Mark ran through the trees, breathing hard as he struggled to catch up with Cartoonz and The Trapper. He knew that Jack hadn't wanted to be left behind, but Mark couldn't let him come along to help rescue Delirious because then there was a chance that his life being saved would go to waste. It was also because he loved him, and Jack apparently felt the same way, too.
Knowing that Jack had feelings for him made Mark only want to keep him safe much more, and he wasn't risking a fight with the very thing trying to kill them. Mark passed one of the working generators and the Killer's Shack came into view. He sped up and leaped right through a window like it was a hurdle on a track and didn't stop at the stairs. He skipped over a few at a time, leaping onto the small landing between the steps, and saw what was going on.
Thankfully, Delirious hadn't been thrown onto a hook again, and he was backed up into a corner. Cartoonz was in front of him, fending off The Trapper with a bent pipe he'd found outside the shack. The Trapper's machete and the pipe were clanging against each other, and Mark saw The Trapper try to push against Cartoonz to get at Delirious at one point.
Shaking his head regain his senses, Mark charged blindly forward with a yell and he attacked The Trapper. The killer spun around, swinging its machete at him, but Mark was quick to jump backward and dodged the deadly blow. He glanced quickly at Cartoonz as a signal for him to start getting Delirious out of the Killer's Shack, and Cartoonz understood it clearly.
He nodded to Delirious, who started sliding slowly over the wall while Cartoonz stayed in front of him, holding up the pipe for defense. Mark was working to keep The Trapper distracted so that Cartoonz and Delirious would have the chance to escape, but the killer wasn't letting anyone go.
It grabbed Mark and attempted to toss him onto a hook, but all that did was give Mark something to hold onto. He gripped the hook tightly in his hands and kicked upward with his legs, slamming his feet into The Trapper's masked face. The Trapper let a roar of fury rip from its throat as Mark jumped back to the floor. He spotted Cartoonz and Delirious across the room, very near the stairs, and knew that he just needed to keep The Trapper occupied for a bit longer.
The Trapper recovered and saw that two of its victims were escaping, and then made the charge. But Mark wasn't having it. He lunged forward and leaped up onto The Trapper's shoulders, confusing it. The Trapper spun around in circles, clawing at Mark's arms with its gloved hands until Mark jumped off at last. He'd seen Cartoonz and Delirious retreat from the basement, and was about to run out himself when The Trapper turned and grabbed him again.
At least Cartoonz had thought he might need to help Mark, because he came back into the basement with the pipe in his hands. He flung it at The Trapper's head, causing the killer to let go of Mark and stand still for a moment. Mark scrambled to his feet again and tried to go around the monster towards Cartoonz, but he was too slow.
The Trapper recovered again and reached for Mark just as Cartoonz retrieved his weapon. Quickly, he realized the danger that the both of them were in, and raised his pipe again to fight against The Trapper. With Delirious out of the Killer's Shack and on his way back to the safety of the hideout, Cartoonz didn't need to worry about protecting him.
But he did need to help Mark. The Trapper had thrown him into the corner that was farthest from the exit, and Cartoonz was practically all the way across the basement. But he was a fast runner, and was soon right behind the killer, slamming the pipe down on its back with all his might.
To his total bewilderment, the pipe broke in half, but at least it had grabbed The Trapper's attention. The killer turned slowly around to face Cartoonz, and he looked up at the ugly mask that covered its face. He gulped.
The Trapper grabbed Cartoonz by the collar of his leather jacket with one hand, and the other half of the pipe with its other hand. It tossed the broken pipe aside, and took a step forward, forgetting about Mark. Mark started scratching at The Trapper's machete arm, stopping it from reaching the pillar in the center of the basement with its four hooks, dangling menacingly from the beams.
