(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko or any kind of names or brands that appear in this story. I do own all OCs unless specifically named as they appear above this message.)
(Thanks to AquaDestinysEmbrace for helping with this chapter! You're super awesome dude! :))
(Anne Marshall belongs to AquaDestinysEmbrace!)
The rest of the night and the next morning was hard on the Lyoko Warriors after they, Rick, Glenn, Hershel, and the captive made it back to the farm.
Aelita was hurt, and Jeremie and Patrick weren't looking so good either. Odd and Verity were kidnapped by a murderous psycho. The situation was serious and many of the teens were anxious to find and rescue Odd and Verity.
Jeremie and Patrick were tended to by Hershel after they made it back home. Aelita was taken into a bedroom and she was to stay in there until she could get back up on her feet. She was lucky that her old gunshot wound was easily cleaned and stitched back up by Carlos. Her concussion would take days to heal, but Carlos and Hershel were both optimistic for Aelita. She got banged up but it was far better than having her throat slit open...
All in all, things could've been far worse. One of the teens easily could've lost their lives last night. Not only that, but when the group came back they discovered that Lori very nearly did lose her life. Apparently in her worry she took a car and tried to drive to Senoia to find Rick, but she crashed. If Shane hadn't gone looking for her, she might've not come back home alive... Suffice it to say, no one would trust her behind a wheel for quite a while.
After Patrick, Aelita, and Jeremie were all patched up, Hershel went to tend to his daughter. Aelita remained laying unconscious in the back bedroom, but the rest of the Lyoko Warriors were left to themselves as the other groups talked about what to do with their new captive, along with the kidnappings of three of their own.
The man - "Randall" he said his name was - he had his leg fixed up by Hershel and Carlos and he was going to be locked up in a shed near the chicken coop until everyone can decide what to do with him. Randall would have to walk with a bad limp for the rest of his life, but somehow he managed to survive that mess last night.
Now the group had two prisoners to look after. Sooner or later both Josh and Randall were going to have to be dropped off somewhere far away from the farm. Somewhere where they couldn't come back to bother the groups ever again.
But Randall and Josh wasn't as much of an issue as Verity, Nick, and Odd being taken. Those were their people. They were going to get them all back or die trying.
Ulrich was absolutely pissed that Odd was taken. Verity too, but Odd was his best and closest friend. In many ways Odd was like a brother to him! The idea of his friend being subjected to the same treatment which Carver gave him weeks earlier in that forest only added to his rage...
"I can't believe he took them!" Ulrich frowned as he stormed back and forth on the front porch. "What's wrong with that psychopath?! Who kidnaps teens?!"
"Him, apparently." Dylan said with disgust. "If Carver is as bad as the Cabin group says he is, then Verity and Odd are in grave danger."
"Yeah, Carver's completely fucking loco. You all remember what he did to Odd?" Jennifer responded. She was equally as angry about the situation as she was worried for her friends. She thought that Miranda's recent idea of ripping Carver's eyes out through his nose was not a bad one at all. "Carver's gonna do some bad things to them..." she sighed.
"No shit, Sherlock. You think we all don't know that?" Robert deadpanned at his friend in a demeaning tone. The kidnapping of his friends infuriated him just as much as the others, and it caused him to take it out on someone who didn't deserve it.
Jennifer glared at him for that comment. "Fuck you, Bob! I was just making a point!"
"Wha- fuck me?! Fuck you!"
"Both of you relax! Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere." Jeremie sternly told the two Lyoko Warriors. Both Jennifer and Robert still looked pissed at each other but they didn't argue any further. Though they were both angry, they knew it was useless to tear at each other when Odd and Verity still needed help.
Ulrich frowned with a determined look in his eye. "We've gotta go and get them back." he told the rest of the Lyoko Warriors.
"We know that. But how are we going to?" Chase wondered.
"I talked to Luke and he said that he knows the way back to Carver's settlement. Luke said that he and Pete can drive a rescue team there in a few hours." Rebecca explained to the other teens. "It'll take a while to get all the way up there though. Apparently they're 400 miles from here in some town called Huntingdon, Tennessee. A hardware store there, specifically. Fortified. Lots of people with guns."
"Oh God..." Alex sweatdropped. Rescuing Odd and Verity was sounding more and more like a suicide mission...
Rebecca sighed with frustration as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She wasn't going to abandon her friends. Neither were the rest of the Lyoko Warriors... But they had to think of some kind of plan of action or else they'll all just get themselves killed. No one wanted to end up like Amy or William or any of the other people from Kadic Academy.
Yumi was also there with the group despite her continued depression. She was silent just like how she was yesterday, but she was listening to everything that was being said. In spite of how she was feeling in the wake of Hiroki's death, Yumi still wanted all of her friends to remain safe and happy in this new world. She wanted to help rescue Verity and Odd in however way she could. After that... well...
"You all know that there's a good chance that some of us won't come back. Maybe even all who go..." Jennifer warned the group.
"I think we're all aware, Jen." Kyra said with a sigh. As dangerous as the mission was though, the Lyoko Warriors wouldn't abandon their own.
Odd and Verity had to be brought back home. They had to be. The group wouldn't rest until their friends were safe and sound again.
As the group mulled over the situation and the all of risks that a rescue mission up north would bring, they suddenly heard a big commotion coming from the direction of the camp. The teens could hear some shouts, and they could see a bunch of the adults grab their guns and hurry out in all directions. All of the Lyoko Warriors immediately felt worried by what they were seeing unfold. Something serious was going on...
Before any of the teens could go to see what had happened, Alvin hurried up to them. He looked very alarmed. "Kids, we've got a huge problem!" he warned them.
"What do you mean? What happened?" Ulrich wondered.
"We found Charles laying unconscious near the camp! His knife is gone!" Alvin told the kids with a worried tone. "It's Josh! He's gone!"
Anne's eye widened as she felt her heart stop, a pang of absolute terror hitting her hard. Josh... he was free...? If Josh had freed himself, then she and all of her friends were in grave danger right now... He was a monster. He held grudges. If they didn't find him soon, who knew what he could do to anyone in camp...
Kyra felt exactly the same as Anne but it was for a different reason. The Canadian teen immediately ran off the porch and high-tailed it in the direction of the camp, simply needing to find Charles and make sure that that poor dumb boy was okay. Kyra felt nothing less than sheer terror about the possibility that he wasn't. If Josh hurt her best friend then she'll kill him herself!
As Kyra ran to camp as fast as she could, the rest of the Lyoko Warriors reeled from what they had just heard. Several teens such as Yumi, Ulrich, Miranda and Alex all also hurried to camp to gather their weapons and join the search effort to bring that psychotic bastard back in. Others hurried to secure precious stockpiles of supplies like food, water, ammo and guns. The last thing the groups needed right now was for that psycho to get his hands on a shotgun and kill someone.
Much of the group couldn't try to hide their anger. They were supposed to be getting ready to go save Odd and Verity, and now they have to search for this psycho?! He had to escape now of all times?!
Dylan tightly held onto Anne's shoulders as he forced her to face him. The poor girl was close to having a panic attack right then and there.
"Annie, I swear he won't get anywhere near you... I won't let him near you!" Dylan assured, trying to get her to calm down. "Please relax, Annie... Take some deep breaths and try to calm down, okay?"
"I'll kill that bastard myself if he does!" Chase growled. The one-handed boy was outraged and infuriated at the idea that Josh was free to do more harm. They should've just tossed him from a car in a town far away from here when they had the chance to do it!
"We're all here, Anne! We'll all be fine..." Rebecca added onto what her boyfriend and her friend had said.
Anne remained silent, still borderline hyperventilating and panicking at the idea of Josh being free. God help them all...
Meanwhile, the search teams began to fan out from the camp in every direction. Some would check the farm proper, others would go search up and down the trails which led further into Hershel's lands, and some would go and comb the forests around the farm. Everyone hoped that Josh had simply ran off and wouldn't dare try to show his face anywhere near the farm again, but that was doubtful.
Josh had to be found before he would do something horrible...
