Respite
A "Far Cry 5" fanfiction story by: maninblue88

Warnings: Certain obvious spoilers for "Far Cry 5" are present in this story.

[Author's Note: This story is primarily based on the video game, "Far Cry 5". With the exception of certain characters, all things associated with "Far Cry 5" and the "Far Cry" series in general are the property of Ubisoft and any other related entities. A certain chapter of the story will also feature references to the seminal game in the "Shenmue" series, which is the property of Sega and any other related entities. I am a fan of both these games and their related franchises. The entirety of this story is basically my vision of how things should've turned out following the events of Far Cry 5's conditional "Walk Away" ending. Personally, I'm not too excited about "Far Cry: New Dawn" with it's bleak-seeming plot and desolate landscape, but I do hope the game does well and by no means intend to offend those of you who are excited about it.]

This story in its entirety is Rated "M" for language and violence

Chapter 1: Yes, They Walked Away (Recap)

In the late spring of 2018, a heavily armed and radical religious cult known as "Project Eden's Gate" overtook the vast, rustically beautiful landscape of Hope County, Montana. The cult was led by maniacal self-styled pastor Joseph "The Father" Seed, his two biological siblings John and Jacob Seed, and one adopted sister, Faith Seed. Together with their hundreds of recruited members, known to their opposers as "Peggies", they forced Hope County's citizens out of their homes and businesses, hijacked a substantial portion of their utilities and resources, and aimed to make Hope County an entirely separate compound of Eden's Gate followers. Each of the Seed siblings had their own unique way of forcing people into compliance. Joseph used his self-serving perversions of the Bible in his attempts to sway people to his way of thinking, John used kidnapping, isolation, and threats of death, Jacob used psychological torture in his attempts at mind control, and Faith used her own handmade plant-based hallucinogenic drug "Bliss" to intoxicate people and bend their minds to both her will and the control of the cult.

Law enforcement were not at all willing to take any of this lying down. While the Seeds and the other Peggies were wreaking havoc all over the county, a small team of law enforcement officers covertly worked to investigate and bring formal charges to officially bring down Eden's Gate. Several members of the Hope County Sheriff's Department either abruptly resigned out of fear for their lives or were forcefully recruited by the cult. The only people left to maintain law and order in the cult's shadow were Sheriff Earl Whitehorse, an older Native American lawman who was only days from retirement when the cult arrived, spirited female Deputy Joey Hudson, a lifelong Hope County native, tough but likeable male Deputy Staci Pratt, Deputy Chris Shelby, an equally affable veteran law enforcement officer from the close by city of Missoula, and Junior Deputy Troy Harrison, known as "Rookie" or "Rook" to his colleagues. The sheriff's department had received help in their investigation into the cult from Deputy U.S. Marshal Cameron Burke, until Burke was kidnapped and his mind controlled by Faith Seed and her "Bliss" drug.

Junior Deputy Troy Harrison was the newest member of the department and the last member hired by Sheriff Whitehorse prior to the cult's arrival and the subsequent forced staff shortages. Despite his low rank and accepted "Rookie" status, he was actually a very experienced and accomplished law enforcement officer. The kindhearted and intelligent Vermont native had spent a decade as an FBI agent, were he trained and worked as a behavioral profiler and forensic science specialist, before leaving to join the Chicago Police Department, where he spent two years as a Detective working the Homicide beat and later spent a brief period of time in the newly-formed Cyber Crime Task Force. A botched investigation consequently sent Harrison to the West Coast where he spent four and a half years, eventually working his way up to the position of Chief Detective for a city police department.

Ultimately growing tired of the city pace and wanting to avoid what could've been inevitable burn out, Harrison decided to take a low-ranking position in Hope County, Montana, as the county's geography and landscape reminded him of his roots in bucolic Vermont. He was also a seasoned martial artist, having trained in a very distinctive style of Ju-Jitsu while living as an exchange student in Japan during college.

