All Apologies

[banthesun*]

For Joel, the walk towards the two figures was an eternity of apprehension, and when it was abruptly interrupted by a shout from ahead it was all released. Flinging his arms up in front of his face, he struck forward with his knife; a blind, desperate attack. He had already turned his head away from the noise and scrunched up his eyelids into a sheet of light. His blade met no resistance in the air and he felt no blade strike back.

Suddenly, Joel realised that what he heard was no war cry, but someone calling to him. Opening his eyes and turning back towards the figures he could now see them clearly. Glowing against the dark landscape they stood like some kind of inverse silhouette. They looked human, and they even seemed to be talking to him. Perhaps they actually were people, and something had happened to him. Perhaps he was blind, and it was like that scene from The Matrix where Neo could only see people as flame. Perhaps he was the One. The One. One. Oh god!

Joel remembered what the voice had said back when he was tied to the chair. He hadn't remembered much due to spending most of the time struggling against the light, but now it was coming back to him. That man said that only one of them would survive. Only one! He had to be the One!

These people before him weren't alien hunters out to kill him for their own pleasure; they were opponents he had to defeat to finish this game. Compared to the fear he felt before, this realisation was almost a comforting thought. Lowering his head once again, Joel continued on his way to his foes.

[Macha*]

"A-alright," Kate whispered, peeking her head just over the rock. The boy was slowly walking towards them swinging his knife haphazardly. "O-olive branch it is."

Taryn grabbed her hand and explained how it was going to work. Kate nodded in agreement, she couldn't think of anything wrong with the plan. Well, aside from the fact she was pretty much the bait for him to come out, but Kate still reasoned that he was sane enough to help them. Well, she still held onto the hope that he wasn't hostile, at least.

Kate got to her feet, letting go of Taryn's hand and slowly making her way around the boulders and towards the boy. Kate's heart was pounding in her chest with each step she made. She was beginning to wish she'd taken her knife, though. Just in case.

"Hello?" She called out, while still slowly stepping along towards him. "We're not here to hurt y-!"

Oh my God.

When the boy looked at Kate, he looked... wrong. That was the only way Kate could have described it. His eyes were a sickly orange colour, and his pupils had changed to slits.

Kate's nostrils fired up, and she felt her eyes watering.

Oh crap, not now.

Kate pulled her elbow up to her face, expecting another huge sneeze. She was surprised, however, when she didn't. Putting her arm back to her side, Kate had a nagging suspicion that she'd just startled the boy.

"C-Can you put the, um, knife down... please?" Kate asked, backing away, moving slightly to the right to give Taryn a clearer shot in case he decided to use the knife. "We're n-not trying to hurt you..."

Well Kate, this was a bad idea, wasn't it?

The boy said nothing, putting his head down and carried on towards her. Kate backed away, hoping to rush back to where the boulders where Taryn was hiding while keeping an eye on the boy. Trying to put some more distance between her and him.

Almost tripping over a stone, Kate quickly realised why trying to walk backwards on a mostly pebble beach was a bad idea and span round, sprinting back towards the boulders.

[Carrion Queen]

Taryn watched Kate try to make contact and receive no response. The boy just lurched forward with his knife.

“Oh, babe! Be careful,” she yelled out instinctively when the girl almost tumbled onto the rocks.

Taryn took her place back behind the rock and held her gun steady. She closed one eye again and centered in on the boy.

“Listen up!” she shouted. “We can do this one of two ways. You can toss your knife, tell us your name and we can talk this over, or I can put a bullet right between your eyes. I’m going to be honest, I’m probably not that good of a shot, so it would might take a few tries before you’re dead, but I promise I will put you down.”

If he was going to be stubborn and continue to try and kill them, Taryn decided she might as well take him out. One less to worry about, right? And didn’t that guy say something would happen if they didn’t kill someone after a while?

[banthesun*]

It had almost gone so well. They definitely were no match for him, one of even ran when he moved for them. This blindness thing was hard, but he was so much better than them. He was going to be the One!

But when Joel looked up it all started to fall apart. One of his foes was standing amongst the grey shapes pointing something at him. Though Joel couldn't quite make out what the figure was doing, the words it was speaking got the point across. He had forgotten all about the gun in his bag, and it seemed these opponents had guns too.

