"So, we gonna tag along with them or what?" our cameraman Jeff asks as he and I sit on a low wall together, his voice drawing my attention back to our conversation with Elena. I'd been checking my Nikon D7000 camera and found it still had plenty of photos left.
"Hell yes," Elena answers in a low yet resolute tone, standing before us. "Nate's a scoundrel, but he's a consistent scoundrel. Whether or not he's involved in this, he knows how to draw trouble to himself."
Looking up, I nod in understanding. "Right, right. And I take it we have a plan for when we track down Lazarevic?"
Cause I'm pretty sure the man's not gonna be the type to sit down for an interview and let us scamper away after.
"Simple. We keep a safe distance – and I mean really safe distance – while Nate and his…friend handle the up-close dangerous stuff," Elena answers confidently, referring to Drake and his associate.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Drake and said associate, a beautiful yet somewhat tense woman with light-brown skin and black hair, off some distance from us in a conversation of their own, one that seems to be getting a little heated.
After nearly pumping that Drake guy full of lead after he jumped out and threatened to do the same to me and Jeff, I wasn't too thrilled about joining up with that guy – or his lady friend who nearly did the same to all three of us once she popped up.
Seriously, are all treasure hunters this trigger-happy?
Still, at least Elena has some semblance of a plan. Even that's better than stumbling around blindly.
That's why I sigh in defeat, still feeling reluctant. "Alright then."
Elena nods, as does Jeff, before we all stand up to approach Drake, just in time to hear the tail-end of his conversation with his friend (Chloe, I think he called her).
"…they're still coming with us."
Elena scoffs softly. "We don't need saving, Nate."
"Thank you," Chloe drawls in her Australian accent, throwing her hands up. Drake just looks put out.
"B-But," I manage to stutter out, trying very hard not to cave beneath everyone's stares. "You can still tag along with us as backup! A little more expertise never hurts, right?"
Just as Elena's about to chew me out, the near sound of whirling blades draws our attention to a helicopter making a round near us.
"We might just take your buddy on that offer," Drake smugly suggests to Elena, not addressing me at all.
God, I wanna punch this guy.
"Shit, run!" Chloe says in a tone that might as well been 'Move already, dumbasses.'
No need to tell me twice!
So begins my first real-life shootout – and honestly, I don't do too bad. A few bullets nearly graze me, but overall, I come out pretty much unscathed, same with everyone else!
Hell, I even blew a few guys up with a propane tank they'd been next to!
…I probably shouldn't be ecstatic about that.
"Not bad for a pair of journalists," Chloe compliments us once the fun's over, much to my surprise.
"I've had some practice," Elena drily responds.
"I uh had a good trainer," I awkwardly second, making a note to thank Jai later. Both for the shooting lessons on the range and shootout 'sessions' at the arcade.
XXX
After a huge-ass door and then a very debris-cluttered river where Drake showed off his reputed ingenuity by making us a bridge from some blown up cars, we run up a short set of steps – and literally into another gunfight.
This time with a turret. Why God, why?
"We need to take out that gun!" Drake calls out over the sounds of gunshots.
That's when I notice the propane tank off to the side. By tucking and rolling the way Jai taught me, I dodge the bullets and reach the tank in seconds.
"Drake, heads up!" I shout before tossing the tank from around the corner and towards the turret. Without missing a cue, he shoots the tank, setting up a huge explosion that knocks out the turret gunner and disorients the other soldiers long enough for us to pick them off one by one.
"Nice toss!" he shouts, giving me a thumbs up, which I return with a frazzled grin.
"N-Nice aim!"
A few reinforcements done in by Drake's skill with the turret later, we're all clear and heading up the next flight of stairs, guns still at the ready.
"So…this is a day in the life of Nathan Drake," I murmur. "How in God's name is that man not full of lead yet?"
Jeff shrugs, my question beating the hell out of him. "Maybe he's just that lucky?"
"I wouldn't go that far," Chloe and Elena somehow end up saying at the same time.
XXX
An indeterminate amount of time later…
No clue how long it's been since we came into this beautiful Buddhist temple (it takes my all not to use my camera due to my strict policy against taking pictures of religious sites without permission), but I snap back to reality at the sound of someone sitting down next to me on the low wall.
"So…," Elena asks. "How you holding up?"
Holding up?
