ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀʟɪꜰᴇ - ᴀɴ ᴇᴘɪᴄ ꜱᴍᴘ ꜰɪᴄ

III

Charlie and Schlatt had made it. The Palcove was there, right in front of them. Charlie went in first, Schlatt staying as far away as possible from the man and his friend. It would've felt wrong for him to enter the place. The last time Schlatt had entered the Palcove, he was asking Charlie to blow him. He grimaced at the memory and sat near the entrance of the cave.

Charlie, though, ran straight inside, searching every cavern, every crack, furiously for his best friend, his companion, the only one who truly knew him. He searched desperately for Ted Nivison. He finally found him when he returned to the cave with a freshly dead animal. Charlie felt a flood of relief rush through him as he watched his old friend come into the cave. Safe, happy. Alive. Charlie stuck by Ted in the following weeks that him and Schlatt remained in the Palcove, though that didn't last long.

One night, when Charlie and Schlatt had both been tucked away into separate corners of the cave, something happened, both of them shooting up, waking immediately. It wasn't a pain, no, more like. A tremor through the Earth. But the Earth remained still. Something alerting the two, letting them know something was wrong, something was happening. An alertness in the air, in themselves. Just for the two of them.

Charlie stirred, attempting to run the sleep from his eyes, shake it out of his head. He stood, looking to Schlatt who was rapidly walking towards him. Charlie slowly sat up as Schlatt knelt before him, shaking him by the shoulders gently. "Hey, Charlie, wake up. You felt that right?" The first time that the two have spoken in weeks.

Charlie nodded, searching the ground for his glasses. Schlatt handed them to him, almost terrifyingly gentle. "Something's bad," Charlie muttered.

Schlatt nodded. He looked to where Ted slept, mere feet away from Charlie. "Can you bear to part with him until we find out that was?" Schlatt questioned. Charlie put his glasses on and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

His eyes fixated on Schlatt's face, one of the only things he could see if he were to be honest. He was looking at Charlie, a heartbreaking gentle expression glued there. It almost made Charlie nervous. "Yeah..yeah I can do that," Charlie told him. Schlatt nodded, standing up and waiting for Charlie. Charlie stood slowly, stretching out. He looked Schlatt over. He looked kind, gentle. He was vaguely muscular, though his bulk consisted mostly of body fat. He was a rounder man. His hair was starting to recover, hanging in shaggy clumps around his face. His wedding ring he wore around his neck. He looked at Schlatt's eyes. Charlie had learned on the journey over that Schlatt was blind in his right eye because of the blast.

Charlie nodded to Schlatt and the two made off into the night. They made a torch to carry with them as it was less likely the shadow creatures would try and attack them while they were around a source of light. Less likely, but not entirely prevented. The two made their way to the remains of Bungerberg. It was a long trip. Charlie, still tired from the night before, merely followed Schlatt and tried not to drop the torch.

...

The two made their way into the remains of the town and searched the place for Swagger, thinking that maybe Swagger had gotten injured. But there was no sign of him around the place. The two met up near the explosion crater. "Where the hell could he be?" Schlatt asked, running a hand through his hair. He seemed stressed.

Charlie looked around. "I'm not sure...is there anywhere else you remember that Swagger like to go? A secret hiding place? A meeting spot?" Charlie asked, his voice so soft he could hardly hear himself speak. He didn't want to stress Schlatt out more than he already was. Schlatt sat back on a piece of rock and combed through his brain, trying to think of places Swagger might be.

Suddenly, Schlatt shot up. "No...he can't be," he began. He grabbed Charlie by the hand and began running out to the old bridge. Charlie followed Schlatt, trying to keep up with him. He had no clue where Schlatt was taking him but he could only hope it was safe.

"Can't be what?" Charlie asked.

"The fucking machine, I told him it wouldn't work!" Schlatt yelled, picking up his pace. The two made it to a path lined with torches on either side, confusing Charlie even more.

"Schlatt what us this??" Charlie asked again.

"Swagger made a machine that would make it possible to cross over to the other side - our side. He must be trying to activate it!" Schlatt yelled back to Charlie. Charlie took in this information, trying his best to keep as clear a mind as he could. Slowly, he picked up his own pace and was now running along Schlatt's left side, dropping the man's hand. Schlatt looked at him and nodded, running forward.

The torch-lined path was long and I consistent, going up and down and left and right. Likely made to confuse those who tried to follow Swagger, though it seemed he left the torches lit. Schlatt and Charlie slowest a stop at the edge of a large pit, an iron bridge leading to a long metal pipe that went down. Charlie assumed there would usually be an elevator that led down. But there was none. Just the large metal pipe.

Schlatt peered over the side of the metal bridge and looked to Charlie. "You think you can jump?" He asked.

Charlie hesitated and then nodded. "Yeah. Lead the way big man."

Schlatt looked at him and nodded. "Okay," he said. Turning back to the bridge, he gripped the rails and threw himself up and over them, plummeting down to the metal platform beneath them. Charlie followed exactly and the two landed with a gush of wind.

Swagger was flipping a switch on the machine repeatedly, frustrated. "Stupid fucking machine! Work already!" He shouted, kicking the metal pole.

Charlie dared to look up and saw a mass of gears and metal and wires. The gears shifted slightly when Swagger flipped the switch, but the machine remained still for the most part.

"SWAGGER STOP!" Schlatt yelled as Swagger went to throw a rock at the machine's workings.

Swagger paused. He looked over slowly in the direction that Schlatt and Charlie stood. He stared, tears forming and threatening to fall from his eyes.

"Schlatt?"