Tyler - The New Orleans Museum of Art
He watched as Reggie fired a second shot into the man on the floor, cutting short his last few seconds of life. He watched as Reggie stared at the two dead men, their limp bodies beside each other in a growing puddle of blood. Though it was Thomas that watched, it was Tyler that raised his gun to the back of Reggie's head. There they both watched, imagining the bullet smashing into Reggie's soft head and blowing his brains out on the other side. In just a few more seconds it would be over, though Tyler wanted to savor these last few moments with Reggie. He was a respectable man who had been guilty of little more than looking out for his community. It was just unfortunate that he had to be eliminated in order for Tyler to get to his one and only daughter.
"Reggie," Tyler said a bit wearily. He couldn't shoot the man from behind, unfortunately. Despite what some people probably believed, Tyler had never taken much joy from the act of murder. He would have to look this man in the eyes as he died.
"What is it, Thom-" He turned around with little fanfare. As far as Tyler could tell, Reggie wasn't surprised by these developments, as he wasted no time in raising his own gun. A valiant effort, but too slow to stop the inevitable. Tyler's pistol fired a bullet into Reggie's head, killing him instantly. The man crumpled to the ground as if his very life force was suddenly ejected from his body. Tyler stared at the man's open dead eyes and thought of Brad.
---
Rudy - The New Orleans Museum of Art - Aoife/Cody/Sylar/Hex
His team of Bex and Aoife had encountered little resistance securing their entrance. As planned, the fighting had been concentrated at the front, though a few stragglers eventually ran into them as they tried to flee. Reggie had ordered that they take no prisoners, so it was with heavy regret that Rudy and his team killed them as they arrived. Though Bex hadn't said a word, Rudy could see trepidation on his face. Whether the man had a problem with killing the men or if something else was on his mind, Rudy wasn't sure. Eventually the shouting and gunfire ceased and Rudy believed that they had finally won. Not wanting to keep watch over the entrance any longer, Rudy brought his team further into the museum to get some sort of status update on the situation.
It was then that they found Thomas standing over the bodies of three dead men. When he noticed Rudy approaching the scene, Thomas buried his head in his hands. "Rudy, I'm-- Damn. I tried to save him." Rudy, Bex and Aoife circled the bodies and they saw that one of them was Reggie. "One of them got a shot on him. I-I didn't fire in time. Reggie wasn't a good man, but I didn't want it to end like this."
Bex shook his head and turned away from the scene. Rudy looked up into Thomas' eyes, unsure of what to say. "So, he..."
"It's a mess," Thomas said. "But we've won. What we need to do now is gather everyone together and figure out what to do from here."
Thomas was right. Rudy was thankful that Thomas was right, because he had no idea what to do. Thomas was a capable man and someone that Rudy knew he could rely on. Rudy knew he was only cut out for being a follower, so he was glad there were people like Reggie and Thomas who were good at being leaders.
"Let's go."
***
The scouts were gathered together after their arduous battle. Their casualties were lower than expected, consisting of only Simon, Reggie, and Arthur. It seemed that Jerry had faced more resistance than Rudy and that Arthur had been killed in the fighting. As for the wounded, there were quite a few, but only a handful of scouts would be out of commission.
Despite the rumours of Reggie's hand in Samantha's murder, many of the scouts had respected Reggie. For him to die was a heavy blow to their morale. Though it was a hard topic to discuss, Rudy suggested that they choose a new leader for the scouts as soon as possible. Mostly everyone agreed and Phon was suggested to take over for Reggie. A few of the newer scouts suggested Enrique and a smaller number suggested Lucas. Rudy thought those were good ideas (Well, except maybe Enrique), but he had someone different in mind.
"Guys, I know a lot of us loved Reggie, but there's something we need to talk about!" Rudy raised his voice to drown out the talking, but quieted down once he had everyone's attention. "There was a group of us who were... investigating Reggie. We had searched his cabin a week ago. Samantha was one of us." The group of scouts looked warily at each other at the mention of Samantha. "We found a journal belonging to Reggie that implicated him in the mutiny from before. It's likely that he was the one who killed Samantha in retaliation."
Perhaps it was because Rudy had spoken without a single swear, but the group of scouts had gone deathly quiet. Their minds appeared to be connecting the dots and already they were believing what Rudy was saying. Of course, Adam quickly stepped forward and demanded they show this evidence. Rudy began to speak, but Thomas cut him off. "We don't have it with us," he said. "It's back at Outpost and probably in the council's hands. The truth is, Reggie has been using you all for a power trip. He's lied and cheated to get where he was. Though I wish he hadn't died today, the truth is that he was no friend to any of us."
The group was being easily swayed, the rumours from before were still weighing heavily on their minds. Rudy chose now to make his suggestion. He tried his best not to swear. "Thomas is a man I've come to respect. Without him, we would not have figured out the truth about Reggie. He has worked so hard for us despite barely knowing us. I think that despite him only being with us a short time, that he should be the new leader of the scouts."
That got a loud response, though Rudy could see the newer scouts already warming to the idea. They liked Enrique for whatever reason and Thomas was Enrique's friend. As the group began to voice their affirmation, it seemed that Thomas would become the leader after all.
"Ridiculous," Phon said, uncharacteristically speaking up. "Reggie was not that kind of man. I am not following a man who would speak ill of my friend."
"Yeah!" Adam yelled. "Fuck that! Reggie was one hell of a guy! He couldn't be a murderer!"
They were the minority. Thomas only shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it seems we've come to an agreement. If you have a problem with my leadership, then you may leave and I would not hold it against you."
