It all happened so quickly.
"Lara, go!" Jonah shouted.
She watched as Jonah scooped up the box of Ix Chel and took off in the other direction. Lara's mind went on autopilot. She grabbed onto the rifle of the goon next to her and snatched it away. The butt of the rifle slammed into the man's forehead.
Dominguez had already retreated along with his men. Lara raised the rifle at Rourke but as soon as the sights lined up, she hesitated. Something stopped her. Damn it. She slung the rifle over her back and charged at Rourke.
"Rourke!" She yelled.
He turned to face her moments before she tackled him to the ground. The back of his head slammed into the tile. A grunt escaped his lips. Lara straddled him and her fist collided with his face. She drew her knife and thrust downwards. Rourke caught her hands to stop the knife from impaling him.
"It doesn't have to be this way, Lara." He grunted.
She forced the knife down further towards his chest. It brushed against his uniform before he freed one hand and punched her in the gut.
Lara grunted and fumbled with the knife. With another hit to her gut, she was tossed across the room. She quickly scooped up her knife again and got on her feet. Rourke quickly got to his feet as well.
"Come on, Lara. Put that knife away, and you and I will walk out that door. We'll get the box back and stop Dominguez together."
She scoffed. "Like hell we will."
She slashed at Rourke again with the knife. He sidestepped it with ease. When she slashed again, Rourke caught her arm.
"Last chance." He said.
Lara responded by delivering a swift punch to his face. A cracking sound came from it and blood splattered on her. Rourke staggered back. That was enough time to slip away. She holstered her knife and took off.
"Croft!" He screamed.
She scurried up a wall and onto the second floor. There were several Trinity guards below, Rourke wasn't with them. He had probably taken another route to go hunt for Jonah. Lara grabbed hold of the edge and dropped into the grass below. She drew her knife again. This wasn't anything she hadn't handled before.
One of the Trinity goons pulled out his radio. "Commander Rourke?"
"Keep this channel clear!"
'Even through the radio, his voice is annoying as hell.' Lara thought.
"But sir, we're hearing disruption to our Northwest." The soldiers began to panic. They never knew what to do without the leadership of their precious Commander. It would only make it easier on Lara's part.
"The situation is being handled. I say again, keep this channel clear. Rourke out."
This was going to be easy, almost too easy. Lara took down all the soldiers and proceeded forward. She found a small patch of mud and covered herself from head to toe. It didn't help much to protect her from the thermal goggles, but it was better than nothing. She squeezed through a hole in the wall, and Rourke's voice came over the radio again.
He really knew nothing about keeping the channel clear.
"This is Rourke. Jonah Maiava has the box and Lara Croft was last seen in the church. Find them!"
Lara dispatched the rest of the men without breaking a sweat. Trinity hadn't really made anything a challenge for her. She felt as if they had thrown more at her in Siberia, and half of those men had been contractors, not real soldiers. She was almost disappointed at their lack of effort. Although, after taking on that helicopter while swarms of enemies came at her, these morons in thermal goggles were nothing.
After she had looted the last body for ammo, Lara climbed a gate and fell into some shrubs. There were more Trinity soldiers patrolling.
"Cane field, all units. Priority one, find Lara Croft." If only Rourke would shut up, then she could actually focus on the task at hand. "Croft, I know you're out there."
Great, this was directed at her now. "I came to you for help and you've decided to go around taking out my men instead. I thought you would come to your senses, but maybe I should've had you killed in Siberia after all."
Lara hissed to herself. She didn't need to let Rourke get in her head. He was a liar and a murderer. There was no reason to accept his offer for help. He would betray her anyways. She needed to focus on finding Jonah, and the box. That was priority one. Anything Rourke said didn't matter.
She continued so stalk through the bushes, taking her time to knife every soldier so she wouldn't be spotted. Once again, the men went down with ease. She sprinted up towards the ruined building.
Rourke came over the radio again. "Cardinal six, we've got visual on Croft. She's at the distillery."
