!!!” Elizabeth screamed, her heart racing and panting for breath. She grabbed her gun and was ready to scour the facility for her friend.
“I’m afraid he can’t…he’s dead Elizabeth,” a voice muttered not far from her. The lights of the facility turned back on, revealing John Seed and a few other members of the Chosen, their guns trained right at her face. “Put the gun down and come with me. It will be better that way.”
“I…” Elizabeth stammered.
“Oh I figured that you would come. There are large pipes that we drained in advance to get a jump on you…If you want Rubio, he’s not here…we moved him not long after we filmed the set. It’s a shame about Flycatcher, he was good soul and will rest in the embrace of God. You…you on the other hand, you will rot in hell. You will ROT for eternity unless you repent of your sins!! Repent you will!!!”
“I will never you fucking false prophet! I would rather die than serve you.”
“So be i….”
A number of gun shots reverberated from behind one of the buildings. Several of the Chosen were dropped, but they fired back. John fired into Elizabeth’s leg in a moment of panic, sending her collapsing onto the ground in utter agony. Her heart sank as she heard Holt scream in agony as several bullets were drilled into him—he was far too drunk to fire coherently.
“Fuck fuck fuck!!” John yelled—he had been shot. “Bring him to me!!!”
A surviving member of the Chosen dragged Holt’s lifeless corpse to the middle of the facility. Elizabeth was hurt quite badly, but she found the will to summon one last bout of energy. She pulled herself to her feet and tossed of her knives at the other Chosen, killing him. She then charged John, sending him to the ground. Screaming incoherently, she pulled a smaller knife from her vest and began to slash at John’s face. Even when he stopped resisting, she kept going, screaming the entire time. She didn’t stop until her entire body was dripping with his blood.
In 2019, however, the town was practically dead. The factories and mines closed due to competition from abroad, killing hundreds of jobs and forcing many to move away for work away from their homes. Very few young people remained. More recently, the opioid crisis hit the area incredibly hard, causing dozens of overdoses and devastating the community that was left. The one stop light in the middle of the town was shut off, several churches were forced to consolidate into one due to a lack of attendees, and most of the stores were closed due to a lack of sales. The only shops remaining were a dingy looking general store that sold guns, and a rather crass and rotting bar. Hope was hard to come by here, and the recent addition of the Cult only compounded the troubles that the remaining townsfolk suffered.
Despite all of this, their victory gave them their first taste of hope in years. Elizabeth and Holt were treated like heroes, but Elizabeth didn’t feel like one. The town that she remembered fondly in her head was nothing like the vibrant one that she remembered from twenty or so years ago.
“Say,” the owner of the establishment, a younger woman named Mary May said as she handed Holt yet another Beer. “That was sick what you did back there. We really appreciate the help. You gave us our first taste of something different in years, and it really does feel fucking amazing.”
“I do my best,” Elizabeth shrugged.
“Do you want a drink? It’s on the house!”
“I don’t drink,” Elizabeth said, sadly declining the offer with a longing sigh. “It’s a religious thing.”
“More for me then!” Holt giggled, grabbing the glass that was meant for Elizabeth and downing it in just a few moments. “Shit, this shit tastes like fucking piss, but I feel so good I could drink this all day.”
“Is something wrong Liz?” Mary May asked, sensing that Elizabeth was not feeling well. Elizabeth shook her head and pursed her lips.
“My friend is still held my those maniacs. I’m scared for him.”
“Moping around won’t save Midas,” Holt put his hands around Elizabeth’s shoulder, his words slurring into one another. “We need to take…our vi..victories where we can.”
“I just don’t understand,” Elizabeth complained. “I wanted to come back here but everything is different. Where’s the pastor? What happened to the hunting store? Why here?”
“All the old timers either died, are in hiding, or have fled,” Mary May explained. “Those who are left here are too stubborn or unable to leave, but what you did back there gave us a little bit of hope. Your friend is right…if you want him back, you need to pole the Cult in any way you can.”
“Do you know anything about their bunker?”
“Their bunker?” Mary May said with a hint of fear in her voice, “I mean…I’ve never been inside, but it was the talk of the County when it under construction. Practically everyone who could work was in on the project because it put food on the table and money in their pockets. It is supposedly the largest Bunker in the world outside of a military base. The Peggies were nice when they came in, buying up useless land and employing anyone who needed work. Those were the good old days I suppose.”
Elizabeth sulked back in her seat. Getting in would be tough, if not completely impossible. If she wanted to rescue Rubio, she would either have to fight in what was basically a suicide mission, or grab him while he was outside.
“Put some sports on!” Holt demanded drunkenly, slamming his glass against the bar counter.
“Alright alright!” Mary May laughed. “Chill a bit! Jesus!”
The TV flashed on and off for a few seconds before finally displaying a very hazy and weak signal of a football match. It played for a few minutes before flickering into a hard static. “What the hell is wrong with the TV?!” Holt raged in a drunken slur. “Fix this shit!”
“It’s not usually like this,” Mary May countered exasperatedly, fidgeting with the antennae. As she messed with it, several other weak channels began to play before it settled on a clear and high definition one. Elizabeth perked up almost immediately as she heard Rubio’s voice.
Rubio was seated…more like strapped…to a chair in the middle of what looked like a water plant, surrounded by a number of armed cult guards. These guards, however, were not dressed like the normal ragtag group of militia. They wore terrifying white or black masks, and were dressed head to toe in a mix of what looked like animal skins and professional military gear. It was clearly a live feed of some sort.
“The Chosen…” Mary May gasped. “The Cult’s enforcers.”
“So…” came a perky voice from off the camera. It turned to display a beautiful young woman with golden brown hair wearing a knee length flowery white dress. She skipped playfully next to Rubio, giggling ominously the whole time. “I hear your name is Rubio…care to tell us what you did? Your sin?”
“I…” Rubio began, but he was not himself. “I was prideful before God. I came thinking I could take God’s messenger away from the holy congregation. I thought I knew better than God himself, and for that, I repent. I am sorry.”
“You have a friend out there…” the woman said, standing behind Rubio, putting her hands on his shoulders and starting directly at the camera. “What do you want to tell her?”
“Come here and repent, Elizabeth. We sinned, you know that. Come here and be with the true family of God.”
“Your friend decided to fight against us. What do you say about that?”
“You sinned Elizabeth. Repent in sackcloth and ashes.”
“If you are watching this,” the woman began, walking in front of Rubio, “then know that we are forgiving people. You have been marked for atonement. Know that you don’t even have to come here…we will hunt you down and come for you instead. God Bless.”
“Wh…” Elizabeth stammered. “WHERE IS HE?!!?!!”
“Don’t be hasty…” Mary May cautioned. “That was Faith Seed, and it looks like your friend is at the water plant miles from here.”
“Great…another fucking Seed?!” Elizabeth groaned in anger. “Tell me how to get there. I’m leaving right now.”
“Are you crazy?” Holt exclaimed in a moment of clarity. “The Cult wants you to be there! They know you are coming and they will be waiting for you…this is such an obvious trap!”
“Your drunk friend here is right,” Mary May implored. “They even haven Chosen there. You’re tough, yes, but they are just as tough and more numerous. You won’t come out alive unless you’re in their chains.”
“Look,” Elizabeth hissed, tightly gripping the bar counter with her right hand. “I don’t care. I’ll do their atonement, I’ll do whatever. All I want is to get out of here with my friend and be with husband and children back home. That’s it. If it means I get captured and be forced to tattoo some sin on my chest, so be it. I just want out. At least if I go, I have a chance. Who knows what they are doing to him at this very moment.”