It seemed a little unfair to him. He was meant to be superior to them, but they had guns too. Joel felt cheated, and his confidence began to drain. They were still frightened of him! They were still weaker! But they were now a threat and that was something Joel would have to respect.

Uncertainly, Joel stepped back. He glanced around him for some kind of cover, but his eyes were no help; the landscape around him was just a confusing jumble. Taking another step back Joel felt his foot slip on rock as a layer of sand rolled off under his shoes. His footing compromised, he tumbled backwards and felt his tailbone impact on the rock. The blow to his elbow sent a jolt of pain up his arm, nearly causing him to drop his knife.

Collapsing on his back, Joel doubled over. Though his mind screamed to give in to the pain and wait for the dream to end Joel gritted his teeth and tightened his breath. He couldn't admit it, but he was terrified at the thought of what they would do to him. It was the fear that, if acknowledged, would tear down his confidence. If he gave in it would be the end, he had to be better than them; he had to be the best.

Rolling over to cover himself he felt his daypack beneath him. His gun was inside, and if he could just get it out he would be able to stop them.

[Macha*]

Kate ducked as she ran past Taryn, back to her previous hiding spot.

Kate crashed down to the floor, with her back to the boulder. She fumbled for her bag, trying to find her water bottle.

"That, um..." She pulled out the water bottle and took a swig. "That wasn't a good idea."

She put the bottle back in the bag, realising that she should probably be rationing the water, given how quickly she was getting through it. Whilst she was fumbling through the bag, she felt the handle of the gun they'd put in there, and she pulled it out. Kate wasn't planning on using it, but she thought that the sight of two people aiming guns at him might persuade the boy to not try to attack them. Well, if he could even see them, anyway.

Kate checked the gun over, trying to think of what she'd seen in the cop movie, before flicking the child-lock off. Kate looked over to Taryn.

"I-I don't even know how this thing works." She whispered, trying to stay just quiet enough that the boy wouldn't hear her and realise that he was basically up against two girls who'd never touched a gun before. "You flicked that part on when you used it, right?"

Kate looked up, only to see that the guy had fallen over. He looked pretty hurt, but Kate decided against suggesting helping him. The whole 'lurching at her with a knife' part made her wonder if it was some kind of trick to get them to come up. She could almost see it happen. They'd go up, check if he was okay, and BAM, he'd stab them in the legs.

Kate ducked down a little more as she saw him roll over and reach around for his pack.

"H-He's going to grab his gun, I think." Kate whispered, putting her pack over her shoulder. "Should we... Should we leave him here while he's, um, not looking at us?"

Kate really didn't like the idea of just leaving him to die, but it seemed like the only reasonable option now they knew he wasn't friendly.

[Carrion Queen]

"That, um... That wasn't a good idea."

Taryn narrowed her eyes and looked at the ground. She leaned her back hard against the boulder and gripped her gun.

“You tried your best. You wanted to give him a chance; no one’s going to fault you for trying.”

Taryn closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She could survive. If you didn’t fight then you’d never survive. Giving up was as good as being dead. Taryn saw first hand what it meant to lose hope and give up.

She tried to channel a soldier, tried to cast herself in the role of someone who could do what she needed to do now. She needed to be a person that wasn’t afraid.

"H-He's going to grab his gun, I think. Should we... Should we leave him here while he's, um, not looking at us?"

Taryn scrambled back around and peered over the rock. Kate was right; he looked to be going for his pack.

“He's a moron,” she mumbled to herself. “Leaving him would be a waste. He’s got water, food, and bullets.”

She positioned herself above the rock and aimed at the boy’s legs. Taryn pulled back on the trigger, but nothing happened. The trigger seemed to stop short of where it felt like it should go. Taryn’s eyes widened. She started trying to figure out what had gone wrong. After fiddling with different parts of the gun the little contraption on the side slid again. She quickly turned the gun towards the boy and shot. This time the trigger fell all the way back under her finger. A loud “bang” erupted from the instrument and Taryn’s hands flew up towards her. As soon as the sound rang out she ducked back behind the rock. Her fingers seemed unable to uncurl from the handle of the gun.

