God Almighty

[Cyco†]

((continued from Storm A-Comin'))

"Jesus Christ," Dan grumbled audibly, indifferent to his level of volume in contrast to the pouring rain. He didn't see anybody around anyway. Personal comfort wasn't a primary objective around here anyway, but damn if it wasn't really starting to get on his nerves, this rain. He had a mean soaker in his left shoe, having stepped into a puddle he'd assumed was more shallow than it had turned out to be. As for the rest of him, he might as well have gone for a dip at the beach. Of course, as long as he had no way to judge how far away from shore he could get before his collar would explode, he wasn't even planning on setting foot in the ocean waters.

He was nearing the school, and he gazed up at the building through waterslicked glasses. The sky was dark with stormclouds, and the many windows lining the walls gave him the feeling that he was being watched. His eyes scanned them for any moving shadows, but a good number of them had the curtains drawn, and others higher up gave no sufficient angle to see inside the classrooms. He was faced with the dilemma he'd avoided giving thought to back at the playground, when all he wanted was to get out of the storm; how many others would seek shelter here?

The third announcement had established that the shopping mall, the industrial zone, and the residential area were now dangerzones. According to the map, that pretty much split the town down the middle. Anyone residing in either of those three locations was given three choices: east, west or dead. He didn't think it too likely that anyone would make the long trek north or south to other shelter, especially now that lightning was jutting through the sky between short intervals. A lot of open ground and a thunderstorm were quite the deterrent.

Thinking about it now, and staring up at the large two-story building, Dan was beginning to question his gameplan. He wouldn't be able to ward off trespassers properly, not while he was armed with the unimpressive syringe. What a shitty-ass weapon it was, really. He kept his pace in the direction of the school, trying to convince himself that it would be fine. He couldn't. It was big enough to house everyone on the island; he didn't want to take that kind of risk, not when shelter was such a hot commodity.

How fortunate he was to spot a small utility shed on one side of the building, a modest sheet-metal construction that, by his guess, housed groundskeeping equipment for the adjacent football field.

"If you're locked..." he sighed under his breath as he got closer, still feeling uncomfortable in such plain view of anyone in the classrooms. As luck would have it, it had been left open. At this he hastened his approach, jogging up to the door and sliding it open, cringing at the screech of rusty friction. There didn't seem to be anybody inside, but it appeared that the shed was used to house outdoor sports equipment. There was a large bin in one corner full of footballs, and beside that a garbage can used to hold a generous amount of field hockey sticks. Two hockey nets spooned with eachother next to the small entrance, on top of which lay a large industrial garbage. Dan tipped it over out of curiousity and was non-plussed to find that it contained a bunch of colored smocks. There were some pylons that had been dropped carelessly in the middle of the cramped space, but those wouldn't be of any use. He was much more interested in the wooden field hockey sticks, and withdrew one from the garbage can to give it an eye over.

"Now we're talking," he said with an air of newfound confidence. He dropped his bags against the wall that he knew hugged the school and hefted it with one hand. It wasn't pro-quality or anything, but it beat the hell out of his old weapon. Satisfied with the shelter provided by the shed, he hastily pulled the door shut and found his way back to his spot through the dark, rummaging through his pack for the small flashlight once he'd done so.