As everyone started the search, Shane angrily stormed to the tree which Josh was tied to and he examined the ropes the psycho broke out of. He then threw the torn ropes down to the dirt out of frustration. Shane scowled as he looked around, wondering where that little brat could've gone...
"... where the fuck is Josh?!"
In the forest, Josh kept watching the farm and the people in it as best as he could. He was preforming reconnaissance on the group and he was waiting for an opportunity to strike. Sooner or later he was going to get his revenge...
Josh saw the group bring a captive man into the farmhouse last night. A few hours after the group sounded the alarms about Josh's escape, he saw them move the man out from there and into a shed with a padlocked door. Guess they learned their lesson after leaving Josh on that tree. Even Josh could understand why they didn't want to deal with two runaways instead of one...
Still though, they bagged themselves another captive? Interesting...
"Hmm..." Josh muttered to himself as he watched the shed from afar, also trying hard not to be seen by anyone alive or dead. These people locked him up for unjust reasons. They were all sadistic bastards... maybe this guy felt the same way as him? There was only one way to find out.
Sticking to the treeline, Josh hurried closer towards the shed and then he laid in wait for people to get away from it. As Josh waited, he could hear the people talking amongst themselves. He made sure to keep his presence hidden from them all.
"-can't believe this bullshit!" that tall angry guy ranted, the one with the muscles. 'Shane' was his name, right? "Rick, answer me this: have you lost your mind?! How many people are you gonna take in?! And this guy tried to kill y'all last night, y'know!"
"We weren't just gonna leave him to get eaten alive!" Rick protested to his best friend.
"Exactly! That's just cruel..." some black guy added to the conversation. The hell was his name? 'Leigh' or 'Lee' or something like that?
Shane was clearly outraged by all that happened last night. Josh didn't get much details, but when they brought that man back to the farm he overheard screams and shouts of alarm. Something about people getting shot? Some of the group getting kidnapped? A small smirk grew on Josh's face as he imagined the missing people in captivity. He could only hope that they were being held by someone like himself, and that they were not being shown mercy...
"His people tried to kill you!" Shane snapped at Rick.
"I know that! But he's just a kid for Christ's sake! And he was injured too!" Rick snapped right back.
"Oh for the love of God, Rick!" Shane threw up his hands in utter frustration. "Might as well let another mouth into the farm, right?! After all that psycho kid ran off! Gives us a little more room to waste on people that don't even deserve it!" his sarcasm and fury was well-noted by all.
"We can't just throw him back out there!" Rick protested.
"We sure as shit can!" Shane frowned. "We gotta start lookin' out for our own people, Rick! You gotta start lookin' out for you and yours!"
Josh listened to the men carefully, studying every word in case they said something he could use to his own end - blackmail, the location of valuable supplies, information about the group. Anything that could prove useful later on.
Shane shook his head and he started to storm off, but not before looking back at the two men. "If you just keep on insisting on 'inviting' people here, we won't have anything left for our people!" he practically yelled at them. "When Carl and Clementine and all the other kids start starvin' to death because you kept bringing in more mouths to feed, I'll definitely be sayin' 'I told you so'!"
Both Rick and Lee were irked by what Shane said as they watched him walked off back towards the camp in a huff. Josh watched as Rick then went into the shed, presumably to chain up the guy they put in there. A moment or two later he came back out. He looked very tired and frustrated. He muttered something to the other man which Josh was too far away to make out fully. But Josh did hear Rick say that that guy Daryl was coming soon to 'interrogate that asshole' to get information about his group.
Ooh, the group has their own little Gitmo now? Josh would've brought popcorn if he knew about this beforehand. Having tortured his fair share of animals in his youth, he's always wanted to see a human go through similar treatment. What fun!
The other man reluctantly nodded in agreement to whatever Rick said. Now that the captive was locked up for now, Rick and the man started heading back for the camp. Josh kept his head down as he watched them leave before glancing back at the shed.
Well... if he was gonna talk to this guy, it was probably now or never...
The psycho teen glanced around to see if the coast was clear before he made his move, slipping out of his hiding spot. Josh kept low as he hurried for the shed where this new captive was being held. He prayed that no one would see him as he ran.
As Josh reached the shack, he ducked behind a corner for a quick moment. When he could see that there was no one nearby that was watching, Josh smirked to himself.
Josh saw that there was a small window high up on one of the walls. He also saw a big crate he could climb on top of to look through the window. He decided to use the crate first to get a closer look at this guy. The psychotic teen snuck towards the crate before climbing atop it.
When Josh looked through the window, he was greeted with the sight of some guy tied up to a wooden pole. His leg was bandaged and on a splint. It raised Josh's curiosity, and he couldn't help but wonder what exactly happened last when the group went to find that waste-of-oxygen they called a 'farmer.' From the look of the wound on this dude's leg, it certainly had to have been painful.
"... the fuck happened to your leg?" Josh asked through the window, not even giving a 'hello' to the guy.
The guy flinched at the sudden greeting, looking around with confusion. "Wha-" was all he got out before wincing in pain due to aggravating his wound from the movement.
Josh rolled his eyes when he saw the guy look around. "Up here, dipshit. The window." he deadpanned down at the captive guy.
The guy looked up and saw Josh peering at him through it. "W-What?"
"Hey." Josh greeted with a nod of his head. Josh noticed that the captive guy didn't look much older than him. Late teens or early twenties, probably. He wondered who this guy was and why he was in this crappy situation. "Who're you and what're you doing here? Also, I asked what happened with your leg."
"R-Randall..." the guy stammered. He then explained why his leg was messed up. "I-I fell on a fence and it went right through my leg."
"'Randall'... Nice to meet you." Josh told the captive with a casual tone in his voice. He then grinned stupidely. "You know, when someone says 'break a leg', they don't mean it literally." he proceeded to joke at Randall's expense.
Josh chuckled at his own joke even as Randall grimaced at what he had just heard. An awkward silence followed for more than a few moments, but then Josh cleared his throat and moved on from that stupid joke. "Anyway, why're you even here? You a prisoner?" the psycho wondered.
"T- They rescued me... patched me up before I could bleed to death..." Randall explained hesitantly. "H- Hershel said I would've died in that alley if they didn't save me..."
"Yeah? Then how come they threw you in here?"
Randall shrugged, a worried look in his eye. "They didn't trust me..." Randall responded, understanding why the group felt that way about him after last night. The captive man cringed even harder as he thought again about all that had happened last night at that bar in Senoia. Things got out of hand so fast. "I, uh... My friends and I shot at them last night after they killed two of our people..."
"Oh yeah?"
The captive man nodded at the question. "I dunno what went on in there exactly, but one of them said they shot cause our people drew on them..." Randall explained to the teen in the window. "I'm not really sure if that's true or not, but Tony at least was always a hothead... Dave had his problems too. Our leader Jane never could get those two under control no matter how hard she tried..."
"Those people are all psychopaths... It doesn't surprise me that they murdered your friends." Josh told the captive man, hoping to manipulate him.
Randall was confused by the statement. These people? Psychopaths? But they saved him from being eaten alive... What psychopaths would save anyone?
"They've been keeping me here for a while..." Josh continued speaking, believing that he now had the captive hook line and sinker. "I didn't even do anything wrong! I guess I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, 'cause I got tied up to a tree for days..."
Josh frowned very deeply as he remembered his captivity. "One of them beat me up pretty bad, too." Josh mentally sneered at the memory of that girl Miranda. How she beat him like a dog for no good reason at all. "Another threw boiling-hot soup all over me." he added, remembering that Japanese bitch tossing that soup all over him hours before that barn got opened up.
Luckily that bitch seemed to get karma for what she had done to him, as later that day she had to shoot that little bastard that came out of the barn as the massacre began to wind down. Her younger brother, Josh overheard. He hoped that that Japanese bitch was suffering so much, and he hoped that she'd lose everyone she loved. He wanted her utterly broken.
