Chapter 10 Ezra's Descent
Cayce
July 23rd, 2017
1:19 PM
New Exodus, Meridian Prime
New Exodus Tunnels
After a long-ass walk through the dark tunnels, we reach our destination. As well as our exit out of these rabbit holes and our entrance to New Exodus. Or have we?
When finding our exit, it was blocked by rocks and rubble. Remembering what the map had shown us, it had to be the way out. Which it wasn't.
"Well, would you look at that?!" I muttered. "The exit's blocked! Just what we needed!"
"At ease, Corporal," said David. "We can figure this out like civilized soldiers."
"Check it out," pointed Kristine. "Another map for these tunnels. We could find another exit with that."
"If that even partially solves our problem," I said. "Let's see it then."
We get a good look at the map and what we see are more meandering tunnels linked to ours. There was also a note written on the map as well. With X's marked on other tunnels.
"Look at this," said Kristine reading the note. "I have blocked all exits surrounding New Exodus to either barricade our conceal the Germans and rebels away from our forces. Please take the tunnel to the northern shore exit that will be rendezvous to the ark. Be mindful of mummy traps I've set across the tunnels. Red marks the traps. Black marks the blocked exits. White marks our rendezvous point. EP."
"Who's EP?" I wondered.
"Ezra Prescott," answered Kristine. "Can't be anyone else."
"Why would Ezra block the exits except for that one? And why would he set up traps if the barricades were to keep them safe? And why would he use mummies of all things?"
"Let's skip the twenty questions and just take that exit out of here," said David. "Whatever the reasons, Ezra at least gave us our detour. Assuming he didn't barricade that one either."
"I'm with David, Cayce," said Kristine. "Hopefully we'll catch wind of Max and Chloe on the way too."
"No argument there," I admit.
Suddenly, we hear an explosion echoing in the tunnels with a faint tremor to go with it. We weren't the only ones down here.
"What was that?" Kristine asked.
"That's a sign we aren't alone down here," I answered.
"I can't agree more," said David. "Stay frosty, you two. If ConDef is down here, Chloe and Max may be too."
Chloe
July 23rd, 2017
1:20 PM
New Exodus, Meridian Prime
New Exodus Tunnels
Traversing through the tunnels was going to be like a blind man walking around without a stick if not for our flashlights. I could hardly see my tattoos without one.
We find more footprints with our lights on in the tunnels. Recent one as well. We know who they belong to.
"Look, fresh footprints," said Max. "They must've come this way."
"That's a lot of footprints," I said. "Let's take this slow."
Then we hear an explosion echoed in the tunnels. A tremor is felt by us with rubble crumbling over us too.
"What the hell was that?" I wondered.
"My money's on Alkaline's men," said Max. "They'll use any excuse to use dynamite or C4."
"They'd have to be pretty dumb to use it in here."
"Yeah, they're pretty dumb."
Then our flashlights immediately went out and our surroundings were immediately colored black. We stopped walking before we accidentally hit each other or something.
"Uh oh," said Max.
"You bring any spare batteries?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah. But they're at the bottom of the ocean."
"I won't ask."
"I won't tell."
Then our lights came back on with a few whacks and we could see where we were going again. Before we could continue further though, we run into something strange we see in the tunnels.
"Whoa, whoa, hold up," said Max.
Max's light was shining some very large tiles marked with symbols in between. It gives me the impression we couldn't just walk on any tiles if Indiana Jones and Lara Croft taught me anything.
"So…some kind of deathtrap?" I thought.
"Uh…yeah," answered Max. "But Alex and the others somehow made it across. We just gotta follow their lead."
There were prints on the tiles left behind by Alex and her captors. We simply follow them across with our lights on. Every step we took made a creek under our shoes. Like walking over the floorboards of an attic.
"Wouldn't be so bad if it didn't creak so much," I said.
"Just don't go where the footsteps aren't," said Max.
I chuckled at Max's amusement.
"What?!" I scoffed.
"I'm just a little preoccupied with not blowing up right now," said Max.
