Consequences - Prologue
Nathan Drake drudged across the desert. He was surely going to die. With no food, no water, no supplies, nothing, it was a certain fate. Nate was never one to believe in fate though, as he always was able to turn it around in some miraculous way. He played the part of the hero well. That was the hard part, he was the hero, so who was here to save him? Surely not Sully, not Elena either and certainly not Chloe, so who was going to be there for poor old Nate?
As he came to a halt and landed harshly on his knees, he looked over his life. “I could die a happy man...” He mumbled to himself. He was right. An adventurer like him, seeing lost treasures and amazing sights that no one could ever even dream of seeing in their lifetime, not to mention the odd love interest or two, he could easily die a happy man. But dying was not an interest of his; he’d cheated death too many times to let an old desert drag him down. Nate scrambled to his feet and continued.
All of a sudden, a roar could be heard in the distance. He looked round, confused, almost scared. It was not like an animal roar, no, more like an engine. ‘Is someone coming for me?’ he thought. It became louder and louder, until he could eventually see the jeep on the horizon. Nate almost chuckled, “Well I’ll be damned...” Then it hit him. ‘Couldn’t this just be a hallucination?’ he thought, ‘shit, it might as well be.’ Instead of losing all hope, he sat, right on the spot waiting for the car to arrive closer. Surely enough it did, little by little. It stopped next to Nate. Elena leaped out of the jeep and over to Nate, he lay passed out on the sand. “Oh god Nate...” She whimpered and kneeled down to him, “Nate can you hear me?” Slapping him across the face got her nowhere; her only challenge, carrying him to the car. Nate was a bulky fellow, he didn’t show it but he had some muscles on him, so when Elena tried to lift him, it wasn’t an easy job. Eventually she got him into his seat and buckled him in.
Starting the car and speeding off, he began to awake.
“What...Where...What the...” He barely mumbled through a dry mouth.
Elena looked over, “Awake now sleepy head?”
Nate eyes widened, “Elena! How did you-“
“You’re getting rusty, pal, aren’t ya?” She smiled and looked forward. “There’s some water in the back.”
Nate looked at the compartments behind them; he scrambled for the many bottles of water and took a few. Almost drowning himself in one, he poured it over his head. “Take it easy there boy,”
She giggled, “Save some for me!”
He chuckled lightly and gulped down, not one, not two, but three bottles of the ‘almost sacred’ water.
For most of the journey, Nate pondered on where they were headed. Elena stayed quiet too, wondering what was on his mind. Even though they had only been driving for somewhat around five minutes, Nate was beginning to get a little restless.
“Where are we going?”
“There’s a town, not far from here...It’s... It’s deserted, but Marlowe’s men are there.”
“I take it that’s where you got this jeep then.”
She nodded. “Nate... I think we should head back. After we find some way of communicating with Sully, or any sort of help... I just-“
Nathan turned his head to her, gave her a sharp look and said, “Elena, you’re...You’re not backing out, are ya?”
She stayed quiet, and gripped the steering wheel at the mere suggestion of ‘giving up’, “Listen, Nate. This is NOT worth dying over. I remember a certain someone telling me that not so long ago.”
He shook his head slowly and sighed, “Really? You really had to come back with that?”
“Yes. This is serious!” She looked at him, “Don’t you understand how serious it?”
“Course I do, Elena.”
“Then you know what I mean and what I’m talking about.”
For most of the time, awkward silences filled most of the car journey. That was, until they reached the town. The sand built houses were crumbling, as was the wall surrounding it.
“They’ve bound to have heard us by now.” Nate said, unbuckling his belt and stepping out the car.
Elena did the same, “We had no choice but to come in this way, it’s the only place we can get some kinda communication.”
He glanced over at her. She stood, gun in hand, looking rather determined like towards the crumbling town. He noticed how a few strands of hair gently fell down onto her face and the rest was scraped messily into a bun. ‘Elena...’ He thought. What was he doing? He couldn’t go prancing in here, risking the chance of hurting Elena. This was stupid; they had to find another way. Suddenly, she looked over at him, realising he was looking at her.
“Nate...?”
Nate’s eyes widened, “Oh...Uh.” Clearing his throat, he continued, “We can’t do this Elena.”
“What?”
“We have to find some other way in.”
“Why? This is the only way; we can fend off the first few if we go in this way.”
He sighed, “I’ll look around, find another way in.” She rolled her eyes. “Stay right there, I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Famous last wo-“ She was grabbed by one of Marlowe’s men, restraining her tightly. “Hey! What the hell?!”
“Elena!” Nate advanced forward but the man pulled out a gun, holding it to Elena’s back. His eyes widened, “No!” But the man had already pulled the trigger. Elena cried out in pain and Nate leaped to help her but a bag was put over his head, blocking his vision. Eventually the cries of Elena faded out, his vision blurred and he passed out.