"Who's to say that they won't do that to you, next? Inflict even more pain? The kind that'll make what they did to your leg feel pleasurable by comparison?" Josh rhetorically asked. It was honestly a good question in his own opinion. If they did all of that to Josh, who's to say they'd show this poor idiot any mercy either?
Josh had to hide his grin when he saw how worried Randall suddenly looked. "You know... I can probably get you out of here... Get you free so you can find your way back to your people..." Josh told the captive man as he casually leaned against the open window. "But you'd have to help me do something first..."
"W-What...?" Randall asked. The offer sounded way too good to be true, but he was desperate. He just wanted to go back home.
"Help me give them some... payback..." Now Josh started to grin sinisterly at him. "Help me take 'em all out, Randall... Help me get revenge..."
Randall was starting to get unnerved by Josh's demeanor. However, the psycho teen wasn't done just yet.
"... if you'd like we can spare one of the girls for you to have for yourself." Josh's next offer was as clear as it was disturbing. "Do you have your eye on any, I wonder? Hmm? The Jap girl? The pink-haired freak? The British chick? One of the farmer's daughters...?" he listed some 'options' for Randall to choose from. "I'll let you have any of 'em, my friend. And in any way you'd like... I don't judge kinks."
Josh sinisterly grinned. "Maybe one of those little girls...? I think their names were Clementine, Sarah, and Sophia..." he said. "... do you like 'em young, my friend?"
The implications of what Josh was saying was abundantly clear to Randall, and he was absolutely horrified after having listened to the 'offer. The young captive involuntarily shuddered hard, remembering some rather unpleasant memories involving a couple of captive young girls and his old group. He never wanted to live through anything like those events ever again... this kid was a monster...
"A-Are you serious?" he managed to ask in the midst of his shock. "Y- You're offering... that?!"
"Yeah, I am. And I'm as serious as a walker eating your throat." Josh smirked down at him, but the smirk quickly faded. "But that girl who's wearing the bandana over her eye...? That little bitch is mine." the psycho made sure to demand. "I've got quite a lot planned for her especially, trust me..."
Josh's mind wandered to all of the things he could do to Anne... Maybe he'd use a knife to take out that stupid red eye under her bandana, followed by the other just for shits and giggles? Maybe he'd lock her up to a tree like how he had been, and then he'd cover her with gasoline before 'gifting' her a match...? It would certainly make up for all of the sheer bullshit that Anne's put him through over the years... And it'd be a fantastic lightshow as well!
Ooh, or maybe he'd slit Chase and Dylan's throats right in front of her? Or he'd make her watch while he murders one brother so that he could come back as a walker and eat the other alive? Josh honestly almost felt giddy at the thought of Anne screaming at sights that were as wonderful as those.
It seemed that Josh's expression of wonder hit Randall the wrong way, because the captive simply shook his head and nervously averted his gaze from the teen.
"N- No... not interested..."
Josh's smirk immediately vanished upon hearing this.
What...? This guy was shot at by these people, had his leg get mangled by these people, and got locked up by these people... and he doesn't want to get revenge?
"... what the fuck did you just say?" Josh asked through gritted teeth. "Are you fucking kiddin-"
The psycho froze and stopped talking in mid-sentence when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching the front of the shed.
Shit.
As he heard someone start to fumble with the padlock on the door of the shed, Josh glared down at the captive with a threatening look in his eye. "I'll slit your fucking throat if you say a word about me!" he warned. Josh then immediately hopped off the crate and took off running into the forest.
Josh ran as fast as he could, hoping no one caught sight of him. As he ran off, the door opened and Randall turned to see that it was some dirty guy in a vest.
The dirty guy locked the door behind himself. Randall's eyes widened as he watched the dirty guy approach him angrily. The dirty guy frowned, and he cracked his knuckles as he spoke to the captive man.
"You and I're gonna have to 'talk' for a bit..."
Everything was blurry... Some things looked familiar, and some things she couldn't recognize no matter how hard she focused...
Aelita wasn't sure where she was. She felt like something important was going on though... but what was it?
The pinkette felt anxious yet excited for something. Aelita had no idea what it was but she knew deep down that it was something truly lifechanging for her.
Although she wasn't sure what was going on, Aelita was walking down a hallway towards who knew what. The footsteps on marble floor echoed endlessly as she walked.
Was she dead? Wait, no, she couldn't be dead... She remembered that Jeremie saved her from Carver's man, and she knew he wouldn't have failed when it came to keeping her alive. He proved that already after she got shot by Otis in that forest weeks ago.
Okay, so she wasn't dead... but what was this?
Walking past some people, Aelita recognized many familiar faces among them. But they were also different in so many ways. They looked like they were older. More mature.
Also... there was a child there who Aelita felt she loved with all her heart. But Aelita knew that she had never seen the child before, and she also couldn't make out its face or any other detail no matter how hard she tried to focus... Strange.
The pinkette also could see flags hanging under a rotunda's dome as she walked through the room. One was the American flag - a torn and ravaged American flag, but one which was still there despite all that it had gone through. The other flag was one that was too blurry to make out... There was some kind of animal sewn on its white cloth. Through some distant windows, Aelita also noticed the leaves of palm trees swaying in the breeze outside.
Aelita had no clue what was happening. In some ways she felt like she was living through a very distant memory. But in other ways, she felt like she was only just an outside observer to events beyond her control. It was incredibly strange and even with all of Aelita's intelligence she just couldn't put that feeling into an exact definition. She simply had no other option but to just go with the flow and see where this would lead, whatever this experience even was...
Walking further, Aelita glanced out of a window and she saw the imaged of a devastated city. A city which she didn't recognize at all. But, however, she saw its people too.
Crowds - Cheering crowds. She couldn't dare count how many people were out there but she was certain it was in the many thousands. The crowds stretched for miles down the streets and Aelita could tell that each and every person in the crowds were extremely happy even despite all the destruction that their city has suffered... When she saw them all out there on the streets, Aelita felt... pride?
Aelita wondered what all of those people out there were excited about. What was going on? What kind of celebration was this?
As Aelita approached a pair of big glass doors that had bright light shining through them, she could hear music being played as well... an anthem, maybe? It was faint and she couldn't make out any of it very well. But knowing that it was being played in the heart of this city gave her a sense of comfort, relief, and even hope.
Aelita stopped for a moment at the big glass doors, seeing an outdoor balcony on the other side of the glass. She took a deep breath to gather up all her resolve, and then she stepped through the doors and outside into a blinding brightness.
Before the warm light overtook her entirely, Aelita heard the loud and happy roar of the crowds...
...
...
...
... Groggily, the hurt teen started to wake up from whatever she had just experienced. After she fully woke, a weak Aelita took a look at her surroundings and she recognized them as the same bedroom she had been staying in after she got shot. The same bedroom that she was stuck in for days with absolutely nothing to do at all. In Aelita's mind, the room had well-earned the title of most boring place on earth.
"... I'm in here again?" the pinkette muttered to herself, the sight of the bedroom being most unwelcome to her. God, her head was pounding so badly...
"Aelita! Hey, guys, she's finally awake!"
Cringing at the loud noise, Aelita turned to see that Jeremie, Chase, and Dylan were all there by her bedside. They all must've been waiting for her to regain consciousness. Aelita tiredly smiled at the sight of her boyfriend and her brothers and she was relieved that Jeremie seemed to be fine. He didn't get shot let alone killed. Thank God...
"Hey, guys..." Aelita tiredly smiled at the three boys. She was happy to see them after everything that happened last night.
"How are you feeling?" Chase wondered, a tone of relief evident as he smiled back at his sister.
Aelita cringed a bit as she tried to sit up, but her pounding head prevented any idea of it. "Not great, to be honest... Does any of you have an aspirin?"
"Sorry, 'Lita. Carlos said we can't give you painkillers." Dylan told his step-sister apologetically. "Hershel said that you've got a small concussion, and giving you some would-"
"-would increase the risk of bleeding, I know." Aelita finished his sentence with a sigh. Guess she was just going to have to live with the headache and just suck it up until it fades away on its own. Hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later...
