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| Dead Men Walking | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,863 Views) | |
| Strompy | Nov 3 2015, 12:40 AM Post #3196 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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Brandon turned bright red and struggled harder than ever to stay in control, but he was slipping. Eli wasn't listening at all. He wasn't listening to reason and was impervious to emotional appeals. Brandon had to wonder if Eli ever considered him anything other than subordinate. He didn't want them to be forthright, he didn't care what any of them had to say. Brandon was about to bite back when Antonio stepped in as the voice of reason. It reminded him that Eli was his friend and that he was here to try and save him, something he lost sight of in the face of Eli's vitriol. "We also took the cure so you couldn't use it against us. We want you, you jackass. But we don't want you leading us. Not until you've worked out whatever it is that's up with you." Brandon expanded. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Nov 3 2015, 01:00 AM Post #3197 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Eli listened to Willow’s declaration, and then he listened to Brandon’s. The words that echoed in his head were ‘we don’t want you leading us. The rest receded into the background of his mind. “You really think you can do a better job?” he said bitterly. “’Cause what’s up with me is I’m done pretending that the world is something that it isn’t, an' I’m surrounded by people who are hell bent on keepin’ up the charade. Let’s recap – since I’ve stepped up I found Randall’s son safely, I dealt with Wendy an' her crew with no casualties and no loss of supplies, and I would have gotten Cory and gotten out of Green River if it wasn’t for Brandon and Nolan and their midnight stroll.” He found that his voice was rising again. He also found his whole body had started to shake, so he stood up. “An' if it was up to me – if it was really up to me – we never would have set foot in these walls,” he said. “You think your problem is me? You think your problem is what’s up with me? That I’m not listening? That’s not it at all – the only problem here is you’re not listening to me enough.” He felt his fingers tense up again, forming a fist of their own accord. He flexed and un-flexed them, trying to keep himself from lashing out at something, anything in front of him. “Let me guess – you want to give me a choice, is that right? Huh?” He looked around. When nobody immediately answered, he raised his voice even more. “Right? Tell me. What’s the choice? What’s the choice?!” |
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| Strompy | Nov 3 2015, 01:21 AM Post #3198 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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"You didn't do any of that alone, Eli. You think you're the only one who could get us here? You're wrong. Don't pin Green River on me, I got out of there just fine without you, and you didn't even need to be there. I told Hank about the cure. He's given us the RV, he's a good person. It's not a charade, it's only kill or be killed when everyone starts thinking like you are right now." Brandon explained somberly, with expression of bitter disappointment. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Nov 3 2015, 01:44 AM Post #3199 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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“I am the only one who could have gotten us here,” Eli shot back with absolute confidence. “And if you’re lucky, ’mano, you’ll realize that before it’s too late.” If only they knew, he thought. If only they had a fuckin’ clue. His fingers tightened around his fist. His knuckle started fading white. “An’ I asked you a question,” he repeated. “Answer me! What’s the choice!?” |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Nov 3 2015, 01:44 AM Post #3200 |
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Is that so?
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Antonio covered his face with his palm. Brandon was not being half as helpful as he thought he was. He was hoping that Willow might be able to talk some sense into Eli on her own, but with Brandon's constant interference, it was only causing more tension than necessary. Willow had almost gotten through to him before Brandon brought up the whole 'we don't want you as leader' line. He wasn't wrong, but it was not the right time to throw that bombshell out. Or at least it wasn't when Antonio would have thrown it out there. "The choice is this." Antonio cut in; it was time for him to be the bad cop and deliver the ultimatum. "You can't be responsible for this alone anymore. Be a part of the team again... or we'll go to San Francisco without you and take the cure." |
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| DoctorYerishi | Nov 3 2015, 01:52 AM Post #3201 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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Betrayal, Eli thought again, when Antonio finally laid it out. “That’s what I thought.” He let his fist fly – he could no longer contain the anger and resentment that was now coursing through his veins. Annie jumped back in fright when she saw him winding up. He hit the wall, not with his fist, but with his elbow. He felt a sting of pain from the impact, then noticed with satisfaction the dent he created. He wanted to make it bigger. He wanted to keep going until he was all the way through. It was only a fear of breaking his own bones that kept him from trying. “Here’s your choice,” he said, turning back to his roomful of accusers. He was through with this half-baked intervention. He couldn’t take a single second more of Brandon’s pathetic arguments or Willow or Antonio’s soft-hearted pleadings. “Get me my gun or get the fuck out.” There was a long silence. Annie, for one, didn’t break it immediately. She just stared at him. Eli stared back – meeting the sadness in her eyes with the anger in his. She held the stare. He held it right back. A tug-of-war ensued, until his anger overpowered her sadness and finally she couldn’t take it. She looked away. “I’m sorry, Eli,” she finally said. “This was never what we wanted.” The way she said it – so full of resignation and disappointment – it sounded like she meant it. Eli knew better. “Thank you,” she added. “I think you're right about one thing. We never would have gotten this far without you.” She didn’t meet his gaze again. Instead, she turned and slowly headed out of the room. |
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| Strompy | Nov 3 2015, 02:15 AM Post #3202 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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Emily held the door while the others left. There wasn't anything else to say really. Brandon stormed past her, his jaw was clenched so hard he might break his teeth. The look in his eyes was somewhere between fury and disappointment. Emily had been quiet during everything, which hadn't been easy considering the ugliness of some of the things said, but seeing as he had just come to her aid before she found she didn't have any heart to say anything. After the others had made their exit she turned to look at Eli. "You made the wrong choice. I hope for your sake you don't ever see that." she said softly. She closed the door behind her and made her way down the hall. As she did Brandon's she could hear Brandon speaking angrily nearby. "He ignored us! He fucking ignored us! I knew he would, too. He's just too fucked in the head to get it. Fuck him. We don't need him, we never have. He's been valuable but not vital. We'll get this to California ourselves." he said as he paced the width of the hall way clenching and unclenching his fist. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Nov 3 2015, 02:39 AM Post #3203 |
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Is that so?
