Jack's words were almost like a slap in the face to Adam, who felt as though he were hearing the words for the second time. Adam remembered having a similar conversation with Jacob Starr, of all people, before they'd fought for the last time.
But I've gotta ask you, man. How do you do it? How'd you go off and decide to start playing? It took the death of all my friends and essentially a sense of vigilante justice to make me say 'fuck this, I'm going to go kill me some motherfucker'...but you, you just started from the beginning playing the game.
So I guess, I really just wanna know one thing, man...
...why?"
Staring at Jacob, he gazed intensely into the boy's eyes. Jacob listened intently as Adam started to talk, only breaking eye contact to nod gratefully and take the cracker, eating it hungrily. He was surprised when Adam told him about the deaths of his friend (though he smiled knowingly when Adam mentioned David's death) and looked at him curiously when he was asked why he decided to play. Looking up slightly and sighing, he started to reply.
"To be honest, fear and the desire to survive. When I woke up, I realized that I had done very little living for myself, I was always living to help others or silently going from class to class. When I was told I'd have to kill my classmates, I wanted to live so badly that I would've killed my brother if he had been on this island, let alone my schoolmates. And now that everyone on the island that's still alive knows I'm a murderer, I don't have a choice. Now I'm damned to keep killing until I either win or get killed myself." he finished with a sigh as he looked back to Adam.
Jacob had basically been so afraid to die that he'd opted to try and take as many people out before him as he possibly could. Adam, of course, had thought that he could go through SOTF without killing, trying to escape somehow. He'd failed at that, and was now the person with the highest kill-count on the island. Hell, he was one of two people still alive. Many of Jack's words seemed to ring true to what Adam himself had gone through on the island - though the two boys had undoubtedly taken different paths through the game. Shaking his head slightly, Adam felt the need to try and justify himself, for what seemed like the unpteenth time.
"No...not twelve...I think it's more like eleven. I didn't kill Crosby. Cody did...twice." Adam blinked as he realized that what he said wasn't possible, but judging by the circumstances, it seemed appropriate.
"Jack, I...I don't really think that you realize what's going on here. Yeah, I've killed people, I'm the first to admit that. But you think that I'm PROUD of that fact? FUCK no. I've been saying since Blaine Eno died that if I ever got out of here, I'd be in therapy until the day that I died, and that I'd happily bill it to Danya or his corpse. But you...you think that I'm a serial killer? Maybe in the base definition of the term, but...frankly, you can't label me that unless you've been by my side for these last eleven days."
Adam cleared his throat, and spit blood from his lip onto the ground. He imagined that with his bruised and bloody appearance, he probably looked none the worse for wear.
"I don't think I need to run it down for you, Jack. In fact, I shouldn't be justifying myself to anyone - and yet, that's all that anyone who I've come upon has asked me to do. Everyone; hell, even Cody Jenson himself, the biggest scumbag on this island has been demanding that I justify myself - well you know what? I'll do it one last time, just to hammer my fucking point home."
Keeping his eyes on Jack's gun, Adam walked a few paces over to where the three graves of Hawley Faust, Madelaine Shirohara, and Amanda Jones lay, the makeshift tombstone that Adam had made for Hawley days before still standing upright, by some miracle.
"Blaine Eno died because if I hadn't killed him, he would have killed me. I have a nice scar on my arm to show for that, Jack. He almost killed Amanda AND Madelaine, and if I hadn't shown up, I would have arrived to two bodies a hell of a lot earlier than I did. Marcus Roddy was a casualty of Cody Jenson, who put him into a coma, and I put him out of his misery so that wild fucking animals wouldn't come and eat him while he was still alive. Jacob Starr followed me around the island for two days trying to kill me and Hawley Faust, and in an indirect sort of way, he fucking did half of it. We fought, and again, I defended myself as best I could. Shoar Wilson was strangling the life out of a kid that I knew - hell, you met him, didn't you - Gilbert Archambault, and I shot him before he could finish the job."
Adam stopped, and shook his head, the memory slightly painful.
"Gilbert got dealt a shit hand in life, he was smaller than most kids, he got picked on, he moved around a lot, he had a fucking bitch for a mom...so I took pity on him and tried to help him out. I saved his life, and then your little buddy Jason Andrews came along and shot him up. I don't think I should remind you that if I hadn't come along when I did, you, Gilbert, Martyn, and Jill would've been fucking corpses on the ground thanks to him. As it stood, he managed to kill Gilbert anyways. Jason killed people himself, Jack, and I don't know if you were too fucking stupid to realize it yourself, but if he'd walked out of those bushes, he would've shot you without a second thought. I think you know it as well as I do, so stop your holy crusade."
Adam paused, trying to recompose himself, before he went on. "Lamika tried to rape and murder me. Kind of fucking weird that that seemed to happen a few times while I was here. So I barely managed to escape and beat his fucking head in. I...I don't know if you've noticed, or anything, but I don't exactly hold rapists in high regard." He glanced over his shoulder at the corpse of Cody Jenson.
"Jamie Robins and Kaleigh Jones attacked me, one with blow-darts, and the other with a fucking bag of sawdust. Both attacks hurt, and both times it was just a knee-jerk reaction that saved my own ass. Peri Barclay, who, I might add, was one of the biggest killers on the island, shot me, and then had the misfortune to trip over a rock as he came to finish the job, so I finished him instead. Then, you know the story with Rice, the terrorist. Like you, I didn't have a fucking choice, because you know as well as I do that if I hadn't, I wouldn't be standing here. Oh, yeah, and I think I recall saving Sid Crosby's ass during that little scrum that ended up with me getting raped and almost killed by the terrorist that YOU killed. Which, I have to say, many thanks for."
Looking down for a second at Hawley's grave, he looked up at Jack with a newfound fire in his eyes. Adam wasn't pissed, he looked almost offended, and he took a step toward Jack from the graves - not enough to get close, but enough that the distance between them significantly decreased.
"So what the fuck, Jack? I'm a serial killer? Fuck you. All that I've been doing is making sure that if somebody has to leave an area dead, it isn't going to be me. I'm sorry if that makes me a bad person, but like you said - you're as guilty as I am, so you've got no fucking excuse. Granted, I stalked Cody Jenson around the island, but as I said, I don't hold rapists in high regard, and he DID kill two of my closest friends. The fucker got what he deserved. Sorry if that makes me a bad person, Jack, but really, who the fuck do you think that you are to judge that? Who are you to judge what I've gone through? I've lost people too, Jack. I've lost friends too. We've all lost people - hell, we're the LAST TWO PEOPLE LEFT ALIVE, Jack. Everyone that went on the trip is dead. All of them, except us. So who are you to judge me on my conduct, Jack? I don't want to die, and I've done my damndest to try and make sure I stay alive. You can't prosecute me for that."
Endgame
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LadyMakaze†
- Posts: 475
- Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:48 pm
As Adam made his lengthy, not to mention heated reply to Jack's insinuating questions, the other boy fell silent, expression unreadable behind his glasses(though he stiffened ever so slightly as Adam moved towards the three grave-like mounds on the ground unexpectedly) After all, simply listening was all he could do, having made his prosecution of sorts against Adam Dodd, who was in turn justifying himself as though trying to prove a point. It seemed as though Jack's remarks, admittedly somewhat accusing, had offended Adam to some degree, possibly even angered him somewhat, judging by the way he broke into a rant of sorts.
Jack kept silent as he listened with an emotionless expression as Adam began explaining himself, each and every kill he had to his name, his reasons for doing what he did, and the circumstances he had been in at the time. As Adam recalled each of his kills aloud, able to refer to all of his victims by their full names, remembering exactly how and why he had killed them, Jack narrowed his eyes slightly. He had to admit...given that Adam was being honest with him (and why wouldn't he be? At this point in the game it was far...far too late for gaining someone's trust to be any real advantage), Adam had really for the most part only killed to protect himself or someone else.
Which only made more sense than not in these kind of circumstances. In a game where it is simply put, every student for himself, the instance in which one would be forced to defend their lives at one point in the game was inevitable. It was simply a means to survive. Jack himself should have known. He killed Angelina Kaige purely to save his own life. And undoubtedly in several instances, Adam Dodd seemed to have had to make many the fateful decision that would determine who would move on alive, and who would fall. And it was a given that he would rather that someone else died instead of him.
Even as Adam mentioned his justifications for killing Jason Andrews, Jack grudgingly, bitterly, couldn't help but admit that Adam was right. That didn't stop his free hand from twitching ever so slightly at what Adam had to say about Jason's death, which Jack found scathing. He simply found it the hardest thing to believe that his own teammate would ever consider trying to kill him, they had been like brothers with the rest of the team. Yet Jack found himself unable to do anything else but admit that Adam spoke the plain and simple truth. And it remained a plain and simple fact that Jason had been a killer, like Jack was now.
As Jack listened to the end, his expression remained unchanged. In honesty, he still couldn't bring himself up to see Adam as little more than just another killer, a common criminal of the worst kind, but at least he wasn't trying to deny it. If anything, he at least acknowledged the fact that he'd killed simply by making the effort to justify himself. At least he wasn't running away from the fact that he was a killer.
A stretch of silence lingered in the atmosphere as Adam ended his rant, defending himself to its end. His words seemed to resonate in the air between them, despite the deafening silence that had befallen the environment once again.
At last, Jack let out a sigh, almost uncharacteristic of the stoic disposition he had put on, which now seemed to have fallen into an expression of weariness.
"I see your reasons," he said finally. "In the end, you simply did what you simply had to do to survive. It's as plain as that. You were able to do that, which was how you managed to come this far. You wanted to survive, and I can understand that. But it doesn't change all that you've done. People have died by your hand. Eleven people. One with cold blood, even." He nodded towards the mangled corpse of Cody Jenson, still pinned against the tree.
He put his free hand to the rim of his glasses, adjusting them slightly as he continued with a rather thoughtful tone. "And you're right, Adam. I'd be a hypocrite if said that I was different from you. I'm not. I'm a killer just like you. Although, your kill count eclipses mine several times over, we're both killers all the same. No reason, no justification, no end can erase or alter that fact. We've both taken lives. You and I are the same...except for one difference. I'm not playing to survive this game."
He slowly lifted the ingram again, though not to aim at Adam this time. Though he held it by the handle, it was held across his chest, its barrel lifted up by his other hand for him to examine thoughtfully. "The way I see it... justice needs to be done. And like I've said before, I can't let you leave this island, no matter what. The outside world doesn't need killers and murderers like you and I. We've sunk to the lowest point. Could you possibly see yourself facing your old friends, your old family when they know...when you know....when the entire world knows and has seen all that you've done? Do you think society could possibly look at you as a normal human being like everyone else? Could you ever look at yourself the same way? I know I couldn't do that."
"Which is why I want nothing more than to see you dead before I turn the gun on myself," Jack said calmly, suddenly lifting the Ingram higher, though rather than pointing it straight as Adam, he aimed it straight into the side of his head. "There won't be a winner, Adam. There will only be justice. Justice will ensure that no killer escapes this island, no killer will return home to infect society. I'll end my life on this island, after ensuring that there's no escape for you. Believe me, justice will be served. All I need to do now is to kill you, and the rest is easy."
Once again, he turned to aim his Ingram once again towards Adam. "But I guess this is the part where you have to try and stop me, Adam. It's up to you now. Am I going to save your life? Or am I going to end it?"
