Chapter 19: Change
Jess finally had some time to think. It had been easy enough to hijack a vehicle from the peggies. The huntress waiting for one of them to drive nearby then shot an arrow at the windshield. Instead of continuing driving and going to get backup, the fool stopped his truck to investigate. Then it was a simple matter of sneaking up behind him and slitting his throat while he was investigating. Jess looted what she could, then took the truck to continue towards Falls End. Her mind was on Marcus.
Ever since she had met him, he stood out from all the other people she had met. Of course Jess was more of a loner and not a people person but she was still keenly observant. For starters, even with Grace backing him up, it was impressive for him to take out the peggies that were guarding Jess. Being freed, she wanted to continue her quest for vengeance against Cook. While Grace was opposed, Marcus convinced her to follow Jess. Finally, when they found Cook, Marcus took the lead, shooting the pyro's gas tank to cause an explosion to take him out. It was a satisfying end for the man Jess had spent years tracking down. Jess wasn't even mad that Marcus took what should have been her kill. He had shown that he was very capable of getting things done, something that was sorely needed in Hope County. So she joined up with him and he continued to impress in Holland Valley. But everything changed when he went to the Henbene.
Jess knew it was a bad idea. Anything that had to do with the flower girl's region was a bad idea. When Jess had tracked Cook there, she had taken extra precautions. Faith's bliss was no joke and it could be potent enough to completely destroy any rational thought with enough exposure. Jess had grown to like Marcus quickly even in the short time that they had known each other and for Jess, that was quite an accomplishment. She did not want him venturing into the henbene unprepared. Unfortunately, he was stubborn, like her. When Jess found he that he had gotten captured, to say that she was angry was an understatement. Jess was furious. She was not only heated at Marcus for not listening to her but also at the peggies for taking him. But for the first time since The Cook took away her family, she was afraid.
In the short time knowing him, Marcus already had an effect on Jess. The huntress had always preferred to work alone. Even with people like Grace who she looked up to and had a friendly rapport with, Jess maintained some distance. But with Marcus, she felt an instant connection. The duo worked so well as a team. They both knew how the other fought and their styles weren't that far off. For the first time in her life, Jess had almost complete trust in someone to be able to watch her back and she would watch his. So when Marcus didn't come back, Jess swallowed her pride and did something she thought she'd never do. She went crawling back to Dutch.
Jess' uncle was the last family she had. Her parents had been killed by The Cook and her brother had taken his own life shortly after the incident. Uncle Dutch was a life saver after Jess lost her family. But as Jess got older, her desire for revenge grew as well. Dutch had already seen the horrors of war, he didn't want his niece to enter another. Dutch wanted to stay on his own slice of land and keep to his bunker. As long as the cult left him alone, he would leave them alone. That didn't sit well with Jess and the arguments increased. One day, she had enough and left, vowing to never speak to Dutch again. He would die a coward here in her eyes. But Marcus had changed him too and Jess knew he had contacts in the entire county that she hoped could help locate Marcus.
The meeting had been awkward at first. It took Jess a few minutes to explain to Dutch why she was there after how their last interaction was. But Dutch acted like nothing had ever happened. He immediately got a hold of the people he knew, asking them if they say any large peggie convoys that might be transporting Marcus or higher than normal security. Jess waited uncomfortably, anxious about Marcus and the fact that she was around Dutch. Her heart sank bit by bit as Dutch's contacts told him that they had seen nothing unusual and that there was no sign of Marcus. Dutch mentioned that it was getting late and that he would talk to a few more reliable informants in the morning. Jess had a sleepless night that was made worse by what little Dutch was able to get that morning. The only relevant info that he was able to get was that Marcus' car was damaged and abandoned in the middle of an intersection. Though there was the possibility that Marcus had escaped captured, Jess was sure he was in trouble. Dutch said he would keep an eye out for Marcus and let Jess know as soon as he heard something. Jess thanked him and got the hell out as fast as she could. It seems she would have to find Marcus on her own.
