((Juanita Reid continued from Come Out Juanita, Don't Let Me Wait))
Five minutes. Just five minutes of feeling good. That's all she'd wanted.
Things had settled down, and everybody took a breath. Juanita sat down in one of the pews while Jack told his side of what happened to Iris - which, if it was true, meant that she'd chased Jezzie out for nothing, so that was awkward - and the girl who'd been hiding behind the lectern came out and timorously introduced herself as Kaede. She'd introduced herself, apologized for the hostility earlier, lowered her weapon. After a bit more chatter, they'd eventually drifted into a mutual silence. And, slowly but surely, the pain in her leg had gone away, and she'd started to feel like maybe things were finally calming down.
But now, almost as soon as the peaceful feeling flitted across Juanita's mind, her stomach started to ache. It started out dull, but then it got worse; it felt like an invisible hand had grabbed ahold of her guts and started twisting. She couldn't keep a pained grimace from her face. No, no, no. She couldn't get sick. Not now. Not when physical ability and stamina mattered more than ever. Her heart started to race as her mind started frantically flipping through the possibilities. When had she last eaten? Maybe taking the meds on an empty stomach was screwing her up? Maybe the meds themselves? But she'd taken Advil and Tylenol together a ton of times. And aspirin wasn't that different from Advil, was it? Unless the meds were reacting to whatever the terrorists had drugged them with. Or maybe the meds weren't meds? Maybe Medea had slipped her something. Maybe it was stress. Maybe it was...
All right. All right. Don't panic. It's a stomachache. It'll pass. Eat a bit of food. Either your stomach will occupy itself digesting that, or you'll throw up, and then you'll know more.
Juanita dug into her pack, and took out a tin of crackers. Crackers were good for an upset stomach. They absorbed stomach acid, or something. Her mom always said that. She munched a few, and took a swig of water to get the salty dryness out of her mouth. Her stomach felt a little better, but not much. She snapped the tin closed, and stuffed it back into the bag. The black number on the bag caught her eye. 014.
She looked over at Kaede. Her bag had the number 001 on it. Jack's was 126. With one bag per student, that meant that there were upwards of a hundred and twenty-five other kids out there on the island. Were there really that many kids on the bus? There had to have been, but... that number, the sheer scale of it, was terrifying. Over a hundred of Juanita's classmates were going to be dead within a week. Her own odds of survival were less than one percent. Worse, when you factored in that she was at best three-quarters of a functional human. How was she supposed to survive this?
There was a cross on the wall. Juanita looked at it, balefully, as her stomach continued to churn. Well, God? Any input? Or are you just gonna stay out of this one?
It wasn't fair. God was supposed to be benevolent. He was supposed to be kind, and loving. He was supposed to take care of her, even when nobody else would. He'd given her talents, and passion, and purpose. Then He'd snapped her ACL and taken it all away. And even after she'd wrestled with the disappointment and the pain and the despair, and come out of it still believing in Him, He'd dumped her here to die. This was her reward, after a lifetime of faith and devotion. A horrible, violent death that she'd done nothing to deserve.
Well, that wasn't going to happen. Sorry, God. But I refuse to believe this. I refuse to believe that You'd ask me to just lay down and die here. I refuse to believe that I'm supposed to let someone else kill me. Life is a gift. That's what I've always been taught. You didn't tell the Israelites to give up and die, you told them to fight for the promised land. You told David to kill Goliath. All of them were allowed to fight for their lives. And I'm going to fight for mine. You told me to keep on living when I lost my scholarship and my future. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm sick, and I'm hobbled, but I'm not going to give up. If You want me to join You in Heaven this week, then You'll just have to come down and catch me Yourself, because I'm not coming voluntarily.
That settled that.
Juanita looked back at the numbers. 001. 014. They reminded her of the numbers on a sports jersey. She'd worn 21, back in the day. Privately, she'd thought it was good luck. 21 was a winning number in blackjack, so it had a victorious aura about it. She wondered who had bag 21. She doubted they'd be willing to switch, but that was probably for the best, given how her lacrosse career ended up.
Wait, no... there was a thought there. Numbers. Strength in numbers.
The whole point about Survival of The Fittest was that only one could survive. You couldn't trust anyone, because in the end they'd have to turn on you. So you'd have to go it alone, or find a small group and then turn on them when the time was right. That was how you were supposed to play, and how you were supposed to win. But it made sense to partner up with someone. You needed someone to watch your back in the vulnerable times. When you were asleep, or going to the bathroom, or when you were fighting. But, Juanita reflected, it also made sense from defensive standpoint - someone who'd attack a lone person might think twice about fighting a pair or a trio.
But what if you took that concept even further? What if you had an entire team, working together? Instead of two or three people, eight or nine. It'd be a simple enough pitch. Join the team, you've got seven or eight ready-made allies. A guaranteed pass to the final nine was better than rolling the dice as a solo act. Why go it alone when you could have a group behind you? Eight or nine people could steamroll any fight they got into, especially with the right weaponry. Nobody would want to take on that many people, not if they could help it. And even if one of them chickened out or didn't want to kill a friend of theirs, the others could compensate for that.
Yeah, this could work. There'd be a lot of kinks to iron out, but it was theoretically doable. All you'd need were the right people, people who were willing to do what needed to be done to survive.
Juanita looked over at Kaede and Jack. Might as well float the idea now, and see how it went.
"Hey... How are you guys feeling about... you know, all of this?"
Legion of Doom, Assemble!
Legion of Doom, Assemble!
V9 Characters:
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez
The imposition of human expectations onto an unknowable and uncaring world. Churches were a ubiquitous structure for that reason. Ash wouldn't have been surprised if the former inhabitants of the island had put up the church before they'd put up a mess hall. Her faith in humanities' common sense wasn't particularly high, and that had been before she'd woken up to face death with her favorite impassive face.
- Ashlyn -
She hadn't seen another face during her hour some long trudge over. Suited her just fine. She'd wanted an opportunity to check out the activity in the town from a higher vantage. A dozen or a handful of homes, a few other structures. She'd gotten the sense that she'd be able to see the scurrying shapes of life long before she had to deal with them and her appraisal was roughly right, the roads leading out into town formed a map that could be understood in one glance, as if it could fit into the palm of her hand.
She doubted she could stay here long, for that exact reason. Not having much faith in her batch of classmates didn't equal underestimating their potential intelligence. At least a few other folks would see the strategic value in this location.