“Boss!” Holt roared, tossing his glass against a nearby wall belligerently. “Are on you on a deathwish? What will this accomplish? Nothing at all. You were captured once already, I won’t let it happen again!”
“Midas is there. You came for me, I am going to go for him. I don’t care if you go with me. I can handle a few Chosen…I am a Ghost after all.”
“So were they!”
“He’s my friend Holt. I won’t let him down. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a friend to free.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was rather warm on this particular night, but wind blew down from the mountains, causing even the warm valley air to have a bit of an edge to it. Thankfully, it was pitch dark outside.
The Hope County Water Treatment Plant was a rather large water treatment facility that appeared to have been randomly place in the middle of nowhere. It was situated in the middle of a dense forest, nestled in a small man made valley which had been flattened years ago in order to make way for the necessary components to make the facility work. Fortunately for Elizabeth, the forest gave her cover all the way until she was essentially at the facility. She was armed to the teeth, with 7.62 magazines strapped all the way around her body—she was ready for war.
The facility was, as expected, tightly guarded. She couldn’t see Rubio, but Eli at least, while calling her a bunch of foul names, watched the facility for anyone leaving and confirmed that not even a single car had left. He had to still be there. Using her binoculars, she counted four members of the Chosen, and at least five or so Cult soldiers. There were two small buildings which housed the controls for the facility, so Elizabeth figured that he was being housed somewhere in one of the structures.
I am an angel of death
She pulled the bolt of her rifle back, sending a round into the chamber.
I am a harbinger of justice
She found her first target—two Chosen had made the terrible, at least for them, mistake of exiting the facility and patrolling the outskirts.
You will burn in the lake of fire
She took a breath.
May God have mercy on my soul
Her first two shots found their marks and dropped the Chosen in a instant. She froze, waiting to see if she had been made, but the Cult were none the wiser. She knew that the other two would soon realize that the other two were gone so she had to move quickly—all she had was a few minutes at best. She crawled down the hill with purpose and snuck through a hole in the fence that separated the Plant from the outside world. Immediately, she noticed an alarm right in her view, so she quietly shot it out. One cult soldier was coming her way and towards the alarm, so she neutralized him with a simple trigger pull. Six left.
“Ominciron, this is Flycatcher, confirm your position,” she heard over a fallen Cult soldier’s radio.
Shit
“Omnicron, this is Flycatcher, confirm your position.”
They were asking questions already. A Cult soldier exited one of the structures, so Elizabeth dropped him as soon as he stepped into some bushes. Five left.
“Men, fan out and search for Ominicron!” Elizabeth heard…she knew the voice. Flycatcher was an old comrade of hers from the mission in Kazakhstan. It was shame that she would have to kill him today. “Something is wrong! Call the alarm!”
One of the other Chosen ran for the alarm, but he froze upon realizing it had been broken. Right before he shouted for help, Elizabeth shot his brains out. Four left.
Time to go hot
Elizabeth slowly ducked from her cover and began to fire at the remaining soldiers. One Cult soldier saw her and tried to fire back, but he was gunned down and his chest full was pumped full of bullets. Two of the remaining cult soldiers lost their nerve and panicked, running for the hills, but as they sprinted away they were gunned down…but not by Elizabeth.
“NOMAD!!” Came a shout. The lights of the facility went dark, leaving everything shrouded in pitch darkness. “Show yourself sinner!!”
She knew better than to answer. She turned her night vision goggles on and slowly prowled around the facility, making sure that her breath was silent and that every single step she made was calculated and silent. Flycatcher was once a Ghost, so he had the same exact training that she did.
“Nomad,” He hissed, his voice echoing from somewhere. “You don’t have to be one of the enemies of God. Join us…you would be a useful member of the Chosen. We judge the unrighteous and send them to Hell. You would be a fine Judge.”
She didn’t reply. In that moment, it was so silent in the facility that she could hear leaves falling on the ground. It was shattered but the sounds of rushing boots coming straight for her. She turned around and got some shots in, but Flycatcher shrugged them off like they barely affected him. He jumped and tackled her, sending them both flying into the outside of one of the two structures.
“Fucking sinner!” He screamed, pulling some sort of syringe from a pocket and thrusting it towards Elizabeth’s chest. She managed to stop his arms, but he was far stronger than her and the syringe drew ever closer to her chest. It was just about piercing her skin when she was able to grab one of her spare magazines from her vest and slam it into Flycatcher’s head, temporarily stunning him. She pulled a knife from her vest and with a great shout, slammed it right into his skull, but the force was not enough to actually pierce it. Using her other hand, she hammered it in with a great shout of exertion and killed him right there.
“FUCK YOU!!!” Elizabeth screamed, her heart racing and panting for breath. She grabbed her gun and was ready to scour the facility for her friend.
“I’m afraid he can’t…he’s dead Elizabeth,” a voice muttered not far from her. The lights of the facility turned back on, revealing John Seed and a few other members of the Chosen, their guns trained right at her face. “Put the gun down and come with me. It will be better that way.”
“I…” Elizabeth stammered.
“Oh I figured that you would come. There are large pipes that we drained in advance to get a jump on you…If you want Rubio, he’s not here…we moved him not long after we filmed the set. It’s a shame about Flycatcher, he was good soul and will rest in the embrace of God. You…you on the other hand, you will rot in hell. You will ROT for eternity unless you repent of your sins!! Repent you will!!!”
“I will never you fucking false prophet! I would rather die than serve you.”
“So be i….”
A number of gun shots reverberated from behind one of the buildings. Several of the Chosen were dropped, but they fired back. John fired into Elizabeth’s leg in a moment of panic, sending her collapsing onto the ground in utter agony. Her heart sank as she heard Holt scream in agony as several bullets were drilled into him—he was far too drunk to fire coherently.
“Fuck fuck fuck!!” John yelled—he had been shot. “Bring him to me!!!”
A surviving member of the Chosen dragged Holt’s lifeless corpse to the middle of the facility. Elizabeth was hurt quite badly, but she found the will to summon one last bout of energy. She pulled herself to her feet and tossed of her knives at the other Chosen, killing him. She then charged John, sending him to the ground. Screaming incoherently, she pulled a smaller knife from her vest and began to slash at John’s face. Even when he stopped resisting, she kept going, screaming the entire time. She didn’t stop until her entire body was dripping with his blood.
I would just like to congratulate you, Alexander, on a first rate AAR. Beautifully written, with some very good characterisation. I echo other commentators - this deserves more attention. Well done, am thoroughly enjoying it.
Thank you very much! I am really happy that you are finding this interesting it--it really feels good to hear that my work is being enjoyed.
(Sorry for the shorter chapter. I've been writing bits and pieces after work and this is what I could muster; I'm just too tired atm to go on. I'll crank out some more stuff over the next few days)
“A…” Joseph Seed began, gripping his mouth in an attempt to stem a flow of tears, “a…a seal has been opened. My brother John…my brother John was loved by few, feared my many…misunderstood by all…except me.”
The congregation hall was silent. Not a single sound utter than Joseph reverberated anywhere, and not a single member his flock dared to even move in their seats.
“Joseph was not…was not born a monster. He was just a child when our family was torn apart…he was loving…kind…full of joy. He was easily preyed upon. John was not perfect…and sometimes he was not even good.”
Joseph paused long and hard, his tears of sadness turning into tears of anger and determination as they rolled down his cheeks and onto the Bible at his chest. He gripped the podium so tightly that his knuckles turned into a pale shade of white.
“But he was my brother…and those responsible for his death will be punished. I promise you that.”
Oh John! Bold and brave!
He's findin' us a family, he's teachin' us the faith
Oh John! Keep us safe!
He's gonna march us right through Eden's Gate (Oh Lord!)