Still though, dealing with a mild concussion and a terrible headache was far better than being shot. Aelita of all people knew just how bad that kind of thing was. She certainly wasn't anxious to repeat what had happened to her weeks ago.
The pinkette ceased trying to sit upright for now, and she simply laid her head back down on her pillow to stare up at the ceiling. The memories of last night weighed heavily on Aelita. Jeremie, Chase, and Dylan all noticed how troubled Aelita seemed to be right now.
Jeremie took one of his girlfriend's hands into his, giving it a loving squeeze. "Aelita...? Are you okay...?" he asked.
"... I killed someone last night, Jeremie." Aelita's face fell as she thought about what she did to Tony in that bar. How she killed a human being for the first time. The pinkette closed her eyes tightly after she saw the horrified and shocked expressions on both her brothers' faces. "Last night I killed a person... a living person... Not a walker. Not one of XANA's monsters on Lyoko... a person."
"So did I, Aelita..." Jeremie had a sad look in his eye as he thought back to the man he shot. He wouldn't hesitate to shoot him again or even a million times over if it meant keeping Aelita safe, but it still didn't sit right with him. It was going to take a lot of time to come to terms with the events of yesterday - everything from the barn shootings to him, Aelita, and Odd all committing murder.
God... the mess that happened at the bar almost made him forget about putting down his friends, his teachers, and his own cousin... It was hard for him to believe that so much horror could happen in such a short amount of time. Yesterday was the worst day of his life.
Aelita cringed with guilt as she remembered exactly how Jeremie saved her life from the man about to murder her. Three bullets to the back. In the process of saving Aelita, he had shouldered the same burden as her. Aelita never wanted him to feel anything like that, especially if it was because of her. "I'm so sorry you had to do that, Jeremie. I'm so, so sorry..." she said with a sorrowful tone as she lowered her gaze.
"Hey, hey..." Jeremie soothed, leaning in to give her a hug. It was quickly returned. "Don't be sorry, Aelita. It's okay... Keeping you safe is the only thing that I care about. You have nothing to feel sorry for." Jeremie assured as he and Aelita held each other.
"How could it have gotten that bad so quickly...?" Aelita was desperate for any sensible answer to that question. She would never get one.
"You did what you had to do, Aelita. You all did." Chase sympathized. He wasn't there, but he knew that Aelita wouldn't have killed a person without due cause.
"Exactly." Dylan agreed with what his brother said. "'Lita, you would've died if you didn't do that. Jeremie, Patrick, Verity and Odd too. You saved yourself along with them."
Aelita remained silent at the reassurances of Jeremie and of both her brothers. Aelita listened, but she was still unconvinced despite what they all said. It was clear that Aelita still held so much guilt about killing Tony. Even if it was in self-defense she still knew that she had committed the act of killing a human being... No matter how justified it was for her to have killed that man last night, the pinkette would hold that terrible guilt for the rest of her life.
Soon, Jeremie and Aelita let go of each other. Aelita rested on the bed as she merely looked up at the ceiling. To take her mind off of the events of last night, Aelita thought back to that strange dream that she had while she was laying unconscious on the bed. "I had a weird dream while I was out..." Aelita told her boyfriend and her brothers, hoping to change the subject.
"A dream? Do you remember what happened in it?" a curious Jeremie wondered.
"I... I'm not really sure..." Aelita was trying really hard to remember the details of the dream, but it was all so fuzzy. The pinkette proceeded to tell her boyfriend and her two brothers about the dream, or at least about as much of it as she could remember. The roaring crowds, the child who she saw, everything she had felt as she walked down the hall and into the blindingly bright light... Though she still had absolutely no clue what it was about, it was certainly an experience that Aelita would remember for a long time.
Once she was done explaining to the boys what she had seen, Chase just shrugged. "Must've just been a weird hallucination." he reasoned, being logical. "You hit your head pretty hard last night, right? I bet it was just your brain screwing with you while you were out. Maybe it could mean something, but maybe it doesn't... It sounds like a cool dream though."
"Maybe..." Aelita said as she remained deep in thought. There was just something about it that stuck with her...
"Yeah, I had some dreams like that after my mom died." Dylan added, remembering bits and pieces of what he dreamt while he was comatose after the car wreck years ago.
Aelita nodded and she continued resting on the bed. Like her brother said: maybe the dream meant something, maybe not. Regardless, it was a nice thought and it helped her avoid thinking of all of the horror that she and her friends experienced last night. A good distraction. And given how bad this world has become thanks to the pandemic, Aelita knew that she was going to need a lot more of these distractions in the future.
Out of the corner of her eye Aelita saw a bookshelf. She smiled a little at the sight of the books. Those could be a good distraction too.
"Can one of you read something to me...?" Aelita asked the three boys. "It gets so boring in this bedroom with nothing to do..."
"Of course, princess." Jeremie smiled at her before he went to get one of the books.
Aelita smiled softly back at her boyfriend for a moment, but it fell when Jeremie turned his back to her and went to the bookshelf. She had so much on her mind...
Chase and Dylan both bid the pinkette farewell since they had to go and help find Josh, though they gave a different reason for leaving instead. Since Aelita needed to be free of any stress during her recovery over the next couple of days, Jeremie and the two brothers agreed not to tell her about Josh's escape until she was back up on her feet. The last thing they wanted was to stress her out any more than she already was.
After the two brothers each gave their sister a kiss on the forehead, they both left the room and headed back for camp. Aelita perked up at that, and she perked up even more once Jeremie found an old fairytale book to read to her.
"Alright, here we go." Jeremie smiled as he went to sit down in a chair next to Aelita's bed.
Jeremie opened the fairytale book and prepared to read the first story in it, but he stopped for a moment as he felt Aelita slither her hand into his. Jeremie gave his love's hand a squeeze before he looked back at the book, clearing his throat. Aelita listened with interest as they kept holding hands together.
"Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess locked in a tower..." Jeremie read the first passage of the story.
'Heh...' Aelita thought to herself with amusement. 'That hits a bit close to home, doesn't it?'
Odd and Verity had no idea where they were or what was going to happen to them.
After they were kidnapped by Carver, he had his men blindfold them and tie their hands behind their backs. The pair sat in the back of the transport truck with Nick and the armed guards for a long time... maybe several hours? The teens and the adult couldn't tell.
The trip was absolute hell for the three of them. It was hot. The wooden benches attached to the walls of the back canopy were uncomfortable. They weren't given any food or drink. Those bastards didn't even let them or Nick out to use the bathroom when they needed to... Odd ended up going in his pants after one of the guards hit him in the stomach with a rifle butt during the trip, much to his embarrassment and shame. It wasn't enough that they had him all tied up, they had to go after his dignity as well?
Not only did the back of the truck reek of piss now, Verity got carsick thanks to the blindfold and the terrible heat and humidity in the vehicle. It all caused her to vomit on the floorboards and she was rewarded with a harsh punch to the stomach from one of the guards for doing that. It throbbed with pain so badly, but Verity refused to show off any of her pain or fear. Not to any of these monsters. She couldn't dare let herself show any weakness to them.
She was terrified. But she had to be brave right now... she couldn't let them sense her fear. She just had to hold out until she, Nick, and Odd can figure out a way to escape.
Patrick must be so worried about her... Verity wouldn't rest until she made it back to her love.
Finally, after sweating and suffering for God only knew how long, the truck took another turn and then it came to a halt. The two teens and Nick didn't even get a moment to collect themselves after the horrible journey. All three were practically thrown out of the back of the transport truck by the armed guards and they landed harshly on some asphalt below.
Verity groaned as she tried to raise herself up off the ground. However, someone grabbed her by the arm and he roughly pulled her up to her feet instead. Then that person yanked the blindfold off of her head. The daylight was blinding at first, but Verity's eyes quickly adjusted.
The young raven-haired teen saw that she, Odd, and Nick were all taken to some fortified hardware store called Howe's Hardware. She was familiar with the franchise since there was a couple of stores back in Baltimore, but she never went inside any of them. This store looked even more secure than Hershel's farm was, as Verity could see barbed wire and wooden barricades everywhere along with armed guards on the rooftop and in the parking lot.
