Inner Turmoil: The Revenge

[Ryuki]

(Zachary Beck, continued from À Tout le Monde)

Zach’s legs were about to give out. He started out running, then his pace turned into a jog, later a fast walk, and finally to a lethargic trudge. He stopped as the pier came into view. He recognized this place from days ago after the lighthouse shootout. He trudged a little further before planting a seat on the rickety wooden construct.

Zach took a moment to look over his billhook, still in his hands. The small amount of blood on the blunt side was still present. He had hurt his closest friend. He had ruined his one shot at redemption. He had lashed out like a maniac. What the fuck was wrong with him?

Zach slammed the billhook into the wooden pier. Surprisingly, the wood was sturdy enough to keep it in place. Zach buried his head in his legs, crouched on the edge of the pier in a fetal position. This island has changed him. It’s changing everyone into psychos, killers, monsters, sociopaths, and who knows what other horrible things. Zach was once a prankster and a troll, now he’s become something more dangerous.

He thought back to his nightmare of Brandon, and his parents. The disappointment on their faces were haunting. This got Zach thinking, if made it back home, would they be relieved to see their son safe, or would they resent him for what he’d done? Brandon’s words echoed in his head.

You can’t run from what you did.

Zach began to think that there might have been a deeper meaning to that statement. The island was big, but there were only so many places he could run to. Also, given the fact that danger zones are put in place for whatever areas each day, his options become much more limited. As long as he remained trapped on this island, Zach can never escape his sins.

Zach took another look at his billhook. It was the only thing he had left for self defense. Zach felt his chances for survival had dwindled because of his decisions. Damn it, if only he hadn’t tried to brain Thomas. Perhaps Zach’s anger awakened an inner bloodlust and that caused him to lash out the way he did. Now, Sean was probably dead from blunt force trauma. And now that he’s made an enemy of Thomas, and maybe Sakurako, they’ll probably be looking to pay him back for what he did to Sean.

At this point, he had nothing left to lose. He broke his trust with Sean, Sakurako, and Thomas. And no matter how hard Zach tried, he’d be drawn back to violence. Whether as an active participant, or as an observer, something violent would be happening around him. He already killed two people himself, so how much longer could he go before someone decides to take him out? If he was gonna survive this, he needed to have the fortitude to take drastic action.

Zach grabbed the handle of the billhook and pulled it out of the wood plank. He got up and made his way away from the pier. With newfound resolve, he had decided. He’d stick to his original plan to stay low, but if needed to, he’d eliminate the competition.

(Zachary Beck, continued elsewhere...)