A/N: Thanks to PrincezzShell101 for your review! Okay, so, I think this is one of my favourite chapters in this story thus far. It can be summed up thusly: Sh*t goes down. Anywho, for the final part of the three part chapters, read on!

Chapter 93

To Defeat Death – Part Three

"You want to know where Gerald liked to… hang out?" Beatrice curled her fingers together and narrowed her eyes at Nick. "Why?"

Nick looked at Beatrice and knew he couldn't just tell her that Myers was alive somewhere. Instead, he leaned forward slightly. "I want to find a journal or something similar. I just… want to find out why he did what he did. It's common for men such as him to write things down in journals."

"Who cares why he did it?" Beatrice shook her head.

"I do. It will… it will just set my heart at ease knowing about the man I killed. So if you could… remember the places he used to visit… that would be useful. I hate to bring up these memories but it is important to me…"

"I understand…" Beatrice sighed and stood up, arms crossed. "There weren't many places he went without me. He always stayed near me… or at least, I stayed with him at that apartment. He did go below the apartment often, but that was likely burnt down along with the rest of the apartment. He did like to visit the church though. I don't think he was religious but he often went to the church."

"The church… of course… how could I have forgotten…" Nick managed a small smile. "Thank you for bringing that back up for me, Beatrice. Now I can find him."

"…find him…?" Beatrice echoed, her voice going quiet. Nick froze, realizing what he had just said.

"You screwed that one up." Derek muttered under his breath so only Nick could hear it.

"So…" Beatrice stepped towards the window and looked out. "He is… alive?"

"I…" Nick paused, not wanting to say it but knowing that he couldn't lie now, not after being confronted so directly. Preparing for the worst, he nodded. "He is."

"But how?" To her credit, Beatrice seemed still and calm.

"Our companion, a woman named Lisa, was something called a Chosen. She had an… offer with Death for a 'trade' so to speak. Others have been brought back by some other Chosen, and Lisa chose to bring back Gerald."

"Why… Why would she bring someone like him back?"

"She believed that he could help us defeat Death." Nick explained.

"...I see. That would, after all, make sense. He was always striving to defeat that being." Beatrice paused for a full minute; her fingers squeezed white on the window-frame. "…What are you going to do with him once you've got what you want?"

"It would probably be best to… make sure that he cannot come back again." Nick said truthfully. "I will do what I need to do."

"I hope so… I cannot bear the thought of that man coming into mine – and my daughters – lives again."

Nick's eyes hardened and he stepped forward, lightly touching Beatrice's arm. "Don't worry. I will not let him come close to you ever again. That part of your life is over. This conversation is likely the last you will hear of him from my mouth."

"I see… I'm glad."

"We ought to be going then. Thank you for your time." Nick started for the door, with Grace and Derrick standing up, when Beatrice raised a hand.

"Please, can you stay for a while?"

"Stay?" Nick turned towards her, confused. Beatrice was looking down, her hair falling over her eyes.

"It is… comforting to talk to somebody like this. I… am hesitant to talk to strangers and whoever my former friends were while with him I don't know where they are. You… and I share a connection via this man. Completely different connections, but connections never the less. I would like to talk about it. It would help me a lot with the situation. Help me handle it."

Nick nodded, understanding perfectly. "Sure, we'll stay and talk. It'll be a nice change of pace for us I think, too."

"Oh no…" David's face fell as he looked over the edge of the building. Both he and Dorothy could only climb all the way to the top, which came up to an open-roofed area. There were three walls, but one wall was missing and it was here David was looking off of, his face getting pelted with rain. "Oh… This is… This is bad…"

"What is it?" Dorothy asked fearfully, reaching out for David and grabbing his arm. "What is wrong?"

"…" David didn't want to say a thing, didn't want to scare Dorothy more than she already was, but he couldn't just not tell her. "C-Chloe and Jeremy… they just…"

"Oh." Dorothy caught on quickly. "So that means that we need to get to Joshua and Vladimir… They are the only ones left other than us to be on the list."

"No… That won't help." David's fist clenched shut. "Both were just skipped as well. It looks as if they were having some kind of argument." David turned around to face Dorothy more directly. "So that means… that means you are next, Dorothy."

