This Jack reminds me of Tony from Save The Homeland/ Hero of Leaf Valley.

Who is that and how so? (I never played StH, so I have no idea.)

Knew it was gonna happen eventually. i hope those crazy kids work it out somehow, although it should be VERY interesting with Jack's sexual attraction to Karen and his lingering feelings for Kassie. Not to mention what appears to be schizophrenia?

Well, of course it would happen eventually. Romance is listed in the genre : ). But yeah, it's going to be very interesting I assume.

The date scene was cute. Looking forward to more, as always. And I'm now also curious about your take on Elli's father... since game canon I THINK mentions both of her parents died... so I hope we get some light shed on this possible tweaking, even if not for a while.

I'm pretty sure she does mention her parents' death in the game. But I have made small tweaks here and there in the story thus far, so we'll see how much of a tweak this is. And I'm glad people liked the date scene. It's really hard to make conversation seem real, which is what I've been going for.


Patient Log: Jack Slater, 6/30/2011

I'm worried about Jack. I write that ever time I update his status, but his condition still bothers me. That being said, he really has improved. When he first came into me, he was an emotional wreck who couldn't discuss anything in his personal life without getting uncomfortable and tense. I guess that's what happens when you bottle up your emotions for so long, but many other people here who lost their past aren't suffering like he is, so it baffles me.

He's a very sensitive young man. Of course, in fear that he'll lose his dignity and masculinity, he refuses to show this side of him to others. That's why he insists on keeping his problems to himself. He wants to give the impression that he's alright. His fears of opening up make sense though since he's afraid of how his position will be effected, but I wish he could find somebody to confide in besides his journal and myself. He also mentioned Karen tonight in our meeting. He's mentioned her before, but never under any context besides her being just a friend. He says he's having sexual dreams about her and it makes him feel guilty. I encouraged him to try to put his shame behind him and try to tell her how he feels so he can find closure, but he refused. At this point in his therapy, I don't think he'll attempt this for some time if at all.

The way I see it, the farm is what's keeping him alive. As long as he's needed, he doesn't feel as much need to give in to the pressures of his psyche. I hope he can learn to lean on others soon so that he can feel needed in ways that don't require produce. That would be very healthy for him. - Dr. Travis Harper

Chapter Six: Honesty

Date: July 26th 2011, Tuesday, 12:30 PM

"Hello Jack. What'll you have?" Doug asked Jack.

"Egg salad and grape juice," Jack answered.

"Okay, coming right up," Doug replied before sending the order to the chefs in back.

"So where's Ann?" Jack asked Cliff, who was sitting next to him eating a slice of pie.

"She's taking a personal day. She was here before you arrived. I assume she's at the Goddess Spring or something. She goes there whenever off."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. He had been feeling extremely mellow ever since the outing with Elli. Seconds later, Doug brought his meal and Jack paid him before taking small bites.

"Salad again, huh? You're just begging me to knock on you," Cliff chuckled.

"Not today Cliff," Jack groaned. "I'm not in the mood. I have to work the wall this afternoon and I had to plow this morning. It hasn't been a fun day."

"Relax, you look exhausted, so I'm not going to get on your case," Cliff laughed. "Besides, at least there are eggs in your salad this time. The protein makes it a little less gay."
"Gee, thanks Cliff." Jack chuckled slightly. He went back to looking at his food. He already wasn't feeling hungry, but he forced a few more bites down his throat.

"So…" Cliff started in an attempt to break the silence, "have you talked to Elli yet?"

"You just had to bring up the elephant in the room, didn't you?" Jack asked in a groan. His situation with Elli had been the subject of conversation for the past few days, and he hated the attention.

"Well, nothing interesting has been happening in this stagnant town for awhile, so this is interesting enough," Cliff explained. "So have you?"

"Yes, I have and…Look, why do we always have to talk about me? Can't we talk about you for once or something?"

"Well," Cliff began as he leaned against the bar. "What would you like me to talk about? My 'fascinating' job at the winery? My improved shot at the pool table? Or maybe Ann and I, and our great se-"

"Alright, alright, we'll talk about me," Jack interrupted before he'd have to listen to what Cliff and Ann did in their spare time. "Yes, I have tried to talk with Elli. But she always finds a reason to cut the conversation short and I can't get her to talk with me about anything. When we have talked, she won't look me in the eyes. It's as if she's afraid of me or something."

