((Zeke Brant continued from Stroke of Midnight))
He was back where it had all started. He was on the cliff, looking down at the crashing waves. This was where he had stood, not that long ago, with all the confidence in the world. Gloating over his accomplishment. He was such an idiot. Why didn't he at least wait to see if the body would show up? It was the beginning, the first mistake that started his descent into failure. Embarrassment. Shame.
Zeke hadn't really intended to come back to the cliff. He was just wandering along the coast, and he had happened to see the familiar rock structure in the distance. He had been wandering pretty aimlessly for the past day, (it was a whole day, wasn't it?) ever since Laurie had left.
Ah, Laurie. He couldn't blame her for abandoning him. She finally saw that she had hitched herself to the wrong horse, so she left to protect herself. They had both known that all of her talk about trust and wanting to help him had been nonsense. Their partnership had been about mutual benefit, always. Zeke didn't hold up his end of the deal. It was a smart move, leaving him.
Of course, he'd still kill her if he saw her again.
...
Yeah right, like he'd even be able to do it.
Zeke looked over the rock again. It had a name. El... El Di... whatever, something Mexican. A memory came back to him, suddenly. Something he hadn't thought about in a long time. Bridie had mentioned that she saw someone shoot themselves, right there. Zeke couldn't remember who it was. He wondered, though. If Zeke had done the same thing, right at the beginning, would it have been better or worse than what he ended up doing? He'd made himself a laughingstock and shamed his family by bumbling around like a fool for two days. If he'd just given up at the beginning, would that have been even more shameful? Or would he have just spared everyone a lot of embarrassment?
Zeke looked down at his revolver. Doing it now was obviously out of the option. It'd just be a pathetic finish to a pathetic story. He'd ruined himself, but he still had some control over how it all would end. He needed to make up for his mistakes, at least a little bit. But what was there left for him to do?
He Was a Sk8er Boi, She Said See You L8er Boi
Phase 4 (37+ Hours)
“Zeke!”
A voice, calling to him. He recognized it immediately. Zeke turned around.
((Mick Sexsmith continued from Willy Willy Willy, can't you see? Sometimes your words just hypnotize me.))
It was Mick. Zeke had put so much effort into trying to find him. In the past day, he had stopped, hadn't even tried looking for him. He had given up on thinking that anything so fortunate could happen to him. But now Mick was here, standing right in front of him. He looked dirty, beat up, and tired, but he was there, fixing Zeke with a familiar expression of surprise mixed with relief.
Zeke ran to his friends and threw his arms around him. It was a bit of an uncomfortable hug, with Zeke holding onto his revolver and Mick holding a shotgun at his side, and Mick seemed like he was caught off guard. After a few moments, though, Mick patted Zeke's back with his free hand. When Zeke broke away, Mick was wearing a grin that matched his own.
“I- I can't believe it,” Zeke said “I've been looking all over for you. I didn't think- I can't believe- I'd given up, man.”
“I've been looking for you, too.” Mick reached up to scratch his head. “I'm glad you're alright. I knew you'd be able to handle yourself.” Zeke's eyes drew to his hand. It was bandaged where two of his fingers should have been.
“Christ, Mick, what happened to your fingers?”
“Oh.” Mick glanced at his bandaged hand as if he had forgotten about it. “Dakota bit them off. Don't worry about it. I'm fine.”
Zeke probably should have been horrified, but he couldn't help but chuckle. Mick, always so blunt and taciturn. He missed him. They hadn't actually been apart for very long, but he missed him.
“Shit, man. You're making my problems seem stupid now. All I've got is a little bump on my head.” Zeke took a pause. He didn't know if he wanted to go into all of that yet. It was a good moment, and Zeke didn't want to ruin it by dwelling on all of the bad things again. “We'll get her back for that, I promise.”
“I don't care about her, Zeke. Let's just focus on surviving.”
