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lulu2992 · 1 year

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On the occasion of Far Cry 5’s fifth anniversary, they played the game live on Ubisoft’s Twitch channel. The stream was hosted by Chris Watters and featured Drew Holmes, the lead writer, as a special guest to talk about the game and answer a few questions. Here is a summary of what they said.

Drew Holmes explained he started working on Far Cry 5 around January or February 2016. He had played the previous Far Cry games but it was his first time working on one. He’s never been to Montana, but a large portion of the team visited the state before he joined Ubisoft. When asked what his feelings were, five years ago, when they were about to release Far Cry 5, he said launching a game is always weird because you work on it for years and, when it’s finally “out in the wild”, you suddenly have no control over it anymore. As a developer, you hope players will like it, but you are never sure… Thankfully, in this case, the reception was great, and it was even the best launch for a Far Cry game at the time.

As the lead writer, his job was to write, of course (mostly the cutscenes), but he was also involved in the casting process, supervised the performance capture shoots, and worked closely with the writing staff (which was “huge”) as well as all the other teams to make sure everything was “cohesive”. Each region had its own main writer so communication was essential, especially on a game as big as this one.

It was important for them that the story wasn’t just told in main missions and cutscenes; the world had to feel alive and believable. Information can be gathered through talking with NPCs, playing side missions, and reading documents, so everything moves the story forward. They also wanted the characters’ personalities to feel real and made sure each of them was clearly part of the game’s world, even the Seeds, whose impact on that county they’ve been living in for years had to be tangible. When they created the Guns for Hire, they wanted them to have strong personalities and unique abilities. These characters have all grown up in Hope County, know each other “to varying degrees”, and have a history with the locations, so everything they say had to reflect this.

They recruited Sharky during the live stream so they talked a bit more about him. Drew Holmes said they imagined this character before they got the idea of bringing “long-time Far Cry superstar” Hurk back in Far Cry 5. When they decided that they were cousins and what their relationship was like (Sharky admires his older cousin, the “world traveler”), it became easier for them to write him and for Dylan Taylor, who plays both characters, to get inspired. He ended up improvising about 75% of Hurk’s lines… which was great but would sometimes become a problem because missions are written and designed a certain way.

As he had already revealed recently, Drew Holmes had “no idea” all the Guns for Hire could hang out at the 8-Bit Pizza Bar. He even initially wondered if people on social media were “lying” about this because, although the team did want to create a place for these characters to meet and talk to each other (because many conversations were written and recorded), they had been told including that in the game wouldn’t be possible. But it turns out one of the devs did it in secret anyway, much to everyone’s surprise and delight.

Drew Holmes particularly enjoys the Prepper Stashes because they all have “a great puzzle design” thanks to “smart level designers”, and because they also give information about the world. They are an opportunity for players to “breathe” and experience “contemplative exploration”.

In Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4, he thought the story was more linear, while in Far Cry 5, they needed to have “a 360 approach” and think about all the ways players could play the missions. In previous games, he also thought the cutscenes were mostly people talking and that players were just spectators, and he said that’s one of the limits of first-person games. In Far Cry 5, the goal was to make players feel like they were part of the action and not just the camera. This is why we carry crates to help Mary May after liberating Fall’s End, for example, or fly with Faith the first time we visit the Bliss.

Speaking of this scene, Drew Holmes said they wanted Jenessa Grant to actually “fly” so the cutscene would have a “weird ethereal quality” to it. To achieve this, they didn’t tie her to a rope… but hired ballet dancers to carry her around! This scene, which he remembers writing at 3 am one night, took about half a day to rehearse, but it was worth it.

There were other stunts in the game that forced the team to think of creative ways to shoot the scenes in performance capture and achieve the results they wanted. They built a fake helicopter for the opening mission and flipped it over with everyone inside, including “the Randycam” (Randy Yuen, camera specialist, who “played” the Deputy), so they really were upside down. And when the Marshal swims out of the car at the end of the prologue, they made a stuntman “swim through the air on a rig”. Drew Holmes gave a shout-out to David Footman, cinematic director, for all his “crazy ideas”.

