Standing at the top of this offroad dirt track makes a good vantage point. I can see right into the grounds of the Hamilton estate and have a rough idea where all the armed guards are positioned. Each one dressed in a tux and doing a terrible job of hiding their weapons. The ones outside the complex I had sight of, but I can't see the ones inside.
Hearing a low mumbling noise, the sound is coming from the guests all gathered outside in the garden area, near the hedge maze. The wating staff are handing out champagne and hors d'oeurves to the many glammed up millionaires that want to fill their greedy stomachs.
To the right is the mansion's gravelled car lot, full of high-performance cars. It wasn't the first time I'd seen such a nice collection. I watched as more sports utility vehicles arrived. Looking at the clock on my phone, it had already been too long since I'd heard from Chloe. She said they were only a few minutes away from me. Where are they?
The Latin inscription written over the entrance to the huge mansion reads: Domum Prope Urbem
Chloe had told me to meet her and Sam at the mansion inside the Hamilton estate, it was only a few minutes from the airport. Although the conversation was brief, I heard enough from Chloe. They're tracking someone who has access to one of the maps inside here. From the many guests I could see there wasn't a way of knowing which one of these clowns has the map.
If Redd Fisher's got one of 'em, he wouldn't get very far without the other, I think it's time to ruin his day. Getting the map, would be the leverage needed to get Cassie back. I had no idea how to get it. Thankfully Charlie Cutter was just a few minutes away, he was bringing some kit that would help me get inside.
Night starts to fall and the busy streets behind the woods got quieter. The air is calm, and the sound from the public service announcement speaker carries into the open garden area. "Ladies and gentlemen, our apologies for the delay. Thank you for your patience. If you kindly make your way to the ball room."
Looking at my cell phone the bars were up and down, the reception here wasn't great but strong enough to get a signal to call Elena.
"Nate, are you okay?"
"Not sure, I've got a bad feeling."
I told Elena where I was and asked her to put me on speaker. Elena had heard of the place too; her inside scoop helped me understand the kind of characters that are here. This was making the Rossi estate look like someone had spiked the holy communion wine at a nun's retreat. Sully's words not mine.
There was some kindda auction happening. But this wasn't a place for St. Dismas' cross or any cross. From what I could glean from Sully and Elena, this was an auction house for items more disturbing and a lot less Christian.
"Sully, what d'ya know about this mansion, it's owned by a wealthy family called…"
"The Hamilton's."
"Right, you know 'em?"
"Kid, it's a shady place. With shady people. There's some big auction happening tonight. Sam was supposed to be there."
"I don't know where he is. How did he get on the guest list? Can you get me on the guest list?"
I was always surprised how Elena knew about these things and Sully's involvement with the many nefarious characters he knew, but thankfully I understood I wasn't going to get in there by just being added to the guest list. "Nate, you need to show some sort of rare treasure or valuable artifact to this event."
"Shit Kid, Just remembered, Sam told me he was tracking some guy there…Sergei Romanov."
I laid down as a sentry shone his flashlight over my way, I peered over the edge after watching the light disappear, watching as he put his weapon down his side. He spoke into his radio mic, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.
Elena added what she'd found on her laptop.
"Nate, it looks like the guy is a newly appointed head of a Russian secret society that locates, hides and protects lost treasures of the world."
"Yeah, I think I know which group you mean."
From what I know about these guys they carry Byzantine coins they use to identify themselves as part of the group. These coins are very expensive and were once held by Varangian guards who protected the secrets of the empire. Sergei couldn't be working with Redd Fisher, it goes against this groups' believe.
"He's a former FSB intelligence officer. Nate he's got some very powerful friends."
"Thanks Elena, I can't see Sam or Chloe, they must be inside, but I don't know how they couldda got passed me. I'll wait for Charlie and then go in and find 'em, I'll see if I can find the map, if anything we can use it to get Cassie back."
"Charlie who? Cutter?"
Thankfully Charlie was still around, he'd been doing some odd jobs involving Sam and Sully. Mostly surveillance and reconnaissance, nothing too heavy. At least, I don't think so but knowing them three – it could be anything.
Cutting the call, I needed to come up with a way of getting inside. Hopefully Charlie was bringing me a weapon, maybe a rocket launcher, but I'd settle for an Aegis 9mm or a Para .45, even a scoped pistol, something I was used to handling.
