Since their arrival at the River, Adam Dodd had been trying to sort out all of the new arrivals as best he could. More people had happened upon the group, and while all of the introductions had seemed to be friendly, Adam admitted to himself that travelling in such a large group was likely the way to get fucked. Not that he disliked the company, but rather, such a large group would inevitably make noise, and making noise would lead to getting found - which at this point, probably wasn't the best idea, especially if that person were unfriendly and had some form of formidable weapon, perhaps something like a machine gun.
That would complicate things a little. Of course, I've never heard as to when getting shot at isn't complicated...
As he left Martyn to talk to some of the new arrivals, he'd leisurely strolled over to where Hawley's grave lay on the ground, and sat on the big rock in front of it, his legs perched over, staring at the headboard that Madelaine had created for their late friend. It was odd, he reasoned, that someone would have such a profound impact upon him in so short of a time. Then again, Hawley Faust was never really one to do things in such a way that he'd be thought of as second-rate. At least, in the five days that he'd known him, he knew that to be true. As he sat upon the rock and reflected, his thoughts stretched again to the problem of the large group. Sighing to himself, he racked his mind as to how he was going to manage this. The one issue that he'd had ever since he'd found himself in his current situation had been the fact that nobody had come up with a decent escape plan: at all. It would be one thing if someone were to have some form of plan, and they were all together in trying to execute said plan, but...there was no plan. The group had simply been together for the sole reason that they were friends, or that they felt safe in one another's presence.
Heh, how about that one. Safety, there's a fucking original concept. As long as we're here and we have the collars around our necks, we're not safe no matter what we do. I think that it's a sad, pathetic fact that the only way off of this island, aside from getting the collars off and swimming away, is to play the game through to the end, and to be the last person left standing.
But in that case, do you really win? Do any of us really win in the end?
Sighing again, he looked at the grave of the boy who had become one of his closest friends. Hawley had been looking after everyone, it seemed, except for himself. Hawley had known the burden of taking care of people, for Adam himself had taken it upon himself to ensure the safety of the group. He had sworn, almost in this very spot, that he'd get everyone he could to safety. It was almost frightening that half of their original group of six had dwindled down to only three, as David had not been seen in quite some time, and while Adam hoped that he'd been able to escape the warehouse, he supposed that he wouldn't know until the next announcement came through as to whether or not he had. Looking up at the sky, Adam saw that it would likely be some time before he knew David's fate, something that had been bothering him since the two had split up. Again, he looked down at the grave of Hawley Faust. The declaration on the headboard read 'Gone, but never forgotten. EVER.', and Adam knew his own writing when he saw it. Strange that it seemed like so long ago that he'd mourned the death of his friend, when in reality it had only been hours. Also strange was the fact that he'd sworn to himself that he'd leave this place behind and never return, yet...here they were.
"Damnit, Hawley. I'm at a loss, man. I want to get everyone out okay, but I just don't know if it's possible, dude. I know I promised that I'd get out of here, that I'd find your mom. But I don't know if I can last, buddy. I don't know if I can be the one that's standing at the end...because I don't know of any other way out."
Adam found himself almost wishing that his deceased friend would reply back to him, mainly because at this point in time, he felt so alone. Sure, he had his friends with him. Amanda, Madelaine, Jill...even Martyn had warmed up to him a little, and yet...he still felt as if he were completely alone, and had been since Hawley had collapsed into his eternal sleep. Friendship was a very unique thing, especially that which seems to be forged through little or no effort at all. Those are the friendships that you keep, those are the ones that you have to hold on to. Adam knew this, and while he knew that Hawley was very, very dead, he also knew that he'd be a person that Adam counted among those who had influenced him the most, and somebody that he knew for certain that he'd never forget.
Speaking of forgetting...
Now there was another mystery that Adam held in the palm of his hands, and he felt that the answer was at the tip of his tongue. The mystery, of course, was the identity of the newer arrival that had literally stumbled into their group, being probably as shocked as they all had been, and looking like he couldn't hurt a fly as he shook in his boots. Adam had run a mental check of all of the students from Barry Coleson High School, but this boy was not among them. He had literally scavenged his brain for what seemed like hours (though it had only been mere minutes, really) and couldn't figure out as to where he knew the boy from. He couldn't shake the feeling that he should be getting this puzzle, and the answer was right in front of him. Figuring that it wouldn't hurt to take another stab at it, he refreshed his memory and began to think of where he might have recognized the boy from. He had short hair, was relatively tall but had a very good build on him, and had a friendly smile. He wore jeans and a Pittburgh Penguins jersey with some player's number on it. Perhaps it had been a Mark Recchi jersey, he thought that he'd seen an eight on the sleeve. But wait, no, that couldn't be it at all. Mark Recchi wore the number eight, and there was undoubtedly another number beside it. Running another mental check of all Penguins players whose numbers had an eight in them, he came up with only a few.