When Chris talked about how cool he thought the opening cinematic was because learning about Eden’s Gate through interviews and from other characters’ points of view was a great idea, Drew Holmes explained that what they say is inspired by how real-life cults operate. Usually, at first, a few people move in, buy some land to “get a foothold”, and are joined by more and more people until they can be “the majority on the city council” and start passing laws. Then, they basically own the town, and other people either join them or go live elsewhere, but those who want to leave can’t sell their properties because the cult has driven the prices down… That’s basically the stories the team heard when they did research and worked with cult advisors.

Chris also asked about the Seed family and why they are always so close to the camera (and the player). Drew Holmes said there are several reasons. First, because they wanted the game to be immersive, they needed other characters (not just the Seeds) to have this proximity with the Deputy, to engage the player as a person and make them feel involved. Second, they had a very talented cast, so the closer the camera is, the better you can appreciate the “strong performances” they all delivered. And finally, when villains invade your personal space, you “tense up” and it’s “uncomfortable”, and the dev team wanted this too. In video games, he said it’s important to think about “what you want, emotionally, from the players”.

When asked who he thought the “most twisted” Herald was, he initially answered it was “a tie” between John and Jacob because the former tortures people and the latter “ate his friend” (which “sets you on a weird path” in life). At first, he said that, compared to her brothers, Faith was “more of a victim of Joseph”, but on second thought, since she’s “taken and run with it”, and because of the way she used the Deputy’s friends and killed “poor Virgil” as well as Burke, he concluded she was, in fact, as twisted as the other two. In the end, he thinks they are “all pretty bad”.

He was also asked about the Deputy and who they were as an individual. He sees them as someone who would always do whatever they can to help the people around them but who suddenly finds themselves “thrust into this insane situation”. They are a young, normal person in “a crazy context”, but also the only one who can truly do something about it and make a difference. But because they are a silent protagonist, making them feel like a real person was challenging, and this is why the rest of the cast had to be “very fleshed out”. Other characters had to be able to give some perception of what the Deputy would say if they had a voice.

It’s hard for Drew Holmes to pick a favorite mission or storyline in Far Cry 5, but he would probably choose one of Hurk Drubman Senior’s missions… even though he admits he’s a “very divisive character” and even a “piece of crap”. He also thinks Kim Rye is great, and the “Butch and Sundance” joke is one of his favorites.

Fun fact: they used the same animation for when the Deputy is on fire and when they are attacked by bees. He humorously called it “efficiency” and said that, when you tell people to act like they’re “putting out fire” or “swatting bees”, they do the same thing anyway.

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harmonyowl · 2 years

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The Hell That Befell Them All

I had sudden inspiration to write the arrest scene with my deputy, Blythe Paige, and apparently as evidenced by the word count that inspiration took me to a place of no self control 😂 But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Word Count: 5.4k

Warnings: None

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This was how she was going to die.

Blythe couldn’t believe it. After spending years profiling arsonists, serial killers, terrorists, and so many other kinds of dangerous people this was how God was going to have her go out: murdered by a militant doomsday cult. Because that was exactly how this entire shitshow was going to end.

One Federal Marshal, one County Sheriff, and three Deputies to arrest the Joseph Seed? Were they joking? They needed the whole damn cavalry here to back them up, what the hell were the Marshal’s thinking? Were they really so arrogant as to only send one extra person? Because five would not be enough no matter how high up the badge; we were the law of men, of perverted ideals and corrupt governments. Sinners and heathens, not the highest authority. For when you had a divine purpose, when you were only beholden to the authority of God and their righteous plan; to the law of God alone, no other earthly power could ever hold any command over you. You needed to pose a problem, a danger even, for something like this to be carried out successfully. All that the five of them posed was fuel for their cause, justification.