Only she didn't have to. On her way back to Falls End to load up on supplies, there was a firefight near the home to where Rae-Rae used to live. Some peggie killing was exactly what Jess needed to push the memory going back to Dutch to the background. But after entering the fray and killing the last peggie, she found none other than Marcus. Although Jess was privately relieved, her pent-up anger exploded. First she went after Marcus for not listening to her, but then her anger only increased when she found out that Grace had told Marcus that she had went to Dutch. Jess had told the sniper that in confidence just so at least one person knew where she was. Grace had revealed that info and Jess made a note in her mind not to be so trusting of her in the future. But Marcus was the one she became suspicious of.
It wasn't the type of suspicion that she didn't trust him, but she had the feeling that he was hiding something. Marcus was pretty evasive when Jess asked him what had happened. In fact, now that she thought about it, Marcus swerved her and didn't tell her anything at all. He ended up talking about his past with piqued Jess' interest enough to make her forget him explaining how he escaped. That day, they also began doing things apart. Marcus would go out on patrol and Jess never knew where he had been. Then recently, Marcus went out one evening and that's when things really seemed different.
Something had definitely gone down in the Henbene but Jess wasn't sure what. Marcus called her and he sounded serious and when he picked her up, it was evident. Jess had never seen him so serious before, even when he was in combat. Marcus looked enraged and if Jess was honest with herself, it had scared her a bit and that was rare. Marcus seemed to have a vendetta as he had asked Jess to take down the statue in Faith territory. Where had that come from? Did the flower girl do something to him? Was this revenge for getting captured? Jess didn't dwell too much on the reasoning, she had to get prepared for what they were about to do. Taking down the statue would be no easy task. As a symbol of the cult, it would be guarded heavily. But Jess was actually a bit excited. Marcus and her hadn't teamed up for a bit and now they were about to really kick the peggies in the proverbial balls. Marcus had other plans, however.
Jess was about ready to explode on him when he told her that he would go in alone. Why fucking even call her to come help in the first place? One look into his eyes made her change her tune instantly. It was recognizable from his face and his tone but now Jess could see the hate in his eyes. The kind of hate where you feel like you were wronged and that the feeling would remain until you felt things were right. Jess had felt that before. She had always had a drive to kill Cook. Now she saw that same look in Marcus' eyes. It made Jess determine that there would be no stopping him no matter what she did. So she relented and let him go alone while she waited at the car. He came back not too long after saying that the way was cleared. Jess then saw what had happened.
The peggies never stood a chance. Jess learned that they were in the middle of a ceremony. But Jess guessed that the same thing would have happened even if they were fully alert and ready. They wouldn't be able to know what was coming. Bodies were scattered all around, most shot, but a few had melee wounds. It would be reasonable to say that it was a massacre. Marcus didn't say much except telling a little bit about what happened. They rigged the explosives, moved to a safe distance and then took down the statue. Jess always imagined she would be cheering when the eyesore was taken down. But Jess only felt confusion. What had happened to Marcus? She was glad she was making the trip to Falls End on her own. Maybe the others could help determine whats happened with him.
Jess was nearing Falls End, but with her driving a peggie truck, she couldn't simply drive it into town. So she decided to park in a nearby forest and hoof it the rest of the way. It was inconvenient but Jess was used to it and it only took a half an hour to reach the town. Things appeared to be normal, at least for the present circumstances. There were a few townspeople patrolling with assault rifles. They regarded Jess as she made her way to the Spread Eagle where she found Mary May behind the bar like usual.
"Jess" She greeted simply.
"Mary" Jess sat at the bar. Mary looked like one of her lifelong pets just died. "You seem awfully mopey. Whats up?
"John attacked us again." She sighed.
Jess was confused. "The town looks fine though. Did you lose anyone?"
"No." She sighed again then composed herself. "John launched an attack early this morning. We didn't lose anyone and we beat it back pretty easily but…"
"But what?" Jess eyed her.
"They stole the widowmaker."
"The what?"
"My dad's precious truck!"
"Ok so?" Jess wondered why she was getting all bent out of shape when the peggies had done worse things then stealing vehicles.
"You don't understand Jess! For one thing, my dad wrote to me to never lose that truck before he died. Two, that truck is armored and also has guns on the front."
