When I started writing this story there were about 60 stories in this section...its nice to see the number doubled
I feel like having Uncharted 3 in the title is redundant now that the game is actually out lol
I don't know how accurate the visitor breakdown by country thing is but apparently the top three countries that visited this story in October were the US, UK and Canada…and then were some truly random ones…if there really was one person from Algeria…I am amazed…although so far this November the top three were US, UK and then Germany..Guten tag…so I don't really know what's going on lol…
In the last chapter Phil was waiting for a boat on the docks and then captured the heroes minus Nate while Elena searched said docks for her baby…
Chapter 28
Present day
Nate heard the gunshot and flinched. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He knew he was very close to losing control.
Just hearing Phil's voice set his anger levels skyrocketing.
Nate knew he needed to keep a clear head. He needed to find a way to save his friends without flying into a mindless range and getting everyone killed.
For once Nate had been relatively lucky. When Phil looked through the binoculars, Nate was bent over, tying his shoe laces and so had gone unnoticed. Then when the others clambered up onto the dock, Nate had the foresight to collect one of the guns that they had taken from the soldiers and check it for rounds. Then he heard Barry say 'shotgun'. Nate was confused but mastered it well enough to get to the other side of the dock and hide behind some old crates.
He had to think of a plan. He had to focus. And then he heard it.
A baby crying.
His baby.
His son.
The rage took over.
…
The policeman looked up instantly.
The gunshot still echoed on the quiet streets.
Elena didn't wait for him to say anything and set off at a run as fast as her exhausted body could take her.
It took the officer a few seconds to realise this and with a shout followed her, unclipping his gun from his belt as he did so.
He wondered what would be waiting for them.
…
Phil was midway telling everyone how he survived the Spartoi and escaped from prison when there was a guttural roar from behind him.
A stack of crates leaned towards the tubby American with intent and Phil dived out of the way just as they came crashing down.
The group scattered with Chloe and Barry running towards the sound of the baby and Ted and Sully trying to take out the hired goons. Miguel got some dust in his eyes and blinked rapidly, even with this slight visual impairment, the pilot was the only one who saw what was happening between Phil and Nate.
Phil dropped the gun as he rolled away to the side and picked himself up gingerly. He turned to where his captives previously were and was barely able to get out a curse when he was tackled to the ground again.
He was dragged around and saw stars as Nate's fist ploughed into a chubby cheek.
Miguel, eyes now cleared, watched as Nate repeatedly decked Phil in the face while holding him to the ground. He wasn't bothered by mindless violence, and while it was partly justified because Phil was evil, Miguel got the feeling he should stop his friend.
The shotgun gleamed in the dim glow of the dock lights and Miguel made his way towards it. His fingers all but brushed the polished metal when he was thrown bodily into the sea by one of Phil's men who had gotten away from Sully. Miguel surfaced and climbed the old ladder to see Sully brain the thug with a piece of wood. Sully held out his hand to Miguel and pulled him up to the dock.
'Thanks,' Miguel said and Sully shrugged. They both turned to Nate, who was still beating Phil with relentless energy. It was if he was in his own world.
The sound of approaching sirens was worrying to say the least and Sully tried to get Nate's attention. Sully was all for sticking Phil's head on a pole but getting caught by the police wasn't part of the plan. He shouted to no avail and grumbled something to himself before grabbing Nate by the scruff of the neck and pulling him away from the nearly unconscious villain.
Ted was having a little trouble with his opponent. He didn't mind knives as such, but when they were being used as a weapon he definitely wasn't a fan. Knives hurt. He narrowly missed a slash by pirouetting off to his side which earned some applause from Miguel. Ted wasn't so lucky the next time when the man attacked again and felt the bite of cold metal against his arm. Miguel booed.
Ted staggered back a few steps, 'Are you just going to watch?' he asked Miguel angrily.
'Oh, sorry, I didn't know you wanted help,' Miguel said and blasted the man away with Phil's shotgun. Ted rolled his eyes, heroically suppressing his anger.
While all this was going on, at the other end of the dock, closest to dry land, Chloe and Barry were honing in on the crying baby. In the distance they could make out a figure with a bundle in its arms running away.
Chloe and Barry sped up and reached the man just as he put a foot on the steps out of the docks. He turned around, a terrified expression on his face.
