Chapter Text
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Duncan felt nothing but cold. Where had he been last? Was he on the concrete in that cell again? He slowly opened his eyes to see a bright circular LED light shining in his face. He squinted his eyes out of reflex, sure the lights in his cell were bright when they were on, but nowhere NEAR this bright. As he peered at the room around him he tried to sit up, but to no avail. He jerked his arms upward, but cold metal dug into his wrists. Duncan started to panic as all of his movement was restricted, he flailed as much as he could but only felt the restraints dig back. His chest was heaving as he panicked for air. He needed to get out of here, this wasn’t his cell, where the fuck was he? He’d take that concrete prison over this. He cursed Chris as he struggled to examine the room. He paused as he heard cackling beside him.
„Oh man the irony just gets better, you tie me up and leave me to drown and now look at you! This is too good, Chris has out done himself“
Of course it was Mike. Duncan couldn’t even turn his head, so he tried his best to look to the side. He saw Mike lurking in his peripheral, his face was becoming blurry and unclear. Duncan closed his eyes before slightly tilting his head to look in the other direction. He opened his eyes again, quickly darting around trying to understand his surroundings. Was he in a doctor’s office? What kind of sick joke was this? His heart was pounding as he saw a table with needles and an IV attached to his left arm. He felt sick.
Suddenly, the door that Duncan couldn’t see clicked open. His inability to know who had entered was seriously making him lose his shit.
“Who’s there? Fuck off! Go AWAY, I’ll fucking kill you for this- Stay the FUCK away from me!”
He continued to try and escape, digging so hard into his wrists and legs that he’d probably have bruises later.
A gloved hand waved in front of his face
“Calm down kiddo, I’m just doing my job”
Duncan glanced to the side to see a blonde woman in a doctor’s coat. She walked over to the nearby counter grabbing a needle. Her body blocked Duncan from seeing the rest of what she was grabbing. Duncan’s eyes were blurry and watery from his panic session. Not like it had ended, he felt like he was going to die if he stayed here.
“My name is Dr. North.”
“DOCTOR? Where AM I?! Let me go, I don't want to die here!”
“Listen- I don’t want to do this, but Chris kinda has my hands tied. Shit wait, that’s insensitive given your situation huh- sorry. But I'm not about to put myself in jeopardy for you after what you did. And besides-”
She turned around, flicking the needle as she cleared the syringe of air bubbles.
“This isn’t going to kill you. Not directly anyway, it’s just gonna help you feel stronger since you’ve been weakened over the past few days.”
Duncan started struggling less as his energy dwindled, but that didn’t mean he was okay with this. He still wanted to leave. He didn’t want to be stronger, he just wanted to be free again. He didn’t need to be powerful or kill anyone anymore; he just wanted this to be over. Mike leaned over the metal table Duncan was strapped to, staring down at him.
„Looks like Chris made your choice for you. But there’s nothing to worry about. You killed me, you killed those interns, what's a few more? If anyone caught you it’d be a life sentence anyway. Not like you can serve for multiple lives right? Just do what Chris wants so you can be free, so you can live that peaceful life you dreamed of-“
“I don’t-”
Dr. North looked down at Duncan as he stared up at the light, hazy eyed and muttering.
“I know you might not need it, but Chris insists. It gives you a fighting chance in this stupid challenge he made at least.”
„Don’t make my life be a fucking waste Duncan, you’ll rot in hell if you do you bastard. I need you to kill them, kill them for me. Let’s both be happy“
Duncan squeezed his eyes shut and writhed in agony over the inability to cover his ears. Not like that ever helped anything. He froze as he felt a cold hand pressed to his forehead. Dr. North gazed down at him
“I need you to relax, this will hurt more if you’re tense. It’ll only be a second alright?”
Duncan blinked repeatedly before clearly seeing her. What the hell was she even injecting into him? Was it a lethal injection? What did she say before? She didn’t hear her over Mike’s voice echoing in his brain. Duncan took a shaky breath, trying to calm down as much as he could. He reminded himself over and over how he’d get to see the sun if he just complied. It didn’t make the reality of this scare him any less.
He closed his eyes, he didn’t need to see the needle. He felt her hand on his arm before a small pinch as she poked him with the needle.
“Sorry about this Duncan”
As she injected the substance, it felt like his arm was on fire, he could feel the injection crawling up and down his veins and arteries, he wanted to puke. Duncan’s heart felt like it skipped a beat, he could hear the sound of his pulse in his ears. This was too much. His thoughts were racing as he blacked out.