When the Seeds, along with their unconditionally loyal and equally violently maniacal Peggies first laid siege to Hope County, the Hope County Jail was one of its first major targets. Following a failed mission to arrest Joseph Seed on multiple counts of kidnapping, the members of the cult tried to take over the jail. Luckily, Whitehorse and his deputies were able to successfully fight them all off, resulting in several Peggie deaths and a few injuries for the citizens who had helped to fight back and re-claim the jail.

The Hope County Sheriff's Department spent two months bravely fighting the cult with lots of help from impervious Hope County citizens, who over time formed a militia of sorts that came to be known as "The Resistance". When Deputies Hudson and Pratt were kidnapped by John and Joseph Seed, Whitehorse, Harrison, and Shelby remained to unite, assist, and protect the Resistance. Those who were members of the Resistance made a home base in the towering and thick-walled main building of the Hope County Jail.

The jail's small five-bed Infirmary had become an impromptu hospital, as it had become quite unsafe to venture outside over time in search of another facility. Other inmates were soon transferred to the larger Montana State Penitentiary due to obvious safety and security concerns, so the jail's fifteen-cell Main Housing Unit had become an improvised sleeping quarters, cafeteria, and recreation area. Sheriff Whitehorse set up a CB radio in the center of the housing unit and attempted to contact other authorities and people on the outside, but the cult's extensive interferences with various radio antennas in and around Hope County made these attempts difficult and, at times, seemingly impossible. A helipad was located by the jail's main gate, and was everyone's exit strategy should all hell completely break loose.

Sheriff Whitehorse and Deputy Shelby decided to watch over things at the jail, so the immediate responsibilities of searching for the kidnapped deputies and investigating the cult fell onto the shoulders of Junior Deputy Harrison. As time went on, with the help of the Resistance, Harrison was able to successfully regain several regions of Hope County, as well as several essential businesses that the Peggies had initially used as their strongholds when they originally took over.

The heroic actions of Junior Deputy Harrison and the Resistance were not met without consequence, however. Harrison himself was kidnapped by Faith Seed at one point, who intoxicated him with her handmade drug "Bliss" and tried to psychologically manipulate him to her and the cult's way of thinking. He was later discovered in an open field by Sheriff Whitehorse and the Resistance members. He was heavily inebriated and delirious, but alive, so they promptly took him back to the jail and administered the narcotic reversal medication Narcan to try and quash the "Bliss" effects. By the next day, the drug was able to finish working its way out of the Junior Deputy's system, so he was able to recover and resume his battle against the cult.

Junior Deputy Harrison spent his days from then on helping people fight the cult as best he could. During what relative amount of down time he had when he wasn't either fighting Peggies left and right or methodically searching for his kidnapped colleagues, he helped the people of Hope County regain their homes, businesses, or essential resources. One of these deeds in particular had even helped to bring a new life into the world.

Following a particularly chaotic attempted siege of the local church in the small town of Fall's End, Harrison was in the middle of helping Pastor Jerome Jeffries and several other church members clean up the mess of broken glass and various debris when he happened to overhear an urgent message on his portable radio. Kim Rye, the expectant wife of local pilot Nick Rye, said that she feared she was going into labor. Harrison sprang into action, borrowing a silver Chevrolet El Camino from the auto body shop next door and racing to Rye and Sons Aviation, the home and business owned by the Ryes. Kim Rye was indeed in labor, so Nick loaded himself and his wife into the back of his SUV, throwing his keys to Junior Deputy Harrison.

Harrison gunned the four-wheel-drive SUV at white-knuckle speed through a back-road shortcut Nick had suggested would take them toward the small Hope County Clinic, where Kim's midwife was waiting. As the three crossed the bridge close to the clinic, a white Cessna plane bearing the familiar contorted black cross logo flew overhead above them only to suddenly do a nose dive and crash in a fiery explosion right in front of where Harrison and the Ryes were headed. The determined Junior Deputy had no choice but to carefully but quickly weave the vehicle around the large pieces of flaming smoky plane debris and keep heading to the clinic.