Phon was quick to go. "This is too much for me. I'm sorry, everyone, but I can't go back to Outpost." As he began to leave, Adam rushed to follow him. Before long they were both out of sight.
---
Myriah - All of Outpost
Myriah had been in a state of shock ever since the attack. She could barely live with herself. That poor girl had died while Myriah was in the next room. When Myriah had awoken, all she could tell anyone was that it had been a man who attacked her. Unfortunately, they had been quick enough so that Myriah had not been able to get a good look at them. Myriah believed it was shameful, especially so when it was believed that Myriah had been the intended target. Why the killer hadn't finished her off was beyond her, but Myriah couldn't stand thinking she was the cause of Samantha's death. It had to have been related to Samantha's strange actions the night before, but neither Myriah or anyone else could see the connection.
When Elliot and George came forward with the journal, it all began to fall into place. While everyone was led to believe that Reggie was behind the murder to cover up his own tracks, Myriah knew that just could not be possible. When it was discussed at the community meeting that Matt had a heavy hand in finding the evidence, Myriah knew who was to blame. Unfortunately, she could do nothing while the community's approval of Matt grew. It bugged her that approval of the sign language class grew as well by some ironic extension.
The day after the community had discussed drafting a new scouting team, the old one returned, albeit without Reggie. They had been met with disapproval and suspicion, but once they explained that they had nothing to do with Reggie's actions, the people began to warm up to them again. Everyone found it weird to see someone they didn't know too well as the new leader of the scouts, but once Matt spoke up for Thomas, everyone's doubts seemed to disappear and Alex was offered a spot back on the team. Though it was considered inappropriate for Thomas to join the council, it was decided he would stay the leader of the scouts. In fact, Thomas already had a new mission in mind for his group. It was briefly discussed with the council that after the success of taking down the art museum gang (Which the council hadn't been too happy to learn about after the fact), that it would be in Outpost's best interest to take out another dangerous gang lurking within the city. Matt's new sway with the council and the community pushed Thomas' plan into approval and preparations were underway for the attack on a place called Haywood.
***
The evening the plan was approved, the scouts had left. They intended to reach Haywood by morning, but that was beyond Myriah's concern at the moment. She had let her emotions boil to the surface and she could not take sitting on her hands much longer. At a time when most of Outpost was going to bed, Myriah confronted Matt in the office. "We should talk," she said, standing before him in the doorway. "I think." She crossed her arms and let out a heavy sigh. "I know that Reggie wasn't behind the mutiny. And it's doubtful he killed Samantha." Myriah paused, though she wasn't trying to be dramatic. She just wasn't sure if she wanted to continue with this. "... You killed her, or at least a friend of yours did. Maybe it was that Thomas man. I don't know."
She continued quickly, in case Matt got the idea of killing her now as well. "But unfortunately I can't say anything. I would have by now if I could. It's related to how I know Reggie is innocent, so come to your own conclusions." The truth was, Myriah had been the one behind the mutiny attempt. It had been her idea all along in order to convince Outpost that she wasn't fit to lead them by herself. Though her plan ultimately worked out, it seemed Jonah had gotten overzealous. Myriah would have ensured his safe escape after his fabricated attempt, but Jonah had decided to turn it into a real attempt. If it hadn't been for Reggie, Myriah knew she would have died and it would have been entirely her own fault.
"I don't trust you, and I don't like this, but I have to live with it. All I ask is that you don't speak to me ever again outside of council meetings. We must unfortunately coexist."
---
Shannon - Haywood - The Attack
It was unbelievably relieving to finally get her sling off. She had almost kissed Riley when he told her it was time. After how miserable she had felt in the last few days, Shannon now felt like she was walking on air. Now, they could finally start seriously considering leaving. Her group of four had discussed who would go and who would stay a few times, but they had not seriously committed to an idea yet. Shannon had warmed up to the idea of taking Katie with them, though she imagined that Katie would need Lauren to join her. This was a problem, as even though Lauren had been keeping her cool for most of the week, Shannon still could not get the woman's violent outburst out of her mind. They had all tried to make an effort to get along, but it had been rather difficult.
Shannon decided she would bring Lauren some tea this morning. A sign of good faith, right? Shannon was in a good mood now with the use of both her arms and figured they may as well use the tea if they still had it. Boiling water was a bit of a process without a stove or electricity, but Shannon had done it so often within the last few months that it almost felt as natural as making tea before everything went to hell.
She brought the mug of hot liquid upstairs where Lauren was sleeping. The woman was still dreaming, so Shannon silently watched her for a moment, wondering if she should wake the woman or not. She could just leave the tea at Lauren's bedside, but it would be awful for the tea to grow cold while she slept. As Shannon started working herself up to waking Lauren, the mug of tea exploded in her hand. She screamed and ducked to the ground, her mind briefly imagining that she had made some kind of explosive tea.
But a second sound of breaking glass was heard and Shannon found shards of glass surrounding her. It was then that she realised someone had been shooting at her from outside the window. "Daniel!" she yelled as she cautiously peeked her head up to see outside. She didn't see who was aiming for her, but she saw a group of people at the gates ready to break it down. They were all armed heavily and-- SMASH! Another shot was fired and Shannon ducked for cover again. Vivid memories of Emma's group firing back at her suddenly filled her mind. Lauren sat up in the bed and groaned and Shannon leaped to grab her by the arm.
"We're under attack," she told a bewildered Lauren. "Find Katie and lay low!"