Following the footprints on the tiles made the deathtrap look like a cakewalk. And then we were across the other side unscathed.
"And…unclench," said Max. "Woo."
There were more footprints to be followed. Leading us to a tunnel blocked by rock and rubble.
"Chloe, look," said Max. "Footprints stop here."
"They must've made it through and it collapsed right behind them," I said.
"I'm just gonna move this out of the way here."
"Yeah."
The two of us help each other move the rubble around. Only to have even more rock come down on in front of us with no way through whatsoever.
"Damn it," I said.
"We'll have to find another way," said Max.
If it could get any worse, our lights went out again. And this time they were out for good.
"Oh no," said Max as our surroundings went dark again. "Just hold out a little longer…! Crap."
We try giving our light another whack and nothing happens this time. We should have brought those batteries if we didn't have to swim at the bottom of the sea to do so.
"Come on!" Max muttered. Smacking her flashlight. "Damn it!"
"Hey, you still have Alex's lighter?" I asked.
"Yes! Good idea."
Max reached for her pocket blind with pitch blackness taking advantage of her vision but manage to take hold of it anyhow. She flicked the igniter on the lighter only for our luck to run out again.
"Of course, she used it all up," said Max. "Smoked like a goddamn chimney on the boat ride over."
"Relax, I brought some matches," I said.
"You did?"
"Of course."
Even with the darkness blinding with absence and loss as my late old man once said in my dreams, my eyes adjust to the dark enough for me to see where my hands rifled my own pockets. Then I snared myself the matches I brought with me and lit one up as I ignited it. I was now burning an orange beacon in the tunnels next to my partner.
"There we go," I said.
Until suddenly I burnt myself with the flame and accidentally put it out.
"Ow!" I hissed. "Sorry. Just…one sec."
The idiot I am, I wander away from Max as I see a sconce of some kind that could be used as a torch for our alternate light source. Since Max's eyes were adjusting too, she wondered where I went to."
"Hello?" She said.
"Over here!" I called.
Attempting to move and look for me, Max hit her head on something hard.
"Ow!" Max moaned. "Ow, that's my head."
"Over here," I said. Lighting up my torch at last.
Max followed the light as I lit a torch for her too and lent it to her hand as she approached.
"Thanks," she said. "Glad you came prepared."
"Somebody had to," I said. "C'mon, let's find a way forward."
"Nice romantic lighting, huh?"
"You have a funny idea of romantic."
"Yes, I do."
Max found a way out of this part of the tunnels with her torch on fire. A hole above our heads we could use to climb out and find our way around Alex's tracks.
"Hey, this looks promising," said Max. "Boost you up?"
"Yeah."
"C'mon."
I step on Max's hands she used to boost me over and I leap myself through the whole. Vaulting over the ledge to crawl inside. Then I give Max my hand so I could pull her up and she can crawl through with me. The space in the tunnels we enter is tighter. So, we had to do some crouching as we made our way through.
As soon as we're through the tight tunnels, we hop out together through another hole underneath us and now find ourselves surrounded by skeletal arms and hands tied together and handing from above the dirt ceiling like totems from the Blair Witch Project. It couldn't get any weirder than this.
"Whoa," said Max.
"What the fuck is this?" I wondered. "This is…creepy."
Max approaches a sign that reads: THE HANDS THAT STOLE FROM ME.
"Wowser, Ezra's not even pretending to be sane at this point," said Max.
"I don't like this place," I said sickly.
"Me either. Let's get out of here."
To believe I once thought Sean Prescott's weapon's bunker underneath his foundry back in Oregon was creepy. Back when Rachel and I were investigating who set up Max with the Arcadia storm. By today's standards, Ezra's insanity couldn't have been anywhere near as maniacal as Sean's.
We walk into a different area where we see more gibbets in storage. Same ones we saw back up on the surface of New Exodus.
"Hey, look," said Max. "Ezra had some gibbets left over."
"'Gibbets'," I pronounced.
"What?"
"It's pronounced JIH-bets."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Well, no one likes a know-it-all."