Not that the Marshal seemed to care for her qualified opinion on the matter, it didn’t make him rethink his plan. Now that she no longer held federal authority it seemed he no longer held professional courtesy to at least take her experience into consideration. At least she knew that she wasn’t the only one who thought going in like this was a terrible idea. However, no matter how much her Uncle Earl tried to make the Marshal reconsider it seemed he would not be swayed, and every vibration of the helicopter made Blythe’s stomach clench even further. She tried to relax her grip on her phone as her uncle caught her eye with a sigh before opening a call with Nancy, not even her familiar and kind voice could ease Blythe's anxieties. She hoped they gave her a chance at survival when the time came.

‘We’re approaching the compound, Nancy. Over.’

‘Roger Sheriff, you still planning to go through with this? Over.’ God Blythe wished that they weren’t, and the fact that they were almost there made her close her eyes and take a few deep breaths. She needed to get into work mode, make herself ready, she tucked her phone away and slid her gloves off. Blythe hated wearing them as part of her uniform; she felt like she could never get a grip on anything and she was sure her uncle wouldn’t enforce them this time given the circumstances.

‘We are, unfortunately, still trying to talk some sense into our friend the Marshal. Over.’ Burke gave a little snort at that, as if the idea of turning back and coming up with a much more logical plan was a preposterous one.

‘Alright, lucky I’m not there, get into any trouble you just let me know. Over.’

‘Ten-four, over and out.’ Blythe just shook her head slightly as the call ended and fiddled with the medals on her corded bracelets, if there was ever a time that she needed the courageous blessings of Saint Joan of Arc now was that time.

‘Maybe we should have brought Nancy along with us instead of the Probie,’ Staci pointed back towards Blythe with a slight smirk, ‘these Peggies wouldn’t fuck with her.’

‘Pratt.’

Probie. Rookie. Rook. It almost made Blythe crack a smile despite the situation, something that was once used to mock her when she first came back and irked her to no end had now evolved into a fond, ironic nickname they had for her. Although less fond when it came out of the Marshal’s mouth but she’d let it slide, it wasn’t worth it, Blythe already knew how truly ironic the nickname Rookie really was. Much like she knew how utterly moronic it was to drink when you were about to make a dangerous arrest. She narrowed her eyes at Staci as he pulled out his flask and took a swig, and Blythe highly doubted it was a refreshing drink of water. Debating whether or not to say something and draw everyone’s attention to it, Blythe saw Joey shake off Staci’s offered hand and he put it away, thank God for Joey Hudson.

‘We’re here. Compound’s just below.’ Blythe looked out of the window and saw the white church and all the buildings with their dark roof’s dotted around, it had been quite a few years since she had been at a cult’s compound and yet it felt no less daunting. The helicopter swung around to make its descent and everyone’s collective sighs could be heard through her headset.

‘Last chance Marshal.’ He only sighed in response to her uncle and delivered the final verbal nail to all of their coffins.

‘We’re going in.’

As her uncle gave Staci the order to set them down, Blythe could start to see the people as they got lower. The very heavily armed people. The very heavily armed and annoyed people. The stifling aura of unwelcomeness and distaste was heavy even before Blythe and the others had stepped outside.

‘Now listen up, three rules,’ her uncle shouted over the rotors as they all took off their headsets, ‘keep close, keep your gun’s in your holsters, and let me do the talking, got it?’

‘Got it.’ Burke responded and Blythe did the same, she checked the gun on her hip before looking back at her uncle to confirm. He looked worried and rightfully so, Blythe gave him a small smile and a nod to try and reassure him: she was on alert, she was taking this seriously, she hoped he wouldn’t worry about her but Blythe knew there was a small chance of that happening. It didn’t matter how much trust he had in her or how capable she was, her uncle would always worry.

‘Alright everyone stay sharp,’ he then sighed, ‘let’s go!’

