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| Dead Men Walking | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,899 Views) | |
| Strompy | Sep 4 2015, 04:32 AM Post #2656 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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"Cory's dead. We're banged up but okay. Brandon's all fucked up. We lost Jen." Emily summarized as she did a head count of who emerged from the truck. She had a wad of gauze pressed against her head to stem some of the bleeding. Head wounds were big bleeders but she'd live. She looked back at Brandon as he lifted himself onto his elbow weakly. He was looking intently at something in his hand, he curled his fist around with a pensive expression. He turned his gaze toward the asian guy with Jimmy, staring daggers at him. "Hey Darren. Got tired of Green River? They stiff you on your extra rations?" he asked hatefully. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 4 2015, 04:53 AM Post #2657 |
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Is that so?
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It wasn't anything personal. Darren wanted to tell him. But if anything that would only make matters worse here. Even though he had helped with their escape, the fact remained that he and his crew had shot at two of their guys, successfully capturing one of them in the process. And subjecting him to Cory. And he looked like shit now, to be honest. He could understand the hostility; were their positions reversed, it would be hard for Darren not to be upset. He approached the blonde kid hesitantly. "I know it doesn't mean much, but I'm sorry." He explained sincerely. "I was trying to look out for myself and my sis before others. That doesn't make it right, but maybe it makes it understandable." "Nobody is pure in this world anymore." Antonio explained softly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I do not approve of what you did, but you stood against tyranny at the end of the day and acknowledged your mistakes. That is all we could ask for." Darren appreciated the show of faith, but it wasn't really his forgiveness he was looking for here. He had only known him for a few minutes, but Antonio was a forgiving man. He got the feeling that Eli and his blonde friend were not. The brown-haired kid, Nolan his name was, had barely taken his eyes off him as well. Even as he left the group and reached down and gave a young girl a hug, Darren could see one of the young man's eyes staying focused on him at all times. The unsaid scrutiny he was under was a little overwhelming. He gulped nervously. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 4 2015, 05:07 AM Post #2658 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Watching Jimmy pull up, it was like taking a syringe full of liquid relief, and injecting it right into a muscle. Nolan was with him. Antonio was with him. Emmett was with him. Jen is dead, yes, Annie knew. No one could survive that fall at that speed… But the others are alive. She found herself smiling as Jimmy and Emily exchanged words, but that smile faded when Emmett took his first step, and immediately fell to his knees. Annie rushed over. “I’m fine,” Emmett said in his gruff voice when he saw her running. He raised one hand to assure her, the other was holding his own body, and Annie recognized where. She ignored him and leaned over, making him pull his arm away. She found it stuck to his jacket as he did. Sticky with blood. Annie frowned. Amazing how quickly she could jump back into caregiver mode, even after everything that had happened. She didn’t bother addressing him – she didn’t want to hear any more of his insincere protests, she just wanted to help him. “Nolan,” she flagged him down, interrupting his reunion with his sister. She was sorry about that, but this was urgent, and he looked like he was in good enough shape to assist. “Help me get him to the back of the truck. We need to clean him up and re-stitch his wounds.” “Annie…” Emmett grunted. The pain was obvious in his voice. Annie shot him a glare. His look turned sheepish, and he didn’t bother finishing his sentence. * * * Jimmy stepped aside to let Annie pass and tend to Emmett. A moment earlier, the news that Jen was lost had sent a flash of emotion across his features. Eli was watching, but he wasn’t sure what emotion. It came and went quickly, whatever it was – just a single flicker, almost imperceptible, and then it was gone, replaced with his standard ingratiating smile. Eli thought it might have been regret. Jimmy had known Jen before he knew any of them. He had greeted Jen kindly when he appeared outside that parking garage in Lincoln. Eli thought he liked her. Well, he liked everyone – or liked to pretend he did – but Eli thought he actually liked her. Still, the news took him all of one second to get past. “Shit,” he said. “Well – glad all you road warriors survived.” Eli shook his head to himself. He couldn’t think about Jimmy anymore. There was Emmett, he was obviously not in the best of shape, even if it looked like Annie had him covered. He deserved his thoughts more. Darren was back too, and the words he was exchanging with Brandon didn’t make any sense at first. How did Brandon know his name? How did Darren know him? Why was he sorry? Eli blinked, and his mind was flooded with the knowledge of exactly the reason why. The answer drowned out everything else. Brandon was almost killed, and likely permanently scarred in ways they would just begin to understand in the coming days. Emmett was badly hurt as well. Almost everyone else had taken some sort of beating. And Jen is dead… “Wait!” Eli’s brows furrowed about as much as they possibly could. He took a step forward towards Darren, but turned to Brandon in the van. Considering his expression, his voice was oddly calm. “Darren’s the one that took you? He’s the one that started all this?” |
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| Strompy | Sep 4 2015, 05:22 AM Post #2659 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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Yes, Brandon wanted to say. He wanted to lay it all on the man, let him burden the responsibility for all of this. But once he started that he'd have to keep going. He'd have to blame himself, which he already did, blame Cory most obviously, blame everyone at Green River, even blame Cory's mother for giving birth to him. Blame everyone over the years who didn't just take that freak out. "No. He didn't start this, not any more than I did. It doesn't matter now. Cory's dead, and we've payed them back for what they did and then some. It's done." he said without satisfaction. He was tired. There'd been enough fighting for a lifetime today. He just wanted them all to move on now. "It's a long way back to Green River. Better get started." Brandon advised Darren. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 4 2015, 06:09 AM Post #2660 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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“Wait,” Eli said. He held his palm up, and then turned back to Darren. Brandon reply had not been satisfactory. It’s done was not answer. “Answer the question,” he said, to Darren this time. “Are you the one that kidnapped him?” |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 4 2015, 01:47 PM Post #2661 |
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Is that so?
