Que sera, sera

[Primrosette]

Brendan had really just shot Jaime. He couldn't even get a second to realize what he had done as she was now getting up and charging at him. He felt himself hesitate. He couldn't stop her from taking a swing at him.

Shoot her again! Take her out, Brendan! You have to do this!

He reacted as the punch connected with his cheek. That hurt like hell. He let out a grunting sound of pain. He was stumbling backwards, almost out of the door. His gun was focused on Jaime's chest. He couldn't back out of this. He made this his choice. His path.

He just continued to smile at Jaime like a mad man. Then he fired at her again.

[decoy73]

Brandan went back. Jaime clutched her stomach as she stepped forward to take him out.

Fucker shot me. You. Will. DIE.

She stepped forward once, twice,

BANG

And then Jaime was on the floor. This time, she was struggling to breathe without coughing up

Shit.

She looked over at Brendan, seeing the blurring shape of the gun, now smoking again.

No.

She had to take him down. She got up once again as her vision blurred even more.

One step, two steps.

She coughed, wracked with pain as red escaped her lips. She looked at Brendan as her legs wobbled.

Pt-too

Thud.

At least I didn't go out like a little bitch.

FEMALE STUDENT #16: JAIME STEINBECK - ELIMINATED
40 STUDENTS REMAIN

[Laurels]

Everything happened so fast, Alba felt like the room was moving in fast forward while she was stuck on pause. The girl, who she realized was Jaime Steinbeck, was in a really bad mood, one that didn't seem to be affected by a gun pointed at her face. At the same time, Brendan wasn't really handling it that well, arguing back. One Jaime pushed the gun aside and it fired, Alba knew things weren't going to go well here.

"Hey, um-" Alba began as the two continued to bicker.

All logic and caution had been thrown to the wind. It was as if the conversation Alba just had with Brendan didn't happen. Brendan shot at the cantankerous girl, who then had the nerve to fight back despite a bullet in her back. Alba didn't know what to do. She wanted to protect Brendan, but they were in cramped quarters. Brendan and Jaime did their fighting through a half-open door with a table in the way. If Alba fired the rifle from where she was, she could hit Brendan.

As the tiny girl hit Brendan, Alba realized it was all going wrong. Brendan fired again, and this time, Jaime went down. After a few seconds, Jaime was dead. Alba remained frozen in shock. She looked up at Brendan, who had a terrifying smile on his face. Alba felt her stomach sink. Brendan wasn't the same person he was a few days ago. He couldn't even make an effort for her. If this was how he was going to act when some dumb, angry girl came up and cursed them out, what was going to happen if they found someone less dangerous like Bryony or Candice?

Alba quietly moved behind Brendan and raised the rifle. She put the barrel of the gun to the back of Brendan's head, then clicked off the safety. She swallowed a lump in her throat, and remained silent as she kept the gun steady to her friend's head.

[Primrosette]

Brendan's smile was frozen on his face as he stared down at Jaime and he noticed that she wasn't breathing anymore. She was dead. He really had killed her. And he didn't feel anything. Not regret. Not sadness. Not nothing at all. He should feel guilty, right? He guessed he was getting more cold towards--

He felt something against the back of his head and he couldn't breath for a few moments. His smile faded instantly. He lowered the gun in his hand by his side. There was only one person who could be holding a weapon against his head and he didn't want it to be the one person that he wanted to protect with his life. He couldn't get mad at her. He just killed another person in front of her. And this time, he actually meant to kill Jaime unlike Bernadette.

"A-Alba...."

[Laurels]

Alba kept the rifle steady against the back of Brendan's head. She breathed in and out, sniffling a bit. Brendan's switch flipped back. He had his devilish smile, but was back to sad and sympathetic the moment he realized she could kill him.

"You...you didn't even try..." she said to Brendan.

Alba raised her arms a bit to handle the weight of the gun, moving the barrel up his head a bit. Her throat was starting to hurt.