"She probably is," Cliff agreed.

"Damn it," Jack muttered. "I was afraid that would happen."

"I wouldn't worry about it so much," Cliff continued. "When I started dating Ann, she was really inexperienced and everything started off rocky, but we overcame that. It just takes time." His hand left his fork and Cliff began to subconsciously toy with his pony tail. "Just try to talk with Elli again and be gentle. I don't know the girl that well, but according to you and Ann, she's really sweet, so just be honest with her and see where that goes."

"Yeah, I'll try that," Jack replied coolly. But he didn't feel so great about what that meant. Trying to connect with Elli would probably require him to become vulnerable, and he didn't know how ready he was to do that. "Honesty, huh?" he thought to himself. "Honestly, I don't know if I can do that right now."


Another quiet day on the wall. Jack took a sip from his flask in an attempt to cool down under the hot sun. Day shifts were typically easier to guard since the guards could see everything on the water, but they were also more boring since most attacks didn't happen during the day. Most raiders were smart enough to try and attack at night when they had the cloaking darkness surrounding them. That was why Zack normally was off during the day and left one of his underlings to watch the wall.

The hours in the hot sun seemed to last twice as long. To pass the time on duty, Jack had brought his journal, since it was safer to be multitasking now that attackers were infrequent. However, he just stared at the blank page in front of him. He didn't have anything new to write about since the date with Elli. No dreams, no voice, no significant drama, nothing. After giving up on trying to write anything, he flipped around through the journal before randomly reading one of the earlier passages:

February 15th 2009

I had an interesting Valentine's Day… or should I say night? Anyway, since I didn't have a significant other to spend Valentine's Day with, I went back and drank half a bottle of the special wine I had bought for when Kassie was going to visit. It was some old vintage bottle that Duke had made years back, and I spent a fortune on it, but since me and Kass can't share it, I just drank some of it in memory of her. After that, I let out a few tears and went to bed early so Kai wouldn't find me crying.

It was the dream I had that scared me. In this dream, I'm out near the lake, and Karen is there. We're dipping our feet in the water, and she tells me that I should be careful that the Kappa doesn't get me. I laugh and say that there's no such thing as a Kappa. She shrugs. But after a few seconds, she pushes me into the lake and starts shouting "He's going to get you, Jack!" Even though I'm in the lake, I start laughing too and then I pull her in the water as well. We start splashing each other for a few seconds before we just stare into each other's eyes while we're treading water. Suddenly, we're kissing. The shock woke me up.

I felt weird that I dreamt that. I've always found Karen very attractive and I've had a small crush on her lately since she's spent a lot of time with me, especially when I was in the clinic. But even so, I've never fantasized about her or anything. I mean, the dream itself was harmless. Maybe it was just the wine? I don't know, but I've never had a dream that vivid. I'm not convinced that it means anything though. I've had dreams about flying elephants, but that doesn't mean Dumbo is going to be paying a visit or anything. Still, I can't let go of the images. And Karen's face… I can see it perfectly every time I close my eyes.

"Whatcha reading?"

Jack looked up to see that it was Fernando who asked the question. Fernando was a dark haired, tan skinned castaway and one of Zack's top guards on the wall. He was the one monitoring most of the day shifts.

"This? This is my journal," Jack answered casually. "I've been keeping it since before the strikes."

"Why?" Fernando asked.

"Well, it relaxes me to write in it, and it's helpful when I want to review parts of my life."

"I don't see the point," he grunted. "That little book isn't going to help you shoot raiders or give the hospital medicine or anything. If you ask me, you're just wasting paper." He turned around and walked away.

"Whatever you say, Castro." Jack muttered. He didn't expect Fernando to understand. After taking another look at the ocean, he turned back to his journal and turned the page. Instead of finding words on the next page, he found a picture he had drawn.

