Adam Dodd couldn't believe what he was hearing - or for that matter, seeing. As cautiously as could have been managed, he'd lead his smaller group into the armory, and been shocked to have wandered right into what looked like a goddamn town meeting. There were kids almost everywhere, and that in itself was miraculous.
All it takes is one little bullet, and all the bullshit hits the fan...
As he'd wandered in, the gaze of everyone had shifted over to his direction, people obviously surprised to see him, of all people, standing before them. Adam knew how all of them figured him to be while he was at their school - that was the kid who'd killed a bunch of people and lived through that horrible event. Why did he have to be at THEIR school? We couldn't go to school with a murderer, could we?
All of that was commonplace. He'd been tuning out the whispers since he'd arrived in school, but the staring was hard to ignore. So here it was again, everyone's voices having gone quiet at the sight of the infamous Adam Dodd standing before them.
Of course, things were much different now. Now, everyone knew exactly how it was to be fighting for their lives. Some had killed people; others had lost friends, just like he had. Now, they were on an even playing field, and the looks weren't so much judging stares, but almost a sense of...relief.
Adam was about ready to ask what exactly was going on - still a little shell-shocked over the announcement that stated the death of Izzy - he still couldn't believe it, and felt hollow as all get out, before he was interrupted by John Sheppard, who was standing behind him, who blurted it out before Adam had even noticed.
"Wait, aren't you guys supposed to be dead?"
The realization hit Adam like a ton of bricks, especially when he saw Izzy standing in the corner of the room, with Dorian, both of whom had been pronounced as being amongst the dead not hours earlier. Adam was shellshocked. He had no idea what to say, or what to think. Things were not adding up at all, and-
"An' where th'fuck didja manage to figure out how to take th' damn collars off!?"
Keith Jackson's boisterous voice thundered through the room from behind him, as him and Kallie Majors made their way into the room, somewhat surprised as well. There was a hushed silence that fell over the small crowd that had gathered at the door, as none of John, Bill, Kallie, or Keith knew what to say. Adam himself was going through an absolute informational overload. None of it made any sense...the collars were gone, the people were dead. Either it was ACTUALLY some sort of sick game show, or...
Then, he knew. Immediately, as though a switch had come on. He couldn't have been any more surprised had he found out that he was the fifth Cylon. A look of wonderment crept its way upon his face, and for the first time in a long, long time, Adam Dodd felt a sense of actual, genuine hope. Hope that wasn't the forced kind, the pessimistic hope that people like Ryan Atwell had tried to make him see. He hadn't felt like this in more than three years.
"You've done it...somehow...some...way...you've done it. You've gone ahead and fucking beaten the goddamn system. You've beaten cockstick at his own game, and for the first time ever, someone's finally going to be able to stick these collars, this game, and the whole goddamned island straight up Danya's ass."
Adam paused for a minute, and shook his head.
"This...is this...this IS happening, right?"
There wasn't much else to say - Adam sure as hell didn't have the word for it, and neither did anyone else.
#6: Freedom or Bust
Maybe there was a god out there.
Neil Sinclair wasn't the religious type.
Nope, he was just some punk rocker now the leader of the disbanded/destroyed S.A.D.D.
Neil had no hope, and no will to lead anyone. He was crushed, and had reached his breaking point.
But, maybe there was a god out there. Or fate, or luck, or whatever the hell it was, something changed Neil's attitude.
Matthew was standing before him. Alive, safe, and to top it off offering Neil the weapon he won.
Neil broke into a huge smile and jumped up, hugging the boy.
"Matt! You're safe! I can't believe it, you and Dominica made it!"
Neil looked around the room. There were lots of people, even people from S.A.D.D. What did Lucy know anyways, Neil had always tried his best. He put his best effort forward to get off this island, and now they were so close he was damned if he was going to just give up anyways.
Stupid fool Neil...I can't believe you were thinking of giving up.
Neil was still smiling as he said to Matt, "We're going to get out of here Matt. I made you and the rest of S.A.D.D a promise, and I'll keep it. Come hell or high water, I'll keep it Matt."
Neil started to laugh, he was happy, and his spirits were back. Once again, he felt like the leader of S.A.D.D, and not just a failing group. His friends, his group, was now mixed with other groups. Kids from all over the island. All of them without collars. All of them free. They just had one more obstacle left.
"We're going to get off this island guys."
Neil saw Adam Dodd. He knew about the boy, everyone did, and Neil was happy for him. They never talked, but Neil decided to change that.
"Hey Adam! How does it feel to know you'll be getting off this damn island?"
Neil smiled, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy. It never was, but damned if it wasn't possible. They made it this far, they were going to make it farther.
S.A.D.D would achieve the impossible.
Everyone here would achieve the impossible.
Southridge.
Neil Sinclair wasn't the religious type.
Nope, he was just some punk rocker now the leader of the disbanded/destroyed S.A.D.D.
Neil had no hope, and no will to lead anyone. He was crushed, and had reached his breaking point.
But, maybe there was a god out there. Or fate, or luck, or whatever the hell it was, something changed Neil's attitude.
Matthew was standing before him. Alive, safe, and to top it off offering Neil the weapon he won.
Neil broke into a huge smile and jumped up, hugging the boy.
"Matt! You're safe! I can't believe it, you and Dominica made it!"
Neil looked around the room. There were lots of people, even people from S.A.D.D. What did Lucy know anyways, Neil had always tried his best. He put his best effort forward to get off this island, and now they were so close he was damned if he was going to just give up anyways.
Stupid fool Neil...I can't believe you were thinking of giving up.
Neil was still smiling as he said to Matt, "We're going to get out of here Matt. I made you and the rest of S.A.D.D a promise, and I'll keep it. Come hell or high water, I'll keep it Matt."
Neil started to laugh, he was happy, and his spirits were back. Once again, he felt like the leader of S.A.D.D, and not just a failing group. His friends, his group, was now mixed with other groups. Kids from all over the island. All of them without collars. All of them free. They just had one more obstacle left.
"We're going to get off this island guys."
Neil saw Adam Dodd. He knew about the boy, everyone did, and Neil was happy for him. They never talked, but Neil decided to change that.
"Hey Adam! How does it feel to know you'll be getting off this damn island?"
Neil smiled, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy. It never was, but damned if it wasn't possible. They made it this far, they were going to make it farther.
S.A.D.D would achieve the impossible.
Everyone here would achieve the impossible.
Southridge.
Ianto had allowed himself to fall silent in the time since Andrea has left, taking a corner within the building to remove his pack and place it on the ground as well as leaning his rifle against one of the walls. Folding his arms across his waist line he allowed himself just to ponder over everything that had happened and wound be happening... after all they got their collars off but now what, they were supposedly on an island in the middle of nowhere they very well just couldn't swim to the nearest shore. All the thoughts caused him to sigh, sifting somewhat against where he was resting, somewhat glad that people seemed to have taken the quiet approach to things and weren't yelling about anymore as Neil has been—though the kid got props this wasn't a SADD thing anymore...
This had far surpassed that.
So caught up in his thoughts he didn't quite notice the new people entering the room, including two people he had been almost worrying himself to death over these past few days and in fact continued to invade him until he was almost tackled into the side of the building. Ianto quickly trying to get himself fixed whilst working an arm about the figure that was the sudden cause of him almost face-planting into the ground, though once he noticed just who it was he almost didn't care about all of that and moved to get his other arm around Terrie to pull here into a more than needed hug. Breathing out somewhat and chuckling at her words as he pulled back, smiling toward her with a nod of his head.
"I could say the same thing to you, you know?" He mused, just really happy. "When you didn't catch up with us and then Brad ran off on me... well I—I was really worried that something would happen to you before I had the chance to find you two again."
He tilted his head somewhat at her next statement before grinning, "Isn't it amazing? Pres—I mean Andrea and this other group managed to find a way to get the collars off... we got a chance now, an actual chance to get off this place."
Falling silent though he watched as Lucy approached, smiling lightly and watching as she worked to remove both of the collars from Terrie and Brad and giving a short sigh as everything seemed to go well with getting theirs' off.
He eyed the new groups filing in, smiling softly... they really had a chance now, but a sudden pop of gunfire caused him to flinch—not so much the sound itself, but just how close it was.
Izzy had taken to resting in a spot a bit off from the rest of everyone, trying to remain close to some people she knew but it was hard when her mind was swimming with worried thoughts for those that hadn't shown up... those that she hadn't heard anything about. Her side was throbbing as the morphine she had gotten back at the house began to wear off, biting her lip somewhat and sifting to try and get comfortable as people continued to mingle about the area chatting happily about one thing or another. She just couldn't get into it thought, tapping her foot in a nervous manner.
Her fears were a bit put to rest at the sudden voices (a familiar boisterous one she hadn't heard in close to a week) suddenly cutting through all the current chatter about the warehouse. Blinking and unable to help herself from grinning to see just whom had showed up as she struggled for a moment to get onto her feet, approaching the party that had just entered the armory...
Sniffing somewhat as she paused in place, grinning somewhat at Adam's words before reaching out cheerfully and pinching his cheek between her thumb and index finger. "Damn right this is totally happening!" She mused almost laughing, drawing her fingers back and glancing over toward where Keith was standing and smiling again, mostly because she was happy to see that he was alright... she had seen or heard anything about him since they were separated in the jungle when Trey died and after how much they had had to deal with in that short time spent together... well she was really glad to see he managed to make it here.
Grinning nonetheless as she glanced back toward Adam and softly jabbing a fist against his arm, "You and Bill both worried Dorian and me to death, we didn't know what the hell happened to you two after we managed to get out of that graveyard." She muttered, sighing in the end. "I'm just glad you made it here though."
This had far surpassed that.
So caught up in his thoughts he didn't quite notice the new people entering the room, including two people he had been almost worrying himself to death over these past few days and in fact continued to invade him until he was almost tackled into the side of the building. Ianto quickly trying to get himself fixed whilst working an arm about the figure that was the sudden cause of him almost face-planting into the ground, though once he noticed just who it was he almost didn't care about all of that and moved to get his other arm around Terrie to pull here into a more than needed hug. Breathing out somewhat and chuckling at her words as he pulled back, smiling toward her with a nod of his head.
"I could say the same thing to you, you know?" He mused, just really happy. "When you didn't catch up with us and then Brad ran off on me... well I—I was really worried that something would happen to you before I had the chance to find you two again."
He tilted his head somewhat at her next statement before grinning, "Isn't it amazing? Pres—I mean Andrea and this other group managed to find a way to get the collars off... we got a chance now, an actual chance to get off this place."
Falling silent though he watched as Lucy approached, smiling lightly and watching as she worked to remove both of the collars from Terrie and Brad and giving a short sigh as everything seemed to go well with getting theirs' off.
He eyed the new groups filing in, smiling softly... they really had a chance now, but a sudden pop of gunfire caused him to flinch—not so much the sound itself, but just how close it was.
Izzy had taken to resting in a spot a bit off from the rest of everyone, trying to remain close to some people she knew but it was hard when her mind was swimming with worried thoughts for those that hadn't shown up... those that she hadn't heard anything about. Her side was throbbing as the morphine she had gotten back at the house began to wear off, biting her lip somewhat and sifting to try and get comfortable as people continued to mingle about the area chatting happily about one thing or another. She just couldn't get into it thought, tapping her foot in a nervous manner.
Her fears were a bit put to rest at the sudden voices (a familiar boisterous one she hadn't heard in close to a week) suddenly cutting through all the current chatter about the warehouse. Blinking and unable to help herself from grinning to see just whom had showed up as she struggled for a moment to get onto her feet, approaching the party that had just entered the armory...
