The recoil from the shotgun ripped it out of Seo-yun's hand in the aftermath. Not that it mattered. Her last, desperate attack had worked like a charm, and now Gabriela was bleeding out even more badly than Seo-yun herself.
Seo-yun twisted, powering through the pain in her back, curling her hand around the shotgun's grip again. Her other hand reached for the handguard, trying to get a grip and pump it, but her fingers refused to work, the muscles in her forearm failing to function.
She felt cold, and her skin was beginning to feel clammy.
Her good leg was forced under her body, pushing herself up and onto her knees, shotgun still in hand. Her head swam as she went upright, her vision dimming as a wave of nausea washed over her. Her eye fixated itself on the crumpled, bloody form of Gabriela. Despite the injuries and the pain, there was no more hatred left in her heart for the other girl. They had far more in common now than they likely did at any point in their lives. Both of them were victims of mass entertainment, both of them multi-time murderers.
Both of them on death's door.
She didn't register Mandy's approach, with the edges of her sight blurred and her mind trapped in a haze. Her good hand took hold of the handguard, trying to pump the shotgun on its own, prepare for the finishing blow. It started to shift, ever so slightly, as she rasped a few words to her latest victim.
"You could've just left."
God Only Knows
Private
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VoltTurtle
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Catche Jagger
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It took several moments for Gabriela to remember how to breathe, and when she finally did it hurt, just like everything else. That was all she had to let her know she was still alive, though, the wheezing and the pain.
She twisted her neck and turned her head just in time to catch Elliott’s back as he bolted from the tugboat. The fucking coward was running away and leaving her to die. At least he got out. Maybe he’d make it home. Probably not, but maybe.
It took more effort than she liked to get her head back to facing the sky. It looked different, blurry, hard to tell where the light ended and the void beyond that began. Squeezing a bit with her right hand, she noticed that the Jericho was gone, probably dropped it when she was shot. It was then, looking up, trying to trace some direction, that Gabriela heard Seo-yun’s voice
The words she spoke were funny, not enough to twist Gabriela’s exhausted face into anything resembling a smile, but still funny. Because she was lying. Seo-yun was playing the same fucking game, so she had to know why Gabriela had to come after her, and the moment Gabriela hesitated in following through, Seo-yun had gone for the kill. She wanted the win and got another kill for the count.
As it should have been, right?
Gabriela tried to speak, tried to bring forth words, but gathering enough breath set fire to the hole in her side and set fire to her lungs. It was fine. There was only one thing worth asking.
“Why, just- How did you… go through so many of em…?”
Neither of them were fucking martial artists or gun freaks as far as Gabriela knew. There had to be something. Was it about fame or fortune? The fucking psychotic thrill of it? Had Seo-yun been for Mandy what Gabriela was for Elliott?
She twisted her neck and turned her head just in time to catch Elliott’s back as he bolted from the tugboat. The fucking coward was running away and leaving her to die. At least he got out. Maybe he’d make it home. Probably not, but maybe.
It took more effort than she liked to get her head back to facing the sky. It looked different, blurry, hard to tell where the light ended and the void beyond that began. Squeezing a bit with her right hand, she noticed that the Jericho was gone, probably dropped it when she was shot. It was then, looking up, trying to trace some direction, that Gabriela heard Seo-yun’s voice
The words she spoke were funny, not enough to twist Gabriela’s exhausted face into anything resembling a smile, but still funny. Because she was lying. Seo-yun was playing the same fucking game, so she had to know why Gabriela had to come after her, and the moment Gabriela hesitated in following through, Seo-yun had gone for the kill. She wanted the win and got another kill for the count.
As it should have been, right?
Gabriela tried to speak, tried to bring forth words, but gathering enough breath set fire to the hole in her side and set fire to her lungs. It was fine. There was only one thing worth asking.
“Why, just- How did you… go through so many of em…?”
Neither of them were fucking martial artists or gun freaks as far as Gabriela knew. There had to be something. Was it about fame or fortune? The fucking psychotic thrill of it? Had Seo-yun been for Mandy what Gabriela was for Elliott?
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VoltTurtle
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"I didn't enjoy it, if that's what you mean."
