I do not own Life Is Strange or the characters or places from the game please support the official release
Chapter 4: Long Night of Sorrow
As the two girls left Chloe's house the sun was now setting. It is the golden hour Max thought to herself. She could not help but think about how she told the Chloe who was paralyzed about that. She also thought about how all the destruction and chaos from the storm looked in the light from the sun this time of day with that golden tint to it. At this time of day things could look so different yet the same. Max took some time think about the sunsets she had seen over the week as they walked. On Monday she was up by the lighthouse with Chloe while the snow had started. Then on Tuesday she was sitting on the front steps of the main building of Blackwell with Warren when that eclipse happened. As for Wednesday she was in an alternate reality with a Chloe who could not move from her neck down and was on the beach with her. Lastly yesterday she was at the junkyard when they had found Rachel's body. The thing she thought about most during this though was how all of these place looked so different during the sunset.
The brunette was soon brought back to reality as they passed a few more volunteers covering up some bodies of more people who did not make it. Max then began to have tears form in her eyes again.
In a vague attempt to help comfort Max Chloe moved herself closer to the scene to cover it from Max's view. But she knew that this action alone would not be enough to stop her from crying. It hurt Chloe to see the smaller girl in pain like this.
The walk to the hospital was mostly in silence. The two of them had not really said anything to one another. Instead just walking side by side staying close to each other. Finally after a while of silence Chloe spoke up "It was weird seeing David that way you know?"
Somewhat confused Max asked "How so?"
In a low tone the blue haired girl responded "You know, being nice and not an asshole."
Taking note of the low tone in her voice the smaller girl said "I can see what you mean Chloe. But if you can get past his paranoia he does not seem that bad. He even saved me in another timeline." That last sentence was said with a heavy heart.
After a moment Chloe told her "I know Max. I know he saved you. But it is just hard to trust him. There have been a few times where he had gotten a little too angry and I pushed him a little too far and he hit me. So yeah I am just going to have some trouble accepting that as how he really is."
Hearing this had mortified Max. She had known that on the day they first reunited that she had witnessed David hit Chloe once but she just rewound it and took the blame for the weed so that he did not hit Chloe. Hearing that David had done it at least a few more times prior to that though made Max not regret making Joyce make him leave. It seems like David really does need to make some changes she thought. Realizing that she had been looking at Chloe for a few moments looking dumb founded she finally told her "Chloe I am so sorry you had to go through that. I had saw it once but I took it back."
"What when?" Asked Chloe.
Max told her "The day we first reunited. I hid in the closet and stayed there the first time. But when I saw him hit you I had to rewind and take it back I could not stand to see that happen to you."
All Chloe could muster to say was "Wow Max, thanks."
Max told her "I do not like the thought of anyone hurting you Chloe."
Hearing this made Chloe feel happy. She stopped and pulled Max in for a tight hug. She wanted this moment with Max to last forever but she knew that they had to keep moving and get to the hospital to be with Joyce. When they started on their way again they were silent.
As they walked Chloe could not help but ponder what this thing with Max was actually considered. Yes they were friends but were they going to be more. They did share a kiss before Max ripped the photo up but she also withdrew her hand from Chloe's when they ran into Kate at the hospital earlier. Chloe also noticed that they stopped holding hands when they met up with Joyce. She knew that Max had feelings for her she clearly did considering the fact that she just chose her over the town but were they more than just the feelings of being friends. Chloe was not sure how to look at this situation. But little did she know was that Max was also contemplating where there relationship status stood at.
When the girls finally reached the hospital the sun was almost completely set for the evening. There was little time left before the light outside would be from the moon. The hospital appeared to be even more busy than it was when they had stopped by earlier. They were somewhat relieved to see that at least a good number of injured people had made it here. The first person they ran into was David who seemed to be on his way out.
As he approached them David spoke up "It is good to see you two made it here." Upon seeing him Max could not help but think about what Chloe had told her on the way here. After a moment he resumed "Chloe when I got your mother here they took good care of her. They put her arm in a cast and checked her leg out. It looks as if her leg has got a few minor cracks in the bone but nothing too serious, she should be able to walk fine in just a few days. She is asleep right now. They have her in a room on the third floor in room 319."
The blue haired girl responded "That is good to hear. By any chance do you know what happened with Frank?"
Taking a brief moment to sigh David told her "Chloe his leg was in really bad shape. They had to rush him into an emergency surgery room and they are still working with him. Other than that the only thing I know is that his dog is tied up out back."
In a somewhat agitated tone Max asked him "Where are you going? You seem like you were on your way somewhere."
