"Once I was told 'Eyes never lie though they can't speak'
Those hazel eyes are telling me 'Words are never enough'"
- Anggun Vrismaya
[Saturday, October 12th 2013]
A small nose raised into the breeze and sniffed, testing the scents. Today cooler winds whistled softly through the low grasses and stirred dry autumn leaves into ever-changing mosaics of fall color. Soft fur kept the owner of the nose warm and comfortable as he scurried across the wooden top of the picnic table. Finding nothing particularly interesting in this spot he hopped down moving quickly and cautiously further up the path to the top where the land fell away to the water.
Cresting the top of the path he paused and scanned the ground and surrounding foliage. Never trusting only his eyes he raised his nose again toward the sky taking in fresh air and it's many meanings. It was more than just life to him. It was also cool relief on warm summer days, it's breezes helped to wash away stale smells and bring freshness. It also carried messages, ones that told of weather to come, or of friends or competitors nearby. Some messages warned of approaching dangers that were best avoided.
Currently the scents he took in told him of the seasons changes. The cold autumn air was pushing out the warm summer days, hints of drying leaves, spicy pine and crisp cool evenings touched his senses, the forest was preparing for the long deep sleep ahead. But one scent caught his attention more than the rest, the one he'd hoped to find.
Food!
The squirrel scampered forward a few feet to the small patch of ground his nose led him to, a poorly concealed treasure cache left by another. Pine needles and bits of dirt and twigs scattered and tumbled to either side as he quickly uncovered his spoils in the form of a rather impressive acorn. Satisfied, he grabbed it with both paws, biting off the cap before he began cracking into the nut with his teeth.
Suddenly a rustle of movement made him freeze. Over near the far edge of the land the creature that had startled him turned and was regarding him quietly with large deep eyes. He sat still as he watched it, checking for signs of danger but it's presence was calm, there was no agitation or tense feelings of threat coming from it.
Satisfied there was no immediate danger but desiring to move on now the squirrel gripped the acorn in his teeth and dashed off into the thick underbrush.
Max smiled as she watched him dart back into the forest.
Be safe and find lots of food.
She turned back around where she sat alone on the bench near the lighthouse, overlooking the bay.
Her hands rested comfortably in her lap as she held her beige Polaroid camera, slowly turning it over and over as she studied it. She trailed her fingers over the smooth hard plastic of the case and the seams between the various pieces. She loved old cameras and this one was her favorite, despite it's age it looked practically new. It had belonged to Chloe's dad William and was a gift to her from Chloe on the day they'd been reunited, the same day her old camera had met it's end during Max's altercation with Nathan.
She turned the camera towards her face, looking at the glass of the lens and tried to summon a smile. Her finger moved to the shutter button and hovered there as she hesitated. After a moment her expression changed to a disheartened frown and with a heavy sigh she took her finger away again and snapped the camera closed.
What's the point.
Leaning forward she placed the camera back in her bag by her feet and looked out at the bay.
It was a beautiful autumn day. The air was fresh and crisp but the sun's light was warm enough that her ripped denim shorts, punk tee and green flannel were comfortable. Occasionally a cool but pleasant breeze would swirl across her legs, brush her face and lightly tug at her hair. Around her birds darted through the trees, their evening song mingling with the distant calls of the gulls. Butterflies flitted and danced along the wooden fence nearby enjoying the day's last warm rays of sun.
Max recognized among them a brilliant blue butterfly gently fanning it's wings on a fence post. She smiled at it.
"Hello friend."
Inhaling deeply she felt a sense of complete peace wash through her as she exhaled.
The setting sun sparkled across the water painting blended swaths of red and orange hues that glistened on the rippling tides. It would have made a nice photo she realized.
Looking to her left she saw Arcadia Bay, distant from where she sat but she could still see people going about their evening routines. She found her eyes drawn back to the sunset and it's stunningly beautiful colors.
"It is gorgeous isn't it?"
Startled, Max slowly looked to her right at the person that now sat next to her.
"Hello Max."
Rachel Amber turned her head toward Max, a wistful look in her hazel eyes.
Max's mind went blank, her mouth falling open slightly as she stared into the face of the girl she'd never met.
Rachel smiled at her, when she spoke her tone was warm and pleasant.
"I used to love coming up here on nights like this, it always felt so free and open. Like you could just dive off the cliff and float on the air, fly away to wherever you wanted ya know?"
As Max continued to stare at her dumbfounded she noticed Rachel was wearing the same outfit she was. She also realized that pictures she'd seen of the girl only came so close to the real person. Light from the setting sun highlighted her face enhancing her natural beauty, the image reminded Max of Chloe in that way, the sunlight made them both more beautiful.
Rachel smiled at her briefly before turning back toward the sunset and continued "We'd get views like this back in Long Beach, but there was something about this place, this area, nothing could compare. It's funny, for the longest time I wanted to get the hell out of here. Just get through school and back to Cali where I could start a real life, but part of me could never get over this stupid little town. It had this kind of, lost-in-time charm. I didn't want to leave that behind."
She sat quietly in thought for a moment before smiling again "I guess I never had to."
Max felt tears well up in her eyes, sudden remorse and guilt making her voice crack.
"Rachel, I am SO sorry. I tried, we tried, so hard." tears now running freely down her cheeks.
Rachel turned to face her, taking Max's hands in hers and speaking gently as she looked intently into her eyes.
"Hey, stop it. I know you did, both of you. But you've cried enough Max. It's cool OK? Really."
Max struggled to find words, "I just…I wish we'd been sooner. Maybe if I'd looked Chloe up when I first came back here like I should have then maybe we-" Rachel smiled and shook her head interrupting her.
"Nah girl, I was already off trying to chase my dreams, it wouldn't have made any difference Max. You want to take blame for everything and everyone but all the world's problems aren't your fault. This is one thing you can't own, because my choices were on me, you get me? I was just a little too blinded by my own dreams to see things I should have."
Max sniffed, letting out a small sigh as Rachel reached up with her fingertips and gently wiped the tears from the brunette's freckled face.
"You didn't come back to Arcadia Bay for me anyway and now the only reason you're staying is for her." It was a statement.
"Chloe?" Max's voice cracked a little and Rachel smiled "Chloe."
She took Max's hands again, their soft warmth was comforting as she continued.
"She needed your help to the truth. She was dying inside Max and you helped bring her back from the edge. You give her a reason to believe, to hope and dream again and it's been a long time since she felt any of that, felt like she mattered. She is going to continue to surprise you with the person she is becoming and thanks to you, she has that chance now." Max tried to swallow back a lump in her throat.
"She was so sure Rachel, so sure we'd find you. That we could all be friends and-" Max's words caught behind the lump she'd failed to swallow as fresh tears ran down her face. She sighed in irritation at her own emotions.
Rachel looked into her eyes with a slow shake of her head. "She knew Max, she knew. But it's always the truths we know we can't deny that are the same truths we fight so hard not to see. It was easier for her to imagine I'd taken off and left her behind, it fit her whole unwanted pariah attitude and helped her avoid facing the truth. The truth that I was gone and it really had nothing to do with her." Max silently looked at her, taking in what she'd said.
"At least, I heard that on a talk show once, so I guess it's true." Rachel shrugged at Max before her smile peeked through, lightening the mood. Max let out a small laugh as Rachel chuckled and continued.
"But she was right Max and so were you. You acknowledged my truth before she did. It took your courage and love to bring her to it. I know how hard and painful that was for you and what you sacrificed for it. You've gone through so much and I know it won't be easy for you either, but you need to realize how important that was to her and to me. "
Max sniffed and smiled despite the sadness she still felt.
Rachel grinned at her "There, made ya smile! You have a beautiful one you know? And we are friends, you and I are here right now. I'm glad I finally got to meet you Max." she reached up and dabbed Max's tears again.
Max's smile slipped a little as she exhaled strongly, finally asking the question she dreaded.
"What... what is this? I mean, am I-"
"Dead?" Rachel finished.
"Yeah." Max answered gloomily.
Rachel reached over to lightly brush her hand along Max's cheek, "No. But you did overdo it just a bit there Wonder Girl."
Max frowned "Ok, so if I'm not dead then I'm crazy, aren't I? This is me losing it finally, isn't it?" she said flatly.
Rachel tilted her head to the left and pursed her lips, regarding her with mock seriousness.
"So you think your mind is making all this up huh? Just like, POOF, Crazy Max is chatting with a living dead girl? Dude you're pretty creative and smart but do you really think even you could imagine all this perfection?", Rachel pointed up and down at herself, "Puh-lease girlfriend!" finishing with a wink.
Max coughed out a laugh and grinned as Rachel snickered before they both looked back out over the bay. After a quiet moment Rachel spoke, her tone more serious.
"You're not crazy Max. I don't have all the answers, but I do know I'm here now with you and it feels pretty real to me.", she paused before continuing.
"I just know that I can't stay here for long. There are other things I need to go do." Max frowned a little as she looked at her.
"I wish you could stay, Chloe would love to see you too."
Rachel smiled in sympathy, "I know Max, I'll visit her, I promise. Just not yet. She has you and that is all she needs right now."
The words hung there in the air for a moment before Rachel spoke again.
"So… You and Chloe huh?" she said with a knowing grin. Max felt her cheeks grow warm as she caught Rachel's meaning.