“Hmm? Alright, yeah.” Survive? Yes, they could do that now. Everything was falling back into place. Zeke might have been an embarassment by himself, but with Mick everything would turn around. “The two of us, together and armed, we're going to run this game. You remember our pact, right? From the pizza place?”
“Of course.” Mick looked deadly serious. “I would never forget about that.”
“Yeah, of course.”
The two of them would team up to slaughter the competition. Hopefully they'd find Jason and bring him in, too. And then at the end... well, they'd work it out. Zeke was too happy to think about that right now. No matter what, Zeke knew he wouldn't go down as a failure. Not anymore. He had been given his second chance.
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Zeke and Mick were sitting on a small outcropping of rocks further in from the coast. They had spent the past few hours eating rations and discussing their future plans. They didn't talk very much about their previous experiences in the program, but they naturally came up in conversation every so often.
“Killing too much will just make us targets. I think we should avoid it when we can.” Mick was saying. “That thing with Scotty was just sudden. In the heat of the moment. It was probably a mistake.”
“We're going to have to do it to reduce the competition. We shouldn't be scared of people coming after us. There are lots of killers out there, I doubt anyone would hunt us. And if they do, we can handle them.”
Zeke took a sip of water. He dwelt on the mention of Scotty. He felt like he should tell Mick about what he had been doing. He didn't want to. But he felt like he should.
“I actually came across Scotty in the dump. You know that girl, Laurie? You met her. She led me there. We, ah, teamed up for a bit.”
“Her?” Mick had a confused expression. “Why'd you team up with her?”
“Well, I was looking for you and she knew where you'd been.”
“Oh, right. Makes sense.”
“She ran off a while ago.” Zeke stood up. “Whatever, doesn't matter. It's... it's great to be with someone I can actually trust again.”
Mick nodded.
They were left with a moment of silence. Zeke felt like he should say something more. He didn't know what.
Then, all hell broke loose. They were suddenly hit with an overwhelming sound, and seconds later Zeke saw military helicopters fly across the sky and land around the arena. Zeke would hardly process what was happening. He had watched the program with his family, so many times. This had never happened before.
“What's going on?!” Mick jumped for his shotgun and his eyes darted around the sky. Zeke had never seen him so panicked. It was completely different from how he acted at the announcement.
“I-I don't know.” Zeke's mind raced. Were they being attacked? “Grab the stuff. Let's find a hiding place. Think this through.”
They quickly stowed their supplies back in their packs and readied their guns. The two of them headed inland with no real idea of where they were going. They just knew that they needed to get away from this, what ever it was.
Their search didn't last long before it was interrupted.
They were making their way around a cluster of shacks on the outside of town when they turned a corner and came face-to-face with a group of strangers. Three soldiers, heavily armed. British uniforms. Shit, he had been right. They were coming to massacre them. Prove a point, maybe.
Zeke pointed his revolver at the one in the lead. In his peripheral vision, he saw Mick doing the same. The soldiers raised their own guns in response. A silence settled over the standoff. Zeke couldn't see it ending well; he and Mick were outnumbered and outgunned. He wouldn't just let himself be slaughtered without a fight, though.
“Lads.” The soldier in the lead slowly started speaking. “We're here to rescue you. Bring you back to Britain with us. This game is over. Lower your guns. We won't hurt you.”
The soldier lowered his rifle and took a few gentle steps towards them, while his companions kept their weapons trained on the pair.
“I don't believe you.” Zeke didn't know what to believe. What to think.
“Why would we go through this trouble to kill you? If we were gonna shoot we'd have done it. Lads, this is your chance to survive. Get out of here.”
Slowly, carefully, Zeke could see Mick dropping his shotgun.
“What are you doing!?” Zeke snapped.
“I think we should listen to them.” Mick said, sounding strangely hopeful. “Come on, Zeke. If they're lying it doesn't matter what we do anyway.”
Zeke looked his friend in the eyes. He was pleading with him. He looked back to the soldier. Then, he lowered his revolver.