Jack kept silent as he listened with an emotionless expression as Adam began explaining himself, each and every kill he had to his name, his reasons for doing what he did, and the circumstances he had been in at the time. As Adam recalled each of his kills aloud, able to refer to all of his victims by their full names, remembering exactly how and why he had killed them, Jack narrowed his eyes slightly. He had to admit...given that Adam was being honest with him (and why wouldn't he be? At this point in the game it was far...far too late for gaining someone's trust to be any real advantage), Adam had really for the most part only killed to protect himself or someone else.
Which only made more sense than not in these kind of circumstances. In a game where it is simply put, every student for himself, the instance in which one would be forced to defend their lives at one point in the game was inevitable. It was simply a means to survive. Jack himself should have known. He killed Angelina Kaige purely to save his own life. And undoubtedly in several instances, Adam Dodd seemed to have had to make many the fateful decision that would determine who would move on alive, and who would fall. And it was a given that he would rather that someone else died instead of him.
Even as Adam mentioned his justifications for killing Jason Andrews, Jack grudgingly, bitterly, couldn't help but admit that Adam was right. That didn't stop his free hand from twitching ever so slightly at what Adam had to say about Jason's death, which Jack found scathing. He simply found it the hardest thing to believe that his own teammate would ever consider trying to kill him, they had been like brothers with the rest of the team. Yet Jack found himself unable to do anything else but admit that Adam spoke the plain and simple truth. And it remained a plain and simple fact that Jason had been a killer, like Jack was now.
As Jack listened to the end, his expression remained unchanged. In honesty, he still couldn't bring himself up to see Adam as little more than just another killer, a common criminal of the worst kind, but at least he wasn't trying to deny it. If anything, he at least acknowledged the fact that he'd killed simply by making the effort to justify himself. At least he wasn't running away from the fact that he was a killer.
A stretch of silence lingered in the atmosphere as Adam ended his rant, defending himself to its end. His words seemed to resonate in the air between them, despite the deafening silence that had befallen the environment once again.
At last, Jack let out a sigh, almost uncharacteristic of the stoic disposition he had put on, which now seemed to have fallen into an expression of weariness.
"I see your reasons," he said finally. "In the end, you simply did what you simply had to do to survive. It's as plain as that. You were able to do that, which was how you managed to come this far. You wanted to survive, and I can understand that. But it doesn't change all that you've done. People have died by your hand. Eleven people. One with cold blood, even." He nodded towards the mangled corpse of Cody Jenson, still pinned against the tree.
He put his free hand to the rim of his glasses, adjusting them slightly as he continued with a rather thoughtful tone. "And you're right, Adam. I'd be a hypocrite if said that I was different from you. I'm not. I'm a killer just like you. Although, your kill count eclipses mine several times over, we're both killers all the same. No reason, no justification, no end can erase or alter that fact. We've both taken lives. You and I are the same...except for one difference. I'm not playing to survive this game."
He slowly lifted the ingram again, though not to aim at Adam this time. Though he held it by the handle, it was held across his chest, its barrel lifted up by his other hand for him to examine thoughtfully. "The way I see it... justice needs to be done. And like I've said before, I can't let you leave this island, no matter what. The outside world doesn't need killers and murderers like you and I. We've sunk to the lowest point. Could you possibly see yourself facing your old friends, your old family when they know...when you know....when the entire world knows and has seen all that you've done? Do you think society could possibly look at you as a normal human being like everyone else? Could you ever look at yourself the same way? I know I couldn't do that."
"Which is why I want nothing more than to see you dead before I turn the gun on myself," Jack said calmly, suddenly lifting the Ingram higher, though rather than pointing it straight as Adam, he aimed it straight into the side of his head. "There won't be a winner, Adam. There will only be justice. Justice will ensure that no killer escapes this island, no killer will return home to infect society. I'll end my life on this island, after ensuring that there's no escape for you. Believe me, justice will be served. All I need to do now is to kill you, and the rest is easy."
Once again, he turned to aim his Ingram once again towards Adam. "But I guess this is the part where you have to try and stop me, Adam. It's up to you now. Am I going to save your life? Or am I going to end it?"
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler LadyMakaze. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
Tensing up when Jack raised the gun, Adam couldn't help but do a bit of a double take when he placed the muzzle against his own head. Eyes widening in surprise, Adam listened to Jack's intentions. As Jack revealed the plans to kill Adam, and then himself, something struck Adam as being rather odd, and he decided to call Jack on it.
"Hold the fuck on, here. Did you just...say that you weren't playing to win? That if you do, you're going to make sure I'm dead, then blow your own fool head off? You've got to be fucking kidding me! Jack, tell me this. Am I seriously the only person who's been going along with the hope of going home again? That's the biggest thing that's been motivating me through all of this - that I want to go home. I want to get back to my life. I want to get married, have kids. I want to go to university. I want to go to all of the expensive therapy that I'm going to essentially fucking demand that the US Government pay for. I want to see my folks. I want to move back to Canada so I can escape all of the bullshit that the United States has essentially become. I want to get on with my life, and die as an old fucking man at the ripe old age of 135. And yet...what's weird - is that every other person in the final four seems to have accepted the fact that they're not going home again."
Adam paused for a moment, and looked at the Uzi in his hand. The fully loaded weapon had been one of the few that he hadn't used at least somewhat, and Adam had to admit that after this, he'd be pleased if he never saw another weapon again.
"I talked to Sidney Crosby really shortly before he died, and while he was wounded, still recovering from Cody Jenson almost killing him, he had this resignation in his eyes that told me in spades that Sidney believed he would die. He said otherwise, but his words were those of a person who didn't believe a fucking word of what they were saying. Sidney expected to die, almost as if he knew he was the weakest of the four of us. He died saving my life...twice. However the fuck that worked out. But you catch my drift."
I still don't even know how it was possible that he managed to get up, but good ol' Sidney Crosby proved to be one tough SOB.
"Crosby was tougher than he gave himself credit for, he could have made it if he believed in himself. But that didn't change the fact that he gave up on life. Cody Jenson was the same. Granted, the guy was a twisted psychopath, but he said almost the same thing. That he'd kill me, kill Crosby, kill you, and kill himself. Or kill himself and leave you the winner. To which apparently you would have killed yourself too. It doesn't make any sense. We're fighting for life, and everyone else has given up on it! Well let me tell you, Jack; I want to fucking live! I WANT TO GO HOME! I hate it as much as you do, but the only person standing between me and a potential ticket out of this hell is you. I am prepared to go through you, I'm not just going to sit down and let you kill me. But..."
Adam trailed off, an idea forming in his head. He wanted to avoid another firefight, and he had an idea of how to do it.
"...but the thing is, Jack...I have a lot of respect for you. You're obviously a really moral person, someone who, y'know, knows the difference between right and wrong - so much so that you're willing to die for it, because you feel that you're in the wrong. So...I propose to you that we settle this, instead of one big firefight, with ...sort of something out of a John Wayne movie. The old..."ten paces" thing. Ten paces, out loud, then we turn and fire. One person'll probably end up dead, really whoever's got the quicker shot. There's only the two of us, and...well, it just seems like it's fitting, don't you think? End this horrible competition with honour? What d'you say, Jack?"
Adam looked at Jack with as normal a face as he could manage, given the circumstances. He was bruised, bloody, and a lot more learned, especially in the last few days, but Jack knew that Adam Dodd was a person who was a good guy, a person who liked to be honourable about things. If he could do things fairly, he would. This proposed idea, for Adam, was his way of trying to do this as fairly as possible with someone who he respected.
And then when I get to four paces, I'll turn around early and shoot him in the back.
At least, that's what he would hope that Jack would think. It was a sinister plan, and Adam knew that Jack would fall for it. He was going on pure instinct now, pure adrenaline, and he knew that this was it. Jack and him would line up for ten paces, and on four, Adam would turn, and do the dishonourable thing and shoot Jack in the back. There'd be time for remorse later.
He'd never see it coming. No one would.
"Hold the fuck on, here. Did you just...say that you weren't playing to win? That if you do, you're going to make sure I'm dead, then blow your own fool head off? You've got to be fucking kidding me! Jack, tell me this. Am I seriously the only person who's been going along with the hope of going home again? That's the biggest thing that's been motivating me through all of this - that I want to go home. I want to get back to my life. I want to get married, have kids. I want to go to university. I want to go to all of the expensive therapy that I'm going to essentially fucking demand that the US Government pay for. I want to see my folks. I want to move back to Canada so I can escape all of the bullshit that the United States has essentially become. I want to get on with my life, and die as an old fucking man at the ripe old age of 135. And yet...what's weird - is that every other person in the final four seems to have accepted the fact that they're not going home again."
Adam paused for a moment, and looked at the Uzi in his hand. The fully loaded weapon had been one of the few that he hadn't used at least somewhat, and Adam had to admit that after this, he'd be pleased if he never saw another weapon again.
"I talked to Sidney Crosby really shortly before he died, and while he was wounded, still recovering from Cody Jenson almost killing him, he had this resignation in his eyes that told me in spades that Sidney believed he would die. He said otherwise, but his words were those of a person who didn't believe a fucking word of what they were saying. Sidney expected to die, almost as if he knew he was the weakest of the four of us. He died saving my life...twice. However the fuck that worked out. But you catch my drift."
I still don't even know how it was possible that he managed to get up, but good ol' Sidney Crosby proved to be one tough SOB.
"Crosby was tougher than he gave himself credit for, he could have made it if he believed in himself. But that didn't change the fact that he gave up on life. Cody Jenson was the same. Granted, the guy was a twisted psychopath, but he said almost the same thing. That he'd kill me, kill Crosby, kill you, and kill himself. Or kill himself and leave you the winner. To which apparently you would have killed yourself too. It doesn't make any sense. We're fighting for life, and everyone else has given up on it! Well let me tell you, Jack; I want to fucking live! I WANT TO GO HOME! I hate it as much as you do, but the only person standing between me and a potential ticket out of this hell is you. I am prepared to go through you, I'm not just going to sit down and let you kill me. But..."
Adam trailed off, an idea forming in his head. He wanted to avoid another firefight, and he had an idea of how to do it.
"...but the thing is, Jack...I have a lot of respect for you. You're obviously a really moral person, someone who, y'know, knows the difference between right and wrong - so much so that you're willing to die for it, because you feel that you're in the wrong. So...I propose to you that we settle this, instead of one big firefight, with ...sort of something out of a John Wayne movie. The old..."ten paces" thing. Ten paces, out loud, then we turn and fire. One person'll probably end up dead, really whoever's got the quicker shot. There's only the two of us, and...well, it just seems like it's fitting, don't you think? End this horrible competition with honour? What d'you say, Jack?"
Adam looked at Jack with as normal a face as he could manage, given the circumstances. He was bruised, bloody, and a lot more learned, especially in the last few days, but Jack knew that Adam Dodd was a person who was a good guy, a person who liked to be honourable about things. If he could do things fairly, he would. This proposed idea, for Adam, was his way of trying to do this as fairly as possible with someone who he respected.
And then when I get to four paces, I'll turn around early and shoot him in the back.
At least, that's what he would hope that Jack would think. It was a sinister plan, and Adam knew that Jack would fall for it. He was going on pure instinct now, pure adrenaline, and he knew that this was it. Jack and him would line up for ten paces, and on four, Adam would turn, and do the dishonourable thing and shoot Jack in the back. There'd be time for remorse later.
He'd never see it coming. No one would.
