Chapter 7

Darwinism

A cold splash of sea water across her face violently jerked her senses. The groggy feeling in her mind slowly started to vanish and her body was suddenly invaded by cold. Blinking her eyes was hard, for the water and sand smeared across her entire face. Using her arms brought forward only pain, but she did manage to bring them forward and tried to wipe out the dirt from her face. Only to have more dirt be implanted, since her hands were even more dirtier.

Leila Malcal was now completely frustrated.

Not only did she have a killer headache, but now she was feeling extremely cold and dirty to the core. Cleaning herself of the sand took some time, but when completed it she found herself lying on the shore of a beach.

Around her the slumped forms of the remaining Cadets were asleep in various awkward positions. She spotted Gino sleeping near an unconscious Anya, but she could never find L anywhere.

Panic arose in her heart, as the only person who had tried to help her, the only one among these cadets to guide them all was nowhere to be seen. L was the one who had encouraged them to jump into the ocean, was the one who helped her and the others reach this island. He was quite a good swimmer with his athletic body and his stamina was off the charts.

But now she couldn't find him anywhere and it made her extremely worried.

She tried to wake up Gino but the boy simply groaned, there was no way he or the other cadets were going to wake up any time soon. Fortunately, the rains had stopped and the sea had ceased its raging waves. Now the only thing that remained was the peaceful water, the beach full of snoring cadets, and no sign of L.

"Never thought you'd wake up so fast..."

Her head snapped in the direction of the voice, and she didn't have enough time to hide her shock or the emerging blush on her cheek when L wearing only his pants arrived with what looked like broken tree leaves and some shrubs. He was topless easily letting her see his abs, but his damn facemask was still on.

"Venus?" he asked curiously, with a knowing glint in his eye making her blush deepen.

"Nothing. I'm cold..." replied Leila, tearing her gaze away from his reluctantly.

He simply shook his head as he arrived beside her, and dumped the cargo he was carrying near them. Wordlessly, he took out two stones from the pockets of his pants and started working on them by smashing them together in slow, careful strokes. Soon enough there were sparks, and a nice fire was lighted. Leila shamelessly placed herself around the fire, much to his amusement if the slight smile was any indication.

"Ten cadets didn't make it, still thirty five of us are here. Although I'm not sure what they are going to throw at us next..." said L honestly,

"Why are they killing us? Aren't they supposed to train us?" asked Leila helplessly, as she rubbed her hands against the warm fire. L sure knew how to survive in harsh weather and impossible conditions, making her more suspicious of his background and past life. No normal Britannian could survive such conditions.

Unless they were specially trained for such type of situations.

"They only need the best. All I've ever heard of the Legion is that a few special warriors accomplished impossible odds in the past wars. By making us go through these tests, they are weeding out the weak, fearful or just anyone that doesn't match their standards. It's Social Darwinism at its best, and it'll only get worse after this..." said L frankly, making her flinch.

"That's quite a harsh view about...everything" said Leila carefully, no point in antagonizing one of your best allies.

"Then you don't know Britannia truly..."

The look in his hardened eyes showed a hidden story. One full of pain and suffering, and it made her reach out to him by placing her hand comfortably on his shoulder. He looked at her for a moment, but made no move to remove her hand or rebuke her for the gesture. So they both sat there near the fire for the next two hours, saying nothing but enjoying each other's silent company regardless.

Slowly enough, the remaining cadets started to rise out of their deep slumber as the morning sun started hitting their faces.

Leila chuckled on seeing Gino grumble and unknowingly he rolled tiny Anya off his chest which made the girl harshly rise from slumber. The result was Gino receiving a hard bop on the head, which was quite an interesting way to start a day.

Beside her, she saw L seeing their new friends bicker with them with a curious glint in his eyes. But neither of them made a move to stop their friends, and when their bickering was done they arrived beside L and her with Gino having a sheepy smile on his face. Anya was her usual stoic self.

"Damn, my entire body aches..." complained Gino,

Surprisingly, Anya came near the fire and sat right in L's lap. He simply raised an eyebrow but made no move to remove the girl, a few more cadets also saw the fire and started running towards them. In the next moment, she felt L stiffen, his gaze hardening as he looked in the northern direction.

