Shelter

They drove for nearly an hour before they were able to get a cell phone signal. It was an hour spent in silence.

Stopped on the side of Route 101, Chloe leaned against the cab of her junker while Max dialled with trembling fingers. It wasn't until she heard the chirp of Max's voice saying, "Mom! Mom, it's okay, I'm okay," that she breathed again.

It was good to get out of the cab, which smelled of wet thanks to their soaked clothes. Even now, Chloe's jeans were damp and she felt cold down to the bone. And it was good to hear Max's voice again. Turned out it was hard to make small talk after seeing your town gobbled up by a giant swirling funnel of death and destruction. Especially when you each felt it was your fault. Which was so fucked up. People weren't supposed to feel responsible for fucking tornadoes.

"I'm with Chloe." Max pressed the phone up against her ear as if it were difficult to make out her mother's voice. "Yes, Chloe Price."

As Chloe watched her friend, she knew it was something besides guilt that kept her silent. Even wet and exhausted, Max was still herself–Chloe's familiar little hipster. But looking at her, Chloe felt overwhelmed by–well what was it? Gratitude? Love? Hell, it might've awe.

You are my number one priority now. You are all that matters to me.

She could still hear Max's words and it was overwhelming to stand there with someone who'd chosen you above everything.

Max's free hand tugged at the hem of her hoodie. "No, we were... We were outside of town when it happened." She bit her lip and her voice trembled when she spoke. "I–I don't know. We just drove and... didn't stop till now."

Okay sure, Max still looked like a drowned rat, her hair lank, her clothes clinging, her face pale. But Chloe could hardly take her eyes off her, trying to read the signs, to figure out what she must be thinking. She saved me but there was a hella price tag. Chloe winced. She might have to change her last name if it was going to make her think that each time someone said it. What if Max was thinking it? I hope she doesn't have buyer's remorse.

The truth hit her with the force of a giant spinning funnel. She didn't just feel grateful; she felt unworthy.

"No, Dad doesn't need to come. I'm–Mom, really, we–"

Maybe better to give her some space, Chloe decided and walked a few paces away from the truck and into the brush along the side of the road, her boots scuffing the dirt. The ground was dry here. No rain. Not like the downpour that had pelted Arcadia Bay. Searching her pockets for cigarettes, she pulled out her cell phone and was shocked to see the indicator light flashing. A message?

Frowning at it for several seconds didn't make the phone give up any answer, so finally she unlocked it and checked. An unknown number. She flicked and clicked her way to the voice box and listened to the message.

Chloe nearly dropped her phone.

"Chloe, honey, this is Mom. Are you all right? I'm calling from a land line and about the only one working in the whole town. Please call as soon as you get this. Someone else will answer it, but leave a message so I know you're all right." The line was scratchy and Joyce sounded exhausted and frayed, her voice unsteady, almost breaking at the end. But to be a nervous wreck you had to be alive!

Uncertain of what she'd get on the other end, Chloe dialled the number and waited. It was barely through the first ring before a gruff voice she didn't recognise picked up. "Hello?"

"Oh hey... I'm... ummm... calling Joyce Price. This is Chloe. She wanted me to leave a message."

"Hold on one sec," the stranger said.

Chloe wasn't certain precisely how long a "sec" was, but she was pretty sure it wasn't equivalent to the goddam eternity and a half she stood there with the phone up against her ear. She was prepared to ream him out when he got back on the line–after all how long did it take to get a pen and paper to jot down a message, right?–but she wasn't quite prepared for the sound of her mom's voice. "Chloe?"

"Mom?"

"Oh thank the Lord. Chloe!"

For a second, she couldn't speak. When she'd watched the monstrous tornado tearing Arcadia Bay's main strip to shreds, she'd honest to God thought she'd never hear her mother's voice again. "Mom." She could feel herself on the verge of tears again and she'd had enough of that already. Get it together. She took a deep breath and let it out. "When we drove through we thought... well it looked like everyone was... Where are you?"

"The Coin-and-Clean laundromat. It's been turned into a sort of refugee camp. There's no water, no power, no cell phone service. We're tryin' to get everyone's who's still in one piece together in one place, sort out what to do until FEMA or the national guard or whoever they send in gets here. Now where are you at? Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm... I'm with Max. We drove out until we got a cell signal. But, Mom, how did... Shit when we saw the diner we were sure you'd..." She balled her fists and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. But she could see again the toppled remains of the Two Whales, the broken sign lying askew in the street like one of the beached whales. And to block it out, she looked over her shoulder and let her eyes linger on Max. Her hero.

"I'm okay. So are the other folks who were in there with me."

Raking her fingers through her blue hair, Chloe let out another long breath. "But how did you..."

"The walk-in freezer."

She snorted. "You mean the squat-in freezer? I nearly got a concussion the last time I stepped in there."

"We took shelter in it," Joyce said.

"You're shitting me. But the doors don't even lock from the inside."

