A/N: Massive Palex burn, yipes. Gonna hate me even more... Anyway, I'll gladly add on an 10th chapter that is an alternate ending with Palex as survivors. It won't make any sense, but then again... how often do alternate endings actually make all that much sense?
Running out of Surviors
"We have to get the hell out of here." Liberty told Alex, reflections of the fire dancing on her glasses. The screaming had stopped, but she could still hear it echoing in her head.
"Can't leave." Alex told her without humor, "Gotta kill the fucker who killed Paige"
"Seriously. Let's head north, toward the gate. This fire will undoubtedly bring the attention of someone, and we'll have people to rescue us."
"Then they might get away with it." Alex said with finality, "You go north, I'll meet you there after I get 'em."
"I'm not going alone."
"Whatever." Alex shrugged, then she turned and walked back into the woods.
Liberty was distraught. She wasn't sure whether she should follow Alex, or stay with the group. She knew Alex wasn't the killer, but Alex also seemed to be missing her senses right now. She concluded that being alone may actually be safer than being with the group, she wouldn't have to trust anyone that way.
"Why didn't you pull Emma out when you ran out, Peter?" Manny demanded, tears still streaking down her face.
"I went after Jay... I..." Peter stammered, "It was on fire when I got back, I swear. I tried to get her to come out."
"Well it should have been you in there. Not Craig." Manny accused, "Wait... you left your partner... and she almost turned up dead. You could have lit the shed on fire, you were missing every time someone got killed... you" Manny stopped crying, she seemed suddenly very frightened, "... it's you."
"It wasn't me!" Peter was shocked, "Emma, tell them..."
"I wasn't with you." Emma backed away from him, sharing Manny's sudden suspicion, "You could have done it."
"I didn't try to kill you Emma." Peter was frankly hurt by that accusation. He was out there trying to keep Jay from killing anyone else, and she accuses him of trying to kill her. "And I didn't kill anyone else either."
Off to the side Jay sniggered to himself before heading off in the direction that Alex had gone. Served Peter right, getting a taste of his own blame.
"Prove it." Emma said, she crossed her arms. His mouth tightened. She was making him angry, after all he had done for her tonight. His eyes still burned from the sand. He had nothing to say that could prove anything.
"Well, we're waiting." Manny added in.
"Shut up you little slut" Peter snapped at Manny. How was he suppose to think with th two of them staring at him like that?
"Don't talk to her like that!" Emma yelled at him.
"Or what?" Peter asked sarcastically. She slapped him, hard. He back handed her in response.
"I hope the killer gets you both." He told them. He wasn't thinking before he spoke. He had just reacted, he was angry. He knew now why Jay was acting the way he was, having the spotlight on you sucked. Emma rubbed her face where he had hurt her, and she gave him her meanest Emma glare. (and as we all know, that is a pretty mean little glare). He tried to apologize, but didn't know how to go about it.
"Fuck you." Emma told him, before she started walking away.
"Where are you going?" Manny asked, still eying Peter, her new primary suspect.
"Anywhere that isn't here." Emma said childishly, "Anywhere away from him."
Manny raised up the hammer she had as a weapon and started to back away from Peter. She stopped.
"I can't kill him, he may be the wrong guy, and I can't just let him out of my sight, because he might be the killer" Manny said to Ellie.
"I'll go get her." Ellie said and she rolled her eyes. She jogged off into the woods where Emma had gone.
Peter laughed at Manny holding that little hammer up all threateningly.
"I'll hit you Peter, don't you move." She warned him. He laughed at her again.
"Look, I didn't kill anyone." He said, he took a step toward her "But even if I had, you still wouldn't be able to kill me. It's not you Manny. You are not a killer."
"I'll do it Peter." She repeated.
He took another step toward her. She pretended to swing the hammer in an attempt to scare him. He grabbed the hammer and pulled it out of her hand. He held it up threateningly at her now. She cowered.
He sighed, "Run." he told her, he couldn't believe he had to suggest that she ran before she'd do it. Her eyes widened and she bolted. He tossed the hammer off to the side and sighed again. He pulled out his camera again and looked at it sadly. Tonight was the most fucked up night, ever.
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Alex wanted to say her good byes to Paige. She wanted to tell her that she was sorry. She walked back to the spot where Paige was propped up against the tree, her eyes still wide with that last pleading look. Alex closed Paige's eyes. That's when the tears came, she couldn't hold them back. She sat there next to her dead girlfriend and she cried.
There was a rustling in the bushes, someone was coming. She stood up and gripped the shovel, if the killer wanted a piece of her the killer was gonna be in for a surprise. Alex had a lot of fight left in her.
"Come and get me you son of a bitch!" Alex called out in that direction.
Jay dove out of the bushes in front of her. He took a harpoon to the chest, with a grunt. Jay crashed into her, the harpoon had gone straight through him, and right into her. The impact knocked her to the ground. Her head smacked into a rock, and blood oozed out onto the forest over growth. The killer walked out from the trees, armed with the harpoon gun, then approached it's two newest victims. He dropped the harpoon gun in front of them, under the tree, and looked up.
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Liberty heard something. She was worried about Alex, she couldn't help it. Alex needed someone to make her leave. She needed a voice of reason. She pushed aside some branches and saw the largest number of causalities yet. Paige was slumped against a tree with a harpoon gun laying in front of her. On the other side of the harpoon gun lay Jay and Alex, harpooned together.
"Too late." She whispered. Jay moved his arm. She hurried over to him, he was trying to point at what looked like her. Blood was dripping out of both corners of his mouth, his eyes were drooping. She didn't know how he was still alive. He couldn't very well get up as long as he had the harpoon through him. She put a foot on him to hold him down and she jerked the harpoon out. He made another pained grunt, that sounded like "up". Alex made no sound, she was already dead.
Liberty saw the white rope out of the corner of her eye, and looked up. It fell over her head and pulled taunt. She grabbed it with both hands and tried to pull it loose. The killer swung down on the other side of the tree, the rope was levered over a branch. As the cloaked figure came down, Liberty went up. She was choking, her fingers were digging into her neck under the rope. The killer tied the other end of the rope to another tree. She kicked her legs, and wriggled with all her might. It just made the rope pull even tighter. It felt like her eyes were bleeding. Other than desperation for air, she couldn't help but think that at least she'd be seeing her friends from Degrassi again very soon.
Her body hung in the air above the other three. Jay had bled to death, much like Hazel had. It was a quiet death field to walk into. Peter felt rather emotionless walking into it. He paused there and looked at them all, he even filmed them. At last he set his camera up in a crook of a tree and stepped back.
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A/N: Okay, so this chapter was pretty damned short, but hey, you guys got two in one day- even though one killed Paige, and the next killed Alex. Sadness. The next one is long and reveals the motive and what not, if you haven't figured out who the killer is yet I get to flat out tell you. The end is really fun, the whole reason I wrote the story, actually. Anyhow, I'll stop rambling about chapters to come and let you reflect and review on what you just read. You guys are awesome readers, thanks for all the comments, seriously.