David had been wandering the jungle for what felt like days. He'd been searching for Reeves, but had been unable to find the boy. Someone else had beat him to the punch. Maybe he'd have to thank Nick Reid if he met the boy. It felt hollow, though. Someone else had settled his score, while he'd found himself unable to catch up with his foe.
More than that, things had gotten worse in other ways. He'd thought it likely that Charlie and Keira might meet a bad fate if left to their own devices, and they had. Jennifer Steinman, crazed menace number one, had gunned them down in cold blood. Once again, however, Nick Reid had swept in to balance the accounts. David had never known Nick too well back in school. He wondered, now, what other secrets the boy might hold. Was he dangerous?
Everyone was dangerous now. Everyone left would be trying to survive. David himself certainly had no intention of falling, not now. He had lost almost everything, but he was still alive. His family was still there, at home. He'd maintained his morality, and his sanity was roughly intact.
Unfortunately, one thing that was not so intact was David's alertness. He'd hardly gotten any rest since the start of the game. He hadn't slept at all since he'd heard of Nikki's death. He'd barely paused his movement since then, and even now was searching through the jungle, at this point hoping simply to find someone, one single person who had not gone insane. At present, he was picking his way down a somewhat precarious slope, trying to increase the distance between himself and the Eastern Shore, where he'd been heading before the announcement had told him that it would not, in fact, become clear again. His eyes were itchy and his vision blurred, and his legs were aching. He was distracted by a flash out of the corner of his eye, spun, and saw that he'd simply startled a bird from a nearby bush.
The distraction, however, had taken David's attention off the terrain in front of him. If he'd been better rested, he would probably have been able to recover, but instead he flailed his arm helplessly as his foot caught on a patch of undergrowth and he pitched forwards. He knew that he was in trouble. He began to roll as he landed, picking up some momentum as he slid down the slope. Rocks and branches scratched at him, and he lost his grip on his daypack. He threw his arms out, trying to slow himself, but it did no good. He'd already picked up too much speed, and nothing could stop him until he smashed into the tree.
David's luck was particularly bad, because the tree was old and solid and the impact took him primarily in the neck and the back of the head. The entire world went black as he instantly lost consciousness.
In normal circumstances, his injury would probably have been treatable, though still quite severe. In the jungle, however, with nobody around, he never even regained consciousness. Internal bleeding and major head trauma saw to it that David's time in the game was at an end.
B010, DAVID JACKSON: DECEASED
6 STUDENTS REMAIN
6 STUDENTS REMAIN