by Max Jager
"Damion and I will take the tent with just two." Carley interrupted. Gaining a few weird looks from the rest of the group, especially those who didn't know Carley was a guy. It was extremely abnormal to see Carley speak up like that, or to ask for something, Carley never asserted himself before.
"Carley, why don't you come to me and Elliott's tent?" Brooke suggested. "Leave the tent for two for people who aren't comfortable with anyone else."
Carley shook his head. "No. I lost someone very close to me, I need some time alone to speak with Damion about it." He insisted. "Right?" he turned to Damion, who nodded in agreement.
"Alright…" Elliott unsurely replied. He gave Carley a questioning look, there was clearly a bigger plan at play here and Carley wasn't dropping any hints as to what it was. He didn't know how he was supposed to help if Carley wasn't giving out any information.
"I'll go with you guys." Sophia spoke up and walked over to Elliott and Brooke.
"Alright then, it only makes sense to split the last two tents into girls and guys. It splits pretty evenly." Fate replied as she turned to Chloe and Inami. She gestured to a tent and the three of them slipped into it.
"I guess that leaves us." George replied to Matthew and Snipes. The three of them stepped into the last tent and went to sleep for the night. Assuming they would follow their usual schedule for who was standing watch on the camp.
As everyone went into their tents Carley walked over to Jackson. When Jackson turned to face him, he took a deep breath and made his last request. "The other favor I needed to ask of you." He started.
"Yeah." Jackson replied.
"Damion and I will leave the camp, I'm going to try to make it happen around sunrise so everyone can get at least a little rest. If we do not return together in thirty minutes, I need you to wake everyone up and get everyone to leave the area, as quickly as possible. Leave us both behind. If Damion returns without me, do not let him rejoin the group. Please, this is to keep everyone safe."
"And if you come back without him?" Jackson questioned.
"I won't." Carley replied. "If it comes to that, I will not come back. That way, everyone will know what happened and nobody will need to worry anymore. If I came back without him there would always be that lingering question, people wouldn't know if-"
"Carley..." Jackson interrupted. "Just… Come back. You'd hurt the group more if you didn't. They all know it isn't you."
Carley hesitated, he started getting shaky and looking sick again. "Got it. So you'll follow the plan?" He asked. "You're the only one I can trust to stick to the plan and not try stopping me or going after me."
Jackson nodded.
"Thank you." Carley replied, then he took a deep breath and walked back to his tent with Damion.
Carley never went to sleep that night. At sunrise, Carley got out of his sleeping bag and pretended to accidentally trip over Damion as he left the tent. He fell to the ground by the entrance to the tent.
Damion was startled awake, and looked over at Carley. "Ow. You okay Carley?" He asked.
"U-Um, yes." Carley replied. "I just needed to use the bathroom. I will be right back."
"You leaving the campsite?" Damion questioned.
"Well, yeah, I kinda have to." Carley pointed out.
"Be careful." Damion said before rolling back over. He noticed that Carley left his stuff, including his new bow and sword, behind in the tent. 'He even went out there unarmed.' Damion thought.
Jackson watched as Carley left his tent, moving carefully to avoid being spotted by Matthew who was on watch. He walked out of the campsite and into the woods. As expected, a moment after, Jackson spotted Damion step out of the tent and follow Carley, within a few seconds the two of them were out of sight.
Jackson mostly stuck to the plan, he waited twenty minutes and neither of them returned. He let out a quiet sigh, then got up to start waking everyone up.
Next Chapter: Apex
Chapter 7: Apex
— Chapter 7: Apex —
Carley slowly and cautiously walked a good distance from the camp. He could hear someone following him and made a point to lead them far away from the camp before he stopped in a small clearing and turned around. He waited a moment, and Damion stepped out of the trees and approached him.
"You shouldn't be out here alone Carley. But while we are here, why don't we take the moment to talk about your girlfriend." Damion started.
"You can cut the act Damion." Carley stared straight at him. "I know why you are here."