"I forgot I made this," he said to himself. It was a sketch of Karen's face he drew from memory after the night of the first dream. Normally, his artwork left a lot to be desired, but this was a pretty nice sketch. He stared at the eyes he had drawn on her face. It was almost as if he were looking at the real thing. Suddenly, he snapped back to reality.

"Why do I keep thinking of Karen?" he thought to himself. "It's Elli I should be thinking about. We had such a fun lunch together, then some deep discussion, and then…" His mind halted. He began to think of the feelings he had for Elli. He was definitely infatuated with her. Underneath the professional exterior, she was a young, sweet, fun, woman. But when he took a risk to delve even deeper, he scared her away. Was it too much too fast?

There was another dilemma in Jack's mind. Even if things were to work out with Elli, would it even be fair to her if they dated if he were to still have Karen on his mind from time to time? He would feel awful if he continued to have dreams about Karen if he was with Elli. Wouldn't that be some sort of betrayal?
He remembered bringing this up with Travis. While the psychologist agreed with Jack that he ought to clear up his residual feelings before moving into a relationship, he reminded him that the Karen dreams were just dreams. A person can't always control what they dream. Sometimes dreams were just a mixture of memories and feelings from the day that were all meshed together. Though it was suspicious that he had dreamt of Karen multiple times, maybe they were just dreams. But how could he know for sure?

"I'll figure it out when the time comes," he thought to himself. He closed his journal and put it back in his pack before returning his gaze to the ocean. It looked the same as always… except for peculiar speck in the distance. Curious, he raised his sniper rifle up so he could look through the scope. The eye piece wasn't as strong for viewing distant objects as a pair of binoculars would have been, but he could make out that the speck was of a large row boat.

"Hey Fernando, we got fresh meat in the pond," he called out while pointing. "Straight out there!" Fernando said nothing, but pulled out his binoculars and surveyed the distant waters.

"Yup, just one little dingy." Fernando concluded. "But a threat is a threat. Lock and load, men!" All of the guards fell to position and then the waiting began. After about twenty minutes, the boat was in firing range for all the guards. Jack noticed that there was a man and a woman in their thirties on the boat with a small child by their side. They all looked terrified at the sight of the blockaded beach and the men that aimed weapons at them. Jack didn't let his guard down though. There had been a group of raiders in the past who had kept a child on their boat to make themselves look harmless.

"Attention interlopers!" Fernando shouted into the megaphone. "You are trespassing in our territory! You may either turn around and leave now or put your hands up, and we will escort you onto land for interrogation! Make any sudden movements, and we will shoot!" Both the man and woman raised their hands above their heads while the child ducked below the boat's rim in fear. Jack still didn't drop his scope.

Fernando then motioned for five of the guards to go intercept the boat. Not lowering their guns, they went out to one of the row boats tied up to the dock and met the new boat out in the water. One by one, they bound all three of the frightened trespassers hands and escorted them into their boat before tying the new dingy to theirs, even though the woman didn't want to leave what was left in the dingy.

"We will bring your things ashore!" Fernando shouted. "For now, get into our boat." The tension began to calm as the guards rowed back to the dock with their catch. As the couple and their child were escorted through the gate to the safe side of the wall, the last few guards poked around in their boat for anything worth carrying ashore. However, they froze up almost immediately.

"Hey 'Nando!" one of them shouted. "We got a stiff in here!"


"Well that went swimmingly," Jack mumbled to himself sarcastically as he exited one of the clinic's back rooms. The malnourished family had been brought to the clinic to be patched up and interrogated by Jack and Officer Harris. Jack had come across the job of playing an interrogator on accident a few years back on accident, and he was brought in ever since. Harris thought Jack was really good at picking out good and bad people, but even if it was true, Jack mostly just imitated what he had seen in the movies and on episodes of Law and Order. Still, he had picked out a few baddies in the past, so whatever he was doing was working thus far.

He met up with Mayor Thomas and Officer Harris in the hallway. Harris had already finished up with the man.

"What do you think?" the officer asked Jack.

"She seems clean to me," Jack replied, referring the woman. "Still, she's a little bit shaken up. You better try and calm her down."

"You're way too rough with them, you know," Harris said, shaking his head.

"Yes, well one of us has to be," Jack sighed. He sickened himself sometimes with how nasty he could be in interrogation when he wasn't getting answers.

