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Cody screams at the cabins for help, his scrawny self running to the lake and trying to pull Noah out from the water to check his pulse. The water is murky with blood, smells like blood, and there's blood just about everywhere. It covers Noah's clothes, and it seeps into Cody's. He keeps screaming for help, praying that anyone will come out and help.
"Don't die on me, please!"
Noah can't make that promise. He physically can't. The white-hot pain in his shoulder, the feeling of the rope around his neck, and the water in his lungs make him unable to properly speak.
He tries to recall where he once was and how he got here.
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"This isn't your group, Noah! Shut up and just listen to me, for once!" Duncan yells at the short brunette, his arms crossed and stupid voice echoing through the forest. He'll get the two of them caught.
"I never said it was my group; I'm just saying that you're not doing the best job at the whole leadership thing- I don't know why Courtney thought it would ever be a good idea to let you lead anything!" Noah yells back, clutching the book he's been reading, tempted to throw it at Duncan's stupid head.
"Leave Courtney out of this! You wouldn't like it if I started saying shit about-"
"-Shut up! Just shut up, okay?! Just stop talking," Noah doesn't let Duncan finish.
"Don't tell me to shut up," Duncan barks back. He's upset, totally.
"I would really appreciate it if you did, though, just saying," Noah's usual sarcastic tone was completely gone.
Duncan stops momentarily, slowly turning around to face the shorter boy.
"Fine, if you want me to shut up, and if you want your own group that you can boss around at your own will, you can have that. Noah's group, party of one sad little bitch. Have fun getting back to camp on your own," Duncan is cold. So painfully cold. His words practically sting, but Noah would never admit that.
"You can't- You can't just leave me, idiot- What would the others say if you came back without me? You do realize I could totally die out here, right?!"
"That's exactly the point, dumbass. One less person on my ass."
Noah stops to process what Duncan says, blinking in disbelief.
"You can't be serious," He says, his hands still on the book.
"Oh, but I am. I'm so goddamn serious right now. More serious than I've ever been in my entire life. I'm gonna leave you here so you can stop being a complete liability."
"Liability? I'm just a liability to you?! Are you kidding me?!" Noah balls his hands into little fists like a child.
"Yeah, actually. Have fun getting back to camp on your own. Watch out for bear traps and shit."
And just like that, Duncan left. He left selfishly, and he left Noah alone. He shouldn't have done that. Duncan knows the risks, but for some reason, he can't feel anything but complete apathy towards the brunette.
Noah watches him leave, too shocked to say anything and unsure if it would be a good idea to follow Duncan back. He waits until he's utterly alone before walking back to camp.
"Just my luck… I hate this stupid island and every little thing on it," Noah mumbles to himself, picking at the hardcover of his book, his nails digging into the old leather.
Maybe he would be fine with all this if he didn't have his silly dreams and aspirations. Noah planned his life down to each and every moment for the sake of security. Getting stranded on an island with a serial killer was never part of the plan. He has a future in store for him. Dying isn't supposed to be part of Noah's successful future.
The more time Noah spends alone, the more nervous he gets. Tears start to well up in his eyes at the idea of being caught alone at this time, but he tries blinking them back. He'd admit he was wrong just for a chance to be with the group again, a thought that he would've considered embarrassingly impossible a few minutes ago.
If Noah was in any other situation, he would never treat a book the way he is right now. The cover of the poor novel in his hands has gone from brand new to covered in dents from how tense he is, along with the little marks from his fingernails. Noah's got quite long nails for a guy.
He tries to redirect his thoughts anywhere but the possibility of death, but it's useless. Something behind him… cracks. Like a stick. Noah looks behind himself so fast and on edge that he could practically break his neck. He stares into the forest's darkness momentarily, hugging his book like a child would hug a blanket or a stuffed toy for comfort.
Another crack. Noah runs in the opposite direction, barely making it far. He's never been all that good at sports.
"Leave me alone, please- I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I have so much to live for! Please, please, please, please let me live– I'll do anything, I just don't wanna die–"
Noah's pleas and cries for help are ignored by whatever's chasing him, and his words are cut off by a tight, sharp feeling around his neck. It's a rope. He's being strangled. He tries to scream for the others as he drops his book and grabs at his neck, getting rope burns on his hands. Noah can feel his consciousness slipping away; he knows he will die and will do anything to have a different fate.
"Please–! Ack- I don't…- wanna die–!" His voice is strained and hoarse.
The rope burns on his hands and neck worsens; it's painful. It feels like his neck is on fire. Noah weakly tries kicking against the ground to escape, but it's useless. No amount of fighting back and struggling will get him out of this mess.
Noah's eyes roll back into his head. Searing, white-hot pain runs up and down his right shoulder. He can't tell what's happening, but he knows everything hurts. He's hurting. If Noah could get all this over with and be killed instantly, he'd be dead by now.
