TYLER

The night shift was to begin right when the sun disappeared over the horizon. Tyler could do nothing against the gut-wrenching fear that spread through him at the thought of spending the night outside.

It was all the stories they told him. Mysterious creatures snatching soldiers, infecting others, whispering sweet nothings until someone went to check the water...

But Tyler willed the fear away as hard as he could. There was no way he would miss an opportunity like this. He was well aware of Lordorn's policy. One could not switch class that easily. You had to earn it. You had to prove yourself valuable.

The first step was proving that he could spend the night outside and not die. Awesome.

He sat on the steps in front of his hut and observed the people gathering on the square. It was a sort of tradition, spending the evenings together, talking about the day. He liked the dynamic; he liked the sense of community and belonging. If only there was a way to improve the lives of the people.

Uncertainty crawled under his skin every time his mind wandered to that idea. Who was he to even try? Who was he to think he was capable enough?

People needed a strong leader; someone who could move mountains with their words, someone who could motivate them to make actual change. At least Hitler knew how to scream nonsense at people, Tyler was just a scrawny newcomer that had no idea how these people lived. All the squats and weight-lifting helped little to none.

Tyler gazed at the setting sun counting down his time. Jeremy never guarded the gates; this would be the first time for him, too. The thought made Tyler fear for his safety.

His father had called him unreliable once, amongst all other things he said to him. Tyler was sixteen at the time and his father caught him with a girl. After thoroughly shaming the girl for wasting her time with a good-for-nothing moron such as his son, his father turned to him and called him an unreliable horndog that only ever chased pussy.

It was a traumatic moment.

And just like real trauma, it was forever etched in his memory.

Last night, after he puked his guts out, he replayed the conversation with Corinne in his head. The smart thing to do was to stay the fuck away from her. She was not only a girl, but also completely unreliable and chasing her would prove his father right.

Tyler had to stay determined; he had to pull this off. So, he waited for the sun to set and shoved his fears in the back of his mind. If he died, he wouldn't have to worry about any of that, which was a plus looking from a different perspective.

"Hey," a shadow loomed over him and he looked up, "can I talk to you?" Olivia asked.

Another thing he feared, talking to Olivia. What a screwed up bunch they were, Tyler thought as he nodded at the girl. Greg was in love with Corinne, Olivia was in love with Tyler, Tyler was drooling over Corinne like the aforementioned horndog and Corinne only ever loved herself. Which made her the real victor in the story.

"Sure." Tyler said, even though a part of him wanted to disappear. Olivia walked past the threshold and entered the hut. Away from the watchful eyes of the people, Tyler thought, where she could undoubtedly scream at him.

Olivia sat on her bed, crossed her legs and began squeezing her fingers. Her white shirt was dirtied and her hands were callused, but she looked better. There was determination in her eyes that looked better than the never-ending sadness.

"What's up?" Tyler asked.

"We have to talk..." she began, "about us."

Tyler's head snapped to the setting sun and he realised he had no time for this. But he couldn't tell her that now, not when her eyes were gleaming with dissatisfaction and anger.

"Alright." He sat on the opposite side of her.

Olivia was in love with him. He was aware of that, but he never gave it much thought since he decided on disappearing a while ago. This island changed everything and he knew it was time to face this particular music.

"I..." she bit her lower lip, "I have to know what we are. I just, I have to."

"Listen, Olivia..." How did one ever say this out loud? "I'm sorry for not telling you that I was planning to disappear. I should have given you a proper goodbye."

Tears began to glisten in her eyes, like she knew exactly where this conversation was heading.

"You ghosted me." She stated. "I... I know we never talked about it and you were clear on not wanting to have a relationship, but I thought we were friends. After all the things we talked about; high school, Andrew and Greg, your father... I thought you would tell me."

"I know." Tyler nodded, remembering all those conversations. When he had bared his soul to her, but she didn't... couldn't understand. "I didn't want anyone knowing. If I had told you, my dad would have pressured you into telling him and he... he can be persuasive, you know? I wanted to protect you from that."

"But I would have wanted to know." Her voice faltered.

"You would have tried to stop me." Tyler said. "I didn't want to stay. I couldn't stay."

"And what about now, Ty?" She asked, her eyes questioning. "We're stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere and this is the moment when you chose to ignore me. I thought I could count on you, but you turned your back on me."

