The World According to Third Grade

[Grim Wolf]

(Tyler Lucas continued from The Mad and Hungry Dogs)

Tyler Lucas limped his way back onto school grounds, leaning heavily on a sturdy branch he'd retrieved from the central park.  He passed the bus he'd slept in.

No sign of anyone else in these dawn hours.  No sign of Virge, or Travis.  No word of anyone else.

"GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Tyler jerked his head up towards the elementary school.  He cocked his head, then glanced down to his injured left leg and to the gun in his right hand.  

Then he shrugged, and started stumping his way towards the building.

[decoy73]

Zubin took a few steps inside before he started hearing screaming and things breaking. He paused for a second before he saw a guy coming towards him. He started taking a step towards him when he started screaming at him and threw a fucking chair at him. Zubin dove to the wall on his left as the chair crashed where he would have been.

"Dude, what the fuck? I just got here!" Oh holy shitballs. He was going to get his ass kicked for no reason, wasn't he?

[Ares]

Several things all seemed to happen within a few moments. A girl came jogging out of one end of the school, and at the other end, from one of the paths that lead to the school came a person whose name was etched on Joey's mental checklist. Tyler Lucas. Joey knew he'd killed on the island, and even from the decent distance from Joey to Tyler, Joey could make out something with a very gun-like shape in Tyler's hand.

A shout from inside the school echoed out from the windows.

This seemed to catch Tyler's attention.

"Oh man." Joey whispered to himself.

Joey was now torn between jumping up and booking it, or staying put to see what would happen. If he rose now, Tyler could notice him and if that really was a gun, Joey would be in his most dangerous spot so far. If he stayed put, and waited for Tyler to move on, he stood a greater chance of leaving without his life threatened.

Common sense weighed heavier, and Joey stayed glued to the ground.

[Grim Wolf]

(skipping to help Beta get in under the wire)

Tyler limped towards the school building, as new words (softer, hard to here), drifted out in the aftermath of the shout along a wake of broken glass.  He stared up at the broken window, then made his way inside the school, up the steps to the room where the words were coming from.  He stopped just inside the doorway, his eyes flickering between the fallen chair and Zubin's tense form, before offering a half-smile to Cooper.

"Making a fucking mess of things?" Tyler asked, eying the damage.  "I can respect that."

Then his smile vanished, replaced with a look of deadly earnestness.

"What the fuck happened to Lizzy and Cody?"

[BetaKnight]

Cooper narrowed his eyes as the interloper spoke.  Zubin.  

Fucking Zubin was here, looking for a fight.  Cooper reared back, fist raised, when Zubin's words registered.  Capitulation.  Whined explanations explaining his transgression.  Not a challenge.  Not worth his time.  Intent on staring down Zubin, he barely registered the irregular footfalls near the door until Tyler spoke.

Cooper snapped his head around as the rest of the world fell away.  Tyler.  Tyler who was the start of everything bad here. Tyler was here. Tyler who cost him everything of value he had here.  The old injuries on his face throbbed and a spike of terror shot down his spine as he remembered their last encounter.  The urge to run far and fast welled up.  

The desire to run from Tyler evaporated as he talked about Cody and Eliza.  Incoherent rage replaced icy fear as Cooper threw himself at his tormentor.  Tyler would pay.  He flailed wildly with his fists, lashing out any way he could as he howled in animalistic fury.

[Grim Wolf]

Just one clear moment between Tyler's arrival and Cooper's attack.  One bizarre, insane moment where Cooper's lunatic howling was followed by a mad rush.

Tyler lurnged forwards, right into Cooper's flailing blows.  As a solid punch landed in his stomach, Tyler twisted on his right leg, spun like a runner on the field as he turned into the blow.  He released the gun from his right hand like a discus, so it went clattering across the floor towards the board on the far side of the room.  And with that same turn he whipped back around and lashed out with fists like hammers, as a familiar mad grin began to take his face.

[BetaKnight]

((Blitzposting to get this death done by deadline.  Apologies to other threadmates and thanks for their cooperation. If this is a problem, let me know, Grim.))

