Hey guys, I hope you are doing well today. There are some spoilers for episode 3 in this chapter, just in case you haven't played it.

Enjoy

Chapter Four: Led by My Instinct

My body instinctively leads me to the Two Whales Diner, supposedly somewhere I frequented in life. Being here seems to cause Chloe a great deal of delight, her face breaking out into a huge toothy grin and her azure eyes sparkling, "Dude, I haven't been here in forever. You really know how to treat a girl. Do you remember we used to come here like all the time?"

I shrug, hoping that going inside will jog some memories for me. As we enter, vague memories previously buried deep in the depth of my mind resurface. It hasn't changed much in here, except maybe looking more run down. A couple of the windows are boarded up, suggesting someone tried to bunker down here at some point. From the blood splatters on the floor, it is safe to assume that idea didn't hold up for very long.

Chloe cautiously checks the bathroom for any unwanted guests. As she does this, my legs move of their own accord to a booth, one I believe I favored in life. There is some sort of mathematical equation scratched onto the table. I brush my hand lightly over it, tracing the indentations fondly as I sit down. I have absolutely no idea what it means.

Her eyes flash with excitement as the implications of my claims sink in, "I want proof you can rewind time."

This is all a game to her, one I am happy to entertain.

After a few moments of shock, the mischievous twinkle in her eyes intensifies, "Maybe you even made a move on me and I would never know!"

My heart rate increases at her words and a very slight blush forms on my cheeks. I am unable to stop the smile tugging at my lips, "Yes, that's what I did."

"Earth to Max. Helloooooo? Maximo. Maxine," a hand is waved in front of my face, bringing me back to my senses. Chloe is now back from her perimeter search and has sat opposite me in the booth.

My mind finally catches up with what she had just said and my brow furrows in mild annoyance, "Max, n-never Maxine."

Her mischievous blue eyes flicker with amusement at my protests, "Glad to see some things never change," she gives the diner a once over and then props her chin on her hand as she gazes at me, "What were you thinking about?"

I slump back in the broken up chair and exhale, "Here… a conversation… about time."

Chloe grins at me, "When you showed me your powers? That was amazeballs."

I had powers? Was I a superhero? Now I'm a zombie. Am I just some really badly thought out amalgamation of action films?

Her admission makes my eyebrows raise in confusion and shock, "P-powers?"

She stares at me, her expression gentle and maybe even a little sad at the mention of powers, "Yeah, you saved me from being shot by rewinding time. Then you kept saving me. The universe really wanted me dead for some reason, but you wouldn't let it have me," a warm smile forms on her face at this moment as she gazes deeply into my pewter gray eyes, "Hey, can you still use them?"

That is a good question. Is there some sort of special incantation or movement I have to do?

I instinctively glance down at my right hand, trying to move my fingers. Ever since I died, I've found that my movements have been considerably restricted. I can't hold things without dropping them seconds later. I think I was clumsy in life, but this is a whole new level, "How… do I?"

Chloe places her boots on the table, "Uh, you just sort of raised your hand. I don't know if there is any special technique to it but give it a go."

I lift my hand in an attempt to reawaken my powers, but it doesn't work. I guess I can't have anything. Time traveling zombies sounds like some weird action film concept.

I shake my head at her and she shrugs, "It was worth a try at least. We can experiment a bit more later. For now though, let's find some food. I am starving."

After about half an hour and three crates of moldy food later we manage to find some cans and, much to Chloe's delight, a crate of beer. We carry it over to the booth and sit back down again.

Chloe takes out one of the beers, opens it and takes a sip, then offers me the bottle, "Do you want some?"

My nose wrinkles in disgust at the beer, "Gr-gross."

This appears to be a hilarious notion to Chloe, "Oh man you really haven't changed have you? Well, apart from the whole being dead thing. More for me I guess. It probably wouldn't do anything for you anyway."

She opens a can with a rusted knife and begins shoveling the contents into her mouth with little thought for etiquette. I find myself feeling a bit jealous of her being able to eat proper food, to enjoy its taste and to feel full for once. Us corpses never feel full, always in a constant state of emptiness. I miss this more than anything, that and the awareness of my heart beat. In life, this sensation made me feel uneasy, but when my heart ceased beating it left me feeling even emptier. Despite this, I feel content right now, more than I have in a long time. Is this what it was like before?

As Chloe finishes off her food she throws the can onto the floor and sudden grabs hold of my arm and tugs, "I have an idea."

I don't know why, but a sudden feeling of dread enters the pit of my stomach which suggests that Chloe's ideas usually end up going terribly wrong.

She lines up her shot, "Goodbye cruel bumper…" the gunshot pierces the air and she stumbles back as the bullet ricochets off the rusted metal straight into her chest, "Max back up."

"Th-that impish look… sc-scares me," I stutter, feeling very apprehensive about what she has planned. She ignores my worries and pulls me out of the diner like an overly-excited puppy going on its first walk. I dig my heels in just before we leave the diner and pull her back, "W-wait."

She raises an eyebrow in confusion, "What's up, Max?"

While we were messing around in the diner, a large number of Undead have congregated outside. If we just storm out of there like this, there is no way the others won't notice. I don't think I could fend off that many and I'm not sure if Chloe could outrun them. It's surprising how quickly the Dead can run when driven by their hunger, "Have to…have to act dead. Lots of corpses… not like me… not friendly… will eat you."

