Survival Of The Fittest

((Jordan Redfield continued from Guns For Show, Knives For A Pro))

After few hours of constant checking the direction on the compass, Jordan finally found his way to the Jailhouse. Why Jailhouse? Honestly? No idea... Maybe because Jailhouse was from definition 'The Safe Place'... Or maybe just because it was close, and he needed some sleep.

Instead of just going in, Jordan circled the building. He wanted to see the roof, from every direction. After all, it should be big enough to be visible from outside, if it would be placed on the roof. However, as Jordan expected, there was no transmitter there. With sigh of resignation he entered the Jailhouse.

From the inside, the building looked exactly as Jordan imagined. Jail cells from the left and right. Plus stairwell at the end of the corridor. Stairwell covered in blood. He wasn't surprised at all. It was tenth day on the island already, and he knew, that it was impossible not to stain every place on this island with blood. He took his colt and aimed at every cell, as he walked through the hall. Since there was no one in there, he pointed his gun to the stairs instead. Jailhouse seemed to be empty, but accustomed to attacks out of nowhere, he didn't wanted to die just because he dropped his guard even for a second.

After he checked the second floor with caution, Jordan finally let out from his body a quiet sigh of relief. He had enough of action by now. Now, he just wanted to sleep for a while. After examining every room on the second floor, and quick conclusion, that no matter when he'll lay down, it won't be comfortable, he decided to rest in the small bathroom going out from Officer's Quarters. Whoever would go in there, it would be the last place he would go, so Jordan would have some time to prepare for the eventual fight.

He sat on the floor, leaned his back on the wall, and grabbed his colt more tightly, before going out to the realm of dreams.

So... You're gonna warn me, if someone will come?

*sigh* Ok, let me explain it one more time. I'm NOT your personal Spider Sense. I'm your instinct. I cannot hear, what you cannot hear, and I don't know things, you don't know. I can only give you a tip, if you don't know what to do, remind you of something important if you forget about it, point some things, if you'll miss it, and escalate your bad feelings, if you think something is not right.

And of course, you can make some witty comments about my stupidity?

Yeah, that too. Bravo, by the way. At least your comments are not dumb anymore.

Thanks...

Quiet snore filled the bathroom...

((Renee Valenti continued from The Denial Twist))

It was already past evening, and right now, the only sounds around Renee Valenti as she entered the jailhouse was the tired sighs of her own breath. That in itself was what was keeping her wide awake as she crept into the darkened facility, looking for a place with enough shadow to keep from being detected.

Her legs were starting to buckle on her from the lack of sleep, yet she had been forcing herself to push onward until she could find a place to settle that was reasonably safe. That it was already so late in the game and that she - and potential prey - had avoided the nozzle for so long gave little opportunity for a safe place to rest.

She unslung the bow that had been slung around her shoulder long enough to leave a visible indentation on her shirt and skin, and leaned it against the wall with a few soft clacks, pausing for a bit to make sure the silence was perfect (if not deafening.) But as she turned to reach for her arrows, her chain clanged against one of the cell bars, the noise echoing across the jailhouse hall.

"Fuck," she silently mouthed to herself. Anyone around would probably be alerted to her...or at least notice a scent she was starting to carry around her...

"Only few steps left..."

It was over. After almost 2 weeks of horror, it was finally over. After Jordan found the way to lose all the journalist, he went for a short sightseeing tour. Southridge looked the same as before the trip, and yet everything was so new for him. He never thought, he would see it again, and yet it happened. He was happy. Really happy. Maybe he should mourn for his dead friends... But he decided not to. Fate gave him the second life, and he didn't wanted to lose it for unnecessary sorrow. He wanted to live a normal life. That was a difficult thing with all those people, who was pointing fingers at him, whispering something, when he was passing by... But to hell with them! They'll stop eventually.

He was heading home, eating famous 'Mysterious Flavor' ice-cream from Stew's Parlor. Whatever he put in there, it can't kill him now, right? Of course it can't! It was delicious. In fact, everything that wasn't a dry cracker or old bread was now delicious for him...

....................................

