Chapter 25 --- Land of the Dead
Sanity Level: Low
A spark had lit up in Jett's cognac-brown eyes. He unsheathed his sword and skilfully wielded it.
"He let them keep their weapons?!" Kat hissed.
"It was an accident. I know you won't believe me, but I swear, it was an accident. Why do you think our mother wasn't driven away like you were, Alison? It was because she was there with me when it happened."
Jett paused to take a deep breath. "I was the one who drove you into this Alison, so now I'll help you to escape it. This is not the real you. I know it." Jett flung his sword into the window panel with might and a crack protruded in the glass. Kat cursed, rummaging around for her Tablet.
Lily barged into the room, yelling out a battle cry and flung herself at Kat's Tablet, knocking it to the ground. It shattered and Kat screamed.
"LILY?" Rose spun around, hoping that it was an illusion of her mind. But when she found that Lily wasn't standing behind her, scared out of her wits, she freaked out.
Kat threw herself at Lily as the glass shattered and Jett pushed through into the other room. He picked Alice up and hauled her into the opposite wall. She slumped down, helpless. Jett raised his sword at her throat. It wavered slightly in his grasp.
"It was me who turned you into this monster, and it's going to be me who changes you back."
Alice was pressed against the wall, fear visible in her wide coffee-brown eyes. Her mouth was agape and she couldn't register anything that was going on at the moment.
"SOMEBODY!" Kat screamed as Rose filed into the room. She crashed into the table that was occupying Victorias body. She made another slurping sound and Rose gently took her head.
"What have they done to you?" Victoria lay almost lifeless, her body bruised and battered. Rose brushed a few strands of Victorias hair back.
"Victoria...you were the only one who accepted me...you were my only friend, and now look at you!" Rose sobbed. "This isn't right. That's not right. It's wrong in almost every way possible! VICTORIA!" Rose screamed.
"SOMEBODY!" Kat screamed at the top of her lungs. Alice jolted at the piercing sound and covered her ears. Max barged into the room.
"Kat, what is- he cut himself off. "Well, well, well." He took out his simple handgun and aimed it at Jett.
"Don't," Jett said darkly. "Don't." He removed the blade from Alice's neck and stepped away from her.
"Drop the sword and I won't hurt you."
Jett craned his neck to look at him. Max flinched when he saw the look Jett gave him. He dragged the metal blade across the ground.
"Don't make me shoot you." The gun in Max's hand started to waver.
"Shoot me, I dare you." Jett hissed, licking his lips. "Or are you afraid?"
Dave frowned. He pulled back on the trigger and Alice screamed as both her and Jett jumped out of the way, a split-second before the bullet made contact with the white wall.
Alice's chest rose and fell with every rapid breath she took. She ran her fingers over the hole in the wall and slowly arched her neck to face everyone. They, all except Jett, stared at Max in pure shock.
"You're going to have to do better then that." Jett chuckled slightly. Suddenly he darted across the room at full speed, swinging himself over the table Victoria lay across, and causing Rose to slip and fall in utter shock. He poised his sword at an almost perfect position as he came closer to Max.
Max reacted a split second late and started peppering the room with bullets. Rose hid under the table Victoria lay on and burst into tears; Alice crawled over to the other room and Kat hid behind a small chair that had been flipped over in the corner of the room. Lily was struck several times in the gut but remained in an upright position, before collapsing onto the ground, earning a high-pitched squeal to sound from Rose's dry and aching throat.
Jett knocked the gun out of Max's grasp and lodged the sword into Max's stomach, twisting it a couple of times. He heaved the sword upwards, cutting open his belly and dislodged the sword. Max doubled over.
Jett proceeded to stab him one last time, in order to make sure that he was truly dead, but paused at the sound of his sisters screaming.
"STOP IT!" Alice ran out of the connected room, cutting open her leg on a shard of thick, sharp glass. She couldn't feel the pain that branched out throughout her leg and rammed herself into Jett, tackling him in a hug.