"Oh." Dorothy brushed her hands through her hair, using the rain to slick it back and keep it out of her eyes.

"But don't worry." David grabbed Dorothy's hands and lifted them up. "I will not let anything happen to you."

"I know." Dorothy smiled. "I know."

"First things first, we need to figure a way off this roof." David walked over to the stairwell but frowned. "The only doorway we saw was the one we entered, and that is now blocked off."

"So… So what?"

David took a breath, closing his eyes. "So we are trapped, Dorothy. Rats in a cage." David turned back around and paced the room. "But all is not lost. Unlike Chloe and Jeremy… we did not die together. In the vision I-I watched… I watched you go…" David clenched his teeth before continuing. "So I can save you. Perhaps I will go instantly after you, but I should have a chance to save you first."

"You won't let anything happen to me…" Dorothy said, walking to David's shoulder. "…and I won't let anything happen to you."

"…Will not." David muttered.

"Sorry?" Dorothy narrowed her eyes, confused.

"You said 'won't'. You mean 'will not'." David smiled solemnly. "It's funny. That's the first time I've ever heard you shorten something like that. You always use the… 'proper' way of saying things. Do not, instead of don't, cannot instead of can't… that's the first time I've heard you shorten a phrase."

"I am… not sure this is the right situation to be talking about that."

"We got to talk about something though. I'm not gonna just sit here and stay quiet until something happens. And I'm sure as hell not going to talk about how Joshua screwed up." David hissed the last phrase out of his mouth with enough venom to cause Dorothy to draw back.

"What do… you mean."

"I told you, Chloe and Jeremy are dead now. Lukas died when we were down there. That's three chances. Three chances for Joshua to do whatever the hell it is he wanted to do. But he hasn't done it, especially if he was arguing with Detrikov. So Joshua screwed up… Once again… Once again he screwed us over…" David's eyes darkened and he walked over to the age, but only saw Detrikov peering up at them with Dominika still huddled over Lukas' body. "Huh, he's gone."

"Joshua?"

"Yeah." David turned back around. "Probably running the fuck away like when Lisa… died…" David froze, his eyes trained to Dorothy's feet.

Sensing something was wrong by his tone of voice, Dorothy faced David. "What's wrong?"

"…Fuck." David seemed entranced and only able to mutter the simple curse as he watched a crack criss-cross under Dorothy's feet. It was oddly mesmerising, seeing the cracks actually form. It was only when the cracks formed into a rough square and Dorothy let out a yelp as the floor collapsed underneath her did David move.

He shot forward and in an instant grabbed Dorothy in a tight embrace, stopping her for falling. Her legs waved over the hole before David grunted and pulled her back onto the still remaining floor.

"I did not even…" Dorothy placed a hand on her chest, panting slightly. "I was not… I was not expecting that."

"No one ever expects it. But now you're skipped… see…" David smiled. "I told you I'd protect-"

David's voice was cut off as his foot seemed to fall into empty air. He glanced down in stupor to see that the edge of the roof had collapsed, and he was teetering back into nothingness. David's arms flailed for a moment before his other foot slipped and he plummeted down.

David's descent was stopped quickly as his chest slammed against the side of the remaining roof, his hands scrambling for a handhold, but there was nothing. His finger-nails scratched the smooth floor in search of a hand-hold, but there was nothing of the sort. Just when he figured he was about to fall, Dorothy suddenly grabbed a hold of both of his arms.

"Dorothy…" David grunted, muscles rippling in his chest as he tried to stop himself from falling. Even now, Dorothy was slowly being dragged to the edge, in no way strong enough to support David's weight.

"I got you…" Dorothy panted with a smile. "I got you, David, it is okay…"

"It's not… Dorothy…" David let out a groan of pain as the concrete pressed into his ribs. His legs flailed in mid-air, his toes kicking the wall below. He was still slipping slowly downwards, Dorothy's feet sliding across the concrete. He arms were tense and her face was still.

"It is…" Dorothy bit her bottom lip and tried pulling back, but that only resulted in her losing her footing. She fell to her chest and David fell even further, completely going over the side. Now he was only hanging onto Dorothy's arms and she was getting pulled over as well. If she didn't let go, they'd both be going down.