Stairs. A stairway to heaven. A stairway to home. His home... What should he do, when he'll be in his own four walls? Go sleep, that's for sure, he was dead tired. Next thing? Maybe phone to his parents. They weren't waiting for him on the airport... Maybe they didn't wanted to see their son's death, so they weren't watching, and now they don't know about his survival? Yeah, that was probably it. And what next? Probably hang out somewhere with Josh.

With a sound plan in his mind, he opened the door.

"Josh? I'm home finally!"

No response. The hall was empty. Except from jacket and shoes lying on the shelf near the door. Jordan didn't noticed them however. If he did, he would know, someone WAS there. Not Josh, but... Ok, let's not spoil everything right now.

"Josh? You're here buddy?"

Jordan checked the bathroom and kitchen. Still no sign of his cousin.

"Come on! What kind of joke is this?"

As Jordan entered the living room, he quickly realized, that there was no joke. Or it was the worst joke ever made...

"A-A-A-Alex?"

"That's right Jordan..." The girl replied. "I asked Josh for the keys. He is preparing the welcome party for you now. I wanted to talk with you alone."

"A-a-a-about what?" Jordan gulped. He wasn't prepared for only thing. Exactly that thing. After their friendship bond had weakened, he couldn't even say anything constructive during the conversation with Alex. And now, they were alone. And she wanted to talk. Of all things, why this? Of all times, why now?

"You know... Most of our friends decided not to watch the program. They were too scared for this. Probably only me and Josh decided to watch it carefully. We were watching your every recorded move. When the cameras went off for a few days, we were afraid, that you will be dead, once they will turn them on again."

"Alex, I..."

"Please, let me finish. And after all that happened. That girl... Julia... and the other things. I couldn't believe, that you managed to get out alive..."

"Alex, let's not talk about this right now, I want to forget about it for a while..."

"No Jordan. It's important. As I was watching all of it, Everything inside me had changed. I decided, that if you'll survive the Act..."

She sighed.

"Ok, I'll go straight to the point... Jordan... I have something very important to say to you..."

Jordan held his breath, as Alex opened her lips again...

CLANG!

Suddenly, the mailman entered the apartment. Did Jordan forgot to lock the door?

"I'm sorry to interrupt this, but I have a letter here for... Mr. Redfield."

Jordan couldn't believe it. It was like some bizarre dream. It actually was, but nevermind.

"Can you read it aloud? I don't mind about it"

"Yes sir..."

He opened the letter, took out his glasses for the better look, and read aloud

Jordan!

Wake up, dammit!
There is someone making noise downstairs.

Yours
You

"What"?

............................................

What?

Stop asking stupid questions. Someone's making noise downstairs. You should be careful...

It was already night, and without any source of light, Jordan couldn't see anything.

Dammit. She was going to tell me something important. Why it had to end like that?

It always ends like that. Do you recall any dream when someone had 'something important to say' and he/she/it actually said it? I don't think so... But, I recommend to use it as a motivation.

What motivation?

Well... It was clearly a dream about things that will happen when you'll go back home. But you are still on this godforsaken island, so... if you want to know that 'important thing', then you should fight even harder to survive this thing, am I right?

You know what? You really are right... I want to know, what she wants to tell me. And to know it... I need to win...

Now, when his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see some shapes of the bathroom, he was in. The gun was still in his hand. Fully loaded gun.

Oh... You want to kill everyone else?

No... you can win in various ways. I'm not gonna win by killing. But I can't hesitate anymore now, before dealing the eventual killing blow. If not a miraculous accident, Julia would have killed me already. If wouldn't kill Mark, he would kill Dorian, and then me. There are a lot of aggressive people around there, and if I want to survive, I can't hesitate anymore with pulling the trigger, when they will attack me.

Well... that could be my words as well. Bravo! But now there is no time for that kind of thoughts. Someone's there, remember? Go and check it. And try not to make any noises.

Maybe I should took of my shoes then?

Getting better with every second... I'm almost proud of you...

