The Murder of the Future

the biggest issue in the beginning was getting the bodies all in one place. to block that place off from the view of the rest of the survivors. and then to look for a location and to start the burial process. it would be easier to burn them all. but when they were rescued, the families might want to relocate the victims of the crash to family plots. luckily he’d had his phone on him and in a waterproof case. the thing was fully charged. there was no service out here, but sebastian didn’t need service. he needed the camera.

he took pictures and made notes. eye color. perceived hair color. approximate weight. distinguishing marks. and, when he started the burials -- hopefully sooner rather than later since this heat would make them smell before long -- he would mark each one on his list. people would be able to find their family. some day.

he lifted a woman who’d been face down in the sand into his arms. possible addict, was the mental note he made to add to his categorizing later. people, he thought, were used to seeing him with bodies in his arms at this point. still, that didn’t make walking by the little girl any easier. he glanced at her fleetingly, then looked away. where are your parents? moran wondered. why are you alone?

jeremy.‌

it took actual, physical, conscious effort to not facepalm. of all the people who survived the crash -- and comparatively, there weren’t many -- there were still some dumb asses who couldn’t keep themselves alive. some were jumping off cliffs. some were running in to try to rescue people and getting sucked in to the plane propellor. and some were eating random food off of trees when even sebastian didn’t recognize what it was. the water would need to be checked to make sure it was drinkable -- if they ever found water. 

moran felt like a bloody parent with thirty kids running around with goddamned scissors. and this kid? had the sharpest of them all. or maybe he had the dullest. suddenly the way the saying went was more important than what they’d been talking about. 

quickly, sebastian jogged to the tree, grabbed a piece of fruit, and returned with a sharpened shard of scrap metal from the plane. he cut into it, sniffed, then just watched the kid. “i hate to admit that without proper tools, there’s not really an easier way to test whether or not something is edible. but... you’ve got balls of steel, kid. how’s it taste?”

adrienne.

she looked like hell. he didn’t say that. when he stepped closer and saw her brother, still within reach -- yet never again accessible. he would never meet her eyes again or work a deal with her again or have her step in when tensions were getting too high again just so the deal could actually be closed. sebastian had his own siblings. he understood the closeness. he also knew what it was like to lose a brother. but there had always been a deeper connection that he’d noticed on the few times they’d interacted between adrienne and lukas.  

using water, then a small bottle of vodka he’d snatched from the doctors, he cleaned the wound. it would sting, but he wasn’t sure adrienne would even notice.

“this seems like a poor time to bring this up, and it’s possible it’s unnecessary, but i can’t really take a risk. you and i both... work in a field that will make the saintly doctors around here uncomfortable. i’m a personal guard and you work in intel? that’s as specific as either of us need to get when referring to one another.” he lit a flame over a needle he’d found in one of the sewing kits from a carryon. then sebastian started with the stitches. he worked in silence for several long minutes.

“i lost my brother a few years back. i wish i could say that it gets easier... but you’ll always miss him.”

he’d been told about the ordeal. another dead body. which... was unfortunate. because at this stage in their survival, the people who were dying were doing so from internal injuries that had gone unnoticed. or because they were dumbasses and tried to swim or hike or do something they weren’t capable of doing. the worst part was that, given their limited numbers, the people who were dying now were known by the rest. they weren’t just bodies for sebastian to bury. they were people. people he’d spoken to, checked on, given food to. and now... they were dead people.

sebastian hadn’t spoken to addison directly, but they’d been in the same circles a time or two and he’d handed her fish on occasion for meals. passed her a bottle of water. whatever needed to be done. now he had to do more than just talk to her. “addison.”

catching her arm, sebastian tugged a little rougher than he would have otherwise. “addison, he’s gone. you’ve been out here for an hour. it’s time for me to take him.” his voice was low. quiet. a little somber. “i’m sorry. but he’s gone. you did everything you could.”

elena.‌

“i’m sorry. for whatever happened to your family.” had he really told her what had happened to him in the past? such an admission revealed vulnerabilities, and it was typically in sebastian’s best interest, professionally, to appear to have no vulnerabilities whatsoever. whatever. if they lived to get off this island, he could deal with the mistake then. “who was it? if i can ask that, of course. who... had the issue with the plane before?”

rapunzel.