"Yeah, me and Chloe." she smiled, blushing at thoughts of the sassy punk. Rachel's eyes glimmered as she gave her a big smile and a playful shove on the shoulder.
"Dude, that is awesome! You two are so good for each other, I could always tell."
Max scoffed "Ha! How would you know? You and I never met before now. See? Told you. I prolly am nuts." Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Max, please. She used to always talk about you and her and all the crazy cool shit you guys did as kids like it was just yesterday. You two were thick as thieves. Sometimes if she'd get a little too baked she'd get all emo if she was talking about you. That's when I could tell dude, I could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes. I could've never given her everything she wanted, but you can, it's been you all along. You guys are like two halves of the same soul. I actually used to get a little jealous of you."
Max's hushed tone was part amazement part awe, "You? Were jealous of me?"
Rachel playfully snarked "Heh, um YEAH?", offering a warm smile before continuing.
"Chloe and I were tight, she was my best friend, my sister and I loved her for all those reasons and more. But there was always this place in her heart for you Max. A place I never saw anyone else reach, she never forgot about you. So you two actually hooking up is hella awesome."
Max snickered, "You sound like her." then imitating Chloe's voice "Hella right, hella crazy, hella cool!", Rachel scoffed.
"Pfft, please, where do you think she stole that from hello?" she circled her index fingers in the air to point back at herself. They both broke out in genuine laughter as they gazed back out at the bay.
In the distance the sun was settling below the horizon, bathing the water with the day's last few beautiful shades of reds and oranges. Dusk was slowly settling in.
"Max, it's time."
A chill crept down Max's spine on hearing those words and she turned toward Rachel who had already turned sideways to face her. Max began to say something but Rachel started first.
"I have to go now Max."
Max reached over to rest her hand on Rachel's knee, "Don't go yet, please? Just stay a little longer? There is so much I need to talk about. It feels like everything that's happened this week is slowly driving me nuts and I'm so fucking confused. Even when I think I figured something out I just find more questions and end up feeling like I really don't understand shit." Rachel smiled warmly at her.
"I know Max but you will, in time. And I didn't say I won't be back. People always have shit to go take care of and so do I, even now. But I have some stuff I want to talk about with you too so lets call it a future date, cool?"
Max nodded clearing her throat to keep her voice from cracking "OK, it's a future date then. Do you maybe know when you'll be back?"
Rachel reached up and brushed a lock of hair away from Max's face where it had clung to a tear-moistened cheek.
"Max, I'll always be with you and Chloe. You guys had my back, even when you didn't have to. I will always have yours. You could have given up and walked away but you didn't and that gives me so much hope for the future, both your futures. Just promise me something?"
Max nodded slowly.
"Keep doing what you love and don't give up on your dreams Max. They haven't given up on you."
Rachel gently took Max's hand off her knee turning it palm up and pressed her own hand palm down against Max's. She slowly trailed her hand forward until their fingertips softly met, finally she gently folded Max's fingers back over her palm and held it closed moment as she looked back up into Max's eyes.
"Chloe told you that you're amazing and now Max Caulfield, I'm telling you. It's time you stop doubting yourself and start believing in yourself because there is strength in that. That strength will carry you far into the future and see you through the days to come.
Max felt the temperature dropping, the final rays from the sun had all but gone down below the horizon and she could feel the cold night creeping in, causing her to shiver. Puzzled by Rachel's sincerity she looked down at her closed hand, then up at Rachel.
"Rachel I'm…I mean that's nice of you to say, thank you. But I don't-"
The beautiful blond girl leaned in towards her gently placing her fingertips on Max's mouth as she softly kissed her forehead and whispered.
"Until next time girl. Be seeing you." she sat back again and gave Max a wink.
"Rachel, wait!"
Max's eyes opened as she reached out into empty air for the girl who was no longer there, her spoken plea echoing across the room where she and Chloe had taken shelter. Dust motes lightly swirled and floated across the room away from her, sparkling in the dim light. She felt the warm weight of a body and looked to her right to see Chloe asleep tucked up against her side, stirring slightly at Max's movement. The air in the room felt cold on Max's face and arms where the covers had fallen away from her. But she could feel the steady warmth coming from Chloe where she lay against her.
Outside the wind still howled but she thought the gusts sounded less forceful, it no longer sounded like a thousand roaring freight trains. The noise inside their small room was definitely quieter and she'd gotten so used to the roaring of the storm that the near-quiet sounded odd in it's own right.
Max sighed and reached her hand up to her face to wipe away the remains of tears, surprised that she really had been crying. Her attention moved to her other hand where her fingers were folded closed but she felt something warm and soft beneath them.
What the hell…
She opened her fingers and froze, feeling her breath catch as a shiver ran down her spine and she stared unblinking at what lay in her palm.
Oh gods, I'm not crazy…
In her hand lay a simple blue feather earring.
Thank you Rachel.
Chloe's mind drifted on the gentle ether of that semi-conscious place between sleep and waking. Most times she loved the feeling. Just awake enough to enjoy that her mind felt less crowded, but dozy enough that daily thoughts hadn't yet intruded making it difficult to think. This time however it didn't last as memories of recent events began bobbing around on the surface of her consciousness, poking at her, demanding attention.
Max's decisions, their feelings for each other, the town, the storm, their brushes with death, then Max collapsing. Other thoughts of her mom and David, finding Rachel, then her weird dream with David in the Dark Room. Her mind was starting to flip from one thought to the next without giving her a chance to really process any of them. She grimaced a little at the mental storm of thoughts.
I need a serious mental purge.
Next her senses began waking up, which irritated her further still. Not only was she not ready to think about any of the things which currently banged around in her head vying for attention, she wasn't ready to get up either. She became aware of the stiffness in her body, clothes that were mostly dry yet still damp in annoying places. Judging by the lack of ambient light through her eyelids she guessed not much time had passed since they both had crashed.
Well fuck, so much for getting any sleep.
She tried to relax her nerves as she waited in anticipation of the inevitable crash or thud of something else being thrown about in the storm or hitting the small building. After a little time had passed though she realized that none of those things had happened yet.
She was also aware of a pleasant, tingling sensation on her forehead and her scalp. She tried to focus on the feeling which so far was the only thing that wasn't annoying her.
As she lay there she began to realize that it seemed too quiet which only further stirred her into wakefulness. She realized she didn't hear the howling wind, or crashing trees or junk being thrown by the storm or…anything…
Huh?
She slowly opened one eye and looked around, feeling much groggier than she thought she should. Apparently at some point she had slid down next to Max coming to rest her head in the smaller girl's lap.
She turned her head upwards to see Max above her, smiling warmly and snickering, apparently at the sight of Chloe's sleepy-faced one-eyed scrutiny. She was lightly combing her fingers through Chloe's hair.
"Hi Chlo."
Max's face looked healthier, not so ashen-colored. Her eyes looked brighter and her lips had color in them again. That and she was smiling which made Chloe feel happy just looking at it. The realization that Max was alright felt like a ton of bricks had just been taken off of Chloe's chest and she sighed a heavy breath of relief. Her mouth moved at first, opening slightly, pausing and closing as she tried to find words and failed, Max gave her puzzled look.
After a moment Chloe gave up trying to say what she felt.
Oh fuck it.
Chloe sat up and leaned in, sliding her arm behind Max's back up to cradle her head and move the smaller girl's head down into a kiss. Max had leaned into it as soon Chloe had moved her hand. After a few moments their lips separated as Chloe leaned back, her eyes slightly red and teary.
"What's wrong?" Max regarded her with concern.
Chloe swallowed trying to find her voice, then speaking gently but firmly. "Don't you ever do that to me again, do you hear me? You hella scared the shit out of me!" her voice lost it's edge as she finished.
Max leaned in close again, trying to sound comforting, "I'm sorry Chlo, I didn't mean to scare you. But I'm ok, we're both ok. Thanks to you."
Chloe sniffed, composing herself "I know Max…shit, don't be sorry. It's not like you did it on purpose. I just… dude you looked really bad earlier. You kept fading in and out, kept getting weaker. Then your nose started bleeding again and you looked worse, you couldn't even stand on your own and you started completely passing out. I didn't know what was happening and I thought maybe I was going to... lose you."
Max smiled, lightly kissing her nose before resting her forehead against Chloe's, "I'm ok, I feel pretty good really. I'm not going anywhere Chlo, you can count on that, k?"
"Ok." Chloe managed softly before taking a deep breath and clearing her throat. Sitting back a little she looked down at the impromptu bed she'd made for them earlier.
"Welp, it's not exactly what I would have planned for our first illicit nest of love." she said wryly.
Max smirked. "It's not without it's charm though. It's…rustic!"
Chloe straightened out her stiff legs, "If by rustic you mean that it looks like we kicked a hobo out of here so we could crash on their cardboard then…yeah, rustic." she shrugged.
Max grinned as they both stretched and stood up, leaning on each other for support. The sudden aches in Max's limbs made her wince and her ribs felt bruised from her dive to avoid the lighthouse earlier.
"Ow, gods, I feel like I slept on rocks for a year."
Chloe grimaced "You and me both, guess my bed needs better padding next time. Though my scalp does feel much more pleasant than the rest of me." Chloe smiled at her.
Max smiled bashfully, "You looked so cute and peaceful all curled up, I didn't want to wake you."
Chloe smiled and twisted at the waist back and forth, "Well we'll have to try this again when were somewhere a little more comfortable."