"I asked you to try and be cautious, to try and watch what happened when you met someone else. You automatically assumed the worst when she appeared. She wasn't looking for revenge. She wasn't threatening either of us. She didn't even kill anyone you cared about. All you had to do was tell her this room was occupied and slam the door in her face. I mean, yeah she wasn't nice, and maybe her behavior wasn't the wisest, but she didn't have to die because of that.

Alba closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. She opened her eyes and pushed the barrel forward a little.

"But there's something I need to know, Brendan. Why were you smiling when you killed her? Please tell me why you seemed so happy that you murdered that girl."

[Primrosette]

Brendan thought about what Alba was saying to him. She was right about him not even trying to get on with anyone. But why should he even try anymore? A lot of people wanted him dead anyway. No one was trying to rescue them from this. What was the point in trying to be a good person anymore? He was already screwing up more badly than normal. And he honestly felt himself starting not to care.

"Why was I happy to kill her?"

Brendan bit his lip as he stared down at Jaime's body and he felt Alba nudge his head forward a little. He let out a small gasp out of a bit of panick. He really hated this. He hated that the girl that he grew to love over the last few days was now seeing him as a bad person. Which he knew that he was. He wasn't himself.... He was changed by all that had happened. And he had to be honest with Alba.

"....I guess I felt happy that I was the one in control for once.... I'm just so tired of trying to do things the right way..... All I ever do is.... is fuck it up, Alba!" Brendan felt himself snap and then his voice softened as he calmed down. "And now I'm sure that I lost you because I had enough of everything. I'm sorry, Alba. Really I am. I'll leave if you want me to.... or.... or you can end this now.... I-I don't know...."

[Laurels]

It was all about power and control. That was why Brendan felt so good about killing Jaime. Alba couldn't believe the sweet boy from home was motivated by something so vile. It was making it harder to find a reason to not pull the trigger. If he was this far gone, what was next? He kills someone innocent? He goes overboard killing someone? He kills her?

Alba clenched her jaw as her eyes started to fill with tears. Brendan was saying that he lost her now. He was offering to leave or to let her kill him. Alba clenched harder, as if her teeth were about to shatter from the pressure.

"I don't want you to leave..." she gritted as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "I certainly don't want to kill you...but..."

Alba adjusted her arms, moving the rifle a bit and nudging Brendan's head.

"What am I supposed to do?" she blurted, her voice weak. "If I were to kill you right now, then what would I do? If you've got a reason why I shouldn't shoot you, please tell me. If you don't, then tell me you'd rather die right here and now, and why killing you would be my best course of action, because there better be a damn good reason to kill my best friend."

Alba sniffled and fluttered her eyes.

"Please, Brendan. What are we supposed to do now that we're at this point? Please tell me."

[Primrosette]

Brendan couldn't think of anything that he could say to her. What was he supposed to do? Even he didn't know what to do this situation. Was he going to have to make the hard decision? As much as he didn't want to leave the one person who had tried so hard for him. He inhaled and exhaled a small breathing sound. He had to do this. He wanted to do it for Alba even if she could think it was a bad choice for him to do.

Brendan turned around, the rifle was now pointing right at his face. He had never been this close to a gun before. It was a pretty terrifying sight for him to see. The one girl he still couldn't believe, was holding this weapon. Alba.....

He couldn't believe that he had made her cry. Just seeing her like this was breaking his heart. He had messed up worse this time. He knew that it had been wrong of him for even enjoying killing Jaime. He was definitely not in the best state of mind. He should have realized that. He had crossed a line with Jaime's death.

"Alba, I....." Brendan clenched his teeth and he wore an expression of pain and grief. "I....I can't.... I shouldn't stay here with you. I only cause more hurt and despair. You're better off without me holding you back from going home. You're not screwed up like me. I realize that the best thing that I can do right now is.... I need to find Ty on my own."

