10/31/18 - 10k. Thank you! Read till the authors note for a funny little read about Rami from his yearbook!
12/10/18 - 13k! Thanks
CHAPTER TWELVE: ZERO-SUM GAME
"Are you okay, Mal?"
His light green eyes focused on the dark brown eyes of the slightly shorter blonde-haired woman, desperation underlying in his voice, the back of his neck glossy with fresh sweat as the nerves begun to flood into his system.
Elliot Alderson came to a few realizations in the nighttime, awake from the thumping in his chest. He possibly, maybe, liked being around Malena Ström. He hated himself for discovering this fact when his girlfriend remained kidnapped by a dangerous drug dealer. A drug dealer, Shayla found in attempt to satisfy his heavy opioid addiction. The psychotic drug dealer whose incarceration Elliot caused. He hated to admit it, even to himself, or his imaginary friend, but he liked Malena Ström. Fuck. He could not even try to answer why. He found her very annoying and her friendship with Tyrell Wellick still agrivated him. Or maybe he didn't care at all, maybe he just didn't want her to die. That must've been it, confused emotions.
This morning after his sort-of breakfast with Shayla, Elliot discovered to his annoyance the strength of his tolerance toward Malena. Sitting outside on his stairs, she had been in a horrible mood, on the midst of throwing a tantrum, due to an argument she had in the morning. An intense unresolved quarrel with Finnegan regarding her appearance; culminating in Malena making the irrational choice to dump him. He wondered why something so insignificant mattered so much to her. Then remembered the difficulty he faced adhering to Allsafe's dress code.
This argument must have resulted in a black newsboy cap that shielded her hair. Only a few short strands of hair fell from beneath the black cap. When she tilted her head upwards, the evidence of the severity of the fight remained on her face. Her brown eyes were noticeably puffy. Her nose a faint red color. Her face paler than usual.
He unlocked the entry, standing aside slightly as to allow her to walk inside first. Behind them, DJ and Isaac kept spewing vicious insults about her boyish nature. This in spite of her feminine clothing; short black leather skirt, grey pullover and a pair of matching heels. It reached the point where she decided to threatened them to stop. Obviously, they did not. At that point, he just wanted her to go home.
❝ Vera may be out of his mind, but yes, it is possible to hack into a prison's network. Most of them use regular control systems. ❞
The gangsters kept berating the young girl with derogatory slurs that swiftly transitioned to sexual harassment. Elliot anxiously looked to his colleague. Her eyes were veiled. He could only hope she wasn't emotional. Again, his mind raced with thoughts that hoped she would just storm out. She wasn't useful anymore. But as he heard the click of the door unlocking, he entered behind her, nervously.
❝ When you have control of that, you basically have control of the cell doors. ❞
Malena carelessly threw the keys on the dining table along with her purse. A loud thud following the actions. She took a momentary pause to stare at the yipping Flipper, but walked around her to the desktop computer. She leaned against the desk, crossing her arms on her chest, still hiding her face from being seen.
❝ But what these morons don't know is, it's almost impossible without any research. ❞
The tiny dog approached the next familiar person, Elliot. He obliged to her attention-seeking barking by stroking her soft fur. Upon her turning calm, Elliot stood straight again only to be faced with Isaac glaring at him. "Time to shine your cojones and get to work. Our only rule: do. what. we. say. You violate that dictate, we kill your sweetheart."
Behind Isaac emerged DJ, who in the limited amount of time inside the apartment stole a drink from the fridge. He had a playful tone now, "Yo, Isaac, how my dic-tate?"
Isaac rolled his eyes and turned to DJ, clearly not in the mood for a joke. "Shut up, bitch." But DJ kept laughing loudly at his own stupid joke.
Both of them had conveniently forgotten about the incident outside. Now acting like a member of the opposite sex didn't stand in the same room as them. Fortunately, their intense drive to appease their excitement ceasing upon entering the studio apartment. The Swede kept silent, clearly hurt by their actions.