The group of three in the church, for example, just beyond the doors Ash was confidently approaching with no slow in her step. Three slow heartbeats. Perhaps their hearts were beating that fast, or maybe the collars stayed active on the dead.
The crunch of rimed-over gravel underfoot softened. She peered through a window, intent on about facing and leaving as unnoticed as she'd come if what she saw wasn't too her liking. Instead she recognized one face. Three bodies in the pews, all definitely alive.
The accident that had taken out Juanita had been something of a slow burn, all the more tragic for how mundane it had been for an outsider looking in. One of their school's most talented, hardworking... attractive, of course, but Ash had been shot down long ago and had made peace with that. There'd always been hope among those who cared- few, inevitably- that Juanita would have been back on the field with a quick recovery. Weeks had turned into months. Juanita still had the occasional struggle with her motion to this day, the infrequent giving out of her bad leg, or needing to shift from a confident strut to a hesitant hobble due to acute pain and tension.
Juanita had been withdrawn, understandably. Ash had helped where she could, and kept her distance otherwise.
She should've now, but Ash was painfully aware of the limits of her mortality. Evie was not a friend. Kai was everything except. She wouldn't have stayed for them, but for a member of her clique, the weirdos and goons she called her people... her heart couldn't be cold enough. She couldn't trudge off to die in peace. Not yet. Ash sighed under her breath, very much understanding that she was likely about to extend the suffering of herself and perhaps others by some incalculable amount. Wasn't yet her time to die. She'd linger like a cancer, unwelcome, stubbornly alive, and she'd live long enough to watch everyone she knew and love die screaming, watch them with her own two eyes.
Maybe if Ash got to them first she could make it quick. But that particular intrusive thought was one she was not ready to be dealing with yet , if the sudden boil over of cold in her blood was anything to go by. The doors to the church opened unceremoniously, loud only because the hinges were rusted and icicled over. It was like announcing her presence by trampling a box of Rice Krispies.
She held up both hands, showing off the weapon she had. In theory it didn't look like it was dangerous, this was probably the most amicable way to make herself known.
"Room for one more?" The soles of her shoes were like nails on chalkboard, over the tile of the church aisles. She found herself a place in a pew behind the group, sat as if she knew or cared to know about prayer. "How's the leg holding up? Juanita?" The concern in her voice was minimal, but that was a loud and clear sort of deal for anyone who knew her.
- Ashlyn -
She hadn't seen another face during her hour some long trudge over. Suited her just fine. She'd wanted an opportunity to check out the activity in the town from a higher vantage. A dozen or a handful of homes, a few other structures. She'd gotten the sense that she'd be able to see the scurrying shapes of life long before she had to deal with them and her appraisal was roughly right, the roads leading out into town formed a map that could be understood in one glance, as if it could fit into the palm of her hand.
She doubted she could stay here long, for that exact reason. Not having much faith in her batch of classmates didn't equal underestimating their potential intelligence. At least a few other folks would see the strategic value in this location.
The group of three in the church, for example, just beyond the doors Ash was confidently approaching with no slow in her step. Three slow heartbeats. Perhaps their hearts were beating that fast, or maybe the collars stayed active on the dead.
The crunch of rimed-over gravel underfoot softened. She peered through a window, intent on about facing and leaving as unnoticed as she'd come if what she saw wasn't too her liking. Instead she recognized one face. Three bodies in the pews, all definitely alive.
The accident that had taken out Juanita had been something of a slow burn, all the more tragic for how mundane it had been for an outsider looking in. One of their school's most talented, hardworking... attractive, of course, but Ash had been shot down long ago and had made peace with that. There'd always been hope among those who cared- few, inevitably- that Juanita would have been back on the field with a quick recovery. Weeks had turned into months. Juanita still had the occasional struggle with her motion to this day, the infrequent giving out of her bad leg, or needing to shift from a confident strut to a hesitant hobble due to acute pain and tension.
Juanita had been withdrawn, understandably. Ash had helped where she could, and kept her distance otherwise.
She should've now, but Ash was painfully aware of the limits of her mortality. Evie was not a friend. Kai was everything except. She wouldn't have stayed for them, but for a member of her clique, the weirdos and goons she called her people... her heart couldn't be cold enough. She couldn't trudge off to die in peace. Not yet. Ash sighed under her breath, very much understanding that she was likely about to extend the suffering of herself and perhaps others by some incalculable amount. Wasn't yet her time to die. She'd linger like a cancer, unwelcome, stubbornly alive, and she'd live long enough to watch everyone she knew and love die screaming, watch them with her own two eyes.
Maybe if Ash got to them first she could make it quick. But that particular intrusive thought was one she was not ready to be dealing with yet , if the sudden boil over of cold in her blood was anything to go by. The doors to the church opened unceremoniously, loud only because the hinges were rusted and icicled over. It was like announcing her presence by trampling a box of Rice Krispies.
She held up both hands, showing off the weapon she had. In theory it didn't look like it was dangerous, this was probably the most amicable way to make herself known.
"Room for one more?" The soles of her shoes were like nails on chalkboard, over the tile of the church aisles. She found herself a place in a pew behind the group, sat as if she knew or cared to know about prayer. "How's the leg holding up? Juanita?" The concern in her voice was minimal, but that was a loud and clear sort of deal for anyone who knew her.
(Jack Anderson continued from Come Out Juanita, Don't Let Me Wait)
"Hey... How are you guys feeling about... you know, all of this?"
Jack was laid out on a pew...
Pew...pew pew pew...why are they called pews, anyway?
It wasn't fair to say that he wasn't taking things seriously - it was more that everything was so damned surreal that he didn't even know how to process it, so he'd sort-of stopped processing and he was just - well, he was here...
...well, he was here, at least in part. You didn't even have to know about Heisenberg's uncertainty principle to know why somebody might not be all here right about now. Jack had only awakened to that mess in the basement, after all, and then nearly got run out of here because...honestly, he's not even sure what happened down there, just that there was...well, a lot of screaming and so on.
"Oh, you know, just another day in paradise?" he answered, propping himself up in the pew. After a brief pause, he replied in kind. "How are you holding up? With, you know, the leg and all?"
His lack of a response to Ash isn't him not caring - it's more that he is, decidedly, not in charge in here, so it isn't his place to respond.
Jack was there, he wasn't getting attacked, and so as far as he was concerned he was safe enough for the moment. That might all change at any point, but...well, it hadn't changed yet, so he wasn't going to complain too loudly.
