Survival Of The Fittest

((Jason Harris continued from It's Everything's Nature to Fall))

Jason's feet pounded the ground, racing away from the events of the swamp. What had happened? Jason couldn't think straight, he just wanted to be away. Everything had gone horribly wrong. He made one mistake. Jason stopped running slowing his pace down to a slow walk. The mistake wasn't shooting Tiffany, he did the right thing there, it wasn't not following Brook it was splitting up. He knew he shouldn't of suggested it at the time, it was not smart. He should of thought it through, played it smart and he didn't. He wasn't logical about it and he let Brook convince him to look for Tiffany.

Tiffany...

The girl he had killed. It was strange, he didn't even care about it. He thought he would be sick or at least a little horrified. Instead he found himself agitated and irritated for making a mistake and having paid for it. He tried finding Brook for a while to no avail. Jason wasn't a tracker and with the coming of night he ceased his search. Part of him tugged him one way; to keep looking, to make a grand gesture of friendship and swear not to rest until he found his mate but his brain tugged him the other. Searching at night would be a stupid idea. He had made one on this island already, he couldn't afford to make another. No, he would walk as far as he could until he got tired, find a safe location and then rest. Next morning he'd meet up with Nathan and Maf then find Brook. He had made consolations before but no more. From now on Jason would remove any obstacle that got in his way.

New plan.

Find Nath and Maf

Find Brook

Kill all sons of bitches.

Jason was not a murderous person, he liked to avoid conflict, disarm people with words, not weapons. He would try to make sure everyone was happy.


But that was yesterday.

"Hey Jase, kick it over here."

Jason knocked the ball over to Nathan who trapped the soccer ball with his foot neatly before glancing up to survey the field. The impromptu soccer game had sprung up in the lunch break when the group had commented on doing something different for once. The ball flew through the air as Jason moved along side Nathan to provide an easy pass to his friend. Nathan had taken the shot and the ball flew wide of the makeshift goals; two backpacks set about four meters apart. Jason stood for a moment as Nick ran off to get the ball which rolled down the bank towards the road.

A brief gust of wind caught the Australian off guard and he smiled as he looked around. A perfect day. Brook had even dared come out on the field, although he knew that his peace loving friend would of rather been sitting on the bleachers with Tiffany and Erin. Catching his friends eye Jason gave him a wonky grin and a thumbs up. Brook blushed slightly and smiled shyly as Jason wiggled his eyebrows towards the girls chatting away on the bench.

Nick had retrieved the ball and was now running back up the escarpment yelling for everyone to go long. Jason had a few more moments to enjoy the peaceful sunny day. He nodded to Maf as the Fijian jogged back to his defensive position. It seemed like for just this one day every student in the year was sitting around chatting or playing with each other, a smile playing on every lip.

Life couldn't get any better than this Jason thought to himself as the ball flew towards him.


But that was yesterday.


--------

Jason snorted as he woke up to the grating voice of Danya calling the morning announcements and he shot straight upright. Alert once more, frantically looking around in case someone had snuck up on him during the night. The area he had hunkered down in was well covered and hidden. He had also done his best to cover himself and to the best of his knowledge Jason was both a sound and silent sleeper. He scrambled for his pen and pad as the names were once again called out.

Alex.

Feo.

Tyler.

His heart skipped a beat when he heard Liam's name come forth once more. Again on the killing side. His fist clenched involuntarily. This was bullshit. Absolute bullshit. He glanced at the map as he continued noting down the list of the dead and the killers.

Andrew.

Janet.

Jamie.

He turned the page. The pad was muddied with dirt and leaves and his map wasn't in much better condition. At the beginning he had done his best to keep things neat and clean but as the days wore on his plans - all of them had fallen in to disrepair. Jason cursed as he marked off the new danger zones. The residential district had been marked off before which meant Nathan and Maf had moved. Their names weren't on either side of the announcements - something the Australian had been glad of. At least they were keeping their heads down. He tapped on the laminated map with the pen. The warehouse was the alternative rendezvous point and was still clear. At least that much was going right.

He hadn't liked it when his name was mentioned and was shocked when he heard Brook's name, not once but twice. He had started to go back, to look for his friend again but checked himself. He needed to meet up with Nathan and Maf before he did anything. He would not, could not let his emotions cloud his judgement again.

Grabbing his drink bottle he poured the last of the contents in to his mouth before jamming the crust of his final bread loaf in to his maw chewing slowly. The rumbling of his stomach did not go away and his mouth still felt dry but this was how it had been for the last two days, it was only going to get worse from here.

Hoisting his pack over his shoulders and pulling out his compass Jason headed eastwards towards the warehouse.

He would come back for Brook, he wasn't one for heroics normally. He set off with determination in his eyes, his mouth in a tight lipped frown. Jason always used to smile.

But that was yesterday.

((Jason Harris continued elsewhere...))