Pros ta Empros
Chapter II: Migratory Animals
Max knew she could never live without Chloe. But she didn't know if Chloe could ever live with her. How will Max learn to live with the consequences of her choices, can the two girls learn to live in this new world, and will they sort through their baggage to truly understand each other?
This story will follow the cannon of Life Is Strange Season 1 closely, while using some trivia from Lis: BtS and LiS2. This story is a post-sab story set immediately after the events of Episode 5, so don't read this if you somehow got here without knowing the ending of the game.
After observing first hand the true destruction that seized Arcadia Bay, Max and Chloe begin their journey north.
It's been almost an hour since we got back on the road. Nothing has happened so far. We just keep looking forward, Chloe never having taken her eyes off the road. Mine, however, have been everywhere. From the road, to the mirror, to the pair of bright blue eyes in the driver's seat. We haven't said anything since we first left the town, but there was a hint of peace in the silence. Yeah, Chloe had to withdraw her hand to focus on driving because someone has been tailgating us for a few minutes now, and I can't really distract her from that. It was comforting and all, but also weird. Almost like the amount of pressure it took off my shoulder made me lightheaded. Oh well, it's probably nothing serious. Still, the silence is starting to get deafening.
"Hey, Chloe?" I start, with definite uncertainty in my words.
"What's up?" She asks, not looking over.
"What do we do after today?"
"I don't really know. I think we shouldn't worry about that now, though. We still have a lot of today ahead of us."
"But, how do we ever move on from what we saw?"
"We don't, Max. We just keep going."
I know she's right, and it sucks. We're… never going to be okay again. We'll never be who we were a week ago. Still… "as long as it's together."
"Forever." She looks over at me, smiling. I start to smile back, and the car hits a bump. A bad one. She swerves right, and slams on the breaks. The truck stops running. The car behind us never even slows down, instead swerving slightly to go left of us before speeding up. Asshole. Chloe's arm is stretched to the right, as if to stop me from flying forward. Kind of a silly action, given the seatbelts. She's looking at me now, probably because my heart rate is spiking again.
"Did we hit something?" I ask, panic seizing my voice.
"Fucking pothole, we're good. Are you okay?"
"Shaken up, but fine. Sorry for distracting you."
"It's my fault, I looked away."
"But-"
"Max, I won't spend the rest of my life arguing over which of us is worse. It was an accident. Let's keep going." She seems annoyed. I really should stop blaming myself, but she doesn't deserve it either. Guess we're both hypocrites.
"Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize, it's okay." She turns the key, but the engine only revs. "Fuck, not now." She tries again, it doesn't start. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
"What happened?"
"I don't know, it just died. Maybe a loose wire? I'll check it out." She gets out, and I follow. Popping open the hood, she starts looking around the engine. I'll admit, I don't know much about cars, but I still don't want to just stand here.
"Anything I can do?"
"Uh… there should be a small toolkit in the bed."
"Alright, I'll grab it." I say as if there was anything besides grabbing it that would've been useful. Walking around the back, I look into the truck, and then remember how much of a miracle it was that the truck is even here. "Uh… There's only sticks and shit here."
"What? No, no, no…" She whispers, running around the other side of the truck. "Fucking wind, goddamnit."
"Chloe, it's okay, I'm sure we can figure it out."
"It really isn't fucking okay. I can't get basic tools anywhere, and that was not a normal fucking toolbox. Fuck."
"Oh, Chloe, I… I'm sorry."
She sighs, and just says, "no, it's okay. Just one more casualty."
I don't know what else to say, so I move on. "
"Well then… I know we're only about a mile out of Beaver. We can try and get help there."
"That's… a lot of walking. Fuck. We're not gonna be able to push the thing."
"What should we bring?"
"Water? A granola bar each? I don't fucking know."
"Okay, water it is. Look, we'll figure this out, it's just a pothole."
"We better. I'm not losing the truck too." This time the anger fades into just being hurt. It hurts me too. We really can't catch a break right now. I hope this isn't the universe continuing to punish us for being alive.