Chloe raised a fist, ready to strike when Barry stopped her.
'Uh, I think he's a good guy,' he said. Chloe slowed down and lowered her arm.
'Why was he running away then?' she argued.
'Why don't we ask him and find out before hitting him,' Barry said and turned to the man.
'Before that, can someone shut the baby up, I can't stand it,' Chloe said.
The man spoke, 'I can't stop him, you try.'
Barry looked at the bundle and then at Chloe.
'Oh God, just because I'm the woman doesn't mean I have to do the baby stuff. I don't know what to do,' Chloe said angrily.
'Fine,' Barry muttered and took the bundle from the man. It was so light…and small. Barry peered at the little pink face, screwed up in its wailing. 'Any ideas?' he asked.
'Shake it or something,' Chloe suggested, she had seen this on TV therefore it should work. Barry looked doubtful but shook it anyway. Nothing happened, if anything the crying probably got louder.
'Oh jeez,' Chloe grunted, why did she have to run after the baby? Why hadn't she just taken out one of the goons?
Barry made cooing noises which for some incomprehensible reason worked.
Chloe sputtered as Barry handed the baby over to her, 'Hey, what are you doing?'
'My mobile is ringing. I've got to take it,' Barry replied and answered his phone.
The doctor thought this was all very surreal. He had run away because he didn't have a clue what was going on and since no one had been paying much attention to him it seemed like a good time to escape. Now he had been accosted by two foreigners who didn't seem to be bad like the slightly obese one but were strange in their own ways. The man was on his phone and the woman was eyeing the baby with distaste. The doctor didn't know what to make of them.
By the time Barry finished the call, the sirens had reached them and there was a lot of car door slamming above them. A figure appeared at the top of the stairs silhouetted by the car headlights.
They all looked up.
Chloe squinted into the light.
'Elena?'
…
Phil pretended to be unconscious. That seemed to be the only way out of this. He was not in an ideal position but Phil still had some hope. Nate's pounding had left him groggy but he was sure that his boat would be arriving soon. All he had to do was wait.
Under Sully's watchful eye, Nate stood, breathing heavily. He felt drained but somehow better. His anger dissipated and a shaky calm descended upon him. The gun he had taken from the boat lay forgotten by his side. He could barely feel his fractured knuckles.
Sully had talked him out of killing Phil but it hadn't been easy. Killing people in front of the police was not smart Sully had lectured but Nate wasn't so sure. Sparing the life of unconscious man before him didn't seem like such a clever thing to do. He knew well enough that Phil wouldn't stop being the villain till he was dead and Nate would have gladly volunteered for the role of executioner. Some part of him struggled against these thoughts of raw vengeance. He should just want his child to be ok. It didn't matter about anything else.
Nate looked to the beginning of the jetty where, in the distance, Chloe and Barry were chasing someone. That someone had his son.
He ran after them, the rest of the group close on his heels.
Phil watched them go through half closed eyes.
…
Nate was pretty sure his heart stopped beating for the first few second after the baby stopped crying. The silence was unnerving. All he could hear was the pounding of his footsteps on the floor.
They were nearly there and he had just shouted Chloe's name when everything went bright.
The police arrived with sirens, flashing lights and guns, all of which were trained on the trio of people at the foot of some stairs.
Nate arrived just in time to hear Chloe confusedly say 'Elena'.
This surprised him so much that he stopped concentrating on what he was doing and tripped over a loose board. He fell flat on his face next to Chloe who screamed a little.
'Bloody hell, Nate, you scared the crap out of me! I nearly dropped the baby,' she said, checking her hands to check if the bundle was still there.
Barry frowned, 'I'm not sure you should swear in front of him.'
Chloe went blank for a moment and stared at the child, 'Uh…don't ever repeat that...you hear me?'
Barry rolled his eyes and moved out of the way as Sully and Ted who were a little bit behind tripped over Nate.
'Smooth,' Chloe remarked and watched as the figure descended the stairs.
Chloe handed it the baby.
Elena took a few steps forward and paused. She looked down at Nate who was currently being squashed by both Sully and Ted.
'Nate,' she said.
Ted, who was not one to intrude, quickly got up and pushed Sully off Nate so hard that the older man actually rolled into the sea.
Neither Nate nor Elena seemed to notice this.