"There he is." I could see Charlie's truck making its way around the dirt track stopping just near the trees. When he heard Chloe was involved, he dropped everything to get here. This English fortune hunter has helped me out in the past. I consider him to be my go-to-guy. Now I need his help once again. Walking up to his black truck, he flashes his lights to let me know it's him.
"You look like shit mate."
"Nice to see you too Charlie."
I didn't want to tell him about Cassie, things were already bad enough. I needed to focus on getting the map.
"What's the play dear?"
His London borough East End accent still makes him sound like a gangster. If I didn't know him as well as I do, anyone would think he was a thug, one of the Bethnal Green Boys. I pictured him circling with the Kray Twins.
"Nate, where's bright eyes?"
"I think she's in there, along with Sam."
"Shit mate, in there, that aint good."
Sometimes I can't follow a single word he says, it sounds like nonsense to me.
"Shouldda gone for a gypsy's kiss before I came here."
Just like that.
"Charlie, what?"
I swear I need a translator with him sometimes. "Are you putting on that accent? Can you do Lazarevic?"
"Who?"
"Never mind!"
Without an invitation to this prestigious event, we were outta luck with getting in. I had a basic idea of the layout of the place. I didn't know what it was gonna be like inside. I could see the best points of entry. And we located a possible exit; somewhere I could quickly escape with Sam and Chloe and hopefully the map.
Charlie can't come with me on this one. It was the time of year his leg gives him problems. He'd broken it a few years ago and it was causing him pain. He did his best work being an observer.
Looking through the binoculars Charlie had brought with him. We can each see more sentries walking on the roof and balcony. There seemed to be a blind spot near the maze area. The guards are all armed and all of 'em ready to kill me - if they saw me. I began walking away from Charlie and went down the muddy hill, hiding behind the 30-foot terracotta brick wall. The barbed wire ran along the top of the white concrete ledge like platform.
"Charlie, can you hear me?" I said speaking into the mic. He had brought some of his surveillance gear that he'd used recently on a job with Sam. A type of two-way radio. The sound wasn't great, but I guess that's all he could get at short notice.
Walking around the walls, I planned on climbing the trees which were scattered around every 10 feet or so. It was easy to imagine jumping across the branches and hopefully landing on the guardhouse's terracotta roof. Just waiting for the right moment. That's if the barbed wire didn't shred me to pieces. I couldn't go in that way, I needed to think of another approach.
It suddenly hit me from what Elena was saying about an invitation. How are these people getting in? Maybe I could steal their invitation. I asked Charlie to see if anyone was arriving at the gate, before I thought about shooting my way in. It's not like I haven't done it before.
"Nate I can see some British guy. He's gotta a nice bit of crumpet on his arm."
I quickly ran back up the hill and over to the right to get a better look at this guy. He was carrying a small jewellery box. I followed it with my binoculars. Zooming in on the box.
"Charlie can you see what he's holding?"
"Two women!?"
"I meant the earring!"
"Oh right yeah, would look good on you mate."
We can see the gold item inside the red velvet recess inside the box. A rare item found from a few years ago. This golden earring was found ploughing a field in Bøvling in the western part of Jutland, Denmark.
"Charlie that's not just any earring, it's shaped like a moon, a half-moon. " There are other Varangian items like this, supposedly they coalesce…is this the key to Ginnungagap?"
"Nate what are you talking about?"
"These items form a connection to the cosmography of Gylafaginning, the Norse story of creation."
"So what? How does that work?"
"I have no idea, but these symbols point to parts of the world where…." Shit someone's watching from afar. I quickly ducked down to avoid being seen.
"Nate, you okay mate?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, where was I?"
"You were talking about the fancy earring!"
"Oh right yeah, these cosmological symbols are spread across the world and were used to decipher the messages to one another in the slave trade – depending on which country you were from."
One of the security Detail unlocked the gates near the fountain's path. Now was my chance. Creeping around the corner of the wall, he could be seen on his phone. It was instinct to knock him out and take his identification. The wealth guy's pants and jacket just about fit me. The guests were all walking towards the main hallway. The next part of this on-the-fly plan is to blend in as best as possible.
"Shit Charlie," the guards at the ballroom entranceway are checking the identification of the guests as they started to go inside. There was no way in hell getting in that way would be easy. I slunk around near the hedge maze.
"There's a guy coming your way Nate."
Kept quiet Nate, allow the guard to pass. I thought. My heart was racing.
The next step is to cut the power to the complex.