Well, so far, I already survived two gunfights and witnessed resistance fighters dying to protect their home, and now we have to wait here while our experts handle whatever's in there while a whole army led by a genocidal maniac seeking a particular mythological gemstone is hunting for us outside.
With a hum, I start to finger the pendant of my necklace through my shirt. Despite knowing better, part of me feels I should have gone in with Drake and his friend.
But I don't want to worry Elena, so all I say is: "Eh, bored. Maybe a little antsy. You think those two are gonna find a backdoor to this place and ditch us?"
Elena snorts at the idea. "Knowing Nathan, I would not be surprised. Frustrated but not surprised."
She then turns to me. "On the topic of surprises, you finally got to meet the infamous Nathan Drake. First impressions?"
I purse my lips. "Honest to God? He seems a little full of himself. Seems to know what he's doing, though…mostly."
Elena chuckles. "If there's one thing Nate's known to do, it's improvising."
Yeah, so far, the guy hasn't disappointed in that regard.
The mood turns somber when Elena's eyes trace down to where my hands are fiddling with my shirt, the outline of my necklace peeking through.
"You know the best we can do is confirm Lazarevic's still alive, right? We're not in any position to get answers out of him."
I sigh, figuring this topic would have come up. "I know. To be real with you, I don't even care about that idiot. All that matters to me is figuring out what happened to the last bunch of people who went after that Cintamani Stone."
Elena cranes her head, eyes soft. "You mean the expedition your grandma was part of, right?"
I breathe in. "The reason she kept coming back to this country, before she stopped visiting our family altogether, stopped sending us letters."
Before she dropped out of our lives. My life.
Shrugging my shoulders, I finger the necklace. "I'd just like some closure, is all. This trip to Nepal seemed like the perfect opportunity."
"There's no guarantee we'll get any intel," Elena gently warns me.
I nod, resigned. "Yeah, the thought's crossed my mind. I just wanted to give the whole thing a shot. At the very least, I'll get confirmation that someone with at least some morals will be a pain in Lazarevic's ass."
Elena smiles. "Well, if anyone's an expert in that sort of thing, it's also Nate."
I smile back, ready to crack a joke about that – only for her to shush me.
I blink, a little offended. "OK damn, at least let me say something witty before you—"
She shushes me again, looking away and face intent. When she turns to me again, her eyes are heavy with worry.
"Do you hear that?"
I narrow my eyes and strain to listen. Then I hear them.
Voices, except they aren't Drake and Chloe's – and they're coming from outside.
Then there's a small thud right outside the door, followed by beeps.
All our eyes widen.
"DUCK!" Elena screams.
We barely manage to take cover before the doors are blown wide open, bullets flying all over!
Elena and I manage to get a pop off on the two soldiers that make their way inside, but I just know a metric ton more of them are waiting right outside.
Seriously, having Drake and Chloe here would be really nice right about now.
Also, I know these are war criminals, but would it kill these assholes to stop shooting for ten seconds and at least give us a sporting chance? We're kinda new at this, me in particular.
"Noah!"
My eyes shoot to Elena. She's fixing a shaken but resolute stare on me. "On my mark, OK?"
Despite all my nerves, I nod. Even she's more of an expert in these kinds of situations than I am, after all.
She looks to Jeff next. "Stay close to us."
Jeff, despite the abject fear on his face, manages a nod.
"Now then, on three," she starts off. "One…"
"Two," I add.
"THREE!" the two of us shout as one.
Don't ask me how we make it outside without dying, but we make it.
Hell, between the two of us, we even manage to take out a few guys! I'm honestly feeling pretty good.
Then I notice Jeff's not behind us.
"Elena, wait!" I call out from behind a low wall on the far-left side of the courtyard. She's just ahead of me, crouching behind an overturned wagon. "We lost Jeff!"
I can see her mouth fall in a gasp.
"Get him!" she shouts back. "I'll cover you!"
I manage to retrace my steps, dodging bullets – and Lord, I do not like what I find.
Jeff's slouched against the low wall, camera to the side with broken lens, groaning as he puts a hand to his side where blood (too much blood) stains his clothes.
Shit.
I barely manage to assess the damage before Elena is at our side, gasping.
"Oh God, Jeff! We need to get him out of here."
A particularly loud shot goes off over our heads, startling us. I gingerly peek my head over and notice some guys way up in the buildings on the other side of the courtyard.
They've got sniper rifles.
