Radioactive

Gerard’s twisted grin was the one thing Alex could remember as he was handed the six-sided die, his mind fuzzy and blank other than that. The die was pedestrian, really, a very simple, white die, with small black dots, indicating the numbers.

“Oh, come on, ‘Lex, I know you know what a die is,” the black haired male chuckles as he circles around the lanky man tied to the chair. “The rules are simple,” he practically purrs, trailing a finger along Jack’s jaw, making Alex tense up as he grips the die. “You have to roll the die, and whatever number is lands on, you have to shoot,” Gerard says with a smile, his eyes narrow, the slight black line of his eyeliner making the sharp, hazel colour of his eyes stand out. “If it lands on one, you get to shoot once. If it lands on six, you have to shoot six times,” he continues on, stepping away from Jack and going back over to Alex. “It’s not that obfuscating, I didn’t think,” he muses.

Alex’s jaw clenches and he grips the die a little harder. “I never said that..” he begins to speak, but is immediately cut off by Gerard again, not allowing him to continue.

“Ah, yes, you never said anything. Of course you didn’t,” he spits, his hazel eyes growing even colder, if possible, as he glowers at Alex. “Oh, no, you didn’t utter a single word, up in the fecund land up by the tree, near the rats,” he growls. He paces around the couple again, his eyes never leaving either of them.

“Tell me, ‘Lex,” he pauses behind Jack, resting a hand on his shoulder. “What compelled you to deviate from our rules? Was it going out on the battlefield and not being able to help yourself as your eyes just cast over the lanky body of a rat?” Gerard asks.

Alex has to resist the urge to attack Gerard himself, his feet glued in place as Jack’s large, brown eyes, wide in fear, stare up at him. He was torn between staying true to his lover or his group, knowing both options were the most optimum they could be, because either way, he’d lose something he loves.

He hesitates before speaking again. “Listen, Gerard, you know you don’t have to do this, right?” he tries to extenuate the entire ordeal, wanting Jack to be set free safely.

Gerard cackles softly. “Oh, ‘Lex, you know my actions are bona fide, I have to stay true to Billie Joe, or else I’d be considered impure,” he laughs softly, a wicked grin on his lips. His eyes were sparkling again, knowing that Alex has options here, many ambiguous ones at that.

Alex looks over at Jack, hurt flashing across his eyes as he rolls the die between his fingers, staying completely silent and just watching the lanky man tug at his restraints. It only takes him another moment to look back at Gerard and speak. “You know, maybe the Saints have something going for them. They know when to edify a person and when to be reasonable,” he says in a bitter tone, his own caramel eyes narrowed.

At this point, Gerard is beginning to get impatient, just wanting to see some blood, and he growls, shaking his head. “If you don’t roll that die in the next five seconds, I will pick up this gun, and blow your brains out, then his,” he threatens, his fingers inching towards the gun on the small table placed near them.

Alex’s eyes widen and he tosses the die onto the table, watching it tumble and roll along, before finally coming to a delicate stop on the number four.

Gerard smiles, nodding and snatching the die up, slipping it into the front pocket of his jeans and he grabs the gun, pulling a single bullet out of another pocket. He opens the chamber of the small pistol, spinning it to show there was not a single bullet in any of the six spaces before the one bullet he places. He snaps it shut and spins it again, twirling it in his fingers and watching Alex, a small, almost invisible smirk on his face.

The look on Jack’s face is basically pleads for Gerard to let him go as Alex tentatively takes the gun and holds it gently in his hands. He looks over, surprised he hasn’t screamed at all since they’ve been in the small warehouse. “Gerard, please,” he begins to importune, but the look Gerard gives him makes him shut up immediately.

Gerard stares at him for another moment or two while the silence echoes throughout the room, before turning back to Alex. “I’m very disappointed in you, ‘Lex. I didn’t think you’d go through such a cataclysm in only a few months,” he muses as he walks around the two again. Little did the two know, he had a small knife, maybe about the size of the average kitchen knife, resting in a holster that was basically transparent against the fabric of his jeans. His fingertips brush the handle almost constantly. “You stray from our very easy rules, when you should’ve been parochial to just them, and them alone,” he gives him a slightly pouty look, along with a small shake of his head. “Was it adventitious, or did you purposely disobey Billie Joe?” he asks, scowling at the golden-haired male, the gun still in his hands.

Alex frowns down at his hands, still holding the gun. He’s not sure how to respond to Gerard’s question, so he just stays silent, glancing up to his love, who was staring at him with wide, tear-filled eyes.

Gerard, again, was growing impatient, and his scowl deepens a little at Alex. He paces around Jack, retrieving the knife from its holster and holding it to the back of his neck, causing the lanky man to gasp in shock and jerk his head away, only resulting in the knife digging into his skin a little. “We’re wasting time, Alex,” he growls, his eyes cold and sharp as they glare at the other. “If you won’t shoot, I’ll just impale him, which is instant death. At least you have a chance to save him,” he sneers, digging the knife in and drawing a little blood.

Alex’s eyes widen and he nods, raising the gun with shaky fingers. Gerard side-steps, so he doesn’t get hit if the bullet is shot, putting the knife back in its casing and linking his fingers behind his back, watching with a demented smile.

His fingers shaky and his bottom lip caught between his teeth, Alex puts his pointer finger on the trigger, his own breathing picking up as Jack starts to plead with him. He does his best to block it out, his eyes falling shut, squeezing the trigger and hearing a single click. He lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and a cry echoes through the room, but he keeps his eyes closed as he cocks the gun again. He fires this shot too, his heart-rate beating so much quicker than normal it probably wasn’t healthy, but a single click sounds through the warehouse again, and he sighs in relief. He opens one of his eyes, seeing Jack’s face streaked with tears, and he wishes nothing more than to just stop what he’s doing and go over to him and kiss the tears away, but Gerard’s harsh eyes were still baring into his own.

Alex takes another deep breath as he cocks the gun, the weapon shaky and uneven. He takes a moment or two to calm himself down, so he would drop the gun and possibly shoot himself. He stares at Jack in desperation, his quiet pleas fading even more as he basically accepts his fate, yet the tears still escape the corners of his eyes and he locks eyes with Alex, mouthing out a single phrase before the next shot is fired; “I love you.”

As his finger squeezes the trigger, a tear slips down his own cheek, and a loud bang echoes through the room, along with a cry of pain. It was known immediately that that had been the shot with the bullet, especially from the evil cackling from Gerard as he witnesses it.

Alex drops the gun and runs to the body of his love, dropping to his knees and sobbing uncontrollably, his hands gripping at Jack’s lifeless ones. He turns his eyes up to Gerard, who walks over, a smile still on his lips, and that causes Alex to glare again.

“I hope you’re happy now,” he snaps, returning his attention to the bloody mess of Jack, not hearing Gerard pick up the gun, or load another bullet in it and spin the chamber.

“Oh, I was happy just watch your struggle. This makes me ecstatic,” the raven-haired male replies with a grin, cocking the gun and pointing it at Alex’s head, hardly hesitating to shoot. Three clicks sound, before another loud bang as the bullet embeds itself in Alex’s brain. Blood is pooling around Gerard’s feet, and he stands there, waiting a good five minutes before he turns, setting the gun on the table again and leaving the warehouse, not bothering to dispose of the bodies of the traitors.