Andi stood in the bathroom amid the fog that settled after her hot shower. She got herself dressed in her blue jeans and her green militia shirt that had been gifted to her by Eli when Boyd first brought her to the Den. She placed it over a black tank top as the militia shirt fit a bit big in her. Andi pushed the bottom of the shirt into her pants, sloppily tucking it in. She did up 2 bottom buttons and rolled up her sleeves to her elbows. Andi grabbed her leather belt that she had thrown on the sink and slid it through each belt loop on her jeans and finally tightened it and did up the buckle. After getting her boots done up, Andi looked at herself in the mirror - her dark brown hair was up in a ponytail with her long bangs framing her porcelain face. She had pale skin, but the sun always kissed her gently causing light freckles to lay across her forehead, nose, and shoulders. Andi threw her sunglasses on her head and grabbed her toiletries, putting them in her room before heading to the common area to check in with Eli.
After her talk with Boyd, she felt like she wanted to get more involved, to actually be available when they needed some help. She was eager to learn, and Eli had a knack for recruiting and teaching- it wouldn't be that difficult for her to become a full blown militia member, she thought. Andi passed by the men's room and caught Boyd napping in the corner of her eye. Good. She thought. Bugger will leave me alone for a bit.
Andi made her way to Eli's little 'office' where his monitors were splashed across the wall. She walked to the doorway and knocked her forefinger knuckle on the doorjamb. Eli met his eyes with hers as he looked over the shoulder of the deputy standing infront of him. "Andi. Uh, wow you look ready for action." Eli was taken aback by Andi's choice of attire. He always figured she would get involved, but he had hoped it would've been months ago.
"Ya. I really have to start helping you guys Eli. Can't be dead weight anymore - not a good time for that."
"Boyd told me you knew..." Eli's eyes met the floor. "It's about damn time he stopped cock-blocking you from being official militia. Why the change of heart all of a sudden?" Eli rubbed his bearded chin as he asked. The deputy stood up from his chair to lock eyes with the brunette gracing the doorway. He looked to be about her age, maybe a few years older. She could tell he was a city boy, shorter hair, cleanly kept facial hair, and very kind eyes. "Ma'am". The deputy known as Rook nodded kindly her way.
"Andi, please Deputy ...." "Rook" he replied. "Like, rookie?" Andi questioned as a smile drew on the lips of the deputy. "Fitting enough, it's actually my last name too." He smirked. "Fate is a mysterious lady she is." He chuckled under his breath as the gears in Andi's head turned and she smiled kindly at him. She turned her attention back to Eli and his loaded question.
"Well, besides the fact that I'm sick of playing the damsel, which my daddy never taught me to be, that trip this morning did a number on my psyche Eli ... in a good way." Eli folded his arms across his chest as he allowed Andi to make her case to him. "You know just as well as Boyd does that I'm not one to sit around on my thumbs and have everyone else stressed, anxious, and fearful when I literally haven't the slightest idea what's going on. I know Boyd was just trying to keep me and my stupid curiosity at bay, but he managed to forget that I am a grown woman who can make her own damned decisions. This, this here is my damned decision not his. He gave up his right to have an opinion on my life's decisions when he ... ended things." Andi's voice trailed. She looked at Eli with sad but intense eyes, trying to show him that she couldn't just pretend that things were fine anymore. "Eli, from what I can tell, shit's getting real." She candidly noted.
Eli chuckled at her comment. His stature relaxed and he waved her over to shake the deputy's hand. He placed his hands on her arms and gave her a hug, releasing her after a brief moment. "That's the Leandra I know and love." Ugh. "Andi.." she sighed. Eli waved her off and motioned her to take a seat.
Eli and the deputy spread out a map across the table and began talking about what they assume Jacob has been up to in the Whitetails. Andi has never had the unfortunate pleasure of making his acquaintance, but she had seen some of the intense "uncle sam" -esque posters of him around the area. She got a kick out of them when she'd see them and candidly remembers one time asking Boyd, "who the fuck does this guy think he is?" He got a chuckle out of Andi's naivety in mocking of him - if only she knew.
"Do you remember what Jacob did to you? Did he give you any insight to ... anything?" Andi had never heard Eli so worried, so flustered, almost grasping at words to try and convey a thought to someone. "Honestly Eli, it's kind of a blur. You've heard of that bliss shit right?" Eli nodded. "Well that's how he got me in the first place. They're coating arrows with it, high doses of it too that cause you to pass out for hours with hallucinations; ones that seem so real. My first one when I first met Faith, was a memory, then the next time, when John got me, was of Joseph. Fucked up too because I could've swore he was there - I felt him touch me, he spoke to me as if he was standing right there. I still dont know if it was real or not, but the fact that I woke up in that damned bunker of John's gave me the notion that it wasn't."
