Obligatory Inner Turmoil Post

[Ryuki]

(Zachary Beck, continued from Children of Cain)

The morning dew dampened Zach’s feet as he trudged onward. Zombie-like in his motions, he swayed from side to side. He was starting to feel drowsy due to lack of sleep. The bag containing more food and a new gun was weighing down on his shoulder. His other weapon, the paddle with the blades on the sides, was in his right hand. Stopping by an old, rotted pier, he dropped his bag and sat down to catch his breath.

The events of last night lingered in Zach’s mind. He had witnessed the deaths of four classmates, one of which he was partly responsible for. He couldn’t get the picture of Bree with the syringe in her chest out of his thoughts. He did that to her. He killed a classmate. He was going to be on the next day’s announcements. And then everyone will know he’s a killer.

Zach unzipped his bag and grabbed a protein bar. As he bit and chewed the badly tasting bar, he contemplated on his next course of action. Now that he had taken a life, he would be able to leave if he managed to become the sole survivor. Easier said than done obviously. Because Bree must have plenty of friends who’ll want to avenge her when they find out what happened. She was one the popular kids, wasn’t she?

“Damn that Mikki Swift,” Zach growled to himself, “If that fucking bitch hadn’t tried to betray everyone, I wouldn’t be in this mess. This her fault! She shot Bree and I had to...”

He trailed off mid-sentence and angrily chomped down on his protein bar again. The image of Bree’s death popped up in Zach’s mind once more. He remembered the syringe he drove into her chest. He didn’t have experience with things like that, so he couldn’t have understood how to use it properly. He thought back to the scene in Pulp Fiction where he got the idea to inject the syringe into Bree’s heart.

You’re an idiot Zach.

Demetri’s words echoed in Zach’s mind. He couldn’t help but feel like Demetri was right. If Demetri knew about what had happened, it would prove he was right to call Zach an idiot. Applying movie logic to a life threatening situation, in what world would that work? Zach groaned as he continued to chewing and swallowing his protein breakfast. He washed down with some water afterward.

He looked at the bladed paddle. It’s blades shone brightly by the reflection of the morning sun. Now that Zach had new weapons he could protect himself. He had a couple of clips for the gun he collected, so if anyone threatened him, he could probably scare them off. If that didn’t work then...

Zach’s mind went blank. And then, the little voice returned.

What are you even thinking? You’ve already taken a life, can you really do it again?

“I could if I wanted to!”, Zach shouted. He realized he was shouting at nothing. He was just a sad, lost little boy taking out his frustrations at the aether.

“God damn it, I need some sleep,” he said to himself.

Zach got up and slung the bag over his shoulder. With his weapon in hand, he kept trudging towards his destination. Everything would be okay as long as he got to the village. He could find a house with a bed in it and take a break. With those thoughts in mind, he made haste.

(Zachary Beck, continued elsewhere...)