—
When Duncan came to, he found himself walking down a hallway with an intern dragging him along. He was in handcuffs and a completely different outfit. He wore a black long sleeve shirt and gray combat pants. He looked down in confusion at the blinking screen on his wristband that he apparently had now. He kept walking as he looked at the intern. The intern was guiding him by grabbing his shirt collar in one hand, but he had a gun by his side in the other. Seeing that quickly made Duncan realize he wouldn’t be fighting this guy.
Mike’s whispers consumed his mind
„are you ready? We’re about to be free. It’s time, this is gonna be so fun, the grass the sun the death the warmth the freedom the power”
The intern let go of Duncan’s shirt collar while slightly tilting his gun towards Duncan.
“Don’t move, don’t think about running when we leave here either.”
Duncan nodded and watched as the Intern fumbled through his pocket to find the keys to the door. He couldn’t slow the adrenaline pumping through his veins.. why was he excited? Why was he excited about this? He wanted to see the outside world again but not like this..
„who cares Duncan, just embrace it“
As the door opened Duncan experienced joy beyond anything he’d ever felt before. The sun’s warm glow illuminated the hall and brought a vibrancy to the world he hadn’t seen in what felt like an eternity. Duncan stepped out onto the grass after being shoved out of the hall by the intern. He stared down at the dirt below his feet, kicking it slightly with his foot and feeling elated. It wasn’t a dream, it wasn’t fake, this was real. He was outside. He thanked Chris in his mind for being so generous. He wouldn’t waste this. He’d do anything to stay. Whatever the doctor had pumped into his blood made him feel an aggression he didn’t understand. He was happy to be here, but as the fire spread throughout his body he just felt increasingly anxious, like a ticking time bomb that was going to explode. He didn’t like this.
The intern lifted Duncan’s hands, slowly holding up the key.
“Listen freak, you have one job, got that? Chris wants you to kill Zoey, Cameron, and Scott. Zoey is your number one target since she’d probably cause him the most trouble off the island. The tracker on your wrist lets you see their location. You're red dots, they're the yellow ones. And hey- focus-“
The intern snapped his fingers in Duncan’s face trying to get his attention. It made his blood boil, if he didn’t have a gun Duncan would punch him square in the face. Hell, he might anyway if he keeps this up.
“If you try running, there's a few interns like me who have been ordered to kill you. So just do your damn job, I don’t want a criminal charge.”
Duncan glared into the intern’s eyes, resisting the growing urge to jam his fingers in his eyes. He only stayed quiet so he could be released. The intern slowly unlocked his handcuffs and handed him a small black bag or roll looking thing.
“What is this-?”
The intern groaned, suddenly less confident and more uncomfortable now that Duncan was free.
“It has weapons inside, knives mainly, they’re for killing those three. Now go on, pick what you want and get out of here.”
Duncan unraveled the black cloth to find an array of small to mid sized knives. Throwing knives, pocket knives, switchblades, all the way up to a machete. He quickly pocketed the pocket knives and concealable ones. He picked up the machete with a twisted satisfaction. He was sick of himself, but it’s like his thoughts were cloudy. He wasn’t thinking clearly. He remembered how much his old knife made him feel safe though… made him feel protected..
“Get out of here, Chris just gave you the all clear.”
Duncan abandoned the rest of the knives, staring down at the screen on his watch. He saw the yellow dots on the far side of the screen before sprinting into the forest. He was free, Mike was right. This would all be worth it right?
The intern shivered as he watched Duncan’s silhouette disappear among the trees. He quickly got a gut feeling that this was a bad idea. But then again, he couldn’t really give two shits about these kids. Better them than him.
—
Zoey stretched her arms a bit as she walked out of the cabin. She was surprised that she woke up on her own. Looking up at the sky she could tell it wasn’t that early.. what was Chris planning? He’d only given them one break day right? ‘Did I oversleep?’ She yawned as her stomach growled. She knocked on the door to the boy’s cabin but didn’t hear a response. Zoey cracked the door open slightly, peeking in to see if she could spot the picnic basket. Thankfully someone had set it close to the door, so she carefully reached inside to avoid waking anyone up. As she grabbed the basket she rubbed her eyes and looked in the room again. Huh, Scott was gone. Cameron was asleep as usual but she couldn’t seem to find Scott.
Zoey softly clicked the cabin door shut before sitting on the porch with the basket. She pulled out an apply and wiped it off before taking a bite. Something felt wrong about the morning. Knowing Chris it was way too quiet. Even if he did cancel she would’ve expected him to wake them up on the loudspeakers anyway. But as she sat still and listened for the noises of any people, Zoey was met with nothing but rustling leaves, a chirping bird, and the sound of rolling waves faintly in the distance. It was so beautiful. She took another bite of her apple, trying to find peace in the calm of the morning.