The familiar rhythm of Tyler's blows rocked Cooper back. Eyes watering, he snuffled and snorted like a bull. He could feel that something on his face was bleeding.  Maybe his eye had broken open again.  Maybe it was his nose.  He wasn't really sure since his whole head seemed to be throbbing. Instead of discouraging him, the pain served to further stoke his rage.  

Spotting an opening, Cooper lunged forward and into Tyler's space.  Trying to avoid another hail of blows, he wrapped his arms around Tyler's torso. In a haze, he bellowed once more and did the first thing that came to mind.  Opening his mouth as wide as possible, Cooper bit down and latched onto Tyler's chest.  He worried his head back and forth.  Tyler needed to hurt like he hurt.

[Grim Wolf]

(Same to ya.  Let's just GM as needed and count the cost later, if needed)

Cooper forced his way through Tyler's rain of blows, wrapped him in a bear hug and bit deep.  Tyler gave a roaring, gasping laugh and grappled at Cooper in turn, trying to tear him off.  They smashed through desks and chairs, barely keeping their feet as they yelled.  Tyler smashed his fists into Cooper's side, but Cooper kept his grip.  Flecks of blood dripped past Cooper's teeth onto the dusty ground.

Tyler gave a great lurch, spinning around and slamming Cooper's back into the wall near the window.  He stumbled backwards on his bad leg, almost fell...

Then he gave another laughing roar and surged forwards, carrying Cooper forwards towards the open window littered with broken glass.

[BetaKnight]

((That works for me.))

Despite Tyler's best effort, Cooper stay clamped on to him.  Under any other circumstances, Cooper would be either incredibly embarrassed or insanely proud of his actions.  The only thing that mattered right now was inflicting as much pain as possible.  Actually, that seemed to be going really well, right up until Tyler roared and drove him into the wall a second time.  Unlike the first hit, which only made him see spots, the second push slammed his lower back into the window sill.  He could feel some of the slivers of glass digging at and cutting him even through his shirt.

The pain and force of the blow drove the air out of him, making him open his jaws to reflexively gasp like a landed fish and his arms to go slack.  Tyler the Bastard capitalized on his weakness and hit him with a powerful right cross that nearly knocked him off his feet.  Already staggered and off-balance, he teetered on the edge of the busted window.  Before he could make any attempt to catch himself, he tumbled out.

As he tumbled through the air, Cooper tried to orient himself.  He managed half a turn before he found the ground with his chin, his neck hyper extended, as his feet scorpioned over his head with the momentum of the fall.  Something cracked or popped as his body flopped onto the ground.

A whole new level of pain hit Cooper but only for a second.  A strange numbness spread down his body.  Tyler would be coming after him.  He needed to get up and defend himself.  With a grunt, he tried to push himself to his feet.  

Except he couldn't get his arms or hands to move. He tried to kick his feet but he could feel only the pins-and-needles sensation that made his legs heavy and ineffectual.  

It was even harder now to catch his breath than when Tyler had initially hit him.  Grinding his face in the dirt, he tried to force his head around to the door.  The awkward angle of his fall prevented him from getting a good view, and his eyes widened in alarm.  Why couldn't he move?   He needed to move.

The realization of the situation finally caught up with him.  That crack when he fell, that sound...his neck was broken.  Fucking Tyler had broken his neck!  FUCK! In a blind panic, Cooper thrashed the only part of his body that he could control: his head.  His breaths came in strangled gasps.  

The sound of gravel crunching under shoes let him know that Tyler had arrived to survey his handiwork. Cooper wanted to scream at his nemesis but it only came out as a muffled snarl.  "Fuck you."

[Grim Wolf]

Cooper tore away, gasping.  Tyler, still roaring with laughter, smashed a blow into him, knocking him off his feet and back against the sill.

And over.

Tyler's grin flickered.  He limped to the windowsill with the corners of his lips twitching, and stared down at the broken form far below.  Then he spun around, lurching towards the gun he'd tossed into the corner.  He grabbed it and turned back around, as blood dripped down from the ragged hole Cooper had torn in his undershirt, and stalked down the stairs, rounding the corner until he reached Cooper.  

He hunched down by his side.  There was no smile on his bruised face.

"What happened with Lizzy and Cody?"  he asked.