"By the way," Harris began, "I found these in Walter's pocket. We must have missed it during the pat down." Harris handed Jack a small box. Jack was intrigued by what he was holding in his palm.

"You should have caught this earlier," Jack groaned. "It could have been a gun."

"Yes, I feel like the guards are getting lazy. It's been too quiet lately," Harris agreed.

"Well, you two better switch now," Mayor Thomas cut in. "This family looks harmless, but we should still try to wrap this up today."

"Sure thing," Jack nodded. He turned to see a door open behind him. Doctor Tim and Elli had exited one of the rooms. Neither of them looked too joyful.

"How is the boy?" the Mayor asked.

"Sleeping," Tim replied. "He's a bit malnourished, but we gave him some food and water. We'll review his condition in the morning."
"And his twin?" Thomas questioned. Tim dropped his head a little.

"He was dead long before we got to him. Looks like heat stroke combined with the bullet wound. We'll give his parents notice before we cremate the body." There was a long silence after the information was given. Jack noticed a tear roll down Elli's cheek.

"Well, I better get to work," Harris said glumly as he walked over to the room Jack had just been in. The Mayor and the Doctor left for the lobby to discuss something, leaving Jack and Elli alone in the hallway. There was an awkward silence.

"Hey Elli," Jack said in almost a whisper.

"Hey Jack," she replied without raising her eyes to meet his.

"Look, Elli," he started, "I know this is a bad time, but I really want to talk with yo-"

"This is a bad time," she agreed before walking down the hallway without even looking up.

"Shit," Jack muttered. He could have just made things worse for all he knew. But he couldn't think about Elli right now. He had a job to do. Putting on a serious face, he walked into the room where the newest castaway was imprisoned. He was wearing a patient's gown now, and his foot was chained to the bed so he couldn't escape. The man looked very tanned, and he had messy dirty blond hair to match his beard. He had an empty meal tray sitting in front of him on the little patient's table connected to the bed.

"Walter, Walter, Walter, it's so good to meet you," Jack started with a fake sounding greeting. "The last time I saw you, it was through the scope of my gun."

"What is this, some sort of good cop, bad cop routine?" the man asked in a frustrated voice.

"You could say that," Jack replied casually.

"Then I guess that makes you the bad cop, eh?" Walter asked. "The other guy seemed pretty nice."
"Look Walt, I'm not a bad guy. I'm just doing my part to make sure nobody gets hurt. As long as you have nothing to hide, this will all go easy peasy." He paused for a minute. "However, I will say I'm sorry for the loss of your one son. It's very tragic what happened." The last part was said with genuine sadness.

"Where's my wife?"

"I just talked to her. She seems clean to me," Jack answered while looking at his fingernails. "Do apologize for me later though if you will. I may have freaked her out a little bit."

"Wait, what?" He sat up in a blink. "What did you do to her!"

"Same thing I'm doing to you," Jack continued. "Don't worry. I didn't touch her. Just had to get a little bit me-"
"I swear to God, if you did anything-"

"Shut up!" Jack shouted as he slammed his fists on the table in front of the man he was interrogating. He stared angrily into Walter's unwavering eyes. "Call me a monster! Call me a son of a whore! I've heard it all before! I'm just doing what I have to do to keep this town safe! Anybody new who enters our little slice of heaven is regarded as a threat, and for good reason! There are a lot of motherfuckers out there who would kill us all and take what we have if we give them the chance, and I'm not about to let that happen! One bad apple spoils the bunch, and we burn the bad apples!"
"We had a child with us!" Walter shot back. "Do you think raiders would-"
"I've seen everything on that water, Walt!" Jack yelled again. "There was once a ten year old boy in a pack of raiders with an AK-47! I had to put a bullet in his head so he wouldn't put one in mine! Everything is a threat to us, and so are you!" After the words came out of his mouth, the man sat back down in his bed, terrified at what he had just heard. Jack paused for a minute as his memory began turning. He remembered the night he killed the boy. He couldn't eat for three days after that happened.