He sauntered toward the desktop, slipping into the chair while turning on the computer. Malena turned away to avoid any sort of contact with him. As he waited for it to turn on, he looked at her, her hands uncrossing to look at something on her still cracked phone. He slyly peeked at the bright screen. The boyfriend kept sending messages. An endless stream of grey bubbles emerging on her screen. Probably apologizing. He then stared at Isaac, who took a seat on his dining table.
❝Vera's bro, Isaac. Something about him bugs me, and you know what I like to do when that happens? ❞
With the computer on, Elliot brought up a terminal on his computer that ran the btScan, which allowed him to hack the nearby Bluetooth devices by using the Kali Linux operating system. He found four options, the second to last being his target, Isaac's s5 phone.
Perfect.
This granted him access into the data stored cellphone. Just like his brother, this moron kept incriminating evidence of illegal activity unsecured in his cell phone. Elliot found the information on the entire organization—the suppliers, the network of drug dealer, every person who regularly
purchased from them, and their codes. Although this wasn't exactly what he wanted this was a blessing in disguise, for him and for Shayla. This didn't satisfy his ache of suspicion. Something was wrong with Isaac and he needed to know it. He couldn't figure it out. The answer wasn't on the phone. Fuck. Still he devised a scheme that could save their lives if necessary. He coded the information of the operation to auto-send if he didn't disable it. The police would receive the details and shut them down.
Luckily, Elliot's had time to spy and deceive his kidnappers due to his workload decreasing significantly. Darlene agreed to create malware that would give him control of the network. Unbeknownst to Elliot, she stole and dropped several "Rubber Ducky" USB drives around the police station. If a police officer plugged in the device to their system, the USB stick would allow Elliot to input keystrokes. (Type things into the other person's computer.) She even placed a survey that promised a free $100 eTunes Music Card upon completion to prompt the person into keeping it plugged in longer.
He only had the connection for a split second before getting the dreadful message...
❝Connection closed by remote host. But we had a fish. I was in. The exploit started to run and then—was it the code? ❞
His fingers kept typing the same sequences of numbers, hoping to get in, but getting the same sentence over and over again:
Connection closed by remote host. Connection closed by remote host. Connection closed by remote host. Connection closed by remote host.
Elliot Alderson would've continued to type those same commands if not interrupted by a sudden slap on the back of the head from Isaac. His head flew forward from the force, but he recovered from it quickly. "Brah, what's the deal?"
It was then Flipper begun to bark prompted by something Darlene hid inside the apartment. The tiny dog jumped up from her cosy spot on the edge of the bed to behind the dining table to the door.
Malena Ström ignored the spectacle to instead focus on her phone. Not getting stopped by either Isaac or DJ since they were now keen on ignoring her presence, permanently. That gave him relief. The fight with her boyfriend already left her in a miserable mood. He couldn't imagine what would happen if they continued to push her.
Honestly, Elliot never expected Malena to be an emotional person. Even yesterday night she didn't seem this worked up about the idea of dying. But she was proving him wrong. He wondered how it felt to love someone that much, that their words tore you apart.
He checked again on Flipper. Still exasperated, a signal that Darlene might be nearby. He stood up, passing Isaac without a care, announcing, "I got to take her for a walk."
The leash hung on the key holder near the door. He snatched it from the hook and tried to reach for Flipper.
Isaac responded with: "Why?"
Elliot didn't even bother to look at Isaac. Too focused on clipping the leash on her collar. "Cause she'll piss on the floor if I don't."
"YOU THINK I GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOUR GODDAMN FLOOR!?" Isaac shouted, which engulfed the room in a thick silence. Elliot ceased from movement. Everyone did. Until DJ started laughing. "I'm just playin', brah. Yeah, you can take her." But Isaac's sudden change of mood clearly indicated the man had a troubled state of his mind. "You hear what I said? I said you can take her."
