Survival Of The Fittest

Oh, how he wanted to put a bullet in his head right then and there. Put on in each of them. Empty that gun and fill them all with a bit more lead than they would have liked. But no matter how much he wanted to be rid of them, doing that would just start more fighting. He fired and anyone left alive would run him down and then they would all be dead and honestly, Alex wasn't looking to die just yet. He'd already done too much to just up and die now. Did too many horrible things for the sake of his own survival to waste it all now. So Alex stayed his hand, and ignored that nagging desire to put a hole in Teo's head. Shut that Israeli fuck up.

"Oh, I'd like to see you try. I'll shove this up your ass so far, there won't be anything left of you when it goes off. So come after me. I'll look forward to it."

With every word that came from Alex's mouth, he knew he was getting them riled up. He knew he was making people mad. Almost as if he was giving himself an excuse to put a bullet in them. Make them mad, push them, goad them into making a mistake and bang, dead. Yeah. Fewer threats, more weapons, and a better chance for survival. But if they got the upper hand, if he missed one too many times, that would be the end of everything. He couldn't let that happen. Best to wait until he was in a far more advantageous position to do anything.

"Move now, boy. Move or you'll be sorry."

Right. Right. Time to get going. Time to get out of there.

"I see you so much as twitch, I'll put a bullet between your eyes. I see you so much as lift that rifle, I put two in little miss oblivious there. Got me?"

Alex stepped out from the pew. Took each step with at much caution as he could spare. Watched where he stepped. Made sure that he wasn't about to trip over something and drop his guard or grenade. Each and every step felt like he was wading through salt water. His leg hurt, every little cut on his legs stung and he moved so slow he'd swear he was hip deep in shit.

"Faster boy. Get your ass moving."

Alex passed Teo and picked up the pace, moving to the door. Stared down the sights at Nick and Jessica, put his back to the doorway and soon enough, he felt a nice breeze on his back as he slipped out of the building. Freedom. Or at least as much freedom as he could get with a bomb around his neck on some island prison. But before he left, before he went about his business and went to go pick up his prize, Alex did something to give the three of them still inside one hell of a scare.

Before he began running, he threw something back inside the parish.

It bounced.

And rolled.

And landed in the aisle with a dull thud.








Nothing happened. No explosion. No bright flash and deafening blast. No shower of shrapnel. Nothing. It wasn't a grenade he threw back in...

It was a fucking rock.

[Boy #14 - Alex White. Continued in Sympathy for the Devil.]

Nick starred down the boy as he walked out. He wasn't sure how it was possible, but it was some how more still and quiet now than he'd ever experienced in a church before. To him those sorts of places always seemed to be on mute anyway. The boy tossed something round at them and ran away. Nick looked at the object as it bounced in and rolled near him. He knew it wasn't a grenade. He'd spent so many hours pouring over his books about weapons. He'd know any one of them in an instant.

He looked around now that they were alone again. Everyone seemed fine. Jessica had gotten a little dirty when they'd hit the deck. Nick tilted his head and then licked his finger and smushed it against Jessica's face, trying to rid it of a stray mark.


I would protect her always and I'd do anything for her. I'd never let anything hurt this person. What is the point of thinking about this person and how I feel about them? Well, when I'm around them I feel like they bring out the best in me. I'm warm and nurturing and loyal and protective and affectionate. She brings out the absolute best version of my self.


It wouldn't come off. He was frustrated. He rubbed harder.

She wouldn't play me for a big meat shield. No one who makes me like that could. Unless....how would I know if she was if she really was that good at it. It can't be.


He stopped and suddenly realized something.

"Oh. It's a birthmark." He'd been trying to scrub away a beauty mark on her face. "Er, opps," he apologized sheepishly.

"Not that I mean to say it's dirt. I looks very nice on you," he said with a nod.

Suddenly he looked up and saw Teo. He was giving him a look. It was a strange look. Not a happy one. He concentrated hard to see if maybe he could decipher it's meaning.

"Uh, good thing we're all okay," he said slowly.

(... short post is short, sorry guys. D:)

... what was Nick doing?

Jessica made a face as Nick started rubbing his thumb into her face. All the other times she was worried of what Nick thought. This was... what was he doing? Eww. Jessica didn't try to pull away from Nick, though that was probably what she should have done. Nick stopped after awhile, leaving Jessica frozen in place. She was utterly confused, even more so now that he stopped abruptly.

That was when Nick explained, and then everything made sense. A... birthmark? ... Oh. He was trying to clean her cheek? Jessica smiled slightly. Well that was... sweet of him? Yeah. Jessica tried to put it out of her mind. She turned to look at Teo. Her smile faded, opting for a serious look.

"Yeah, we're all okay." She said, rubbing her neck as she looked back quickly to Nick as if to ask 'wait, are we really okay?' Jessica was truly unsure of that. After a moment to reflect, she turned back to Teo and nodded.