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Normally Darren would simply tell the truth and hope for the best. After all, he had always been taught that honesty was the best policy. Especially in a situation like this where he had not only practically admitted to the deed already, but he had two people that could immediately call him out on it. Yet despite those risks, he still felt the desire to lie and say no. Eli had that look in his eyes again. He was heated. He was intense. And above all else, he was dangerous. Darren could feel it just by looking at him. Darren lifted his hands in the air to show he meant no harm as he shifted in place. "Yes..." He finally admitted. "And I'm sorry." |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 4 2015, 02:03 PM Post #2662 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Sorry, Eli shook his head as he considered the word. Sorry’s not gonna do it. He turned away. The exchange had obviously drawn Annie’s attention. He heard her speak, her voice coming from behind Jimmy’s truck. “Antonio’s right,” she said, her tone regretful. “So is Brandon. It’s over.” Sure it was, Eli thought. For Jen. Almost for Nolan – close enough to make Cory think so, at least. Give it an hour, might be over for Emmett too. And Brandon… Look at him. Fuckin’ look at him! It'll never be over! “Darren,” Eli said, looking at the ground. His voice was ice again. Like it had been in the creek, minutes ago. See you tonight. He drew his Supergrade, aimed it at Darren’s forehead. BLAM! “Eli, no!” Annie cried out, too late. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 4 2015, 02:11 PM Post #2663 |
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Is that so?
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Antonio watched in horror as Darren's brains were jettisoned out the back of his head. Darren hadn't even had time to react. Nobody had. Eli had lifted the gun, fired, and Darren was on the ground, staring blankly up at the night sky. "What is wrong with you!?" Antonio broke the silence the gunshot had created. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 4 2015, 02:18 PM Post #2664 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Eli holstered the Supergrade. He glanced up at Antonio when he spoke, then looked away. It wasn’t a sincere question. It was just more self-righteousness for its own sake. “Now it’s over,” he answered anyway, still calm. It wasn’t the complete truth – but it was true enough. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 4 2015, 02:37 PM Post #2665 |
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Is that so?
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Antonio narrowed his eyes. Why? Why does he see the need for more bloodshed? Will there ever be enough blood to satisfy him? "All he admitted to doing was the same thing you have claimed to be doing." Antonio retorted. "And that is looking out for his own! If Darren is guilty of that, then so are you." "Not quite right, Antonio." Antonio's thought was interrupted. Nolan had left Emmett's care to the professional and instead made his way over to the two arguing men. It was clear from his tone of voice and facial expressions that he was trying to restrain an anger building up within him. He turned to face Eli. "Look at Emmett, look at Brandon, look at Jen. Is this how you protect your people? Because if that is what you are really trying to do, it looks like you're doing a pretty shitty job of it." |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 4 2015, 02:48 PM Post #2666 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Eli narrowed his eyes as Antonio spoke, and then Nolan. They were coming at him from two different directions. Both delusional. The calmness in his façade cracked. “Padre,” he said, with the hint of an edge. “You tell me when I attacked someone innocent. Someone who didn’t do nothin’ to me and wouldn’t do nothin’ to me. Tell me when I delivered him to be tortured to within an inch of his life. Can you?” Annie, meanwhile, was silent. Like Nolan, she left Emmett’s side. She darted over to Darren’s body and kneeled beside it. She looked aghast. It seemed to take a second to sink in that he was. And of course he was dead. No one survived a bullet through the brainpan. Not even rotters. Darren had at least been spared that fate. So Eli turned to Nolan next. “I told you to stay put,” he said. “I didn’t tell you to go wandering around in the dark. An’ I told you to keep an eye out from the third floor at all times, which obviously didn’t fuckin' happen. I didn’t do this. He did!” He pointed an arm – an arm that was getting tense – at Darren’s body. “They did!” He pointed it down the road they had come from, in the direction of Green River and all the carnage in between. “And this is what happens.” |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 4 2015, 03:01 PM Post #2667 |
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Is that so?