The Trapper suddenly remembered that there were two survivors in the basement with it, and it spun around, throwing Cartoonz directly into Mark. The two men hit the wall with such a force that the air was knocked of them. Once recovered, they scrambled to get off each other to stand again, but before they could get up, The Trapper was standing just above them, with its machete poised to strike.
Cartoonz and Mark saw it was about to bring the spiked machete down on them, and they only braced themselves for a possibly fatal blow, but nothing came. Opening one eye, Mark widened them both at the sight of blood. It wasn't his or Cartoonz's blood, but The Trapper's.
A hook had been stabbed into The Trapper's side, and it was quickly removed. The Trapper spun around with a roar of anger and slashed its machete through the air. Cartoonz had opened his own eye now and he and Mark finally managed to get to their feet.
"Jack?!" Mark gasped once he caught sight of the green hair.
Jack had run into the basement after finding a hook near where Mark had left him standing. He'd taking it into his own responsibility to protect Mark, even though Mark was the one who had been trying to protect him.
"GO! Get out of here! I'll hold em off!" Jack shouted, waving his hand at Mark and Cartoonz.
Mark couldn't seem to grasp what was happening, and he was unable to move like he was trying to. Cartoonz had to grab him by the arm and half drag him up the stairs. It wasn't until Jack appeared at the top that Mark was able to control his body again. He got to his feet and dashed after Cartoonz with Jack just behind him. One glance over his shoulder said The Trapper was chasing after them.
They were running quite fast, and closing the distance between them and the hideout, but in the moment of panic, Mark forgot about the traps that had been set up around the shed.
"Mark, watch out!" Jack cried behind him.
Mark only had a moment to realize what happened next. Jack pushed ahead of him, shoving Mark aside. There was a loud snap of metal closing and Jack let out an earsplitting shriek of pain. Mark had rolled over the ground several yards, and was scrambling over the ground to get back to Jack. Cartoonz had stopped and was running towards Jack as well, but the worst part seemed to be that The Trapper was quickly catching up.
"Jack!" Mark gasped when he stopped beside his best friend.
The bear trap had closed hard around Jack's right leg, and there was a lot of blood already staining the ground. The trap was knocked over, and a horrible looking wound had marked Jack's leg. It was broken, and badly at that. Jack was moaning with pain as he tried not to scream again. The bear trap had not only snapped his leg on the inside, but now the bone was slightly visible. Even if Jack got out of this situation he wouldn't be able to walk at all afterwards. His leg was nearly severed, with the sharp teeth of the bear trap puncturing his skin nearly halfway through his entire leg.
Mark struggled with the clasps on the bear trap, desperately trying to pry the bloody metal open. Cartoonz had now reached them, but so had The Trapper. Jack was just barely able to move in time to push Mark out of the way as The Trapper brought its machete down on them.
"JACK!" Mark cried when Jack screamed again.
Blood was splattered over the grass and dirt when The Trapper's machete cut a deep wound into Jack's side. Cartoonz jumped at The Trapper, distracting it and giving Mark the time to try getting the bear trap open again. Mark was quickly at Jack's side once more, and he could feel his heart pounding with fear at Jack's heavily labored breath. It was also the sight of so much blood that was making Mark a little dizzy.
"YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE!" a voice shouted, making Mark jump.
Delirious leaped suddenly into view and jumped on top of The Trapper, tightly gripping the open handle of its machete. He let himself fall onto the ground, taking the machete out of The Trapper's hand with him. Startled, The Trapper tried to figure out who to attack barehanded; Delirious or Cartoonz?
The Trapper wasn't given the time it needed to make that choice, though, because Delirious got to his feet and stabbed the machete in his hand through the killer's front. The Trapper froze for a few moments before it shook awkwardly and then disintegrated into ashes. The machete landed on the ground with a thunk, and Delirious took a step back.
Mark snapped himself out of his shocked trance and went back to prying open the bear trap. Jack's breathing was growing more labored, and that wasn't at all a good sign. Cartoonz came up and took one of the clasps and pressed down as hard as he could while Mark was doing the same to the other. Delirious took hold of the mouth of the bear trap and he started pulling on it.
