crossboned (crossboned) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-07-14 20:43:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | ^ week 10, jared bivens, john james searle, | jared and searle |
Week Ten - Wednesday
Characters: Jared and Searle.
Location: Siena Suites parking lot.
Summary: Searle sees the gang of raiders escaping, but with one left behind. He goes after him only to find out it's Jared.
Rating: PG-13 for death and violence
Since the power outage, sleeping with his windows open had been a good idea. Usually it was nice and quiet outside at night; sometimes, in the distance, he might hear the squealing of tires in the city, or a little closer to home, the voices of the people within the colony. Never had he heard the sounds of splintering wood, cracking plastic, and the most unsettling sound of the night, guns going off, within their little community. At least not all at the same time.
Searle got out of bed and slipped on shoes and a shirt. He was outside his front door in a minute, and turning to go to Bridget’s room to see if she was all right. However, lights and movement in the parking lot caught his eye, and it occurred to him that he needed to tell Alice what was going on, just in case she didn’t already know.
But when Searle got to the first floor, he never made it to Alice’s suite. Instead, he saw Luc lying on the ground with a bloody hole in his chest. Calling Luc’s name didn’t work, and shaking him didn’t make the man budge, either. With tears in his eyes, Searle finally had the sense to check for Luc’s pulse, and it was nonexistent.
The revving of an engine in the distance pulled Searle out of his despair in the moment, and he recalled what he’d come downstairs to do. Instead of going for Alice’s room, Searle got himself up and started running for the parking lot. He didn’t have his gun, nor even his pocket knife, but he didn’t care. He was going to stop the people who killed Luc.
The only thing lit in the parking lot when he arrived were the tail lights of the retreating truck, but he could see the outline of a person left behind.
“Hey!”
Jared turned around sharp, his already hammering heart taking it up another notch. If he had taken a moment to think, he would have recognized the tall, gangly, mop-haired shape silhouetted by the fire, but there wasn’t time for that. All he registered was that someone had seen him, someone whose home had been ransacked and set on fire, someone who might know exactly what Jared had done.
He took off running.
Searle followed, and perhaps if he had been thinking clearly he wouldn’t have, but all he could see in his mind’s eye was Luc staring unseeingly at the sky. His vision was blurry again as he caught up to the running person, and for once he didn’t stop to ask questions. Searle jumped, wound his arms around the perpetrator’s waist, and tackled them right into the ground. It hurt more than he thought it would.
“Who are you?” he demanded, through gritted teeth.
The fall scrapped up Jared’s arms and knocked the wind from him, but he quickly recovered, and not to talk. He struggled and kicked out, trying to roll Searle off of him. Which worked, after a long struggle, but Searle was quick to grab hold of his opponent.
It was then Searle saw his face, and his eyes went wide as his grip slackened. “Jared?”
Searle’s expression, his voice, sent Jared’s insides tumbling. He wanted to laugh and tell Searle how naive he’d been. He wanted to beg for him to let him go. He wanted to say he was sorry. More than anything, though, he wanted to get away. Without a word, he punched Searle in the face as hard as he could.
The punch sent Searle’s mind reeling, but when he recovered from being momentarily stunned, he had a much better handle on the situation. Every negative thing Jack had ever said about Jared came flooding back to him, and again he saw Luc’s dead body lying on the ground. Searle suddenly knew, without a doubt, he had to bring Jared to justice.
With strength he didn’t know he had, Searle launched himself at Jared before he could get away completely, sending them both crashing into the asphalt once again. They hit hard, Jared’s head spinning, but his body knew he had to get out of there. He twisted and struggled before finally gasping, “Please! Searle, let me go.”
“Jack was right about you!” Fresh tears moistened Searle’s eyes, but that didn’t stop Searle’s fist from cracking Jared in the jaw. “Luc’s dead! Who else is? Why did you kill him!”
The shock of Searle’s words hit harder than his fist. “Luc? No. No, that can’t...” There had been shots; he’d heard them from the lobby. God, Luc was dead. He was dead. Panic swelled in his throat. “Jesus, Searle, I didn’t do it!”
“Then why’d you run? Why’d you hit me?” Searle gripped Jared’s shirt white knuckle tight.
“I didn’t shoot anybody! No one was supposed to get shot! It was just supposed to scare you off, make you leave. Just--just let me explain.” But what good would explanations do him? Luc was dead and he was the only one left there to blame. Hell, for all he knew, Jed was dead, and ‘It was an accident’ probably wouldn’t fly. He had to get out of there. All that stood between him and freedom was one teenage boy.
Jared’s body tensed. Then he lashed out hard, his fist connecting with Searle’s mouth as he kicked his knee up to break loose. Swinging his fist back to hit Searle’s side, he rolled twice before scrambling to get up.
Searle was still on the ground when Jared got to his feet, but in the process of scrambling to amend that, Searle hesitated once he got to his knees, and lunged at Jared’s legs, wrapping his arms around them tightly to trip the other teen. His elbows would probably come away skinned as they collided with the ground, but he just grit his teen against the pain. Jared gave a yell as he hit the ground, his palms hitting just a fraction sooner than his knees. They felt like they were on fire, but he didn’t pause, trying to kick Searle loose.
Searle refused to let go, and fought his way up Jared’s body so he could keep him down. Once Searle was able to get his hands on Jared’s shoulders, he grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked as hard as he could, only to push his full weight on Jared’s chest to shove him back into the ground again.
“I’m taking you to Alice!” Searle yelled. “You’re gonna pay for what you did!”
Jared’s head hit the ground with a loud crack and suddenly it was like he’d been plunged under water. His movements felt too slow and his vision swam, Searle’s words echoing strangely. He tried to struggle but he could hardly stand as Searle pulled him to his feet. He couldn’t even find the words to beg. All he could do was be dragged, stumbling and unwilling, back to the suites.