A/N: I hope everyone loved the last installment of Life is Abominable, because we're about to revisit Max and Chloe as their adventure in China continues. I'm going to say, I didn't think I was going to have to fit the second half of the last update in this chapter. My original plan was to have the entire breakout scene take place in the last chapter, but it was getting a little too long that I decided putting it in here won't do any harm. So, let's begin shall we? Enjoy!
Previously on Life is Abominable...
Max and Chloe wake up close to midnight and sneak out of Yi's apartment to go to the Burnish research facility complex in order to rescue the captive creature that is the cause of Max's visions. After the two stole some uniforms from a couple guards they knocked down, they manage to lure Dr. Zara out of the lab and destroy the lock on the beast's cell door. Max has only had to use her rewind once to stop one other guard from setting off the alarm and alerting the entire facility to their presence. The creature has now been rescued, and immediately trusts Max after she revealed her face to it, recognizing her as the one receiving it's cries for help. Now the three must sneak out of the compound without being caught...
Burnish Industries Research Facility. 12:24 AM
Chloe was still leading ahead with her gun raised, ready to fire at anybody who would set off the alarm if they were spotted. Max gently walked behind her, still holding onto the beast's large chubby finger as she walked. Max was able to memorize the path they took to get to the cell, and so she was able to tell Chloe where to go based on her memory. Chloe then stopped and put her back against the wall before holding her gun up and turning around the corner.
"We're clear. Let's keep moving" Chloe said as she continued to walk slowly, not lowering her gun as she kept on going. Max could feel her heartbeat go faster the slower they walked. She was anxious about getting caught by Zara or one of the armed goons they took their uniforms from. She then turned her head back when she heard the creature whimper nervously. Max couldn't bare to see the poor thing afraid like that, so she decided to reassure it.
"Hey. There's nothing to be scared of. Chloe and I are right here, and we're not going to let them put you back in that cell. We promise" Max said in a calm and loving voice. The beast was now smiling again and let out a small hum to show it was happy. With comfort and reassurance provided, and the creature's spirits lifted, Max looked back to speak to Chloe.
"How far along are we to the loading bay?" Max asked.
"Not too far. We just gotta keep going straight until we get to those large doors" Chloe said as she kept her eyes fixed on said doors.
"We should hurry. It's not going to take long for Zara to realize that call we sent out about her car being trashed by the drunk janitor was fake" Max replied. Just as they were about to go through the doors, all three of them heard a loud 'Ding' noise and they looked to the right to see Zara exiting the elevator. The minute she saw the creature outside it's cell, she marched over to them looking angrier than the last time they saw her.
"Who are you and why is the Yeti out of it's cell!?" she exclaimed. Chloe held up her gun, ready to open fire on Zara. Max, nervous about every single member of the facility's security team coming after them if she allowed Chloe to kill Zara in Rachel Amber's name, or if she triggered the alarm like the last guy almost did, raised her right arm up and opened her hand. Time began to go backwards, and Max watched as Zara walked backwards into the elevator, and Chloe and their white furred friend walking backwards to the hallway they were in before. Max then lowered her hand and time began moving at normal speed again.
"Chloe! Run!" Max shouted.
"Max? How did you get over there so fast? Did you just rewind again?" Chloe asked in surprise.
"Hurry! Zara's coming!" Max exclaimed with a sense of urgency in her voice. Now the blue-haired girl could tell Max was being serious and began to run.
"Come on big guy. Start running!" Chloe said to the creature, whom Max now knew was a Yeti. The two kept running until they ran right through the doors and shut them as fast as they could.
"Phew, that was scary" Max said as she felt blood come down from her nose, which was common whenever she rewound time longer than expected or did it one too many times.
"Yeah, tell me about it. Here, let me get that for you" Chloe said as she wiped the blood off Max's face. The two peeked out the windows of the doors they just walked through and watched as Zara walked down the hall and then turned to her left to walk back to the lab.
"That was close. Great job, Super Max" Chloe said, grateful she saved them from being spotted.
"Don't mention it. But we gotta move faster before she sees we broke this thing out of it's cell and sets off the alarm for real this time" Max said. Chloe only nodded in agreement before they began running towards the truck, with the Yeti following closely behind them, matching their speed as they kept on running. As soon as they were outside the hallway, and onto the loading dock, they saw the truck was still there.
