"Traitor" (Nature)

A while later, the group finally caught up with the boat. “There!” Elliot pointed out and banged desperately on the back of the front of the truck. As it stopped, Elliot jumped out to the edge of the road. The boat had stopped at a small dock, but there was no one it. “She’s gone…” he remarked, dropping his excitement levels. “That’s a good thing though!” Annabelle gave him the silver-lining to the situation. “If the boat is there, that means she’s on foot, and therefore cannot have gotten far.” Elliot nodded positively, “Yea. You’re right Annabelle! She must be around here somewhere.” As he turned around, he noticed a small town not that far in the distance. Beyond that town however, there was a vast open stretch of water. “Is that…” he began in shock. “The ocean? Yes, it is,” Annabelle finished and answered the question.

Back in London, more and more residents had decided to leave. The two primary medical personnel Tina and Erica were still debating on which route they should take. “Some people want to stay Erica; they might need us for any injuries they sustain.” But she was undecided still, “My daughter isn’t here. She’s outside of these walls, Tina. I have to find her.” They eventually reached a compromise. “Alright then, here’s the deal. I’ll come with you to find your daughter Cora, but only if we can come back here afterwards. Is that a deal?” Erica mentally debated for several seconds, before ultimately agreeing to Tina’s terms. “Alright, deal. I could do with Elliot’s help though.” Tina looked puzzled by that remark, “He’s already left though?” This surprised Erica, “What? When?” Clearly she had not noticed the truck driving off. “About an hour or so ago. His entire group just got in their truck and drove off at high speed. Elliot, Gwen, all of them.” She leant back, giving up.

Gwen, Vincent and Andy were having a serious conversation while Elliot and Annabelle carefully watched the village for signs of movement. “I’m just saying Gwen, the truck’s low on fuel, and god knows where the nearest petrol station is these days. We can’t waste any more of it looking for someone who clearly doesn’t want to be found.” Still, Gwen wasn’t on the same page as him, “If it wasn’t for Elliot, we would still be in the middle of nowhere. At least thanks to him we relatively know where about in England we are. We can do this for him at least.” But still Vincent rebutted the argument, “If it wasn’t for Elliot, your daughter never would’ve killed those two men. Everyone who died in the city would still be alive right now – Steven included.” Although Gwen struggled to disagree with him, she still stood by Elliot. “I’m done here,” And with that, Vincent walked off to monitor the village as well…

…Andy however wasn’t done with Gwen yet. “I need to ask you something Gwen,” he firmly began, “Did you try to kill Elliot?” He cut straight to the chase. “What?” Gwen was baffled. “I was speaking to the nurse, Tina. She told me that the injury on Elliot’s arm wasn’t an accident, it was deliberate. You were the one who found him.” Upon realising the confusion, Gwen shook her head quickly, “Oh god no! No not at all!” He looked at her pending for an answer. She sighed, “Ok yes, I did shoot him. But not with the intent to kill!” Andy didn’t understand that remark, “Why the heck did you shoot him then?” She struggled to explain why, “He was going to leave. I couldn’t let him! I had to find a way to get him back to the city. Having him pass out was the simplest way.” Andy turned away from her, “Are you serious? You didn’t even bother to patch up the wound! He could’ve died from blood loss out there!” Andy looked at her unsettlingly, “So that’s what this is all about. You’re not doing Elliot a favour, you just feel guilty, don’t you?” She swallowed hard and nodded. “Of course,” Andy was more understand than anyone else in the group.

Seeing no movement within the seaside town, the group had decided it was safe to move in on it. It was small with several seaside shops, and a long line of beach huts along the beach. “Nothing in here,” they searched every shop for any useful resources. “Oh. My,” Gwen’s face lit up when she found her ideal shop – a wine shop.

Inside, many of the shelves had been raided, however there were still some bottles left. “Ho-ho! Thank you lord!” She dived straight in with the bottle closest to her. Before she could taste the wine however, her attention was redirected by a gunshot outside. Peering out the window, she noticed an old man with a hunting rifle advancing on the shop opposite her. She could see Elliot and Andy hiding behind one of the shelves, and knew she said to help.

“Hands up!” Gwen flew out of the wine shop with her pistol. “No funny business or I will pull this trigger on you.” That had become a common introductory line for her. Reluctantly, the main dropped his rifle and raised his hands slowly. “Now listen here. You let my friends go, and we’ll be on our way out of this town. Deal?” He didn’t answer, instead only smiled suspiciously. “Now you put your hands up as well,” A different voice commanded. Gwen turned and noticed a younger man approaching her with a pistol too. The old man picked his rifle back up again, pointing it at Gwen as well. “Fair play,” she dropped her weapon and raised her hands.

Elliot, Gwen and Andy had been taken into an empty shop – all the objects removed. Their hands were tied behind wooden poles against the furthest wall from the door. The younger man had the rifle now, watching the group carefully. “So what’s your name then?” Elliot made conversation as Gwen and Andy looked at him, dazed. “Come on man, what’s the point in secrets nowadays?” He simply stared at Elliot with a look of boredom. “You know you’re going to have to tell us your name one way or another. If you tell me now, I’ll give you a heads up.” Still, the man ignored him. A few more seconds passed before Elliot mocked him, “Well, I did warn you.” As the door swung open, the man turned around, being struck with a cricket bat over his head – by Vincent.