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LadyMakaze†
- Posts: 475
- Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:48 pm
Jack only looked on with a calm, unwavering gaze as Adam expressed just what he had to say on Jack's plan to make sure justice prevailed at all costs. If anything, Adam reacted with incredulity and disbelief, which didn't surprise Jack in the slightest. He might have seen this sort of reaction, for he didn't expect Adam to understand his reasons. Though as Adam spoke his turn, Jack couldn't help but allow himself to be somewhat struck by the words of the redhead standing before him.
Adam wanted to survive. He had fought so hard, been through much to get this far. But to only get this far simply wasn't enough for Adam. That wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to go beyond that. He wanted to survive this game as the winner and return home, even if it meant mowing down Jack with the uzi he held in his hand. He simply wanted to live.
Since the death of the Terrorist Kaige at his hands, Jack was simply unable to deal with the fact that he now had blood to his name. He had snapped at that point, nearly broke down at this point, before he decided how he was going to end this game. He would make sure that he was the last one standing...and then take his own life. If he were able to do that, than at least perhaps he would be able to look at himself as a human being again.
But before....before that happened, Jack had wanted nothing more than to live, to escape the island and return home. He'd worked so hard, toiled alongside Martyn and Jill on the plan that had been doing so well until everything fell apart. They might've escaped. They wanted to escape. That was all that was on his mind, to escape, and also to survive long enough to do so. He had nearly forgotten about all that since the aftermath of his first kill, only to remember again, listening to Adam as he made clear his desire to go home and live out his life whatever the cost. And for a moment, he suddenly realized, that a part of him ...One small part of him that didn't care about morals, that didn't care about justice, and only cared about himself and his own well being...there was a part of him that just wanted to go home.
And he was so close. What if he didn't want to die? What if instead...he wanted to live? If he wanted to, if he truly wished for it, there was a chance that he could go home, and maybe put all of the events of the island behind him. The only thing that was standing in his way now was the sixteen year old boy before him. Only one of them would get that choice. Only one of them would have the opportunity to go home. Only one of them would return to normality to live the rest of their life...
As a killer... Jack's more rational, calculating side thought bitterly. In an instant, all the hope that had gathered inside him the moment Adam reminded him of his desire to go home dissolved to nothingness. He now remembered what he had become now, and that home was no longer a place for him.
Jack tensed himself, ready for the final shootout of the game, hoping that whatever happened would be quick with the least amount of trouble as was possible. But it was then that Adam surprised him yet again, coming up with a suggestion as to how to settle this once and for all.
As Adam explained the rules of the game, Jack couldn't help but twist his lips in a thoughtful smile. "John Wayne. Interesting."
Though in fact, Jack could not help but regard Adam with something of a look of suspicion and mild distrust. Though the idea seemed like a more 'honourable', and quicker way to put an end to this, there was also a chance that either party might forsake his honour. And considering what was on the line here, Jack already knew just how far Adam was willing to go to survive this game. Even though Jack knew Adam wasn't evil for all he had done, he had no way of telling by expression or speech alone whether Adam placed his honour beneath him.
Nevertheless...
".... Alright then. Seems like at least a decent, and quick way to settle this," he replied, keeping his tone even and calm, though he could feel his free hand behind him shaking. There was no way he could mess this up, no way he could lose this opportunity. He had to make sure that he was the one who emerged the victor. "That means, that we're going to turn around then. At the same time."
I'll get him at five steps...
He moved slightly to turn, waiting as Adam moved to do so. Cautiously watching Adam with a wary glance as he pointed his weapon towards the opposite direction, he met Adam's eyes with his own, nodding once in a silent affirmation.
No...third or fourth step would be better.
They turned in unsteady unison, backs facing eachother. Jack gripped the handle of the uzi with his right hand, the barrel in the other, already planning just where he would aim and at what speed he would turn. His index finger rested firmly against the trigger as he gazed into the woods beyond. His heart began to race. This was it. This was the decisive battle that would determine who would live to see the end of this. He began to clear his mind of all distracting thoughts....the names of his fallen teammates as they were announced into the open air...the sight of Martyn and Jill lying dead in the wake of a grenade explosion...the sight of Kaige with a gunshot wound in the centre of her forehead...
It was all forgotten. The last thing Jack ever said to Adam, before falling into determined, grim concentration. "I wonder if we might have been friends if things had turned out differently. In any case...I can say it was alright knowing you."
His slight smile faded as the stoic, unreadable expression returned to his face. His jaw set in grim determination, unwilling to let anything at all go wrong.
"...Ready?"
Adam wanted to survive. He had fought so hard, been through much to get this far. But to only get this far simply wasn't enough for Adam. That wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to go beyond that. He wanted to survive this game as the winner and return home, even if it meant mowing down Jack with the uzi he held in his hand. He simply wanted to live.
Since the death of the Terrorist Kaige at his hands, Jack was simply unable to deal with the fact that he now had blood to his name. He had snapped at that point, nearly broke down at this point, before he decided how he was going to end this game. He would make sure that he was the last one standing...and then take his own life. If he were able to do that, than at least perhaps he would be able to look at himself as a human being again.
But before....before that happened, Jack had wanted nothing more than to live, to escape the island and return home. He'd worked so hard, toiled alongside Martyn and Jill on the plan that had been doing so well until everything fell apart. They might've escaped. They wanted to escape. That was all that was on his mind, to escape, and also to survive long enough to do so. He had nearly forgotten about all that since the aftermath of his first kill, only to remember again, listening to Adam as he made clear his desire to go home and live out his life whatever the cost. And for a moment, he suddenly realized, that a part of him ...One small part of him that didn't care about morals, that didn't care about justice, and only cared about himself and his own well being...there was a part of him that just wanted to go home.
And he was so close. What if he didn't want to die? What if instead...he wanted to live? If he wanted to, if he truly wished for it, there was a chance that he could go home, and maybe put all of the events of the island behind him. The only thing that was standing in his way now was the sixteen year old boy before him. Only one of them would get that choice. Only one of them would have the opportunity to go home. Only one of them would return to normality to live the rest of their life...
As a killer... Jack's more rational, calculating side thought bitterly. In an instant, all the hope that had gathered inside him the moment Adam reminded him of his desire to go home dissolved to nothingness. He now remembered what he had become now, and that home was no longer a place for him.
Jack tensed himself, ready for the final shootout of the game, hoping that whatever happened would be quick with the least amount of trouble as was possible. But it was then that Adam surprised him yet again, coming up with a suggestion as to how to settle this once and for all.
As Adam explained the rules of the game, Jack couldn't help but twist his lips in a thoughtful smile. "John Wayne. Interesting."
Though in fact, Jack could not help but regard Adam with something of a look of suspicion and mild distrust. Though the idea seemed like a more 'honourable', and quicker way to put an end to this, there was also a chance that either party might forsake his honour. And considering what was on the line here, Jack already knew just how far Adam was willing to go to survive this game. Even though Jack knew Adam wasn't evil for all he had done, he had no way of telling by expression or speech alone whether Adam placed his honour beneath him.
Nevertheless...
".... Alright then. Seems like at least a decent, and quick way to settle this," he replied, keeping his tone even and calm, though he could feel his free hand behind him shaking. There was no way he could mess this up, no way he could lose this opportunity. He had to make sure that he was the one who emerged the victor. "That means, that we're going to turn around then. At the same time."
I'll get him at five steps...
He moved slightly to turn, waiting as Adam moved to do so. Cautiously watching Adam with a wary glance as he pointed his weapon towards the opposite direction, he met Adam's eyes with his own, nodding once in a silent affirmation.
No...third or fourth step would be better.
They turned in unsteady unison, backs facing eachother. Jack gripped the handle of the uzi with his right hand, the barrel in the other, already planning just where he would aim and at what speed he would turn. His index finger rested firmly against the trigger as he gazed into the woods beyond. His heart began to race. This was it. This was the decisive battle that would determine who would live to see the end of this. He began to clear his mind of all distracting thoughts....the names of his fallen teammates as they were announced into the open air...the sight of Martyn and Jill lying dead in the wake of a grenade explosion...the sight of Kaige with a gunshot wound in the centre of her forehead...
It was all forgotten. The last thing Jack ever said to Adam, before falling into determined, grim concentration. "I wonder if we might have been friends if things had turned out differently. In any case...I can say it was alright knowing you."
His slight smile faded as the stoic, unreadable expression returned to his face. His jaw set in grim determination, unwilling to let anything at all go wrong.
"...Ready?"
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler LadyMakaze. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
Listening to Jack's final words, and watching him nod in agreement with what they needed to do, Adam almost felt guilty. This entire plan had been set up so that Adam could do something so unbelievably out of character for himself - break an agreement and shoot someone in the back, and while he was fully intending on carrying it through, he didn't feel the same about it like he had about killing Cody. That was a completely different matter. Cody had been a murderous psychopath who'd wronged him in so many different ways. Jack...Jack was simply standing between him and freedom. That was it. Nonetheless, as both boys turned around and stood back to back, Adam checked his Uzi one more time to ensure that it was in proper working order (he'd never actually fired it), and listened to Jack's last comment.
Yeah, maybe if things had been different, we'd have been friends. As it is, it doesn't help that I know him, went to school with him - his parents live in the same town that mine do...we're so similar, we've both lost people, but...now, it all comes down to this. Ten steps away, and at four I'm going to turn around and blow him away.
At that thought, Adam's hands began to shake a little bit. Part of it, he figured, was likely out of fear, the other out of the pain that'd finally set in completely, thanks to the effect of the morphine wearing off. He felt every small movement that he made, and everything from the slightest twitch of a finger to the bending of an elbow seemed to hurt him. The consistent pain in his body only reminded him even more of how much he'd been through here to lose now, to go out fighting now.
I can't allow myself to lose.
Adam grimaced to himself.
Problem is, it isn't even up to me.
"Alright, Jack. This is it, man. it's...well, it hasn't been fun, but it's been...something, all right. Pardon me if I don't exactly wish you good luck, or anything, though. Ten paces, and then that's it. Count your paces out loud, eh? Let's do it."
At that, Adam took one large step in front of him. Due to the sloping of the ground, Adam adjusted his pace to the side a little bit, taking him slightly towards the edge of the river, and towards the three graves that had been dug ever-so-long ago (or so it seemed).
"One..."
Taking a second pace, Adam's mind was racing with questions. What direction would he turn, where would he aim, and how fast would be pull the trigger? He knew that with an Uzi, it was better to fire in short, controlled bursts, and as he took his second step, he hoped that Jack didn't know that, so his fire would go off and to the side.
"Two..."
Yeah, maybe if things had been different, we'd have been friends. As it is, it doesn't help that I know him, went to school with him - his parents live in the same town that mine do...we're so similar, we've both lost people, but...now, it all comes down to this. Ten steps away, and at four I'm going to turn around and blow him away.
At that thought, Adam's hands began to shake a little bit. Part of it, he figured, was likely out of fear, the other out of the pain that'd finally set in completely, thanks to the effect of the morphine wearing off. He felt every small movement that he made, and everything from the slightest twitch of a finger to the bending of an elbow seemed to hurt him. The consistent pain in his body only reminded him even more of how much he'd been through here to lose now, to go out fighting now.
I can't allow myself to lose.
Adam grimaced to himself.
Problem is, it isn't even up to me.
"Alright, Jack. This is it, man. it's...well, it hasn't been fun, but it's been...something, all right. Pardon me if I don't exactly wish you good luck, or anything, though. Ten paces, and then that's it. Count your paces out loud, eh? Let's do it."
At that, Adam took one large step in front of him. Due to the sloping of the ground, Adam adjusted his pace to the side a little bit, taking him slightly towards the edge of the river, and towards the three graves that had been dug ever-so-long ago (or so it seemed).