(Unless he found a camera he could talk straight into. Then he was probably going to scream at the home audience. But he didn't take note of one for now, so...well, he'd just relax for the time being.)
"Hey... How are you guys feeling about... you know, all of this?"
Jack was laid out on a pew...
Pew...pew pew pew...why are they called pews, anyway?
It wasn't fair to say that he wasn't taking things seriously - it was more that everything was so damned surreal that he didn't even know how to process it, so he'd sort-of stopped processing and he was just - well, he was here...
...well, he was here, at least in part. You didn't even have to know about Heisenberg's uncertainty principle to know why somebody might not be all here right about now. Jack had only awakened to that mess in the basement, after all, and then nearly got run out of here because...honestly, he's not even sure what happened down there, just that there was...well, a lot of screaming and so on.
"Oh, you know, just another day in paradise?" he answered, propping himself up in the pew. After a brief pause, he replied in kind. "How are you holding up? With, you know, the leg and all?"
His lack of a response to Ash isn't him not caring - it's more that he is, decidedly, not in charge in here, so it isn't his place to respond.
Jack was there, he wasn't getting attacked, and so as far as he was concerned he was safe enough for the moment. That might all change at any point, but...well, it hadn't changed yet, so he wasn't going to complain too loudly.
(Unless he found a camera he could talk straight into. Then he was probably going to scream at the home audience. But he didn't take note of one for now, so...well, he'd just relax for the time being.)
"How are you holding up? With, you know, the leg and all?"
Juanita grimaced at the question. Of course Jack knew about her leg. She'd been on the school's most notable sports team, and gone down with an injury. Not a shock that the track manager would have heard about it. But deep down she'd been hoping that... well, that it wouldn't be so glaringly obvious. Being thought of as "that girl with the bad leg" wasn't going to do her any favors here.
But, all the more reason to start thinking strategically. She could bluff if she had to, try and make it seem like the leg wasn't that big a deal. Turn herself into an asset, rather than a hindrance.
"No, I meant-"
But then the church doors had opened, heralded by squeaks of rust and falling ice. Juanita had turned, weapon in hand, and...
"Ash!?"
Juanita wasn't big on looking to the Lord for signs and omens - it bordered a little too closely on occult stuff for her liking - but it couldn't be a coincidence that just now, when she was starting to think about putting a team together, Ash came walking in. Their history was a little too awkward to put an easy "friend" label on it, but they'd been relatively close for a while, back when they were both athletes. But that aside, Ash was tough, she was smart, and she had some experience with martial arts. Jack's team management skills might come in handy, but if anybody was going to be star player material in this bloodsport, it was Ash. And any personal stuff... well, they could cross that bridge when they came to it, if they had to.
She nodded enthusiastically when Ash asked if she could join in, motioning to sit wherever she liked. Already, plans and ideas were starting to whirl through her head. If Ash knew who else was out there, had any idea where other athletes might be, or people who'd know how to use a weapon effectively... Then Ash's blunt question cut through the stream of ideas.
"How's the leg holding up? Juanita?"
That was Ash, all right. Cutting right to it. It wasn't a strictly clinical question, Juanita knew. Ash had been one of the first (and as it turned out, only) athletes to reach out to her while she was recovering, and even after it all went wrong and Juanita withdrew from the athletics crowd, Ash stayed in touch via body improvement club and checked in from time to time. She cared, in her own way. But if she was in game mode, there was probably an assessment piece to the question too.
"I woke up on top of the steeple. Bit of a rough start, but I've got meds. I'll manage," she said. No point in trying to bluff Ash. She'd smell a lie a mile off. And if this plan was going to come together, trust was gonna be paramount.
Her eyes flicked towards the door, and the island beyond. "I heard some screaming in the graveyard when I woke up, and some girls had a fight in the cellar under the church, too. Is it that crazy everywhere else?"
Juanita grimaced at the question. Of course Jack knew about her leg. She'd been on the school's most notable sports team, and gone down with an injury. Not a shock that the track manager would have heard about it. But deep down she'd been hoping that... well, that it wouldn't be so glaringly obvious. Being thought of as "that girl with the bad leg" wasn't going to do her any favors here.
But, all the more reason to start thinking strategically. She could bluff if she had to, try and make it seem like the leg wasn't that big a deal. Turn herself into an asset, rather than a hindrance.
"No, I meant-"
But then the church doors had opened, heralded by squeaks of rust and falling ice. Juanita had turned, weapon in hand, and...
"Ash!?"
Juanita wasn't big on looking to the Lord for signs and omens - it bordered a little too closely on occult stuff for her liking - but it couldn't be a coincidence that just now, when she was starting to think about putting a team together, Ash came walking in. Their history was a little too awkward to put an easy "friend" label on it, but they'd been relatively close for a while, back when they were both athletes. But that aside, Ash was tough, she was smart, and she had some experience with martial arts. Jack's team management skills might come in handy, but if anybody was going to be star player material in this bloodsport, it was Ash. And any personal stuff... well, they could cross that bridge when they came to it, if they had to.
She nodded enthusiastically when Ash asked if she could join in, motioning to sit wherever she liked. Already, plans and ideas were starting to whirl through her head. If Ash knew who else was out there, had any idea where other athletes might be, or people who'd know how to use a weapon effectively... Then Ash's blunt question cut through the stream of ideas.
"How's the leg holding up? Juanita?"
That was Ash, all right. Cutting right to it. It wasn't a strictly clinical question, Juanita knew. Ash had been one of the first (and as it turned out, only) athletes to reach out to her while she was recovering, and even after it all went wrong and Juanita withdrew from the athletics crowd, Ash stayed in touch via body improvement club and checked in from time to time. She cared, in her own way. But if she was in game mode, there was probably an assessment piece to the question too.
"I woke up on top of the steeple. Bit of a rough start, but I've got meds. I'll manage," she said. No point in trying to bluff Ash. She'd smell a lie a mile off. And if this plan was going to come together, trust was gonna be paramount.
Her eyes flicked towards the door, and the island beyond. "I heard some screaming in the graveyard when I woke up, and some girls had a fight in the cellar under the church, too. Is it that crazy everywhere else?"
V9 Characters:
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez
She carefully shifted the weight from leg to leg, a slow and steady bounce that quietly flexed each ankle without tapping the foot against the ground unnecessarily. Kept the muscles warmed up, she didn't want them to rest for even a moment. The ice would seep in, rob her of her initiative.