"What are you talking about?" Damion asked.
"You asked Olivia if she lost a loved one, back at the campfire. She said yes, and died that night. I didn't overhear your conversation with Dexter, but he was getting close to you, then he died. You asked Jake if he ever lost a loved one, he said yes, he died. You asked me if I lost a loved one, and at first I said no, and nothing happened. You asked Evelynn if she lost a loved one, she said yes and died. When Evelynn went missing and everyone got attacked by undead, I noticed you weren't there in that fight. Neither was Jackson or the kids, but I know it isn't Jackson." Carley started.
Carley paused for just a moment before continuing. "I spoke with Sarah, and she said you weren't in the fight with the goblins in the mall either, despite being assigned to work with Elliott and Brooke, and that's around the time Jake died. So, I lied. I told you I lost someone I loved, my girlfriend, to test a theory. I wanted to know if everyone who said yes to that question died. So I lied and changed my answer to yes." Carley continued. "And here you are, following me out into the woods. Explain yourself."
A wide grin spread across Damion's face and he laughed a little. "You are a sharp one, but if you knew it was me why did you bring me out here alone. That's not very bright."
"I had to find out for sure, there was still a chance it wasn't you. And I couldn't tell the others, I don't trust them not to overreact and jump the gun, plus if I was right, I don't want them to get hurt. I can handle you myself." Carley stated. He pulled out his dagger, which he had concealed under his shirt. As soon as he had the dagger in his hand he looked uneasy and a little shaky.
Damion's grin only widened and he started to laugh a little as he watched Carley pull out a dagger. He suddenly looked much more entertained, and interested then he did before. However, when he noticed Carley starting to get shaky his expression changed to one of disappointment. "I thought you were going to be a challenge. I thought this one might be interesting, but look at you." Damion scoffed. "You're already that afraid of me that you're shaking? You're wasting my time."
"I'm not afraid of you, Damion. I know I can beat you, but I've never killed anyone before, obviously, and bringing myself to kill you will be far harder than it would ever be to beat you. I-It makes me sick thinking about it."
"You're hopeless, you really came out here when you weren't ready to finish the job?" Damion laughed. "That is just disappointing, I was hoping this would be fun." He shook his head and drew his own dagger. "I'm not going to sit out here and chat all night."
With that Damion immediately sprinted after Carley, he moved incredibly fast and was lashing out with his dagger at Carley's chest within a split second. Carley moved quick, he sidestepped the blow and punched Damion in the face. Damion stumbled back a step or two, and was slightly bruised, but was otherwise unharmed.
"You can't hurt me without that dagger Carley. Too afraid to use it?" Damion taunted him as he spun around and lunged at Carley again. He stabbed his dagger for Carley's throat, but Carley sidestepped again and threw another punch for Damion's head. Damion ducked under the swing and attempted to grab Carley's arm, but Carley jumped back and avoided the grab. Damion lunged forward and shoved Carley to the ground, then tried to kick him, but Carley quickly rolled away as soon as he hit the ground. Carley sprang back onto his feet just in time to duck under Damion's dagger as he attempted to stab Carley's head.
Carley quickly slammed his fist into Damion's chest as hard as he could, but Damion
was unfazed by it, Carley couldn't strike him hard enough to hurt him. Damion attempted to sweep Carley's legs, but Carley jumped over the attack. Before he could land Damion punched Carley, hard, in the chest. Carley was small, a whole foot shorter than Damion, he was also lightweight and fragile. The blow knocked him backwards a couple feet and broke one of his ribs again.
It didn't seem to bother him though, Carley got back up as if nothing had happened. He gripped his dagger a little tighter and glanced down at it. 'I have to just do it. I just need to do it.' He was snapped out of his thoughts when Damion slashed his dagger for Carley's face, Carley quickly blocked it with his own dagger and punched Damion in the head again. Damion pulled backwards and threw a kick back at Carley, which Carley quickly evaded. As Damion moved in he lashed out at Carley's head again with the dagger, but Carley sidestepped the blow and once again punched Damion in the face.
