Cause I fell on black days...

[Cactus]

((Continued from...all sorts of places))
((Michael continued from: To Sleep, Perchance to Dream))
((Scott continued from: Clockwork Little Happiness))

Whatsoever I've feared has
Come to life
Whatsoever I've fought off
Became my life
Just when everyday
Seemed to greet
Me with a smile

Michael Suarez had to admit to himself that he'd never been as pleased to see someone as he was of Scott Jameson. Running into the boy (literally, at full speed, as he sprinted away from the sound of gunshots that he'd heard), he'd peeled himself off of the ground and been ready to run as fast as he could in the other direction, when he'd taken a split-second glance and realized that, lo and behold, it was good ol' Scotty Jameson, lying on the ground, groaning in pain and rubbing his shoulder as though he'd just been hit by a baseball bat. Of all the baseball team members, Scott was pretty much the most useless one to have on your side in a fight, but Michael, at that moment, didn't care. The fact of the matter was that having a friend by his side would make him that much stronger, and give him someone to fight for. He'd recalled extending his hand to Scott, who'd immediately shielded his eyes in fear, with only the kind of conditioning that someone in a war zone could have achieved. Once Scott had realized that the person standing over him wasn't going to shoot him and move on, he'd slowly lowered the quivering hand from his face, and his eyes had lit up at the sight of his fellow baseball player. He'd taken Michael's hand, to which Mike had pulled him up, and then things were all right again.

Sunspots have faded
And now I'm doing time
Cause I fell on
Black days

They'd been travelling together for probably about an hour, just wandering through the bushes, catching each other up on the other's travels throughout the island and Survival of the Fittest. Scott had seen quite a bit more battle experience than Michael had, which surprised him a little, for Scott had lived through them all, and Scott was always such a squirrely kind of guy, so it just didn't make sense...he'd shrugged it off and silently attributed it to really damn good luck on Scott's behalf. As for him, he'd seen his share of bodies, but hadn't been near to much of the action all that much. The two had comisserated on the fact that much of their baseball team had died on the island, in fact, the only one that they both knew was alive for certain was Jack, and then, they didn't even know. Michael had let out quite the sigh at that little piece of information. If it got down to three, and it ended up being the three of them from the team, what would happen? Would Jack be murderously intent on sending them both to an early grave? Would he have to pull the trigger?

It saddened him to think about it, but the answer was that he truly didn't think he'd be able to do it. That, of course, was where they were at the present time, having just emerged from the woods, looking right onto the desecrated lighthouse.

Whomsoever I've cured
I've sickened now
Whomsoever I've cradled
I've put you down
I'm a search light soul
They say but I can't
See it in the night
I'm only faking
When I get it right

Scott looked back at Michael, and with an unpleasant look on his face, promptly vomited into the bushes. The lighthouse had the stench of death all around it, and the decapitated corpse that was laid out just in front of it, freshly bleeding, was not the welcome mat that Michael had honestly hoped to see. Scratching the back of his neck, his eyes glared at the fresh corpse in front of them. If the body was still fresh, did that mean that the killer was still here with them? So many questions rang through Michael's mind, and his heart began to race. Trying to calculate a course of action to take them away from this place, Michael opened his mouth to say something to Scott, when -

Snap.

A twig snapped somewhere in the woods, behind them. Without even thinking, Michael took a running start towards his friend and tossed himself towards the still-hunched over kid, screaming a warning out before the other boy even had a chance to react.

"Scotty, look out!"

As Michael jumped towards Scott and pushed his friend out of the way, a hail of bullets came flying out of the woods, the sound seeming as though it were coming from some sort of rapid-fire weapon, likely with poor aim. Michael figured that it sounded like an Uzi.

Cause I fell on
Black days
How would I know
That this could be my fate

The aim, of course, wasn't as bad as Michael had surmised it to be, as one of the bullets (two, actually, for he didn't even feel the second one hit him) hit him in the small of his back, skimming his spinal column and effectively paralyzing the boy from the waist down. Crying out in what was effectively surprise, the boy that the baseball team called 'Klepto' hit the dirt hard, not even feeling the second bullet lodge itself in his leg. All feelings were cut off from his legs, and immediately, Mike knew one very important fact: he was fucked. Looking at Scott, who was looking surprised and afraid all at the same time, Michael hit his friend in the shoulder, which caused the boy to look right at him, and gave him the only piece of advice that he possibly could.

"Run, Scott. Get the fuck out of here, now!"

Of course, as Scott realized that running was exactly what he should be doing at this point in time, and he finally picked himself up and turned to run away, he made one very fatal mistake. He glanced back at Michael and then turned to look into the woods before he began to run. As he turned his head, he exposed himself, so much so that an expert shooter wouldn't have any trouble at all firing at least one shot into his body, and of course, as the one bullet flew out of the woods and caught him in the throat, that was exactly what happened. Looking on in horror, the paralyzed Michael Suarez watched as Scott Jameson dropped to the ground beside him, a large wound right through Scott's throat, and heard the horrible gurgling sounds that accompanied Scott trying to breathe through the mangled wreck that was formerly his neck. As the blood poured out of the wound, Scott gurgled again, looking at Michael with tears in his eyes. Mike couldn't help but look away. Finally, Scott gurgled one more time, and seemed to sigh a little. After that, Scott didn't gurgle anymore.