This close up she was able to properly identify the other two faces. Funny how an ominous silhouette became a mundane face with the right lighting. Anderson she had regard for, ran teams competently, stayed out of trouble. Kaede she believed had been in dance club, was one of Daniella's inner circle.
Surface level appraisals. Anyone in this room had it in them to turn killer, that was how human nature worked. Path of least resistance.
"Grim prognosis," Ash fired back almost instantaneously. She immediately knew the worst case scenario, immediately believed it. She looked fine, but anybody benched looked fine as long as they were ideally cared for, propped up. Juanita was better than any old anybody- at least, Ash still believed that in a strictly platonic sense. But all it took was one slip up.
Ash already regretted this. She didn't want to watch a friend be taken out of the fight before it even started.
"Evie from swim team's been attacked. I don't know by who or how bad the wound is, I didn't stick around." Her way of rewarding honesty was by eschewing the bullshit on her own count. Likewise her way of punishing liars. Ash only knew the shortest distance between two points- she hated wasting words. She'd gladly make it clear just what sort of person she intended to be on this island. "Wounds and injuries are going to be a big problem, Juanita. I... well, you know me. I can't say I have that much faith."
The space where a sigh would have been, but Ash didn't want to project the weakness.
"But yeah. Shit's already going down. I'm positive we're down at least two people from the class."
This close up she was able to properly identify the other two faces. Funny how an ominous silhouette became a mundane face with the right lighting. Anderson she had regard for, ran teams competently, stayed out of trouble. Kaede she believed had been in dance club, was one of Daniella's inner circle.
Surface level appraisals. Anyone in this room had it in them to turn killer, that was how human nature worked. Path of least resistance.
"Grim prognosis," Ash fired back almost instantaneously. She immediately knew the worst case scenario, immediately believed it. She looked fine, but anybody benched looked fine as long as they were ideally cared for, propped up. Juanita was better than any old anybody- at least, Ash still believed that in a strictly platonic sense. But all it took was one slip up.
Ash already regretted this. She didn't want to watch a friend be taken out of the fight before it even started.
"Evie from swim team's been attacked. I don't know by who or how bad the wound is, I didn't stick around." Her way of rewarding honesty was by eschewing the bullshit on her own count. Likewise her way of punishing liars. Ash only knew the shortest distance between two points- she hated wasting words. She'd gladly make it clear just what sort of person she intended to be on this island. "Wounds and injuries are going to be a big problem, Juanita. I... well, you know me. I can't say I have that much faith."
The space where a sigh would have been, but Ash didn't want to project the weakness.
"But yeah. Shit's already going down. I'm positive we're down at least two people from the class."
((Kaede Tsurumi continued from Come Out, Juanita, Don't Let Me Wait))
Kaede didn't like this at all. She didn't like what Ash ad said, she didn't like that Ash was quite possibly underestimating the number of people to have died, she didn't like that there were so many people around her (yes, three counted as as "too many"). And, as Kaede drew her knees to her chest, she especially did not like that Juanita had a point.
"I just ... I just don't want to die."
Kaede didn't like this at all. She didn't like what Ash ad said, she didn't like that Ash was quite possibly underestimating the number of people to have died, she didn't like that there were so many people around her (yes, three counted as as "too many"). And, as Kaede drew her knees to her chest, she especially did not like that Juanita had a point.
"I just ... I just don't want to die."
Survivor: UCONN - Seriously, it's awesome!
Version 8
S001: KAEDE TSURUMI: "Eeep! I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll try not to get in your w-way next time!" Status: ACTIVE
S024: VICTOR GRAIL: "I didn't give you the lead so that you could lose it! I guess it's up to me to carry us after all." Status: ACTIVE
S103: JOAN LEAVEN Status: ACTIVE
S129: DAVID WORTH: Status: ACTIVE
Version 8
S001: KAEDE TSURUMI: "Eeep! I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll try not to get in your w-way next time!" Status: ACTIVE
S024: VICTOR GRAIL: "I didn't give you the lead so that you could lose it! I guess it's up to me to carry us after all." Status: ACTIVE
S103: JOAN LEAVEN Status: ACTIVE
S129: DAVID WORTH: Status: ACTIVE
“Grim prognosis.”
Ash’s words slapped Juanita across the face, leaving her cheeks burning as she listened to Ash’s brief recount of the violence she’d witnessed. She gritted her teeth. Ash wasn’t wrong. Of course she wasn’t. She wouldn’t stick around, saddling herself with a one-legged loser. Not unless Juanita could convince her to stay.
Kaede was huddled up on one of the pews, whimpering about how she didn’t want to die. She’d need convincing too. And, heck. Juanita could use some convincing herself.
“I don’t want to die either,” Juanita said, her jaw tight with defiance. “And we’re not going to. Not today. Yeah, the outlook isn’t good, for any of us. The only real weapon I see in this room is the one I’m holding, and there are a lot of people out there, and they’re already killing.”
She looked up at Ash, her eyes blazing with competitive fire. “But so what? When you were on the volleyball team, did you give up just because another team had more wins or better players than you? Because lacrosse never did. If a team looked better than us, we figured out what we could do better than them and focused on it. If the odds are against us, then let’s tilt the playing field in our favor. Right now we don’t have a lot of weapons, but I’ll tell you what we do have. We have four people. We have four athletes, all with experience working on a team. If the four of us agree that we’re not going to kill each other until everybody else is dead, then we have an advantage over the others. Think about it.”
Juanita held for a moment to let her words sink in, get the mental wheels turning. Once she felt that she’d juiced up the gears enough, she continued. “And, you know, it doesn’t just have to be four. We could recruit other people. People with better weapons. Get them on our side, fighting for us rather than against us. If we could get enough people signed on and fighting together, then we can win every fight we get into. Instead of every fight being a one or two people against one or two people, it becomes eight on one. Nobody’s going to attack a group like that. We move as a unit, take out everyone in our path. We play as a team, and we guarantee that one of us winds up walking out of here.”
She swallowed hard. This was it. The important bit. If she couldn’t convince Ash here, then she was going to walk. “You know that I’m a fighter, no matter what. I may have lost some things in my life. I lost my scholarship, my future, and my team. But I didn’t go through all of that just to lay down and die here. I’m not going to give up. This isn't the first grim prognosis I've beaten. And I am not going to lose this fight.”
She looked around the room, locking eyes first with Jack, then Kaede, then finally Ash. “So come with me, and let’s make this happen.”
