A/N - Annnnd it's out! I got further chapters planned as well, if people enjoy this. Let me know what you all think and if you think I should continue! Hope you enjoy. - Also, just a heads up, this -has- been reread and spell checked but mistakes are always possible. Let me know if you spot something!

The night had been quiet. Today had been.. silent. The two took refuge near the Lighthouse until the storm had finally blew over, and made their way to Chloe's truck the second they had the chance. Luckily the old beater had survived the storm somehow, giving them safe passage through the ruins of what was left.

They had been driving for a good few minutes now, no speaking, no sounds. They were both at a loss, broken up after what was done the night before. All the destruction, all of the deaths.. All for them. Neither of them had anything to say just yet. Neither of them even knew what to say. In a way, they both blamed their self for what happened. All of these people died so that Chloe could live, and she didn't feel like she deserved that. So many of these people were better than her, and didn't deserve to die in a storm while she rides away into the sunset with her hero. Max, on the other hand, put all the blame on herself. She chose this. - It all came down to her, the final choice, and she chose Chloe. She didn't regret it, even though a part of her felt like she should. That she shouldn't be okay with sacrificing an entire town for one person. And she wasn't okay with that, and she probably never would be. But.. she couldn't live with the alternative. She couldn't accept that. - Even if it was selfish, she couldn't. Chloe was worth all of this. But, that didn't make it any easier. She killed these people. She let this happen, and she had to live with that knowledge. Knowing she could have saved everyone. ..Almost everyone.

The silence continued for quite some time, but, luckily Max managed to break it. " The school.. " Max murmurs with a hoarse, sore throat, a mixture of being out in the storm all night and crying.

" The school? What about it? " Chloe asks, her voice matching the hoarse-ness of Max's, but with a bit more focus than the girl beside her. Max looked tired, out of it. She had been through a lot more than Chloe had yesterday, or.. even this entire week. She deserved some rest. " We need to stop there. " Max added, still being rather vague. Chloe frowned, lightly shaking her head. " Why? What does Blackhell have to offer us, we've had a shitty fucking night already. " Chloe stated, sounding a little more agitated than she would have liked.

Max's thin frown darkened, but she continued nonetheless. " The money, Chloe. The.. fuck, the handicapped fund, remember? We.. we aren't going to get far without cash and there is no way to get any here now that.. " She trailed off, glancing out the window that she had been avoiding through most of this trip. She watched as they drove past the ruined buildings, the bodies scattered about. Some didn't even look injured, but.. they were dead. And it was her fault.

Chloe's frown darkened as well, when Max didn't continue. She knew what she was going to say, but decided against adding to it. " Right.. I- I guess you're right. Do you think it is even still there? A part of me kinda hopes not. That place needed to go down. " Chloe stated with a bit of bite in her tone, and Max lightly nodded in response. " I don't know, honestly.. But some of these buildings look pretty intact, all things considered. We at least need to look. - There could even be.. survivors, you know? " Max glanced back over towards Chloe, her voice dying out into a soft whisper of hope for survivors. The place was too quiet.

" Yeah.. I mean, people have got to be somewhere, right? This place is hella too quiet. - We don't get tornados around here more than a few times a year, at most, but most people have some type of storm shelter, right? Where the fuck are they? " Chloe asked, obviously a little worried at the lack of life in the town. The tornado was huge, but people should have survived, right? At least a few..

Max rolled her shoulders, glancing out the window again. " I.. I don't know, Chloe. I mean, before the storm hit there was.. already a lot of death happening, you know? Like, with the birds, whales.. There was no reason for them to just die like that. Maybe this is.. similar. " Max stated, growing quiet towards the end. She didn't want it to be true, but there was definitely something wrong. Chloe sighed, nodding in response. " ..Maybe. Le- Let's just focus on getting to Blackhell for now though, right? These roads are hella fucking nasty now. " Chloe suggested, chewing on the inside of her bottom lip at the thought of people just.. dropping dead. That is beyond scary. How do you run from shit like that?

