Survival Of The Fittest

So the plan was simple, get to the depot, find the car inside, use the car keys, drive around wtihout a license and find Jeremy. Sounds simple right?

Not when some asshole with stupid glasses decides to kill someone.

Irene Djezari was someone she'd seen around school. Despite their different hobbies and circles, they got along fine. She could blunt as hell towards people, but she was a good person. And now she was dead, another statistic for Alvaro's personally tally. He'd already taken Barry's life, and quite clearly wasn't content with just his.

One could argue she provoked him into killing her. Bullshit. He'd already shown his true colors when he took Barry and turned him into the mess left in the tower. Sympathy was a far gone prospect for someone like him.

As quickly as the gunshot erupted, it entered her mind that he could quickly turn around and kill her, Mel and Aiden. She wouldn't allow it, not when they've gotten this far. Not when he's profitted off of people's deaths. So she did the first thing that came to mind once she saw Irene go down.

She ran across the room and dove for the gun.

She crashed aganst the wall, clinging to the gun as her life depended on it. She hurriedly pointed it at him, she had no idea how to use it properly, but her finger was on the finger and hopefully that'd be enough for him.

"Ge-get out! O-or I'll...I'll shoot!"

"Get out?" The words leapt from her mouth in incredulous disbelief.

And then, Mel leapt too, forwards, pushing off the ground with all the energy that she had into a full out sprint.

Maybe she'd been real shocked when Alvaro had offed Irene - just like that, in one instant, because she'd figured this was low pressure, no sweat, no problem, no need to back anyone up, the three of them would just weasel outta this one 'cause they hadn't seen anyone in days and like hell they'd end up seeing someone die in front of them right away, they couldn't possibly be that lucky - so maybe she hadn't had the presence of mind to move when Serena had made a suicide run of it. Irene had pointed her gun at Alvaro just moments before. Now Serena was the one pointing it at him. For a moment she couldn't see any way this ended differently.

She moved, and everything narrowed down to nothing but motion and purpose.

Get out? Five feet, five inches and one hundred twenty pounds said no - stay down, you fucker.

There were no red cards here. The world was a big angry blur; she aimed for Alvaro, aimed to drop her weight on him and press down, hard.

The shot rang. The body dropped.

And everything came back.

That was Irene. A girl. A friend. They used to play soccer together. They used to play chess together. She went to his cafe. They talked, occasionally. They had fun. She was a friend. Maybe not one that thinking about it he talked to much or ranked highly but she was still a friend. He still liked her.

But she was dead now.

She had fell.

And he did that.

His fault.

It was like Barry. Like Jasper. All over again.

Number three.

Barry, Jasper, Irene.

Everyone he hurt. Everyone he killed.

And this time he couldn't.

This time he couldn't say anything. Irene was gone now. Dead. It was his fault.

And there was nothing he could say.

The girl - Serena - was in front of him. She was someone he didn't know. She wasn't someone he talked to much. She was holding her gun. Screaming something. Alvaro couldn't hear. He couldn't listen. There was nothing he could say. Nothing he could do. He just wanted to do something and be away from this island but he didn't know couldn't think couldn't say anything he just had to

just had to

He didn't know.

And that was when the tackle hit, taking the breath from his lungs as the girl jumped on top of his body.

And Aiden was snapped out of everything.

"No you no this... YOU STUPID FUCK! What'd--"

Serena went for Irene's gun. Good girl. Mel dove at Alvaro. Dumb girl. Good girl. Aiden slipped around from behind them; he headed for Irene as she fell. He knew her, fuck everyone at school knew Irene. She wasn't some kind of standout kid, she was just a girl that everyone knew.

And she was dead and bleeding out on the floor and wasn't a fucking thing he could do. She'd gone quick at least maybe. Irene there hadn't had time to feel the fear, to watch it all drain away like shit down the crapper. Like the shit that had shot her, oh he should feel it. He should.