Ash’s words slapped Juanita across the face, leaving her cheeks burning as she listened to Ash’s brief recount of the violence she’d witnessed. She gritted her teeth. Ash wasn’t wrong. Of course she wasn’t. She wouldn’t stick around, saddling herself with a one-legged loser. Not unless Juanita could convince her to stay.
Kaede was huddled up on one of the pews, whimpering about how she didn’t want to die. She’d need convincing too. And, heck. Juanita could use some convincing herself.
“I don’t want to die either,” Juanita said, her jaw tight with defiance. “And we’re not going to. Not today. Yeah, the outlook isn’t good, for any of us. The only real weapon I see in this room is the one I’m holding, and there are a lot of people out there, and they’re already killing.”
She looked up at Ash, her eyes blazing with competitive fire. “But so what? When you were on the volleyball team, did you give up just because another team had more wins or better players than you? Because lacrosse never did. If a team looked better than us, we figured out what we could do better than them and focused on it. If the odds are against us, then let’s tilt the playing field in our favor. Right now we don’t have a lot of weapons, but I’ll tell you what we do have. We have four people. We have four athletes, all with experience working on a team. If the four of us agree that we’re not going to kill each other until everybody else is dead, then we have an advantage over the others. Think about it.”
Juanita held for a moment to let her words sink in, get the mental wheels turning. Once she felt that she’d juiced up the gears enough, she continued. “And, you know, it doesn’t just have to be four. We could recruit other people. People with better weapons. Get them on our side, fighting for us rather than against us. If we could get enough people signed on and fighting together, then we can win every fight we get into. Instead of every fight being a one or two people against one or two people, it becomes eight on one. Nobody’s going to attack a group like that. We move as a unit, take out everyone in our path. We play as a team, and we guarantee that one of us winds up walking out of here.”
She swallowed hard. This was it. The important bit. If she couldn’t convince Ash here, then she was going to walk. “You know that I’m a fighter, no matter what. I may have lost some things in my life. I lost my scholarship, my future, and my team. But I didn’t go through all of that just to lay down and die here. I’m not going to give up. This isn't the first grim prognosis I've beaten. And I am not going to lose this fight.”
She looked around the room, locking eyes first with Jack, then Kaede, then finally Ash. “So come with me, and let’s make this happen.”
V9 Characters:
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez
“So come with me, and let’s make this happen.”
Jack nods, slowly, taking it all in: The inspiring speechifying and the germ of a plan. He's never been the sort of guy to want to turn the world upside down, but...well, this is at least something give the insane situation they're all in. It might not be outright resistance per se, but it doesn't leave them alone. Not until the end. And if they can make it that far...if...
"Yeah, I don't want to die either. But this...this is better than just going off to hide. And...if all we do is reduce the chance that anyone who chooses to go nuts wins, that's...well, it's not nothing."
...then he can burn that bridge when he comes to it. With a bit of tapping his fingers on the side of one of the pews, he takes a deep breath.
"I'm in."
Jack nods, slowly, taking it all in: The inspiring speechifying and the germ of a plan. He's never been the sort of guy to want to turn the world upside down, but...well, this is at least something give the insane situation they're all in. It might not be outright resistance per se, but it doesn't leave them alone. Not until the end. And if they can make it that far...if...
"Yeah, I don't want to die either. But this...this is better than just going off to hide. And...if all we do is reduce the chance that anyone who chooses to go nuts wins, that's...well, it's not nothing."
...then he can burn that bridge when he comes to it. With a bit of tapping his fingers on the side of one of the pews, he takes a deep breath.
"I'm in."
Dangerous look in Juanita's eyes. Hope was the final evil left in the box, the thinnest blanket to promise an illusion of warmth.
Ash's expression remained neutral. She wasn't trying to obscure her reaction, her reaction was just that. A stare, thoughtfully engaged, at times swiping sideways at either Jack or Kaede, trying to intuit from their own stone faces something she didn't already know.
Volleyball, incidentally, had never dropped morale under her watch. Far as she had been aware, at any rate, who knew what self-loathing lurked in the mountain halls of a gen Z mind. Ash might have countered that there was a good difference between fighting for a higher placement in the MassHSVB versus fighting to make roadkill of your former classmates. Maybe not in the minds of your average soccer mom, but still. Ash mused on the quip for a moment then discarded it. Tangential at best.
The words themselves definitely sounded good. Ash knew Juanita had been a good 'leader in the trenches' sort, but Ash hadn't been particularly expecting that said trenches would be the sort where actual crimes against humanity would be part and parcel. The sort of death and decay she'd come to expect had been that of a consumerist society, of failing friendships and familiar faces turned unfamiliar... well, maybe those dynamics still roughly stood, even here.
Once again, Ash weighed in to get it over with.
"I doubt it works. But yeah. Sure. I don't want to make it off this island, but if I die it's going to be on my own terms."
She nodded once, more to herself.
"And Jack's right. At the very least I don't want someone to live to the end who we know is a shitstain." What she didn't say was that she believed nobody would qualify by her very low standards by the time it came down to the final few people. Worthiness was for those who hadn't gone on the trip at all. They earned the honor of death by slower torture.
"I'll do what I have to do and I'll do it without judgement." As her end of the collateral she pointed out the radar in her hands, how it showed the four of them in a loose formation. "Let's try to go out with at least a few good plays to our name."
Ash blinked. Then another two dots casually bubbled into being, ghosts somewhere in the walls. Her breath caught in her neurons.
Ash's expression remained neutral. She wasn't trying to obscure her reaction, her reaction was just that. A stare, thoughtfully engaged, at times swiping sideways at either Jack or Kaede, trying to intuit from their own stone faces something she didn't already know.
Volleyball, incidentally, had never dropped morale under her watch. Far as she had been aware, at any rate, who knew what self-loathing lurked in the mountain halls of a gen Z mind. Ash might have countered that there was a good difference between fighting for a higher placement in the MassHSVB versus fighting to make roadkill of your former classmates. Maybe not in the minds of your average soccer mom, but still. Ash mused on the quip for a moment then discarded it. Tangential at best.
The words themselves definitely sounded good. Ash knew Juanita had been a good 'leader in the trenches' sort, but Ash hadn't been particularly expecting that said trenches would be the sort where actual crimes against humanity would be part and parcel. The sort of death and decay she'd come to expect had been that of a consumerist society, of failing friendships and familiar faces turned unfamiliar... well, maybe those dynamics still roughly stood, even here.
