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“Why are you doing this? Put the gun down.”
“I ain’t putting shit down!” Eric called out, firing once at the ceiling. He’d been wandering the halls for a bit now, having taken down a decent amount of people. The realisation hit that his little adventure was likely nearing its end, as most had escaped by now. The principal hadn’t, though. Eric decided to have some fun with him.
“Put the gun down, we’ll talk about this.” Mr. Lewis desperately tried to reason with him, now on the ground, shielding his face with one arm as Eric took a few more steps closer, standing above him. “Shut up.” He pointed the gun in his face. Tense, filled with adrenaline and excitement. Too, the realization of what he was doing. He knew it was wrong, he knew it was fucked up, but now he couldn’t back out anymore. He’d played out his fantasy up until this point, he was going to finish it. A slight bit of fear overcame him. Fuck, where was Alex during all this? Was he fine? Surely, he knew how to work this stuff better than he did. Alex was the smart one, always. I mean, Eric had followed the plan the whole way, so Alex probably did too. They’d meet soon enough.
Over the next couple minutes, Eric began listing out all the shit he’d gone through during his time here. All the bullshit he’d had to put up with. The harassment, the mistreatment from teachers, not being listened to. Things would get bad, they’d get to the principal, and he’d do fuck all to help the kid. Now..now he could let loose while the man lay below him. He had power over him for once. Power over the entire school, in a way. Then he heard the slightest footsteps behind him. Spinning around, he held his weapon up, taking a clean shot at the boy who had just walked up behind him. Fuck was he doing? Why wouldn’t he just get out? Eric hadn’t seen the guy wandering around earlier, so why was he here? Yet there wasn’t a point to thinking about it any further, as Eric had soon shot dead another person. He watched his body fall to the floor, a slight bit of shock on his face. Was it fear from being walked up on? Or..the horrid realization that he’d taken yet another life.
Fuck, not the time.
He slowly turned around to face Mr. Lewis again. “Fuck..” He mumbled, trying to recollect his thoughts. “Anyway Mr. Lewis, whatever man. Hah, you know there’s others like us out there, too! And they will kill you if you fuck with them like you did me and Jerry. Get outa here! Before I change my mind..go!” He gestured ahead of him before kicking him harshly. He began to turn around, stopping halfway, his eyes remaining on the principal.
Eric lifted up his weapon one last time, five shots as Mr. Lewis desperately tried to get away, watching him fall. “Bitch.” That one, he didn’t feel any guilt for.
Now he knew he could safely turn around, beginning to head back the way he had originally came. His eyes darted between the mix of bodies on the ground, the mess on the floor. Books, papers, stationary, random possessions scattered across the floor. Bags..maybe he could find a thing or two to snatch, but Eric wasn’t like that. He could hear gunshots in the distance. Good to know Alex was still around. “Should probably meet him..” Eric mumbled to himself, looking ahead and around him. Still cautious, but nowhere near as cautious as Alex was during the whole thing.
Eric’s mind started to wander as he walked the desolate corridors. Would he have done this with anyone but Alex? Probably not, even though they’d split ways, they were still doing it together. This was Alex's masterplan. He’d confided in Eric about it, and Eric quickly accepted. Alex was smart, he knew how to read people well, of course his best friend would be into the idea. A fucked idea at that. Alex could be cruel if he fucking wanted to, Eric had seen it a few times, but never towards him. They were closer than Eric was with anyone else in his life, and he knew well that Alex didn’t have anyone closer than him. Alex was definitely more of a loner than him. He thought back to earlier. He’d woken up on Alex’s sofa in his room, his body aching from the weird position he’d put himself in. Hence walking a little off right now, his leg hurt. Alex was already awake and preparing things for their little heist. They’d went to grab breakfast, and soon enough they were home alone again. After lounging around for a while, they went to actually get ready.
Arguably the most intimate moment Eric had ever had with anyone was with Alex. His best friend. He couldn’t get it off his mind for the life of him, though they hadn’t said a thing about it once they were done showering. Well, Eric definitely kept looking at his friend, just taking in everything. He’d been into Alex for a damn long time, and that seemed just..like the right time. He didn’t know if they’d ever get a chance like that again, so..why not? Yet he pushed off the kiss as simply just wanting to have the experience with anyone, Alex or not, just for the sake of it before they’d go out and fulfill their plan..but it was definitely specifically meant for Alex..and Alex probably knew that himself, just didn’t say a thing, since why would he protest? He felt similar for Eric, albeit, his feelings were a bit more muddled. Covered up by their upcoming plan. He didn’t really have a chance to think through them in full, as they’d quickly headed back to Alex’s room to go through the plan one more time.
Staring down at a map, Eric glanced over at Alex every few seconds. Alex went on and on, explaining how methodically they’d go through the building. Fuck, the guy was smart. He thought of all that mostly on his own. Eric loved it, seeing Alex so into something like that. He could only smile at him, though Alex would glare back at him and Eric’s eyes had to drift back down to the map. He was listening..just maybe a tad distracted. Definitely taking it all in, though, he didn’t want to piss Alex off by somehow making a dumb mistake and fucking up the plan on his end.