Now, the tides had turned. Both men were tied up against the wooden poles by Gwen and Andy. “You need us to stay?” Andy asked Elliot. “Nah. I think one person is less intimidating than five. We don’t want to make any more enemies.” He nodded, and guided the rest of the group back outside. “I did try to warn you. And now, you’re going to have to tell me your name anyway.” Elliot repeated, but neither of the men listened. “I would much rather do this the easy way. Just tell me your name, I’ll tell you mine. Then we can have a civilised chat.” Again, there was silence. “Last warning. You won’t like what I do next…” But still, just silence. “Damn, you really don’t heave my warnings do you.” Elliot picked up the cricket bat, and slammed it into the older man’s stomach area. The younger man looked over, clearly distressed by this. “That was a light whack. If you don’t tell me your name, I’ll go for a full pelt.” The younger man looked down, “Reed. My name is Reed. I’m twenty-two years old. I grew up in this town, I’m an expert in fishing due to being taught at such a young age by that man there – my father.” Elliot raised his hand, “Thank you.”

Outside, the mood was rather quiet. “I still think this is a waste of time,” Vincent said yet again, causing Gwen to snap, “You know what Vincent? We don’t care what you think. At all.” He snapped back at her, “Well you should do! Especially considering it’s my truck that got you all this far!” He noticed they all had looks of disgust on their faces. “Seriously? You’re treating me like I’m some villain! You want to know what a villain looks like? Kyle. Kyle was a villain. He killed people who didn’t deserve it! And have I done that?” Everyone looked away from each other – except Gwen. “Yes.” He jumped up off the wall they were sitting on. “Right that’s it. You lot can make your own way now. I’m done!” They all watched him head back to his truck; none of them cared to stop him. “Wait,” Andy looked back at the sea, and noticed someone rowing a boat across. “Olivia!” He yelled out, directing Gwen and Annabelle’s attention. Vincent on the other hand continued to walk off without turning around.

“That’s all you ever had to tell me, you see I’m not that bad,” Elliot was cutting Reed free of his ties. “I just need your father’s name, then we’ll go about whatever it is we normally do.” Reed watched Elliot closely, “His name is Ethan.” Elliot cut him free as well, “Ethan? Unusual name. I had a cousin called Ethan once. Anyway, nice meeting you two. Oh and one more thing, I don’t suppose either of you have seen a woman my age with long brown hair and a stupid utility belt have you?” Reid and Ethan looked at each other meaningfully. “What?” Elliot asked through his innocent smile.

Although Olivia had tried to row away from them, Andy had run into the water and manually dragged the boat back to shore. “Why do you keep running from us?” He asked her as they headed back to the group. She didn’t respond, but rather looked down at the ground guiltily.

Vincent tried anxiously to start the car, but the engine only choked. The fuel needle was at the bottom. “Argh!” He cried out, slamming the dashboard. Looking out of his window down at the beach, he noticed the entire group together – but he was fixated on Elliot. He picked up his rifle from the passenger seat, and came up with a sinful idea.

The group watched as Elliot and Olivia had a private conversation in front of the waves which lapped over their feet. “Why would you do that to me? We were going to leave anyway. Your plan was literally to forget about me!” Elliot berated her, as she watched the sunset. “You were better off with them.” Without turning around, she pointed at Gwen’s group. “No Olivia, I wasn’t. Half of them hate me. I was better off with you. The first thing I should’ve done on Day Zero was come to you and Steven. But I only had one thought on my mind: Survival. I didn’t know how to go about it, I just ventured off to wherever the roads lead me. It’s in our Nature to survive, Olivia. We do it at all costs. Sometimes it even blinds us in regards to the things that truly matter.” She looked at him, “Then you can understand why I left you behind. So that you would survive.” He put his hand on her face, “You’re all that matters to me now. I can’t survive if you don’t.” She smiled affectionately at him.

The rest of the group watched the sweet moment. The scenery of the sunset behind them just set it off even more. “Well I’ll be damned,” Ethan finally spoke, “There really is something worth fighting for in this world – love.”

Still gazing into each other’s eyes, they wasted no more time and moved in for a true kiss this time. An unexpected sound made both of them jump, forcing them to pull away from each other before the kiss could happen. Olivia clenched her back with her hand, and slowly pulled it away, revealing blood on her fingers. Elliot screamed out and wailed in disbelief, catching her as she dropped to the ground. The rest of the group quickly hurried over to tend to her, including Reed and Ethan. Backing away from it all, Elliot’s head began to ring, his hearing drowning out from shock. Turning to the left, he noticed Vincent aiming his rifle atop the hill behind the town. “You!” Elliot roared out so deeply, it made his throat sore. When Vincent realised he had been spotted, he dropped the rifle and made a run for it. Storming over to Olivia, he ripped the axe off her utility belt, kissing her on the forehead, “I’ll come back for you.” He looked up at Gwen, “Make sure she lives,” he sternly commanded her. Then, he ran as fast as he could to the hill.

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