Tomb Raider:

The Adventures of Lara Croft

Book 1-Curse of the Scorpion

Chapter 53 – The Last Survivor

The night was consumed by a heavy silence, deafening to the ears. No crickets, no animals, no chirping, no fluttering of wings or grasping of talons, no hunting or preying, no howling at the night sky and, possibly most unsettling of all, no wind blew. Only the soft crackling of wood on the fire reminded them of their all too present state; they weren't dead… and they were still awake.

"ARRRRRG! Hahahaha! They know they know… they saw they saw… Hahahaha!".

Well, the silence AND the ever present rambling of a murderous lunatic who just didn't seem to get tired of raving like a madman in an asylum.

Adam sighed, smacking his right hand to his face, "Ugh… ya think he'd have passed out by now… even if just ta be polite.".

"I'm afraid 'polite' is not high on our friend's priority list just now." Lara replied, drapping an arm over her eyes. All this hysterical rambling was doing nothing but give her a headache when she so desperately needed to think. To understand. To-

"RAHHHHH! Un-tie me! I am well!".

Both Lara and Adam remained silent; waiting for it…

"Hahahaha!".

Everything was overly quiet except, of course, for last surviving escort who was still very securely tied up to a tree near the second fire; where hours ago all of the escorts were alive and well, laughing about having finally seen some action and having finally gotten out of the village.

Lara frowned, her heart heavy. All they had wanted was to see something new, go on an adventure, get a chance to be brave. They had, despite how it ended, they had. Thinking back, they would have surely declined the offer… or at least, she hoped they would have.

"We must flee! They… they hear… them… they come… my thoughts… they… know my thoughts… They know my thoughts!". The poor soul continued to ramble, sometimes cohesively and others not. But there was a pattern… or at least, as much of a pattern as there could be. He'd ramble, then rave, then scream; though perhaps most disturbing of all was the laughter. Like something the Joker from Batman might utter; high pitched and with an air of something sinister to come.

Then there was silence again, for a time. Yet it never seemed to last long enough to let sleep claim them. Tired but unable to rest, as if it were some sick form of torture to leave them unprepared for the next wave of attack. Sleep deprived, wavering strength and drained on more than one level; what chance would they really have against this cursed desert?

As the night wore on, for what seemed like an eternity, so did the rambling survivor… the unsuspected murderer. How long could he possibly go on before physical exertion dictated that he'd at least pass out; in fact, how he was still mildly aware was beyond any sort of comprehension on Adam and Lara's part. It just made no sense. Then again, perhaps that was the point…

The screams and ranting were not the only things that plagued Lara and Adam's thoughts that hellish night… the memories, the answered questions, the blur of events that lead up to this current moment of exhausted weariness. Whatever tortured the surviving escort, they did not know. All they knew was that the memories alone were their own source of torture.

Closing their eyes, they almost pretended to sleep. Perhaps hoping that if they pretended long enough, then maybe it would actually happen; but that's not how things decided to go.

Images flashed in the dark, behind closed eyes, imbedding itself deeply into the back of their minds. Neither spoke, nor moved at all, but somehow both knew what the other was thinking about. The memories were too fresh to be ignored and too specific to be forgotten so easily.

Hours ago, after having their camp nearly decimated by an unnaturally brutal force, two escorts opted to take the first watch. They had believed it wise, since Lara and Adam were the reasons they'd survived at all, to allow their protectors the chance to regain their strength and to be of sound and ready mind should another attack soon follow. They had believed it wise, so neither Adam nor Lara had argued. Adam with his arm, most of all, had to admit that he probably needed it more than he'd let on.

That was when there were still three.

Three escorts, not one.

Three.

They still didn't have a clue as to what started the argument or even, at the end, what it was about. They recognized a few words, but nothing strung together to pull anything remotely cohesive out of the thickly accented shouting. It was strange, considering both Lara and Adam were fairly well versed in the native language of the area; of course, at the time, neither had a chance to realize just how strange that truly was. Not to mention how important of a factor it would later play.

They hadn't had a chance to understand or to grasp the concept. Out of a deadened slumber Adam and Lara were sharply awakened by the sounds of fierce frustration; the shouting and arguing that would inevitably lead to blood and death for the two escorts involved. Ironically the victor, if you could call it that, of the argument would also fall victim to swift action himself.