She let out a shaking breath.

[banthesun*]

Joel let a short gasp as he felt a burst of pain through his back, a scream catching in his throat as it tightened. Reacting with a shudder, his body sunk closer to the ground. His right shoulder stung with the chill of the shock and burnt with the heat of pain. Lying in the sand, it took Joel almost a minute to recognise the sound of the gunshot. Even realising this he couldn't make the connection. The ache had spread through his whole form, draining his strength and sapping his will. Inside his daypack, his gun fell from his hand; even if his arm could still wield it his mind wasn't capable.

This dream had gone too far. He had to go back to sleep and wait for morning to come. This light in his eyes would fade and when he'd open them in the morning he'd be in his dorm at Abberford, the sunlight shining through the blinds they'd fixed to wake the students up every morning. Come lunchtime he'd be walking through the corridors down to the library, along his favourite route with the pine trees outside, and then come holidays he'd go home and visit his parents. His dad had been cooking more since his mum fell sick, and they always both prepared a big meal for Joel when he came back home.

Joel tried to roll over and get comfortable, but a stab of pain from his shoulder stopped him. Why wouldn't this damn dream let him go, with its stupid lights and pain? He was tired, both physically and mentally. He told himself could get to sleep where he was, even with the light in his eyes and the pain through his body. Still his face tightened, and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Though he reassured himself he was going to wake up free from this dream, Joel was afraid.

[Macha*]

Kate watched as Taryn mumbled something to herself and fiddled around with the gun. Despite her admittedly weak protest, Taryn seemed dead set on shooting him in the back and stealing his stuff. Kate resigned herself to not being able to change Taryn's mind and turned her head away, closing her eyes.

In a strange way, Kate was disappointed by the sound of the gunshot. The shot wasn't nearly as loud as Kate expected, sounding more like a firecracker than a gunshot from a movie or anything like that. Kate opened her eyes, looking back at Taryn, and then at the boy, who was flat on his face by his pack.

"...There, he's, um, down." Kate looked at the bloodstain on the boy's upper back, guessing the shot had hit him somewhere near the shoulder. Looking at it made her feel sick to her stomach, but Kate's hunger kept her from vomiting. Finally, she averted her eyes, instead trying to focus on the shack off in the distance. "Let's go take his stuff and get the hell out of here."

Kate pulled the safety to turn her gun off and threw it back in the bag. She couldn't stomach holding the gun any more, especially after seeing what the shot had done to the boy. Kate had to say that at this point in time she felt sorry for him, considering they were going to steal his only hope for survival and leave him bleeding out on a beach. Kate sighed as she carefully got back to her feet, hefting her pack up with some difficulty, it suddenly feeling much heavier than it had done earlier in the day.

Kate pulled up the sleeve of her hoodie and checked her watch. She was pretty shocked when she saw how late it was, given how quickly everything had seemed to have happened. Kate yawned, and looked over to Taryn.

"S-Should we go, um, take his stuff?" She yawned again, it really was getting kind've late. "I, um, really don't want to be here for much longer."

[Carrion Queen]

Taryn slowly stood up, making sure to keep the gun pointed at the boy at all times. Her normally soft, pretty face was set in a stern expression. That expression was glued to the body several feet away and the expanding blood from his wound, the wound she created.

"S-Should we go, um, take his stuff?"

Taryn nodded and leaned her head in the direction of the pack. Carefully, she approached the boy. Taryn kicked the pack away from him with all the force she could muster. However since it was full, save for the knife, the kick only sent it skittering two or three feet away from him.

“Why?” she asked through gritted teeth. “Why couldn’t you just talk it out? Why couldn’t you just drop that God damn knife?”

Inside she was shaking. Taryn shook partially from anticipation, partially from nervousness and fear, but also from anger. She wouldn’t have felt nearly as bad for killing someone who was a real threat and yet, he wouldn’t cooperate. Even if they had walked away and left him to swing his knife wildly at no one, he would have died soon. Didn’t the man in leather say that after some hours certain places would be off limits? How did the blind boy plan on seeing the map to know where the exploding zones were without someone’s help?

