SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

Kimiko allowed Nancy to push her back and watched as she slowly slumped to the floor. Her heart was pounding due the noise of the gun going off. There had been no pain though so Nancy must have missed. She felt like she was going to throw up watching Nancy bleed.

She just had to wait now. Nancy would eventually pass on like Caleb had. Unlike Caleb Kimiko wouldn't mourn her, it was just something she had to do. If anything she was making sure Nancy wouldn't hurt anyone else for her own selfish desire to be remembered.

Nancy's vision swam. She felt light-headed. This?

This was bad.

She looked up at Kimiko, her vision blurring intermittently. She was just standing there, watching her die. She thought it was cruel, but then, Nancy didn't have any right to say what was cruel or not.

She supposed it was funny, in an ironic sort of way, that the person who finished her off wasn't Michael, or Clarice, or anyone else that had wanted their revenge against her.

Kimiko was still standing there.

She tried to say something, but something worked its way into her throat, and she wheezed, causing blood the flow out of her mouth.

"Y..." she tried again.

She felt light. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt that much. The pain was subsiding, and her vision was going dark.

...

It was then that she realized she'd failed. Five kills? Five kills was... respectable, but it was nothing special. It wasn't enough to be anything more than just a statistic. She'd really, truly failed.

She wanted to laugh, but no, that was too much energy... she just wanted to rest.

She inhaled deeply, and that hurt more than anything.

Kimiko was still standing there, watching her, and that...

Kimiko had killed her, she realized, but she... she could still...

Six? Six wasn't much better than five, but it was still...

Nancy shifted slowly.

Yeah. She'd make sure Kimiko died with her too. Wouldn't that be amazing? A great twist on this whole scene. It would give her some recognition.

Nancy didn't have much strength left. One shot was all that she'd need.

She moved then, raising the gun, stained with her blood, pointing it right at Kimiko's chest.

With a howl, she pulled the trigger.

Click.































What?

G036 - Nancy Kyle: DECEASED

The gun was raised and Nancy pulled the trigger. Kimiko closed her eyes and waited for the pain that would signal the end of her life. But it never came, she was still alive and the gun hadn't gone off. Kimiko slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by Nancy's cold, lifeless ones staring back at her, gun still gripped in her hand. Kimiko flopped back onto the floor, a smile forming on her face as she realised just her lucky she had been.

Hell could wait for another day.

She allowed herself a couple of minutes to just lie there as her heart rate slowed and the adrenaline left her body. Eventually Kimiko picked herself up, the smile gone, replaced by a look of determination. The library was completely silent. That was good. It meant no one else was around. She had time to make sure everything was done properly. Moving forward she crouched down and pried the gun out of Nancy's hand. It was surprisingly heavy in her hands. It surprised her considering how easily they were carried about in movies. Then again, movies were fake so she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised.

Kimiko turned the gun over in her hand and carefully took in every detail. It took a while but she managed to drop the magazine out onto the floor. After picking it up she found it was empty, which explained why Nancy had been unable to shoot her. Kimiko made a note to try and keep track of how many bullets were left. Stepping past Nancy, Kimiko grabbed the bag that used to belong to the girl and start rummaging around in it. The food and water was something she would move into her pack later, her main interest was bullets. She found what she was looking for eventually.

It had taken Kimiko a while but she felt comfortable with the gun. After a couple of mock firings, she had loaded it and was taking aim at a book she had balanced on a desk. She steadied her breathing and held the gun tight, then pulled the trigger. The recoil kicked the gun back in her hand and made her shoulder wound begin to burn straight away and the noise from the shot rang in her ears. When she looked at where the book had been she found papers floating to the floor instead.

She looked at the gun in her hand and nearly gagged. She knew what a gun was for and what it represented, but just like the nodachi and tantō she was planning to use it anyway. She swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat. She needed to keep moving forward. She took one last look back at Nancy's body. If she wanted to be generous and try to justify her actions she could have claimed that she killed Nancy to make sure that she didn't take any more lives. That it was necessary. But that wasn't entirely true.

The full truth was Nancy had a gun.

That had been her primary motivator.

The rest just helped her feel better.

((Kimiko Kao continued in Haemolacria))