Two Sides to Everything

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Jak trilogy of games, they belong to Naughty Dog. The only things I own are my original characters like Colle and Zack.

Chapter 3: Our New Reality

A warmth was covering her face when she finally regained consciousness. The ground was soft and cool beneath her. Colle opened her eyes to be greeted by the sun.

"That hurts." She closed her eyes again only to remember Zack. She was up andwas on her feet so fast that she stumbled twice before catching herself. 'Where is he?'

All around her were trees and sand. Colle began to run, looking around everything.

"There he is." Relieved to find him with her. Zack was propped up against a large rock near a small pool of water. She ran over to him. She felt for a pulse hoping he was still alive. There was a faint but noticeable one."Thank goodness."

Knowing that her brother was okay for the time being, Colle walked around to look at her surroundings. They were at what appeared to be a desertoasis. But how did they get there? They don't live anywhere near the beach or a desert for that matter.

Then thinking of her brother, she remembered last night.

Jeremy shot Zack...she hit Jeremy...then she ran...

"Zack!" Colle releaized now why she had been so worried about him. She ran back to where she left him. Turning him gently, she searched for where the bullet had hit him.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Came a whisper to Colle's ears.

Surprised, she almost dropped him. "Zack?" She asked cautiously.

"Colle, what happened?" Zack tried to sit up but cried and grabbed his shoulder.

"Zack! I need to look at your arm." Colle was worried that if he didn't get help the wound would get infected and he would get sick. "Zack, let me see, please."

He removed his arm and looked at his hand. it was covered in blood. Seeing this he began to cry. Even so, he allowed his sister to look at his arm.

The bullet had gone through his shoulder and gone out the other side. Jeremy had tried to shoot him in the heart. The only reason he had missed was because he had been drunk. Colle started to cry the more she looked at her little brother. She didn't know what to do. She knew she needed to get him some help, but she didn't know where she was supposed to go. They were out in the middle of no where. There was nothing but sand or rock where ever Colle looked.

Zack sat crying for another hour. Colle sat next to him thinking of what to do. Her arm was around his shoulders careful of his injury, giving him a half hug. Before, she had tried to reasure him, but it was hard when she didn't believe half of the words herself.

Over that hour the wind had started to pick up. At first it was a gentel breeze but know it was strong enought to carry the sand along with it.

"This is bad." Zack spoke up ubruptly starteling Colle who thought he had fallen asleep.

"What's wrong?" Thinking maybe his arm was hurting even more than it did before.

"It's a sandstorm." He said looking out into the desert.

"How do you know that?" Know that she noticed the winds had gotten stronger since that morning. "Never mind." Colle was beginning to panic once again. They had no shellter from the harsh winds of the desert. "We have to go. Maybe we can find a cave of something." Colle got to her feet and was about to lift Zack up onto her back when he refused.

"What's wrong? We have to leave."

"We won't find anything. Atleast not in time. We're too far. There might be someone out here though."Zack picked up the Jak 3 game strategy that he had held onto since the day before.

"You know where we are?" Colle looked at him in disbelief.

"Yeah." He flinched as he got up. "We're in the Wastelands."

"You're joking right? That's only a game. It's not real." She couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true. 'Maybe he's been out here too long.'

"Look at your ears." He said flatly.

Colle touched her ears, her eyes widened. They weren't her normal ears. Then she looked down at her little brother. How could she have missed that! "Oh my-" She ran over to the water's edge. "This can't be happening. This has to be a dream. How could this be happening. I have to get out of here. This CAN'T BE REAL!"

"Snap out of it! If we don't find some place soon, we'll die in a matter of seconds once that storm hits!" With his good arm he slapped her across the face with his book. "We have to go! NOW!"

Apparently the slap had some effect. Colle stood up again and turned to face her brother. Her cheek starting to reden.

"I'm sorry. You're right. Even if this is all a dream, the logical thing would be to find a place to wait it out." Colle got down on her knees. "Come on, lets go."

With Zack on her back, the two began their treck through the desert.

"Which way do you think we need to go?" Colle looked over her shoulder. Zack had the guide open and was looking through the pages for a map. When he found one, he answered her.

"Go around this mountain. When you get passed it you will be close to a mountain tunnel. We can wait for the storm to pass over in there." He closed the guide and layed his head on Colle's back. "I hope we get there soon, too. I'm kind of tired."

"I don't want you going to sleep until we get to that tunnel. Okay? I want you to stay awake." If he feel asleep, he might not wake up. He had already lost a lot of blood.

"I'll try." He yawned.

"Good, boy."

Everything remained quiet until they reached a small stream. The wind had gathered speed and was bitting Colle's face. Zack was able to protect his face with some of Colle's hair, but he was wearing shorts. His legs were getting scrapped up by the sand.

Behind a large sand dune shots could be heard going off.

"Zack! We're in trouble!" She had to yell for him to hear her over the rushing wind. "We forgot about the Marauders!" Just as she spoke the words, they flew over the top of the dune.

Colle began to run back towards to oasis and the cover of the trees. Unfortunatly, the Marauders were coming from behind as well.

"This isn't a dream, it's a nightmare!." Tears streemed down the girls face. 'Why is all of this happening?'

"Don't worry, sis! Jak lives in Spargus remember? He'll save us!" Zack was scared too. He tried to hide himself while on Colle's back, but nothing mattered. If something didn't happen soon, they were going to be killed or torn to pieces by the storm.

"I don't think he's coming! That's a game remember? He's not real!" But Colle wanted him to be real. She wanted to get out of here. She wanted to go home with her brother. Atleast she would be safe. She could out run Jeremy, but she couldn't out run these things. They were on wheels.

The Marauders were drawing closer. There was no escaping. They started to open fire.

"This is it! Jak where are you!" Zack screamed as loud as he could. He truely believed they would be rescued.