If you hated me before, you'll probably hate me even more by the end of this chapter.
You know the drill. Total Drama is owned by Fresh TV, and Resident Evil (Biohazard) is owned by Capcom.
-X-
CODY
12: 45 P.M.
BALCONY
-X-
"Cody, get back here!"
I refuse to listen to Noah. He's not in control. I am.
"Cody, don't jump!"
I had to have been standing here for quite some time, looking over the edge of this balcony, comparing the theatre before me to the lovely goth girl I had grown accustomed to. The combination of art and beauty, the rows of chairs all looking on to center stage. I imagine an audience in those seats, as they give all of their attention on one person giving a sweet monologue... just like how I gave Gwen all of my attention.
Do I not want to admit it? Do I want to believe that the letter was false? That it's all some sick joke on Gwen's part, and that she's okay?
Do I need to answer?
Noah still doesn't give up. I don't understand why he won't let me jump.
"Scrawny!" Chef's voice rings in my head. "Remember what happened to the punk?"
...
...He's right.
"Listen to us, Cody: this is NOT the way!" Noah shouts. "Get your fucking ass away from the ledge!"
I still don't move for quite some time. My thoughts are filled with terror... and surprisingly... hope...?
"Hey, Chef?"
I don't turn around. The silence makes me assume I have their attention.
"Is there a cure?"
"Um... I'm not sure..."
I think for a moment before asking my next question. "Do you think Chris might know?"
"Chris is probably dead, foo'."
"No, see, I highly doubt that." I turn around and walk away from the balcony. "Chris would do anything to save his hide--even put you in the line of fire. If you ask me, you'd be dead long before he would be."
"Whatcha gettin' at, Scrawny?"
"I think Chris is trying to find evidence of a cure," I explain. "His narcissism would make him want to stray away and find a cure for himself, just in case he gets bitten and there's only enough antidote for one person."
"He still could've gotten bitten along the way."
"True, but what are the odds? This place isn't very overrun by zombies, you know. Besides, why else would he let you go?"
"How did you know he let me go?"
"Because you just told me, Chef."
"OOH! He got you good, Chefy-Boy," Izzy cackles.
"Oh, alright!" Chef rose his hands into the air. "I admit it, Chris wanted us to go our separate ways, but he didn't tell me why, a'ight?"
"...Fair enough," I say with a nod, and I walk past them out into the hallway. "I say we look for Gwen one last time. If she's still alive, we can take her to Chris right away."
"And if she's dead?" Noah, Noah, Noah... always the skeptic.
"If she's dead, then we just go. Come on, the lockdown's not over yet. How about one last search party?"
Chef rolls his eyes. "A'ight. But if we don't make it out of here, you're dead, you understand?"
"That's okay. We'll all be," I simply remind him, making my way to the far room. "There's got to be a way down into that theatre. I have no doubt in my mind that Gwen would've been attracted by it." Hmm... no doors... I was expecting a staircase of some... AH! What do we have here? A trap door?
"Yo, Chef, you got a crowbar?"
"No."
"Well, you got anything to--"
"Ooh! Let me do it!" Izzy shouts as she attempts, and somehow succeeds, to pry open the trap door with her bare hands. "Ta-da!"
"Thanks," I say as I spy a ladder in the open doorway. "Don't worry, Gwen. We're coming."
"Cody..." Noah starts up again, "she said to let it go."
I'm still not listening to him. I take the ladder down to the next floor.
(Clink, clank, clink, clank, down the ladder we go...)
We're in a typical backstage area, like you'd find at any theatre. On one side of the room, there's a door marked "Storage." It's locked. So we turn to the other direction--a hallway, which I'm assuming from the direction it goes that it leads to the stage.
Of course, I decide to press my luck in my hopes of finding Gwen.
-X-
1:05 P.M.
THEATRE
-X-
The room is probably even more beautiful from below. The large chandelier hanging from the ceiling feels even more unreachable than it did when I was on the balcony.
We search the theatre. Gwen had to be here--where else could she have gone?
Well, she's not here...
...but I spy another hallway...
"Scrawny, I wouldn't go that way if I was you," I hear Chef say. Now I'm curious. Exactly what was up with Chef?