"Charlie, that's where the power room is. I'm gonna find the control room."
Looking up we identified the cables leading to a room high above the mansion. Now it was just a matter of climbing up there.
This stealth mission requires waiting for each sentry to pass by. I could see the armed guard at the top of the highest balcony. Making a run for it I began climbing the three columns and reached for the ledge above.
"There's a guy above you."
"I can see that Charlie," it would have been more helpful if I didn't already see the guard with the high-powered automatic rifle pacing the balcony.
"Stop hanging around mate and rescue Chloe."
"Heh, funny." Whispering so not to alert the guard. The window was open, and this was the only opportunity for me to make it inside.
"Jesus Nate, that was close." Charlie reminded me how narrowly close that was, making it inside as the guard just turns around. The sound from the auction appeared to be connected to every room. I could hear the auctioneer working through the lot numbers.
"Wonder what they're auctioning off?"
"Do you really wanna know mate?"
The curiosity about what they could be doing downstairs, is there, but now wasn't the time. This room was quiet – too quiet. I had visions of fighting with Nadine in a room almost like this, where she ended up throwing me through a window.
I opened the door to the hallway and the noise of the auctioneer became more audible. Running across the hallway into another room, revealed something like a dress room for the ballroom downstairs. The room was like walking into a huge closet.
"Charlie, you not gonna believe it." I relayed to him, what is in here. Tuxedos, dresses, stylish footwear, there was plenty of outfits to pick from.
"I could see you in a pink number," Charlie thought he was being funny, there had to be something a little less audacious and more camouflage.
"Charlie the guards here are wearing these tuxes, I think this'll do the job."
Thankfully the curtains were drawn, and the sentries couldn't see me. I managed to get one of the tuxes on. Nice and expensive, it makes me feel and look like a million dollars – or one of the buyers down in the auction. I looked at myself in the mirror, the age was showing, but I still felt strong enough to do this. This wasn't about me anymore; this was all about family. Sam was in trouble now, I'm sure of it.
I grabbed another Russian weapon and opened the door, moving swiftly passed the guard nodding his head with me avoiding eye contact.
"Okay Charlie, I'm at the back stairwell."
This place is full of guards, as another one walks past me. Making my way up the stairwell led to a floor high above the ballroom. The long red floral rug runs past a very long room. I started walking towards it and a sign outside reads: Control Room. This would be the place to find out what's happening, then shoot my way through to Sam.
"Shit Nathan, I can see Chloe, she's up on the top floor. Looks like some kindda executive suite."
"Is Sam with her?"
"Sorry mate, I can't see him, looks like she's trying to hide from someone. She's in the main bedroom."
If I could get Chloe, she could help me find Sam. From what Charlie was saying the executive suites were at the far side of the complex. It didn't appear this floor had a lead to them. I walked slowly past the frosted glass and wooden panes, peering in to see if anyone was inside.
A wall of screens ran along the workstation area. The huge window looked out onto the main floor below where the auction was being held.
"Charlie, I need to go inside the control room."
"Watch your back mate. Your buddy's been found outside the grounds."
"Aw crap." That feeling this was going to get worse any moment began plaguing my thoughts. Hopefully there was CCTV in here, maybe I could see Sam. I opened the door which opened wide, and I could see everything that was happening.
Why would no one be here?
Inside the control room I forgot to close the door as my eyes were focused on the screens. Flicking through the cameras I tried to find Sam. If Chloe was in here, then Sam must be too.
The control door slowly began to close as a burly looking fella appears around the door.
CLINK – the door closes leaving us two staring at one another.
The guy just looks at me. He breaks the eerie silence. "Can I help you buddy?" He seemed to be the only guard here so far who was American.
"Nate, what's going on?"
His beard is full of the remnants of a bag of chips, and I could see the bottle of vodka opened at his station.
"Are ya here to replace Ivan?"
"Yeah pal, Victor, I'm here to relieve Ivan, boss wants you both in the executive suite." Shaking his hand firmly.
"Mr Romanov…wants to see…me?" He sounds surprised. And doesn't seem to question who I am. There was a look of joy in his eyes, I think I made his day.
"Wow, Mr Romanov wants to see me, I wonder what it could be about. Maybe it's that American guy who entered the grounds, you know the guy who looks like you."
"Shit…"
"Nate, Nate, you okay?"
The control room door opens and in enters four huge men, clenching their fists and cracking their knuckles – circling around me.
"Mr Romanov wants this done quietly."
