Rendezvous: A Lost Chapter of Sam Drake

Chapter 13: Winchin' and Bitchin'

We were all packed into the truck in the middle of Madagascar. I was sitting in the back with my gun to my hip in case we came across Rafe or Nadine again. We drove through the beautiful trees and tall grass towards the volcano, which was our next clue. We drove through mud and on unstable bridges still making our way through. Nate parked the car to look at various ruins. "Nate, wait up. I'll join ya." Sam said hopping out of the car. Typical. Running away from conflict instead of fixing the issue. I rolled my eyes as he got out. He ran up to Nate and they left to look around. Sully and I were left in the car. I sighed to myself. As soon as the boys were out of sight, Sully spoke. "What the hell happened last night between you and Sam?" I sighed "We got into a fight. I told him a few days ago right before we left that I loved him, and he danced around those three words like we were 17 again. He's built up these walls and I just wish he'd finally let me in. You'd think after all these years he'd trust me, but no. He just won't commit to it. He can't tell me he loves me so we're fighting about it." Sully sighs and nods. "I've had a similar problem before, which I've used as an example to Nate in the past. It saved his marriage. I didn't settle. I didn't let her in and one day, it was too late. I had lost her. I spent many years full of regret because I was too prideful to let my guard down. I was young and young men aren't always mature enough to know when the line is drawn. Sam isn't very fond of me; however, I will make the issue known to Nathan and I'll get Nate to talk to him. Just brother to brother... kid, I know Sam and I know Nathan very well. As soon as Nate and Elena met, there was this immediate click. I watched their relationship unfold. You were there for Nate and for Elena the entire time. I know how they are as an outsider looking in. Sam loves you...I know he does. He just needs a nudge in the right direction from the right people." Sully grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You two will work it out, kid. Don't worry about it." He smiled and turned back around in his seat as the boys came back. "Eh, nothing good. Cool, but nothing, really." Nate said hopping back in the driver's side. 

The boys drive for about another hour and stop to look at another set of ruins. They come back and say that Christopher Condent's sigil was at the top of the tower. Condent was another pirate from Avery's time who worked out of Madagascar. The boys began to explain as we drove up the mountain. Sully told Nate to stop, and he slammed on the breaks. Shoreline, of course. They had found an old colony that they were tearing apart. "Son of a bitch" Sam said under his breath beside me. Nate peered through a pair of binoculars to try and get a closer look. "The only route to the volcano is straight through them" Nate said with a huff. 

We drove the car down closer and shot our way through this batch of Shorliners. We drove up to the drawbridge, but we needed to lower it to get past. Nate had climbed up to the top and began to manually let it down. Sam found another sigil of a pirate named Anne Bony. Total badass. She was a female pirate which wasn't common or respected during her day, but she fared well until her supposed death in the Caribbean. I guess we had been making too much noise because Shoreline cars pulled up to the drawbridge and began to shoot at us again. It took us a while for this group, but even so, they were no match for us. Nate had winched the car on a tree like he had been doing for a while to get over slick parts of the mountains. This time parts of the hill were crumbling and falling just above us. It felt like a rollercoaster. The car just kept getting steeper and steeper against the side of the cliff. I could hear parts of the cable snaping under the pressure and friction. "The cable is gonna snap!!!" Nate said in a panic. "Nate...." I said seeing a huge piece of the cliff crumble. It hit the front of our car and the cable had been pushed back about five or six feet. Enough of a jolt to push Nate out of the front seat. Sam and I both grabbed Nate and pulled him back to the car. Sam began to recite a prayer we learned from the orphanage. He did it so fast that I hardly recognized what he was saying. He finally made it back up to level ground. We got to this huge tower, which we assumed was Avery's at the time. The boys found another way into the underground of the tower. We walked through and went down the stairs to a bricked over entrance. Nate threw a grenade at it to blow away the debris and we were able to go through the hallway. We followed the tunnel down to the inside of the tower. There was a mural of Saint Dismas and around him were a myriad of pirate sigils. "There's our boy, Avery" Sam said pointing to the famous skull and crossbones. "Here's Thomas Tew, Adam Baldridge, Joseph Farrel, this is.. Richard Want.." I said naming the various pirates and their sigils. "See! Pirate captains!" Nate nudged Sam. "Alright, maybe you're right.." He said with a grin growing on his face. We all stepped back and noticed that the outline with the sigils was a map of the towers. Of course, more Shoreliners crashed our party by blowing the roof off of the top of the tower. We finally worked our way through this pack of Shoreliners after a few close calls and moved back to the map on the wall that was still intact. Nate took out the coin from Sctoland which had the volcano on one side and a sigil on the other. The issue is the sigil is so faded on the coin that it could be two of the twelve towers in King's Bay. "Alright then we'll divide. I'll take the tower in the east; you and Sam take the west tower. Sully will be with the car to help out whoever needs it and to be a getaway driver, like always" I said leaning on the wall. "Absolutely not. You think you're just gonna go by yourself? We can't split up. Rafe and-" Sully cut Sam off "She's right. There's no time and I'll be close by. She has a walkie." Sully said reassuring the boys who were apprehensive. "Please be careful" Nate said handing me his gun. His gun was a better shot than mine. "Thanks. I will." Sam didn't agree with letting me go. "Watch your back, sweetheart" Sam said hugging me. I nodded and made my way down. I took one of the Shoreline cars and drove off towards the tower.