"Look man, it's an ugly world out there," Jack went on, this time, in a more civil voice. "We have to be ready for anything. Our future is filled with 'what ifs' and we have to be ready to deal with the harsh reality that the strikes have caused." He paused again so both his and Walt's breathing could return to normal. "Now, your wife already told me her side of the story, so just tell everything you remember, and if you aren't lying, everything will turn out okay."

Walter began telling the story of how he and his wife had made a hideout in an old wine cellar in an abandoned island town and how some raiders found them. Though they managed to dispatch the attackers, one of their sons was shot by a raider who had made it past their defenses, so they went out in search of help. Of course, Poter City wouldn't let them in, so they stumbled around the sea until they found Mineral Town. During the story, Jack raised questions at nearly everything the man said in order to pick up anything suspicious, and he fiercely pursued the answers. However, Walter's story seemed identical to what his wife said, so as the interrogation began to wrap up, Jack figured this family was clean.

"Harris says you're good, and I think he's right," Jack stated after the questioning ended. "Still, we'll be keeping an eye on you and your family. We'll give your supplies back to you, but we're keeping the firearms until we know you can be trusted. When you recover, we'll find you a job to do on the island if you choose to stay here."
"I think we will," Walter replied. "It seems a lot safer here. But I was a journalist before the nukes. What could I possibly do in this town for a job?"

"The Mayor will assess you and your wife's strengths and make a decision on where you will work. Wages anywhere on the island are stable, so you'll make enough to support your family. Nobody goes hungry here."

"Okay then, that's good to know," Walter said. He still was uncomfortable around Jack, which was visible by his body language and facial expression.

"Oh, and one more thing," Jack added as he pulled the box Harris had given him. "Harris found these in your pocket." He tossed the opened box of cigarettes into Walter's lap. "Mind telling me where you got those?"

"Traded a bottle of wine for them," Walter answered. "Do you want one?" It almost seemed as if he was trying to gain favor with his captor.

"I don't think so," Jack sighed. "I went cold turkey after the strikes. Just enjoy those while they last, cause you're gonna go crazy when you're out."

The door opened behind him. Jack turned his head to see Elli peaking in.

"I need to run some tests on the patient, so can you tell me when you're done?" she asked.

"Already am," Jack answered as he stood up and left the room after she entered. Harris was waiting for him outside the door, and the two men discussed what they had observed and came to the same conclusion.

"So, what do you two think?" the Mayor asked upon his return.

"We both agree that they're just ordinary castaways," Harris answered. "We'll keep an eye on them, but they look safe."

"Excellent, I'll look into finding them living arrangements," the Mayor chirped. "Thank you for your time today, both of you."

"No problem," Jack sighed. As the mayor and his son left the clinic, Jack let out a groan and slumped against the wall. The day had been quite unpleasant and he just wanted a drink to forget it all.

"Oh, you're still here?" Elli asked as she exited Walter's room. She still wouldn't look him in the eyes.

"Huh?… Oh yeah, I'm leaving," he answered. He began to walk out of the hallway, but stopped halfway out. "Wait, Elli, can we please talk?"
"Jack…" she sighed. "I have work to-"

"Look, I won't keep you that long. I just want to talk. Please? Just for a minute?" She finally looked up into his eyes. He couldn't read what she was feeling under what looked to be saddness.

"Come with me," she whispered. Taking his hand, she lead him through the hallway to the backyard of the clinic. The yard was built into a small garden, with little pathways running between what the doctors were growing. Elli sat down on an old stone bench, and motioned for Jack to join her. He sat down next to her, but didn't say anything for a few seconds or so. He continued to study her face.

"I hate it when you're like this," he whispered to her, finally breaking the silence.

"Like what?" she asked. She slightly turned her head to look at him, but she still wouldn't meet his gaze.

"When you're unhappy like this," he continued. The last time he remembered her being really unhappy was when Ellen died. "I like it when you smile. Your smile always makes me feel warm inside."

"Thanks," she replied in a whisper. "I'm just so sad about that poor boy. It's always sad when people die, but when it's a child…" She paused so she could wipe her eyes. "It's just another reminder about how mortal we are."

"It is tragic," Jack agreed. "I feel awful though."

"Why?"

