SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

Of course they hadn't done anything to him. Justin knew that.

But that wasn't the point. It was never the point, and Ned was never going to understand that. Justin only heaved a sigh, ready to commit himself fully and jump in the water with both feet. But her presence changed everything. The timing couldn't have been worse. With his pipe, Justin felt he could have taken these two. Especially with that shotgun on the ground, he could have taken them, then taken the weapon. He'd be empowered for next time. The tire iron couldn't contend with whatever weapon that was, Justin couldn't tell from this distance beyond it being a firearm. The generic label of 'gun' was all Quinn needed to establish dominance, and there was no room to argue.

Ned begged -- uselessly, because Quinn was already several steps ahead of where Justin was. She didn't hesitate even for a moment before opening fire. Justin was off like a whip as soon as his brain registered what was happening and told his feet to react accordingly, but he felt that the only reason he didn't get hit was because he simply wasn't the one being aimed at.

He dove behind the shelter offered by one of the shacks. Somebody had been hit, was it Ned or Tanisha? Ned's words got cut short but the memory blurred itself the more Justin played it, like a file becoming more and more corrupted each time. He thought it might have been Ned. Most importantly, it wasn't him. But now Tanisha was out there, with the gun. That other girl... Quinn? Yes, it was Quinn, it had to be, she had a gun too. Could this situation be salvaged?

He held the tire iron to his heart and waited, trying not to cry. Or maybe laugh.

A yell, a puff of blood.

It almost managed to stir a smile back out of her. Almost.

That still left two targets and one bullet, and Quinn couldn't be bothered. The satisfaction of finally having hit someone was muted, nothing close to the thrill of those other two, or even Rhonda, soured as that'd been by everything else that came along with it. A gunfight sounded like a terrible, dull, unsatisfying idea.

She turned and vanished back into the rain.

((Quinn continued in Binary Suns))

Tanisha let her entire weight drop to the ground. She was already fairly low to the ground when the interloper fired at the three of them, but just in case the person was aiming at her, she had to let herself fall. Her hand was still on the handle of the shotgun, so she pulled it closer to herself. Because her gaze was to the ground, she knew one of the boys near her had fallen, and the other ran off. She couldn't find out who. Her attention had to be on the attacker.

Tanisha rolled herself over onto her side and swung the shotgun towards the direction of the attacker. She was ready to open fire at whoever it was. The move was natural to her, as if she was doing one of her dance routines back home. But to her shock, the person was gone. Whoever they were, they were gone. Tanisha could still feel her heart pounding in her chest. She now had no idea where two attackers were.

She did know where Ned was. In the corner of her eyes, she realized he was lying on the ground next to her. She hadn't noticed him in her confusion, but now she could see he was lying motionless, a redish stain forming on his chest, diluted by the rain. Tanisha began to shake him with her free hand.

"Ned? Ned! Dammit, Ned! No!" she cried out when he didn't react. "Get up, Ned!"

Tanisha quickly stood up, holding her shotgun out. Her eyes darted around the area. She didn't know where the boy with the rod or the shooter were or if they were going to come back. That probably frightened her more than anything over the last three days. Even more than what happened to Cammy.

"Don't try to fuck with me!" she yelled out to either person. "I-I have a gun, and I will use it! Just go away!"

Tanisha wasn't sure if either of them would try to fuck with her even with her big ole gun in play, but she had to be ready, just in case. Everything had taken a turn for the worst, and Ned was no longer with her because of that. But she had to be resolute now. She couldn't save Ned, but she had to at least try to save herself now.

What else was she to do now?

That was a no.

No more gunshots, no more fighting, no more helplessness at the hand of tire iron-induced bruises. No more obstacles preventing Tanisha from reaching her shotgun and brandishing it. No chance of getting close to her.

No salvaging the situation.

Judging by Tanisha's wailing, Ned had been hit. He was either dead or, with a lack of proper medical care to be offered to anybody in the complete isolation of the island, he was about to be. They all should have learned that lesson, the one Justin had been forced to learn, with Benedict. The only upside to this situation was that it wouldn't be his own hands that Ned's blood happened to be on. And whoever the other shooter was, they weren't stronger, either.

But Tanisha might still blame him, just like Justin felt some sort of accountability for Ned being dead there on the ground. The official score didn't matter, not to that girl out there with the gun. And Justin knew, knew that if they came across each other again, she wouldn't hesitate to shoot him.

The groan of frustration stayed deep down in the bottom of Justin's gut and never reached his throat. What wasn't so infinitely detained was the urge to knock the back of his head upon the wall he pressed himself against, giving his head a good thump at knowing he failed to do what he set out to do. But there was always next time, another shot to get himself just one step higher than where he currently sat.

He ran off, leaving Tanisha's calls unanswered.

((Justin Greene, continued in Even Jesus got his crown in front of a crowd))

Tanisha's eyes continued to dart around the area. She couldn't see anyone else there. The rain was continuing to fall, and Tanisha began to feel herself shaking. She wasn't sure if it was just from the chill of being drenched by the rain, or if it was because holding the shotgun was starting to tire her out. She finally let out a long groan and lowered the gun.

"Oh god," she muttered to herself.

She ran back over to where Ned was. She could see the blood on his chest start to turn a more pinkish color. She let out a short cry.

"I'm sorry, Ned," she said, her voice cracking. "I'm so sorry."

She pushed her glasses up and wiped her eyes. After fixing her glasses, she looked around and saw Ned's bag lying in a puddle. She hurried over and picked it up, slinging it onto her shoulder with her own bag.

Tanisha looked back at Ned. She really should move him somewhere, but she didn't know if the attackers were still around, or if anyone else was coming because they heard the gunshot. It pained her, but she knew she had to go. The village was dangerous, and she didn't know if she would last in her current state.

"I'll come back, Ned," she said to him. "I'll come back soon."

With a sniffle, she hurried down a path leading away from the houses. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she had to get away from the village. She had barely explored this island, but a part of her hoped that there was a cave or a shack she could hide in. She needed a place to escape from all the mayhem, at least for a day. She wasn't closer to finding her friends and had seen two new ones die in the last two days.

Tanisha continued her run, trying to ignore her shortness of breath and aching chest. She just had to get out of there.

((Tanisha Abbey continued elsewhere))