The three arrived at Hope County Clinic without incident, and Harrison waited out by the car while the Ryes went inside. Two hours later, Nick and Kim Rye emerged with their healthy newborn daughter, whom they named Carmina. Harrison was very touched when Nick asked him to be their daughter's godfather, an offer that he very proudly accepted. As such, the Ryes decided that their daughter's full name would be Carmina Harrison Rye. Nick semi-humorously remarked that in light of his new daughter's arrival, he'll have to change the name of his business from "Rye and Sons Aviation" to "Rye and Daughter Aviation".

After this blessed and tender moment, Harrison brought the Ryes home and made sure they were as safe and secure as possible before getting back into his borrowed car and heading back to Fall's End. He promptly returned the vehicle and decided to get some rest, returning to the small house across the street that he had rented from a retired Hope County deputy when he had first taken the job.

Harrison found himself startled awake the next morning by the shrill sound of a ringing phone. He quickly answered to the sound of an unknown yet matter-of-fact male voice on the other end of the line, who said that Deputy Joey Hudson was still alive and being held captive in John Seed's underground bunker not far from Fall's End.

Before hanging up, the mysterious person said that the key to finding Hudson will come after taking down John Seed himself, saying the word "key" with some prominent emphasis before cluing Harrison in to the fact that in order to locate John Seed, he would first have to locate one of the many planes parked at the private airstrip at the close by Seed Ranch.

Harrison's shadowy unknown caller then hung up, at which point the Junior Deputy called Nick Rye and asking for his help in acquiring the plane, locating and taking down John Seed, and rescuing Deputy Hudson. Feeling that he substantially owed him one after his assistance in bringing his daughter Carmina into the world, Nick didn't even have to think before agreeing to help. Harrison then drove to Rye Aviation, where Nick explained he would cover him from the air in his prized Crop Duster airplane, which was outfitted with dual machine guns on either side of its large propeller, while Harrison himself took care of any Peggies on the ground and stole the plane. Nick then presented Harrison with a Bluetooth radio earpiece so the two of them would be able to communicate while carrying out their mission.

It wasn't long before Harrison reached Seed Ranch, with Nick stealthily hovering over the area in his plane. With Nick's help, Harrison made short work of the aggressive Peggies who weren't too happy about the two "sinners" intruding on their land. Nick continued to provide cover from above, spraying down down any Peggie who tried to stymie Harrison's goal of stealing the plane with a hail of machine gun rounds. This goal proved successful for Harrison as he commandeered the white Eden's Gate Cessna plane and, though he himself wasn't as experienced or skilled a pilot as Nick was, managed to get it airborne.

Now flying just behind him in his own plane, Nick soon radioed in to Harrison, warning him that he spotted John Seed in his plane up ahead of them. John Seed himself then cut in to their radio transmission, imploring the two men to turn around and leave them alone, throwing blatant taunts at Nick Rye. The accomplished pilot and new father, however, remained stoically undeterred.

The three of them began to hover over the location of John's underground bunker, at which point Nick and Harrison began to simultaneously fire at John and his plane, which Nick firing with his plane's machine guns, while Harrison fired one-handedly with an Uzi he had found in the cockpit, all the while doing his best to keep his own aircraft steady and in the air with his free hand. John's plane then nose-dived into some trees beside his bunker, at which point Harrison told Nick that he was headed down to intercept him and to please continue to provide cover from above.

Harrison then swallowed any apprehension and pulled the lever for the plane's ejector seat. He pinched his eyes shut as the plane's overhead visor suddenly detached, catapulting him and his seat rapidly upward into the cold open air. The ordinarily brave Junior Deputy couldn't help but loudly scream out an elongated expletive as he started to just as rapidly plummet toward the ground, the speed starting to slow somewhat upon deployment of the ejector seat's built-in parachute.