"Because I… It's a sad situation, but I no longer feel moved by deaths like these," he looked away from her. "You probably think I'm an unfeeling monst-"
"I don't," Elli interrupted. "But what do you mean?"

"I guess… Knowing how millions of people were killed in the strikes, and how many people die here… death just feels like a routine thing to me. What's even worse is that I've become this way from all the raiders I killed. It's no longer a sin to me. It's just a chore now, like watering crops or milking cows." He stopped himself there when he realized how angsty he was sounding. "I'm sorry, I'm not normally like this. I just hate killing people, even if they are raiders. And I hate interrogation, because I'm a dick when I do it."
"Then why do you do it?" Elli questioned. She was completely looking at him now, her eyes filled with concern.

"Because I need to," Jack sighed. "This is the last good place left on Earth, and I feel like I need to defend it and provide for it, or I don't deserve it."

"I understand where you're coming from, sort of," Elli said sympathetically. "Sometimes, I feel as though if I don't work hard enough, I'm wasting the Goddess's blessing that keeps us safe. I get why you feel that way."

"Thank you…" he murmured. There was another gap of silence. Jack decided that it was time to get to the really touchy subject. "Elli?"

"Yes?"

"I want to talk about last week." Upon the mere mention, Elli turned her head away from him. She was blushing again. "You had a good time with me, right?"

"Yes… To be honest, it was the most fun I've had in years. Just talking with you… you don't talk with me like I'm a coworker or a child or anything like that. It was refreshing." A small smile emerged on her face.

"Okay then," Jack continued. "I just want to know if I did anything wrong when we… err… I… um." The cat got his tongue.

"Kissed me?" Elli completed his statement and he felt his face warm up with blood.

"Yes, that's it," he muttered awkwardly. "Look, I'm sorry about that. I thought we had made a special connection or something, and I guess I acted stupidly since I know what I did must have made you uncomfortable since you just kinda ran out after-"

"Jack, please don't apologize," Elli cut through his nervous rambling. "When you… you know… I kind of freaked out because I didn't know what to do, and I felt stupid because I didn't kiss you back. I really embarrassed myself because I felt so immature and inexperienced. I mean, I know you're a bit older than me, and I was afraid that you were just going to see me like a chil-" She stopped as she rearranged the words in her head. "I didn't want to be seen by you as pretty much everybody else sees me."

"I'll be honest," Jack stated. "For all these years I've known you, that was how I viewed you. I always thought you were just a sweet girl. But after getting to know you better these past few weeks, you're so much deeper than that. You're nice, you're smart, and you do have…" he paused as he searched for the right word. "You do have this beautiful sense of 'youth' in you that most girls your age no longer have."

"By youth, do you mean innocence," Elli asked. Her smile had somewhat fallen.

"No, not necessarily," Jack continued. "I can't make a judgment call on your innocence. I just…I don't know. It's this good feeling I get when I'm around you. I like that feeling. And I really like you, Elli." He moved his hand to hold hers. She squeezed it when he held it.

"I really like you too, Jack. You make me feel like there's much more…" She began to blush again, but she closed her eyes and let out a small laugh. "Oh Goddess, it feels like everything is going so fast. Just a month ago, I feel as though I barely knew you and now… I just want to keep learning more."

"As do I," Jack whispered. The two moved closer to each other in an embrace on the bench. As Elli leaned her head on Jack's shoulder, he could smell her hair. The aroma of pink cat flowers rushed through his nose. When her head left its resting place, he leaned his forward and kissed her cheek.

"No Jack," she said quietly as they stared deeply into his eyes. "Really kiss me."

Without hesitation, he went to kiss her again, but this time she met him halfway through. The moment seemed like something out of a fairy tale or a really cheesy romance novel, but it was the best Jack had ever felt in awhile. For the first time in months, his thoughts weren't on Kassie, the strikes, the voice, or Karen. They were all focused on Elli.

After the two pairs of lips separated, Jack looked at the nervous young woman who returned his look with one of ecstasy. The sour day had a sweet ending.


Dear lord, that really did overflow the sappy meter in my opinion. But hey, the way I see it, it had to be done. They're gonna take my man card away for this though.

So review and stuff. I'll get another chapter up sooner or later.