redwood

true killers

"we need to get him something. gotta put him out of his pain." trevor huffed as the three lugged chet into a cabin.
"yeah." cleo agreed, helping the boys toss an unconscious chet onto a bed. trevor began rummaging through a first aid kit, pulling a needle injector out.
"this should do it." he said.
"woah!" xavier stepped back.
"relax dude, it's epinephrine. it's just gonna give him the adrenaline and wake him up. xavier nodded, giving trevor the go ahead. cleo looked away, burying her head in xavier's shoulder as trevor injected chet. it took a minute. cleo thought he might be dead. but he wasn't. he sat up, gasping for air.

"we need the cops. think 'tana and ray are back yet?" trevor asked.
"woah woah. you sent ray?" chet asked.
"yeah...?" xavier questioned, arm still wrapped around cleo.
"ray left me to die. and he killed some chan guy at a frat party last year. he told me when i was impaled, thinking i was dead or something." chet told the group.
"oh shit." cleo frowned.
"i just remembered, that blake guy that was killed at the bath house, he probably had keys in his car." xavier thought aloud.
"oh, dude! you're totally right!" trevor high fived him.
"good thinking." cleo smiled up at him.
"alright guys. i think we need to get margaret and bertie. we can't leave them here to die." trevor said.
"who the f- is bertie?" cleo asked.
"the cook!" trevor yelled back.
"trevor's right. we can't just leave them here." xavier agreed.
"i'll get bertie, trevor, you get margaret. chet, you get some sleep. cleo, you go find brooke, rita, and alex." xavier planned.
"brooke and alex went to the parking lot i think. maybe rita too." chet told cleo. she nodded, squeezing his hand with encouragement.
"get better so we can get the hell out of here." she smiled, running off.

cleo walked slowly towards the parking lot, hearing hushed voices. she saw the night stalker walking away from montana, who was leaning against a yellow car. cleo waited for ramirez to leave before rushing to montana. rita, alex, and brooke were nowhere to be seen.
"montana! what the hell? where you just having a conversation with the night stalker?" cleo asked.
"yeah. it was pretty freakin creepy. he told me i needed to watch out. he was coming to kill me soon." montana said.
"that doesn't make sense, why wouldn't he just kill you now?" cleo asked, thinking montana was lying.
"something about satan had plans for me?" montana said. it seemed fake, but cleo didn't have time to worry about that.
"whatever. have you seen brooke, rita, or alex?" cleo asked.
"no. i think i heard alex earlier. i thought he was with you guys. wait, where is everyone?" montana sat on the trunk of the yellow car.
"chet is in the infirmary. he was impaled with a stake. he's ok now. xavier went to go find some chef. trevor went to find margaret. we are here, and ray is gone i guess. no idea where brooke or rita or apparently alex went." cleo listed.
"ok. we need a plan. we can't just sit around." montana thought.
"right." cleo agreed.
"i think we need to find brooke, alex, and rita. we know where everyone else is, so they are the most important." montana said.
"yeah. i wonder if they headed to the cabins?" cleo thought.
"worth a shot." the two girls walked through the woods, searching for any path to the cabins. cleo turned at the sound of leaves rustling. she gasped, grabbing montana's hand.
"relax, cleopatra. i'm right here." she reassured her. cleo could feel montana's minty breath. she smelled her vanilla perfume. she was immediately comforted at the thought montana would be sure to protect the both of them. she took a deep breath and kept walking, dropping montana's hand.

the girls walked for a while, finally reaching a path. they went to turn, when they heard brooke scream from a little farther in the woods. they were nearly hit by a swinging net trap, where brooke was trapped. montana approached the net as brooke rambled.
"rita isn't rita. she's some phd psych student named donna. she's working with jingles!" she blabbered. now it was coming back to montana and cleo. they remembered the nurse with the word down her throat, the white doctors coat that read rita.
"montana! cut her down!" cleo yelled.
"he's here." montana whispered. cleo didn't see anyone coming, but she wasn't gonna wait around to find out. montana backed away, linking arms with cleo.
"no, don't leave me! cleo! montana!" brooke yelled. tears dripped from cleo's eyes, soaking her flushed cheeks.
"it will be ok, brooke!" she yelled, trying to comfort her. she hated the idea of leaving brooke, but montana was already whisking her away.

cleo sat on the front porch of the girls cabin, waiting for montana. she had gone to see if brooke was still alive and cut her down if she was. it had been a little while now. cleo heard hushed voices, shortly followed by loud grunts and screams. she jumped off the porch, running towards the woods, smack dab into alex.
"alex! i thought you were dead!" she hugged him.
"i was wandering around, trying to find someone. jingles, he's headed this way." alex panted. a loud scream that cleo thought came from montana caused the pair to run into the woods. they came to the sight of the net, where montana and donna were fighting, and ramirez and jingles were fighting. brooke swung in between the fights, crying. alex went to split up montana and donna, cleo to help brooke down. she found montana's knife on the ground and used it to slice the net. she caught brooke as she began falling out of the net, their faces inches apart for a split second. brooke crawled out of cleo's arms, standing upright.

cleo turned her attention to ramirez and jingles. jingles was winning. he tackled richard to the ground, picking up a stake of wood and smashing it through the night stalker's head, impaling him and killing him instantly. cleo turned to see if the rest of the gang had seen that, but they were already running to avoid jingles. she followed suit, sprinting out of the woods as fast as possible.

brooke, cleo, and alex split away from montana, who had swore to meet them in the parking lot, but had to split when she heard trevor's voice. the trio was heading towards any vehicle that could get them away from the hellhole, when they ran smack into xavier.
"your face!" cleo touched his burned face gingerly.
"it's jingles. he threw me in the oven when i went to get bertie, then she got me out later, but then made me stab her to put her out of her misery. and now, my freakin face is screwed up. i can never act again!" xavier screamed dramatically.
"it's ok dude. don't worry." alex reassured him.
"no! it's not! i'm ruined!" xavier fell to his knees on the forest floor. cleo crouched down beside him.
"hey, hey. it's gonna be ok. you aren't ruined. this will heal, you will be amazing and gorgeous. it will only ruin you if you let it." she wiped his tears, helping him up. he gave her a small smile, brushing off the knees of his pants.

"let's go. blake's car is just around the way." xavier sniffled, leading the group to the parking lot.
"hey, you handled that really well. i know we haven't gotten a chance to talk a lot since everything, but i think you're pretty cool. look, i know we might die tonight, and i've come to terms with that, but if we don't, would you maybe wanna go out when we get back to la?" alex asked me.
"wow. that's so sweet of you. yes, yes! i would. totally." cleo smiled so hard her cheeks hurt.
"cool." alex grinned, slapping his hands against the sides of his thighs, accidentally hitting cleo's hand. she held onto it, giving him a small smile. she hadn't noticed xavier had stopped in his tracks, causing cleo and alex to smack into him. the two leaned around him to see a long limo blazing with fire.
"are you f--g kidding me?" cleo screamed loudly, dropping alex's hand to run their fingers through her sweaty hair.
"this was our one way out. one way! and now, we will all die here. christ, this is hell!" she yelled, her vocal chords burning as her screams ripped her throat raw.