"Justice" (Nature)

Day 14+

After two weeks in power, Elliot was still surprised to see that Raphael had made no attempt on his life yet. He had decided to meet Gwen in private. “Are you absolutely certain he even considered the idea?” Elliot was bewildered by Raphael’s lack of actions. “He didn’t consider it, he opted to flat out do it.” Gwen was certain, however another thought had crossed her mind, “Wait…” She looked over to her sink, rushing towards it. “What? Gwen? What is it?” Elliot was just as startled.

“I knew it!” She found a walkie-talkie hidden behind her upright knife board. “More like he knew it,” Elliot pointed out. “How could he have possibly known I was triple-crossing him?” Gwen was confused, but Elliot knew exactly how this was possible. “Think about it, Gwen. Imagine you in his position. A group of strangers turn up on your door step, one of them is invited to become the leader of your place, and then another member of that same group tries to help you take out their own friend in a high place. Does it not seem crazy to you?” He had rushed his speech so quickly that Gwen was completely lost with regards to what he was saying, “Um… yea, sure. I guess.” The walkie-talkie produced a short static noise, “What the heck?” She fiddled with it, but again, Elliot already knew what had happened. “That was probably Raphael tuning out of the channel. He’s heard all he needed to.”

Gwen grunted, “Looks like we’re going to have to resort to plan B, Elliot. It’s alright, I’ll take care of him without anyone even noticing.” As she went to leave her caravan, Elliot stood in front of the door. “No… This is my job.” They stared each other down, “You’ve already killed four of the people here. Now it’s my turn to take out just one.”

She raised her hands and stepped back, “Be my guest, sir.” She referred to his leadership position and smiled at him in a joking manner, though Elliot wasn’t laughing at all.

“Gwen…” Before he left, he had one more thing to say. “You do realise why we’re doing this, right?” He suspected that she was starting to become modest, “Of course I do. Less people, less mouths to feed, less resources used up. Some die so that the rest can live. Yes, Elliot, I get it.” She put his mind at ease, though he still wasn’t fully convinced.

Later that day, Raphael came to Elliot’s trailer. “Raphael! Please, sit down…” Elliot nodded at the seat opposite him, as Raphael warily sat down. “I’ll not waste any time at all. You know exactly why I’ve called you here.” He became stern. “Tell me, where does your allegiance lie?” He looked at Elliot amidst confusion. “My allegiance stands to my people. My allegiance stands to this camp. Regardless of who runs the show…”

Elliot rose from his chair slowly with his hands behind his back, gently pacing the area behind his desk. “That’s not necessarily true though, is it?”

Raphael squinted at him in bewilderment, “Excuse me? I am dedicated to the people out there, Elliot. Far more than you ever possibly could be,” he kept a low tone, but still didn’t hesitate to scold Elliot.

“That might be true. But what I want to know is… Why would you betray me just to betray Gwen as well?” He stopped pacing, and looked at Raphael with both eyebrows raised.

“What?” Raphael shook his head, “What do you mean, betray Gwen? How can I betray someone I hardly even know?”

Elliot slammed both of his hands on the desk, “The truth’s already out, so start talking. We found the walkie-talkie. Betraying me is fair play, in fact I anticipated and even wanted that to happen… So, why didn’t you trust Gwen? She even gave you the gun to kill me.”

Yet still, Raphael looked completely dumbfounded. “Ok, alright. Fine. Yes, I doubted you. Yes, I did and still do dislike you, Elliot. You want to know why I didn’t use the gun? Because I had no reason to kill you! Overthrow you? Yes. Kill you? No!” He paused before commenting on the part about Gwen, “Walkie-talkie? I didn’t plant any walkie-talkie anywhere. I swear to it!”

Elliot couldn’t tell what he was lying about and what he was being honest about, “Two things, Raphael. Firstly, you need to stop lying. Who else could’ve possibly planted the walkie? And secondly, you had no problem with killing Pierre when it came to it! So what changes here?” He glared at him intently.

Raphael jumped up and planted his hands on the desk as well, “Two things, Elliot,” he mimicked his words, “I have no idea who planted the walkie. Perhaps ask maybe, oh, I don’t know…. The two-hundred plus residents living here?! As for your second point, Pierre wasn’t innocent!”

Elliot snapped, “Pierre was innocent! How dare you suggest otherwise!” This remark confused Raphael, “Innocent? Murdering four people? Innocent?” Elliot snapped fully now and shouted at him, “It wasn’t Pierre, it was Gwen!”

