Believe in Me [Joseph Seed/The Father - Far Cry 5]

16. I'll Never Give Up On You

*Hours Later*

"Open your ears, Morgan. Stop staring into outer space to tune me out," Joseph vocalized angrily, snapping his fingers right in front of my face, causing me to snap back to reality. "These next seven years will be hell for you and Mary if you don't give in. I will be hell for you if you don't believe in me. I would prefer if you accept me willingly, but I want you to know that I can force you to accept me if you continue to be stubborn."

My eyes narrowed at the man-bunned religious freak, "You promised us that we didn't have to believe in you. And now you're trying to make us worship you. Sounds to me like you're a liar, a manipulator, a phony goon that had everybody convinced you're the fucking messiah. But newsflash asshole, you fooled everybody and their goddamn mother but me, Mary, and the fuckin' Resistance! And I'll be damned if you try to pull the wool over our eyes again, Joseph Seed!" I snarled at the man about an inch or so taller than me, shoving my finger in his furious, red face. "Quit trying to convert us 'cause it ain't working! It'll never work. Don't you get that?!"

"You're tryna force us to accept ya through violence?! Aw naw that ain't gonna work!" Mary May shouted, standing beside me. "And don't ya dare try ta threaten us again. Your world is over, Joseph. Over. Eden's Gate is done. Eden's Gate is gone. Just face it. Man up for once, would ya?"

"You're correct, Mary May." Joseph agreed which shocked Mary May and I both. "You're correct about Eden's Gate being done. But you're also incorrect. There will be a New Eden we will build when these seven years are finished. The first step is for you, Morgan, to stop playing the hero, and for you, Mary May, to stop playing the victim. Stop fighting me and my family. Just like Eden's Gate, the Resistance is over and done and gone. But the New Eden is coming. I was right. And I will be right again. I was right about the Collapse and you two are still blind. Still blinded to the fact that I am right, and that I am the only way. It's a shame you two refuse to give up this martyrdom act. Aren't you tired of fighting me?"

"You really think this is a 'martyrdom act'? We're just trying to exercise our right to freedom of religion. Since it's America, ya know. It's in the Constitution." I retorted, wrath flowing in my veins. "But ya know I guess America isn't really the land of the free. When have we ever really had equal rights?" I started to rant, but mentally scolded myself for getting too far ahead of myself; I was getting off track of our argument and spewing out my political views (which shouldn't be political). I could get heated easily talking about basic human rights, bodily autonomy, LGBTQ+ rights, etc. "Anyway, I don't know why you're so persistent on converting us."

Mary May agreed, "Exactly. It doesn't make sense. Ya know that we haven't believed in ya yet. What makes ya think we'll believe in ya later?"

"Mary May's right." I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring up at Joseph. "Believing in you is the last thing we'll resort to. Our last resort. I'd rather join Hurk's Gate and worship his monkey god."

"I'll never give up on you, Morgan." Joseph smiled softly, his attitude changing in a blink of an eye. He then placed his hands on both sides of my face, his ocean eyes gazing down into mine, sparkling with determination and something else that I couldn't put my finger on.  "Your salvation is of utmost importance to me, child. It is, indeed, my main priority... I have faith in you, I just need you to have faith in me."

Days had passed and things have semi turned to normal. Mary May and I have made it official, and surprisingly, Joseph was happy for us. Which was odd, but I think he's doing it to keep peace for now. But I don't think it will last for seven years. Anyway, John was being a tad more 'nice' if you could call it that and Faith was her usual self. Me and Faith always got along, but Mary May was on edge with all three, although I can't blame her. I was more-so tense and apprehensive with the brothers, especially John; Mary and I never let our guard down though. Everything had cooled down and the air was less tense, and I believe everyone was thankful for that. I just hope we could last seven whole years in this bunker without killing each other; it's possible, but the chances are very, very slim...

As the five of us were having dinner, right after Joseph finished with his prayer, his radio came to life. And before the person could say anything, Joseph was standing above the radio, turning it off at lightning speed.

"Joseph, turn that radio back on. Now. It could be someone that needs our help." I stated as I followed Joseph, nearly growling at him as he pushed his aviators higher up on his nose. I could see the sweat dripping down his temples. "Why on earth are you sweating so bad? Dear god."

"It's nothing, Morgan. Let's get back to dinner." The Father snapped, gripping my shoulder and forcing me to sit back down in my seat with an unrecognizable strength I never knew he had. "Even if someone needed help, we can't go out there. By the time we would get to that person, the radiation would have killed them, then us before we would even get a chance to get back to our bunker. But we don't have to worry about that because there's no one out there, and we're not venturing outside this bunker, and I mean it."

"Get your fucking hands off me." I snatched his wrist and threw his hand off me.

"Remember, Morgan, curiosity kills the cat." Joseph warned, his darker than normal eyes glowered down at me, stabbing his well-done steak with his sharp knife before bringing it to his lips.

"If there was someone out there dying, I'm sure God would want us to help them." Faith spoke softly, then her gaze went to her uneaten food on her plate in shame, looking as if she immediately regretted her words in fear of what Joseph might do or say.

"Well if they're out there in the first place, it's God's will, Faith." John chimed in, shoving corn in his mouth before taking a sip of white wine. "Right, Father?"

"Mmhm." Joseph hummed, agreeing with his younger brother, not taking his eyes off of me. His ocean orbs glimmered with a dark dominance, as well as insistence and assertiveness.

My stomach churned as I looked away from him, shying away from his judgmental and unsympathetic gaze. I just felt... wrong, like I should do something. What if someone is out there needing help? I can't just let them die. If I knew someone died and I was able to help and didn't, I would feel nothing but guilt. And at this point, what I felt towards Joseph was enmity; if there is someone out there needing help and he doesn't want me to go, he is not 'godlike' that's for sure. And I'm going to blame him if there is. But hopefully, it's just nothing, although my gut tells me it's not... Whenever Joseph, John, and Faith go to bed, I think Mary May and I will check and see if we can reach out to someone on his radio. It can't just be a coincidence. I just have this bad feeling... Bad. And Joseph is trying to hide the truth from us. He has to be hiding something.

Mary May and I turned to look at each other. We knew what the other was thinking. The both of us were going to find out what Joseph is hiding...