Survival Of The Fittest

((Serena Waters continued from You thought it was Kimiko but it was me, Jerry!))

Another night had gone by without incident after Fury's death back at the gym. After that Serena decided laying low was the smartest thing they could do. Well. As much as they could with a blood covered jeep with bulks in it courtesy of the afromentioned Fury, as well as come to terms with what she did, and what they would have to do forward.

While they were supposed to take shifts to guard as the before so they'd actually get some sleep as they have done in the past, but sleeping had become next to impossible for her after the previous days events. They laid heavily on her mind. Whenever she closed her eyes and dozed she'd be taken back there, to the gym and see the cracked and ruined body of Fury before waking up in the jeep, over and over again. She put her head onto the window of the door to the jeep, the cold felt nice for a change and would at least keep her awake for the time being.

And then the announcements came on with it's signature screech, no longer having it's prior effect on her. Days of listening to people she was familiar with slowly kill each other off removing the factor of empathy. Which as it turns out was ill-informed as she sat up in her chair and listened and was shook to her core when the words hit her.

Jeremy was dead. He had killed then been killed. Serena put her head on top of the wheel doing her best to not scream or cry at the news because the one person she wanted to see was dead at the hands of fucking Caedyn Miller. It figures that bitch would still be alive while people like Amanda, Hannah and Jeremy were killed. If there was a mercifull god in this universe, he certainly wouldn't have let that happen.

The shock continued as the voice spoke out about her murder, apparantly it was to the terrorists sick fancy that she ran someone over enough for them to award her then left it in the water treatment. Where the hell was that? She looked over to Aiden and Mel and forced out the words to them as she felt the anger in her rise. Years, she had waited years to tell him and in one day Caedyn ruins it, just as she tried to do years ago. Fuck her. "Wh-what do you think? Worth it or not?." If she wanted to get it, she would have to go there.

(Aiden Slattery continued from You Thought It Was Kimiko...)

He thought.

Ya see, one of the things you get to thinking about in a place like this is that you actually got a lot of time to think about things.

Like how he didn't want to go back to that fuckin' asylum, for one thing.

" ...We gotta go, don't we? I guess we ain't the Three Nothings no more. They're taking notice of us now, ha!"

He managed a chuckle there. But of course he was right. They'd come all this way being inconclusive and shit and now they were parked right near it and what the hell would they be if they didn't take those last steps? He looked over at Mel.

"I guess one of us can stick outside with the Jeep while the other one goes inside with ya and gets it. We stick like that, it should work. I mean, I'd vote for stayin' with the Jeep myself. Back in there..."

Ah fuck it and he'd gone and tried to blot it all out cause it felt like it was a whole lifetime ago by now, didn't it?

"Where I mucked it all up and Scarley she got herself killed cause of me, huh? God, I haven't even tried to talk about that for days... I was just so fucking stupid and scared... y'know that for like the whole first day here I spent it thinking we were all in some prank or something? Almost right up until she got hit by Nancy Kyle and... I just let her take it for me. And then I took days to... Christ y'know we should've all come to this conclusion like days ago... there I go back to ramblin' on again, y'know. But Serena yeah, I think we gotta get it. Get yourself another weapon. Plus we need the food or whatever they left. We're... now I know we're on the right track here. We go find some more killers, do what we do. Do what we do, feel me?"

He looked over at the tower. What they do. Hey, they'd come back here, now hadn't they? Back to where he'd already freaked himself out and lasted for days afterwards. Back to fuckin where Harold was still probably lying on the ground out round the other side of it. He hadn't gone to check.

But if anything, this was a good place to do a quick test, wasn't it? Of the old courage.

Aiden stretched his neck, then opened the Jeep door.

"So you wanna take a minute, be sure first, I'm gonna check up on the top and see if there's any stuff left up there. Be real quick. You gals psych yourself up, figure out how you wanna grab the prize. Then we go, kay?"

He gave a wave and smiled, then dropped out onto the ground, holding the shotty. Sun was starting to set, but it still looked like there was plenty of time to get to the looney bin. And if it got dark, well hey, the Jeep still had the headlights workin.

And he grinned at that only to be greeted by Barry fuckin' Banks still on the floor of the tower in that exact same goddamn position as he was a week ago.

He froze at that.