Sniffing somewhat as she paused in place, grinning somewhat at Adam's words before reaching out cheerfully and pinching his cheek between her thumb and index finger. "Damn right this is totally happening!" She mused almost laughing, drawing her fingers back and glancing over toward where Keith was standing and smiling again, mostly because she was happy to see that he was alright... she had seen or heard anything about him since they were separated in the jungle when Trey died and after how much they had had to deal with in that short time spent together... well she was really glad to see he managed to make it here.
Grinning nonetheless as she glanced back toward Adam and softly jabbing a fist against his arm, "You and Bill both worried Dorian and me to death, we didn't know what the hell happened to you two after we managed to get out of that graveyard." She muttered, sighing in the end. "I'm just glad you made it here though."
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler riserugu. 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.
"You mean you guys wanna let him along? After everything he's set in motion?"
Silence seemed to reign for a while after Izzy's comment, and Darnell regarded the newcomers with a stony glare, unsure what to make of them as he waited for something to happen. Adam Dodd...Darnell had always been nice to the man, even if they'd never agreed about SOTF, and when the whole mess began there wasn't any part of him that faulted Dodd for what happened, but...when he thought about it, it just made too much sense. SOTF was undoubtedly real, which meant Adam had won it, and that Danya was a sadistic enough person to pull off such a "game". It was no stretch of the imagination that if Dodd went somewhere, Danya would follow, or even for Dodd to have intentionally found a target for the terrorist's sick games.
That bastard...
Regarding Keith and Kallie only with a look that told them they'd best stay out of his way, Darnell slowly advanced towards Adam, ten days on the island making his hand's careful movement to grip the Uzi's safety one that was made with ease that would've unsettled even him if he were not feeling as he were now. It was true, blood was on his hands, but he was nowhere near as bad as Dodd, he thought. What was three lives, compared to almost twenty? What was killing a man in self defense compared to bringing two hundred people to their deaths in some sick parody of a reality TV show? If blood was on the hands of people like himself, Keith, Steve, and the other killers, then it was on Adam Dodd's a hundredfold. God knew how many kids were now dead, all because Adam Dodd had picked some city in South California to move to.
I've almost lost EVERYTHING because of this guy. And some have lost more! Why should he leave with a clean slate? How many people are dead now because of HIM?
"H-h-how dare you?" he asked, his voice breaking a bit from the sheer strain of trying to maintain his composure, trying to keep in an outburst that would probably cause the tension in the air to become bullets in the air. "How dare you just walk in, expect that you deserve to just stroll off the island with a clean slate, when YOU'RE the one that caused all this?! Whether you acted deliberately, or were just too stupid to think he'd follow you wherever you went, you can't lie to me. If you weren't here, NONE of this would've happened! I've fucking LOST COUNT of how many kids would STILL BE ALIVE if you hadn't showed up! What's it now, more than a hundred?!"
So much for keeping my composure...
No response, not even a drawn gun. Darnell seemed to take that as a sign to continue, not really caring what the others in the building thought. All he could see when he looked at Dodd was the blood on all their hands, the friends of his he failed to protect, the names of every dead student and everyone who'd lost their minds to this sick game. Almost everyone who had taken that fucking bus was dead now, and all of it would've been avoided if Dodd just hadn't decided to go to school at Southridge. Hell, if he'd picked Northside maybe Darnell'd probably be watching some fullback for the Patriots fighting for his life on this island. Could he ever go home after this? What home would there be to go back to? He'd lost almost everything, even some of his humanity...did he even deserve to go home?
Any one of us would deserve it more than him.
"I...I can't lie. There's blood on my hands too, and I doubt even my own blood would wash it off," he continued, his already powerful voice lowering in his anger so that it almost sounded more like a growl. "I had to kill three men in self defense, one of which was an accident. Every day since I haven't been able to sleep for more than two minutes without that replaying in my head, and it seems like everyone or everything I run into is awful eager to remind me of that! Almost everyone in this room right now probably has a similar story.
Maybe none of us deserve God's forgiveness, but I know one thing; you deserve it least of all. Every student that has died in the last ten days would STILL BE ALIVE if not for you and Danya. EVERY ONE OF THEM, and I'm not stupid, I know there's a connection between you moving in and us just 'happening' to be abducted the following trip."
He couldn't take it anymore. Half of him wanted to rip Dodd's throat out, the other half wanted to cry. That half was starting to win out a little, tears starting to leak out from his eyes which still glared fiercely at Adam. He took one more step, and then stopped, as if in thought. His grip on the gun started to waver, and then tightened, and then wavered again.
Can I really do this? Shoot him? Would that make me as bad as him? No, I'm already as bad as him. I'm a murderer...
"Tell you what," Darnell said when there was still no response. The gun started to raise a bit, but he stopped himself, as if waiting. "You better give me one DAMN GOOD reason for me not to shoot you right now and save some terrorist or whoever the fuck else we go up against when we're getting out of here the trouble. And 'I'll shoot you back' doesn't count, because I'm not too sure if I give a fuck. I want to escape just as much as any of us, maybe you'd even help somehow, but after what you've done? You have to pay somehow."
That was it. He kept his eyes on Dodd, his ears out for any responses, and his gun gripped so he could bring it up and fire quickly if the other man decided to go for his own gun. Somewhere, the man he'd been before all of this cried out in protest, but he silenced that part of him. There had to be some kind of penance, escaping in and of itself couldn't be enough. Not anymore.
Silence seemed to reign for a while after Izzy's comment, and Darnell regarded the newcomers with a stony glare, unsure what to make of them as he waited for something to happen. Adam Dodd...Darnell had always been nice to the man, even if they'd never agreed about SOTF, and when the whole mess began there wasn't any part of him that faulted Dodd for what happened, but...when he thought about it, it just made too much sense. SOTF was undoubtedly real, which meant Adam had won it, and that Danya was a sadistic enough person to pull off such a "game". It was no stretch of the imagination that if Dodd went somewhere, Danya would follow, or even for Dodd to have intentionally found a target for the terrorist's sick games.
That bastard...
Regarding Keith and Kallie only with a look that told them they'd best stay out of his way, Darnell slowly advanced towards Adam, ten days on the island making his hand's careful movement to grip the Uzi's safety one that was made with ease that would've unsettled even him if he were not feeling as he were now. It was true, blood was on his hands, but he was nowhere near as bad as Dodd, he thought. What was three lives, compared to almost twenty? What was killing a man in self defense compared to bringing two hundred people to their deaths in some sick parody of a reality TV show? If blood was on the hands of people like himself, Keith, Steve, and the other killers, then it was on Adam Dodd's a hundredfold. God knew how many kids were now dead, all because Adam Dodd had picked some city in South California to move to.
I've almost lost EVERYTHING because of this guy. And some have lost more! Why should he leave with a clean slate? How many people are dead now because of HIM?
"H-h-how dare you?" he asked, his voice breaking a bit from the sheer strain of trying to maintain his composure, trying to keep in an outburst that would probably cause the tension in the air to become bullets in the air. "How dare you just walk in, expect that you deserve to just stroll off the island with a clean slate, when YOU'RE the one that caused all this?! Whether you acted deliberately, or were just too stupid to think he'd follow you wherever you went, you can't lie to me. If you weren't here, NONE of this would've happened! I've fucking LOST COUNT of how many kids would STILL BE ALIVE if you hadn't showed up! What's it now, more than a hundred?!"
So much for keeping my composure...
No response, not even a drawn gun. Darnell seemed to take that as a sign to continue, not really caring what the others in the building thought. All he could see when he looked at Dodd was the blood on all their hands, the friends of his he failed to protect, the names of every dead student and everyone who'd lost their minds to this sick game. Almost everyone who had taken that fucking bus was dead now, and all of it would've been avoided if Dodd just hadn't decided to go to school at Southridge. Hell, if he'd picked Northside maybe Darnell'd probably be watching some fullback for the Patriots fighting for his life on this island. Could he ever go home after this? What home would there be to go back to? He'd lost almost everything, even some of his humanity...did he even deserve to go home?
Any one of us would deserve it more than him.
"I...I can't lie. There's blood on my hands too, and I doubt even my own blood would wash it off," he continued, his already powerful voice lowering in his anger so that it almost sounded more like a growl. "I had to kill three men in self defense, one of which was an accident. Every day since I haven't been able to sleep for more than two minutes without that replaying in my head, and it seems like everyone or everything I run into is awful eager to remind me of that! Almost everyone in this room right now probably has a similar story.
Maybe none of us deserve God's forgiveness, but I know one thing; you deserve it least of all. Every student that has died in the last ten days would STILL BE ALIVE if not for you and Danya. EVERY ONE OF THEM, and I'm not stupid, I know there's a connection between you moving in and us just 'happening' to be abducted the following trip."
He couldn't take it anymore. Half of him wanted to rip Dodd's throat out, the other half wanted to cry. That half was starting to win out a little, tears starting to leak out from his eyes which still glared fiercely at Adam. He took one more step, and then stopped, as if in thought. His grip on the gun started to waver, and then tightened, and then wavered again.
Can I really do this? Shoot him? Would that make me as bad as him? No, I'm already as bad as him. I'm a murderer...
"Tell you what," Darnell said when there was still no response. The gun started to raise a bit, but he stopped himself, as if waiting. "You better give me one DAMN GOOD reason for me not to shoot you right now and save some terrorist or whoever the fuck else we go up against when we're getting out of here the trouble. And 'I'll shoot you back' doesn't count, because I'm not too sure if I give a fuck. I want to escape just as much as any of us, maybe you'd even help somehow, but after what you've done? You have to pay somehow."
That was it. He kept his eyes on Dodd, his ears out for any responses, and his gun gripped so he could bring it up and fire quickly if the other man decided to go for his own gun. Somewhere, the man he'd been before all of this cried out in protest, but he silenced that part of him. There had to be some kind of penance, escaping in and of itself couldn't be enough. Not anymore.
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the former handler Slayer.
Adam smiled as Izzy relayed her thankfulness that he'd made it through okay. He had to admit to himself, his heart had taken a fall through to the bottom of his stomach when he'd heard her name announced by Danya as being another causalty of war. But seeing her here, alive, and with such hope...
It's enough to get me thinking positively, and that's something in itself!
With a small grin on his face, Adam was about to walk over to Izzy and give her a long embrace when someone walked out of the crowd of people, came to a stop in front of him, and pulled out a gun, pointing it directly at his head.
What the FUCK?!
It took all of the energy that Adam had to try not to react sharply - whipping out his machine gun and spraying the area with bullets as he fell back, or something like that. No, after all of this, after all of the goodness that had seemingly been accomplished in this room? They'd come too far for that. This group had done what had seemed impossible to so many students in the past. Somebody had figured out how to get the collars off, and they had a legitimate chance of escaping. It wasn't a pipe dream anymore.
Of course, barring a minor miracle, it looked as though Adam might be getting a bullet through the head for his troubles. A part of him was pissed off. After everything, after all of the shit that he'd had to go through as part of this 'Survival of the Fittest', was it really going to end like this? Adam had faced death many times before, and had often come out on the other side smelling like a lucky penny - bitter and coppery, but still kicking around. He planned to stick around as long as possible, so in this instance, he forced his gut feeling to the ground, and decided to do nothing, but stand there and listen.
What else is there TO do? One wrong move and I'm just another number.
As the man stood there, visibly disturbed and fighting back tears, accusing Adam of having been the unintentional instigator of their unfortunate situation and current predicament, Adam couldn't help but sympathize with him. Yes, it was very true that Adam being taken for a second time was likely not a coincidence. Any idiot could see that. Did that make him somebody who deserved to die because of it? Perhaps he was biased, but Adam didn't think so. Nonetheless, he let him keep going, hoping that he'd essentially talk himself OUT of what he seemed so intent upon doing: putting a bullet between Adam's eyes.