"Cody, let's just go. The lockdown's got to be over soon," Noah says. Now, at least Noah's words I understand. He just wants to leave--to live. But Chef almost seemed like he didn't want me to go down that hallway for some reason...
"Aw, you two are no fun!" Izzy cries. "I wanna check out the hallway!"
"NO!!" Chef shouts, and Izzy doubles back.
"O-o-okay." Alright, now I'm REALLY curious. Izzy's never intimidated by Chef--he was never really defensive enough to BE intimidating to someone like Izzy. What's going on here?
"We are going! Now!" Chef commands, and the rest of the group, as if zombies themselves, agreed with the former military officer.
But I'm not going to fall for it.
"Go if you want, but I'm staying."
"Scrawny, you know what happened to Duncan. You were there!"
"Yes I was... but this is different..."
"It's a suicide mission, Scrawny, and you know it!"
"Cody, please..." Noah... Noah never pleads... "Come with us."
...This facility...
...It's gotten to them too...
That HAS to be what's going on here...
Well I'm not letting that happen to me.
"I'm staying," I say as sternly as possible.
Noah sighs, and walks up to me. To my surprise, he puts a hand on my shoulder. I hear Izzy catcalling and wolf-whistling in the back. "Cody... it's too late. She's gone."
"We can still save her," I try to reason, but he continues to be stubborn.
"Cody. It's over. Besides, Gwen's not worth all this trouble."
My eyes widen in shock. How... how could he...?
...GrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrAH!!!
"LET GO OF ME!" I forcibly tear his hand away from my shoulder. "How DARE you?"
"Obscure ref--"
"IZZY, SHUT UP!!" I return my attention to Noah. "How DARE you interfere wi--"
"You're just making this way too easy, Co--"
"IZZY, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT UP!!" I take a deep breath. "Noah..." I try to word it as carefully as I can. "How can you say that? She's--"
"Dead."
"I can't accept that," I say, shaking my head. "I just can't."
"Oh, you should've totally said 'UNACCEPT--'"
"IZZY!!" I take another deep breath. "Noah, do you have any idea how much Gwen means to me?"
Noah glares at me, to the point that I'm actually horrified. "You're kidding, right? Please tell me you are." His breathing becomes heavy. "Cody, do YOU have any idea how much YOU mean to ME?!"
...Whoa, what?!
An awkward silence follows... and Izzy breaks it with another catcall.
"...Dude..."
"Yeah, I admit it!" He grabs me with both hands, and my eyes widen in shock. What the fuck?! "I love you, Cody! Don't you get it?! You're the yin to my yang; the counterbalance to my cynical lifestyle!" Without warning, he plants a kiss on my lips, and I struggle to break away. He doesn't let me.
"Mmmo-mmoah, met moff...MET--" he pulls away, "--OFF!" I continue to struggle. What the fuck is going on here?
"Cody, let it go!" he yells at me. "Why can't you see she never loved you? Why do you keep going after someone who doesn't feel the same for you?"
At that, I stop struggling. Gee, this sure is a hypocritical statement, ain't it? "I don't know, Noah. Why DO you go after someone who doesn't feel the same for you?"
Noah begins to shake. I can't tell if it's because he realizes his hypocrisy, or if it's because he's completely lost it. "H...How... How can you possibly compare this situation with yours?"
"Because it's the same damn thing!" I shout. "The exact same damn thing!"
"No it's not!" Noah argues, and just then a veil is pulled over my head...
I smile at the bastard. "Y-You're right, Noah. It's not the same thing."
Noah smiles smugly. The nerve of that motherfu--
"I gave Gwen up, asshole."
His smile drops. Good. Let him feel that shit.
"I handed her over to Trent because I knew I couldn't have her. I still loved her, Noah. I loved her with all my heart. But she didn't love me. So you're right. It's not the same thing, because as far as I'm concerned, my love for her... is REAL. Unconditional love is the only real love there is, Noah. And if you can't let me go, you don't really love me."
He doesn't respond. He just stands there for a few seconds, blinking a few times, no doubt thinking about what I had said. Then his expression changes--to a much angrier one--and he turns around to leave. "Alright, fine! Get yourself killed, Cody! See if I care!" He heads backstage, Izzy in tow.
I'm about to go down the other hallway, but I stop when I hear a gun cock.