“Good.” The soldier smiled, and his companions lowered their own arms. “Now come with us, the chopper isn't far away. As I said, we'll fly you back to the U.K. You'll be under our protection.”
Under their protection?
“I can't believe this.” Mick was grinning from ear to ear. “We won't have to kill each other, Zeke.”
No. This wasn't right.
“I'm not... I'm not going with you. I won't run from my duty and join up with the enemy. I can't betray my country like that. I can't.”
“What?!” Mick gaped at him. “What are you saying? You want to die?”
“I'd rather die than become a traitor.”
Everything had been going well for Zeke. He was going to team up with Mick, and they would fight together to win the program. He was going to make up for his earlier mistakes, make his family proud. But now, these soldiers had taken that chance away from him. The program was over, and now Zeke was left with one choice: he could abandon his values and join with the enemies to save his miserable self, or he could finally redeem himself by proving that his country was more valuable to him than his own life.
“That's so fucking stupid!” Mick shouted. “America doesn't give a shit about us, Zeke!”
Zeke frowned. Mick could never quite get it. “That's... not true. But I know you don't care as much as me... so just go. I won't hold it against you.”
Mick looked pleadingly to the soldier, who simply shrugged. “I don't get it, lad, but we're not going to force you to come if you don't want to.” He nodded towards Mick. “Come on, we should get back soon.”
The soldiers began to leave. Zeke turned around and looked over the horizon. So, this was it. Death was inevitable. Zeke felt strangely calm about it, though. After all of his struggling, it was almost a relief. He looked back over his shoulder to see Mick was still staring at him.
“So... this is goodbye, Mick.” Zeke smiled at his best friend. “I knew you were going to be loyal to the end. I'm really not mad about this. Go, good luck with whatever happens next.”
“This is crazy.” Mick said. “You can't do this.”
“I will.”
“I won't let you.”
“You can't do anything about it.” Zeke scowled. Why did he have to be so stubborn all the time? “So just respect my wishes and go.”
“Zeke, come on!” Mick grabbed for his arm. Zeke jerked away and raised the gun at Mick's head. He didn't care if it was his best friend, he wasn't going to let anyone ruin this.
“Mick.” He said calmly, cocking the revolver. “Leave.”
He could see the soldiers tensing in the background, ready to fill them both with holes if they made it too difficult for them. Mick stared at the revolver, then back to the soldiers. Then, finally, he looked Zeke in the eye and nodded. He turned and starting walking towards the soldiers.
Letting out a sigh, Zeke lowered his gun and turned back around. Really, why did Mick have to make things so difficult? They could have left things on a good note, but he just had to ruin it.
Then, Zeke heard the sound of footsteps rushing towards him. The distant sound of soldiers shouting. He turned. Mick was there, again, and he was coming right for him. Zeke lifted his gun an squeezed the trigger, just seconds before Mick came barreling into him. Zeke saw the hard concrete rapidly approaching as the two of them fell to the ground.
((Mick Sexsmith & Zeke Brant continued elsewhere))
A voice, calling to him. He recognized it immediately. Zeke turned around.
((Mick Sexsmith continued from Willy Willy Willy, can't you see? Sometimes your words just hypnotize me.))
It was Mick. Zeke had put so much effort into trying to find him. In the past day, he had stopped, hadn't even tried looking for him. He had given up on thinking that anything so fortunate could happen to him. But now Mick was here, standing right in front of him. He looked dirty, beat up, and tired, but he was there, fixing Zeke with a familiar expression of surprise mixed with relief.
Zeke ran to his friends and threw his arms around him. It was a bit of an uncomfortable hug, with Zeke holding onto his revolver and Mick holding a shotgun at his side, and Mick seemed like he was caught off guard. After a few moments, though, Mick patted Zeke's back with his free hand. When Zeke broke away, Mick was wearing a grin that matched his own.
“I- I can't believe it,” Zeke said “I've been looking all over for you. I didn't think- I can't believe- I'd given up, man.”