Once again, Ash weighed in to get it over with.
"I doubt it works. But yeah. Sure. I don't want to make it off this island, but if I die it's going to be on my own terms."
She nodded once, more to herself.
"And Jack's right. At the very least I don't want someone to live to the end who we know is a shitstain." What she didn't say was that she believed nobody would qualify by her very low standards by the time it came down to the final few people. Worthiness was for those who hadn't gone on the trip at all. They earned the honor of death by slower torture.
"I'll do what I have to do and I'll do it without judgement." As her end of the collateral she pointed out the radar in her hands, how it showed the four of them in a loose formation. "Let's try to go out with at least a few good plays to our name."
Ash blinked. Then another two dots casually bubbled into being, ghosts somewhere in the walls. Her breath caught in her neurons.
They were all agreeing to it. Working together. The reality of the situation was that Kaede's fear was what drove her to her decision. The slightly more obscure part was that her fear could have justified either decision: yes or no. On the one hand, she didn't know if she could stand being around them, having to impress them and not embarrassing herself. On the other, they could help her not die and go home. Ash was showing something - a radar of some sort, showing four dots. The four of them. If she stuck with them, she could live. And she could live past some embarrassment, could she?
Her arms loosened from around her legs as she actually sat on the pew and she leaned forward.
"Okay. I'll join you." Kaede nodded.
It was her fear of death that won out.
Her arms loosened from around her legs as she actually sat on the pew and she leaned forward.
"Okay. I'll join you." Kaede nodded.
It was her fear of death that won out.
Survivor: UCONN - Seriously, it's awesome!
Version 8
S001: KAEDE TSURUMI: "Eeep! I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll try not to get in your w-way next time!" Status: ACTIVE
S024: VICTOR GRAIL: "I didn't give you the lead so that you could lose it! I guess it's up to me to carry us after all." Status: ACTIVE
S103: JOAN LEAVEN Status: ACTIVE
S129: DAVID WORTH: Status: ACTIVE
Version 8
S001: KAEDE TSURUMI: "Eeep! I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll try not to get in your w-way next time!" Status: ACTIVE
S024: VICTOR GRAIL: "I didn't give you the lead so that you could lose it! I guess it's up to me to carry us after all." Status: ACTIVE
S103: JOAN LEAVEN Status: ACTIVE
S129: DAVID WORTH: Status: ACTIVE
-
TheLordOfAwesome
- Posts: 745
- Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:37 pm
- Location: Washington
((Dani Bird continued from A Curse, A First))
After all that shit with Joey Gun Guy, she was just glad to be out of that fucking cellar. And now she would… She wasn’t sure. She was just tired. Being literally dragged across an island, hopped up on fear induced adrenaline would do that to anyone really. But as she ascended the steps into the main church properly, she let out a very tired and exasperated moan. She looked around the back of the church, Joey nowhere to be seen. That was fine with her, she was done with that guy forever if she had it her way.
She wandered off, heading off into the main area of the church. As she pushed through the door with heavy, tired footfalls she-
There were people here.
She suppressed a groan. She didn’t want to deal with more people. Her social battery was drained to nothing by this po-
Wait.
She recognized two of them. One was her teammate Ash and the other… The other was Kaede! Finally two people she actually fucking KNEW and LIKED!
“OH THANK FUCKING CHRIST!” She yelled, her voice echoing through the building.
After all that shit with Joey Gun Guy, she was just glad to be out of that fucking cellar. And now she would… She wasn’t sure. She was just tired. Being literally dragged across an island, hopped up on fear induced adrenaline would do that to anyone really. But as she ascended the steps into the main church properly, she let out a very tired and exasperated moan. She looked around the back of the church, Joey nowhere to be seen. That was fine with her, she was done with that guy forever if she had it her way.
She wandered off, heading off into the main area of the church. As she pushed through the door with heavy, tired footfalls she-
There were people here.
She suppressed a groan. She didn’t want to deal with more people. Her social battery was drained to nothing by this po-
Wait.
She recognized two of them. One was her teammate Ash and the other… The other was Kaede! Finally two people she actually fucking KNEW and LIKED!
“OH THANK FUCKING CHRIST!” She yelled, her voice echoing through the building.
Was that a... radar?
"Oh my gosh, a tracker? That's amazing! That'll come in super handy! We can use that to find potential recruits, and then once we've recruited enough team members we'll know where to find everyone else, so we don't get... ambushed..."
Juanita's voice trailed off as she saw Ash catch her breath. She looked at the screen. There were two extra dots. What!? Where? Suddenly, one of the dots made a beeline out of there. Where was that? And another dot was approaching the four of them, which meant -
“OH THANK FUCKING CHRIST!”
Juanita winced, both from Dani's volume and her blasphemy. This church, Juanita thought waspishly, must have been deconsecrated. Otherwise Dani Bird would have burst into flames and become Dani Phoenix upon crossing the threshold.
It was a mean thought, but not an unwarranted one. Juanita had spent most of middle school being tormented by girls like Dani, the pretty popular ones who hated her because they thought their boyfriends would be blinded by the headlights and go astray - usually because that's how they'd gotten them in the first place. And no matter how hard Juanita tried to keep out of their way and avoid giving them reasons to come after her, they'd invent rumors out of whole cloth to keep the cycle going. Dani Bird was everything that Juanita had spent high school trying not to be, and seeing her here, yelling and making herself the center of attention, brought her nausea back full force.
Also, not totally relevant, but what the heck kind of Tardissy, Time Lord, bigger-on-the-inside basement did this church have, anyway? Seriously, that made, what, six people that had been down there now? Who was coming up next, Big D-Word Buster?
There was another problem, too. Juanita had no way of knowing how long Dani had been listening in from the back. She might have heard the whole speech, and Juanita found her cheeks getting red imagining the head cheerleader rolling her eyes in the sacristy while Juanita went all Braveheart. If Dani knew what they were planning, she easily had enough friends and consorts to mount a solid opposition. If they recruited her, she could bring those relationships onboard, and that was a big help... but would she really side with this ragtag group over the popular kids and her fellow cheermazons? Doubtful. And someone had just run away from the church, too... Maybe two of them had been spying on the church, and one was running for backup... Ugh. Five minutes. Just five minutes where things went smoothly. Was that too much to ask!?
Juanita forced herself to put on a pleasant smile. "Oh hi, Dani!" she said. "We were just... talking about... well, you know. The game and stuff."