“i’m sorry,” he said softly, taking a step toward her and then thinking better of it. she’d come up here for privacy. for space. room to deal with her issues. he should turn around and go back the way he came.

but something stopped him. instead, sebastian just stepped closer and quickly pulled her into a hug. “i know. nothing makes sense. but it will. we... somehow, it’ll all make sense.”

rapunzel.‌

or maybe she was just looking to have some fun while we wait on rescue.

“were you looking to forget the incident, or relive the adrenaline high you felt?” it was none of his business, and after a brief moment, that fact seemed to dawn on him. he offered a small, tight lipped smile. “sorry. it’s none of my business. a few hours on an uninhabited island and suddenly i’m uncivilized.” then, as if he’d gone completely insane, offered the seaweed back to her as if it were some souvenir. 

“i hope it helped. whatever your aim. i hope the cliff diving did the trick. i’m not sure they offer paragliding on this island.”

“if you’ve come to boss me around like all the other women on this island, you can go f--” sebastian looked up and realized that the woman who had stepped near him hadn’t even been looking at him. she’d just chosen that particular spot to stop. or maybe she’d made her way over to him because he was sitting alone, staring off into space.

he started again.

“that’s the second time i’ve fallen from the sky. isn’t that the most ridiculous bull shit? the first time was years ago. i had to jump from a helicopter. my primary chute didn’t open. and then this. when rescue comes, i hope it’s by way of boat.” the tide lapped over his feet and sebastian turned his gaze back out to the ocean. “have a seat. we’re... gonna be here a while.”

damn, there were a lot of blonde girls roaming around the beach. one might look at this collection of people and thing spring break rather than plane crash survivors. but only, sebastian supposed, if the look given was fleeting. superficial. because on everyone’s face there was the look of shock, of disbelief, of anger or anguish. 

sebastian watched them now as they walked by. some carrying supplies. some preparing for a hike into the forest. this one bossing people around. that one soaking wet as if she’d just climbed in from the water. 

brows pinched, sebastian looked at the latest one a little closer. “um... miss? you... it seems you have...” he stepped closer and reached to capture something from her hair at the back of her head. “yeah. seaweed. sorry. you had seaweed in your hair.” he smiled, then did what was becoming his customary glance to make sure she was in one piece otherwise. 

night was falling and stars were starting to speckle the navy sky. a fire was getting started on the main part of the beach. “you alright? i mean... you didn’t try to swim away, did you?”

“i think you and i got off to a bad start.” the day was slowly starting settle toward evening. he’d been working using whatever wreckage he could find in order to create a barrier between the living and the dead. acknowledging that people were gone was one thing. seeing them lying there until they could be dealt with was another. 

“i get that you’re trying to help people. that it’s in your nature to do good. and i can even appreciate that you’re... taking charge and dealing with this trauma the best way you can.” he was rambling. why was he rambling? “my point is... i’m sorry i snapped at you earlier. and i hope we can start over.” he looked more tired than he would have ever liked. and there was an underlying discomfort. one that acknowledged that he’d been dealing with bodies for the better part of a few hours. still, when he met her eyes, his own were sincere. “please?”

it was... fascinating, really, to watch the women verses the men as they each dealt with their shock and trauma in different ways. hell, even sebastian himself, if he could study his responses to this shit show of a flight, he would probably make notes of the traces of shock, dissociation, and various other typical responses. but the women, best he could tell, had turned into full survival mode. find water. seek shelter. deal with injuries. meanwhile, the men... his eyes darted to the guy who was eating something he couldn’t even identify, just because it looked like food. yes, the men were doing their own thing -- though not in a way that would seem like they were doing that thing together.

he’d spoken to a few people since washing up on shore. making sure they were alright, offering aid if it seemed dire. he was helpful without giving the impression he was in charge. gods, the last thing i want is to hold any kind of responsibility here.

one of the let’s-make-a-plan women was approaching. and while she didn’t seem to be looking at him with any kind of expectation, sebastian got the annoying impulse to look busy. instead, he waited until she was close enough, and spoke in her direction. “bodies,” he said simply. “we... need to make a plan for the bodies that are here. and what we’re going to do when more wash ashore.”

