Lara's Guilt

I am now sitting in front of an open cage that the other me once resided in before I freed him. Now I am seeing my other half sitting in the cell facing away from me, mumbling to himself. I looked at him and asked him a question.

Joseph: "what are you going to do now, you saw how much she feared us now," I said while looking at the man who was facing the wall.

Devil: "I… Just look me up again I don't want to be hated by Lara again," he said while hiding his face with his hands. All of a sudden, I felt a key formed in my hands and saw a red key. I looked at the Devil, who looked terrible.

I looked at the key and threw it at him. The Devil turned around and looked at me with confusion on his face.

Joseph: "as much as you wanted to lock yourself up again. I don't think it is I who should be doing this, as you said before, you are me, and I am you." I said while walking away from the cage. I looked back at him and said my final words, "you decide how to use the key.." I said while disappearing to the light.

The Devil looked at the key for a while then grabbed off the ground. He looked at it for a while then looked at the open cell.

Devil: "I make my own decision.." he said while having a sad smile on his face.

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I slowly opened my eyes and found myself looking at the dark sky. I felt sand on the back of my hands. My head was resting on what looked like piles of leaves. I looked around and found myself near a campfire.

I slowly got up and felt pain everywhere in my body. I looked at myself and saw that I am already patched up. Suddenly I heard someone talking to me.

Sam: "Oh… Joseph, you are awake." she said while warming her hands over the fire. I slowly got up and looked around. I didn't find signs of Lara, which saddened me; Sam noticed that I am looking for someone. "While you had your beauty sleep Lara went towards endurance to get help, Alex, to get tools for Reyes."

When I heard that I just missed Lara, I could only sigh in defeat as I could not move my limbs currently. Sam looked at me with a curious gaze in her eyes, which I noticed.

Joseph: "what are you curious about Sam," I said while trying to stand up. When I finally stood up, I saw Jonah in the distance with a gun on hand watching over the area. He noticed me and started running towards me.

Sam: "Joseph, what did you do back…" but before she could ask her question, Jonah gave me a big, painful hug that lasted for ages. I kept taping on back to release me from his painful embrace.

Joseph: "okay big guy, you had your brotherly hug now release me, or I will die from your painful embrace." when Jonah heard my words, he released me and started laughing at my sorry state I am in right now.

Jonah: "Hahahaha, I knew you are a tough bastard to kill even Lara's arrow threw your chest didn't kill you." When I heard his words, I felt a phantom pain on my chest as if there was a big void I needed to fill in there.

Reyes: "oh, you're finally awake," she said while looking at Jonah to ask for some help. "Jonah, I need your help lifting some stuff." Then I saw Dr. Whitman coming out of nowhere. Dr. Whitman looked too clean to be able to survive in this harsh environment. Seeing him so clean made my internal warning bells rang in red alert.

Without hesitation, I grabbed a gun from Jonah's hip and pointed at Dr.Whitman. Jonah then grabbed my hands and started convincing me not to shoot Dr.Whitman.

Jonah: "whoa, whoa, little Joseph, you don't want to be impulsive now." he said while grabbing the gun off my hand. Jonah tried to grab the weapon of my hand, but I didn't budge, so he used my only weakness against me. "You don't want Lara to hate now, would you."

When I heard Jonah using Lara's name against me, I begrudgingly gave the gun back to Jonah. I then looked at Dr. Whitman, who looked terrified when I pointed the gun at him and gave him a warning.

Joseph: "If I find anything that is off with you, I will put a bullet on your head," I said while about to sit down on the ground near the campfire. But suddenly I saw one missing person in the group and asked them a question. "Where is Roth? I thought he would be with you guys."

When I asked my question, everyone looked disheartened, especially with Reyes, who looked away, trying to hide her tears. Everyone was quiet for a minute when Sam answered my question.

Sam: "Roth… Roth died" when I heard this, I had a blank look on my face as I looked at the group.

Joseph: "I am sorry for asking," I said while looking apologetically to everyone. Then asked another question to sam. "How is Lara holding up with Roth's death." Sam looked at me and gave me a sad smile on her face.

Sam: "She blames herself for everything that happened right now." when I heard her words. My chest stung in pain as I imagine Lara crying in front of me, then suddenly Reyes snorted in disdain.

Reyes: "yeah, she brought us into this island now we're losing people as we go." Sam and Jonah wanted to talk back to Reyes, but before they could speak, we heard an explosion far away. I looked in that direction and then looked at Jonah to ask a question.

Joseph: "Jonah, what direction Lara went," I said, trying to calm down my beating heart while my face stayed stoic when I asked the question. Jonah noticed that I looked off and just sighed. He then patted my shoulders and answered my question.

Jonah: "Don't worry about Lara; she could handle things by herself," he said while giving me a worried look on his face. " you just need to focus on healing up and helping us fix the boat." When I heard this, I calmed myself down and sat back down on the sandy ground to wait for Lara to come back.

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While I stayed silent, looking over the direction Lara went toward, part of my attention is still on Dr. Whitman, who is helping out Sam with her foot. Jonah started cooking fish he caught from the sea while Reyes is always on the boat trying to find how to fix it without tools.

I looked at the direction that Lara went to and saw someone coming towards us. I didn't bother calling out for warning as I knew who was heading our way.

When Lara finally noticed me, we looked at each other. I could see guilt in her eyes as she looked towards me. I was going to talk to her, but Lara suddenly passed by me and didn't look me on the eye. She then went towards Reyes, who was standing nearby and gave her the tools to fix the boat.

She then quietly went towards the campfire, not giving anyone eye contact. Sam saw Lara and hurriedly went towards her. She looked around and saw that there was one missing person, so she asked Lara where Alex was right now.

Sam: "Where is Alex?" she said while having a worried look on her face. Lara looked at Sam with a sad look on her face and answered Sam's question.

Lara: "He was still on the ship..." she said while looking down on the ground disappointingly. When everyone heard her words, they felt lost when they lost another friend on this island.

Reyes: "It seems anyone caught with you has a pretty low survival rate." she said while sitting down near the campfire. "Everyone except for your lucky guy here that you have accidentally shot," she said while looking at me.

Lara: "then better stay away from me," she said while looking guiltily at me. When I saw Lara's sad look towards me, I then defended her.

Joseph: "Lara didn't know who I was back then; she just wanted to protect sam." Reyes snorted in disdain. She was about to open her mouth when suddenly Jonah interrupted our banter.

Joseph: "Enough, you two; let's just eat okay." he looked both of us with a stern look on his face. He then went back to his fish; he is currently cooking. "Those bastards went quiet, but that doesn't mean they are going to stay away. If I am going to die on this rock, I am not going to do it hungry."

When I heard Jonah's words, I only sighed and went towards the uncooked fish and helped him cook the rest.

Joseph: "Jonah is right; we don't want to be starving while we fight for our lives..." I said while gutting out the fish and then sticking a stick through them.