[Laurels]

Alba remained frozen as Brendan turned to face her. He was no longer smiling like he was earlier. It looked like the gravity of his crime was weighing down on him, and he was now certain of how much of a line he had crossed with her. He was suggesting he go away and find Ty on his own, leaving Alba alone. Alba grimaced as Brendan suggested that.

Alba closed her eyes, keeping the rifle on him. So he didn't want to die. That much was clear. But now he wanted to go off on his own again. That wasn't cool. She had finally found her friend again, and now he wanted to leave her to wallow in self-pity. With everything that had happened here, with people getting lost and promises being broken, Alba was getting sick of it. The terrorists already got her to kill someone, and now they wanted her to kill her friend or send him to someone who may kill him.

The pained expression in Alba's face disappeared. She opened her eyes and looked Brendan dead in his.

"No."

Alba lowered the rifle. Her face turned serious.

"I'm not letting you run off on your own. You don't get to run away from this."

Alba stepped closer to Brendan, putting less than a few inches between them.

"Do you want to know why?"

[Primrosette]

Brendan's eyes widened in surprise when Alba said no to him. She didn't want him to leave or run away. He didn't understand why she wanted him to stay. When she had lowered the rifle and she moved closer to him; Brendan was finding himself curious to know why. He couldn't really guess about the reason.

"Yes, I want to know. Why, Alba?" He asked as he gazed down into her eyes and couldn't bring himself to look away.

[Laurels]

"Because you need me."

Alba looked over Brendan. He never looked so small to her, but she needed to make her point. She had made the conscious choice to spare him, but there had to be a trade-off for that, and she had to explain it to him.

"I know you think I'm better off without you, and maybe you think I'm crazy for insisting on staying with you, but let's be honest: you're hopeless without me. When you're with me, you're not such a bad person."

Alba looked down at the ground at Jaime's crumpled body. The image of Bernadette's body also flashed in her mind.

"Generally, at least."

Alba rubbed the back of her neck, moving the collar slightly.

"Look, I'm aware it's not the best argument, but here's what I think: if I stay with you, you're going to want to be better for me. You tried to look out for me, and I've done the same for you over the last week. We've both screwed up, and people have died because of it, but we want to be better, and we want to make right.

"I want to be better. I've gotten lost from people, I've made bad choices, I killed someone, and I've been really poor at keeping promises. So I'm going to make one last promise that I'm definitely carrying to the end.

"Brendan, I'm staying with you. You want to find Ty, so we'll go find Ty together. There's a lot of other things we could do now, but we'll focus on finding Ty. You can find him, have your moment with him, and we'll see what happens. I can't guarantee it will go well, but if you control your temper and your emotions, maybe you'll be able to walk away from him in one piece.

"I'll monitor you and try to ensure you stay on the right path. I can probably be a mediator. I've been one for the golf team before, so I think I can play that role well. I know we're probably not going to find Ty right away, but depending on who we find, I'm going to make sure we survive the encounter. Through all of this, you need to be on your best behavior. You need to show me you're willing to follow my rules and respect my wishes. I don't want you losing your shit, I don't need you to start fights you don't need to have, and I certainly don't want to see you having a power trip when you brutally murder someone.

"I've decided, Brendan, that you're not going to become that man. If I see you becoming the man everyone thinks you are, the man who would casually murder for the most minor reasons, the man who would fucking smile after committing murder, then next time, when I point my rifle at your head, I will pull the trigger."

Alba stopped to swallow the lump in her throat. She made quite a case to Brendan there, and she felt quite parched. She couldn't believe she would say something like that to her friend. Several days ago, the thought of killing a friend was alien to her. But Kaitlyn proved she could do it, so maybe it was likely she'd have to do the same to Brendan.

"If you're going to insist that you have to keep killing, that you have to be a bad person, then at the very least, I want to be the one to make it all end for you. I'll give you that because I'm sure you'd rather I kill you than someone else kills you."

Alba stared Brendan in the eyes. There were no smiles or tears now. All that was there were the words.

"Do you understand?"

