My name is George Jeans, and I am concerned...

[Rick-Banana]

Entry Twenty Five.

So Chloe and I left New Paris, heading north. I told her about some of my travels, about the people that I've run into. Some of who will be looking for her. I had to warn her about the two cops from the coast. They can be a bit of a shock to the system when you first meet them. She said they seemed like fun, like good guys. I have been lucky with the people I've run into, now that I think about it. Bar a few tense situations mostly folk have been friendly and decent to me. Not like poor Chloe. Shes had a bad run of it, it seems like. She was about to tell me more of what happened to her when we ran into a couple of guys on the road, just north of New Paris. I didn't catch their names at first, but one of them wanted us to hide him. Apparently in the town ahead some guy called Billy the Kid had told his guy to remember his name but the smart ass we were now sheltering said he might forget it and ended up getting chased. Threw a smoke grenade at his feet and booked it. Pretty smart escape really. He introduced himself as James. The other guy didn't fancy hanging around a wanted man and took his leave of us. I don't blame him really, seems like a real good way to get killed, hanging around a loudmouth who's being chased.

 Anyways he decided to travel with me and Chloe for a while, which stopped Chloe's talk about what happened to her. She showed me her blood bag, the one I took from her just before we were taken. I think James was a little creeped out by it, so Chloe explained to him how we met. It seemed to calm his nerves, she wasn't just a crazy lady showing off a bag of blood. I get the feeling that even though shes okay with me Chloe's a little confused and maybe a little mad about getting stripped and losing her stuff when I got away scott free. She still doesn't understand why they took her when I volunteered to go with them anyway. Neither do I.  Either way, James was impressed with how she managed to survive. Which makes two of us, I still cant believe she got out alive... We're heading towards the North Airfield at the moment, apparently there is a military camp up there and James and Chloe suggested we dig through it. Ive never actually been this far north, but I'm happy to follow these two. James seems more than capable of looking after himself and obviously Chloe can get herself out of a bind.

Entry Twenty Six.

We got to the wall at the Airfield. James offered me and Chloe a flash bang, in case of trouble. I took one, it cant hurt to have an out. I get the feeling from things Chloe has half said that there is more to her story she hasn't told me. I don't want to push the issue, but its unnerving me a little. James is pretty hardcore, he axed a couple of zombies on the way into the airfield. Chloe and I were a little shocked by it. I guess its a different thing to just shooting one of them, beating one to death. I mean it needed doing but still... We saw a guy running down the far side of the runways, parallel to us. Chloe thought it was a friend of hers so we held fire. Its a good job we did because it turned out to be Chloe's friend, Jakob. After a quick look around  and finding nothing of any real use James said he'd seen someone skulking around. Me and Chloe hunkered down together behind some sand bags. I was right, there was more of her story that she didn't want to tell around James. Apparently the guy that took her hostage found her again after she escaped, caught up with her the next day. Loaded Chloe and her friends into a truck. After getting driven away in the truck they bundled her into a small shack and threw smoke grenades in with her. She couldn't see, or breathe. God it must have been awful... They repeated it with her friend, and told her that he'd died in there. After that they walked her to a lake, and one of the guys, Kevin, tried to drown her. Then they brought her friend up, the one she thought was dead. They gave her a gun loaded with two rounds, told her to kill her friend. She missed the first shot on purpose, then tried to turn the gun on her kidnappers. They were expecting it, and beat her to unconsciousness. When she woke up they put her in a small room, and fired on it. She only survived because she hit the deck. Then the leader, Lewis, attacked her with a sword. She woke up covered in blood. Somehow she managed to crawl her way to a settlement and get patched up. Even met up with a couple of friends.  She finally thought she was free at this point; he thought she was dead, she was with a couple of friends, it all seemed to be going good for her. Then he found her again. Called her like a dog to him, and her so called friends did nothing as he took her  away again.. Apparently this last time though he was "nice" and "apologized" to her. Like that could ever make up for all that shit. I was honestly speechless. She got all that crap, had to survive through so much... How she managed it I'll never know. Most people would have just given up and died. But she didn't, she managed to fight and live. She does seem a little Stockholm about it all though, like his little apology makes everything better. Its not really my place to say though I guess...

Entry Twenty Seven.

