Survival Of The Fittest

Elizabeth was shocked when she felt her hair being pulled, and she managed to get out a "Lenny!" before she was knocked unconscious, oblivious to the world. Perhaps this was best for Elizabeth, for she wouldn't have to witness anything else, she could be in her dream state, free from the nightmares.

Yes, free from the nightmares. That's what Elizabeth wanted most.

Lenny was pleased when Lulu didn't put up a fight, and agreed to go out for his sister.

"Lenny!"

Elizabeth's voice.

Lenny spun around, only to see that his sister wasn't where she was moments before. Where was she? Lenny Priestly watched as Lulu went off, and saw exactly where his sister was. She in in the hands of Anna, who was dragging his sister! Lenny wanted to run out there, and shoot her...no...he wanted to slowly cut her up. He wanted to drag her around and see how she liked it. The rage grew once again inside of Lenny, but he knew he couldn't shoot at Anna in fear of hitting his sister, and he couldn't rush out to her in fear of being cut down by Bobby or Shameeca.

Maybe he would risk running out if Lulu failed.

Lenny, in a crouched position behind his log, watched from a distance as Lulu talked to Anna. He hoped that she was making an effort to get his sister back, because if Lulu came back empty handed, or his sister got hurt because of this they would all die. Lenny agreed to his own pact in his head, knowing very well he would kill both girls if anything happened to his twin. His other half.

She was already shot and Lenny watched in horror as it appeared she was dead.

She's only unconscious. Don't worry. I'll kill them both if anything happens to her. Then I'll go after Bobby and Shameeca for being so stupid as to cause all of this. Heath attacked me! What was I supposed to do? Let him kill me?

Lenny was convinced that none of this was his fault. He only acted in self defense, and it was Bobby and Shameeca that caused the shootout. They shot at him, and in doing so showed their true colors. Lenny was doing what he had to do.

Kill everyone to save his sister.

Rob had just been biding his time (and attempting to shake off the winding effect of the bullets that had impacted against his vest), waiting for the right moment. The situation just seemed to escalate as time went on, with yet more and more people being drawn into the conflict. He lay there unflinching though, even as shots continued to ring out. He might have felt like crying that everything just kept on going bad, but now... what was the point?

He'd tried, he really had. Bobby had given it his all to save Petra's life, but it had been to no avail, she'd wound up dying after all. From wounds he'd given her. It was Petra, really, that had snapped him out of things. That shout to him after he made... well, a plee for pity. Rob smiled. She wasn't having any of that bullshit, and gave as good as she got verbally. He'd stumbled around the island after that, trying to puzzle out what to do, and when he'd got the chance, he'd done his best.

But it hadn't been enough, had it?

So Bobby just kept on doing the best he could to help. He'd offered to help Shameeca right away, chalk up a few more celestial brownie points, that kind of thing, earn his redemption and all of that jazz. Well... this had been the result. Just as things had been about to end peacefully, he'd said the wrong thing, Lenny had bristled and said something else which caused Heath to flip out. A couple of moments later, and the good deed was undone. Heath, who had been... protecting him? Bobby had never understood that... wound up getting himself killed, and James, the very person they'd come to save, charged out and died too.

Whose fault?

None but his.

It seemed no matter what he did, no matter his intentions, it all led back to death, death, and then some more death.

Well fuck it, if that was the way it was going to be, he'd use it.

Rob rose up from the ground, sand streaming off him as his face settled into a look of grim determination. He cocked his weapon, having forgotten to do so after reloading and charged headlong into the trees, sticking by them for the purposes of cover. He blasted past Shameeca at top speed and just kept on darting from side to side, covering himself with the jungle. When he came to Lulu, Anna, and the unconcious Elizabeth, Rob merely moved around to dive behind yet another tree. Now there was nobody between him and Lenny.

"You're as guilty as me Priestly! I'm no saint, but I see three dead bodies in the vicinity that weren't there before you decided to get twitchy with your trigger finger! Come on! At least have the fucking guts to admit to what you've done! You hear me? YOU HEAR ME!? CONFESS!" Bobby began firing again, not caring for accuracy, just towards the general direction that he knew Lenny was in. The others didn't matter, he just wanted to take this guy dowm and bring something good out of this godforsaken mess.

Lenny heard Bobby's shouting at him, and he heard the gunshots go off. It appeared that the boy wanted to make it one on one, and Lenny didn't have time for that. Confess? He had nothing to hide.

"I'm not hiding who I am, unlike you Bobby! Yes, I just killed three people, and I'll happily kill more if they stand in my way. Shooting at me will accomplish nothing. We can exchange shots, but more people will die. I just want my sister, and I'll be gone. That's what I said at the very beginning before you started shooting at me. Now look what happened. We could have easily avoided those three deaths if it wasn't for you and your trigger finger. Now I'm going to ask again, and I want you to really think this time. Can I just get my sister and leave? Or do more people have to die?"