Talk about taking a risk, though. My very life is at stake...
As the rant went further in, the man (Adam didn't even know his goddamn name) seemed to come to a decision after buckling a few times, and then the strength returned to his face, confidence coming back into him. He straightened his aim, and then proceeded to issue the ultimatum. The one question to which the answer would determine if this freaked-out teenager put a bullet in his brain or not.
Well then, smart guy...why DO you deserve not to get shot? This is final tribal council. The chips are down, the jury's in control of the game. This is your last chance to convince them that you can win, and the prize is a lot better than the million bucks...
For a moment, Adam stared back at the man holding the gun, and said nothing, letting the question hang in the air. Every single person in the armory was now looking intently at the situation, and nobody was saying or doing anything. This was it; this was the moment of motherfucking-truth.
And the answer came so easily to him that it actually forced the smirk back onto his face.
"If you shoot me right now, then you're destroying your best chance to get out of this alive. You pull that trigger, and you lose any chance that you've got to escape this godforsaken game. I die here, and now? I'd put money on the fact that not a single fucking person in this room lives past the age of twenty. That a good enough reason for ya?"
Adam took a step back, hands neutral, so that he wouldn't get shot as he did so. Glancing around the room, he saw so many faces...so many people that probably thought at least a little bit like this guy did. That was fine, Adam half-expected it. But now, it was no longer about him, and this guy. It was about all of them. Everyone was so caught up in the moment, so happy to get the collars off, that they'd lost sight of the big picture, and this guy pointing a gun at him just proved it. As he looked around the room, he raised his voice, addressing everyone now, and not just the kid with the gun.
"S'not a threat. It's a fact. Yeah, great job, everyone. We've managed to get our collars off. It's a blow against Danya, the establishment, the game, and oppressed students everywhere. Congrats. I salute you all. So now, let's all pack up and get the fuck out of here. Oh, wait, I forgot. We're on an island. In the middle.
OF. FUCKING. NOWHERE!"
Adam shook his head, looking at the kid with the gun, disapprovingly sighing a bit.
"Seriously, did you all forget about that small little detail? We're on a guarded, heavily secured island that's surrounded by things like...ships...soldiers with weapons...hundreds of miles of water...? I mean, come on, people! You can't expect that we're just going to waltz out the front door and Danya's just going to let everyone go! 'Oh, gee whiz, you got the collars off. Well, have a nice life!' Yeah, I don't fucking think so. The look on your faces is telling me that none of you ACTUALLY gave this a whole lot of thought. This, my friends...this is a problem."
Nobody said anything. The looks on their faces said it all. For the most part, the vast majority of people hadn't really come up with a solid plan to escape, and it had seemingly gotten lost in the shuffle.
Well, time to rifle through the cards and find where they went, because there's no way I'm dying on this fucking hellhole of an island - or ANY fucking island, for that matter!
"Look, this guy here...he's got a point. I'm not going to dispute that. I went through hell two years ago, and was probably a fool for thinking that Danya would leave me alone after all of the verbal abuse that I piled his way. Sure, it was stupid. So I guess, in some indirect, random fluke of a way, yeah, I probably have a bit to do with our current situation. That sucks, and trust me, that's been weighing upon my conscience since I woke up here. Gun-boy here would be perfectly within his rights to pop me right now, and save Danya the trouble. But then...where does that leave you?"
From the back, a voice called out. It was Dean Portman, who'd been leaning against a wall, watching the actions with an almost eerie sense of shock.
"Darnell. His name's Darnell. The fuck are you doing, man?"
Adam nodded, and looked back at the guy with the gun. At Darnell.
"I'll tell you where, Darnell. It leaves you without someone who knows what's what in his twisted little fantasy world. It leaves you without a tour guide. It leaves you stranded up shit creek without either of your paddles and a leaky fucking canoe. You don't know what you're getting yourself into, here. Have you gone up against Danya's soldiers, hmm? Have you tried to fight one-on-one with a trained military officer? I've seen one solider massacre a whole fucking room full of people with one grenade - or at least, I've seen the aftermath, and it wasn't fuckin' pretty. But of course, you never figured that, did you? Why would you have to take on soldiers? It's just kids here, right?"
Adam paused for a moment, and locked eyes with Neil Sinclair.
"They're coming. Odds are, they're probably already here."
Letting that sink in for a moment, Adam continued.
"What, you're shocked? This son of a bitch is one of the most paranoid, delusional bastards that roams the face of God's Green Earth. There's no way in hell that thirty collars just disappear off his map, or die all at once, without him sending people in to investigate. The cameras have been off for the last day or so, as well. Don't know if you guys have noticed, but I have. THIS IS THE ISSUE, PEOPLE. You don't stand a chance in hell without me. I've done this before. This is my SECOND time through. I know how things work. How the soliders act, how they react to things. Hell, I've killed one. I know the equipment that they use, their protocol and procedures. I'm sure they're the same from when I won the game the first time. We take this information, and we roll with it. We come up with a PLAN, an actual, honest-to-God PLAN, and we execute it."
On a roll, Adam smiled into the gun that Darnell was still holding up towards his head.
"Now, it's not going to be easy, I never said that. There's a damn good likelihood that most of the people in this room will die anyway. But we owe it to everyone who's ever perished in this game to give it our best damn shot. If at least one person makes it off the island, and back to civilization outside of the poor bastard who 'wins'? Then we all win. THEN, we've beaten the game, and can stick it straight up Danya's ass. Come on, people. This isn't the end of the journey. The collars are off, that's fine. That just means we're past the easy part. I can't believe nobody's thought this through...come on...what about it, Sinclair?"
Moving his gaze to where Neil Sinclair had been standing, silently watching the exchange, Adam raised an eyebrow at him.
"Come on, Sinclair. You're the one person in this whole game that I can probably say Danya hates about as much as he does me. You've been pissing him off, trying to fuck the system since day one. All I've heard about is Neil Sinclair this, Neil Sinclair that. I bet you had some sort of a plan, didn't you? Or was it so much of a pipe dream that you never thought it possible? Either way, it doesn't matter. You got to him. You pissed him off. You really ready to let him win?"
Glancing around the room again, Adam felt his long speech coming to an end. In the back of his mind, he wondered if even it would be enough to prevent Darnell from killing him as he finished.
If nothing else, at least I go out with a rant...
"That goes for all of you! Are you really ready to let Danya beat you? We've taken the first step - we got the collars off. There's no longer any need for us to kill each other. Instead, we can come up with a plan, get out of here, and then maybe focusing on killing THEM a little bit instead, yeah? You shoot me here, Darnell? Danya still wins, because there's no reason for it."
Finally, Adam locked eyes with Darnell again, and stepped right up to the muzzle of the gun. It pressed against his forehead and the end of it was cool to his skin. His next words, he said through clenched teeth, with a decidedly angrier tone.
Jesus, this is so fucking 'movie-cliché', it's unbelievable.
"You want to know my PENANCE, Darnell? You want me to pay for all that I've done? How dare ME? How FUCKING dare YOU. You have absolutely no right to demand that I PAY for what I've done. I pay for what I've done every single day that I open my eyes and continue living. You say that you have blood on your hands? You haven't got the first clue about what it means to have blood on your hands, Darnell. I've been personally responsible for the deaths of SIXTEEN people within the span of my short life. How dare you demand that I must pay for what I've done. Every single day, I am wracked with guilt. Guilt over what I've done, over the people I've killed. And even worse? Guilt over being the only person to walk away. You have no idea, and you CAN'T know what it is like to look around and see everybody that you've ever known has turned into a bloody heap on the ground. Friends, acquaintances...lovers..."
Adam choked back tears, remembering Amanda, and feeling almost guilty that he had again fallen in love, with Izzy, who was standing only feet away.
"You can't know, because you'll always have more friends. If you and one other person manages to walk away, then you're ahead of the game. You will never know that kind of guilt, Darnell. That isn't just something that goes away. That is something that I will live with for the rest of my life, and goddamn you sir, it is not easy."
Taking a deep breath, Adam stared at Darnell, and wiped away a tear that had fallen on his face.
"So go ahead. Do it. Shoot me. But know this, Darnell. You do that, and this isn't another Survival of the Fittest killing. The collars are off, Darnell. The game is over for us. It's time to go home. You shoot me now, and you're not killing to survive, you're committing murder. First-degree murder. I hope that you can live with that, Darnell. I hope that you can live with that on your hands. Even if the thirty other people in this room let you off the hook for it, you will always live with that knowledge, and I goddamn guarantee you that it will eat away at you for the rest of your natural life. It's one thing to kill someone by accident, out of mercy, or out of a natural survival instinct. It's another to murder someone, in cold blood. You do that, and you're never the same."
He swallowed.
"Trust me. I know."
And that was it. Adam didn't have anything else to say. Darnell would kill him, or he wouldn't. It was that simple. He'd said his point, he'd stated what he needed to. Whether or not it made a difference...? Adam supposed that the next few minutes would let him know.
I guess we'll see...who knows, guys. Hawley, Lipson, Amanda, Madelaine...maybe I'll be seeing you a lot sooner than I'd hoped.
It's enough to get me thinking positively, and that's something in itself!
With a small grin on his face, Adam was about to walk over to Izzy and give her a long embrace when someone walked out of the crowd of people, came to a stop in front of him, and pulled out a gun, pointing it directly at his head.
What the FUCK?!
It took all of the energy that Adam had to try not to react sharply - whipping out his machine gun and spraying the area with bullets as he fell back, or something like that. No, after all of this, after all of the goodness that had seemingly been accomplished in this room? They'd come too far for that. This group had done what had seemed impossible to so many students in the past. Somebody had figured out how to get the collars off, and they had a legitimate chance of escaping. It wasn't a pipe dream anymore.
Of course, barring a minor miracle, it looked as though Adam might be getting a bullet through the head for his troubles. A part of him was pissed off. After everything, after all of the shit that he'd had to go through as part of this 'Survival of the Fittest', was it really going to end like this? Adam had faced death many times before, and had often come out on the other side smelling like a lucky penny - bitter and coppery, but still kicking around. He planned to stick around as long as possible, so in this instance, he forced his gut feeling to the ground, and decided to do nothing, but stand there and listen.
What else is there TO do? One wrong move and I'm just another number.
As the man stood there, visibly disturbed and fighting back tears, accusing Adam of having been the unintentional instigator of their unfortunate situation and current predicament, Adam couldn't help but sympathize with him. Yes, it was very true that Adam being taken for a second time was likely not a coincidence. Any idiot could see that. Did that make him somebody who deserved to die because of it? Perhaps he was biased, but Adam didn't think so. Nonetheless, he let him keep going, hoping that he'd essentially talk himself OUT of what he seemed so intent upon doing: putting a bullet between Adam's eyes.
Talk about taking a risk, though. My very life is at stake...
As the rant went further in, the man (Adam didn't even know his goddamn name) seemed to come to a decision after buckling a few times, and then the strength returned to his face, confidence coming back into him. He straightened his aim, and then proceeded to issue the ultimatum. The one question to which the answer would determine if this freaked-out teenager put a bullet in his brain or not.
Well then, smart guy...why DO you deserve not to get shot? This is final tribal council. The chips are down, the jury's in control of the game. This is your last chance to convince them that you can win, and the prize is a lot better than the million bucks...
For a moment, Adam stared back at the man holding the gun, and said nothing, letting the question hang in the air. Every single person in the armory was now looking intently at the situation, and nobody was saying or doing anything. This was it; this was the moment of motherfucking-truth.