A second later, a gunshot echoed and a body slumped dead.

Panic rose across the entire beach as people started rushing everywhere as more gunfire ignited resulting in more cadets being hit.

"Down!" hissed L, and made the cadets near him crawl across the sand. Never making them raise their heads even an inch about the sand.

He made them crawl halfway across the beach, the cadets who were smart enough to follow this move did make it. But the ones who didn't were shot down in cold blood and their bodies hit across the entire beach.

"What do you see?" asked Gino seriously,

Lelouch only saw what appeared to be a dense forest up ahead, followed by a watch tower at the top of the hills on the far end. There must be a sniper taking the shots, he was quite surprised when parachutes rained down from the sky. And not a moment later when the crates opened, the cadets saw that they were full of weapons, ammunition, survival gear, and most of all water. Even food.

Temptation rose inside of him, but Jeremiah's voice screamed in the back of his mind.

"Too easy screams of an ambush!"

Frustratedly, he had to make up his mind. Turning towards the group of now twenty five cadets who were crouching alongside him, he saw the same eager looks in their eyes. Their hungry gazes fixed on the crates...

"When I say, each of you divide into small groups of five and run straight for the forest!" suggested Lelouch,

"But what about the guns?" asked Leila hopefully,

"The Water? The Food?"

"Anyone stupid enough can go get themselves killed. You either with me or on your own, see how that turned out for those ten corpses behind you..." scolded Lelouch harshly,

The cadets flinched when they saw the bleeding corpses of their former comrades who were not fast or smart enough and were shot dead. Cold murder.

When he received grim nods in return, Lelouch sighed in relief. Atleast these remaining cadets were not stupid, so he helped sort them out into small groups of five and then fixed his gaze on the hilltops where the sniper must be. Or there could be more than one...

The only hope in such a situation was if he made his troops made a charge...

"Now!"

Gunfire erupted as soon as the cadets broke cover, and Lelouch didn't look back when he heard three screams as people got hit. His eyes were fixed solely on the front, and with Anya hanging on his back he simply couldn't risk to stop. He cursed outloud when an entire group of cadets rushed towards the crates of supplies.

"L..." urged Leila,

"Leave those fools. Keep running!" he ordered,

His suspicions were proved correct when as soon as the rogue group of cadets reached the supply crates, there was an explosion which ended the lives of the foolish five cadets and destroying those appealing supplies at the same time.

So engrossed was he in his thoughts, that he was only brought back to reality when something tore through his left leg and he tumbled gracelessly across the sand. His blood spilling everywhere...

The remaining seventeen cadets froze when they saw him go down. His left leg was shot, Anya who was riding on his back had also fallen and was now trying to get back up on her feet. Leila was about to rush back towards him when he yelled...

"Go, don't stop. I'll find another way!" yelled Lelouch, the pain now clearly spreading across his nerves as more blood started to spill.

Surprisingly, his order was ignored. Instead Gino and a bunch of other cadets came running back amidst fierce gunfire. One of the girls named Monica grabbed Anya, and the rest of the boys quickly dragged Lelouch alongside them. His leg was now bleeding and he bit back his tongue to stop himself from screaming.

By the time, they dragged his sorry ass to the edge of the forest Leila was already waiting for them. Lelouch was now openly cursing, the pain in his leg flared hot and dragging him roughly had only made the wound worse making more blood spill out.

"Secure his leg. We need to stop the bleeding!" instructed Leila,

The other girl who had introduced herself as Monica came forward and secured his injured leg. Gino and the boys restrained his arms, surprisingly Anya sat near him in the chaos and laid a comforting hand on his forehead. The usually stoic girl even looked worried...

He would have laughed at the strange situation, if he wasn't in pain. It wasn't unbearable, but that didn't make it any easier for him.

Monica pressed both her hands firmly across his wound making him ditch out a sharp hiss. He may have heard her apologize profusely, but right now only pain blinded his senses. From his dizzy vision, he saw Leila tear of her entire sleeve, and she alongwith Monica started wrapping it around his wound. When the knot was made, he shouted. Gino restraining his arms thereby preventing him from punching the lights out of the girls working on his wound.

