Lonely Stones

[Iceblock]

((Audrey McKee continued from Good Morning Sunshine))

It had been a long walk since she'd parted from Ashley. Just another excuse made, a silent hope that she'd never see the other girl again. It would hurt less that way, just like she'd tried to cut Frank off before the inevitable betrayal. At some point she'd wondered if she should have stayed, because Ashley didn't seem like she'd ever be a threat, just someone who had just wandered through the Program losing things and somehow keeping it together.

It didn't seem right to group everyone she'd met together, but Audrey saw what she was doing, in a way. She didn't want to see it all change around her. Didn't want to see Ashley go from that half-joking, friendly demeanor to being her enemy any more than she wanted Frank to go from ally to enemy.

Just another form of denial. They'd all be competitors, enemies at the end. Clark would have said to turn on them before they could turn on her, but really, what would that have gained her?

Her feet led her onwards, and the stones, just as she remembered, were standing there in front of her. Weathered, but untoppled.

Lenny's body, on the other hand, was a mess. His head was barely recognizable. It was only the shape of the body that it had once topped that gave it away. No more swagger, no more tales about his grandfather, no more awkward arguments at cafeteria tables.

That argument. Audrey was the only one there left alive now. How little it had mattered in the long run.

Standing near the edges of the stones, she took in a sharp, shuddering breath. This wasn't like Angel, just floating down a river. Out of sight, a little more out of mind. She wasn't responsible for this, at least not directly, but it didn't make the scent of blood in the air any less real. And she couldn't remember who'd done it. It was important, really important that she remembered. It meant another person who might be trying to hunt her down. She could tick the killers off on her fingers, and when she lost count, forgot one, that was when it was most dangerous. Twelve people left, and no way to know anyone's intentions for sure.

She realized she was still looking at the corpse and tore her eyes away. Her feet led her around the outside of the circle, her gaze still averted from the body, glancing up at the rocks every few steps, until she found a stone that was familiar. One that seemed unchanged by everything that had happened.

Audrey crouched down, and her hand came to rest on the dirt. She thought of waking up, finding Dylan, Maxim finding them. The gun. The threat.

Among the killers now was Dylan, who she'd thought dead, shot by Maxim. Somewhere in there, Dylan had clawed her way back to life, resurfacing to kill Damien. Maybe the military jerk was a liar. Jerk, yeah, but liar... Audrey didn't think so. She'd lost track of the deaths somewhere along the line, all the names just mixing together into a dull sense of loss.

She'd come full circle. Yet she wasn't the girl she'd been just days ago. The only thing that seemed the same was that she was still innocent, but for how long, she couldn't say.

Twelve people left. No way to know their intentions.

And she realized it didn't matter. She didn't need to know their intentions, didn't need to do anything but wait it out, because her goal wasn't to group up with them or talk with them. Her goal was to survive. Talking with Becky and Ashley, that had been weakness, that had been loneliness kicking in, a chance at normality hung in front of her. Somehow, she'd been given that. Now she had to get back on track. Now it was only the Program that concerned her. Only her own survival.

She hitched her daypack back up and stood.

Time to hide, then. There wasn't enough cover here. She would hide somewhere safer. In the trees, in the dark, where it was harder to get a straight shot at her. If someone came, if she couldn't escape, she knew she was resolved to survive. She would do what she had to.

((Audrey McKee continued in Earthen Spirit))