I duck the moment I catch the rifles' red lights nearing us.
"That might be easier said than done, Ellie. These guys have us pinned down. Maybe we should split up and—"
More shots go off, but no bullets are whizzing past us this time. Elena and I peek above the wall and spot Drake and Chloe dashing out of the temple, taking shelter behind the stone newels.
"Or we wait for backup," I plainly amend.
Fortunately, the pair doesn't take long to find us. I manage to down one of the snipers by the time they do, the other one taken out by Drake.
Who's quick to help me get Jeff back onto his feet once he and Chloe have rejoined us, much to my surprise. The camera's busted so no use trying to salvage that. It's replaceable anyway, Jeff isn't.
The poor guy groans as Drake and I help him up, Elena hovering near us in worry.
Chloe, who's been off to the side pacing impatiently, throws her hands out. "Nate – "
"He's fine!" I retort, trying to keep everyone's spirits up. "Just a little wound."
"Exactly!" Drake agrees. "Nothing a little patch up can't fix, right chief?"
Jeff can barely answer us beyond a groan, too focused on the pain.
But Chloe is insistent. "He's never gonna make it, we have to leave him!"
"What – no!" Elena protests.
"No one gets left behind," I state in the calmest tone I can manage despite my nerves. Grandma would have agreed for sure.
"Just open the door, Chloe," Drake insists.
Chloe throws her head back with a frustrated growl before marching over to the door and kicking it open. "You're going to get us all killed!"
"Noah," Drake grunts to me. "You help them with cover-fire. I've got him."
I cast a doubtful look at him, but the moment I hear bullets flying down the alleyway, I sigh and disengage from Jeff, throwing him an apologetic look before ducking behind a crate and letting off rounds alongside Chloe and Elena.
Thankfully, the three of us are enough to make short work of the soldiers that get in our way, giving Nate a chance to cart Jeff along, albeit slowly. I make sure to help the two along in between shootouts so we can progress faster.
I even manage to headshot some creep wringing Chloe's neck further ahead.
We can do this!
And then the assholes start throwing in turret trucks and missile launchers because of course. I help Drake rush Jeff inside a building in between turret rounds, barely dodging the next set.
Jeff is panting, and he's starting to feel cold. Not good.
"Up we go," Drake coaxes as we go up the stairs ahead of us. "Up the stairs."
"We're almost there, brother," I murmur gently. "You're gonna be OK."
Part of me wonders if I'm trying to convince myself too.
"C'mon!" Chloe calls as she rushes up ahead of us.
The building rattles from the missiles and Drake and I have to readjust our grips on Jeff, the movement making him groan in pain.
"Sorry," I whisper, feeling useless.
"Hey, it's like you said," Drake is quick to insist. "We're almost there. Not gonna let some steps stop us, are we?"
Hearing those words in that joking tone reminds me of Jai, how he always has a quip on hand to lighten the mood whenever I need a moment's rest during training.
A second wind hits me, and I intend to ride it 'til the end.
Or apparently in this case the mostly intact uppermost floor, where we come to a rather high drop.
"Oh shit!" Elena hisses, voicing my thoughts exactly.
Chloe's not fazed at all. "That's alright. We can make that."
Elena gives her a look of disbelief that would have been hilarious if our circumstances weren't so dire.
"Not with him," she states, gesturing with her gun to indicate Jeff, who Drake and I set down against a tipped-over table.
Already an argument goes off among the others, but all I can focus on is Jeff, wounded and dying. There has a way get him out of here, there has to be…
"Hey."
The sound of Jeff's voice makes me gasp as he tilts his head to meet my eyes with a weak smile, an act I can tell is taking all his strength.
"C'mon, buddy…you gotta keep your chin up, remember? You got what it takes, I know. So…"
Jeff needs a moment to breathe, to gather one last bit of his strength. "Don't worry about me…"
He still has the nerve to smile.
Words fail me, my heart and stomach clenched.
I open my mouth as if to respond…
A sudden slam of the door downstairs and slew of accented voices echo from below, startling us all.
I notice Chloe shaking her head in defeat as she stalks over to the stairs, raising her gun at Drake as she does, eyes full of despair she's trying hard to suppress.
"I tried to save your skin, you idiot."
In seconds, we're surrounded at gunpoint by Lazarevic's goons, some skeezy-looking white guy with a British accent (nowhere near as good as Jai's) and gaudy necklace taking charge as he orders us all to drop our guns.