Blythe let the Marshal go first before hopping out after him, he seemed to be chomping at the bit and she thought it would be more prudent to watch his back instead of getting in his way. As soon as her boots hit the ground she tried to take in as much as possible. People up ahead holding weapons openly: warning. And they had a relaxed stance: confident in their home and in their abilities. Blythe could hear dogs barking: a problem if things got violent. And the people around her were openly berating them: testy and non-cooperative. As the four of them walked through the gates towards the church Blythe heard them close behind her, she turned at the noise and could see some of the members trailing behind, watching them. Trapping them in, or, stopping them from being able to get out. One of them locked eyes with her and bared his teeth in malice but did nothing else, the massive shotgun he was holding spoke for itself. Her fingers started to trail along the bottom of her holster but she kept her breathing even, the worst thing that could happen here was someone getting overly excited and trigger happy. Blythe counted the number of buildings as they passed them, made note of their names and repeated them in her head. Deadly sins in Latin? Of course they were. They were even closer now and had started to hear faint singing coming from the church.

‘Everything’s just fine.’ Her uncle muttered which apparently exasperated the Marshal next to him, who seemed to be constantly underestimating the situation they were in.

‘Jesus, you’re wearing badges aren’t you?’

‘Yeah, but they don’t respect badges much out here.’ Joey piped in.

‘They’ll respect a nine millimetre.’ Blythe hoped that that was just false bravado in front of the cult members, because they had all just walked by a man with a flamethrower ten seconds ago and everyone since had been armed and seemed to know how to use their weapon.

‘Not every problem can be solved with a bullet, Marshal.’

‘When God is the only being you answer to, we are but insects in their perfect haven in comparison.’ Burke didn’t respond to Blythe’s quiet words but she knew he had heard her, she’d been saying the same thing since the Marshal brought in his warrant to the station.

They were now approaching the doors of the church where the singing could now be more clearly heard as Amazing Grace, where Joseph Seed would be no doubt residing and the fate of all of this would be decided. God she hoped her parents wouldn’t be inside, anywhere else but here, she didn’t want them to get hurt if this went south. When this went south. Blythe sent up one final prayer to Saint Joan of Arc for courage before falling in line behind her uncle and the Marshal. Burke went to open the doors but her uncle stopped him by putting a hand on it.

‘Woah Marshal, we do this, we do it my way, quietly, calmly. You got it?’

Burke took his hand from the door handle and made a placating gesture before responding with ‘fine.’ Her uncle instructed Hudson to stay at the door and not let anyone else inside, which was the best choice, Joey was tough as hell and would not be intimidated by anyone here. But she was still only one person, if everyone here wanted to get inside they would have no problem overwhelming her.

‘Blythe,’ she lifted her eyes to meet her uncle. He was all serious now, no visible hint of the worry from earlier, ‘on me.’

‘Yes sir.’ She responded.

‘And you just,’ he turned back to Burke, ‘try not to do anything stupid.’

‘Relax Sheriff, you’re about to get your name in the paper.’ Blythe hated everything about this.

Joey gave her a nod and an ‘it’ll be fine’ before turning to guard the door, Blythe wasn’t sure if it was more for her benefit or for Joey’s but at least one of them had some form of optimistic thinking, no matter how piss poor it was. Her uncle opened the doors where they were greeted with a familiar voice immediately, ever a man of perfect timing:

‘Something is coming, you can feel it can’t you?’

The three of them slowly walked up the aisle, their footsteps creaking and cult members lined their way on either side. If the outside felt unwelcome then here inside this place of worship it felt truly sinister, as if the entire room was waiting, tensing, readying itself.

‘We are creeping toward the edge, and there will be a reckoning.’

It was dim inside with the only light being cast by the fixture on the back wall, shaped like their Eden’s Gate cross. The light shadowed his figure but Blythe knew it was Joseph Seed, she’d seen him enough, interacted with him enough to know his movements and how he stood. She watched the others in the room carefully, their faces were clearly agitated as they turned to look at the intruders and Blythe could see that they were already outnumbered in this church alone.

‘They will come, they will try to take from us, take our guns, take our freedom, take our faith. We will not let them.’