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No... Willow couldn't hide her disappointment. It was like someone stabbed at her heart; it physically hurt. The mere idea that they might actually leave Eli behind, leave him here with these people... it felt wrong. It all felt wrong. Maybe she should get his gun. Maybe... it might be better than leaving him here, right? "Eli, I-" "No, Willow." Antonio cut her off. "He's made his choice." The priest rose to his feet and silently departed as well, taking the cure with him. Her eyes danced between Eli and the door that everyone else had just gone through. She buried her face in her hands. "I... I'm sorry, Eli." It was the only thing she could think to say before she stood up and stepped out. As she entered the hallway, she stuffed her hands as far into her jean pockets as she could -- which was not very far with skinny jeans. This still felt wrong to her. But Antonio and Brandon weren't necessarily wrong either though. It made her head hurt. She didn't know what to do. So she did the only thing she knew she could. She walked up to her fuming fiancee. "I..." Think it'll be okay? No, that's a lie. I think we did the right thing? No, also a lie. "I love you." She finally said. "I just... wanted to tell you. Because this sucks and I don't know what else to say right now." |
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| Strompy | Nov 3 2015, 03:14 AM Post #3204 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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Brandon's face softened. The anger faded from it to reveal the hurt behind. He put his arms around Willow and held her as tight as he dared with their mutual injuries. He breathed deep as he could through his nose, he found that when he stood up he could manage to breath through it pretty well considering. He could smell Willow's hair again, one of his favorite things to do. He kissed her forehead a few times and thanked god for her. He sighed heavily and looked around at his friends, then parted from Willow as he looked all around them for anyone who might be listening. "We do need to get working on a plan to bust Eli out." he said to them in a quiet conspiratorial tone. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Nov 3 2015, 03:28 AM Post #3205 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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“You just doomed yourselves,” Eli said quietly, as Willow followed the others out of the room. Betrayal, he thought one more time, as the reality of their choices hardened into concrete. Eli felt his rage start to slip away – and there was nothing there to replace it. He sat down again, feeling depleted. He shook his head to himself. The way he did all the time. When he looked up, Emmett was the only one remaining. Since Emily gave him a parting line, Emmett was the only one who had gone the whole intervention without speaking. He had suffered Eli’s outrage and everyone else’s recriminations in total silence. The way he did all the time. “I was gone,” Eli said, when he mustered the courage to look up at the bigger man. “I was this close to getting out of there, and leaving these people to a better life. To sparing them all this, and everything else. I was gone.” Emmett didn’t respond. Eli looked away again – for some reason, he was having trouble meeting Emmett’s somber gaze. He was furious at Emmett. Furious about Emmett’s betrayal –the way he stalked and stole from him, after everything they had been through together. He was having trouble harnessing it right now, however. It was like sand, slipping through his fingers. The harder he gripped at it the more he lost. “You talked me out of it,” he said. “You’re the reason I’m here. You convinced me.” He found himself staring at the dent in the wall. Emmett’s silence persisted. The silence was worse than anything Brandon had said. It was worse than the pain in Annie and Willow’s apologies. Because Emmett was the one that had never given up on him, despite having the most reason to. Eli couldn’t take it anymore. He braved making eye contact. Emmett stared back at him through his soulful brown eyes. “Maybe I made a mistake,” he said. With that – with the slashing of Eli’s heart – Emmett turned and followed the others out. He closed the door behind him. Eli heard it lock. * * * Damnit, Annie lamented, over and over as she waited for the others to take their own leaves. That conversation had lived down to her worst expectations. Everything that she didn’t want to happen had happened. They couldn’t get through to Eli, and now… Now she didn’t know what. Well, first she had to deal with Brandon’s whiplash. He had gone right from the eminently understandable ‘fuck him’ to an equally understandable sympathetic one. Eli was his friend. They had come all the way from New York together, and survived numerous trials side by side. It made sense his reaction would be complicated. “They’re going to let him out, remember?” she said, keeping her voice as low as his. “It’s like you said. We’ve given our accounts, now we just need to trust these people to do the right thing. They’ve given us no reason to doubt they will.” She put a hand on Brandon’s shoulder and looked him in the eye. She exuded empathy, because that’s what she felt. She was right there with him. This was difficult, confusing, and emotionally wrenching. “He made his choice,” she said. “It’s not the one we wanted, but he made it. Now we have to make ours. And I don’t think we should start by repeating his mistakes. Do you?” |
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| Strompy | Nov 3 2015, 03:44 AM Post #3206 |
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More posts, more Busey.