Wait, no...Palffy doesn't wear sixty-eight anymore, he wears thirty three. That means it has to be a...
The realization hit Adam so hard that he almost fell off of the rock he was sitting on. The kid who had stood before him, looking scared and confused was wearing a Sidney Crosby jersey, number eighty-seven. This might not have mattered all that much, except for the fact that Adam had finally placed where he knew the boy from. It wasn't so much that he knew the boy personally, but that he had seen his face on all kinds of papers, especially the past few years in Canada. His face was plastered on the sidebar of TSN.ca.
The boy was Sidney Crosby himself.
Adam couldn't believe it. Sidney Crosby, the 'Next One' in the NHL, was here, on this island, a prisoner of Danya like all the others. Shaking his head, he registered his disbelief by shaking his head a few times.
Was nothing sacred? What in the blue hell does Sid Crosby have to do with SOTF? He doesn't goto BC High, he doesn't even live in New York! Fuck, the kid lives with Mario Lemieux and is eclipsing whatever measley paycheck I bring in with his ridiculously good hockey skills. How the hell does Danya manage to get his hands on someone like him? Fuck, he's basically a celebrity!
As two gunshots rang out over the area, followed by three more seemingly in retaliation to the original two, Adam's disbelief was shattered in one instant. They were under attack, again. Perhaps it was Jacob Starr, back for more. He knew Starr had a pistol, and if he'd finished David off, like Adam had the bad feeling that he might have, then he'd have two. Definitely not the opportune situation for whomever was being shot at. Standing from the rock, he looked in the direction of the gunshots. Most of his group had seemingly left the open area to which he'd been occupying before, leaving him by himself. Brushing some dirt off of his green Audioslave t-shirt and touching his wounded arm (garnering a slight wince from himself), he began to walk quickly in the direction of the gunshots.
If it is Starr, and he does have two guns, I guess I can take some solace in that...fuck him, I've got three. Hopefully it'll be enough.
As he began to push his way through the heavy undergrowth, he curiously wondered if anyone in the group needed medical attention. Adam himself wasn't much in the way of repairing anyone, and around blood was when he was at his worst, but if anyone were to be injured, their best bet for medical attention was lying in a poorly dug grave just meters away. Silently cursing to himself as he scratched his injured arm on a tree branch, Adam finally emerged in a small valley-like area. There was a motorcycle tread leading away from the area, and Adam saw that the path seemed to stretch out for miles. Frowning, he extracted two guns, one from each pocket, and slowly stepped towards the voices that he heard coming from the way that the tread had originated. As he glanced around a large tree, his heart seemed to stop as he saw unfamiliar faces, gathered around something that, due to another tree, he couldn't see. As he scanned the group, he saw Crosby, slunk down on his knees, looking as if he'd been floored. At the ground by his hands, he saw what looked to be a pistol.
Okay, check. That's where some of the rounds must have come from. So the others...?
Looking further, he saw Jill, curled up in what seemed to be a fetal position, shivering and, from what his ears told him, sobbing quietly. Adam knew that it was a likely reaction for someone who'd seen their first body, and, as he glanced back at Crosby, he saw a likely similar reaction to what he must have looked like after he killed Blaine Eno. Adam quickly surmised that the situation in front of him must be simple shock of the game. Sidney had likely stumbled upon someone who was playing, and as they attacked him, he must have shot and killed them, leaving their body to be stared at by what looked like everyone in the valley. Putting one gun back in his pocket, yet keeping the other pistol (Andrew Lipson's original weapon) in his right hand, he stepped around the tree, and walked towards the group.
"Guys, look...I know death's a part of the game, and I know that nobody's ever going to get used to it, bu-"
Adam Dodd immediately stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what the occupants of the river were REALLY staring at - the dead, humiliated corpse of Madelaine Shirohara. That would start a chain of events that would literally force Adam Dodd out of his body and into what seemed to be a position above himself, watching the events and actions happen. During this time, he couldn't speak, only stare in shock and in dead silence at what had become of one of his close friends.