Hearing this caused Malena Ström to make contact with her fsociety colleague. The first time since entering the apartment. Obviously, leaving her alone created an incredibly dangerous situation. What if being alone with two violent men reminded them that she existed? He puckered his lips, unsure of how to send her reassurance. Her brown eyes were still puffy and irritated. Elliot thought about mouthing, 'I'm not leaving' as he hoisted Flipper upward. He chose to not say anything.
Outside, he placed Flipper down on the pavement, who led him to the left. They walked until he found Darlene standing coy and confident leaning on a dumpster. Her fingers playing with a thin piece of jewlery. "Did she like my little toy?"
Elliot walked to Darlene quickly. "Did you write that exploit yourself?"
Darlene's smile vanished. "I had an hour."
"So, what, you pulled code from Rapid9 or some shit? Since when did you become a script kiddie?" In the hacking world, a script kiddie rested in the bottom tier in terms of skill and respect. They used existing code/scripts to hack into other computers since they couldn't do it on their own. If anything goes wrong during the process, they were usually unable to resolve it. He never expected Darlene to do that.
Darlene noticed his erratic, paranoid behavior. The way his eyes bugged out and how he kept looking over his shoulders. "I repeat, I had an hour."
That served as confirmation that she had done the unthinkable. Fuck script kiddies. "Malware detection must've caught it. You fucked me."
She looked to him, trying to get his attention, but he kept his gaze away from her. "Hey, don't put this on me. Okay, this is a shit show and you gave me no time to do it right. I can run circles around an ICS given the proper whitepapers and time."
She began to walk to the gates angrily. Prompting Elliot to ask, "Where the hell are you going?"
"I have no problem telling these two douchetools they're gonna have to sit on their pricks till we find a better solution."
No. No. No.
He admittedly cared about the wellbeing of the two women he left in harms way. Darlene inserting herself into the problem rose the stakes for him even further. He already wasn't sure that he could successfully break Vera out of prison, adding another life to save wouldn't serve as extra motivation. "You don't understand. These guys are—"
"—assholes?" She interrupted continuing to storm away toward the street. "Yeah, I'm gonna tell them what's up."
"That's what's up, girl. Hmm?" Said DJ, emerging from behind the building and flashing his gun. "Now, let's go." Shit.
The two skilled hackers along with DJ returned to the apartment complex to a strange scene. Malena Ström crying hysterically in the hallway with her boyfriend attempting to calm her down. His hands cupped her red face to prevent her from turning away as he spoke. It looked like her nails were digging into his neck, drawing blood, but he ignored it. He noticed her hair messily falling past her shoulders, colored blonde and brown as usual, and the hat on the floor underneath her boyfriend's shoe. She kept replying to everything he said in a foreign language that he clearly couldn't understand. "Hey... slow down... you know I don't understand... Lena... English... we talked about this."
DJ left the feuding couple alone. He laughed and made nasty comments about her personality to Isaac.
As they went into the apartment, Elliot informed Darlene on the situation. How Malena and her boyfriend were bickering because of something he did. Darlene said nothing. She had a bad boyfriend situation too.
❝I keep brute-force thinking, but it's not working. I need help. ❞
Elliot sat on the edge of his bed, still wondering why the gangsters refused to check on the couple. They could've left or called the cops or done something that would end this hostage situation. Yet they sat on chairs, unbothered. Time had passed, too much time, and everyone was getting restless. He found a few articles on the inner workings of programs similar to the network he had to hack. He began getting doable ideas, not any solid ones that were guaranteed to work.
Until the buzzer began to sound. The people inside the apartment looked at each other, seeking guidance. Isaac immediately sprung into action. He gestured for everyone to keep quiet. "Elliot, you in there!?"
❝Shit. Why is she here? ❞
The buzzer sounded again. "Elliot!" And again. "Let me in. Elliot, you in there?"