"Oh my gosh, a tracker? That's amazing! That'll come in super handy! We can use that to find potential recruits, and then once we've recruited enough team members we'll know where to find everyone else, so we don't get... ambushed..."
Juanita's voice trailed off as she saw Ash catch her breath. She looked at the screen. There were two extra dots. What!? Where? Suddenly, one of the dots made a beeline out of there. Where was that? And another dot was approaching the four of them, which meant -
“OH THANK FUCKING CHRIST!”
Juanita winced, both from Dani's volume and her blasphemy. This church, Juanita thought waspishly, must have been deconsecrated. Otherwise Dani Bird would have burst into flames and become Dani Phoenix upon crossing the threshold.
It was a mean thought, but not an unwarranted one. Juanita had spent most of middle school being tormented by girls like Dani, the pretty popular ones who hated her because they thought their boyfriends would be blinded by the headlights and go astray - usually because that's how they'd gotten them in the first place. And no matter how hard Juanita tried to keep out of their way and avoid giving them reasons to come after her, they'd invent rumors out of whole cloth to keep the cycle going. Dani Bird was everything that Juanita had spent high school trying not to be, and seeing her here, yelling and making herself the center of attention, brought her nausea back full force.
Also, not totally relevant, but what the heck kind of Tardissy, Time Lord, bigger-on-the-inside basement did this church have, anyway? Seriously, that made, what, six people that had been down there now? Who was coming up next, Big D-Word Buster?
There was another problem, too. Juanita had no way of knowing how long Dani had been listening in from the back. She might have heard the whole speech, and Juanita found her cheeks getting red imagining the head cheerleader rolling her eyes in the sacristy while Juanita went all Braveheart. If Dani knew what they were planning, she easily had enough friends and consorts to mount a solid opposition. If they recruited her, she could bring those relationships onboard, and that was a big help... but would she really side with this ragtag group over the popular kids and her fellow cheermazons? Doubtful. And someone had just run away from the church, too... Maybe two of them had been spying on the church, and one was running for backup... Ugh. Five minutes. Just five minutes where things went smoothly. Was that too much to ask!?
Juanita forced herself to put on a pleasant smile. "Oh hi, Dani!" she said. "We were just... talking about... well, you know. The game and stuff."
V9 Characters:
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez
Right. The game...
Which, in a moment of a horridly dated reference coming back to bite, caused Jack to mumble "I just lost the game"...probably loudly enough that one or two others could hear.
Hefting his pack over a shoulder as he stood up, Jack turned to Juanita and Ash.
"So...the game. I...I guess I'm at your...all's...disposal for this." he offered, perhaps unconsciously deciding to transfer as much responsibility as he could to somebody else for whatever came next. If anybody wanted to yell at him later, he could always say he was just following orders. Because, of course, that never ended badly for anyone. Nope, never.
"So, where do we go from here?" he asked.
Which, in a moment of a horridly dated reference coming back to bite, caused Jack to mumble "I just lost the game"...probably loudly enough that one or two others could hear.
Hefting his pack over a shoulder as he stood up, Jack turned to Juanita and Ash.
"So...the game. I...I guess I'm at your...all's...disposal for this." he offered, perhaps unconsciously deciding to transfer as much responsibility as he could to somebody else for whatever came next. If anybody wanted to yell at him later, he could always say he was just following orders. Because, of course, that never ended badly for anyone. Nope, never.
"So, where do we go from here?" he asked.
One dot vanished into the void as quickly as it had come. Ash would have fled too if she'd seen the sight of herself? She guessed she'd afford herself that much in the way of props.
Other dot was Dani, who seemed reasonably happy to see them. She looked worse than Ash had ever seen the Bird heiress (if she was even set to inherit anything? All Ash knew was the occasional windfall of Daddy's money to help the team buy new equipment had always been appreciated), with clothes that didn't look ironed straight onto her body. A bit askew for once, so Ash figured Dani must have lived through a nuclear strike or the sort. Dani was a good teammate, mild hoebag tendencies aside. She was an honest showboat bitch, which Ash respected. Played her hand as dealt, didn't complain about the rules that came with a patriarchal society, etc. She gestured Dani over, acknowledging her teammate about as long as she knew was needed to satiate the slavering ego beneath the pretty eyes and cute bod.
"I read the manual through for this thing. Pretty straightforward, but I think it shows collars specifically, so." Ash briefly recalled the thin strip of metal fit perfectly to the shape of her neck, feather-lite enough that it was only noticeable when she thought about it as she was now. Insidiously easy to let become a form of ambiance, an extension of her lifeblood and heartbeat.
One form of suicide bomber no amount of DoD blank checks could ever seemingly put an end to.
"Weird how easy this was to commit to, isn't it? Though I'm imagining some of us will have second thoughts." Third, fourth, fifth. Ash imagined she'd have to deal with that when she got to it, whoever the source was. Even herself, punching the mirror edgy Eminem style. She was already resolved to handle dissent by whatever means necessary, not because she felt much legitimate attachment to the cause of living another day, but because it would at least be an opportunity to keep her own fate strictly in her own hands, however much they had to be scrunched up into fists.
All she was asking for, really. Self-determination. Give her liberty, and give her death.
"We figure out how to keep things in order. Get anyone else we can trust on our side." A humorless chuckle, an energy-free smile. "Keep anyone who refuses two syllables deep on your Death Notes though. Anyone who knows what we're up to and refuses is probably going to become an enemy."
Other dot was Dani, who seemed reasonably happy to see them. She looked worse than Ash had ever seen the Bird heiress (if she was even set to inherit anything? All Ash knew was the occasional windfall of Daddy's money to help the team buy new equipment had always been appreciated), with clothes that didn't look ironed straight onto her body. A bit askew for once, so Ash figured Dani must have lived through a nuclear strike or the sort. Dani was a good teammate, mild hoebag tendencies aside. She was an honest showboat bitch, which Ash respected. Played her hand as dealt, didn't complain about the rules that came with a patriarchal society, etc. She gestured Dani over, acknowledging her teammate about as long as she knew was needed to satiate the slavering ego beneath the pretty eyes and cute bod.
"I read the manual through for this thing. Pretty straightforward, but I think it shows collars specifically, so." Ash briefly recalled the thin strip of metal fit perfectly to the shape of her neck, feather-lite enough that it was only noticeable when she thought about it as she was now. Insidiously easy to let become a form of ambiance, an extension of her lifeblood and heartbeat.