Like we have a choice, I ruminate as Drake, Elena, and I begrudgingly comply.
"Take her out of here," the British guy orders in a somewhat gentler tone, gesturing to Chloe. "She's hurt. Take her to the train."
And just like that, Chloe's escorted out. I honestly don't know how to feel about her right now, but there'll be time to worry about that later.
My attention drifts back to Jeff, still on the floor, as well as his words so I tune out whatever the skeezy man says to Drake.
I do snap to, however, when quite possibly the scariest human being I have ever seen stomps his way inside.
Holy shit…Lord please help us if that's who I think it is.
Just from one glance at the coldness in those eyes and there's no mistaking it.
Dear Lord, Lazarevic is so much taller than I expected.
He sidles up to Drake, appraising him the same way a predatory animal would. "So, this little man is Drake, hm?"
He promptly snatches the important-looking dagger from him, coolly admiring it before handing it off to one of his lackeys.
My blood runs cold when his eyes fall on me next.
"Those eyes…," he purrs before coming closer.
I freeze on the spot, even when he's gotten close enough that I can smell his putrid breath. He's eyeing something on my person.
"Tell me, little one. You would not happen to know a…Sara Collins, would you?"
I hold back a gulp, remembering not to show fear and say too much like Jai advised. "Let's say hypothetically I did. Why the interest?"
Lazarevic does not answer at first. Then that cold gaze shifts to Jeff, wheezing for air and eyes closed. "Did you carry him all the way from the temple?"
Then I notice Lazarevic pulling out his gun.
Oh no…Oh God no…
"Wait," I blurt, a hand out in panic. "Wait, think about this for a—"
"No," he coldly finishes before firing.
Jeff is gone in an instant.
I feel…numb.
Everything feels numb. I barely register Elena falling to her knees, crying, never mind Lazarevic hounding Drake for answers.
A friend just died in front of me. I just watched a friend die in front of me…and I couldn't do anything to stop it.
Suddenly, a shadow falls over me. I look up and see Lazarevic, looming over me with a terrifying smile. To my sudden fear, he uses his gun to lift my necklace up from my shirt until the pendant is visible for all to see.
"You are a relation of Sara Collins, are you not? I met her once. A fearless woman. Foolish as well." He lets the necklace fall. "You share her idealism yet lack her conviction."
Then he turns to Elena and somehow his grin gets even more terrifying as he walks up to her, using his gun this time to lift the ID card attached to her belt.
"Ah, and my shadow. The reporter who has been biting at my heels." Then he steps back, gun at arm's length as he trains it on my head and pulls out a second gun to aim at Elena's. "You had both better hope he is not bluffing."
He nods to the skeezy guy still holding Drake at gunpoint. "Search him."
As Drake's searched and stripped of a map he must have marked back in the temple, the numbness in me is starting to thaw – and its thawing into something fierce, something I'm not used to feeling so intensely.
I watch as Lazarevic takes the map and leaves, giving his lackeys the order to shoot us once he's gone.
Out the corner of my eye, I see Elena bend down over Jeff's still body, the tension in her shoulders obvious.
"How can you work for that monster?" she growls without turning.
"Beats working against him, love," the skeezy punk answers without a second thought.
A coward to the end, huh? Well then, that makes what comes next very satisfying.
And by what's next, I mean Elena socking the bastard the moment he reaches for her.
"RUN!"
In the brief moment of shock she's caused, I charge forward and deck one of the soldiers out cold while Nathan does the same to the other.
Wasting no time, we clear the drop and hit the ground running.
I'm running on autopilot at this point, bullets whizzing past or grazing us but never piercing, almost like we're under divine protection.
In just a few jumps and climbs, we're dropping down into another alleyway where we duck into a punctured building, the walls giving enough cover that we can take time to catch our breath.
God, I want to sleep right now. Or cry. Maybe both.
"You guys all right?"
Drake's voice snaps me back to reality, and suddenly I remember where I am.
"Yeah, never better," Elena answers in a weary voice. "Noah?"
I take a tremulous breath. "A little shaken. OK, I'm actually shaken outta my head…but I'll live."
Drake manages a weak chuckle. "Heh, fair enough" – he gets up to check outside – "I think we lost them."
A sigh escapes him. "I should have never gotten you guys into this mess."
