and then we'll build the world again (Outlast)

Chapter 4- Miles

"This is it then. We can go."

"Are you ready?" He wasn't sure why he was asking. Waylon looked terrified either way. Neither of them knew what was out there, so he couldn't exactly blame him.

To his surprise, Waylon nodded. "Ready."

Miles stepped out first. It was pitch black outside, and the rain certainly didn't help. It was pouring from the dark clouds, splattering mud and spraying water everywhere. Even though they were already soaked from the sprinklers, Miles was not thrilled to get even more wet and miserable. He reached for his camcorder, noticing Waylon do the same, automatically trying to switch to night vision. The blue green screen was fuzzy and distorted, there wasn't much to see besides vague outlines.

"I can't see shit, even with the night vision." Waylon grumbled.

"It's better than nothing. Father Martin said he would be around here."

There was a loud crack of thunder and a lighting bolt struck the navy sky. Waylon flinched at the unexpected noise.

Miles caught on quickly to the other man's discomfort. "It'll be fine, Park. Just a little rain." He spread his arms out, letting the rain splash on his face. It was actually quite refreshing. Although he was covered a lot more than Park was, who was only wearing his patient jumpsuit with no shoes or socks.

"It's not that I..." Waylon shivered, still staying where he was. "I'm having second thoughts about trusting...that man."

"I told you, I don't trust him-"

"You're still going to look for him though," He interjected. He met Miles' frustrated glare, and continued. "We have enough evidence to prove Murkoff is up to no good and finally escape. We could...I dunno, climb one of the fences or something."

"Or something." Miles repeated dryly.

He seemed to acknowledge Miles' reluctance. "Earlier I disabled the electricity, we wouldn't get hurt. It might be harder with my leg but...we could still escape."

"You're right. You can leave if you want to, I can even help you get out." He tried to raise his voice over the heavy rain, remaining firm. "But I'm staying."

Waylon's face fell. "What? You're kidding!"

"Nope, completely serious. I'm staying."

"Miles---you said it yourself. You have the footage, you have documents, you have my interview! Isn't that enough?" He stepped out into the rain, gesturing around him, grimacing as his feet touched the damp grass. "You have everything you need."

Miles fixed his dripping wet bangs and shook his head. "I have evidence, sure, but I don't have answers. This whole time I've been avoiding Variants, hiding in lockers, reading notes and documents and I still don't understand what Murkoff is up to or why they're doing this. Hell, I still don't know what Project Walrider is---not completely."

That part was a lie. He knew more about Murkoff than he let on. He had even written a few pieces about it. He even knew about Murkoff creating the project---some kind of weapon before he even arrived. He still wasn't sure if it was a physical presence or not though. He continued without missing a beat. "The whole reason you sent that email was to expose Murkoff and show the world what scumbags they are. I thought at first it was patient abuse and human experiments, but this is way more complex, and looks... supernatural. I can't send this to some random news site with the footage and documents without knowing the full story."

"Why not?"

"Well for one, video footage can be faked with simple editing tricks," Miles explained. "So can written documents. I've already been blacklisted from 'reliable' news sources, so the likelihood of anyone believing me is slim. I could be written off as crazy, which has happened. " His anger started to bubble up. "I can't let Murkoff get away with this. I need to know the truth. If I die trying to expose them, then at least I'll die knowing everything, and maybe save a few lives too."