Max stretched again, "What I wouldn't give for my bed right now, I feel like I could sleep for a week."
After a moment of twisting Chloe groaned and rubbed her left shoulder "Shit… ouch fuck! I think really jacked-up my shoulder dodging the damn lighthouse."
"Better than the alternative though." Max answered grimly and Chloe nodded.
"True dat. Death by lighthouse isn't- ow! Ow ow ow! OK aaand my neck also apparently." Chloe's brow was tightly furrowed in pain as she tried to slowly turn her head to one side.
"Oh man that hella stings. OK, if this is what being old is going to feel like, I'll take a bullet now thanks."
Max frowned at her "That is so not funny." Chloe's expression turned sheepish.
"You're right. Uh, sorry."
Suddenly the blue-haired girl let out a gasp, "Shit Max! Do we even know how long we've been out? How much time has passed?"
Max's eyes narrowed in confusion "Huh? Time? I dunno. Why, what's wrong?"
Chloe looked at her, eyes wide and mouth open in shock, "All the body aches and stiffness? Like we've been asleep for too long? Max, think about it! Maybe we totally Rip Van Winkle'd and we're like 90 now!" Max sighed, groaning inwardly.
Ugh, sneaky wench, I fell for it.
Max returned a flat look, her tone dry "We're fine. Neither of us have beards."
Chloe rolled her eyes "Dude I'm not worried about my face, I don't have to shave or wax that."
Max's face scrunched up "Ok, stop."
Chloe promptly ignored the request.
"Max I could have some serious overgrowth going on down there after that many years dude."
"Chloe, just stop!" Max shook her head, eyes closed, trying to hold back giggling at the images her mind conjured. Chloe lightly bounced up and down looking thoughtful.
"Hmm, yeah, it does feel a little more snug down in the netherlands…"
Max's giggling started as she shook her head trying to banish the images.
"OK! Chlo, don't need to know! Don't care! Time to move on! T.M.I!"
Chloe grabbed Max's shoulders looking directly at her, pausing until their eyes met and then gasped.
"You probably do to Max! Some serious hobbit-level fur down there I bet." Max crinkled her face as Chloe continued.
"We should check!" she grabbed Max's jeans at the waist. The tickling on her stomach made the smaller girl's laughter burst out as she waved her hands back and forth.
"Oh my gods, Stop! You need to stop!"
Chloe bellowed "I bet we'll find an epic Max pelt!"
"Yiiiaah! Chloe! StopStopStopStop!" Max shouted between laughs as she tackled her, trying to clamp her hand over the taller girl's mouth. Chloe shouted as she turned her head to avoid Max's hands.
"Muffageddon! The doom of razors! The afro below! MAXimum Overgr-mmppfff" Chloe's rant was cut short by the four fingers of Max's hand being stuffed into her mouth.
Max looked at her still trying to get her giggling under control "Are you quite done?"
Chloe looked down at her, eyes full of mischief, mouth full of Max's fingers. "Uh HummmHmmffff."
"Swear to be serious?" she looked at her skeptically. Chloe rolled her eyes a little before trying to speak.
" 'es Maff, I pramif. o 'ore 'ush 'okes." She then swept her tongue across the bottom of Max's fingers.
"Yagh! Chloe!" Max yelped removing her fingers and snickering at the punk.
Chloe licked her lips, smiling at the brunette, "Mmm, you taste good."
Max coughed out a small laugh "Don't you start again."
"Hip and tangy, with artistic hints of emo." Chloe said thoughtfully.
"Chloe Price likes this!" she proclaimed with a grin which only elicited a pout from Max.
"Then you can post it on FB when we get out of here. Now c'mon you promised to be serious."
Chloe snapped her lips closed. A moment later she slowly broke into a grin, tongue sticking out between her teeth.
Max smiled as she shook her head "You are ridiculous."
"And you…" Chloe bent forward quickly licking Max's forehead "Really are tasty!"
Max scrunched her face, "Ok cannibal, then as soon as we can we'll find you some people to gnaw on."
Chloe grinned slyly "But Max, I only want my mouth on you."
A small gasp escaped Max's mouth framed by cheeks that quickly grew hot. Chloe laughed but then turned a little more serious, offering her a warm smile.
"Ok c'mon Super Max lets blow this dump."
Max's mind playfully lingered on Chloe's last innuendo for a moment before she tried to focus on immediate concerns.
Ok, back to matters at hand Max.
She plucked at her stiff clothing, attempting to make it not feel like something she'd slept in while soaking wet. Parts of her legs itched where wet mud had dried to her pants. After a moment of thought she placed both her hands on Chloe's shoulders. Having the taller girl's attention she looked into her face.
"Hey, thank you. I really needed that."
Puzzled, Chloe cocked her head to the side, "Needed what?"
"The laughing. Those last couple minutes felt fun and dorky and normal, not like we're right in the middle of a huge fucked-up mess." Max finished with a sigh as her bottom lip stuck out a little.
Chloe smiled "Hey, it's cool, I needed that too. And nothing says we have to assume the worst ya know? I mean storms happen and people take shelter, they survive. Shit, look at us! So maybe out there somewhere", she nodded at the door, "there is more normal for us and not so much fucked-up mess? Wanna go with me and find out?"
Max smiled back at her, "Absolutely."
Chloe looked out the small windows trying to gauge the time of day. The light coming in from outside was brighter than it had been during the storm but if Chloe had to guess she'd say it was later in the day.
"Max, how long were you awake? You sleep at all?"
Max thought a moment. "I guess so? Dunno how long. But I woke up a while before you, it was so quiet. It was nice not hearing the storm, and…" Max let her sentence trail off into awkward silence, she seemed embarrassed. Chloe watched her, puzzled by the reaction.
"What's wrong? 'and' what Max?"
The brunette sighed, "and… I was afraid if I moved or made any noise that the storm would start again. Like it was waiting for me to wake up. Or that I was only imagining it was over."
She immediately felt childish for saying it, but Chloe only returned a sympathetic smile.
Max rubbed the back of her neck with one hand trying not to sound as awkward as she felt, "I know. That sounds totally stupid. Like something a little kid would say." she looked down at the floor. Chloe only continued to smile at her.
"Dude it's ok, it's not stupid. That storm was scary as fuck. I think that was like the most incredible and terrible thing I've ever seen. Believe me I wanted to run, more than once. Shit Max, if I was alone I would have. But I had you with me and that made me feel not so freaked out. Besides, it's over now right? So cheer up, I'll be with you no matter what's out there."
Max looked up and smiled brushing the taller girl's hair away from her eyes. "I"m glad you're with me too. Thanks girlfriend."
Reluctantly breaking eye contact Max looked at the bedding thoughtfully, "Chloe, this was really nice thinking. Like survivalist stuff or something."
Chloe gave her a slanted smile as she tried to adjust her own clothing, "Yeah, well we can thank David for this craptastic hobo-bed."
Seeing Max's puzzled look she explained "He used to try and talk to me and mom sometimes about how to be prepared for emergencies. Always have a plan for when shit goes down. What you can do in different situations and like, things you can do with what junk you have around you. Shit like that. He showed us some basic first aid stuff too. He has all this survivalist training from the military." she paused in thought a moment, "He used get mad at me because he thought I wasn't paying attention, but I was." her voice trailed off quietly.
Max grinned at her "You're gonna have to tell him about this when we see him again. I bet he'll be proud"
Chloe's voice was still distant, "Yeah, when we see him."
Max realized the implication and tried to change the subject as she attempted to brush dried mud from her jeans, "So, you sleep at all?"
Chloe scrunched her face up as if recalling something unpleasant. "Yeah, maybe a little? But I had weird-ass dreams."
Max thought about her dream of Rachel, "Yeah…me too."
She wanted to tell Chloe about it and show her the earring but didn't know how yet. It wasn't that she didn't think Chloe would believe her, weird was their new normal it seemed. But it was Rachel and she wasn't sure how Chloe would take it since that pain was still pretty fresh. She inwardly chided herself.
Yeah and people don't usually bring things back with them from their dreams either Max.
She decided to wait and tell Chloe later.
"Well, hey we can talk about all that later huh? We should get going while it's still light."
Chloe nodded while she checked her pockets and pulled her clothing away from her skin. She pulled at the fabric around her inner thighs a little. "Ack, well that explains why things felt extra snug."
Max gave her a smirk and rolled her eyes. She then leaned over and picked up the taller girl's beanie, it was mostly dry now.
"Here, I wrung it out for you hoping it would dry. I didn't want you sleeping with a soaked head." Chloe smiled and took it still fidgeting with her clothing.
"Thanks, though I think the rest of my clothing has grafted itself to my body."
Max grimaced as she realized she still had the same sensation despite her earlier efforts, "Yeah, mine too."
She bent down and grabbed her bag, pulling out her phone. She carefully moved Rachel's earring from near the opening where she'd put it earlier to the bottom corner of the bag, out of sight. She set her bag back on the floor as she frustratedly tapped the power button on her phone a couple times with no success.
"Man, are you cereal?"
Chloe chuckled under her breath while adjusting her clothing, "Dude, that never gets old."
"Well, apparently my phone did, it won't turn on." Max grumbled.
Chloe reached down and grabbed her own phone, "Hang on, mine was good a little bit ago." She clicked the button and grinned triumphantly as the screen lit up, "Ha yes, still good! See?" showing the screen to Max.