"One..."
Taking a second pace, Adam's mind was racing with questions. What direction would he turn, where would he aim, and how fast would be pull the trigger? He knew that with an Uzi, it was better to fire in short, controlled bursts, and as he took his second step, he hoped that Jack didn't know that, so his fire would go off and to the side.
"Two..."
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LadyMakaze†
- Posts: 475
- Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:48 pm
From the moment he'd turned away, Jack thought for a near-paralyzing second that Adam would instantly whirl around and gun him down from behind. Yet the bullets never came, and so the ringing silence that had filled his ears remained unbroken, as did the tension that now held a grip on his form as he contemplated just exactly what he would do within the mere minute that followed.
This was it. This was the decisive moment. This was what would determine whether or not Jack would live to see this through and end things the way he wanted. Never in a million years would he have forseen himself at the start of the game standing in this position, right here, right now. All he had wanted to do was to escape. All the work he had put into was for this purpose alone, and now that it had been laid to waste, it changed the way he looked at the game, as well as himself. And it was because of that, that it became all the more important to leave absolutely no room for error.
He was going to kill Adam. He knew this. He would win SOTF and forfeit his own life, ending everything not on the terms of the terrorists, but of his own. He would beat the game. It made so much sense, and he couldn't possibly see the course of fate turning towards any other direction.
And now, as Adam wished him good luck and gave the cue to begin, Jack nodded slightly to himself. "Right, then."
He could not help but smile to himself slightly as he adjusted his grip on the ingram, ready to make his move. It was funny in a way. Trust had never been a real option for survival in a game like SOTF. It was just as the name implied, Survival of the Fittest. There was no way that overrated, overdramatized concepts such as love or friendship, let alone trust could possibly override the most basic and most selfish instinct, the human will to survive. In fact, trust would only meant death for the naive in this game, as Jack had seen for himself.
But what was funny was the fact that he was counting on Adam's sense of honour (existant or not), because that was what he needed to get through this alive. He was essentially placing all of his trust on Adam to walk the entire ten steps, so that Jack would be able to get an early shot at him, ending it all sooner than Adam would ever anticipate. And Jack knew, honour or no, that Adam trusted him in the same way. Right now, these two students, having fought a desperate ten-day battle for survival, were now trusting one another to do the right thing, and let fate decide.
As it would turn out, fate would leave one utterly, and miserably disappointed.
Sorry, Adam....but you know I have to do this. I don't think you have the right to blame me for what I am about to do.
Jack set the heel of his runner against the ground, tensing his grip against the handle of the ingram.
"One..."
Jack nearly froze, and was almost unable to take the first step for all the tension in his form. His limbs were stiff and almost sore from the sheer pressure of it all as he took the first step away from the boy behind him.
"Two..."
The second step was easier than the last, though by now, the pace of Jack's breath had risen considerably at the very anticipation of it all. This was only half way through. It would be the next, and the last step that would decide it all...
Jack's voice lowered considerably as he announced his next move, ever calm and ever casual as though it were all a simple game to him.
"Three."
The open air of the surrounding area seemed to freeze itself in a gripping silence as Jack moved to take his next step...
He pivoted, and instantly, his form had twisted a full 180 degrees so that he was facing where he remembered Adam had been standing. The Ingram in his hands rattled in a successive fury of mechanically shot bullets that ripped through the air.
Jack fired blindly, the thundering shots that burst from his gun nearly rendering him deaf as they filled his ears. And despite all that was happening, he could only stare ahead, his eyes widening slightly. He could hardly believe he was actually happening.
He was still living. The plan had worked perfectly. No doubt Adam had already fallen, taken off guard from the back by Jack's tactic. Jack could feel the sheer force of the rapid fire in the hands, no one could possibly survive this sort of power! No doubt by now he had already won...
He released the trigger and waited for the environment ahead of him to fade back into recognition, and for the vision in his mind to return to clarity. He waited, eager to see the confirmation of his victory.
The smile on Jack's face faded ever so slightly, before it faded into a sudden frown. It wasn't long until the nonplussed expression on his face suddenly faded into a look of utter shock, almost something of pure terror on his face. His form suddenly felt as though he had been deprived of all strength, and his blood ran cold at the shock of it all. The hand that gripped the handle of the Ingram faltered, and shook.
"W-what...."
Adam Dodd was no longer in front of him. Unbeknownst to Jack, Adam had moved off to the side as he walked away, for there had been a slope before him. And Jack...Jack mistakenly thought the other boy had remained directly behind him, and had missed. And now...
Jack's eyes met those of Adam and they locked together for a split second. It took Jack what would prove to be a split second too long to snap out of his shocked trance, and readjust his aim so that the ingram directed itself towards Adam this time.
But as Jack's grip on the Ingram faltered, there was a small part of him that knew that it was much too late.
This was it. This was the decisive moment. This was what would determine whether or not Jack would live to see this through and end things the way he wanted. Never in a million years would he have forseen himself at the start of the game standing in this position, right here, right now. All he had wanted to do was to escape. All the work he had put into was for this purpose alone, and now that it had been laid to waste, it changed the way he looked at the game, as well as himself. And it was because of that, that it became all the more important to leave absolutely no room for error.
He was going to kill Adam. He knew this. He would win SOTF and forfeit his own life, ending everything not on the terms of the terrorists, but of his own. He would beat the game. It made so much sense, and he couldn't possibly see the course of fate turning towards any other direction.
And now, as Adam wished him good luck and gave the cue to begin, Jack nodded slightly to himself. "Right, then."
He could not help but smile to himself slightly as he adjusted his grip on the ingram, ready to make his move. It was funny in a way. Trust had never been a real option for survival in a game like SOTF. It was just as the name implied, Survival of the Fittest. There was no way that overrated, overdramatized concepts such as love or friendship, let alone trust could possibly override the most basic and most selfish instinct, the human will to survive. In fact, trust would only meant death for the naive in this game, as Jack had seen for himself.
But what was funny was the fact that he was counting on Adam's sense of honour (existant or not), because that was what he needed to get through this alive. He was essentially placing all of his trust on Adam to walk the entire ten steps, so that Jack would be able to get an early shot at him, ending it all sooner than Adam would ever anticipate. And Jack knew, honour or no, that Adam trusted him in the same way. Right now, these two students, having fought a desperate ten-day battle for survival, were now trusting one another to do the right thing, and let fate decide.
As it would turn out, fate would leave one utterly, and miserably disappointed.
Sorry, Adam....but you know I have to do this. I don't think you have the right to blame me for what I am about to do.
Jack set the heel of his runner against the ground, tensing his grip against the handle of the ingram.
"One..."
Jack nearly froze, and was almost unable to take the first step for all the tension in his form. His limbs were stiff and almost sore from the sheer pressure of it all as he took the first step away from the boy behind him.
"Two..."
The second step was easier than the last, though by now, the pace of Jack's breath had risen considerably at the very anticipation of it all. This was only half way through. It would be the next, and the last step that would decide it all...
Jack's voice lowered considerably as he announced his next move, ever calm and ever casual as though it were all a simple game to him.
"Three."
The open air of the surrounding area seemed to freeze itself in a gripping silence as Jack moved to take his next step...
He pivoted, and instantly, his form had twisted a full 180 degrees so that he was facing where he remembered Adam had been standing. The Ingram in his hands rattled in a successive fury of mechanically shot bullets that ripped through the air.
Jack fired blindly, the thundering shots that burst from his gun nearly rendering him deaf as they filled his ears. And despite all that was happening, he could only stare ahead, his eyes widening slightly. He could hardly believe he was actually happening.
He was still living. The plan had worked perfectly. No doubt Adam had already fallen, taken off guard from the back by Jack's tactic. Jack could feel the sheer force of the rapid fire in the hands, no one could possibly survive this sort of power! No doubt by now he had already won...
He released the trigger and waited for the environment ahead of him to fade back into recognition, and for the vision in his mind to return to clarity. He waited, eager to see the confirmation of his victory.
The smile on Jack's face faded ever so slightly, before it faded into a sudden frown. It wasn't long until the nonplussed expression on his face suddenly faded into a look of utter shock, almost something of pure terror on his face. His form suddenly felt as though he had been deprived of all strength, and his blood ran cold at the shock of it all. The hand that gripped the handle of the Ingram faltered, and shook.
"W-what...."
Adam Dodd was no longer in front of him. Unbeknownst to Jack, Adam had moved off to the side as he walked away, for there had been a slope before him. And Jack...Jack mistakenly thought the other boy had remained directly behind him, and had missed. And now...
Jack's eyes met those of Adam and they locked together for a split second. It took Jack what would prove to be a split second too long to snap out of his shocked trance, and readjust his aim so that the ingram directed itself towards Adam this time.
But as Jack's grip on the Ingram faltered, there was a small part of him that knew that it was much too late.
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"Three..."
As Adam took his third step, he tried to stifle the almost obscenely loud sound that his heart was making, beating in his chest. He was nervous now, for it was almost time for the biggest betrayal that he would likely ever have to perpetrate. As he took the fourth step, he began to call out what would be the last step he planned on taking, but was rudely interrupted by a sound that shocked him.
"F-"
The wild sound of gunshots spraying out of the barrel of an Uzi exploded in the air around Adam's left side, something inside of him instinctively knowing that it was over. But much to his surprise, as he whirled around to try and face Jack, to see the expression of the boy who had somehow managed to outsmart Adam at his own game, he realized that none of the bullets had hit him.
This seems oddly like something out of Pulp Fiction, where Jack's the guy in the apartment, and I'm Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta rolled up into one, getting shot at by that dude who came out of the closet, or kitchen, or whatever...
"F...fuck!"
As Adam's eyes met Jack's astonished glance, he knew that his own face was holding a clear look of absolute and utter astonishment. Jack O'Connor, he who had been so obsessed with the concepts of right and wrong, had beaten him at his own game of betrayal, and Adam couldn't help but feel as though he'd been beaten. Of course, Jack had (somehow) missed, and Adam could feel the heart in his chest still beating as hard as it probably could without exploding. It was that pounding in his chest that kept him from gawking in absolute shock, and as he saw Jack falter with the Uzi, his next move came almost instinctively.
I can't fucking believe this...
Raising his own Uzi, he quickly depressed the trigger, still with an expression of shock on his own face, and sent four bullets into Jack's stomach, sending the boy tumbling backwards onto the ground. Still looking with an air of shock around him, Adam's thoughts began to race, as he tried to figure out how it was that Jack had missed. He looked around at the area, glanced at his own gun, and then realized that the one thing that had saved his own life had been something that he'd never even figured before. The ground, which had sloped down to the right, had not been on an even plane for Adam when he had started doing his paces. As such, when he'd tried to correct and get himself on even ground, he'd strayed to the right and had inadvertantly put himself out of Jack's direct line of sight from when he'd started. The move would have likely saved his life no matter if he'd turned at four paces, or at ten. Adam still looked on, shocked, as Jack lay in a prone position on the ground.
So...is this it, then? Survival of the Fittest is over? Is it really over?
Looking at his Uzi, Adam instantly felt as though the gun itself had some sort of parasites on it, as he felt dirty simply holding it. A look of disgust crawling across his face, he tossed the submachine gun into the river, and watched as it sunk to the bottom. Shaking his head, he sighed a very deep sigh, and slowly walked over to where Jack's body lay, almost unbelieving of the fact that he was the last person standing.
