Safe Haven

Reunion

The group sits on the ground. The Wildcats stand on either side, pointing their weapons at them.

Xander walks down the stairs without Rob.

"Where'd you put him?" Bradley yells through his teeth.

"Relax, my friend," X laughs. "He's just taking a little nap while we talk." Xander grabs a chair from the dining room and brings it in front of the group. He takes a seat and puts a revolver on his lap, pointing it at the group. "Tell me, someone, why are you here?"

The group remains silent. After a long pause, Xander speaks up again.

"Come on, this isn't an existential question, I'm just asking what brought you to this little town. You must've been heading somewhere? Fairview perhaps?" He notices their expressions change. "Ah, Fairview, of course that's where you're headed. That's where everyone seems to be headed. Do you even know what you're walking into, or are you just blindly following someone's orders into what could be your certain doom?"

The group refuses to speak.

"You know, I was like all of you at one point as well, blindly following a reckless leader like your friend upstairs."

Xander gets comfortable in his chair and leans forwards with his elbows rested on his knees.

"Let's see here, this wasn't too long before those creatures showed up. I'd say I got back just a couple of months before this happened, but anyways, I was part of Bravo Company in the United States Army. We were rangers, baddest of the bad. We could kill a man before he'd know what even hit him. It was August twenty sixth, I recall very clearly, our objective was to take out some major political leader in Iraq and get the fuck out before they knew we were there. The head honcho of the group, Captain Briggs, he tells us that our best bet was to go through this little shit hole of a village. It was very late at night, and nobody was out and about, but I knew something was fishy. He has us head into some shitty hut, we check our corners, nobody there, right? Briggs turns on us, shooting us all down before we even realized what was going on. Something like ten combatants walk in behind us and haul us away. Turned out Briggs accepted a hefty payment from the political leader in exchange for our capture and execution. One of our own turned on us, someone I thought of as a brother, and he just sold our lives away."

"How did you get out?" Nathan asks.

"My friend, and fellow soldier, Sgt. Nolan, he called for someone to rescue us from the camp they threw us in. He was immediately executed publicly, but I got out with the rescue team before they could finish us all off."

"That sounds rough, Xander. I'm sorry to hear that," Nathan responds.

"Don't be sorry, I'm sorry what was your name?"

"Nathan."

"Well don't you be sorry, Nathan. I've since learned not to trust the orders of anyone. I give the orders now, and I keep my boys and girls safe. I see you're with a different group since you were brought to the stadium. Are you keeping your friends safe?"

"Of course," Nathan says. "I wouldn't let anything happen to them under my watch."

"You shouldn't throw that away just for a chance at a new life over in Fairview. Little is known about the legitimacy of that 'safe haven.'"

"It's worth a shot."

"Is it really? Maybe it sounded like a good idea at one point, but have you ever thought about the risk? About the chance that you might lose someone along the way, or that you'll lose everyone once you get there? I mean, I apologize for bringing it up, but you lost that girl, Kate. Was it worth it?"

"I lost my father, too."

"Ah, so you lost your own father, and you're risking losing your sister too, all on the journey with an uncertain ending."

"I'm not letting them die in vain. We'll get to safety, and it'll all be worth the loss."

"You don't know that, Nathan. You realize what you're saying, right? You're attempting to justify the deaths of your father and Kate, just so you'll feel better about it now. They died under your watch, and you need to accept that it was your fault."

"Watch it," Nathan warns, changing his tone.

"All I'm saying is that you can't justify their deaths by saying it's all for this 'safe haven,' a safe haven that you don't even know is legitimate."

Nathan stands up and yells, "shut the fuck up!"

"Sit down!" Xander shouts, standing up and pointing his revolver at Nathan. He sits down, and Xander paces in front of the group. "Now, you still owe me for trying to shoot me," he says, looking towards Bradley, "but I've decided to make this more exciting. Have you ever heard of Russian roulette?"

The group looks shocked, but nobody speaks up.

"You're all adults, you know the stakes of this game, but I'm going to give you the privilege of choosing who plays against Bradley. You can figure it out, civilly, mind you, on your own, but please make a decision in less than a minute, or I'll choose for-"

"I'll play," Griffin says.

"Excellent," Xander pulls his chair back to the dining room table, and takes out all but one bullet in his revolver before setting it on the table. "Come here, boys. Let's play."

Bradley and Griffin stand up and sit on either side of the table. Xander spins the revolver, and it stops with the barrel pointing at Griffin.

"Griffin, you get the first shot. Go ahead and spin that drum first before pointing it at your head," X says.

Griffin picks up the revolver, spins the drum, and shoves it in his mouth. He pulls the trigger.

Click

He slams it back on the table and slides it towards Bradley.

"I'm not doing this," he pushes the revolver away.

"Incredible, you'd sacrifice yourself for the certain safety of this man? You won't even take the chance of surviving?"

"Fine, I'll play your game," he responds, taking the revolver. He spins the drum and points it at up his chin. He puts his finger on the trigger.

"Wait wait wait, stop," Xander says quickly, pointing taking the revolver. "If you shoot this directly up your chin, all you're going to do is painfully lobotomize yourself. Point it back more, or to the side of your head." He hands the revolver back to Bradley, who takes it back with shaky hands. Bradley places it to the side of his head, and pulls the trigger.

Click

He tosses the revolver back on the table, and it goes off, firing a bullet directly into the group. Chloe falls back into Nathan's lap.