Jordan took of his tennis shoes, and put them on the ground near the wall. He carefully stood up, held his colt with his both hands, and began to sneak downstairs. He wasn't really good in it, so he couldn't get rid of the feeling, that he's still making too much noise. Nevertheless of it, he finally reached stairs. Another few steps down, and he was already on the middle floor.

It was almost pitch black. Jordan scanned carefully every inch of the first floor with his eye. Finally he spotted a silhouette near one of the jail cells. He couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl, or if he/she was holding any kind of dangerous weapon. Something there looked like a bow, but he couldn't be really sure.

He didn't wanted to open fire. He was sick already of bloodshed after the Cliffs action. But he couldn't let that mysterious person to perform another backstab on him. He pointed the gun at the silhouette.

"Alright. Since I was here first, and I'm the one with the gun pointed at you, I will ask first: Who are you, and what's your business here?"

"Oh, and don't try to make any unnecessary moves. I was backstabbed twice already, and now I'm quite trigger-happy because of it. You don't want to test your luck, do you?"

Renee slowly started to creep out of the cell she was in, hoping against all hope that she could sneak into a neighboring cell and duck into a dark spot, keeping completely silent until the boy passed by.

Unfortunately, by the time she could get herself unfrozen from the initial shock and turn around to even leave, she was practically face-to-face with him. Of course, she could barely see his face in the darkness, let alone the gun but that didn't seem to matter.

Alright. Since I was here first, and I'm the one with the gun pointed at you, I will ask first: Who are you, and what's your business here?"

Renee gasped as soon as he started speaking.

Fuck, fuck, and double fuck.

"Oh, and don't try to make any unnecessary moves. I was backstabbed twice already, and now I'm quite trigger-happy because of it. You don't want to test your luck, do you?"

She held her hands up to the closest source of light so he'd know she wasn't wielding anything. The action was already very familiar to her that it almost seemed like dejavu, which perhaps helped in making her response seem a lot calmer.

"I'm Renee Valenti. I need a place...to rest," she replied, before gulping. The boy who had 'greeted' her sounded a lot calmer than the last one...meaning he was more likely to make good on his threat with more extreme prejudice to boot. The calmer voice also meant he was likely to actually have the weapon he was talking about.

It was those realizations that resulted in her voice becoming more fearful as she continued. "I'm not armed. If you don't believe me...you can...frisk me..."

"I'm Renee Valenti. I need a place...to rest"

Valenti, Valenti... that actress? Yeah, I remember, she was in our school... rarely. She doesn't sound like a threat... I don't remember her name mentioned on the announcements...

Quincy hadn't appeared on the announcements neither. Nor do Mark...

Yeah, I know... Did I said anything about lowering the gun?

"I'm not armed. If you don't believe me...you can...frisk me..."

OK, now that's hilarious. The boy and the girl, alone in the dark Jailhouse. They barely know themselves. He points a gun at her, and she wants to be... 'frisked'. You're sure, she wasn't a porn actress, or something?

Jordan decided not to answer. The idea was amusing... but it wasn't an option. Sure, there are probably some people, who in dangerous situation, when every second could be their last, wants to do the one last shot before dying, but Jordan wasn't one of those people. In fact, sex was probably the last thing he was thinking about. He had more important things on his mind. You know... Not getting killed, and all that stuff...

"There is no need for that, really..."

He reached for his daypack, and took the flashlight from it, while still pointing the gun at the girl with his other hand. Right now, the recoil would probably make as much damage to Jordan's hand, as bullet to Renee's body, but even if the girl had some evil plans, she probably even wouldn't know how big is the recoil of Colt Python, to use it as an advantage. Did she even knew what Colt Python looks like?

Jordan turned on the flashlight, and slowly scanned Renee's face, her empty hands, and then the rest of the body in search of some weapon. The light stopped at the chain she had - probably the clang-maker, that woke him up.

"Ok... A thing to watch out in the future..."

Except from that chain, the girl didn't seemed to be dangerous. Jordan put the flashlight on the ground still on, and still pointed at Renee, and with his now free hand, he reached for a bottle of water and drank some of it. He looked at the girl.