“Did you really think you could go it alone?”

Though her insides shook, her hands were locked still like stone with the gun pointed at him.

[Vinny McQ*]

(Johnny Marsh continued from Beauty is only skin deep)

Johnny didn’t have much time to reflect on what had happened at the shack. He was too busy trying to get a clear picture of what was happening on the beach in front of him. He’d been making his way across from the small spit of land that held the shack when he’d seen the small figures on the beach and moved in to get a closer look. At least this damn suit is good for something he thought as he felt the cool water trapped at his legs begin to warm up. Moving as low and as silently as he could while holding the gun and his head above the water, would water even break this thing? , he inched close enough to hear what was going on. Moving slow to avoid splash noises he got into a position where he could hear mostly everything.

Johnny flinched at the sound of the gunshot and silently cursed himself. He was lucky; it seemed his sudden movement hadn’t drawn any eyes to him. With what was going on maybe that was to be expected. Who would be paying attention to the sea when there was the more pressing matter of putting down a potential threat to deal with? At least, that’s how he understood it. Johnny’s mind turned furiously as wrestled with the idea of intervention. I should try to save the boy on the ground. It would be the right thing to do. If I do nothing then he’ll die. Maybe he did attack them, but he looks pretty helpless now. There’s no danger there. Then Johnny heard the line.

‘Did you really think you could go it alone?’

Events played out in his mind:
Our hero Mr. Marsh arose triumphantly from the water with a cry of ‘He’s not alone!’ Taking careful aim he incapacitates the two girls and rescues the injured boy from certain death.

Or the more likely:
The king of ill timing Mr. Marsh erupts suddenly from the water. Startled the lead girl shoots instinctively and he falls into the sea dead. Taking advantage of the distraction the boy guts the girl with his knife before dying in turn at the hand of the other girl.

Outnumbered and unsure Johnny let the moment pass and remained in the water.

[banthesun*]

Joel felt the bag shift from under him and he fell to that side, lacking the will to control his movements. Landing on his uninjured shoulder, Joel let his momentum carry him and flopped out on his back. His right arm swung over and slapped against the sand a small angle removed from his body with a soft thud. Jolts of pain to run through his right side as his shoulder moved, causing him to clench his face again. Lying on his back he was at last in a position of rest, despite the burning pain in his shoulder. Now could he finally escape this dream?

Gently lifting his eyelids, Joel looked up into the dark sky. It was weird, but this felt like he actually had his eyes closed. It was like when he'd lain in the cave. That was where he'd entered this dream; perhaps this was the way out. Lying on his back staring off into the sky, Joel suddenly had his rest interrupted by the voice from before.

As the glowing figure came into view Joel flinched, sending another shock through his body as his shoulder ground in on itself beneath him. The figure had said something to him, and now it was pointing at him. Joel realised the figure wasn't pointing at him; it was pointing a gun at him. It was going to kill him. He was going to die. He was going to die and he wasn't ever going to wake up.

The realisation that this situation was real came a lot faster now Joel had a gun pointed at his head. He couldn't pretend any longer; he was stuck with this horrible blindness and someone was about to kill him.

Without the illusion to hide behind Joel started to cry, but his throat caught tight again leaving him mute. He wanted to look away and just let it be over but his fear wouldn't let him. It left him paralysed, staring at the figure with his face a mask of terror.

[Macha*]

Kate looked at the ground, put her hand over her mouth and yawned again. When she looked back up, Taryn was already over by the boy. Kate started to walk over trying to avoid looking at the bloodstains or the wound on the boys back. She broke into a light jog as she got closer, before stopping just next to Taryn.

Kate turned her head away, still unsettled by all the blood and God-knows-what-else was covering the boy's back, trying to keep her breathing steady so as not to throw up. She was determined to Taryn kicked the back out from underneath the boy, causing him to roll over onto his front, allowing Kate to get a look at his face. His eyes were still screwed up, more reptilian than human, but getting a good look at them, Kate realised something she hadn't noticed before.

he's crying.