She hated to admit it, but Carver and his men seemed to have built a really good place where they can survive. It was a shame that they were all bastards...
"Get movin' or get shot, I ain't gonna tell you again." a guard ordered Verity by pressing his rifle barrel firmly into her back. Verity hissed at the pain it caused but she started to head towards the store like she was told. She could see that Odd and Nick were both getting similar treatment from their guards.
The three captives were marched under armed guard through the parking lot and into Howe's Hardware. Nick was dead silent, and Verity could tell that he was struggling not to panic at the fact that he was back at this terrible place. Odd and Verity shared a look as they were marched through the store, both feeling very worried about what could be in store for them under Carver's rule.
There were people here. There were defenses. Even entire shelving units filled to the brim with food, bottled water, medicine - all kinds of supplies that the farm needed.
... Verity hated to give it to the man, but Carver knew how to run a settlement even if he was very cruel. Hopefully he and his people have left some kind of weakness which she could exploit to get herself, Odd, and Nick out of here. Verity wasn't going to quit until she and her friends were free and safely back at home.
Nick, Verity, and Odd were taken deep into the store, away from all of the other people and all of the shelves filled with supplies. Nick thought they were going to be taken out into the garden section which Carver had fortified into a makeshift holding area. Carver seemed to have other plans, as instead the three were forcibly led up a flight of stairs and inside of a manager's office. Must've been Carver's now...
The three were made to sit in a few chairs in front of the office desk. They were kept under gunpoint and Nick was even tied down to the chair as Carver followed the guards in. The man himself went to the other side of his desk so that he could sit down and plop his feet up. That trip was exhausting and he was happy to finally be back home.
"So... here we are at last..." Carver sounded so smug as he spoke. Like he had won a challenge. "You people are hard as hell to pin down, but at least I've got some of you now. The rest'll show up sooner or later, I'm certain."
"Don't bet on that." Odd frowned at the kidnapper.
"Oh yeah? Well, I guess we'll see soon enough, kid..." Carver smirked. His plan seemed to hold water. If those people cared for their friends, they'll come here... and if not, he'll just head back south and find them himself. He had a general idea of their location now - they were somewhere near Senoia.
Carver then sniffed the air and grimaced at the scent. "Christ, did one of you piss your pants?" he asked. Odd grimaced from embarrassment at the question. Verity gritted her teeth from a growing rage. She was absolutely terrified of this man, but if she wasn't tied up then she'd have tried to beat the living hell out of him for what he put her friend through.
As if on cue, Carver gestured over to Verity, making her eyes widen. Her anger was rapidly replaced by fear.
"I know Nick and that stupid-named kid, but I don't know who you are." Carver observed as he relaxed in his chair. "What's your name, miss?"
Verity gulped as Carver turned his attention over to her. Odd could only watch helplessly, unable to try to help her since he was still kept under the watchful eye of men with assault rifles. Carver was a coward and a scumbag... If Odd didn't have a gun to his back then he would've done anything to protect a close friend from this monster.
Remembering an old alias that Aelita had once mentioned to her a long time ago, Verity forced herself to calm down and she gave a false name to Carver instead of her real one. She hoped it would work. The less this guy knew about her, the better...
"... Maya." Verity hesitantly replied. "... my name is Maya."
Odd looked at Verity with surprise. Maya... Jeremie gave that name to Aelita after he turned on the supercomputer! That was before she discovered her real name, of course. Odd didn't dare say anything that would go against Verity's lie since he wanted to back her up as much as possible. It was anyone's guess whether Carver believed the lie or not, however. If he didn't, he didn't show it well.
"Nice name." Carver complimented, though it was uncertain whether he truly believed her. "Well, 'Maya'... I need to know where your group is holdin' up. If you tell me, then I promise that I'll go easy on you. Hell, I'll even give you a place here in my community! Three square a day, a warm cot, protection... How's that sound, kid?"
"Don't say a word to this sociopath!" Odd told his friend. They had to be defiant until the end. No matter what, they couldn't let this bastard take anyone else to this place.
Carver snapped his fingers and then he gestured over to Odd, giving a silent order to the man with the rifle who was behind him. Before the boy knew it, the guard raised his rifle and he hit Odd in the back of his head with the butt of the weapon. Odd immediately went unconscious, his head slumping forward. Nick and Verity saw this but couldn't do a thing about it. Carver was the one calling the shots right now...
The guard who hit Odd took him by the arms and he dragged the boy back out of the room. Verity saw that the back of Odd's head was bleeding now, much to her horror.
"Where are you taking my friend?!" Verity demanded to know.
"Don't worry about it, Maya." Carver replied with a completely relaxed tone. "Your buddy there's gonna get that head looked at and then he's gonna go to where I'll be holding him for a while. Don't worry, it's not a torture chamber or anything like that. I'm not that much of a monster..."
Verity glared at the psycho kidnapper. "That's still up for debate." she retorted. "Everything that you've done to me, my friends, and my group so far tells me otherwise..."
"I only did those things because you and your people harbored my runaways." Carver pointed out to her. "If you guys didn't do that then I'd have no issues with you or your friends at all. You all chose to get involved with this and now you're paying the price for it."
The raven-haired teen shook her head. "People have the right to get away from a cruel leader. You have no right to force them to stay in your community."
"'Cruel'? Hardly..." Carver dismissed what she said as nonsense.
Carver stood up from his chair and he walked over to the window of the manager's office. He crossed his arms as he looked down into the interior of Howe's Hardware, seeing his people working down there. It filled him with as much pride as it did satisfaction - each and every single one of those people answered to his leadership. His rule. Him. His voice reigned supreme here and he wouldn't have had it any other way.
"You know what the meaning of Darwinism is, kid?" Carver asked as he kept watching his people work on their daily tasks. He even saw his daughters Tess and Emily chatting with each other down there... Carver didn't let either of them in on the true reasons for their trip to Georgia. As far as either girl knew, their dad was just trying to find some uncommon and rare stuff to scavenge to help the settlement. If they knew what his true reasons were then who knew how they'd react...
"Yeah..." Verity nodded as she glared at the man, not caring that he wasn't looking at her. "It's evolution based on the idea of natural selection. Over generations, a species becomes more and more strong while weaknesses gradually get purged out of the cycle."
"Shit! You're a smart kid, Maya. I like that." Carver complimented as he kept looking out the window. She was far smarter than that other kid with the weird hair.
Verity impatiently rolled her eyes. "What the fuck does Darwinism have to do with anything? Especially kidnapping people and beating them?"
"Seems like you also got a temper... I like that too." Carver observed with an amused grin, though he kept on their topic of discussion. "Essentially, that's the reason why I'm bringing all of my people back home. Darwinism. Nothing more and nothing less."
Carver noticed a couple of people who seemed to be slacking off down by one of the isles in the store. He held up his finger to Verity and he told her to give him a second so that he could do something first. Verity watched Carver activate some P.A. system which was installed in the manager's office. It seemed like a stupid thing to do given the walkers which could be outside, but maybe they wouldn't hear him?
Pressing the button to turn on the P.A. system caused a short shrill-like activation sound, but it got everyone's attention pretty fast.
"Reggie! Kara!" Carver spoke into the microphone as he glared at two people through his window. "I don't know what you're doing that's so important that you stop working, but save it for later! We need you guys to get that barbed wire put up on the fences on the south face of the store. So move your asses before the biters find a way inside!"
In the store, a dark-skinned man and a woman with blonde hair listened to Carver's words and then they hurried back into action. Their quick little chat about who knew what was just going to have to wait until later. They didn't want to piss off the man that kept them fed and sheltered from the undead.
Satisfied, Carver turned off the P.A. system and he turned his attention back over to the raven-haired girl in the chair. Nick continued to be silent. Luckily for him, Carver was too focused on talking to this Lyoko Warrior instead of him... for now at least.
"Now, what the fuck was I gonna say...?" Carver wondered where he left off earlier.