"…Let go…" David growled, his eyes narrowing.

"W-What?"

"Let go, Dorothy."

"No! I got you, I… I got you, I cannot let go now."

"You have to! I'm too heavy for you! If you don't let me go, then we will both die!"

"Fine, we will both die then. David, I am not letting you go. You saved my life; you were there for me whenever I needed it. You helped me come to terms with my blindness, I am not letting you go!"

"Please… don't do this, Dorothy…"

"Do what, David? Do not save you? I have to at least try! Letting go would be akin to murdering you. You have been through so much, David. You saw me die once. You saw your ex-wife die. You have had that vision, you have been through too much to just… to just let yourself go."

"There isn't a choice!"

"There is always a choice!" Dorothy panted, tears stinging her eyes and mixing in with the rain water. Her shoulder muscles were straining as she hung over the edge, keeping a hold of David. "No matter what, there is always a choice!"

"Not with this… not with Death! Just let me go damnit! You are strong… You can keep going without me, I know you can-"

"I cannot. You are my best friend David… you are more than that! If I lose you then… then that is it. I will not have anything else to live for. But you do! You still have a son out there who has just lost his mother! You got to let me save you."

"I would love you to, Dorothy, but the point is that you can't! We are slipping! I'm hanging in the air! I can't be saved. You think I want to let Max be alone? I don't, but the fact is that if you don't let go then you are going to die too! I can't let that happen, I will not let that happen!"

"Then… T-Then what are you going to do? Just… Just force me to let go?"

David grit his teeth and closed his eyes. "Dorothy… please… if you could see my face right now, you would know that this has to happen. Death happens all the time Dorothy. You can still be strong without me, I know you can. There are other people out there to care for you, other people you can be with."

"David…"

David opened his eyes and stared into Dorothy's own pale ones, knowing she couldn't see him but trying to get the image into her head somehow. "Dorothy Louella… I love you… so… so much… but this needs to happen."

"Do not go… please, David… do not-"

"I cannot let both us die here. I'm sorry." David said firmly and squeezed hard on Dorothy's arms, digging his nails into her skin, splitting it and allowing blood to well up. Instinctively Dorothy gasped in pain and drew her hands away.

Letting go of David in the process.

David smiled as his hands fell free for Dorothy's, and he allowed his eyes to shut, knowing that it what be a relatively quick fall before his death.

It's fine. I can accept this. If Dorothy continues living, I can accept this. This is the way it has to-

"Nobody else is dying today."

Just as Dorothy's hands let go, two stronger, firmer hand hands grabbed a hold of David's wrist. David opened his eyes in surprise to see Joshua's determined and worn face. "Joshua…"

"So get your ass up here." Joshua growled as he strained his muscles. Slowly, but surely, David was dragged back up until his chest was back to the roof. Joshua continued pulling and finally David was back on the roof.

"…Joshua…" David repeated, panting.

Joshua looked down at David sadly before looking up to the sky. "We gotta go. Get Detrikov and Dominika, find the other three, and figure something else out."

"No." David said quietly.

"Excuse me?" Joshua looked back down to see David getting to his feet, eyes narrowed in anger.

"No fuckin' way." David snarled, straightening up so he was standing over Joshua. Joshua sighed and put his hands up.

"Look, I know… I know I screwed up. But we gotta get someplace safe-"

"Here is just as safe as anywhere else." David said. "What the fuck happened Joshua?"

"What do you-"

"Chloe. Jeremy. Lukas. Three people. I thought the whole goddamn point of this plan was to save us, not kill us!"

"David…" Dorothy put a hand on David's elbow but David shrugged it off, his emotions taking over.

"No, Dorothy, no! I placed my trust in this… this asshole. I shouldn't have, but I did. I had to trust him once again because it sounded like he actually had a plan. That was complete and utter bullshit! There was no plan!" David jabbed his finger into Joshua's chest. "I thought you knew what you were doing? I thought it was all but certain that we were going to get out alive!"

"Look, David, I understand why you are angry but-"

"But nothing, Joshua, but nothing." David simmered down and shook his head. "You failed. Again. Once again you couldn't protect us."

