Noland the Liar

[Yugikun]

((Jeremy Frasier, continued from The Way the Sun can Still Burn Down))

The light coming from the window was what brought him out from his slumber.

It was... bright. Warm. Shapeless, formless, but yet he could still see it. It was yellow, orange, something in between he didn't know, but the feeling of it on his eyelids was enough to bring him back. He opened his eyes, grey monochrome ceiling being the first thing he saw through the light. Seemed he was still here, then. He sat up, looking around. This was... yeah, that was right. This was the place he had found yesterday. Walked across that giant bridge after finally leaving the asylum and this was the place he had seen when night fell. Yeah, that was what happened. Left Hazel and Jordan for a bit to go and leave in the vain hope of finding his friends.

And if you could guess the amount of people he had seen after leaving Hazel and Jordan behind, then congratulations, you win the grand prize.

It's nothing.

You win nothing.

The last vestiges of warmth he had gotten from this bed had disappeared long ago. He got up. Onto his feet. Shoes and socks were right there, and his bag was right next to them. They went on pretty quickly, and he brought his bag over to him, opening it up. Supplies, money, gun, and CD player. He found Danny's bag while exploring this place. Most of the stuff he could have used had already been jacked by somebody else, but the player was still there. No idea why he really took it, but hey, there was enough room and there wasn't really any reason to not take it, either, so in the bag it went.

He also found Danny's corpse, while he was searching for a place to sleep. He was wrapped in bedsheets, covered in his own blood. Isabel had done that, if he remembered correctly. She was still alive, the last time he had heard.

...

The gun went in his pant pocket. He stood up. He wasn't quite sure what time it was - still no watch, he needed to find one at this point - but the sun was up, and he imagined he would have heard the announcement if it had sounded. That probably meant... morning, he imagined. 5 AM, if he were to have a guess. Maybe some people were awake. Maybe some people were still asleep, he didn't know.

All he knew was that he was in here, and an infinite world of possibilities was out there.

1. Have fun, above all else.
2. Get to Emma. As soon as possible.
3. Find Serena. Make sure she's safe.
4. Figure out what the fuck to do with Alex.
5. Find Al. Say hi.
6. Find Clarice. Apologise for earlier.
7. Figure out who else should be on this list. Retroactively add them.
8. Find Josh's corpse. Give last respects, for what they're worth to him.
9. Find Jasmine. Figure out what happens when you get there.
10. Find Caedyn, get closure in that area, if you can.
11. Pursue hopeless venture of survival, if above conditions have been fulfilled.

Yeah.

There were.

He took a moment to rub the tiredness out of his eyes, before he headed out the door.

Good morning, Cochise High School.

[Yugikun]

He heard the sounds of his footsteps as he stepped into the hallway.

He heard the slam of the door as it closed behind him.

And he heard the speakers crackle to life, as the now annoyingly familiar voice began to speak once again.

He took a spot on the wall, leaning back.

Best to just get it over with, at this point.

[Yugikun]

"Knew it."

Caedyn Miller, killer of Bridgette Sommerfeld. He honestly didn't know what to expect, there. Caedyn was sort of a terrible person, who knew? Well, at least that meant her inclusion on the list was justified now. She was someone he definitely had to find now. Talk to now. Get over... what had happened with. It wasn't going to be great, and it wasn't going to be fun, but it was going to be for the best. Closure. Final goodbye. Yeah. That'd be good. Maybe he could stop her, as well. Calm her down, like he did Alex. He was good at that, he imagined. Maybe in a better or maybe even perfect world he could do that. That'd be good. That'd be nice.

That'd be ideal.

And then he heard the next name, and everything came crashing down.

Jennifer Wallace.

Killed by Nancy Kyle.

"Fuc-"

The syllable choked itself out. Jennifer. Jenny. His friend. His critic. She was here wait no no no fuck she wasn't not anymore she was dead she was dead he wasn't going to see her anymore. She was dead. She was gone. And he hadn't even fucking thought about her for the entire time he was here. She was Jennifer. Jenny. She was his critic and she was his friend, but apparently that wasn't fucking good enough for him because the moment things went down the moment he woke up on the island whooooop she went straight out of the window of his mind. That was the worst part.

