While the ideas are freshly swirling about in my head, and to build some momentum to keep writing, a second chapter for the story. As a note, I will likely do a lot of shorter chapters like these first two. It is a good way for me to not feel overwhelmed by having to finish a tome before posting my work, and keeps the process fun. That being said, I want to release things in logical chunks. So we'll see how things evolve once the story builds up enough steam to drive more exploration of the plot at hand.
Clear Skies,
Rylkan
Chloe was breathing hard by the time she reached the edge of the town. Despite the cool rain hanging in the air that spread across her skin as she moved, she was sweating hard and shaking slightly with exertion from the trek down the cliff side. Regardless of how light Max was, the hike along the uneven path and her usual apathy to exercise were catching up with her.
'Fucking cigarettes probably aren't helping either, Chloe' she thought to herself. 'Still going to treat myself to a carton of the good stuff if we get through this insanity, though.'
Looking at Max's head on her shoulder, she noticed that the torn scraps of shirt she had used to stem the flow of blood from the girls nose had become pretty extensively stained red. Her nosebleed wasn't stopping, and it didn't take a genius to see that holding this moment frozen in time was probably the cause of it. Chloe was getting increasingly worried about how much this was taking out of the girl on her back, judging by the pale pained look and the slight moans she was giving out. She wanted to help her friend, but not being sure what else she could do. She hadn't woken up when Chloe had tried speaking to her on the way down, and the doe only looked to get antsy and would beckon her to follow when she tried, So Chloe just tightened her grip on Max's thighs, leaned forward, and kept moving, making sure the girl wouldn't slip down her back as she trudged after the doe.
She could just see the doe about forty feet ahead of them through the rain. It seemed to be making its way slowly towards the beach along the wooded trail, foregoing the road that would lead them directly towards the town. With each passing moment as she followed the creature though, Chloe worried that whatever effect Max was having would end, and they would be caught in the path of the storm. Not really sure what else she could do though, she just kept going. Keeping a close eye on the weather and her friend for any sign of change. If needed, she would head back to get Max to safety instead of risking the town below. But without seeing any change, she would follow the insistent animals.
She could smell the beached whales long before she reached the part of the beach where they had been left to rot. As if passing through a sudden wall, the stench of their decaying bodies hit her. While it had begun to smell in the vicinity prior to the storm, the lack of any strong air flow in this pocket of time caused the scent to just hang over the area like a terrible blanket. Adjusting Max once more, she pulled the collar of her tank top with one hand to hang off of her nose in an attempt to filter out some of the smell. As she walked, she could hear Max moan in some discontent as well, but she wasn't sure how she could help the girl avoid the smell without letting go of her. Luckily, she saw that the doe was beginning to angle further inland, taking them away from the immediate vicinity of the creatures.
Looking up, she could see in the distance that their path seemed to be taking them directly towards the parking lot where she last saw Frank's RV, and right in the general vicinity of where she saw the hurricane make landfall. Picking up her pace, she avoided the massive bodies of the whales and found the shallowest part of the sand dune she could to climb up to reach the parking lot. She nearly fell a few times trying to keep a hold of a limp Max, but in the end she managed to crawl up to the top of the embankment, and was met with a rush of relief and disappointment at the empty space in front of her. 'At least Frank left before the storm made its way here.'
Despite her nerves during the encounter, she agreed with Max that it was better she hadn't had her gun on her at the time. While they had managed to patch things over with the surly drug dealer, it had been tense for a moment there and she wasn't sure how she would have responded if she had freaked out while holding the weapon. She hadn't expected to walk away earning some small gesture of good will from Frank, but a part of her that had kind of enjoyed his company when she got up to shit back in the day was glad for it. And to think he could have been taken by the storm would have left a deeper wound on her than she quite knew how to vocalize.
Shaking her head clear of her thoughts, she still wasn't sure why the doe had brought her here, though. The lot was empty aside from some large pieces of trash that hadn't blown away yet.
Looking for the creature, she spotted it heading up the drive towards where Chloe and Max had parked the truck before coming to meet Frank. Following after, she watched it head down a small pedestrian walking path up towards the town. After a few minutes of walking she could just make out the glint of metal and some darker material of something that was partially on and off the path about two hundred feet away. As she took notice of it, the doe pushed ahead, coming to stand beside it before watching her again. The butterfly that had been staying on her shoulder also took off and landed on the metal object. Standing in the distance, with the silence of this frozen moment hanging over the beach and the gray storm filled sky as a backdrop, the sight of the only two other living animals creatures just waiting for her to draw closer caused a slight chill to go down her spine.
"This is some freaky shit, Max" Chloe muttered before heading over. Looking down at the object, the odd chilling sensation went down her spine once again, though she wasn't sure why. All she was looking at was an abandoned high backed wheelchair. It seemed like it had been fancy once upon a time, but had seen better days. The headrest even had some strange metal rods sticking out of the head rest, though they appeared to be bent slightly, and she couldn't tell what they were originally designed for.
"What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?"
The butterfly flew back to her, this time landing on Max and keeping its wings open, as if to make a point. It took her tired mind to catch up before she let out a breath of surprise. "I can put Max in this?" The butterfly fluttered its wings once at the question. "Does that mean I can let go of her?" At this the doe shook its head a few times, seeming to indicate she shouldn't let go.
Chloe just looked back and forth between the two animals. "I can't believe I am talking to animals for help. What is this shit." Even though she said it, she was already positioning herself to lower Max down into the chair without letting go of her completely. Regardless of how strange this whole thing was, she was going to take what she could at the moment. She didn't know what was going on with Max or these animals, but if she had to carry the girl through the entire town she wasn't sure she would have made it. 'Thanks person who left this here.'
Having placed Max in the wheelchair, Chloe kept a hand on the girls shoulder before getting behind the contraption and gave it a hard push, just barely getting it to rise up fully onto the paved walkway. Once she got herself setup to try and push the wheelchair and keep a hand on Max, the butterfly flew up to land on her shoulder once more and the doe began to continue forward. Seeing no other direction to go, Chloe began pushing her friend after the animal, which was not headed in the direction of town.
She had almost made it to the end of the walkway where a ramp met up with the street above once more when she felt something wet on her face.
Looking up, she could see just a few of the raindrops that had been hanging in the sky begin a slow descent to the ground once more. Looking down at Max to see what was happening, she could see that the rags in her nose had gone from slowly filling with blood to being almost fully soaked through. The ends of the cloth dripping blood on to the front of her hoodie in a slow drip.
Panicked, Chloe began to look around to see what else was beginning to change, and her heart fell into her stomach as she could see the edge of the hurricane begin to slowly rotate once more.
Looking back at the lighthouse once, and then at the doe which had stopped to give her a very intent gaze, Chloe growled deep in her throat. Conflicted for a moment as to what to do.
"No...," she heard Max mutter in some discomfort as she dealt with whatever was happening in her head. Feeling the moisture built in the corner of her eyes at the stress of making a choice in the moment, Chloe just began to push the wheelchair faster towards the town. She still had time to try and get Max away if needed, but whatever this was had started because Max tried to save the town. And these animals were leading her there. She knew she owed it to her friend to try and figure out what was going on at the very least.
Either way, she knew her choice would have consequences.
And we'll leave the chapter there. Chloe is slowly working her way in to Arcadia bay with Max, trying to make sense of the strange circumstances she has found herself in. But we'll see how long she has before Max's powers give out or the storm catches up with them. And we'll see what the animals are guiding her towards soon.
In the meantime, please favorite or leave a review. I am already working on the next chapter, but its good motivation to see people are interested.
Ciao.