"Gibbets."
Max had seen a sconce in the room she could use to light the room with her torch and did just that. When we walk out of the room, Max spots more corporeal objects set against the walls of the tunnels. All wrapped in white pappy. Mummies as they appeared.
"Wait, are those…mummies?" Max thought.
Then suddenly, the mummies all flickered some kind of igniting effect like a stick of dynamite. The mummies were booby traps and rigged to blow.
"Watch out!" Max hollered.
Max pushed me out of the way to avoid the blast as the explosion already went off. The last thing I hear is a big boom before my hero shoved me to safety.
David
July 23rd, 2017
1:22 PM
New Exodus, Meridian Prime
New Exodus Tunnels
Another tremor is felt with another explosion echoed. Why am I not surprised?
"Another explosion?" Cayce thought. "Now we know for sure who's down here."
"I wouldn't be so sure just yet, Cayce," I said. "Unless we find a body which I'm praying is neither Chloe's nor Max's, then we'll know for sure."
I spot something with my rifle's flashlight and see something corporeal. Bodies attached to the walls with some kind of wrappings covering them. Mummified corpses as far as my eye could see. Everyone else sees them with their eyes and lights on too.
"What are those?" Kristine asked. "Are they mummies?"
"Whoa, wait," I warned. "Not a step closer."
I detect something else attached to the mummies. Sticks held by the mummies like statue figurines. When my light shined on them, the stick was flicked was some kind of sparkle descending like a downward like a firecracker. My flashlight just lit a stick of dynamite with all the other mummies lit and rigged to blow.
"Hit the deck!" I shouted.
I shove my comrades to safety and we all dolphin dive to the dirt floor. Just as soon as the dynamite goes off and the mummies explode. We get back up after our ears were done ringing from the radius of the blast. It wasn't my first time barely escaping an explosive ambush and the last time I did cost me Phillip Becker's life. Which is something I couldn't think about.
"Just our luck," said Cayce. "This tunnel is rigged with…mummy bombs. Tell me I still have my eyebrows?"
"Tell me I still have my eardrums," said Kristine. "This should explain the distant explosions."
"Agreed," I said. "And to hope our mission wasn't caught in them. Let's keep our eyes pried for those…mummy bombs. As cartoonish as that sounds if we see any, light one up and keep your distance so we can get past them."
"Setting the bombs off on purpose just to get through them," said Cayce. "With respect, Commander, we might just trap ourselves down here."
"With respect, Corporal, your obedience is required. Not your opinion. Move out."
Max
July 23rd, 2017
1:22 PM
New Exodus, Meridian Prime
New Exodus Tunnels
I immediately freeze time around me after pushing Chloe to safety. The explosion is frozen inside my time bubble. I step out of my time bubble and the blast resumes after the stutter wears down. I catch my breath for a minute and check for Chloe's safety.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, I think so," answered Chloe with her breath caught. "What was that?"
"Trap. Ezra really didn't want any trespassers down here. All right, watch your step."
"Me? You're the one who stepped on it."
"Fine, watch my step."
There were two more sets of explosive mummy death traps ahead of us. With my power and the Time Shard's power combined, I was able to freeze the blast of every trap as soon as the fire from my torch lit them and we stepped back for when my time freeze wore off. I would run past the stutter if I timed it correctly but Chloe would get caught in the stutter as well as the blast radius. So just waited for the stutter to unfreeze the ignition of the trap and let them blow before passing through.
It seemed the dynamite tied down on the mummies were sensitive to fire or any sources of light from just a few inches between our feet. We had to cough out the dust from every blast we avoided and passed through.
"Well, now we know what caused the explosion we heard earlier," said Chloe.
"Yeah, no wonder so many parts of this passage have caved in," I said.
Even with all the luck, we received with my Time Shard, we hit a dead end. Until Chloe improvised with another detour through Ezra's decent.
"Hey, Max, I found a shortcut," she said.
"How do you know it's a shortcut?" I wondered.
"Trying to be optimistic here."
"Oh. All right."