So what you wanted to
See good has made you blind
And what you wanted to
Be yours has made it
Mine
So don't you lock up
Something that you
Wanted to see fly
Hands are for shaking
No not tying

Now that Scott was dead and Michael was truly on his own, he could only hope that somehow, the mystery assailant would pass by, thinking that they'd managed to shoot him down and kill him like he'd killed Scott. Of course, hearing a rustling from the bushes only caused his fears to leap in horrible anticipation for what would come next.

As Angelina Kaige emerged from the bushes, pistol in one hand and Uzi hanging from her other shoulder, she had a grim look of satisfaction on her face. Shooting the small kid in the neck had been, at least from her angle, a difficult shot, and she'd managed to prove to herself that she still had the very same precision aiming skills that she'd used to win a second-place ribbon in an army competition - an admirable feat for a twelve-year old girl.

Of course, that was never good enough for dear old daddy, and he beat me for the rest of the week for not finishing first. The fuck was he expecting of me? I was twelve, and the rest of them were grown men? Jesus. Am I only now realizing how much of an asshole my father was?

Shaking her head and removing the temporary distraction from her mind, Kaige wandered out of the bushes and over to the fallen boy; the one that she'd shot in the throat. He was quite dead, and to that, Kaige was glad. That meant that at least one out of two was gone on the first shot. Smirking to herself, she moved over to the other boy, and frowned.

You've got to be absolutely fucking KIDDING me...

Looking down, Kaige rolled her eyes to no one in particular. It seemed that this particular boy had indeed been shot, but somehow was managing to block out the pain and was actually attempting to play dead. It wasn't enough that the telltale rise and fall of his chest was completely giving him away, but his eyes were clenched so tight that Kaige could actually see his skin twitching at the pressure. Thinking for a moment, Kaige had an idea. It was a twisted and sick idea, but it was a good one nonetheless. Moving over to the other body, she aimed her pistol at the forehead and pulled the trigger, firing a round into the corpse's forehead. Quickly, she pressed the side of the gun to the faker's face, the hot magazine burning his skin, causing the boy to let out an agonizing scream. Opening his eyes, he gingerly touched the burnt side of his face and looked up at Kaige with a look of utter dismay and pain. Smiling as she inflicted the pain upon the boy, she walked around and kicked him in the leg.

Here's where I have some fucking FUN...

I sure don't
Mind a change
But I fell on black
Days

Of course, as Michael didn't react to the kick, Kaige sensed something was amiss. Aiming another kick to his legs, when he didn't react, Kaige's eyes went wide with disappointment. In her haste to shoot at the two, she'd inadvertantly paralyzed this one. Frowning, and mouthing the word 'fuck', she picked up her pistol and shot him in the genitals. Michael's eyes, of course went wide at this, but when the pain didn't come, he felt like crying.

Kaige, of course, was mad at herself for a completely different reason.

This is fucking ridiculous. How the hell could I have paralyzed him? Shit. Unbelievable. There aren't that many guys left on the island, and not too many that aren't, maybe twelve. If I'm getting to endgame, I cannot let my current state mess with me...

Cursing to herself, Kaige realized that something would have to be done, or her biggest weakness, her achilles heel would probably be the death of her. It had started back when she'd been in the military, a few years ago. Her squad had gone on a routine operation that had essentially turned into a bloodbath. With each soldier that she'd killed (and there'd been many), Kaige had realized that she got increasingly more and more sexually aroused. This, unfortunately, had the side effect of making her less aware of her surroundings and more caught up in her own emotions. Essentially, killing was her aphrodisiac. She'd had sex with a few of the men in her platoon, and it seemed that it was really the only thing that helped - rough, hard, sex. She hated to admit it, and she swore those men to secrecy (not that it had really mattered, for her unit was massacred the following month), because such a disadvantage was horribly inconvienient. Especially now, when she was essentially by herself. Masturbation hadn't helped her at all, which was again something that added to the aggravation of it all.

Cursing in her own mind again, Kaige looked down at the other boy, who looked rather uncomfortable, probably feeling the blood escaping his body through the gaping hole in his genatalia. Feeling impatient, Kaige raised her pistol and with the click of a button, fired a bullet that blew Michael Suarez's jaw clean off. With only a squeak of pain and protest, Michael too managed to gurgle, and then die. Shutting her eyes for a second, and feeling even more of a haze settle down over her, Kaige looked up at the sky, and shook her head.

What a fucking handicap. I'll just have to kill the others as soon as possible to get out of this hell-hole, because I'll be damned if I'm ever going to fuck Rice. Ick.

Internally revulsed at the thought, Kaige shouldered her Uzi and walked purposefully back into the forest from whenst she came, leaving only death and destruction at the lighthouse - a place that seemed to welcome it.

How would I know
That this could be
My fate

B71 - Scott Jameson...DEAD
B68 - Michael Suarez....DEAD

((Continued somewhere else))