Arcadia Bay Oregon, October 11th, 2013, 10:01 AM
The two walked out onto the street, the Neon sign of the Two Whales just up ahead, only abandoned cars and an oil tanker blockaded their path forward. as they began to approach, a spark caused something to ignite, spreading onto spilled oil from the tanker onto the road. Eventually, the inferno reached its way towards the truck and caused it to explode into flames, hitting the diner next to it, the two barely had time to react
James climbed through the window to find Caulfield already ahead of him, frantically running around doing something, whatever it seemed like it was a matter of concern to her and so he ran over quickly "The hell has you so wild?" he asked over the thundering rain
"That tanker is gonna blow, we need to find a way to stop it now!" Max said quickly pointing at the oil tanker, it didn't take James long to figure out what she was talking about and he joined in the frantic scramble to stop the thing from igniting,
James found a sandbag from an abandoned truck and carried it over to the tanker, noticing he was standing over a huge oil slick "shit, need something to cut this bag open.." James thought to himself looking around, then he looked back to the broken window he crawled out of. He dropped the bag and back over to the window. Pulling a shard of broken glass off, ignoring the pain as the broken peace made a cut in his hand that bled down the clear makeshift blade, he walked back over and used the shard to cut the sandbag open, once a cut was made in the burlap he spread the sand all over the oil as best as he could.
As he was doing this Caulfield had seemingly found a way to prevent anything from igniting. Now that the danger of the fire was averted, the two finally walked their way towards the diner, approaching the storeroom Caulfield tried the handle only to find it locked, James sighed angrily and picked up a rock and bashed it against the knob, breaking it off. James then opened the door
"After you" he motioned to the open room, Caulfield walked in first with her companion following not far behind.
Two Whales Diner, Arcadia Bay Oregon, October 11th 10:13 AM
The two walked through the door that led into the diner proper, There were people packed inside looking out through the rain-slicked windows "Max! James! Joyce Price exclaimed running over and embracing the two
"Holy shit he actually made it!" James could hear Alex's voice
"Oh Jesus, I am so glad to see you two! Are you okay?" Joyce said with a voice full of worry and relief
"We're be fine. What about you folks?" James shook his head looking around the diner
"The Two Whales is barely standing now... I don't know if it's going to make it through this tornado. Poor Officer Berry and all those people out there..." Joyce said in a dismal tone
"It's bad out there." Max stared out the window
"Okay, get your asses inside... I have to get back to this gentleman on the ground... Warren has been gathering all the first aid..." Joyce hurried them through the door further into the main room
"It's not much, Joyce. But it's all we have." Warren sighed as he looked at all of the supplies he gathered.
While Max went to speak with Warren, James approached Alex, who had been sitting in a booth "Hey..." Makintosh said initiating a conversation
"The fuck happened to you Sherlock? You look awful, more than usual..." Alex said concerned
James finally took in an account of how he must have really looked to the world. Soaking wet, dirty clothes, a broken bloody nose, and now a bleeding cut on his hand. "For once Alex, I have to agree with you" James nodded while trying to wipe some of the blood from his upper lip "Shit went south really bad last night, but I finally did it..."
Alex was confused "Did, what. Exactly?" he asked arching an eyebrow
"I found out what happened to Rachel Amber. and Kate Marsh for that matter" James clarified "It was that fuck Jefferson, he was in cahoots with the Prescotts, or at least Nathan. He kidnaped girls to take weird, perverted photos of them." He went on speaking in a hushed tone
"Jesus, thats fucked up man. I guess you were right all along" Alex slowly realized what his roommate was saying "Oh god, Poor Kate, At that party she wasn't drunk she was..."
"Like you said, I was right from the start..." James finished as to spare Hillsef the burden of the truth "Listen, I don't know what's happening in Arcadia Bay anymore. But you need to get out of this town, before it might be too late." James said in a serious tone
"Whole place is a hell hole." Alex said looking out the window
"It's gonna get worse, find a car and get out. Carpool with someone, I don't know. Just get out of this town before fucking Armageddon comes to the shore" James shook his head. He stood up from the booth "I Came here to check up on everyone here. I'm glad you're all alright." He said to his roommate "I have to head off back out there"
Alex stood up as well "Out there?! James are you fucking nuts?!" he said pointing out the window
"I'll be fine, there are way more people who I need to help." James stood by his position
"I never thought I'd have to say this about you Sherlock, but you're like, my best friend. And I don't want to watch you walk out the door to your death!" Alex pleaded "I am imploring you to stay here until this thing passes!" James silently shook his head and walked away "James! please!" Hillsef called out. But no reply came.