Verity rolled her eyes. "I think you were on the part where you'd go fuck yourself?"
"Oh, right... Darwinism." Carver reminded himself as he ignored what Verity said.
Carver turned and went back to lean on the front of his desk, placing himself right in front of Verity. Surprisingly, he told the other two guards in the office to leave and go preform other duties in the settlement. He wanted privacy for now. They did as Carver asked and soon it was just him, Nick, and Verity all alone in the room together. One was smug, two were utterly terrified beyond all belief.
As Verity and Nick remained silent, Carver pulled a bowl of apples on his desk closer to him. He took one, offering it to the girl.
"Hungry?" Carver held out the tasty red fruit towards the captive teen.
"I'd rather eat walker shit than anything you could offer." Verity spat with disgust. She was starving. But hunger was preferable than accepting anything from Bill Carver.
Carver shrugged. "Suit yourself then, kid." he said before he took a bite of the apple, savoring the taste of it. He was pretty damn glad that his scavenge team had secured that apple orchard a few miles away a couple weeks ago. Hopefully apples won't go away anytime soon in this apocalyptic new world.
As he kept eating the apple, Carver continued to speak to the raven-haired captive in front of him. "Now..." Carver began. "Darwinism, as you just said, is evolution. Natural selection. It's what keeps a species strong and away from extinction. It's what'll keep humanity from going the way of the Dodo. If we don't follow that ideal then we may as well start digging our own fuckin' graves right now... We have to work hard to make the next generation stronger than ours so that they can pull us out of this shit."
"So... you think you have to be harsh and follow the 'strongest shall survive' idea so that your people won't all die off?" Verity hesitantly guessed.
"Bingo." Carver praised before taking another bite of his apple. "I don't want to be like that to anyone, kid. But someone's gotta shepherd the flock so that the biters don't get them first. People need a strong hand these days." he explained. "People, especially weak people, need the leadership of someone strong so that they don't collapse into total anarchy. If it can happen to the whole fuckin' world, then it can definitely happen to a little hardware store in bumfuck-nowhere Tennessee..."
Verity remained silent at that. Carver sighed and he finished off his apple, tossing the core of it into a garbage can.
"I know you won't believe me, but I have a deep respect for Carlos and all the other runaways... Really, I do!" Carver told her with a defensive tone. "They're all good people more or less. Even this dipshit here with us..." he gestured at Nick, who continued to be quiet. "I've also got a newfound respect for you and for all of your people too, Maya. You're all smart, strong too. You people can survive the rest of this mess and I know you'll be a good part of this community when I find you all." Carver assured.
Verity gawked with disbelief and anger. "Respect?! Community?! You just tried to fucking kill us all last night!"
"Because you were going against my community by harboring the runaways." Carver retorted with a frown. "You think I wanted to kill you and yours? Killing a person to save many more is just a part of survival now. We've gotta adapt to this new world, I'm sure you understand by now. You've probably had to kill... You, or someone in your group at least. From what I gathered you already had a bit of a fight before me and my guys showed up last night..."
Verity opened her mouth to speak, but she remained silent.
For once... Verity couldn't disagree with this psychopath. Everything that happened in that bar in Senoia last night served as proof for what Carver was saying right now. The world had changed for the worse and there was a lot of bad people out there now. With society dead and buried, a shitload of people out there have turned down dark paths and "adapted" to keep themselves alive. People like Dave and Tony...
Killing to survive was just a factor of life now. Aelita proved that when she shot Tony. In the future, Verity and her fellow Lyoko Warriors would likely have to end more lives to save their own...
... fuck Carver for being right.
"Weakness is what it is now, kid." Carver continued. "If you need food in your belly, you can't rely on a grocery store or a McDonald's to fill you up anymore. If you need fresh water, you can't get it out of your faucets anymore. If you need help, then you've only got yourself or your friends to rely on... Weakness is what gets you killed now, not the dead. To survive, you've gotta make yourself stronger in both body and mind, and you've gotta forget all about morals. Otherwise you may as well just go outside and join the biters right now..."
"Everything you said isn't worth me losing my humanity." Verity protested. "What's the point of continuing to survive if I become anything like you?"
"You won't survive at all unless you do."
Verity frowned, her anger building more and more. "You know nothing about me or my friends, Carver. We've survived more than you'd ever think possible." She made sure to leave out that this included everything before the end of the world. The war with XANA. The Men in Black. Things like that.
"You have, sure..." Carver conceded with a shrug. "But how long until your luck runs out? How long until you're forced to put down someone you love so that they don't come back and rip your face off with their teeth? How long until you starve to death? Or get captured and used and murdered by some rape gang?" he listed some possibilities that could happen to her. "Like I said - if you don't try to follow my example, you may as well start kissing your friends goodbye while you can. That boyfriend of yours who we left behind, especially..."
"Don't you dare mention him..." Verity's glare could cut like daggers. Her amethyst-colored eyes were filled with pure hated.
"He's a dead man walkin' and you know it. Him and all the people you care about unless you all adapt to this new world..." Carver made his point clear. Then, he grinned at her. "... you know, I think that if you put your mind to it, you could become just like me and keep your friends alive, Maya. You'd make a fine protégé if you were willing to-"
"Fuck you!" Verity growled, interrupting him in the middle of his insane suggestion. "How fucking dare you say-!"
Verity gasped as Carver suddenly backhanded her across the face. His look of amusement suddenly became a deep frown. Verity cringed from pain as she looked up at him.
"Alright, enough debating. It's gettin' old and I don't have much more patience for your insolence or your backtalk either." Carver frowned as he started to dominate over her. "So where's your group holdin' up, kid? You really should answer the question before you get hurt even more..."
"I- I'm not gonna tell you anything you son of a bitch..." Verity retorted, her cheek throbbing from how hard he hit her. God, please, get her out of this terrible place...
Carver smugly grinned at her. "That's fine... I've got all day to make you talk."
Nick frowned as he watched and listened to everything that has unfolded so far. He had been trying to break out of his restraints ever since the guards left but he was having no luck at all. But Nick knew that he had to do something though, for Verity's sake at least... who knew what that monster would do to her. He wasn't just gonna sit there in silence and let Verity get hurt more...
Standing up to Carver was stupid... but there wasn't any other option. He couldn't let this girl get hurt by him again.
"Bill, don't... she's only a kid..." Nick frowned at his former leader.
"Oh? You're gonna talk now?" Carver grinned and turned his attention over to Nick.
"Just leave her alone, Bill... she's innocent."
Carver broke out laughing at Nick's words, and it was obvious he didn't take him seriously at all. Verity stayed quiet since she didn't want to risk getting hit again... or worse.
"What're you gonna do if I don't stop, Nick?" Carver challenged the tied up man. Right now, he had both of these people exactly where he wanted them. He could do anything he wanted to either of them and they'd just have to suck it up and take it.
"Just..." Nick trailed off, knowing that there really was nothing he could do aside from speak. He sighed. "... just please leave her alone, Bill. She's only a kid. She hasn't done much wrong to you or anyone else." he grimaced as he thought of at least one thing that might work. Carver did despise him after all. "... so if you're gonna hit someone, hit me instead ..."
Verity's eyes widened at the dangerous offer. Even Carver himself seemed to be surprised at hearing it. Maybe Nick wasn't as worthless and pathetic as he first believed...
... well, Carver had to find where the runaways and their friends were anyway. What does it matter who's ass he beats? The information would be the same either way.
"Fair enough..." Carver shrugged.
Before Nick could say anything else, Carver's fist flew straight into his face. The punch to the face was so hard that Nick's chair tipped backwards and sent him to the floor down below. One of the legs of the chair even broke off when he landed.
Nick couldn't get out of his chair because he was still firmly tied up, and he was helpless to defend himself as Carver walked over to him and started to stomp on his face over and over again. Verity could only watch in a stunned horror from her chair as Carver beat Nick's face with the bottom of his boot repeatedly. Even when Nick became bloody and bruised, Carver didn't stop kicking in his face. His whole body twitched with each stomp, kick, and hit.