"We won't. Now let's get started, it won't be day forever."
We started walking towards the town. It was almost comical, the amount of cosmic punishment we were taking. But still, we were making progress. We had a lot to go, and we didn't have an end goal, but progress is progress. The walking went on in silence for a little, but I can't stand the silence. I decide to just piggyback on her last statement. "So, how much day time do you think we have left?"
"Hell if I know. What even is the time?"
I look up at the sun. "Probably around noon. Wow, and it feels like it's been forever since we woke up in the lighthouse."
"Yeah…" Chloe whispers. I guess it really hasn't been that long, but the half hour on the road of deafening silence really made me feel tired. "Then again, we also have no idea when we woke up, given how our phones died in the middle of the night. I hope someone got the messages we were trying to send…"
"How much did we do?"
"What? Oh yeah, you came back on the beach. We… or me and the… wait, what the fuck happens when you photo jump?"
"I… don't know." I'm one of many Maxes you've left behind… the words echo in my ears. Was I just… erasing other versions of myself? What happened to the alternate timeline I left behind? I shake my head, I can't think about all this right now.
"Figures, I think your photo jumping is even weirder than your rewind is- er, was. Anyway, we didn't really do anything Thursday. I feel like shit for it, but were too busy being confused."
"We're still confused, I don't think we're any closer to understanding this stuff then we were Tuesday afternoon."
"And we likely never will learn. Anyway, you didn't know anything about why we were going home, so you were freaking out until I said you photo jumped. I told what you told me, about Nathan being a pawn of that Jefferson prick, and his kidnapping you. I couldn't tell what happened since you didn't tell me, so you got more confused."
"Yeah, about that… I do want to tell you eventually. Just… not now. I don't want to revisit it yet."
"Take your time, I understand you probably could not have handled any of that well. Past you couldn't even handle the idea of that prick being bad. I spent all night comforting you. Or, the other you. Guess you're… I don't know."
"More to think about after today. We actually have time to think." Even if so many people no longer can.
"I guess you're right. Now, the next morning we start thinking of ways to stop the storm. Joyce already isn't home, and I don't think of texting her or anything... But we did anonymously send David the info on the dark room. Then, we spent so long thinking about what the storm was, or why it was. You said something about Rachel. God, I still can't believe what Nathan did to her."
"I'm sorry about that, Chloe."
"We did all we could. We were so focused on research we kinda blanked until we actually saw the storm. Then the messages went flying, and we felt like shit. But the storm came so fast. I think they actually got the messages, but by that point everyone could see the storm anyway. We just thought, maybe hearing it from us would make them more likely to up and go. That went on for a bit, and you said we needed to go to the lighthouse. So we went, had to cut through the beach where you woke up. You were calling people the whole time, but phones were barely working. Only a few calls actually went through."
"But… I called Warren with no problem after getting out of the, uh…"
"As I said, some did go through. We got a hold of, uh… Warren first, way before it got close. He was in his truck at the time and said he'd stop at the diner. He never picked up… after that… uh, there was Justin… I don't think he made it either."
"Oh… no…"
"Someone named Brooke apologized for being kind of bitchy, and you two complained about being unable to reach Warren anymore. Her call dropped suddenly. Your friend Kate didn't want to hang up, you felt like shit when you said you had more people to try and reach. Oh, and you and that Victoria girl had a heart to heart, I think she said she was saved by David."
That was… huge news. I stopped walking for a moment. "Chloe, holy shit, that means David and Victoria were still in the dark room during the storm, and that they made it! But also that… I could have... told you to warn warren about the fire, Thursday night. Fuck."
She was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Max, you were in a hurry during the jump. I told you, I completely blanked on warning people. Do you know how many lives that cost?" Damnit, here we are blaming ourselves again.
"Chloe, stop. You're right about the blame wars. We both screwed up, but we did what we could. I may be able to time travel, but we aren't psychic."