"Er, hi fellas, let's watch the tux okay."
I had to forget the pleasantries as two brutes charged at me. Moving out the way of their bulldozer path, they collided with each other as I began beating my way through them. Picking up whatever I could find. The burly guard was drinking on the job, so I grabbed the bottle and threw it at one of the brutes.
SMASH SPARK FIZZ
The control station started sparking.
"OH SHIT, THAT'S NOT GOOD." The guard shouts at me, watching me punch and block as much as I can. The sparks get louder, and a small flame appears.
"That really aint good. This is my station, and I'll protect it with my life." The speed the burly guard charged at me, caught me off guard and he tried to push me through the window of the room.
CRACK SMASH
Pressed against the glass I felt the force of another brute colliding into us. Pushing me through the huge window, I reached out and grabbed a balcony, wrapping myself around and flipping onto a VIP's table. The burly guard and the brute land flat on the ground. Squashing a couple of buyers.
The old woman in the yellow dress in the VIP area started to scream. "Sorry ma'am, hope you're enjoying the show?"
I pulled the rope decoration hanging from the VIP area, making a type of bungie, hopefully there was enough to land on the ground from all the way up here.
Nope…I ran out of rope losing my grip and falling to the ground – landing on my back looking up at how high I'd fallen.
I looked around at the huge plasma screens on the ballroom floor. The screens were off. The lights were flickering and the house' power is shutting down. I asked Charlie to use the confusion to cut the power at the small junction box just next to the hedge maze.
I couldn't think too long as the gun fire started. The room boomed with the sound of screams from the buyers. Some stayed and started shooting others fled like scared children. I rolled outta the way and hid behind one of the six Varangian statues.
POP POP POP
I took out each person as they reloaded. Rolling from one statue to another. Ammo was running low, but there's plenty of weapons just falling to the ground. More guards entered the ballroom shooting and destroying the valuable antiquities inside.
"Nate….Nate is that you?"
"Chloe, are you okay?" It was hard to hear her over the loud sound of gun fire.
"Yeah, I'm heading for the kid."
"What kid?"
"I'll explain later, I escaped but Sam's in danger, He's underneath the building."
"You mean in the basement?"
"Not exactly, where are you?"
Moving from one statue to the next I could see where I needed to be. The exit out of here was covered by a wall of guards, shooting at me. They didn't seem to mind about the bullets destroying pieces of the architecture either.
"Geez guys, these are historic figures."
No one was listening. How the hell am I gonna get outta here?
"Drake, it's over." The commanding voice stopped the gun fire from the many armed guards all trained to shoot on site. This has gotta be Sergei Romanov.
"Do I know you pal?" I peered around the statue as the guy started looking at his goons.
"Ha ha, Nathan Drake, a retired fortune hunter and one-man army. Where's your brother, he stole something of great value from me."
"Sounds a lot like him." I said loading my gun. Looking down at my feet there was three grenades on the armed guard. Picking each one up I started to count down from five.
"It's over Drake, we've caught Ms Frazer before she could even get to the holding area."
I slowly peered around the statue and could see they had Chloe. Tied up and struggling she wasn't going anywhere. "Shit…" I couldn't throw the grenades now.
I tried to explain or delay what I was planning. "You do know you need both maps to find the island, not forgetting the key to reading 'em." I said unpinning a grenade.
"We're in possession of the maps Mr Drake, ha ha…"
"Redd Fisher?"
"Mr Fisher is a lot like you, a bit more adventurous than his father. But he needs the stone Mr Drake and I need him to find me the stone. His debilitating condition is what drives him to do so."
"Yeah, I read about his progeroid syndrome."
I unpinned another.
"He needs the stone, but I won't let him take it for himself. I need it."
"Look pal, if you and your boyfriend are having a falling out, leave us out of it. I don't give a shit about the stone I want my daughter back."
These people are delusional, I know I said what the stone could do, but that's legend, they really believe this relic - from what could lie in the Garden of Eden will save them. Who ends up in this situation to save themselves from dying?
I thought back to the days in class, thinking that my history teacher was trying to tell me he had seen the stone. His father must have had a fragment of it in his possession. But how? No wonder he seemed to know about my mother, did she also see the stone?
"So, you and the old man are going to the Garden of Eden? Do you even know where it is?"