Max caught a brief glimpse of the screen background. It was a picture of Max with the day and date superimposed over it:
4:32pm Saturday, October 12th 2013
Immediately afterwards an empty battery icon appeared on the screen and it went dark. Max sighed.
"Well, yours lasted longer than mine I guess."
Chloe's grin slipped from her face and she turned her phone back around to look at it.
"Aw man, you little shit." she said to the phone as she pressed the power button with no luck. "Great, well no ordering pizza for us."
"I thought Max-cannibalism was your thing?" Max quipped.
"Hey, I can make room for both." Chloe grinned and made a biting motion at her.
Max smiled but her voice held concern "Chloe, the time on your screen, it said Saturday around 4:30 pm…"
Chloe gave her a blank look, 'Bullshit, that's not possible."
Max shook her head slowly "That's what it said Chlo."
Chloe was incredulous, "Dude, that has got to be wrong, my phone probably spazzed from the storm or something. Otherwise that would mean we'd have been crashed for what? Like, twenty hours or something?"
Max sighed, "Well, you can be exhausting to deal with sometimes."
Chloe stared at Max a moment before snorting a laugh "You're such a jerk."
Max smiled proudly "I learned from the best!"
Chloe snickered and reached up gently squeezing Max's shoulder, "You ready? We'll head back down to parking lot, grab Wanda and then get back to town. We'll have find a phone that works. Try to call Mom, maybe your parents, 911 I dunno, something.", Max nodded in agreement.
"Sounds like a plan, we should also- wait, who's Wanda?" she asked puzzled.
Chloe opened her mouth to speak, seemingly caught off guard she quickly bent down to gather some things. "Wanda, you know…"
Max made a screwy face at her "Er, no I don't know. Why are you being weird?" Chloe huffed and stood up to look at her.
"Wanda, Max. Wanda is my truck. I'm sure I told you." Max stared blankly at her a moment before snorting a small laugh through her nose.
"You named the truck Wanda?"
Chloe seemed indignant "Yes Max. I named my truck Wanda. Is there something wrong with that name?"
Max's voice dripped with mock nonchalance "Oh no! Nothing wrong at all…with naming your truck Wanda." a snicker squeaked through as she finished.
Chloe planted her hands on her hips, "Ok then, what would you have named her?" Max snickered again.
"I dunno um, 'Truck'? Or maybe 'Relic' in this case? I mean, why Wanda?" Chloe's mouth dropped open, feigning shock.
"Did you just call her a relic? Maxine Caulfield you better think long and hard how to apologize to Wanda when we get down there or somebody may end up walking to town."
Max pursed her lips to one side as she crossed her arms "Don't expect me to play nice if you start using the '-ine' word."
Chloe held up her hands defensively, "Ok, fine, no more 'name-you-hate' use, as long as you're nice to her when we get down there."
Max rolled her eyes. "I'll use my best truck manners."
"Cool. If you're really nice maybe I'll tell you why I named her that one day."
Chloe reached down and picked up Max's bag handing it to her along with the down jacket. "You might want to put this on, it's probably cold out." Max nodded and slipped the jacket on which was a couple sizes too large for her. Hearing something rustle she checked the pockets and dug out a few small slips of paper. Chloe glanced at her.
"So, what's Glenn got for ya? Anything good?" Max was only half paying attention as she looked through the pieces of paper.
"Hmm? Oh, naw it looks like a bunch of old pizza delivery receipts. Wait, 'Glenn'? Jesus don't tell me you just named the jacket too?". Chloe gave her a flat look.
"Nooo, but someone else did smart ass." she nodded at the front of the jacket. Looking down Max noticed the name tag stitched to the front of it.
"Oh, 'Glenn', huh. It's funny, I knew a guy named Glenn back in Seattle. He was a lot of fun to hang with, really funny. He had this huge crush on some girl at his college. I remember the day he actually got the guts to ask her out and she said yes. He came over to Kristen's place bouncing off the walls, so cute! The next year he ended up moving out East somewhere with her, said they were gonna go start a farm, crazy. Sucked he moved away but he was happy to be with her so it was for the best reasons."
Chloe nodded "It really sucks when you meet genuinely cool people and they end up moving on. They become this like, part of your daily life and you take for granted that they'll always be there, then suddenly one day they're not. I guess that's why it's important to remember the good times. Keep their special memories alive."
"Yeah…" Max smiled as her voice trailed off.
Chloe folded the thermal blankets and then wrapped them up inside the two raincoats using the sleeves of one tie tie it all into a bundle. She grabbed the orange first aid box and they both walked over by the door.
Chloe exhaled, "Well, as cool as it would be to have a little place of our own-" she looked around, "-this is not it."
She grasped one end of the metal cabinet as Max grabbed the other end, after a minute of fighting with it they'd wrestled it off to the side revealing the door.
Max exhaled looking at the punk, "I'm ready. You?", Chloe smiled back.
"As long as you're with me I'll be alright. "
Max grinned "Always."
They both reached out a hand and grasped the door where the handle had been snapped off, pulling it inward. The door scraped the floor as it swung open harder than it should.
Max grunted "Chloe, you wrecked the door."
Chloe snorted "They can bill me."
Having dragged the door open far enough to get through Max looked outside.
"Wowser!"
Chloe moved around to see, "Ok, now THAT is not my fault."
Outside the doorway there was an imposing barricade of wood in the form of two large trees that had fallen almost completely blocking the doorway. Tangled within the trees was other foliage and vines making the entire thing one giant forest wall. From what they could glimpse the area beyond the building was a mess of branches, leaves and debris.
Chloe squatted down trying to look through the trees, "Looks like there might be enough of a gap here at the bottom. I think we can squeeze through."
"I dunno Chlo, what if they collapse?" Max walked forward looking apprehensively at the huge tree trunks, she shoved on them but they didn't budge, "I guess they seem stable enough."
Chloe looked at her and rolled her eyes, "Dude, you weigh like 110 pounds soaking wet, a picket fence would seem stable to you."
Max looked at her and stuck her tongue out.
Chloe took her index finger and gently pushed Max's tongue back in, "Not now, maybe later." and winked.
She laid flat on the ground and shimmied under the bottom tree. After a minute she was out on the other side and crouched back down.
"Ok, it's good, I'm through! Pass that stuff under."
Taking her bag and other items she shoved them one by one under the trunks to where Chloe could grab them. Chloe set them aside and turned back to Max, "Alright your turn."
Max dropped down and scooted under the trees, a little quicker than the taller girl had. Chloe reached down and helped pull her through to standing.
It actually didn't look as bad near the lighthouse as they'd thought. Downed foliage was scattered everywhere along with bits of wood and other debris but it was clear enough to walk around with little difficulty. They carefully made their way past the large scar in the earth where the head of the lighthouse had tumbled over taking much of the path with it. To their right the ruins of the lighthouse still stood, minus the top third. They walked toward the bench which had amazingly remained firm in it's place on the cliff. Stepping over another smaller downed tree they stood out near the edge where they could clearly see.
They both stared over at Arcadia Bay.
"Oh gods…" Chloe said quietly.
Both of them stood in silence, utterly gobsmacked at the extent of the damage in the distance.
The shoreline and beach area where the harbor once stood looked as though it had been scooped up and scattered everywhere. The piers and boats that had occupied the marina were mostly gone except for a couple boats swamped in the storm that floated upside-down like watery grave markers. Along the sandy shores pieces of buildings and homes, cars, trees and even a couple of whales haphazardly covered the sand or floated aimlessly in the water. A little ways back from the beach, the shoreline drive looked like a war zone from where the two girls stood. Smoke trickled up from a few locations and most of the buildings along the drive had been ruined. Telephone poles had tipped or been ripped up stringing out their lines and cables in a twisted chaotic weave.
As the girls scanned the scene trying to pick out familiar landmarks hope was quickly draining from both of them.
Chloe tried to see along the street to the area where the Two Whales diner should be but there was too much wreckage piled along that section to see clearly. She thought there was a little smoke coming up from that general area but with so much wreckage heaped everywhere she couldn't be sure.
"Chloe look!" Max grabbed her shoulder and pointed further inland from the shoreline towards the back of town "It's not as bad there."
Chloe looked further back where Max had pointed and it did look like the storm hadn't gone all the way inland. She could see that a few blocks further inland the damage seemed less evident and here and there she thought she could make out a home or building that looked intact, maybe. No matter where they looked though it seemed there were debris and wreckage covering everything so it was impossible to say for certain. Further back from the town, high up on the hills Blackwell Academy still looked mostly untouched.
Chloe slowly shook her head, her voice soft, "Dude I... don't even know how to process this. That storm was fucking insane, it was almost as wide as the whole town."
Max nodded in awe "I know."
Chloe continued, "I mean, I'm actually thrilled as fuck to see even part of this place still standing but…" She let the thought trail off.
Max put her arm around Chloe's back. "I know Chlo, it's like it just went halfway and stopped?"
Chloe leaned into Max's hug a little "But even just halfway there's still so much damage."
Max looked across the wreckage of Arcadia Bay as she thought to herself.
It's amazing there is anything standing at all. That storm was so big there should have been way more damage and way less town.
But Blackwell looks OK from here and other parts of town further back too maybe?
I'm so happy there may be something left but we saw it ripping things from the ground with no signs of slowing down.