[Primrosette]

Brendan was just standing there silently, listening to every words that Alba was saying to him. Her words were so powerful and true to him. Alba had always been his rock even he did make a few mistakes in front of her. He felt ashamed of himself for even smiling when he killed Jaime only a few minutes ago. How could he have been that shallow of a person to do that? Everything was just getting to him more and more everyday. But that was no excuse. He was the one who had to take responsibility for his own actions. The best thing for him to do is at least try to avoid causing unnecessary fights and to somehow defuse them in a calmer way. He had to talk to Ty. Brendan still thought of him as a friend, but now he was sure that Ty would never forgive him for killing Bernadette. Still, he wanted to see Ty even if it got more complicated both for the both of them.

"I....." Brendan couldn't speak properly for a second and he cleared his throat a little. "I understand, Alba."

He gazed down at Jaime's body and felt a wave of emotion come over him. She might have had a bit of an attitude towards him but she hadn't deserved to die like that. Brendan had just robbed her of having a chance to even survive through all of this. He had went through a faze, a horrid one at that, and now he couldn't help but want to better himself. He owed it to everyone that he had hurt or lost. He had to not go down a path that he would regret more. For Alba's sake. For his friends' sake. For his victims' sake.

He took off his and Jon's bags off of his shoulders and placed them down on the ground casually. He stared at the revolver in his hand and he felt his stomach turned. He felt ill just looking at it. His first time using this weapon and he hated it with a passion. He unzipped his bag, put the gun inside and then zipped it back up. He didn't even want to see it for a while. It was better off not being in his hands.

He turned to look over at Alba and then his tired eyes focused on Jaime. "Can we move her? I don't want to leave her like that. It feels.... wrong." His voice was getting quieter and quieter. "If I want to do better, I have start now, right? I want to do this for you, Alba."  

[Laurels]

((All GMing approved))

"Yeah, let's do something for Jaime. Here, I have an idea."

Alba moved the blanket on the bed over to the side. With Brendan's help, they picked up Jaime's body and lifted her onto the bed. After closing her eyes and crossing her arms, they laid the blanket back on top of her. It would be a chilling sight for anyone who came into that dorm, but at the very least, it showed they gave her some respect at the end. Alba wondered if it would also help Brendan's reputation. He'd be announced as Jaime's killer tomorrow, but if they see her covered, then maybe they'd think he paid respects to her out of grief or regret.

Alba looked at the covered body of Jaime. Things weren't going to be the same now. She was staying with Brendan as long as she could, and she knew this could end with her executing him. She prayed it wouldn't come to that, but after all of her broken promises, she had to make an effort to keep one.

Alba patted Brendan on the back and looked into his eyes.

"We're going to be fine," she told him. "I don't know how, but we're going to try, and we're going to do it the right way."

Alba moved her hand up Brendan's back and onto his shoulder. Her expression turned slightly sorrowful.

"I'm glad you're with me," she said.

With that, Alba stepped away, grabbing her rifle and bags and heading to the door. Their objective was set and she was ready to move out. She just hoped Brendan would at least try this time, and she hoped that there wouldn't be any issues with Ty.

((Alba Reyes continued elsewhere))

[Primrosette]

Brendan was feeling like a weight was slowly being lifted off of him after they had covered Jaime up on the bed and he felt that it had been a good thing for him and Alba to do. He couldn't take back what he did to Jaime, but this was all that he could really do for her. What were Jaime's parents thinking if they saw this?

Brendan glanced around for a camera and he stared at it for about two seconds. His family.... What were they thinking of him right now? Would he even have a home left if he was the one to survive all of this? Possibly not. Even he would not want him back home.

Alba was talking to him. That everything was going to be fine. Was it really? He didn't believe it.

"I'm glad to have you with me too, Alba." He smiled weakly before picking up his and Jon's bags and then they left the room.

Brendan closed the door behind him. He didn't want anyone to see Jaime's body yet.

((Brendan Harte continued elsewhere))