What the fuck?!
"Step away from the hallway, Scrawny."
...No...
I turn around. Chef has his shotgun pointed right at me. "Ch-Chef, what are you--?"
"I can't let you go down that hallway."
"I-I-I have no ch-choice, Chef," I respond, stuttering from fear.
"Let me rephrase that. I WON'T let you go down that hallway, Scrawny..."
"Ch-Chef..." I gulp, my arms shaking as I lift my own shotgun up.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he says, taking aim. "Drop the shotgun, little man."
Reluctantly, I oblige, dropping my only line of defense against this large, intimidating figure. I back up... toward the hallway, hoping Chef wouldn't notice that was my plan.
He did...
"Back up one more step, and I fire."
"What is your deal?!" I shout, scaring even myself. "What's back there that you don't want me to see?"
"Porn..."
I give him a weird look.
"...Nah, I kid. But you still ain't goin' back th--"
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
Oh, God...
There's a zombie... here?
"Oh, shit!" Chef curses, circling around. "Where did that come from?" He continues to circle around crazily, aiming at random areas, hoping to spot the monster before it spots him. Not having such luck, he decides to run back to the backstage area, leaving alone in the theatre.
Well, not quite alone...
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
For the first time, I realize the voice is feminine. But it's too weak... and too faint...
I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from, or who was even groaning.
I heard the horrid groan again, and this time, I realize something about it. It sounds very, horrifyingly familiar. I know that voice...
...Oh, God, no...
I raise the shotgun again and cock it. I don't want to do it, if this new friend of mine is who I think it is... but I may have to.
I look down the hallway I had wanted to explore earlier. The sound... it's coming from there...
Against my better judgment, I enter the hallway. I just want to make sure... that it's her...
I find my answer at the very end of the hall.
In front of what appears to be an elevator was the abomination that made those guttural noises. The shadows made it impossible to really make it out, but I could see that it was scratching at the elevator door--I assume the elevator was used recently.
Wait... this elevator...
Was that what Chef was hiding?
Again against my better judgment, I step closer, shotgun ready to blast this fucker's head off. But the closer I got to it, the clearer it became.
Then... I noticed the blue streaks...
...No...
NO!
It... she notices me. It--her--it... it's coming... she's coming toward me...
I remember Duncan, what happened to him. I can't let that happen to me.
"Come on, Cody, you can do this..." I aim the shotgun up at her... it... her... UGH!
"You can do this..." It's coming... she's coming closer... She... it... she... I can't... Ugh...
"Come on... You can do this... One bullet to the brain, one bullet..."
Goodbye, Cody. I love you. Like a brother, but I love you nonetheless.
...I can't do it...
I CAN'T DO IT!!
I turn and run as fast as I can, dropping the shotgun in the process... D-Duncan... what happened to him... I was right... Chef was right... it's the same exact thing, the same exact scenario...
...No...
I stop, taking another moment to think about it. It... no, she... was far enough away. Yes, Duncan froze up because he loved her, but the fact that he shot himself right after she was already gone... it was a "I can't live without you" moment. He couldn't give her up. That's what made it infatuation. He didn't willingly kill himself--he had no will left.
I still have will.
That's the difference between me and Duncan. That's what makes this love.
I still have will.
I still have the power to decide whether or not I want to live or die.
Can I live without Gwen? Yes.
But I'd much rather die with her.
I slowly turn to the monster--no, not a monster. It wasn't a monster at all. It was Gwen. It was always Gwen.
Maybe this is stupid. Maybe the facility is getting to me after all.
Maybe it's already killed me.
But no matter what, as long as I'm with her, I don't care.
So... this is it...
No going back now...
"Gwen..." I say, slowly holding my arms out. "I love you..."
Twice today I got to hug Gwen. A privilege I never even knew existed.
But this second time...
It will be the last.
Make it last...
I feel her nose brush against my neck...
Oh, if only under different circum--
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTT!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
...
No...
Going...
Back...
Now...
...
Gwen...
I...
Love...
Y...
Uhhhhh...
YOU ARE DEAD
-X-
And there goes Bombshell One. If I over-hyped it, I apologize.
Bombshell Two is already in the works. Does it tie in with Chef and the mysterious elevator?
...Maybe...