David said "I have to go to the station to see if they need any help and I have to give a more detailed report on what happened at that bunker with Jefferson."
With that being said he left shortly after that. The two stood there for a few minutes examining their surroundings. Eventually Chloe told Max "I guess at some point we should probably go and check on Pompidou for Frank, maybe feed him to."
"Sure." Max responded.
As they began their way to get to Joyce's room she was in they ran into Stella who was sitting next to Brooke. Max could not tell what was wrong but noticed that Brooke had a bandage on her head. Stella looked to be unharmed in any way though. Even though she had ran into a few others she knew earlier for some reason she did not want to go and confront them. She just stood there frozen. Chloe nudged her to get her attention.
Chloe asked the smaller girl "Hey are you alright?"
Max told her "Yeah I just see two people I go to school with."
The blue haired girl then asked "Should we not go and check on them then."
A moment later Max responded "We should but I just do not know how or what to say to them."
Chloe told her in a calm and soothing voice "Hey it is ok, you can take your time. No need to rush it will be alright. No one expects you to be all up and up. From the looks of it at least one of them have been through some stuff."
Max said "That is not helping. I can see that something happened to Brooke and I have already dealt with some people that I hurt and it was a lot to handle."
The two stood off to the side for a few moments with Chloe patting the smaller girl on the back. After a minute they finally began to make their way to Stella and Brooke. As they approached they noticed that Stella had a few scratches on her arms and face but other than that she looked as if nothing had happened. One thing Chloe could not help but notice was that it was hard to see the red strands of hair Brooke had because of the bandage one her head.
Max greeted quietly "Hey Brooke and Stella, are... are you guys ok?"
Stella responded "Hey Max I am ok."
Taking a moment Brooke said "I guess my head still hurts though."
Max then hesitantly asked "Um what happened? That is if you do not mind me asking."
Brooke explained "Well me and Stella were outside with my drone when the storm hit. We were not too far from the hospital but we were a little ways away. We were just out and about killing time when out of nowhere everything went dark. As the tornado approached we were making our way here when a small piece of debris came and hit me in the head. At first I did not think I was hit that badly I felt like nothing was wrong. But when we got here I passed out." Her head was now giving her more pain so she had to stop.
Stella then finished the story for her "When she passed out when we got here there were still a few doctors out making sure everyone had made it to the basement. One of them helped me get her down there. Once we were down there they did a short examination on her and concluded that she had a concussion. We were lucky we got here when we did. It was not too bad of one they did what little they could to help while we were down there but they could not do much until the storm ended. Once it had ended they brought her to a room up here and helped her more. She woke up about an hour ago. They have been sending someone to check on her every so often but needed the room for someone with some sort of leg injury."
Max responded quietly "I am so sorry."
After a moment of silence Chloe asked Stella "So how did you get those scratches?"
Taking a moment to examine her arms Stella spoke up "Well the one on my head I got from hitting my head on a door last night. I was at the party for a long time last night and it was really late when I got back to my dorm and I was tired and did not realize that I was opening my dorm room door right in my face. As for the ones on my arms while Brooke was being examined after the storm I went to go help some of the volunteers for a short while and while I was out I got scratched up helping get someone out from some ruble."
In this moment a nurse came up to check on Brooke to see how she was doing. After a few minutes of observing and a few questions the nurse told her "Ok Miss Scott you seem to be doing rather well the headache is normal you just need to not use your brain too much and try to stay as calm as possible. We are working on getting a room for you to use for the night as you will need some rest soon."
Brooke replied in a distant tone "Thank you."
Shortly after the nurse left Max looked at Stella and told her "It is good that you are here for her."
Stella told her in a somewhat optimistic tone "I think we all need someone right now."
A few moments later the girls all said good bye to each other. Max and Chloe walked down the hall a bit before they said anything to each other.
The two girls approached an area that had a lot of people crowding around a desk. They could hear people asking about where loved ones were at and what was wrong with them and how could they help. Chloe knew where her mother was but she did also for some reason felt that she should try to find out how Frank was doing.
The blue haired girl looked at the brunette and asked her "Do you mind if I see if I can find out how Frank is doing?"
"Are you sure?" Max asked her.
With a little confusion in her voice the punk responded "I am not sure how to explain it but I feel like I need to know how he is doing."
After a moment Max said "I understand. We might also want to check on his dog for him at some point."
Chloe laughed a little at this. She said "Oh, I almost forgot about that mangy mutt." She laughed a little more now. After her little laughter spiel she took notice of how pale Max looked. She asked her "Hey are you alright? You look like you are about to pass out."