"Want some? The only good thing about this day, is the fact, that I have a plenty of water and food now... Looking at the islands standard of course..."

"Oh, and don't worry about the gun. No false moves - no bloodshed. I'm not a player."

Care to explain, what the fuck you are doing?

Observing... I need some clear signal about her intentions... watch out for anything extraordinary...

Renee squinted and turned her head away almost like a vampire as the kid shone the flashlight at her.

It was not coincidence that Renee not only knew what a large Colt revolver looked like, but how it was supposed to act. She had seen such a gun in action only the year before watching the previous season on TV, and did not want to be reminded of its user. That said, had she been hallucinating at the moment - and she was damn close to doing so after 9 days' worth of fatigue - she would have probably gone berserk and then ended up as a lifeless pile of flesh with a new fuckhole torn through her chest.

"Want some? The only good thing about this day, is the fact, that I have a plenty of water and food now... Looking at the islands standard of course..."

"Yeah...sure...I'm starved."

"Oh, and don't worry about the gun. No false moves - no bloodshed. I'm not a player."

Bullshit. It was a thought she wanted to say aloud, given that at this point in the game she would have been lucky to find someone who wasn't a player. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) for her, doing so would have also gotten a new fuckhole torn through her chest, and so on. Right now, her stomach took precedence over her ambition.

"Yeah...sure...I'm starved."

Well, it looks like, she's not dangerous. She seems pretty scared, confused and hungry.

She's also an actress. She could be deceiving you right now...

Relax... everything is under control

Jordan took out the leftovers of his bread and some crackers.

"Ok... you can serve yourself and take it. If it's not enough, I have some more in the daypack. But try not to eat everything. I will need it for the next few days... If I will be lucky enough to survive, of course..."

Jordan left his daypack, food and water on the stairs, and took few steps upwards to keep the safe distance from the eating girl.

So... time for the next point of the plan?

What point? What plan?

Jordan lowered his gun

"So... 10 days already, huh? So... your weapon doesn't seem to be good enough to win fights with students armed to the teeth. How did you managed to survive all this time?"

Oh... But you're still ready to point it again quickly and shoot, right?

Sure I am...

For some unexplainable reason, Jordan felt extremely confident and secure. He still wasn't sure of girl's motives, but somehow he felt, that everything will turn out just fine...

"Ok... you can serve yourself and take it. If it's not enough, I have some more in the daypack. But try not to eat everything. I will need it for the next few days... If I will be lucky enough to survive, of course..."

Renee seemed a bit taken aback when the boy offered her some food. She wasn't about ready to take the risk that it had been poisoned, at least for the first few seconds. She quickly relented, however, and took the bread, giving it a quick look-over.

"So... 10 days already, huh? So... your weapon doesn't seem to be good enough to win fights with students armed to the teeth. How did you managed to survive all this time?"

As it so happened, Renee found just the word.

"Pure luck, I guess," Renee replied with a sigh as she started munching on the chunk of bread she was given, "You don't know which of the students are armed to the teeth...but at least I had a group for protection. Up until yesterday, anyway."

The redhead knew she was probably letting out some unwanted Freudian slips of sorts. But perhaps in an atmosphere already saturated with paranoia, it was perhaps better to be outright guilty than feign innocence. If it all went as planned (that is, if she were planning anything other than what she was making up as she went along), she could ironically gain his trust.

"Pure luck, I guess. You don't know which of the students are armed to the teeth...but at least I had a group for protection. Up until yesterday, anyway."


"Then I guess, we have something in common... My group also ceased to exist..." Jordan looked at one of the windows near stairwell. It was almost dawn. "... Yesterday."

For a second, Jordan lost his cool. last event at the cliffs was still echoing trough his mind, and his natural body response for this echo was anger. He didn't even bothered to try to forget it. Maybe because the more you're trying to forget, the more you remember. Or maybe because it was reminding him about the unfinished business with Quincy. Or just because it was impossible to forget the Death of your allies, and your own killing. Most likely all 3 above.