DJ looked out the window, shaking his head when realizing it wasn't a threat. "Little blonde bitty and... our blonde bitch." He told Isaac, who looked at Elliot in disbelief. Our blonde? When did our blonde go outside?
"Elliot, hit the buzzer! I know you're in there."
"Go." Isaac instructed, clearly fed up.
"Shut her up and get the other one up here."
They heard the buzzer again but no following call from Angela. Fuck. He hoped that the couple wouldn't be tempted to speak to his friend. DJ looked out the window again before leaning against the kitchen counters again. "What about Darlene?"
"She stays with us. And we'll be watching you, so don't bother trying any dumb shit, you dumb shit."
Elliot tried to be as quick as possible but there was only so much he could do. Unfortunately, they were having a conversation already. From the looks of it, hardly civil. He guessed Malena's shitty mood caused her to be rude to Angela since she kept replying to everything the girl said with an attitude. "Can you leave me and—"
He emerged from the door with the intent to intervine. Pushing Malena aside, he placed himself in front of Angela. "Elliot," Malena whispered.
"Hey." He greeted.
"Hey." Angela replied.
❝I'll tell Angela about this later. When everything is done, she'll understand. But what would I say? 'Hey, this is Mal, she's annoying, but I like her, you will too. You caught her on a bad day.' ❞
Angela's big blue eyes kept surveying the other woman. Disappointed, it seemed, that Elliot kept a girl like that around himself. He understood. "I tried looking for you after Gideon's the other night, where were you?"
"Elliot was—"
He had to intervene, "I had to think about things, you know?"
"We always knew what Evil Corp did. We didn't have the proof, but we knew. We were right about it all along. In fact, that news report, it wasn't a confirmation, it was a reminder of how angry I am. You remember Nayar? The lawyer on the case. I went to her, Elliot."
"Listen, Angela, now's not a—"
"I have an idea that will change the world. I know it sounds really stupid." He looked to the windows to make sure there was no one there. He also made sure to listen behind him. Malena didn't move around quietly, her heels were too loud, and he made sure to keep her behind him. "But, I know how to do it. I think it could actually work. I can't tell you what it is, because-"
❝ Evil Corp, Angela, Vera, his brother, Malena, Darlene, Shayla - this is too much. I should just tell her what she wants to hear. ❞
He thought of what Angela wanted to hear and when he finally thought of it, he looked up from the floor, to her. "Angela, trust yourself. You'll do what's right." She smiled, happily, and leaned into him for a hug. Elliot returned the hug but continued to look up to the windows.
When they separated, she said in an eager tone, "That's all I needed. How's Shayla, by the way?"
"She's, uh...you know."
Angela smiling from ear to ear told him: "Tell her I say, 'Hi'." Before leaving the way she came.
As Angela left, the Swede took the vacant spot in front of Elliot. Her pale skin flushed in a bright rosy color a shade away from matching her lips. Her dark brown eyes darted toward the floor. She must've really been angry. "Mal, don't be mean to Angela."
She grit her teeth together. "I promise I wasn't. She kept asking me about my boyfriend. I don't care if she wants to bang him, or if she banged him already, but I refuse to give him any more time of day." Elliot knit his eyebrows together. Banged him already?
"Is your hair really important?" That you have to act like a complete bitch to everyone else?
"Yes. I look exactly like Magdalena if I don't dye it blonde."
"Magdalena?"
She had a disgusted expression on her face. Like the very thought of the person behind the name brought a foul taste in her mouth. "My mother. I'm named after her. I like to be Malena. Not that."
"Oh, sorry."
The corner of her eyes crinkled and she shook her head as she began to laugh. "I can see why your friends with Angela. Seriously, she wants to change the world with a lawyer? At least, you have a chance."
"We both do."
"Sure." and that was the last of it.
He led her back inside the apartment. She followed him on the staircase. Eventually, crashing into him when he abruptly stopped moving. But he couldn't move. Mr. Robot sat on the stairs, waiting. The two men looked at each other, tense. ❝You have no time to pull off whatever it is you think you're doing. ❞ Was the first thing Mr. Robot said to Elliot.