The truth of it is, no one knows where it is, many believe it's in Armenia or Iran, but I believe it is more likely to be in Africa. Either on an island swallowed by the sea or deep underground on the continent itself. Fisher believes the maps will tell all. By looking at the globe using the cartesian map system – and using zero as a central point this would show as Guinea. There were certainly plenty of places to look.
Okay Nate, it's now or never, I thought to myself.
Each one of the three grenades went straight into the burning control room above.
BOOM BANG BOOM
The explosion ripped through the gas line, each pipe section exploding with a ball of fire as parts of the upper balcony, wall and floor started to crumble, showering debris like rain.
I ran and fired as many bullets as I can, shooting through the last of the men, Sergei had escaped leaving his guards to finish off what they started. As the smoke blocked everyone's vision, I grabbed Chloe untying her and we darted for the exit. The explosion got louder, and the feel of the room became hot.
We ran down the corridor and towards the ornate elevator. Frantically we pressed the basement button, and the doors opened. Diving in before a ball of fire cooked us. The sound of the elevator music was trying to cover up the loud explosions from upstairs.
BING
We got off at the basement floor, listening to the sound of guards talking English to one another. We shot our way through and burst open a door. The corridors were like a maze there didn't seem to be anywhere else out other than back up the elevator, and there was no way we are doing that. We tried a few doors which led to cells, which were all empty.
"Nathan what are you doing?" Chloe called out to me as I walked inside the cell picking up the cuddly toy.
"Were kids being sold off here?"
We heard the whimpering sound of a young girl's cries, coming from another corridor. We ran towards it. Further down we headed through a bolstered door which led to an abandoned subway route. The tracks looked worn and covered in vegetation.
The sounds of the girl were once again heard. But it was hard to understand from which direction.
"It's coming from over there. C'mon let's go." Chloe points at the south side of the tunnel. We began running again and once we got around the corner. There was nothing but a dead end.
"Shit, where did they go?"
KKKKRRRRRR
"Na….you…o…"
"Charlie…Charlie…can you hear me?"
"…Nath….is…."
"Charlie! Shit!"
I couldn't get Charlie on the radio and more importantly I couldn't understand how someone could walk through a wall. I began tapping the bricks, looking for a loose one. There was no plates or pressure pads to stand on, just a rail line which led into a brick wall.
"Nate, over here…" Chloe pointed us to a brick with a recess in it. It was like a coin, or something could fit in there.
"We need to put something in here, but what?"
We spent a few minutes looking around the floor, we each tried using some chipped stones to get in there.
"Chloe what did Sam steal from Romanov?"
"What do you mean?"
She wasn't wanting to give up what he stole, but I had a feeling she was hiding something. And no doubt it was gold. "It's a gold coin, isn't it?"
She takes out this flashy gold coin from her boot. "He asked me to keep it safe."
The coin has an embossed image of a cross on one side and a stylized image of an emperor on the other. I had seen these markings before on the statues inside the main auction room. "These are the coins of the Varangian soldiers, an elite unit of the Byzantine Army."
"Yeah, he stole it from one of Sergei Romanov's men, but Nathan, it's gold, he wants to sell it."
"Just…giv' it here."
CRRSSSHHHHH
The large brick wall opened revealing another huge tunnel with a track leading out. I watched Chloe trying to retrieve the coin as the wall closed on us. She just squeezed through in time.
"Nate, who are these people?"
We started to walk slowly to the light flickering in the distance. "Chloe, let me see that coin?"
I turned the coin looking at the inscription, "this is Greek."
"So, what does it say?"
I was surprised to see a coin like this with a Greek inscription, this was rare and most if not all Byzantine coins of the empire were typically written in Kufesque script. "This isn't written in Kufesque."
"Kufesque?" Chloe looks at me, she knows what the Arabic language means but couldn't understand this either.
"The script goes back to the 8th century. You would find it on coins imitating Islamic Dinars." I was stunned by the inscription, "…but this is Greek."
"Nate, what does it say?"
"Right...yeah…it says…."
Sergei was quick to undermine my linguistic knowledge. "From mud and water our brethren are born."
They'd snuck up behind us and pushed us further inside.
"Easy pal, I'm married." One of the brutes patted me down and took my weapons. I watched as they did the same to Chloe.
"They're talking about the creation of life?"
Sergei was right, well mostly. The inscription was about Prometheus and how he created humanity. Prometheus supposedly built the race out of water and mud. Forming the shape of the human anatomy and animating the clay, creating more than just a sculpture.