Max told her "I am ok, just a little tired. I just need a minute."
Chloe put her right hand on Max's left shoulder and told her "Ok you just sit here for a minute. I will go and see if I can find anything out about Frank and be right back."
The brunette nodded as she leaned against a wall. Chloe then looked back at the desk surrounded by a mass amount of people. As she looked around Chloe noticed that there was only one person at the desk and he was swamped with people asking him things. She tried to see if she could get close to even attempt to ask him anything but was stopped at all advances. She did how ever notice that a nurse came and whispered something to the man behind the desk. Immediately after the nurse disappeared behind a door behind the desk. Shortly after she emerged with a tray filled with some medical tools and a few other small things. Chloe figured she might as well try to see if she could find anything out from this nurse.
When Chloe approached the nurse she asked "Hi I am sorry to bother you but do you happen to know anything about Frank Bowers?"
The nurse asked back in a hastily tone "Is he that scruffy looking man who came in with the crushed leg and kept going on about some dog?"
"Yeah that is him." The blue haired girl replied.
The nurse told her "I will tell you when I get back I need to get these things to his surgery room like five minutes ago so please hold on."
As the nurse rushed off Chloe made her way back to Max and informed her that she had no new info just yet. After a few minutes the nurse came back and approached the two girls.
After the nurse greeted them she told Chloe "Mr. Bowers's leg is in really bad condition. He will still be in surgery for quite some time. At this time it is still not guaranteed that his leg can be saved. However the doctors are doing what they can for him. I am also having to get a room ready for him for when he does get out of surgery. He will be in room 426."
Chloe replied "Thank you for the information." The nurse just nodded before she went back to her duties.
Chloe then looked at Max and gave her a small smirk. She told Max "Well mom is still going to be asleep for at least another hour. I know she must be tired but knowing her she cannot nap that long, she will be awake again for at least a little while here in a bit. Also Frank is going to be in surgery for a while."
Taking a moment to think Max told her "I guess we should go check on his dog for him."
Chloe responded "Yeah probably. That dog is probably going crazy without Frank. We might as well try to get him some food as well."
When the two girls saw how pact the cafeteria was they decided to go with what they had done to get a snack for the dog the other day, go through the trash. It took the girls a few minutes to get outside to go look around the back of the hospital for Pompidou. When they found him the dog was chained up to a small post that was not too far from a door. The dog seemed agitated but calmed down and got excited to see Max and Chloe. The dog tried to run to them but the chain stopped them. As the girls approached them Pompidou rubbed against Chloe's left leg. After a minute the dog went to Max and she started to pet his head. While Max was messing with the dog Chloe went to go and look to see if she could find something for him to snack on in the nearby dumpsters. After a few minutes Chloe got lucky and found a few half eaten chicken pieces. As she gave the dog the pieces of chicken the two girls watched the dog eat.
In this moment Max asked Chloe "Hey Chloe are you ok?"
A little stunned Chloe asks back "Um, what do you mean? I should be asking you that."
After a sigh Max replied "I am just worried. You seem to be okay but I know it must be getting to you some degree more than you show."
After a sigh of her own Chloe told her "It is like I told you earlier, it is getting to me. I am just pushing it aside for now to come to terms with everything and to be strong for you. Besides I think you have been through it worse than all of us. You had to make a decision that no one should ever have to make so how are you doing?"
Max said "I honestly do not know Chloe. I am still coming to terms with it but I just do not know, not yet at least." Pompidou had just finished eating and made his way back to them. They both sat there and pet him for a few more minutes before they went to go back inside to go and check on Kate and see if anyone else has shown up.
When the girls were done seeing Frank's dog and went back inside they had made their way to the second floor and ran into Justin who was leaning against a door. They took notice that the room number was 215.
As Chloe waved at him she called out "Hey Justin."
Justin looked up and saw the two girls approaching him and he gave a small wave. When the two made their way to him he said "Hey Chloe, hey Max.
It is good to see you guys are ok."
The blue haired girl replied "It is good to see you ok to. Are you alright?"
Justin then explained "To be honest I was not entirely sure what happened until recently. Last night I got so our of it at the party It was crazy. Apparently I got so blazed that someone convinced me that there was this new all night skate park like somewhere outside of the bay so I attempted to hitched a ride out of town for the night. Unfortunately it was a cop that saw I was clearly high and carrying a small amount of weed on me. It was officer Berry who caught me. So he took me to the station for the night and I stayed there. I passed out and came to in the midafternoon the storm had already passed. So officer Barry let me go and told me to give up weed but I think we know that won't happen soon. Anyway Dana called me and told me my boy Trevor was in here and he got hurt during the storm so I came here."