Finally, after another agonizing minute, the trap came open, and Jack let out another gasp of pain. It was extremely difficult to transport Jack back to the hideout without causing him extra pain or to lose more blood, but they finally got him back to the shed where they found Avery still inside.
Avery had gone inside the shed and had been drawing out a game plan the whole time that the guys were outside, and she had no idea that they had gone anywhere until they burst through the door with a nearly unconscious Jack. Avery felt her eyes widen with horror at the sight of the terrible wounds that Jack had on his right leg and side, and she was immediately reaching for the first-aid kit.
Mark, Cartoonz, and Delirious lay Jack down carefully on the floor of the shed, and Avery was already at his side.
"What happened to you guys?!" Avery demanded, exasperated, as she threw open the medkit.
"We heard The Trapper laying traps out nearby and went to investigate," Mark began explaining. "But it attacked us and Delirious was taken. I told Jack to come back here while I went after Cartoonz to help rescue Delirious, but he must not have listened because he showed up at the basement!" Mark was just about crying.
"Well, we're really lucky that he didn't listen, because otherwise the two of us would probably be dead right now," Cartoonz pointed out.
"We were running back here," Mark continued through sobs. "And then Jack stopped me from stepping into a bear trap, but he was the one who was caught in it instead."
"Hey, Delirious," Cartoonz lightly tapped Delirious' shoulder. "We should go take care of the rest of those traps around the shed."
Delirious looked at Mark and Avery for a moment, and then at the half-dead Jack on the floor. He looked at Cartoonz again and gave a small nod, following him outside and closing the shed door behind him.
Avery was trying to stanch the bleeding on Jack's side wound, since it was currently the most important, but Jack weakly pushed her hand away.
"Jack?" Avery looked at Jack's pale face in confusion and fear.
"D-Don't. . ." Jack mumbled faintly. "Don't. . . bother. . ."
"Don't bother? What. . . what are you saying, Jack?!" Avery asked desperately. "You have to let me stop the bleeding or you'll lose too much blood! You've already lost a lot as it is!"
Jack weakly shook his head. "No. . . it's too late," he mumbled, his voice dry.
Mark sobbed again. "No! Don't you be saying that it's too late, Jack! Why are you giving up?!" He protested.
"M-Mark. . . I-" Jack started gasping for breath suddenly.
"Jack! You shouldn't talk, you need your strength!" Avery instructed.
Jack was wheezing from the effort of just keeping his eyes open, and Mark was a crying mess at this point.
"Jack, you can't die now. . ." Mark choked. "I. . . I need you, okay?"
Avery stared at Mark in slight surprise.
Jack looked weakly at Mark.
"You said you love me, and that you have for a while," Mark began. "Well, I love you too, okay? So I can't let you die, Jack. I need you to stay alive for that particular reason."
Avery stared at Mark, and then looked at Jack again. She tried to go back to putting pressure on his bleeding side, but once again Jack gently pushed her hand away. He slowly raised his arm up to Mark, who took his hand. Mark slipped his other arm underneath Jack's shoulders and lifted him up a little.
"Jack. . . please don't go," Mark begged quietly.
"Mark. . . I love you," Jack whispered faintly.
Mark kissed Jack again as Avery watched sadly. Jack could feel what strength he had left fading, and with it went the pain, but at least he would have had the best last moment he could ask for.
More tears slipped from Mark's eyes as Jack finally went limp and was gone. Outside the shed, Delirious and Cartoonz had finished with the traps, and had decided to just wait outside for any word. They didn't know what was happening, but judging by the look on Cartoonz's face, Delirious had the feeling that it wasn't good. Cartoonz had looked inside the shed for a second before closing the door again, and his face was sad.
It was the look on Cartoonz's face that told Delirious everything.
Jack was dead.