Our shortcut was too steep for us to walk normally. So, we slid down instead. After doing so, we find ourselves entering another room filled with Ezra's horrors of hanging bones. This time, rib cages were dangled around us.
"Jesus," I said.
"Ezra's decorated this chamber too," said Chloe.
"More human mobiles."
A sign in the middle of the room read: THE HEARTS THAT HARDENED AGAINST ME. Walking out of the room of horrors came another set of explosive mummies.
"Shit, more mummies that go boom," I said. "Get back."
I knew the drill. Light 'em, freeze 'em and avoid 'em. Chloe stays behind me as I stutter the ignition and let the mummies go off into smithereens. And this time, the blast cut us off. So much for Chloe's optimism.
"Are you alright?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah," I answered with a cough. "But…we can't go that way now. Damn it."
Lucky for us, this wasn't the route through. More tunnels adjoined the room with the hanging ribs where we went next. Warren would be having a field day with these mummy bombs by now. It's like Ezra got his booby trap ideas from Mythbusters before Mythbusters.
The next tunnel had more mummy traps as well. Unsurprising at best. Irritating at worst. This time I decided to do recon with the bombs. I told Chloe to wait where she stood and I was able to run past every mummy death trap between me while running through the time bubbles I projected around and race against the explosions in Michael Bay fashion.
Once I was through my reconnaissance and all the mummies blew up, I holler at Chloe to come rejoin me as I ensure her safety while coughing out the dust from every blast.
"Oh, this cannot be healthy to breathe," I said.
"Max, are you okay?!" Chloe shouted running towards me.
"Fine, I – fine. I wish I'd brought earplugs. Am I yelling?"
I see one other mummy that hasn't gone off yet. One without dynamite stuck to it thankfully. I approach it with caution regardless of said assurance.
"Max, careful," said Chloe.
"Yeah," I said. "And Ezra's gone all Egyptian. Except this mummification wasn't, you know, voluntary."
Further, into the tunnels, we see a blue light ahead of us. A flare lying down in the middle of the passage lighting the way into a blue luminous. Certainly not from the man who built the mummy traps a hundred years ago but unarguably from ConDef. Not to mention footprints to go with it.
"Well…we're back on the trail," I said.
"The footprints go this way," said Chloe.
"Be ready for a fight."
"Oh, I always am."
"Wait, is that a reference to me?"
"No. Would you calm down?"
"You calm down."
Speaking of ConDef, we notice some bodies in uniform. All lying dead in the tunnels. Likely caught in Ezra's traps noticing blasted bits of mummies that made a mess around the bodies as well as rubble covering them like frosting.
"Eesh, guess these guys weren't paying attention," I said. "There's no sign of Alex."
"We'll find her," said Chloe.
Then suddenly, a beeping red light appears out of nowhere and lands in front of us. Which turns out to be a hand grenade about to go off.
"Ah, fuck – Chloe, get down!" I shouted.
I halt the blast radius of the grenade with a time bubble and time dash my way to avoid it. I made sure Chloe avoid it as well by holding onto her and taking her with me. My bubble wore off, the grenade went off, and we've stepped into an ambush with ConDef scouts. We took cover behind the wall and pulled out our pistols to fight back with.
"You idiots trying to bring the whole place down?!" I hollered.
We were being attacked inside a clearing of the passageways. Where ConDef troops were firing their auto rifles behind wooden crated for cover while all we had were puny pistols to fight back with. We take down a couple with our own bullets and few with my own time tricks of mine. Little did we know we were about to face a more gargantuan opponent in the next round.
An enormous hulk-like figure crashed its way through the walls of the tunnels. An eight-foot figure wearing ancient armor and a large battle hammer the size of lumber. The monstrous being let out a roar like a hulk too.
"CAULFIELD!" The figure yelled in an abominable tone.
"Who the fuck is that?!" Chloe muttered.
The monster waved it's hammer around and swung it at us like a baseball bat. We dodge it's every move until we found another passage to run away from it. When we saw one, that's when we ran.