Max asked "Where is Dana? How is she doing?"
Justin told her "I think she is holding up ok. She is in the cafeteria getting some food right now, she has been gone a while she should be back soon."
Chloe chimed in "You are lucky it was Barry who got you. Someone else might not have let you go."
This made Justin laugh some then he responded "Yeah, I guess I got lucky. Man I could use some time to blaze right about now."
Laughing a little herself Chloe told him "Yeah I hear that. But I do not think now would really be a good time dude."
"I suppose you are right. Besides I'm kind of out at the moment anyway."
A few minutes passed by as the three of them were seeing how they were doing. Soon after they see Dana approaching.
As she approached she said "I'm sorry if I knew you two would have been here I would have gotten you guys something."
Max told her "That is ok Dana we are going to get some food later. We just kind of ran into Justin here. Um, can you tell us how Trevor is doing?"
After a small sigh Dana looked at Justin and asked him "Did you not tell them?"
He responded "Hey they asked me how I was doing and if I got hurt. I told them what happened to me and how I found out what all happened. Also I can honestly say I did not understand what that chart said."
Taking a moment to let out another sigh Dana then looked back to Max and Chloe and told them "Well the doctors said that Trevor has three broken ribs and a few torn muscles. They are saying he can recover from this but it will take quite some time. He has been put on a machine to help him breath.
As for now he is still sleeping. Other than that there is not much to say."
All Max could think to say was "I hope he does recover soon. Remember if there is anything I can do let me know."
"Thank you Max, you are a god friend." Dana told her then handed the tray of food to Justin so she could hug Max.
The duo of Max and Chloe spent another few minutes with Dana and Justin making sure they were ok and did not need anything else at the time before they moved on. When they did finish and leave they began to make their way to the third floor to go and check on Joyce.
As they reached the third floor they noticed that this floor was not as pact as the other floors but still had a decent amount of people on it. They soon noticed Kate was approaching them.
"Hi Kate." Max said.
Kate told them "It is good to see you guys again. Oh Chloe your mother is Joyce right? I just got done checking on her, she is worried sick about you and Max. She was talking about getting out of her bed to come and search for you. But I told her that I heard from Stella and Brooke that you two were already here."
Hearing this Chloe took a moment to look at the clock on the wall to her right and saw that is was now seven at night. A little surpised at how much time had passed since they arrived back at the hospital She thanked Kate and told Max "Hey Max I will go and check on mom before she freaks. Come and see her when you are done talking with Kate remember room 319."
Max had a sad look on her face but knew that she should give Chloe and her mother some time alone. She then told Chloe "Ok I will be there soon."
Chloe told her "Ok see you in a few." Before she walked away she gave Max one of her signature smirks.
When Chloe left Max turned her attention back to Kate. Max then asked her "How are you doing Kate?"
Kate replied "I am doing ok I suppose. I got to talk to a few others after you guys left. I talked with Dana about Trevor, it is sad what happened to him but she is lucky he was there and cares so much for her. I also got to talk to Stella and Brooke it is good that her concussion was not that bad." Kate's tone became lower as she said the next things she found out about. "I also saw them bring Warren in. It is so horrible that he lost one of his eyes. But the worst is that I heard about Alyssa it was hard to hear that she did not make it."
Hearing all of this made the guilt that Max feel pile up even more than it has been. Max now had tears in her eyes yet again but could not help it. Seeing as how Max was crying Kate pulled her in for a hug. After a few minutes Max finally had it in her to aske Kate "Kate I have to ask, are you doing ok?
I mean you know after everything you went through this week."
"Oh." Kate said with a little surprise in her voice. Taking a moment to ponder her thoughts she responded "I see why you ask that Max. I know that it must seem like I would have a relapse after everything that has happened but I assure you, after you talked me down from that roof I fell as if I have some sort of purpose again. You showed me that people do care about me again."
Max assured her "People do care about you Kate, Even if they are really bad about showing it."
Kate let out a teary "Thank you Max."
The two of them sat there for a few more minutes full of crying and just seeing how each other was holding up. In the meantime Chloe had made it to the room that her mother was in.
As Chloe enter room 319 she was greeted by her mother looking up to catch her and give her a bright smile. When the blue haired girl shut the door Joyce told her "Finally you made it. I was beginning to get worried about you and Max. Where is she?"
Chloe then gave her mother one of her signature smirks then replied "It is good to see you to mother. Max is talking with her friend Kate before she comes here. Oh and I am fine by the way."
