Sodium One: A Major Malfunction Chapter 5: The Reaction
By ThisGuyHere
Summary: Salt Shooter sounded like the perfect way to keep the people occupied- action-packed warfare, but not against humans, providing a vital outlet for all the pent-up feelings of anger without the guilt of actual war. Until something goes terribly wrong, someone is killed, someone's responsible, and feelings about the game change. Suddenly, it's not a game anymore.
-S1-
I couldn't believe this had happened. And, for a while, I didn't. I began drinking. Even though Scorpio's was non-alcoholic, I found myself searching for bootlegged booze on the Black Market. I'd doctor my drinks with it, and keep going until I blacked out and woke up in the middle of the salt plains, with no pants on and all of the previous day's dinner on my shirt. And the first thought my drunken brain always had was "I better call Nick, he can come get me." And every day, I had to deal with the reality that Nick couldn't come get me, that my calls wouldn't get through. I'd stumble back to society and begin the ritual that controlled my life at that point: eat, search for more alcohol, get angry when there wasn't any, go to the Black Market for more, go to Scorpio's, drink myself to incapacitation. Repeat. And all the while, my life was crumbling around me. Friends and family would leave voice messages on my phone, again and again, and give up on me when they never were called back after weeks. I lost my job. My story was cancelled. I didn't care about that story. I didn't care about my job. I didn't care about Larry, or any of my coworkers. All I cared about was Nick. And alcohol. And how much I wanted him back. Sure, he was an ass at times. And he put people in danger. But I didn't care; I wanted my best friend back, safe, where these baseless terroristic claims couldn't hurt him.
And that was when I had a spark.
A thought.
A... what do you call it... a lightbulb moment. I was a reporter, damn it, and I had investigative skills. I wanted to know what had happened to my friend. I needed to know. And this damn government wasn't going to fucking stop me.
But where was I even going to start searching?
-S1-
A/N: Hey y'all, I'm back. Didja miss me? No? Okay. :(
But seriously. I've updated my bio with this and I'm going to say it again here: I don't moderate reviews. Of any sort. Guests or otherwise. If there's a way to take down reviews, I don't know about it and wouldn't use it even if I did know. So please. Throw the dog a bone here, okay? Write a review, tell me what you think. I welcome feedback and criticism, as long as it's constructive. Simply taking the time to type "I liked it, because... (insert praise here)" or "I didn't like it, because... (insert complaint here)" is enough to convince me that you have a positive effect on the world. I don't think it's ever been that easy. Just please. Review.
-ThisGuyHere