Ground Zero

Always one to solve a problem before it starts…

You pull the trigger and blast Elliot square in the chest. He looks down in disbelief and then slumps down on the floor by your feet. You then get up from the floor as everyone else runs out of the room.

"Yeah that's what I thought! So much for your fearless leader!"

As you drag Elliot's body out of your room, everyone else in the shelter has come out of their own rooms after hearing the gun shot and screaming.

"OH MY GOD! HE'S GOT A GUN!" someone shouts.
"HE'S KILLED ELLIOT!" another screams.

Everyone is very afraid of what you're going to do next. Only Nina dares approach you.

"You…you killed him? I always knew you were anti-social, but…oh my god…"
"Yeah I fuckin' killed Elliot! And YOU of all people oughta be damn well glad I did! He was planning on taking over this place from your boyfriend Ron!"
"Ron's not my boyfriend! And I don't believe you! Elliot was gracious in his defeat! He was a good man unlike you!"
"Yeah he was so good he tried to recruit me for his little rebellion gang, and don't try to hide in the fuckin' crowd Leon and act like you weren't there! All of you fuckers hiding right now, came to my room with Elliot! And lemme ask you this, WHY the hell would ANY of them come to MY room? Everyone knows I don't invite people!"
"I dunno what to say right now…please just put down the gun…I don't want you to kill anyone else…"
"For fuck's sake Nina I'm not a mass murderer! It was self-defense! He was gonna kill me, just like he was gonna kill Ron and shit maybe he should've, the fuckstick's supposed to be the shelter leader and he's not even here for this! Where is Ron?"

Nina suddenly wonders where he's at as well, she runs over to his door which is still shut.

"Don't tell me, he's THAT much of deep sleeper." You mutter while standing by Elliot's dead body.

Nina doesn't even knock, apparently she's got her own key to get in his room. You're STILL wondering why nothing has happened between those two yet, your questions are soon answered, and everyone is in for another surprise this eventful night.

"EEEEEEEEEEEK! NO!" you hear Nina scream when she goes inside the room and then runs back out crying. Ron steps out in his underwear.

"No, wait! Nina, its not what it looks like!" he shouts to her and then another guy in his underwear comes out. You think his name is William, you never knew too much about him before, but you know MORE than you wanted to now!

"Get back inside William!" when Ron sees that there's a whole crowd of people staring in various states of shock. It's too late though now, everyone knows.

"Wow Nina sure is a good judge of character, she thought Elliot was a good man and she thought you were straight. Looks like I wasn't the only one with a secret in this shelter! Heh heh."

Ron finally turns to you and sees what you've done.

"…You got a gun? YOU FUCKIN' KILLED ELLIOT?"
"(Sigh) Not this again! Yeah I fuckin' killed him. He tried to kill me and he was planning on killing you to take over this dump!"
"Now just calm down, and put down the gun…"
"I'm not putting down shit and I'm not killing anyone else unless someone gives me cause to do so! What the fuck, was the dick in your mouth so good to you, you didn't hear the gunshots and screaming out here? I'm sick of explaining this twice! Now I'M going back into MY room to get some sleep! And none of you better fucking disturb me for the rest of the night! And someone better clean up Elliot's carcass from in front of my room when I wake up tomorrow!"

You return to your room.

"Yeah, I think that went well." You say to yourself.

After the night of multiple "incidents" a lot of things happen. The first, is Elliot's body being the first one dumped into the incinerator. The second being that Ron is immediately voted out by his own council who all follow the GZS guidelines. Apparently being gay was more of an offense than being incompetent, since GZS guidelines were explicit in not wanting homosexuals in the Community Shelters which he obviously lied about. Nina is unsurprisingly the most vocal about his vote out; in fact she ends up taking over. Ron and William move into a separate far room together and become social pariahs. Everyone who was previously friendly with Ron suddenly starts treating him like garbage. You never really cared for him, and thought he was an incompetent moron, but even you think it's shitty for them to all just turn on him over who he happens to be fucking. But that's how people are and that's why you try to avoid them.

Your situation is a little different, they can't really treat you like a social pariah mainly because you were always one to begin with and another because everyone's afraid you'll shoot them. All of Elliot's former friends have no doubt reinforced the belief in others that you're dangerous. You don't really care though, just as long as nobody fucks with you and stays out of your way (Which everyone does for the most part since you now walk around with it at all times)

A year passes…

The shelter sees its first baby born and there are a couple of other pregnant women ready to pop as well. Nina has improved the place a little bit more. No doubt without anyone to fawn over now she's throwing herself into her work. There's actually a guy (Kyle) who's has some medical knowledge now, they still don't really have a good "tech guy" though and things are still being jury-rigged. Nina knows with a growing population this shelter needs to be in tip top running condition.

You get that expected knock on the door.

"Hello, Nina." You say.
"Yeah hi. Look, I just want to know if you have any intention of helping us out or if you're still going to remain an isolated asshole."

Nothing like being blunt. Politics has really hardened Nina, she's all business now it seems and lot less naïve.

How strangely appealing…
« Go Back