He's gonna march us right through Eden's Gate
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
News of John’s death spread through the County like wildfire on a hot and dry plain. Falls End threw the largest celebration that it had held in decades, with an elaborate (for the town at least) fireworks display that was followed by a massive cookout that featured copious amounts of alcohol. Elizabeth Davis Chandler was the talk of the entire County, yet she was not at the party that was thrown in her honor. People questioned this at first, but as the cheap beer and whiskey flew ever more freely, the whole reason behind the festivities was swiftly forgotten in a sea of liquor and cheap alcohol. Many of the people in the County had never heard such good news in decades.
Eli hadn’t forgotten. He wanted to show her a Cult wanted poster that they had made of her in an effort to cheer her up, but he couldn’t find her. He asked some still somewhat sober friends of his who told him that she had wandered towards the lake just north of the town after they removed the bullet that John had shot her with. It was only a .22 round so it barely did anything to her, but still. He thanked his friends and set off towards the lake.
It didn’t take long to find her. She was sitting on a stump with her gaze set on some birds that were bathing in the small lake. He approached and she turned her heard—her face said it all really: her bloodshot eyes pierced his head, sending a cold shiver down his spine. Her expression was blank motionless, almost as if she had expelled every last bit of feeling that she could have.
“Please sit next to me,” she sniffled meekly, patting on a free part of the bench. Eli was extremely cautious as he stepped over to her.
“You alright?”
“No…” she responded breathlessly, still staring aimlessly into the distance. “I fucked up.”
“I’m not going to say yes or no, bu know this,” Eli pat her gently on the back, “it was not your fault.”
“But it is!” Elizabeth cried, pacing around the stump in frustration. “I am…was in charge of this mission, and now everyone is dead except for Rubio and I! I led them into this hellhole and now all my friends are dead! Fucking dead!! And it’s my fault! Holt should still here…but he’s not…and its because of me.”
“I told Holt not to go, “ Eli said, sitting on the stump as Elizabeth paced around him. “I sent men after you to make sure that you were alright. He disregarded my requests and went down into the facility in a drunken stupor. That was on him, not you.”
“I should not have been there to begin with…”
“Yes, but you can’t take back what has happened. All you can do is move forward Nomad.”
Elizabeth continued to pace around, grabbing at her hair and face and unable to stand still even for a second. “I’m a failure. A fucking failure!”
“Liz!” Eli snapped. “Do you remember what I told you in Kazakhstan all those years ago after your friend died?”
“That I should always do my duty?”
“What would Holt be telling you right now if he were still alive? What would he want you to do?”
Elizabeth continue to stare over the lake. “He…he would tell me to kill every last one of these fuckers and salt the earth under their dead corpses.”
“Right. Holt would tell you to do what you were made for. Look at this shit that I got not long ago.”
Eli reached into his bag and pulled out a decently sized poster. Elizabeth reached out and unfurled it, staring at it with a mixture of awe and confusion. “Is this…me? What the hell?”
“It’s a wanted poster,” Eli replied with the smallest hint of a smirk in his face. “The Peggies fear and hate you in equal measure. You have a bounty on your head for your capture. They want you alive.”
“Do they think I look like this with those noodle arms? Really?” While the Cult artists had certainly gotten her face right, the rest of her body was portrayed as far weaker than she was in reality.
Eli laughed heartily and slapped his knee. “I guess they want people to go after you.”
“I guess this is…cool…but what does this have to do with Holt? My friend is dead.”
“You, Elizabeth, have given me…this County…the first bit of hope that we have had in years. That’s saying something. You killed that John Seed fuck, killed a leader of the Chosen, killed three other of their elite, and routed a Cult squadron. People are starting to come to our bunkers and are arming themselves for a fight. All we needed here was a leader, and you are proving to be quite the rallying cry…in fact men in bars are drinking to your health at this very moment.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“The Cult killed your men. As a Ghost, and as an ex-Ghost myself, we are duty bound to extract our vengeance. The only way is by leading a literal revolution…perhaps then you can get to Joseph Seed and finally purge this land of his insanity. We are at your command Liz—all we need is your word.”
Elizabeth motionlessly pondered this for a few moments as she continued to stare into the mountains in front of her. She gaudy concrete statue of Joseph Seed blighted what would have been a perfect scenic view that captured that rugged beauty of Hope County. “Eli…what are you thinking then?”
Eli slowly walked over to her and stood right at her side. “I say we give them a message. Do you see that statue?”
“I do. I hate it.”
“Let’s burn it down.”
“A…” Joseph Seed began, gripping his mouth in an attempt to stem a flow of tears, “a…a seal has been opened. My brother John…my brother John was loved by few, feared my many…misunderstood by all…except me.”
The congregation hall was silent. Not a single sound utter than Joseph reverberated anywhere, and not a single member his flock dared to even move in their seats.
“Joseph was not…was not born a monster. He was just a child when our family was torn apart…he was loving…kind…full of joy. He was easily preyed upon. John was not perfect…and sometimes he was not even good.”
Joseph paused long and hard, his tears of sadness turning into tears of anger and determination as they rolled down his cheeks and onto the Bible at his chest. He gripped the podium so tightly that his knuckles turned into a pale shade of white.
“But he was my brother…and those responsible for his death will be punished. I promise you that.”
Oh John! Bold and brave!
He's findin' us a family, he's teachin' us the faith
Oh John! Keep us safe!
He's gonna march us right through Eden's Gate (Oh Lord!)
He's gonna march us right through Eden's Gate
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
News of John’s death spread through the County like wildfire on a hot and dry plain. Falls End threw the largest celebration that it had held in decades, with an elaborate (for the town at least) fireworks display that was followed by a massive cookout that featured copious amounts of alcohol. Elizabeth Davis Chandler was the talk of the entire County, yet she was not at the party that was thrown in her honor. People questioned this at first, but as the cheap beer and whiskey flew ever more freely, the whole reason behind the festivities was swiftly forgotten in a sea of liquor and cheap alcohol. Many of the people in the County had never heard such good news in decades.
Eli hadn’t forgotten. He wanted to show her a Cult wanted poster that they had made of her in an effort to cheer her up, but he couldn’t find her. He asked some still somewhat sober friends of his who told him that she had wandered towards the lake just north of the town after they removed the bullet that John had shot her with. It was only a .22 round so it barely did anything to her, but still. He thanked his friends and set off towards the lake.
It didn’t take long to find her. She was sitting on a stump with her gaze set on some birds that were bathing in the small lake. He approached and she turned her heard—her face said it all really: her bloodshot eyes pierced his head, sending a cold shiver down his spine. Her expression was blank motionless, almost as if she had expelled every last bit of feeling that she could have.
“Please sit next to me,” she sniffled meekly, patting on a free part of the bench. Eli was extremely cautious as he stepped over to her.
“You alright?”
“No…” she responded breathlessly, still staring aimlessly into the distance. “I fucked up.”
“I’m not going to say yes or no, bu know this,” Eli pat her gently on the back, “it was not your fault.”
“But it is!” Elizabeth cried, pacing around the stump in frustration. “I am…was in charge of this mission, and now everyone is dead except for Rubio and I! I led them into this hellhole and now all my friends are dead! Fucking dead!! And it’s my fault! Holt should still here…but he’s not…and its because of me.”
“I told Holt not to go, “ Eli said, sitting on the stump as Elizabeth paced around him. “I sent men after you to make sure that you were alright. He disregarded my requests and went down into the facility in a drunken stupor. That was on him, not you.”
“I should not have been there to begin with…”
“Yes, but you can’t take back what has happened. All you can do is move forward Nomad.”
Elizabeth continued to pace around, grabbing at her hair and face and unable to stand still even for a second. “I’m a failure. A fucking failure!”