Eric snapped back to his current reality as the cafeteria doors came into view. Right, right, big open space. I mean, it was cleared out by now, but he still had to be careful.
That is until he spotted Alex sitting at one of the lunch tables, taking a sip from some random cup that had been abandoned by a student. The AR rested on Alex’s lap, holding it with one hand while the cup was in the other.
“Hey man, I wouldn’t drink that. You’ll get herpes or somethin’.” Eric called out, a slight smile forming on his face at the sight of the other.
Alex sighed as he smirked lightly, shaking his head a little before putting the cup back down on the tray before pushing himself up off the table to stand back up. The smirk seemed to have some kind of maliciousness behind it, it wasn’t just a genuine smile. Alex knew exactly what he was going to do.
“So..how’d you do?” Eric asked, curiously.
“Did alright, what happened?” Alex replied, a bit blunt in his statement. In the sense that..his voice sounded kind of bleak. Not excited like Eric was, maybe tired out? Eric couldn’t really tell, Alex often spoke in a tired kind of..midly pissed off way. Eric just nodded, taking in his words before beginning to explain his own side of things, as Alex didn’t seem to want to get into it.
“I shot the principal..and some other people and-” Mid sentence, he felt the bullet pierce through his back. He fell backwards from the hit, hitting his head off of the floor. His entire body set into panic mode. Eric seemed dazed for the moment from the hit, before managing to pull himself back with his arms, just barely holding himself up. A pool of blood began to form beneath him, he’d lose consciousness soon. Alex stood now above him, looking down with a dark sort of look. Soulles, in a way. Unreadable, lacking any kind of hint at what he was feeling right now. He didn’t seem to care, the gun now lowered. His aim was clean, seemingly trying to intentionally hit Eric in a specific spot, make him bleed out a little slow, but not for too long. He’d die pretty quick without help..and help needed to come now if he was going to make it out.
In shock, Eric opened his mouth to say something, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. Fuck- Alex shot him. Alex shot him. His best friend shot him. His lover shot him.
Alex just continued to stare down, looking around a tad to make sure there wasn’t anyone else near. He’d spotted the couple earlier, knew that he’d have to go for them next, but for now, Eric lay on the floor bleeding out bit by bit.
“Alex-” He managed to mutter out before his body was thrown by the oncoming coughing fit, turning half way over, barely holding himself up by his arms. Blood came out, oh fuck.
He couldn’t stop.
He felt the tip of the weapon meet the back of his head as he continued to choke up. Alex didn’t seem to say a word, his breathing seemed relatively calm. Unbothered by the sight of his friend choking up. That was the only sound that filled the air, Eric unable to stop coughing. He glanced up at Alex, their eyes meeting. “I-I..” More choking, in between each word. “I thought w-we were in this shit to-” He couldn’t seem to stop it, his body going into overdrive as it desperately tried to hold out. “..to..gether, ma..n..” His eyes darted from Alex’s own back down to the floor, his arms began to give out. Horribly lightheaded, it felt like the room was spinning. He could feel the blood soaking his shirt, the aching pain of the bullet now lodged deep into his body. Blood dripping from his mouth onto the floor. His chest hurt bad from choking up so much.
Alex didn’t move the gun away from his head, his finger tightly on the trigger, but he wasn’t doing anything yet..nor was he saying anything. Was he getting a kick out of this?
So many thoughts went through his head, and yet he couldn’t figure a thing out about Alex. They’d literally been laughing and smiling at each other earlier today. Chatting as per usual, literally nothing in Alex’s demanor earlier told him that he was pissed off. Nothing. All of it flashed before his eyes over and over, what the fuck was up with him? Then another thought..had..had Alex manipulated him this whole time? That pissed Eric off. ‘Cause if that was true, his entire trust in the other boy was broken. Dumb, at least dumb right now, almost irrational questions ran through his head. Fuck, everything around Alex felt so genuine, and now this..whatever this was, whatever got into him, it put everything into question.
That new found anger for his best friend, the one he loved so much, gave him the energy to fight back. He grabbed the tip of the gun, pushing it away harshly, backwards into Alex making him stumble. He wasn’t going to just fucking die like that, not without putting up a fight. Alex looked shocked by Eric’s fight. The guy was literally just coughing up his insides seconds ago, now he’d gained the strength to fight back? Fucks sake. It made him debate what he had done, it wasn’t worth it. Fuck, he shouldn’t have. He knew it was dumb. His reasons were dumb, Eric didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve to go out this way.
Eric barely managed to push himself up, more into a sitting position, his arms on the floor behind him holding himself up. Legs flat on the ground, trying to stabalize himself. His own weapon had been dropped the moment he fell, moving just barely out of reach. Still, even after Alex shot him, Eric would never do the same to him. Not even to defend himself. Fuck man, at least he had some kind of morals.