Kate tried not to focus on the boy as she went towards the pack, crouching down and pulling it further away from him, before unzipping it and quickly taking out a couple of tins, what kate thought to be a loaf of bread, a bottle of water and the boy's gun. She took the magazine out of the pistol before throwing it back in his bag. Kate pocketed the magazine, but put the tins, bottle and the loaf in her bag. She looked down at the boy, and suddenly felt like shit for going through with stealing his stuff.

"I...I'm sorry." She whispered, trying to sound as sincere as possible despite just robbing him. Kate tried to think of something she could say to justify what she had just done, but the best she could manage was a weak "B-but we need to take these."

Kate hefted herself back up to her feet and walked back over to where she was earlier. Taryn was still standing there, looking stern and still pointing the gun at the boy.

"T-Taryn... Stop!" Kate said, trying to keep her voice low. It became apparent to Kate that Taryn was going to shoot him regardless, unless she did something. "I-I have his stuff... please, can we just leave him and get off this beach?"

[Carrion Queen]

Taryn’s lips set into a thin line. She sucked in a breath through her teeth and lowered the gun slightly. It was no longer aimed at his head, but she still held it so that a shot would pierce his leg. Slowly she backed up until she was in line with Kate.


Taryn could hear her taking the things from his bag. She assumed that even this boy wasn’t dumb enough to come after them now.

"I-I have his stuff... please, can we just leave him and get off this beach?"

“Okay…” she responded after a moment. She so desperately wanted to be cruel to this boy. Taryn wanted to let him know that he would die on this island, alone on the beach, with no one to comfort him. However, Kate’s shaking words put a stop to those thoughts. Taryn nudged Kate with her shoulder and continued walking backwards. She didn’t want to take her eyes off of him for a second until they were far enough away that they would hear him running at them if he had decided to use what strength he had left to rush them with the knife.

“Good luck to you,” she said finally. “Let’s get out of here.”

[banthesun*]

When the figures left his vision Joel started to panic, thinking they were going to shoot him from somewhere he couldn't see. Glancing from side to side, it took him a few moments to realise that they were actually leaving. They were leaving and he wasn't going to die. The pain that shot through Joel's shoulder as he tried to sit up reminded him that it was perhaps a little early to make that prediction. As his head flopped back into the sand lights filled his vision and he closed his eyes. His body ached all over and he felt utterly tired. Even the light that filled his head when his eyes were closed was not enough to prevent him from letting his eyelids fall shut.

-----

"So Joel, you think it's better to regret something you do than regret not doing something?"

Joel lowered his book and stared at Marcus. His maths book sat closed on the table in front of him, and it was clear that study wasn't on his mind. It wasn't like Marcus to be so philosophical though. Joel raised an eyebrow at him.

"Like if you weren't sure what would happen if you did do something, but knew that if you did it you couldn't go back?" Marcus paused slightly. "Ugh, I'm bad at explaining this"

"Uh, I think I understand. Like asking someone out or something?"

"Um, yeah, like that, I guess."

Marcus looked away. Joel didn't realise just how close to the truth his example was, nor how quickly the conversation had become awkward for Marcus. After a moment of consideration, Joel responded.

"I guess you have to be rational here. If you don't have to do it now you might as well keep your options open."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. It would be nice to say 'just go with your emotions on this one' but sometimes logic has to overrule that."

With a muted sigh, Marcus looked away and Joel returned to his book.

((Joel Deitrick continued in Discovery and Revelation))

[Vinny McQ*]

Johnny was still deep in thought when he heard the announcement. Johnny grimaced as he heard the cheerful voice ring out across the island. Johnny fruitlessly looked around to see if he could see anything like a speaker to explain where the voice was coming from at least.

"Okay, first up - wow! You guys have been busy, haven't you? Hah! Look at this! Hey Carl, did you see this? Three! Three whole deaths already! What is this, Omaha Beach?"

Johnny’s heart sank. Three deaths already. How long has it been anyway? As he heard Billy’s name read out he closed his eyes, then immediately opened them as a vision of the boy’s corpse filled the darkness of his closed lids. The feeling of revulsion didn’t pass and Johnny was almost sick again. It didn’t help him to hear the rest of the announcement.

