Chapter 14 I Don't Belong Here

April 2nd, 2014

10:40 AM

Pilon Lajas, Bolivia

Cusco Outskirts

As the gate is open and the wheel is turned down opening it, the two of us with Mendoza and men step back out into the Cusco field of ruins are an enormous statue appears out of nowhere that must've been activated with the aqueducts. Must be our one-way ticket to reach the Parque Forest and finding the third fragment to the Elysium Forge.

"Holy shit," said Cayce.

"Actually, that's a holy cow," I said.

"What is it?" Mason asked. "Where did that thing come from?"

"That's Huascar," I answered. "Huayna's successor and gatekeeper. That's got to be the entrance to the old capital."

"It had to be triggered by the aqueducts," thought Cayce.

"Yep."

"Mendoza, why don't you and your men resume back to your mission while we continue ours of our own. It'll be up to us find that third fragment now."

"My men are open to fire support if you really need it, Corporal," said Mendoza.

"Rachel and I can work quicker on our own. We've made it this far doing so. We can make it even further. Wish us luck."

"As you wish, Corporal. Mudarse!"

Mendoza, Mason, and Rivera split from us with the rest of their fire team to continue onward with their mission so Cayce and I would continue ours alone. Still wondering why Cage wasn't with them. They may be hiding something about him which was what I was afraid of.

I pull out my binoculars to scope out the field we drove through. Our four by four was still in the same spot we parked. Meaning the choppers haven't picked it up yet. At least we could continue using it to drive around here like before.

When scanning the field through the binocular lenses, I spot Alvarez again. The man who attacked us back at the aqueducts who seriously hits his fighters real hard even for women. Even strangles real hard as I would've suffocated death if it weren't for Cayce's interception.

The brutal Bolivian warmonger himself was seen with his men lined by his APC truck he tempted to shoot us down with. He was also seen with Ranikov and Almagro. They all appeared to be waiting for someone coming out of the vehicle they were lined up by. But who?

Not only were they lined up by the vehicle, but they were already making way for the entrance inside the Huascar statue to get to the capital city of Lima. Giving them the head start before us.

"Ah, shit," I said. "Alvarez is already heading inside."

"Okay, well, better get down there," said Cayce. "C'mon."

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

When watching Alvarez through the scopes, it became clear who they were waiting for. It was revealed they had been waiting for Captain Cage who was now Alvarez's captive. Restrained by his wrist behind his back with two rebels holding him by the arms. That is why Cage wasn't with Mason and Mendoza!

"Captain Cage," I say in shock. "He's being held captive by Alvarez!"

I put my binoculars down in frustration. Was this what they were hiding from me the whole time?

"Yeah…about that," said Cayce hesitantly. "Um…"

"About what?" I asked. "About what?!"

"Rachel…"

"What?"

"Cage's kind of the reason why we're here in the first place."

"Excuse me?"

"The Elysium Forge wasn't the only objective to the mission. Rescuing cage was another task as well."

"No, you better be joking!"

"This was our deal. Cage was doing recon with Mason and Mendoza until he was captured by the insurgency."

"Oh shit."

"Crosby didn't tell you this part because he told me and everyone else to keep it classified until-"

"You knew Cage was captured and you kept this from me?! And so did Crosby?! And everyone else?!"

"We had orders to keep the secondary objective classified until-"

I throw a punch at Cayce for lying to me like everyone else. Striking him off his feet on the ground like a dummy. I don't care if I kept secrets from Chloe and my parents too. I'm the only person drawing breath who's been told more lies all her life than anyone else breathing in my presence. And now Cayce has to be on my list of BFLs too. Asshole. Fucking bastard!

Cayce tried to get himself up and held his nose that had a bruise on it where I stroke it. He deserves it.

"Don't hold back or anything," said Cayce holding his nose.

"Oh, I did!" I snapped.

"You know what, Rachel? This doesn't change anything. The main objective still stands."

"Yeah?! Or maybe you, Cage, and Crosby don't even care about the forge!"

"Come on, Rachel. That's not how we operate."

"That's exactly how your type operates!"