"Run for it, Chloe!" I screamed. "Now!"
The two of us ran as fast as we could through the tunnel. The monster then chased after us and taunted us as it did.
"Run little traveler!" The monster growled. "Run!"
Then we were about to run through yet another set of mummy bombs. Luckily, we were able to use it to our advantage this time. We ran fast enough for the bombs to go off behind and cut the living monstrosity off his pursuit. Causing rocky debris to collapse on top of him and fall down deeper into the tunnels. Assuming we were safe from that thing.
"Well, for once," I said coughing out the blast. "I appreciate Ezra's exploding mummies."
"Who the fuck was that?" Chloe thought. "What fuck was that back there chasing us to death?"
"Don't know. My good guess is that it looked like one of those Dark Order people I saw in those drawings from earlier. Back in that room with the moons. And I think it may have been with Alex when she entered Jeremiah's house with Joan, Ares, and the crew."
"Let's go get those flares."
"Good idea."
Our torches had gone out during the chase. So, we took some flares to light the tunnel left behind by Alkaline's scouts. When picking up the flares, we discover the were lighting another chamber with body parts. Jaws with teeth that looked like dentures hung up on the walls like birthday streamers. With sign written on wood as well.
"The mouths that spoke ill of me," read Chloe.
"I'd hate to see this guy's Christmas tree," I said.
"I don't see any footprints. We must be on a different route than the others."
"All right, let's see if we can catch up."
As soon as we start catching up, we see a room of more corps. Not ones as recent as ConDef but rather a hundred years old. Skeletons impaled with spears and bayonets of guns. Must belong to Jeremiah's insurgency and Ezra's army.
"Looks like a fight broke out," said Chloe.
"Yeah, Blackwell's men versus Prescott's men," I said.
There was an old bulkhead door in the room that was easy to open with a light pull. A skeleton was also lying down beside it which was holding a key of some kind. With a piece of paper as well. I pick it up to observe it.
"Hello," I said.
"Some kind of key," said Chloe.
"What's that note?"
"Oh, right."
It was a letter to a Lieutenant Barton from Jeremiah Blackwell when I started reading.
"It's, uh…it's from Blackwell and his men," I said.
When I kept reading, it read that I can use the key to open the master gate out of the catacombs here. Which must be our ticket back out into the sanitary air.
"We can use the key to get out of here," I said.
"That's good," said Chloe.
I turn the paper around and see symbols drawn. Symbols are drawn inside the spaces of squares. Symbols of skulls, crosses, and helmets. It could be useful for something. There was also a little note written between the symbols that read: Death to those who stray from the path.
"Hmm, there are symbols on the back," I said.
"Well, let's go find the keyhole," said Chloe.
I put the note away and we continue onward. Knowing what the note read, the symbols were probably drawn to know how to get past another death trap. Speaking of death traps, more mummy bombs were set up ahead and I had to clear the way for the dozenth time.
"Crap," I said. "Chloe, stay behind me."
I time freeze every bomb as always. I pretty much froze the entire room given there were more bombs than anywhere else. Once that was said and done, I told Chloe the cost was clear only to spot two more mummies that hadn't gone off yet. Because they weren't rigged to blow.
"You gonna explode now, huh?" I asked the mummies. "No? How 'bout you?"
"This guy had some serious trust issues," said Chloe.
We were going to go def thanks to Ezra's trust issues. And if I hadn't jinxed it already, our ears were popping. Either because of every blast I've caused or how deep we've gone across the descent.
"Oh, my ears just popped," said Chloe.
"Yeah, we're definitely descending," I said.
We come inside another room with wooden tiles. The death room I predicted we eventually come to. The tiles matched the same ones back in the room from earlier walking out of Ezra's hidden study. Only this time no footprints from Alex and captors. Certainly not their route but certainly where those symbols on the paper may be of use.
"Okay," said Chloe. "It's another deathtrap."
"Yeah, no footprints to guide us," I said.
With the help of my flare's light, I noticed the symbols between the tiles were the same as the ones on Jeremiah's note. I take it out to verify that.