Verity was truly certain that she was watching a man be beaten to death right here right now...
"Where are they?!" Carver demanded, his attacks unmerciful and unrelentless. "Where the fuck are they?! Tell me where you're all hiding!"
"STOP!!! PLEASE, JUST STOP!!!" Verity screamed desperately at her kidnapper. He ignored her pleas. "YOU'RE GONNA KILL HIM!!! PLEASE!!!"
Carver was about to stomp Nick's face for the... well, he got so caught up in the fun that he honestly lost count how many times. The only reason that Carver even stopped beating Nick half to death was that he heard the walkie-talkie on his desk crackle to life.
"Daddy? You there?" Carver heard his daughter Emily ask through the community's radio channel. "Tavia just told me that we've got biters on the way from the north. She said that it's not too much for us to worry about, but should I go and start preparing defenses anyway?"
Sighing with annoyance, Carver stopped beating Nick and he went to his desk. Verity saw that Nick was thankfully still alive, but Carver definitely did some damage to him. Nick's face was covered in his own blood, a few of his teeth were knocked out, his nose was disgustingly crooked and broken, his eyes were blackened and bruised... It was truly a miracle that Carver didn't kill him just now.
Carver picked up his walkie and pressed the speak button on it. "Get Tavia to round up some fellas and tell 'em all to go to the roof. Tell 'em not to fire unless the walkers are heading right for us. I don't wanna lure the freaks over here if we can avoid it... And hey, make sure Tavia doesn't use up too many bullets this time if they do have to shoot. We're all getting low on rounds lately and we're runnin' out of places to loot for more."
"Got it. Thanks, daddy."
Verity's heart sank into her stomach as she overheard the conversation. Carver's daughters had no idea what kind of a monster their father truly was it seemed...
After Carver set his walkie back on the desk, he whistled for his guards. Three of them hurried into the room and they went to their leader to see what he wanted. Carver got an idea as he looked at the semi-conscious Nick and then at a chair he had set up in a corner of his office. He was determined to get Nick to crack no matter what happens to the stupid bastard... If he dies, then he's got two teens to work through instead.
"Get Nick comfortable over there. I ain't finished with him yet." Carver ordered. As two of the guards started untying Nick to get him in the other chair, Carver gestured over to the captive Verity. "And take my new friend down to the room next to the kid with the stupid name... I'll head over to deal with her later."
Verity was helpless as the third guard walked to her and roughly lifted her off the chair by her bound hands. She felt the barrel of his rifle press deep into her back as she was forced to march out of the room. The last she saw of Nick was him being tied to the other chair out of the corner of her eye. Verity hoped and prayed that he would be able to survive whatever Carver was planning to do to him. But if Carver's beatdown was any indication, Verity was certain he would die...
Marched down the flight of stairs, Verity was taken to the other side of the store and she was forced to walk down a hallway. The guard was careful not to march her in front of the rest of the store. It seemed like Carver didn't want them to know about wherever he wanted her and Odd to be held...
Eventually, the guard stopped in front of a door and he opened it. Verity found herself standing in front of some old storage room before she was roughly pushed inside. The small room had no light and no windows. Once the door was shut and locked behind her, Verity was enveloped by complete darkness. She was completely on her own and right now she only had her thoughts to keep her company. The concrete surrounding her felt so cold...
Verity realized that there was nothing she could do right now. She simply sat down on the floor and hugged her knees to her chest, hoping for any kind of miracle. As she sat there and contemplated what might happen to her as Carver's captive, Verity noticed what sounded like some random tapping coming from the wall next to her...
Wait, no, it wasn't random tapping... it sounded like...
... Morse?
Verity's eyes widened as she realized that Odd must be in the next room trying to communicate to her. She hurried to press her ear against the wall so she could listen to the tapping better. The Morse which she and many of the others learned from Miranda was rough and difficult for Verity to remember, but she eventually managed to translate what Odd was trying to say through the wall. Verity quietly read out the letters to herself one by one as they were tapped out.
"W. E. ... W. I. L. L. ... S. U. R. V. I. V. E. ... V. E. R. I. T. Y. ..."
The message was a reassurance that Verity desperately needed. Relief filled her, and as Verity leaned her forehead against the wall she couldn't stop the tear that escaped her eye. Odd was okay, and as long as she and him didn't give up they'll get out of this hellhole one way or another...
Verity tapped her reply to her friend in the next room. "Y. E. S. ... W. E. ... W. I. L. L. ..." she tapped to Odd.
The raven-haired girl quickly followed that with a second message. "D. O. N. T. ... G. I. V. E. ... I. N. ..."
"I ... W. O. N. T. ..." she heard Odd tap. Another message followed after that one. "G. L. A. D. ... Y. O. U. ... O. K. A. Y. ..."
"S. A. M. E. ... T. O. ... Y. O. U. ..." was what Verity tapped next.
Though she was happy that Odd was at least close to her during this predicament, Verity couldn't ignore how tired she felt any longer. She must've been awake for well over a full day so far. Both she and Odd would need to keep their energy up during their time here. Stifling a yawn, Verity tapped one last message as she noticed that it was getting pretty hard for her to keep her eyes open. "N. E. E. D. ... R. E. S. T. ... T. A. L. K. ... L. A. T. E. R. ..."
"N. I. G. H. T. ... V. E. R. ..."
"N. I. G. H. T. ... O. D. D. ..."
Verity sighed, rubbing her eyes before she laid down on the cold concrete floor. She was worried for herself, Odd, and Nick, but she had to get some sleep while she still could.
The young captive closed her eyes and tried to keep herself warm as sleep began to overtake her...
In the camp, Ulrich was sitting by a fire by himself. He was sharpening a knife and he was readying himself to help locate Josh. However, Ulrich was thinking about something else instead...
Last night was... intense... for both himself and his girlfriend. Yumi was satisfied that she got to do that with Ulrich while she was still able to. As for Ulrich... well, Ulrich was feeling really conflicted. Concerned, even. He had no clue what to feel about it the morning after.
Don't give Ulrich wrong, he loved every second of what he and Yumi did together last night. It felt nothing short of incredible, and none of his fantasies about Yumi ever came close to actually being physical with her. Last night was an experience that he would remember very fondly for the rest of his life.
But Ulrich felt so very confused about why it happened so suddenly. What they did came out of the blue and he couldn't help but worry for Yumi. In all the time that they've been together they've never once tried to go all the way with each other. It was just too much for them both, far too awkward. Some makeout sessions were as far as they ever got with each other until Yumi came onto him by that creek last night.
Something was really wrong with Yumi... and Ulrich was scared that she might try to do something far more drastic soon...
Ulrich glanced over to Dale's RV which was a short distance away. Yumi was there, apparently deep in thought. She was just sitting on the RV's roof and looking out into the distance. There wasn't anything or anyone out there, but that didn't stop her from looking.
Soon, Ulrich noticed what she was truly looking at - Hiroki's gravesite.
Everything that happened yesterday... the memories of it, the heartbreak it caused... none of it was going to leave the Lyoko Warriors until they died.
Wordlessly, Ulrich looked away from Yumi and he resumed sharpening his knife. For the moment, he tried not to think any further about what Yumi was going through...
She wasn't okay. And deep down he knew that he wasn't either...
Josh frowned after he snuck away from one of the search teams combing through the forest. This time they came dangerously close to finding him.
The psychopath intended to always stay at least six steps ahead of the searchers. Which, given how moronic they all were, should be an easy challenge. He'll get his revenge on them all one by one and no one, no one will be able to stop him. All of the bullshit they put him through will be repaid tenfold by his wrath.
Seeing the search teams were again heading in his direction, Josh decided to go to the one place they wouldn't search - the farmhouse.
Josh bolted out of the treeline and straight towards Hershel's home. He avoided the camp by cutting around the back of the barn. He would've ran through the graveyard for a quicker way to the house if that stupid Japanese bitch wasn't standing out there for no good reason, so to Josh's annoyance he had to find another way to reach the building. It was too bad since he wanted to kick over all those stupid crosses.