Once Harrison reached the ground, several Peggies emerged out from the open bunker hatch, only to be rapidly sprayed down by the built-in machine guns of Nick Rye's plane. This gave Harrison the opportunity to get his hands on to John Seed. The two enemies engaged in a ruthless hand-to-hand fistfight for several minutes before Harrison was finally able to get the upper hand on the selfishly fanatical cult elder. He grabbed the front of his leather jacket before throwing him with all his strength into a pack of Peggies who were rushing to assist. The five Peggies were quickly knocked down like bowling pins as their boss quickly collided with all of them at once. All of them started to get back up and attack Harrison when the five Peggies were suddenly dispatched by Nick from above, leaving only John alive for Harrison.

John feigned a surrender, raising his hands in false defeat toward the battered and exhausted Junior Deputy. Just as quickly, he went to reach for the handgun he kept in a shoulder holster, only to be met by a stellar headshot from Harrison's Sig-Sauer P-226 service weapon. After John's body hit the ground, Harrison noticed a key on a chain around his deceased enemy's neck and almost immediately understood what the mysterious caller from earlier that morning meant by the "key" to saving Hudson.

Harrison angrily tore the key off John's neck and put it in his pocket before grabbing an assault rifle off one of the nearby dead Peggies. He climbed down the hatch ladder into the underground bunker, gunning down any and every goddamned Peggie who managed to remain inside. He found Deputy Hudson's holding cell fairly quickly and unlocked it using John's key, at which point he was greeted with a relieved hug from his colleague and friend.

Hudson then told him of her plan to blow up the bunker using the plastic explosives that each Peggie had in their possession. With no time to waste, Harrison tossed her an assault rifle of her own and the two began looting the bodies of the various Peggies, collecting each remote explosive charge with their respective detonators and placing them strategically onto the natural gas lines that occupied every corridor in the bunker.

Once they reached the entry hatch ladder, the two deputies realized that John Seed must've called for more reinforcements when he realized that Nick and Harrison were on their way toward the bunker. Nick corroborated this theory, radioing in a warning that more Peggies are arriving outside. As soon as Hudson and Harrison emerged back outside, Hudson pressed the detonator remote, initiating what seemed like an earthquake as the ground vibrated with concussive force, the inside of the bunker collapsing with fiery explosions.

Nick continued to provide cover for Deputies Harrison and Hudson from above, mowing down every Peggie in sight, giving them time to commandeer an Eden's Gate pickup truck. As Harrison gunned the truck back towards Fall's End, Hudson repeatedly fired her own acquired assault rifle out the rear window of the truck, skillfully making short work of the small caravan of Peggies on their tail.

The heat died down as Harrison and Hudson began to get closer to the Fall's End town limits. Realizing this, Harrison radioed to Nick, who was still hovering above them in his plane. He humbly thanked his friend for all his help and told him to head home. Nick then suggested that Harrison keep the Bluetooth earpiece he had given him. If he needed help, he could just radio for him and he'd be there to help out in a hot minute. Nick Rye then parted ways with the two deputies for the time being, flying ahead of them in the direction of Rye and Sons (or, perhaps, Rye and Daughter) Aviation.

Harrison dropped Deputy Joey Hudson off at the Spread Eagle, a popular watering hole for the small town of Fall's End. During their trip back from the bunker, Hudson had managed to get a radio transmission through to Mary May Fairgrave, the Spread Eagle's longtime owner and manager. Mary agreed to let Deputy Hudson room with her in her apartment above the bar. Just before heading inside the bar, Hudson once again hugged the Junior Deputy through the open driver's side window of the pickup, saying that from that point on, she'd be willing to take orders from Harrison despite his being of a lower rank than she herself was.

Junior Deputy Harrison took immense comfort in the confidence that Hudson saw in him as he walked towards his house across the street from the bar. As he went to put his key into the front door, he suddenly felt a frighteningly familiar sensation as he happened to notice a pale green vapor erupt from the door's mail slot and into his face. Someone, most likely one of Faith Seed's diabolical disciples, had rigged a device to dose Harrison with "Bliss". The Junior Deputy quickly fell backwards, unconscious.