"Great it's still there. I'll get started on hot-wiring this thing, you load fuzz-butt into the back" Chloe said before taking off her helmet and tossing it to the side as well as her gun before jumping into the driver's seat of the truck and shutting the door. Max calmly helped the Yeti into the back of the truck before shutting the back doors and locking them.
"Stay there, alright? You'll be safe here" Max calmly told the Yeti. The only reply it gave her was a lone nod to show it understood. Max then took off her helmet and removed her guard uniform that she stole, leaving her in the same outfit she wore before taking said uniform. The brunette girl then walked up to the shotgun seat and sat down before fastening her seat belt and began to watch as Chloe had exposed the inner workings of underneath the steering wheel with a pocket knife and then severing one of the wires in two before tapping the two severed ends together, creating sparks each time they did.
"Come on, come on, come on" Max whisper-shouted with urgency in her voice. Chloe tapped them together one last time, and the vehicle sprung to life. The dials on the dashboard were lit, and so was the radio. The heater had just turned on, and the engine was making a loud rumbling sound.
"YES! STILL GOT IT!" Chloe cheered before she put the truck in drive and pressed down on the gas pedal. They kept on driving up until they reached the toll booth at the back gate.
"Crap, toll booth. Is anybody in there?" Max asked. Chloe peeked her head out the open drivers-side window to see it was empty.
"No. Must've gone to use the toilet or maybe he's on a coffee break" Chloe said as she got back inside.
"Think we can plow through that barricade without setting off the alarm?" Max asked.
"Knowing how high tech this place is based on what we've seen... probably not" Chloe said. Max then undid her seat belt and got out the truck.
"I'll find the switch. Shouldn't take me that long" She said before shutting the door and running inside the booth and started to search all around. The inside of the booth was dirty and the desktops were littered with papers. She began to search until she finally found a red switch underneath one of the paper-covered desks. After flipping it, she ran back inside the truck and put her seat belt on.
"Nice job" Chloe complimented before pressing down on the gas pedal again and drove past the now lifted barricade.
"That turned out better than I thought it would. And, I only had to rewind twice" Max said with a relieved voice as she slumped back in her chair now that they were officially out of the building.
"We're not out of the woods yet, Maximus. We still have to get a good enough distance from the building so they can't see us until we get back to Yi's apartment building so we can get our new friend onto the roof" said Chloe as she had her eyes focused on the road. The sound of alarms and sirens going off startled them and they looked in the rear view mirrors to see that Zara found out about the breakout and set off the alarms.
"She found out" Max said nervously.
"Damn" Chloe said before stomping down on the gas pedal as hard as she could after changing gears on the truck. They were now speeding down the road to avoid being seen, and quickly turned a corner. The turn was so close, that something fell down in the back and landed on the Yeti's foot, which made it shout loudly and it began to cry in pain.
"Oh no" Max said, worried that the poor thing was hurt.
"Sorry" Chloe said with a sheepish look while still driving. Max undid her seat belt and ran to the back of the truck through the hatch door to comfort it.
"Shh, it's okay. Auntie Chloe didn't mean it" Max said in a soft voice while she gently caressed the foot that the crate fell on.
"So now I'm an Auntie? It's not even your kid, Max!" Chloe shouted while still driving.
"Just keep driving okay? I'm trying to make sure he doesn't draw attention to us!" Max called back before returning her attention to the Yeti's foot. She then began to make light and gentle 'Shh' noises, which did a good job in calming it down. Max then smiled when it stopped it's crying and began to wipe it's tears away with the sleeve of her black hoodie.
"No more, tears okay? C'mon, show me a smile" Max said before wiggling her fingers underneath the Yeti's chin. The light tickling made it giggle and start to smile.
"There we go. That's what I wanna see" she gently told it before giving it a gentle kiss right in between it's eyes, above it's nose, which made it giggle some more. Max's heart warmed knowing that the Yeti was happy and giggling. She then went back up to the front and sat down next to Chloe once again.
"How are we looking? Anyone from the compound following us?" Max asked.
"No. I think we managed to get out quick enough before the alarm got set" Chloe replied as she switched the gears again and began driving slower to the match the legal speed limit.
"Where should we park once we get back to the apartment? I mean, a giant black truck isn't exactly inconspicuous. It has "Stolen bad guy's vehicle" written all over it" Chloe asked.
"The alleyway close to Yi's apartment building. Hide it in the back where it's darkest, right next to the dumpsters. It'll blend right in" Max advised. Chloe nodded and turned gently this time so that the Yeti wouldn't get hurt by more falling cargo and made their back to where they were staying.