"Ah hell Barry, you still here?" he muttered. Then he shrugged and started up the stairs.

"Sorry I don't even remember who killed ya."

He thought as he went up the stairs about how stupid they'd all really been to not just fuckin' go nuts on the killers sooner. Really now. What if they'd blown away Nancy Day 2 instead of Day goddamn 5 or whatever it'd been? What if they'd taken out Barry's killer straight off? They wouldn't have been where they are now, that's for sure. It could've been Day 3 with no killers and a bunch of righteous kids daring the fucking terrorists on what they do next. That'd be great.

But instead it was Day 8 now and that was all just a pipe dream. Now they were what they were, The Three Somethings, and he knew he could take out the next bad guy he saw just like Serena'd already done. And Mel would be the same, he knew. Aiden thought about Mel and Serena. How who the fuck knew, what if it ended up gettin' down to the three of them at the end of this. Cause that was a whole possibility now, wasn't it?

He mulled on that.

Christ there were a lot of goddamn stairs here.

Finally he reached the top, and stared right into the setting sun. Bit blinding. Ah still beautiful. He looked out for just a second.

((Melanie Beckett continued from You thought it was Kimiko but it was me, Jerry!))

She wasn't paying enough attention anymore.

She was tired. Not that that was much of an excuse. It hadn't changed since... days before. Felt like an excuse. When'd she ever been tired before? She'd always been able to push herself when she needed to. Draw up some hidden reserves of energy. Always. Now she was just tired.

She wasn't paying enough attention so when Serena asked a question and Aiden started talking and kept talking, she didn't even try to get a word in. Maybe she hadn't even properly heard the question.

No, she'd heard it. But there was little use in protesting when, at this point, she was doing it just to be contrary.

She was involved, after all. She was here. She hadn't left. She was still helping them. She didn't want them to die. They were supposed to die. Better not to make it to the end so that they could be tempted. Who was she to make that choice for them? How delirious were her thoughts now? How many loops could she string out of her unraveled brain?

That felt like a template for a decent abstract painting. Unravel a brain, as if it were pink lasagna, and... she didn't know. Stupid thoughts, now, irrelevant thoughts. When was the last time she'd ever painted anything surreal?

She was still here. She'd always be here, with them.

"Be careful, okay?" she managed as Aiden left, though she didn't think he heard her. She'd be there when he came back, anyway.

She'd been dragging him around and now he was taking the initiative. They'd started doing this, and he'd lit up like a candle. It was good for him. She only wished she felt the same way.

No conclusion to that train of thought. She just left it hanging.

((Matt Moradi continued from somewhere else. OP post is being edited - forgive any inconsistencies. GMing approved, too!))

He was waiting at the top of the bell tower. He saw the jeep coming. Aiden, Serena, who else? He couldn't remember their name. He didn't see Bart, either. So they must have abandoned him. Poor Bart. Probably didn't even put up a fight about it or anything. He didn't quite know what to think of them. They had a jeep, somehow. And somehow they had enough gasoline to drive the damn thing all around the island for over a week. It made absolutely no sense to him, but he accepted it because he had to. If he spent too much time thinking about the logical inconsistencies of this place.. nothing. This place was a surreal nightmare and that was all he needed to know.

He stayed away from the edge. He didn't want them to see him. Slattery had a gun - a shotgun - and he figured that it was high time that he liberate it from him. If there was anyone on this island who was in need of a gun, it was him. He looked at the pipe down in his hands. Three people in the same day wasn't a good look. He'd have to try and knock him out. Take the gun from him and then somehow make it out of here without his two friends running him over with that fucking jeep.

And then he heard him coming. Slattery. With the gun. Delivering it to him, he figured, in some weird metaphysical sense of the word. Matt held his breath. Slattery walked up the stairs to watch the sunset he guessed. He traveled eighteen years to get here and waiting for him at the end of that journey was a pipe to the back of the head.

Slowly, Matt approached him from behind. Quietly as he could. And then, when he was within swinging distance, he let out a short grunt - maybe the only warning Aiden would get - and bashed him across the head with the pipe.

It's funny how it takes till times like this for you to realize just how lucky you'd been here thus far. Well, as far as physical condition goes, at least. Aiden'd been pretty much left alone. Mentally not so much, but you take what you can get.

