The only sound Max could hear was the soft hum of the rusted pick-up truck's engine as it continued down the beaten, cold, and bumpy road. She and Chloe had been had been driving for hours now, and seemed every where they looked all they could see was all-out, and utter destruction.
Several large trees had fallen into and on top of homes, stores and buildings lay dormant, as civilians tried to help one another collect their belonging's from out of the waterlogged street's. The massive F6 Tornado had ransacked majority of what used to be Arcadia Bay, making Max's heart drop at the sight.
"I can't believe I caused all of this..." Max quietly thinks to herself, staring blankly out of the passenger side window. She fiddled around with her thumbs nervously, knowing she had made the ultimate sacrifice. Knowing she had just traded her entire home town, all for just one person. Her best friend, Chloe Price.
Chloe sat in the driver seat next to her. Her bloodshot blue eyes remained plastered on the road in front of them. She had been mostly silent the entire drive, only speaking when ever Max would prod her with a series of vague questions, usually consisting of "Are you okay?" or "Do you want me to drive?". Chloe had seemed to be extremely agitated and stressed, even more so than Max herself.
The truck slowly comes to a brief stop at a drab intersection, the large traffic lights hanging above them, where all set at red. Chloe uses this time to fish into her pocket, desperately itching for a cigarette. Her tired face forms into a look of general sadness, once she realized that she had smoked all of them.
"Oh, fuck me..." She grumbles quietly, leaning over and tossing the empty cigarette carton out of her driver-side window. Max notices this, and flashes her a look of concern, but opt's to keep quiet for now. The light eventually turns green, and Chloe veers the truck left, heading towards the large freeway. It was agreed between them both, that they would go back to Seattle, and stay with Max's parent's until they had enough time to clear their head's and weigh out their options.
"I really hope Chloe understands why I chose to save her... I just couldn't let her die..." Max thinks, trying to rationalize with herself. She had saved Chloe's life so many times, and she couldn't just let it all be for nothing. Even with Chloe still alive, Max was feeling like total shit regardless. Prior to making their way out of Arcadia Bay, Chloe insisted that they hang around for a bit, in order to make sure that her mother Joyce was safe.
Chloe had dialed her mother's cell phone multiple times, each instance resulting in her getting sent straight to voice mail. The Two Whale's Diner, where her mother worked, had long been quarantined off by police and paramedics, preventing the two of them from getting a closer look. Chloe frequently fiddled with her car radio, listening in for local news report's of all those who had managed to survive. Unfortunately for Chloe, so far Joyce's name hadn't been mentioned.
"Please let Joyce be alright...I'm not sure if Chloe would be able to keep it together, if she losses her..." Max says internally, hoping for a sign of good news. She stares out of her window, once more taking notice of the sun beginning to set, in the maroon sky.
"It's gonna get pretty dark out there Chloe..." Max peeps.
Max eventually stares down at her cellphone screen, It was a quarter past 7, which meant that it would be getting dark soon. Seattle was still a good three hours away, making it obvious that they would have to find somewhere to rest for the night. The truck continued to rattle down the highway, eventually cutting toward's a nearby exit, letting the small pickup continue it's journey.
Some short time later, Chloe veers her truck to the right, the road under them becoming rather rough and bumpy. In the distance, Max could see a small discrepant convenient store. A large rusted sign with the word "GAS" in bright bold letters hung above it. It seemed pretty old-fashioned, only one other car parked in it's lot. Chloe shifts gears and steers her truck truck towards the small store.
"We're stopping here?..we still have a lot of gas left.." Max inquires in curiosity, pointing at the pickup's glowing gas meter. Chloe pulls up towards the parking lot, lightly putting her truck in park. She takes her keys from out of the ignition and places them in her pocket. She turns over to Max, locking eyes with her girlfriend.
"I just need to grab some cigs Max, I'm out of 'em.." Chloe says slowly, her blue eyes showing nothing but pure stress and anxiety. Max's heart drops into her stomach at the sight. She wanted to reach out and touch Chloe on the cheek, But the sound of Chloe's tired, monotone voice stops her.