He tightened the grip on his colt. His blood pressure increased momentarily, and his breath quickened... only to slow down just a moment later. Jordan did his best to calm himself again. He had to hide his emotions from her. Anger leads to unplanned actions, and those are usually ending tragically. Acting like that was telling 'hit me here, here's my blind spot'. That was the whole point of this this awkward conversation. To learn about her intentions, without revealing his weak points.

After a while, Jordan continued to speak. His voice was calm again.

"But it wasn't just a simple 'Group of Protection'. No. It was something bigger. It was the group known as S.A.D.D."

He looked at Renee.

"I'm pretty sure, you heard about it in announcement. But it doesn't matter now. It's dead. Mostly because of Neil. His death was a trigger to a giant chain reaction of treasons and unnecessary killing. And now, there are only two living S.A.D.D. members. Me, and traitorous bastard Quincy Archer, who will pay, for what he did."

Jordan was still looking at the girl. After Danya blew up four collars because of S.A.D.D. actions, many students were probably set negatively for Neil and his group. Observing Renee's reaction at the fact, she had a S.A.D.D. member sitting next to her, could give him a lot of answers about her state of mind and intentions toward him. Something was telling him (and it wasn't his survival instinct, who decided to stay silent this time), that the girl wasn't so scared and confused, as she looked like...

"Then I guess, we have something in common... My group also ceased to exist...yesterday."

Renee gulped as she listened to the rest of his story, paying as much attention to the fact that he was more likely to shoot her now in his state of mind.

"But it wasn't just a simple 'Group of Protection'. No. It was something bigger. It was the group known as S.A.D.D."

She had heard about S.A.D.D. on the announcements, though the unorthodox delivery of the last one combined with her preoccupation with her own group meant she didn't even know what it stood for, let alone who the members were.

"I'm pretty sure, you heard about it in announcement. But it doesn't matter now. It's dead. Mostly because of Neil. His death was a trigger to a giant chain reaction of treasons and unnecessary killing. And now, there are only two living S.A.D.D. members. Me, and traitorous bastard Quincy Archer, who will pay, for what he did."

Renee briefly turned to take a glance outside the window. The sun's first light turned the pitch-black sky a quiet shade of dark blue. It wasn't enough to ease her tension from staring down the barrel of a loaded gun that was now coming into view from the light. On the other hand, it didn't make her any more tense to recall the exploits - or rather, lack thereof - of her own sordid sisterhood.

"I'm...I'm sorry to hear that..." Renee was trying her best not to look scared and confused, but it wasn't so easy to do when bringing a chain to a gunfight. "I was one of Melina Frost's Poison Angels...it was a bad group name..." It wasn't any easier to string sentences together as well.

"You might not have heard of us...at least until the last announcement...we didn't exactly get much done and we ended up turning on each other. I was the only one who made it out alive..."

She kept silent as to the nature of the Angels turning on each other back at the swamp. Jordan - as she now recognized him - would probably think she was lying if she admitted she hadn't killed anyone during her group's self-destruction...

"I'm...I'm sorry to hear that... I was one of Melina Frost's Poison Angels...it was a bad group name... You might not have heard of us...at least until the last announcement...we didn't exactly get much done and we ended up turning on each other. I was the only one who made it out alive..."

Sound The Alarm! She was in Melina's group, and I think, we both know that Melina = Trouble.

Jordan didn't had enough time to even respond, because of another announcement coming out from the speakers nearby. Jordan hated those announcements. The first one was shocking. He didn't even thought, that his fellow students can do such a horrible things to themselves. Couple of next ones were just sad, especially when one of his friends was killed. The later ones was just a testimony of Danya's madness. But one of them had a special place in Jordan's hate list... 5th announcement. The one that covered the death of Julia. Why? Well, that's easy... From Danya's words, it turned out, that he was an attacker. His fight for life had been straight called a murder. Jordan was outraged at that time. And this time he was even more outraged...

"I guess karma bit our little backstabber in the ass when he was attacked and killed by Jordan Redfield, making Mark Tavarian the next to go down. Maybe Miss Lauper's death wasn't an accident after all, Mr. Redfield!"

Jordan's whisper was filled with hate

"You son of a bitch..."