Letting out a small sigh Joyce said "Chloe please do not pick a fight right now. I was just wondering because it made me so happy to see the both of you safe and sound earlier that is all."
The punk had to laugh a little at this she could not help but mess with her mother at least a little bit. After she finished laughing she told her "I am just messing with you mom. I know it made you happy to see us ok earlier. But seriously are you doing ok."
Joyce said "I am doing the best I can I suppose. It seems as if hard times just can't keep away from us Price women can they hun?"
"You can say that again." Chloe replied. The punk then grabbed a chair from the far corner of the room and set it next to the bed that her mother was in.
As she set down set let out a sigh.
Her mother asked her "Sweetie how are you doing, you seem like something is on your mind."
After a moment Chloe responded "I am ok I suppose. I am just worried about Max." She knew that she could not tell her mother the real reason she was worried about Max but had to say something since she went this far. "It seems like the storm has riled her up way more than me, you know?"
Joyce told her "Max is a tough girl, she will get through this. It does seem though like she has a lot on her mind though."
"You could say that again." Chloe agreed back.
Max then walked in and saw the two of them sitting next to each other. The brunette was greeted by the two of them smiling at her. Joyce called out "Hey there munchkin."
Max replied "Sorry it took me so long to get her Joyce. I ran into a friend from Blackwell and she wanted to catch up on the day."
"That is ok sweetie." Joyce told her.
After a minute Chloe spoke up "I am going to give you two sometime. I need to go and have a small smoke break."
As Chloe was leaving she stopped and put her hand on Max's shoulder and gave her a smirk. Max did not want Chloe to head out on her own for a smoke break but she knew that she stressed out and needed some space. She then turned her gaze to Joyce was patting her hand on the chair next to her signaling for Max to sit next to her.
Joyce then asked Max "Sweetie how are you doing?"
Max responded "I am ok I suppose."
After a moment Joyce then said "Munchkin just so you know Chloe is worried about you. She told me you seem as if there is a lot on your mind and I can tell by your look on your face that there is."
Hearing this Max knew that she could not tell Joyce everything. She had to think about what to say to not make her sound crazy. So much has happened this week and all of it was so crazy. Max then felt Joyce nudge her shoulder. The photographer then said "It is just that so much crazy shit has happened this week that it is all just so much to take in."
Joyce said "It has been one hell of a week."
While Chloe was outside and light her cigarette she began to think about things. She was contemplating how Max was handling all these things. She also began to ponder how her mother was actually taking all of this in. She also thought about some of the crazy shit that has happened this week. She was taking slow long drags of her cigarette. Letting out long slow plumes of smoke as she exhaled.
One thought however crept in her mind that she had not thought about since yesterday. That thought was the fate of Rachel Amber that her and Max had discover just yesterday. Different feeling began to swell within her. It had only been one day since she had found out that Rachel was actually gone for good.
This fact hit Chloe hard. She began to cry while she thought of some of the times she had with Rachel. But at the same time she could not help but think about her feelings for Max. She could not help but doubt if they were real or if they were just that of someone who had just lost someone so special to them.
This thought made Chloe feel sick. She knew that she loved Max but did not want to have this feeling of guilt about her being used as a rebound or just something to help get over Rachel. She wanted her time with Max to be special and last.
Chloe then began to think about how Max was acting. She knew that Max cared about her hell she condemned a whole town to save her. But she could not shake this weird feeling she had in the back of her head. What was with that kiss they shared back at the light house? She seemed like she liked it and even wanted it. But throughout the rest of the day Max seemed to retreat when someone would look at them. Could it be that she was embarrassed. Thinking about that made the blue haired girl think Max was even cuter. But then she thought about what if this is not what Max wants. This thought mortified Chloe.
She wanted to do everything she could to help Max but she also wanted to be with Max.
As the bud of her cigarette was burning out she dropped it to the ground and smashed it out with her right boot. She then dried her eyes with her left hand and then made her way back inside.
When she made it back to her mother's room they all decided that they could use some food. Her and Max went to the cafeteria to go and get some food they ended up with some ham sandwiches.
While they were eating Joyce asked "Are you two enjoying your sandwiches?"
Max quickly answered "It is ok but nothing compared to anything you cook."
Laughing a little Joyce conceded "Well when I get out of here I will make you both a special dinner."
Chloe then told her mother "Just so you know we have to get most of the windows in the house fixed. Also just a little work on the house to."
Joyce replied "It is that bad huh?"
While looking at Max Chloe said "It could be worse.