Her face lights up, delighted at the prospect of having to play dead, "Cool, this I can do. I've logged some serious hours on Dead Rising and I've watched Shawn of the Dead like a billion times. I've hella got this."

She is too excited about this and that worries me. As expected, she over-exaggerates way too much, her arms outstretched before her as she drags her feet with an almost comical gait and groans loudly. My hopes of this not drawing unwanted attention are soon dashed as one of my fellow undead side eyes her suspiciously.

I stumble over to her and pull on her sleeve to discreetly get her attention, "Chloe… t-tone it down… they'll n-notice."

Her face drops dishearteningly as she holds her hands up in defeat and mumbles under her breath, "Fine, whatevs, you're the zombie."

The rest of the journey goes relatively smoothly with the mass of rotting bodies not seeming to pay us much attention now Chloe's enthusiastic performance has been toned down a bit. I glance over at Chloe to see her face strained from trying not to smile so as to keep up her appearance of death. She looks like she's really enjoying herself, which is kind of cute to be honest. She does love trouble.

After a few moments of shuffling among the sea of groaning corpses, we finally stop in an alleyway. Before us sits a beat up yellow truck. It must have been here for some time if the thin layer of rust and the peeling paint are anything to go by. Chloe approaches it and glances over her shoulder, grinning at me, "Look Max, my truck. I'm surprised it's still here. Shall we go for a drive?"

"I-is that thing even drivable?" I ask, worried that it'd explode or something the second we get in it.

"Only one way to find out…" she grins and opens the passenger's side door for me. I anxiously sit on the seat and she shuts the door the second I am in. The inside is as much of a mess as the outside. Graffiti covers every inch of the metal frame and the dashboard has been turned into a graveyard of crumpled up soda cans and unpaid parking tickets. A charm hangs down from the mirror with a skull and feather.

Chloe slides into the seat beside me and digs out a key with a cute robot panda key chain attached to it, one that doesn't really seem to fit her otherwise punk rock aura. After a few unsuccessful attempts at starting the engine up and some choice curses from Chloe, the engine finally stutters to life. With a victorious grin, she pulls out onto the main street and we speed down the road, knocking over corpse after corpse on the way. She has played way too many games like GTA in her lifetime.

I can't help but grip on tightly to my seat, my body tensing, "S-slow down Chloe."

Chloe sighs and shakes her head at my caution, "Oh chillax Maximus. I've got this under control. Besides, you're dead so you don't have anything to worry about. If we crash and burn, you can't die again."

Her reassurances do little to help me feel better, "I'd… rather not… if it's all… the same to you. B-besides, I d-don't want to have to s-save your ass again."

She smirks smugly, raising an eyebrow suggestively at me, "Who wouldn't want to save my ass? It's my best quality."

"I-if you say so," I chuckle.

She feigns a hurt expression, "That was cold, Max. Don't you agree?"

How the fuck am I supposed to answer that?

I shift uncomfortably, "I… I guess."

Chloe scoffs at me unconvinced, "Knock it off, Caulfield. I've seen you staring."

"M-maybe."

Chloe goes uncharacteristically quiet and I glance over to see a conflicted expression on her face. When she finally speaks, her voice is low and emotionally drained, "Max, can you remember anything we found out about Rachel?"

Way to kill the mood, Chloe. Bringing up your ex, who I killed, ate her brain and may possibly have seen some of your 'personal' time together… by accident of course, is the perfect way to finish off your flirting.

I shake my head and her grip on the steering wheel tightens, her hands turn white due to the pressure, "We broke into Frank's RV and we found… pictures and letters. She… she had been cheating on me with Frank."

Ok, Max get your mind out of the gutter. This is serious. Focus.

Chloe sighs deeply, "It really hurt, you know. I knew she didn't want to be too serious about everything, but I thought she would at least be faithful or that she would break up with me before going off with someone else," she pauses for a minute, her expression shifting to one of anger and betrayal as her voice slowly rises in volume, "Fuck, she could have even checked if I was ok with an open relationship. I probably would have said yes because I loved her so fucking much. I'd have done anything for her. I died so many times trying to find her… you did too. I keep thinking back, replaying my time with her and I've got to wonder if she ever loved me… or was she just using me?" she freezes for a minute, her eyes widening with realization, "Maybe… maybe I was using her a bit too. When you left I needed someone to fill the empty void. Rachel was that person. Everything is just so complicated. Rachel was fun and all, but sometimes I wish she was more… like you," I stare at her, unblinking as she shakes her head, "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. It's not like it matters anymore. Rachel's gone. Let's just head back."

I move my hand to touch her arm, causing her to look over at me. I awkwardly pull her into a hug, one she gladly accepts. I just wish I had taken advantage of this while I was alive, while I could still…

"Max, not that I don't appreciate the hug or anything, but it's getting a little hard to drive like this."

I break apart from her and settle back down in my seat as we head on back to Blackwell.

Rachel is really clam-jamming Max :p Just like in the game. Things are starting to look up for Max though. Anyway, I'll be seeing you in the next chapter hopefully.