God damn it! He did it again... HE DID IT AGAIN! Once again he proclaimed me an attacker and murderer. I swear, I'll shut down his obnoxious mouth, and make him eat shit for every lie he told about me, and...

"Up next is Madison Conner who died by the hands of one of our island pacifists, Dorian Sanders

Wait, WHAT?

who in turn was quickly shot down by Miss Altaire.

"Fuck"

So Dorian had killed as well? He attacked her? Oh wait. Knowing this fucker, It was probably the other way around...

But it didn't mattered now. Dorian was dead. Another victim of the game. This meant also, that the transmitter plan was even more pointless than before...

And then came the Grand Finale...

"So, for today's danger zones! All of yesterday's still apply, and to that list you'll be adding the Field of Flowers, Babbling Brook, Overgrown Trail, Hollow Tree, Swinging Bridge, Marsh, Lookout Tower and Jailhouse. Be careful, everyone."

"Danya, you Son Of A Bitch!"

Jordan quickly stood up. Hate could wait. He was in a Danger Zone, and of all kinds of deaths, he didn't wanted to be incinerated in explosion... He pointed his finger at the daypack lying on the ground.

"Renee! Quick! Pass me my daypack, we need to get out of here, fast!"

Careful, cowboy... Frost's ally and all that stuff... Remember?

Oh, right...

Jordan really hoped, this time he'll avoid fight. Especially considering the fact, in this situation he would probably be forced to shoot with only one hand...

Just as well, Renee had no time to think about a response to Jordan as the announcements suddenly played. She backed toward her last arrow while Danya read off the list of the dead and their killers, at the same time keeping an eye on the boy she now identified as Jordan Redfield. He knew Renee was playing when she mentioned Melina, and it now seemed that the feeling was mutual.

There was no way to avoid someone dying in the jailhouse this morning, as the sun's golden light started to seep through the window, casting Renee's shadow upon Jordan. Perhaps appropriate for the situation - and danger zone - they both found themselves in, both their collars had started beeping in one final, fatal countdown.

"Renee! Quick! Pass me my daypack, we need to get out of here, fast!"

Renee had already grabbed the last arrow out of her quiver as Jordan barked the order. She dashed forward to grab the daypack...only to continue accelerating toward the boy, arrow just hidden from view until the last possible moment when it could finally find its mark.

If she missed, it would literally be the last mistake she made.

Renee took Jordan's daypack and began to run in his direction... maybe even too fast... Oh shit!

"ARGHH!"

The arrow pierced Jordan through the flesh near the hip. Pretty lucky, considering his kidney not so far from the wounded place. If she would hit him there, he would be a dead man...

Damn, I hate to be right. Quite fast she is, eh?

Any other pieces of some great advice?

Why of course... you're lucky, no vital organs injured, you'll made it if you'll disinfect the wound. And you still have your gun right? No need right now for taking this daypack, so you can shoot from both hands... And one more thing. Do you know what 'Point Blank' means?

Yeah...

Then you should already know what to do... there's no way she'll avoid it from this distance

Jordan tightened his grip on the colt, with his left hand, and grabbed Renee's arm with his right hand. Truly, she wouldn't have any chance now. The bullet will probably tore apart her lungs before going out from the other side. It was so easy now (ok, the pain was making some difficulties, but it wasn't painful enough to not overcome it). But for some reason, Jordan felt he had to do something before he'll end her life. It was really pointless from any normal observer's point of view... But he just had to say it...

He looked right in Renee's green eyes.

"Why... God damn it, why?! I don't want anyone to die here, I don't want to hurt anybody, so why does everyone attacks me? Why are you all playing this goddamn game, and why are you forcing me to fight back?"

Jordan pointed the gun at her chest. His faced was grimaced in pain.

"I feel like losing part of myself, whenever I'm doing this, but if I want to survive, I just HAVE TO do it"

He released her arm, and grabbed his colt with both hands to avoid the recoil. His aim was somewhat shaky, but there was no way to miss this one.

You're done already? Or you have some other hero-like bullshit to tell her, and let her intercept you? No hesitation man, that's your words!

