Leave Out All The Rest
Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2018 4:38 am
((Steve continued from Moment of Clarity))
Everything was a blur. Steve remembered bits and pieces of what had happened. He remembered there were two loud explosions and a whole bunch of rubble. Luckily for him, he'd escaped the rubble's wrath thanks to Ryan.
As Steve gazed around, things slowly coming back into focus, he could make out the shapes of airplanes around him, followed by what could only be the remnants of burning wood.
The airfield...why..why are we here.. Steve thought to himself.
"Ry..Ryan, wha..," Steve was interrupted by a cough from his own body, "Damn it..why are we here? Dangerzone.."
His question was answered by his memory coming back to him again. He distinctly remembered hearing the beeping of his collar and Ryan pulled the last piece of rubble off his body and got Steve away from the hospital.
There was a long silence between the boys as Ryan sat Steve down against the nose of one of the downed aircraft and collapsed to a sitting position himself. Steve was getting his wits back and thinking straight again. He couldn't imagine having any worse luck. It was like he'd told Ryan before getting violently thrown into a wall headfirst; everyone died around him.
"Ryan," Steve saw Ryan's eyes open his response to his name, "I'm sorry man. It's my fault that hospital collapsed on us man, seriously. Everything that could go wrong on this island has gone wrong for me. I know I told you this before but I just can't understand it man. It's like Death is following me around going, 'Ah ha ha ha, isn't this fun.' It's a sick fucking game Ryan, but that son of a bitch is playing it with me. Trust me I thought about killing myself a few times just wandering around. I wondered if maybe it would save my friends..."
Steve felt a shot of weakness come over his body but shook it off and continued.
"I thought to myself that if I died, then my friends would be safer, but I couldn't do it. I knew they wouldn't want that. I knew though from the very moment that Gabe took off to go find Nate Harris that I'd have to man up and be strong for them. I'd have to keep it together for everyone."
Another, stronger shot of the feeling of being weakened came over Steve.
What the hell is going on?
Steve looked down at his left leg and could see a small hole made by a piece of shrapnel from the grenade. It was bleeding pretty profusely. Steve racked his brain for what could have been wrong. The answer came to him a lot faster than he'd expected and a cold chill came over his body.
"Femoral artery..." He whispered to himself.
Steve's next action came even as a surprise to him. He smiled and let some laughs escape his mouth.
"So Ryan, guess what? Ah hell, I always hated guessing games. I'm dying man. That grenade there must have fucked me more than I thought," Steve paused to take a deeper breath than he had been, "I've got a bit of a problem with my leg here."
Steve thought about the situation some, not knowing how much time he had left. He knew it wasn't super long, hell he was surprised with the femoral artery that he'd lasted this long. It must have just been a nick, but nicks were still unfortunately deadly.
"Ryan, if you survive this I want you to do something for me man. I want you to tell my parents that I'm so sorry for them. Tell Jen that I love her too, and I want to you to tell Gabe's parents that I'm sorry I couldn't save their son. For fuck sakes Ryan, this game isn't fucking fair. Look at me. Accepting death like this. Two weeks ago if I'd been told my femoral artery was damaged and I was going to die, I'd have been throwing shit fits and screaming for every reason in the entire world. You know though, I really think that that is one of the perks of Survival of the Fittest. In a way it prepares you to die. You get to spend however many days you spend in this hell thinking about your own death."
Steve could feel his body growing colder and colder, weaker and weaker.
"Yeah...I'm ready to go I think. I'll get to see Gabe again, I'll get to see Serenity again...I'll..," Steve coughed, this time resulting in some blood running down his chin, "I'll...Ryan...Thanks..."
Steve's chest stopped heaving and eyes rolled back. His head limply fell to his chest and rolled to the left, the weight of the shift causing his body to slump over and fall to the ground. The prom king...the quarterback...the friend...
----------------------------------
"Mario!! Jesus christ Mar get in here, it's Steve! That building just fell on him, he'd dead Mario, he's dead!" Mrs. Adelia Digaetano screamed at the television depicting the hospital's collapse on top of the two boys, tears running rapidly from her eyes.
Mario Digaetano came sprinting in from the kitchen and stared at the screen as the one boy his son had been traveling with frantically began pulling bits of brick and stone and rubble off of his boy.
"Come on...come on..." Mario whispered as he embraced his wife.
The sound of footsteps filled the hallway adjacent to the living room as Jen Digaetano came running into the room as well, embracing her mom and dad while staring at the screen as well.