Once Chloe parked the truck in the alleyway, Max opened the back doors and helped the Yeti out before guiding over to the scaffolding. Chloe got out of the driver's seat but then Max held up her left arm to tell her to stop.
"What?" asked the blue haired girl.
"You're still wearing that guy's uniform" Max said. Chloe looked down and groaned to see she was right.
"Go disrobe in the truck and toss it into the dumpster when you're done. I'll meet you up on the roof" Max told her.
"Alright. Be careful when you're going up though, okay?" Chloe advised before walking back inside the stolen truck to get rid of the uniform. Max then walked in front of the Yeti and stopped as soon as they got to the scaffolding.
"Okay, buddy. We're going to have to climb all the way to the top. You understand? Climb?" Max asked. The Yeti nodded in reply. The brunette girl was so happy that this creature could understand her with ease made her job much easier. Max then walked up to the scaffolding and began to climb up the walls of the building, the Yeti eventually followed her after she was a good amount of distance from the ground. After a while, Max and the Yeti were on the rooftop of the apartment.
"There we go. You did good" Max said before giving the Yeti a gentle nuzzle on top of it's head, which earned a hum-like purr from it. Max then looked behind her to hear helicopter noises. There were black helicopters with the logo from Burnish Industries hovering above the city with spotlights shining down on the streets. Max knew Burnish or even Zara sent them out to look for the Yeti, so that meant she'd have to hide him fast.
"C'mon, let's get you safely hidden" Max said as she took the Yeti's large index finger into her hand and guided her large new friend to the large blanket and sheet-metal shed on the other side of the exit door that lead downstairs. Max then watched as the Yeti huddled into the corner and pulled it's legs close to it's chest.
"You'll be safe here, alright?" Max told it. The Yeti just nodded again. Now, Max had the opportunity to stare deep into it's beautiful blue eyes. She felt like the two of them were connected, like the two of them could tell how the other felt. Max suddenly felt a surge of energy flow into her, her nerves tingled at the sensation, it felt to Max like the Yeti was speaking to her. The two then turned their heads when they saw Chloe came in, wearing the outfit she was wearing before.
"You were right, this is a pretty good hiding place" Chloe said as she walked in.
"Mission accomplished, thanks so much for your help, partner in crime" Max said with a smile as she gave her friend a high-five.
"Anytime, partner in time. Glad to see you're not afraid to use your powers again" Chloe replied happily.
"Yeah, me too" Max replied while gently brushing a strand of hair behind her ear with her hand. The two humans began to hear the sound of frightened whimpering coming from inside the fort. Max ran inside as fast as she could to find the poor Yeti shaking and huddled against the corner like a scared little puppy.
"What are we going to do? We can't just leave it alone and afraid up on the roof like this" Chloe asked.
"Him" Max corrected.
"Wait, what?" Chloe asked, clearly confused as to what her friend had just told her.
"Him, it's a boy" said Max in a matter-of-fact like tone.
"How do you even know it's really a boy?" asked Chloe, still confused.
"He told me, alright?" Max said. Now Chloe was amazed, and couldn't help but want to know more.
"Told you? Wait, did he actually SPEAK to you?" Chloe asked.
"No, not physically, but... it felt like he was sending these signals into my head. And my nervous system was tingling all over, like it was responding to the telepathic messages he was sending me" Max explained to her blue-haired friend. She began to shudder and smile where she stood.
"Holy crap this is awesome! My best friend has telepathy too!?" she exclaimed excitedly.
"I'm not entirely sure what to call it. It's not telepathy it feels like... well, something else" Max replied.
"Well, whatever's the cause of this telepathic bond you two share, you have it. That's all that matters. But anyways, it's obvious we can't just leave him up here alone. He's too scared to be by himself, and he'll get caught again if he makes himself known when there's an entire private army after him. What are we gonna do?" asked Chloe. Max turned to the yeti who continued to whimper in fear before turning back to her blue haired friend.
"I'll stay up here with him. I'll make sure he stays out of sight and keep him calm until the morning" Max told her.
"You sure you'll be okay?" Chloe asked, wanting to make sure Max knew what she was doing.