Carley quickly took a few steps back. 'I can't do it… I can't do it… I have to kill him, I have to… But I can't do it. I can't kill another person… What is wrong with me? He's going to hurt everyone, it's going to be my fault… I have to do this… Why can't I do this?' His body was starting to shake more and more, he was starting to go pale and was looking very sick. The more he tried to force himself to kill Damion, the sicker and sicker he was getting.
Damion rushed in and threw a left hook for Carley's head, but Carley ducked under the blow only to see the dagger being thrust at him. Carley stumbled backwards to evade the blade, then quickly blocked a follow-up kick from Damion with his arm. Despite blocking it, his arm let out a loud crack and the bone was fractured, Carley was far too frail for his arm to handle the blow. Before he could react Damion dashed forwards with another stab aimed towards Carley's chest, and Carley couldn't stumble out of the way quickly enough. The blade grazed his shoulder, leaving a deep slash. Carley immediately retaliated but punching Damion, hard, in the head with his fractured arm. Despite the pain he was in, and the pain from moving that arm, Carley was still able to use it and attack with it at nearly his full strength. The blow knocked Damion off balance and knocked him to the ground.
Carley gripped his dagger tighter and moved in to stab it down at Damion, but he hesitated before attacking and in that moment of hesitation Damion kicked him and knocked him onto his back. Carley and Damion both quickly got back onto their feet. As soon as he was back on his feet Damion jumped at Carley, forcing Carley to stumble to the side to evade getting knocked down and pinned. He immediately punched Damion in the head, knocking him right back to the ground again, then he kicked Damion in the head and quickly backed away again. Inwardly, he was bashing himself over and over for failing to do such a simple task, again.
'What is wrong with me? What the hell is wrong with me! Stop punching him and just stab him you useless dumbass! How worthless do you need to be to screw this up? … Why am I even trying?... If I can't do something as simple as this… I should just give up now, there's no point if I can't do it… It's not like I'm worth anything anyways…' Carley silently thought. He watched as Damion got back onto his feet. 'I mean… It's what I came out here for, wasn't it? That tiny hope that we'd take eachother out?... I should just stop resisting and let it happen if I'm going to be this useless…' The moment Carley decided to give up, he immediately calmed down, he stopped shaking, he didn't look as sick anymore. He took a deep breath and braced himself as he watched Damion charge him head-on. And Carley didn't move.
It was like time slowed down as he watched Damion running straight at him. He was finally relaxed, his mind was finally clear, but the words of Jackson and Elliott from yesterday echoed through his head. Everything else that happened over the last few days slowly also entered his mind, soon including Brooke, Sophia, Fate, and even Snipes. 'I can't… It would hurt them… They'd be better off without me though… I'm just dragging them down, they don't need me… But they'd be hurt if I died...' His thoughts were becoming more conflicted, but he still wouldn't move. Damion got within striking distance and thrust his dagger at Carley's heart, and Carley didn't move. Not until the very last second. Carley shifted just enough for the dagger to stab deep into his shoulder.
Carley shouted in pain as the dagger stabbed into him, but he immediately grabbed Damion's hand and pushed his body closer to Damion, forcing the dagger deeper and holding it there to ensure that Damion couldn't pull it back out. 'What kind of f-ing idiot am I? It doesn't matter how damn useless I am, they need me, so it's on me to find some way to stop being worthless deadweight. And here I am, letting this depression get the better of me… Some friend I am…'' Carley inwardly kicked himself.
Damion tried pulling his dagger out of Carley to stab him again, but he couldn't, Carley was keeping too firm of a grip on it and was pressing it into himself. So instead Damion twisted the dagger and tried to push it deeper, causing Carley to scream out in pain. But Carley wouldn't let the dagger go, he grit his teeth and held it there. Thinking fast Damion quickly grabbed his pocket knife he had concealed under his own shirt and stabbed Carley in the stomach as quickly as he could.
