# An Alternate Grim Dark

Title: An Alternate Grim Dark
Status: Complete
Characters: Anon, Fang, Trish, Reed, Naomi
Rating: SFW
Classification: One Shot
Author: Anonymous
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"Stretching and yawning, I realize that it’s a lot brighter than normal."
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"Did I sleep in?"
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"The alarm clock on his table has been unplugged…"
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"I reach over to grab my phone to check the time."
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"Nine-o-two AM?"
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"Oh shit, Anon and I are beyond late."
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"Wait, where is Anon?"
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"His backpack is gone, too."
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"Oh come on, he went to school without me?!"
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"I rush to put my clothes on and get out the door as soon as possible."
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"About halfway there my phone buzzes in my pocket."
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"Unread texts from Anon?"
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"A cryptic message stops me in my tracks."
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"Something is definitely wrong."
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"This almost reads like…"
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"The adrenaline pushes my feet back into a desperate bolt towards the school."
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"The whole time my mind floods with horrid worst-case scenarios."
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"I tell myself I’m just worrying, but my mad sprint betrays the lie."
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"As I approach the school, I notice a crowd through the haze."
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"Surely it’s just a drill."
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"The deceit is shattered when I see the crowd consists of students huddling and crying, with teachers quietly making sure everyone is accounted for."
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"...Where’s Anon?"
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"He has to be in this crowd."
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"There’s just a fire in the school that scared people."
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"He’s in this crowd somewhere."
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N "YOU!!"
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"The voice calls out through the silence for all to hear."
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"Naomi moves to stand a dozen feet in front of me on the pavement."
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"A shaky finger directing malice towards me."
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"She’s redfaced, streams of tears running the mascara down her face."
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N "WHY DID YOU COME HERE?!?"
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"Blurred heads turn to the commotion."
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N "YOU BASTARD!!"
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N "LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE!"
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N "ARE YOU HAPPY?"
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"I can’t say anything."
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"Is this really happening?"
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"She chucks her phone through the air."
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"It misses by inches and smashes on the ground somewhere behind me."
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N "I WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU THE WHOLE TIME!!"
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N "I WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU!! YOU!!"
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"By now her tirade becomes incomprehensible screaming."
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"A teacher has to hold her back and try directing her to a nearby curb to sit."
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"...I don’t have time for this."
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"Where is Anon?"
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"I gotta get in that building."
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"I turn around and dash away into the fog as Naomi is being consoled by a group of students."
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"The side door is still unlocked, and I’m able to slip in without being noticed."
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"The halls are silent, despite it all."
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"Her footsteps clatter through the empty halls."
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"Anon always talks about having to deal with Trish in Math."
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"That’s not on this floor, fuck!"
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"I pause when I reach the stairwell upwards."
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"I can’t say for sure what, but my instincts are screaming at me to not go up, to turn back now."
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"... I can’t."
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"My hand lightly glides along the handrail while I cautiously cross the stairs to the second floor."
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"The first thing that hits her is the smell."
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"That electric, almost metallic stench of wet ozone."
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"It’s a smell everyone instinctively knows."
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"I couldn’t tell what sound I made, because I frankly don’t remember."
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"All I will ever remember from this is the sight of my former classmates splattered across the halls like bags of waste."
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"The spills and trails of blood tell the story of their final moments."
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"Two were trying to run and still remain face down in their final resting places."
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"One slumped from a locker, smearing his remains all the way down like a puppet string."
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"This isn’t real, none of this is real."
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"I’m just having a nightmare after last nights’ episode."
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"Things are just fine, I’ll return to reality soon…"
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"..."
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"..."
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"..."
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"Please…"
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"...God...Damn it..."
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"...Where is Anon…?"
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"I just need to find him."
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"There’s one open door in the hall, the one closest to the battlefield."
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"I already know I’m not going to see him."
"Anon hasn’t been in that room in a long time."
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"The only things in there, are the corpses of your best friend..."
"and someone else, who tried to block the shot, now clumped together."
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"It was Reed."
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"..."
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"The stairs."
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"There’s only one place he can be."
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"One place where he’d go."
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"When I turn back to the stairwell, something makes a wet thud behind me."
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"Somehow, Reed’s still alive."
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"He’s moved his arm in my direction, and still has the strength to move a bit."
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"His eyes meet mine for a moment."
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"Disappointment."
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"Sorrow."
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"Mourning."
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"..."
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"I can’t focus on him."
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"He’s got seconds left, anything I tried would just be a waste of time."
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"His hand makes a wet slap against the hard tiles one last time while I start up the stairs."
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"Somehow, the remaining two flights of stairs have gained another several hundred steps."
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"I haven’t seen who it was yet, it might not be him."
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"She knows well it can only be him."
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"How could I have known this would happen? This isn’t my fault..!"
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"She had just as much a hand in this as he did."
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"...How long have I been standing here, staring at the doorknob?"
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"...How much longer could I get away with putting it off?"
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"As it is, it’s not the worst case scenario."
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"Even if Reed and Trish are gone…"
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"There’s a chance it’s not Anon up here."
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"She’d rather just stand here forever."
