Uncharted hearts || Nathan Drake

Chapter 8

       I opened my eyes, coughing harshly. Nate had tears streaming down his already soaked face and Chloe stood next to him with a worried face. I sat up as Nathan tackled me in a hug. " Hey guys, say something. Tell me your alive." My dad pleaded through the earpiece. " Yeah, we're good." Nathan panted. " We're still alive." He continued.

       " All right, then what are you waiting for? Get a move on."  My dad demanded. I coughed, still trying to catch my breath. " I'm totally fine dad." I remarked sarcastically. " I totally didn't just almost drown." Nate let out a bitter laugh. " Thank you, Nate." I said sincerely. " You had it." Nathan replied modestly as a light pink spread across his cheeks. " Yeah." We said softly, staring at each other.
      
       He reached over and yanked the cross out of the door, handing it to Chloe. He helped me up and we continued on our way. " You good?" He asked as I crawled through the small opening. " Yeah." I responded. " Hey, Sully, you still up there?" Nate asked. " I'm here. What do you got?" My dad questioned. " Not much. It's dark as hell in here." Nathan replied. He grabbed an unlit torch off the wall, pulling out the lighter from earlier.

       " I always wanted to try this." He remarked, trying to get the lighter to work. " You need to give that thing up already." Chloe said. " Oh, come on."  Nate complained. " Ha. See? That's all I ask. Little faith." He said.  She nodded with a smile.

       " I see a light. Is that you?" My dad asked, breaking the silence. " Yeah, that's us." Nathan and I said in unison. We looked over at each other. I was glad it was dark in the chamber or else he would've seen the bright red that dusted my cheeks. " We're in some sort of...Roman antechamber. Woah." Nate finished. " Hey, you got that key?" He asked.

       They swapped possessions as he took the key and she took the torch. " Thank you. Okay." He breathed, sliding the key into the hole. " No, it doesn't fit." He remarked, a confused expression flitting across his face. " Sully. Sully, we're missing something. See if you can find anything up there. " Chloe explained. " I can't get the grate up." He called. " Forget the grate and look." I demanded.
      
       " I see something." My dad said. " Looks like a ladder or something. I think I get it. I think it's the two keys out together." He finished. " What?" Nate asked. " I said, I think it's the two keys out together." My dad repeated. " Throw your key down!" I shouted. " Hey. You three think you're gonna double-cross me?" He asked. " Hey, Sully, you want the stupid key, or you want the gold?" Nate questioned. " Come on, this is it. Throw it down." He yelled. " I'm coming down here for this. You hear me? You ain't gonna play me." My dad shouted. I rolled my eyes with a scoff.
      
       " Typical Sully." Chloe remarked. " He'd rather lose the gold than..." She was cut off my the sound of the cross hitting the floor. " Thank you." She called. She handed Nate the other key and he placed it upside-down on the first one. " Does that look like a ladder to you?" He asked. " Yeah." I replied. We silently walked over to the door and watched as Nathan put the keys in. " Okay, ready? Three, two, one." He quickly turned the key " Did you see that?" Nate said smugly, smiling up at Chloe excitedly. " What are you waiting for?" Chloe questioned, kicking the door down. " Woah. What the...?" Nate exclaimed. Chloe and I walked through.

       " What's happening?" My dad asked . " We found it." Chloe answered. " Is the gold there? Talk to me?" My dad pleaded. " We're in an old Roman storehouse." Nathan answered. " It's gotta be at least 2,000 years old, and there are these giant urns that are like eight feet tall." He finished. " Are they intact?" My dad questioned. " Yeah, they're perfectly preserved." I chimed in.

       " So, what are you waiting for? Open them up and get the gold." My dad demanded. Chloe turned and lit a torch that was hanging on the wall, before dropping the one she had in her hand. " Give me a lift." She said as Nathan got down on one knee. " Here we go. Three, two, one. Go." He grunted as he boosted her up to the top. " Okay. Are you okay?" Nathan strained. " Yeah, yeah." Chloe responded, continuing to climb on top of Nathan's shoulders. Nate yelled out in pain.

       " Okay." Chloe breathed. " You good?" Nathan asked. " Yeah." She responded, sliding the lid open slightly. " You see anything?" I questioned. Nate looked at me as giant cracks started to form in the urn. " Uh... Chloe?" He warned. " Chloe? I think we have a problem. Chloe?" She looked confused. " They used salt to store food, but... I don't know why they'd put..." the urn shattered, blowing them backwards as salt flew everywhere. All four urns broke open. " What's happening?" My dad asked. " No. it's got to be here." Chloe argued, digging through the salt. " Yeah, or why all the tricks?" Nate added. " Answer me, guys. What do you got?" My dad questioned.