Leila tore of the sleeves from the shirts of a few more cadets and made sure the make shift bandage type thing kept the bleeding in check. Lelouch didn't know how long had be been shot, but he was tired. And in pain...

The last thing he remembered was Leila pleading him to stay awake, before he passed out.

When he slowly started to open his eyes, he felt bright flash of orange invade his vision making him shut his eyes instantly. He felt shuffling beside him, and someone must be holding him down in their lap. A pair of hands hovered above his eyes making the light not hit them...

As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw it was Leila smiling at him. Gino, Anya, Monica and the others had also circled around him...

They all were staring at him as if he was going to die any moment. And considering his passing out previously, he doubted they were wrong. So he did the only thing that came to his mind...

"Atleast they didn't shoot my shiny ass..." joked Lelouch,

That made everyone chuckle outloud. Lelouch counted only fifteen of them left, before he passed out there were seventeen. Gino must have read his eyes as he answered his unasked question.

"James and Juliet are guarding the perimeter. We did manage to get a few sidearms and water from another one of those crates inside the forest..." said Gino frankly, making Lelouch sigh in relief. Atleast no one else had died while he was unconscious.

"It had also anti-biotics, the heavy stuff. Funny, it came with instructions. Someone high up doesn't want your skinny ass dying out here..." commented Oskar, a tall boy with a mix of British and German ancestry.

"He got us through till here. He deserves it..." defended Leila, making the other boy raise his arm in surrender.

"No problem with me. We've already lost more than enough people as it is, no fun in losing our team leader as well..." replied Oskar, earning nods from the others.

As the remaining cadets conversed among each other, Lelouch's gaze was fixed on the glaring wound on his leg. This was not good, in fact it had ruined so many of his plans of rising to the top of the Legion. He had withered through all the tests, survived when everyone around him fell, only to get shot like this? Now his only hope remained strangers whom he had never seen before in his life.

The thought of entrusting his faith, of Nunally's future to these people revolted something dark within him. He was going to get back on his feet, take back control of his fate, no matter what. He had faced and defied the Emperor himself and lived to tell the tale, so he would not let this wound stop him. He would rise back again, just like he had before.

Still, he couldn't help but feel confused. That shot that took out his leg turned out to be non lethal as it didn't pierce any artery of his, it just made him bleed profusely and made him unable to command due to the bullet in his leg. The attackers not only went to great lengths to make the shot non lethal, but also supplied the anit-biotics to make sure no excess harm was done to him. It only went to show he had attracted some attention from the Legion Command, and it was both good as well as dangerous in various ways.

With him awake and out of danger, the others soon took seats around the small fire their group had created. Gino was chatting with the other boys, while Anya was sitting in a corner. Her eyes still fixed on him and more specifically Leila who was checking his temperature.

"I'm alright, Leila..." he chided, making her frown.

"Tell me your name. Your real name, I want to know it after everything we have been through..." said Leila honestly, her voice actually determined and strong for a change.

He looked in her eyes searching for any kind of deception, one fast glance showed the others busy with themselves. So he decided to make a risky move...

"Lelouch..."

She smiled.

"A french name? Quite strange for a Britannian..." she said lightly, making him wince.

"Yeah, well my mother was french. So..." he replied awkwardly, as she laid her hand on his forehead.

"It's alright. It's quite a unique name..." said Leila happily, easing him a little. Maybe he hadn't made a mistake after all.

"You understand French?" asked Lelouch curiously, and saw her wink mischievously.

"Just a little..." she replied in french, even as he grinned.

"It makes it easier to communicate just between us if we want to..." he suggested smoothly in french, making her blush even as she raised a suggestive eyebrow.

"Now what would you have in mind with that kind of idea?" she asked suggestively,

His gaze connected with hers, her light blonde hair falling over his face as she lowered herself to inch closer to his face. Their lips just barely away from each other, he looked her straight in the eye.

"Leila...''

