SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

Rosemary was shocked at Joe's words. After four days on the island, after being threatened and terrified, and having a friend's blood on her hands- she still did not understand the idea of not caring. After Joey's death and her feeling of despair- only a little more than a day.

Yet she never felt herself give up. Should she feel happy that Joe did not share the same sentiment to survive? Surprisingly... no. All it did was make her sad.

"Not caring won't help anyone."

Maybe Rosemary just cared too much.

"I-if you really want to do good- really and truly do- than not caring about whether you die, as long as you feel its noble- that's good for you, but it does not help anyone else. It's better to either care just about yourself and keep yourself alive, o-or care about the living. Those are the things that will count in the end."

"All that matters, at this stage, is what we do with the time we have left. I don't think that's exclusive to how we treat the living, and there's some people I can't just let rot." Joe gnawed on the remainder of the chunk of sausage before saying, "But you're right. The living take a priority. Even if... there's no way that... that..."

Only one gets out. Even if Joe found both Travis and Marcus, how would that eventually end? They're not even similar enough in personality to work together as a team. But that wasn't something Joe had to worry about yet. There was too much to worry about in the meantime.

"I guess my priorities got out of line. I'm... I'm going to leave soon, too, and I'll try and... and find Travis and Marcus. But I'm going to focus on d-dead friends after that." Joe swallowed the last bit of sausage before saying, "Just... just promise me you'll tell them I'm looking for them. I'll do the same with... Bella and Garrett?"

He'd sat still for too long. It would be dumb to give up now.

"...I hope I don't... hear you on the announcements again." Though, Rosemary would have to die eventually if one of Joe's friends was going to live long enough to get off this island. But that wasn't something he wanted to think about, either. And honestly, what were the chances of getting that far?

"I will. If I see them... I'll tell them you're looking for them." Rosemary promised.

"And yeah, Bella and Garrett- um, Bella's full name is Mirabella, but everyone just calls her Bella for the most part," She gave a quick explanation of what both of them looked like, hoping that Joe could remember when the time came.

The rain sounded like it was dissipating, and Rosemary moved herself back up from sitting on the bed, taking a small moment to wipe her nose. She hated the dust in here, but the weather outside would help her clear her head before she reached the school.

Joe told her that he hoped he didn't hear her name on the announcements again, and in that moment, Rosemary felt that was the nicest thing to say to someone on this island.

"I hope I don't hear your name either." she replied, her words were genuine.

She then made her way to the door, doing a small check for anyone else around, finding nobody. She turned around.

"Goodbye."

(Rosemary Michaels continued back to What Now?)

Rosemary left. And now Joe had an extra two people to look for, almost like they were replacing the people he'd failed to find.

He didn't waste time. He just left. He'd lingered for too long.

He didn't stop in the pool area on his way out. But he made a note to return once he'd dealt with everything else. When there was nothing but himself left to lose, then he could bury Lydia and do the same to Gabby and Chuck.

But right now...

((Joe Carrasco continued in Affluenza.))