"I'll be fine. Just go back down to Yi's apartment and go to sleep so that we don't raise any suspicion. I'll see you in the morning and we can figure out what we're gonna do from there" said Max. Chloe only nodded before giving Max a hug goodnight and walked over to the door that lead back down to the indoor area of the complex. Now, it was just Max and the yeti on the roof alone. Max walked over and held her left hand up in front of her as she slowly approached the quivering white creature.
"It's alright, buddy. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. You can trust me, Chloe too. We're going to keep you safe, alright?" Max said, reassuring the yeti that she didn't mean him any harm. He began to lower his guard and smile at her. Max smiled in response to this and gave his shoulder a gentle rub for comfort. What he did next was unexpected, he pulled Max closer towards him into a giant hug before lying down on it's back. Max was now comfortably resting on the Yeti's fuzzy white chest.
"Aww, thanks for the hug big guy" said Max as the side of her face lied where the Yeti's heart was. She didn't think anything could sound so calming and beautiful, let alone a simple heartbeat, but there was something different about the Yeti's heartbeat. Max then looked up at the small opening through the blanket-fort's walls to see an electronic billboard with a beautiful image of the Himalayas on the screen. She then got an idea after seeing the image, she needed to give the Yeti a nickname to go by to not only lessen confusion between her and Chloe on what to call him, but to help him feel more safer around them too.
"Goodnight... Everest" Max whispered while rubbing comforting circles into his chest and closer her heavy eyes and a small smile appeared on her face. The creature smiled at the name he had been given, Everest gave a gentle hum as a way of saying "Goodnight" to her before he closed his eyes and went to sleep himself.
The Next Morning. 7:52 AM
Chloe was the first to wake up out of everyone else in the apartment. She knew Max and the Yeti they rescued last night needed something to eat, and they couldn't exactly just come downstairs and enjoy breakfast in a room full of people that never seen a white fluffy creature before. So, she swapped her clothes from last night for a simple white tee shirt with a black and gray illustration of a human heart on the front with two slits on the sleeves of the shirt that exposed her skin, black skinny jeans, and a pair of canvas shoes Max gave her as a gift for her birthday last year. Now, she was in the kitchen making some food for everyone.
"Smells just like I'm back at Two Whales" Chloe said to herself while she cooked. She decided to take a page from her mother's book and make her specialty dish she always made at the Two Whales Diner in Arcadia Bay, the Bigfoot Bacon Omelette. She checked the fridge first to be sure they had the proper ingredients to make them, as well as enough eggs too. Now, she had made more than enough omelettes for everyone to enjoy. One for her, one for Max, one for the Yeti, one for Yi, one for her mother, and one for Nai Nai as well.
"Looks delicious" Chloe heard a voice say from behind her. She turned around to see Yi's mother with her purse around her shoulder, all ready for work at the kitchen counter.
"Thanks. My mom was a waitress and cook at a small diner back in Arcadia Bay where Max and I used to live. This was her specialty dish. It's the Bigfoot Bacon Omelette. Go ahead, try one" Chloe said with a smile as she placed Max's omelette on a plate and placed the Yeti's right next to her's. Yi's mother then cut a big piece off the delicious dish and placed it in her mouth.
"Mmm. This is so good. I didn't know something like this could be so good" said Yi's mother with her mouth full while she was eating.
"Thanks. Guess I get my cooking skills from my mom. Now I'm happy to know I've successfully brought the taste of Two Whales to Shanghai" said Chloe as she placed the frying pan and spatula into the sink and began washing them off with some water from the faucet.
"So, is Yi up yet?" asked Chloe.
"Not yet. I think she's still getting ready to go someplace. Nai Nai's in the shower" Yi's mother told her. Chloe then took her plate and Max's plate into her hands before walking over towards the door.
"Where are you going?" asked Yi's mother, curious about why she was heading out with her breakfast.
"Up to the roof. Max said she was getting up early to take some pictures of the sunrise. I'm gonna bring up her omelette so she doesn't have to pause her little photography session" said Chloe.
"Alright, tell her I said good morning" Yi's mother said, buying Chloe's lie before resuming eating her own omelette. The blue haired girl then exited the apartment and began making her way up to the roof.
A/N: The escape was a success! Hooray! And yes, Max is the one who gives Everest his name in this AU. It seems like he's taken a liking to Max, and he trusts her with his life. Now, Chloe's coming up to the roof with breakfast. But, what'll happen now that the breakout mission was successful and Burnish Industries along with their sadistic stalker friend Doctor Zara are looking for them? Find out in the next update. Please review, thanks!