I run a hand through my thick hair, huffing in tired amusement. "You didn't exactly drag us here kicking and screaming."
Elena shakes her head, wiping her face to mask the tears in her eyes, I notice. "He's right, Nate. We got ourselves here on our own."
Drake…Nathan steps back from a window to spare us an apologetic glance. "Nah, you know, the…rest of it."
Elena and I share a significant look before standing up.
"Oh, we knew what the stakes were," she states.
I rub my arm as a grounding technique, one Jai taught me. "Just how it goes for us journalists. And photographers. So…what do we do now?"
Nathan nods his head. "I'm going after her."
Ah, why do I feel I should have expected that answer from this guy?
Elena doesn't look none too thrilled either as we gather around a surprisingly still intact wooden table, Nathan pulling out the map he managed to snatch back from the skeezy Brit. Lazarevic really should have kept that himself if he was so smart.
Oh well, works all the better for us.
Once again, I'm tuning out the conversation that follows, something about Chloe and some guy named Flynn (the Brit guy?), as I note the location of the railyard Nathan pointed out and then the water tower that's supposed to be en route.
It seems like a straight shot, but after all the detours and madness, I know better than to hold my breath at this point.
Only when Elena folds up the map and offers it back to Nate with a sardonic gaze do I notice the heavy eye contact between them.
Here's hoping they don't ask me to leave the room – or at least what still constitutes one. Now would not be a good time.
"Honor among thieves, huh?"
"Something like that," Nathan returns as he tucks the map away in his pocket.
Big surprise. I stand up from the table with a stretch. "And I take it you've got no idea what you're doing?"
"Nope."
Elena and I exchange looks. I can only shrug. She knows this guy better than me.
"Good to know that some things never change," she comments to herself before standing up with a new spring in her step. "OK, let's go."
Nathan tries to put a kibosh on that plan by telling her we can't come, but no dice. Elena's too stubborn for that nonsense.
And so am I. After all the shit I've seen and gone through, I ain't turning back now, especially when I'm one step closer to the truth.
Which is why I manage to stand tall and defiant beside her as she tells Nathan off in a surprisingly fond tone.
"Nathan, shut up. We've got a train to catch."
XXX
As I'm starting to realize is customary on these Nathan Drake expeditions, we had to work our way through yet more shootouts and parkour. And yes, in that order.
Oh, and Nathan and Elena's painful idea of flirting. Or at least I think they're trying to flirt. It's mainly just cheesy jokes. Nowhere near as bad as my Uncle Rodney, though. Still cute these dorks are trying, regardless.
Anyway, we don't take long to reach the water tower. From there, we get a pretty good view of the railyard – and of course it is packed with soldiers and military vehicles, much to our chagrin.
"Got a Plan B?" Elena asks reluctantly.
"I'm working on it," Nathan retorts in a low tone.
I narrow my eyes at something in the distance and tap on Nathan's shoulder. "You see that?"
He checks where I'm pointing with his binoculars and nods. "Yeah, Flynn's got Chloe with him."
He offers me the binoculars so I can see for myself. I huff at the sight of a certain friend killer. "I see Tall, Scarred, and Bloodthirsty, too" – my brow furrows in alarm – "Uh oh, I think he's getting on."
"Crap," Nathan states under his breath. "That means they're about to take this show on the road. We need to move fast. Now listen guys, I'm going to head down there alone - "
"Nate…"
"You sure that's a good—"
Nathan waves his hands at both of us. "Guys, guys, just listen! Elena, you're gonna sneak over there and snag us one of those nice looking—"
"4 x 4s," Elena says confidently, beating him to the punch.
Nathan winds up repeating her in a deflated tone, much to my amusement. When he opens his mouth to explain further, I cut in next.
"While I go in as backup in case we get caught."
"Exactly," Nathan confirms. "And once I grab Chloe—"
"Elena acts as wheel guy while you and I give us cover," I finish without a hitch. "Got it?"
"Got it," Elena casually parrots before turning to Nathan. "Got it?"
Bro's looking just a little chagrined at us finishing his sentences. It's a little funny. "I…got it."
"Then let's go, boys."
Elena and I jump across to the adjacent building while Nathan takes the zipline directly into the railyard.
Thankfully, we don't run into too many goons on the way to the jeeps, and the ones we do run into I'm able to make quick work with thanks to my stealth.
Again, I seriously need to thank Jai for those lessons.
