Chapter 26
1196 Words
Leo couldn't believe I dared to shoot at him in front of everyone.
"I'll ask you one more time, are you coming or not?" I said, moving the gun a bit higher to aim at his crotch.
Leo covered his crotch instinctively and nodded quickly, showing a groveling smile worse than crying. "Yes, I'll go! Zack, I'm sorry. Please calm down!"
I turned and left the cave. Shivering from the cold and his teeth chattering, Leo followed quickly behind me.
"Zack, I'm so cold! I can't take it anymore! I'll die out here. Please, let me go. I'll give you all my savings, $300,000. You can have my house too!" Leo pleaded like a dog, his nose red and runny from the cold, looking utterly pathetic.
But I remained unmoved. This guy was a venomous snake, and now I had him by the throat. Having dealt with him before, I knew him too well. He would act pitifully when caught, but if released, who knew what harm he would cause?
'Back at the company, when you bullied me and deluded my girlfriend, did you ever think this day would come? When you boasted and tried to kill me after we got stranded on this island, did you ever think of the present moment?'
With a cold expression, I pretended not to hear Leo's pleas and forced him to keep walking at gunpoint.
Soon, we reached the forest near the coastline. I observed that this area was frequented by furry wolves. After circling the forest for a while, I found a flat area behind a small hill.
I handed Leo the military shovel and signaled him to start digging. Leo had no choice but to work hard. But being a weakling, he was soon drenched in sweat and kept complaining.
I didn't bother with words and loaded my gun, firing a shot at the tree behind him. The bullet grazed his head, even taking a few hairs with it. Leo was so terrified that he continued working without another complaint.
In two hours, he dug a pit nearly 80 inches deep. I inspected the pit and nodded in satisfaction.
I gathered some suitable branches and laid them over the pit, then covered them with layers of leaves and dirt. Finally, I placed some small fish caught earlier above the trap as bait and moved on to the next spot with Leo.
One trap wasn't enough. Under my threat, Leo dug two more pits. Soon, I had three traps ready.
By then, it was dark.
"Zack, can we go back now? It's getting dark!" Leo couldn't wait to leave. After a whole afternoon of hard work, his arms felt like they were about to fall off. He was pale, covered in sweat, and looked extremely wretched.
"Just one more thing, and then we can go back," I said casually.
"We're going to the mountaintop to set up a distress signal," I lied.
I led him towards a ridge in the southern part of the island. I had noticed a tall cliff there, intending to make it Leo's grave.
We soon reached the cliff. The wind was strong, making our clothes flap loudly. Looking down, it was pitch black, with the faint outlines of tiny trees at the bottom, making it a terrifying sight.
"Zack, aren't we supposed to go to the top? Why are we stopping here?" Leo, his face pale from the cold wind, asked suspiciously, wiping his runny nose.
"Why did we stop? Take a guess," I said with a smile.
Leo took a few steps back in fear. "Zack, enough with the jokes. What are you going to do?"
"What am I going to do? Can't you guess?" I said coldly, "The same thing you did to me before!"
Leo was terrified. "You can't do this. Murder is a crime! You'll go to prison!"
"Oh really? Did you think about that when you tried to kill me?" I replied calmly.
Leo screamed in terror, "I didn't kill you! You fell off the cliff by accident!"
I didn't want to waste any more words. I unfolded the military shovel and approached Leo.
"To h*ll with you! I'll fight you!" Leo yelled viciously and charged at me.
I swung the shovel at his head. The gap in our strength was too great, and the outcome was obvious. Leo barely blocked two of my strikes before I kicked him in the stomach. With a scream, he tumbled off the cliff.
Watching Leo's figure shrink and disappear into the darkness, I felt a mix of emotions. Despite mentally rehearsing this scene countless times, my hands still trembled after actually doing it.
'I just killed someone.' Although I had served in the military, we were living in peaceful times now. The heavy thought of killing someone was still suffocating for me.
"It was Leo who forced me to do it. He brought it on himself. He would have killed me eventually, so I did the right thing by killing him first," I told myself, taking deep breaths as the cold wind cleared my mind.
I calmed down quickly and returned to the cave.
Eva looked puzzled when she saw me return alone. "Where's Leo? Didn't he come back with you?"
"Leo... He fell off the cliff while setting up the distress signal," I said, avoiding everyone's gaze.
Everyone was stunned, finding it hard to believe.
Mandy quickly realized what was happening. Seeing my strange expression, she thought I felt guilty about Leo's death. She immediately put down what she was holding, came forward, and hugged me. She gently patted my back, soothing me in a soft voice.
"Zack, don't blame yourself. Leo deserved it. He tried to harm you before. Don't be sad about someone like him. It's a mercy that he's dead!" Mandy said gently, rubbing her face against my neck. "Don't be sad, okay?"
A warm feeling spread through me as I hugged Mandy. For the first time, I felt a sense of belonging, and my heart calmed down gradually.
Stella gave Mandy and me a jealous look but still patted my shoulder and said, "Leo wasn't worth our sorrow. This is his karma for doing bad things! Zack, you don't need to feel guilty."
Zoe nodded quickly, bringing me hot soup. "Zack, take a rest. You must be exhausted."
Feeling much better, I took the soup and started drinking it.
Eva gave me a thoughtful look and said calmly, "He's gone. Let's not talk about him anymore. We still need to figure out how to survive."
I sighed in relief, impressed by her intelligence. She seemed to understand something but chose not to stand up for someone like Leo.
It wasn't surprising. Eva hadn't known Leo for long, and this was a personal grudge between him and me.
Among everyone, Quinn's reaction was the strangest. Despite Leo being her ex-boyfriend, she didn't shed a tear. Instead, she moved closer to me quietly, and her bare foot lightly touched mine.
I looked up at her, and instead of avoiding my gaze, she gave me a seductive smile.
"Sorry, Zack. I accidentally stepped on you," Quinn said, pouting slightly.
- Writer