Lenny wanted Bobby just to let him go. He just wanted to get his sister and leave. Though, if it was needed, Lenny Priestly wouldn't hold back. He meant what he said. He would gladly kill anyone and everyone who stood in his way now. There was no hiding what he did, and he didn't want to hide it.

He didn't shoot back at Bobby. No, that would be counter productive right now. Maybe they could end this peacefully, civilized. If not, more people would die.

If Elizabeth was hurt because of this though....

Lenny pushed that thought aside. He just knew there would be a lot of dead bodies if that was to happen.

Anna winced at the crack sound that elapsed once the butt end of her sword collided with the back of Elizabeth's head. It was as if it hurt her as much as it did Elizabeth. Maybe there was still some thread of hesitation inside her mind and it rebelled against her wishes until the fatal moment. Guilt rushed at her like a tidal wave and she let a soft inaudible apology, as though that would make her act all the more excusable. What she was planning to do probably made her even worse than... though she wouldn't think about it. No, what she needed to do was to 'do it' and not waste time thinking about it.

This was before Lulu came along.

It was actually a surprise to see Lulu alive. Anna had heard a bunch of gunshots from far away, and the only thing she could imagine was Lenny killing the both of them point blank. The though of such a thing nearly brought Anna to tears but she pressured on. It was a complete surprise to see Lulu coming out and telling her that Lenny wanted them to bring his sister back, or he'll shoot them. This made Anna think, and a scary thought registered in her mind.

"... he killed Lauren." she said bluntly. "Didn't he? Just like James and Heath? Just like all those other bastards that he killed... And that means he'd kill the both of us... if he wanted too..."

Why do I see Bobby Jacks in such a better light now? Why does he appear more honorable to me than Lenny now.... Maybe that's because he understands what I understand.

She shook her head after awhile. "No, Lulu. I don't care what Lenny is planning to do, I'm not letting him hold this girl as a psychological hostage. It's wrong, don't you see? That maniac can't even see how all of this killing is doing to her... I know that if one of my close friends was killing people I would want nothing to do with them... in fact, if they were killing them for me, then I would feel even worse because at the end of the day I know that I'm not worth all those lives.

"I don't know why he's doing all of this... I can imagine that he's doing it for Elizabeth... but no matter what the reason, killing is inexcusable. And if Lenny isn't going to realize that, she's better off dead. I know he's going to come after us, but please help me. This is all sudden but I feel that this is the only way. The ONLY WAY, Lulu."

The only way to... what? Even Anna was unsure of this but... she felt like this was the only thing that she had to do. Lulu followed after Anna but would she follow Anna's logic with this. Would be sane enough (or insane enough) to do this with her? Would she...

Anna began to lift Elizabeth's limp body from the ground, finding a little difficulty at first to find the right way to pick her up. This girl is alot heavier than I thought she'd be... my lord.... She motioned Lulu to help, if she wanted to. If she wanted in on this insane plan.

Lulu flinched when Elizabeth called out for Lenny, but nothing happened. She realized that Lenny didn't come running because then he would have been out in the open. A target. This all pointed to why Lulu was here in the first place. To get his sister for him. So she would be out in the open and not her.

She seriously hoped she wouldn't be shot. But that wasn't her biggest concern. It was Anna. Before she could get another word in edgewise, she noticed that Rob was charging towards Lenny. She took a few steps away, so none of the bullets would get anywhere near her. He was yelling at Lenny, to confess about all the people he killed. Lulu vaguely hoped Rob would kill Lenny, so Lenny wouldn't come over here and kill Lulu and Anna.

Although it wasn't as close as Rob's voice, Lulu could also hear Lenny propose that if he got his sister back, he'd leave and it would all be over. It sounded like such a peaceful plan. Maybe she could fight Anna and get Elizabeth back, take her over to Lenny. Everyone would be saved...But then Lulu realized she'd never be able to fight against a friend.

Then Anna mentioned Lauren. Asking if she had been shot by Lenny. This caused Lulu to burst into tears again and she nodded several times. "Yes..Right in front of me", Lulu told Anna, her throat tightening. She didn't even want to think about being killed as well. Or think about Anna being shot in front of her too. That would be too much.

But what Anna told Lulu made sense. It really did. Lulu wiped her eyes from behind her glasses and took a deep breath. It was risky. Extremely risky. She might even die, if Lenny was to catch up with them. But she'd do it. She had no choice. She couldn't defy Anna and Lenny was distracted anyway. She'd help.

"Let's hurry", Lulu told Anna, helping her lift Elizabeth from the ground. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she really just wanted to get out of here and away from Lenny as quickly as possible. Away from him, away from all those bodies.

Anna smiled. "T-Thank you... thank you so much Lulu, you're a dear." And then, slowly, the two of them pulled the limp body of Elizabeth away.

(Anna, Lulu and the unconscious body of Elizabeth continued in Death and All of His Friends)

As soon as Rob ran past her, Shameeca knew that they had Lenny on the ropes. Wounded, seperated from Elizabeth (what was happening to that girl? And where did the girl with the sword thing come from?), now about to be confronted with a very angry Rob. She knew that she could go help fight Lenny some more or she could help/deal with the two girls trying to carry Elizabeth. To Shameeca the choice was easy. One bullet left in her barrel before she had to reload and one target on the island. Simple really. She was going to help Rob Jacks kill that guy.