Not so thankfully, we're almost within reach of the cars before a train cart busts through the wall of a nearby warehouse and skids across the yard before friction wins out and causes it to tip over with a resounding crash.
Seriously, did Nathan just do that?
The distant sounds of groaning that follow indicate yes.
Elena and I waste no time jumping into the nearest car and taking off, me providing cover-fire from the backseat while she drives.
We reach Nathan just in time, the poor guy under fire from some bigass dudes with machine guns. Seriously, what does Lazarevic even feed these guys?
"Get in, get in, GET IN!" I shout at Nathan as he's dashing our way. I lob a grenade the juggernauts' way so that we have a smokescreen for cover.
"I am, I am, I AM!"
Once he dives in, we're off again, Nathan and I doing everything we can to not get sent flying.
XXX
A few minutes later…
I sigh at the shrinking sight of Nathan clinging from the side of the train, the jeep just a hair's breadth away from the small cliff beside the tracks.
"Well, he got on," I comment in a stupefied tone, truly beside myself at the stunt Nathan just managed to pull off. I drag myself into the front seat beside Elena. "I'm assuming we're still gonna track where that train's headed."
"Yep," she confirms with an easy nod.
I pan around my eyes and spot a trail high up the slope. I point towards it. "How about we try there?"
Elena notices what I see and nods in approval. "Good eye. Buckle up now."
We don't take long to reach the upper trail.
We also don't take long to spot the blown-up remnants of train carts along the way. Whatever Nathan's doing up ahead, I only hope it doesn't involve demolishing the whole train. Otherwise, we'll be short one expert.
Problems start, however, once the tracks start going into the mountains where we can't follow as easily. We wound up having to take another path higher up.
On the bright side, though, once we catch sight of the train, we have a pretty good aerial view.
For example, we get to have front row seats on wheels to a gun-toting helicopter getting gunned down from somewhere further up the train, which already seems to have lost a whole lot more carts.
"Nathan's handiwork?" I ask over the rushing wind.
"Wouldn't put it past him!" Elena answers back. "Best keep our distance for now. We don't wanna get noticed."
As if on cue, we witness the gun-copter spewing out missiles that get shot down.
I let out an exasperated breath. "No problem!"
Fortunately, the gun-copter falls down to the snowy abyss not too long after.
The very sight elicits an awed chuckle out of me. "So, these are the kinds of stunts Nathan Drake's known for."
Elena chuckles too. "Oh, trust me, you have no…uh-oh."
I shift around and notice the worry taking over her face. "What?"
"We're nearing on a tunnel up head. Hopefully not a long one."
Sure enough, I notice it too, but choose to shrug and smile. "Hey, so long as Nathan stays alive and in one piece, it's all good, right?"
Right before Elena can respond, a massive explosion goes off in a cart further ahead.
And just as we enter the tunnel, we see an entire section of the remaining back train fly off the rails.
Elena and I share a look of shock and disquiet.
Me and my big mouth.
"Hang on," Elena orders with a sudden ferocity before hitting the pedal hard. Our vehicle goes flying through the tunnel until it's out back on the open road. Once we can feel sunlight on our faces again, she stops the jeep so that we can spot any wreckage down below.
Sure enough, we easily spot some not too far ahead, mainly because of the fire and distant sounds of guns going off.
"OK," I start off in a slow and unsure tone. "Now we just need to make our way down. Any ideas?"
Elena sets her jaw as if to brace herself. "Just one."
Without warning, she drives our jeep off the trail and down the side, much to my horror. To my relief, this part of the mountain is less steep and bumpy, although that fact doesn't make me grip my chair any less in fear.
Only once we reach where the tracks are do I let out a breath. That's one way to get the blood flowing, I suppose.
"I don't see him," Elena bemoans. "Let's try further ahead."
We keep driving, the cold starting to get to us much to our misfortune. The near-blinding blizzard kicking up doesn't help either.
God, we really should have packed coats for this trip. Jai would have my head over this.
Eventually we run out of wreckage, plenty of bodies found yet no Nathan to show for our efforts.
I sigh. "Maybe we should get out and scour the wreck on foot. What do you think, Elena?"
No response. I turn to her.
"Elena?"
That's when I notice her hard stare. Her attention's on something up ahead.
I crane my head for a closer look until I spot what she sees.
A man in a hat, trudging through the snow.
He has Nathan draped against him.