“Liz!” Eli snapped. “Do you remember what I told you in Kazakhstan all those years ago after your friend died?”
“That I should always do my duty?”
“What would Holt be telling you right now if he were still alive? What would he want you to do?”
Elizabeth continue to stare over the lake. “He…he would tell me to kill every last one of these fuckers and salt the earth under their dead corpses.”
“Right. Holt would tell you to do what you were made for. Look at this shit that I got not long ago.”
Eli reached into his bag and pulled out a decently sized poster. Elizabeth reached out and unfurled it, staring at it with a mixture of awe and confusion. “Is this…me? What the hell?”
“It’s a wanted poster,” Eli replied with the smallest hint of a smirk in his face. “The Peggies fear and hate you in equal measure. You have a bounty on your head for your capture. They want you alive.”
“Do they think I look like this with those noodle arms? Really?” While the Cult artists had certainly gotten her face right, the rest of her body was portrayed as far weaker than she was in reality.
Eli laughed heartily and slapped his knee. “I guess they want people to go after you.”
“I guess this is…cool…but what does this have to do with Holt? My friend is dead.”
“You, Elizabeth, have given me…this County…the first bit of hope that we have had in years. That’s saying something. You killed that John Seed fuck, killed a leader of the Chosen, killed three other of their elite, and routed a Cult squadron. People are starting to come to our bunkers and are arming themselves for a fight. All we needed here was a leader, and you are proving to be quite the rallying cry…in fact men in bars are drinking to your health at this very moment.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“The Cult killed your men. As a Ghost, and as an ex-Ghost myself, we are duty bound to extract our vengeance. The only way is by leading a literal revolution…perhaps then you can get to Joseph Seed and finally purge this land of his insanity. We are at your command Liz—all we need is your word.”
Elizabeth motionlessly pondered this for a few moments as she continued to stare into the mountains in front of her. She gaudy concrete statue of Joseph Seed blighted what would have been a perfect scenic view that captured that rugged beauty of Hope County. “Eli…what are you thinking then?”
Eli slowly walked over to her and stood right at her side. “I say we give them a message. Do you see that statue?”
“I do. I hate it.”
“Let’s burn it down.”
Last edited:
Elizabeth Chandler needed no introductions or fanfare.
She strolled confidently into the bunker to the roars of raucous cheering and shouts of delighted exultation. Men in faux military garb and carrying rifles swarmed her, chanting her name and reaching out in an attempt to merely get a brief touch of the new hero of Hope County, but she was in no desire or hurry to indulge anyone. “Pipe it down everyone!” Eli demanded, and his men listened, following the command of his leader. “Everyone gather around, there is much work to be done.”
“Thank you Eli,” Elizabeth said gratefully as the men who were just mobbing her sat down wherever they could or on the ground. “The Peggies have been bloodied lately, there is no doubt about that, but we have lost men of our own. My friend…one of my best friends gave his life to give me a moment to kill John. We cannot let Holt’s death go in vain.” The men nodded their heads, giving light tipped cheers of agreement. “We need to keep the Cult from regaining any sort of initiative, so Eli and I have decided to go on the attack. Please turn your attention to him and hear what he has planned.”
“Right,” Eli stood up and walked to the front of the room. “All of us see that fucking statue in the mountains day after day. Unless you’re blind or totally insane, you can’t miss it. I’m tired of it. Let’s go and tear it down!” The room roared with approval and men rose to their feet, hootering and hollering in agreement. “We know the Cult uses it as a place of pilgrimage, so it will likely be well guarded. Half of us, led by me, will lead a fake attack a nearby Cult facility, drawing away as many of them as we can. Elizabeth will lead the other half and attack the statue directly. This has to be quick and dirty, but I have no doubt that we can do this. Elizabeth?”
“Yeah, I was surprised when I saw that y’all have fucking rpgs here, but I guess that’s what happens when you take from them Peggies. The front half of the room will join me in attacking the statue, the back half will go with Eli and cause a diversion. Any questions?”
An older man with a long beard, sporting an NRA hat on his head raised his hand. “How are we going to bring that hunk of concrete down?”
“Good question,” Eli began. “It’s made of cheap concrete. Concentrated fire from rocket launchers will bring it down real quick. I was there when they built it—it’s not sturdy, not at all. You all should have no trouble bringing it down.”
“What if they bring up more Peggies?” Another soldier asked.
“I’ll snipe them from the top of the hill,” Elizabeth declared. “No Peggies will reach you guys, that I can assure you.” The answer seemed to satisfy him.
“How many Peggies are on location?” A man in the back inquired.”
“We don’t know,” Elizabeth responded. “But we do know that a lot of civilians will be on site. The initial firing should scare them off, but check your fire at every turn.”
“Alright everyone,” Eli declared, clasping his hands together. “Say your prayers, say your tidings to your families, and let’s get a move on. We have a statue to tear down.”
It was right around 7:30 PM or so in Hope County, and most normal people were in their homes eating dinner and getting ready for their days to end. The Cult was busy with their evening prayers, and the loud music playing from their radio stations echoed all throughout the Hope County Valley, spread by an incalculable number of speakers and radios. They would not know what hit them.
Using the thick forests as cover, Elizabeth slowly and carefully led her militia to the base of the mountain where the Statue was erected on. She surveyed the scene and to her delight, the base of the statue was lightly defended; it would be rather trivial to take. All she had to do now was to wait for Eli to begin his assault. She began to grow impatient and fidgety as the minutes began to drag on. She wanted to nothing more than tear that ugly hunk of concrete down and avenge her friend Holt. She was about to doze off when she heard the sounds of distant gunfire echo from a distant location in the valley. It was her time to shine. She gave the order.
The few Peggies guarding the base of the statue were quickly eliminated with easy shots to the head. An alarm was sounded by one of the many pilgrims worshiping at the site, but there was no one to head it’s loud and high pitched wailing. The statue’s base was quickly overrun and anyone who offered any sort of resistance was mercilessly put down. The civilians were quickly subdued and corralled into a corner far from any potential falling debris. The woman screamed and the children cried much to Elizabeth’s dismay, but before attacking, she told her squad that if any civilian was harmed intentionally, they would have to answer to her directly.
The RPGs were brought up next, and the Militia quickly went to work, firing at locations that seemed to be the weakest. One by one rockets slammed into portions of the statue, causing entire sections of it crumble and fall away, leaving a nasty and jagged rebar skeleton in its wake. One rocket hit the head of the statue, causing it to detach from the body and fall onto the ground beneath it. The militia let out a shout of joy as it crashed into thousands of little concrete chunks.
However, the Cult now knew the scale of the threat. Eli Whitetail began to disengage from his attack, and told Elizabeth that the entire Cult was mobilizing to head to the statue. Elizabeth heeded the warning and ordered her squad back, but a Cult helicopter had already appeared into the skies above where she was—there was no way to escape with that thing tailing them. Elizabeth took a deep breath and pulled the trigger of her rifle, and the shot found its mark and killed the pilot with a deftly placed shot to the chest. She didn’t wait for the helicopter to fall to earth, and she and the rest of the squad melted away separately into the forests and into hidden bunkers and caves where they would wait out the night. The Cult swept the area during the night but found nothing.
Elizabeth wished nothing more than to see Joseph Seed’s reaction to his statue being torn down. She wanted to do nothing more than to kill him and rescue Rubio, but that would have to wait. Until then, the Cult would have to be burned to the ground. Not a piece of it could remain…no.