And Nancy being the one who killed her was the icing on top of the cake. Nancy. That girl he met on top of the bell tower. That girl he didn't really know. Liked anime, had blue hair. Had sent an axe straight through Clarice while he had watched.

He'd had the gun at that time.

He could have done something.

He could have stopped her.

And then the names kept coming. Darius. The joke. The person he watched from afar. Someone he'd never see again. Killed by William McKinley. The guy Alex said attacked him. The guy with the asshole girlfriend who'd died the first day. The guy who wanted to kill Alex more than anyone else here.

And he had left Alex alone. He had abandoned him. He was alone and with only a sword against a gun and he'd die because Jeremy left him behind and-

Irene. Killed. Dead. The girl who smiled at him. The weird girl who he always argued with. The other person that Jeremy had seen upon waking up here. She was gone. That moment when she'd ran away down the cove out of sight was the last time he'd ever see her. He was alone. He was the only one there lef-

Asha.

The goth girl in the library. The new friend he had made. They'd talked a bit and they were friendly and she had been rising up his friends list and now she was dead gone just like everyone else.

And he hadn't thought about her at all.

He hadn't thought about any of them.

He dropped to his knees.

His fingers wrapped around his head. His ears. Piercing. Blocking. Scratching.

He didn't want to hear it anymore.

He didn't want to think.

[Yugikun]

The sound of beeping brought him back.

He opened his eyes. His ears. His head still hurt. He was still in the hallway. He was still alone. What was-

He heard the beep again.

He looked down. It was coming from him. His collar. He hadn't thought about it for a while, but it was still there. Beeping. For some reason. Was this place a danger zone now? He didn't know. He'd tried walking near the chapel yesterday and it had beeped, so maybe it was like that. A danger zone. A place that'd cause his neck to get exploded if he stayed in it for too long. He wasn't sure why that needed to happen. Did the terrorists want to weed out people who were stuck in the wrong place or something? He didn't know.

He heard the beep again.

And yeah, he got it. Danger zone. Run for your life and get the kids while you're at it. He'd have to go now.

But did he really have to?

Maybe he didn't. Maybe he'd stay. It'd mean he wouldn't be here anymore. It'd mean he wouldn't be in this game. He'd heard the stories of the kids who'd killed themselves because of the bullying they received, and he had always told himself that he'd never be like them. It was a long term solution to a short term problem, it'd mean that you wouldn't get any of the good parts of life, so whenever Jeremy had felt anything similar to what they had he shook his head. He continued going. Fixed whatever the issue was himself, if he could.

But this was a long term problem. He only had a couple days left in his life.

Jeremy Frasier, 0% chance of winning the game.

Yeah.

There wasn't really a point in trying to get out.

And plus, maybe it'd be good for him. He wouldn't have to see people he knew die. He wouldn't have to hear their names on the announcements. He wouldn't have to hear it be told that he was never going to see Emma or Serena or anyone else he knew again. He wouldn't have to kill. He wouldn't have to think. He wouldn't have to do anything here anymore. That'd be good.

One of eleven. That... Okay that sucked. Nowhere near the amount that he wanted. But considering the situation? Considering that he had never expected to get them all anyway?

Good enough.

He heard the beep again.

No regrets?

...

No.

No no no what the fuck was he thinking? Why was he doing this? Why was he just letting himself die?

Because yeah, things sucked, and yeah, it didn't look like they were going to get better, but that wasn't a reason for him to just give up and accept whatever fate the gods had in store for him. Maybe things sucked, but wasn't that a selfish way of looking at things? Yeah, maybe he had to think about number one every once in a while. But there was two through four. Five. Six through ten. Josh had died before Jeremy had gotten his chance to say goodbye. Clarice had gotten an axe through her arm. He knew how it had hit. He knew how much it had hurt.

So how could he let it happen to them? How could he hurt them by putting his name up there? No. No, he wouldn't. He had his regrets. He had his mistakes, and yeah. Things weren't too good for him right now. But he could do something about that. He could turn it around. He could fix it. He had made his choice.

He heard the beep again.

And slowly, he stood up. Picked up his bag.

Breathed, for a second.

And then - bag on his back and gun in his pocket - he ran as fast as he could, just hoping that it wasn't too late for him.

((Jeremy Frasier, continued in Idiot Launch))