She looks at me, and for some reason smiles. We start walking again. "It's good to hear you say that, Max. We really did what we could with this shitty hand. Plus, I did get a hold of Warren. He just didn't say where he was. That's why I was still holding on to hope when you told me about… everything."
"Hope is good Chloe. We can always hope. What happened with Kate?"
"Oh, yeah, her." She actually perked up, and I immediately felt some weight be lifted off my shoulders. "She got out earlier that morning, she's with her family right now. She's… heartbroken."
"So we know at least three people made it. I mean technically none of them were in the path of the storm, but still. Three survivors." I know three isn't a lot, but that's still three people I can actually see again. Even if two of them are kind of assholes. Well, not really. Victoria and David are troubled, but they can both be better. "Are you going to call David when we get the chance?"
"I… haven't thought about it. I guess… well, you did say he really did care. I guess I can let him know I'm okay, might… keep him from really losing it."
"I think you should. You need all the support you can get."
"I think we both do... " She looks down, but keeps walking. Right back to uncomfortable silence. It's almost becoming normal. I hate it. I look right, and see a river stretching down forever in both directions, and I can see houses on the other side. It feels weird seeing so many houses not damaged or broken, and we're not too far away from Arcadia Bay, yet. Things keep going wrong to slow us down. I guess the damage was just incredibly localized, which just adds to my list of questions about what really happened.
It was all something I truly believe I will never get answers for. I still don't know why I got these powers. I guess it was for a greater reason, which means I was supposed to use them. That's incredibly complicated though, as I can't shake the feeling that my powers and the storm are linked, there are far too many coincidences. Either my powers caused the storm, in which case I was given these powers to save Chloe. That's the only thing that made sense, because had I have gone back it would have invalidated the whole last week. And if that's true, why give me powers in the first place if the right call was just to do nothing with them? Which means that I was given these so the universe could teach me a lesson, and I guess I pissed some cosmic force off by instead continuously saving Chloe. Some lesson. That's also assuming that I only gained the powers Monday, because it's also possible that they were always there and I just didn't know. I still don't know.
I have so many questions, and they're just leading to more questions. I don't understand the point of everything, but I know it has to have something to do with Chloe. We found each other for a reason, and I was given the chance to save her for a reason. So either there's a greater purpose to all this, or it was just me being given a second chance with her. I know I can't waste it. No matter how difficult this is proving to be.
"Hey, Max, there it is! The main part of the town!"
"Jeez, has it really been that long?"
"We weren't that far from it to begin with. Now let's hurry up, we gotta get back on the road."
"Sure can't wait to spend the walk back." We hurry up, Chloe ignoring my sarcasm. But we both know that there isn't that much to be cheerful for right now. Except of course, I have her. I saved her. I just… have to focus on that. We step into the center of the small town, and Chloe and I spend a while just struggling to decide what to do. We decide our best bet is to just head into the nearest store for groceries.
Chloe immediately approaches the cashier, knowing we really don't have a purpose to buy anything. "Excuse me, sir. My friend and I had our truck break down about a mile down the highway. Do you know where the closest auto shop is?'
"Uh… yeah. I think... if you keep going down the highway, there's a small shop not far off the intersection."
"Thank you. Um…" Chloe looks around the counter for a moment. "I'm gonna buy this." She places a phone charger, because you can buy those in seemingly any store on the planet, on the counter.
"That'll be five dollars."
Chloe flips through her wallet and pulls out a 10 dollar bill. Funny, that's a touch more than 86 cents.
"Thank you, come again."
"You're welcome, I won't." She beams as she walks out of the store, muttering about how much a charger is.
I follow quickly, apologizing for Chloe's lack of companionship.
"Great. More walking, we're even further from the truck now," she fumes.
"It'll be okay, we'll get out of here soon enough."
"Whatever. Let's just keep going."
"Chloe, what's going on? You're… suddenly a lot less cheerful."
"Sorry, Max, I don't feel like giving a shit right now about putting on a happy face."
"What's going through your mind? Please, I want to try and help."