It would have been a miracle if even just Blackwell still stood but this is something else.
Daylight was fading quickly now as the night settled in. Max turned her gaze out across the bay at the setting sun. It's beautiful reddish orange colors were captivating where they were painted across the water and sky. It was such an odd contrast next to the terrible destruction in the town.
No matter how bad things seem, there's a bright side somewhere.
"It is gorgeous isn't it?"
Max felt a chill crawl down her spine as Rachel's words echoed in her ears.
"What?" she glanced at Chloe.
Chloe was staring out across the bay, her expression distant.
"I said it looks gorgeous. The sunset. A few hours ago I had a moment when didn't think I'd see this again you know?"
She paused and looked down at the ground, "Before you came back this week Max there were a lot of times over the past couple years I found myself standing right here thinking that... it would be so easy you know? Just one step." she sighed heavily.
Max reached up and gently turned her face towards her. "Chlo, it's OK, I know."
Chloe looked at her, her face an odd mix of emotions "But I never did, obviously. Duh right? I just never thought I'd find myself standing here on this same spot but actually feel like I want to be here. Then when I think about this week, all the times I avoided dying, all thanks to you, it didn't make sense that I should still be here. Like each of those times maybe the universe was just trying to tell me that, you know…that a future isn't for me. I realized that aft-"
Her voice cracked and she took a deep breath to steady it, after a moment she continued.
"-after I handed you that picture I'd never wanted to be alive more than I did right then, and I still do. But at the time I figured it would be just one more twisted irony in my life. The final one actually. Like, now that I felt a little happy with my life and that I had people in it that give a shit and matter to me I wouldn't get the chance to enjoy that. Kinda like the universe's final 'Fuck off and die Chloe!' ya know?" she finished quietly.
Max smiled as she slowly shook her head in a silent 'No way.' Chloe glanced away briefly before looking back at her.
"But instead you stayed with me. You could have gone back in time and just left my sorry ass, but you didn't. Then you go and tell me you love me and Max, that feels so good you can't imagine. You make me feel happy, wanted, like I matter. Not only that but you helped me to see that mom and David do really care and I matter to them too. It should have been obvious to me but I guess I had trouble seeing lots of stuff. It's hard to find words and the ones I can think of don't really describe how I feel inside. But you make me feel like I want to be here; have a reason for being here."
Max looked at her trying to find her own words. Chloe waved her arm toward Arcadia Bay, her voice slightly louder.
"I can't change any of that now, neither of us can. But I can change myself, I want to. I get to be here with you and I want to make the best of it. The best of…my life. The one thing I learned these last few days is that life is so short, too fucking short to waste on bullshit and there are no guarantees for how much time any of us get. It's weird to say but, as terrible as it looks seeing that there is even a little left of the town gives me hope. That even as big as that storm was it couldn't wipe everything away."
Max opened her mouth to speak but Chloe's bottled up emotions began breaking free as tears ran down her cheeks.
"When you're angry all the time Max, it's easy. You don't have to worry about letting anyone in because no one really wants to be around you. You don't have to worry about being hurt or getting your hopes up and being let down because you always expect the worst from everybody and everything. I didn't want that storm to fuck up Arcadia Bay but I also hoped so much you'd stay with me. I wanted to tell you to stay so damn bad and I'm so fucking happy you did but looking at the town I feel like I shouldn't have the right to be so happy."
Max's expression was caring as she tried to comfort her, "Chloe, you have every-"
"No Max, please listen." Chloe interrupted as the pitch of her voice mirrored her rising emotions.
"I need to tell you, I'm sorry, Max, I'm so goddamned fucking sorry I put you through this! I'm grateful to be here, truly, more than you can imagine. Fucking alive, with you! Grateful to see that fucking sunset, grateful for the air I'm breathing, grateful for all of it but then I feel guilty for feeling like this, how fucked is that?! I hated-",
Chloe's emotions choked off her words as she failed to fight back grief.
Max smiled through her own tears now as she cupped Chloe's face with each hand looking into her eyes.
"Chloe, listen. You don't have to explain yourself. This isn't your fault, it's nobody's fault. I know you wouldn't really wish this on the town and you didn't conjure that storm. Life hasn't been fair on you and you had every right to be frustrated and angry. But seeing that there is something left down there gives me hope too. I'm so happy you're here with me. You make me feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be even in the face of all that down there. With everything that has happened there is nothing you need to apologize for Chlo."
Chloe exhaled and shook her head slowly. When she spoke her tone was soft with a bitter edge.
"No. You're wrong Max. I do. I hated doing that to you, leaving it up to you. With all the shit this week I knew you'd understand what to do but it fucking kills me when I picture that look on your face Max. All hurt and scared and alone and the fact that I put you in that position? I don't ever want to do that again, EVER! I feel so selfish. I didn't want to fucking die but I just thought for once in my life maybe I should stop running away. That maybe I could make a difference to someone other than myself. So I thought if there was a chance we could change it all if I..."
She let out a ragged sigh as she tried to continue, "It just wasn't fair to you to have to be the one to choose. You didn't ask for ANY of this bullshit and I feel like, like-"
Chloe's emotions finally broke her, shaking her head violently she stepped back from Max dropping her head into her hands as deep wracking sobs shook her body. Max stood still a moment, stunned by the other girl's outpouring.
Gods Chloe.
Max moved in close to her and gently reached up to pull Chloe's hands from her face. She slowly brought them down to rest on her own shoulders. Looking up into the taller girl's grief-streaked face she wiped Chloe's tears away with her fingers. Her tone was lovingly firm.
"Hey. You make a difference, to me. You make a difference to Joyce and to David. You made a difference to Rachel and to Kate and to so many other girls. You matter Chlo, we all love you so much and we'd be less without you here. I still don't understand everything that happened this week, but I do know one thing. I told you that before I saved your life that day in the bathroom I had that…vision, I saw the storm?" Chloe only blinked as Max continued.
"I was here with the storm right at this spot, but you weren't here Chlo, you weren't. I was alone. What I'm trying to say is I think I was shown what would happen. I don't know by who or how or what, but I saw what would happen, what DID happen and there was no changing it. I realized there was only one thing I could have changed and she's standing right here in front of me. Sometimes I feel like I've gone around in the same circle forever. Trying to change things to keep the storm from ever happening, but it couldn't be changed. So if I'd gone back to Monday, maybe it would still have hit now or maybe five months from now but I don't doubt for one second it wasn't already on the way. It's what I saw. So I finally realized that the one thing I knew I could change, the only thing... is you dying Chlo and I did. This time I wasn't alone with the storm, you're here now. I used to be scared of the future, but not anymore. Because you're here with me and that gives me a future to look forward to."
Chloe was about to speak but Max placed her fingertips over the girl's mouth and continued.
"What I'm saying is, you said I could go back and let things play out, but to what end? To change nothing? Just so I could watch you die again and that fucking storm still comes to level everything? Fuck that. When I looked at that picture I knew then that I wasn't about to let you die on that bathroom floor as some empty fucking sacrifice to a future that didn't even exist."
Chloe tilted her head smiling slightly under tear-stained eyes as she listened.
"Chlo, you and I are standing here, right here together where all this fucked up shit began and I don't think that's a coincidence. I think this is where you and I are supposed to be. Where the future starts, where you and I go forward, not back."
Chloe leaned in to rest her forehead against Max's, after a brief pause Max finished "You and I are like two halves of the same soul Chlo. Without you, I wouldn't want to live half a life."
Chloe looked into her face crying from happier tears now "You are seriously the most amazing thing in my life."
Max grinned up at her, "I love you too, drama queen."
Chloe coughed out a laugh and pulled the smaller girl into a tight hug. After a few moments they parted a little as Chloe cleared her throat.
"Alright, well I think we're both waaay over our dramatic emo quota for this month."
Max thought for a moment, "Actually, I think you may have the higher score just for this week alone."
Chloe chuckled "You ass."
Max grinned at her before Chloe looked out at the town "Ok, well. If there's half a town then there's a good chance people made it. Let's get down to the parking lot and see if Wanda is still in one piece. Then we can make our way back to town and find mom and David. Maybe we can score a working phone, swing by Two-Whales and home to- " she stopped mid-sentence and pointed across the ruined town, "Max, look!"
Max turned to follow Chloe's gaze where she pointed across the battered town. Up on the hills against the distant darkening horizon she saw lights.
Lights were shining around Blackwell's campus.
Max's sneakers kicked up pine needles and bits of bark, occasionally sending a small twig or pine cone tumbling as she made her way down the path to the parking lot. Her stomach growled from hunger and she honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten anything, or even in which timeline that may have been. She was pretty sure it had been a while in this one. She thought that if the time and day on Chloe's phone had been right then it had at least been a full day or longer since she'd eaten.
Prolly longer, guess that could explain it.
Still, Chloe must be right, her phone must be jacked up. We couldn't have been out for over 20 hours that's nuts.
Earlier she had tied the coat bundle onto her camera bag's strap which had the undesired effect of making it bounce against her hip when she walked too fast. It was more annoying than anything but it sure beat holding onto them. The air was crisp and getting colder the more the sun went down, on the path among the trees it definitely felt colder than it had back by the bench.
It's so freakin cold I feel like it could snow. I hope Chloe's truck runs, I want that heater!