Max just nodded again, going silent once more. She closed her eyes, trying to rest for even a moment as the two made their way through the broken, dead town. It wasn't long before Chloe pulled up into what used to be Blackwell's parking lot. It was intact, all things considered, but still a complete mess. Quite a bit of the school had collapsed in on itself during the storm, cars and debris buried deep within the ruined bricks of what it once was. There were.. There were even bits of dead whales mixed into the sickening debris.

Max had opened her eyes when they came to a slow stop, eyeing the damage done to the school with wide, sad eyes. This was all on her. She caused this, and who knows how many people died inside of there.. strangers, friends.. Hell, even if they had got out in time, would they have survived? This storm was far from normal, after all. However, almost to the disappointment of the two, enough of the school still stood that they might, just maybe, be able to get in and get what they need. ..Even though it still felt beyond wrong stealing the money, from the ruins of the school they destroyed nonetheless.

Both sighed, knowing what they needed to do next. They pushed the old beater's doors open and slipped out of the truck, giving the area a quick lookover for any survivors, any at all, before making their way onto the campus. " This place has never been so quiet.. " Max murmured sadly, getting a much closer look at all of the destruction. " It feels so.. dead, so lifeless. The- There were people here just yesterday, you know? Hell, even last night.. It was so normal. Just another shitty day. An- And now look at this. Look at what I.. " Max trailed off, her eyes widening slightly as she was suddenly pulled into a strong hug.

" No, Max. Don't you dare finish that fucking sentence, you hear me? This.. This isn't on you. Don't you ever try to put this all on yourself. We are here. Together, and we are going to share this weight. I'm not going to let you fall. Never. " Chloe stated firmly, staring into Max's darkened hues as the younger girl stared back. She slowly nodded her head, leaning into Chloe. " O-.. Okay. I won't, I promise.. " Max murmured, nuzzling into Chloe's still damp clothing from the night before. " ..I'm sorry.. " She whispered, receiving only a stronger hug in response.

After taking a moment to simply hold each other, they decided it was time to move out. They moved through the campus, doing their best to avoid looking towards the mixture of death and debris spread about. A body here and there, dead birds, even whales this far into the city. The smell wasn't too bad yet, but it was going to be. They both let out a drawn-out, sad sigh of relief when they saw that the entrance to the school still stood, and looked sturdy enough that they weren't going to be crushed just by entering it.

" Not even a fucking time-tornado could tear this place down.. Fucking Blackhell. " Chloe grumbled, crossing her arms as they moved towards the shattered glass doors. " The creepy-bird office isn't too far in, so.. We might just be in luck, Caulfield. " Chloe stated with the first real hint of joy in her tone since this all happened, but it was still light, almost unnoticeable.

Max nodded, flashing a thin, forced smile as they slowly moved through the doors, careful not to bump into anything that looked unstable. The winds tearing through the school left it quite a mess, but considering the town was almost gone, that was quite a feat. Max moved towards the door leading to Wells' office, while Chloe stayed a few steps behind. " Hey, uh.. Maxie. " Chloe spoke up, her voice more quiet than usual, still sore.

Max turned her head, blinking. " Yeah, Che? " She asked curiously, tilting her head. " You try getting into that office and I'll.. I'll go look for any survivors, 'kay? I won't go far, and we can check the dorms after. Sound good? " She asked softly, her arms still wrapped around her front. Max blinked again, but after a moment she nodded. " Oh- Yeah, go ahead. Just don't wander far, al- alright? " Max asked in return, getting a nod from Chloe before the two split up.

Max moved to the door, which still looked sturdy enough even after all of this destruct. The storm could have -at least- broke the door down, right..? Max shook her head and huffed quietly, looking around for something that she could bust the handle with. She got into Nathan's door this way, so why not here?

While Max was doing that, Chloe was off searching the halls that still had some type of light source. " Heeey? Anyone here? " Chloe shouted, coughing after putting more strain on her voice than she should have. " ..Annnnyone? We- We are alive and shit. We can help you! " Chloe continued, her voice becoming.. almost desperate for an answer. People had to be alive, right? Somebody. Anybody.. " IS ANYONE IN HERE?! " Chloe shouted as loud as she could, hearing her voice echo through the empty halls. She waited, listened, but heard nothing in return. Her frown darkened and, after a short wait, she turned to rejoin Max.