As Adam took his third step, he tried to stifle the almost obscenely loud sound that his heart was making, beating in his chest. He was nervous now, for it was almost time for the biggest betrayal that he would likely ever have to perpetrate. As he took the fourth step, he began to call out what would be the last step he planned on taking, but was rudely interrupted by a sound that shocked him.
"F-"
The wild sound of gunshots spraying out of the barrel of an Uzi exploded in the air around Adam's left side, something inside of him instinctively knowing that it was over. But much to his surprise, as he whirled around to try and face Jack, to see the expression of the boy who had somehow managed to outsmart Adam at his own game, he realized that none of the bullets had hit him.
This seems oddly like something out of Pulp Fiction, where Jack's the guy in the apartment, and I'm Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta rolled up into one, getting shot at by that dude who came out of the closet, or kitchen, or whatever...
"F...fuck!"
As Adam's eyes met Jack's astonished glance, he knew that his own face was holding a clear look of absolute and utter astonishment. Jack O'Connor, he who had been so obsessed with the concepts of right and wrong, had beaten him at his own game of betrayal, and Adam couldn't help but feel as though he'd been beaten. Of course, Jack had (somehow) missed, and Adam could feel the heart in his chest still beating as hard as it probably could without exploding. It was that pounding in his chest that kept him from gawking in absolute shock, and as he saw Jack falter with the Uzi, his next move came almost instinctively.
I can't fucking believe this...
Raising his own Uzi, he quickly depressed the trigger, still with an expression of shock on his own face, and sent four bullets into Jack's stomach, sending the boy tumbling backwards onto the ground. Still looking with an air of shock around him, Adam's thoughts began to race, as he tried to figure out how it was that Jack had missed. He looked around at the area, glanced at his own gun, and then realized that the one thing that had saved his own life had been something that he'd never even figured before. The ground, which had sloped down to the right, had not been on an even plane for Adam when he had started doing his paces. As such, when he'd tried to correct and get himself on even ground, he'd strayed to the right and had inadvertantly put himself out of Jack's direct line of sight from when he'd started. The move would have likely saved his life no matter if he'd turned at four paces, or at ten. Adam still looked on, shocked, as Jack lay in a prone position on the ground.
So...is this it, then? Survival of the Fittest is over? Is it really over?
Looking at his Uzi, Adam instantly felt as though the gun itself had some sort of parasites on it, as he felt dirty simply holding it. A look of disgust crawling across his face, he tossed the submachine gun into the river, and watched as it sunk to the bottom. Shaking his head, he sighed a very deep sigh, and slowly walked over to where Jack's body lay, almost unbelieving of the fact that he was the last person standing.
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LadyMakaze†
- Posts: 475
- Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:48 pm
For a moment, all that Jack could hear was the utter silence of the area once again, though this time the silence was mixed with the voice in the back of his mind hissing frustrated curses as he fumbled to properly grip the handle. Form shaking, he turned his attention once again towards Adam, face contorted in utter frustration and dismay, until his finger once again found the trigger.
Damn it all! I can't lose! I've come so far, worked so hard to reach this point up until now-
His thoughts were all but evaporated as the deafening rattle of successive fire pelted into the air once again. Though this time it wasn't his own Ingram that was being fired. His mind lapsed into stunned shock as his mind suddenly froze, along with his form, unable to react in time to what was happening all too quickly.
In an instant, an almost invisible force seemed to collide into him in a near-paralyzing impact, and in the split second that followed the first rhythm of successive fire, Jack found himself thrown back into the air, hit full-force by the sheer impact. His form collided numbly into the hard ground. His shoulder clipped the earth as he was thrown back against the ground and he rolled once twice before finally coming to a stop.
His eyes snapped wide open as his mind struggled to register exactly just what had happened. In time, the effects of adrenaline and panic wore off in his mind, and that was when he felt it.
For all the ten days he had spent on the island up until now, Jack had been proudly able to say that he was keeping up an uninjured streak. For all the destruction and injury that was being dealt...had been dealt among those who were forced to participate in this game of death and violence, Jack had never had a taste of any the injuries that essentially everyone else had been dealt with, let alone a gunshot wound.
And now it was then that he remembered what it was like to feel pain, and as though to make up for lost time, it wracked his fallen form. Just the sheer pain from the bullets that had plunged into his stomach and now resided inside him was enough to paralyze him numb. It surprised him, sent him into a momentary state of shock, for never did ever come close to imagining what it was like to be struck down with a machine gun.
But it was the sheer pain of it that was enough to knock him out of his trance-like state, and so his mind finally cleared up enough to think coherent thoughts, despite the agony the injuries were causing him.
I'm still alive...
He was still alive. And the ingram was still in his hand. Fate had given him another chance to set things right. And hearing the sound of a splash something striking running water as Adam threw away the machine gun in disgust, he knew that there was no way he could possibly mess up again.
God damn it....I'll kill you, Adam, if it's the last thing I'll ever do.
Jack had fallen completely still as soon at he had been gunned down by Adam. But no sooner had Adam only started to simply walk towards the fallen boy did Jack's form began to stir. As though on the verge of rage, he extended an arm and slammed a palm into the ground, struggling to heave himself up to his feet. On the ground he struggled, putting all the force of both of his hands into the ground in order to support his body. As he lifted himself onto his knees, blood dripped freely from the soaked, thick, mass of red that covered the front of his torso onto the ground.
It caused him enough pain just to lift himself up, but amazingly, he struggled upwards, pausing to gasp for air at several intervals. It took a good fifteen seconds before he could muster the strength to lift his hunched form onto his feet in a kneeling position. His form shook, threatening a collapse upon the hard ground once again, but with all the resolution of his being, Jack's injured body held that position.
And all the while....all the while, as he fought against excruciating pain to stand up once again, he was casting a look at Adam, one of the purest venom.
His form hunched over, wincing at several intervals from the sheer pain of the open wounds on his stomach, he pressed a hand against one knee for support and, with uneven gasps for air, lifted the ingram yet again to point it towards his enemy, the one who had caused him these grievous injuries.
For a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of his rapid, heavy breathing and the slight rattle of the machine gun in his hand as his arm shook badly. He continued to glare resolutely towards Adam, and paused his rapid breaths for only a second to swallow roughly for a moment. As he did so, he could taste the metallic, sharp tone of blood welling up from the depths of his throat.
For a good, tense moment did he do nothing but simply point the ingram towards Adam, though it seemed as though his aim were faltering yet again. Perhaps it was simply the exhaustion from the pain and loss of blood that was hindering him, but for some reason, the look of resignation that gradually began to replace the glare on his face seemed to hint otherwise.
Then, slowly, his gun arm began to lower slightly as what hate he had on his face seemed to fade completely. Not long after that, his arm dropped completely. The ingram that he held fell limply at his side before dropping to the ground, striking it with a brief clatter.
“Well, fuck….you know what? I’m just fucking tired of this all. It doesn’t matter anymore, Adam. It looks as though you’ve won. I even tried to cheat you out of the victory that was yours to begin with, and just look at me now. All war is deception, and deception got me killed.
Rather than giving Adam time to reply, he was instantly hit with a series of coughs. Immediately, his form crumpled up in pain as he clutched his stomach with one hand, his mouth with the other. Through the fingers covering his lips seeped blood. Dark red, and dripping. Even as blood welled up in his throat, he continued to speak, voice raspy and faltering at several intervals.
“…Though admittedly…I’m just glad it’s finally ending…. Of course, not the ending I’d anticipated, but an ending nonetheless. I was just getting so damn sick of everything…”
A harsh cough tore from his throat, and in an instant he was on the ground again just as a swell of blood grew in his mouth and burst from it. He choked and coughed out the red mess, looking as though he no longer had the energy to rise from his feet. To be honest, he was surprised that death was taking his time on Jack, and that though his body was wracked with pain and lost all strength, it still had plenty more time left before it finally gave out. Which was what motivated Jack to say to Adam what he needed to say before his time was up.
“…I….I have something I need to let you know…” this he said in a low, rough voice that faltered. Despite his pained expression, he forced an ironic smile of sorts. “Those damn terrorists…the real enemy here…they’re likely going through hell fixing up the mess I made for them as I speak. …The database…we hacked them. I got through security… The virus… to mess up their database.”
Jack gradually felt his strength waning further and further the more he spoke. But the more words that came out of his mouth, the more relieved he felt, for he knew that as the winner, Adam at least deserved the right to know that the students themselves had done their fighting part against the true enemy, Danya and his organization.
And finally, at the point in which he could only gasp for deep, coarse breaths, his strength finally failed him as he swallowed hard once again, a line of red coursing from his mouth. The pain in his stomach had been reduced to a dull ache, for his body was running cold and numb, a sickening feeling that sent his mind into a clouded daze.
It was then that Jack spoke, yet again, in a voice barely audible this time, as though he was taking all the strength he had just to utter them.
“Now…now that you’ve won Adam… end it. …You… you have that right… shoot me now, and make it quick this time. I’m just tired of it all. Just… kill me. I’m pretty much dead here anyways…”
He forced a grim smile towards Adam as he lay on the ground. With his skin paling to a bluish-grey tone, and blood lining his mouth, eyes clouding over, it made the sight look as though the one grinning was the vision of Death himself.
“And…if you have the chance…give Danya my regards.”
Damn it all! I can't lose! I've come so far, worked so hard to reach this point up until now-
His thoughts were all but evaporated as the deafening rattle of successive fire pelted into the air once again. Though this time it wasn't his own Ingram that was being fired. His mind lapsed into stunned shock as his mind suddenly froze, along with his form, unable to react in time to what was happening all too quickly.
In an instant, an almost invisible force seemed to collide into him in a near-paralyzing impact, and in the split second that followed the first rhythm of successive fire, Jack found himself thrown back into the air, hit full-force by the sheer impact. His form collided numbly into the hard ground. His shoulder clipped the earth as he was thrown back against the ground and he rolled once twice before finally coming to a stop.
His eyes snapped wide open as his mind struggled to register exactly just what had happened. In time, the effects of adrenaline and panic wore off in his mind, and that was when he felt it.
For all the ten days he had spent on the island up until now, Jack had been proudly able to say that he was keeping up an uninjured streak. For all the destruction and injury that was being dealt...had been dealt among those who were forced to participate in this game of death and violence, Jack had never had a taste of any the injuries that essentially everyone else had been dealt with, let alone a gunshot wound.
And now it was then that he remembered what it was like to feel pain, and as though to make up for lost time, it wracked his fallen form. Just the sheer pain from the bullets that had plunged into his stomach and now resided inside him was enough to paralyze him numb. It surprised him, sent him into a momentary state of shock, for never did ever come close to imagining what it was like to be struck down with a machine gun.
But it was the sheer pain of it that was enough to knock him out of his trance-like state, and so his mind finally cleared up enough to think coherent thoughts, despite the agony the injuries were causing him.
I'm still alive...
He was still alive. And the ingram was still in his hand. Fate had given him another chance to set things right. And hearing the sound of a splash something striking running water as Adam threw away the machine gun in disgust, he knew that there was no way he could possibly mess up again.
God damn it....I'll kill you, Adam, if it's the last thing I'll ever do.
Jack had fallen completely still as soon at he had been gunned down by Adam. But no sooner had Adam only started to simply walk towards the fallen boy did Jack's form began to stir. As though on the verge of rage, he extended an arm and slammed a palm into the ground, struggling to heave himself up to his feet. On the ground he struggled, putting all the force of both of his hands into the ground in order to support his body. As he lifted himself onto his knees, blood dripped freely from the soaked, thick, mass of red that covered the front of his torso onto the ground.