Yeah, you're right...

"No hesitation..."

BANG!

For once, Renee had actually hit something with her arrow, even if she had to deliver it himself. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good enough delivery to kill or incapacitate her target, which she realized when Jordan suddenly clenched her arm.

"Why... God damn it, why?! I don't want anyone to die here, I don't want to hurt anybody, so why does everyone attack me? Why are you all playing this goddamn game, and why are you forcing me to fight back?"

It hit Renee that Jordan was not going to die quick enough from her last arrow finding its mark. It therefore followed that he had more than enough time alive to retaliate. Which meant that she was going to die.

"Everyone plays, Jordan...sooner or later, we all do-"

She was interrupted as Jordan pulled the trigger, shooting her in the neck.

As she fell, blood spurting from the jugular vein just above her collar, the last thing she knew was that she could as well have said her last words about herself. This was a game she had been trying to avoid playing for a long time.

And now, after two years of pursuit, it had finally caught up to Renee Valenti.

Her head turned toward the window as her vision started to go black. The sun's golden rays started to charge over the horizon. It was a sight that seemed almost familiar, but she wasn't able to put a mental finger on it as she finally passed on.

VALENTI, R - WASTED

Jordan's aim must have been even more shaky than he originally thought. He was aiming at the chest, and somehow his bullet hit her in the neck. But it was probably justified by some factors like stinging pain in the hip, stress, and no shooting skill. But... Could something justify HIM for killing third student already?

Well... actually yes. That's the self defense, SOTF style. You kill, or you are killed, end of story.

What was more scary, Jordan felt almost nothing. Julia? Oh God, that was horrible. He couldn't get on with himself for a lot of time. Mark? It was still a little bit of shock for him, but not so big. Renee? Well, let's be honest. Jordan was far more concerned about his injury, than the fact, he killed again. It was already a second direct attempt on his life (plus he was fairly sure, that Mark wouldn't stop after killing Warren and, eventually, Dorian). He killed twice to save himself from the jaws of death, what's wrong in doing it thrice?

But let's go back for a while to aforementioned injury.

FUUUCK!

When he stood still, it wasn't really that bad. But every move of his body was reminding him about sharp piece of metal sticking in his body.

Goddamn it! I must find some way to keep my thoughts away from that arrow...

BEEP!

Ah, the fear of death. Perfect...

Truth, or sarcasm? Probably both.

Time was running out. He picked up his daypack, and for the first time, he actually hid his colt in there. He grabbed the arrow with both hands and...

STOP, you idiot! You just barely got alive, and now you want to die for your own wish?

But...

No buts! If you remove it now, you'll start horribly bleeding. You are in the middle of a fucking danger zone, you don't have a time to stop the bleeding, disinfect the wound and bandage it right now! First run away, and then do something with it...

Oh, and one more thing...

What?

Jordan was quite irritated at that moment.

Your shoes... You left them upstairs...

"..."

"........"

"............."

"GOD DAMN IT!"

Now he was much more irritated...

To make things worse, he couldn't really run so fast up and downstairs. Well, unless he wanted to plunge this arrow even deeper in his body.

BEEP BEEP!

Several moments later he was again downstairs, now with his shoes on his feet. And for the first time, he actually looked at the body of the redhead...

Everyone plays, Jordan...sooner or later, we all do...

"Well Bullshit Renee! You don't have to play! You could have still been alive, and have an armed ally, dammit! I swear, I'll prove you, that you can win this game, without attacking people."

Jordan looked at the cameras around him. That's right, he was filmed right now. The whole world was watching... Danya was watching...

"And speaking of attacking people..."

He pointed his finger at the camera.

"Danya you son of a bitch! If you dare to say once again, that I was the attacking one, I swear, I'll take that colt you gave Warren, and I'll unload the whole cylinder. Right. In. Your. Ass. Understood?"

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

"And now, If you excuse me..."

And so, in not-so-quick-rush (that damned arrow!), Jordan left the Jailhouse, and disappeared in the jungle.

((Jordan Redfield continued in All Down Hill From Here))