"STOP!" Alice collapsed on the remains of Max, dragging Jett along with her. Crimson blood sprayed everywhere as she held Jett in her grasp. She stroked his hair.
"Please, stop. I get it. I really do, I'll change, just stop." Tears dripped down her cheeks, leaving a clear trail behind. She couldn't change, and she knew it.
"Oh my goodness, just stop."
Jett brushed her thick, blonde hair to the side. He pressed Dave's gun against her neck, but she didn't realize.
"You said you couldn't feel anything." His whisper was barely audible.
"Which means in the end you'll be okay."
Alice whispered gently. "I'll be with Slate then. And mother and father. And sister. I'll be with everyone up there."
Jett's hand shook slightly, his finger resting on the trigger. He couldn't make out what was going through his insane mind at the moment. Did he have the power to kill his own sister?
Again?
Both of them would be gone. All of his family would be gone. He would be the only one left if he took her life. Jett took a deep, shaky breath.
"I'm so sorry." He murmured as he raised the gun to his own forehead and pulled the trigger.
• • •
Ivy sat on the ground, clearly shocked beyond words. Slowly she raised her hands to her eyes and rubbed them furiously. Flynn looked just as nervous as her.
She reached out to lock her hand in his own, but hesitated. Flynn saw this and looked away, sadness penetrating his own milk-chocolate brown eyes.
"I...I need to know this first..." Ivy gulped. "Is...i-is this real or fake?"
Flynn looked up, and suddenly a smile overcame his features. "Real."
Ivy raised her hands to her mouth. She couldn't believe what he was saying. She always thought there was somebody out there better for Flynn, but instead, Flynn chose her. He chose her because he thought she was perfect.
Ivy placed her hand in Flynn's own.
"Yes!" She croaked. "Yes, yes!"
Flynn helped her up onto her feet. "Quickly," he said, still smiling at her. "Let's escape, together."
They ran at full speed across the open field. Zane shouted after them, having realized they'd made a run for it a moment later. He chased after them, waving his gun in the air. He couldn't shoot them from that distance.
Flynn laughed as his hair whipped his face. Their fingers still entwined, he raised his hand in the air and Ivy followed suit.
"Over here!" He said with assurance as he pointed over at a crumbling building straight ahead of them. Bullets peppered the ground around them, and Ivy almost collapsed at least twice.
They raced down towards the building and found another door labelled with 'Staff only'. Flynn kicked it open and they stumbled inside before Flynn closed and locked the door.
"Yes! But it's not over. Let's go." They dashed down the hallway and craned their necks to see if they could find anything, or anybody. There wasn't a person in sight though. He didn't know whether or not to crown that as good or bad.
They heard something smash. Ivy panicked. Instead of fleeing in the opposite direction to the sound of the crash, Flynn dragged Ivy towards it.
"We'll never know if we never take risks." He said as he turned the safety off on his own gun. Ivy held onto Flynn tight, mildly afraid.
They barged into the room, but there was nobody there. He looked up and found that there was a glass pane. There were people in another room, operating on someone who screamed and lashed out.
Flynn shut the door quietly and backed away, hitting the opposite wall. Ivy slumped down.
"Let's keep on going before they notice us, come on." He pulled Ivy up and dragged her past the room. They skipped every room and came down to the end of the hallway, thinking it was hopeless.
"I think this is a way through to another section of this building." Ivy patted a white door.
"Then let's see, shall we?"
Ivy pressed open the door and they both rushed inside. Ivy's eyes glazed over Jett and Alice, who lay in a muddled heap of blood and bones. Jett had a gun pressed against his head. He pulled back on the trigger and Ivy screamed, hitting the wall behind her.
But nothing happened.
The gun was in safety mode. Alice pried the gun out of Jett's hands. She took shallow breaths and shakily aimed it at Kat. It flickered between Kat, Flynn and Ivy. She dropped it when she saw them and screamed.