Seeing Alex’s shocked look, the complete opposite of the previous deadpan glare he was giving Eric, he felt like he could maybe..just maybe snap him out of it. Before he inevitably passed out.
Well, blacked out.
It..it didn’t fully hit him that this wound would kill him, since he was still awake now. I mean- yeah, the coughing was getting to him..but..he could push through, right? People survive this stuff all the time.
He tried desperately to push himself to his feet, but it only led to him falling forwards, back down onto the ground, barely managing to prevent his head from hitting off the floor, while the rest of his body fell nearly flat. “F-fuck..Al-” He felt the blood come right back up again, repeating the cycle once more, this time the coughing wouldn’t go away at all. It didn’t give him a second of mercy.
“Eric..” Alex muttered. Shit, he was going to die right in front of him. Even if Alex tried to do something now, it was too late. Eric had lost so much blood, it was inevitable. He knew it deep down. He was only making him suffer now, standing here watching him.
“I-I had to, you know I had to.” Alex walked back over to Eric, kneeling by his side. He pulled his head up by his bandana to get a better look at him.
“W-” He couldn’t get a word out anymore, Alex holding him was the only thing keeping him up. Merely pushing him away took all the energy out of him.
Time was ticking, not only for Eric, but for Alex too.
A swat team would be here in no time ready to get to him, plus, he still wanted to go after Nathan and Carrie. They were the last ones here, alive. Past himself and Eric..well, not for long.
“You’re part of this place as much as the others. I met you here, remember? We- …we wouldn’t have done this otherwise. If it wasn’t for this place, you and I would have never met. I wouldn’t have done this, and you definitely wouldn’t have. It’s over, Eric. You’re done. You’ve got nothing after this, but I do.” Alex explained, still holding his friend up. Tears rolled down Eric’s cheeks, blood continuing to drip from his mouth, to his chin, and onto Alex’s free hand. He had no way out, and that was really starting to hit him now. Alex just stared into the other’s eyes for a moment, watching him slowly succumb to his wound.
“It’s over.” He picked up Eric’s own weapon, it was smaller, and it’d do little less damage to him. Even after Alex had already done this, he couldn’t bear the sight of Eric like that, ruined. Sirens filled the air as Alex turned to look behind. Shit. He seriously didn’t have much time left.
Eric’s eyes followed the weapon in his hands, the feeling made him sick. “Y-yea..ah..” A smile formed on his face. I mean, Alex was the smarter one, fuck does Eric know, right? That’s what he’s been told his entire life, that he’s a fucking idiot. Maybe Alex is right. Maybe this is the only way to go about it.
Too late to change it now.
He put one hand on Alex’s wrist, the one which was holding him up. Alex put the gun under Eric’s chin carefully. Eric squeezed his wrist as tight as he could “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.” Before Eric could even react, everything went black.
Alex shut his eyes as he pulled the trigger, looking away. The blood splattered all over him, on his face, his hands, his clothes. 'You were only putting him out of his misery', he tried to justify in his head. He let go off of him, Eric’s now lifeless body collapsing onto the floor in a pool of his own blood.
Alex pushed himself off of the ground, dropping Eric’s gun before taking a look around as to where he remembered Nathan dragging Carrie off to. He made his way through the kitchen. If not here, they must have escaped, but he would have seen that. He walked towards the freezer, the only spot he hadn’t yet checked. Pulling the door open, there they stood, right in front of him. He felt the cold hit his face as he cornered them off further into the room.
“Well, well, well, look who it is!” He lifted up the gun, aiming it at the two. The two both begged for him to stop, questioning what he was doing, it didn’t seem to phase him though. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a tiger by its toe..” He took a breath. “..if he hollers, let him go.”
“Fucks sake-” Nathan said, a last ditch effort.
“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe..” Aiming to his left, he pulled the trigger, knocking the girl back in an instant, before aiming up to hit Nathan right after, putting a bullet right through his skull. More blood splatter, more on him. Now he felt content with all he’d done. He wiped the blood off of his lips with his gloved hand, heading out of the freezer, shutting the door behind him with his foot.
He headed back out the same way he had entered, back over to where Eric lay. Alex threw the strap back over his shoulder, leaving the gun to hang off of his body as he knelt back down to Eric on his knees, beginning to undo the bandana he wore. He tried to keep his eyes away from how fucking decimated the boy looked, just focusing on untying the knot. His knees dipping in his friend’s blood. It took him a second, but he eventually got it off, tying it around his own wrist, the one Eric had grabbed him by only a couple minutes earlier. It was partially soaked in blood, as was everything touching Eric now. He layed down Eric a little more comfortably, leaving his body less contorted. It was..I guess, his last little gesture of love to him, even if he wasn’t there anymore. He took his hand into his own, giving it a small kiss before placing it gently back down onto the floor, getting back up. The taste of blood being the only thing he could pay attention to, now.
Alex walked through the school, taking in the mess the duo had caused. Just..one last little walk around, before he knew his own end would too come very soon, and it wouldn't be a pretty one.