Her breathing picked up, each exhalation leaving her feeling like she was out of breath. Her heart was beating fast, and her chest hurt. Despite her best efforts, the shotgun's handguard didn't budge.
She wanted to answer Gabriela's question. Give her one final courtesy before the end. Seo-yun's mind raced for something to cling to, some grand meaning she could attach to her actions that would make her look like something other than the monster she was. Except the fog that had settled over her brain didn't relent, and there was nothing she could think of, no way to spin murdering ten people into something positive.
She did it, and kept doing it, because she was a bad person, and that was all she would ever be. This wasn't the time for more lies. It was time for her to finally confess.
"I did it because I could," she rasped, her mouth dry. "It felt bad, but I was good at it, and I kept going because I wanted to keep all eyes on me. If only I do this, I thought, then I could fill the hole in my heart with their love."
She wrenched her arm, and the shotgun finally pumped, spent shell ejecting out of it and onto the ground. She jerked it back up again, loading a fresh shell into the chamber with a satisfying thunk. Then she leveled the gun at Gabriela. Her very last kill.
"But I'm a cold-hearted bitch, and after everything, I still feel just as empty," she murmured. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Her breathing picked up, each exhalation leaving her feeling like she was out of breath. Her heart was beating fast, and her chest hurt. Despite her best efforts, the shotgun's handguard didn't budge.
She wanted to answer Gabriela's question. Give her one final courtesy before the end. Seo-yun's mind raced for something to cling to, some grand meaning she could attach to her actions that would make her look like something other than the monster she was. Except the fog that had settled over her brain didn't relent, and there was nothing she could think of, no way to spin murdering ten people into something positive.
She did it, and kept doing it, because she was a bad person, and that was all she would ever be. This wasn't the time for more lies. It was time for her to finally confess.
"I did it because I could," she rasped, her mouth dry. "It felt bad, but I was good at it, and I kept going because I wanted to keep all eyes on me. If only I do this, I thought, then I could fill the hole in my heart with their love."
She wrenched her arm, and the shotgun finally pumped, spent shell ejecting out of it and onto the ground. She jerked it back up again, loading a fresh shell into the chamber with a satisfying thunk. Then she leveled the gun at Gabriela. Her very last kill.
"But I'm a cold-hearted bitch, and after everything, I still feel just as empty," she murmured. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"
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Catche Jagger
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For a while, Gabriela remained silent and unmoving, staring up at the sky.
Then it began, a rattle from deep in her chest that spread upward, through her throat and out her mouth where it took the form of a laugh.
Because it was funny, because it was just like Diana and Anthony again. Seo-yun had followed some bullshit idea that meant absolutely nothing and left her empty. And yet, unlike them, Seo-yun had figured this out for herself, she’d realized that she’d bought into some self-made fiction.
And what did the top killer of Season 67 do with that knowledge? Why, she felt sorry for herself, maybe some verbal self-flagellation, and then she kept on going. An apologetic killer. How original.
But that wasn’t why she kept laughing. No, that was because Seo-yun helped Gabriela realize that no answer she gave was going to be the thing that she needed.
Because Gabriela was as big of a liar as any of them. She’d lied to the people she’d killed and to Elliott, and to herself, and she’d actually believed it. It was bullshit to think that she had it in her to make it to the ten. She should have known that a long time ago, but the lie meant that it might all work out with Elliott, that she didn’t have to think about it.
All that time spent pretending she was any different.
And so she kept laughing louder and louder, even as her chest screamed, even as she coughed and hacked up something warm and wet.
Even as tears streamed down her cheeks and something like a sob joined in that chorus.
What a joke she ended up being.
Then it began, a rattle from deep in her chest that spread upward, through her throat and out her mouth where it took the form of a laugh.
Because it was funny, because it was just like Diana and Anthony again. Seo-yun had followed some bullshit idea that meant absolutely nothing and left her empty. And yet, unlike them, Seo-yun had figured this out for herself, she’d realized that she’d bought into some self-made fiction.
And what did the top killer of Season 67 do with that knowledge? Why, she felt sorry for herself, maybe some verbal self-flagellation, and then she kept on going. An apologetic killer. How original.
But that wasn’t why she kept laughing. No, that was because Seo-yun helped Gabriela realize that no answer she gave was going to be the thing that she needed.
