missmara13 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
missmara13) wrote2006-10-12 03:34 pm
missmara13) wrote2006-10-12 03:34 pm
Entry tags:
Fics - The OC - With A Whimper (Part Three)
Title: With A Whimper (Part Three)
Author: Mara
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of violence, sex, underage drinking, character death, murder, and other nasty stuff. Nothing graphic.
Summary: Most of the world is either dead or Crazy, but in California a group of survivors tries to find a way to avoid both fates.
Notes: I didn't mention it before, and I intend to from now on, but the quotes for the first two parts are credited to:
Part One - "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by REM (Song) - Although I altered it slightly by changing "And I feel fine" to "And They Ain't Fine"... lol
Part Two - "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Elliot (Poem)
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow Out of this stony rubbish?
T.S. Elliot - The Waste Land (Poem)
Part Three
There was a stunned silence, except for several kids in the master bedroom beginning to cry, then Jimmy fell backwards, pushed away by Ryan, who started shaking as he stared at the gaping wound in Jimmy's chest. "Oh god," Ryan gasped, looking away from Jimmy and seeing the blood all over his shirt and hands. "Oh god..."
"Daddy!" Kaitlin screamed, breaking away from Alex to run to Jimmy's side.
Luke slowly reached over and felt for a pulse, then shook his head. "He's dead," he said, looking up at Kirsten, then over to Ryan, who was still standing against the wall, shaking.
"Ryan, honey?" Kirsten asked, going over to Ryan and making him look up at her. "It's okay, you didn't... you had to, he was... It's okay..."
"I didn't mean to..." Ryan began, looking back at Jimmy and shaking his head as he saw Kaitlin screaming and sobbing. "I didn't... I just... I was trying to get the gun out of his hands..."
"We know, we know," Kirsten said, wrapping an arm around Ryan's back and pulling him out of the livingroom and away from the sight of Jimmy's body. "It's okay, baby, it's okay."
"Summer, go get a sheet from the linen closet," Alex ordered. "We gotta get him out of here before the kids see."
"Kaitlin, come on," Luke said, gently pulling Kaitlin away as she kept screaming and crying. "There's nothing you can do..."
"Come here, Kaitlin," Summer said as she handed a folded up sheet to Alex. She took the girl from Luke and pulled her into a tight hug, guiding her towards the stairs. "I know, Kaitlin, I know," she murmuerd as she led Kaitlin up the stairs so she could get the girl into clothes that weren't covered in Jimmy's blood.
~~~~
Kirsten pulled Ryan all the way out to the pool, which was still full even though no one went swimming anymore, and used the old dishtowel she had grabbed to start trying to wash the blood off Ryan's hands and arms. He had stopped talking after his instance that he hadn't meant to shoot Jimmy, and Kirsten was starting to get scared. Since his sudden return to Newport from Chino right as things started going from bad to worse, Ryan had been so strong, so steady. He hadn't shown any signs of fear, even if he was always on edge and almost always had an air of sadness around him.
But now he was shaking and silent, tears streaming down his face as she washed Jimmy's blood off of him. "No one blames you," Kirsten repeated, rinsing her hands off in the pool before brushing his hair back off his face again. "You didn't mean to... to hurt him. You were just trying to protect all of us."
"Kaitlin will never forgive me," Ryan said. "I killed her dad, the only family she had left, and I killed him..."
"Give her time to calm down, she'll understand," Kirsten insisted.
"No... no... I killed him... I... I murdered him..."
"No!" Kirsten said firmly. "No, you didn't. It was self defense, he was going to kill you..."
"But... I... I've been thinking about... about how if he didn't stop... stop trying to... I was gonna shoot him... I've been thinking about it... and... and now I did..."
"Oh honey," Kirsten said, shaking her head and cradling his face in her hands as he started to fall apart, shaking worse and worse. "You weren't trying to kill him, we all know that. It just happened."
Ryan shook his head in denial and leaned foreward, resting his forehead against Kirsten's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him, rocking him back and forth as he sobbed, and not caring that the blood was getting all over her, too.
~~~~
Summer came back downstairs when Luke arrived to tell her he was taking over watch at the window, and he'd check on Kaitlin every so often. She found her gaze pulled to the bloodstain on the floor, thankfully small, that Alex was trying to scrub away. "Cover it with a chair or a something," Summer said. "Toss a towel over it."
Alex nodded and gave up. "They're out by the pool," she said. "Ryan... last time I looked... I think he's taking this hard."