She looked up the path a short distance watching Chloe as she walked ahead, first aid box in hand. Even though she hadn't complained about anything and seemed to have plenty of energy Max was still concerned that she was more worn out than she was letting on. She'd mentioned some aches earlier when they'd woken up, but Max knew she'd taken a couple hard hits during the storm and had been pushing herself a lot. Sometimes Chloe could be hard to read.
Voicing when she's feeling discomfort has not been Chloe's greatest strength in the past.
Max had to admit though that Chloe's heartfelt meltdown by the lighthouse went against her former nature. Sure, she'd bitched or complained about things in the past, but not like that. Instead of veiling her feelings behind classic Chloe humor or anger she'd laid it all out in front of Max.
Rachel was right I guess. I didn't expect that from Chloe but I'm glad she did, I think it helped.
Max's mind drifted to thoughts of Rachel as her right hand brushed across the flap on her camera bag.
I don't even know what to make of that.
It wasn't a dream, I don't think. More like a vision? But the other visions I've had were different. Talking with Rachel, that felt so real.
Like some serious Twilight-Zone shit, at least I have her earring to prove it.
Prove that I'm not completely nuts...
Max gave her head an irritated shake.
At least there wasn't any storm flying around while we were talking, that's a good sign, I hope.
After everything I've gone through I don't feel like I understand any more than I did on Monday and instead of answers I just have more questions.
At least I have Chloe to talk to about this. I can't tell her about Rachel, not yet. When the time is right I will. I just don't want to drop any more bombs on her right now.
What the actual fuck Rachel?
A sudden dark shape directly in her path snapped Max out of her thoughts and she stopped short before plowing into Chloe.
"Whoa Max! Hello?" Chloe had put her hands on Max's shoulders so they didn't collide and smiled at her.
Max definitely thought she seemed happier. Not just because of her smile or the brightness in her eyes. It's like she was radiating this upbeat energy that she hadn't before. Or maybe she just wasn't dripping anger like she used to. It was hard to describe exactly, but it was a good thing. She definitely wasn't walking like she had 10 tons of problems on her shoulders anymore. In fact she was even standing taller than she usually did which Max grudgingly admitted made her feel that much shorter.
Like I needed to feel even more like a midget, damnit Chlo.
The thought made her smile as she looked back at Chloe, she was so much more like the Chloe from their childhood.
"You OK dude? I called your name a couple times. Wondered how you're doin but you were totally spaced so I came back to see what's up?"
Max continued to smile back at her "Naw, I'm fine, Just thinkin."
Chloe gave her a hard stare, "OK... well, as long as you don't ponder your way off a cliff it's all good. So, you cool?"
Max nodded "Yes. Very cool."
Under fading daylight they worked their way down the trail from the lighthouse to the lot some distance away. The walk was difficult but not impossible. Although dusk was settling fast there was enough light shining through the storm-battered treetops for them to see their way. Occasionally they had the pleasant surprise to see a squirrel or bird scrambling away for safety at their approach. Nature it seemed, was not wasting any time recovering. Still, there was a lot of downed foliage and smaller trees everywhere and occasionally they would have to hurdle a much larger tree that had come to rest across their path.
Max's mind resumed wandering as they navigated the cluttered trail.
I don't remember much about how I got up here with Chloe.
We were at the beach, I'd just gotten back to this timeline, I'd saved her. We were talking about what happened here while I was on autopilot and then we noticed how big the storm was getting. Chloe said we should get up to the lighthouse.
Then… fuck I don't remember. I think that's when I blacked out, before we left the beach.
Next thing I know we're at the lighthouse, I stumbled or she did, but I can't remember anything in between, except for that stupid nightmare.
That's the only thing I remember clearly. The one thing I'd love to forget.
So, Chloe must have practically carried me at some point?
Wowser, Chlo.
She looked up in time to see the taller girl easily boost herself over a fallen tree. Turning around she called back "C'mon Ranger Max, not much farther!"
Chloe held out her arms as Max got to the tree and taking her hands she climbed over with Chloe's help.
Straightening up when she got on the other side a sudden dizziness hit her "Thanks Chl- oooh whoa…"
Chloe caught her before she fell, "Max? You OK?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, I think. Just a little dizzy is all."
Chloe helped her sit back against the fallen tree, after a few moments Max's head stopped spinning and she felt clearer. She smiled and looked up at Chloe, placing her hand against her cheek she guided the taller girl's face down into a kiss, afterwards whispering "Thank you."
Chloe smiled back looking slightly puzzled, "Not that I'm complaining, cause I totally dig 'Thankful Max', but what for?"
Max smiled "For being here for me. For being you."
Chloe blushed, "Well I'm glad you like it because it's really the only impression I know how to do. C'mon, we're almost there and if we're lucky we'll have a ride."
Chloe began walking down the path, "Just remember to be nice to Wanda." she said without looking back.
"Oh, no worries, I'll be on my best behavior" Max quipped sardonically with a roll of her eyes.
"And don't roll your eyes smart ass, I know you." Chloe said over her shoulder.
After a little while and a few more minor obstacles they made their way to the bottom of the path and the parking lot.
The lot itself was a complete mess. Not only from natural debris but other various bits and pieces that had been ripped or blown around from the town itself. Even this far from the beach there was sand on the lot and scattered everywhere were all manner of things one might expect to see if a piece of land was suddenly dumped upside-down.
Chloe's truck had been the only thing parked in the lot when the storm began and it was still alone. As they approached it their optimism for transportation dropped. Laying across the top of the truck's front half was part of a large blue billboard. There were a few larger branches on the ground around it with a couple sticking out from the truck bed. The second most predominant thing besides the sign was a large tree trunk that had fallen against the truck, coming to rest across the truck bed.
"Shit!" Chloe cursed and broke into a jog as she neared her truck. Max trotted to keep up with the taller girl's long strides.
They reached the truck and dumped the coats, bag and first aid box in a pile. Chloe started walking around the truck, looking it over.
"Well, it could be worse. I actually expected way worse like, it being upside-down or not here at all."
Max nodded at the sign and the large tree that lay on the truck. "You seem to have extra cargo though."
"Yeeeah, I noticed that." Chloe eyed the large tree, the trunk was probably about a foot in diameter. It had been snapped off from the base and was freely resting across the back of the truck bed.
After checking either side of the truck they tossed branches and other debris out of the way. Chloe scrunched her mouth to one side in thought as she looked at it.
"Max, I think it's going to be alright. The tires and everything else back here look OK, hell the tree barely even dented the metal. Give me a hand?"
Max walked to where Chloe stood and together they pushed and rolled the tree down and off the back where it landed on the ground with a solid thud.
They then walked to the front and each grabbed a side of the large broken billboard. Chloe glanced at it, reading the remaining words aloud "Hey Max check it out, '-HOW DO YOU DO'"
Max shook her head "At least the sign is concerned."
They both lifted and slid the section of billboard off, dumping it to the side of the truck.
"Well sign, I'm fan-fuckin-tastic, thanks for asking." Chloe looked the front of the truck over, a grin slowly appearing.
Ho ho dude check it!" she said excitedly "Even the windshield looks alright."
Max grinned, "Yeah, but is it gonna start?" she finished apprehensively.
Chloe raised her eyebrows "Well, time to find out."
Max stepped away from the truck a few feet and wrapped her arms around her.
Damn it's even colder down here than it was on the path. I love autumn but I hate being cold.
Please start Wanda, I need your heat!
And I...better not repeat that out loud.
The driver's door gave a metallic groan as Chloe pulled it open plopped down into the seat. Fishing her keys out of her pocket she put the truck key in ignition and turned. The old truck's engine grumbled and sputtered for a couple seconds before coming to life.
Chloe laughed "Yes! Hella awesome! Wanda lives! We have wheels Max!", Max beamed a big smile back at her.
You deserve to have things start to go your way Chlo, even the little things.
Thank you…Wanda.
Chloe rolled down the passenger window as she moved the truck forward so Max was level with the passenger door. She slung her left arm across the steering wheel doing her best bad-boy impression.
"Heya cutie. You look like you know your way around. Wanna hop in and show a girl good time?"
Max returned an eye roll and a smile "Always. Even if you are a hopeless dork."
"Well, if you'd rather walk than ride with a dork…" Chloe snarked.
Max pouted "Um no way! You owe me a ride."
Chloe reached over and opened the door for her, grinning slyly "Why yes Max, yes I do."
Max shook her head and put the coats and first aid box in the back then grabbed her bag and hopped in next to Chloe.
This girl is a living innuendo.
"Alright, we're off!", Chloe drove them out of the lot and onto the road toward town.
The road back into town wasn't as cluttered as other areas had been. Chloe had to slow down occasionally to navigate around a larger tree limb or two but they made good time and within a short while were pulling into Arcadia Bay.
What the truck's headlights illuminated was surreal.
Chloe drove in slowly, opting for caution given the state of everything around them, they sat in silence looking at the devastation as they slowly rolled down Arcadia Bay Avenue.
Coming to stop at an intersection they were immediately aware of how quiet it was. Darkness covered everything save for what the truck's headlights illuminated. No light came from buildings or homes, no streetlights, no people moving around, no vehicles or other signs of life. The only other light they could see came from the area of Blackwell's campus in the distance. Earlier when they had viewed the town from the lighthouse overlook this same light had seemed like a bright beacon. But here now amongst all the devastation the old school buildings and campus looked eerie in that dim light.