‘... Connor Bromwell, who, woah, got shot, but not just shot, he was shot a lot. Like seriously, that Cristo guy is a total nutjob, damn. Sneaky Mexicans, right? What? He's not Mexican? Oh, er, sneaky Latino?’

Johnny digested the information. A guy called Cristo is playing. Some kind of Mexican/Latino hybrid by the sound of it, someone to watch. Won’t be bandying that name about after this so watch for the skin colour. Trigger happy. Johnny’s eyes snapped back to the kid on the beach as he tried to rise but flopped back onto the sand. He looked to be in bad shape. Johnny shook his head before he even asked himself the question. There’s nothing you can do.

‘Sorry guys, looks like Jay Harland won't be joining me for dinner after all 'cause another girl got to him first. Stupid banshee.’

Johnny learnt less from this announcement. Had he been in a different environment he might have made the connection between a banshee and the taped mouth girl, surely to have taken the tape off by that point in any case. It can’t have been those two girls though, they were here on the beach. They are violent though. That ‘Taryn’ one is anyway. You never know…

Johnny tensed as he heard the chirpy voice mention the danger zones. I’d forgotten about those, careless man careless. The first two places didn’t bother him. But the shack part did. Johnny looked back across the water, where he could make out the shack in the distance. Am I far enough away to be safe? Johnny looked around. It was getting dark fast, Johnny hadn’t even noticed but now he was paying attention he realised he wasn’t willing to chance the climb up the low cliffs in the dark. Either he had to chance staying on the beach and possibly dying in an hour or he could try and climb up the cliff. The fall wouldn’t kill him, if he was lucky. But then he’d be stuck, broken, on a possible danger zone.

Nervously Johnny looked around again for the girls but saw no sign of them. Rising from the water he made a dash for the cliffs, skirting around the back of the prone boy as he did so. Crouching down he opened his pack and searched. His hands grasped the cold handle of what he was looking for and he withdrew a small torch from the pack. Looking at his hand and then back at the cliff he reluctantly placed the gun in the bag. I need as much of my hands for this as possible. I can’t believe you’re even trying this. You’ve got an hour. Don’t rush, take it easy. Doing up the pack Johnny slung it around his shoulders and turned on the torch. Pointing the torch downwards he scanned the cliffs for a way up. He didn’t have to look far to find a potential spot. Johnny stretched a little and went to crack his knuckles, disappointed when they failed to make a sound. A flash of inspiration came to Johnny and he gripped the torch tightly in his mouth instead. He was lucky that it was a small torch. Now with two free hands he reached up and began to climb.

Ugh, breathe Johnny breathe. Come on, one step at a time. Now the feet…get them up come on! Tightly now, good grip. Johnny smiled to himself as he made his slow progress up the cliff. You’re doing good, keep it up. Getting confident Johnny made a difficult stretch to a higher outcrop. The stone was cold to the touch. Shifting his feet into a better position Johnny made his move. His foothold gave way. Johnny cried out as he felt his feet scrape the rock as what remained of his foothold clattered down the cliff face. His feet searched for purchase and he began to panic. No no no no no NO! Gah come on Johnny, fight. Fight Johnny. Live! Johnny’s arms were getting weak and he could feel his grip loosening. He couldn’t pull himself up. He couldn’t find a foothold. He was going to fall. This was a stupid idea. Johnny’s feet swung wildly once more. Then he found a foothold. Johnny invested in his new salvation and eased the tension in his arms. Panting heavily Johnny fought to control the panic that was surging through him. You cannot avenge Billy if you fall off this fucking rock! Past caring about stealth Johnny let out a roar as he heaved himself up the cliff. Reaching the top Johnny rolled over the edge of the cliff onto the safety of the cool grass. Too exhausted to trek to somewhere safer Johnny didn’t even manage to stand before succumbing to the temptation of sleep.

Johnny would later put this episode down to stress and fear, and mention that it was dark when he did it. When he awoke in the morning he would vow not to mention just how small the cliff really was to anyone who asked. That would just be too embarrassing.

(Johnny Marsh continued in Lay Your Weary Head To Rest)