"What are you doing here? How did you know?"
Malena looked at Elliot, not Mr. Robot, confused. "Um...El-Elliot."
The two men ignored her. ❝Darlene. These guys aren't playing around, they will fucking kill you. Now, wise up and let's go. ❞ Mr. Robot remarked as he stood up, leaning into Elliot and Malena.
"Darlene's in there. We can't leave." Elliot rebutted.
The older man looked up the stairs, to where the apartment would be, but remained firm. ❝Okay, then we call the cops. I mean there's no other choice here. It's the only way out of this. ❞
They were close enough to the apartment floor that any loud conversation would alert DJ and Isaac. They had to keep their voices low, but the urge to shout festered inside of them. Chaos always formed between the two of them. "I can't call the cops. Shayla will die."
❝Oh, come on. She knew exactly what she was getting herself into. You think his employees have a long-life expectancy? ❞ He walked down the steps as to make himself even with Elliot. ❝She was dead the minute she started working with that maniac. Shouldn't you be happy? Look at who you have here. Miss Eager. She's almost single. C'mon kiddo, I believe in you, make her fully single. ❞ He pointed to Malena, who still had this dumb expression plastered on her face.
Elliot walked around the man and walked up the steps, saying in the process, "Forget it, it's not happening."
Mr. Robot couldn't let this continue, he spoke up again, ❝This is a zero-sum game. Calculate all the outcomes. If you don't pull off this ridiculous miracle, and odds are you won't, you die and so does Shayla. That much we know. But assume for a second that you do pull this off, bust Vera out of prison. Who's to say he doesn't kill you, Shayla, Malena, Darlene? It would be in his own best interest to do that. Either way, you all end up dead. It's the only way Vera wins. Zero-sum, Elliot. You're playing a game you already lost. You know I'm right. ❞
"No, there's gotta be a way. I can think of a way." He said, reassuring himself, and watching as Malena began to follow him with caution.
❝I get it, kiddo. You want to help people, watch over 'em. Best thing you can do for Shayla, allow her to become a memory. ❞
"No." Elliot shook his head and stood on the top of the steps as Mr. Robot walked up the stairs after him. Malena stuck in the awkward position between them.
❝True courage is about being honest with yourself, especially when it's difficult. There's no plan where both you and Shayla survive. ❞
"I can think of a way."
❝This new world that we are so close to creating will never be. And that new world, that is success, fsociety is success. Look at what you accomplished at Steel Mountain. ❞
Elliot went down the step, closer to the violent homeless man. "That got us nowhere."
He couldn't face him. He struggled to keep eye contact. ❝You took them down. You won that battle. This-This is failure. This is the old Elliot. The one who turns to morphine, to drugs when he feels weak. A coward, who can't face the truth, even though it's staring him right in the face. ❞
❝There's that sensation again. Fight-or-flight. Four lives at stake, including my own. I, Elliot Alderson, am...what? ❞
"What's up, man? You ain't got no Drake, no Pitbull, no nothing? Like, what's up?" DJ complained as he shifted through the 'CD case'. Each disk had the name of an artist along with an album title but the contents weren't songs. Instead they housed the information of his various hacking victims. Agitated, Elliot almost slammed the door in Malena's face as she walked in. She managed to catch the door before it hit her.
She narrowed her eyes, "Be careful, Ace."
He had to prove to Mr. Robot that this wasn't a zero-sum game. He had to succeed. He snatched the CD case and kicked it under the dresser. Then began collecting his things in his favorite oversized book bag. "What's up, rain man?" Isaac inquired.
"I'm ready to bust Vera out. I can get into the network. We need to go to the jail. Now." He didn't have another choice. As he zipped the bag shut, he finally saw the four faces looking at him, two of them innocent bystanders roped into the frontline of danger. "They stay here."
"No, I'm not leaving you."