"We used some cord to tie the doors closed. Though Warren and Frank Bowers were both up against the doors, pushing them closed. They got banged up for their trouble but they'll be all right."

Chloe shook her head. After everything this week, you'd think she'd be beyond being surprised but apparently not. "For reals? That shitty old freezer saved your life?"

"It most certainly did."

Wow. Even a used up piece of shit can save someone.

"How far out of town are you?" Joyce asked.

"About an hour. Max just got hold of her mom. I'm gonna take her up to Seattle to her folks' place."

"Good. You'll be better off there. I'm sure Vanessa and Ryan will take you in for now. But if you need anything–"

"I'll be fine."

"What about Max? How's she holding up?"

Fine. Super. Absa-fuckin-tastic. She knew she had to say something but nothing came out.

"Chloe?"

Chloe sighed. "It's hard to explain but... She could've saved some people from the storm–or me. It was fucked up. Like she had to choose... And she chose me."

The silence lasted long enough that Chloe thought the line had gone dead. But then she heard a little gasp or maybe a stifled sob. "Oh, Chloe... No one should have to make a choice like that."

"Yeah well apparently life is... deeply unfair."

A wry chuckle from her mom. "I guess we both know that. And I know we've had our differences, but, Chloe... I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too."

"I–" Joyce had no idea, no idea how close she had come to losing her over and over this past week. If it weren't for Max, Chloe knew she would be dead several times over. "Yeah... I know."

She could hear voices in the background over the line. "I need to go," Joyce said. "I'll get in touch again as soon as I can. You sure you'll be all right?"

"Totally fine. I'll be with Max."

"Give that girl a hug from me, will you? I can't thank her enough for taking care of you." If she only knew the half of it. How did you thank someone for saving you again and again, for choosing you even when it was so obviously the wrong decision?

"Sure. Okay. Bye, Mom."

When she put away her phone and turned back towards the truck, Max had finished her call and was waiting. She glanced curiously at Chloe. "My mom," Chloe said.

"Oh!" Max broke out in a huge smile and took both of Chloe's hands. "I'm so glad Joyce is okay." The relief on her friend's face was so obvious that Chloe felt a pang in her chest and all she wanted was to ease the load Max was carrying.

"And this is from her." Chloe leaned in and wrapped her arms around Max. "She says thanks for... taking care of me." Max squeezed her back. Hard. But she was smiling when they broke apart.

"I don't get anything from you?" Max said with one of those little impish smiles of hers.

Chloe rested her hands on Max's shoulders. "You get everything from me. From now on, I'm your own personal walk-in freezer."

"What?"

Chloe had to stifle a laugh at the confused look on Maxaronie's face. But she was trying to be all serious and shit now. "Never mind. I'll explain later. What I mean is..." She took a breath, wishing she could borrow those rewind powers right about now because she was sure she was going to fuck this up somehow. She looked straight into Max's eyes. "Whenever you need a break from this shitstorm, you tell me. I'm gonna be right here for you, no matter what, okay?" Max was staring at her. "What I mean is, I want to be your shelter or–something like that." She groaned. "I am so goddam bad at this stuff."

And Max was still just looking at her and Chloe began to get a twitchy feeling in her gut, the kind you got in one of those dreams where you showed up at school but you'd forgotten to put on pants. Maybe I've got this whole thing wrong. I never did ask Max straight up if she's into girls. Unless I did and she rewound and–oh shit what if–

But then Max Caulfield was kissing her. And her hair was wet and her hands were cold, but her lips were warm and soft. And for a minute, everything just felt right.

When they parted, Max didn't draw away; instead, she rested her head on Chloe's shoulder, her eyes closed, her arms wrapped around her friend. "Chloe... There's so much I need to tell you. About everything. Everything that happened. But..."

"We've got time for that. All the time in world."

"I'm so, so glad you're here."

Chloe gave her another squeeze. "Bonded for life, right?" she quipped. And this time when Max looked up at her, she was smiling. She slung an arm around Max's shoulders and walked her back to the junker. "So are your folks gonna freak when you show up with my ass in tow?"

"They're expecting you. Though..." Max shot a glance at Chloe, her eyes drifting from the blue hair to the elaborate tattoo on the arm resting across her shoulders. "You do look a little different than when they last saw you."

"What about if I mack on you in front of them? Will that make them flip their shit?"

"That," Max said, "will make them put a 'no girls in your room' rule into effect. Is that what you want?"

"No, ma'am."

"Good, because I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Chloe grinned and gave Max one more squeeze. "Works for me."

They got back into the truck. Chloe turned the key. The motor grumbled to life and she pulled back onto Route 101.

"So," Max began, "what was that about a freezer?"

And smiling, Chloe told her. Because if something as useless as that wasted-ass freezer could provide shelter from the storm, then she had a hope that maybe she could too.

The End

A/N: Look, I don't care if this is a magical wibbly wobbly timey wimey tornado. People do survive natural disasters. It's silly for the game to imply that everyone died.