'Ok, so I'll hole up in here until the rain lets up,' he thought as he sat against the wall in the corner, in between the football bin and his newly-acquired field hockey arsenal. 'Then I'll, uh...I'll...fuck it, who cares. It's good to be out of the rain, anyway.'

~~~

((Continued from Prophetic Counterfeit))

Taking his leave of the shopping mall and everyone there, Edgar was now drudging along through the vast mall parking lot towards the residential district, which seemed like a good bet; lots of medium-sized sources of food and shelter, as opposed to a single massive one. It was a good walk there, though. The rain was slowly building, and lightning flashed in the distance every so often. If this storm was going to be as colossal as Danya had forcasted, then he sure didn't have any interest to be caught in it, thank you very much.

Edgar reflected on his strange encounter with the hockey stick-wielding exorcist--and the accompanying rabble--in the shopping complex. He'd caught his first name, Anthony, but he didn't recognize him from school or church. He did seem familiar though, if only because he reminded Ed of whacked-out televangelists. If he had been able to muster up the courage to confront the group, he probably wouldn't have been able to help but point out what a jackass he was making of himself. Still, jackasses who distorted the word of Christ were dangerous customers, particularly if they could amass a reasonably large congregation. Now that he thought about it, in the unlikely event that Anthony was the survivor of the program, he would probably gain international fame and start a cult or something with the momentum. And given his message, it would spell bad news for a lot of people. Still, he was so f'd in the head that the odds of him being the victor were slim to none.

He had just cleared the lot when a nearby speaker flared up, and he halted his journey for a moment to get the news on deaths, dangerzones, and the impending storm. Sure enough, Danya got a kick out of announcing that it was about to get a lot worse. Edgar decided to at least find out which areas were designated as dangerzones; that took priority over getting caught in the storm. The deaths were announced one by one, and he heard the name Anthony Ainsworth among them. Was he the same Anthony? Perhaps Ed's timing had been fortunate when he'd left. It could have been a different person of the same first name, of course, but either way it seemed to drive his point about Anthony's odds straight home. In any case, he found himself making the sign of the cross out of respect for the misguided youth. Maybe it was force of habit.

Edgar also recognized Mai Oshinrai's name on the deathlist, and he thought back to the incident at Hobbsborough. Kim's death. They were best friends, he remembered. According to Danya, Mai had done herself in after eliminating Jack Russell. Ed didn't know what to make of it; there were many possibilities to take into account regarding those two. Whatever the true story was behind it, it seemed that Jack's death had been the breaking point for her. The church taught that suicide was a reprehensible sin, but being here in this place kind of gave him a new perspective on it. He wondered how long it would be before everyone in his homeroom was dead, himself included.

In a moment he was glad to have stuck around for the dangerzones, because one of the new ones was the residential district, another the mall. The third was the industrial district, which was...he dug out his map from his daypack...just south of the mall. So given his current position, he was forced to go either east or west. As far as shelter went, there was a hospital and a school in the former direction, and a hotel and a botanical garden in the latter. He decided that he would head to the school; the hotel sounded like it would likely be a hotspot, and the other locations were unnappealing. The announcements now over, Edgar began to head east.

~~~

Dan had decided to catch a bit of sleep now that he was well-hidden and sheltered. He'd left his seat and grabbed the bag full of smocks, bringing it back to his spot and dumping its contents on the floor. He was still sopping wet and uncomfortable, but he managed to get some shut-eye for a while on the makeshift bed, clutching the field hockey stick and placing the syringe on the floor beside him. He felt a little vulnerable, but then again was there anywhere on the island that one felt truly safe? Dan reached for the luminating flashlight beside him.

*click*

~~~

Edgar thought better of his destination plan as he walked alongside the wall of the school building. The school itself was large, massive really. It was no better than the shopping mall; there could be enemies lurking around every corner. What he needed was a small but adequate shelter from the rain, and from the looks of things he would be better off in the small tool shed hugging the wall than in the actual building.

'If it's unlocked, I will,' he thought, making his way toward the small structure and finding out that indeed it was. The door was rusty and made an unpleasant sound, catching once on the track and mustering some effort out of Edgar.

~~~

Dan woke with a start as the door screeched open about half-a-foot, someone outside struggling with it a little. He sat up against the wall and clutched the field hockey stick tighter than before, grabbing up the syringe as well and remaining silent as he watched the door.

~~~

Edgar to force the door all the way open and shed a little light on the darkness. There was a stockpile of sports equipment, but he didn't see any signs of life. He pulled the door shut behind him, which plunged the room back into darkness, and sat against the adjacent wall. He had been issued a flashlight, and searched his pack for it hastily.

"Hmm?" Edgar mumbled as he felt the beads of his rosary in the ruck sack, and withdrew them with one hand while he fumbled for the lamp with the other.

*click*

He withdrew the shining flashlight from his bag and surveyed his new shelter again from his seated position, not being too impressed but still grateful that it was unnoccupied. He shone the beam of light down at the hand holding the rosary beads, studying them for a moment. Force of habit caused his thumb to string them along slowly, and he began reciting the Lord's prayer almost subconsciously.

'Our father, which art in heaven...hallowed be thy name...'

"Thy kingdom come," he murmered softly now, "thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven." After spending two days on the island, he wasn't sure what he believed anymore, but this was comforting to him, and there really wasn't anything else to do in the dark shed.

"Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation..."