"Yeah, we're not leaving." Malena didn't want to leave Elliot alone with these men either. They were wannabe alphas who would refuse to do the simplest of favors out of ego.
"Don't worry, he's in no position to be giving out orders."
"Let's go, girl."
*
❝Remember when the panic would set in and we had a solution? To be honest, I miss that. Life is so much easier when your numb. ❞
After the vehicle came to a complete stop, he ignored Isaac's questions to look toward the two girls. They both trusted him with their lives for some reason. He expected this foolishness from Malena, who clearly had issues trusting the wrong people, like Tyrell Wellick. This reckless behavior came unexpectedly from Darlene. Inherently, a hacker never trusts another person. Yet Darlene trusted him. Why? ❝First Shayla. Now Darlene and Malena. ❞
He jumped out the car, briskly walking toward the entrance as he prepared his phone for its task.
❝Like a hard drive blasted by excessive voltage, my mind is frayed. Close to fried. I can feel the static running through my brain. Serotonin receptors working overtime. ❞
*
❝At the security desk, my cell phone's running an undetectable, activated signal sniffer that will locate any kind of wireless signal in sight. By the time I leave this building, I'll own it's network. ❞
His conversation with Vera resembled that of a business meeting. They discussed plans. Primarily, how he'd get Vera out. Until Elliot utilized his intense need to survive to blackmail Vera into not wanting to kill any of the people he cared about. Vera's business operation would leak without Elliot regularly stopping it. That would shut them down forever. It would also leave him a penniless fugitive.
Near the end, somehow, the topic of Malena Ström came up. Vera had spoken to her the night before.
He lied. Everything Vera said the night before was a plain lie. He now claimed to like her voice. Her soft, comprehensible, slightly accented voice. Incredibly stark detail changes from what Vera said yesterday. Apparently, she wasn't panicked whatsoever. It also wasn't his choice to spare her life. He instructed his 'bro' to get rid of everyone except for Elliot. Isaac couldn't do it. Apparently, she said something unsettling to Isaac. In that relaxed, soft voice — Isaac had told his brother—she said something that made him unable to murder her. That made Vera want the Swede to visit him too. He wanted to know what words scared a grown man like that.
Elliot figured that this was a lie. How could she not be scared? He probably just wanted to see her directly.
*
❝I suppose a bullet through the brain is peaceful in its own right. ❞
Elliot Alderson felt the cold tip of the cocked gun pressed against the back of his head as he stared at the unmoving water in front of him. He stood on the brink of death, of failure, for no reason whatsoever. He managed to devise a solution that would bust Vera out of prison. Yet here he was, standing near the edge, eyes shut, thinking of nothing but dying.
He was fight. Elliot Alderson is fight. He had to live.
Wait... "You don't want me to free Vera. That's why you don't care about the operation."
"I'd pick better last words."
"You're trying to kill him. That's why Vera wants to leave tonight. That's what's been bugging me about you. You never wanted me to break him out. Your best option for survival is to kill him in prison, because if you don't, you're dead. You're the reason Vera's locked up right now and he knows it." The feeling of the gun left. Elliot had the upper hand right now. He said something true.
The sensation of fighting. Is this how it felt?
"Doesn't matter anyway. Vera was just gloating about how he got in with the right crew, how he got the jump on some men. He's not worried, man. He's protected now." Lies. Vera would likely die if left unprotected in prison. The men Isaac hired had a good opportunity to complete their job.
"Bullshit."
"That leaves you with a zero-sum game. If you don't get him out of jail, he'll have you killed for failing. Only way this works in your favor is for you to kill him first, and you can't do that with him inside anymore."
"Shut up, motherfucker. Shut. The. Fuck. Up." He returned the gun to its spot against Elliot's head but Elliot still felt able to turn around.
"Let me free him. When I break Vera out tonight, you do with your brother what you want. That's the only outcome where you got the possibility of living."
They looked at each other. Isaac pondering whether he liked the new plan or not.
