Chapter Text
If Rebecca Chase could describe her week as any one word it would be “fucked”. She fell out of the sky in a burning helicopter, got weirdly too close to a cult leader, and crashed a truck into the river. That was just the first night. The rest of her time in the Hope County run by Eden’s Gate went about the same. No slow decline, just a sharp drop right into hell with no way to climb back up. Now she was left to walk through it and hope there was an exit in the back or something. Somehow, she survived everything thrown at her. Call it God or dumb luck. It was working for her.
As the current situation dragged out, her nerves continued going haywire throughout her body, alive with more anxiety and stress than she ever felt before. She surveyed the land around her. So far, she hadn't been seen. That was atypical for the deputy. Usually, she messed up and had to shoot her way out. It took her a week to realize that Eden’s Gate wouldn’t rest until she was in the grave; a week full of patching up her own wounds and figuring out who was still normal in this county. She was lucky to survive this long, and she was lucky that today was looking up for her. The luck probably wouldn't last long, but she had taken out three peggies in the last three minutes, so that was three less she had to fight when she tripped up and alerted someone.
Chase rounded a corner carefully, headed toward the next building. If Whitehorse were here to see this, he wouldn't believe it. Junior Deputy “99% of my decisions are made on instinct” Chase trying to be stealthy. Pratt used to tease her that they couldn’t take her on stake-outs cause she would alert every criminal in the general vicinity where she was when she accidentally cranked the radio too loud or turned on the siren (Which never happened, by the way). Anyway, she couldn't sneak quietly to save her life. Except for right now, apparently.
She was still two buildings away and the glint of yellow made her heart swell. This was almost over. But like the bitch irony is, footsteps echoed across the ground behind her, and she inwardly cursed. Of course . She held her handgun up, ready to fire at whoever came into sight, but before she could, a distinct “Hey!” sounded out across the compound. Her body froze. This was it, she was dead for sure. Thoughts of her body riddled with bullet holes and rolled in front of Joseph Seed made her shudder.
A few more sets of footsteps came up, but they rushed past her hiding spot. What? No one shot at her. They didn’t even notice . She peeked her head up from behind the boxes shielding her and almost burst out laughing. Of fucking course, the call of the wild. It was not one, not two, but three turkeys that had attacked a guy by the edge of the compound. All the others rushed over to help him, but for whatever reason, they were having a hard time. The turkeys seemed to be winning. This was perfect for her, though.
With everyone distracted, she didn't even bother hiding as she sprinted for the finish line. Her body nearly slammed against the side of the Carmina with a force that would have dented either it or her. She threw open the door and climbed in, radioing Nick Rye, “Uh, hey buddy, I got your plane here, but I know fuck-all about flying it.”
There was a loud whoop on the other end, and Nick's voice crackled in, “Hot damn! I can't imagine the look on John's face when he finds out. Don't worry, Dep, I'll guide you through the basics.”
The basics happened to be really hard. Chase didn't want to admit it, but she was terrified while she flew. Every little shudder or dip had her freaking out, asking Nick what was happening and what should she do and please dear God just let me get to the airstrip in one piece. When she touched down and escaped both the flying metal death trap and Nick's oxygen-depriving bear hug, she vowed never to fly a plane again.
He laughed at the time, but when the peggies pulled up to take back what was “stolen”, Deputy Chase wasted no time in shoving him in the plane and sprinting toward the house to protect Kim. It worked like a charm, him in the sky and her on the ground. Once that not-so-little scuffle was over, Nick had been effectively convinced by Kim to stay and offered his services to the deputy with glee. “Any chance to knock John down a few peggies.” He said, much to his wife’s annoyance. Chase wondered how often he used that pun.
She was happy to have the family stay. They seemed like good people, from the stories that she heard and the interactions she’s had so far. In fact, everyone she met on this side of the fight was someone she would probably be friends with under normal circumstances. She had already had the honor of meeting Grace Armstrong, and the two had plans that night to drink until they couldn’t feel their lips. That wouldn’t be hard, though, because Chase was a lightweight who hardly ever went out to drink. They probably wouldn’t even get two drinks in. Honestly, they were fighting something too big to take a night off. Speaking of fighting…
Chase bid the couple farewell and headed off again. She had been on the way to the Kellett Cattle Company when she first heard Nick on the radio, and now she was going back to free the southernmost “cult outpost” from John Seed’s hands. The people in Holland Valley deserved to know someone was not only on their side, but taking shit back from the cult. Freeing Fall’s End was step one. The rest of the steps were about making as much noise, kicking as much ass, and pissing as many cult members off as possible. Chase felt pretty proud to say she had succeeded so far.
After the shit she went through at Seed Ranch, the cow farm fell easy. Running in guns blazing seemed to work just fine there. After she liberated it, she spent little time in calling Fall’s End and informing Pastor Jerome that anyone itching to work could come repair the farm and guard it from being reclaimed. While waiting for at least one person to show up, Chase kicked back and dug through the sparse book collection before settling on reading a map of the area with a marker in her hand. Fall’s End she marked immediately, as well as Sunrise Farm and now the Kellett Cattle Co. Chase now had a triangle of a more-or-less safe area. She really wanted to head over to Rae Rae’s to help the family there, but the area was still pretty far north of Sunrise.
