Georgie
Georgie closed the door as silently as she could. She had spent a sleepless night on the couch of Daryl's room, trying to think through the events of the previous night. Most of her thoughts had been centred on blaming herself. She should have insisted on going with Carol to find firewood. If she had been there, whatever had happened she could have defended them both. She groaned and padded softly down the hall.
T-Dog and Rick had escorted her back to the hotel, not allowing her to help look for the body, which was still missing. Georgie didn't remember the walk back, nor how she had ended up in the reception area. She didn't really remember how long she had waited there, with Rick and T-Dog. She supposed that was what actual shock was like. After they had brought the jacket back to the hotel, and the full scale of the damage had been seen in torch light, Georgie wanted to be physically sick. It was obvious that someone had taken a knife to Carol and slashed at every part of her they could reach. What wasn't obvious was if Carol had shaken off the jacket herself, or if it had been taken off afterwards. None of this had really woken Georgie up from her half nightmare. What had woken her up, was Andreas accusation.
"Did you really get that bruise from a coffee table Matthew?" Everyone's head jerked up.
"What'd you say?" Daryl moved towards Andrea.
"I'm just saying. That bruise. A bit of a co-incidence don't you think?" Georgie stared at Andrea-was she really accusing Matthew of murder? She looked at Matthew. She didn't see a murderer, just an increasingly scared boy. Was she being naive? Andrea carried on, looking around to see if anyone else was agreeing.
"He has no alibi for the whole day. He's been in his room, but did anyone check? And he's clearly not balanced. We've all heard him talking to his friend. He had opportunity..."
"No, you can't be serious." Georgie's mouth seemed to move of it's own accord. "You can't just accuse people like that, you have no proof, only speculation." Speculation? Had she been an extra in CSI in a previous life? Andrea whirled around to face her.
"How can you say that? After all Carol did for you, she practically adopted you, and now you just want him to get away with it." Georgie felt an overwhelming urge to slap Andrea, or punch her. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.
"When I find who did this to Carol, I am going to make their last few hours on earth slow and painful. So it has to be the right person, not the result of a witch hunt. You can't just point the finger at the last person to enter the group."
"She's right." Rick's voice had been calm. "We need to make sure it's the right person. We have to hold onto our humanity. We need to investigate the whole area more thoroughly. Tomorrow we'll go out and have a closer look. Until then, I suggest we all go to bed. Try to sleep."
It had been hard to convince Andrea, and by this time other members of the group to agree to this. In the end, Daryl had barricaded Matthew in his bedroom and sleep on the couch. Georgie had stayed with the pair of them. Sophie was still with Miao and Ben, and the thought of sleeping alone in her old room had made her head swim. Before they had closed the door on him, Matthew had turned and thanked her for defending him. Georgie had tried to smile back, but she couldn't stop wondering if she was wrong about him. Once the door had closed, she had fallen onto the couch and stared blankly at the TV. It wasn't until Daryl had gingerly started to pat her back that she had realised she was crying.
By first light, she had made up her mind to go back to the clearing by herself and look around. As she entered the reception, she avoided looking at the counter where the jacket was. She picked up her crossbow, which she must have dropped when she came into the room and carefully slid the French windows open.
It didn't take her long to find the clearing. As she stepped into it, an overwhelming sense of nausea hit her. She turned and retched into the trees, coughing and choking. Standing up and wiping her mouth she scanned the scene; attempting to put her emotions aside and think like a CSI.
The first thing she wondered, was where was the blood. The jacket had been covered in it, so where had it all gone. Could they have trampled it into the grass when they had been here before. That was a possibility. She tried to think of all the episodes of CSI, CSI Miami and CSI:NY she had watched with her Dad and Adele back home. Transfer? Had they transferred any blood when they stepped in it? But wouldn't there be some footsteps? It hadn't rained. So there was the first problem. She carefully walked around the edge of the clearing. She couldn't see anything else to confirm who had done this to Carol. Not until...
It was so small she nearly missed it. But when she saw it, her heart skipped a beat.
