thanks tomarco1094 for reviewing the last chapter!
man, i took way too long putting this one out. but i do notice that it's one of the longer ones (yay!) and i hope that somewhat makes up for the time delay. i'm really sorry for taking so long!
Last chapter alert!
So, they get out. It is surprisingly easy for them to escape, which causes them to second-guess their safety. They've been around long enough to second-guess everything.
"You guys ever think that maybe, like, we should just quit?" Mike asks suddenly.
"What?" Ari replies, skidding to a stop and turning to stare at Mike. Jake shoves him, a sign to keep moving but keep talking.
"You know, like the reset button on a video game. Or, maybe not even that. You know, like, just…start over…" Mike muses.
"You want us to kill ourselves," Alex mutters suddenly.
"What?" Jake replies this time, stunned. Was killing themselves ever even an option? "You think we should kill ourselves?"
"I dunno. I mean…never mind."
"No. So, you think that if we kill ourselves, everything will end and we can start over?" Jake asks.
"Well, I dunno. For a little bit, I guess I thought it might work. I mean, at the moment when I thought it, it seemed that anything could be better than this island."
Jake thinks this over.
"Could that seriously work?" Ari asks suddenly. "Seriously, guys, what if it's a test? Like, what if we're all dreaming this, and if we kill ourselves, it'll all work out? We'll wake up, you know?"
Alex stares at him. "Are you kidding me?"
"No, I'm serious! Seriously! What if that worked?" Ari asks. He turns to Jake. "Whadda you think, Jake? Seriously, don't you think that'd work?"
Jake shrugs. "You never know. I mean, I'd be willing to try anything on this place." His voice trails off, but then comes back. "But, I mean, killing ourselves? Kinda does sound extreme, Ari. Hugely extreme."
"But what if it's the only way?" Ari insists. "Mike agrees with me, dontcha, Mike?"
Mike nods slowly. "It really does have some pretty good possibilities," he tells them. "But, I mean, don't blame me if it doesn't work."
"Mike, if it doesn't work, we'll all be dead anyways," Jake points out.
"At least we'd all die together. Either that, or we keep living on this damn island," Alex decides.
Jake sighs deeply. "All in favor…"
Three of the four raise their hands. Jake's remains at his side. Finally, though, he lifts it up.
They decide that they want to keep it quick. They don't want to try it, and then end up just getting seriously wounded and having to stay on the island even longer. Guns are finally settled upon as the most logical choice.
As the time passes, each of them becomes a bit more comfortable with the idea. They begin to daydream about seeing their families again. Getting off of the island becomes a reality to them. It's possible, and it's just out of arm's reach.
Jake distracts Jack by pretending to have a slight panic attack. Ari and Mike scurry into the tent and find four guns after a few minutes of searching. They slink out the back and hand them to Alex, who runs a few yards into the jungle. She waits there for the threesome to meet her.
They do.
And it begins.
"Okay, how're we gonna do this?" Jake asks.
"Isn't it obvious?" Ari asks. "We just pull the trigger. Bang bang boom boom. Right?"
"Yeah…I guess," Jake answers.
Alex puts a hand on his shoulder. "Are you still okay with this?" she asks softly.
"Yeah," he tells her, nodding a little. "I'm okay."
"Okay."
Jake cringes as he feels the sleek metal of the gun pressing against the side of his head. You'll get out of it, he assures himself. You guys will all get off this island and never have to worry about it again. Never.
"A-are you guys ready?" Ari stammers. His hand holds the gun shakily. Jake knows that he wants to drop it. So does Alex. He can't tell what Mike is thinking. For the short time that he'd known him, he never really could.
"One," Ari says.
"Two," Mike mutters.
"Three," Alex adds.
"F…four," Jake whispers.
Three gunshots echo throughout the jungle. The fourth ceases to go off.
The bodies of Jake, Alex, and Ari collapse to the ground, the guns skittering out of their hands and across the foliage.
Mike stands there, his whole body shaking. Tears stream down his face uncontrollably. Finally, he swallows, and represses the gun to his head.
Before he can attempt to pull the trigger, another hand knocks it away from him. Mike turns quickly and stares into the eyes of a tall man in a bright yellow suit.
"One, two, three, four," the man counts. He pulls out his own gun and takes Mike out of his misery.
"Children," he says, re-pocketing the gun. "Such a waste of time." As he walks away, a small picture of a boy falls out of his pocket. Walt is scrawled in hasty handwriting underneath the photo. The wind carelessly flips the photo over, and there is a picture of a baby. The name Aaron is written under this one.
Sticking to the picture is another one. It's not a photo, though; it's simply a piece of paper withBaby Sunwritten on it.
Unaware that he is missing something, the man pulls out a small pad of paper and a pencil. He drags the pencil across the paper four times, and the paper and pencil disappear once again into his suit pocket.
"Four down, three to go."
As he walks along, he mutters to himself, "They can't keep using the same tactics. These people will catch on sooner or later. And sooner or later they will rebel. What will we do then? We're lucky these kids fell for it. The next kids might not. And we could be in major trouble.
"The next kids might not."
Well, i believe that concludes my story. i hope you all liked it! and i once again apologize for the major delays in between chapters and stuff.
i hope to write another story soon, if it works out that way. until then, adios & aurevior ( --no idea how to spell that) & an Elvish Namarie ( --farewell) haha i spend too much time memorizing LOTR dialogue.