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Antonio backed down from the argument to check on Darren himself, but Nolan didn't back down. He glared at Eli venomously. "Oh, perfect! Pin the blame on everyone but yourself! Because that has been working out fucking great for the rest of us!" Nolan threw his arms in the air in exaggeration fashion. "SO. FUCKING. GREAT." "You didn't know Cory like we did." Surprisingly Willow was the one that came to his defense. "He's dangerous!" "Eli is dangerous!" Nolan shouted back. "Nobody had to fucking die here! We could have just kept on going about our merry fucking way to stop the apocalypse like we planned to! We could have ignored Cory and his merry band of fuckwits and been completely fine! Maybe if we had done that from the start, Brandon wouldn't have gotten captured and Jen wouldn't be dead!" Now it was Nolan's turn to point down the road, in the direction of Green River and all the chaos that had followed them here. "But no, Eli thought it was a great idea to go fuck with a hornet's nest that was 200 miles away! He didn't start this fight to protect shit! He started it to settle a personal grudge! He picked that fucking grudge over his friends and put us all in danger! And look where we are now!" |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 4 2015, 03:16 PM Post #2668 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Eli started breathing heavy. His tense arm grew tenser. Nolan’s tantrum was responsible. When he looked at him now, Eli didn’t see his father staring back – he saw something else. Something more like an enemy. “That’s not how it happened,” Eli said, suddenly matching Nolan’s venom. He took a menacing stop forward, towards Nolan. Eli was much taller and much bigger. “That’s not how it fuckin’ happened,” he repeated. “And you know it. And that’s the problem! You know it! Nobody had to die, that’s right. Nobody had to fuckin’ die! But here’s the thing – I told you, you shouldn’t have come back. Remember?” Eli remembered. That conversation in the cold, back in Colorado. That heart-to-heart. “It’s not my fault you couldn’t maintain your distance,” he said, throwing his words then back at him. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Sep 4 2015, 03:33 PM Post #2669 |
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Is that so?
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Was he serious right now? Eli was dodging the entire argument and focusing on Nolan coming back? And then he steps forward, practically daring Nolan to hit him and make something physical out of it. He was diverting attention away from what Nolan was pointing out. It made him even more angry. His nostrils flared, he ground his teeth together, and balled his hands into fists. Even if he was back at his full strength from before this started, Eli still would have easily been a match for him. He didn't have the same raw strength and size that Eli did. "We shouldn't be fighting right now." Willow tried to remind everyone. "What's done is done. All we can do now is pick up the pieces." Nolan grunted and slammed his fist against the van. Although he hated to admit it, Willow was right. He could argue with Eli all he wanted, but Eli was just going to continue to be difficult. Nothing Nolan could say would change that. And nothing he could say would bring back anything they lost. He turned away from Eli and walked off. He wanted to be alone right now. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Sep 4 2015, 03:51 PM Post #2670 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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As Nolan walked away, the tension in Eli’s arm finally dissipated. For a second there, when Nolan’s jaw had tightened and his nose went red, Eli was sure he was going to get hit. He had invited it, after all, getting so close, and if it happened he didn’t know what would happen next. It would have been against everything he believed and fought for to hit back – that much he knew, even in the heat of the moment. But he couldn’t explain away his arm. It was ready. It was anticipating it, as if independent of his higher thought. Eli exhaled – long and deep. He walked off too, in the other direction. He didn’t want to meet anyone’s gaze right now. * * * Annie felt sick. It was a familiar emotional whiplash – fear, to relief, to sickness. She had felt it before in Lincoln, after Eli and Brandon made their play in the parking garage. She felt it again now as she looked at this man’s dead body. Darren, was his name. Brandon had called him that, and so had Eli – right before he shot him dead. There was silence again, for a few long, heavy moments. Annie didn’t how to break it. She was furious and horrified and miserably sad all at once, and she didn’t know which feeling to express or how. “Well then…” Jimmy didn’t either, obviously, but that didn’t stop him. “What now?” “We’re not going back to Green River,” Eli announced immediately. That much was obvious now Annie figured. It would have been one thing if they had a local in their party. Now that Eli had killed him – and Jesus Christ, Eli had killed him – it was out of the question. “We go forward, like always,” Eli said. Annie stood up. She struggled to collect her thoughts and emotions, and once she did – “We can’t,” she said. Eli stopped pacing. He looked at the ground. Maybe he expected a fight, one like he had gotten from Antonio or Nolan. Annie wasn’t about to give it to him. He seemed beyond that, at this moment especially. It wasn’t what she was after. “Jen is back there somewhere,” she said. “Her brain wasn’t…” She trailed off. Her emotions scattered again. Jen… “She’s probably going to come back, if she hasn’t already,” Annie continued, gulping. “We can’t leave her like that.” Another silence. It was shorter this time, before Jimmy interrupted. “No we can’t,” he agreed. “I’ll drive.” “I’ll…” Eli started. “Not you,” Annie said. She wasn’t sure where it came from – but she knew she didn’t want to see Eli right now, or hear more from him. Not any more than he wanted to hear from her. “I’ll stay here, guard the van,” Eli finished. “Give her… Give her peace.” The pain in his voice gave Annie pause. It was real. As real as the pain in hers. If only she hadn’t just seen him execute a man. She turned to Nolan – she wasn’t sure if this was a mission he wanted on or not. She knew Jen meant something to him, though, so he deserved the chance. |
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7:28 PM Jul 10