Joshua's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? What in the name of fuck do you think I mean?" David opened his arms wide. "You couldn't protect Lukas! You couldn't protect Chloe and Jeremy! Riley, Becca, all of the survivors you couldn't fucking protect them. We placed our lives in your hands and you just threw us out of the court!"

"That isn't fair." Joshua said quietly.

"Fair? Don't you talk to me about what is fair! Is it fair that because of your screw-ups, innocent people die? Is it fair that they died because you couldn't protect them!? I should have seen it coming! I mean, you couldn't protect your own goddamn mother!"

"Shut up…" Joshua muttered.

"Shut up? No, I won't fucking shut up! I have had it up to here with you! You couldn't protect your mother so what made you think you could protect strangers? Fuck it, you couldn't even protect your own goddamn brother!"

Joshua clenched his teeth and stood up straight, staring in David's eyes. "I have done everything…" Joshua hissed. "Everything for you people. I have sacrificed my very well-being for you people. And you have the… the nerve to say I couldn't protect you?"

"Who's going to support you Joshua? Fucking no one, there are all dead!" David clenched his fists. "What are you? Eighteen? You're nothing more than a fuckin' kid! What made you think you could save us? Would made you think you could defeat Death? You're filled with nothing more than dreams, Joshua! You got to look at reality. You're no fucking hero!"

"I never claimed to be a hero!" Joshua shouted back over the pounding of the rain.

"But you 'claimed' to be able to save us!" David roared back. "The closest you came to saving us was getting us out of Willingboro, and even then you fucked up because you got shot in the fucking skull!"

"Oh, like I can control who shoots me!" Joshua spat. "I done so much more than driving a bus!"

"No you haven't! The only people who actually managed to save us were Lisa and Richard!"

"I saved Lukas!"

"For what?" David jabbed his finger down to where Dominika was hugging Lukas's body. Detrikov was looking up at them. "Lukas is dead now, Joshua! His throat was fuckin' torn out! It doesn't matter that you saved him 'cause he fuckin' dead anyway!" David paused and shook his head. "Fuck it. Just… just fuck it." He prodded Joshua in the chest again. "I don't care about you. I don't want to know you anymore. All the fucking time, you fucked up. It's not a game we're playing here Joshua. It's people's lives on the line, lives you seem so willing to throw the fuck away! Why don't you just fuck off someplace else? Go find a family member you can actually sa-"

David was cut off by Joshua slamming his fist into his jaw. David stumbled back slightly in surprise, but his eyes soon narrowed and his knuckles clenched. "You know what… You want to fuckin' fight? Then fuckin' bring it! I've had enough of you murdering us all!" David sprung forward and tackled into Joshua, knocking him to the floor. He slammed a fist into Joshua's left cheek, and another fist on the right. He went for a third blow but Joshua raised his arm and blocked it before kneeing David in the stomach. David rolled to the side in pain as Joshua scrambled to his feet.

"I don't want to fight, David, we can figure this out!" Joshua panted, blood trickling from a split lip.

David stood up, shoulders heaving up and down. "You goddamn hypocrite! You punch me out of the blue, and you say you don't wanna fight? It's too late for that!" David stepped forward and grabbed Joshua's shoulders, pushing him back into the wall. Keeping on arm pinning Joshua to the wall, David used his other to slam a fist into Joshua's stomach. "I'll beat your scrawny ass like it deserves to be beaten! I'll show you why you can't just play around with people's lives! I'll show you that you can't be a goddamn hero when you constantly FUCK UP!" David roared the last two words and slammed his forehead forward, connecting hard with Joshua's nose. There was an audible crack and almost instantly blood gushed from Joshua's nose, splashing against the concrete before being washed away by the rain.

Lightning flashed in the distance, accompanied by a deep roar of thunder as David slammed his fist into a woozy Joshua's lip, splitting it open even more. David followed up by driving his fist just above Joshua's left eye, causing a deep bloody gash to join in with the nose and lip.

"David! Stop this!" Being unable to see, Dorothy could however clearly hear the violence going on.