"It's your best move."
"What makes you think I still won't kill you afterwards." The end of the gun barrel now lowered to his chest.
"I don't. I'm just playing my best move."
To his relief, Isaac bought his bluff, they returned, where the plan was once again sent into motion. Since he couldn't get the phone to infiltrate the network in the prison through its WiFi due to password protection, he had to use the harder option. A process that would resemble what he attempted to do earlier. Except this time the commands were all to be typed from memory. He couldn't see the screen. One wrong button, the whole thing would fail. Also, if the Bluetooth on the laptop of the correction officer's car got out of range, the hack would fail. Darlene elected to flirt with the officer to keep the car in range. Elliot had them leave her behind as he ran the exploit. It meant one less life to worry about.
Elliot told them about the plan. He had programmed all the cell doors to open at the same time. Hiding the hack as a malfunction rather than a deliberate plan to release a single person.
9:49 PM
If the execution happened perfectly that time would be when all the cells opened. DJ heard the details and made several phone calls to arrange the rest of the escape. They would leave fence cutters near the fence behind the prison yard. Then have another vehicle pick up the gangsters. Presumably, meaning that the crappy car they drove in would serve as Elliot and Malena's getaway. DJ threw Shayla's name around a few times in the conversation on the phone, but they were unable to hear why.
Meanwhile, Isaac kept anxiously checking his cellphone. At 9:48 PM, he cocked his gun. Knowing that he had to ready himself for the ensuing battle against his own flesh and blood.
But sadly, if Isaac Vera wanted to survive, Fernando Vera had to die.
❝One minute till Vera. For all his insane, inhumane ideas, he does understand the world. The wild savagery of the world. ❞
DJ lingered near the trunk, confident and silent. His eyes occasionally searching the empty road. He also had a gun ready. "What you need your piece for, bro?"
"Boy wonder says he's opening all the cells. If some fool tries to rush us, I want to be ready." Isaac lied before checking the time again. 9:49 PM. Now. It should be happening now.
Prior to the day, Malena had never seen a prison before. She assumed it would resemble a normal, rehab-like facility for criminals, but she was wrong. These people were locked up in concrete boxes like ravenous animals. They weren't meant to be let go. They shouldn't be let go. Her shoes were quickly discarded. Elliot almost apologized. However, the sudden darkness that enveloped the buildings in front of them distracted them all. "Hey, what the shit!" DJ exclaimed, confused by the momentary darkness.
Elliot quickly explained it: "Power surge caused by all the cell doors opening at the same time."
Soon enough, all the lights turned on again.
"What about security? Sirens?" Isaac said with genuine curiosity in his voice.
The explanation was simple. "The jail's network will show all cells locked and closed. Alarms are silent for two minutes."
The four stood together in the darkness witnessing the prisoners escape with ease. Elliot slid over slightly as to provide some cover for the only female in the vicinity. The white noise of before overpowered by loud barking and random gunshots. No doubt the guards trying to recapture the criminals.
Fortunately, after crawling through the fence most of them scattered. The only man in a bright orange jumpsuit walking toward them was Fernando Vera.
"Yes. Yes. This shit right here, the shit tastes better than any pussy I ever had. WHOO!" He shouted in victory. The familiar creepy smile that he had on his face shifted to a menacing one within seconds. Oh, no. "DJ, shoot the cocksucker."
The so-called 'cocksucker' could have honestly been any of the three people who weren't DJ. In fact, they all braced themselves for the inevitable end. But to everyone's surprise, following the loud bang Isaac body fell onto the ground, the blood gushing from his head. Elliot flinched, but Malena screamed.
The now-fugitive approached her with purpose and determination. Dark brown eyes burning with fury, the orange jumpsuit now marked with faint splotches of blood. He resembled a blood-thirsty lunatic. A lunatic who creepily intertwined his filthy digits into the loose strands of blonde hair. Their positioning meant Elliot could only see Vera's face—that creepy smile, the way his eyes crinkled as his mouth moved. Their exchange remained short before Vera backed away, staring at Malena, disappointed. Until finally, he pushed her backwards. This caused her to loose her footing and she dropped onto Isaac's dead body.