"FLYNN! IVY!" Tears streamed down her face like Niagara Falls and she cupped her head in her hands.
Flynn and Ivy darted into the room, trying to avoid the broken shards of glass that protruded upwards at odd angles. Ivy stumbled over and paused.
Kat held a gun in her grasp. She was aiming it at Ivy.
"Do you want to die or do you want to live?" Ivy looked away from Kat.
"What's going on?" Flynn asked between gritted teeth.
"That doesn't matter. What matters now is that I've got you all in my dark domain." Kat suddenly flung the gun at the wall beside her. It bounced off it and landed on the ground. She stood up, her knees knocking together.
"My experiment was spoiled." She said, expressionless. "Which means I'm going to try something else. Something that consists of all of you. Fun?"
Flynn tore his bow from off his shoulder and loaded it with an arrow. He aimed it at Kat.
"We came here in the first place to declare war," he said with a shaky tone. "I have no clue as to what's just happened in the past thirty minutes here, but what I know is our goal. We're taking over, whether or not you like it, Kat. We're taking everything you have, just like how you took all our stuff from our damn car. Is that clear? Are you ready?"
"You do realize I have over a dozen men and a couple of woman. Right? And look here. You lost some people, did you not? You stand no chance against us."
"Quantity doesn't matter, Kat. Just because you have more men and woman than us doesn't mean you'll certainly win. We still stand a chance."
"Flynn's right. I'm prepared to fight. I'll try my best. If I die, then there's nothing that can be done. I'm ready." Rose stood up and took a scalpel from the table.
Alice nodded her head. "Yes," She said, shakily standing up herself. "We did come here to declare war. I'm in, even if everyone here hates me." She looked down at Jett.
"He made me realize something, you know. I am an unkind person. I have many reasons. It's not because of you Jett. It's not because of this stupid apocalypse. It's not because of Ivy or Flynn, it's not because of any of that. It's because," Alice unslung her AK-47 from off her shoulder.
"I'm me."
Kat snorted. "Suit yourselves."
Kat rolled her eyes, before she spotted Jett, still cowering on the ground.
"What about him then?" She raised an eyebrow, a smile spreading across her face.
Jett slowly cocked his head to face Kat. He blinked, then tore his gaze from Kat and looked down at the bloodied ground, weighing his sword in his blood-encrusted hands. The same sword he had been wielding for over five years; it had slightly bent and twisted a bit over time. Its golden handle had dents and scratches and wasn't as coruscate as it once was. He ran his fingers over the patterns, which felt coarse against his skin.
He stood up, slightly oscillating from side to side. He swung his sword at Kat, missing her by the length of a blade of grass. She merely blinked, unperturbed by the fact that he had tried to slice her head off clean.
"Well, I guess he's with you then." She looked him in the eye. "But I could do with someone like him on my team. Innocent to the naked eye...yet there's darkness conflagrant on the inside. I like that type of guy, because nobody expects any of this murder bullshit from you."
Jett drew his sword across the ground and pressed down on the top of the handle. The blade almost skid.
"Well then," Kat waved slightly. "I'll be off."
She proceeded to exit the room, but Flynn stopped her.
"Uhh, excuse me Miss, but you are certainly not stepping foot outside of this room without four-inch flamingo-pink stilettos now, are you? Jeez, you have no life whatsoever."
"Stilettos? You are one messed up kid."
"Don't," Ivy's breaths were shallow, but were also rapidly increasing in depth. She had her gaze settled on the floor, but slowly she tilted her head upwards and they made eye-contact. Ivy's once warm and gentle jade-green eyes had turned cold and vicious, having lost their gleam. She pointed an accusing finger at Kat and screamed at the top of her lungs, "CALL HIM MESSED UP!" She closed her hand into a fist and her knuckles went white. Her voice bounced off the white walls and Alison shielded her ears again.
"Why? I'm only telling the truth."