After a few moments of nail-biting suspense the family saw Steve pulled from the wreckage, still alive, albeit clearly injured.
The camera cut away to a different set of students as Steve and Ryan exited the hospital area, leaving the Digaetano family to worry.
Mario returned to the kitchen where there were two envelopes stamped with the Michigan State University logo addressed to his son. The first letter had arrived the day Steve's class had been abducted. Mario quietly open the envelope.
'Dear Mr. Digaetano,
We have received your application to our school of Human Kenetics and it is with great pleasure that we offer our acceptance. It also with great pleasure that on the condition of your participation with Michigan State's illustrious football program, we offer you an all expenses paid scholarship.
We look forward to your response and best of luck with the remainder of your high school career.
Sincerely,
Paul Boughner, Dean of Admissions, MSU'
The water works began as Mario re-read the letter to his son. This had been Steve's dream to go to MSU and he'd done it. Mario set the letter down on the counter and picked up the second letter which had been delivered that day. He ripped it open but before he could read past the introduction, Jen's voice screamed for him to return to the living room.
When he returned he saw that Steve and Ryan had traveled the short distance to the airfield. His son was sitting, propped against an airplane, speaking to his friend. The color was slowly fading from Steve's face as he announced his injury to his friend. At those words Jen stormed out of the room in tears while Adelia sat frozen in fear on the couch.
"No...Steve-o...no.." Mario whispered as he listened to his son tell Ryan to tell them he was sorry and Jen that he loved her. It was only a few moments later that Steve's eyes closed and his chest stopping moving. A scrolling bar in red letters went across the bottom of the television screen reading, "B04 - Steve Digaetano - Dead". Adelia rose from her seat and walked down the hallway to Jen's room, as the door opened Mario could hear frantic sobbing.
It was then that Mario realized he was still holding the second letter from MSU. He unfolded it once again.
'Dear Mr. Digaetano,
It with our sincerest apologies that we must revoke our offer of admission to the Faculty of Human Kinetics. Due to your participation in Survival of the Fittest, the university believes that it is in your best interest to not attend our school.
Regards,
Paul Boughner, Dean of Admissions, MSU'
Mario nodded his head solemnly as he threw the letter in the trash can before leaving the kitchen to be with his family.
---------------------------
B04 - Steve Digaetano - Dead
8 Students Remaining
Everything was a blur. Steve remembered bits and pieces of what had happened. He remembered there were two loud explosions and a whole bunch of rubble. Luckily for him, he'd escaped the rubble's wrath thanks to Ryan.
As Steve gazed around, things slowly coming back into focus, he could make out the shapes of airplanes around him, followed by what could only be the remnants of burning wood.
The airfield...why..why are we here.. Steve thought to himself.
"Ry..Ryan, wha..," Steve was interrupted by a cough from his own body, "Damn it..why are we here? Dangerzone.."
His question was answered by his memory coming back to him again. He distinctly remembered hearing the beeping of his collar and Ryan pulled the last piece of rubble off his body and got Steve away from the hospital.
There was a long silence between the boys as Ryan sat Steve down against the nose of one of the downed aircraft and collapsed to a sitting position himself. Steve was getting his wits back and thinking straight again. He couldn't imagine having any worse luck. It was like he'd told Ryan before getting violently thrown into a wall headfirst; everyone died around him.
"Ryan," Steve saw Ryan's eyes open his response to his name, "I'm sorry man. It's my fault that hospital collapsed on us man, seriously. Everything that could go wrong on this island has gone wrong for me. I know I told you this before but I just can't understand it man. It's like Death is following me around going, 'Ah ha ha ha, isn't this fun.' It's a sick fucking game Ryan, but that son of a bitch is playing it with me. Trust me I thought about killing myself a few times just wandering around. I wondered if maybe it would save my friends..."
Steve felt a shot of weakness come over his body but shook it off and continued.
"I thought to myself that if I died, then my friends would be safer, but I couldn't do it. I knew they wouldn't want that. I knew though from the very moment that Gabe took off to go find Nate Harris that I'd have to man up and be strong for them. I'd have to keep it together for everyone."
Another, stronger shot of the feeling of being weakened came over Steve.
What the hell is going on?
Steve looked down at his left leg and could see a small hole made by a piece of shrapnel from the grenade. It was bleeding pretty profusely. Steve racked his brain for what could have been wrong. The answer came to him a lot faster than he'd expected and a cold chill came over his body.
"Femoral artery..." He whispered to himself.
Steve's next action came even as a surprise to him. He smiled and let some laughs escape his mouth.