"I guess the peggies could do some real damage with that." Jess admitted.
"It gets worse." Mary said softly.
"How?"
"We took managed to take some peggie's prisoner. They told us that John was working on something big. Supposed to be some grand weapon to finally break us. The widowmaker is the blueprint."
"Shit, that does sound bad."
"Yeah, we need to find and take back the widowmaker before John completes that weapon. We need your help. But where's Marcus?"
Now it was Jess' turn to sigh. "He's back at the house or out somewhere I guess. After we took down Joseph's statue, we kinda went our separate ways this morning."
Mary's eyes widened. "You guys were the ones that did that? I mean, I shouldn't be surprised. If anyone was gonna do it, it was going to be you two. But wasn't it heavily guarded? How'd you guys do it Jess?"
Jess shrugged. "There wasn't much too it. I wanted some action but Marcus insisted that he would handle it by himself. He took them all out by himself, Mary. Then he came back to get me, we planted the explosives, and then we blew it to hell."
"Wow" Mary said, impressed. "Marcus is really something. But, and don't take offense to this, why did you go with him?"
"He asked me to!" Jess shot back. She quickly realized her tone and apologized. "Sorry, its just that, Marcus hasn't been the same lately. That's actually why I came here. I wanted to get your guys' opinion on it."
"What do you mean?" Whats wrong with him?" Asked Mary.
"Could you get Nick and Grace to come here at least? Then we can discuss it." Jess urged.
Mary nodded and got on the phone to call Grace and Nick. Luckily both were available to come to Falls End, and they were more urgent when Mary told them that it was about Marcus. They all managed to get to the eagle within an hour. The group ended up being Jess, Mary, Grace, and Nick with Jerome also joining in.
"So you and Marcus took down the statue with just the two of you? Damn, I would have liked to have been a part of that." Nick started off.
"And you said that Marcus took them all out by himself? I knew that he was good but he keeps impressing me." Added Grace.
Jess sighed in frustration. "Yeah yeah, it was great. But you guys are missing the point. He's been changing and it all started after he got captured in the Henbene. Faith's bliss is influencing him. Jacob was doing tests with the bliss on wolves up north. Makes them more aggressive and vicious."
"But so far he's better helping us fight the cult." Jerome pointed out. "I'm sure he's just paying the cult back for the evil they've committed."
"You guys don't understand. I think he came from the henbene when he picked me up and he had this look. It was a look of pure rage. Then after he killed all the guards he came back and the look didn't change. I understand that because I felt something similar when I was chasing Cook. But Marcus helped pull me back from that. Faith did something to him with the bliss. We need to help him before he just snaps and turns on all of us." Jess explained sadly.
"Well where is he now?" Nick asked.
Jess shrugged. "Maybe back at the house, but he probably went out again. I would talk to him but I'm no good with this shit. I'm sure you all would have better luck than me."
"How bout this?" Grace was formulating a plan. "I'll go with Jess to go get Marcus. Nick, while we're gone see if you can get into the air and find any traces of the widowmaker. Hopefully we'll be back, we can see what's wrong with Marcus then he can help us find Mary's truck. Sound like a plan?"
Nick nodded. "Sounds good. I'll get Carmina in the air and see if I can see anything."
Grace turned to Jerome. "Jerome, can you help Mary with the town while we're gone."
"We'll hold things down here." Jerome assured her. "You just be safe."
"We'll be fine. Let's go Jess."
Nick left to go back home to his plane while Jess and Grace started making their way back.
"Did you come all the way here on foot?" Grace asked her.
"No, I stole a peggies truck and hid it in the woods. Didn't want to cause a stir."
"Smart." Grace quipped.
The truck was still thankfully there. Jess drove while Grace sat in the passenger seat.
"So you really think Faith gave him bliss to cause him to start being more aggressive and potentially turn on us?"
"There's no other explanation Grace. As much as I couldn't stand it sometimes, he was pretty heroic when I first met him. Now? He seems bloodthirsty. Even with what's happened, no one changes that fast without something like the bliss."
"You think he'll put up resistance to taking him back to Falls End?"
"If he does, we're in for one hell of a fight."