It caused him enough pain just to lift himself up, but amazingly, he struggled upwards, pausing to gasp for air at several intervals. It took a good fifteen seconds before he could muster the strength to lift his hunched form onto his feet in a kneeling position. His form shook, threatening a collapse upon the hard ground once again, but with all the resolution of his being, Jack's injured body held that position.
And all the while....all the while, as he fought against excruciating pain to stand up once again, he was casting a look at Adam, one of the purest venom.
His form hunched over, wincing at several intervals from the sheer pain of the open wounds on his stomach, he pressed a hand against one knee for support and, with uneven gasps for air, lifted the ingram yet again to point it towards his enemy, the one who had caused him these grievous injuries.
For a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of his rapid, heavy breathing and the slight rattle of the machine gun in his hand as his arm shook badly. He continued to glare resolutely towards Adam, and paused his rapid breaths for only a second to swallow roughly for a moment. As he did so, he could taste the metallic, sharp tone of blood welling up from the depths of his throat.
For a good, tense moment did he do nothing but simply point the ingram towards Adam, though it seemed as though his aim were faltering yet again. Perhaps it was simply the exhaustion from the pain and loss of blood that was hindering him, but for some reason, the look of resignation that gradually began to replace the glare on his face seemed to hint otherwise.
Then, slowly, his gun arm began to lower slightly as what hate he had on his face seemed to fade completely. Not long after that, his arm dropped completely. The ingram that he held fell limply at his side before dropping to the ground, striking it with a brief clatter.
“Well, fuck….you know what? I’m just fucking tired of this all. It doesn’t matter anymore, Adam. It looks as though you’ve won. I even tried to cheat you out of the victory that was yours to begin with, and just look at me now. All war is deception, and deception got me killed.
Rather than giving Adam time to reply, he was instantly hit with a series of coughs. Immediately, his form crumpled up in pain as he clutched his stomach with one hand, his mouth with the other. Through the fingers covering his lips seeped blood. Dark red, and dripping. Even as blood welled up in his throat, he continued to speak, voice raspy and faltering at several intervals.
“…Though admittedly…I’m just glad it’s finally ending…. Of course, not the ending I’d anticipated, but an ending nonetheless. I was just getting so damn sick of everything…”
A harsh cough tore from his throat, and in an instant he was on the ground again just as a swell of blood grew in his mouth and burst from it. He choked and coughed out the red mess, looking as though he no longer had the energy to rise from his feet. To be honest, he was surprised that death was taking his time on Jack, and that though his body was wracked with pain and lost all strength, it still had plenty more time left before it finally gave out. Which was what motivated Jack to say to Adam what he needed to say before his time was up.
“…I….I have something I need to let you know…” this he said in a low, rough voice that faltered. Despite his pained expression, he forced an ironic smile of sorts. “Those damn terrorists…the real enemy here…they’re likely going through hell fixing up the mess I made for them as I speak. …The database…we hacked them. I got through security… The virus… to mess up their database.”
Jack gradually felt his strength waning further and further the more he spoke. But the more words that came out of his mouth, the more relieved he felt, for he knew that as the winner, Adam at least deserved the right to know that the students themselves had done their fighting part against the true enemy, Danya and his organization.
And finally, at the point in which he could only gasp for deep, coarse breaths, his strength finally failed him as he swallowed hard once again, a line of red coursing from his mouth. The pain in his stomach had been reduced to a dull ache, for his body was running cold and numb, a sickening feeling that sent his mind into a clouded daze.
It was then that Jack spoke, yet again, in a voice barely audible this time, as though he was taking all the strength he had just to utter them.
“Now…now that you’ve won Adam… end it. …You… you have that right… shoot me now, and make it quick this time. I’m just tired of it all. Just… kill me. I’m pretty much dead here anyways…”
He forced a grim smile towards Adam as he lay on the ground. With his skin paling to a bluish-grey tone, and blood lining his mouth, eyes clouding over, it made the sight look as though the one grinning was the vision of Death himself.
“And…if you have the chance…give Danya my regards.”
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler LadyMakaze. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
Adam Dodd, frankly, had no idea what to say.
When Jack O'Connor had pulled himself to his feet, bleeding profusely all over the ground, the blood had run from his face, and he imagined that with how pale he likely looked already, he'd turned an even duller shade of white. He'd tossed away his weapon, and he'd failed to even think about whether or not somebody could survive several gunshots wounds to the chest. Usually, they died instantly, when a bullet pierced some form of internal organ, some crucial blood vessel, something to that effect, and they died quickly. Judging by the amount of blood that had come out of Jack, quickly forming a pool around him as he'd lay, Adam had assumed that the same had been true. Though, as he'd walked towards Jack's body - which very shortly proved not to be a body at all, he knew that he'd made a very serious mistake.
Of all the idiotic things to do in a situation like this, tossing away your gun was probably at the top of the list...
As Jack stared at him with the venemous expression that befit a stone cold killer, as opposed to a young baseball player, the expression on Adam's face was one of disappointed surprise. His plan had failed. He was going to die here, and so was Jack, which was what Jack had wanted seemingly from the get-go. But as Adam made this analysis, simply staring at the end of the Uzi that was pointed directly at his face, he followed it as the arm began to sink. Glancing up at the face of the person who'd bested him at the very end of it all, he noticed that the face, which seconds before had held such animosity, seemed to be at war with itself, and was losing the battle on all fronts. Finally, Jack's expression settled down, and his arm slowly lowered until it slapped down at his side, leaving the two boys staring at one another, no one prepared to make a move, knowing that even the slightest movement could result in death. Adam thought this, anyway, and he wasn't prepared to move until he could figure out just what was going on.
When Jack finally opened his mouth and said his piece, Adam's mouth slowly dropped open, too shocked for words. He wouldn't have time to think of any, either, as Jack began to cough, and, upon spitting blood all down the front of his chest, collapsed to the ground. Adam's eyes widened, and he finally moved, taking a step over to Jack, almost with a subliminal concern. Adam knew the odds here, he knew the stakes, he'd even been the one who'd shot Jack, but he couldn't help feeling concerned for the boy.
Even though I'm basically hoping that he dies...
As Jack coughed again, and struggled to maintain his life, he gathered his strength and used it to speak one more time. Death was certainly being a bitch to Jack O'Connor, and was putting him through all kinds of agony that Adam could only imagine. But Jack was determined to survive, it seemed.
Or is it just his body that's trying to live...?
“…I….I have something I need to let you know…” this he said in a low, rough voice that faltered. Despite his pained expression, he forced an ironic smile of sorts. “Those damn terrorists…the real enemy here…they’re likely going through hell fixing up the mess I made for them as I speak. …The database…we hacked them. I got through security… The virus… to mess up their database.”
With Jack's words, Adam's eyes opened in shock. If Jack had planted a virus in the system, the odds were that if it weren't activated now, it probably would be soon. What that'd mean for him, he didn't know. He had no idea what Jack's virus would do, and asking him to explain it didn't seem like the kind of action that Jack would be capable of doing. Indeed, his voice got more hazy, and he mumbled something that Adam could hardly hear, but it sounded like a plea for death. Death hadn't arrived for Jack yet, and Adam was positive that the pain that he'd been feeling was nothing compared to what Jack was going through.
I have to...
As Jack mumbled something almost unintelligibly under his breath, Adam stood up slowly, and almost numbly reached into his pocket, fishing around for the one pistol that he still had. He'd discarded all of his others in the fight against Cody Jenson, and this one was barely loaded at best, he knew. But now, it was going to be the tool to his salvation, and in a way, Jack's. Pulling the slide of the pistol back, Adam checked to see that there was indeed a bullet in the chamber. There was. He raised the pistol slowly, and looked right at the almost death-like face that belonged to Jack O'Connor. Grimly, Adam aimed it at a spot underneath Jack's nose. Adam knew that there were several places that, if shot, would cause instantaneous death. The small spot right underneath the nose was a spot that snipers used to instantly disable their victims, preventing them from squeezing off a final shot. The bullet would go through nasal column and right into the brain stem, causing instantaneous death.
Adam figured that Jack had earned that much.
Aiming carefully at that small spot underneath the boy's nose, Adam looked into his eyes, which were half glazed over, and bit his own lip, as he spoke in a voice that sounded a lot calmer than he felt.
"Take it easy, Jack...you've earned it."
With that, Adam depressed the trigger.
~~~
Standing in line
To see the show tonight
And there's a light on
Madelaine Shirohara: she'd been a friend of his since he'd met up with Amanda and David at the small house a few days back. Madelaine had been one to always keep hope on any situation, and it was in that that Adam took solace. Trying to survive in this environment was hard enough when you were surrounded by people who had given up all hope on surviving. But not Madelaine; never Madelaine. She had always smiled kindly and talked sense into anyone who was losing hope, Amanda, Adam, Hawley...whomever. And now...now that smiling face, those insightful, cheery eyes were dull and lifeless. Adam's body felt so numb that his pistol clattered to the ground as he stepped towards Madelaine's body, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull. It would seem that Madelaine had died in a most painful way, and...
...the bile stuck to Adam's throat as his eyes scanned over the corpse of Madelaine. Her clothes were torn away, and her most private areas were exposed for the world to see. Madelaine Shirohara, one of the most positive and upbeat people he had ever known, had been raped, and then brutally murdered, it looked as if her throat had been torn out by a wolverine.
It would have to have been an animal...
Heavy glow
By the way I tried to say
I'd be there... waiting for
It was Martyn who finally gave away the answer to the question that nobody wanted to answer, and as a deep pain seemed to lodge itself in Adam's belly, it was indeed an answer that needed no words to express. Martyn moved towards the body of Madelaine and, using his jacket, covered up her desecrated remains, made the sign of the cross and said a small prayer before removing his tie and heavy-heartedly stepping off towards the foliage slighly behind and to the right of where Sidney was kneeling. His mouth dropping, slightly shaking his head to try and convince himself that the voice in the back of his mind that was telling him exactly what was going on was lying, Adam lurched off behind Martyn, where he nearly ran into the boy as he draped the tie over the head of another corpse, lying at the edge of the woods, shotgun at its side.
It was undoubtedly the corpse of Amanda Jones.
At this discovery, Adam failed to lapse into the same sense of shock that the horrible discovery of Madelaine's body had given him. Instead, he was tossed full-force out of his previous shock and into a state of nearly unbearable agony. Hands shaking, tears running freely down his face, Adam gently shoved Martyn aside and cradled the dead body of the one person in the world who he had sworn to protect, the one person who he had promised that he'd let nothing happen to. The agony that was going through Adam's entire body was evident, and the screams of a broken heart echoed throughout the entire river area for all to hear.
"Oh, no, no, no...God NO...Jesus fucking Christ no..."
Dani the girl
is singing songs to me
Beneath the marquee... of her soul
Bringing himself from his world of thoughts, Hawley couldn't help the tears flowing much at all now... and forced himself to slowly rise up from his spot curled into himself looking at the two that stood most near him once more.
Summoning up all that he had left in him, he forced himself to talk. "I don't know if you understand... how much... your friendship really... means to me.
For as long as I can remember, I've been alone. Only allowed to trust myself... I couldn't allow myself to live in the world outside my own dark one.
But you've allowed me to do so... so very much. I've never been able to tell anyone how I was feeling, or all I've been through before... not til now. And in the end, now... I still trust you all with my very life and soul. I always figured... when this all started... I'd die alone, or finish the job on my neck I started... but you... all of you have proven to be that my life does have some meaning.