Max had managed to find something heavy enough to bash the door with. A chunk of the building had fell in, a little heavier than she would have liked, but she didn't have the right to be picky now. She had already been picky. Selfish, even. She shook the thought out of her head as soon as it began to poke back through, deciding to focus on the job at hand instead of dwelling on.. on what she did. She brought the chunk of concrete up, bashing the door handle once, then twice, before shattering the already cracked chunk with a third bash, managing to bust up the door handle quite badly. She tossed what was left of the stone off to the side, brushing her hands off on her jeans before stepping forward to test the door again, slamming her shoulder into it just hard enough to push it open.

She stumbled in, looking around the darkened room. Thank dog.. Nobody was in here. Nobody is dead in here, at least. She slowly stepped forward, heading for the desk covered in messy paper. The room was intact, amazingly so. They must have some luck after all.. Max wasted little time looking around. - She was a snoop, but this wasn't the time and she had already been in here once before. ..No, twice. After Kate almost died..

Max leaned on the desk, allowing her mind to wander. She's dead now. She.. she was in a hospital, getting better and.. and now she is dead, like everyone else. She was recovering, she was smiling again.. we fucking found the shithead who put her on that roof in the first place. And.. now she is gone, and she will never know that. Tears begin to roll down Max's tired face, and she almost lost herself in her thoughts before suddenly being pulled back into reality as her beautiful blue tree came up from behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. " I couldn't find anyone, Maxie. How goes shit in he-.. Max? Shit, are you alright? "

Chloe gently pulled the younger girl around to face her, staring down into her darkened, puffy hues. " Max.. We are going to get through this. We are going to get the fuck out of dodge, and we- "

" ..So many people, Chloe. So.. fucking many. Th- Think about Kate. She almost jumps off a fucking roof, and then ends up getting killed by.. by a.. " She sucked in a hard breath through her tears, leaning into Chloe. " M- My storm, Chloe.. What if, what if we missed something? What if I missed something, I - I could have done something.. an- anything.. "

" MAX! Stop. Just.. just fucking stop, okay? You did what you fucking could. We- we both di.. " She cut herself off. She could have done more. It was her fault, not Max's. Max is just another victim of this mess, except she has to live through it. " You did.. everything you could. I believe in you, Max. I always have and I always will. Now lets.. Lets get the fucking cash and g- go. We.. we should check the house, Two Whales, and.. uh.. I- Fuck, uh. " She stuttered, shaking her head. " We will figure it out. Come on, Max. " She stated more firmly, moving around the desk.

Max sniffled, stepping away from Chloe as she began to move. She would have continued, ranted more, but.. Chloe didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve to deal with her ranting, not right now at least. Not here. She just nodded, watching Chloe slid into what was deemed as the 'Cozy Chair' before pulling out the drawer with the money luckily still stashed away inside. A look of relief crossed Chloe's face at the sight, and she quickly retrieved it, stashing the envelope into her jacket. " Five thousand.. Five thousand is what we got to get out of here. That's enough, right? " Chloe asked, and Max nodded.

" We.. we can get pretty far on that. Now le- Let's go. " Max brushed away a few stray tears with her sleeves, turning for the exit without another word. Chloe blinked, then quickly nodded. " Yeah, lets.. " Her voice trailed off, as she moved to get out of the chair. " He- Hey, uh.. Maxaroon? " Chloe murmured, almost shyly. The brunette turned at the door, looking back at Chloe. " ..Hm? "

" Y- You know, it.. it would be a shame just to leave the chair, right? I mean.. It doesn't look too heavy, and we got the truck, and.. " Chloe trailed off, frowning. " ..No, nevermind. We don't got time for that, I'm being a hella fucking ass. - Lets go. " She quickly nodded, pushing out of the chair only to pause when Max lightly shook her head. The brunette actually managed a smile. it was thin, but.. it wasn't faked. It was genuine, and that was enough for her. " ..Yes Chloe, we can take the cozy chair. " She murmured in response.

They would work through this. They.. they would find a way, but it would take time. That smile, that thin, genuine smile on Max's face proved that. But they needed to get the fuck out of this place first.