He whipped his head around, it was away from the dead and towards Mel who'd actually managed to knock the fucker off his feet.

And he was crouching here too damn thick to even be carrying his weapon with him. It was off in his bag bout 30 feet past his ass. Not even enough time to go for it. So he spoke to Serena instead.

"You know how to use that Serena girl?"

Aiden made his choice and dove towards Mel and shitfucker, looking to lock down Alvaro's arms before he could do anything more.

She wasn't the only one who acted quick after Irene got shot. Mel jumped him and held him down to the ground as Aiden checked on Irene. A good gesture on his part, but there was nothing they could do for her. She was gone. He turned his attention around, asking out loud if she knew how to use the gun. Serena didn't have a clue, not like Alvaro needed to know that.

"Ye-yeah, I do!" she had trouble keeping her voice anywhere close to calm, she had listened to the announcments each day, seen bodies strewn about b her classmates, but this was different. A full front viewing of what they were really doing. Of what they really were up against.

She looked at Alvaro as Aiden went to help Mel hold him down. He looked pathetic as he lied there, it was hard to imagine this guy killing people. And yet, he turned Barry into the mess at the tower, shot Irene for being angry with him and who knows how many more. So here they were, two of them holding him down and her pointing a shotgun in his face. She just wanted that car dammit, not this shit.

But this was different. He was not leaving anytime soon, and they needed to know. She had to know.

"Wh-why Alvaro? Why did you kill them?" He was not leaving here without a good answer, and she had a feeling he couldn't come up with one if he tried.

When the impact came, Mel felt it - there was no fight in him. Alvaro stayed down. He didn't get back up. It almost seemed like he wasn't really trying.

Maybe that made sense, somehow. Maybe he'd frozen up, maybe he was trying to reason out why he'd done it, maybe he'd just given up.

Or maybe he was just faking. She wasn't in the mood to play mind games, really.

She just kept pressing her weight down on him, keeping him from catching his breath, and hoped it'd be enough to make sure Aiden got the upper hand. It'd been a pretty dumb idea in hindsight, tackling him like this. If she looked up, she knew she'd see the barrel of the shotgun pointed in their direction - not really at her, but at her all the same.

They'd got him. It'd been dumb and stupid and basically suicidal if he'd had any fight left in him, but they'd got him. Now that the rush was fading, now that her tunnel vision was starting to clear, she began to try to put together what came next.

The impact came. The body hit. The breathe was jerked out of his body for a second as he recoiled, feeling the pain of the girl hitting his chest. Arm. His arm was down. He couldn't move it.

The other arm vanished as well. A boy - Aidan - had restrained it. He couldn't move. The gun was in his hand but he couldn't do anything with it. He saw the boy. He saw his eyes. He knew him.

But he couldn't think. He couldn't focus. Because that was when the girl above him - Serena - asked him a question.

Why?

Why did he do it?

He didn't know.

He didn't want to.

"I-"

There was a reason.

He knew that.

But he didn't know.

But he had to say something.

There was a gun. On him. She was going to shoot it.

He didn't want to die.

That was what he knew.

So he had to answer.

He had to say something.

"They, they-"

The gun was pointed at him.

If he said anything wrong, he was going to die.

Breathe in, breathe out.

"They were- I thought they were trying to attack me, so I-"

He paused.

Closed his eyes.

He didn't want to think about this.

He didn't want to remember.

He opened his eyes again.

"I tried to fight back."

So now Aiden had himself a right gun, yeah.

Well, he had an arm. Alvaro's arm, which was holding the gun. Either way, betcha didn't expect that to happen.

And Alvaro was just down there, beggin like the miserable fuckin prick he was. Straight up killer. How goddamn stupid did ya have to be to do that? Here wasn't like home sure, it wasn't Kingman. But Christ Jesus, did it matter that much? He was still Aiden, he was still fuckin Beaks here, Serena was still herself, Mel.

