Us and Them

The Prophet stood in the pulpit, stalactites hanging over him like giant teeth of a dragon. The crowd had to be two thousand deep, the four standing off to one side and The Prophet's companions off to the other. Large torches lit up the area around them, the damp smell of rock and smoke filling the cavern. Everyone stood in silence, war paint made of ash spread over their bodies where only eyes and parts of skin were seen from under leather and dark colored clothes. Weapons clanked as people shuffled in anticipation, staring at their leader with admiration.

"My family, I have prepared for this moment for almost a decade now." The Prophet began. "We have hidden ourselves away in preparation for the next Great War against F.E.A.R and the time has come for us to come out of darkness and face it for a final time. This will not be easy and many of us will lose our lives fighting for freedom and for the fall of the Municipality that holds these lands in its cold grip." He paused, looking out amongst the crowd. "In three days we begin the journey North to lay siege on Vegas. The Mystic has lost sight of the Torchbearer and The Destroyer has patrolled our borders relentlessly in hopes of finding him before Urie. But it seems that our friends here were the last to see him a few weeks ago. We can no longer bide time in the safety of our home, we must go out and bring our forgotten friends back ourselves. The horn will sound at moonrise tonight. Prepare yourselves, for this is where we draw the line!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, Pete unable to make out their chant as the room shook from their voices. He looked to his friends nervously, but there seemed to be a new hope rising in all of them.

As the day dragged on, The Prophet met with them to discuss responsibilities so that their journey would go smoothly.

"Patrick, I'll have to have Jinxx take a look at you before we go. You've healed well, but the Vixens have left something on your mind that could become a hindrance to our end goal." He said plainly, but he had a smile of reassurance. "Hurley, I'm putting you with CC to lead the left flank. Your strength and levelheadedness would pair nicely with his leadership. Pete and Joe, you two are with me. We'll be responsible for the wounded and making sure rations are handed out appropriately."

The groups split off to prepare. Jinxx and Jake taking Patrick to their medical bay to put a blockage on the hypnosis he had endured earlier in the year.

"How do you guys know the Torchbearer? He seemed like he just appeared out of nowhere." Patrick asked as he sat on the medical recliner they had prepared for him.

"Well, a handful of the Torchbearer's followers showed up in the middle of the desert one day a few years ago. We took them in, about twenty of them. They were singing the entire time we walked here, despite their throats being raw and their bodies hurting. Their eyes had great sorrow in them, so we sat down with them to get their story. Then, everything we experienced a few years beforehand suddenly made sense." Jake said, pulling a tincture from a cabinet. He had Patrick stick out his tongue where he laid a few drops of the bitter liquid.

   "You'll feel sleepy, but your head will be back to its old state. This tincture is called "The Heart" and it brings out who we truly are. Jinxx came up with it to help F.E.A.R soldiers we had captured recover themselves."

                                         •••

   Josh wheezed as he fought to keep his eyes open, Brendon just a blurred silhouette in his vision. He was sat strapped to a chair, blood dripping from everywhere onto the cold concrete floor of the room he had been taken to a night before. Brendon went over to the record player, chain clinking in his hand as he walked and turned Frank Sinatra's crooning voice down.

   "I do love our little talks, Torchbearer. But it seems that I have some business to attend to." Brendon said as he pulled off the nylon gloves that were soaked in blood from his hands. By the door stood one of the men from the other night. He was holding a basin of water and a white towel. Josh heard water sloshing as Brendon washed his face, suddenly feeling the need to wash the taste of blood from his mouth. The door shut and locked behind Brendon, but the other man hadn't moved.

   "Finally, what a jackass." The man mumbled, setting the basin on top of the towel on the floor. His voice sounded familiar, but Josh was in too much pain to find the owner of it in his mind. He heard feet pad slowly toward him, almost like the person had taken their shoes off to avoid unnecessary noise.

   "Hey, it's Dallon." He whispered as he crouched down to face level with Josh. "I found the way out. I'm gonna get some help, just hang in there a little while longer."

   Dallon pulled something from his pocket and stuck it to the palm of Josh's blood soaked hand. It was a poker chip, but something had been scratched into the hard plastic.

   "Sahlo Folina." He whispered as he rose back to his feet.

   Dallon put his act back on and swiped out of the room with the supplies he'd carried in.

   That was the last time Josh saw him.