Adam's brow furrowed at the memory, it was as if neither of the two escorts heard them. Both men had appeared completely oblivious to his and Lara's presence. They had tried to intervene, to diffuse the heated and increasingly violent situation but… they had failed. Thinking back… had there even been a chance for them to help? What could they have possibly done differently? He didn't know. Short of tackling both and binding them a fair distance apart, for the life of him, Adam just didn't know. Maybe, just maybe, there was actually nothing they could have done. Did that even make sense?

After that moment, things got harder to pinpoint. It had all happened so fast; a blur of motion, blood, and death. Their thoughts moved almost as fast as the events had unfolded; it made it hard to comprehend. They had to have missed something… it couldn't be that black and white.

Like a blur…

The scent of fresh blood…

The agonizing scream as sharp metal tore through warm flesh…

The victor of the two arguing escorts stood with his hand tight on the handle of his knife; the end of which was already fully plunged into the throat of the defeated side of the argument. I suppose that was one way to settle the matter; whatever IT had been.

Adam and Lara shifted uneasily now, the memory so fresh that both could still smell the blood and feel the sharp intake of breath at their shock of what had occurred just before their eyes. It hadn't been that they were not accustomed to seeing blood, violence, murder or death… No, it was more that they simply did not understand. They were both there and yet, they might as well had been watching a movie unfold for all the good it did the departed.

The arguing was silenced, followed by the gurgled sounds of blood… a vain attempt at one's last breath as the murdered escort faded out. The man had dropped to the ground with a heavy thud and it was then, just as his desperate and futile attempts at breathing finally failed, that another wave of sudden shock washed over Adam and Lara.

A single shot from Adam's gun echoed into the night. To say it was unexpected would be best deemed the understatement of the year, but what was most alarming was that it had not been Adam who had fired. In fact, when Adam had reached for his gun as a precaution, it had not been there.

It was when the victor of the argument, who suddenly found himself a victim in turn, fell to the ground that Lara and Adam found out just how complex the situation truly was. It was the third survivor who had fired, with Adam's gun, and it was he who turned out to be the final victor of it all; the last survivor of the escorts who had left the village that day.

Thinking back, they really couldn't remember seeing the man until the moment he fired a bullet into his fellow escort's head. He had been so silent that no one even noticed when he'd woken up. No one had noticed. Not Lara. Not Adam. Not either of the two arguing escorts, of course they were otherwise occupied. In all honesty, no one had even thought about him. That is, not until he claimed all the attention for himself.

Perhaps the most unsettling was what remained unaccounted for. Adam's gun, it made no sense. After the battle he'd slept with it in his hand, an ironclad grasp to it as if it were a lifeline. He had to be ready to attack, especially considering his injuries. He, most of all, had to be ready. So how had he not been? It made no sense.

Why wasn't his gun on him? Since when? When did the third and now final survivor get his hands on it? How had he come to possess it? When would he have gotten the chance? And how? But, most importantly, why? Did he know something would happen? Did he suspect? Or was it purely out of a strong need to keep himself safe after such a life altering experience? All these questions; not a single answer. Not a single one.

Still, the reaction time had been near flawless to say the least. Almost planned even. The shot was clean, direct and executed with lethal accuracy. A single shot that the victim didn't see coming. In fact, no one had seen it coming. It had come from seemingly nowhere. It was then that they realized the third survivor was no longer asleep. What a way to find out.

Three survivors there once was.

Two now dead.

One stabbed.

One shot.

And the third remained untouched; unphased.

The last survivor.

*Aven*

Well, THAT was unexpected. Lol seriously, THIS came out of seemingly nowhere. Went to get a pepsi, sat down, read over my last few words and went "Wait a minute… did I… did I seriously just write a whole other chapter? What… I wasn't even going to go on this far with this idea and now DAMN… the idea has its own chapter now?! O.O " Sooooo yeah, I'm quite amused right now and laughing hesitantly. What is NOW this chapter originally started as an intro to what it was SUPPOSED to be about… started an intro/transition type of thing and… bam! Chapter. Whole other chapter. Funny when that happens right? An idea just slips away from you and before you know it, it totally took over.

Re-read when I noticed and realized I kinda like it and since it was just so random and so take-over-ish… decided to just let it have this chapter :P Hope you guys enjoy my randomness! I know I did lol

Aaaand I'll stop rambling myself now lol

But first… I just have to say THANK YOU for all the new views and for the new followers to this story, that you so much for taking an interest and for those who are still here, thank you soooooo very much for continuing to read and want to read my little adventures with Lara. Chapter 53 and I'm nowhere near short on ideas. Even have a few stray ideas simmering for future "Books" when this one finally reaches its conclusion.

Stay tuned =^-^=