"The symbols match the ones on those posts," I said. "Huh, Jeremiah showed his men how to get past the traps."
I guide Chloe who walks behind towards the first few tiles of the correct path. Haven't blow our selves to death so far. I also take advantage of my time vision to see through the tiles to prevent myself from fucking us over to our deaths.
"Okay, we're off to a good start," I said. "Follow my lead, okay?"
"Just be careful," said Chloe.
"I'm always careful."
"Tsst, says the gal who set off every mummy bomb in this place."
"Says the gal who also had the power to get us through all of those mummy bombs likewise. And you're welcome by the way."
"So far, so good…"
"Yeah, knock on wood."
"Better not. It might be rigged."
"Ah-ha. Yeah…"
Thanks to my time vision, it felt like I didn't need the stupid symbols as my cheat sheet. With the best of our luck, we made it across the death tiles like a game of tick-tack-toe. Pirate themed tick-tack-toe from our memories.
"There!" I exclaimed. "Made it! In your face, Ezra."
And now we were about to make our nearest exit out of Prescott's decent as we spotted daylight in the tunnels now. We were no longer going to be needing for flares but we may still need the keep left behind by the body of Lieutenant Barton.
"That's our way out of here," I said.
We put out our flares and enter a room with a light ray from the sun illuminating the area and dangling human remains hang from above our hairs too. With some mummies tied to wood stick out of the ground as well. To hope it's the end of this horror house.
"Ah, God," said Chloe. "Are those the rest of Jeremiah's men?"
"Yeah, gotta be," I said. "We know Ezra likes to make an example of his enemies."
"He definitely likes making exploding mummies."
"Yeah. Let's, uh…tread carefully in here."
We come towards another bulk door in the area with a keyhole. A pull the handle of the door to check if it was locked as it already was. I knew what this meant.
"Keyhole," I said. Pulling out the key. "Key."
"Wait, it could be a trap," said Chloe.
"Yeah, we really don't have much of a choice."
"Oh, boy."
"But…I have a good feeling about this one. Yeah?"
"Do it."
Without second-guessing, I insert the key into the keyhole and open sesame. Not a trap after all. Or so I thought.
"You see?" I said laughing.
But as soon as Chloe and I were snared into a trap foreseen by Chloe herself, I was no longer laughing. The two of us were swiped off the ground by a rope net that had us hanging with our legs sticking out through the holes and our bodies hugging each other. Embarrassing as ever.
"Well, at least we didn't get blown to bits," I said with my big ass mouth.
Which was when an explosion was heard caused by the mummies confirming how big my mouth must be. Which must be rigged to this net as well.
"Ah, shit," I said. "You didn't bring a knife by any chance, did you?"
"No…but that guy's got a sword," said Chloe. Spotting the sword impaled to the hanging skeleton next to us. "Here, help me swing this thing."
We both swing the net around to reach for the sharp weaponry by moving our legs backward and forward for momentum. Which is when another set of mummy bombs explode. We swing the net back and forth again and more bombs are off. And so on and so until I could just barely reach the hilt of the sword and almost catch it with my own fingers but miss.
"Ah…damn it," I bickered.
Time was running out for us as the bombs were bursting closer and closer. Until with one last swing with the net, I finally catch the sword and rip it out of the body. Then start cutting the net as quickly as possible in a race against time and our lives. Right until we're set free and fall out of the net landing on the ground with our backs. To count the number of times either of us landed that way in a lifetime.
"Max!" Chloe shouted. Spotting the explosions close enough to near blow our feet off.
"C'mon, c'mon, go, go!" I hollered.
We run out of the area as fast as we could as the explosive mummies kept going off behind us one by one simultaneously. We had no more time left to lose.
"Oh my god!" Chloe wept.
"Don't look back!" I yelled. "Just run! Don't stop!"
Despite how fast we ran, Chloe was the fast runner and I was falling behind while the explosions drew closer and closer. I even fumble a little on my feet from one blast and Chloe was forced to get me up. As soon as she did that, the two of us came flying off a ledge with the last explosion bombarding us to death.
