((Galen continued from: The Jungle))
(OOC: Ciel has dibs on the Speargun by the way. So if you steal it, he will be very, VERY sad...
)The horizon broke into nothing but a vast expanse of ocean as Nadine approached the cliff, notebook in hand. Never had she run so fast, so far, and she'd had the feeling that one or two of the others in the group had broke away in pursuit of her when she had run off with the notebook.
Of course, they'd lost her completely. Nadine doubted they were even going in the right direction. Either way, it didn't matter now... they were useless, really. If they had a weapon, any USEful weapon, she might've stayed. Sadly? That wasn't the case. Nadine smiled to herself and sighed as she stared across the sea, feeling the tidal breeze against her face and arms and ankles, sundress lifted slightly.
People could be so idealistic for their own good, really. This she thought to herself as she scattered the pages of the notebook and threw the cover into the sea.
But she was different...she would prevail. She would be the wildcard that would win it all in the end. But she couldn't do it on her own. She needed someone to play the game FOR her, someone to HELP her win this game. Nadine had a good idea of who that person could be, but there was the problem of finding him...
"...Nadine?"
Swirling around, Nadine looked behind her, startled. Galen was there, covered in sweat as though he'd been wandering for miles, his face pale and sick with worry. Now that he'd found her though, there was an expression of utmost relief on his face as he stared at her.
"Galen...."
"Nadine...It really is you...I've...been looking everywhere, and now..."
He'd found her at last.
The speargun and pack fell at his feet as he rushed towards her and hugged her tightly, as though wanting to never let go for fear that he might lose her again. Holding her close, he murmured, "I was so worried...I'm so glad you're safe Nadine. I'm so glad..."
Nadine blinked in surprise as Galen hugged her there and then, so suddenly, but accepted, hugging him back lightly. Chin resting over his shoulder, she had a clear view over it, and her eyes drifted over towards the speargun lying on the ground.
"...What took you so long?" Nadine asked him mildly.
Galen took her by the shoulders and pulled her away so that he could get a better look at her, looking at her directly in the eyes. "Nadine, I don't know what to say...I woke up and you weren't there...I was looking everywhere for you and."
His eyes widened as Nadine burst into tears, her small voice wracked with sobs.
"I w-was...so...scared! I was alone, and I couldn't find you! And there were people out there...who were playing and I... I...I just didn't know what to do, so I kept running and hiding... I was so scared, Galen!" She buried her face into his shoulder, soaking his t-shirt with tears. Galen stared at her, completely lost for words. He felt suddenly torn with guilt, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her again.
"Nadine...I'm so sorry.... I'm here now, I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm. So. Sorry... I'll never leave you alone again." He looked her directly in the eye. "Hey. We can do this you know? We'll be fine." He tried to smile, as though it would mend her fears and dry away her tears. "We'll get out of this alright! You'll see! We'll find a way to escape and-"
"Galen..." Nadine looked at him. "There were....bodies....I saw them. On my way up here. Four of them, I think...there's even one down there on the other part of the cliff...And the others...Galen, I can't say it." Her face was pale and her hands were shaking as she stared at him, eyes full of some terrible knowledge, full of fear. "Galen, I can't do this. We're doing to die. We can't escape. I know that we have to survive, but.... I just can't do this! " She gripped his arms tightly, her tear-filled eyes were begging for him to understand. "I've seen too much, I don't want to see anymore. I don't want to have to go through all of this...."
She rested her head against his arm, closing her eyes. "I want...I want to die..."
Galen gripped her shoulders. He was near shouting at her in reply. "Nadine, Nadine get ahold of yourself! What the hell are you saying?! No way." He laughed weakly. "You're joking right? No way in hell can you be serious-"
"Galen." Nadine spoke again, this time in a quiet, patient voice. Her voice was so mild, Galen could barely hear it over the roar of the tidal waves crushing against the cliffs. "...You should know it as well as I do. In Survival of the Fittest, only one can survive. The rest will die."
Nadine held him close, so that her mouth was close to his ear. "People who play this game will die horribly, and they will suffer in the process. There's no hope for anyone. No escape. People have tried before, and they all died painfully. I'm not going to try, Galen. I want it to end painlessly. Please don't let me suffer."
