Sweet Dreams

Chapter 8

"Wake up you guys!" was the first thing that woke Lara.

Then the explosions and then the shaking of the train.

Lara, now fully awake and in a small bit of a panic, looked around sharply. Carl was pressing buttons frantically at the train, flipping switches and pulling levers. She pushed herself off the ground, bumping off Nate in the process. He woke with a snort.

"Huh...wha? What's happening?" he asked tiredly, blinking sleep from his eyes. Lara ran over to one of the windows, finding a black convoy racing up beside them. The driver and passenger were protected by a metal case, and the person in the back was aiming a rocket launcher at them.

Wait.

"Get down!" she roared, covering her head and the missile smashed against the train shell. Nate, who had just stood to his feet, fell back against the wall with a thud. He cursed colorfully to himself as he straightened back up, shaking his thumping head. Lara was on her side, her ears ringing loudly. Carl looked across back to the convoy, then at the two scattered adventurers.

"You guys need to take out that rocket launcher, or we'll go barrelling off the cliff," Carl yelled over the noise, looking back briefly. Lara groaned in response, pushing herself back to her wobbly feet and pulling out her pistol. Nate joined her, the two huddling at the windows.

"Aim for the tires!" Lara yelled, peeking out and shooting towards the ground, towards the white and black tires. The cold bit at their skin, the quick passing wind lashing them on the arms. The guard with the rocket launcher lifted the weapon onto his shoulder, taking aim once more. The two empties their weapons in the tires, their hearts beating.

Last bullet.

The rocket was sent flying.

The car's tires burst.

The train jolted to the side, knocking Lara and Nate to the side. The American slammed against the ground, hissing in pain as he landed on his wound. Lara yelped as she landed on her shoulder.

Flames ripped from the console, heat blaring from the embers. The train was progressively leaning off the cliff, and Nate and Lara were sliding. Nate pulled himself to his feet, grabbing Lara by the arm.

"We need to go!" he roared, pulling her up onto her feet. Lara held her shoulder, letting her pistol slide away from her. Nate pulled himself from the train cockpit and pulled himself onto the roof. The train was falling rapidly. Lara gripped her ice pick in her hand, looking for an ice patch to grip onto.

"Shit! Jump!" Nate suddenly ordered, taking his own axe and leaping onto the rocks. Lara followed suit, her axe digging into the rock side. The train tumbled off the cliff completely, smashing off rocks as it tumbled. The two climbed as quickly as they could, desperate to get away from the death-defying cliff.

As the two climbed, an explosion blasted from beyond the cliff. Nate and Lara both exchanged a glance before another loud rumble came from above them. Looking up, they both saw a tidal wave of snow tearing down the mountain. Panic overtook them both as they leaped for the nearest ledge.

Lara forced herself upwards again, her hands finally grasping a ledge. She muttered a breathless 'Yes' before fully pulling herself up. Behind her, Nate called for help, his voice almost muted by the roar of snow.

Lara twirled around, dropping to her knees and reaching out her hand for her partner. A cold hand gripped it tightly, and Lara pulled back. Nathan appeared quickly after, scrambling onto the ledge. He scrambled from the edge as snow tumbled loudly passed the two. Once it had all mostly passed, Nate laughed.

"We...We were almost in that...I was almost. Hahah," He murmured, falling onto his back. Lara stood back onto her feet, peering carefully over the edge. That's when Nate shifted back up, his face full of horror.

"Carl."

Lara felt her gut pull, her stomach butterfly, and her heart thump. She had completely forgotten about him. She looked back at Nate, whose eyes were wide in realization and shock. His mouth was drawn open, in a face that most likely resembled her own.

"How did we...?" Lara couldn't finish her sentence. Carl had wanted to stay alive to see his family so bad. They had forgotten him in the scramble.

"We..." Nate cleared his throat, shutting his eyes tightly, "We need to keep going. For his sake,"

"R-right," Lara replied, turning and helping the American to his feet. The two turned towards the Cliffside they were currently on. Ice clung to the edge of the cliff, unstable in places. Lara picked the red axe off the snowy ground and took a running leap onto the ice. She stayed, and started to climb. Nate followed her.

''Almost there Lara'' Lara told herself, ignoring the fragments of ice hat were falling onto her face, ''Just keep moving''

...

..

..

.

Nate reached for the ledge, desperate for a break. He heaved himself up, his arms shaking with his weight. He seemed a million times heavier with this cold, and the aching in his bones. Snow clung to him as he rolled onto the ground, sighing heavily. Lara joined him a second later, pulling herself to her feet and leaning on her knees for breath.

"Finally," Drake gasped, shutting his eyes and taking heavy breaths of air. Lara chuckled, looking up at her surroundings. Her mouth dropped when she saw where she was, her eyes lighting up with joy.

"Nate look! We're here!"

Nate pushed himself to his side, his own eyes widening in shock when he saw the structures before him. Before the two of them was an arch with two imperial dragon statues decorating the outside edge of it. Smaller statues of serpent people line the path up to the arch, as well as a ruined water fountain. Old, wooden flag poles, with small strands of flag blew furiously in the wind. It all looked so beautiful. However, the black convoys parked outside meant something bad.

Lzarovich had gotten here before them.