The next moment he felt her lips on his own, it was not forceful but just had enough feeling that made him return the gesture. No tongues were exchanged, but he felt the same thrilling sensation rise within him. Leila was beautiful, extremely so and there was no doubt about it. And now as he shamelessly kissed her in the midst of all these cadets, Lelouch didn't even feel the slightest hint of hesitation or embarrassment.

He had always wondered just what he had inherited from his father apart from the same eyes. Well, now he had his answer.

It seemed womanizing was passed on in each and every prince of Britannia. Except for Schniezel, gods knew his brother always made Lelouch doubt his sexuality with how close the Blonde Prince was with his secretary, Kanon.

And if Leila was interested in him, then he had no qualms against this. He was free to live his life as he pleased, and when he regained his title one day he could do whatever he wanted. But right now he enjoyed the sensation of kissing her wonderful lips, albeit every good thing had to come to an end as she slowly tore her lips away from him.

The blush on her face was deep, but so was the smile as she readjusted his facemask.

"What was that for?" asked Lelouch happily, not hiding his feelings.

"For saving my life repeatedly..." she answered honestly, and the smile on her face near away stole his heart.

"I did what I felt was right..." said Lelouch slowly, his gaze still fixed on her.

"So did I..."

He wanted to ask her something, neither of them knew what the future held for them. The least they had was the opportunity to enjoy each other's company in the present, and so far he liked her. She was sweet, even innocent, kind of reminded him of Nunally, but there was a fire in her which he had clearly seen when she took charge and took care of him when he was shot. The instructors had not chosen her just for her good looks alone.

But before he could ask something, a light cough interrupted them. The good thing about her dense hair was that it prevented any outside party from seeing what was happening between him and her, but they could guess. And Leila was a terrible liar, her blush clearly shone as she looked up to see Anya looking down at them.

The short girl actually knelt before him, looked him right in the eye and Lelouch felt as if someone had just looked at his inner self.

"Men..." said Anya with a sigh, even as she flicked his forehead much to Leila's amusement and his discomfort.

"Hey!" protested Lelouch,

"Shut up..." scolded Anya, making him huff and look the other way. Leila continued giggling which made him creak a smile as well, Anya simply shook her head at both of them and walked away to sulk in a corner. He may have heard her say "Like father, like son", but that could just be an imagination of his overjoyed and anti-biotic dosed mind.

Leila caressed his cheek lovingly, while her other hand played with his hair. He looked at her, ready to ask that question again since the other cadets were too busy snoring or chatting amongst themselves. But she shushed him quietly...

"Get some sleep. You need it..." she insisted,

He wanted to argue but she sternly made him drink some more water, and refused to look at him but never stopped playing with his hair. With a sigh, he settled for staring at the fire burning in front of them thinking about what next awaited them. So, engrossed was he in his thoughts that he barely felt the effect of the anti-biotics kick in and send him back to the dream world.

The next time he awoke Lelouch felt a little alarmed.

For neither his comrades or the dense forest surrounded him, instead he found himself lying in a plain bed. Above him the blank ceiling rested, and beside him rested a series of medical instruments that reported various functions of his body. He remembered being shot, Leila taking care of him, and as his gaze drifted towards his wound he found it to be completely healed.

His gaze narrowed.

That was not wound which could heal so quickly, it would have likely taken weeks. Only the most advanced technology that was stored in Pendragon could heal wounds like this in less than week. But he didn't know why but deep in his gut Lelouch knew this was not the Capital. He couldn't explain why he felt so, but something inside of him just screamed it wasn't.

There was no hospital staff anywhere in his room, or in the bathroom as far as Lelouch could see. The depressing aroma of hospital was all around and he was alarmed when he saw the camera in the corner of his room. It beeped a small red beam making him flinch...

Looking to his side, he saw the device was highlighting its small beam towards a large glass of water. It only alarmed Lelouch further that someone was watching him, and there was no sign of his comrades. Were they all taken? Were they dead? He just didn't know...

He quickly rummaged through the cabinet near his bed, and frustratingly didn't find anything he could as a weapon in his defense if things went south. He looked at the camera and saw it had shifted and was now pointing towards the door of his room. He grit his teeth, not wanting to obey someone who was operating from the shadows.