And the answer came so easily to him that it actually forced the smirk back onto his face.
"If you shoot me right now, then you're destroying your best chance to get out of this alive. You pull that trigger, and you lose any chance that you've got to escape this godforsaken game. I die here, and now? I'd put money on the fact that not a single fucking person in this room lives past the age of twenty. That a good enough reason for ya?"
Adam took a step back, hands neutral, so that he wouldn't get shot as he did so. Glancing around the room, he saw so many faces...so many people that probably thought at least a little bit like this guy did. That was fine, Adam half-expected it. But now, it was no longer about him, and this guy. It was about all of them. Everyone was so caught up in the moment, so happy to get the collars off, that they'd lost sight of the big picture, and this guy pointing a gun at him just proved it. As he looked around the room, he raised his voice, addressing everyone now, and not just the kid with the gun.
"S'not a threat. It's a fact. Yeah, great job, everyone. We've managed to get our collars off. It's a blow against Danya, the establishment, the game, and oppressed students everywhere. Congrats. I salute you all. So now, let's all pack up and get the fuck out of here. Oh, wait, I forgot. We're on an island. In the middle.
OF. FUCKING. NOWHERE!"
Adam shook his head, looking at the kid with the gun, disapprovingly sighing a bit.
"Seriously, did you all forget about that small little detail? We're on a guarded, heavily secured island that's surrounded by things like...ships...soldiers with weapons...hundreds of miles of water...? I mean, come on, people! You can't expect that we're just going to waltz out the front door and Danya's just going to let everyone go! 'Oh, gee whiz, you got the collars off. Well, have a nice life!' Yeah, I don't fucking think so. The look on your faces is telling me that none of you ACTUALLY gave this a whole lot of thought. This, my friends...this is a problem."
Nobody said anything. The looks on their faces said it all. For the most part, the vast majority of people hadn't really come up with a solid plan to escape, and it had seemingly gotten lost in the shuffle.
Well, time to rifle through the cards and find where they went, because there's no way I'm dying on this fucking hellhole of an island - or ANY fucking island, for that matter!
"Look, this guy here...he's got a point. I'm not going to dispute that. I went through hell two years ago, and was probably a fool for thinking that Danya would leave me alone after all of the verbal abuse that I piled his way. Sure, it was stupid. So I guess, in some indirect, random fluke of a way, yeah, I probably have a bit to do with our current situation. That sucks, and trust me, that's been weighing upon my conscience since I woke up here. Gun-boy here would be perfectly within his rights to pop me right now, and save Danya the trouble. But then...where does that leave you?"
From the back, a voice called out. It was Dean Portman, who'd been leaning against a wall, watching the actions with an almost eerie sense of shock.
"Darnell. His name's Darnell. The fuck are you doing, man?"
Adam nodded, and looked back at the guy with the gun. At Darnell.
"I'll tell you where, Darnell. It leaves you without someone who knows what's what in his twisted little fantasy world. It leaves you without a tour guide. It leaves you stranded up shit creek without either of your paddles and a leaky fucking canoe. You don't know what you're getting yourself into, here. Have you gone up against Danya's soldiers, hmm? Have you tried to fight one-on-one with a trained military officer? I've seen one solider massacre a whole fucking room full of people with one grenade - or at least, I've seen the aftermath, and it wasn't fuckin' pretty. But of course, you never figured that, did you? Why would you have to take on soldiers? It's just kids here, right?"
Adam paused for a moment, and locked eyes with Neil Sinclair.
"They're coming. Odds are, they're probably already here."
Letting that sink in for a moment, Adam continued.
"What, you're shocked? This son of a bitch is one of the most paranoid, delusional bastards that roams the face of God's Green Earth. There's no way in hell that thirty collars just disappear off his map, or die all at once, without him sending people in to investigate. The cameras have been off for the last day or so, as well. Don't know if you guys have noticed, but I have. THIS IS THE ISSUE, PEOPLE. You don't stand a chance in hell without me. I've done this before. This is my SECOND time through. I know how things work. How the soliders act, how they react to things. Hell, I've killed one. I know the equipment that they use, their protocol and procedures. I'm sure they're the same from when I won the game the first time. We take this information, and we roll with it. We come up with a PLAN, an actual, honest-to-God PLAN, and we execute it."
On a roll, Adam smiled into the gun that Darnell was still holding up towards his head.
"Now, it's not going to be easy, I never said that. There's a damn good likelihood that most of the people in this room will die anyway. But we owe it to everyone who's ever perished in this game to give it our best damn shot. If at least one person makes it off the island, and back to civilization outside of the poor bastard who 'wins'? Then we all win. THEN, we've beaten the game, and can stick it straight up Danya's ass. Come on, people. This isn't the end of the journey. The collars are off, that's fine. That just means we're past the easy part. I can't believe nobody's thought this through...come on...what about it, Sinclair?"
Moving his gaze to where Neil Sinclair had been standing, silently watching the exchange, Adam raised an eyebrow at him.
"Come on, Sinclair. You're the one person in this whole game that I can probably say Danya hates about as much as he does me. You've been pissing him off, trying to fuck the system since day one. All I've heard about is Neil Sinclair this, Neil Sinclair that. I bet you had some sort of a plan, didn't you? Or was it so much of a pipe dream that you never thought it possible? Either way, it doesn't matter. You got to him. You pissed him off. You really ready to let him win?"
Glancing around the room again, Adam felt his long speech coming to an end. In the back of his mind, he wondered if even it would be enough to prevent Darnell from killing him as he finished.
If nothing else, at least I go out with a rant...
"That goes for all of you! Are you really ready to let Danya beat you? We've taken the first step - we got the collars off. There's no longer any need for us to kill each other. Instead, we can come up with a plan, get out of here, and then maybe focusing on killing THEM a little bit instead, yeah? You shoot me here, Darnell? Danya still wins, because there's no reason for it."
Finally, Adam locked eyes with Darnell again, and stepped right up to the muzzle of the gun. It pressed against his forehead and the end of it was cool to his skin. His next words, he said through clenched teeth, with a decidedly angrier tone.
Jesus, this is so fucking 'movie-cliché', it's unbelievable.
"You want to know my PENANCE, Darnell? You want me to pay for all that I've done? How dare ME? How FUCKING dare YOU. You have absolutely no right to demand that I PAY for what I've done. I pay for what I've done every single day that I open my eyes and continue living. You say that you have blood on your hands? You haven't got the first clue about what it means to have blood on your hands, Darnell. I've been personally responsible for the deaths of SIXTEEN people within the span of my short life. How dare you demand that I must pay for what I've done. Every single day, I am wracked with guilt. Guilt over what I've done, over the people I've killed. And even worse? Guilt over being the only person to walk away. You have no idea, and you CAN'T know what it is like to look around and see everybody that you've ever known has turned into a bloody heap on the ground. Friends, acquaintances...lovers..."
Adam choked back tears, remembering Amanda, and feeling almost guilty that he had again fallen in love, with Izzy, who was standing only feet away.
"You can't know, because you'll always have more friends. If you and one other person manages to walk away, then you're ahead of the game. You will never know that kind of guilt, Darnell. That isn't just something that goes away. That is something that I will live with for the rest of my life, and goddamn you sir, it is not easy."
Taking a deep breath, Adam stared at Darnell, and wiped away a tear that had fallen on his face.
"So go ahead. Do it. Shoot me. But know this, Darnell. You do that, and this isn't another Survival of the Fittest killing. The collars are off, Darnell. The game is over for us. It's time to go home. You shoot me now, and you're not killing to survive, you're committing murder. First-degree murder. I hope that you can live with that, Darnell. I hope that you can live with that on your hands. Even if the thirty other people in this room let you off the hook for it, you will always live with that knowledge, and I goddamn guarantee you that it will eat away at you for the rest of your natural life. It's one thing to kill someone by accident, out of mercy, or out of a natural survival instinct. It's another to murder someone, in cold blood. You do that, and you're never the same."
He swallowed.
"Trust me. I know."
And that was it. Adam didn't have anything else to say. Darnell would kill him, or he wouldn't. It was that simple. He'd said his point, he'd stated what he needed to. Whether or not it made a difference...? Adam supposed that the next few minutes would let him know.
I guess we'll see...who knows, guys. Hawley, Lipson, Amanda, Madelaine...maybe I'll be seeing you a lot sooner than I'd hoped.
Matt was surprised when Neil jumped up and hugged him. He smiled though, and hugged his friend back. Neil looked at him, and told them they were going to get out. Matt couldn't help but believe him. It was enough of a miracle that Neil and Dominica both were still alive, without their collars on at that. He could defiantly believe escape was possible.
"I can't wait to get back home... god... We made it!" Matt felt himself tearing up again. But this time, this time the tears were because of happiness. They were because it was finally over. It was time for this all to end.
Kyrie smiled from the doorway at Matt and Neil's exchange. It was awesome. They were actually going to get off this shit hole. She smiled at Lucy when she removed her collar. Kyrie was just so overcome. This was so unexpected. She never thought this could happen. Sure, she'd told Vera and Noah and John that she'd get them out, but they were at most hopeless promises. Now though... now it was a reality. None of them were with her though. And it hurt her. Her best friend was a murderer. Lexi... Why hadn't she just stayed... they'd both be getting out if she'd just stayed...
The next thing she knew, another group entered the building. Adam Dodd was among them. And so was an even more familiar face.
"John?!" She said with both delight and surprise. She ran over to him and smiled.
"What took ya' so long Johnny-boy?" She laughed. "I'm glad ya' made it."
It was then that both Matt and Kyrie were silenced. Darnell butler had gone haywire. He was yelling and pointing a gun at Adam. Blaming him for everyone that died. Kyrie couldn't speak. Matt couldn't move.
It was as if time was standing still. Adam began to speak, and reality hit them all.
They weren't out of the fire yet.
Escape was still not in their grasp.
Matt leaned against the wall and listened. Adam was right. They weren't out of dodge yet. They had to deal with a hell of a lot more before any kind of escape was even a reality. First they'd need a boat. That was kind of imperative. Matt sighed. Adam was the best chance any of them had. He knew how these people worked. It was a hell of a lot more than any of them had.
"Darnell... Stop it." Matt said in a way he never knew he could talk. He never thought he could sound commanding, but he did. Kyrie was impressed.
"Adam's right. We're out of the game. We need him. He knows what they can do. Without him, we're out a lot of information. That doesn't fly with me, I'm sorry. I don't know weather to blame him for this or not, but... We all need to trust each other right now. If we don't, we might as well take these guns and shoot down every last one of us right now, because if we can't trust each other, then we'll just end up dead anyway. So SHUT UP, and put the gun down. We don't have the time to start fighting with each other. Get it through your head that until we're on fucking boat headed toward the good ol' US of A, we only shoot the assholes who sent us out here to die. We clear?"
Matt had never been so bold in his life, but these were desperate times. He had to set Darnell straight. Until they were safe, they were all in this together.
"I can't wait to get back home... god... We made it!" Matt felt himself tearing up again. But this time, this time the tears were because of happiness. They were because it was finally over. It was time for this all to end.
Kyrie smiled from the doorway at Matt and Neil's exchange. It was awesome. They were actually going to get off this shit hole. She smiled at Lucy when she removed her collar. Kyrie was just so overcome. This was so unexpected. She never thought this could happen. Sure, she'd told Vera and Noah and John that she'd get them out, but they were at most hopeless promises. Now though... now it was a reality. None of them were with her though. And it hurt her. Her best friend was a murderer. Lexi... Why hadn't she just stayed... they'd both be getting out if she'd just stayed...
The next thing she knew, another group entered the building. Adam Dodd was among them. And so was an even more familiar face.