Cayce turned his head to me with his nose bruise. Looking offended about what I just said. Piss off.

"And to think I not only trusted Crosby, but I trusted you. God…what is wrong with this world! Why is everyone in my life allergic to telling me the truth! First Dad, then you, and now Crosby too?! Ugh! This never gets old! Fuck me and fuck my life!"

"Listen, Rachel. You're overreacting! I was going to tell you about Cage! I swear, I was just waiting for the right time to-"

"No, fuck off, Cayce! I am sick and tired of everyone in my life lying to my face! I'm all done trusting everyone! Stay away from me! I'll deal with this mission myself!

"Rachel! Rachel!"

I make a run for the jeep, hop straight in, and drive off without the lying fucker. Cayce ran after calling for me to come back, but not in time before I could outrun his ass and leave him behind on the jeep.

As I drive the vehicle away deserting Cayce for good and taking on the mission by myself, I can't stop thinking about how much it hurts to be lied to by everyone I thought I cared about. Did Cayce also lie to me at my apartment that night we had dinner? Was it all just an act pretending that I felt special to him? And did Crosby also lie to me about what would happen if I agreed to the bargain of this mission? I don't get this world at all!

Why can't anyone just have the bravery to tell me the fucking truth when I need it! Or is it because I didn't have the courage to tell Chloe or my step-mom and murderous dad how I felt about Frank and Jefferson, I'm being punished for that by being lied to back. As if I'm no superior than the people who lied to me just to put a smile on my face, I don't even know what telling the truth is any longer.

I'm so furious at Cayce, I stopped the gas peddle hard enough to drive faster than a drag racer. Recklessly driving into enemy territory. I almost want to cry about being lied to by a young man I slept with and made out with thinking I could trust him and really care about. But nope, my world hasn't changed. As if there's even one good reason to brought back to the land of the living more than coming back to the people I loved, it would be severe honesty. And yet I'm denied that deserve.

I begin to break down a tear or two driving real fast. Why did I accept this mission? Why couldn't I just run from Chrysalis back to Arcadia Bay and tell the world Rachel Amber lives? Why couldn't I just be left to decay in that junkyard where I was buried? Am I better off dead avoiding the lies I'm told than cheating death living them? Who cares about LA. Maybe it really would have killed me anyways.

Even if I did just show myself to Chloe and Frank alive and well, they're probably already hurt about my death as they are. Even if I did just show myself to my deceitful parents, they would be in denial I'm alive as I bet my treacherous father didn't even remotely tried to find out what happened to me as much as Chloe did.

Maybe Jefferson was right. He gets in my head thinking to be quenched with more bullshit and not moments later do I realize Cayce and Crosby had to be deceivers too. Perhaps you still are the young naïve little girl you once were, Rachel. You really must be to believe the two could be trusted case in point. Not that I ever trusted Crosby to begin with, I really had higher hopes for Cayce that alas have all been dashed. I should've died in that dark room when I did and stayed dead when I could've.

It was still cloudy outside and now it started to rain. Dropping of rain water were now pouring and I was about to get wet for the trillionth time on this mission. Why couldn't we pack raincoats in this four-wheeler? Plus, it was thundering out and a flash of lightning sparked in my eyes. Nice weather we're having for a sad little broken up about being lied to by her soldier boyfriend. Or should I call him ex-boyfriend?

When driving across the muddy surfaces made by the rain on the grass terrain, I had seen where the aqueducts picked up here. Following the road to Huascar's statue. Huayna's successor and gatekeeper. Though my mind was too preoccupied about Cayce and Crosby's fibs to concentrate on my little tour guide to the old capital, the channels of the aqueducts is where I drove the jeep to follow them. The ones that raised Huascar statue.

I was now driving back into the ruins where the old structures and lookout tower was that I used to spot the three fortresses. But before I drove and further, an enemy vehicle was driving towards me to ram me. It was Alvarez's APC vehicle patrolling the zone and it was about to the jeep. The pace was occurring so quickly, I had little to no time to react in time at all.