Blythe’s eyes immediately flicked to the far left and caught Jacob Seed standing there, problem number two. Her eyes kept scanning back towards the right when she locked eyes with John Seed, he smirked at her before she broke eye contact to keep scanning, problem number three. Once her eyes made it all the way to the right side of the sanctuary she found Faith Seed, problem number four. And with every word that Joseph spoke, every barbed undercurrent and scathing tone to his preaching, he riled up his congregation and they had started to rise, problem number one.

‘We will not let their greed, or their immorality, or their depravity hurt us anymore!’

Blythe could see that the Marshal was getting antsy, her uncle kept telling him to wait but it was only a matter of time before he lost his patience. He was getting overly excited, as was the room.

‘There will be no more suffering!’

‘Nah fuck this!’ The Marshal brandished the arrest warrant to Joseph, as if it were some divine text or maybe a paper shield. ‘Joseph Seed, I have a warrant issued for your arrest on the suspicion of kidnapping with the intent to harm. Now I want you to step forward and keep your hands where I can see ‘em.’

The Father did just as he was asked, raising his hands calmly, not even a look of frustration at being interrupted. Blythe wanted to roll her eyes because of Burke and his lack of tact but refrained, she wasn’t going to undermine them in front of everyone here. Now that it was done they needed to be firm, a united front.

‘Here they are,’ Blythe was starting to hear shouting and she sensed some movement behind her, she subtly moved her hand to her holster and kept watch for anyone about to explode, ‘the locusts in our garden.’

They were moving, be calm, be calm, they were closing in.

‘They’ve come to take me away from you.’

More shouting, getting even closer.

‘They’ve come to destroy all that we’ve built!’

Such inflammatory words, it did the job. The congregation were surrounding them, blocking Joseph and looking livid. They were close, too close, Blythe wasn’t sure she’d have much room to manoeuvre, they’d overpower her and take her down so easily. She wasn’t the one with the power here, none of them were, they were just standing in the room with the builders of their coffins.

Burke went to unsubtly reach for his service weapon which just threw fuel onto the already simmering fire, emotions were becoming very palpable, and her uncle tried to keep a hold on the situation by shouting at the Marshal to keep his weapon holstered. But all he did was show Joseph where the crack in their team was.

All it took was a touch, his hands on his followers shoulders for the noise to quiet, for the turbulent energy to be sucked back out of the room, for a calm to settle. He may not have said any words but Joseph’s message was clear: your hands may hold the badges and the guns and mine may be empty, but these empty hands are all I’ll need.

‘We knew this moment would come, we’ve prepared for it.’ Had they? While it wasn’t possible for Blythe to be any more tense and alert than she already was, those words got her attention. What else were they going to do? How much more out of their depth could they get?

‘Go. Go. God will not let them take me.’ And so they did, shuffling past so close that they almost brushed up against Blythe’s arms. Her muscles were tensed right up until the last sneering face passed by her vision and she could hear them walking out the doors. She dropped her hand from her holster and turned back to Joseph, his arms in the air and his siblings congregating behind him, watching them, but doing nothing. Wary.

‘I saw the lamb open the first seal and I heard as it were the noise of thunder one of the four beasts say Come and See-’

Revelation, the book most commonly associated with the ending of our world. Not an uncommon one for a doomsday cult to preach from, but Blythe felt like Joseph wasn’t just quoting for the sake of it. The man had even said it himself: they had prepared for this.

‘Step forward.’ Burke interrupted but it did not dissuade Joseph, just made him speak at him in a kind of defiance.

‘-and I saw! And behold it was a white horse.’ He looked to her uncle, speaking as if this were a wonderous thing and Blythe could see in that moment where Joseph’s brain was going. When you were a servant of God there were no coincidences. Then those eyes slowly shifted to Blythe and she found she couldn’t look away from the blue, though they were obstructed by his yellow aviators. It was as if they locked her into place, much like they did all the other times they had spoken, although this time it was a much less amiable conversation.

‘And Hell followed with him.’ Joseph extended his hands out to her, a submissive gesture from a man that was anything but. Surrendering to the so-called impending Hell. Blythe wished she didn’t have to play into his fantasy but it was too late to tuck tail and turn away now, all they could hope to do was get out of there cleanly and try and mitigate the damage back at the station.