"John?!" She said with both delight and surprise. She ran over to him and smiled.
"What took ya' so long Johnny-boy?" She laughed. "I'm glad ya' made it."
It was then that both Matt and Kyrie were silenced. Darnell butler had gone haywire. He was yelling and pointing a gun at Adam. Blaming him for everyone that died. Kyrie couldn't speak. Matt couldn't move.
It was as if time was standing still. Adam began to speak, and reality hit them all.
They weren't out of the fire yet.
Escape was still not in their grasp.
Matt leaned against the wall and listened. Adam was right. They weren't out of dodge yet. They had to deal with a hell of a lot more before any kind of escape was even a reality. First they'd need a boat. That was kind of imperative. Matt sighed. Adam was the best chance any of them had. He knew how these people worked. It was a hell of a lot more than any of them had.
"Darnell... Stop it." Matt said in a way he never knew he could talk. He never thought he could sound commanding, but he did. Kyrie was impressed.
"Adam's right. We're out of the game. We need him. He knows what they can do. Without him, we're out a lot of information. That doesn't fly with me, I'm sorry. I don't know weather to blame him for this or not, but... We all need to trust each other right now. If we don't, we might as well take these guns and shoot down every last one of us right now, because if we can't trust each other, then we'll just end up dead anyway. So SHUT UP, and put the gun down. We don't have the time to start fighting with each other. Get it through your head that until we're on fucking boat headed toward the good ol' US of A, we only shoot the assholes who sent us out here to die. We clear?"
Matt had never been so bold in his life, but these were desperate times. He had to set Darnell straight. Until they were safe, they were all in this together.
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler Mitsuko2. 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.
Neil wasn't sure what to do when Darnell threatened Adam. He had almost forgot this this island bred killers, bred people who would do anything to get off. Even if it meant killing your classmates. Even if it meant killing your classmates when escape was so close.
Then Adam Dodd, the boy who had survived before, made his speech.
Neil listened, and was surprised when Adam mentioned him in the speech. He didn't think he had made that big of an impact to warrant someone like Adam knowing who he was, and what he stood for on this island.
Neil Sinclair stood up, and looked at Darnell and Adam.
"Well, as long as you guys don't kill each other, I guess this is the time I say you got my sword."
Neil nodded to Adam then smiled and said, "Too bad I don't got a sword anymore. Though, you got my M16. I'm with you. I think if we all work together, we can figure out a plan to escape. I don't plan dying here. I made a promise to get some people off this island, and that's what I plan to do. So Adam, I'm with you to the end."
Then Adam Dodd, the boy who had survived before, made his speech.
Neil listened, and was surprised when Adam mentioned him in the speech. He didn't think he had made that big of an impact to warrant someone like Adam knowing who he was, and what he stood for on this island.
Neil Sinclair stood up, and looked at Darnell and Adam.
"Well, as long as you guys don't kill each other, I guess this is the time I say you got my sword."
Neil nodded to Adam then smiled and said, "Too bad I don't got a sword anymore. Though, you got my M16. I'm with you. I think if we all work together, we can figure out a plan to escape. I don't plan dying here. I made a promise to get some people off this island, and that's what I plan to do. So Adam, I'm with you to the end."
As her initial shock and fear from Darnell's outburst drained away, Lucy found herself filled with another emotion that she'd been encountering rather a lot lately. Anger. She had managed to hold herself back earlier, at least with Adam, but as the winner of v1 talked, Lucy found herself becoming more and more enraged. There was focusing on the bigger picture, there was thinking about how they were going to get off the island alive, but then there was this...
Did he really think there had been no plan? Andrea had something in mind, Lucy was sure of it. Was it bad that they weren't putting anything in motion until as many people as possible were safe? The more collars that were removed, the fewer the number of people who had any obligation to continue the game was, it was as simple as that. They could figure out how to get off the island itself after people stopped dying.
That's it, that is it. Neil was enough, but this guy too?
"The easy part," Lucy's voice wasn't loud, but it trembled with restrained emotion. "Let me get this straight. You, Adam Dodd, the guy who killed his way off the first island, think that getting these collars off was the easy part," she took a deep, shuddering breath, trying desperately not to begin screaming in anger and burst into tears all at once. "I'm not going to wave that in front of your face, because I don't doubt that you're a good enough guy to feel remorseful about what happened. I'm not going to blame you for all of this because there's no point. It's happened, we're on the island, people have died. Yelling at you, whether it's your fault or not, will solve nothing," Lucy stepped out properly into the open, until she was standing right in front of Adam. The size difference was quite pronounced, but Lucy didn't let the fact that Adam was taller put her off.
"Do you know just how it feels to be sitting, typing away at a keyboard, knowing that every second you waste, somebody could be killed? Do you realise what it is like to be racked with guilt every time you stop working even to sleep, knowing that because you're too weak to stave it off a little longer, you're allowing people to die? Have you listened to those announcements rattling off the namers of people you knew, grew up with, knowing that you had the means to save them, but you weren't fast enough? It's one thing to not be able to protect somebody with your gun Adam, it's quite another to fail to save their life solely because you hadn't managed to crack a code. We've had the means to save every last person on this island in here, and I am the reason that so many people didn't make it to see these collars removed. Do you know. How. That. Feels?" as she spoke the last, Lucy even seized hold of the front of Adam's shirt, but she let go a moment or so later.
"Fine, you know about the terrorists. I'm all ears. We could use your help, yeah you're right. Just don't you ever, ever presume again that removing these collars... was easy," Lucy looked around, saw Neil. "I'm sorry for yelling at you... what was your plan?"
*
Jesus Bloody Wept. I feel like somebody decided to tap dance on my head. With spiked shoes.
Conciousness had been a long time coming for Sean O'Cann. After his initial faint, the accumulated fatigue of his time on the island had caught up with him, resulting in probably the longest nap he had ever had in his life. With his head pounding once again, Sean sat up carefully, wincing at every slight jar, each of which causes jolts of pain to assail him.
"Hoo boy. It would be my luck to have broken something important wouldn't it?" Sean muttered under his breath, too quietly for anybody in the room to hear, crowded as they were. In all truthfulness, his head was worrying. This was the tenth day now, and Sean had hurt himself on day 1. Something was wrong, badly wrong. He knew head injuries were complicated, but if you were still suffering symptoms after more than a week... yeah, he was badly hurt.
As everybody talked, Sean remained quiet and listened. Some kind of shake-up was going on, with that Adam Dodd at the centre of it. Sean was glad the veteran was all right. He'd been there when Sean had been reunited with Andy, and hadn't seemed too bad a guy at all. With... well, the way things had turned out, Sean felt a whole lot of empathy for Adam. Perhaps he was one of those who could understand him... hell, by this point, next to all of the Southridge kids probably could.
He's right... this isn't over yet. I have to... make sure what I do is worthwhile. It doesn't matter if I don't make it. I just have to ensure that... somebody, at least, does.
Did he really think there had been no plan? Andrea had something in mind, Lucy was sure of it. Was it bad that they weren't putting anything in motion until as many people as possible were safe? The more collars that were removed, the fewer the number of people who had any obligation to continue the game was, it was as simple as that. They could figure out how to get off the island itself after people stopped dying.
That's it, that is it. Neil was enough, but this guy too?
"The easy part," Lucy's voice wasn't loud, but it trembled with restrained emotion. "Let me get this straight. You, Adam Dodd, the guy who killed his way off the first island, think that getting these collars off was the easy part," she took a deep, shuddering breath, trying desperately not to begin screaming in anger and burst into tears all at once. "I'm not going to wave that in front of your face, because I don't doubt that you're a good enough guy to feel remorseful about what happened. I'm not going to blame you for all of this because there's no point. It's happened, we're on the island, people have died. Yelling at you, whether it's your fault or not, will solve nothing," Lucy stepped out properly into the open, until she was standing right in front of Adam. The size difference was quite pronounced, but Lucy didn't let the fact that Adam was taller put her off.
"Do you know just how it feels to be sitting, typing away at a keyboard, knowing that every second you waste, somebody could be killed? Do you realise what it is like to be racked with guilt every time you stop working even to sleep, knowing that because you're too weak to stave it off a little longer, you're allowing people to die? Have you listened to those announcements rattling off the namers of people you knew, grew up with, knowing that you had the means to save them, but you weren't fast enough? It's one thing to not be able to protect somebody with your gun Adam, it's quite another to fail to save their life solely because you hadn't managed to crack a code. We've had the means to save every last person on this island in here, and I am the reason that so many people didn't make it to see these collars removed. Do you know. How. That. Feels?" as she spoke the last, Lucy even seized hold of the front of Adam's shirt, but she let go a moment or so later.
"Fine, you know about the terrorists. I'm all ears. We could use your help, yeah you're right. Just don't you ever, ever presume again that removing these collars... was easy," Lucy looked around, saw Neil. "I'm sorry for yelling at you... what was your plan?"
*
Jesus Bloody Wept. I feel like somebody decided to tap dance on my head. With spiked shoes.
Conciousness had been a long time coming for Sean O'Cann. After his initial faint, the accumulated fatigue of his time on the island had caught up with him, resulting in probably the longest nap he had ever had in his life. With his head pounding once again, Sean sat up carefully, wincing at every slight jar, each of which causes jolts of pain to assail him.
"Hoo boy. It would be my luck to have broken something important wouldn't it?" Sean muttered under his breath, too quietly for anybody in the room to hear, crowded as they were. In all truthfulness, his head was worrying. This was the tenth day now, and Sean had hurt himself on day 1. Something was wrong, badly wrong. He knew head injuries were complicated, but if you were still suffering symptoms after more than a week... yeah, he was badly hurt.
As everybody talked, Sean remained quiet and listened. Some kind of shake-up was going on, with that Adam Dodd at the centre of it. Sean was glad the veteran was all right. He'd been there when Sean had been reunited with Andy, and hadn't seemed too bad a guy at all. With... well, the way things had turned out, Sean felt a whole lot of empathy for Adam. Perhaps he was one of those who could understand him... hell, by this point, next to all of the Southridge kids probably could.
He's right... this isn't over yet. I have to... make sure what I do is worthwhile. It doesn't matter if I don't make it. I just have to ensure that... somebody, at least, does.
Terrie really wasn't sure of what had happened when they left the airport. She just... lost her way.
"I'm just glad that I'm here right now."
Terrie shrugged slightly and smiled at Ianto. Her eyes turning to look at everyone else in the room. Somehow she hadn't noticed how many people had come in - twenty some people she guessed. It made her smile just to think about it. All of them here, right now, thinking of the same exact thing. Hope was slowly beginning to come back - all the hope she had lost so many days before. And yet she couldn't help but feel that it was all going to be taken away again. Her whole body felt cold, not 'cold' cold but just numb all over. She felt slightly better knowing that there were so many people here that were... wait. Hold on...
"B-Brad?"
Terrie looked around the room. Where did Brad go?
"Brad?"
~~~~~
Brad Kavanagh wasn't focusing on Terrie. He was focusing on Lucy, who had just exploded. And for all the life in him, he couldn't blame her. She had worked so hard to get these collars off and this was her reward? It got him really pissed, really REALLY pissed. But he kept his lid on and looked over at Lucy.
"Lucy!" Brad growled, waving her away. "What the hell are you doing?!! Darnell has a fucking gun pulled out. Get out of the way!"
He turned to Adam.
"... we're not all wearing rose-tinted glasses Adam. You can't treat us like fucking sheep that need to be led around?