Because Gabriela was as big of a liar as any of them. She’d lied to the people she’d killed and to Elliott, and to herself, and she’d actually believed it. It was bullshit to think that she had it in her to make it to the ten. She should have known that a long time ago, but the lie meant that it might all work out with Elliott, that she didn’t have to think about it.
All that time spent pretending she was any different.
And so she kept laughing louder and louder, even as her chest screamed, even as she coughed and hacked up something warm and wet.
Even as tears streamed down her cheeks and something like a sob joined in that chorus.
What a joke she ended up being.
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VoltTurtle
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What a joke all of this was.
Seo-yun had nothing else to say, and nothing else to do. She was a killer, and it was time for this to end.
So she pulled the trigger.
Seo-yun had nothing else to say, and nothing else to do. She was a killer, and it was time for this to end.
So she pulled the trigger.
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Catche Jagger
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Taking a shotgun blast at close range, her face was shredded and her skull was blasted open, spraying blood and bone and brain across the deck.
BC05 - Gabriela Garcia-Campos: DECEASED
20 Students Remain
20 Students Remain
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MurderWeasel
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Mandy had stopped dead still, ten feet away, as the final stages of the confrontation played out. She stood still, not looking at the ground or anything on it, staring blankly at the strings of lights, now with a gap in the middle like a kid with one tooth gone, hugging the onesie tight around her against a sudden chill that might have been a breeze or might have been her imagination.
The final gunshot echoed in her ears, or maybe just her mind.
It took five long seconds for her to stir to movement once again, and then she was running forward, possibility of a return or an ambush washed from her mind, though she did pause for only the briefest moment to scoop the pistol off the deck. Then she was next to her friend, hand hovering inches away from her shoulder.
"You did it," Mandy said, voice faint and shaking. "You, we..."
She'd been trying not to think too much about the blood all over. It wasn't all Gabriela's, though. Close up she could see the wounds pouring.
Mandy was squeezing the handle of the gun really, really hard.
"Seo-yun," she said, very quietly, as something inside told her she shouldn't even give voice to her thought, "are you okay?"
The final gunshot echoed in her ears, or maybe just her mind.
It took five long seconds for her to stir to movement once again, and then she was running forward, possibility of a return or an ambush washed from her mind, though she did pause for only the briefest moment to scoop the pistol off the deck. Then she was next to her friend, hand hovering inches away from her shoulder.
"You did it," Mandy said, voice faint and shaking. "You, we..."
She'd been trying not to think too much about the blood all over. It wasn't all Gabriela's, though. Close up she could see the wounds pouring.
Mandy was squeezing the handle of the gun really, really hard.
"Seo-yun," she said, very quietly, as something inside told her she shouldn't even give voice to her thought, "are you okay?"
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VoltTurtle
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MurderWeasel
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"Seo-yun?"
As usual, Mandy was a moment too late to do what she wanted. Her floating hand remained empty, held awkwardly in the air for long seconds after Seo-yun hit the ground.
It was probably lucky that Mandy was squeezing the gun so hard, actually, because otherwise it would've almost certainly fallen out of her other hand, and who knew if it still had bullets in it? Wouldn't that be just perfect, if it went off and killed her too?
She dropped to her knees, finally setting it down, then grabbing at Seo-yun's bag, frantically searching for the first aid kit.
"Come on," she said, "it's okay, come on, don't worry."
The boat rocked slowly back and forth, and off on the horizon, the sun began to peek over the waves.
((Mandy Gross continued in 잘 자))
As usual, Mandy was a moment too late to do what she wanted. Her floating hand remained empty, held awkwardly in the air for long seconds after Seo-yun hit the ground.
It was probably lucky that Mandy was squeezing the gun so hard, actually, because otherwise it would've almost certainly fallen out of her other hand, and who knew if it still had bullets in it? Wouldn't that be just perfect, if it went off and killed her too?
She dropped to her knees, finally setting it down, then grabbing at Seo-yun's bag, frantically searching for the first aid kit.
"Come on," she said, "it's okay, come on, don't worry."
The boat rocked slowly back and forth, and off on the horizon, the sun began to peek over the waves.
((Mandy Gross continued in 잘 자))