________________________________________________________________________
Elizabeth woke to the sound of her phone ringing. The old hard mattress she was sleeping on through the night didn’t do her back any favors, so she groaned in a fit of agony as she leaned over onto the floor to grab and silence it. Moments later, the phone rang again. She sighed, now fully awake and not in the best of moods. It was 8:20—fuck, she had overslept a bit. No matter, she deserved it. The caller ID was not picking up who was calling, but it was clearly important.
“Hello,” Elizabeth spoke groggily. “Speaking?”
“Why do you hurt me so?” Came the voice of a woman on the other line. Elizabeth recognized the voice from the broadcast a few days ago—it was Faith Seed.
“Faith? What the fuck are you doing calling my number? Do you want me to trace your location? Because I will, and I will shove a fucking knife down your throat and disembowel you. You better get a good lawyer and have your will in order scumbag.”
“You don’t have to go far Elizabeth, I am right outside your Bunker.”
Elizabeth’s heart lept into her chest. She reached onto the ground where she had hastily thrown her vest off and grabbed a large knife. Without a moment of hesitation, she sprinted up the stairs of the small bunker and was greeted by a young woman in a white dress. Elizabeth clenched her knife so tightly that her fists were white—she was in pure tunnel vision, so much so that she didn’t notice a large green barrel right next to Faith.
“I just want to speak to you!” Faith giggled, pushing the barrel down onto the ground. Elizabeth gagged as the green liquid seeped down into the earth in front of her. Her head grew light and she felt as if she was floating into the sky, but perhaps most oddly, her vision turned green and the entire world seemed to change. Her whole body felt like she was having the best sex of her life, but instead of being relegated to a few organs, her entire body was pulsating in pleasure.
“What is going on?” Elizabeth said, completely lost in the pleasure she was experiencing.
“I did this to keep us safe, because I knew what you would do,” Faith smiled, seemingly unaffected by the drugs. “I don’t want to hurt you. Let’s just speak. I have many things I want to tell you.”
“Like…like what?”
“I know you have heard stories about me. That I am a liar. A manipulators. That I poison people’s minds. Oh, let me tell you a different story. A true story. There once was a young woman who had been ostracized by her community, bullied by friends, abused by her family. She took to the needle for help. She was all alone…she wanted to die. And then she met the father…the only who cared for her, and the only one willing to give her a chance. That woman is me.”
She continued. “I don’t know why you fear us, or hate us. If I wanted to, I could easily take you back to the bunker in your drugged state, but I won’t. The Father has told us that he wants you to join our family out of your own free will. He wants you to believe. He wishes nothing more than for you to accept the forgiveness that he offers you, even after you killed his brother. All he asks is for your faith.”
“What…what is this feeling?” Elizabeth laughed. It was the best feeling she had felt in her life.
“This…this is what will get us through the dark days when the bombs fall like Autumn leaves. When the world is cold and dark, we will be joyful, praising God who spared His children. You would be like a sister to me, and I would like nothing more than to be your sister. You cannot make a decision now, so I will leave you here, but know that you are welcome to come to us anytime. Your friend Rubio is safe and sound, and would like to see you again. He makes that very clear. So long Elizabeth, I hope I can see you again on better terms, not foes, but as siblings united by our Faith in God. Farewell.”
The next thing Elizabeth remembered was her strapped to a bed with Eli barking orders around. “STAY STILL!!!” He yelled, trying to shove something into Elizabeth’s leg.
“NO!!!” Elizabeth screamed, resisting the whole way, bu her arms and legs were pinned. Eli won the struggle and injected her with a shot of adrenaline, freeing her from the drug addled confusion she was in.
“Fuck, we through we lost you,” Eli gasped with relief. “You took a huge hit of that shit. You are one tough motherfucker, you know that?”
“What the hell…what the hell is that?” Elizabeth moaned, her head aching profusely.
“Bliss. The Cult uses it to drug people into submission.”
“All I know…all I know is that it feels so fucking good. Shit, that is scary.”
She strolled confidently into the bunker to the roars of raucous cheering and shouts of delighted exultation. Men in faux military garb and carrying rifles swarmed her, chanting her name and reaching out in an attempt to merely get a brief touch of the new hero of Hope County, but she was in no desire or hurry to indulge anyone. “Pipe it down everyone!” Eli demanded, and his men listened, following the command of his leader. “Everyone gather around, there is much work to be done.”
“Thank you Eli,” Elizabeth said gratefully as the men who were just mobbing her sat down wherever they could or on the ground. “The Peggies have been bloodied lately, there is no doubt about that, but we have lost men of our own. My friend…one of my best friends gave his life to give me a moment to kill John. We cannot let Holt’s death go in vain.” The men nodded their heads, giving light tipped cheers of agreement. “We need to keep the Cult from regaining any sort of initiative, so Eli and I have decided to go on the attack. Please turn your attention to him and hear what he has planned.”
“Right,” Eli stood up and walked to the front of the room. “All of us see that fucking statue in the mountains day after day. Unless you’re blind or totally insane, you can’t miss it. I’m tired of it. Let’s go and tear it down!” The room roared with approval and men rose to their feet, hootering and hollering in agreement. “We know the Cult uses it as a place of pilgrimage, so it will likely be well guarded. Half of us, led by me, will lead a fake attack a nearby Cult facility, drawing away as many of them as we can. Elizabeth will lead the other half and attack the statue directly. This has to be quick and dirty, but I have no doubt that we can do this. Elizabeth?”
“Yeah, I was surprised when I saw that y’all have fucking rpgs here, but I guess that’s what happens when you take from them Peggies. The front half of the room will join me in attacking the statue, the back half will go with Eli and cause a diversion. Any questions?”
An older man with a long beard, sporting an NRA hat on his head raised his hand. “How are we going to bring that hunk of concrete down?”
“Good question,” Eli began. “It’s made of cheap concrete. Concentrated fire from rocket launchers will bring it down real quick. I was there when they built it—it’s not sturdy, not at all. You all should have no trouble bringing it down.”
“What if they bring up more Peggies?” Another soldier asked.
“I’ll snipe them from the top of the hill,” Elizabeth declared. “No Peggies will reach you guys, that I can assure you.” The answer seemed to satisfy him.
“How many Peggies are on location?” A man in the back inquired.”
“We don’t know,” Elizabeth responded. “But we do know that a lot of civilians will be on site. The initial firing should scare them off, but check your fire at every turn.”
“Alright everyone,” Eli declared, clasping his hands together. “Say your prayers, say your tidings to your families, and let’s get a move on. We have a statue to tear down.”
It was right around 7:30 PM or so in Hope County, and most normal people were in their homes eating dinner and getting ready for their days to end. The Cult was busy with their evening prayers, and the loud music playing from their radio stations echoed all throughout the Hope County Valley, spread by an incalculable number of speakers and radios. They would not know what hit them.
Using the thick forests as cover, Elizabeth slowly and carefully led her militia to the base of the mountain where the Statue was erected on. She surveyed the scene and to her delight, the base of the statue was lightly defended; it would be rather trivial to take. All she had to do now was to wait for Eli to begin his assault. She began to grow impatient and fidgety as the minutes began to drag on. She wanted to nothing more than tear that ugly hunk of concrete down and avenge her friend Holt. She was about to doze off when she heard the sounds of distant gunfire echo from a distant location in the valley. It was her time to shine. She gave the order.
The few Peggies guarding the base of the statue were quickly eliminated with easy shots to the head. An alarm was sounded by one of the many pilgrims worshiping at the site, but there was no one to head it’s loud and high pitched wailing. The statue’s base was quickly overrun and anyone who offered any sort of resistance was mercilessly put down. The civilians were quickly subdued and corralled into a corner far from any potential falling debris. The woman screamed and the children cried much to Elizabeth’s dismay, but before attacking, she told her squad that if any civilian was harmed intentionally, they would have to answer to her directly.