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"No harm in having a plan. Just in case they make a decision that's unacceptable. I don't we'll need. I think they want to see the back of him even more than he wants to leave. We don't know that though." he said calmly as he ran through several idea of how they might get their weapons back and how they might use them. Leonora seemed important. Not somebody they'd want to lose. That was a big possibility. "I just, I need a plan." |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Nov 3 2015, 03:45 AM Post #3207 |
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Is that so?
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"I'm not worried about that." Willow confessed in response to Annie. "I think he'll be fine in here, but... what about after? He won't stay here, he'll leave. On his own. Alone. I don't like it. Throwing a friend to the rotters is basically the same as killing him." That was how she felt. Eli was intimidating; there was no doubt about it. Ever since Randall had died, it had been downhill. She wasn't sure what to feel about Eli being left behind... but she also knew that she didn't want him to get himself killed either. "We are not the ones that killed him in that case. Eli has only himself to blame." Antonio joined in; his face was solemn. "I can't say that I like it, but we tried everything that we could. Sometimes interventions just... don't work. You can't force someone to take the first step; they need to choose to do it. And sometimes someone is so lost that no amount of evidence will ever convince them that they have a problem that needs solving." Willow frowned. Antonio may have been right, but it didn't really make her feel any better. |
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| DoctorYerishi | Nov 3 2015, 04:03 AM Post #3208 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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“Okay,” Annie nodded. “We can do that. As long as it’s just a plan.” She took her own careful look around the area for prying eyes and ears, and was tentatively satisfied the guard was still attending to some business outside. The only thing she noticed was Emmett quietly re-joining them. “And Willow, I don’t think we need to worry about Eli,” she added. “For all his faults, he can take care of himself. He’s a survivor. He’ll make it. What we need to worry about now is our future. We still have things to talk about.” She looked around again, but this time her eyes settled forlornly on the door to Eli’s cell. She sighed and turned back to the others. “Let’s meet back at the hotel.” * * * Hank had been at a loss for a few hours now. After what went down with Lowell and Emily, and Eli and Alma, he didn’t know what to think. He tried to get through it by focusing on what was in front of him – his family, as well as Connor and Kelsey, whom he had agreed to babysit while the others checked in on Eli. He thought about doing his own checking in – on Alma and Noah, who had been barred from visiting Lowell. He didn’t know what he would say to them, though. The whole subject was too bizarre, too awkward to even broach. Such a shame, he thought. Such a damn shame. Ruby had taken it even harder than him. She had tried to see Noah, but had apparently been sent away by Alma at the door. That’s what she reported when she returned to her room, at least, while stifling tears. Her and Noah, Hank thought, saddened by the whole thing. T-R-O-U-B-L-E – he knew it from the start. Riley was comforting her now, and CJ was playing with his colouring book nearby. The room was silent except for Connor and Kelsey’s conversation, which they kept respectably quiet. Until Nolan arrived, that is. “Is everything okay?” Hank asked the young man as he let him inside. He knew the answer was no. After all, how could it possibly be anything else? Still, he asked anyway. |
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| Make-7-Up-Yours | Nov 3 2015, 04:21 AM Post #3209 |
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Is that so?
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Nolan closed the door behind him as he entered. Kelsey and Connor were sitting in the corner and talking quietly among themselves. The rest of the Kelly family was equally somber, which was not surprising, but also nothing for him to be concerned about. Of course, he hadn't been sent here by Annie to check on the kids. That was just a nice way for her to say 'get the hell out of here'. "No." He answered Hank as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I snapped for a minute and lost my temper with Eli so I left early. It's probably better off that way." The argument was still fresh in his mind. His anger had subsided during his walk back, but he still didn't want to think about it right now. In fact, he could stand to think about anything else right about now. "How're you holding up?" |
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| DoctorYerishi | Nov 3 2015, 04:28 AM Post #3210 |
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
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“I’m a little lost, to be honest with you,” Hank said. He remembered his other conversation with Nolan the other night, while they were sharing the leftovers from breakfast. They had talked about family, and how they needed to remember what they had and not just what they lost. He seemed like a good kid, so Hank didn’t see any reason to be anything but up-front. “I haven’t known Lowell very long, and he’s always been…. intense,” he said. “But I didn’t think he was capable of anything like that.” |
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7:28 PM Jul 10