Chapter 1: Defying Fate
The day had finally come. After many weeks liberating outposts and killing cult members, Chris was on the verge of another showdown. He had already cleared two regions of Hope County, Montana and killed both the leaders, John and Jacob Seed. The adopted sister Faith Seed and her region were the only ones left before the inevitable showdown with 'The Father' Joseph Seed. It had been a bloody few months of fighting the Project at Eden's Gate. Chris or as people liked to call him "Rook" gained a reputation of getting the job done and getting it done well. There were wrecks of planes and trucks scattered still throughout John's region. Bodies littered Jacob's area. Chris was very tough but he didn't do it alone. Along the fight, he enlisted the help of some people, notably airman Nick Rye, a sniper named Grace, a badass hunter named Jess along with others. Though Chris was good, there were times he did get captured. 'Peggy' poison arrows seemed to be the bane of his existence. It put him through a lot of hell. He got tattooed by John with the word "wrath" (perhaps fitting) and he was conditioned to kill the Whitetails' leader Eli by Jacob. But John and Jacob only ended up making Chris more determined than ever to stop them. John was shot out of his plane and eventually killed while on the run in the woods in Holland Valley. Jacob thought he had achieved victory but was hunted down on a hill after all of his platoon got killed in the Whitetail Mountains. People were impressed with the deputy's speed and ferocity. Not only was he able to escape his captors (with help from his friends of course) but he turned the tables and finished the job.
Faith's region wasn't expected to be difficult. As soon as Chris got there, he went right to work. But things already felt different. Faith didn't lob insults or threaten harm on Chris. She tried very hard to make him see things from the cult's point of view, to get him to join. Of course, the "Rook" was having none of it. He continued doing what he normally did including destroying Joseph's statue and burning his sacred book. This caused much distress for Faith as she fearfully told Chris about "The Father's" punishment. Resistance seemed to be feeble. He wasn't sure if it was because word had spread from the other regions about his actions which intimidated everyone or if it was Faith really trying to go easy on him. Faith's main weapon was the bliss, her hallucination causing drug. It was usually used to bend people to the cult's will. Despite all the bliss illusions she put him through, Chris wrecked everything Faith had built up. It soon got to the point where she finally took more hostile action. She used her powers of manipulation in order to get Marshal Burke to kill the mayor, unlock the gate to the resistance base at the jail, and end it by killing himself. Chris was shown the whole thing by Faith in order to demoralize him but of course just made him more determined. Soon the jail was cleared of enemies. There were only two things left to do, find the kidnapped sheriff and hunt down Faith. Chris ended up doing the latter first.
Faith was fearful. Nothing had worked. The playing nice, the manipulation, the attacks, getting one of the leaders to kill another then kill himself. It did nothing. The deputy was on his way to come kill her just like he did his two brothers. Faith only had her bliss. She got the deputy to at least be on her home turf by again showering him with bliss. But it didn't matter. She tried more tricks, illusions of herself, using angels; people whose minds were destroyed by the bliss. The deputy was still cutting right through them. Faith felt that the end was drawing swiftly closer. She no longer cared enough that she began telling him more personal things about herself in the faintest hope of calming him down.
"None of this was my fault! You think I wanted this? He threatened me! He piled me with drugs! I was 17! I was just a child!"
Faith's words surprisingly had an effect. The bullets started coming in fewer numbers, hesitation was clearly present. Then it happened. She felt a pain in her side.
"NO!"
The battle finished. Chris was glad it was finally over. Shortly after arriving in the Henbene region he began having doubts. Was Faith really a liar or manipulator who just tried to play the victim? Or was she really being used as a disposable piece in Joseph's cult? Chris was pondering these things but then he saw her. She stumbled toward him and reached out her hand as if asking for help. He stepped back out of her reach. Her face was one of surprise but mostly of sadness. But she surprised him by slightly nodding like she understood his choice.
"It was always going to happen this way" She then limped away toward the water, all while continuing to talk.
"Joseph thinks he is our savior. But you'll be the one to decide. You were the start; you'll be the end."
With that, Faith fell into the water, the wind swirling the bliss around her body. Chris looked at her and now he experienced a range of emotions.
"It didn't have to end this way Faith. Why did you go along with him? Did he lure you with his promises to fix you? All he and you have caused is misery." Chris had read and heard about Faith's background. She was once an outcast girl that only had Tracey who now led the Henbane resistance, as her friend. She had taken to the needle. Now it was all over. Her words continued to haunt him. 'It was always going to happen this way.' Or was it? Chris' doubts now bubbled to the surface.
"Like hell it will end here."
He quickly moved toward where Faith had fallen and fished her body out of the water. He wasn't sure that his hesitation would cause him to be too late. He listened for a heartbeat and found she was still alive for now. He placed her on the ground by the water and looked her over. She had some grazes on her face but she had definitely been shot in the side. Blood was pouring out from the area. Thankfully it seemed that the bullets had gone through completely. Chris tore off his shirt and wrapped it around the wound. He needed to stop the bleeding but also need to get her to a place where she can rest and be treated properly. As Chris hoisted her onto his back, she regained consciousness.
"Why….? What are you doing?"
Chris didn't answer her as he really didn't know the answer completely himself. All he knew was that he had to get her somewhere safe.