"He's never... the other people... they were Crazies, completely gone, and he didn't know them. But Jimmy... he was still partway here, and... and we all knew him. And..." Summer took a deep breath and moved so she could see out to where Kirsten was rocking Ryan back and forth while he sobbed against her. "We're kids, Alex. We're not suppose to go through this kinda shit."
"I know," Alex replied. "No one is."
Summer nodded and looked down, spotting Ryan's gun on the floor. She bent to pick it up, and made sure the safety was on while she carried it out to the pool. When Kirsten and Ryan seperated and looked up, Summer held the gun out to him. "I know you're upset, Ry, but we need you to hold it together a little longer. Until we're out of this place and we're all safer," she said. "So take it, and tell me what the plan is."
"Summer, just give him..."
"No, she's right," Ryan said, hesitantly reaching out to take the gun and slip it back into it's holster. "There's a place in the mountains that Kirsten told me about. Way out there, not many people would have been there when everything happen, so it should be fairly empty. More than enough room for us. At first light, Luke and I are gonna go out and try to find at least one more big vehicle, but maybe two really big ones that we'll trade the rover in for. We're gonna grab all the supplies we can, spend all day doing it, maybe make more than one trip back and forth. If the vehicles can fit in the garage with the door closed, we'll do that so we can organize right there in them, if not we'll organize in the livingroom. First light the next morning, we'll pack up the vehicles and get the hell out of Newport."
"Ryan?" Kirsten asked.
"I'll deal with this once we're all safe," Ryan said, nodding. "There's no time for me to fall apart now."
"You're allowed to fall apart," Kirsten said.
"Not when there's three little kids in there who have no one but us to protect them. Not when I saw some Crazies down on the beach earlier. Not when I just killed one of only two adults left alive and at least somewhat sane," Ryan said. "I'll fall apart later. I'll rest later. I'll sleep later."
With that, he stood and walked back into the house, nodding in greeting to Alex. "Where... uh... where is he?"
"We wrapped him in a sheet and put him in the Cooper's back yard," Alex said. "Figured we can bury him in the morning."
Ryan nodded. "And... and Kaitlin?"
"Upstairs, asleep," Summer replied. "The door's open so Luke can hear her from the window, since he's on watch."
Ryan nodded again. "Okay. Um... what about the kids?"
"I got them back to sleep before I..." Alex began, gesturing at the towel covering the bloodstain. "They were scared, but I told them everything's okay."
"Good."
"Are you okay?" Alex asked, her voice uncharacteristically gentle, with no trace of humor or sarcasm.
"I killed someone, Alex. Someone I knew and used to like," Ryan replied. "I'm pretty far from okay. But... I'm holding on, and I'm not gonna fall apart again until we're all safe."
Alex nodded. "Okay. So, what can I do now?"
Ryan considered for a moment, then nodded as he looked around the room. "Help me move the furniture against the wall so there's a big open space. Then I want to start bringing all of our supplies in here, so we can know exactly what we have and exactly what we need."
Kirsten sighed, but stepped up to join the conversation. "We do need to pick up some games and toys for the kids, like travel games that are small, but can keep them occupied."
"Good idea," Ryan said. "And tomorrow, I think we're probably going to make multiple trips with supplies, so maybe you can put the kids to work on something simple. So they can feel like they're helping."
As if on cue, one of the 3 kids Ryan had found during his earlier supply runs came wandering out to the livingroom. "Ryan?" she called softly.
"What's wrong, Jessie?" Ryan asked as the 9 year-old girl came over and wrapped her arms around his waist. He pulled away enough to crouch down in front of her. "You okay?"
"What was the yelling?"
"Mr. Cooper... he..."
"Did he become a Crazy like my mommy?" Jessie asked.
Ryan whinced slightly, but nodded. "Yeah, he did. Not all the way, but... he was gonna hurt us, and... now he can't hurt anyone." He glanced down at the blood on his shirt and shook his head. "Go on back to sleep, Jess, you've gotta help Kirsten organize supplies tomorrow, because we're all going on a trip, somewhere that we think is gonna be safe, without Crazies."
"Really?" Jessie asked.
"Yeah. We don't know for sure, but... it can't be any worse than here."
Jessie nodded. "Okay."
Ryan stood again and lightly touched her hair as she headed back for the master bedroom. Once they heard the door click shut again, he took a deep breath and turned to Kirsten. "That's why I can't fall apart," he whispered. "Those kids need me as much as my kid needed me, and I'm not gonna let them die like Theresa and the baby did." He closed his eyes for a minute, then slowly nodded to himself. "I'm gonna go get changed," he finally said.
TO BE CONTINUED...
I promise, next part explains how Ryan came back to Newport from Chino and what happened to Theresa and the baby... lol
Author: Mara
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of violence, sex, underage drinking, character death, murder, and other nasty stuff. Nothing graphic.