…
Chloe watched bemused as Sully was fished out of the water by Miguel. How could those blundering idiots ruin such an important emotional meeting between their best friends? Chloe frowned. Emotional meeting didn't sound like something she would say. She must be getting soft. Chloe didn't like this.
'You alright?' Ted asked upon noticing Chloe's stony expression. He had joined her, after pushing Sully into sea, a respectful distance away as to give Nate and Elena some privacy but not so far they couldn't watch what was happening.
'Fine,' she said to him and then narrowed her eyes at the blood on his shirt.
'I'm not going to die,' he told her before she could say anything. Chloe accepted this and turned back to the heart warming scene in front of them. Ted wondered whether he would ever be able to get any sympathy out of Chloe. A few minutes later, his spirits were more than lifted when he noticed Chloe looking at his wound through the corners of her eyes with an expression that could have been concern but to him definitely was.
Barry blew his nose loudly, his emotions getting the better of him. Chloe grunted. At least Ted hadn't pulled out a hanky yet, she thought, otherwise they would be having words.
Having helped get Sully out of the water, Miguel spotted and headed towards a kebab stall owned by an enterprising man who had noticed the sudden crowd of police and quickly decided to stay open a little longer.
Sully chatted to a policeman who seemed to be in charge and tried to sort out the details. He had to hand it to the officer who didn't even bat an eyelid when he walked up to him, dripping wet and dishevelled.
The policeman looked out to where Sully pointed. He frowned.
'There is nothing there,' he said flatly and Sully swivelled round, eyes wide.
'We caught Phil and we put him at the end of the dock. He was unconscious,' Sully stopped talking, the stupidity of leaving Phil alone catching up with him, 'Ahhh crap.'
'Indeed,' the policeman intoned and Sully felt more than a little foolish.
If Phil had escaped that meant, inevitably, that something bad was going to happen.
It was just a matter of when.
…
Nate stood, his mind blank.
His brain had been so overwhelmed with different emotions it had just quit on him then and there. Slowly it rebooted itself. He processed information at snail speed. Elena was standing in front of him. Had she always looked like that? Bags under eyes, face drawn, pale skin…
His eyes dropped to the grubby blankets that Elena was holding. Nate's battered mind made the connections. He knew what it held. All the plane crashes and fights had been leading up to this one moment.
He couldn't bring himself to say anything, every time he tried he could feel his voice tremble.
Words failed him. Coherent thought failed him.
He must have looked like a gibbering fool but Elena seemed to understand.
She held the bundle up to him.
Nate took it with shaking bloodied hands and peered at his son's face. It's tiny brown eyes roved around till they settled on their father's.
When asked about it later, Nate would liken the experience to being struck by lightning but all he could manage at the moment was a hoarse, 'Ah.'
Elena nearly laughed through her silent tears. Nate looked at her with a wobbly smile.
In an instant he knew he would never forget the way Elena stood there. Red rimmed eyes filled with joy and tear stained cheeks. The image was burned into his memory.
She took his face in her hands and told him that they were a family.
It wasn't much but it was enough.
…
A sob broke the fragile silence.
Chloe stared at the floor unsure whether she could control her own tears. She knew she had a problem with men who cried but she supposed she could forgive the offender this one time.
Only, though, because it was Nate.
I wanted to say 'unholstering his gun' but apparently this isn't a word so Word changed it to upholstering…that is a very camp thing to do with a gun I think…
There will be more Nate and Elena fluff…for sure…this chapter is shorter than most because it seemed like a good place to stop….I cannot write emotional things…it's really hard…it always sounds really silly to me…this is no exception…I'm not really sure Nate would cry...
Since I am not a father and never will be I just assume this is what they feel lol…happy things…
Knowing I don't like sugar in my coffee, I put some in the other day just in case I magically started liking it…that didn't happen…I do this every two years with mince pies…they look really appetising…I haven't changed my mind about those either…they taste dodgy...
Danke schon/ thanks for reading, reviewing and whatever…
Now for the only German I remember from school: Wenn das Wetter schlecht ist, fahre ich mit dem Bus zur Schule…
This means when the weather is bad I take the Bus to school...it's not helpful if I ever went to visit Germany
Thanks again
Between writing this chapter and uploading it Germany dropped to fourth position with Canada taking the third spot again lol
