Little Red (Jacob Seed)

26. Lies

Once the Deputy had disappeared from sight with Hudson and Pratt, Rieka let out a relieved sigh. She gave John's men a quick look to dismiss them, they nodded at her before leaving. And once they were out of sight she turned to face Jacob, who was still supporting himself against the large rock.

"That was stupid. You could've gotten yourself killed" Jacob scolded her.

"Yeah, I wonder where I got that idea from" she rolled her eyes and she walked over to him, dropping her bag at his feet. "If I didn't show up, you would've been killed" she sighed, examining his bloody appearance.

"A small price to pay" he coughed, groaning slightly as he looked at her.

"You still don't understand how much you mean to people, how much you mean to me" she shook her head.

"Don't you see what you've done?" Jacob asked, a sudden change in tone as he looked at her in disbelief. "Even if the Deputy decides to leave Hope County, he is going to bring back a fucking army that we won't be able to fight off" he scolded her.

Rieka hung her head, feeling overwhelmed by everything. "I know..." She managed to whisper before looking Jacob in the eye. "I know that we can't let him leave. That's why I ordered your men to shoot to kill and...to take down his helicopter" her eyes began to tear up.

"...you lied to him" Jacob nodded in understanding and closing his eyes for moment. Slightly proud of her deception.

"It was the only way to keep you alive and I couldn't...I couldn't..." The woman began to choke on her words, feeling like an idiot for not being able to shoot the Deputy. Yes, she killed some of Jacob's men before she began working for him but something was different about this. The fear and guilt in the Deputy's eyes made it hard for her to pull the trigger.

"It's alright Little Red" Jacob assured her and pulled her into his body, embracing her tightly. She is not a solider, she shouldn't have to do this. "What exactly were you planning?" He asked, feeling some pride that she had been scheming behind his back.

"To hand over his friends, to get him to spare your life...that was the important part. And now we hope that your men can take care of them" she sighed into his chest, feeling foolish for the way everything happened.

"Get them all into one helicopter...shoot it down..." Jacob nodded against her head.

"It's how this should have happened in the beginning. I'm just making things right" Rieka said, but it sounded more like she was convincing herself.

Jacob looked down at her and instantly felt guilty. She shouldn't have been a part of this, she should have been safe in her little cabin in the forest. He turned her into this, into something that she didn't want to be. He only felt more guilty because he knew that she didn't blame him at all. "I'm sorry things had to happen this way" he mumbled into her hair.

"It's not over yet" Rieka mumbled back as she pulled away from him and wiped her tears. "Can you walk?" She asked sympathetically.

Jacob nodded before standing on shaky legs, once he found his balance they slowly began their walk to the truck. Once they got there, Rieka but her bag in the back seat and climbed into the driver's seat while Jacob sat in the passenger's seat. "Where to?" She asked. She wanted to go home, and so did Jacob, but they both knew that they had to see this through.

"We have to find the Deputy" Jacob told her and she nodded before driving off.

-----

The pair drove down the wide, empty, road. Jacob peered out of the window and spotted the helicopter which the Deputy had claimed, he pointed to a dirt road on the right and Rieka turned down it. "How is this going to go?" she asked, making sure to keep an eye on the helicopter as well as the road.

"There is a outpost at the top of this road, looks like the Deputy is going to fly right over it. It could be our last chance to put an end to this" he explained. Jacob was still pretty weak, Rieka thought that he must've gotten into a knife fight with the Deputy by the looks of his wounds. But he refused to let her help him earlier, he wanted to end this first.

They pulled up into the outpost and climbed out of the trucks. Instantly, Jacob started barking orders as if he wasn't facing death only moments ago. Adrenaline fuelling him. His men jumped at every order, doing exactly what he wanted. He sent a few men up in their own helicopter while he had other on the roof of the building with RPGs. All of them had one job...to take down the Deputy's helicopter.

Rieka sat on the hood of the truck with her hood up, staring at her lap. Did she do the right thing? Or did she ruin everything? She promised Pratt that she wouldn't let him die, then she sacrificed him to save her family. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of the RPGs firing and the guns of the helicopters. She looked up and watched the fire in the sky, praying that everything would turn out alright.

Rieka looked around the outpost in search of Jacob but didn't see him. She hummed to her self before looking up on the roof, and there he was. Jacob was in the centre of the row of men with RPGs with his sniper rifle, trying to get a shot on the pilot of the Deputy's helicopter. Strangely, she smiled. No matter how hard times got, no matter how weak Jacob got, he will always keep fighting. He is a soldier and it is what he does.

The sound of some sort of explosion caught Rieka's attention. She looked up and saw the helicopter falling from the sky, in flames. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, the helicopter fell to the ground, some of Jacob's men began to celebrate, and Jacob stood up before hurrying down from the roof. "Red, get in the truck, I'm driving" he ordered sternly and the pair climbed back into the truck.

They drove to the crash site in silence, both of them secretly hoping that they would find their bodies..as dark as it sounds. The truck pulled up to the flaming helicopter and Jacob climbed out, telling Rieka to stay in the truck.

She watched as he walked over to the wreck, searching through it. There was a gun shot and Rieka nearly shot out of her seat, she saw Jacob standing by the crash and aiming his hand gun at something.

Jacob returned to the truck and climbed into the driver's seat. "Who was alive? Who did you have to shoot?" Rieka asked curiously.

"The Deputy" Jacob lied and began to drive away. "I will send my men to clean this up and dispose of the bodies. Then I will call Joseph and tell him the news" he glanced over at Rieka, feeling overwhelmingly grateful that she came into his life.

Rieka sighed, a small smile slipping from her lips, as she lent her head back against the head rest. Jacob glanced over at her again and smiled before taking her hand in his, running his thumb over her knuckles. Maybe things could go back to normal...

Jacob wouldn't tell Rieka the truth because he knew it would hurt her. He wouldn't tell her that he found the Deputy with shrapnel through his head, no way of coming back from that. He wouldn't tell her that Pratt was the one who was alive, that Pratt's legs where crushed under the wreckage. He wouldn't tell her about how he begged for his life, begged for Red's help. Jacob culls the herd, he did what he had to do but he couldn't tell his Little Red.