So when the sudden explosion of pain came from the back of his head, sending his ears ringing, knocking his teeth together on his tongue and drawing blood, Aiden had a half-second of clarity and that realization before he stumbled forward, temporarily blinded, and dropped the shotgun before pitching forward and falling first on his kneees, then his side.

Funny too how he'd thought you just got knocked straight out if something like that happened. Guess it was just the movies or whatever.

"....thefuck" he muttered. and turned over, trying to get back up. His vision was half-white. Doubly weird.

Aiden went down, falling forward and dropping the shotgun. Matt bent over to pick up his prize but heard him say something. He had nothing to say to Aiden and instead responded to whatever it was that he had muttered by bashing him over the head with the pipe again. He looked down at him. Satisfied, he put the pipe into his bag best he could and reached down to pick up his newest tool. A shotgun. Lighter than he expected. Aiden had probably already pumped it in a manner no doubt extremely dramatic so he decided against it, only checking to see if the safety was on. Click. Off. He glanced down.

Alive. Not a threat, at least not right now. He briefly considered doing the smart thing and killing him then and there but decided against it. It was needless. He figured that he'd wake up eventually and swear revenge or something along those lines. He'd deal with them later, assuming someone wouldn't already deal with them for him. He started to walk down the stairs, renewed. He felt powerful. Didn't have to sneak up on anyone anymore.. not that he'd put a stop to that field proven way of winning. 12 gauge buckshot to the back of the head was just a safer way of getting rid of a potential problem. Far safer than the pipe. The pipe had little sentimental value to him but he'd run out of bullets eventually. He'd keep it.

Matt Moradi.

They shoulda fuckin run him over too and the pipe came down again.

Aiden lay on the floor for a few seconds after that. He was wishing it was all black, but no there were all these weird white spots he was seeing instead, pulsing across what vision he had, which was mostly concrete and iron at this point. He didn't know. It all merged together, shapeless, kinda like his thoughts for that past minute. Then he reached around for his gun and wondered why it wasn't there.

Matt Moradi. It was... and where was he again?

Aiden groaned. Couldn't think. The whole left side of his face, still on the ground, was wet and hot. And forget his face the whole left of his head. He couldn't touch it yet. His right ear felt strange and he brought a hand to it and felt blood leaking out.

OK.

So was he dying here now? Hey there was a thought.

"Ah shit," he slurred. "Ahhhhshit."

He groped with his right hand, looked up and saw the metal barricade ringing the lookout deck. He grabbed the lowest bar and tried to pull himself up and instead what do you know, the fucking thing snapped right off and Aiden dropped all of three inches back onto the deck and it felt like way more. He managed to block his face from hitting it with his hand and stared back out into the sunset.

Well then he'd just fucking lie here and watch that, huh?

He was nearly at the edge. And Aiden smiled for a sec before he glanced down and saw the Jeep and it all came together again. At least as much as it could.

That was why he'd lost his gun. That was why Matt wasn't here anymore. Matt was on his way...

"Heyyyyyy...."

Yeah good fuckin luck on them hearing that one Aiden. Way to warn 'em. One last failure for ya. Get Mel and Serena killed cause you took the gun and you lost the gun and you waited your way up here because you couldn't get down fast enough to...

Huh.

He decided in another second. Probably all he had.

Aiden managed to pivot on the ground. He slipped over the edge, legs first.

He'd had at least one big stroke of luck here, eh? Managed to get himself caught right near where Serena and Mel were. He hoped it wouldn't be too much of a mess.

Then he landed feet first. His head, such as it was, chest and shoulders pretty much survived OK. Everything else, less so.

It didn't take long for an answer, Aiden was up for it and pushed for it, even saying someone could go with her for it, make sure she was fine. She was touched by that concern he had for her. If there was any good of this hellish experience it was getting to know him and Mel, even when they disagreed heavily on what they were doing.

There was no answer from Mel though, not like they had listened to her in the past. Probably figured it wasn't worth trying to convince them of what they were doing is foolish and playing into their game. She jsut hoped she could convince her otherwise, if there anything she didn't want to do is have to goagainst her.

Aiden then left for the top of the tower while she got herself ready for a run, it was decided then. She would go for the award.