Galen felt his voice lock. As always...Nadine was right. As optimistic and hopeful as Galen was, it took all that he could to overshadow that feeling of dread with a façade of cheerfulness and idealism. Despite all he'd said to Keith, Izzy, and Trey, about how they could probably escape if they tried hard enough... Deep down inside, he knew that it was only futile.
And Nadine...Galen never knew a gentler, kinder soul than Nadine. She could never hurt anyone. She was never meant for this! Something as horrible as SOTF... Galen didn't want to let anything horrible happen to her...
And yet if she kept going, chances were so that sooner or later, she would have to go through all of that. Galen would never let her die, but if something happened to Galen...how could he protect her? She would be alone, and live on...only to eventually meet death or much worse at the hands of another.
...Was there any way? Any way at all to avoid all of that?
Knowing no other way of how to argue, Galen closed his mouth, and his expression grew solemn. Nadine continued to look towards him quietly.
"Do you understand now?"
Galen's voice nearly choked.
"Yes...I understand. But-!" His heart leapt again for her, and he gripped her hands tightly. "What about me?! You are everything to me, Nadine. I'd die for you, I swear to God. If it meant keeping you alive and safe and happy, I'd do anything for you. You mean more to me than my own life. If you die..."
Nadine finished the sentence for him. "...Then you'll die too...?"
The frozen silence that fell between them was drowned out by the churning waves smashing against the face of the cliff wall. In the stretch of time that followed, Nadine moved closer and once again rested her chin against Galen's shoulder.
"...We don't have to go on. We don't have to suffer like this. We can just die together, you and me... I know it'll be hard, but we have to. If we don't...we'll have to play the game. We'll have to kill eachother, and I don't want that. I want to leave this world with you by my side, Galen. Please keep your promise, and say that you'll always be by my side. If I go, then that means you go too. That's all I want...that's all I ask for. "
Galen's limbs felt frozen when he realized what she was asking of him...and his mind burned with the promise he made the day they started going out. The day they became a couple.
Me...?
Die?
Die? ...Her?
....for her?
For her.
"I'd die for you."
Die for her.
...He could feel Nadine hold him close, fragile and trembling like a baby bird alone in the nest, fluttering, crying. The instinct to guard and protect was instilled inside him. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tightly against him, close enough so that he could feel her heartbeat against his. The sea breeze swept over them as they spent the next few moments in silence, simply clinging to eachother. The surf was like a roar in his ears...
...
They were standing over a different section of the cliff now. The rock was heavy in Galen's hands. The rope that bound him to it was tight against his ankle. His hands felt cold and stiff as he stared beyond his feet over the edge to the water below. Below the surface, there seemed no end to the abyss beneath. Darkness reigned, nine or so metres beneath the waves that broke against the cliff.
He barely felt Nadine's hand, grasped tightly against his own. His hands were much too cold and numb as they were. He didn't look at Nadine's face, but saw the rope that was also tied to her ankle. Tying them together.
This was it. There was no telling what awaited them in the world beyond.
"...Here goes..." Nadine murmured in a faint voice next to him. He barely heard her as the surf churned below the edge where he was standing.
Both pairs of feet left the edge. For a moment, Galen had felt the exhilerating sensation of weightlessness, as though he were suspended in mid-air for the smallest second.
That second was gone as they plunged into the water.
A roar filled Galen's ears as the surface closed over his head, and he was submerged completely in seawater cold enough to send his body near paralyzed with numbness. Somewhere along the way, he had accidentally let go of Nadine's hand...with his eyes stubbornly clamped shut in the wake of terror that filled him, he had no idea where she was. Or even, where HE was...
All the while, he felt himself descending....descending...
His lungs were burning as the water around him converged on all sides, pressure building to an unbearable degree. The sunlight, which burned the inside of his eyelids, began to fade into utter, terrifying blackness as he descended into darkness at a terrifying speed.
All the while, he continued to descend...
How deep was it? Galen thought his feet would touch the bottom by now.