A cigarette butt. Hidden in the trees facing into the clearing. She stepped next to it and picked it up. Someone had been smoking here. No one in the group smoked. Could this mean that there were other people around? She had no real way of telling if this was a recent butt or not. She leant against the tree and sighed. Then she sat up. Where was all the wood? Surely Carol must have collected some wood by now? So if she was killed here, where was it? Did this mean she was killed elsewhere and the jacket was dumped here. And if Matthew did do it, why would he dump it here? It didn't make sense. She grinned. Grissom and Langston would be proud. Now, if only she had a laboratory.
A noise from the left made her jump. She crouched down and realised what a good hiding spot this was. As she watched, she saw a slim figure walk into the clearing. It was Katie. Georgie wondered what she was doing out here. She stood up and walked towards her.
"Katie?" The redhead whirled around and pointed a gun at her. "Whoa! It's just me!" Georgie smiled reassuringly. Then she realised Katie wasn't lowering the gun. "Katie. It's me. Georgie. I'm not going to hurt you. So...you can put the gun down now."
"No I can't" Katie's voice was uneven and her hands were shaking. "I got it wrong yesterday. But I've learnt from that little mistake. I see you Georgie. I know it's you this time."
"This time..?" Georgie realised what Katie was saying. "You...killed Carol." Blind anger overtook her and she went to raise her bow. Katie laughed, jagged and harsh.
"You really think you can raise that before I shoot you between the eyes? You taught me well, remember?" She took a step forward. "I went looking for you yesterday. I saw that jacket and I thought...here's my chance. How was I to know you leant it out? Stupid bitch didn't even scream. But it was good practise. I got a bit carried away." She smiled. Georgie swallowed. She had lost it. And unless Georgie could think of something, she was going to be dead. Not un-dead, just plain dead.
"Katie..."
"DON'T KATIE ME!" Flecks of spit flew from Katie's mouth, and her eyes were wild and open. "You scheming home wreaking bitch. Don't think I don't know about you and Daryl. You act so nice to my face, but I hear you bad mouthing me behind my back. I saw you cosied up on the couch next to him. Keeping us apart, feeding him poison about me. I know it all you whore!" Georgie blinked.
"You're shooting me because of Daryl Dixon. Are you serious? Take him, he's yours!" Katie pulled the safety off.
"When I've killed you, I'll find a way to make it look like Matthew did it. When they execute him, Harry won't have anyone to look after him. Then when he's gone, it'll be just me and Daryl." Her hands weren't shaking anymore. Georgie suddenly realised she was about to die and that someone else would get blamed for it.
"Please God," she thought in her head. "If ever I needed a miracle, it's now."
A shot rang out, and Georgie waited. But she felt nothing. She stared at Katie, and noticed a patch of her hair getting redder. She fell to the floor, and Georgie realised she had been shot through the head. She looked around her and saw a figure in the shadows. He was reloading a shotgun. He was tall and stocky. His clothes were filthy. His skin was sallow.
And he had a human hand hanging from his belt.
Georgie's legs started moving almost before her brain told them too. She sprinted back towards the hotel. She couldn't hear if the person was following her, she just knew she needed to get back to the hotel. She fell and stumbled and could feel blood trickling from her palms and knees, but she didn't stop. She burst out of the trees, and saw Andrea and Rick at the French windows.
"GET INSIDE! GET INSIDE NOW!" Both Rick and Andrea stared at her blankly. Why weren't they moving, was she speaking Japanese? She screamed even louder at them "INSIDE NOW!" Both of them moved into the hotel, looking confused. She ran in after them and slammed the windows shut. Blood from her hands stained the glass, and she could herself shaking violently.
"What the hell..." Glenn and Adele were sat on the couches, Dale and Ben ran down from the rooms upstairs. "What's wrong Georgie, where were you?" As Georgie's brain made the connection between what she had seen and the logical explanation, she felt herself slip into darkness. Before she blacked out completely, she managed to choke out a few words."
"Cannibals. There are cannibals outside the hotel."
Ok, so I'm off on holiday for a week now. Hope this is enough to keep you all going. Hope you're all not too bummed Katie died (lol!)