She had just decided on freeing the heavily peggie-occupied fertilizer company and the railyard on her way to Rae Rae’s when she heard a truck pull up. Anxiety built itself up, freezing her blood and tightening her hold on her gun, but a quick glance out the window revealed some of the townspeople. She let out a huff of breath and walked out to greet them. The group had a distinct mood, instantly tipping her off that her plans were going to change.
“What is it?” She asked, tugging her baseball cap tighter on her head.
The man who had climbed out of the driver’s seat took a step toward her, saying “Pastor Jerome got a call right after you. The jail is being attacked. They need you over there right away.”
Deputy Chase didn’t need to be told twice. After the brief exchange, she borrowed their truck and took off for the Henbane. She couldn’t say she’d miss John’s region, but she had heard tales about the Bliss. Something about being a mindless zombie really made Chase want to stick with the egotistical sadist. At least she had the option of turning the bastard off of the radio and TV broadcasts. The Bliss, however, worked differently. Faith Seed would be different. The rookie deputy was not going to enjoy this.
Oh, how right she was. Not 5 minutes after she had left the valley, and a minute into her rendition of “It’s a Hard Knock Life”, she hit a wolverine. Or at least, she thought it was, until it turned out to be a moose in a haze of Bliss. She then had to outmaneuver an angry, drugged-up moose while also navigating roads she didn’t know terribly well and avoiding the other various drugged animals. There was a point where Chase thought she saw Faith Seed dancing in the middle of a field of flowers, but nothing in the world was going to stop her from reaching the jail (and avoiding the moose).
Chase didn’t even stop when she pulled up to the jail. Rather, she plowed into a group of peggies and jumped out, shotgun already aimed and firing off. It took a bloody and glorious minute to reach the side of the jail, where she climbed up a car and onto the side wall. She effectively shot three peggies off the wall and lodged a knife in the neck of one attacking a young girl who was too busy shooting at the ground floor to notice the breach on the side. The high-school aged girl, starry eyed and shocked, breathed out a “thank you”. Chase smiled, though bitterly. This girl shouldn’t be shooting people, she should be inside while the adults defend her.
The deputy didn’t remember much of what happened next. She saw glimpses of taking out peggies and helping her own members up. When the rest of the peggies were down or retreating, she stopped, looking around. Faintly aware of a searing pain somewhere in her body, she ignored it for the more pressing matters. Namely, the injured she now rushed to help. After two or three trips inside the jail, Chase felt two steady hands on her shoulders.
“Rook, you need to sit down. You’re hurt, too.”
Whitehorse. The tension in her body melted away, and she let herself be guided to an empty cot. Through the exhausted and dazed fog, Chase was aware of people talking either to her or about her, but not much else after that. Hands pushed her to lay down and she found herself resisting little. Once a warm washcloth hit her forehead, she faded out.
She came to slowly, and then all at once. Sitting straight up, she immediately realized why this might be a bad idea. Pain shot through her head, shoulder, and wrist. Someone’s hands once again pushed at her, guiding her back down with a “You’re alright, Rook, just rest up.”
“Sheriff,” she said slowly, voice a little foggy from sleep. She could recognize that voice anywhere.
He chuckled, “Glad you’re still with us. I hear you’ve been pushing yourself pretty hard for Fall’s End in the Valley.” The deputy only nodded, eyes searching around the room. Past the chair that Whitehorse had apparently been staying in, people watched from the edges. They tried to hide their staring, but it only made it worse. The sheriff’s voice brought her out of her head, “Your shoulder took a hell of a blow from something. Looks like one of those bats with nails in them or some shit. You’ll have a nasty time with it and probably be sore for a while, but be happy it wasn’t dislocated,” he gingerly rested his hand there for only a moment before lifting it to point to her wrist, “This, however, is sprained. No making it worse, either. You better have someone with you at all times when you go out.”
The concern in his voice read so genuine. Chase forgot what it felt like to have someone care that deeply. She nodded numbly, then licked her chapped lips and opened her mouth, “I’ll call Grace up soon. I was supposed to meet her… shit, probably last night. What time is it?”
“It’s about 3 am.”
Chase groaned in annoyance. “No way. Why are you all awake? Why am I still here? I have to be back in Fall’s End.”
“We got your radio working, told Pastor Jerome you were going to be here recovering,” he gave her a pointed look, “It’ll do the county no good if you go off and get yourself killed or captured.” She laid back with a huff, too stubborn to tell him he was right, but still hurting too much to get up and prove him wrong. “And as to why we’re up,” he sighed, pulling his hat off and rubbing his forehead, “You were hollering in your sleep. Nearly woke everyone on this side of the river up. Nightmare?”
Chase shot a look at the people still in the room. They quickly ducked out, acting like they weren’t about to hide behind the door and eavesdrop anyway. With them gone, she turned her head back to Whitehorse, lowering her voice, “I don’t remember. Probably,” she bit her lip, peeling at the cracked skin before continuing, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole damn county knew where I was, with how bad I’ve been lately.” Her head pounded in her skull.
“Well,” Whitehorse stood up, putting his hat back on and placing a gentle hand on the top of her head, “try to get some sleep. We’ll talk about what you can or can’t do in the morning.”
“Okay,” she said, though she had no intention of being there when everyone else woke up.