The both of us land on solid ground again and I get up catching wind of daylight burning and the great outdoors of Meridian Prime giving us a life of fresh air again. I coughed out the final blast and caught my breath sitting on the ground.
"Thanks, Sir Prescott," I said with a chuckle. "Just like old times, right?"
But there was no answer from Chloe. I turn my head to see her out cold on the dirty ground. Her eyes shut and body limp like a baby.
"Chloe?" I said worriedly. "Chloe?"
I hover myself over her unconscious flesh and move her head to my face. Caressing my hands around her cheeks to see she was still out. If not dead.
"Hey, hey, Chloe, c'mon," I whimper. "Chloe!"
I thought about using my rewind to do something until I heard a moan out of her mouth. Meaning she was going to live.
"My…hero," said Chloe with a sadistic grin and her eyes shut.
"Oh, no," I said feeling insult. "You didn't do that."
Chloe laughed enduring her cruel humor. Then open her eyes again for another sign of life left in her.
"No," I said. "That's not funny! I almost rewound!"
"Oh, you have done much worse and lived," said Chloe. "And not because of you."
"God, you gave me a fucking heart attack," I said with a sigh.
"Oh…let me listen."
I laid my head down on the dirt utterly relieved of Chloe's survival. While she checked for my pulse leaning her heard against my chest.
"Sounds good to me," she said.
"What-?" I questioned. "You realize…we are now even for everything we've ever pulled, all right? Yeah, like ever."
Chloe turned her head with an unimpressed frown.
"No, not by a long shot," said Chloe.
"Seriously? After everything? The number of times you've almost died or actually died around me? The one time I killed myself at the Chrysalis tower and we're still not even? I wholeheartedly disagree."
"Gosh, you got mud everything."
We smile a laugh for a second as Chloe presses her hand over my cheek and I wrap my arm around her neck. Having a romantic moment like never before.
"Anyone ever tell you…I'm so glad you're my partner in crime?" I asked.
"Yeah," answered Chloe. "Yeah, I may have heard that somewhere before. Just so long as you're my partner in time."
The two of us share a nice warm kiss onto our lips compressed into one. While soothing our hands on our heads. I sooth my finger across Chloe's chin when releasing our lips. Having a moment of peace and relaxation while it lasted.
"Good talk," I said.
"Good talk," repeated Chloe.
Before we could kiss again, I catch my sight of an ominous presence above us. A shady figure lurking at from above walking on a support column in the area. The figure looked menacing enough to attack and did just that as the figure was now plummeting itself down on us.
"Look out!" I warned.
I throw Chloe off of me and roll around on the dirt to dodge the figure's strike. The figure revealed itself to be a female wearing breast armor, a crown, and a skirt. Armed with a double-bladed staff she held as her weapon. Then suddenly, another figure manifested itself seizing Chloe by her neck and holding a large knife against her throat. The figure was male with a hood over his head and a robe blanketing his body.
Chloe was startled from the jump behind her and her face was switched to panic mode. I two was petrified and turned my head left and right getting a glimpse at both the sinister-looking female and male. These were not Alkaline's men. Not even Joanna's goons. They had to be another one of Ares's elite minions seen from the drawing. I direct my attention as our female attacker as her partner held my partner hostage. The female herself to a few steps closer to me with a malicious smirk.
"Maxine Caulfield, at last," said the female.
Note: Taking too long? Don't be surprised. I'm really trying my hardest in college to not screw up another semester and I've been tied up with other things I do in my spare time as well over the past month since posting my last chapter. Finishing Knights Of the Old Republic and now playing the sequel, replaying Assassin's Creed III and Revelations on my Nintendo Switch, getting caught up on Star Wars Rebels, Better Call Saul, and Westworld, watching the Season 7 premiere of The Clone Wars that premiered today and so much more. But at ease, readers. Nothing's stopping me from completing Max's final season. Not yet. Not ever.
Until next time, stay tuned and golden!