Carley shouted in pain again and gripped his own dagger, while he had Damion held in place he closed his eyes and slammed the blade of the dagger into Damion's head. He felt his dagger strike it's target, he felt blood on his hand, he knew for sure that he hit his mark.
Carley immediately let go of Damion and took three steps back, stumbling with each step. His body was violently shaking, his breathing became heavier as he started struggling to breathe, and he quickly covered his mouth to try and resist the urge to puke. He was starting to cry. "I did it… I-I… I killed him…" He breathlessly murmured to himself. But he was snapped back to reality when he heard Damion starting to laugh. Carley opened his eyes and looked up to see that Damion was still standing. He clearly had a stab wound on his head, why was he still standing? Why was he laughing?
"Alright, credit where credit is due kid." Damion laughed. "I'm surprised you're still standing. And you actually used the dagger." He grinned. "Maybe this will be fun after all? You've outlasted all of the others."
'... Something isn't right… Why is he still alive?... Did I not pierce the skull? Maybe the skull was too thick… But, that shouldn't be an issue. What is going on?' Carley thought. His body stopped shaking, not due to him calming down, but due to him becoming so tense he couldn't shake anymore. He was hurt, bad, his pain tolerance was allowing him to ignore most of it, but this was too much for him. His wounds were starting to slow him down.
Damion came charging at him again, this time with both his knife and dagger. He opened up with a stab from his dagger towards Carley's throat, which Carley sidestepped only to see the knife being thrust at his face. Carley ducked under the blow and Damion immediately kicked him in the face, knocking Carley backwards and onto the ground. All of his wounds, the broken bones and the two stabwounds flared in pain as he hit the ground causing Carley to shout out in pain again, but he pushed through the pain and immediately flipped back onto his feet.
Damion was relentless though, he rushed after Carley and didn't even give him any time to regain his bearings. He rushed in and immediately swiped his knife for Carley's face. Carley ducked under the attack and thrust his own dagger for Damion's stomach. Damion quickly stepped back just enough to be out of Carley's short reach, then he threw his dagger high up into the air and used his free hand to grab Carley's dagger-wielding arm. He twisted Carley's arm, then stabbed his pocket knife into it and slashed his knife up Carley's arm in an attempt to get Carley to drop the dagger. But he didn't, he screamed out in pain again, but switched the dagger to his other hand. He spun around, cringing in pain as he twisted his own arm further in Damion's grip, and stabbed his dagger into Damion's chest. The dagger pierced the skin just enough to strike blood, but didn't pierce any further then that. Damion's chest was exposed, the tiny red hoodie he wore didn't cover much of anything, and he wore nothing under it. Carley was completely sure he didn't have any armor, why didn't the dagger
pierce him?
Damion then kicked Carley to the ground, and caught his own dagger as it fell. In the brief moment he was distracted by his dagger, Carley threw his own dagger as hard as he could at Damion's face. He watched as the dagger struck Damion in the cheek, it only scratched him and fell to the ground. Damion was surprised by the attack, but laughed again.
"What… Are you?" Carley knew that he couldn't be human, there was no way. He stumbled back onto his feet, but by now blood loss was setting in. He was getting very lightheaded, he was struggling to focus, and his vision was blurring a little. He had to end this quickly, but how? It was painfully clear by now that his dagger was useless against Damion, it wasn't piercing him at all. If anything… By the way he was laughing and grinning... Damion seemed to be enjoying it… That was an unsettling bit of insight.
Damion just kept laughing. "I am a human Carley, do you not think I am?" He questioned, then he pulled two signet rings out of his pocket. "I found a signet ring back in the apartment in Oline city. I've had it ever since." He cackled. "After a couple days, I realized that blades no longer cut me. I also realized I could control blood. So please, keep stabbing me. It's only making me stronger." He laughed, as he picked up Carley's dagger and threw it back at him.