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"Relishing in the possibility that there’s some hope left."
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"However."
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"Time stops for no one."
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"Not even me."
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"The police sirens have been outside for a while."
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"I can’t ignore them any longer."
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"I owe Anon this much at least."
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"..."
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"The doorknob is still cold on my hand."
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"I turn it and exit to the rooftop."
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"After a while, among the sounds of alarms and sirens..."
"The only thing to stand out is a voice behind me..."
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"One that I easily recognize."
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F "Anon."
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"I ignore her, acting as she's not there."
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F "Anon, please. Say something."
"I remain silent, with her unable to tell if i'm looking at her or not."
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F "Anon. Come on. T-this is all…"
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"Slowly more and more details come into her view."
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"The revolver hanging limply from your fingers."
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"The splatters of blood on your pants and jacket."
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"And the sound of your ragged breaths."
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F "Anon…"
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"Her fingers brush against your shoulder."
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F "ARGH!"
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"You see her left leg crumple under her."
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F "A-Anon… WHY ARE YOU-!"
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A "Aaaah… haaaah… Fang… Why…?"
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A "Y-you weren’t supposed to be here!"
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A "You shouldn’t have come here!"
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F "Fuck… Because… Because I love you! Haaaaaah."
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"She hobbles forward, struggling to balance on her left leg."
"The hole in her shin dribbles blood down to the floor."
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"Fang steps forward."
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A "S-stay back!"
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"The revolver clatters against the concrete, spent on ammo."
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A "Fang… please…"
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"A painful step backward."
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"She takes another forward."
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F "Anon!"
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F "Just come downstairs with me… It’s not over, it doesn’t have to be this wa-"
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"With a crunch, her shin gives out completely, lurching her forward onto her claws and knees."
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F "Please, come down with me."
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"I briefly look behind me, the trail is spilling out and making her other leg wet."
A "Oh-oh god. Oh my god. S-stop…"
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"Bile rises up my throat at the sight."
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"I swallow hard and look back to Fang."
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"I keep backing away as she tries to get closer, remaining out of her reach."
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"I stop and catch my balance."
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"My foot is halfway over the edge."
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"We’ve reached the edge of the rooftop."
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"End of the line."
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F "Anon."
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F "Look at me."
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"My head shakily turns from the concrete below to meet her eyes again."
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F "Back away from there, please."
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F "I-I… I…"
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A "Stay with me here, please."
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F "I…"
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A "Don’t leave me alone."
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"We stare for an eternity, all through the police’s screaming below."
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"I look below once more, down the three story drop to the walkway below."
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"The walkway we’d passed through so many times to get to classes without a second thought."
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"The walkway we crossed daily with our friends through all our trials."
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F "Please…"
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"She looks to me again, less shakily this time."
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"The sides of my mouth curl into a warm smile."
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"The last of my tears fall."
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"I jump."
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F "Anon!"
"As I fall I see Fang’s beautiful amber eyes."
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"They’re red and puffy, with makeup-less tears running freely down her cheeks."
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"..."
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"The authorities betray her final wish of death by bursting through the door at that exact minute."
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"Fang drifts into unconsciousness when they start wrapping her leg."
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"..."
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"Three weeks pass."
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"Probably."
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"All I can remember is the sterile hospital room and an endless lineup of reporters."
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"The whole incident made national news."
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"Apparently I had become ‘the brave soul who took a bullet to stop a school shooting.’"
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"But to everyone I know I’m just the one who caused all this."
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"After I refused to answer the constant pestering enough, I was finally left in blissful solitude."
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"I expected a visit from Spears, or Naser, or Stella or someone."
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"But they never came."
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"I got discharged just yesterday."
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"I’ll need to stay on a crutch for a few months, but that’s hardly the wound I'm worried about."
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"...His funeral was today."
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"I didn't want to be here."
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"But I can’t just leave it either."
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"So I wait out of sight several hundreds of feet away for the few others that came to go home."
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"The last two figures linger for over an hour."
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"She was right the whole time, about me."
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"And here I am, defiling his grave with my presence."
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"Eventually, they too leave."
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"The alternations of footsteps and the crutch make me feel more mechanical than human."
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"Then again, that may be true regardless of having a crutch."
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"His and Reed's graves are right next to each other."
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"In memory of Reed."
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"...I’m sorry, man."
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"I hobble over to the other headstone."
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"Here lies Anon."
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"God damn it."
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"This is all my fault."
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"None of this would have happened if I noticed something was wrong."
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"If I just supported Anon more instead of getting into a fight."
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"Fuck."
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"And because of me Trish and Reed and Anon and the others are gone."
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"Because I’m too fucking stupid to see any of the warning signs."
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"I should be crying right now."
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"I should be screaming to the world why I should have died instead."
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"But I instead I just feel…"
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"Anon's final plea to Fang races through her head."
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"Don’t leave me alone."
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"I just feel completely and utterly and hopelessly alone."
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"The sprinkling rain stops."
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"Seems the world is tired of my monologuing."
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"The split second I thought I was somebody, I ruined everything."
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"And the people I cared the most about are gone."
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"..."
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"It’s better this way."