And all the while, he continued a seemingly neverending descent into the murky abyss...
His lungs were filled with liquid fire by now...the haze began to cloud Galen's mind. Where was Nadine? If he hadn't let go of her hand...he'd have felt braver about the whole thing by now. Panic grew along with the mist that seeped into his mind...distorting his thoughts. His thoughts of Nadine, and the promise he was going to keep to her...
...What was that promise again?
He was still descending and his feet had yet to touch the bottom.
And it was then, at that point that Galen realized.
He didn't care about any promises now. He didn't care about dying for the woman he claimed to love or being by anyone's side until the end anymore. He didn't care about what she wanted anymore.
He just wanted to live.
As though in unison with his thoughts, the rope that bound him to the rock suddenly snapped. Galen could feel it, for there was no longer a heavy weight bearing at his ankle, pulling him down. The rock descended without him, leaving in a state of suspension underwater.
Galen didn't waste any time in kicking himself upwards, making his mad struggle to claw his way towards the surface. His mind had been clouded to the point where there was absolutely nothing left.
Absolutely nothing at all, except the basic, primal instinct to survive.
His eyes were open now, and he could see the sunlight beyond the surface...it was so far above him, far beyond his reach. He desperately fought his way upwards. All he had to do was break it...and he'd be saved.
A new weight found him, it practically slammed into him...latching him on tightly, threatening to drag him down. It was preventing him from reaching the surface.
NO!!! His mind screamed as he fought, struggled, clawed, slashed at his new burden. His enemy. The one that was trying to kill him. He elbowed back, striking his attacker hard enough to cause a recoil.
He was released. Swiftly, he continued his ascent, making one last, almost vindictive kick towards his attacker to end the struggle once and for all. His foot struck hard against something that caused his attacker to flinch, head snapping back in a recoil from the brutal impact.
As Galen made his last leg towards the surface, his lungs were about to rip apart... that need for oxygen, that desire to live seemed to overshadow what guilt he might have had over the realization that he'd just kicked Nadine in the face.
...
He gasped as he broke through the surface, filling his lungs with the air it screamed for. He nearly passed out there and then as the cold, tidal breeze hit his drenched face. The expanse of sky filled his vision, which were blotched with coloured dots that danced before his eyes.
Galen barely remembered drifting to land and clawing himself up over the edge of a cliff, only solid ground. Soaked to the bone, he lay there, gasping, panting. He was in pain, he was exhausted...but he was alive.
That was all he would ever ask for.
The tranquil silence that had nearly lulled Galen into sleep was broken by a piercing scream of fury that filled his ears. Adrenaline coursed through his veins again, and as clawed fingers drove themselves into his eyes while he still lay there, he shrilled in pain and grabbed the hands of his attacker, pushing her away from him.
She emitted a noise of rage as she was shoved aside, and Galen struggled to his feet, still disoriented.
As his vision cleared, he saw that Nadine's ghost-white, drenched form, her face the very image of hatred itself, a vial filled with liquid in her hand. The last thing he ever saw was the sunlight hitting the clear liquid that was being flung towards him...before a burning sensation wracked his face, dissolving flesh with a sickening hiss, permantly disfiguring and blinding him. In that moment, he was sent into a world of agony and darkness...
She's so cold and human
It's something humans do
She stays so golden solo
She's so number nine
She's incredible math
Just incredible math
Nadine coldly tossed the now empty vial aside as Galen let out a terrible scream, hands pressed to his face. Sores and burns were breaking out on his face as the acid did its work, turning his visage into a grotesque work of bleeding patches of skin and blackened flesh.
She was breathing heavily. Soaked from head to toe, her sundress clung to her form like wet paper, sticking fast against her legs and torso as though the seawater were glue. The excess fabric was picked up by the breeze, and flapped against her legs as she stared in contempt. The side of her head bled heavily, water diluting the blood until it was bright red against her face, neck, and dress.
And is she really human?
She's just so something new
A waking lithium flower
just about to bloom
I smell lithium now
Smelling lithium now
Mildly, she watched Galen stumble blindly, still howling in pain as the acid ate into the skin of his face, turning it into a bleeding deformity.