~~~

'...is he praying?'

~~~

"...but deliver us from evil." Edgar couldn't help but let a resigned smile come across his face at this. If he ever got off this island, he'd never question his faith again. Would anyone, really?

"For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. For ever and ever. Amen." Edgar became silent again, about to begin the first Hail Mary prayer. Something wasn't right. He sat there, the flashlight aimed at nothing but the floor, and a bone-chilling terror siezed Edgar as it suddenly dawned on him that someone was breathing quietly beside him.

"Holy shit!!" he exclaimed breathlessly as he shot up from his seat, shining the flashlight at the figure behind the garbage can and reaching into his pocket for his stun gun. The unwelcome stranger rose out of his hiding place just as quickly the moment he'd been spotted, tall and wide and wielding a field hockey stick. There was only the one skinny beam of light to see, but as Edgar struck up the stun gun, blueish-white sparks emitted from the ends and lit up the room for split-seconds.

A Detroit Redwings logo and his attackers face flickered in and out of view. Under less heated circumstances, Ed probably would have pointed out how appropriate it was that an obvious jock was spending quality time with the sports equipment, but right now he had to defend himself, and the electroshock device would do just that, hopefully in a non-lethal manner.

~~~

Dan tried so hard to control his breathing, but it didn't take. The boy was practically right next to him, and when he paused from speaking Dan came to the realization that his cover had been blown. The flashlight beam glared in his eyes, and he got to his feet immediately, forsaking the syringe for the field hockey stick and leaving the former on the ground.

He was about to make the first strike, but was halted by the snapping of electric sparks in front of him. He could barely see anything but he got the jyst of what his opponent was packing, some kind of taser or something. It surprised him, and he took a step back accordingly, trying to think quickly. His hand brushed one of the sticks still deposited in the garbage bin, and with no better idea he tossed his stick aside, grabbing the bin by the base and one handle and hurling it with a grunt in the direction of the sparks, snatching the air-filled syringe off of the floor hastily before charging at what he hoped would be a staggered opponent.

~~~

Edgar assumed it was the garbage can full of hockey sticks that had been flung at him, because as he did his best to block the heavy object with one arm there was a metallic clang and a lot of ruckus as it hit the floor, spilling the sticks at his feet. Ed was knocked backwards, caught by surprise by the projectile in such poor light, but what surprised him even more was the sudden tremendous force barrelling into his gut. The Detroit fan had speared him, and the hard ground met his back with an unpleasant thud, worsened by the sudden feeling of tremendous panic as the flashlight clattered to the floor. The attacker reared up so that he no longer had his shoulder buried in Ed's stomach, and he responded by striking at him with the stun gun, the sparks crackling again.

~~~

Dan was happy to find that his assault had worked well; he hadn't been tasered in his attempt to take the other guy down. And now that he had said other guy on the floor, he had the advantage. Dan had joined the Franklyn wrestling team for a season while he was suspended from the hockey team, and had picked up a few moves while he was there. The punk with the stun gun lashed out at him, and he was able to back up just enough to avoid it, following by going frantically for the legs. If he could flip the kid over, he was confident that the altercation would end in his favor.

~~~

The attacker fell backwards to avoid Ed's stun gun, and he was about to pursue him, but before he could scramble to a forward position he felt his opponent grab both of his legs and tug him forward, lifting his feet off of the ground and throwing his arms and his head back. Edgar's skull smacked off of the stone floor fairly hard, and a surge of pain shot through his head. He voiced his feelings on the subject.

"Ow, shit--!"

It was nothing serious though, and he was well aware a moment later that his legs were being grappled and he was being turned onto his belly. He still gripped the stun gun in one hand and the rosary in the other, but now he was in a bad position, pinned down under the other boys immense weight.

~~~

The other kid wasn't nearly as strong as Dan was, and combined with his hefty girth he was able to pin him on his stomach with relative ease, still wary of the crackling sparks as he did his best to pin the wielding arm. He held the syringe in his other hand, and fumbled to get his index, middle finger and thumb where he wanted them on the tail of it.

~~~

"Get--off--me--you--fat...asshole!"

Edgar thrashed like a boy possessed as he felt his right arm pinned down by the heavier individual. He still thumbed the switch on the stun gun, and struggled with all his might to get his arm free and neutralize the Detroit fan. He couldn't see what was going on, but since he hadn't seen the other boys weapon either he wasn't about to let up. His fears were confirmed as he felt a sharp sting in the left side of his neck and an injection of something cold. With a burst of extra adrenaline he managed to scuttle his right arm out of the other boys grasp and strike behind him awkwardly.

~~~

Success! Dan injected the contents of the syringe into the pinned boys neck, his pulse racing a mile-a-minute. He didn't know exactly what to expect from lack of experience, but he'd been told before that once the air reached the heart, it would be all over. All he had to do was keep him pinned until it happened.