Scarls had always been herself.

"I... I... FUCKS!"

And fuckin Alvaro. And the rest, Nancy, Ramirez, Kimi. 'Lessio Rigatoni had two kills yesterday. So he wasn't able to get it. He just didn't.

He looked over to Serena. His voice dropped, and Aiden wasn't sure he was really saying it.

"He ain't fighting. Do we-- Do we shoot him?"

Left it there.

He was giving her the excuse answer. In a way putting the blame all on them scaring or some bullshit like that. Of couse that's why Barry looks like he does now, or Irene just a few feet away.

"Figured you'd say that, just take responsibilty for what you've done asshole."

It was then Aiden asked that question. The one thing she wanted to avoid the entire time she was here.

Should they kill him?

"...We can't let him go, he'll just kill again." She couldn't believe this was happening, they were just there to get a car, not act like glorified vigilante's, but Alvaro's already shown himself as unstable. He can't be trusted, not after everything he's done.

She was tempted to tell either of them to take the gun from her, just take it and end him while she looked for the car, but that wasn't fair to either of them, they'd already been through their fair share of horror.

How would they back home feel about this? She hoped to god that they didn't watch her do this. She looked at a nearby camera, That was staring straight at them. Getting the best view of it all as possible. A lump formed in her throat as she forced the words out. "Mom, Dad, Jordan." She stopped for a bit, looked over at Mel and Aiden before continuing. "I'm so sorry, please don't watch this." She had to do it.  If they let him loose, then what? More people die and it would be on them.

Unacceptable.

She steadied her aim at him, gun feeling like it became heavier and heavier as she asked him. "An-any last wishes or words you want out Alvaro?" Whatever he said wouldn't stop this, he had to know that by now, but it was a courtesy, even if he'd gone out of his way to not deserve it.

((GMing approved))

She was going to kill him.

She said so. He heard so. He couldn't move and she was in front of him and she was going to shoot him and she was going to hit and he was going to die and he couldn't do anything about it he could only watch he could only look into her eyes he could only think he could only wait and this was how it was going to end this was how he was going to die he wouldn't have to play this game anymore he wouldn't have to be on this island he could be free he wouldn't have to do anything and maybe that was a good thing maybe he'd like that it'd mean he wouldn't have to look at anyone else he wouldn't have to do anything he wouldn't have to hurt he wouldn't have to kill so maybe he shouldn't do anything maybe he should-

No.

No. he couldn't. He couldn't die here. He didn't want to. There was… something. He didn't know. He didn't know and he was scared and he didn't want to die.

So he had to do something.

But what? He didn't know. He didn't know and the gun was pointed at him and he was going to die and she was going to shoot him and-

Wait.

The gun was still in his hand. It was still there. He couldn't move his arm because Aidan was on top of it but maybe he could do it maybe he could get away. He had to try. He pulled the trigger.

And once again, noise filled the air.

And for once, there wasn't any weight on him.

So he moved. His body kicked itself across the ground. He moved. He got up. He moved.

He ran.

He heard the gunshots come from behind him. He didn't stop. He moved around a corner, and from that point on, he was out of sight.

((Alvaro Vacanti, continued elsewhere))

Serena had leveled the gun and pronounced the sentence and Mel had opened her mouth in response. To say something, to object, to bring up something that seemed that have mattered at the time. But then things changed. She'd always reacted on impulse. This time, she hadn't. The moment of hesitation she allowed herself robbed her of her chance to react.

Oh, she still reacted, in a way. She got the hell off Alvaro once the gunshot rang out - once she no longer knew that Serena wouldn't fire right into their faces.

As he fled, she felt that burning anger again, same as the beginning. That flame licked at her insides and scorched its way up her throat - then she choked it dead before it escaped between her clenched teeth.