"Lenny, you fucking hypocrite! Elizabeth would be fine, Heath, James and that girl would all be fine, if you didn't play your twisted games here. Don't you see that everything has happened because of you? If you had just let me and James leave that place, he would be alive and Lizzie wouldn't be bleeding to death. Rob here did what he had to do, but you just fuck around with people like they ain't nothing to you. Your the one who put Lizzie in trouble, so don't go blamin Rob!" she said as she approached the pair, moving her body to the edge of the area, close to the trees, rifle aimed at Lenny. She so wanted to pull the trigger and get revenge, for the deaths he had caused. All she had to do was pull the trigger and a bullet would fly his way. If she was lucky, it would hit or kill him. If not, then only god knew.

She pulled the trigger.

Lenny was lucky, his position crouching behind the log for cover saved him from another one of Shameeca's bullets, but just the impact on the wood caused him to realize his luck was running out soon. He had already been hit, and he knew he had to take care of the wounds. Raising his head he saw something though that made his heart skip a beat.

Elizabeth was gone.

Lenny felt the rage take over, and he was gone. Whatever part of him was sane, whatever part of him wanted to keep the old Lenny Priestly, was gone. His mind raced, and even though thousands of thoughts swam around in his head, it was all clear to him. Everyone had to die. Everyone. No one would live. They did this to him, and they would all suffer.

Lenny rose up and saw Shameeca by some trees and Rob in another direction. Aiming his gun first at Shameeca, he pulled the trigger four times at Shameeca, and swung his gun over at Bobby and pulled the trigger four more times. Dropping behind cover he fumbled with dropping out the clip and replacing it with a new one. Under pressure it wasn't easy, and while he was doing it he shouted, "All I asked what for you guys to help me get my sister!"

Lenny looked towards the jungle. He would have to go out for her. He would find her, and kill Anna and Lulu.

"I swear to god, I won't rest until you both are dead. I have to go get my sister, but when I find you guys, I won't make it a clean death. I will watch you both bleed and scream you're sorry! You are murderers!"

Lenny let the anger out, and he screamed as loud as he could.

"AHHHHHHH! You both are dead! Got that!?! Dead!"

With that, Lenny sprinted in a crouch towards the jungle. He had to find his sister.

He had to save Elizabeth.

((Lenny Priestly continued at Hold Fast Hope))

"Murderer? Says the guy that just killed three people..." Rob had ducked back behind his tree after firing, and thankfully Lenny's shots were fired in anger, throwing his aim off. Splinters of wood were knocked from his cover, but Rob remained unhurt, which he was deeply grateful for. His stomach was hurting like hell again, the fresh impacts augmented by the fading bruises from previous hits. It was testament to just how many times his vest had saved his sorry ass.

Heedless of anybody else, Bobby took right off after Lenny. If you were going to be a murder after all, you might as well be honest about it. That he denied it angered Rob more than he could say.


(Continued elsewhere)

Holy shit thought Shameeca as the bullets fired towards her. She closed her eyes, ready to meet her maker and then opened them. He had missed, from a pretty good angle and a closer range than she had when she shot at him and he had missed her. Out of all the bad stuff, this was a little piece of good luck. Unfortunatly when she was thanking her lucky stars, Lenny had run off closely followed by Rob. They were running off and carrying the rifle, Shamee would have a trouble catching up to them. No, she needed to do something first before she would rejoin the chase. Rob would last for a while in this game, but Shameeca needed to pay some respects first.

Walking over to the corpses of the people who she had only known for a short time, Shameeca opened Jamess bag and withdrew a small shirt which she laid over his face. Untying the jumper around her waist, she did the same for the girl that she didn't know. Finally, she came over to Heath. Poor Heath, this was all her fault, she had been the one to drag him into this mess. Without her, he may have lasted another few days.

"I'm sorry Heath. You know, if I had knew how this would turn out, I would of never brought you. I hope wherever you are, you at least are happy, maybe seeing friends and stuff. I don't know what to say, I mean I never really knew you, but you were a nice guy. You deserved something better than this. So yeah, I'm sorry" she said, a lump in her throat and a few tears stinging her eyes. Heath was the first guy whose death had affected her. Sure, he had snapped but he was doing it to protect her. James had been trying to help Elizabeth, didn't think about anyone else, despute what Shamee had to do to save him. Hoepfully he had found Bree if she was up there too. Picking out her last piece of clothes from her bag, a small yellow t-shirt, which she ripped the bottom off and layed the rest over the boys face. She didn't know why she was doing this, but it just seemed like a right thing to do. Respect for the dead and all that. Picking up the wrench from Heath's body, she placed it in her bag next to the last piece of bread as she turned around to walk off.

Now to find Rob and get revenge on Lenny for this.

((Continued somewhere else))