"Nothing. You are helping. Come on." She starts walking faster, clearly not willing to talk. I feel like shit now, because she won't talk to me, but there's not too much I'm going to be able to do. Might as well just wait to get to the mechanic shop. At least this walk won't be quite as long, and being in a city makes everything seem less barren than it is.
After a block or two, some guys pull out a side street and start following us closely. Dread surges through me, there's no way this ends well.
"He-ey sweethearts, where you heading?" It's some drunk ass college kid, I assume by the slur of his voice. I don't know for sure though, I refuse to look directly at him. Chloe actually slows down a step to be beside me, putting herself between me and them. Even now, Chloe is being Chloe. "Yo, Mike, they ain't answerin."
The other man, Mike, only says, "so? They can hear us." I immediately notice Chloe's brows starting to furl.
The first man continues his stupor, saying, "If you wanna ride somewhere, my buddy 'n I'll be happy to assist ya both. Can I get your names?"
Still, we say nothing. Chloe puts a hand on my shoulder, urging me to go faster.
"Stupid bitches, are ya deaf or somethin?"
Chloe has had it now, and she turns to face the man. "Speed up and fuck off, asshole."
"We're just tryna be friendly, you bitch."
"How about you go get real friendly with each other and leave us alone."
"Fine. Maybe your friend is actually friendly." The unnamed man puts his hand on my shoulder. Before I can shove it off, Chloe grabs his wrist and stops walking. She twists his arm, and he doubles over.
"Fuck. Off." She whispers.
Mike pushes Chloe back, shouting, "Fuck you, we did'n do nothin!" Chloe trips backward into a pole, and glares at the man.
The first guy is up again, glaring at Chloe. Then, he looks back at me. "Guess they just don't wanna be friends."
"Don't give a shit, this bitch is tryna fuck with us." Mike shouts as he walks towards Chloe, who has steadied herself.
"Guess we teach 'em a lesson then." The first one whispers, and walks towards me. I don't give him a chance to do anything, and kick him hard. He's down, unable to stand. Mike is even more pissed, and the dumbass pulls out a knife. Fuck, this is bad. He walks towards me, and Chloe pushes him back again. I'm panicking. Should I rewind, get us out of this? What if she gets hurt? Mike stands up again, and before I can process what Chloe does he drops his knife.
"Woah, what the fuck, you fucking psycho! Put that away!"
"Run." Chloe whispers. She's holding David's gun. I feel like I'm about to faint. The two guys run off quickly, and Chloe puts the gun back into her waistband.
"Chloe, what the fuck?" I shout at her. She starts walking again, and I match her pace. "No, listen to me Chloe. What the hell."
"He had a knife."
"You don't have a carrying permit!"
"Don't give a shit, he went for you with a weapon."
"He was drunk off his ass, were you going to shoot him?"
"All the more dangerous. If I had to."
"Chloe, no. No. We are not going around the country with a damn gun. I thought you were putting it back,"
"I never said that. In fact, I actually told the other you that I would bring it with me."
"So you remember that and not a damn charger or to charge your phone?"
"Oh shut up, I have it keep you safe. We can't rely on rewind anymore, and there are a lot of sick fucks out there like Nathan and Jefferson, and those two assholes. We can get a charger, I can't protect you with a nail file."
"I don't need you to protect me with a gun. As soon as you can, get rid of that."
"No, Max, I need it."
"Do you know how many times I've seen that gun, and ones like it, cause problems? This isn't a joke, Chloe." She says nothing in response. "Chloe, I'm serious."
"I am too. It can't be you saving my ass all the time. I don't have this on me to play with it."
"Doesn't change the fact that you'd be arrested for using it."
"No, but it's worth it if it saves your life."
"No, it isn't. Not if it takes you from me."
"There's no point in some fucker wasting both of us."
"And there's no point in you throwing your life away for mine!"
"Yeah, cuz we're not allowed to sacrifice anything to keep each other alive."
"That's… did you really..." I stop talking.