‘Rookie,’ Blythe’s eyes snapped to Burke’s and she couldn’t help the way they hardened, how could he undermine her in front of Joseph and his siblings by calling her that? They weren’t back at the station, they were out in the field arresting a potential criminal and Blythe was livid, but her face stayed schooled, if they made it out of this alive he’d be getting an earful about it later. ‘Cuff this son of a bitch.’

As her eyes drew back to Joseph with his hands still outstretched, he repeated himself again but this time to her personally, Blythe couldn’t help the chill it gave her:

‘God will not let you take me.’

A promise, a benediction, it made her pause.

The Marshal wanted Blythe to put the cuffs on him, and she would, but Joseph had rooted her in her spot, his gaze almost imploring. Blythe’s eyes looked to the figures behind him, still not making a move and gazes still boring into her, but she didn’t know if they would stay doing nothing now that they were close to taking their brother away. Blythe couldn’t believe how hopeful she had once been. It was worrying enough to return home and find her parents had happily joined this religious group, this cult, but the more Blythe spoke to the Seeds: Joseph, John, and Faith in particular, the more evident their appeal was to her. They were charming (as all cult leaders were in some way), they spoke truths and preyed upon the vulnerabilities of the world, and sometimes they were even kind to her, and Blythe had hoped that there would at least be a peaceful way to resolve this. They had seemed reasonable at the time, open to cooperation even, maybe she could find a way to gently disengage her parents from them; her kind and trusting parents.

But that had been too trusting on her part as well, why did she always feel the need to give people the benefit of the doubt? Once the accusations and complaints started to pile up Blythe saw the writing on the wall, the chain of familiar events that would lead her to the exact position she was in now. Although she had hoped that there would be exponentially more people here to back her up than there were currently.

‘Put down your guns,’ Blythe’s eyes snapped back to Joseph’s when she heard his voice, ‘take your friends, and walk away.’

No, she had come too far, they had all come too far now to just walk away like he wished. If they walked away now it would tell them all that they had power over the Sheriff’s office, it would give them another inch so that they could keep running their mile. No, this was how it had to be done.

Blythe unclipped the handcuffs from her belt and took a step forward to gently grab his wrists and place the cuffs around each of them, no need to make this more antagonistic than it already was. He still offered no resistance and his siblings didn’t move either, but Blythe felt the heaviness of Joseph’s gaze on her, and then he spoke again. It was quiet, whispered, a personal warning meant for her ears alone:

‘Sometimes the best thing to do is to walk away.’ It made Blythe’s hand twitch above his as she was removing it, this was more personal than any other arrest she had ever done in her life, not even arresting her former criminal informant felt this intimate.

‘Step forward Mr. Seed,’ was all she quietly replied with. As Blythe moved to stand behind him, she took her final opportunity to observe his siblings; they did not look happy. They hadn’t made any approach but their stances were much more relaxed now, indicating they would be following them, and Blythe did not like the idea of all three of them directly behind her while she was guiding Joseph. She felt too exposed to them, but she placed her hand on Joseph’s bare shoulder nonetheless.

‘Let’s go,’ her uncle nodded to confirm and when Blythe returned it he and the Marshal turned to lead the way. Joseph’s skin was warmer than she expected but it may have just been in comparison to how clammy her hands had become, this was easy, it was all too easy.

Then they opened the doors, and it all made much more sense to Blythe.

‘We’ve got to get the fuck out of here.’ A white truck pulled up with armed cult members just as they exited the church and Blythe could hear so many more ahead of them. Calm breaths, calm breaths, stay alert and calm breaths. Panicking would mean death. If Joseph felt her fingers tense slightly on his shoulder he made no indication of it, and Blythe forced herself to relax them again, keeping firm as she walked him back towards the helicopter. Although she barely needed any pressure at all, Joseph seemed very content to let himself be walked wherever she wanted him to go, it made Blythe suspicious. Something was coming, she could almost feel it.