The next thing Harrison knew, he was waking up in the field across the road from the Hope County Jail. Shouts, screaming, gunshots, and grenade explosions could be heard from the jail, and repeated urgent transmissions crackled from the speaker of his portable radio. Sheriff Whitehorse had been kidnapped by Faith Seed and her disciples from the cult, who were now making a second attempt at overtaking the jail. In a snap judgement, Harrison decided to take a creative approach and hop into the helicopter the Resistance had planned to use in the event of an emergency evacuation. He ascended in the helicopter and flew inside the grounds of the jail, flying it low and using the landing skids to forcibly knock down the Peggie snipers arranged along the roof of the jail's main building. He then realized he had somehow missed one last shooter and swung the helicopter around, facing his final rooftop enemy. The livid Junior Deputy flew at the sniper with all his strength, colliding with him and pinning him against a brick side wall.

The helicopter was pretty much disabled at this point, so Harrison quickly hopped out onto the roof of the jail's main building. He soon realized that there were additional Peggies wreaking havoc inside, so he stealthily began making his way indoors by way of the air ducts. He spotted one of the Peggies standing guard on the catwalk in the Main Housing Unit, and kicked out the vent cover. The square-shaped steel cover flew out, striking the catwalk Peggie in the head and knocking him out, somehow not alerting the Peggies down by the jail cells below.

Harrison jumped down onto his feet and stole the unconscious Peggie's sniper rifle. Through the scope, he noticed that at least four Peggies were holding Deputy Chris Shelby, bound with what looked like a belt and gagged with duct tape, hostage. Harrison quickly gunned down all of the captors, at which point Deputy Shelby looked up and was incredibly reassured to find Junior Deputy Harrison manning the sniper rifle.

The two deputies soon reunited, at which point Harrison cut Shelby free of his restraints and handed him an assault rifle. Shelby then told his friend that Resistance members Virgil Minkler and Tracy Lader were also being held at gunpoint in the jail's Communications Room. As they crossed the Main Housing Unit, they suddenly encountered one last trio of Peggies, who promptly opened fire on the two deputies.

Harrison promptly dispatched all three Peggies, but was heartbroken upon discovering that Chris Shelby had been fatally struck in the head by one of the enemy bullets just before Harrison was able to neutralize the hostile Peggies. He wanted to break down sobbing right then and there, but he knew Virgil and Tracy needed him. Therefore, he braved onward across the Main Housing Unit and into the Communications Room.

The already dismayed Junior Deputy was met with an even more tragic sight upon entering the Communications Room. Virgil Minkler, Hope County Mayor and champion of the Resistance against Project Eden's Gate, had apparently been the victim of a gunshot wound to the chest, having been shot by Bliss-intoxicated Marshal Cameron Burke. Burke subsequently turned his firearm on himself just after the shooting. Virgil was able to survive for a brief period of time, thanks to the abrupt first aid efforts of Tracey Lader, but he faded fast and died a few minutes after Harrison entered the room.

The Junior Deputy, although very concerned about how his most recent dosing of Bliss would physically and psychologically affect him, decided that Faith Seed had to go. He immediately went into the jail's Infirmary and gave himself a second injection of Narcan, the side effects from which came on surprisingly fast, sending him to the closest jail cell toilet to throw up. As he rinsed his face off in the small jail cell sink, he realized he still had one last plastic explosive charge and detonator in the stolen Peggie truck he had abandoned in Fall's End. He knew immediately what he had to do in order to rescue Sheriff Whitehorse and rid Hope County of Faith Seed once and for all.

The next morning, Harrison drove the truck to an area known as "Faith's Gate" in the Henbane River region of Hope County which included a large open clearing by the river. It was there he encountered Faith Seed herself, who was apparently under the mistaken impression that the Junior Deputy was still somehow intoxicated with the Bliss he had been dosed with earlier. Harrison was happy to go along with the rouse as Faith seemingly floated closer toward him, trying to convince him to surrender to her way of thinking.