"No, Dorothy, not until this fucking fucker learns his fucking lesson!" David roared, grabbing Joshua's shoulder and pushed him to the side. Joshua hit the floor hard, the back of his head slamming against the concrete. David stepped towards him and kicked him in the ribs. "He's gotta pay for screwing us all over!" David stomped on Joshua's left hand, hearing another audible crunch as Joshua's finger snapped. "He's got to learn that he's fucked up!"

"Fighting him is not going to help that!" Dorothy stepped forward and grabbed David's shoulder. "Fighting him is not going to teach him."

"Words don't seem to affect him!" David panted, wiping his mouth as he stared down at a now bloody Joshua. Joshua let off a slight groan and started slowly getting to his feet. "So, did you learn your damn lesson?"

Joshua looked out of his good eye. "Fuck. You." He spat before charging David. David caught him on the shoulders and the two struggled to overpower each-other. Despite being smaller than David, Joshua was strong and was hanging on. The two circled each other, arms pushing against the other in a test of strength.

"Their blood is on your hands!" David snarled. "Everybody's blood is on your hands! Your mother! Your brother! Everyone!"

"I'm not the only one who screwed up!" Joshua snarled back, his voice throaty and nasally from the broken nose. "I didn't fuck my wife's sister! I'm not a fucking coward who leaves his son alone and not even talk to him at his own mother's funeral!"

"Screw you!" David suddenly slammed his knee into Joshua's gut. "You know nothing about me!"

Joshua responded by driving his head forward and hitting David just above the nose with a hard-hitting head-butt. "I know enough to know you are a terrible father! I know enough that you a fucking hypocrite who let his ex-wife die and left his son alone!"

"I didn't let her die!" David roared, pushing Joshua back. Joshua stumbled but managed to regain his footing just as he reached the edge of the roof.

"Sure you didn't. Just like you didn't let Dorothy die before my brother brought her back!"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!" David stepped forward. Joshua had nowhere to go. His back was against a figurative wall.

"Oh come on, where were you when Myer's men slit her fuckin' throat?"

"I'll kill you!" David lunged forward with a large swing, but Joshua easily ducked. He stepped out of David's range, causing David to turn around. And just like that, David's feet were on the edge of the roof.

"You'll kill me?" Joshua grinned, his eyes flashing dangerously. "No one fucking kills me! I'm a survivor! I have been since I was nine goddamn years old! I raised myself! I raised my brother! You can't do shit to me!"

"You are insane!" David spat. "An insane murderer!"

"Maybe I am! Maybe I am crazy! Maybe I am insane! But you know what? That's what's gotten me to survive since then! I SCREWED UP!" Joshua roared. "I know this! But David, you know what? You fuckin' screwed up by attacking me! You kill me?" Joshua chuckled, running one hand through his hair. "Fuck you!" With that, Joshua raised his foot and slammed it hard into David's stomach.

The force caused David to teeter backwards.

Straight off the side of the building.

As he fell, David's eyes widened in surprise. He watched as Joshua got further and further away, standing on the edge. He noticed Dorothy sobbing in the background. Dorothy… Oh God… I fucked up, didn't I Dorothy? I screwed up badly… oh God… I'm sorry, Dorothy! Don't cry, I don't want to make you cry!

"Dorothy!" David managed a last strangled cry before the back of his head slammed against the concrete far below, his head splitting open in a splash of bright blood.

Doro… Doroth… Dorothy… thy… Do… Doro… Love… lo… love… you… Dorothy

"…No…" Joshua put both hands on his head, staring down at the broken figure of David almost fifty feet below. "…No, no… I didn't mean… I…" Joshua gulped, his eyes wide. "David!" He called, falling to his knees. "David! Answer me! Please, I didn't… David!"

There was no answer. It was clear, and no matter how much he wanted to deny it, Joshua knew that David was dead.

"You are insane! An insane murderer!"

"I…" Joshua blanched and went pale. "…I killed him…"

"David?"

Joshua limply turned to see Dorothy's eyes wide open.

"David! Where did you go! David!" Dorothy turned on her feet and stared in Joshua's general direction. "Where is he? Joshua, where is David? Where is he?"

"…I killed him…"

"What?" Dorothy's bottom jaw started quivering. "What?"

"I killed him!" With that final cry, Joshua fell on all fours, shaking and weeping uncontrollably. "I killed him! I killed him!"