Need more friends with wings
All the angels I know
Put concrete in my veins
I’d always walk home alone
So I became lifeless
Just like my telephone
Madelaine Shirohara: she'd been a friend of his since he'd met up with Amanda and David at the small house a few days back. Madelaine had been one to always keep hope on any situation, and it was in that that Adam took solace. Trying to survive in this environment was hard enough when you were surrounded by people who had given up all hope on surviving. But not Madelaine; never Madelaine. She had always smiled kindly and talked sense into anyone who was losing hope, Amanda, Adam, Hawley...whomever. And now...now that smiling face, those insightful, cheery eyes were dull and lifeless. Adam's body felt so numb that his pistol clattered to the ground as he stepped towards Madelaine's body, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull. It would seem that Madelaine had died in a most painful way, and...
...the bile stuck to Adam's throat as his eyes scanned over the corpse of Madelaine. Her clothes were torn away, and her most private areas were exposed for the world to see. Madelaine Shirohara, one of the most positive and upbeat people he had ever known, had been raped, and then brutally murdered, it looked as if her throat had been torn out by a wolverine.
It would have to have been an animal...
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
But the days don’t seem to change
Rape was one of the, if not the most inhuman act of dominance that one person could impose upon another. Adam was and always had been of the opinion that rapists and child molesters should be locked up and have the key tossed away. He wasn't overly conservative, but he despised both, and always knew that if he ever were to come across a rapist, especially that of someone he knew, that the results would likely be disasterous. Silently, he looked up from the corpse and examined the group again. He saw every single familiar face in the group, except for the one face that he was looking for. The one face that would take Madelaine's death the hardest of them all. Adam himself knew that once the shock wore off, he'd likely burst into tears at the horrible occurance, but he knew that Amanda and Madelaine had been such good friends while on the island that her death would be hitting Amanda the hardest of all. The problem he had now was that he couldn't find her, she wasn't amongst the upset teenagers gathered around.
The silence, aside from a few wracking sobs, was deafening, and it was broken by Adam's throaty question that nobody seemed to be able to answer, a question that no one seemed to want to reveal the answer to.
"Where's Amanda?"
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
But the days don’t seem to change
There’s nothing to lose
My notebook will explain
There’s nothing to gain
And I can’t fight the pain
It was Martyn who finally gave away the answer to the question that nobody wanted to answer, and as a deep pain seemed to lodge itself in Adam's belly, it was indeed an answer that needed no words to express. Martyn moved towards the body of Madelaine and, using his jacket, covered up her desecrated remains, made the sign of the cross and said a small prayer before removing his tie and heavy-heartedly stepping off towards the foliage slighly behind and to the right of where Sidney was kneeling. His mouth dropping, slightly shaking his head to try and convince himself that the voice in the back of his mind that was telling him exactly what was going on was lying, Adam lurched off behind Martyn, where he nearly ran into the boy as he draped the tie over the head of another corpse, lying at the edge of the woods, shotgun at its side.
It was undoubtedly the corpse of Amanda Jones.
Teachers said "it's just a phase"
When I grow up my children
Will probably do the same
Kids just love to tease
Who'd know it put me underground at seventeen
At seventeen
At this discovery, Adam failed to lapse into the same sense of shock that the horrible discovery of Madelaine's body had given him. Instead, he was tossed full-force out of his previous shock and into a state of nearly unbearable agony. Hands shaking, tears running freely down his face, Adam gently shoved Martyn aside and cradled the dead body of the one person in the world who he had sworn to protect, the one person who he had promised that he'd let nothing happen to. The agony that was going through Adam's entire body was evident, and the screams of a broken heart echoed throughout the entire river area for all to hear.
"Oh, no, no, no...God NO...Jesus fucking Christ no..."
The tearful boy buried his face in the chest of his dead girlfriend and sobbed, his cries telling every single person in the valley that no amount of physical pain could amount to the suffering that was being endured by Adam Dodd.
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
But the days don’t seem to change
There’s nothing to lose
My notebook will explain
There’s nothing to gain
And I can’t fight the pain
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
But the days don’t seem to change
There’s nothing to lose
My notebook will explain
Fuck, she's dead. Amanda's dead. She's dead and she's dead and there's nothing that I can do about it she's dead I failed I didn't protect her oh my fucking god how could this have happened why did I let her out of my sight how did this happen sweet Jesus why now why did she have to die before I did there's no reason for it this can't be happening I can't deal with this oh my god oh my god no no no no no god fucking damnit why did you let this happen how could you possibly let this happen mother fuck Danya you are a fucking dead man oh god Amanda no no no no NO!