"You still have our cash stash right?" Chloe remarks, alluding to the money she and Max, had stolen from Blackwell's "Handicapped fund" all those days ago. The money that Chloe was "supposed" to pay off Frank Bowers with. At the thought Max could feel her mind shift back to the Two Whales Diner, where Frank had been.
"Damn, I almost forgot about Frank...hope he and Pompidu made it out okay..." Max thinks to herself, quietly feeling the guilt from all the lives lost back in Arcadia Bay. Max lowers her head in shame, eyes drooping towards the her feet.
"Well...do you have it or not?" Chloe barks out, her sudden change in tone, making Max snap out of her momentary trace. She quickly grabs her book bag and opens it with relative ease. Next to her journal, Max could see the small envelope that had been lightly folded, with sharpie writing on the front of it.
"Oh...Yeah..." Max peeps, nodding her head slowly as she reached into her book bag and removed the small envelope, handing over to Chloe. Chloe takes the envelope, pulling out a wrinkled 20 dollar bill and stuffing it in her pocket, before tossing the envelope back over towards Max.
"Do you want me to grab you something while I'm in here?...Chips, candy bar, water, beer...anything?" Chloe inquires slowly, placing a lone hand on her car door.
In response to the question Max quickly pauses in thought. It had been a few hours since her last meal, and she could already feel her empty stomach starting to grumble, but her appetite and will to eat had long been lost. After everything she and Chloe had been through this past week, food was one the last things on Max's mind right now.
"No thanks, I think I'm fine for now..." Max says, leaning forward in her seat, rubbing the back of head.
"Whatever, suit yourself..." Chloe grumbles slightly, before hopping out out of her truck and slamming the door behind her. Max watches from inside the pickup, as Chloe storms into the store, barging past an elderly man who was exiting at the same time, that she was entering. Max let's out a large sigh and turns her head and ponders to herself. She and Chloe were definitely going through a lot, and it showed.
"Chloe seems really on edge, can't say I blame her though..." Max mumbles quietly to herself. Max sat alone in the pickup, quietly taking in the quiet atmosphere. The sound of nearby cars passing by, the gentle tapping of the wind blowing up against the truck's windows. Despite how stressed out Max was, she had to admit that the peace and quiet was pretty nice.
Soon though, Chloe returns to the truck, plastic bag in one of her arms.
She slides into her seat, slamming the door behind her. Max gawks at her, as Chloe takes out a small can of some generic energy drink. She cracks it open, letting the aroma of artificial sweetness fill up the pickup's interior. Max watches as Chloe takes a sizable gulp, downing a great mass of the drink. She audibly continues to drink it, until nothing of it remained. Chloe belches slightly, before quickly tossing the empty can out of the window behind her. She jams her keys back into the ignition, causing Max to stare at her in slight confusion before speaking.
"Are you sure you're okay, Chloe?" Max remarks, trying lighten up the mood slightly. Chloe rolls her eyes and scoffs, seemingly still agitated. "Jesus dude, how many fucking times are you gonna ask me that?" Chloe snaps back suddenly, making Max quickly shrink into her seat, knowing that one of Chloe's angry rant's was incoming.
"If you must know, no...I'm not okay, not in the fucking slightest..."
"Sorry, I was only wondering-"
"Wondering?...wondering what?"
"All because of me, My mom might be fucking dead Max!" She bellows loudly, Max's heart drops once she hears this, the guilt coming back tenfold.
"And a fuck-ton of other people ARE dead...everything is just super fucked up right now, okay?" Chloe bellows again, voice lowering slightly. A lone tear visibly sliding down her face. Chloe quickly wipes it away, before starting up her truck.
Max winces slightly Chloe's rant comes to a close. She figured she deserved it, after all it was her choice to save Chloe. It was her selfish decision that put them both in this mess. Max shivers back and forth in her seat, feeling closer to crying than she had ever been, strangely no tears came though. Max was sure she cried all of them away hours ago.
Both girls sat in the awkward silence, the only audible sound being their own heavy breathing, and the rattling of the pickup's engine. Chloe gulps soundly, before breaking the silence.
