Scholar's Mate

[Applesintime]

The rifle jerked in his arms, and it was over. Letting out a tense breath, Matthew kept his eyes shut. He sorta... he didn't want to see Shawn as he was now. He wanted to remember him as he was, that little snarky motherfucker who Matthew clicked with like a lock and a key. The guy who'd pulled his ass out of the fire so many goddamn times on the island. His best goddamn buddy. Not a fucking corpse with holes in its face and stakes sticking out, or someone who'd chained him to a signpost with the assumption that he'd die.

God damn it.

God fucking damn it.

He couldn't just leave him like this, out in the snow lying on his back. So, turning his head, Matthew made his way back to the camp site that Shawn had set up, the fire still gently crackling away. Shawn's bag wasn't hard to find, propped up against one of the little seat things, and from it Matthew grabbed his blanket. Actually.. hmm. He was carrying a lotta shit right now. His food, weapons, medical supplies and ammo, soon to be mixed with Shawn's stuff. Might not be a bad idea to consolidate, grab what he could comfortably carry in those two bags and then stash some stuff here. Knowing his luck it'd just get DZed the next goddamn day.

So: in one bag went a bunch of snack bars, bottles of water, a flashlight, some crackers and a medkit made of stuff taken from both of their kits. In the other went the shotgun shells for the shotgun, a bunch of Mosin stripper clips, most of his Grand Power magazines and the shotgun itself. Next to the log, he left Shawn's bag filled with food, another medkit and the axe he'd taken from Jack. Kinda sucked to not have it, but he had a shotgun now. Best to not have all his eggs in one basket, either. If he got mugged and lost everything, he'd at least have an axe if he didn't also get shot dead.

What he'd really come for, though, was the blanket in Shawn's medkit.

Making the trek away from Shawn's campsite one last time, Matthew followed the trail back to his friend's body one last time, closing his eyes as he got back to the scene. Looking away and feeling around with his foot, he eventually found Shawn's body and covered him with the blanket, looking only then.

"God damn it. You fucking idiot. We coulda... blown this whole fucking thing. Ju... just... fuck. God better let you in buddy, or we're gonna knock the goddamn doors down together and start kicking angel butt." It wasn't exactly a dignified eulogy. But, he figured Shawn would have appreciated this more than something fancy.

Maybe he'd head to town.

Figure out what was going on there.

((Matthew Bell continued elsewhere))