As if both girls were thinking the same unspoken thoughts they looked at each other briefly before Chloe reached over to take Max's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
To their right they saw the beach and the haphazard mess it had become. Most of it they had seen from the overlook but they now could see the other side of the ruins. A long train had been tumbled from the tracks there, it's cars tossed in various directions. One of the train cars had rolled over into a gas station mostly flattening it. Chloe glanced at her nearly-full fuel gauge silently thanking herself for filling up the tank the other day.
The seaside tourist shops, hardware store and small seafood restaurant that once stood along the shore were now either gutted husks or had been ripped from their foundations entirely. From where the girls were it was hard to see clearly to the beach itself through all the wreckage and dim light. The large vacant space on the shore and water where the small marina once stood looked like a black void. A little further down the street a large whale was faintly visible through the dim light where it lay across the train tracks.
Chloe looked further down Arcadia Bay Avenue and realized all the wreckage strewn everywhere made it impassable by vehicle.
"Well, we're not getting to the Two Whales going straight, there's no way the truck will fit through that mess." she pointed down the shore drive where another large train car and what looked like some kind of tanker truck had been tossed together to form a monstrous barricade.
"The diner should be right on the other side but I'd rather drive around the block to it. I just don't feel like walking too far from the truck right now is all."
Max spoke softly, "Chloe, where is everyone? I don't see anyone, I don't hear anything…" she let her thought trail off.
Chloe looked over at her, "I know Max it's spooky as fuck, but don't think like that OK? We only just got here. Plus it's dark and think about it, why would anyone be here? I mean, that storm didn't just sneak up and jump out of the sand like 'Surprise fuckers! You're all dead now!' " she flailed her hands for emphasis.
Max looked out the window sounding only half-convinced "Yeah, I guess."
Chloe reached over and put her hand on Max's shoulder offering her a smile. "C'mon, I know it's easy to assume the worst looking at this. But like, anyone who had half a brain would have seen that storm coming and bailed. Either into a shelter or miles inland. If they're in shelters they probably won't come out until daylight and other people maybe had the same thought as us and they're all up at Blackwell. I don't think all that light is for nothing."
Max considered it a moment and looked a little more reassured.
"Yeah, you're right. It hasn't been that long either right? So everyone is probably still trying to figure out what to do while they sit tight somewhere."
Chloe nodded "Exactly. So let's stick to the plan? First we need to check the Two Whales and then see where to go from there."
Chloe turned left away from the beach and drove down the street into town, after a block she was able to turn right and cut back down toward the beach and Arcadia Bay Avenue, setting them up to approach the Two Whales from the opposite direction. She had to drive around another large overturned tanker semi to get down the street to where the Two Whales was but it was passable. Flanking the other side of the street was the tanker semi and box car mess that had blocked them from the other direction.
As their truck approached the diner Max touched Chloe's shoulder and pointed down the street "Chloe look. Frank…"
Previously blocked from their view on the other side they could now see a large whale resting across the road, between it and the diner was Frank's RV, or what was left of it, wedged underneath a small fishing boat. Another vehicle and building debris were scattered among the mess.
Chloe stared at it "Fuck, I hope he wasn't in there dude. Frank may not have been a saint but he didn't deserve to be crushed to death in his RV."
Without warning the truck lurched to a stop as Chloe suddenly braked, her voice full of alarm "OH FUCK, no no no, shit fuck shit!" still cursing as she jumped out of the truck and ran around to the front, then staggering to a stop. She brought her hands to her face as she stared at the front of the Two Whales diner. The truck's headlights illuminated scorched burn marks that covered the front of the diner. The front left side of the building had collapsed completely which blocked the front doors.
Max had gotten out of the truck and ran up to Chloe who wore an expression of panic as she turned to look at her.
As Max looked the scene over she admitted to herself it looked bad, she didn't see anyone moving inside at their approach. The blackened front of the diner made her heart drop as she remembered the explosion in the other timeline. Glancing to the left a gasp escaped her throat.
A tarp lay over what was clearly a human figure on the ground close to Frank's RV. Chloe looked over and sharply inhaled before running over to it.
"Chloe no wait!" Max ran after her.
Chloe knelt down as she got to the tarp, pausing a moment before she then flung it back. There underneath lay an unfamiliar middle-aged man. Chloe was checking for a pulse as Max came to kneel at her side but the man was clearly dead.
"Max, I don't recognize him." Chloe confirmed.
Max shook her head sadly "Me either. Poor guy."
Chloe drew the tarp back over the corpse and stood back up, "C'mon, we need to check inside. There's a side entrance off the alley we can use, this way."
Max already knew where Chloe was headed but she dreaded what they may discover inside as they walked around the side of the restaurant and into the alley.
"Oh no!" Max put her hand to her mouth.
On the right side of the alley entrance sat a police car, crushed under a fallen sign. Laying face down in the street near the driver's door was a police officer. Chloe walked over to him and knelt, checking for signs of life. There were none.
Chloe's voice was sullen as she spoke without looking up "Andy Berry. Of all the other cops he was the one who treated me fairly. I always got the feeling he actually cared."
Max stood a few feet away staring at the fallen officer, her thoughts turning bitter.
I knew him, I just talked to him a couple days ago. He was so nice, he was probably out here trying to help everyone.
This is the reward he gets for doing the right thing, for helping people?
So fucking unfair.
Chloe walked back to Max and gently touched her shoulder to get her attention "Max, come on, we can't help him now and we need to check the diner."
Max nodded slowly still staring at officer Berry's body, "Yeah…" she said softly.
As Chloe reached the side door of the diner and pulled it open Max reached up to grab Chloe's shoulder, stopping her "Chloe, just be careful and-"
Chloe looked at her grimly "I know Max, but I need to know." she turned around and entered the diner.
Max paused briefly and looked to her right. Over in the corner of the alley next to the fence where debris and building wreckage were piled-up she didn't see the homeless lady's body anywhere.
She's not there, maybe that's good. Maybe she got out ahead of the storm and got to somewhere safe.
I never even knew her name.
Max followed Chloe through the doorway which opened into a back room area that was lined with shelves of canned and dry food and supplies. Light from the truck's headlights out front shone through the gaps in a swinging door that led to the front of the diner. Chloe looked around briefly before she sighed and stepped through the door to the front, followed by Max.
The inside of the diner was a disaster.
The truck's headlights did a decent job illuminating the interior, enough to see at least. As it had looked from the outside, the left half of the diner on the restroom side had collapsed.
Max looked over at the booths along the windows. Despite the damage a couple remained intact, including their old booth. She also noticed with relief that nothing inside looked burned. It looked as though whatever fire had started outside hadn't made it's way in here and there were no signs of anything having exploded. Max sighed gratefully.
Well, I guess not everything plays out the same in each reality, thank gods.
She looked behind the counter on the floor but there were no bodies, nobody was here. She was about to say something when Chloe's voice cut in.
"OK. So OK then, nobody's here. That's good, right Max? I mean Mom and anyone else must have gotten to somewhere safe right?"
Chloe walked over behind the counter and noticing something she bent down to pick it up.
"Oh man."
She held up some rags and towels for Max to see and there was what appeared to be blood on them.
Max saw the look of dread on Chloe's face and slowly shook her head at her "Chlo look, those are probably just bandages or something OK? But that's all that's here right? There's no body. So whoever was using those moved on from here right?"
Chloe's expression calmed a little as she thought about it "Yeah, you're right. So no one is here. Alright so we swing by home and then get to Blackwell?"
Max nodded back.
They turned around to leave and Max looked back over the diner one last time. She felt a sad twinge of nostalgia as she glanced at their booth again and memories of breakfast with Chloe just a few days earlier echoed in her mind.
"I pledge allegiance to Max and the power for which she stands."
"This isn't a toy, Chloe. I do have to be careful…"
I never could have imagined just a few days later I'd be standing here in the ruins of the Two Whales.
This is all so fucking bizarre I keep expecting to wake up from a dream and- wait.
What is that?
"Chloe hold up." Max said as she walked over to their booth. Chloe turned around to follow her.
Max looked down at the table where taped to the top, was a Two Whales menu that someone had written on and stuck back into the plastic sleeve.
"Chloe! Look!" Max reached down and pulled the menu off the table. Wiping off the leftover water from the storm's rains she held it up so they both could read it. The message hastily scrawled in black marker read:
Chloe, David and I r OK.
Please come 2 Blackwell
- Mom
Max looked over at Chloe who was rereading it a second time, mouthing the words as she did. Her expression turned into joyful elation as she squealed and hugged Max "They're OK! Max, they're fucking OK! Mom and David, they left this! So they've got to be OK!"
Max hugged her back "I know, this has to be a good sign!"
They pulled apart a little to look at each other, smiles beaming.
Chloe took Max by the hand pulling toward the door "C'mon, let's haul ass! Those lights at Blackwell? We were right! I bet that's where they are along with a bunch of other people!"
As they approached the swinging door they saw another sign with the same message taped to this side of the door. Chloe slapped her palm on it on it and turned to smile at Max who grinned "I guess Joyce was covering all the angles."
Chloe let out a happy "HA!" as they made their way into the back room to leave. As they passed through the small stock area Chloe stopped, her tone more serious "Max hold up a sec."
She began searching the shelves for something and after a minute grabbed what looked like a very large folded-up sheet of blue plastic off a bottom shelf.
Max looked at it curiously "What's that for?'