most of the people on this fucking empty island were panicking. some were in shock. nearly all had or currently were still crying. the kid sebastian was looking at now seemed to be dazed a bit, but not necessarily in shock. stoned? perhaps. but it wasn’t as if sebastian really understood the kids these days and what went through their minds. 

he was about to leave the guy to his own devices when he realized that he was not only not showing signs of shock, but he seemed to just be eating. watching. seb looked around until he saw the fruit in the guy’s hand also hanging from the branches of a nearby tree at the edge of the forested area.

getting closer, he didn’t immediately recognize the fruit. “hey... kid? has anybody...” how did he ask this without coming off as insulting. “what the hell is that thing? and how did you know it wasn’t poisonous?”

the database for long-range snipers was extensive. typically, it was filled with rangers, black ops, men and women who were, typically, involved in some military. though, most of them didn’t turn into criminals the way he did. sebastian checked the names periodically, looking to see who might be getting close to his official record. who might have the potential to turn to the darker side of the hobby. hell, more than once, moran had recruited for M.’s network directly from the list. and, thanks to his photographic memory, he was pretty damn decent at putting faces with names of those who had made it to the top fifty of the list.

which was why, when quinn mckenna walked past him, sebastian did a double take and quirked a brow. what a small fucking world this was turning out to be. though, if he was being honest, it made sense that the medical professionals and the professional criminals were the ones who knew how to survive. not that this man was either -- he was still enlisted, to the best of seb’s knowledge -- but the potential was there. 

“i noticed you were one of the few going through the cargo earlier.” he weighed the option of flat out admitting that he recognized the man and opted not to. it would be too weird. “anything in particular you were looking for? maybe i can help you keep an eye out. some of our luggage might wash ashore yet.”

there were two options here, as far as he could tell. sebastian could avoid the woman he recognized, or he could go an talk to her. the chances of a truce were more likely if he opted for the latter. he would keep his mouth shut if she would do the same. working in the business and running into what could only be described as a colleague, there was a certain amount of professional curtesy. an unspoken rule. we’re all criminals here. 

he’d only interacted with a couple people since crawling his way onto the beach. she needed to be one of them. 

making his way to her, it wasn’t until he was only a few steps behind that he saw the look in her eye. he’d never seen her shaken before. “adrienne.” he looked at the gash across her back and pursed his lips. “you’re injured. will you let me help?”

not only had sebastian been watching this man for thirty minutes out of the corner of his eye, always keeping him in sight, but he noticed he wasn’t the only one doing so. people gave him a wide berth. though that might easily have been said about anybody here. unless people were directly acquainted, they seemed to be keeping to themselves. himself included. but there was work to be done, and if he was going to make sure he kept a low enough profile he would need to talk to at least some people. counterintuitive, perhaps, but those who never spoke were as quickly pointed out as those who never stopped talking. with a sigh, sebastian made his way over toward the man who had been, seb thought, talking to himself. not that that was particularly unusual, given the circumstance. 

“hey man,” he said as casually as he could, making sure to approach from the front, not any way that could be perceived as threatening. “are you hurt? do you... are you alright?”

nancy.

when he turned on her, he did so on a dime. one minute, he’d been happily ignoring whatever it was she was saying. rambo, calling off his dogs. these kids, whatever they were looking for, were completely separate from him. though it had seemed pretty apparent that he wasn’t the only one looking for his weapons. australia and the great outback. but the difference was that he didn’t want them to try to rule the rest of the survivors from this fucking crash site. he wanted his gun that had been custom made for him. that wouldn’t fire until the pad of his palm, specifically, was pressed against the grip. he wanted his guns because he didn’t sleep without them nearby. in over twenty years he had never had to try to sleep without being armed. 

besides. they would need to hunt. they would need knives to be able to descale fish and remove bones. they would need knives to cut into coconuts if they found some. to spear the fish once they were caught. to cut them open. they would need guns if there was game to hunt in that forest. still, whatever she had been saying, sebastian had been dutifully ignoring.

until she touched him. 

he turned and his aqua, bloodshot eyes stared down at where her hand rested on his arm. “i’m sure you mean well, miss, but don’t fucking touch me.” the muscles in his jaw clenched. and to a trained eye, it might be evident that he was barely holding on. flying. he fucking hated flying. he hated falling from the sky. “if you want their help so bad, why don’t you round them up. you have more desire to be an authority figure than i do.”