Sometimes to Free a Mind, You've Got to Crack a Skull

[Badb†]

((Courtney Bradley, continued from That's a bout. Salute. Shake hands.))

Courtney hadn't walked for long. Maybe half an hour or so, maybe less. She'd lost track of time since she'd left the hut, as she wandered aimlessly, half-blind, through the forest. Where'd everyone go? Everywhere she'd gone she'd seen people everywhere. Now? No one. What was different about here, then? What made this place so different?

Beep. Beep.

Oh.

It was a pathetic sight, her there, quaking, half-blind and struggling to hold a shotgun while she walked- and that was the thing, she was walking. How the hell was she managing to cope with that?- through the forest. To make matters worse, now the strap of metal around her neck was beeping. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

It was then that Courtney made the worst choice of her life.

Beep. Beep.

She was never going out in a blaze of glory anyway.

Beep. Beep Beep Beep.

Courtney threw the shotgun as far as she could.

Beep Beep Beep. Beep Beep Beep.

She ran. Faster than she'd ever run before, down the hill, picking up speed. Past the identical trees she now realised she was never seeing again. A smile on her face while tears streamed down her eyes as she sprinted.

The first clear thoughts flashed through her head in a long time.

Beep Beep Beep. Beep Beep Beep. Beep Beep Beep. Beep Beep Beep.

I'm sorry, Ben.

She died after she hit the ground, but that was no consolation.

G002 - Courtney Bradley - DECEASED