It was warmer than usual that night in the wasteland, but even with the windows open, sleep had been a futile effort. Yet it wasn't the warm air that kept the sheriff awake. His ears had been ringing intermittently for the last hour or so, fading in and out until it grew so loud that the side of his head started throbbing.

When it finally subsided, he started drifting off, until the phone rang. It was a sharp, metallic ringing that made him jump. He scrambled out of bed, hopping on one foot as he tried desperately to untangle the other foot from the sheets as he moved. He grabbed the phone, putting it to his ear.

"Hello?" Hicks asked, drawing his brows down as he listened. "Owen? Owen, slow down, what hap-" he stopped mid-sentence, jaw falling agape as fear and concern crossed his features. "Put pressure on it. I'm getting the doc, we'll be there soon," he said, slamming the phone down.

They arrived to find Owen barely conscious amongst a pool of blood, some too dark to be his own. It was more than what could be said about Shannon, whose body had been discarded to the side amongst the broken glass and splintered wood like a broken doll.

"What happened, Owen?" Hicks asked, leaning on the side of the van while the doc patched him up. They had moved him to that so his injuries would be easier to tend to, and to keep from getting the debris into his wounds.

"Vampires. They came from the south, took Lucy with them... had to of," Owen said, taking a painful, shuddering breath.

"Easy, Owen, I got it. Look, the doc's gonna keep you in town. I'll help clean this place up when we get back, so don't worry about it," Hicks said, resting a hand on his shoulder. Owen nodded, covering his mouth as he coughed. There were drops of blood on it as he lowered his hand. "In the meantime, I'm gonna go find her. Take care of him," he said to the doctor as he turned away. He didn't get far before Owen grabbed his jacket, jerking him back around to face him.

"Hicks, wait," Owen said. In spite of the wounds, he still had a grip like a steel trap. "Got a brother in the cities. He's a Priest. Find him, he'll help."

Hicks entertained the idea, weighing the pros and the cons. The priests had been the only things capable of stopping the vampires during the war, according to the stories he'd heard. But on the other hand...

"Are you sure he'll help?" Hicks asked, returning to his spot against the side of the van. The priest had never came to town that he'd seen, and even if he'd missed him, he would have heard it from Lucy. She mentioned him at every chance, and she was a good part of the reason he knew so much about priests. She would have been ecstatic if her uncle visited.

Owen nodded, clearing his throat. He was trying not to go into another coughing fit. "He has an apartment in Sector Twelve. His ID is Z0156. Find him before you do anything."

Hicks understood now why the city had been named Cathedral City. It was huge, and packed in with people, much like the little church in Augustine was every Sunday. Unlike Augustine, which was dusty and containing its fair share of junk, Cathedral City was a mess. The factories continuously spewed smoke and ash into the air, much of which rained down on its citizens, filling their lungs, or piled up on any available ledge. And he saw several sick and even starving people in the crowd. The Church was based out of this city, and he couldn't fathom why it wasn't taking better care of the people.

It took some time to navigate the crowds and find the address Owen had given him, but when he arrived at the building he stopped to stare up at it. It was several stories tall, with soot stained walls. He was jarred out of his thoughts as someone bumped into him, and quickly headed inside. He stopped once to check the list of tenants inside the door, finding the priest's ID, and took the elevator up.

When he knocked, there was no response, and no sound from within the room that suggested anything living was inside. Hicks glanced around the small lobby, which connected to about two other doors, and spotted a dingy, old chair in the shadowed corner of the room. Sighing, he eased himself into it. It was sturdier than he expected, though not necessarily comfortable.

"Guess I'll wait," he muttered.

A loud bang woke him. He reached for his pistol before he remembered falling asleep in the lobby, and glanced around for the source of the noise. His gaze fell on the elevator as a hooded figure stepped off.

That has to be him, he thought as he climbed to his feet. He approached the man without thinking about the consequences of sneaking up on a priest, reaching a hand out to touch his shoulder. The next thing he knew, he was pinned under the man.

"Who are you?" the priest demanded. His voice was gravelly, and as cold as his eyes.

"Name's Hicks. I'm the sheriff from Augustine," he said, frantic as he felt the cold blade against his throat.

"What do you want?"

"There was a vamp attack, they took Lucy. Your brother, he's hurt bad. He told me where to find you." He could see the arms of the cross stretching over the priest's steel blue eyes.

"And Shannon?"

Hicks shook his head. He could have sworn he saw sadness in the priest's steel blue eyes, but in an instant he was gone. Hicks sat up, holding his throat. The priest had already disappeared into his apartment, but the door stood ajar and he took it as an invitation.