"Take care!" She yelled after him as he wandered up the structure they had met outside of just a scant days ago. Jeez, had it really been that long ago? Even though it was just a few days ago, it felt like an eternity.

After a while she decided to get her things in order, but as she gathered her bag to do so. She heard a sound, not unlike when jerry was hit, but harsher and like a splat.

She turned to look and saw Aiden. It was not a pretty sight.

"A-aiden?!" Her legs moved faster than her brain as she ran towards him.

Mel had propped her own car door open, waiting. She turned at the sound, she looked, and her breath caught in her throat, the same question as before on the tip of her tongue. This time, she didn't want to hear the answer.

No, what she wanted to hear was that it was some lookalike, some copycat asshole that Aiden had shoved off the top of the tower and screw him because he deserved it, but she wasn't allowed to have that many delusions.

She was already hurrying to him, a few steps behind Serena, with more questions to substitute for the one she couldn't ask. Had he jumped? She refused to believe it.

Why had they allowed him to go alone? Had he been pushed?

Hadn't he heard them tell him to be careful?

"We can lift him," Mel said, the words just spilling out as she tried to meet Serena's eyes. She couldn't, wouldn't, didn't dare look too hard at him in case he was already too far gone. "We can lift him into the back, and we have the first aid kits, and... we can..."

Time to remember how she'd forced Cameron up and forced her to walk without a splint. Time to remember how she'd done some jerryrigging with some screwed up chair leg and then she'd left and Cameron had gone and died anyway.

She hesitated, waiting on a word.

Avoid it, huh?

Funny that he finally got to do something right at the end of this whole trip and it was maybe all cause he'd stopped the whole avoidance thing without even thinking about it.

He just took the plunge.

And the endorphins or whatever were fine cause they were filling his body by now. Like holy shit what's this kid gone and done to himself and it all felt far away.

There they were. They were there.

Funny thing was that a few minutes ago he'd been honestly wondering what'd happen at the end. Had he considered that he might shoot Serena and Mel or something to save his own skin maybe? Well guess Aiden probably knew the answer to that now. That might've made him feel good.

But he wasn't feeling much.

"Uh so Moradi he took th gu im fukn sorry"

Aiden'd always hated that he'd never got to Ireland. He was the Irish kid, after all. Name like Slattery you couldn't be from anywhere but Dubin. And his father had always planned on it like one of them someday things. Aiden had sometimes figured that after he was done school and shit he'd just take off himself, start in Ireland and go bum round Europe and pretend like the world was a fucking beautiful place forever. Cause he'd just pretend everything was beautiful. Ireland was like some paradise in his mind and if he ever saw it'd be hills and flutes forever.  

"he got it yah hes cmmin down so run"

And he could pretend that everywhere was like that except here and maybe that explained how he'd ended up such bloody load for so long, y'know?

Maybe they'd try to drag him along. Mel was saying they could. That was like them. They'd done it before.

"hey"

And he was so fuckin grateful for that. He couldn't repay. Or maybe he had. Now Serena just had to get her ass in gear and pick up that gun still hopefully waiting for her. Maybe run Matt fuckin Moradi over on the way there or back if she could.

Serena and Mel and Aiden.

"hey thanks were somethings"

Three somethings.

B029: Aiden Slattery - DECEASED

Matt walked down the stairs. The bell tower was pretty interesting - maybe in the future if he had a rile of some sort he could camp out on the top - and maybe his favorite place on the island so far. He figured he had a special connection to it. He'd met Jerry and Toby - was that her name? Toby? - within view of it. The ocean view was a constant companion and it lost its appeal to him after a few days. The bell tower was different. From the top he could see for a little while around. Just enough in his opinion.

Thud.

Matt raised the gun. What was that? He looked back, up. Towards the top. Nothing. He called out, quietly.

"Aiden - that you?" He thought for a moment. It probably was. Maybe he'd tried to get up and collapsed or something. "Just stay there," he said, starting to walk back down again. He was ready to meet Serena and what's her name? The other one. He couldn't remember their name. Whatever. Maybe he'd learn it soon. Maybe he wouldn't. Danya knew everyone's name and he had the most direct way of finding out in his hands.

They had a plan, get the reward, roll around in a jeep and make sure none of these assholes get home. She thought they had been on a roll to this point, invicible, couldn't be touched. All of that was crashing down around her as she watched Aiden's crumpled form. Mel was talking about carrying him and saving him, but she knew there was nothing they could. Not with this much damage to him.