I'm not worthless... and I don't have to prove that to anyone otherwise. I was able to make friends anyway... I not -- and I never will be alone anymore.
And I thank you --- all for giving me that." He said, finding words fading quickly as the blurry vision of his eyesight was now being given away to simple darkness.
Turning to look at Adam the best he could, blood on around his mouth and eyes wet from crying he found the need to speak again as he lifted his clean hand placing it on his shoulder.
"And I have you to thank the -- the most for all this... if I hadn't met you... I don't want to think of the kind of person I would be right now... And if there's one thing, one thing you can do for me... get off the god damn island... ple --"
Words ended as another attack came on, and more blood spilled but as this one ended he found that everything just seemed to almost start shutting down. Almost like a computer... first his sense of taste, smell, hearing, sight... and in the end he just found himself falling forward where he sat, hand slipping off Adam's shoulder and back to his side as he finally just closed his eyes.
By the way I tried to say
I know you
From before
To his surprise, he saw something on shore that he hadn't taken notice of before. It seemed that something had washed up on shore on the other side of the red canoe. Adam hadn't seen it before, as he had come in from the other side of the canoe and as such hadn't seen the object. Diving back in the water, he swam back to shore, making sure that the pistol and the ammunition didn't come loose. The gun probably wouldn't work very well wet, so he'd have to wait a little before he was able to fire it - if he even needed to. The swim wasn't as long as Adam had thought it would be, as the wind was blowing with him as he was able to successfully make it back to shore. Stepping over the mushy areas on the sand, he put his socks and shoes back on and grabbed his knapsack and shotgun before wandering over to the shape.
As Adam got closer to the shape, its features began to come into focus.
No...no, it can't be...
As Adam's pace slowed, he looked at the shape beside the canoe, which had come into full form, and full detail.
Adam had found his best friend, Andrew Lipson.
At least, what was left of him.
Andrew's dead face was a pale grey, and almost seemed to be a shade of green. His eyes were open in a last look out to sea, and his cell phone...his cell phone was fused to his hand, which looked to be burnt beyond all recognition. Looking at what used to be his best friend turned Adam's stomach. Falling to his knees, he covered his mouth with his right hand, stumbling backwards.
Unlike at the house, where Adam had done his best to keep his feeling inside, things finally caught up to Adam Dodd, and for once, for the first time in this game, in this sick, demented game, Adam Dodd wept freely.
Standing in line
To see the show tonight
And there's a light on
Adam sighed, and nodded to Hawley.
"Yeah, I do. My brother was always kind of fucked up...like not in the sense that he wanted to be, just in the sense that he was. He was depressed, suffered from treatment-resistant clinical depression and so most every day was hell for him, just because none of the medications that they prescribed for him seemed to work. Plus he's one of those people who keeps shit inside, so when he flew off the handle, he punched walls, raged...it was scary shit, man. It was tough seeing him go through that shit as every day went on...and for me and my other brother to be just normal, everyday kids, well...I don't know...I guess he kind of resented me for it. I...I never really knew how much until last year..." he trailed off, shaking his head. As he did, he kicked a stone in the path, and paused for a moment.
"So I came home from school after hockey practice one day...as I'm sure you guys can figure, it'd usually go till about 5:30ish. On Wednesday nights, my little brother has piano practice from five-thirty to six-thirty, which my mom takes him to, and my dad works two hours later so he doesn't get home until seven-thirty, sometimes even eight. So my brother is usually just home by himself from then, which isn't usually a problem, 'cause he usually just watches TV or whatever. So I come home and he's smoking a joint in the living room, he's got this big bag of pot and he's lighting it up. And I mean, he's a year younger than I am, so what the hell is that, you know? So I come in and I'm just basically asking him 'what the hell are you doing' and shit, you know? He gives me some obvious bullshit excuse and then starts basically being a typical jackass. So I start reaming him out, telling him how he shouldn't be doing all this shit, and whatnot, and how mom and dad are gonna fucking kill him when they find out and shit..."
Adam grimaces again, the painful memory being a little too much to handle. He composes himself and continues.
"So like...without warning, the guy picks up the closest thing to him - an X-Box controller, and pitches it full-speed at me. Fuckin' thing hits me in the head and knocks me right onto my ass. Guy can throw, I'll give him that. You've gotta keep in mind that yeah, he may be grade 8 then, but he just had a growth spurt so he's like, six feet tall and like two-fifty, three, you know? So I'm cursing like a sailor, calling him every name in the book. and I didn't mean to say it, but it slipped out...I called him fat. He's pretty sensitive about that, and so he just snapped. Grabbed me by the throat, pulled me up, gave me a big punch in the face. Now, I'm no pushover guys, but fuck, I tell you...it was almost lights out for me after that. The next couple of minutes were a blur. I can tell you he tossed me through a glass door, a window, and our table...basically whatever he could find. I end up on the floor of the kitchen, bleeding all over our nice white tile floor, and next thing I know he's sitting there with one of my mom's sharp kitchen knives pressed up against my throat. I'll never, ever forget what he said to me, too. He goes....
I'm going to enjoy cutting your throat, making you suffer. It's always Adam that's the perfect son, Adam that's happy. Adam that gets to live the normal life. And you rub it in my face. Well I'm not going to take it anymore from you. I hate you.
And he raises this knife, basically getting ready to widen my smile a bit, and I hear what sounds, in my delerious state, like a cannon. And suddenly he's not there anymore. And I'm just lying there, bleeding on the floor, when this face comes over me...I passed out right then, woke up in the hospital."
Adam nervously rubs a scar on his wrist. and continues after a pause to collect himself yet again.
"As it turned out, when my brother had tossed me through the window, and come outside to pick me up and toss me back through, our neighbour had been out watering her garden, and called 911. The cops heard the commotion, broke down the door, and shot him before he got the chance to...yeah.
My brother ended up in an institution in Canada, because he remembered nothing from the time he threw the controller at me...apparently the marijuana decreased the effectiveness of the antidepressant medication that he was on, which wasn't working that well to begin with, and his white hot rage wasn't even him, he wasn't in control. Doctors felt it was the best option. He felt absolutely horrible about the whole thing. Problem is, I never forgave him. Whenever we goto visit, I...I can't bring myself to go. I just can't. The things he said, what he did...I never could bring myself to go and visit him, to forgive him for what he did."
A single tear rolled down Adam's cheek, which he quickly wiped away and looked at the ground. His voice, which had been shaky up to now, hardened suddenly.
"But I guess it looks like I never will, and because of my selfishness, my poor brother will never be able to know that I do forgive him for what he did."
Adam spit into the dirt, and then said nothing more.
Heavy glow
By the way I tried to say
I'd be there... waiting for
~~~
As he stood up suddenly, the gunshot having sobered him up quickly, he took a step back and looked at the corpse on the ground in front of him.
Jack O'Connor was dead.
Thoughts and faces flashed through his mind, almost as though his life were flashing before his eyes. But instead of his entire life, all that he saw were five moments. Five faces, five names. Upon first glance, they wouldn't have much in common. But to Adam...but to Adam, they all had something very crucial in common with one another. For Adam Dodd, those were the most important people of all.
Hawley Faust...Madelaine Shirohara...Amanda Jones...Andrew Lipson...Luke Dodd...
I did it for you guys...I tried my hardest, and the whole time...it was all for you...
Looking around and blinking through his tears, Adam could have sworn that for a split second, only the faintest of instances, he saw Andrew Lipson, smiling at him from the forest, then ducking behind a tree. Of course, Adam Dodd knew that such an event wasn't possible. It was, in fact, impossible, and there was a very good reason why.
B80 - O'CONNOR, JACK - DECEASED... 1 STUDENT REMAINING
That reason, was that Adam Dodd was now, officially, the only living person currently remaining on the island.
((Adam Dodd continued in V1 Epilogue: Out of Exile))
When Jack O'Connor had pulled himself to his feet, bleeding profusely all over the ground, the blood had run from his face, and he imagined that with how pale he likely looked already, he'd turned an even duller shade of white. He'd tossed away his weapon, and he'd failed to even think about whether or not somebody could survive several gunshots wounds to the chest. Usually, they died instantly, when a bullet pierced some form of internal organ, some crucial blood vessel, something to that effect, and they died quickly. Judging by the amount of blood that had come out of Jack, quickly forming a pool around him as he'd lay, Adam had assumed that the same had been true. Though, as he'd walked towards Jack's body - which very shortly proved not to be a body at all, he knew that he'd made a very serious mistake.
Of all the idiotic things to do in a situation like this, tossing away your gun was probably at the top of the list...
As Jack stared at him with the venemous expression that befit a stone cold killer, as opposed to a young baseball player, the expression on Adam's face was one of disappointed surprise. His plan had failed. He was going to die here, and so was Jack, which was what Jack had wanted seemingly from the get-go. But as Adam made this analysis, simply staring at the end of the Uzi that was pointed directly at his face, he followed it as the arm began to sink. Glancing up at the face of the person who'd bested him at the very end of it all, he noticed that the face, which seconds before had held such animosity, seemed to be at war with itself, and was losing the battle on all fronts. Finally, Jack's expression settled down, and his arm slowly lowered until it slapped down at his side, leaving the two boys staring at one another, no one prepared to make a move, knowing that even the slightest movement could result in death. Adam thought this, anyway, and he wasn't prepared to move until he could figure out just what was going on.
When Jack finally opened his mouth and said his piece, Adam's mouth slowly dropped open, too shocked for words. He wouldn't have time to think of any, either, as Jack began to cough, and, upon spitting blood all down the front of his chest, collapsed to the ground. Adam's eyes widened, and he finally moved, taking a step over to Jack, almost with a subliminal concern. Adam knew the odds here, he knew the stakes, he'd even been the one who'd shot Jack, but he couldn't help feeling concerned for the boy.
Even though I'm basically hoping that he dies...
As Jack coughed again, and struggled to maintain his life, he gathered his strength and used it to speak one more time. Death was certainly being a bitch to Jack O'Connor, and was putting him through all kinds of agony that Adam could only imagine. But Jack was determined to survive, it seemed.
Or is it just his body that's trying to live...?
“…I….I have something I need to let you know…” this he said in a low, rough voice that faltered. Despite his pained expression, he forced an ironic smile of sorts. “Those damn terrorists…the real enemy here…they’re likely going through hell fixing up the mess I made for them as I speak. …The database…we hacked them. I got through security… The virus… to mess up their database.”
With Jack's words, Adam's eyes opened in shock. If Jack had planted a virus in the system, the odds were that if it weren't activated now, it probably would be soon. What that'd mean for him, he didn't know. He had no idea what Jack's virus would do, and asking him to explain it didn't seem like the kind of action that Jack would be capable of doing. Indeed, his voice got more hazy, and he mumbled something that Adam could hardly hear, but it sounded like a plea for death. Death hadn't arrived for Jack yet, and Adam was positive that the pain that he'd been feeling was nothing compared to what Jack was going through.
I have to...
As Jack mumbled something almost unintelligibly under his breath, Adam stood up slowly, and almost numbly reached into his pocket, fishing around for the one pistol that he still had. He'd discarded all of his others in the fight against Cody Jenson, and this one was barely loaded at best, he knew. But now, it was going to be the tool to his salvation, and in a way, Jack's. Pulling the slide of the pistol back, Adam checked to see that there was indeed a bullet in the chamber. There was. He raised the pistol slowly, and looked right at the almost death-like face that belonged to Jack O'Connor. Grimly, Adam aimed it at a spot underneath Jack's nose. Adam knew that there were several places that, if shot, would cause instantaneous death. The small spot right underneath the nose was a spot that snipers used to instantly disable their victims, preventing them from squeezing off a final shot. The bullet would go through nasal column and right into the brain stem, causing instantaneous death.