The crowd was getting even more agitated, panicked shouting and cries of indignation, they were taking their Father away from them. A woman tried to get in the Marshal’s way and he shoved her down, the first act of violence, Blythe doubted it would be the last but the helicopter was closer now. Almost there. They reached out towards Joseph, praying and imploring while glaring and shouting at Blythe, scorning her for her perceived arrogance and disrespect. How dare she take him.

Blythe saw the first stone arch high towards the Marshal before the others quickly followed, emboldened by them, more started to come and she could see one winding up for her to her left.

‘Don-’ she went to warn, but was interrupted by her aim being off. A look of horror filling the cultist's face at her mistake. Quickly throwing out her free arm Blythe managed to catch the stone just before it smashed into the side of Joseph’s face, his reactionary head turn towards her hand was the only reaction he had given since leaving the church. He looked at her hand for a moment before she saw him glance at her out of the corner of his eye, and then returned to looking ahead of him. But Blythe’s entire palm now pulsed with pain and she clenched her teeth slightly, the rock was sharp and when she lowered her arm and let it slide out of her hand there was blood. But a little blood was the least of her worries right now.

The rest of the team had pulled out their firearms and circled to keep the cultists at bay, the dangerous air had crept back in and despite the helicopter being right in front of her, Blythe had never felt further from safety. The Marshal got behind Blythe to protect her while Joey helped her get Joseph inside the chopper, she fell back onto her seat as she made eye contact with the cultist hanging outside the window desperately trying to get in. They were all swarming for them now. Pounding on the outside, shouting and loud noise everywhere, Blythe’s eyes snapped up as she heard thumping on the top, how did they get up there? She frantically grabbed onto the Marshal as a cultist hung onto his arm as the helicopter started to rise, with a bang! he went limp and plummeted back to the ground. God everything was happening so fast! The adrenaline raged through Blythe’s veins as another cultist suddenly climbed around into her vision, Blythe latched onto her arm to desperately try and pull her inside but the cultist just used it to try and pull Blythe out.

‘Stop, stop! I’m losing my grip, you’ll fall!’ And with a lurch from the helicopter, Blythe slipped and watched the woman drop off the side to her death. Why didn’t she just stop and listen to her? There were still so many cultists hanging off the helicopter trying to climb in and get to the Father; Joseph had now started to sing again, still as calm as ever. God will not let you take me. Slamming herself back into her chair, Blythe quickly put her seat belt on and then pushed Joey back into her own seat to do the same. It almost happened in slow motion for a moment; Blythe noticing the cultist on the windshield, watching him bend his legs to brace himself, the thought dawning on her, the disbelief at what lengths Joseph could inspire someone to go to.

‘Pratt!’ Too late. There was a loud groan from the rotors, the worst sound Blythe had heard all night, as the cultist threw himself into them and what was left after splattered all over the glass. The helicopter lurched, spun, those on the outside were flying off and all Blythe could do was brace herself and pray.

God! Oh God! Please don’t let us die!

All she heard was the crash before everything went dark.

Talking. That was the first thing Blythe heard when she started to wake, a muffled voice. She hadn’t been sure if she would wake up again. Her vision started to blur in next, the Marshal with his arms above his head, Joey in the same position to her right, glowing in her peripherals. Fire. Blythe’s head was pounding and she couldn’t feel her arms, blinking to try and regain her full vision she lifted her head to realise they were all hanging upside down. And Joseph was gone.

That voice…Nancy, where was it coming from? God Blythe hoped it had been fifteen minutes so that help had been called, they needed it urgently. She caught sight of the hanging headset to her right with Nancy’s panicked voice coming out of it, if she could just…and then Blythe heard him. Amazing Grace, again, he was close but no matter how much Blythe whipped her injured head around she couldn’t see where Joseph was. But she needed to hurry. Reaching out her tingly arm she desperately tried to grab the headset, her fingers just short and Joseph’s voice getting closer. Panic started to set in as Blythe desperately clawed for it, almost there, so close, come on! The headset wildly swung at Blythe’s pawing, but just as she managed to grab the earpiece on a back swing, a tattooed hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. So close, always so close but never enough.

