Afterwards: A Life Is Strange Fan-Fiction <A Choice Story>

Chapter 11

"I didn't want to hurt him." She says after taking a deep breath in from her cigarette.

"I know. You just did it to protect us." I try to say reassuringly.

"I know, but he seemed like he was already wounded and who knows if he would have even hurt us."

"It was dark and you didn't know it was even him. It could have been Mark." She stands there staring off into the distance still.

"...Max, was he even armed?"
Tell the truth/Lie

"...No. I looked for the gun, but it wasn't there." I answer. She puffs on her cigarette.

"So I just murdered someone in cold blood, and they weren't even armed!?" She says angrily.

"You couldn't afford to take any chances. It could have been Mark, or someone else just as dangerous. You didn't know."

"But it wasn't Mark." She inhales on her cigarette again, but this time it's a deep, long one. Chloe was already stressed enough with everything that's happened this week, plus what happened to Joyce. Now she's just killed someone. If she isn't more depressed, then she is now. "Max, this whole week has been crazy. Like, hella fucking crazy. It's been like a story or something. I mean, I almost died on the train tracks, you can time travel, and Rachel..." she looks down. "...We found Rachel."

"This week has been insane, but we just have to keep going." I say. "We've done so much this week that we can't just turn back. We have a destiny together." She looks at me.

"After all that's happened, I can believe that." She sucks into her cigarette and blows the smoke out through her mouth.
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"Yeah, he had a gun in his pocket. He may have used it against us if he were still alive."

"Well, at least I helped. But I still killed someone, Max! Do you know what that feels like?" I don't. Not like Chloe does. I may have killed almost everyone in Arcadia Bay, but I didn't kill anyone physically like Chloe did.

"I'm sorry Chloe. I don't want you to have to go through that." I respond.

"Then why didn't you rewind? Or, maybe you did, I don't know. But I do know that this is happening right now, which means you didn't rewind." Why didn't I rewind? I really don't want Nathan dead, do I? He couldn't have shot us because he didn't have his gun. Maybe he would have tried to hurt us anyways.

"I don't know Chloe! I'm as stressed as you are, ok?" I snap.

"You're right Max. I'm sorry. You must have a good reason to let this happen, right? Like, maybe I died in the other timeline or something." She jokes. It's really not that funny, because even though she doesn't know it, she ends up dying a lot. She sucks into her cigarette and lets the smoke drift out of her mouth.
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(Next part)
It's silent after that. We look out into the distance. All we can see are the trees, but we both know that the destroyed city sits there some ways down the road.

"We need to burn it Max." Chloe says after the long silence. I look over at her.

"The barn? And the darkroom?" I ask. I knew what she was talking about, but I don't know if it's a good idea.

"It shouldn't stay here, after all that's happened in it." She says while taking a puff of her cigarette. It's getting small, so I think she can really start to taste the tobacco in it.

"That's arson Chloe, and that's illegal." I say trying to persuade her into doing the right thing. She's already killed someone, so committing another crime isn't a good idea.

"Max, this place, all of the terrible things that went on in here, it needs to be destroyed!" She turns to face me. "We should do this, for Rachel." She spits out that last part. I hate this place too, and I can understand Chloe's hatred towards it. It killed Rachel. "If we're leaving Arcadia Bay, then we should take this place down, so nothing else can happen here."

"Ok." That's all I can say. I never condone criminal activity, but Chloe does make good points.

"There's probably gasoline around here somewhere. Go look for it." She says. It's not fair that she doesn't look for it too, but there's no use arguing with Chloe. Plus, I like to think that I'm pretty observant, so I should be able to find this pretty easily. Ok, gasoline, where are you? There are a few places that come to mind: the tractor, the engine, and the car outside. Of course, it could be anywhere, or nowhere. I walk over to the tractor. Hmm, this thing looks pretty old, like it hasn't been used in a while. I look around behind the tractor. No gasoline here, just some hay. There's no gasoline in front or around it either, so not here. I guess I can check the old engine, but it doesn't look like it was being used up at the top of the barn. I walk over the the upper level area that I went up before. Chloe helped me up before, so I need her again.

"Chloe! I need your help." I shout. Nothing, no noise. I turn around. She's gone. Where did she go this time? I walk over to the door. "Chloe?" I shout. Nothing again. I walk out the door and to the truck.

"Don't come any closer!" A mysterious voice yells. Oh my god! I see a man holding Chloe by gunpoint. He's an older looking man, with an expensive looking pistol. Chloe has tears running down her face. He looks like he's crying too. "I know what you bitches did to my son!"
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