It was at that point that something within Adam Dodd snapped, and he knew that he would never be the same again.
Lifting his head from Amanda's prone form, his eyes were red from crying, and while tears still flowed freely down his face, the scowl that wore itself on the face of Adam Dodd was one that would have chilled even the most cruel men, it was the scowl of someone who has lost most everything that they have to live for, the scowl of someone who has been reduced to the bare essentials. The scowl and the look of a broken man. Looking at Amanda's ruined face, Adam bit his tongue. There was so much that he had wanted to say, and so few that he had actually gotten to say. So much remorse in such a tightly packed container. Adam barely took notice as blood dribbled down from the corner of his mouth, a result of his tongue-biting. Spitting into the foliage, he looked at the corpse of Amanda Jones, and shook his head, picked up the shotgun at her side, and sniffled.
"God damn, I love you, and I always will."
Emerging from the foliage, shotgun in hand, he looked up at the trees, and scanned the surrounding area carefully. Nobody made a single move, more than likely because they were all terrified of the expression on Dodd's face. Raising the shotgun, he strode towards one specific tree and unloaded into the upper half of the tree, causing the wreckage of a camera to fall to the ground. Repeating this with three more cameras, Adam shouldered the shotgun and then looked back towards the group. Finding the one boy he was looking for, he strode purposefully towards him and, surprising the living daylights out of the stunned Sidney Crosby, lifted him up by the collar of his shirt and slammed him back against a large tree. Crosby was at a loss for words, and the intense look Adam gave him probably would be a look he'd never forget.
"What the FUCK happened here? You're the one with the fucking gun, so you fucking explain this to me. So start talking, Crosby, because if I don't like this explaination, you will not leave this area alive."
Sidney gaped at Adam, and likely in fear for his own life, he began to speak, quickly and quietly, trying desperately to stick to the point.
"I, uhh...I was looking for one of the girls, and I uhh, I stumbled upon her being raped, and I froze up...he killed her and then he shot at me, and then I uhh dodged it and fired back at him. He, uhh, hit that girl with those two shots and then everyone heard the gunshots and came running. He tore off on some motorcycle..."
Adam looked at Crosby, his eyes still red from crying, which he still was, except that now these were tears of rage.
"Who the fuck was this sick son of a bitch? Who was he? Do you know his fucking name? Do you know what he looks like? Do you know what the fuck he's wearing? Talk to me here, Crosby! Fucking talk to me!"
"...his, his name was Cody Jensen...I played hockey against him in juniors..."
Adam stiffened up, and then took notice of the gun at his feet. His eyes widened as he realized that the gun that was at Adam's feet (having been dropped by Sidney when he attacked him) had belonged to another friend of his - David Jackson. Adam slammed Sidney up against the tree again.
"Where the FUCK did you get that gun!?"
Stammering, and confused, Sidney winced in pain as his lower back hit the tree again.
"I found it! I found it, Cody dropped it!"
At that, Adam's shoulders sagged, and he tossed Sidney to the side as he stepped back out towards the middle of the field. Glancing down at Madelaine's corpse, he realized that his worst fear had come true. He was now truly alone. The six that he had promised to lead to freedom, the six that he had told he would get out of this terrible game...Madelaine, Amanda, Marcus, Hawley, and David...all of them were dead. If David had lost his gun, then he had to have been dead. There could be no other way. So this was how it was going to go. Adam was by himself now. He was truly alone, and all of his friends were dead. Those six, River, Andrew Lipson...his friends were all dead. He literally had no one left to live for. The only one he had now was himself. It was down to one, and Adam Dodd realized that he never had known lonliness, not up until now.
Well it looks like I know exactly what I have to do, then...what the fuck else can I do...?
Sighing deeply, he turned to face the rest of the group, and looked each and every one of them square in the eyes.