The RPGs were brought up next, and the Militia quickly went to work, firing at locations that seemed to be the weakest. One by one rockets slammed into portions of the statue, causing entire sections of it crumble and fall away, leaving a nasty and jagged rebar skeleton in its wake. One rocket hit the head of the statue, causing it to detach from the body and fall onto the ground beneath it. The militia let out a shout of joy as it crashed into thousands of little concrete chunks.
However, the Cult now knew the scale of the threat. Eli Whitetail began to disengage from his attack, and told Elizabeth that the entire Cult was mobilizing to head to the statue. Elizabeth heeded the warning and ordered her squad back, but a Cult helicopter had already appeared into the skies above where she was—there was no way to escape with that thing tailing them. Elizabeth took a deep breath and pulled the trigger of her rifle, and the shot found its mark and killed the pilot with a deftly placed shot to the chest. She didn’t wait for the helicopter to fall to earth, and she and the rest of the squad melted away separately into the forests and into hidden bunkers and caves where they would wait out the night. The Cult swept the area during the night but found nothing.
Elizabeth wished nothing more than to see Joseph Seed’s reaction to his statue being torn down. She wanted to do nothing more than to kill him and rescue Rubio, but that would have to wait. Until then, the Cult would have to be burned to the ground. Not a piece of it could remain…no.
________________________________________________________________________
Elizabeth woke to the sound of her phone ringing. The old hard mattress she was sleeping on through the night didn’t do her back any favors, so she groaned in a fit of agony as she leaned over onto the floor to grab and silence it. Moments later, the phone rang again. She sighed, now fully awake and not in the best of moods. It was 8:20—fuck, she had overslept a bit. No matter, she deserved it. The caller ID was not picking up who was calling, but it was clearly important.
“Hello,” Elizabeth spoke groggily. “Speaking?”
“Why do you hurt me so?” Came the voice of a woman on the other line. Elizabeth recognized the voice from the broadcast a few days ago—it was Faith Seed.
“Faith? What the fuck are you doing calling my number? Do you want me to trace your location? Because I will, and I will shove a fucking knife down your throat and disembowel you. You better get a good lawyer and have your will in order scumbag.”
“You don’t have to go far Elizabeth, I am right outside your Bunker.”
Elizabeth’s heart lept into her chest. She reached onto the ground where she had hastily thrown her vest off and grabbed a large knife. Without a moment of hesitation, she sprinted up the stairs of the small bunker and was greeted by a young woman in a white dress. Elizabeth clenched her knife so tightly that her fists were white—she was in pure tunnel vision, so much so that she didn’t notice a large green barrel right next to Faith.
“I just want to speak to you!” Faith giggled, pushing the barrel down onto the ground. Elizabeth gagged as the green liquid seeped down into the earth in front of her. Her head grew light and she felt as if she was floating into the sky, but perhaps most oddly, her vision turned green and the entire world seemed to change. Her whole body felt like she was having the best sex of her life, but instead of being relegated to a few organs, her entire body was pulsating in pleasure.
“What is going on?” Elizabeth said, completely lost in the pleasure she was experiencing.
“I did this to keep us safe, because I knew what you would do,” Faith smiled, seemingly unaffected by the drugs. “I don’t want to hurt you. Let’s just speak. I have many things I want to tell you.”
“Like…like what?”
“I know you have heard stories about me. That I am a liar. A manipulators. That I poison people’s minds. Oh, let me tell you a different story. A true story. There once was a young woman who had been ostracized by her community, bullied by friends, abused by her family. She took to the needle for help. She was all alone…she wanted to die. And then she met the father…the only who cared for her, and the only one willing to give her a chance. That woman is me.”
She continued. “I don’t know why you fear us, or hate us. If I wanted to, I could easily take you back to the bunker in your drugged state, but I won’t. The Father has told us that he wants you to join our family out of your own free will. He wants you to believe. He wishes nothing more than for you to accept the forgiveness that he offers you, even after you killed his brother. All he asks is for your faith.”
“What…what is this feeling?” Elizabeth laughed. It was the best feeling she had felt in her life.
“This…this is what will get us through the dark days when the bombs fall like Autumn leaves. When the world is cold and dark, we will be joyful, praising God who spared His children. You would be like a sister to me, and I would like nothing more than to be your sister. You cannot make a decision now, so I will leave you here, but know that you are welcome to come to us anytime. Your friend Rubio is safe and sound, and would like to see you again. He makes that very clear. So long Elizabeth, I hope I can see you again on better terms, not foes, but as siblings united by our Faith in God. Farewell.”
The next thing Elizabeth remembered was her strapped to a bed with Eli barking orders around. “STAY STILL!!!” He yelled, trying to shove something into Elizabeth’s leg.
“NO!!!” Elizabeth screamed, resisting the whole way, bu her arms and legs were pinned. Eli won the struggle and injected her with a shot of adrenaline, freeing her from the drug addled confusion she was in.
“Fuck, we through we lost you,” Eli gasped with relief. “You took a huge hit of that shit. You are one tough motherfucker, you know that?”
“What the hell…what the hell is that?” Elizabeth moaned, her head aching profusely.
“Bliss. The Cult uses it to drug people into submission.”
“All I know…all I know is that it feels so fucking good. Shit, that is scary.”
(3 chapters in as many days! Nice!)
It was lonely without her.
Normally, Andrew would we awoken by the sound of his wife getting ready for the early start to her day. He loved her cheery voice, her cute attempts to remain silent to let him get an extra hour of sleep, and the fact that she kissed him every day before she left. Now, there was silence. Nothing but an eerie silence. Every singly day, his large master bedroom grew smaller, and the stillness seemed to suffocate him. It was yet another Sunday, and he woke up after dreaming about her. He turned to see her smiling face, yet once again, there was nothing.
She had told him that she was going to Montana for some “work” as she put it, but she never specified what type of work it would be. Was it movie related? He had no idea. He tried calling her, but wherever she was had no signal or she had no access to her phone. As the days dragged ever onward, he grew increasingly anxious, and soon, he couldn’t even perform his work functions and had to take some sick leave. It was getting that bad for him. Worse still, Elizabeth had missed her son’s class graduation, and William was once again the subject of intense mockery and scorn from his classmates. He once again holed himself in his room, only leaving for the occasional snacks and drinks. His daughters, usually resolute and unworrying, started to question why she was gone. The stress was getting to him. Their home was getting messy, and the laundry was getting backed up.
Once again, he somehow got them ready for Church and drove them off in his Sedan. They went to their usual Sunday School sessions, and he walked up the stairs and into one of the smaller classrooms where his Adult study was. Usually, Ernie was arguing with someone or ranting about some conspiracy theory about how the government was poisoning the water or the air, but this time, his class was oddly silent.
“Hey Andrew,” the teacher began cheerfully. “Where’s your better half?”
“She’s still gone,” Andrew said colorlessly. “Please pray for her.”
“We will Andrew. Do you need anything?”
“Prayer would be appreciated.”
“My wife will stop by later today if you would like. I know it must be stressful on you.”
Andrew gave the slightest hint of a smile. “That would be nice. I would appreciate that a ton man.”
“Say…have you heard from Ernie?” The teacher wondered, looking around the room. “I’m used to arguing with him to the point that I just want to get up and leave.”
“I don’t have a clue…” Andrew replied faintly, flipping through his Bible at random.
“Oh I know!” A random man interjected. “He mentioned something about going to Montana or something to meet the preacher or something. I got dinner with him a week ago…he mentioned something about violence or a snake in the garden or something. He was clearly insane, but he seemed angry about something one way or another.”