The armored vehicle hit the side my jeep on impact just like that truck that killed Chloe's dad six years ago. Causing the jeep to be driven of it's wheels flip over into a totaled hunk of metal. And then I blackout again in the crash.

My body has fallen limp inside under the totaled vehicle. Where my consciousness slowly regains, my nostrils smell burning, and my ears hear voices of rebels outside. When I'm conscious again, things have already turned disastrous.

I cough out the smoke I inhale from whatever was burning and I can feel the heat warming up my eyes like an oven. I could see myself trapped under the car that flipped upside down and totaled. The burning was coming from the dashboard, the whole car was about to blow, I was about to die in this crash. I needed a way out of here quickly.

Before I could bust my way out, the rebels outside did it for me. The El Eterno soldiers tore open the passenger door behind me, pulled me out of the car, and tossed me to the ground out in the wet rain. There were three rebels who had come out of Alvarez's truck and one of them kicked me in the abdomen as I whaled in pain. Now it was just me and three of Alvarez's insurgent thugs toying with me. Way to go, Rachel. You're really going to get yourself killed now.

"Que hace una chica aqui sola? (What's a girl doing here all alone?)" A rebel asked the others.

"No es esta la chica que vimos antes con Alvarez? (Isn't this the girl we saw earlier with Alvarez?)" Another rebel asked his fellow comrades.

Understanding Spanish, these were the same Rebels who were with Alvarez back at the aqueducts since they were the ones commandeering his truck. I gradually get myself up and lye back with my bottom and dirty hands sitting on the mud. Considering the mood I was in, if these assholes laid another finger on me, I'd kill them all.

"Por que no la llevamos a Alvarez? (Why don't we take her to Alvarez?)" Another rebel said. "Ella puede tener algo que queremos. (She may have something we want.)"

Before the rebel could reach for my pocket, I still had my pistol with me. I reached for it and aimed at the three enemigos.

"No te acerques a mi!" (Don't come near me!) I snapped at the rebels with my gun in hand. Speaking in Spanish to them. "Tocame y te matare a todos!" (Touch me and I'll kill all of you!)

The rebels are intimidated, but one of them laughs.

"La chica habla nuestro idioma (The girls speaks our language)," said the rebel. "No creo que tenga agallas para usar su arma (I don't think she has the guts to use her weapon)."

To show the asshole who he was fucking with, I shoot him in the kneecap and then straight in the chin. Then I shoot the next asshole dead in the heart. And then the last asshole kicks my gun out of my hand and pins me to the ground to stab me with his arm knife. I hold the knife ready to impale me through the eyes against the grasp of my opponent.

The rebel and I kept wrestling the knife between one another. As I struggled for dear life, there was a piece metal torn from the crash that I could use to defend myself against my strangling opponent. The piece had been the bumper of the car. I reach my hand for it as hard as I can while succumbing from the strength of my opponent until my fingers touch the bumper and I swing it towards my opponent. Striking him in the head knocked away from me.

I'm up on my feet ready to strike again with my bumper weapon. My opponent is about to get up too. His knife was on the ground in between us. I was getting ready to strike him again with my bumper. He was getting ready to reach for his knife and stab me. The same way Damon did so when I attacked him four years ago. Only this time, I know how to properly fight to avoid getting impaled through the arm pit again.

The man counters my swing with the bumper and I kick his arm away before could grab his knife. Which is what I could've done with Damon if I had fought better. I should've killed that fucker before he could help Dad kill Sera.

I finish my opponent off by headbutting him and strike him in the head again with my bumper. Breaking his counter. I hit him in the face with my metal melee weapon multiple times while he was pinned to the ground and kept on hitting him repeatedly until his face was redder than a rose. Once I finished killing my opponent, I caught my breath tossed the bumper aside. The flames of the burning vehicle were going out from the rain. I found where my gun was kicked away and put it back in it's holster.

Just what in the hell were you thinking Rachel? Deserting your own part and getting yourself killed like this. Do you want to return to Arcadia Bay in a single piece or are you wishing you had died in the dark room for real?

"Rachel!" A voice hollered. "Rachel! Are you alright?!"

