Zigzag's words caught the Warden in complete shock. She froze in mid sentence and just stood there, wide-eyed and silent. Until finally she laughed.
Laughed! Zigzag could not believe that she was laughing!
"Oh, and how on Earth do you know this?" she asked, with an evil grin on her worn face.
Now Zigzag froze. How did he know? After all, it might have just been a dream. Elizabeth could be fine, already in the custody of the police.
But no! It was so real. Her, lying on the cold concrete, and he could feel her fading away, the cold taking over her mind and body.
He gulped and finally said through gritted teeth.
"I just…do."
"Zack!! ZACK!! Please, COME BACK!!" Elizabeth screamed toward the dark walls that surrounded her. Her mind was spinning, searching desperately, looking for any sign of him, but she seen nothing.
Tears flowed from her eyes as she desperately tried to move, but her legs would not carry her, her arms would not move her, she was trapped, trapped and alone.
She let go, finally she gave up her fight, curling up on the cold cement, she closed her eyes and cried as her nightmares drew closer and closer…
"WE HAVE TO SAVE HER!!" Zigzag yelled, trying to quickly persuade the Warden to act, but she would not budge.
"And what do you expect me to do!? Hop on a plane to 'save' her?" She chuckled at the thought. "Even if I cared enough to do that, it would take hours to get to New York. Plus, how am I supposed to trust you? You could be making all this up!"
"BUT I'M NOT!!" Zigzag was frustrated, tired, and scared for not his life, but hers. "I saw her dying!! COME ON!!" He turned toward the door, but the Warden did not move.
"Saw her? How?"
He stopped and without turning to look at her, said. "In a dream."
"What?"
Zigzag turned on the spot to see the Warden looking livid. Her cheeks were blazing red and her teeth were clenched.
"YOU BARGED INTO MY CABIN!! WOKE ME UP AT UNGODLY HOURS OF THE MORNING, YELL AT ME TO SAVE YOUR PATHETIC GIRLFRIEND ALL BECAUSE YOU SEEN IT IN YOUR DREAMS?!?! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, A FUCKING PSYCHIC?!?!?"
Zigzag snapped.
Before the Warden could register what was happening, Zigzag punched her across the face. She tumbled to the ground, screaming. The commotion woke Mr. Sir and Dr. Pendanski, who came running in. Zigzag, realizing what he'd done, sprinted past the two men and ran through the door. Mr. Sir chased Zigzag outside with Dr. Pendanski at his heels.
Boys from all tents were coming out to figure out where all the noise was coming from. Once their tired eyes configured the commotion, they began to cheer. Mr. Sir yelled for Zigzag to stop, and he did, tripped Mr. Sir as he turned. Mr. Sir's gun flew from his hand and landed yards away.
A brilliant idea struck Zigzag. He planted a foot in Mr. Sir's face and ran toward the abandoned weapon, snatching it up and turning it upon its owner.
The entire camp went silent. Dr. Pendanski froze where he stood, and the campers stopped their jubilant cheers. Mr. Sir looked up, and in realizing his current situation, his already blackening eyes widened in fear.
"Get me to New York, or I shoot."
"Zigzag" Dr. Pendanski said gently. "Let's calm down. I think you're over-reacting."
"SHE'S DYING!! SHE'S DYING IN NEW YORK!!" He screamed at Dr. Pendanski, keeping the gun pointed straight at Mr. Sir's face.
From far away, Zigzag heard a loud bang. Shortly after, he felt a sharp pain in his back. And he felt himself falling away as the world went dark.
He felt himself floating, as though effortlessly swimming through a sea of darkness. He could hear voices around him, vague unfamiliar voices, but he ignored them. His body was heading toward a light, blood red in color, and slowly becoming darker.
Before he knew it, he had emerged through to the other side. He was standing in the alley, and joy filled him only for a moment, he looked down to see her, curled on the ground, her blood pouring over the cold cement.
Who did this? Anger and pain filled every inch in his body as he looked up to see a young man standing on the other side of Elizabeth. Zigzag felt like he was looking in a mirror. The guy looked just about the same as he did, but was wearing urban clothes instead of Zigzag's orange jumpsuit. Then, Zigzag looked at his "twin's" hand to see a bloody knife.
Suddenly, the murderer looked up at Zigzag, noticing he was there. A sick smile spread across Zack's face as he nodded toward the ground.
"You're too late buddy."
A violent scream erupted from Zigzag as he charged the image of Zack, but he passed right through him. Zack turned and within a moment he was standing directly in front of the fallen Zigzag.
"You're not dead Ricky. Yet." Zack laughed heartlessly.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?"
"Dead, Ricky, but not settled yet." He paused for a moment and nodded back toward Elizabeth's bleeding form. "You see, I had some unsettled business to attend to. Elizabeth betrayed me when she went to Camp Green Lake and met you."
"But you were dead!" Zigzag said, trying hard to get up to save Elizabeth.
"Oh Ricky, so naïve. The dead never truly die." He chuckled. "The way you reached out to Elizabeth when she tried to remain so isolated meant something. You went out of your way to try and help her. In result, her heart began to fall for you."
"What does this have to do with you?" Zigzag tried to move his head, his legs, anything, but he was stuck, helpless.
"What doesn't it have to do with me? As she began to fall for you, she started to forget me, a thing she promised never to do. She told me the day before the shooting that she would never, NEVER forget me." He chuckled and turned to look at her. "Now she'll never get the chance."
"AHHHH!!"
Zigzag broke through whatever invisible force was holding him back and ran through Zack and to Elizabeth. He fell to his knees and tried to pick her up, to carry her away to safety, but his arm went right through her.
"You're not really here Ricky, your just here in her mind, your mind. There's some bond between you two, but no matter, that'll end soon."
Hot tears ran down his face as he tried to touch her face, but couldn't. How could he feel so strong for someone he barely knew? He watched her chest rise slowly, her breaths short and slowing fast. His eyes caught the source of her pain, a thin cut on the back of her left hand.
He was losing her slowly, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.