"Shit. Bliss arrows? How's that even fair?" Andi budged her way politely into the conversation. "That's one thing these Seeds don't do is play fair Ma-, uh, Andi. They take what they want: what will grow their cause. Land. Food. Shelter. Animals. But most importantly they take people. And if you refuse? Well that's when Jacob and John's loving tactics come into play. John carves and crosses out the sins of those who accept. It's their way of ... atoning. But atonement for the ones who refuse? Let's just say a lot of blood is lost when someone slices out a 6 inch wide chunk of skin from your body." Andi's eyes widened. She never heard of this.
"Jacob's ways are a little less, hands on. He mind fucks ya. Causes you to go into a blind rage, killing everything in sight. He makes you think that people you once knew and loved are now the enemy. He can do something to his soldiers to make them almost unstoppable. I haven't been able to get myself close enough to find out more about his little operation up here...this was our first date. Bastard didn't even tell me if he would call me again." Rook joked, giving Andi a weird feeling like she didnt know whether she should laugh or puke into her hands, so she just let out an uncomfortable chuckle as her eyes met her hands.
"Look, kid, this is some bad shit we are dealing with. These Seeds aren't a joke. This isn't like we are just dealing with some bears that keep coming too close to folk's property and threatening a bit of livestock. This is a full blown, blood spilling war we're dealing with. And our opponents are as unrelenting as the day is long." Eli was almost giving Andi permission to walk away, to just go back to burying her head in the sand. She would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it, especially hearing about the skin carving and the mind games. This really isn't just a simple feud.
"I may need a little more debriefing than the others at times Eli, but I can't sit back anymore." Andi responded to Eli.
After Rook and Eli talked for a couple more minutes, planned out some night watches for the upcoming evening, Boyd made his way to the room. Andi's eyes were still fixated on her hands thinking of the things the deputy revealed to her and Eli. She was almost in a state of shock, though she couldn't figure out why. After seeing the state the bodies were left outside of the hotel, she knew they were dealing with some sickos: she just underestimated what they actually were capable of. "Glad you could join us, Chambers." Eli nodded at the dark haired man who had made his way next to Andi, placing a hand of concern on her left shoulder.
"Sir. Rook." Boyd nodded to the men and gave Andi a gentle squeeze. "You're still doing this, hey?" His gaze met Andi's as she had so many questions behind those hazel beauties of hers. "Ya. Daddy didn't raise a damsel, Boyd. I can't just sit here." She responded.
"Boyd, we're sending you, Rook and Andi on patrol. I figure they probably haven't noticed the deputy's body missing from the bodies, so it should be relatively safe for Andi to make this her first patrol. I want the deputy to tag along with you guys, give any insight he can on the hotel. I figure at some point we are going to need to take it back. Once we can get it into our hands again, that's one less spot for Jacob's conditioning, or whatever torment he puts those souls through. Go scope it out. Stay hidden, but keep your wits about you. We don't need any heroes tonight, got it? This is just reconassence." Boyd and Andi both nodded. Andi wasn't totally sure what she was going to be doing, but she knew she needed to be apart of this.
As soon as Eli dismissed them, Andi went to the armory and grabbed her 1911 45 auto. The black gun with her custom red grip felt so good in her hand. She grabbed ammo, threw a holster onto her belt, grabbed a hunting knife and strapped that to her leg, as well as her smaller knife to tuck into her boot. Boyd suggested she take a rifle with her as well, which she happily accepted. She wasn't shy of using them as her daddy was one of the best trap shooters this county had seen. She couldn't match him but she came damn close. Andi grabbed the rifle to bring it to the entrance of the den to put with their items they would be needing for the night recon.
"Andi. Go relax before we go. It's going to be a couple hours still before we can safely venture to the hotel. Apparently the conditioning happens more frequently at nightfall, so that'll be our best bet to get any information on what the hell happens there. Rook told me we need to be on the lookout for another deputy. Some guy named Pratt. I guess Jacob is keeping him as a pet or some shit. Rook just wants to make sure he's still alive. But remember, recon only."
Andi nodded as she left her bag at the entrance of the den and walked back to the common area to have something to eat, maybe listen to music and just try and relax until they left in a few hours. It was good advice, even though she was happy to finally be "allowed" to join the fight, it was a lot to be thrown into so hard, so fast. Things were about to change ... she could feel it.