Clearly, it was Cayce who ran back for me. Alright is the worst word to describe my mood I'm in by him.

"Rachel, what the fuck were you think running off like that on your own, huh?!" Cayce snapped. Approaching me even if I didn't want him too. "Were you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"Save it, Cayce!" I snarled. "I don't know why you came back for me."

"Dissertation is a court martial offense! Don't ever run off like that again! And now you've wreaked our vehicle! Congratulations."

"Oh, fuck you, Cayce! You lied to my face."

"I didn't lie. I just left the part about Cage."

I scoffed.

"Incredible," I snarked.

"Look, Alvarez is getting a head start," said Cayce. "And we need to hurry-"

"We?"

Cayce sighed.

"Shit," he said. "Look, I-"

"Spit it out!" I snap.

"Okay, cards on the table. You need my help."

"Should've thought about that before."

"And if we're gonna get that forge, you're gonna need it. If you want to go home, you're gonna need it. Look, I screwed up, okay? But Crosby is the one to blame here. Not me."

"This is your idea of an apology?"

"If it helps to keep your head in the game, then sure. It's Crosby that needs apologizing here. I was only covering for him. We all were."

"Fuck that. I'm out of here."

"Listen, we both have something to lose here. Am I right?"

Ignoring Cayce for a second or two, I turn away from him for a moment of silence. Spending that moment thinking about the many lies I've been fed with that ached my mind and destroyed my feelings for anyone.

I look around myself at the place I shouldn't be in middle of this heavy rain. All I could think about is the place I should be. And not the land of opportunity I once dreamed of to be LA, but the small town I once called home away from Long Beach where my life truly began. I where I learned to actually love someone more than anyone in this world. That would be known as Arcadia Bay.

I sit down on the wet and muddy ground again dwelling on the past. Cayce is irritated by my ignorance and can't help but put his hand over his eyes. The truth is, I really shouldn't be here. I never asked for this part of my life. And yet, here I am with more people with the same difficulty of trust that I feel is punishment for my own deceptions. The reality no one choses but chosen for somebody instead. Or rather just reality no one can escape generally.

"I don't belong here," I said. "I didn't ask to be part of this. It's not your fault I'm here. It's not even Crosby's. It was Jefferson's. Maybe Nathan's too. But Jefferson, the man who drugged me, kidnapped me, photographed me, raped me. And my dad, the man who thought lying to his daughter and killer her own mother was the only way…why? Why did this all have to happen?"

Now I begin to break completely down. Rolling down as many tears as I could.

"And now…I've left everyone behind," I whaled. "Everyone thinks I'm dead! Why did I let this happen to me?! Why?! I didn't deserve this! I didn't deserve to be lied too. I didn't deserve to be murdered. And didn't deserve to shut out everyone I loved! I'm sorry, Chloe. I'm sorry, Frank. I'm Mom and Dad. I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm so, so sorry!"

I curl my head behind my knee and sob away. Releasing the tears down my cheeks in my greatest sorrow.

Cayce kneels down next to me to comfort. Feeling bad for his partner and hugging her to show it. I spread the tears over Cayce's shoulder as we caress our arms around one another. If he feels this bad, he really does must care about me and feel guilty about lying. For best or for worst.

We stop hugging one another and look at each other in the eye. My face was still red soaked with tears and rain. Cayce's face was drenched in rained too. He had said something to me hopeful enough to believe he cares.

"It's not too late to get your life back, Rachel," he said. "You know it isn't. In this world, we're always lied to. We always attempt to receive the things we deserve better. Even though we can't always end up getting better. You remember what Alvarez said. Progress demands sacrifice. In matter of speaking, love demands sacrifice. We both know that. Now we still have a mission to complete. We get to the capital, find that fragment, and stop Alvarez. Nothing more matters but that. Okay?"

I wipe away my tears. Still angry at Cayce for hurting me with his lies, but knowing he meant well.

"Just so we're clear," I said as I stopped crying. "My priority is the forge and going home. Not Captain Cage, not Crosby, and certainly not you."

"Fair enough."