Silence fell in the trailer. “Of course it was…” Raphael’s low tone contrasted Elliot’s shouting one. “I should’ve known just from the speed at which he jumped in front of her.” Elliot was frozen after unintentionally exposing Gwen. “Raphael… Wait…” He shook his head with an evil smirk on his face. “Nah… Because now, she’s dead as well. In fact, you all are. Your entire group is going to die for perverting the course of justice!” Raphael sounded happy even. “Whoever planted that walkie, perhaps I should find and befriend them…”

As he turned to exit the trailer, Elliot pulled out his handgun, “Don’t open that door,” he commanded him in a deep voice. “Why? What’re you gonna do, Elliot? You gonna shoot me?” He taunted him. “Well, by all means, do that. Kill me! Kill me right here! I’d love to see you panic and clean the blood stains off this door. Even better, I’d love to see how you dispose of my corpse!”

Elliot’s hands began to shake, “If you tell anyone about Gwen, a war will break out. I can’t risk losing another member of my group. You know that my team are skilled enough to wipe you all out.”

Raphael laughed, “Really? Alright then, let’s have a little look at your ‘team’, shall we?” He thought to himself for several moments, “You and Gwen, maybe. Perhaps you two are skilful indeed. But against 200 of us? Good luck!”

Elliot lowered his gun slightly, using Raphael’s own logic against him, “Let’s see how many tactical people you have on your side then. Louis, you, well, I’m sure you two will manage. Your guards are rubbish by the way. Whenever a stranger approaches your gates, you should always shoot them.”

Raphael laughed again, pulling out his knife and charging at Elliot unexpectedly. “Bastard!” Elliot pulled the trigger, knocking Raphael to the ground. He clenched the gunshot wound on his shoulder. Elliot noticed the exit wound was on the side of his leg.

The trailer door swung open – it was William and Louis. “What the hell!” He slid down next to his bleeding-out son. “Louis! Get all of the medical staff over here! Right now!” He obeyed and ran out in a panic.

Elliot stood against the wall, still holding the gun despite how much he was shaking. William looked up at him through his tears, “W-why… Why did you have to do this!” Elliot couldn’t answer, feeling he only had one choice open to him…

Elliot realigned the gun, aiming it at William. His breathing intensified, as he prepared to squeeze the trigger.

“Elliot!” Before he could pull it, Olivia appeared at the door. She looked around the trailer distressfully. “What the hell!” She too was flurried. “Olivia… Listen to me,” A tear rolled out from Elliot’s eye, “It’s not what you think. You don’t understand,” as he went to put his hand over her arm, she shook it off, “Don’t! How could you, Elliot? These people trusted you! I trusted you! You’ve just gotten all of us killed!”

“No…” William looked up, red in the face. “T-tell you friends, Olivia… You are welcome to stay.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Under one condition…” She appeared worried again. “He must die!”

Day 15+

The following morning, crowds gathered around, awaiting to hear the news and witness the execution. “Citizens, friends,” William addressed the camp openly. “I am pleased to inform you that my son has indeed survived the attempt on his life, and he will recover shortly.” There was a united sigh of relief. “The two nurses Tina and Erica were able to save his life with the help of our own surviving medics. Because of this, the group shall be allowed to stay…” Everyone mumbled to each other in confusion.

“However!” He bellowed as everyone went silent again. “The criminal most certainly shall not go unpunished! It was only two weeks ago when he assimilated the position of co-leader. Now, only two weeks later, has he abused his privileges. The first killer from the new group was killed in front of all of you, at the hands of my son… Now, the second killer from the new group shall also be killed in front of all of you. Except this time, at my own hands…”

In the crowd, Reed held Olivia back firmly in case she made a daring attempt to save Elliot.

“Bring him out!” William commanded, turning back to the caravan where Elliot had been held all night. The crowds began to cheer, boo and hiss as the two guards brought Elliot out.

As Elliot grew nearer to William, they engaged looks of hatred at each other. “Put him on his knees!” William commanded, as one of the guards whacked his shins with a baton. Again, this prompted cheers from the crowd.

Olivia turned away to Reed’s chest, unable to watch the events which were about to happen. Reed rubbed her back as he continued to watch the execution.

“Let this be an example… To all of those who even consider betraying this camp! Any final words, Elliot?” He looked down at him, as Elliot looked over at Olivia who had turned away. He then looked up to the sky, “I’m on my way…” he whispered.

William nodded at the guard next to him. He produced the pistol from his side, handing it to William. William held the pistol up, “For all of you to see… There is no trickery here! I assure you this weapon is real! For those in doubt, the blood shall prove my words…”

Olivia continued to hide her face in Reed’s chest. She was startled as a gunshot rang out. For a few moments she froze, she then bawled her eyes out, still hiding her face in Reed’s chest…

-Elliot's fate is left unknown at the end of this chapter. Whether or not he is Alive will be revealed in 4x05.

-This is the second time that Elliot's execution has been ordered.
 * The first time was back in Season 1 when Olivia nearly executed Elliot, wrongly believing that he had attacked Steven.