[BetaKnight]

Cooper narrowed his eyes as Tyler hovered over him, the smug bastard.  The ball of rage in his chest kept him going, holding back the screeching terror that hovered at the edge of his awareness.  He didn't really know anything about Eliza but maybe the psychos liked to keep track of each other.  And despite what Stacy said, Cody was his friend and he wasn't going to tell Tyler shit about him.  

Gathering up as much air as possible, Cooper spat a mouthful of bloody spit at Tyler's face.  "Fuck off."

[Grim Wolf]

The bloody spit smacked into Tyler's face, right between his eyes.  For a long time, Tyler simply sat where he was, unched over Cooper with spit trailing down from his forehead.  He didn't bother to wipe it off.

"Alright," he said.

He lifted his gun and pointed it at Cooper's head.  They stayed just like that for a few seconds, then Tyler shook his head.  "Nah," he said.  "You ain't worth the bullet."

He rose to his feet and turned away from Cooper.  The in one fluid move he hunched back over, dropped his gun on the ground, and whirled.  His left hand knotted in Cooper's hair, jerking his head back.  His right suddenly clutched a jagged piece of glass.  The bloody spit on his face ran over his mouth and dripped down on Cooper's chest.

One quick jab.  One quick pull.  And a line of glistening red on Cooper's throat, leaking slowly out onto the dusty ground beneath him.

[BetaKnight]

He knew what was coming.  Deep down, he had known it from the moment he woken up on this godforsaken island.  He was unsurprised when Tyler pulled a gun on him.  Actually, he had wondered what had taken him so long to do it.  If Tyler thought he was going to beg, he had another thing coming.  At least getting shot would be a quick deal, he thought as he struggled to get more air.  Not matter how much he was pulling in, it didn't feel like enough.  Unable to move, defend himself, or even breathe properly, Tyler was almost doing him a favor.  

Almost.

When Tyler started to turn away, he fought the urge to cry out and egg the other boy into ending this.  He couldn't be left here to die by inches.  As Tyler's hand knotted in his hair, he knew that he shouldn't have worried.  There was no way Tyler would walk off without striking the final blow.  All ready woozy and lightheaded, he barely felt the slice Tyler made.

Cooper's head lolled forward.  He rolled his eyes to look at Tyler one last time.  Despite everything, he knew that of the two of them, he was the winner. He had had a few moments that he wasn't proud of but he had done nothing that he was ashamed of.  Closing his eyes, he silently prayed.


Cooper Komorowski - Deceased


((Thanks everyone for all their cooperation in getting this done!  I really appreciate it.))

[decoy73]

Zubin ducked into the first classroom he saw as someone else came in through the door. Tyler Lucas. He'd already killed Cassidy "The Only Reason Anyone Would Want to Kill Me is for Shits and Giggles" Kant, so he already had a point against him. Cooper evidently had some stronger feelings against him, because upon being asked what happened with the Pattons, Cooper answered with incoherent screaming and punching, instead of the obvious "They killed each other."

Tyler, for his part, threw his gun away and answered back with similar shots to the body. This continued for a few seconds before the two of them went into another room to continue their mutual beat-down. Zubin just crept forward towards the gun, keeping his eyes on the duo as Tyler pushed Cooper out a window. Tyler stood there for a few seconds before heading straight for the gun, causing Zubin to backpedal to his hiding spot.

Yeah, I'm not winning against that.

So Zubin just waited for Tyler to go downstairs before he followed the same path to see Cooper on the ground, his neck at an odd angle, leaking blood from his neck. And right in front of him was the man himself. Standing right next to him really brought out the differences in the two of them. Tyler was a foot taller than him and twice his weight, possibly triple or quadruple if Zubin shaved his entire body. Zubin just gulped. He had nothing to say right now, except in his head.

Don't terror shit yourself, don't terror shit yourself, don't terror shit yourself ...

[Grim Wolf]

Tyler rose slowly to his feet, eyes fixed on Cooper as the light slowly died from his eyes.  He dropped the shard of glass from his blood-slicked hand and, wiped it off on Cooper's shirt, and then reached for his gun.

Faint crunch of feet on glass.  Tyler lifted his head and turned around to face Zubin.

"Fuckin' coward," Tyler grunted.  "What do you want?"