Teo had gone from furiously chasing Simon to barely managing to catch his breath before Alex had shown up, and now the bastard had pulled some bullshit to escape him and Teo was tricked again.

He didn't liked being tricked.

Grabbing the rock Alex had thrown in to the parish Teo squeezed it tightly as if trying to vent all of his anger on the rounded stone. Exasperated he threw the rock into the pews, letting it clatter to the ground before turning to Nick and Jessica. He was about to release a torrent of foul language and abuse when he saw the two, standing close together. A pang of regret went through his heart as he recalled his own girlfriend. Safely away in St. Paul instead of on this accursed island.

Teo took a deep breath. The only way he was going to see her again was to play to win, and chasing blindly after a boy who had killed multiple people was not the best way to do so. He was stupid enough chasing Simon, although incredibly surprised that the wounded, tranquilized, one legged boy had managed to escape him so easily. Perhaps he was more tired than he thought. Letting the air out he grimaced at Nick and Jessica.

"This place isn't safe. We should head somewhere more well defended. The place should be thinning out by now so I'm thinking we head to the Town. Probably some good, defensible location there. Once we secure a shelter we can figure everything out. There's not many of us left now. I'd guess no more than sixty, especially with that last spate of murders."

Idiots Teo thought to himself. He knew that there wasn't any chance to escape from the beginning. His had had told him stories of camps in wars and he knew that if captured soldiers couldn't escape then kids wouldn't be able to get away from trained hardened soldiers who had done something like this multiple times before.

He walked over to the pair and pulled out a map. "If we follow the path here and keep a keen eye out, probably skirting around this part in to these trees, we should make it there by nightfall. What do you guys say?"

Nick noticed Jessica flailing around for some reason. He shrugged it off and after a moment she looked up at him. He smiled warmly.

"Of course! I'll make sure you stay safe," he answered in his normal, bouncy, pre-island voice. He looked at Teo and nodded in agreement. He put his hand up to his lips and lightly tapped his mouth. It was a little nervous gesture.

"Yes. We should go down to the town area on the map. There aren't many people left around and a solid house would make a good base. We could all probably use with a proper place to crash and we're running low on supplies," he recounted, mostly for his own benefit.

"We've been doing pretty well on supplies what with the augmentations......"

He got awkward and stopped a moment.

"Uh. And the stuff we had already. It......we, we've managed alright since we've only had three this whole time. When we picked up Jessica we...."

Another moment of uncomfortable realization hit. Gracie was dead. He was still sad over that. They'd lost a good ally. Her killer was dead and gone too, though, so there was no epic revenge to be gained. It felt empty and hollow to let it go like that. To let her go like that.

"Hu? Oh right, supplies. Well, there might still be something in the town we can scavenge. Canned goods or something. Water, maybe. Seems like that's where we're headed next."

He lifted his bag onto his shoulder and held the katana with his right hand and with his left, he took Jessica's hand. The feeling would reassure him that she was there. It would keep her from running from him.

She made him feel a little calmer. Her presence hearkened him back to St. Paul. Jessica was dirty and grungy now, but underneath it he could still smell just a touch of the shampoo she used. Her hand was warm. His huge hands covered part of her wrist and he could feel her blood push gently against him.

He was lulled for a moment. Then a wash of different feelings hit. Suspicion, love and strangely, jealousy.

Inside this button-nosed package was home. She reminded him of everything that home was. So the question could be asked; is it Jessica that Nick is so absolutely devoted to, or what she represents to him? Of course, he'll never think to ask himself this question. Nick is currently preoccupied with figuring out the number of supplies to days remaining. He's trying to calculate exactly how many people are left yet to fight.

It's probably for the best if just he continues his calculations and holds on tight to the girl's hand as they walk back out into the world.

((Nick LeMonde continued The City on the Edge of Forever ))

Jessica felt her heart go light. Nick was so nice. He really did care.

He really did.

Jessica didn't have enough energy to be suspicious. All she knew was that Nick would be with her until the very end.

Jessica clenched onto Nick's hand and didn't let go. Couldn't let go.

Never again. She would never let him out of her sight.

(Jessica continued elsewhere...)

Teo narrowed his eyes as the pair walked off. He didn't like this, not one bit. Jessica's grab of Nick's hand was not unnoticed by the footballer. Making friends, or worse, getting all sappy with another person was bad. Teo and Nick had a professional relationship, they knew the deal and were going to stick by it. Caring for some one else right now was the last thing that Nick needed but Teo wasn't going to say anything yet. Already, Jessica had become a liability, and the way she clutched Nick's hand so tightly made Teo even more wary of it.

He would talk to Nick when he got the chance in private. Preferably when Jessica was sleeping. He needed to convince him to leave her or even put a bullet between her eyes, it was the right thing to do. Either way Teo was going to make sure the two were separated.

((Teo Weinstock continued in The City on the Edge of Forever))