Suddenly, several psychotic Bliss-intoxicated Peggies, known as "Angels", came at Harrison. He fought them all in fierce hand-to-hand combat as Faith watched from afar. Despite being outnumbered, the martial arts-trained Harrison was able to kill each of them with severe trachea blows and swift neck breakings. Next came Faith herself, who floated expeditiously toward him, most likely believing she'd receive the same Ju-Jitsu beat down that her disciples had. Harrison said nothing to the manipulative cult leader as he threw the plastic explosive charge at her feet before turning away and sprinting toward the parked truck, pressing the detonator remote while doing so.

His ears rang like overactive church bells with the sound of the explosion coupled with the deafening death screech of Faith Seed. Harrison dove face down into the flatbed of the truck as the shockwave of smoke, blood, and flames expanded above him.

When the shockwave cleared, all that was left of Faith Seed was a bloodied and charred torso, the explosion having taken her limbs and head and propelled them to God-Knows-Where. Harrison then found his way to Faith's bunker, wherein he killed more Peggies and rescued Sheriff Whitehorse from a potentially forced suicide by hanging.

The courageous Junior Deputy later dropped the sheriff off at the jail to rest and be reunited with the Resistance members. He was then treated to a celebratory round of drinks at the Spread Eagle with Deputy Hudson, Pastor Jerome, Nick Rye, and Mary May Fairgrave. As soon as he went back to his house afterward, he took a shower and finally took some time to just break down and cry in order to release his emotions.

Jacob Seed, whose reign of terror occupied the Whitetail Mountains region of Hope County, was next on Harrison's list. The next night, he engaged Jacob in a fierce sniper rifle shooting battle atop one of the mountains, during which Harrison proved victorious as he secured a flawless shot to the center of Jacob's chest. As Jacob laid on the ground dying, he remarked that no matter what has happened or will happen in the future, his brother Joseph's prophecies will always be correct.

With his siblings, or "heralds" as he called them, finally dead at the hands of Junior Deputy Harrison, Joseph Seed then requested a meeting with him, Sheriff Whitehorse, and Deputy Hudson at his compound, where he supposedly had Deputy Staci Pratt held hostage. Hudson, Whitehorse, and Harrison headed there the next morning. Upon their arrival at the compound, Sheriff Whitehorse and his deputies were greeted with the unsettling realization that Pastor Jerome, Nick Rye, and Resistance member Grace Armstrong had all apparently been intoxicated with Bliss and taken hostage by the cult.

The three of them almost immediately grabbed Whitehorse and Hudson, holding them at gunpoint along with Deputy Pratt. Junior Deputy Harrison decided to take a more diplomatic and negotiating approach and chose to simply talk with Joseph Seed. After some pseudo-Biblical attempts at reasoning with Harrison, the manically fanatical cult leader gave the Junior Deputy two options—One: To resist the cult and engage Joseph in a fight, the winner of which decides who will have power over Hope County, or Two: to walk away, and according to Joseph, they will not be bothered by the cult again if they choose to do so.

Perhaps against his better judgement, Harrison chose to walk away, much to the forthright protestations of Deputies Hudson and Pratt, who were promptly released from captivity upon Harrison's decision. Sheriff Whitehorse, meanwhile, kept his calm and agreed with Harrison's choice, ordering him, Pratt, and Hudson into one of the white Eden's Gate pickup trucks. As they drove away with the sheriff behind the wheel, Whitehorse reassured everyone that they would head to the nearby city of Missoula, Montana, and try to get help from the National Guard in order to save everyone and deal with the cult. Whitehorse then turned on the radio, hoping that music would distract everyone from the grave-seeming situation they had found themselves in.

The high-pitched crooning of the Platters' "Only You (and You Alone)" soon filled the speakers. This triggered violent flashbacks for Harrison of the brief time he was subjected to Jacob Seed's attempts at mind control, due to the fact that Jacob would repeatedly play that particular song to try and break his subjects down.

"What's wrong?" Whitehorse asked.

With that, Harrison felt as if he was having the worse migraine any human being could ever have. His vision blurred, and he soon passed out.