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"I can't believe you, Duncan! What were you thinking?!" Courtney yells at the delinquent, practically fuming with some weird combination of rage and fear.
Everyone noticed when Noah never made it back, and everyone noticed Duncan's visible annoyance at just the idea of his name. Courtney asked where he was, and Duncan could only muster: "I left that piece of shit nerd in the forest. He was a liability."
Courtney's voice echoes throughout the camp, her words shrill and shrieky and somehow the only words Duncan's dense brain would listen to.
Everyone else stays quiet. No one wants to interfere with Courtney and Duncan's argument. They just want to know if Noah's okay.
Cody stares out the window into the forest, crying and praying that Noah will come out perfectly fine. Cody's a panicky guy; his fingers drum against the window sill, and he can't help but be jittery. If only it was safe enough to go out and look on his own. He could never do that. It might end in him being next.
"Both of you, just shut up," Cody mumbles, his breathing slowly becoming more irregular as if he were about to panic. Courtney and Duncan look at him in slight shock.
"I'm gonna go look for him; I don't care if it's unsafe- Don't try and stop me!" Cody announces to the others, and to their dismay, he leaves on his own, screaming Noah's name.
"Noah! Noooah! Noaaahhh! It's me, Cody! Everyone's worried about you-!"
It's then that he notices the lake. Noah's body is floating in it, a knife in his shoulder and rope, along with rope burn, covering his neck.
Cody screams at the cabins for help, his scrawny self running to the lake and trying to pull Noah out from the water to check his pulse. The water is murky with blood, smells like blood, and there's blood just about everywhere. It covers Noah's clothes, and it seeps into Cody's. He keeps screaming for help, praying that anyone will come out and help.
"Don't die on me, please!"
Noah can't make that promise. He physically can't. The white-hot pain in his shoulder, the feeling of the rope around his neck, and the water in his lungs make him unable to properly speak if he can.
He keeps screaming for help, throwing the rope away, and trying CPR on poor Noah, tears falling from Cody's and Noah's eyes. However, Noah's tears can't be differentiated from the ocean water.
"Cody…?" Noah's voice isn't loud enough for Cody to hear. His words look like they were simply mouthed.
"Noah, Noah, please stay with me– Stay alive, please- Please don't die, I'll get help for you– Just please don't die on me—"Cody cries, taking his sweater off to cover the knife wound on Noah's shoulder.
Noah looks up and smiles. If he's going to die on this fucked island, he'd prefer to die in Cody's arms than anywhere else.
"Someone, anyone, please-! Please help; Noah's still breathing- He’s alive-!" Cody's screams finally catch the attention of someone. Duncan. The person who caused the chain reaction that led the two brunettes to the lake. He stares at the dock momentarily, making eye contact with Cody. Cody can see Courtney, too. She hasn't noticed him. She's still yelling at Duncan, barely able to hear Cody's screams over her own.
"Courtney, I think Cody found him…" Duncan says, his mouth slightly agape and his eyebrows furrowed.
"Cody found Noah-?" Courtney runs to the window, trying to get a closer look before leaving camp and running to the dock herself.
"Courtney, help! Noah's still breathing; please help him!" Cody screams and cries, holding Noah's limp body in his arms. Blood seeps into Courtney's clothes when Cody passes him to her.
"I- I tried to keep him awake- I did- And I tried covering his shoulder with my sweater— Please tell me you can save him, Courtney," Cody trusts her.
Noah's body is cold. He's dead. Courtney can't do anything. She can't save him. She holds the
body of the once living, breathing boy, unsure what to say to Cody.
“…”
“…”
"You can save him… right, Courtney?"
"…I think it's too late."
"Too late? What do you mean 'too late'?! Please, Court', you can't at least try? Is there no hope in trying?"
Cody keeps talking in complete disbelief. Noah can't be dead. It repeats in his head. Noah is alive. Noah is alive, and he'll be okay. Noah is alive, and he'll be fine. Fine. He'll be fine. Everyone will be okay and make it off the island without another casualty. Noah too. Noah's gonna leave, alive and with Cody.
"Snap out of it! He's dead. I don't know what else to tell you!" Courtney's eyes are glassy under the moonlight. She tries to stay strong for the rest of the group, especially in these trying times.
Cody stays in complete silence, watching Courtney as she rests Noah's body down and watching her as she reluctantly goes back to the cabins, presumably to tell the rest of the group about the fate of the brunette bookworm, who once again, lays in Cody's arms. He can't help but mourn this sudden loss, memories of Noah's sarcasm and his perfectly stoic personality turning cold along with his body and the tears that splash against it.
Courtney can’t bring herself to make Cody go in with her, so she lets him stay on the dock until he’s ready. When she walks back into the cabin, the air is tense. It’s as if everyone else has already realized what happened. Noah is dead.