Before Elliot could attempt to provide any help, Vera inched toward him. "My own brother. That's what the universe asked of me." Vera took Elliot's face in his hands causing the hacker to gasp out in fear. "To be my brother's keeper. Like Cain after Abel, I'll be a fugitive and wander on the Earth. Brave fugitive. Brave wanderer. Look how you helped me. That's the kind of bravery I've been talking about. But now... now I want you to look at Isaac. Look," He ordered, forcing Elliot to look at the limp body of Isaac, the thick goop of blood still leaking his head. Malena carefully navigated herself away from his dead body before standing up. She swallowed hard and kept looking at his expressionless face. "Dead proof. My operation is over. So, go on, crash it. Burn it to the ground. Doesn't matter. I'm gone. A spirt. One with all the heavens. All existence."
Finally, fucking finally, his cold hands released Elliot. The other getaway car pulling up from the road to their meet up spot. Vera walked to it, stopping only when Elliot called after him, "Shayla. Where is she?"
Fernando Vera instructed DJ to hand over the keys. After two tosses they landed in Elliot's hands. "Told you you'd get her back, bro. You just didn't realize she was with you the whole time."
Elliot inserted the key to the slot. Maybe, Shayla slept the whole time. Maybe, this would led to a clue of her exact whereabouts. Malena stood away from the hacker, wary, of what awaited them. As the key turned in the lock, the trunk popped open.
Vera wasn't lying.
He backed away from the trunk. His heart filled with an unbearable ache that felt like he was on the verge of a heart attack. Elliot walked in endless circles doubting every action he wanted to do. His hands slowly palmed his chest, as his vision began to blur. Though, it caused him great pain, he returned to the trunk. Wishing to touch her but hands unable to.
Her beautiful bright blue eyes were stuck open, life drained from them, their focus nowhere yet everywhere at once. Shayla's throat was slit, horizontally and deeply, so that she never stood a chance to be rescued. They must've slit her throat earlier, after breakfast most likely, the only time they could've stuffed her in the trunk and silenced her without his knowledge. Fuck.
Elliot Alderson deliberately tried to push his mind into an abyss. Convinced that nothingness would feel vastly better than this pain. But he forgotten the girl behind him, the person whose intense physicality conflicted with his desire to be left alone. He almost jumped at the sensation a human touch. Naturally, he tensed up with the feeling of her head against his back and her arms encompassing his waist. As the tips of her fingers stroked the knuckles of his hands, he let down his guard. He began to cry, his head drooped towards the floor.
Her voice kept softly repeating his name. His real name. Not that stupid nickname. Elliot. Elliot. Elliot. She must've also been trying to tell him something. He couldn't hear it though. She unknowingly locked him into a position where he could still see Shayla. Dead and betrayed, killed by the actions of someone she trusted. Him. He fucking hated himself. He hated life. He hated everything.
The sirens were getting louder from the distance and as Malena retracted from the hug, he felt, for once, a little less alone.
A/N: (Season One. Episode Six.) eps1.5br4ve-trave1er.asf
I'm sorry for lagging this upload. I had this done a while back but I wanted to edit a few of the previous chapters in order to fix some plot holes. I realized I never wrote when Elliot snitched on Vera or when he asked Shayla out. I included them in earlier chapters. If info doesn't match up, I'm edited chapters as I write so that's why. I hope you guys like this chapter. It's my longest to date. :) please remember to vote & comment! Thank you.
Go watch Bohemian Rhapsody & Homecoming! (Avoid that awkward Rami vid. You know which one.) Anyways, enjoy this little story from Rami's high school yearbook.
Uploaded: November 4, 2018
Edited (slightly): December 10, 2018