The Byzantine army was mostly Christian and focused their attention on creation and what Eve meant to the ideals of humankind. They solely believed she was the truth. Her nurturing and maternal instinct would go on to build a human mother and allow the ability to create new people – all of whom start out as female.
"For her tears hold the salt to cleanse the sick and the water to wash away the evil." Sergei said out loud.
"Did you read that on the back of a cereal box?" Redd Fisher wanted the stone as he believed it has healing powers, and Sam's and Chloe's involvement was obviously about finding the artifact for money.
I still hadn't told Chloe about Cassie and what had happened.
I thought about the sign at the mansion – the Latin inscription loosely, means in English, A Home near the City, now I know why.
We arrived at an old station pointing a way to an underground city. I remembered before about a supposedly, city buried underneath the streets of London, built to shelter the people from a nuclear attack, built in the fifties and stretched for miles. Not just in London but out much further.
At the abandoned station we can see a woman in a red dress, and a young Romanian girl and Sam. The English woman was walking around pacing and talking into the cell phone's video. She hadn't noticed us yet, as Sergei kept us out her view. Just listening to her.
"I don't think you've been telling me everything Mr Fisher, your errand boy couldn't get her for you. What does this girl mean to you?"
"Shit Nate, we need to save 'em?"
This was becoming another rescue mission, not only did I need to rescue my own daughter, but now this little Romanian girl, who's someone else's daughter - she too needs rescuing. But why would they want her? What's so special about her?
Sergei's men pushed us down the concrete staircase, leading towards the tram at the station. A very old green tram sat on the tracks ready to take them into the city.
"Mr Fisher, it seems more guests have arrived. I will call you back."
We started walking down the stone steps with the guns pointing behind us. The place had become a meeting hub for men and women armed for war with us and this little girl right in the middle of it.
"Well Ms Frazer, nice to see you again." The woman in the red dress didn't seem surprised to see us for some reason.
"You know her?"
"Yeah, Charlotte, we've met, it was a blast."
"Yes, Ms Frazer, I owe you a kiss."
Charlotte punched Chloe in the face, a sort of payback. Sergei and his men watched laughing as the two of 'em started fighting.
"Enough!" Sergei commanded, firing his gun into the ceiling.
Charlotte pushed Chloe off her and looked at Sergei. "And you are Sergei Romanov, playboy and head of the 'Protectors of the Stone'."
Charlotte walked towards us and ran her fingers through the Romanian girl's hair. "So, my lovely, what makes you so special to have all these father figures want to take you away from me."
"Get away from her, we'll be taking what I paid for – you can kill Drake."
"Woah, you'll need us to decipher the map, I know where the key is."
"So predictable Drake, you're right, we'll be taking them all."
Sergei was clearly outnumbered, and Charlotte began looking at her team. She slowly turned her head towards Sergei, who was threatening her. "There are two things that bother me more than anything; one, being interrupted when I am speaking and two, someone like you who is in charge, having that responsibility and perverting it."
If you blinked, you'd have missed it, the knife came out of nowhere as Charlotte threw it into Sergei's forehead. He fell to the ground after his team had been gunned down by her military outfit.
"Sorry about him my friends, trust me he had it coming."
She smiles and circles us as we're kneeling in front of her army.
"We're all going for a little ride into the city to see my employer, and you can regale us with what you know about the stone of Eve – he will be greatly appreciative of your help Mr Drake - in locating the stone, before it falls into the wrong hands."
I didn't know what was going to happen next. But my thoughts were broken by more gunfire as more of Sergei's guards came from above, gunning down Charlottes team.
"Sam, grab the girl, let's get the hell outta here."
It was too late Charlotte got her before Sam had a chance. She punched and kicked him away from her and forced the girl on the tram. We watched as the tram started to move towards the city under fire.
Now we had to fight our way through here. Reaching for weapons on the floor, each of us fired at the guards and slowly their numbers depleted. Chloe fired the last shot as the guard fell to his knees.
After the carnage had stopped, we sat in the abandon station deciding what to do next. I told them everything.
"Fuck Nathan, we need to get her back." I could tell he was angry with me.
"We can't without the map."
Chloe could sense the tension; she was worried but had the answer. "We need to get Charlotte, she has it."
"What? She's got the map and the girl?"
Sam and Chloe look at each other but Sam is the one to say it. "Nathan, the map is the girl."
Thank you for reading part 6. In the next chapter we'll see what Cassie is up to and learn more about the origins of the children.