Ivy hurled her fist into the wall. A trickle of her crimson blood ran down it. She tried to ignore the pain branching out in her fist.
"Sometimes," she said between gritted teeth. "You don't need to reveal the truth."
"I can feel the insanity emanating in this very room. It's just begun." Kat ignored Ivy, sending her into a spiralling rage. She was about to go off her head at Kat, but she spoke again, causing Ivy to clamp her mouth shut.
"Everybody here is completely insane. I can see it all in your eyes, the-
Flynn jerked his hand into Kat's mouth. He pulled it back out and slapped her cheek. He kicked a stunned Kat at the wall and raised his hand to his forehead, before prancing about and hitting the wall. He started dancing.
Kat frowned, and as quickly as she could, shuffled forward towards the exit before disappearing.
Flynn stopped dancing and pulled at his hair. "THAT WAS A DEVISE TACTIC! WHY DIDNT YOU GO AHEAD AND KILL HER WHILE YOU HAD THE CHANCE?"
"Hey, it's perfectly normal for you to start twerking everywhere." Alice sighed. "Sorry, what I mean is we're used to that sorta stuff. You're usually in that state of mind, so we've adjusted to it as well."
"Whatever." Flynn bit his tongue to prevent him from speaking further.
"What do we do now?" Ivy asked as Rose whimpered behind her.
"V-Victoria...." She sobbed loudly as Jett crouched on the ground, his arms wrapped around his legs. Alice stalked over to Rose.
"Hey, I'm not going to tell you that it's okay, because it's not. We all know that. You lost your friend; a friend is very important. It's like a chunk of you has been removed, I understand. But despite her death, you have to move on. You have to ignore the pain and the suffering, even if it seems impossible. Can you do that for me? For everyone here?"
Rose sniffed. "I-I'll try."
Alice smiled. "Okay. I'll leave you alone for now." She left the table and crouched down beside Jett.
"Is he still alive?" Flynn asked, clicking her fingers in front of Jett. He knew the answer, but wanted someone to tell him anyway.
"Of course he's still alive, Flynn." Ivy muttered.
Insanity has reached him. Flynn thought to himself. I'm not sure if he can be snapped out of it.
"Jett?" Alice gently called out. "You still there?"
"What do you want?" Jett asked grimly. Alice slung her arms around him and didn't say anything.
"She'll kill us, for sure." Ivy hiccuped, placing her hands on her hips. Flynn cupped his head in his hands.
"Why am I so emotional all of a sudden?" He asked. "So many damn emotions. I thought I was emotionless. I thought I didn't care. It's obvious that losing self-control isn't good, but I can't help it. Yet...I'm losing self-control in a different way."
Ivy sighed. "For goodness sake Flynn, you're not emotionless. We've gone over this shit already. I thought you loved me!"
"Correction, I do love you."
"Well then, you're not emotionless."
"Yeah." Flynn murmured. "We should prepare for a massacre, you know." Flynn rolled up the sleeves of his red hoodie. "They'll be expecting us."
A/N: WELL I JUST THOUGHT I SHOULD UPDATE IT BUT I'M SLOWLY GIVING UP ON THIS STORY
I ACTUALLY NEED TO FINISH A STORY FOR ONCE IN MY LIFETIME but meh.
I've started quite a few new ones; another one including the same characters in this story. SLATES ALIVE IN THAT STORY SO YAY. It's so weird now to write from his perspective. Shit.
BUT ANYBANANA, this chapter has just came to a c-l-o-s-e.
Woop, I guess. Horrible chapter too. *Shudders*
I swear I once wrote a story where Flynn started TWERKING lessons. And just when you people thought I couldn't get any weirder XD
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO JETT?!? Well pfftt I dunno. I dunno at all.
Until the next chapter,
~Alicion
Update: IS IT SAD THAT I CAME ACROSS SOME STORY OF FLYNN TWERKING? I HOPE NOT. NOW. MUST. RETURN. TO DEATH BRINGER.
Updated.