       " The gold's not here." Nate responded. He walked over the salt, towards a small mound that was reflecting the light. He pulled a leather container out of the salt, opening it gently. " Oh, my god." He breathed. " What? What is it?" My dad queried. " They never brought it back." He replied quietly. "The path to the gold starts here in Barcelona, but it ends somewhere over here in the East Indies." He finished, looking up at me. " Hey, Chloe." He quipped, both of us turning around. Chloe had her gun pointed at us, her excited face now serious. " Give it to me." She demanded.

       " You're kidding, right?" He asked in disbelief. " I'm not getting screwed out do this one. Pick up the map and give it to me." She demanded again. Nate sighed, grabbing the map and rolling it up. " Nate, what's going on down there?" My dad asked. " Slowly." Chloe said. " Hey, tell me what's happening." Sully chirped. " Sully, I got this." Nate said silently. " Look, you don't have to do this, okay?" Nate said, trying to reason with her. " Don't... try anything." Chloe replied.

       " You can trust me." Nathan assured. " Just put the gun down." He pleaded. " You have no idea who you're partnered with, do you?" Chloe questioned. " You don't even know what really went down." She continued. " Neither do you." She said turning towards me. " Went down with what?" Nate asked. She sighed, dropping her gun to her side. " Sam. Who do you think?" She responded shortly. " What are you talking about?" I questioned. " Ask Sully." She deferred. " No, no, no, no, no. No. Chloe, please tell me what happened to my brother." Nathan pleaded. " Please." He whispered.

       " You're a good guy, Nate." She remarked. She turned to walk away, but flipped around to pistol whip Nate in his temple. " Nate!" I exclaimed as he hid the pile of salt. " Too good." Chloe finished as she walked away. " Nate! Wake up! Please." I pleaded, tapping his cheek in hopes he would wake up.

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" Hey, Nate . Wake up. Got you pretty good, huh?" My dad asked as Nathan slowly opened his eyes. " I tried to warn you about her, but you didn't want to listen, did you?" Nate groaned quietly. " What happened to my brother?" He asked, staring up at my dad. " Stop thinking of the next lie you're gonna tell me." Nathan stood up with a grunt. " Where's Sam, Sully?" Nathan questioned harshly.

       I turned my gaze towards my dad, wondering the same thing. My dad sighed, hesitant. " I should've told you before. But your brother... he's gone kid." My dad said solemnly. " No, he's not. You said he ghosted you." Nate argued. " He's gone. He didn't ghost me. We went down to the captain's tomb together to find the journal. And it was there, right where Sam said it would be. We were on our way out, and Braddock and her guys, they cut us off." My dad corrected. Silent tears were streaming down my face. " They opened fire, and... and Sam got shot." My dad explained. " So you just left him there to die." Nathan accused.

       " I saw a way out, so I took it." My dad said nonchalantly. " So you just left him there to die." Nathan said angrily. " What was I supposed to do, get shot, too?" My dad asked. " Nothing I could do." I looked at him in disbelief. " How could you not tell us this?" Nate questioned, clearly upset. " Well, I knew if I told you, you never would've come with me." My dad defended.

       " And why is that important, huh? The hell am I doing here and not somebody else?" My dad stepped forward. " Your brother believed that there was a final piece. All right? A last trick the 18 played. I thought maybe he said something to you or sent you something. I mean, shit, all he ever did was talk about you." My dad finished.

       " So that's what this is about." Nathan scoffed. " You dragged me all the way out here, let me believe that I might see my brother again because you think that I know something?" Nathan questioned furiously. " Yeah." My dad replied. " Do you?"

       I scoffed. " I can't believe you. You knew?!?! You let me believe that Sam just left for no reason. For a whole year! Ever since he left I have asked myself why. I asked myself ' was I not good enough' or ' what did I do wrong' and you knew the entire time that he was dead. WE WERE IN LOVE DAD! How are you so self-centered that you don't even care about how your actions might effect your daughter. You are a sick, self-centered bastard and I NEVER want to see you again." I seethed before bursting in to loud sobs.

       " Did you really just ask me that?" Nathan asked. " You said that money changes people... makes them greedy, makes them selfish... but you know what I think? I think that's just who you are. I don't think there was ever a better version of you. And whatever this is... now I'm done." Nathan grabbed my hand, pulling me away from my dad. " Kid, Cherry." My dad called from behind us.

A/n: Ahhhhhh i almost cried writing the part where a Cherry is having a mental breakdown. It's getting deep y'all. Anywaysssssss, ENJOY my lovelies!!

~ Love author