Adam figured that Jack had earned that much.
Aiming carefully at that small spot underneath the boy's nose, Adam looked into his eyes, which were half glazed over, and bit his own lip, as he spoke in a voice that sounded a lot calmer than he felt.
"Take it easy, Jack...you've earned it."
With that, Adam depressed the trigger.
~~~
Standing in line
To see the show tonight
And there's a light on
Madelaine Shirohara: she'd been a friend of his since he'd met up with Amanda and David at the small house a few days back. Madelaine had been one to always keep hope on any situation, and it was in that that Adam took solace. Trying to survive in this environment was hard enough when you were surrounded by people who had given up all hope on surviving. But not Madelaine; never Madelaine. She had always smiled kindly and talked sense into anyone who was losing hope, Amanda, Adam, Hawley...whomever. And now...now that smiling face, those insightful, cheery eyes were dull and lifeless. Adam's body felt so numb that his pistol clattered to the ground as he stepped towards Madelaine's body, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull. It would seem that Madelaine had died in a most painful way, and...
...the bile stuck to Adam's throat as his eyes scanned over the corpse of Madelaine. Her clothes were torn away, and her most private areas were exposed for the world to see. Madelaine Shirohara, one of the most positive and upbeat people he had ever known, had been raped, and then brutally murdered, it looked as if her throat had been torn out by a wolverine.
It would have to have been an animal...
Heavy glow
By the way I tried to say
I'd be there... waiting for
It was Martyn who finally gave away the answer to the question that nobody wanted to answer, and as a deep pain seemed to lodge itself in Adam's belly, it was indeed an answer that needed no words to express. Martyn moved towards the body of Madelaine and, using his jacket, covered up her desecrated remains, made the sign of the cross and said a small prayer before removing his tie and heavy-heartedly stepping off towards the foliage slighly behind and to the right of where Sidney was kneeling. His mouth dropping, slightly shaking his head to try and convince himself that the voice in the back of his mind that was telling him exactly what was going on was lying, Adam lurched off behind Martyn, where he nearly ran into the boy as he draped the tie over the head of another corpse, lying at the edge of the woods, shotgun at its side.
It was undoubtedly the corpse of Amanda Jones.
At this discovery, Adam failed to lapse into the same sense of shock that the horrible discovery of Madelaine's body had given him. Instead, he was tossed full-force out of his previous shock and into a state of nearly unbearable agony. Hands shaking, tears running freely down his face, Adam gently shoved Martyn aside and cradled the dead body of the one person in the world who he had sworn to protect, the one person who he had promised that he'd let nothing happen to. The agony that was going through Adam's entire body was evident, and the screams of a broken heart echoed throughout the entire river area for all to hear.
"Oh, no, no, no...God NO...Jesus fucking Christ no..."
Dani the girl
is singing songs to me
Beneath the marquee... of her soul
Bringing himself from his world of thoughts, Hawley couldn't help the tears flowing much at all now... and forced himself to slowly rise up from his spot curled into himself looking at the two that stood most near him once more.
Summoning up all that he had left in him, he forced himself to talk. "I don't know if you understand... how much... your friendship really... means to me.
For as long as I can remember, I've been alone. Only allowed to trust myself... I couldn't allow myself to live in the world outside my own dark one.
But you've allowed me to do so... so very much. I've never been able to tell anyone how I was feeling, or all I've been through before... not til now. And in the end, now... I still trust you all with my very life and soul. I always figured... when this all started... I'd die alone, or finish the job on my neck I started... but you... all of you have proven to be that my life does have some meaning.
I'm not worthless... and I don't have to prove that to anyone otherwise. I was able to make friends anyway... I not -- and I never will be alone anymore.
And I thank you --- all for giving me that." He said, finding words fading quickly as the blurry vision of his eyesight was now being given away to simple darkness.
Turning to look at Adam the best he could, blood on around his mouth and eyes wet from crying he found the need to speak again as he lifted his clean hand placing it on his shoulder.
"And I have you to thank the -- the most for all this... if I hadn't met you... I don't want to think of the kind of person I would be right now... And if there's one thing, one thing you can do for me... get off the god damn island... ple --"
Words ended as another attack came on, and more blood spilled but as this one ended he found that everything just seemed to almost start shutting down. Almost like a computer... first his sense of taste, smell, hearing, sight... and in the end he just found himself falling forward where he sat, hand slipping off Adam's shoulder and back to his side as he finally just closed his eyes.
By the way I tried to say
I know you
From before
To his surprise, he saw something on shore that he hadn't taken notice of before. It seemed that something had washed up on shore on the other side of the red canoe. Adam hadn't seen it before, as he had come in from the other side of the canoe and as such hadn't seen the object. Diving back in the water, he swam back to shore, making sure that the pistol and the ammunition didn't come loose. The gun probably wouldn't work very well wet, so he'd have to wait a little before he was able to fire it - if he even needed to. The swim wasn't as long as Adam had thought it would be, as the wind was blowing with him as he was able to successfully make it back to shore. Stepping over the mushy areas on the sand, he put his socks and shoes back on and grabbed his knapsack and shotgun before wandering over to the shape.
As Adam got closer to the shape, its features began to come into focus.
No...no, it can't be...
As Adam's pace slowed, he looked at the shape beside the canoe, which had come into full form, and full detail.
Adam had found his best friend, Andrew Lipson.
At least, what was left of him.
Andrew's dead face was a pale grey, and almost seemed to be a shade of green. His eyes were open in a last look out to sea, and his cell phone...his cell phone was fused to his hand, which looked to be burnt beyond all recognition. Looking at what used to be his best friend turned Adam's stomach. Falling to his knees, he covered his mouth with his right hand, stumbling backwards.
Unlike at the house, where Adam had done his best to keep his feeling inside, things finally caught up to Adam Dodd, and for once, for the first time in this game, in this sick, demented game, Adam Dodd wept freely.
Standing in line
To see the show tonight
And there's a light on
Adam sighed, and nodded to Hawley.
"Yeah, I do. My brother was always kind of fucked up...like not in the sense that he wanted to be, just in the sense that he was. He was depressed, suffered from treatment-resistant clinical depression and so most every day was hell for him, just because none of the medications that they prescribed for him seemed to work. Plus he's one of those people who keeps shit inside, so when he flew off the handle, he punched walls, raged...it was scary shit, man. It was tough seeing him go through that shit as every day went on...and for me and my other brother to be just normal, everyday kids, well...I don't know...I guess he kind of resented me for it. I...I never really knew how much until last year..." he trailed off, shaking his head. As he did, he kicked a stone in the path, and paused for a moment.
"So I came home from school after hockey practice one day...as I'm sure you guys can figure, it'd usually go till about 5:30ish. On Wednesday nights, my little brother has piano practice from five-thirty to six-thirty, which my mom takes him to, and my dad works two hours later so he doesn't get home until seven-thirty, sometimes even eight. So my brother is usually just home by himself from then, which isn't usually a problem, 'cause he usually just watches TV or whatever. So I come home and he's smoking a joint in the living room, he's got this big bag of pot and he's lighting it up. And I mean, he's a year younger than I am, so what the hell is that, you know? So I come in and I'm just basically asking him 'what the hell are you doing' and shit, you know? He gives me some obvious bullshit excuse and then starts basically being a typical jackass. So I start reaming him out, telling him how he shouldn't be doing all this shit, and whatnot, and how mom and dad are gonna fucking kill him when they find out and shit..."
Adam grimaces again, the painful memory being a little too much to handle. He composes himself and continues.
"So like...without warning, the guy picks up the closest thing to him - an X-Box controller, and pitches it full-speed at me. Fuckin' thing hits me in the head and knocks me right onto my ass. Guy can throw, I'll give him that. You've gotta keep in mind that yeah, he may be grade 8 then, but he just had a growth spurt so he's like, six feet tall and like two-fifty, three, you know? So I'm cursing like a sailor, calling him every name in the book. and I didn't mean to say it, but it slipped out...I called him fat. He's pretty sensitive about that, and so he just snapped. Grabbed me by the throat, pulled me up, gave me a big punch in the face. Now, I'm no pushover guys, but fuck, I tell you...it was almost lights out for me after that. The next couple of minutes were a blur. I can tell you he tossed me through a glass door, a window, and our table...basically whatever he could find. I end up on the floor of the kitchen, bleeding all over our nice white tile floor, and next thing I know he's sitting there with one of my mom's sharp kitchen knives pressed up against my throat. I'll never, ever forget what he said to me, too. He goes....
I'm going to enjoy cutting your throat, making you suffer. It's always Adam that's the perfect son, Adam that's happy. Adam that gets to live the normal life. And you rub it in my face. Well I'm not going to take it anymore from you. I hate you.
And he raises this knife, basically getting ready to widen my smile a bit, and I hear what sounds, in my delerious state, like a cannon. And suddenly he's not there anymore. And I'm just lying there, bleeding on the floor, when this face comes over me...I passed out right then, woke up in the hospital."
Adam nervously rubs a scar on his wrist. and continues after a pause to collect himself yet again.
"As it turned out, when my brother had tossed me through the window, and come outside to pick me up and toss me back through, our neighbour had been out watering her garden, and called 911. The cops heard the commotion, broke down the door, and shot him before he got the chance to...yeah.
My brother ended up in an institution in Canada, because he remembered nothing from the time he threw the controller at me...apparently the marijuana decreased the effectiveness of the antidepressant medication that he was on, which wasn't working that well to begin with, and his white hot rage wasn't even him, he wasn't in control. Doctors felt it was the best option. He felt absolutely horrible about the whole thing. Problem is, I never forgave him. Whenever we goto visit, I...I can't bring myself to go. I just can't. The things he said, what he did...I never could bring myself to go and visit him, to forgive him for what he did."
A single tear rolled down Adam's cheek, which he quickly wiped away and looked at the ground. His voice, which had been shaky up to now, hardened suddenly.
"But I guess it looks like I never will, and because of my selfishness, my poor brother will never be able to know that I do forgive him for what he did."
Adam spit into the dirt, and then said nothing more.
Heavy glow
By the way I tried to say
I'd be there... waiting for
~~~
As he stood up suddenly, the gunshot having sobered him up quickly, he took a step back and looked at the corpse on the ground in front of him.
Jack O'Connor was dead.
Thoughts and faces flashed through his mind, almost as though his life were flashing before his eyes. But instead of his entire life, all that he saw were five moments. Five faces, five names. Upon first glance, they wouldn't have much in common. But to Adam...but to Adam, they all had something very crucial in common with one another. For Adam Dodd, those were the most important people of all.
Hawley Faust...Madelaine Shirohara...Amanda Jones...Andrew Lipson...Luke Dodd...
I did it for you guys...I tried my hardest, and the whole time...it was all for you...
Looking around and blinking through his tears, Adam could have sworn that for a split second, only the faintest of instances, he saw Andrew Lipson, smiling at him from the forest, then ducking behind a tree. Of course, Adam Dodd knew that such an event wasn't possible. It was, in fact, impossible, and there was a very good reason why.
B80 - O'CONNOR, JACK - DECEASED... 1 STUDENT REMAINING
That reason, was that Adam Dodd was now, officially, the only living person currently remaining on the island.
((Adam Dodd continued in V1 Epilogue: Out of Exile))