"You don't think we haven't thought about Danya sending people over Adam? Ever since Neil started destroying those cameras... I couldn't stop thinking about it. Hell, I was afraid they were on the island from the very beginning. Dude, I respect you for saving me on the first day but as far as I can tell, you're no different than we are. The only difference is is that you had to go through this thing shit before. I sympathize with you dude as far as that is concerned but considering the way you talk to us... it as though you think of us as inferior or something. That's just how you come off. And to be honest, I don't like that one fucking bit. And I don't think anyone else likes it."
Brad pushed his glasses back up, noticing that they were almost ready to fall off. Then he kept talking.
"Now I'm not saying that you're wrong. You're all-around right... I mean I can't fucking deny that. We do need to... like, get organized. But I'm going to tell you right now that I doubt Darnell will put that gun down when you're talking to him like he's an idiot. I bet he's had to deal with plenty of shit this past week. If there's one thing we need to do, one rule that we need to follow is that we treat each other as equals. None of that shit we did in school."
Brad squinted his eyes. " So don't act like you're better than the people who got these collars off, or Neil. Because I know that I would have slugged you in the face if you had spoken to me like that, I'll tell you that right now."
Brad finally turned to Darnell and shook his head. "That being said, I think you should put the gun down. Just put the fucking gun down or I swear to god... you think you won't regret it but I swear to god if you kill at least one of us, fuck, if any of us just decides to kill another one of our classmates then everything that Lucy and Andrea have been working for goes down the drain, and everyone in this room will be dead - you, me, my friends. Just taking your anger out on someone other than those fuckheads isn't going to help us. I know that, and you know that. So stop acting like you're right, that you can just assume that you can judge who deserves to live and who deserves to die...
"What I'm tired of seeing," Brad sighed loudly, "are people who think that killing our classmates is the only way to solve shit. Bobby Jacks, Blood Boy, that bastard Theobald... and I seriously doubt Adam is as bad as them. That's why we're trying to escape remember, so we don't 'become' them."
"I'm just glad that I'm here right now."
Terrie shrugged slightly and smiled at Ianto. Her eyes turning to look at everyone else in the room. Somehow she hadn't noticed how many people had come in - twenty some people she guessed. It made her smile just to think about it. All of them here, right now, thinking of the same exact thing. Hope was slowly beginning to come back - all the hope she had lost so many days before. And yet she couldn't help but feel that it was all going to be taken away again. Her whole body felt cold, not 'cold' cold but just numb all over. She felt slightly better knowing that there were so many people here that were... wait. Hold on...
"B-Brad?"
Terrie looked around the room. Where did Brad go?
"Brad?"
~~~~~
Brad Kavanagh wasn't focusing on Terrie. He was focusing on Lucy, who had just exploded. And for all the life in him, he couldn't blame her. She had worked so hard to get these collars off and this was her reward? It got him really pissed, really REALLY pissed. But he kept his lid on and looked over at Lucy.
"Lucy!" Brad growled, waving her away. "What the hell are you doing?!! Darnell has a fucking gun pulled out. Get out of the way!"
He turned to Adam.
"... we're not all wearing rose-tinted glasses Adam. You can't treat us like fucking sheep that need to be led around?
"You don't think we haven't thought about Danya sending people over Adam? Ever since Neil started destroying those cameras... I couldn't stop thinking about it. Hell, I was afraid they were on the island from the very beginning. Dude, I respect you for saving me on the first day but as far as I can tell, you're no different than we are. The only difference is is that you had to go through this thing shit before. I sympathize with you dude as far as that is concerned but considering the way you talk to us... it as though you think of us as inferior or something. That's just how you come off. And to be honest, I don't like that one fucking bit. And I don't think anyone else likes it."
Brad pushed his glasses back up, noticing that they were almost ready to fall off. Then he kept talking.
"Now I'm not saying that you're wrong. You're all-around right... I mean I can't fucking deny that. We do need to... like, get organized. But I'm going to tell you right now that I doubt Darnell will put that gun down when you're talking to him like he's an idiot. I bet he's had to deal with plenty of shit this past week. If there's one thing we need to do, one rule that we need to follow is that we treat each other as equals. None of that shit we did in school."
Brad squinted his eyes. " So don't act like you're better than the people who got these collars off, or Neil. Because I know that I would have slugged you in the face if you had spoken to me like that, I'll tell you that right now."
Brad finally turned to Darnell and shook his head. "That being said, I think you should put the gun down. Just put the fucking gun down or I swear to god... you think you won't regret it but I swear to god if you kill at least one of us, fuck, if any of us just decides to kill another one of our classmates then everything that Lucy and Andrea have been working for goes down the drain, and everyone in this room will be dead - you, me, my friends. Just taking your anger out on someone other than those fuckheads isn't going to help us. I know that, and you know that. So stop acting like you're right, that you can just assume that you can judge who deserves to live and who deserves to die...
"What I'm tired of seeing," Brad sighed loudly, "are people who think that killing our classmates is the only way to solve shit. Bobby Jacks, Blood Boy, that bastard Theobald... and I seriously doubt Adam is as bad as them. That's why we're trying to escape remember, so we don't 'become' them."
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler Ciel. 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.
Darnell had not moved as everyone else reacted, first Dodd's rant, then Matt and Neil and Lucy and Brad, his aim fixed on Dodd even when Lucy got in the way, which only made him adjust his aim slightly so he was still pointing the gun at Dodd's head. By all rights, Dodd needed to die, but for some reason he couldn't force himself to pull the trigger. How dare he be so smug, downplaying their progress like it was nothing while he'd caused all this? Why couldn't he just shoot the bastard? Was that a risk he could afford to take?
Come on...do it!
However, when Brad finished, Darnell couldn't help but grunt derisively. "Are you joking, Kavanagh?" he asked, his brown, hate-filled eyes not leaving Dodd's own. "This smug piece of shit is even worse! He's the reason we're here! Bobby, Blood Boy, Gabe, Eduardo, Keith...myself...n-nobody who has killed would've had to if he wasn't here! We'd be enjoying our senior trip now, if not for him, and you want to FORGIVE him?! No, too many people have died. Too many! Too many fathers and mothers losing their son or daughter, too many kids growing up without their big brother or sister...it's not right...IT'S NOT RIGHT, DAMN IT! He's just as much a monster as Danya is, except Danya doesn't have to get his hands dirty!"
To say Darnell was utterly incredulous was an understatement, without a doubt. Surely Brad and the others had seen just as much as he had? Maybe even more? It'd almost been eleven days, how...how couldn't they see what he saw?
No, think about this, man! Don't let all of Lucy and Andrea's work go to nothing! It ain't his fault!
He felt like he was choking. Tears threatened to break through again, and this time he was only barely strong enough to hold them back. His hands shook, but then he steadied them. A murderer. It'd be murder. No, he was already a murderer. No turning back. Anger clashing with Reason, the old Darnell with the new. Shed Dodd's blood, or spare him? An eye for an eye, or turn the other cheek? Saint or sinner? Hero or villain? Heaven or Hell?
Well, which are you?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND!
Darnell didn't know how long he stood like that, the thoughts running mad in his mind. It couldn't have been more than a minute, but felt like an hour. His finger tightened on the trigger, but didn't pull it. "As for you," he finally said to Dodd. "I have to agree with Brad and Lucy, in part. Don't you DARE downplay what progress we've made just for your little ego. If it was so easy, you would've done it in the first game, you little shit! Well, if not for the fact that you obviously enjoy the whole 'killing people' thing.
Anyway, as for your comment about the terrorists...I already know. We all do. I figured Danya would send people, was actually counting on it. You figure, for him to send anybody, they'd need to come by either boats or helicopters, and we didn't hear helicopters. So either they're not here, or they took boats. I was hoping that once I got enough people together, we'd take down the people Danya sent, steal their boats, and get off this island.
I...I failed. The only people I could save were Keith, Kallie, and Alice Jones. As you probably noticed, the former two saw fit to desert me, and the latter was completely insane, barely even functioning. Y'know Guy Rapide? Really short French guy, kind've annoying. Well, something happened when he died, her mind must've shattered or something because she was c-carrying his head around like a doll when we found her. She fell behind...I don't know what happened to her. Everyone else I've met has tried to kill me, I thought even they would for a second, they sure as hell came close to blowing my head off! I'm...I'm just glad Andrea and Lucy were able to have more luck than I did. We owe them our lives, so maybe you should show them some respect. We've been waiting for our chance, and it's finally coming, so don't you fucking DARE act like we're incompetent or naive enough to think this is the end."
Kill him! No, let him live! Grah...it'd be so easy! Pull the trigger! Why can't I act?!
A murderous look appeared in Darnell's eyes, his mouth moving into a grin, but not the friendly smile he greeted people with in school. This smile was malicious, bloodthirsty even. Dodd had not convinced him that he deserved to live, not entirely anyway. But his and Brad's words echoed in his mind. If he killed Dodd, if any of the people in the room killed each other...it'd damn them all. Could he take that risk with any of them? People he cared about? Most of them would probably die fighting trained soldiers, anyway, but could he really take that chance?
"You think we need you, huh?" he asked sardonically, mockingly almost. The kind Darnell that'd never hurt a fly, that'd gone out of his way to be compassionate to everyone, who had unshakable faith even in the students known to be playing the game, appeared to be gone. "Well, news flash; we don't. You're just an unwelcome guest with some information we already know...mostly. All you could possibly contribute is some experience we'll all have soon anyway. God may forgive your sins, the others here might think you deserve a chance, but I don't." His eyes made one last round about the armoury, looking the people he could see from where he stood in the eye. Almost coldly, analytically. How many of them would make it? Probably not many, though he hoped everyone would live. And how many would live if Darnell killed Dodd?
I can't take that risk. I can't gamble with their lives.
Slowly loosening his grip on the Uzi's safety, he lowered the gun, removing his finger from the trigger and taking his aim off of Dodd but still keeping a good enough hold on it that he could and would bring it up and fire a fatal burst into Dodd's gut almost instantly if the man tried to attack him. "Taking your life," he said, "would be a pleasure. It'd avenge the deaths of everyone who has died in this game. However, it won't bring them back, and it won't end the nightmare or change what has happened. I've known pretty much everyone in here for most of my life, and I care about them all deeply. Hell, the woman I love, one of the main people I've been fighting for this entire time, is standing right behind you."
There, I said it. I was hoping I'd get to tell Kallie at a better, more...intimate time, though. Heh, not like she doesn't hate me by now.
If anyone had said anything after that, he'd tell them to shut up before he continued, if not he just continued with what he was saying. "I'm not going to risk throwing any of their lives away, and I'm not going to make all of Lucy's work amount to nothing. That would make me just as bad as you. Maybe worse, and unlike you, I have enough of a conscience that I'd never allow myself to live after doing that. Besides, forcing you to live with the guilt, the knowledge that all the blood spilled on this island is directly your fault and everyone who has died has died because of you, putting that burden on your shoulders and not letting the sweet embrace of death take it away...that feels like an even better punishment for one such as you. You're armed to the teeth, if you're really here to help give some of that weaponry to the people in here without guns. They'll need 'em soon, we both know that."
Not moving, he kept a steely glare fixed on Dodd, waiting to see what he and the others would do. There was nothing he'd love more than to kill the man, but that had to wait. He couldn't risk everyone else's life on it, too many people had died because of the monster in front of him.
He'd best hope we don't meet again after the escape.
Come on...do it!
However, when Brad finished, Darnell couldn't help but grunt derisively. "Are you joking, Kavanagh?" he asked, his brown, hate-filled eyes not leaving Dodd's own. "This smug piece of shit is even worse! He's the reason we're here! Bobby, Blood Boy, Gabe, Eduardo, Keith...myself...n-nobody who has killed would've had to if he wasn't here! We'd be enjoying our senior trip now, if not for him, and you want to FORGIVE him?! No, too many people have died. Too many! Too many fathers and mothers losing their son or daughter, too many kids growing up without their big brother or sister...it's not right...IT'S NOT RIGHT, DAMN IT! He's just as much a monster as Danya is, except Danya doesn't have to get his hands dirty!"
