When the Clock strikes 12

Chapter 6 [Jake's Path] - Day 6 - The Masked Maniac

Disclaimer: This chapter contains triggers such as Cutting,

It was now 3 AM and Jake was beginning to see the camp in the distance. "Devan seemed prepared, so they wake up around 4-6 in the morning, I should still be careful though.". Jake scouted out the area and found a nearby building, which he hid behind until his prey awoke.

"*Yawn*, Guess it's time to make breakfast." Devan Lit the portable grill and cranked two eggs, "I wonder where that Jake guy is? Eh, I guess it doesn't really matter now, he's miles away at this point. Although, I can't help but feel that someone's watching me, oh well." Devan shrugged and grabbed the pepper that he has set down on the table. Jake stayed deathly quiet as if he were out hunting, it was second nature to him. So much so, it was almost first. After half an hour had passed, Devan grew bored waiting for Kathryn, "I think I'm gonna drive around to kill some time, I'll be back when Kathryn wakes up.". "Perfect.". Devan grabbed his keys and started his van.

TRIGGER WARNING: Cutting

Jake ran to a spot he had prepared the night before and retrieved a knife from his back pocket, then cut a gash across his forearm, causing a pool of blood to form. "AAAGGHHH!" Jake wailed in 'pain'. "Oh, God!" Devan rushed to Jake and wrapped a bandage around Jake's wound, "Thanks, I thought I was a goner..." he gave a thankful smile, "It's all going according to plan." "Do you want to rest in my car? I was just driving around." "I'm okay." Jake meekly averted his eyes. "I insist." "Oh, alright."

Jake climbed up onto the passenger seat and gingerly closed the door, "Oh! I remember you. You're the person I met yesterday, right?" Devan asked, "Yessir, nice to see ya, anything new happenin'?" "Not really, there isn't anything interesting nowadays's." Jake surveyed his options, "Let's see here, I'm not sure if he'll accept any advances right now, I need to find that out first.". "Well, you seem like an interesting fellow to me." Devan gave a polite smile, "Thanks!" Jake immediately knew what it meant, "Guess he doesn't swing that way. No matter, I'll get him some other way.". "Jake?" Jake realized he had been staring at Devan's eyes while he had been thinking, "Sorry," he said sheepishly, "It's alright."

"I'm getting close to my camp. Do you think you'll be okay on your own?" "I'll be alright. You can drop me off here." "Okay, but take some food from the back.". Jake walked around to the back of the car and found the food crate, "Wish I had some emetics on me.". Jake took a loaf of bread and some baloney out of the van and opened the passenger door, "See ya 'round. If you ever need me, I'll be right here.". Jake found a nearby rock to sit on and started to make baloney sandwiches, "Right then, now that I know he trusts me, I can probably just follow him until he starts to drive around again." Jake started laughing, "It's all going to plan.

Once Devan had returned to his camp, Kathryn had just started to wake up, "*Yawn* Hey Devan," she said sleepily, "Good morning.". "What time is it?" Kathryn rubbed her eyes, "7 O'clock." "Damn, I'm late.". Kathryn took one of the eggs off of the plate and sat down on her chair. "So where'd you go?." "What do you mean?" Devan didn't know why, but he felt like he needed to hide his encounter with Jake, something he would learn to regret. "I heard you start the car." "Oh yeah, I just took a drive around, nothing much." Devan waved his hand apprehensively, "Alright."

It was now 3 PM, and Jake was still sitting on the rock in the wastes, "I should probably go watch Devan an' the redhead, gotta see what they do for the dead folks." Jake got up and shoved his hands in his pockets, "This is gonna take a while.". Jake sighed and walked off. 5 hours had passed and Devan's camp was just starting to come into view, "I'd better find a place to hide." Jake found a nearby tree and hid behind it, careful to not shake it too much, "This should be a good spot." Jake took off his backpack that he had slung over his shoulder and pulled out a spray bottle with the sticker roughly peeled off and sprayed it on himself, "That should keep away the dead folks."

"Got any 5s?" Devan and Kathryn were sitting down at their camp playing cards to pass the time, "Go fish." Devan picked up a card from the deck, "Are you alright Devan? You look a bit red." Devan felt his cheeks grow hotter as he remembered his first encounter with Jake, "It is getting a bit colder." "True, it's probably time we get our winter coats out. Got an 8?" Devan slid two cards across the table, "Welp, I'm out. Do you wanna get ready now?" "Sure.".

Devan went through his usual routine of painstakingly checking each magazine to make sure it was full, and Kathryn went through the not-so-painstaking process of putting on her suit. Jake was still lurking in the shadows, observing his targets' defending style. Before long, it was 11:59, 1 minute before the starvation point. Devan counted down the final seconds, "5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GO!" Kathryn ran into the horde of zombies, shotgun out, and sprayed the hard metal pellets into their skulls...

Like many times before, it was a bloodbath. rotting organs lined the carpet of dead grass, and beads of sweat formed on Devan's forehead as the time ticked closer to 1 O'clock. Among the chaos, Jake remained dormant, not heeding the guaranteed death beside him, but laser focusing on his target. Jake was smiling like the creep he was, he found it amusing how Devan could cause so much destruction with his timid personality, but then he realized that Devan couldn't take the time to think about his actions because his life mattered more. This thought lit up an idea inside Jake's head, a cruel and terrible idea, "What if I manipulated him into enjoying it?" then the clock struck one.

Word Count: 1054