Amy Cross - Persona

She nods, but I can see from the expression in her eyes that something’s wrong.

“Get back to Steadfall!” I tell her. “I’ll find Harold.”

With that, I turn and make my way between the trees. I might only have one shot left in this gun, but one shot is all I need and, besides, I’ve got my knife and my bare hands. If I let him go, there’ll always be a risk that he might come back, so I have no choice.

I have to finish this.

“They’re dead,” Natalie says, her eyes filled with shock as she looks into another of the smoldering huts. “They’re all…”

Her voice trails off for a moment, before she turns and vomits. Dropping to her knees, she lets out a series of sobs. I make my way over and reach down, putting a hand on her shoulder, but I know there’s nothing I can do.

Glancing into the hut, I see a pile of burned corpses, and I spot one skeletal face in particular before finally turning away.

I’ve seen enough death and pain for one day.

Nearby, Miranda is sitting on the muddy ground with her head in her hands. Whereas Natalie is crying loudly, Miranda seems to have gone the other way, disappearing into her own sense of shock. Again, there’s nothing I can do to help, so I simply make my way across the clearing, tramping through ankle-deep mud until I get to the spot where Asher’s old Steadfall sign has somehow managed to survive, high up on one of the posts.

Hearing movement nearby, I turn and see a couple of figures approaching cautiously through the forest. My first instinct is fear, in case somehow Harold had more people with him, but after a moment I realize that it’s just a few survivors from Steadfall heading back to see if it’s safe to return now. They look lost and bewildered, but at least they’re alive. I guess Harold was wrong when he thought he’d managed to round everyone up.

“Are they…” George asks cautiously as he gets closer. Clearly shocked, he looks around at the devastation. “Did everyone get away?”

I pause, before shaking my head.

“Is it just us?”

I nod.

“What about Asher?”

I want to answer him, but I can’t. Instead, I turn and look back over at Natalie, who’s still sobbing on the ground.

“Are those bodies?” George asks, heading to one of the nearby huts before stopping and turning back to me. “Are we really the only ones who survived?”

“I heard them screaming,” Olivia adds, coming closer. “I didn’t know what to do, so I just hid.”

Looking out at the forest, I wait for a moment, hoping that I might spot more people wandering back this way. There’s no sign of anyone, however, so I guess any other survivors have probably just kept running, trying to get as far from here as possible. I don’t blame them for that. Steadfall is in ruins, and it’s hard to believe the town can ever recover. At the same time, we built it up from nothing before and we can do it again. Looking up at Asher’s hand-carved sign, I see that the edge has been singed by flames, but that the main part is still intact.

Just as I’m starting to wonder where to begin the recovery work, however, I hear a faint thumping sound in the distance. We all turn, and a moment later we spot a helicopter heading for the island.

There’s still no sign of Harold, but after a few minutes I spot a familiar tree and realize that this is the spot where I saw Ben using some kind of communication device.

Heading over to the side of the tree-root, I reach in and pull out the device. I don’t specifically remember using anything like this before, but at the same time I seem to have some kind of instinctive understanding of how it works. I guess there are still plenty of buried memories in my mind, memories that I can’t recall right now, but maybe in some way I’m able to remember a few things. There’s a blinking red light on one side of casing, which I think means an emergency call was sent. I guess Harold came by this way and sent for help. It only takes a moment before I’m able to get a channel open on the device, and I hear a brief burst of static followed by a buzzing sound and then a faint hiss, which can only mean one thing.

Someone has picked up the other end of the line.

“This is Asher,” I say after a moment, my voice trembling with anger, “calling from the island. Do you hear me?”

I wait, but there’s no reply. I know someone is listening, though, and I’m pretty sure it’s someone on the mainland.

“I know what you did,” I continue. “I know about the people you sent to disrupt our lives here. I know you wanted to make sure towns couldn’t grow and prosper. I know you sent thugs with guns and other weapons, and you taught them to spread disease, and you broke every goddamn rule you—”

Catching myself just in time, I realize that I’m in danger of going on a long rant.

“It didn’t work,” I add after a moment. “Leanne and Ben are dead, and Harold’s about to join them. It’s over.” I glance around, to make sure that there’s no chance he might jump me, and then I look back down at the device. “The same thing will happen to anyone you send to interfere in the life of the island,” I continue. “A lot of people have died today. Good people, people who suffered at the hands of your agents, people who came here because you promised that they’d be left alone. I want you to know that it doesn’t matter who or what you send next, we’ll fight them. We’ll fight anything you try to do, so the best solution would be for you to respect the idea of the island and leave us alone. Do you understand?”

Again I wait, but the only reply is the hiss of the line. After a moment, however, I hear a faint clicking sound, and I know that there’s someone listening to me. Just a coward who won’t even speak up.

“Steadfall will always be defended,” I say firmly. “The island, too. So if you want to try something, maybe—”

Suddenly I realize I can hear a sound in the distance, thumping through the air. When I turn and look between the trees, I immediately start to worry that maybe I’m having another flashback, but a moment later I realize that it’s actually the sound of a helicopter approaching the island. They never usually make drops so early in the morning, so I figure there’s only one reason it could be here.

Harold called for help, and now he’s being evacuated. He’s running like a coward.

“Not so fast,” I mutter, tossing the communication device aside and then hurrying through the forest, heading toward the sound of the helicopter in the distance. I almost trip and fall several times, but I manage to keep going until I see the ocean glittering under the morning sun, just a few hundred feet ahead. I make my way forward cautiously, constantly looking around in case I spot Harold, but finally I get to the edge of the forest and look down at the beach. A moment later I hear the helicopter getting closer, and I duck back to make sure they can’t see me as they soar high above the tops of the trees.

Hearing a rushing sound, I turn just in time to see a red flare launching into the sky from nearby, which I guess must be Harold’s way of letting them know where to find him. With the gun still in my right hand, I hurry between the trees, desperate to get to him before he has a chance to be rescued, and finally I spot him up ahead, standing on the beach and waving at the helicopter with his remaining good arm. When he turns to look up toward the sky, I see that I got a good shot when I hit his shoulder, and he’s clearly badly hurt.

Checking the gun, I see that I definitely have one shot left, but probably no more than that.