Blythe’s whole body froze as Joseph looked down at her, blood on her head and bruises on her face, green eyes unwilling to let him out of her sight. She had no idea what he was going to do. Joseph released her wrist causing her arm to drop then he pulled her closer by her shoulder, his thumb ran back and forth on Blythe’s neck in a mock pacifying gesture as he observed her.

‘I told you God wouldn’t let you take me.’ Blythe opened her mouth as if to say something back but nothing came out, everything hurt and she waited for her fate to be decided by the man in front of her. Oh, how it had all changed so quickly. Joseph, without breaking eye contact, reached up to grab the headset and bring the microphone close to his mouth:

‘Dispatch,’ Blythe heard Nancy sob in relief and her stomach dropped, dread was starting to creep in suddenly as her instincts screamed at her, ‘everything is just fine here, no need to call anyone.’

‘Yes Father, praise be to you.’ Her eyes closed at those words, her last hopes thoroughly dashed. Joseph really would be the final decider of her fate, of all their fates, and they had just kicked in the door to his house and dragged him out of it. Joseph leaned in closer, so close that when he spoke all he needed was a whisper to make himself so loud to her.

‘No one is coming to save you, Blythe.’ No, there wasn’t, and it seemed not even Joseph would. He squeezed her shoulder in a surprisingly gentle manner, an antithesis to what was happening, before his hand slid off and Blythe watched him step out of the helicopter into the arms of the awaiting faithful that had found them. When Blythe noticed Joey starting to move out of the corner of her eye, she reached out to try and rouse her, if there was any chance of them making it out of this they needed to do it now.

‘The first seal has been broken,’ Joseph announced from the car he had climbed atop of, ‘the collapse has begun, we will take what we need.’

Blythe reached out again: ‘Joey! Joey wake up, come on!’ Her voice was thick but Joey did open her eyes, delirious but awake. Coughing came from in front of Blythe and it seemed the Marshal was waking up as well, good, they needed to get her uncle and Staci and then get the hell out of there.

‘These harbingers of doom will see the truth,’ Joseph then started to raise his arms and Blythe’s breath caught in her lungs, ‘begin the Reaping!’

It was only more chaos from there, they all struggled to unbuckle themselves before the cultists came but gravity was working against them all. They grabbed Staci first and then Joey quickly after, Blythe couldn’t see her uncle but she hoped he would get away from them somehow. What were they going to do with them? What was this Reaping? She needed to hurry, needed to think, but her fingers kept fumbling with the buckle. Flames sprung up around her, the heat prickling her skin and adding to her panic.

‘Let them burn, this is God’s will.’ Blythe watched the Marshal unbuckle himself, she thought he’d help her, but once again she gave him the benefit of the doubt and was disappointed swiftly after. He left her to die, just as it seemed Joseph would.

Last chance. Blythe desperately grabbed at the buckle on her seat belt, shoved her fingers under the latch continually, pulled as hard as she could until her fingers slipped out and then she tried again. The fire was creeping closer, it would get to the engine, she was going to die in the explosion. But Blythe felt herself suddenly lurch forward and then she was falling to the ground, tumbling out of the side of the helicopter and onto the dirt. The blood rushing from her head made it spin, but the alarmed shouting and gunfire behind her forced her to get up and move.

Blythe thought she heard her name but she didn’t care, she just ran from her pursuers as fast as she could, boots pounding down on the earth as she zigzagged into the trees. Her breathing was heavy but her adrenaline carried her through, no thoughts, just run! Joseph and the Marshal may have been willing to let her die, but Blythe wasn’t about to make it so easy.

They may have just unleashed a hell upon Hope County, one worse than she ever could be. For if Blythe was the hell that followed the white horse, then Joseph was the prophet that led the masses to their anguish. One false word at a time.

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