“I've been looking for you, too.” Mick reached up to scratch his head. “I'm glad you're alright. I knew you'd be able to handle yourself.” Zeke's eyes drew to his hand. It was bandaged where two of his fingers should have been.
“Christ, Mick, what happened to your fingers?”
“Oh.” Mick glanced at his bandaged hand as if he had forgotten about it. “Dakota bit them off. Don't worry about it. I'm fine.”
Zeke probably should have been horrified, but he couldn't help but chuckle. Mick, always so blunt and taciturn. He missed him. They hadn't actually been apart for very long, but he missed him.
“Shit, man. You're making my problems seem stupid now. All I've got is a little bump on my head.” Zeke took a pause. He didn't know if he wanted to go into all of that yet. It was a good moment, and Zeke didn't want to ruin it by dwelling on all of the bad things again. “We'll get her back for that, I promise.”
“I don't care about her, Zeke. Let's just focus on surviving.”
“Hmm? Alright, yeah.” Survive? Yes, they could do that now. Everything was falling back into place. Zeke might have been an embarassment by himself, but with Mick everything would turn around. “The two of us, together and armed, we're going to run this game. You remember our pact, right? From the pizza place?”
“Of course.” Mick looked deadly serious. “I would never forget about that.”
“Yeah, of course.”
The two of them would team up to slaughter the competition. Hopefully they'd find Jason and bring him in, too. And then at the end... well, they'd work it out. Zeke was too happy to think about that right now. No matter what, Zeke knew he wouldn't go down as a failure. Not anymore. He had been given his second chance.
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Zeke and Mick were sitting on a small outcropping of rocks further in from the coast. They had spent the past few hours eating rations and discussing their future plans. They didn't talk very much about their previous experiences in the program, but they naturally came up in conversation every so often.
“Killing too much will just make us targets. I think we should avoid it when we can.” Mick was saying. “That thing with Scotty was just sudden. In the heat of the moment. It was probably a mistake.”
“We're going to have to do it to reduce the competition. We shouldn't be scared of people coming after us. There are lots of killers out there, I doubt anyone would hunt us. And if they do, we can handle them.”
Zeke took a sip of water. He dwelt on the mention of Scotty. He felt like he should tell Mick about what he had been doing. He didn't want to. But he felt like he should.
“I actually came across Scotty in the dump. You know that girl, Laurie? You met her. She led me there. We, ah, teamed up for a bit.”
“Her?” Mick had a confused expression. “Why'd you team up with her?”
“Well, I was looking for you and she knew where you'd been.”
“Oh, right. Makes sense.”
“She ran off a while ago.” Zeke stood up. “Whatever, doesn't matter. It's... it's great to be with someone I can actually trust again.”
Mick nodded.
They were left with a moment of silence. Zeke felt like he should say something more. He didn't know what.
Then, all hell broke loose. They were suddenly hit with an overwhelming sound, and seconds later Zeke saw military helicopters fly across the sky and land around the arena. Zeke would hardly process what was happening. He had watched the program with his family, so many times. This had never happened before.
“What's going on?!” Mick jumped for his shotgun and his eyes darted around the sky. Zeke had never seen him so panicked. It was completely different from how he acted at the announcement.
“I-I don't know.” Zeke's mind raced. Were they being attacked? “Grab the stuff. Let's find a hiding place. Think this through.”
They quickly stowed their supplies back in their packs and readied their guns. The two of them headed inland with no real idea of where they were going. They just knew that they needed to get away from this, what ever it was.
Their search didn't last long before it was interrupted.
They were making their way around a cluster of shacks on the outside of town when they turned a corner and came face-to-face with a group of strangers. Three soldiers, heavily armed. British uniforms. Shit, he had been right. They were coming to massacre them. Prove a point, maybe.
Zeke pointed his revolver at the one in the lead. In his peripheral vision, he saw Mick doing the same. The soldiers raised their own guns in response. A silence settled over the standoff. Zeke couldn't see it ending well; he and Mick were outnumbered and outgunned. He wouldn't just let himself be slaughtered without a fight, though.