"...That's what you get..." She uttered, gasping with fury as she stared at him. "You broke your promise. You said you'd always be with me. Until the end. You said you'd DIE for me...This is your own fault, you know? You brought this on yourself."
How is she when she doesn't surf?
How is she when she doesn't surf?
How is she when she doesn't surf?
I wonder what she does when she wakes up?
When she wakes up
The speargun that she held with soaked, trembling hands glinted in the sunlight as she lifted it towards Galen.
"Well then...YOU CAN JUST ROT IN HELL BY YOURSELF FOR ALL I CARE."
Gritting her teeth in a grim smile, she aimed the spear gun towards Galen...he was still stumbling around like a crazy fool. Goodness, did he look the sight now. Nadine liked his face better without the acid treatment...it was a shame, but... oh well. In this game, a girl had to use everything in her power, everything in her wits, just to survive.
She wanted to live, after all. She didn't want to die on this island, far away from the life she knew. She was willing to do anything it took, just to survive.
So matador
So calm
So oil on a fire
She's so good
She's so goddess lithium flower
So sonic wave
Yeah, she's so groove, yeah
She's so groove
Yeah
That was what she had been thinking when she'd proposed to die with Galen. Of course, suicide was a ridiculous idea. She valued her own life far too much to even consider killing herself. Really? What she'd wanted was the weapon, and she had it. It was in her hands now. The plan worked. From the beginning it went well, up until the part where Nadine had shed her rock and made her own way to the surface halfway to the bottom...
What she hadn't anticipated was that Galen would chicken out in the end.
So typical for a male. Men, making promises and never keeping a single one.
Oh well.
Wow, where did she learn how to surf?
Wow, where did she learn how to surf?
Wow, where did she learn how to surf?
You know I've never seen the girl wipe out
Nadine smiled bitterly as she placed her finger against the trigger.
...You know Galen. For a while there? I was having fun. I mean, you were nice. You did everything for me. And I'll admit, that we had a bit of fun together. But that's all there is, really? Now's the time to say good-bye.
The edge of the cliff was behind her back, Nadine could feel the tidal breeze crisp cold against her back.
We certainly killed a lot of time together, didn't we, Galen?
How does she so perfectly surf?
How does she so perfectly surf?
How does she so perfectly surf?
I wonder what she does when she wakes up?
Beyond the tip of the spear that rested inside the barrel, Nadine could see Galen now. His eyes were a milky white now, and stains of red formed a line below his lower eyelid. Unseeingly, he stared towards her. That partially dissolved deformity of a face...those eyes, pale and wide as though they belonged to a corpse already dead, they were directed towards her now. Nadine felt a chill course through her spine...it was enough to make her hesitate.
"Nadine.... NADINE. NADIIIINE...."
Galen stumbled his way blindly towards her. Nadine's eyes widened suddenly.
What in the...?!
With a feral cry, he lunged towards her. In utter panic, Nadine's body seized up, and her finger closed against the trigger just as Galen's outstretched arm slammed into her, sending her off balance.
The spear flew.
Nadine's feet left the cliff.
The spear was driven cleanly into Galen's chest, sending him sprawling backwards against the ground with a choked gasp. As he clutched at his throat, wheezing for air, Nadine's scream filled the air as she fell backwards beyond the edge of the cliff face, dropping the speargun. It fell with a clatter just before the edge. She descended towards the rocks below....
I wanna go surfing with her
I wanna go surfing with her
I wanna go surfing with her
I wanna go surfing with her
Galen's struggles soon ceased as his body shut down completely from the spear that had impaled him directly in the heart, a pool of blood completely enveloping his body as he fell limp and lifeless against the ground.
Nadine's head was the first to strike the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. Her neck snapped backwards against the impact, and where her skull had hit the rock, a streak of red was left, staining it. She stopped moving completely, and utterly after that, eyes void of life staring hollowly towards the clouds above.
There was nothing to be said, and nothing to be heard...save for the churning of waves crushing against stone.
...B41, GALEN NEILSON – DEAD.
...G25, NADINE WILLOWBROOK - DEAD
))