"Well fuck this. That's it then. I got here, and I promised that I'd make sure six people made it out of here alive. Six people, that ain't too much, is it? Well fuck me, I didn't think so, and I honest-to-god thought that it could be done. Well, guess what, kiddos? Five of those six are dead. Five of them. That includes all of the people that I actually gave a damn about out here, as well as the one person that I cared about the most in this world. That sixth? That's me. That's fucking me. Adam fucking Dodd. I'm the only one left, guys. The only fucking person left standing. Last one, that's it. Last fucking call. There are, what...about fifty people left alive, and so far, in five days, not a single person has had a single good idea as to how the fuck to get off of this island without killing everyone else. Fucking eh, if it were that easy then we'd all be gone by now, right? Well fuck, guys, I hate to break this to you, but I don't even know if it's possible. I don't want to think that, I don't want to give up hope. But you tell me, after everyone you care about has been killed, after all of your friends are dead, and after every single time you move to a different place you see someone die, how would you feel? How the FUCK do you think you'd feel, huh? If you guys are still keen on staying alive and finding a way off of this hell-hole, then by all means, keep trying. Fuck, I'm with ya if you can figure something out. I really am. I don't intend to play this game any more than any of you do. I've been saying from the beginning, FUCK DANYA, and FUCK SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. But you know what, guys? I can't take this anymore. I can't take all of the killing, and I can't take all of the heartache. It's too fucking much. To those of you that are seeing a dead body for the first time, dont' expect that you won't see another. I guarantee before this day is out, likely a few of you will probably be dead, and if you haven't already, a few of you will already have killed someone. Fuck, look at me. People that I fucking knew probably didn't think I'd last past the first day. But fucking hell, man, I've outlasted everyone that I know so far, and the game isn't even half fucking over yet. We haven't gotten to the 3rd period, we're still lounging around the second somewhere. Not even at the halfway point yet, and I've killed two people myself. How's about that, huh? Fucking eh, man. This game brings out the worst in you all, I promise you that. I promise you that by the time your time has come, you'll probably be hating yourself for one reason or another. Fuck, I know I do. I dont' hate myself because I killed someone though, no. I hate myself because I couldn't protect the people that were most important to me. And guys, I hate to break it to you, but fuck, if you think that you're going to get out of here unscathed, you aren't. You won't, you can't. Everyone has their innocence ruined by this game, and that's not an opinion, that's a fact.
I'm leaving this place, and I'm never going to return. I've seen more of my friends die in this river that I thought that I ever would. If you want to find me, you'll be following the motorcycle sounds. I've got a new purpose on this island. I'm going to fucking murder Cody Jensen, and I'm going to do it in cold blood. You see, he took away my friends, their innocence, he took away my fucking soul, and for that, I've got a duty to fulfill: I've got to make sure that he rots in fucking hell, sitting next to the devil himself. You want to stop me, go ahead, give it a shot, but you get in my way, and you won't see the end of the day. Cody Jensen is one dead fuck, and I've got to go find him to speed up the process. And hey, it's been fun. It really has been. Some of you whose names I don't even know, fuck...good luck to you. Jill, I don't know if I'll ever see you again, because you're looking pretty haggard there, but fuck, man...keep cool. Martyn, you're one respectful motherfucker, and I hope that when death does come to claim you, if you haven't found a way off by then, that it's quick and painless, a luxury that wasn't afforded to many on this shithole of an island. Crosby, you fucker, you're one hell of a hockey player.
AND DANYA? I'm SURE you've got cameras looking in on us from every angle, so I'm going to say this loudly, once again, just to make sure that you haven't forgotten! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, YOU MOTHERFUCKER! I PROMISE YOU THAT ONCE I'M DONE DEALING WITH JENSEN, I'LL BE FUCKING COMING FOR YOU! YOU CAN MAKE A FUCKING BET ABOUT THAT! WAIT FOR IT, YOU PRICK, BECAUSE THE COMEUPPANCE THAT YOU RECIEVE WILL BE THE SHIT THAT COMES OUT OF YOUR WORST FUCKING NIGHTMARES!"
Adam spit in the dirt beside his shoes. In the eyes of anyone who'd been watching, Adam Dodd had certainly undergone a transformation, of sorts. The deaths of his friends had hit him harder than anyone could ever know, and in Adam's own eyes, right now, he had Nothing to Lose.
"Well meet again, gang. Of that, I'm sure."
And with that, Adam Dodd walked off, following the motorcycle tracks, shotgun raised in the air. He paused and scooped up his pistol as he walked by it, not looking back. This time, he truly knew that it would be a cold day in hell before he ever returned to this river, let alone ANY river EVER again.
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
And I just died today
((Continued in: Mortal Combat at the Gazebo))