“I’m just glad he’s not here!” The teacher laughed in relief. “I hope he finds what he’s been looking for in Montana.”
Montana, Andrew thought. That’s where my wife is. Ah, has to be a coincidence. No way she’s involved in any preacher related activities. Not her. Not Elizabeth.
But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Trump stared at the breaking news reports that flashed all over the many screens in his office. For some incomprehensible reason, a major firefight broke out in the DMZ in the Koreas, causing North Korea to declare was on the South. Millions of shells descended on the city of Seoul,, and tens of thousand so civilians were killed in the crossfire. The United States, obligated by treaties, intervened, which caused Russia to declare war on NATO in order to keep their Eastern flank safe of further United States advances close to their borders. The numerous Chinese warlords, all of whom were fighting Russia as much as they were fighting each other, also declared war on the United States—why leave the fighting to everyone else?
In quick order, Eastern Europe was rapidly overrun by a horde of Russian soldiers. Ukraine and the Baltic States fell within hours, Belarus swept aside in a matter of minutes, and sleeper cells caused immense chaos all over Western Europe in the form of mass shootings and assassinations. The entire world was bathed in chaos. Trump and his cabinet were moved from the White House and into a secret bunker dug deep into the ground beneath the streets of Washington DC below—they weren’t scared of a nuclear war just yet, just assassination attempts from embedded Russian assets.
“Mr. President,” the defense secretary said with urgency in his tone. “We have managed to cobble together enough forces to pin the Russians on the Vistula. We control the air and the Russian attack has more or less stalled out and their supply lines are vastly overstretched at this point. We have several armies moving across the Atlantic as we speak, and soon, we will begin the task of pushing the Russians back.”
“What of Korea?” Trump inquired, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms at his chest.
“Hundreds of thousands of civilians are dead, but the North Korean army is running out supplies: they are unable to fight a proacted war against us, and our air force has total control of the skies.”
“Good…” Trump said, trailing off. “Good. Don’t invade—the last thing we need is a shitstorm like that. Let Kim sue for peace when his army cannot supply itself anymore.”
“Good choice Mr. President.”
“Now what of Montana? Have we heard anything?”
“We have Mr. President. While we are unable to get in contact with Nomad, we know that Midas has been captured and that the rest of the team has been killed. Nomad was captured as well, that we know from the mocking photos sent to us by the Peggies, but it appears that she has managed to break free.”
“How do we know?”
“John Seed was killed recently, and from what we know, Nomad was the one who killed him.”
Trump grinned faintly. This was the first good news he had heard in a while. “Is there any way we can get supplies to her?”
“Not without the Cult knowing sir. They have warned further attacks on us if we intervene. Best we let Nomad continue to do her work.”
“Fair enough,” Trump acknowledged as he nodded his head. “Fair enough. Let’s convene again in two hours. I want constant reports on the front in Poland, and I want to know exactly what is happening with our global nuclear supplies. Tell the remaining Ghosts in Eurasia to hurry their missions along and disable as many Russian and Chinese warheads as humanly possible. This may be our only hope.”
Everyone vacated the conference room and went to their small offices in the underground bunker. Trump only hoped that Nomad could somehow get those madmen in her custody, but that was getting increasingly doubtful. The entire world was in flames. He couldn’t let his country down…he would not be the President who oversaw a nuclear apocalypse. Joseph Seed had to pay. He had to.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Wake up Rubio,” came a faint and mocking voice. He slowly arose from his slumber and saw his captor, Jacob, staring at him from a chair at the other end of the room. “Good, glad to see that you are awake. It took a beating last time to get you up, so I’m glad I didn’t have to resort to that this time.”
Rubio licked his parched lips and tried to swallow whatever spit was in his mouth, but his throat was so dry that even swallowing was almost impossible. “What…d…do…what do you want?” He stammered weakly, making no attempt to free himself from the chair he was tied to. He hadn’t seen the sun in God knows how long.
“As I’m sure you know, your friend Elizabeth has been causing us a lot of trouble. My brother is dead, and Joseph’s statue has been torn at her hands.”
“She’s a…tough nut to crack,” Rubio spat out, barely able to even speak.
“She sure is,” Jacob remarked. “You know, I don’t know if you know this, but I served with her back in Afghanistan many years ago. Did you know that?”
“I did not.”
“Lemme tell you a story then. We were Rangers and I was her commanding officer. She was enthusiastic, intelligent, and overall just a pleasant person to be around, and she got along well most of the people that she came across. I knew she had to be a good soldier, being one of the first women to join our unit and all, and she was certainly eager to prove herself, but I didn’t like her all that much. Perhaps it was my misogyny, a feelings of wanting a boys club…I don’t know. I found the idea of a woman in my unit to be almost repulsive. Sick, like the army was playing a twisted social experiment on me. We couldn’t tell the same jokes anymore, or do the same things with her around. I began to hate her, but as much as I hated her, my unit grew to love her.
“ One night, we were travelling to a distant firebase when our helicopter was hit with an RPG and downed. Of course, she was the only one from my unit to survive. We began to trudge our way through the hills and valleys deep in Taliban terrorist, knowing that at any moment we could be captured or worse. I was afraid, and she was as well, perhaps more so, but she had something to lean on. Every time we rested, Elizabeth would pray. Pray for safety, for her family, for her friends. I insulted her beliefs, yet she prayed all the more fervently. We managed to hike over forty miles in three days and get ourselves to the firebase we were headed to in the first place. I couldn’t believe that we made it, but she never lost her faith. Not once.”
“Why…why are you telling me this?” Rubio asked, barely able to keep his eyes open.
Jacob immediately lurched forward and grabbed Rubio’s cheeks as tightly as he could. “Because I want her here!” He hissed. “She is dangerous, and she would be a fine addition to the Chosen. When the bombs fall and cleanse the world, I want her here to keep our flock safe.”
“You…you love her.”
Jacob let go of his face. “No, I have a wife here who has blessed with me with many children, but the father…the father eyes her. When the world falls into the flames and we rise again, we will need to be fruitful and multiply, just like God told Noah when He flooded the earth. Who better to help us than a person as strong and faithful as Elizabeth?”
“She…she loves her husband. She will never let go.”
“I don’t give a fuck about her husband. When the bombs fall he will be dead. You will help me bring her back here and join us?”
“How?”
Jacob reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe. He gently jabbed it into Rubio’s leg and inserted the chemicals into his bloodstream.
“This will…this may make you feel weird. Just go with it good and faithful servant. You will bring her to me.”
“I will…I will bring her to you.”
It was lonely without her.
Normally, Andrew would we awoken by the sound of his wife getting ready for the early start to her day. He loved her cheery voice, her cute attempts to remain silent to let him get an extra hour of sleep, and the fact that she kissed him every day before she left. Now, there was silence. Nothing but an eerie silence. Every singly day, his large master bedroom grew smaller, and the stillness seemed to suffocate him. It was yet another Sunday, and he woke up after dreaming about her. He turned to see her smiling face, yet once again, there was nothing.
She had told him that she was going to Montana for some “work” as she put it, but she never specified what type of work it would be. Was it movie related? He had no idea. He tried calling her, but wherever she was had no signal or she had no access to her phone. As the days dragged ever onward, he grew increasingly anxious, and soon, he couldn’t even perform his work functions and had to take some sick leave. It was getting that bad for him. Worse still, Elizabeth had missed her son’s class graduation, and William was once again the subject of intense mockery and scorn from his classmates. He once again holed himself in his room, only leaving for the occasional snacks and drinks. His daughters, usually resolute and unworrying, started to question why she was gone. The stress was getting to him. Their home was getting messy, and the laundry was getting backed up.