"Olivia..." Tyler searched for words. "This situation is hard on all of us. I shouldn't have ignored you, but someone had to stay normal. I knew you would adjust eventually-"

"Bullshit." She cut him off. "Bull-shit. You're only saying this because you don't want to come across as the bad guy, but you couldn't know that I would adjust. I mean, I'm not... adjusted. I'm just tired of myself."

"What do you want me to say?" Tyler snapped. "That I had enough on my plate and couldn't focus on trying to make you feel better because you can't fathom working outside?" Her eyes went wide. "Newsflash, people work outside, they don't just spray SPF and sunbathe all day."

"Now you're just downplaying my struggle." Olivia stuttered.

"Yes!" Tyler shouted. "We're on a goddamn island in the middle of nowhere. You say you can't count on me? Guess what? I can't count on you! What the fuck would you do if something terrible happened, what if the sickness spread through the town? Would you help? No, you would sit on your ass and cry your eyes out while people around you died."

Olivia blubbered like a child; heavy tears rolling down her cheeks. Tyler buried his face in his hands. He was tired, he was so fucking tired of living with her in this small hut.

"For someone who claims you despise her, you're actually a lot like Corinne." Olivia said through her tears and gasped for air.

Tyler slowly lifted his gaze and looked at Olivia, his breath stopping in his throat.

"Don't you... ever... compare me to Corinne." The underlying threat in his voice made his lungs spasm and he realised he wasn't breathing.

All he had was his compassion – compassion that everyone's been testing lately. Everything he lacked in his family, he searched for elsewhere. Everything he's done, under his father's influence... The accident back in high school that almost cost Andrew his scholarship, the fact he lost two of his best friends because he snitched that day – he was trying to make it up to them.

Being stuck on this island made him think there were things he could fix. Not for himself, but for others. For all the people he let down through his life.

"I-I'm sorry." Olivia said timidly.

Maybe his compassion wouldn't work. Maybe people wanted someone who was more like Corinne. Someone who didn't give a fuck about others and solely worked to their own benefit.

"I wanted to talk about us." Olivia added after Tyler kept on staring at her.

"There's no us, Olivia." Tyler said, a tiny part of him wondering if he truly wanted to do this like this. "We fucked a couple of times and that was it."

Tyler had seen Olivia cry many times, but this was different. Her expression changed, relaxed in a way, and real sorrow emerged on her face. Real hurt. Her figure shrunk and she let go of her hands, letting them fall loosely on her sides.

"Olivia..." Tyler exhaled. "I'm sorry, I-"

"No, you said everything I needed to hear." Olivia shook her head. "I don't know why I even bothered. I mean, you told me you didn't want a relationship, I let myself get caught up in my own fantasies."

"I'm sorry." Tyler repeated as he gazed at the sudden darkness in the room. The sun disappeared. Night fell. He had to go before he missed his shift. "Listen... I have to," he bit the inside of his cheek, realising he was about to sound like a total asshole, "I have to go."

Olivia's entire expression changed. From sorrow to panic, in a heartbeat.

"No, stay." Her voice heightened. "Please. Stay."

"Wha- why would you want me to stay?" Tyler asked, but shook his head. "Doesn't matter, I really have to go."

"You can't!" She squealed and Tyler fixed her eyes on her.

"Why?" He dragged out the question and Olivia sighed.

"I know you're guarding the gates tonight and I... I don't think it's safe for you to go out there. I think you should stay inside, I can't- I can't lose you to the water-"

"How... do you know I'm guarding the gates tonight?" Tyler asked, trying to remember all the people he told this to. He mentioned nothing to Greg. He mentioned nothing to the people working in the fields with him. The only person who knew was Jeremy.

And he...

He said it in front of Corinne.

"It's... Corinne told me." Olivia confessed. "But that doesn't matter! What matters is that both me and her agree that you should not be-"

"Did Corinne tell you to keep me here?" The anger, the rage began to boil over. It was like someone spilled hot coal all over him, making his heartbeat jump up and down, preventing him from thinking.

Why? His mind screamed. Why? Why?

And then it clicked.

"Yeah," Olivia sighed, "she thinks it's dangerous..."

The bitch wanted to get out of the town during night.

Before he could explain it to Olivia, before he could process it, Tyler was already running.