Chloe looked toward the back door as she left "They use these to cover stuff in the coolers. C'mon."
They stepped back out into the alley and as they walked toward the street Chloe veered in the direction of Officer Berry's body. Max immediately knew what Chloe intended.
Chloe walked over to the slain officer's body and knelt down, "Max, could you help me please?"
Max knelt down next to her and at Chloe's guidance they both slowly turned Andy Berry over so he was laying face up. Outwardly his body looked normal with no signs of any trauma. His eyes were closed and in a macabre way he actually looked peaceful. At first glance he could have been mistaken for being asleep as there were no obvious signs to what caused his demise.
Max frowned "I wonder what happened."
Chloe sighed and gently took the man's arms and situated them along side his body then with Max's help she carefully draped and tucked the tarp over and around him so his body was completely covered. Chloe put her hand on the area of his chest.
"You were always good to me, I felt like you cared even though I acted like an ass, treated you like shit. I'm sorry, you deserved better than this and I hope… I hope you're in a better place." her shoulders slumped a little as she finished.
Max reached over and hugged her from the side. After a minute they got up and turned to walk back to the truck. Max looked back once.
I'm sorry Officer Berry, I hope you find peace.
The warmth of the truck's interior felt good as they hopped back in. Chloe had to back it up and swing a wide left around the wreckage and other things in the road before she pulled onto the street heading back the way they'd come.
"Max I still want to check one more thing on the way." Chloe glanced at her.
"Home?" Max asked.
Chloe nodded "Home."
The drive inland through the center of town was much slower going here. It was only a few blocks distance but the streets were covered with so much wreckage and debris that in places Chloe had to make a couple detours down other streets just to work her way back towards Cedar Avenue and home. Max's mind wandered as she lost herself in the slow motion of the truck, gazing out her window.
Poor Officer Berry.
I didn't expect this, any of this, to be turning out this way. It's like an odd mix of hope and destruction.
Almost nothing I've tried to change before really turned out for the better. But now Joyce AND David, alive? It's more than I'd hoped for. Maybe Warren, Frank and Pompidou are there with them. They were in the diner in the other timeline, so maybe here too? Maybe a lot of people survived. It's almost too good to be true.
The lights at Blackwell mean at least some things there must be intact. In all this ruin and destruction I didn't dare hope that things would turn out nearly this good or that much of anyone would have survived.
With everything that has happened in the last week I swear I will never again complain about my life being boring.
The truck rolled to a slow stop, the lack of motion breaking Max's daydreaming. She looked over at Chloe about to ask why they had stopped and then realized they were in front of Chloe's house already. What held Max's focus though was Chloe's expression.
She sat in the seat staring past Max toward her house with wide eyes, mouth hanging open. For once though no words were coming out of Chloe's mouth which almost never happened. Max was about to make a smart-ass remark about it until she followed Chloe's gaze. She then felt her own mouth slowly drop open as her brain started to process what her eyes saw.
Chloe finally spoke.
"Max?"
"Yeah."
"Are you…you're seeing this? Right?"
"Yeah." Max answered breathlessly.
Chloe continued "There's a…"
"beer truck…" Max said.
"…on my house." Chloe finished.
"Uh huh." Max nodded, mouth still open.
Both girls sat there a moment taking in the sight where an airborne beer truck had been tossed from who-knows-where and had slammed against the left side of Chloe's house.
"Wowser." Max managed.
The truck had landed mostly up against left side of the home. Max imagined that Joyce and David's bedroom, probably the kitchen and maybe the dining room below were gone. The stairs might be wrecked too. Even if there was anything left in Chloe's room or the rest of the house there was no way they were getting in there right now. It was too dark and they had no light.
Chloe slowly turned and looked Max directly in the eyes. Her own eyes wide from shock. "Max. There is a fucking BEER TRUCK on my house!"
Max looked back at her, slowly nodding her head, "Yeah, there is Chlo."
They stared at each other a few moments. It was Max who cracked first, starting with a single exhaled laugh. Then Chloe joined her and suddenly both girls were laughing in spite of themselves. The whole scene was so terrible, ridiculous and absurd all they could do was laugh not knowing how else to feel about it.
"Fuck me!" Chloe gasped in between laughs trying to catch her breath. They both leaned in to each other, foreheads touching and still laughing.
Max looked at her "Only you, gods only you!"
Their laughter trailed off as they sat back and looked at each other smiling.
Chloe corrected her "Only US. Technically you have to take part blame here."
Max chuckled "How do you figure?" she shot back.
"Because ever since you came back into my life things have been a whole new level of weird."
Max smiled "I only help coax out the weirdness that's already there. I'm like, a weirdness whisperer."
"Well" Chloe thought for a moment, "At least I finally have an ironclad reason to mom for not cleaning my shit pit of a room."
Max smirked "You think she could tell the difference?"
Chloe grinned "OH Hah! Hey smart ass, be nice or I'll make you clean and detail Wanda."
"Oh holy shit NO!" Max gasped giggling.
They both stared at the scene for a few more moments before Chloe spoke.
"I always thought a lifetime supply of beer would be hella sweet."
Max laughed "See? Dreams do come true!"
Even in the dark they could tell the home was probably a total loss, having nearly a third of it smashed under the weight of the truck. Scattered all across the lawn were crates of beer that had flown free to smash open all over the ground.
Finally Max spoke "Chloe, are you OK?"
Chloe sat quietly in thought before answering "You know, it's funny. Since my dad died and you left all I could dream about was bailing from here. Just packing up some stuff and leaving my mom, this home and this shitty little town in the dust. But then you came back Max and this week is the first time in a long time that this place started to feel a little more like home again. So it kinda hurts to see this cuz there were a lot of good memories in those walls…" she paused before finishing, "A lot of bad ones too…"
Max smiled and gently squeezed Chloe's thigh "Hey, both the good times and the bad, those are the things that made it a home Chlo."
Chloe looked at her smiling "Yeah you're right. But hey! There's no reason to get all butt hurt about it right? You're here with me now and that's all the home I need dude. Plus Mom and David made it to Blackwell so losing this house seems like a really small thing in trade I spose."
Max looked at her wryly "So, what you're saying is, it's a small 'Price' to pay?"
Chloe's crinkled her face in disgust staring at Max, "You just HAD to go there, didn't ya? Just couldn't pass it up. Punny Max, very punny."
Max smiled proudly, "I know when to flaunt my talents!"
Chloe grinned as she shook her head "Alright funny girl let's get to Blackhell. We can come back tomorrow when it's light and see what's left of the former Price Palace."
Max looked thoughtfully at Chloe as her blue-haired companion faced forward shifting the truck into gear.
"But carefully OK? After everything we've gone through I'm not having you drown in an avalanche of beer."
Chloe grinned "There are worse ways to go."
Chloe put the truck in gear, turning around she drove back down her street towards Blackwell, her old home fading in the rearview mirror.
A/N: Hello everyone!
I truly hope your new year is off to a wonderful start! I wanted to take a minute to ramble about a couple things. Firstly an apology.
This chapter has been a long, long time in coming. I had intended to get it out awhile ago but I had a lot of things happen in my life that just didn't make that possible. I know with fanfic writing there's no "set schedule" but still, I never intended the update to be this long in the making so I do apologize for the wait.
That said, I've been busy!
Every time I say something like "I think I like this chapter size, I'm going to stick with that." I seem to end up writing even bigger chapters. So, I'm just going to stop saying that and what happens, happens!
There were a couple scenes in this chapter that I'd toyed with for awhile. Max and Rachel's conversation was one of them. I tried to write it to be startling to the reader at first when Rachel says hello but then quickly turn to a warm conversation between two girls who could have been (maybe still are?) best friends. Rachel is an interesting character to write for because she's basically a blank slate. We know enough to piece together a rough idea about her, but so much is left to interpretation. So I hope the voice I'm giving her seems genuine. If Rachel's voicing sounds a bit Chloe-ish, it's intentional. I imagined Chloe would have adopted part of her lexicon from Rachel so enter the 'hella' :)
The other was Chloe's meltdown to Max on the cliff and Max's response. The odd and wonderful thing about Life Is Strange as a story is it's crafted so each of us can draw our own conclusions, craft our own head canons. So it ends up being each of our stories tailor made to us individually. Chloe is the character I most closely related to in LIS so her meltdown is what I imagined to be going through her head, not wanting to die but also not wanting her life at the expense of others'. I felt we are similar enough that injecting some personal perspective in there worked and made it feel more genuine. Max's reasoning to Chloe is kinda in line with my own head canon as I saw things through Max's eyes.
It's odd, as writer I will get scenes in my head, conversation sequences and I can picture them so clearly but putting them down in words is no easy task. It's much like what I imagine a movie director has to do but being asked to write what they see while they direct. Both those scenes I felt strongly about and rewrote several versions before I came out with the ones you've read. It's a constant balance between wanting to share with you exactly what I see in my head versus TOO much description. Too little and the scene falls flat, too much and it drags. It's a lot harder to do than I thought but I'm learning, slowly. ;)
So the next chapter is already in the works (I wasn't kidding, I've been busy) and universe-willing I will have the next one out in a month or less, we'll see.
Finally as always, THANK YOU for reading and sharing in the adventure!
I hope this year is beautiful and rewarding for you filled with many friends and opportunities to learn and grow!
Stay hella amazing!