And that was all she could do as her friend of the last few days slowly died, he spoke out, speech slurred and almost incoherent. She could make out words, Matt, gun, on his way.

Matt did this? They just saved his life the day before and this is how he repays them? She felt tears form as she looked over Aiden's destroyed body. The upper half looking less so than the lower, and all of this because of her. If she didn't drive to this place, Matt wouldn't have had the chance to get the jump on him, if they just went along with him, maybe he wouldn't be dead, maybe that fuck would have been the dead one instead.

She watched and held onto his hand as Aiden breathed his last before finally, mercifully dying. She felt the tears forming in her eyes as she realised his stuff was gone, Matt must have done this because of the gun. Just like that, this is his repayment for that. They should have let Jerry have his way with him. Goddamn it all. "Aiden? I...I'm so sorry."

Her hands shook as she let go of him, they shook as she closed his eyes and as she forced herself up on her feet and took a few steps away from his corpse. "I...I'm gonna go pick up the re-reward, take the jeep and get away from here." It came out shrill and hard, it was all so difficult to say, a lump had formed in her throat and she didn't dare look Mel in the face as the words spewed out, They were all supposed to be in this together and now she was forcing her to leave without her. "We'll meet at the depot, now go!"

She ran now, tears streaming down her face as she left them behind at the tower, she looked like a mess and felt like a mess. But she felt a new resolve form in her mind, one that would have made her pause a few days ago. Make sure Matt never gets home. No matter what.

((Serena Waters continued On the Run))

He heard them talking. Outside. Great. Just great. It sounded like they were panicking. Talking about something, frantically. Slowly it dawned upon him that they were talking about Aiden. Maybe he'd signaled to them or something from the top of the bell tower. Stupid. He should've finished him off. He stepped outside and suddenly it became clear to him.

He saw Serena running off into the distance. Briefly he considered shooting her when she ran away but decided against it. Unnecessary. Then he saw him. Aiden, dead. Must have jumped off the tower or something. He couldn't possibly hope to understand why. He looked at what's her name. The one whose name he couldn't remember. Aiden's shotgun now Matt's was in his hands and he looked at her with nothing on his face. Not guilt. Not malice. Nothing at all.

"Alright, uh, the jeep.. throw me the keys, now. Nothing funny or I shoot. Okay?"

He muttered something under his breath. Aiden. Jumping off the roof. Making him enemies where he shouldn't have them.

Nothing funny, Matt said.

Something had loosened within her chest, all the tension and all the doubt. Mel was standing there over Aiden's dead body, only halfway to tears, because she had to try too hard to keep from chuckling.

Aiden had jumped right off a building. Right off the tower - after he'd seen what happened to Barry and Jerry - and he'd still done it. For them.

It was crazy.

Then Matt had waltzed out when she'd turned to go for the jeep, and he said some words and they were the wrong words in exactly the right way. The words, the timing, that he was here and if not for Serena, Aiden might have died for something that was nothing at all. Nothing funny, Matt said. It was pretty funny. All of it.

And she was feeling a little crazy too.

"Okay," Mel said, and began to reach for her pockets, taking the measure of the gun with her eyes even while she felt adrenaline start pumping through her again - the gun there, her here, the jeep somewhere to the side. "Hey... don't you think you're the one with more to lose?"

In a single motion, she stripped off her jacket and ran for the car.

Dead. This was a mistake. Now he had two enemies - Serena and what's her name - to deal with. Later, he thought. He didn't feel much like killing anyone else today. The look on Aiden's face made him feel.. something. Not guilt but something halfway resembling regret and disgust.

Not at his own actions. Just that he'd let this get so out of hand. Serena was almost entirely out of sight, now. Why would he bother shooting her? She was going to be dead sooner or later maybe by his hand maybe by someone else's. It was pointless. He looked at her. The girl whose name he couldn't remember. She was reaching for her pocket.

Slowly, he started to raise the gun. So slow.

A sudden movement. Matt winced and fell backwards, firing a shot off. Towards the sun. Swearing he started to rise to his feet, pumping the shotgun and aiming it at her as she ran for the jeep. He kept staring. His finger was on the trigger but he wasn't firing.