Serena was right about at least one thing, and that was that they couldn't just let him go. They were responsible for this. She'd avoided responsibility before. With Cameron, and with her schooling, and with all the other things that she could have done here to help others but that she hadn't done. Instead, she'd only limited herself to abstract things, things that stuck an imaginary middle finger up at the terrorists.

This was different from hearing the killers' names on the announcements, from knowing that Nancy had killed Sandy and having no desire to hunt her down. Alvaro had been here in the flesh and murdered in front of her. She couldn't let that go.

She was responsible for this. It wouldn't have mattered if they were simply stranded on an island and there were no terrorists. It didn't matter that the terrorists had goaded him into this. He was a murderer, a danger to others - and one that had been in their grasp. She needed to chase him down. She needed to at least try. And if everything went wrong, she would end up just like Irene.

No more thoughts. She pushed off again and was after him almost before the gunshots stopped.

((Melanie Beckett continued in Man in Three-Piece Suit Eating Omelette with Hands))

Of course it didn't go smoothly. Nothing around here has ever gone smoothly. Ever since she woke up in that fucking library it's been one thing after another. Alvaro still had his gun, and fired it off as she was getting ready to end this. Then of course he took off running, the coward. She fired off after him, giant ass boom as the gun went off, almost flying out of her hands. She really shouldn't be the one holding this thing. Mel followed after him.

Silence permeated the room after the encounter. The thoughts of what they were really doing flowing through her mind as she processed it all. they'd almost killed him here, holding him down for execution with Irene's body and the camera's as audience for a grotesque display of vigilantisme. It really were the people holding the guns around here who were in charge. She quickly turned to Aiden, who was also processing this as she went over to him and forced the gun into his hands.

"It's safer for us both if you have it instead of me."

She then looked the depot, throughout the whole debacle she almost forgot her keys, their very reason for being here. She could now find out if it was good or not. She had two options here looking around. A car with broken windows and dents in it or the jeep that looked almost perfect in comparison. Knowing how these people played, she was tempted to try them out on the car, but decided to test her luck on the jeep. She walked over to it, climbed her way into the elevated jeep and put the keys in. She stopped for a second, her breathing was heavy as she finally could find out if this was all worth it.

She turned the keys.

Aiden looked down at the gun. Well now he had one of them. Perfect for the game, huh? Perfect for fuckin' up and failing to kill the guys like Alvaro. Perfect for putting it straight up to your own useless skull and puttin' yourself outta your misery. Perfect for pretending to keep guard as Serena climbed into the whole reason they'd come her in the first place, not that he could remember that now--

And the car up and fuckin' started.

Well shit.

Aiden stood there, still feeling numb. He turned the gun over in his hands.

"Y--You wanna take it for a drive now, or go after 'em?"

Yeah. Perfect.

(Aiden Slattery continued alongside Serena wherever she goes)

It started! Holy shit! That wonderful noise filled the air as her heart felt like it jumped several beats. She finally did it! After days of trying to go here, of losing friends and seeing the handiwork of the top killers, this has been the best thing to happen to her since she found Mel and Aiden. And speaking of Mel, she had run off after Alvaro, a dumb decision if only for the lack of anything she took with her. Should she take it with them? Try and find her and give it back or just leave it here as she might run back after realising neither of them were with her?

...Finding her were their priority right now, and if Alvaro had done anything to her. Well, then they'll make it go right this time.

It was then she noticed Aiden staring at the car, looking numb with the shotgun in his hand as he asked  her a question. Take it for a drive or find them? The answer was obvious to her.

Why not both?

Now, which one of these goes forward? This one right? She thought as she stepped on the right pedal, which to her surprise, made the jeep go backwards off the platform. The sudden speed and fall made her jerk her forehead into the wheel as the jeep went into a sudden stop as it hit the ground.

Rubbing her forehead, looking out the window with a sheepish smile at Aiden, the only words that came forth were. "I meant to do that."

((Serena Waters continued in Electric Dreams))