Once again, he somehow got them ready for Church and drove them off in his Sedan. They went to their usual Sunday School sessions, and he walked up the stairs and into one of the smaller classrooms where his Adult study was. Usually, Ernie was arguing with someone or ranting about some conspiracy theory about how the government was poisoning the water or the air, but this time, his class was oddly silent.
“Hey Andrew,” the teacher began cheerfully. “Where’s your better half?”
“She’s still gone,” Andrew said colorlessly. “Please pray for her.”
“We will Andrew. Do you need anything?”
“Prayer would be appreciated.”
“My wife will stop by later today if you would like. I know it must be stressful on you.”
Andrew gave the slightest hint of a smile. “That would be nice. I would appreciate that a ton man.”
“Say…have you heard from Ernie?” The teacher wondered, looking around the room. “I’m used to arguing with him to the point that I just want to get up and leave.”
“I don’t have a clue…” Andrew replied faintly, flipping through his Bible at random.
“Oh I know!” A random man interjected. “He mentioned something about going to Montana or something to meet the preacher or something. I got dinner with him a week ago…he mentioned something about violence or a snake in the garden or something. He was clearly insane, but he seemed angry about something one way or another.”
“I’m just glad he’s not here!” The teacher laughed in relief. “I hope he finds what he’s been looking for in Montana.”
Montana, Andrew thought. That’s where my wife is. Ah, has to be a coincidence. No way she’s involved in any preacher related activities. Not her. Not Elizabeth.
But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Trump stared at the breaking news reports that flashed all over the many screens in his office. For some incomprehensible reason, a major firefight broke out in the DMZ in the Koreas, causing North Korea to declare was on the South. Millions of shells descended on the city of Seoul,, and tens of thousand so civilians were killed in the crossfire. The United States, obligated by treaties, intervened, which caused Russia to declare war on NATO in order to keep their Eastern flank safe of further United States advances close to their borders. The numerous Chinese warlords, all of whom were fighting Russia as much as they were fighting each other, also declared war on the United States—why leave the fighting to everyone else?
In quick order, Eastern Europe was rapidly overrun by a horde of Russian soldiers. Ukraine and the Baltic States fell within hours, Belarus swept aside in a matter of minutes, and sleeper cells caused immense chaos all over Western Europe in the form of mass shootings and assassinations. The entire world was bathed in chaos. Trump and his cabinet were moved from the White House and into a secret bunker dug deep into the ground beneath the streets of Washington DC below—they weren’t scared of a nuclear war just yet, just assassination attempts from embedded Russian assets.
“Mr. President,” the defense secretary said with urgency in his tone. “We have managed to cobble together enough forces to pin the Russians on the Vistula. We control the air and the Russian attack has more or less stalled out and their supply lines are vastly overstretched at this point. We have several armies moving across the Atlantic as we speak, and soon, we will begin the task of pushing the Russians back.”
“What of Korea?” Trump inquired, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms at his chest.
“Hundreds of thousands of civilians are dead, but the North Korean army is running out supplies: they are unable to fight a proacted war against us, and our air force has total control of the skies.”
“Good…” Trump said, trailing off. “Good. Don’t invade—the last thing we need is a shitstorm like that. Let Kim sue for peace when his army cannot supply itself anymore.”
“Good choice Mr. President.”
“Now what of Montana? Have we heard anything?”
“We have Mr. President. While we are unable to get in contact with Nomad, we know that Midas has been captured and that the rest of the team has been killed. Nomad was captured as well, that we know from the mocking photos sent to us by the Peggies, but it appears that she has managed to break free.”
“How do we know?”
“John Seed was killed recently, and from what we know, Nomad was the one who killed him.”
Trump grinned faintly. This was the first good news he had heard in a while. “Is there any way we can get supplies to her?”
“Not without the Cult knowing sir. They have warned further attacks on us if we intervene. Best we let Nomad continue to do her work.”
“Fair enough,” Trump acknowledged as he nodded his head. “Fair enough. Let’s convene again in two hours. I want constant reports on the front in Poland, and I want to know exactly what is happening with our global nuclear supplies. Tell the remaining Ghosts in Eurasia to hurry their missions along and disable as many Russian and Chinese warheads as humanly possible. This may be our only hope.”
Everyone vacated the conference room and went to their small offices in the underground bunker. Trump only hoped that Nomad could somehow get those madmen in her custody, but that was getting increasingly doubtful. The entire world was in flames. He couldn’t let his country down…he would not be the President who oversaw a nuclear apocalypse. Joseph Seed had to pay. He had to.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Wake up Rubio,” came a faint and mocking voice. He slowly arose from his slumber and saw his captor, Jacob, staring at him from a chair at the other end of the room. “Good, glad to see that you are awake. It took a beating last time to get you up, so I’m glad I didn’t have to resort to that this time.”
Rubio licked his parched lips and tried to swallow whatever spit was in his mouth, but his throat was so dry that even swallowing was almost impossible. “What…d…do…what do you want?” He stammered weakly, making no attempt to free himself from the chair he was tied to. He hadn’t seen the sun in God knows how long.
“As I’m sure you know, your friend Elizabeth has been causing us a lot of trouble. My brother is dead, and Joseph’s statue has been torn at her hands.”
“She’s a…tough nut to crack,” Rubio spat out, barely able to even speak.
“She sure is,” Jacob remarked. “You know, I don’t know if you know this, but I served with her back in Afghanistan many years ago. Did you know that?”
“I did not.”
“Lemme tell you a story then. We were Rangers and I was her commanding officer. She was enthusiastic, intelligent, and overall just a pleasant person to be around, and she got along well most of the people that she came across. I knew she had to be a good soldier, being one of the first women to join our unit and all, and she was certainly eager to prove herself, but I didn’t like her all that much. Perhaps it was my misogyny, a feelings of wanting a boys club…I don’t know. I found the idea of a woman in my unit to be almost repulsive. Sick, like the army was playing a twisted social experiment on me. We couldn’t tell the same jokes anymore, or do the same things with her around. I began to hate her, but as much as I hated her, my unit grew to love her.
“ One night, we were travelling to a distant firebase when our helicopter was hit with an RPG and downed. Of course, she was the only one from my unit to survive. We began to trudge our way through the hills and valleys deep in Taliban terrorist, knowing that at any moment we could be captured or worse. I was afraid, and she was as well, perhaps more so, but she had something to lean on. Every time we rested, Elizabeth would pray. Pray for safety, for her family, for her friends. I insulted her beliefs, yet she prayed all the more fervently. We managed to hike over forty miles in three days and get ourselves to the firebase we were headed to in the first place. I couldn’t believe that we made it, but she never lost her faith. Not once.”
“Why…why are you telling me this?” Rubio asked, barely able to keep his eyes open.
Jacob immediately lurched forward and grabbed Rubio’s cheeks as tightly as he could. “Because I want her here!” He hissed. “She is dangerous, and she would be a fine addition to the Chosen. When the bombs fall and cleanse the world, I want her here to keep our flock safe.”
“You…you love her.”
Jacob let go of his face. “No, I have a wife here who has blessed with me with many children, but the father…the father eyes her. When the world falls into the flames and we rise again, we will need to be fruitful and multiply, just like God told Noah when He flooded the earth. Who better to help us than a person as strong and faithful as Elizabeth?”
“She…she loves her husband. She will never let go.”
“I don’t give a fuck about her husband. When the bombs fall he will be dead. You will help me bring her back here and join us?”
“How?”
Jacob reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe. He gently jabbed it into Rubio’s leg and inserted the chemicals into his bloodstream.
“This will…this may make you feel weird. Just go with it good and faithful servant. You will bring her to me.”
“I will…I will bring her to you.”