"So Ryan, guess what? Ah hell, I always hated guessing games. I'm dying man. That grenade there must have fucked me more than I thought," Steve paused to take a deeper breath than he had been, "I've got a bit of a problem with my leg here."
Steve thought about the situation some, not knowing how much time he had left. He knew it wasn't super long, hell he was surprised with the femoral artery that he'd lasted this long. It must have just been a nick, but nicks were still unfortunately deadly.
"Ryan, if you survive this I want you to do something for me man. I want you to tell my parents that I'm so sorry for them. Tell Jen that I love her too, and I want to you to tell Gabe's parents that I'm sorry I couldn't save their son. For fuck sakes Ryan, this game isn't fucking fair. Look at me. Accepting death like this. Two weeks ago if I'd been told my femoral artery was damaged and I was going to die, I'd have been throwing shit fits and screaming for every reason in the entire world. You know though, I really think that that is one of the perks of Survival of the Fittest. In a way it prepares you to die. You get to spend however many days you spend in this hell thinking about your own death."
Steve could feel his body growing colder and colder, weaker and weaker.
"Yeah...I'm ready to go I think. I'll get to see Gabe again, I'll get to see Serenity again...I'll..," Steve coughed, this time resulting in some blood running down his chin, "I'll...Ryan...Thanks..."
Steve's chest stopped heaving and eyes rolled back. His head limply fell to his chest and rolled to the left, the weight of the shift causing his body to slump over and fall to the ground. The prom king...the quarterback...the friend...
----------------------------------
"Mario!! Jesus christ Mar get in here, it's Steve! That building just fell on him, he'd dead Mario, he's dead!" Mrs. Adelia Digaetano screamed at the television depicting the hospital's collapse on top of the two boys, tears running rapidly from her eyes.
Mario Digaetano came sprinting in from the kitchen and stared at the screen as the one boy his son had been traveling with frantically began pulling bits of brick and stone and rubble off of his boy.
"Come on...come on..." Mario whispered as he embraced his wife.
The sound of footsteps filled the hallway adjacent to the living room as Jen Digaetano came running into the room as well, embracing her mom and dad while staring at the screen as well.
After a few moments of nail-biting suspense the family saw Steve pulled from the wreckage, still alive, albeit clearly injured.
The camera cut away to a different set of students as Steve and Ryan exited the hospital area, leaving the Digaetano family to worry.
Mario returned to the kitchen where there were two envelopes stamped with the Michigan State University logo addressed to his son. The first letter had arrived the day Steve's class had been abducted. Mario quietly open the envelope.
'Dear Mr. Digaetano,
We have received your application to our school of Human Kenetics and it is with great pleasure that we offer our acceptance. It also with great pleasure that on the condition of your participation with Michigan State's illustrious football program, we offer you an all expenses paid scholarship.
We look forward to your response and best of luck with the remainder of your high school career.
Sincerely,
Paul Boughner, Dean of Admissions, MSU'
The water works began as Mario re-read the letter to his son. This had been Steve's dream to go to MSU and he'd done it. Mario set the letter down on the counter and picked up the second letter which had been delivered that day. He ripped it open but before he could read past the introduction, Jen's voice screamed for him to return to the living room.
When he returned he saw that Steve and Ryan had traveled the short distance to the airfield. His son was sitting, propped against an airplane, speaking to his friend. The color was slowly fading from Steve's face as he announced his injury to his friend. At those words Jen stormed out of the room in tears while Adelia sat frozen in fear on the couch.
"No...Steve-o...no.." Mario whispered as he listened to his son tell Ryan to tell them he was sorry and Jen that he loved her. It was only a few moments later that Steve's eyes closed and his chest stopping moving. A scrolling bar in red letters went across the bottom of the television screen reading, "B04 - Steve Digaetano - Dead". Adelia rose from her seat and walked down the hallway to Jen's room, as the door opened Mario could hear frantic sobbing.
It was then that Mario realized he was still holding the second letter from MSU. He unfolded it once again.
'Dear Mr. Digaetano,
It with our sincerest apologies that we must revoke our offer of admission to the Faculty of Human Kinetics. Due to your participation in Survival of the Fittest, the university believes that it is in your best interest to not attend our school.
Regards,
Paul Boughner, Dean of Admissions, MSU'
Mario nodded his head solemnly as he threw the letter in the trash can before leaving the kitchen to be with his family.
---------------------------
B04 - Steve Digaetano - Dead
8 Students Remaining