A Dish Served Cold - Far Cry 5 (Rookie +Jess F\F)

[taimatique]

Note: This fan fiction is based on the videogame Far Cry 5 and does have slight mentions of violence and blood. I tried to keep it as light as possible while preserving the immersive atmosphere of the game.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, it is based in the fictive county of Hope situated in Montana United States. The region is ravaged by a militaristic doomsday cult called the Eden’s gate which is run by a sadistic yet quite interesting cult leader who believes the world will collapse. It is up to a junior deputy to save the habitants of Hope county from the cult. While completing a good amount of missions you meet a lot of characters, including Jess, a very badass archer.

Important fact: The characters in Far Cry do randomly sneeze and Jess is one of them. Here's a visual😉

 

A Dish Served Cold - Part 1

 

It all started with a radio call. A call filled with static, hurting the ears of whoever listened to it. The level of anxiety related to it wasn’t easily distinguishable. Yet, it kept playing in loop until one day you decided you couldn’t ignore it.

"Name's Jess. Jess Black. Find me at the Lumber Mill."

Filling your bag with emergency supplies, your walkie-talkie, and a good amount of ammunition (you were in Montana, United Sates after all), you headed out of the good old Hope County Jail, your base for about a week now. Times weren’t easy in Hope County, and the cultists were everywhere. Either trying to mass murder, recruit, or enslave any habitant of the county, the walk to Baron Lumber Mill wasn’t set to be a walk in the park and you knew it. But this specific call piqued your interest and perhaps a shade of worry settle in the pit of your stomach for this Jess Black. Again, times weren’t easy when a militaristic doomsday cult basically OWNED the county.

Armed to the teeth, walking in the woods besides your beloved Peaches (a real-life, tamed cougar, gifted to you by an old cranky lady at a taxidermy shop, long story). Peaches was a loyal companion, useful in combat and let’s face it, very badass overall. Tonight, you were both gonna meet this Jess Black, and perhaps, prepare your vengeance together against the cult of Eden’s gate.

But of course, since this was Hope County, the Lumber Mill had to be taken as an outpost by a cluster of armed cultists, making the process a little bit more complicated. Situated in the Whitetail Mountains, you were able to spot them from above, crouched behind a set of big rocks, your small pocket radio still playing in loop what seemed to be the rendez-vous call from this Jess. Now, it was a call for help. As your instincts were right, Eden’s Gate forcefully took the Lumber Mill, and kept its previous occupants as prisoners.

You could see through your binoculars a frail silhouette in a cage guarded by zombie looking armed men’s.  Your meeting with Jess Black quickly became a retrieving mission as you headed down to the entrance.  Letting loose a more then happy to contribute Peaches, you managed to get inside the Lumber Mill has she was lashing onto the cultist’s throat. Your sweet killing machine always making you proud. Traveling through the numerous shipping containers using your best stealth skills, you quickly found the girl you previously saw, clearly weakened, holding herself up from the back of her cage.   Still hearing the roaring sound of an undefeated Peaches, you took the time to blow up the padlock that was holding the makeshift enclosure closed for good.

‘’I need your help... It’s important.’’ Said the girl on a panicky note, using what seemed to be the last of her strength. She frantically got out of the cage looking around for any cultists left alive. Her face bruised up, split upper lip, probably a broken nose too. She kept talking.  

‘’You sure as hell know how to handle yourself. Thanks for busting me out... Name’s Jess –‘’ You quickly backed up a bit, giving her space, holding both of your hands up. The last scream resonated in the entire area as Peaches came running happily to you, cutting Jess off, she rubbed her forehead on your tight, asking for a treat. She did a good job after all. Meanwhile, slowly but surely, the girl hovered her hand to the cougar’s back with a small smile. ‘’Go ahead, she’s really nice!’’ You encouraged her as you kept petting Peaches. But she didn’t really commit, stretching herself up, wiping her nose with the end of her sleeve as discreetly as possible. Her nose wasn’t bleeding, but it was running a bit. Taking a good look at her you could see the pain in her blue eyes. Life hadn’t been easy on her for the past few days and you knew she probably had been tortured. Internally pulling yourself down for not answering her call earlier, it was your fault and you felt awkward in her presence now. a handkerchief. She didn’t take it.

‘’Gotta move, wasted too much time already. Follow me.’’ She turned around, almost running, reaching one of the old containers you previously passed, grabbing a bow and a set of arrows. She handled them with such practice hands it could only be hers. Still shivering, whether it was from shock or the cold air, she wiped her nose again, cringing under the pain she just created.

‘’You follow me!’’ you tried to answer with as much confidence as you could as you both were already running away. ‘’I don’t know who you need to save, or fight for, but right now you need to rest!’’ With that she laughed a bit, still sniffling.  Without even answering you knew what she was thinking. You weren’t her mom. Yet again you didn’t have to follow her either. You guys could just part ways, and leave it at that. You weren’t good with emotions and clearly, she wasn’t either, so both of you weren’t equipped for the trauma she ensued. While the two of you were still walking out of the Lumber Mill arguing over who needs to be following who, she abruptly stopped in her track  as her back stilled, facing you. Already on edge with all that has been happening, you readied yourself for an attack, maybe the cultists called for reinforcement.

Everything felt still for a second or two, with only the sound of the forest creeping in. You saw Jess shivered a little as her next breath caught in her throat.

‘’ Hhah Hhah'tchh!... *snghf* ehh.’’ Jess sneezed unexpectedly in front of her, followed by what seemed to be a small whimper of distress. You could hear that she tried to expel a very breathy sneeze through her mouth only. Sneezing with a broken nose couldn’t feel good at all for the poor girl and you quickly approached her, resting a hand on her shoulder making sure that she turned to face you.

With watery eyes looking at the ground, she dabbed a bit at her nose carefully with the back of her hand.  Exhaling. You didn’t know what to say. She was clearly miserable yet trying to stay strong to pursue a mission. A mission she clearly couldn’t finish in this state. As Peaches kept close to you both, in a calm reassuring manner, you let your guard down. The only death that was currently a threat was the one Jess was about to catch if she didn’t stand down for now.

Slightly turning her head away to muffle a small cough into her shoulder, you could see she was trying to stay strong despite the evident pain. Backing away a little bit, but still facing you, you could see the discomfort on her face as she took her next breath.

 ‘’ha’tschmp! Argh Hehh’h…’’ She sneezed again more violently to the ground, this time in front of both of you. The hood of her coat fell from her head resting now on her shoulder, revealing long locks of brown hair. She hissed at the pain, bringing her left hand to her nose, keeping her right arm up, to distance you from her. ‘’ HhAatschh!’’ She harshly sneezed again, this time in the sleeve of her coat trying to muffle the sound and the spray as best as she could. Again, you didn’t really know what to do.  Perhaps she already got sick. Days out in the cold couldn’t be good for anybody. With an awkward cough to clear your throat you took a step-up front as she backed again.

‘’You know... You didn’t ask my name...’’ You said with a small smirk trying to diffuse the situation a little bit. She raised her head up, the light of the moon reflecting on her bruised face. ‘’They call me Rookie, this is Peaches. Now follow me.’’ And this time she did.

[nothin2sneeze@]

Nice! I hope you write more!

[NickG1998]

Please write more of this amazing story and please keep up the great work