But he had to get out of this freaky place, so he walked towards the door. He sneaked a quick peak through the small glass window in the door, and the next moment he felt bile rise in his throat. But he took a deep breath steadying his nerves, now understanding just why there was no staff attending to him or atleast watching over him.

Closing his nose with the help of his fist, he slowly opened the door and the disgusting stench of flesh, blood and the grim sight of dead bodies rushed towards him.

All around him, he could see doctors, nurses, support staff, even a few janitors lying around. Many of them were shot, some had their necks sliced apart. He could see the murder weapons still lying around, just who in their foolish mind would leave such an important evidence behind?

What the hell am I thinking? These people were killed and yet I feel nothing but actually think about the evidence?

This place was messing with his head, he knew it. And he wanted nothing more but to be out of here...

He knelt beside the body of an old male doctor, turning the man over Lelouch saw something that made his stomach churn. The angle, the point of impact of the shot, the calm expression on the dead man's face, the still clutched pistol in his hand, all of it pointed towards an extremely terrifying reality.

This man had shot himself.

Lelouch had trained for years, yet he retched. This was just too much for him to process, and gods that smell was awful. When he had stopped retching and gained control of himself again, he checked each victim that came again. The same revelation.

Each of them had either shot themselves, stabbed themselves in the gut or sliced apart their own necks. Or worse beaten their own bodies with any instrument they could find...

What kind of hell was this? Where was he?

Lelouch Vi Britannia had seen many gruesome scenes in his life. Right from the murdered form of his mother, to his own father ordering his death, or watching Japan being torn apart while his sister was still there, but nothing could compare to this horror he was witnessing now.

And he felt something stir within him that he had not felt in years.

Fear.

His survival instincts kicked in, grabbing two pistols from the now dead bodies, checking they were properly loaded, picking up a pair of surgical knives and hiding them within his hospital gown. When all these steps were followed, he slowly made his way forward his pistol out front ready to handle any threat that stood in its way.

It took him sometime to navigate through the hallways full of bodies, thankfully there was still electricity and the hospital had well marked corridors and he simply had to follow the exit signs. Although Lelouch made a quick stop at the nursing station, removing the dead nurse from her seat the prince hacked open the computer in front of him.

But alas, when he tried to open the video logs or any other schedule about visitors or incidents, the computer crashed and only static remained in front of his eyes.

More and more this was pointing towards a dark conspiracy and Lelouch wanted to be as far away from it as possible.

So, he resumed his exit plan and by the end of an hour he had managed to scale down two floors. He had met only more bodies and death on the way, and the same wiped out logs and video files on other terminals. And every person had committed suicide. It was a gruesome sight to witness for any person, but he was a prince who was trained for such situations by Jeremiah and Sayoko, so he continued on.

When he reached the ground floor, Lelouch desperately wanted to see any face that was alive. There was just too much death here...

And that was when he heard it.

The soft laugh of a child.

He yanked his pistol in all directions trying to find the source of that voice. Yet even as it continued to echo all around him, he could not find out the actual person from which it was originating. The voice was all over the speakers, coming from the corridors, from the rooms, from everywhere.

Lelouch's heart beat faster than ever as his free hand grasped his chest, trying to stop his out of control heart from going rogue. Sweat rolled down his forehead, and he had gripped the pistol tightly. The air of death around him, the freaking laugh of that child, and the stale corridors soon enough broke his resolve as...

He ran.

With as much strength and speed he could muster, he ran. Lelouch had no idea where his comrades were or what this place was, all he knew was that he wanted to get away from here. Far away...

His grip on his pistol was so tight that any unwanted surprise and in a flash more than half of the rounds inside the weapon would find themselves fired.

He rounded around the corridor...

"It's been a while, Lelouch..."

BANG!

Author's Notes: End of chapter.

Hope you guys liked it.

I know I'm late with the update, but then again I never predicted falling ill for the past few days or internet connections getting shaky in my area of residence. So, yeah...

It took some time, so I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Reviews would be quite nice for a change.

Until Next Time,

Blackwolf501