"...sorry for snapping at you Max...I'm just hella worried about my mom, you know?" Chloe said slowly, her voice hoarse from all her yelling. Max flashes her a forced smile, before giving her pat on the back.
"I understand Chloe, you don't have to explain yourself to me...this is all my fault, not yours.." Max says, giving her a small nip on the cheek. For the first time in a long time Chloe gives a slight smile.
"Let's just focus on getting to Seattle first." Chloe says pulling out of the parking lot, and heading back towards the highway.
Some Time Later...
Minutes seemed like hours, and hours seemed like days, as Chloe continued their journey, as they made way towards Seattle. It was nearly 10:00 P.M by now and the constant driving had left both girl's were extremely exhausted. Chloe eyes were having a hard time staying open despite, the massive energy drink she had consumed earlier. She yawned loudly, making Max give a her look of concern.
"I'm getting hella tired dude, not sure how much longer I can keep driving..." Chloe groggily moans, her arms cramping from being on the steering wheel for so long.
"I think there might be a motel somewhere around here." Max adds, feeling pretty drained as well.
"I fucking hope so Max, I feel like I might pass out." Chloe grumbles.
Sure enough Max was right, on the side of the road, a small Motel 6 lay dormant. Chloe wastes no time before taking the nearest exit, and making her way towards it. They pull into it's parking lot quickly, hopping out and making their way inside. The motel's lobby was mostly empty aside from a snoring older woman, placed in one of the chairs. A large TV above them was stuck on channel that was playing some random 1960's sitcom.
"You can sit here for a bit Chloe, I'll pay for our room." Max utters, as she walks over towards the teller's desk. Chloe does as she was told and takes a seat in the lobby. Max rings on the small bell in front of her, signaling for service. Soon enough, a short middle-aged Man makes his way over to Max.
"Well, howdy there young lady, how may I help you tonight?" He says, voice coated with a southern drawl. "Uh..how much would it cost to rent a room for one night?'' Max says softly, twiddling with her thumbs. "It's 45.99 For one night." The teller booms, slightly readjusting his name tag.
Max and the teller converse for a while slowly, before Max eventually pays for the room and the teller goes off to collect the room key. While she waited for the teller to return Max could hear her stomach growling audibly, making her scan around the lobby to make sure no one had heard.
"Food will definitely be a top priority tomorrow." Max thinks to herself, slightly regretting her choice not to grab a snack back at the gas station.
Soon though the teller returns, and hands Max the room key. Max makes her way back over to Chloe in the lobby. It appeared as though Chloe had dozed off, while waiting for Max to return. Her beanie covering her eyes , while her head slumped in her own hand. Max giggles upon noticing this and smiles, before shaking Chloe awake.
"Come on Chloe, wake up...I've got our room..." Max says, tapping Chloe on the shoulder.
"Huh?...oh, right..." Chloe bellows groggily, staggering to her feet. Pretty soon both girl's make their way up the stairs and up to the room. Once they entered the hallway, Max locks eyes on their room, room 12. She walks up to it and unlocks it, allowing Chloe to enter first. It was a small room, one bed, one bathroom, and a small balcony.
Neither Chloe and Max seemed to Mind though, they were simply too tired to care. Both girl's strip into their under clothes and hop into to the bed simultaneously, staring into each other eyes.
"Hey Max.." Chloe mutters out, before yawning loudly.
"Yes, Che.."
"Why did you choose this?" Chloe says.
"Choose what?"
"To save me..you know I'm not worth it..." Chloe utters, the sadness in her voice obvious.
"Yes you are Chloe, You're my best friend...I couldn't let you die...again...I just couldn't.." Max peeps out, this conversation becoming very heart wrenching.
"But a lot of good people are dead Max...A hella lot...all because of me still being here..." Chloe groans, making Max's heart drop for the hundredth time today.
"Look Chloe..I made this choice, not you...how about we just get some rest for now...we can talk about this tomorrow."
"Guess your right about that, Max...good night."
"Good night Chloe."
And with that Max and Chloe allowed themselves to be taken over by the power of sleep. Seattle would be waiting for them.