"There's the shop. Let's get the tools we need and get out of here." I want to keep pressing the issue, as I'm pissed, but I know it's a bad idea. She's right… but she's an asshole. And here I thought she wasn't going to use that against me, and on the same fucking day.
We walk through the doors after only a moment and Chloe is again at the front counter. "Hey, our car broke down about a mile out from here, southeast. We were wondering if we could borrow some tools, or if you could help us out."
"Um… we can't just give you tools."
"Where and for how much can we buy tools?"
"You can buy a tool kit from the hardware store for slightly more than basic supplies. It's back in town, should cost about $40 if you know that's all you need. Or we can tow it in, minimum charge $50 without operating costs."
"Shit. Max, how much do you have? We didn't think this through." No shit, I don't know if either of us think anything through at all.
"I can check my card on an ATM, but I doubt it's anything over 50."
"You don't have to answer, it's not my business, but why are you here? This clearly isn't familiar territory for you, you're traveling light, and you look like you're on the run. You aren't criminals, are you?"
"Oh, just a road trip. We've been on the highway for only about an hour and-"
"Wait, an hour southeast? Are you from Arcadia?" Neither of us say anything, we just look at each other with a look that is clearly not confusion, but grief. "Holy shit. Uh… pardon my language. I am so, so sorry."
"Look, can you just tell us what we can do to fix our car?" Chloe snaps, then immediately softens. "Sorry, yes. It's been a long day."
"Good Lord. I… Look, I don't think I can help you without breaking policy, and I feel awful, but… I hope you guys are doing okay."
"Uh… thank you. Although, I do have a favor to ask."
The man looks uncomfortable, but still entertains Chloe. "What's up?"
"Our phones died last night, as the storm hit. Can I borrow yours to make a call?"
"Uh… yeah, yeah sure. Here." He hands Chloe the phone, and she turns to face me while typing in a number.
"I uh… guess it's time to face my demons." Without waiting for my response, she's holding the phone up to her ear. After a few seconds, she starts talking. "Holy shit, you are okay... Yeah, no, I'm okay too... I'm with Max... No, I'm sorry, I haven't seen her... I uh… hey, I know, I'm sorry… yeah, actually I do. Can you get to the auto shop in Beaver? Yeah, I promise I'm here… I know, you're right, this is pretty shitty of me after the other day, I'm sorry… I know you didn't mean it… No problem… Just a tool kit, we hit a pothole and the truck died. I think I know the issue, but I can't fix it… thank you so much, uh, David." The phone goes silent. There are tears in her eyes, and she hands the phone back to the mechanic.
"So… Is he okay?"
"No, but he's alive. He's on his way, he'll meet us outside as fast as he can, so expect it to be about 40 minutes."
"I guess that's good. Let's just go wait for him, I guess."
"Yeah… yeah."
Sitting on the curb outside, it's hard for me to not just think about the last hour. The gun, the mood swings, David, that fight… It's a lot to think about on top of everything else since this morning. I wonder if this day will ever actually end. It's just been one piece of bad news after the other, and I'm genuinely worried about this confrontation with David that awaits us. Plus, Chloe and I now haven't really spoken to each other, but this time the silence is more awkward than just due to time. Whatever, we can worry about that later. I'm just surprised that David is even willing to come help us, as he didn't really deal with what he had to deal with before I photo jumped. At least he and Chloe will get their closure, though. I couldn't give it to Joyce. Or Frank. Or… Anyone. Fuck, I can almost see the Two Whales going up in flames. Or David shooting Jefferson. Or Jefferson shooting David. Or That time Chloe shot Frank. So much death. You're a goddamn hypocrite. You've left a trail of death and suffering behind you. I shake my head. I can't keep letting those words into my thoughts. I mean, they were technically mine, I think. Still, they aren't what really happened. I just wanted to help, even if I didn't ask for the chance. I know I couldn't save everyone, but I tried, damn it. I saved Chloe. It has to be worth it, it has to have been what was supposed to happen. If not… if I screwed up... Do you really think she has any feelings for us? You're just another puppet… No, there is no 'if not.' I ripped that damn photo up for a reason.