One form of suicide bomber no amount of DoD blank checks could ever seemingly put an end to.
"Weird how easy this was to commit to, isn't it? Though I'm imagining some of us will have second thoughts." Third, fourth, fifth. Ash imagined she'd have to deal with that when she got to it, whoever the source was. Even herself, punching the mirror edgy Eminem style. She was already resolved to handle dissent by whatever means necessary, not because she felt much legitimate attachment to the cause of living another day, but because it would at least be an opportunity to keep her own fate strictly in her own hands, however much they had to be scrunched up into fists.
All she was asking for, really. Self-determination. Give her liberty, and give her death.
"We figure out how to keep things in order. Get anyone else we can trust on our side." A humorless chuckle, an energy-free smile. "Keep anyone who refuses two syllables deep on your Death Notes though. Anyone who knows what we're up to and refuses is probably going to become an enemy."
"Agreed," Juanita said, the corner of her mouth pulled back into a grimace. "Anybody that knows about us is gonna have a vested interest in stopping us. And until we get some better weapons, we're going to have a hard time winning fights. When we do get out there recruiting, we need to be subtle about it, not mention the group unless we get a good vibe."
"Let me know what you guys think, but I kinda feel like the gameplan for today should be to lay low. Give other people a chance to experience the game for themselves, let it all sink in and become a bit more real. They're more likely to join us if have a good idea of what they should be scared of out there."
She looked around at the church. It was too wide, too open. Too... likely to come crashing down on them in a strong breeze. "And... I don't think we should stay here for the long term. Tomorrow, we should send out a group to go looking for new recruits, and maybe find a new base of operations. But for today, we can fortify weak spots where we can, bar the doors, and block the trapdoor in the sacristy. I don't know how people keep getting in there, if there are tunnels or something down there, but it's a liability in our defenses and we need to plug that hole before we do much of anything else."
"My thought for this is that we go out in strike teams of a few people, rather than sending out the whole group at once. Then people don't see us all moving as a unit and word doesn't get around. If we spot something or someone dangerous, we come back, and get the whole group to come together and crush the threat. But that's just, like, a suggestion. I'm not really a leader or anything, so if anybody has a better plan, I'm all ears."
Juanita looked down at her knee brace before continuing. "I don't mind going and doing some recon myself. I'll head out in the morning, and anyone who wants to come with me is welcome. Ash should come too, or lend her scanner thing to someone else. Having that thing will help us be more efficient in finding people and avoiding danger. But anybody else who wants to stay can stay. This isn't a dictatorship or anything, you know?"
She sat back in her pew, having said her piece. She wasn't sure that she liked the way things were shaping up here. She wasn't a leader. Hadn't been captain or assistant captain on the lacrosse team, or taken charge on much of anything. But she needed these people to believe in her, to believe in the idea she was proposing, because the alternative was going it alone and dying. So she'd fake the competence and confidence as hard as she needed to, until things started rolling along and it wasn't so dependent on her. Hopefully if she left tomorrow, she'd come back to find the church still standing and the group still together. If not... well, it's not like she'd be more screwed than usual, right?
Her gaze was drawn upwards once more, and she scowled at the cross. It just hung there, judging her, smirking at her little attempts to play warlord. You did this to me, she thought. All of my life, I've done everything you wanted. And in return, you gave me a screwed-up body, and a screwed up life, and this screwed up situation. You could have stopped this. You could stop me, if you really wanted to. And if you don't, then you're letting this happen. And what's that say about you, huh?
The cross seemed unfazed by her mental tirade, which was infuriating.
Juanita stood up, and went to look for anything that'd be helpful for blocking the exits.
((Juanita Reid and Ashlyn "Ash" Graves continued in The Holly and The Heavens))
"Let me know what you guys think, but I kinda feel like the gameplan for today should be to lay low. Give other people a chance to experience the game for themselves, let it all sink in and become a bit more real. They're more likely to join us if have a good idea of what they should be scared of out there."
She looked around at the church. It was too wide, too open. Too... likely to come crashing down on them in a strong breeze. "And... I don't think we should stay here for the long term. Tomorrow, we should send out a group to go looking for new recruits, and maybe find a new base of operations. But for today, we can fortify weak spots where we can, bar the doors, and block the trapdoor in the sacristy. I don't know how people keep getting in there, if there are tunnels or something down there, but it's a liability in our defenses and we need to plug that hole before we do much of anything else."
"My thought for this is that we go out in strike teams of a few people, rather than sending out the whole group at once. Then people don't see us all moving as a unit and word doesn't get around. If we spot something or someone dangerous, we come back, and get the whole group to come together and crush the threat. But that's just, like, a suggestion. I'm not really a leader or anything, so if anybody has a better plan, I'm all ears."
Juanita looked down at her knee brace before continuing. "I don't mind going and doing some recon myself. I'll head out in the morning, and anyone who wants to come with me is welcome. Ash should come too, or lend her scanner thing to someone else. Having that thing will help us be more efficient in finding people and avoiding danger. But anybody else who wants to stay can stay. This isn't a dictatorship or anything, you know?"
She sat back in her pew, having said her piece. She wasn't sure that she liked the way things were shaping up here. She wasn't a leader. Hadn't been captain or assistant captain on the lacrosse team, or taken charge on much of anything. But she needed these people to believe in her, to believe in the idea she was proposing, because the alternative was going it alone and dying. So she'd fake the competence and confidence as hard as she needed to, until things started rolling along and it wasn't so dependent on her. Hopefully if she left tomorrow, she'd come back to find the church still standing and the group still together. If not... well, it's not like she'd be more screwed than usual, right?
Her gaze was drawn upwards once more, and she scowled at the cross. It just hung there, judging her, smirking at her little attempts to play warlord. You did this to me, she thought. All of my life, I've done everything you wanted. And in return, you gave me a screwed-up body, and a screwed up life, and this screwed up situation. You could have stopped this. You could stop me, if you really wanted to. And if you don't, then you're letting this happen. And what's that say about you, huh?
The cross seemed unfazed by her mental tirade, which was infuriating.
Juanita stood up, and went to look for anything that'd be helpful for blocking the exits.
((Juanita Reid and Ashlyn "Ash" Graves continued in The Holly and The Heavens))
V9 Characters:
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez
Zara Mohammad
Alexis Keller
Wyatt Latimer
Stephanie "Radical Steph" Raddison
Xiomara Ximenez