Summary: Most of the world is either dead or Crazy, but in California a group of survivors tries to find a way to avoid both fates.
Notes: I didn't mention it before, and I intend to from now on, but the quotes for the first two parts are credited to:
Part One - "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by REM (Song) - Although I altered it slightly by changing "And I feel fine" to "And They Ain't Fine"... lol
Part Two - "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Elliot (Poem)
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow Out of this stony rubbish?
T.S. Elliot - The Waste Land (Poem)
Part Three
There was a stunned silence, except for several kids in the master bedroom beginning to cry, then Jimmy fell backwards, pushed away by Ryan, who started shaking as he stared at the gaping wound in Jimmy's chest. "Oh god," Ryan gasped, looking away from Jimmy and seeing the blood all over his shirt and hands. "Oh god..."
"Daddy!" Kaitlin screamed, breaking away from Alex to run to Jimmy's side.
Luke slowly reached over and felt for a pulse, then shook his head. "He's dead," he said, looking up at Kirsten, then over to Ryan, who was still standing against the wall, shaking.
"Ryan, honey?" Kirsten asked, going over to Ryan and making him look up at her. "It's okay, you didn't... you had to, he was... It's okay..."
"I didn't mean to..." Ryan began, looking back at Jimmy and shaking his head as he saw Kaitlin screaming and sobbing. "I didn't... I just... I was trying to get the gun out of his hands..."
"We know, we know," Kirsten said, wrapping an arm around Ryan's back and pulling him out of the livingroom and away from the sight of Jimmy's body. "It's okay, baby, it's okay."
"Summer, go get a sheet from the linen closet," Alex ordered. "We gotta get him out of here before the kids see."
"Kaitlin, come on," Luke said, gently pulling Kaitlin away as she kept screaming and crying. "There's nothing you can do..."
"Come here, Kaitlin," Summer said as she handed a folded up sheet to Alex. She took the girl from Luke and pulled her into a tight hug, guiding her towards the stairs. "I know, Kaitlin, I know," she murmuerd as she led Kaitlin up the stairs so she could get the girl into clothes that weren't covered in Jimmy's blood.
~~~~
Kirsten pulled Ryan all the way out to the pool, which was still full even though no one went swimming anymore, and used the old dishtowel she had grabbed to start trying to wash the blood off Ryan's hands and arms. He had stopped talking after his instance that he hadn't meant to shoot Jimmy, and Kirsten was starting to get scared. Since his sudden return to Newport from Chino right as things started going from bad to worse, Ryan had been so strong, so steady. He hadn't shown any signs of fear, even if he was always on edge and almost always had an air of sadness around him.
But now he was shaking and silent, tears streaming down his face as she washed Jimmy's blood off of him. "No one blames you," Kirsten repeated, rinsing her hands off in the pool before brushing his hair back off his face again. "You didn't mean to... to hurt him. You were just trying to protect all of us."
"Kaitlin will never forgive me," Ryan said. "I killed her dad, the only family she had left, and I killed him..."
"Give her time to calm down, she'll understand," Kirsten insisted.
"No... no... I killed him... I... I murdered him..."
"No!" Kirsten said firmly. "No, you didn't. It was self defense, he was going to kill you..."
"But... I... I've been thinking about... about how if he didn't stop... stop trying to... I was gonna shoot him... I've been thinking about it... and... and now I did..."
"Oh honey," Kirsten said, shaking her head and cradling his face in her hands as he started to fall apart, shaking worse and worse. "You weren't trying to kill him, we all know that. It just happened."
Ryan shook his head in denial and leaned foreward, resting his forehead against Kirsten's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him, rocking him back and forth as he sobbed, and not caring that the blood was getting all over her, too.
~~~~
Summer came back downstairs when Luke arrived to tell her he was taking over watch at the window, and he'd check on Kaitlin every so often. She found her gaze pulled to the bloodstain on the floor, thankfully small, that Alex was trying to scrub away. "Cover it with a chair or a something," Summer said. "Toss a towel over it."
Alex nodded and gave up. "They're out by the pool," she said. "Ryan... last time I looked... I think he's taking this hard."
"He's never... the other people... they were Crazies, completely gone, and he didn't know them. But Jimmy... he was still partway here, and... and we all knew him. And..." Summer took a deep breath and moved so she could see out to where Kirsten was rocking Ryan back and forth while he sobbed against her. "We're kids, Alex. We're not suppose to go through this kinda shit."
"I know," Alex replied. "No one is."
