Chapter Text
Liam grabbed the lamp’s cover and slammed the one who once tormented many into the grass below. Rain echoed through the air as the atmosphere quickly shifted from calm and soothing to a fight or flight situation. Airy made a sudden noise of pain unlike anything the backpack had heard before, he didn’t care anymore.
“WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE ON THE COMPUTER?”
The noise of the soft rain suddenly felt like tidal waves, overwhelming the men. Liam powered through it.
“Why- is Owen… On your computer.”
Airy recognized the shock and fear in his voice over his friend, even though he did his best to stay strong. After the events of his stay in season two of the show, he felt like he had learned every way that their interactions could go.
He had forgotten one possible outcome.
“The- nail?” His usual monotone voice was more apparent than ever now, blocking his ability to show how he felt. His whole body went numb, still processing the words spilling out of the former contestants mouth.
“WHY IS HE THERE?”
Airy held back tears, he was never good at handling loud noises. He kept his composure for now. He could think about it later, he thought.
“Well, after this season ends, everyone will be sent back. You guys were really good contestants so- I thought picking people who knew you guys would be good too.” He smiled through the pain, his voice beginning to show cracks.
He didn’t have time to react as Liam grabbed hold of the axe and slowly approached him. The lamp barely avoided the first swing, and attempted to flee, as fight or flight kicked in. Liam made small noises of pain and discomfort seeing how unsuccessful this was so far. He grabbed onto the lamp’s heel and tripped him, swinging once more, and barely missing his skull. He dented the cover, and Airy rushed to get out of the way as fast as he could. He attempted to take his axe back before the other jabbed the head of it into his chest. He held back his emotions to the best of his ability, but tears started welling up in his eyes against his wishes.
The backpack attempted to hit the final swing, but slammed the axe into the damaged part of the tree. The tree began to crack and wobble under it’s own weight, but he was too focused on his target to realize what was coming. By the time he realized, the tree was closer, and in his attempt to dodge it, his leg was crushed under the bark.
He stifled a shriek of pain his brain told him to yell, and his crystal clear shock sent shivers down the target’s spine. They were both certainly crying now.
Airy carefully pushed the tree off of the now unconscious attacker, and carried him to the home he built long ago. He went outside to get reeds and wood to build a cast, and succeeded. This time, he was able to put it on safely without any worry. This time, they would be safe. He thought. He rested a crutch next to the bed, and walked back out.
As he stepped onto the ‘bridge’, his steps began to feel unsteady, the board creaked beneath him, and the rushing water combined with the rain only served to distract him. He was careful not to drop the reeds, but what mattered now was getting back safely.
Rain hit his feet harder than he thought it was going to tonight, he powered through another step. Everything felt slower in the moment. He went to take his final step, and as he approached the other side of the river…
He tripped.
He gasped and quickly yelled into the void of the emptied atmosphere, knowing his time was going to be cut short. He attempted to reposition himself, but it was too late. Today was going to be his last, he thought.
He began to fall through the air, eyes flying around, searching for anything that could possibly save him.
A rock.
The waterfall.
The pond.
The wall.
As he began to lose control of his motion, in a final attempt to survive, he pushed himself with all of his energy off of the nearby rocky wall, pushing him just far enough to land in the deep blue below.
His head filled with water, he could no longer breathe. Maybe, this was a mistake. He rushed to find the surface as his vision began to darken. His ears filled with static as the surrounding area began to blur. He pushed his arms against the water, the reeds and his basket breaking apart behind him. Nothing mattered anymore. He grabbed the edge of the grass, struggling to hold tight, and forced himself upwards. He was beginning to think this was the end after all he tried, but he couldn’t give up.
He gave one last push with all the remaining will left in his body.
The water loudly splashed everywhere, he gasped for air. He shook his head as fast as possible to get rid of the liquid, rushing to get his legs unsubmerged.
He managed to escape what could have been his demise, and stared into the reflection, it would not be his last time seeing the moonlight. Before he could think too deep about anything he ran back to shelter and let the rest of the water spill out on his way. To his shock, Liam was already awake.
“Why are…you-“ He coughed in-between a few words. “Awake..?” Tears flooded out of his eyes and flowed down the sphere, he was covered in small patches of dirt and a few reeds from the broken basket.
Liam began to shake at the sight of the one he tried to kill in such a frightened state. They locked eyes, before Liam began to yell again, ignoring what he was seeing.
“WHY DID YOU BUILD ME A CAST!?? I-!! I don’t… want- to be here.” He attempted to stand, but forced himself back into the bed at the immense pain in his right leg. He forced his emotions back deep inside of his thoughts.
“I- just wanted to help… You’re gonna be stuck here for a while so-“
“ONE is over, Airy. It’s done. I am SO tired of this game.” Liam applied pressure to one of his eyes to hide his fear.
“Listen, I will, end it if… if I have to. I’ll end it.” He hid himself in the corner, trying to stay away from the one who almost caused his fate just 40 minutes earlier.
Liam gave in and sighed, knowing he wouldn’t get any outcome better than this.
“Just- give me time, alright? It’s too late right now.” The tears began to dry on his face, the tingling sensation that followed irritating the glass.
Airy decided to sleep on the floor that night. He was going to wake up.