“Lads.” The soldier in the lead slowly started speaking. “We're here to rescue you. Bring you back to Britain with us. This game is over. Lower your guns. We won't hurt you.”
The soldier lowered his rifle and took a few gentle steps towards them, while his companions kept their weapons trained on the pair.
“I don't believe you.” Zeke didn't know what to believe. What to think.
“Why would we go through this trouble to kill you? If we were gonna shoot we'd have done it. Lads, this is your chance to survive. Get out of here.”
Slowly, carefully, Zeke could see Mick dropping his shotgun.
“What are you doing!?” Zeke snapped.
“I think we should listen to them.” Mick said, sounding strangely hopeful. “Come on, Zeke. If they're lying it doesn't matter what we do anyway.”
Zeke looked his friend in the eyes. He was pleading with him. He looked back to the soldier. Then, he lowered his revolver.
“Good.” The soldier smiled, and his companions lowered their own arms. “Now come with us, the chopper isn't far away. As I said, we'll fly you back to the U.K. You'll be under our protection.”
Under their protection?
“I can't believe this.” Mick was grinning from ear to ear. “We won't have to kill each other, Zeke.”
No. This wasn't right.
“I'm not... I'm not going with you. I won't run from my duty and join up with the enemy. I can't betray my country like that. I can't.”
“What?!” Mick gaped at him. “What are you saying? You want to die?”
“I'd rather die than become a traitor.”
Everything had been going well for Zeke. He was going to team up with Mick, and they would fight together to win the program. He was going to make up for his earlier mistakes, make his family proud. But now, these soldiers had taken that chance away from him. The program was over, and now Zeke was left with one choice: he could abandon his values and join with the enemies to save his miserable self, or he could finally redeem himself by proving that his country was more valuable to him than his own life.
“That's so fucking stupid!” Mick shouted. “America doesn't give a shit about us, Zeke!”
Zeke frowned. Mick could never quite get it. “That's... not true. But I know you don't care as much as me... so just go. I won't hold it against you.”
Mick looked pleadingly to the soldier, who simply shrugged. “I don't get it, lad, but we're not going to force you to come if you don't want to.” He nodded towards Mick. “Come on, we should get back soon.”
The soldiers began to leave. Zeke turned around and looked over the horizon. So, this was it. Death was inevitable. Zeke felt strangely calm about it, though. After all of his struggling, it was almost a relief. He looked back over his shoulder to see Mick was still staring at him.
“So... this is goodbye, Mick.” Zeke smiled at his best friend. “I knew you were going to be loyal to the end. I'm really not mad about this. Go, good luck with whatever happens next.”
“This is crazy.” Mick said. “You can't do this.”
“I will.”
“I won't let you.”
“You can't do anything about it.” Zeke scowled. Why did he have to be so stubborn all the time? “So just respect my wishes and go.”
“Zeke, come on!” Mick grabbed for his arm. Zeke jerked away and raised the gun at Mick's head. He didn't care if it was his best friend, he wasn't going to let anyone ruin this.
“Mick.” He said calmly, cocking the revolver. “Leave.”
He could see the soldiers tensing in the background, ready to fill them both with holes if they made it too difficult for them. Mick stared at the revolver, then back to the soldiers. Then, finally, he looked Zeke in the eye and nodded. He turned and starting walking towards the soldiers.
Letting out a sigh, Zeke lowered his gun and turned back around. Really, why did Mick have to make things so difficult? They could have left things on a good note, but he just had to ruin it.
Then, Zeke heard the sound of footsteps rushing towards him. The distant sound of soldiers shouting. He turned. Mick was there, again, and he was coming right for him. Zeke lifted his gun an squeezed the trigger, just seconds before Mick came barreling into him. Zeke saw the hard concrete rapidly approaching as the two of them fell to the ground.
((Mick Sexsmith & Zeke Brant continued elsewhere))