Chapter 6

Max grabs the tossed bat and quickly follows Victoria out the door. Chloe thought they were going to lock her inside the room. After all, she is technically the enemy. Plus, she has a loaded gun, so leaving her unattended with the door wide open and their backs to her is a really, really stupid idea.

But apparently, they are really, really stupid people.

In fact, Max even pauses for awhile at the door and gestures Chloe to follow her before disappearing down the hallway.

This feels like being stuck in a fucking twilight zone. Am I in an alternate universe where friendlies beat each other up, and enemies trust one another?

Chloe grips her dogtag to remind herself of who she is, wishing it is this easy to get a grip on reality. She doesn't know what to make of today; she doesn't know what to make of Nathan's unprovoked attack, Max's reappearance in her life as a rebel, and the bombshell she dropped about her father's death. Not to mention she is not any closer to finding Rachel. But there is nothing she can do at the moment except to hang on to the ride. She'll figure this whole thing out soon enough.

With her gun in hand, Chloe gets up, dusts off her grey jeans and walks cautiously towards the door. She eyes her backpack and slings it over her shoulder, before grabbing her abandoned black beanie in the wheelbarrow. It was Rachel's, and it holds great sentimental value to her, a reminder of a brief but happy period in her life since the civil war started. She wears the beanie low over her head.

Chloe steps out of the room and looks down the hallway. The runner is heavily decomposed and the walls are filthy due to the lack of care but she knows exactly where she is now. This is the hallway she had spent many of her childhood days running around playfully chasing Max. This is the hallway that leads to the Caulfields' kitchen where Max and Chloe would have bowls of their favourite cereal trying to competitively outdo each other until they felt sick. She hasn't been back in years, but she should have recognised the guest room she was in.

Both Max and Victoria have disappeared, but Chloe has an idea of where they are. She walks up the stairs, squashing the feeling of déjà vu overwhelming her with each step. When she reaches the landing, she sees them crouching behind some fake tall plants in the balcony. Max's bat is leaning against the wall. Heavy bombings that levelled about twenty houses around the Caulfields' meant that the view from the second floor is totally unobstructed for miles ahead. The sky is bright with the morning sun, but the cold wind suggests that autumn will soon leave Arcadia Bay behind. Chloe pulls her jacket closer and joins the two.

"…can distract them with a grenade."

"Are you crazy?!"

"I'm talking about the worst case scenario! Look, we are not given grenades to hang them on Christmas trees, Max. We need to use them if necessary, and THIS situation looks necessary. We don't need to kill them, we just need to get their attention away from here."

"What's going on?" asks Chloe, while holstering her handgun.

Victoria shoves a pair of binoculars into her arms. "Your friends are looking for you."

Chloe steps closer to the edge and adjusts the binoculars in her hands. She sees about four to five men checking neighbouring houses for signs of activity. She zooms in. Victoria was right. She quickly recognises Henderson and Clyne in the group, two of her step-father's henchmen. They are checking each house in the vicinity and are coming closer to them. She has to do something before they reach the Caulfields' house.

"I have to go," says Chloe before thrusting the binoculars back into Victoria's arms.

Chloe leaves and is halfway down the stairs before someone grabs her arm so hard she nearly lost her balance.

"Do you seriously think we are just going to let you waltz out of here?" says an alarmed Victoria. "You know who we are, and you know where we stay; we cannot let you go."

"Look, you don't have a choice. They are coming this way and they will break down the front door to search this house. I was supposed to report back hours ago. If I return now, they will call off the search. Besides, if I had wanted you two dead, I would have just stayed here and they'll storm in with guns blazing."

"How can we just trust that you are not going to walk up to them and tell them exactly where we are?"

"Tough luck. You have no choice BUT to trust me. Now, get your fucking hands off me."

"She's right," adds Max, appearing on the steps with her hand on Victoria's arm in an attempt to reassure her. "Vic, we can trust her."

The friendly gesture irks Chloe for some reason. For a brief moment, she wonders if there was something going on between the two of them. What are two rebels doing alone in a safehouse anyway, she thought.

Victoria's grip loosens in a moment of indecision and Chloe tears her arm off her grasp and walks towards the kitchen's back door. She doesn't want to have to explain to the guys what she's doing in the house if they saw her leaving from the front door.

"Chloe, wait, don't go into the kitchen…"

But Chloe has already opened the sliding doors and she is immediately hit by a slightly unpleasant, faint coppery smell. It reminds her of the medical facility in the military base when it's overwhelmed by dying soldiers but she cannot see any wounded here.

The kitchen looks the same as it was when Chloe last saw it, but she realises what causes the strange odour when her eyes draw down towards the kitchen tiles. It is virtually impossible not to, even in the poor light. The dried blood stain covers more than half of the floor's surface area. There are even splashes of angry red all over the countertop. Whatever happened here was a bloodbath. Gone were the innocent memories of her spending weekend mornings having breakfast in this kitchen before running out and playing in the backyard.

"There were…more of us. But…a stray got to them," says Max solemnly as she reaches Chloe's side.

Chloe turns and studies her friend. Max looks so small and exhausted suddenly. Chloe hates herself even more at that moment. How could she be so selfish, blaming her shitty life on Max when she must be going through hell too? It is already a miracle they have gone through this far in the war when many others didn't. Max doesn't need to deal with her bullshit as well.

"Come with me," blurts Chloe without thinking. "I can vouch for you and you can stay with me. It's much safer in the military base and I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

"No," says Max with a sad smile, before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, that's really sweet but I have a mission to complete. Besides, the peace treaty is happening tomorrow. It'll be a safer world then. Will you be there?"

Usually, Chloe prefers staying away from such boring propaganda events. She should really be out looking for Rachel anyway, but she is met with a dead-end with the search. Besides, as much as she tries to stop herself, she wouldn't miss any opportunity to see Max again.

"I'll see you there. Take care, okay?"

"You take care too. Thanks for helping us out. We really appreciate it," replies Max.

There is a brief, awkward moment when they both naturally reach in for a hug but stop midway when they realise what they're doing. Chloe ends up adjusting her beanie and Max bashfully scratches the back of her neck. The pair notice too late that they both wanted the hug but chickened out at the final moment.

This is ridiculous. There is no guarantee that we'll live until tomorrow. Gotta carpe diem and shit.

If anything the past teaches Chloe, it's that people don't stay. They will either die or be forced to leave, which is why she refuses to love again. Max is different though. It's too late for her to climb out of that hole. So she takes a deep breath, tries again and opens her arms with a wistful smile. Max appreciates Chloe taking the first step and gratefully embraces her tight. Chloe buries her face into the side of Max's hair and feels her heart soar as she takes all of Max in. My Max.

Of course it will take a lot more than a simple hug to overcome years of bitterness, anger and despair. But THIS, this is a start. Maybe Chloe can finally start to heal after being abandoned by two of the most important people in her life. Her mother couldn't help, and Rachel couldn't fill the hole in her heart, no matter how hard both of them tried.

"Welcome home, Max," whispers Chloe, before reluctantly releasing her friend.

Max could only nod quietly, the lump in her throat preventing her from saying another word. Chloe notices this and looks away, feeling choked up at having to separate from Max again so soon. She carefully steps into the kitchen, unlocks the back door and walks out before she changes her mind.