To say Darnell was utterly incredulous was an understatement, without a doubt. Surely Brad and the others had seen just as much as he had? Maybe even more? It'd almost been eleven days, how...how couldn't they see what he saw?
No, think about this, man! Don't let all of Lucy and Andrea's work go to nothing! It ain't his fault!
He felt like he was choking. Tears threatened to break through again, and this time he was only barely strong enough to hold them back. His hands shook, but then he steadied them. A murderer. It'd be murder. No, he was already a murderer. No turning back. Anger clashing with Reason, the old Darnell with the new. Shed Dodd's blood, or spare him? An eye for an eye, or turn the other cheek? Saint or sinner? Hero or villain? Heaven or Hell?
Well, which are you?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND!
Darnell didn't know how long he stood like that, the thoughts running mad in his mind. It couldn't have been more than a minute, but felt like an hour. His finger tightened on the trigger, but didn't pull it. "As for you," he finally said to Dodd. "I have to agree with Brad and Lucy, in part. Don't you DARE downplay what progress we've made just for your little ego. If it was so easy, you would've done it in the first game, you little shit! Well, if not for the fact that you obviously enjoy the whole 'killing people' thing.
Anyway, as for your comment about the terrorists...I already know. We all do. I figured Danya would send people, was actually counting on it. You figure, for him to send anybody, they'd need to come by either boats or helicopters, and we didn't hear helicopters. So either they're not here, or they took boats. I was hoping that once I got enough people together, we'd take down the people Danya sent, steal their boats, and get off this island.
I...I failed. The only people I could save were Keith, Kallie, and Alice Jones. As you probably noticed, the former two saw fit to desert me, and the latter was completely insane, barely even functioning. Y'know Guy Rapide? Really short French guy, kind've annoying. Well, something happened when he died, her mind must've shattered or something because she was c-carrying his head around like a doll when we found her. She fell behind...I don't know what happened to her. Everyone else I've met has tried to kill me, I thought even they would for a second, they sure as hell came close to blowing my head off! I'm...I'm just glad Andrea and Lucy were able to have more luck than I did. We owe them our lives, so maybe you should show them some respect. We've been waiting for our chance, and it's finally coming, so don't you fucking DARE act like we're incompetent or naive enough to think this is the end."
Kill him! No, let him live! Grah...it'd be so easy! Pull the trigger! Why can't I act?!
A murderous look appeared in Darnell's eyes, his mouth moving into a grin, but not the friendly smile he greeted people with in school. This smile was malicious, bloodthirsty even. Dodd had not convinced him that he deserved to live, not entirely anyway. But his and Brad's words echoed in his mind. If he killed Dodd, if any of the people in the room killed each other...it'd damn them all. Could he take that risk with any of them? People he cared about? Most of them would probably die fighting trained soldiers, anyway, but could he really take that chance?
"You think we need you, huh?" he asked sardonically, mockingly almost. The kind Darnell that'd never hurt a fly, that'd gone out of his way to be compassionate to everyone, who had unshakable faith even in the students known to be playing the game, appeared to be gone. "Well, news flash; we don't. You're just an unwelcome guest with some information we already know...mostly. All you could possibly contribute is some experience we'll all have soon anyway. God may forgive your sins, the others here might think you deserve a chance, but I don't." His eyes made one last round about the armoury, looking the people he could see from where he stood in the eye. Almost coldly, analytically. How many of them would make it? Probably not many, though he hoped everyone would live. And how many would live if Darnell killed Dodd?
I can't take that risk. I can't gamble with their lives.
Slowly loosening his grip on the Uzi's safety, he lowered the gun, removing his finger from the trigger and taking his aim off of Dodd but still keeping a good enough hold on it that he could and would bring it up and fire a fatal burst into Dodd's gut almost instantly if the man tried to attack him. "Taking your life," he said, "would be a pleasure. It'd avenge the deaths of everyone who has died in this game. However, it won't bring them back, and it won't end the nightmare or change what has happened. I've known pretty much everyone in here for most of my life, and I care about them all deeply. Hell, the woman I love, one of the main people I've been fighting for this entire time, is standing right behind you."
There, I said it. I was hoping I'd get to tell Kallie at a better, more...intimate time, though. Heh, not like she doesn't hate me by now.
If anyone had said anything after that, he'd tell them to shut up before he continued, if not he just continued with what he was saying. "I'm not going to risk throwing any of their lives away, and I'm not going to make all of Lucy's work amount to nothing. That would make me just as bad as you. Maybe worse, and unlike you, I have enough of a conscience that I'd never allow myself to live after doing that. Besides, forcing you to live with the guilt, the knowledge that all the blood spilled on this island is directly your fault and everyone who has died has died because of you, putting that burden on your shoulders and not letting the sweet embrace of death take it away...that feels like an even better punishment for one such as you. You're armed to the teeth, if you're really here to help give some of that weaponry to the people in here without guns. They'll need 'em soon, we both know that."
Not moving, he kept a steely glare fixed on Dodd, waiting to see what he and the others would do. There was nothing he'd love more than to kill the man, but that had to wait. He couldn't risk everyone else's life on it, too many people had died because of the monster in front of him.
He'd best hope we don't meet again after the escape.
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the former handler Slayer.
***
"Finally!" The small blonde let out a great sigh the minute she closed the car door. "They seriously lectured me for, like, an hour before you came," She huffed, obviously annoyed at the over-protectiveness her parents forced upon her. Her escort let out a small laugh as he started the car.
"They're just worried about you, Marn." He said, flashing her the toothy grin that she had come to know and love. It was the one card he always pulled out when she wasn't in the best of moods, and it always worked. There was just something about the way he looked when it was plastered on his face that melted her to the very core.
"I know, I just wish they'd do it less. I mean, it's not like I'm gonna run off and join a gang and go burn down a building or something." She sighed, knowing she couldn't win against his hundred-watt smile.
"Hey, at least they're letting you go, right? It's not like they're keeping you locked up inside," The boy said as he set the SUV into reverse and turned to peer out the back window.
"They only let me go 'cause they like you, Dorian. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't have been allowed. I mean seriously, you bring them cookies. They have to like you, suck-up," Marnie joked, sending her own cheesy 'in-your-face' smile his way.
"Oh, so you only came with me so you could get out of the house? Man... all that parental butt-kissing for nothing. And here's me thinking tonight was going to be something special." Dorian joined in, only to receive a playful glare from his passenger.
The banter between the seniors continued as the ride went on, and Marnie couldn't complain about it. She always looked forward to the days when they hung out, whether it be going to prom together or if they just sat around in his basement watching movies. She'd take anything she could get, as they wouldn't have the privilege once they went off to college. They had both applied to schools on the east coast, her to Juilliard and him to Princeton. Juilliard, however, turned her down, while Princeton accepted Dorian and, as far as she knew, he was still going. Marnie settled on USC and, though she knew watching Dorian go would break her heart, she tried to keep the happy face on.
"Oh! Can we stop and get something to eat?!" Marnie squealed as her eye caught the McDonald's in the distance. "I've hardly eaten today."
"You'll get it on you're dress," Dorian grinned, "You're kind of a slob."
Marnie's mouth formed a large 'O' as she feigned insulted. "I am not! I'm just excited about food!" The girl retorted, punching her friend in the arm.
"Ow, that hurt," Dorian monotoned, "No, not really. You punch like a girl."
**
A small metal clink snapped Marnie out of the comforting memories and back into reality, just in time to catch a figure turning around the corner of the building and the tail end of, 'Have a nice day, children', which she was sure was the end of an announcement. Her neck felt lighter and less constrained, and when she moved her hand up to inspect it, she was alarmed to find that her collar wasn't there.
Almost as if it were on cue, a familiar voice spread throughout the area. Marnie's head peered round the corner, and an even more alarming sight stood before her.
"...Dorian...?"
It couldn't be, right? As much as she wanted to believe that he was still alive, it just couldn't be true. There was no way.
"Finally!" The small blonde let out a great sigh the minute she closed the car door. "They seriously lectured me for, like, an hour before you came," She huffed, obviously annoyed at the over-protectiveness her parents forced upon her. Her escort let out a small laugh as he started the car.
"They're just worried about you, Marn." He said, flashing her the toothy grin that she had come to know and love. It was the one card he always pulled out when she wasn't in the best of moods, and it always worked. There was just something about the way he looked when it was plastered on his face that melted her to the very core.
"I know, I just wish they'd do it less. I mean, it's not like I'm gonna run off and join a gang and go burn down a building or something." She sighed, knowing she couldn't win against his hundred-watt smile.
"Hey, at least they're letting you go, right? It's not like they're keeping you locked up inside," The boy said as he set the SUV into reverse and turned to peer out the back window.
"They only let me go 'cause they like you, Dorian. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't have been allowed. I mean seriously, you bring them cookies. They have to like you, suck-up," Marnie joked, sending her own cheesy 'in-your-face' smile his way.
"Oh, so you only came with me so you could get out of the house? Man... all that parental butt-kissing for nothing. And here's me thinking tonight was going to be something special." Dorian joined in, only to receive a playful glare from his passenger.
The banter between the seniors continued as the ride went on, and Marnie couldn't complain about it. She always looked forward to the days when they hung out, whether it be going to prom together or if they just sat around in his basement watching movies. She'd take anything she could get, as they wouldn't have the privilege once they went off to college. They had both applied to schools on the east coast, her to Juilliard and him to Princeton. Juilliard, however, turned her down, while Princeton accepted Dorian and, as far as she knew, he was still going. Marnie settled on USC and, though she knew watching Dorian go would break her heart, she tried to keep the happy face on.
"Oh! Can we stop and get something to eat?!" Marnie squealed as her eye caught the McDonald's in the distance. "I've hardly eaten today."
"You'll get it on you're dress," Dorian grinned, "You're kind of a slob."
Marnie's mouth formed a large 'O' as she feigned insulted. "I am not! I'm just excited about food!" The girl retorted, punching her friend in the arm.
"Ow, that hurt," Dorian monotoned, "No, not really. You punch like a girl."
**
A small metal clink snapped Marnie out of the comforting memories and back into reality, just in time to catch a figure turning around the corner of the building and the tail end of, 'Have a nice day, children', which she was sure was the end of an announcement. Her neck felt lighter and less constrained, and when she moved her hand up to inspect it, she was alarmed to find that her collar wasn't there.
Almost as if it were on cue, a familiar voice spread throughout the area. Marnie's head peered round the corner, and an even more alarming sight stood before her.
"...Dorian...?"
It couldn't be, right? As much as she wanted to believe that he was still alive, it just couldn't be true. There was no way.
Denise had dozed off shortly after Lucy helped her off with her collar. The feeling as the cold thing had released its grip on her had been pretty intense, at least intense enough to use up the last of her reserve energy. She'd smiled exhaustedly back at Lucy and fainted dead away.
And now she was stirred by loud voices. Arguing. Denise pried her eyes open to see Darnell pointing a gun at Adam, with several other students getting involved and helping to create an incredibly tense situation. Denise held her breath, hoping against all hope that nobody's trigger fingers went off prematurely. She could picture a horrible chain reaction occurring with the end result being a room full of dead kids.
Andrea V's name came up once or twice during the heated confrontation, and Denise looked around to see where exactly the student president--apparently the brains of this escape attempt--was hiding.
Was she dead?
'I wish I knew what the hell was going on...'
"Wait a sec! Where the hell is Andrea?" Denise piped up, looking to Lucy for an answer.