Another attack helicopter floated over her. At least five men slid down ropes to her location. There was no avoiding them this time. Lara drew her VICAR MK II off her back and went to work. A hail of bullets went back and forth. One man got to close to her, so Lara drew her shotgun. The blast hit the man and sent him flying backwards.
A few of the men began to cluster in one spot. She grabbed a bottle from off the ground and shoved a piece of cloth in the opening. She lit the cloth on fire and sent it flying. Two men got caught in its range and burned into a fiery pulp. The last two men, she took down with her rifle.
"I'm gonna ask you again, Croft. Give the word and I'll tell my men to back off. We can use the box together."
Lara snatched the radio off her belt. "Fuck you!"
Another noise came over her radio from another channel. This time though, it was Jonah. "Lara, I'm in a chopper! I've got a pilot!"
"What?" She asked.
"Hurry!"
Without questioning him further, Lara sprinted up the stairs of the distillery. She pried open a gate with her axe and sprinted down the corridor.
"Give me that box!"
Shit. She was too late. Trinity had gotten the box first.
"No!" Jonah shouted.
She watched as Jonah was kicked from the helicopter and his body smacked against the ground. She immediately sprinted to his side.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
He nodded and groaned. "I'm okay."
Lara looked up at the helicopter to see none other than Dominguez above her… holding the box. She had failed. There was no telling what Amaru would do with that box. But… she didn't see Rourke in the chopper with him.
"Jonah!" Abby appeared and sprinted to their side. The two women helped him get to his feet.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Lara asked.
"If I were you it would have worked." He shrugged.
His words felt like a knife in her gut. She didn't know what to say to that. Jonah wasn't exactly wrong, but it wasn't something she wanted to hear. Lara didn't believe herself to be as skilled as everyone claimed. She was just lucky. Or, at least that's just what she told herself.
Her concern for Jonah, had distracted her from what was about to happen. Ash began to reign in the sky. Balls of fire flew in the air, almost looking like clouds. And she watched as Dominguez's chopper quickly flew away. She could still do something.
"They might not get far." She said.
Both Jonah and Abby agreed, reassuring her that they could take care of themselves. Lara jogged out to the road. The helicopter had slowed down. She could reach it.
Another strong burst of wind caught her attention. A second Trinity chopper appeared almost out of nowhere. And none other than Commander Rourke leaned out from the side of it.
He lowered down a rope from the chopper. "This is your last chance, Lara! You can come with me now to put an end to this. Or, if you survive this eruption, I'll have my men hunt you to the ends of the Earth!"
Lara took at least two seconds to think it over. She did want to stop Dominguez, but she wouldn't do it with Rourke's help. She would never be able to trust him.
"I'll stop Dominguez and restore the sun, without you! Go to hell, Rourke!" She shouted.
Rourke shook his head and snatched the rope up. She couldn't make out what he said, but it probably wasn't pleasant. She watched as his helicopter flew off in the same direction as Dominguez's.
Lara looked back, only to see a devastating mudslide coming towards her. Her eyes grew wide. It was happening again, another cataclysm. All her fault.
"Shit!" She cursed.
Lara turned back and took off. She sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her. The mud quickly enveloped her and the world around her collapsed.
Buildings fell, roads cracked, and the ground gave way beneath her. Lara was able to jump and grapple past every obstacle. When she got towards the end of the city, she saw her window. Dominguez's chopper was still flying low. She leaped off the roof of a building and threw her grapple axe at anything it might attach to.
It grabbed onto nothing but air and Lara plunged into the dark waters below. There was debris everywhere in the water that threatened to pull her down. She flailed her arms to break through the surface of the water. She grabbed hold of a piece of metal and collapsed onto it.
Lara watched as the two choppers flew away, unharmed. Amaru had the box. He could now remake the world in his own image. She had failed. And another town was destroyed as well. Lara gripped the debris tighter and choked at the scene around her. This whole village had been destroyed. Hundreds, if not thousands of people were dead. If maybe she had worked with Rourke, this wouldn't have happened…
It was too late now though. She needed to get back to Paititi and warn Etzli. But for a moment, she could let the blood-stained waters take away her tears. Lara was determined to never let anything like this happen again...