resistance | far cry 5

Chapter Twenty - The Beginning

Joseph sent a group of people to capture the deputy. He had called Jacob first, so he knew of what was going on. He had his meeting planned out. It would take place in the unknown basement of the church. Only Joseph knew of the place.

He had the table set up for her, restraints were tight. The tools sat close to the table, but not close enough for her to see once she was on it.

The room was prepared for her arrival, and now all there was left was to wait.

***

Finally, he got a call that the deputy was here. They had hit her with bliss bullets, that Faith had suggested, to make her unconscious. The Father effortlessly threw her over his shoulder and brought her down to the basement. He strapped the chains to her wrists and ankles. Her brown hair went over her face, and he slowly brushed it out. His eyes trailed over her face, and down to her body.

He understood, from her looks, how she could lure Jacob and John as easily as she did. He found her attractive too. But Joseph was dedicated enough to not allow anything to happen.

Soon enough, Rae opened her eyes. She looked around, expecting to be in Jacob's cage again. But her surroundings were different. A bright light shined in her eyes, causing them to close again. She tried to move, but realized she was trapped.

Joseph finally spoke. "You have made this more dangerous than it needs to be, you know? You could have just walked away." He shook his head in disappointment. His eyes met the ground beneath him briefly, and looked back at her to speak again. "But you didn't. You were too full of yourself to just turn around. You have too much pride in yourself."

She continued to try and pull her arms out of the metal restraints. If she could, she would swing out and knock him in the head in one fluid motion. But with how weak she was- and how strong the restraints were- there was no getting out.

"Perhaps," he walked around the table where she lied, next to her ear, "you have more than one sin. You are full of wrath, deputy. Everything makes you so angry." His voice softened as he inched closer to her with every word. She stopped moving to hear him better.

His voice lowered to a near-silent whisper. "I know what you did with my brother, deputy. With my brothers. You are full of lust."

He stood back up straight and circled around her. She began to pull at the restraints again, harder than before. Her wrists started to bleed, but she didn't care. She just wanted out.

"Go to hell, you piece of shit. I'm not the only one who had a say in that. I'm not the only sinner. Your entire family is a handful of the worst sinners to ever walk this goddamn planet." As she finished her statement, his head hovered above her's, by inches.

"I have no doubt that my brothers made their choices. But they confessed, and they were forgiven. By myself and by God. You, however... you have not." His left hand reached out to hold her cheek. His thumb ran in small circles uncomfortably, and she winced at his touch. Not out of fear, but out of disgust. He only snickered.

He pulled away from her, and turned his back. He grabbed a small metal tool that she couldn't make out from a cart. "You are greedy. You have everything that you need, yet you just take, take, and take more. You have stolen from my family so that you can be happy. So that your friends would approve more of you. You don't understand. But that's okay." He turned around to reveal a small, sharp knife. He balanced it between his two fingers. "You'll understand soon enough."

He started closer to her, and by this time, she had stopped resisting completely. She knew it would be no use. And the more she fidgeted, the longer it would take.

The knife rested in his left hand, and his right hand trailed across her body. Arms, stomach, ribs. Anywhere that wasn't considered private. "Pride... wrath... lust... and greed. Four out of seven sins, my dear." He knelt down slightly as his hand stopped on her left ribcage. He began to lift her shirt up before speaking again. "Any other you wish to confess?"

John wouldn't do this with her, and Joseph was aware of that. He took the baptist's job into his own hands.

Her eyebrows were furrowed, as tears threatened to spill. His smile angered her How could he be so content with inflicting pain on people so undeserving? As she thought, a single tear fell from her eye, and she cursed to herself. But she then realized how insignificant a single tear was in a time like this. Being not-vulnerable wasn't an option. For God's sake, she was chained to a metal table.

"There's your pride again, Rae. Too prideful to show your true emotions. You don't need to be afraid of me, dear. I'm a friend, not an enemy."

By this time, she could hardly understand the man speaking to her. She didn't register the fact he called her by her name, when she had never revealed that information. Tears were pouring out of her eyes like the blood was about to be from her ribs. He stood on both feet and leaned above her again. He watched calmly as the tears fell down her temples and past her ears. He smirked at the irony: this is the most idolized person in Hope County. The one who has no feelings but hatred for him and his family. And here she was, scared. An emotion no one knew she had. Fearful of the man in front of her.

As her tears began to slow down, she laughed. Almost hysterically. She realized what she had told her friends at the Wolf's Den. He didn't know anything about what she was doing. Whose side she was on: her own.

"I don't give a single shit what you do to me. Torture me, kill me. But whatever you do, just know that if they find out I'm dead, you'll never see the end of it. You'll pray for me back when you see the next phase after me."

His eyebrow cocked. He felt genuine confusion. "What do you mean, Rae?"

"I mean, I'm the first glimpse of hope this county has seen in God knows how long. If something happens to me, it will piss them off. They will become ruthless. Your chosen will be no match compared to my people. They will never let you get away with this." Her tears immediately stopped, and she progressively got more angry.

His eyes widened. But no fear crossed his body. "You can't possibly believe-"

"I don't believe, Joseph. I know. I know damn well what will happen if you even lay a finger on me. You watch. All I have to do is show them what you did to me, and you're a dead man. Not by me, either."

He pondered for a moment. He didn't believe a word she said, but something inside of him wondered. Wondered about the what ifs. What if she was right? One wrong move, and his entire family would be dead. And now it was his turn to choose. Fight and ignore her words, or allow her to walk away?

Joseph thought, "sometimes the best thing to do is to walk away."