And now she was stirred by loud voices. Arguing. Denise pried her eyes open to see Darnell pointing a gun at Adam, with several other students getting involved and helping to create an incredibly tense situation. Denise held her breath, hoping against all hope that nobody's trigger fingers went off prematurely. She could picture a horrible chain reaction occurring with the end result being a room full of dead kids.
Andrea V's name came up once or twice during the heated confrontation, and Denise looked around to see where exactly the student president--apparently the brains of this escape attempt--was hiding.
Was she dead?
'I wish I knew what the hell was going on...'
"Wait a sec! Where the hell is Andrea?" Denise piped up, looking to Lucy for an answer.
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Lucy extricated herself from the argument with some difficulty. She'd said her piece and had being trying to steer the subject onto the important thing: what they were going to do next. Whether or she cared for Adam or his attitude was irrelevant. The guy had a point, and they didn't have time to waste in argument.
Lucy hadn't thought about exactly what she was getting herself when putting herself between Adam and Darnell. Both of them were armed after all, but fortunately, it hadn't been a problem. She counted herself lucky Darnell hadn't been startled or something and decided to pull the trigger. However, she was kept from dwelling on it when a voice spoke up, asking a question Lucy knew the answer to. When she turned around to find the source of the voice, Lucy found it was indeed her being looked to. It was the girl that had stumbled in most recently. What was her name? De... Den... Denise, that was it. Or she hoped so.
"Well... 'Drea already left," Lucy told Denise quietly. "Spoke about trying to find more students, help them get their collars off and all..." she trailed off. Come to think of it, hadn't 'Drea been recommending they move on if she wasn't back by ... well, this morning? Inamongst the altercations, Lucy had forgotten about the rendevous.
Oops... I hope she's okay... it would be awful for anything to have happened to her after all she's done to help us get out of here.
"'Drea said something about heading for the coastline, so that's where she probably is right about now."
Of course that was where Andrea would be. Lucy didn't need to get worried about her, right? She'd be fine. Heck, she'd probably even picked up her own group of students to accompany her. Lucy and the others would go to the coastline and wind up finding an entire other collar-less group, and then Andrea would ask them all what took so long.
...I hope...
Lucy hadn't thought about exactly what she was getting herself when putting herself between Adam and Darnell. Both of them were armed after all, but fortunately, it hadn't been a problem. She counted herself lucky Darnell hadn't been startled or something and decided to pull the trigger. However, she was kept from dwelling on it when a voice spoke up, asking a question Lucy knew the answer to. When she turned around to find the source of the voice, Lucy found it was indeed her being looked to. It was the girl that had stumbled in most recently. What was her name? De... Den... Denise, that was it. Or she hoped so.
"Well... 'Drea already left," Lucy told Denise quietly. "Spoke about trying to find more students, help them get their collars off and all..." she trailed off. Come to think of it, hadn't 'Drea been recommending they move on if she wasn't back by ... well, this morning? Inamongst the altercations, Lucy had forgotten about the rendevous.
Oops... I hope she's okay... it would be awful for anything to have happened to her after all she's done to help us get out of here.
"'Drea said something about heading for the coastline, so that's where she probably is right about now."
Of course that was where Andrea would be. Lucy didn't need to get worried about her, right? She'd be fine. Heck, she'd probably even picked up her own group of students to accompany her. Lucy and the others would go to the coastline and wind up finding an entire other collar-less group, and then Andrea would ask them all what took so long.
...I hope...
Denise wrinkled her nose. "Well shit...She's out there by herself?"
Something didn't seem right about that. Just given how everyone was talking about her, hadn't Andrea proved what a valuable asset she was to the escape group so far? If she thought all the way back to Day One, Denise could say with confidence that she never would have imagined finding herself here, in a legit, not-just-bullshitting-ourselves escape group with her collar sitting lifelessly on the floor beside her. She never would have imagined feeling like there really could be some hope she'd see her beautiful daughter again. She owed Andrea a lot...they all did.
'So why the fuck is she out there by herself? Fuck this noise.' Denise hadn't rested for long, but she felt a strong second wind overtake her. She got quickly to her feet, gathering up her pack and her weapon. She paused for a moment as her gaze fell back on the deactivated collar. Finally she snatched it up as well, stuffing it into her daypack.
'...Souvenir.'
Denise headed out the door. She had no idea where Andrea was, but at least she knew the general direction she needed to head to find the coast. "I'm going to try to help. See ya."
((continued elsewhere...))
Something didn't seem right about that. Just given how everyone was talking about her, hadn't Andrea proved what a valuable asset she was to the escape group so far? If she thought all the way back to Day One, Denise could say with confidence that she never would have imagined finding herself here, in a legit, not-just-bullshitting-ourselves escape group with her collar sitting lifelessly on the floor beside her. She never would have imagined feeling like there really could be some hope she'd see her beautiful daughter again. She owed Andrea a lot...they all did.
'So why the fuck is she out there by herself? Fuck this noise.' Denise hadn't rested for long, but she felt a strong second wind overtake her. She got quickly to her feet, gathering up her pack and her weapon. She paused for a moment as her gaze fell back on the deactivated collar. Finally she snatched it up as well, stuffing it into her daypack.
'...Souvenir.'
Denise headed out the door. She had no idea where Andrea was, but at least she knew the general direction she needed to head to find the coast. "I'm going to try to help. See ya."
((continued elsewhere...))
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler Cyco. 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.
Dorian waited anxiously, his finger lightly brushing the trigger of the shotgun. He hadn't had to fire it yet, but the slowly dawning realization that the weapon would most likely take someone's life weighed down on him far heavier than the equipment he now lugged around. His mind and heart raced furiously, a number of endless possibilities running through his head as he slowly took a few steps forward, the gun raised.
Nobody else seemed to have noticed the noise until Lucy came over, nonchalantly making her way around the corner and returning about a minute later. Dorian eased up a little but was now slightly confused. Had Lucy de-activated another collar? The likelihood that the mysterious person wasn't a player after all was relieving, but for some reason he still felt on-edge. After Dennis's sudden change of heart he found himself much less willing to trust people than he had before, especially those who at first glance seemed completely fine. This game had destroyed both his naivete and his hesitation. There was no turning back, now.
His mind made up, he inhaled sharply and rounded the corner. He expected to be met by the deceptive John Rizzolo, Bobby Jacks, or maybe Lex, but the short wave of strawberry blonde hair that met his gaze completely disarmed him. He couldn't get a good view of her face at first as she leaned against the wall, but even before she got up his stomach tied itself in knots. The burden that the collar presented was nothing compared to how worried he'd been about his best friend, and - there was no point lying to himself now - the love of his life, and as she tilted her head upwards and stared right through him with her full, dark eyes, all resistance Dorian could have put up was instantly defeated.
"...Dorian...?"
The shotgun fell out of his loose hands and clambered to the ground with a thud.
"Marnie..." he whispered in stupified disbelief, his entire body frozen in anticipation. Part of him was waiting for the part where she smiled insanely and tore him apart with a machine gun, but as the seconds passed he realized that she was as shocked to see him as he was to see her. His eyes moved over her bold-patterned sun dress and corresponding white jacket intently, the dirt, grime and random blood stains making him grow more concerned. He eventually re-traced his gaze to her face, and all at once the fear melted into sweet relief.
"Oh God, Marnie..." he heaved after what seemed like an eternity, wasting no time in closing the distance between the two and pulling her as tightly as he could into his chest. His right hand wrapped itself around her waist and he lightly clutched some of her hair in his left, his head resting on top of hers as he closed his eyes. Free-flowing tears made their long-awaited release as he embraced her, but he didn't make a sound. Every ounce of energy he had was exerted in his firm yet loving embrace, and as he unintentionally caught a whiff of Marnie's hair his lips curved into a soft smile.
"I'm so glad you're okay..." He cooed gently, trying the best he could to soothe the obviously shaken girl. Ten days without her on the island had been almost unbearable for him, and he couldn't even think to imagine how hard she could've had things. He pulled out of the hug for a second, his hands still comfortably positioned on her shoulder and hip as he examined her dress once again, particularly the various stains on it. She had scattered cuts and bruises, but other than that he couldn't see any serious injuries. He could swear she was crying a little now, but given that he was too he didn't have the right to judge her.
His eyes glanced over to the spear on the ground beside where she was sitting and its blood-stained tip on the end. He knew Marnie well, and if she'd had to kill somebody she'd probably be taking it just as bad as he would.
"Did you...?" He started while staring at the spear, but he shook his head loose. She was alive, and that was all that mattered. She was safe, and she was with him again.
He turned to look right down into her beautiful eyes, blinking a few times to clear some of the tears away.
"Sorry I took so long..."
Nobody else seemed to have noticed the noise until Lucy came over, nonchalantly making her way around the corner and returning about a minute later. Dorian eased up a little but was now slightly confused. Had Lucy de-activated another collar? The likelihood that the mysterious person wasn't a player after all was relieving, but for some reason he still felt on-edge. After Dennis's sudden change of heart he found himself much less willing to trust people than he had before, especially those who at first glance seemed completely fine. This game had destroyed both his naivete and his hesitation. There was no turning back, now.
His mind made up, he inhaled sharply and rounded the corner. He expected to be met by the deceptive John Rizzolo, Bobby Jacks, or maybe Lex, but the short wave of strawberry blonde hair that met his gaze completely disarmed him. He couldn't get a good view of her face at first as she leaned against the wall, but even before she got up his stomach tied itself in knots. The burden that the collar presented was nothing compared to how worried he'd been about his best friend, and - there was no point lying to himself now - the love of his life, and as she tilted her head upwards and stared right through him with her full, dark eyes, all resistance Dorian could have put up was instantly defeated.
"...Dorian...?"
The shotgun fell out of his loose hands and clambered to the ground with a thud.
"Marnie..." he whispered in stupified disbelief, his entire body frozen in anticipation. Part of him was waiting for the part where she smiled insanely and tore him apart with a machine gun, but as the seconds passed he realized that she was as shocked to see him as he was to see her. His eyes moved over her bold-patterned sun dress and corresponding white jacket intently, the dirt, grime and random blood stains making him grow more concerned. He eventually re-traced his gaze to her face, and all at once the fear melted into sweet relief.
"Oh God, Marnie..." he heaved after what seemed like an eternity, wasting no time in closing the distance between the two and pulling her as tightly as he could into his chest. His right hand wrapped itself around her waist and he lightly clutched some of her hair in his left, his head resting on top of hers as he closed his eyes. Free-flowing tears made their long-awaited release as he embraced her, but he didn't make a sound. Every ounce of energy he had was exerted in his firm yet loving embrace, and as he unintentionally caught a whiff of Marnie's hair his lips curved into a soft smile.
"I'm so glad you're okay..." He cooed gently, trying the best he could to soothe the obviously shaken girl. Ten days without her on the island had been almost unbearable for him, and he couldn't even think to imagine how hard she could've had things. He pulled out of the hug for a second, his hands still comfortably positioned on her shoulder and hip as he examined her dress once again, particularly the various stains on it. She had scattered cuts and bruises, but other than that he couldn't see any serious injuries. He could swear she was crying a little now, but given that he was too he didn't have the right to judge her.
His eyes glanced over to the spear on the ground beside where she was sitting and its blood-stained tip on the end. He knew Marnie well, and if she'd had to kill somebody she'd probably be taking it just as bad as he would.
"Did you...?" He started while staring at the spear, but he shook his head loose. She was alive, and that was all that mattered. She was safe, and she was with him again.
He turned to look right down into her beautiful eyes, blinking a few times to clear some of the tears away.
"Sorry I took so long..."
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler Crash. 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.