We decided to head to Vybor after we left the airfield. Chloe, James and Jakob decided now was the time to critique my outfit, like it really matters when the dead are trying to chew on us... Its strange, the effect she has on people. I have no idea how she keeps her spirits so high but its infectious. Its like with the two cops, just somehow giving your brain a brief respite from the harsh realities of life in Chernarus now. On our way out we ran into a group of four, some more of Chloe's friends. Charlie, Ender, Daniel and Lewis. A different Lewis, not the psycho who tormented her. They asked up for the lay of the land, what supplies there were. Chloe and one of the new group stayed behind to talk for a while. I moved far off, seemed like a private conversation. James and Jakob weren't so concerned, and when Chloe rejoined us she seemed a little bothered that they'd heard her conversation. James told her that what he overheard would stay secret, he wouldn't say a word. Then Jakob and Chloe spoke in another language to each other for a while, one I didn't recognize. Chloe seemed concerned by the talk, and more than a little awkward when we move off. Now it seems like I'm the only one who doesn't know whats going on, and I'm not sure how much I like that. Its not that I don't trust Chloe, if she'd held a grudge and wanted me dead I'm sure I would be by now. But still, this secrecy development does have me a little worried.

When we got to Vybor I picked up a pair of green paramedic pants, mostly to shut up the group. Now at least I match apparently... We ran straight into a guy on the street. It was getting dark and none of us saw him. Scared the hell out of us. I gave him a saline bag, he'd apparently been looking for one for a while. Turns out it was Lucas, the same guy we'd run into like three times in the last couple of days. He'd been on about the same course as us apparently. Lucas O'connor he was called. He decided to tag along with us for a while. But as we gained Lucas we lost James; he decided to hunker down for the night to get some shut eye. We said our goodbyes and left. Not before he once again reassured Chloe that her secret is safe with him. This secret is getting more and more worrying as time goes on. Chloe did say she'd tell me one day, but that she didn't want to say much around Lucas, which didn't really do much to calm my nerves. By the time we got back to New Paris I decided it was time to hunker down myself, get some rest. Chloe seemed a little down that they'd be moving on, and gave me her radio frequency. After spending so long trying to find her it seemed strange to leave her like that, but I guess that's how you travel now, after the fall. People don't stay around for too long. And I was lucky that I found her and got my closure one that whole situation, even if there does seem to be a whole lot of secrets surrounding it. But I guess it isn't mine to know. Now I just need to decide what to do with myself. For so long I've only wanted to find out about Chloe, and now I know shes alive I'm a little without direction. But I'm sure Chernarus will decide for me soon enough. Plans don't ever tend to last that long in the face of the apocalypse.

[ScarletRose]

As always, it is a pleasure to read your stories. I can't wait for more.

 

Meeting you was great! Chloe really enjoyed getting to know you and would never blame you for what happened that day. But you are right to be concerned George... keeping the wrong company is bound to have its consequences.

 

I thought you might like to know what happened to Chloe in the end... If you like happily ever afters... don't click here! 

 

 

 Despite warnings from those close to her, Chloe continued to see Lewis. She had always chosen the “wrong” kind of guy. She loved the excitement of it... feeling safe and vulnerable at the same time. Lewis reminded her of someone from her past... someone she cared for, someone she betrayed. This time, she wouldn’t make the same mistakes. She was sure that things would be different...

She was wrong, but by the time she realised it, it was too late.

 

Slowly, her friends drifted away, angry and frustrated by her self-destructive behaviour. One person kept her from falling to pieces. Jacob remained by her side as they endured together the physical and emotional suffering that comes with life in the apocalypse. But in the end, he too, turned his back on her. Have a nice life, he said. It’s the last thing she remembers hearing from him. She ran away, straight into Lewis and his men.

 

Finally finding the courage to make the right decision for once in her life, Chloe told Lewis that she was done. She never wanted to see him again, and she meant it. She turned to leave, but she knew in her heart that she was not going to walk away from this. I need to find Jacob, were her last words before Lewis’s bullet tore through her head.

 

The End.

[Rick-Banana]

Aww thanks Scarlet!

Oh my god though! Well what an ending! I'd be lying if I said George didn't see that sort of ending coming but still! Dam! I kind of hope I never find out IG, I'm sure it'd be another thing for George to blame himself for!