"Hey." Chloe says, pulling me from thought.
I look at her, and there's sympathy in her eyes. She must be well aware of how I seem to be losing it, but I'm still mad. "What?"
"No 'what's up?' Guess I deserve that. Just wanted to, you know, apologize, or something. I'm a dick. I don't feel bad about the gun thing, but… I'm a terrible person for that last thing. Just… please, understand that just like you, I'd do anything to keep my best friend from dying."
The glare fades from my face, and some tension dips. "Yeah, but you can't go around holding something like that over my head shortly after telling me that it isn't my fault and therefore am not at fault for the storm."
"You're right, Max. You're right. I fucked up, and probably just undid hours of making sure you aren't losing it or regretting your choices. I was just frustrated, it didn't seem like you were listening to me."
"Chloe, I always listen to you. I understand why you want to keep the gun, but I think it's a terrible idea."
"And I don't. But we don't… we should argue about that when we're… when we're somewhere safe. I just want to say that I won't ever even imply that your choice was wrong, or use it in any way in future arguments."
"Just don't do it so soon. We need to at least be able to talk to each other without constantly bringing ourselves right back to that one moment."
"You're right. Fuck, I'm sorry. Don't hate me?"
"Never. I know this isn't one of those things that will hang over us for months, don't worry."
"I know. It's just… you know. Hard."
"Yeah. It really is."
"So... how's it going?"
"My head hurts, but I think I'm fine."
"Max, come on. You look like you're halfway to another anxiety attack, you're not fine. Wait, define 'hurts.'"
"Too much thinking, probably not bad. And I'll try and let you know if anything goes really wrong."
"Do you want to talk about any of it?"
"No. It's too early in the day." Funny how it doesn't feel like it. It should be about two o'clock now, if I remember the clock inside that other store correctly. Yet, it feels like it's been two weeks since the storm first hit. Or several years, counting the whole week. It's just so exhausting. "What about you?"
"David should be here soon. I'm worried. I know you told me he really does care, and that he saved you, but still. It's gonna… be difficult."
"What did he tell you on the phone?"
"I heard sirens, he's helping with search and rescue. They aren't really finding anyone. He… he couldn't yet confirm if Joyce was in the diner, and he's gonna be mad we pulled him away from that. So… he doesn't know."
"Fuck. Well, I guess that makes the news of 3 probable survivors a lot less hopeful. How? How the hell does a storm kill everyone in its path? That's a death toll entirely unheard of. Especially with how several buildings weren't entirely gone."
"I… don't know. We can't deny that it has nothing to do with your powers based on coincidence alone. That doesn't mean it's your fault, but it does mean that it probably wasn't normal. Maybe it had a vendetta."
"I… sure hope not."
"Either way, we don't know. We can't know. We won't do ourselves any good working with 'what ifs.' We should probably just worry about what we do know."
"But… what do we really know?"
"That we're here. That we survived."
"The storm still won."
"I don't know for sure. Can't win if you don't have a win condition."
"That… doesn't really make sense."
"We don't know what the storm wanted. Assuming it wanted me dead, it failed. Assuming it was natural, then it really is just whatever the hell nature wanted."
"I'm not following."
"It means it doesn't matter, because it's gone and we're here."
"Oh… okay, then. I guess you're right."
"You bet your ass I am, I'm hella right." I grin stupidly, that sentence sounded more like Chloe than everything she has said in the last 6 hours. After a few seconds of me staring, she asks, "what's the smile for?"
"Oh, uh… you just… sounded like you." I say. Wait, why the fuck do I feel so flustered over that?
"I hope so, I'd be pretty pissed if my voice was suddenly different." She says, seemingly oblivious to how I reacted to her calling out my staring.
Then, there is a hand on my shoulder and a hand on Chloe's. We immediately tense up and turn to face the owner of the hands. The shock subsides a bit when I see exactly who I was expecting to see.
"Hey, Chloe. Max. You both… wow. You're both okay. Well, uh... I'm happy to see you."