Summer nodded and looked down, spotting Ryan's gun on the floor. She bent to pick it up, and made sure the safety was on while she carried it out to the pool. When Kirsten and Ryan seperated and looked up, Summer held the gun out to him. "I know you're upset, Ry, but we need you to hold it together a little longer. Until we're out of this place and we're all safer," she said. "So take it, and tell me what the plan is."
"Summer, just give him..."
"No, she's right," Ryan said, hesitantly reaching out to take the gun and slip it back into it's holster. "There's a place in the mountains that Kirsten told me about. Way out there, not many people would have been there when everything happen, so it should be fairly empty. More than enough room for us. At first light, Luke and I are gonna go out and try to find at least one more big vehicle, but maybe two really big ones that we'll trade the rover in for. We're gonna grab all the supplies we can, spend all day doing it, maybe make more than one trip back and forth. If the vehicles can fit in the garage with the door closed, we'll do that so we can organize right there in them, if not we'll organize in the livingroom. First light the next morning, we'll pack up the vehicles and get the hell out of Newport."
"Ryan?" Kirsten asked.
"I'll deal with this once we're all safe," Ryan said, nodding. "There's no time for me to fall apart now."
"You're allowed to fall apart," Kirsten said.
"Not when there's three little kids in there who have no one but us to protect them. Not when I saw some Crazies down on the beach earlier. Not when I just killed one of only two adults left alive and at least somewhat sane," Ryan said. "I'll fall apart later. I'll rest later. I'll sleep later."
With that, he stood and walked back into the house, nodding in greeting to Alex. "Where... uh... where is he?"
"We wrapped him in a sheet and put him in the Cooper's back yard," Alex said. "Figured we can bury him in the morning."
Ryan nodded. "And... and Kaitlin?"
"Upstairs, asleep," Summer replied. "The door's open so Luke can hear her from the window, since he's on watch."
Ryan nodded again. "Okay. Um... what about the kids?"
"I got them back to sleep before I..." Alex began, gesturing at the towel covering the bloodstain. "They were scared, but I told them everything's okay."
"Good."
"Are you okay?" Alex asked, her voice uncharacteristically gentle, with no trace of humor or sarcasm.
"I killed someone, Alex. Someone I knew and used to like," Ryan replied. "I'm pretty far from okay. But... I'm holding on, and I'm not gonna fall apart again until we're all safe."
Alex nodded. "Okay. So, what can I do now?"
Ryan considered for a moment, then nodded as he looked around the room. "Help me move the furniture against the wall so there's a big open space. Then I want to start bringing all of our supplies in here, so we can know exactly what we have and exactly what we need."
Kirsten sighed, but stepped up to join the conversation. "We do need to pick up some games and toys for the kids, like travel games that are small, but can keep them occupied."
"Good idea," Ryan said. "And tomorrow, I think we're probably going to make multiple trips with supplies, so maybe you can put the kids to work on something simple. So they can feel like they're helping."
As if on cue, one of the 3 kids Ryan had found during his earlier supply runs came wandering out to the livingroom. "Ryan?" she called softly.
"What's wrong, Jessie?" Ryan asked as the 9 year-old girl came over and wrapped her arms around his waist. He pulled away enough to crouch down in front of her. "You okay?"
"What was the yelling?"
"Mr. Cooper... he..."
"Did he become a Crazy like my mommy?" Jessie asked.
Ryan whinced slightly, but nodded. "Yeah, he did. Not all the way, but... he was gonna hurt us, and... now he can't hurt anyone." He glanced down at the blood on his shirt and shook his head. "Go on back to sleep, Jess, you've gotta help Kirsten organize supplies tomorrow, because we're all going on a trip, somewhere that we think is gonna be safe, without Crazies."
"Really?" Jessie asked.
"Yeah. We don't know for sure, but... it can't be any worse than here."
Jessie nodded. "Okay."
Ryan stood again and lightly touched her hair as she headed back for the master bedroom. Once they heard the door click shut again, he took a deep breath and turned to Kirsten. "That's why I can't fall apart," he whispered. "Those kids need me as much as my kid needed me, and I'm not gonna let them die like Theresa and the baby did." He closed his eyes for a minute, then slowly nodded to himself. "I'm gonna go get changed," he finally said.
TO BE CONTINUED...
I promise, next part explains how Ryan came back to Newport from Chino and what happened to Theresa and the baby... lol
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Thank you for sharing this.
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Well, next part is devoted to flashbacks to explain a few things (Like how Ryan got his handgun!) but it does have some Ryan/Summer moments in it (including a bit more on the circumstances of the first time they slept together)... I plan on posting Part Four either tonight or tomorrow, not sure exactly which cause it still needs editting...
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