Bite after bite, thought after thought, no one interrupted her meal. Cameron woke up and Scott never returned, so she decided to go on a walk. She wanted to visit that tree where there was a carving of Mike. Sure it was made by Duncan but she missed Mike. It left a burning hole in her heart. No, it was more like someone ripped her soul in half and expected her to move on. She just couldn’t. So Zoey slowly stood up, nervously fidgeting by cracking her finger knuckles as she stepped deeper into the forest.
—
Alejandro waited patiently for a while, watching as Zoey abandoned the clearing and walked into the forest. There was no point in following her, that would be putting himself at unnecessary risk. But knowing that wouldn’t stop the lingering feeling of guilt as he watched her walk into murderer territory.
Alejandro was going to hop out of his tree, but paused as he heard the sound of a cabin door opening. He wondered whether Scott, Mike, Duncan, or Cameron would be the one to walk out. He hadn’t seen Duncan or Mike in a long time, especially Mike. He was mad that he wasn’t able to find evidence as to where those two were. He knew something shady was happening in that team, but a killer being set loose to murder you kind of changes your usual plans.
Alejandro sighed in disappointment as he saw a very nervous Cameron exit the cabin. He watched as Cameron sat on the porch and tied his shoes. This was pointless, he wasn’t going to help him anyways. Chris had made it clear that anyone who did was likely on the chopping block. Even still, Alejandro felt a pang of guilt in his gut as he watched Cameron call out for Zoey. He wondered why Cam didn’t call out for Mike.
Alejandro’s legs were honestly more numb sitting in that damn tree than from attempting to walk, he needed to leave. He slowly crawled out of the tree, ducking into the bushes as he watched Cameron walk over to the winner’s cabin. Alejandro heard the sound of knocking followed by a short sigh of disappointment. He sat perfectly still, peering through the leaves as he watched Cameron head back to the loser’s cabin.
Alejandro dusted off his pants as he stood up. He looked down at his watch, no red in the area. He might as well try to find some of his teammates. Alejandro slowly walked, knife in hand as he calmly let the watch guide him towards his team and into the forest.
—
Cameron walked back to his cabin, sitting down on the porch and clutching his knees tight to his chest. Where in the hell was everyone? The other cabin was completely vacant, he couldn’t hear the sounds of any people around. Had a challenge started without him knowing? Would they really have abandoned him like this? No.. Zoey wouldn’t have left him behind. Maybe it was just really early.
Cameron tilted his gaze towards the sky. Cumulus clouds slowly drifted overhead, making patches of cool shade in the clearing. He sat in clear view of the sunlight, the warmth comforting him like a security blanket. Cam lightly sighed as he stared out at the forest nearby. The sun was pretty high in the sky, it definitely wasn’t early. So where had everyone gone? If everything didn’t feel so real he would have questioned whether or not he was having some odd nightmare. Actually, on second thought…
“Ow-”
Cameron pinched himself. Yeah, that hurt. Definitely not asleep. So what the hell was going on? It felt unreal, like some alternate reality. He didn’t know such a peaceful quiet was even possible on this island. Might as well try to enjoy it right? As Cam stood up, he suddenly heard the alarm cry of a bird echo through the clearing. Overhead he saw a small flock of them flutter away from the forest just behind him. Something had scared them off, maybe a wild animal?
Something about it disturbed Cameron. The birds felt a threat and yet this was the calmest he’d ever seen camp. As he fumbled to an upright position, he stepped off the porch and inched slowly closer to the forest the birds had just exited. His heart was beating uncontrollably in his chest as he placed a hand on the tree. What if someone was hurt? No, maybe there was something really bad out there, he wouldn’t be able to handle that on his own. Why the hell had he even walked over? No, he’d just go back to the cabin and wait for the others to return.
Cameron hesitated by the tree line for a moment. He didn’t see anything, he didn’t hear much other than the usual buzzing of insects and the faint rustling of leaves. The wind was slowly picking up, making it hard to hear much else honestly. The clouds above blocked the sun’s light, casting Cameron into a deep darkness. He was way too creeped out, he wanted to go back to the safety of those warm rays.
Cam turned back around, but was suddenly yanked backward into the forest. As he fell he grabbed onto a tree branch, but it didn’t help much as he felt himself slam into the ground, wind robbed from his chest. He coughed as he looked up to see those piercing blue eyes staring back at him. The tall figure was dressed in black, green Mohawk messy and lopsided. Cameron wanted to scream when he saw the knife clutched in his grasp.
“Duncan-”
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