James walked up to Caulfield "I have to head out" James said looking towards the door
"You're crazy, this storm is bad. It's just like my visions" Max shook her head
"No storm is gonna stop James Makintosh" James said, referring to himself in the third person
"James, Max. Why don't you come talk over here" they heard Joyce call out, they complied approached the woman
"Joyce, how are you doing?" Max asked
"Just when I think I've already been through the wringer... Where's Chloe?" The woman shook her head. The two froze in place. Thinking of what to say to her, James knew he couldn't bring himself to tell her that her daughter had been gunned down by a crazed psychopath.
"She's... safe, Joyce. She just sent me a text before my phone died." Max said quickly, James sighed with relief, yet again Max had come to the rescue and saved him the pain of watching both Joyce and David go through that kind of heartbreak
"Oh, thank God... I was torturing myself before you showed up. Oh God, if something happened to Chloe while I ended up stuck at this diner again..." Joyce also sighed in relief
"I'm sorry about all this, Joyce." James looked down
"Don't be, honey. It's not like you whipped up this tornado on your own..."
"I mean about everything, William, Chloe, David" James continued but was cut off
"You don't have control over any of that. David is an adult and he has a lot more age and experience under his belt. Even if he doesn't always show it..." Joyce said
"I'm sorry I caused so many problems with David and Chloe..." Max said sadly joining in
"You did the right thing. David overstepped his bounds. I had a suspicion he was taking his private surveillance way too seriously... But he's sorry and I wish he was here right now." Joyce nodded understandingly
"I just want all our lives to be normal again..." Caulfield said reflecting back
"With all the shit going on this week, I think you're right. And look at me, trying to keep my family together... again. Max... did I make a mistake kicking David out?" Joyce asked. James knew nothing about David being evicted from the Price household other than when Madsen himself said something about it briefly inside the bunker, but it didn't surprise him
"David saved my life... from the storm. I saw how much he cares about Chloe, even if he couldn't show it. David needs you more than ever, and I can see why you love him." Max said smiling
"Yeah, David's good man, even if he is an ass at times." James added, thinking back to the conversation the two men had in the car ride to the barn
"I'm so happy David was there for you. He has a lot of weight on his back from the war, but he truly wants to help people." Joyce smiled warmly, happy and perhaps on some level, proud of Madsen for being a positive force in at least two peoples lives "He even agreed to take a family counseling class."
"I'm sure that was a hard thing for him to do... It shows how much he truly cares about you and Chloe." Max responded kindly
"Nothing would make me happier than for David and Chloe to make peace, not war. But I don't know what to do anymore... I just... I just want this storm to blow over forever. Maybe it's time we leave Arcadia Bay... if we can..." Joyce smiled but it soon dissipated as she looked at the windows
"David's a real hero Joyce. I know all he wants to do is make you happy. he'd do anything for you... and Chloe." James said un an unusual tone of appraisal
"I know. And yes, he's not William, but that's okay. He's not supposed to be. You reminded me of when he came into my life... I was ready to give up. David's love gave me strength. He even told me I was his hero... And I can't give up loving him. I want him to come back home... I hope I get to tell him that soon." Joyce smiled warmly once again
"Right, well. We best be off" James said looking around, realizing he had been wasting time here when he had more pressing matters to attend to. Joyce nodded and walked away
"Do what you have to do Max, and for the love of God. Stay safe" James turned around to face his colleague
"You're the one who needs to stay safe James" Max said. James nodded and began to walk off, walking through the door he had entered through before.
Finally, outside again James missed the dry indoors but made his way back through the maze of ruin he and Caulfield had navigated through before and made his way back to Jefferson's car which had been running the whole time, jumping into the driver's seat. as soon as he shut the door and sealed himself inside the automobile, he put the shift in reverse and drove off on the road again.