Eventually, Josh made it to the farmhouse without anyone noticing him. He walked up to the back of the house and up the steps of the porch which wrapped around the sides of the house. It was quieter here than he expected it to be, which was good. He wanted to light the whole house on fire before anyone could find him.
As the psycho walked to find a door, he noticed something through one of the bedroom windows. Through the window he could see that pink-haired bitch laying in bed as that nerd read a storybook to her. Their backs were turned to him, so neither noticed his presence.
Josh's mouth slowly curled to a sinister grin as he slowly took Charles's knife out of his pocket. Instead of a young couple in love, Josh saw one thing and one thing only:
Prey.
But before Josh could open up the window to climb inside and murder Jeremie and Aelita like the stupid little disgusting pigs they were, he felt something cold suddenly press against the side of his head. For once, Josh wasn't too proud to admit that he was surprised by someone getting the drop on him. Maybe there really was someone smart who was living in this clan of idiots...
"Back away from that goddamn window right now..." he heard Dylan warn through gritted teeth.
Dylan was the one who got him? Oh, on second thought, take that back - there was literally no smart people here. Josh's hope for a challenge was met with disappointment.
"Why? Worried that I'll gut your sister like a fish?" Josh grinned as he kept his hands low. He was trying to hide his stolen knife from Dylan's prying eyes. He smirked at Dylan's reflection in the window. "How would you feel if I make that nerd of hers watch me fuck her before-"
The psycho then heard the sound of Dylan's pistol cocking. "Back. Away. Now." Dylan warned. It was clear that he was having a hard time holding back his anger, let alone holding back his finger from pulling the trigger. No one goes after the people he cares about, his family.
"You're the boss, Enheart." Josh mocked as he slowly backed away from the window. He didn't look away from Jeremie and Aelita, which only pissed Dylan off even more.
"Shut up for once in your pathetic life, Josh. Just shut up." Dylan frowned as he spoke to the psycho. He kept his gun pressed firmly against Josh's head with one hand while he fumbled around in the pocket of his jacket with the other for some rope to tie him up with. Everyone looking for him carried stuff they could use to tie him. "I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you, dude... Honestly, what the fuck did any of us do to you? Why do you gotta always be... yourself?"
Josh rolled his eyes. "Aside from your continued existence, you mean?"
"Sure, whatever." Dylan dismissed the answer as sheer insanity.
As Dylan pulled out the rope from his pocket, he didn't notice Josh gripping the knife in his hand. Dylan held out the rope for the psychopath to take. "Here. Tie yourself up and make it quick." Dylan barked an order to the psycho he despised. "I don't have all day and you've worn out my patience."
"Aw, boo hoo..." Josh mocked what Dylan said. He held the rope in his hands but he didn't do anything with it. He just kept standing there.
Josh's inaction only made Dylan more angry. "Are you deaf? I said I want you to take that rope and-"
Suddenly, Josh raised his knife high and he started to wildly slash at Dylan in an effort to hurt him. Maybe even kill him. Josh didn't care what happened to Dylan so long as he got some blood out of that fool.
Dylan accidentally fired off a shot from his gun as it was knocked out of his hand. It left a nice hole in the ceiling of Hershel's porch. Jeremie and Aelita both turned in alarm towards the window after they heard the sudden (and very very close) gunshot go off. Jeremie dropped the storybook and he protectively placed himself between Aelita and the window, having absolutely no idea what was going on. Did Carver find the farm?!
As Dylan kept dodging Josh's attacks in the hopes that someone would show up and help him take this guy down, Josh got a lucky slash on the back of Dylan's left hand.
"AGH!" Dylan exclaimed as he felt the blade slice open his skin.
While Dylan was distracted by the painful cut to his hand, Josh gave a hard kick to his knee to send him down to the floor. Dylan hissed as his kneecap was hit very hard by Josh's boot. He was debilitated by the pain, and he could only watch helplessly as Josh hurriedly went over to pick up his pistol.
Josh chuckled darkly as he grabbed Dylan's pistol from the deck floor. The gunshot was definitely going to draw quite a few people here in the next few seconds, but he could probably at least kill Dylan before someone could stop him. Maybe even Jeremie and Aelita as well if he emptied the remaining bullets in the magazine through the window. Ooh, maybe he could still break into the house to light it on fire? That'd be fun.
Dylan desperately tried crawling away from Josh to save his own life, but Josh simply walked over to him and pressed his foot down on Dylan's hurt knee. The poor boy could only turn to see that Josh was aiming the pistol at his face. Dylan's eyes widened as he looked down the barrel of his own gun.
But just as Josh started to squeeze the trigger, he and Dylan heard someone shout:
"JOSH, STOP!!!"
Josh saw that Anne was standing on the porch and already aiming a revolver at him. Rebecca and Chase were both coming up onto the porch as well, followed by many other people from the camp. Seeing that he was about to get surrounded, Josh hurriedly picked up Dylan to use him as a human shield. It felt so satisfying for him to press the gun against Dylan's head just like how Dylan pressed it against his.
Rebecca was outraged and terrified at what Josh was doing with the boy she loved. The possibility of losing Dylan today was just... was just... God, she just couldn't allow it to happen! She couldn't imagine living without him by her side.
"Let him go, Josh! You've got nowhere to run!" Chase growled as he aimed his pistol towards the psycho. He couldn't get a good shot on him. His brother was in the way.
"Fuck you, Chase! I'm not doing shit!" Josh snapped back, his finger on the trigger. Dylan just remained silent as he struggled against Josh's grip. He didn't want to die, but he simply wasn't going to give this monster the satisfaction of hearing him beg.
Jeremie rushed out of the house with his own gun after making sure Aelita was safe. When he saw the new hostage situation, he was horrified.
Several guns were aimed at Josh as he kept holding onto Dylan. The psycho was outraged that his plan of revenge got foiled in such a stupid, stupid, stupid fucking way by that bastard Dylan Enheart. He was outraged that these idiotic people had the upper hand on him now. And he was outraged that his freedom was going to end again today, whether in chains or in death...
Anne could only watch in terror as Josh kept threatening the life of her best friend. If that monster killed him...
"Back off or I blow his brains all over the side of the house!" Josh warned the people who gathered by him.
"Take it easy, kid!" Rick frowned, his gun still in its holster. He had to play this carefully. "How about we all just take a second to calm down, and we can-"
Josh interrupted Rick and he even aimed the pistol at him. "Not gonna happen, pig!" he had venom in his voice. Josh wasn't going to just give in like a coward.
"You know that there's no good way out of this if you shoot anyone!" Shane frowned as he aimed his shotgun towards the psycho and his hostage. "So just go ahead and drop the gun and back away from him! You don't wanna get full of holes today, do you?"
The bedroom window near the group suddenly began to open. Before anyone could warn her of the dangerous situation that was unfolding with Josh, Aelita peeked her head out to see what all the commotion was. The pinkette looked incredibly worried and confused.
Aelita then spoke to the others. "What's happen-"
Josh aimed his gun towards the window and he fired off a shot - more out of warning her to stay out of this than actually shooting to kill. As the bullet hit the window frame in front of her, Aelita exclaimed as she backed up and fell onto the bed. The poor pinkette then hurriedly scampered behind it to keep herself alive. Jeremie immediately hurried back into the house to check up on his princess, horrified by what had just happened.
Seeing Aelita nearly get shot enraged Dylan. He had enough.
Without warning, Dylan suddenly headbutted Josh really hard with the back of his own head. The hit was strong enough to stun Josh and make him let go of both Dylan and the gun. Josh realized that he was screwed so he promptly took off running off the porch and out towards the woods with several of the group hot on his tail - he didn't want to get captured again. Not again!
But before Josh could escape into the trees, he got tackled by a furious Miranda. Josh struggled in her grip but he was promptly knocked out by a combination of Miranda's fists and the butt of a rifle she borrowed from the camp armory. She hit him a lot... but hey, it'll teach him a lesson he deserved, right?
Miranda spat down in disgust at the unconscious psychopath.
"Prick..."