His grip on the other boys arm slipped for a moment and suddenly Dan felt a strange combination of immense pain and a strange tingling sensation, which he'd never felt anything quite like before, in his ribs. The stun gun. Immediately Dan's muscles began to twitch violently, and all he could hope to do was keep his opponent pinned down with his dead weight, stricken with a momentary paralysis that he found himself unable to overcome.

~~~

Success! Edgar managed to stun the fat bastard in the side.

!!!

Ed suddenly became aquainted with a terrible new pain he'd never felt before. His lungs felt like they were on fire, and moments later his chest like he was being pinned down by a car instead of just a hefty jock. All of his efforts were focused on neutralizing the large brute, and after breaking contact with his side for a second he quickly jabbed back into his ribs in desperation.

'Am I dying?'

He decided he was, probably from the injection, and both hands clutched their instruments until his knuckles turned white, the thumb on his left hand subconsiously tacking beads on the rosary. He couldn't hope to lift the weight of the larger boy off of him, and unable to take any other action, began reciting desperately as if he expected God himself to come down and deliver him from his girthy enemy.

"Hail Mary, full of gra-a-ace," he choked frantically, tears welling in his eyes from the blinding pain in his chest. His thoughts flew to his mother, and tears of a different kind joined them upon his temples. "The Lord is with thee!"

~~~

Dan received another stinging shock to the ribs, and the second time was no more pleasant than the first.

~~~

The pain in Edgar's chest was reaching its terrible climax, and now his entire being was set into finishing the prayer, as nothing else really seemed to matter in the last few seconds of his life. He barely noticed the stun gun lose contact with his attacker again, but he struck once more by reflex.

"B-b-blessed art thou amongst women, and--urk!!--blessed is the f-fruit of thy womb--"

This time the stun gun didn't make contact, for his fingers had lost their grip on the weapon and it fell to the ground with a clatter. Edgar's hand fell with it, his other keeping a tight grip on the rosary, waiting for the pain to cease. It did. Only when his mothers face withdrew into complete darkness did he finally release his grip.

B16: JUDAH, EDGAR -- DECEASED

~~~

Dan was spared a third electrocution, but now the room was spinning, and he didn't even know if the other boy was dead, just that he couldn't move, and that the walls were racing upwards too fast for his eyes to keep up with...

Hours passed, and Dan lay nearly motionless on top of the dead redhead, passing in and out of consciousness once or twice and during those brief moments of clarity praying that no one else venture into the utility shed. Fortunately for him it never occurred, and after regaining total consciousness he was able to pull himself over to the wall beside the corpse, snatching the taser out of his cold dead hand and having himself a nice long recuperation propped up in the corner.

After a long while the rain finally let up outside, as Dan could hear through the sheet metal walls. That was a relief; the lifeless body of the intruder was really starting to get to him. He had no way of knowing what time it was, that is until the morning announcements rang out from the loudspeakers and made it perfectly clear. Speaking of which, it sounded like the storm had taken its toll on some of the PAs around the island. Danya's voice was grainy and full of static.

"Good morning, boys and girls!"

"Speak for yourself, asshole."

Dan sat and listened while Danya made a big joke out of all they were going through. The dead boys name was Edgar Judah, according to the death list, and it surprised Dan to hear that his brother had been involved in the previous game. What shit-sorry luck.

"Sorry Ed," he mumbled to the corpse. "At least you get to go see your bro, right?" He really didn't feel much for Edgar, but was that really a surprise? Dan didn't know him. They were both ordered under penalty of death to kill eachother, and cracking that stun gun at him had given him the impression that Ed was playing. Dan was being more than fair; he payed what little respects he owed to the dead stranger, knowing full well that it would have been quite different if it were someone he knew. He was in an intense situation, and he was handling it as best he could.

The dangerzones were fixed this time. Dan marked them down on his map, hoping that there wouldn't be a sudden flux of students towards the middle of the island. On the other hand, it had been raining, and there was little shelter provided in those areas. He doubted anyone had been stupid enough to head over to the cliffs in the middle of a severe thunderstorm.

It was time to go. Dan went through the dead boys pack and withdrew whatever was useful. Food, water, and the batteries from his flashlight. He was now armed much more adequately with the stun gun and the field hockey stick, so without much delay Dan took his leave from the makeshift moseleum.

((continued in Dr. Dan the Medicine Man))