Tex Knows the Secrets
Tex feels a strange sense of relief and anguish as Church makes his last memory in the world.
She had loved Church but not enough for it to last. She knows she has to find her best friend before she collapses and gives up. Without having anyone that cares about her, why should she live? Everyone already thinks she is gone. She walks into the old Freelancer locker room and looks in her locker, hoping to find a trace of any of the others. Looking up, she sees white X's on most of the lockers. Two of them had something but were repainted to the original color. They are Wash and Carolina's lockers. She looks in them. Carolina has a stack of pictures in the bottom of her locker. They all contain her and York. The only other thing is a Magnum with her name engraved into the side. Tex heads over to Wash's locker. His skateboard still leans against the back. His swirly straw rests on the top shelf in front of an unmarked box. A picture of himself, York, and North is taped to his locker door. Tex pulls down the box, carefully, so as not to disturb any other items. She removes the lid and finds multiple pictures and empty ammo cartridges for a Magnum and a Battle Rifle. She pulls the first stack of pictures out and finds one of everyone except herself. Tex even recognizes Florida, Georgia, Utah, Ohio, Idaho, and Iowa. The second stack is thicker and more taken care of. As Tex flips through them, she notices one common thing: they all have Carolina in them. She puts the pictures back in the box and goes back to Carolina's locker. She had assumed all of the pictures were of Carolina and York. As Tex removes the top layers of pictures, she begins to see more and more of Wash. Most of them appear to have been rushed, consisting of blurs and cut off body parts. Everyone had their secrets; Carolina was just the best at keeping them. Tex looks over at the last locker on the right side of the room, York's locker. Unlike the others, its open. York's old busted helmet rests on the middle shelf of the locker. Multiple magazine clippings litter the bottom of his locker. One remaining picture clings to the door, but this one is of Carolina. A small stack of papers rests on the top shelf. Tex pulls them down. They are all letters that were never opened and marked "return to sender". As Tex turns to leave, a black envelope, half-buried in the bottom of York's locker, catches her attention. She pulls it out and the only thing on it is "TEX" in big silver letters. Tex opens it and finds coordinates to a Pelican hangar and a base on Chorus. Looking at the last paper in the envelope, Tex drops everything and runs to the vehicle hangar.