Inside, he found the priest standing at a long, rectangular window with his hood down, peering out over the city. For a moment, all Hicks could do was stare in awe at the man that was supposed to be a war hero. After the previous display, he certainly believed priests were a force to be reckoned with, but the man before him looked broken.

"Lucy talked about you," Hicks said. When the priest didn't respond, or even acknowledge that he'd said anything, he went on. "Said you were a hero during the war. Said when it came to killing vampires, you were the best."

He hoped - prayed, even - for a response that never came. He looked over the room, searching for something to appeal to, but the apartment was bare. There was nothing more than an old cross and some candles on one of the walls.

"Okay," he said, his voice barely a whisper as he turned away. He hadn't believed it would work when Owen suggested it, and as a result he lost several hours on Lucy's kidnappers.

Back in Augustine, he stopped by the doctor's office. Owen's condition was worsening, and he was still asleep after the doctor had operated on him.

"I'm going back to the station, doc. Gonna get a few supplies together, maybe catch an hour or two of sleep, then I'm going after her. Do everything you can for him," Hicks had told him before heading back to the station.

He had been asleep for almost an hour when the phone rang. Groaning, he half-rolled off the bed and stumbled over to the phone.

"Yeah, Sheriff Hicks, what do you need?" he asked, desperately trying to sound awake as he rubbed his eyes.

"Sheriff, this is Monsignor Orelas. We're looking for a priest that might have come through your town." The voice on the other end sounded like it belonged to an older man. He sounded amiable enough, but there was an underlying coldness that Hicks didn't like the sound of. The title Monsignor didn't help. He had never heard much good about the clergy, and the state of Cathedral City reinforced it.

" Why?"

"It's Church business."

"No, no. If you're going to call my office, demanding answers, you're going to answer my damned question, or I'm not telling you shit," Hicks said.

"If anyone comes looking for that girl, they are to be arrested immediately, and you are to notify us."

"What? We can't just leave her out there, they'll kill her."

"She's in God's hands now, sheriff."

"With all due respect, you and God can go to hell. This town is under my jurisdiction, and we are taking steps to-"

"Sheriff, Augustine can and will be assigned a new sheriff if you can't obey the laws we set. Do I make myself clear?"

Hicks frowned, nails biting into the palms of his hands. "Yes, Monsignor. No one will go after her, and no, we haven't seen any priests," he said in the most compliant tone he could muster. He was silent as he listened to the last few words Monsignor Orelas had for him, and then hung the phone up.

He grabbed his gun belt on the way out to his bike. Like hell was he going to listen to some ignorant old man about the safety of his town and the people therein. And as long as they thought he was doing what they said, he'd have plenty of time to start the search before they even entertained the notion to check.

It was the bartender, Will, a friend and a man who was far from a Church supporter, that he chose to leave in charge of the station while he was looking for Lucy.

"Gonna be gone a few days," Hicks explained. They stood in a back room of the bar, away from the nosy patrons. Word of what was happening would spread like wildfire if even one of them caught wind of it.

"Ya said the church called, didn't ya? What about them?" Will asked as he moved a box of bottles from the back, closer to the front. He needed to get them out anyway, but it gave the impression that he was working on inventory and nothing was amiss. It was common knowledge he and the sheriff were friends in town. Other than growing up together, Will was like Hicks' eyes and ears. If something happened in town, you inevitably heard about it in the bar, so he was easily among the first to hear it if something was out of place.

"Just, if for some reason they do call back, you tell them whatever bullshit story they want to hear to keep them out of our hair," Hicks said. Will nodded in understanding.

The outpost was still a wreck days after the attack. The only people that had been out there since were the townsfolk that had been kind enough to come out and pick up Shannon's body. Hicks had returned to give the house another once over and figure out which way the vampires had went from there. He was examining a broken place in the back wall when the roar of an engine caught his attention.

Cautiously resting a hand on his pistol, he headed around the side of the house. The bike he saw was a large, industrial thing, and looked sturdier than any machine found in Augustine. Bandits were the first thing to cross his mind as he stepped onto the front porch, taking his gun out as he came to the door.

Crouched among the rubble was a figure clad in black, tucking something into his clothes. He leveled the gun on him.

"Lootin's not such a good idea, mister," he said. The would-be looter glanced over his shoulder, not alarmed in the slightest as he rose to his feet and turned to face the sheriff. Hicks was beyond surprised to see the man had a cross tattooed on his face, and couldn't help but smile. "Well, I'll be damned."

Right, that's just been in my head for a few days since I started roleplaying Hicks, and I was wondering how he came to the idea of going after Priest. Therefore, you have this. I'm definitely open to suggestions and what have you, if you have anything.