Tyrant or Circumstance

[Salic]

Biology was one of the most interesting topics Lara had ever dove into. The sheer variety of plants and animals, how it all functioned, how life was sustained, it was fascinating. She always enjoyed living pretty far out from Salem's and Boston's urban areas, so that she could take a step back and really revel in the beauty of nature. Each leaf, each insect, each mushroom, each microscopic organism had its function. Take one away, and the whole system fell apart. It was so beautifully delicate, such an intricate organic machine with so many threads and intersecting wires that one could not hope to untangle it.

Sadly, the terrorists deprived Lara of even that comfort. The island was almost as dead as 133 of the kids currently on it, a barren husk. She hadn't even seen a single animal during her whole time here. Granted, it was only two days, but it still made her think that the terrorists had killed every animal inhabiting the place before they got there. Who knew but them how long they'd been up here?

Taking her mind off of the lack of life here, Lara glanced down at her left forearm. That bastard really did a number on it, and it was by far the worst discoloration she'd seen on her arm, even counting years of hardcore lacrosse matches. While her mouth wasn't leaking any blood, she'd definitely felt a loosened tooth when she was writhing around in a poor excuse for sleep.

She'd been at the lake for a while now. The announcements had come and gone, but she'd only taken note of the killers: Katelyn, Janice, Przemyslaw, Betty, Katelyn again, Janice again, Jacob, Jessica, Aracelis, Jezzie, and Shu. They were people that she needed to watch out for. Apparently, people whose names started with J were particularly bloodthirsty. Of course, it was not any kind of evidence to go off of, but she liked having the information. She failed to catch the names of the victims, but she didn't care. The names of those who died were not important. Only those who had done the deed were worth her time.

The weight of tiredness still hung on her eyelids, and she tried to get it off of them as soon as she could. She could not afford to be tired and off her game when she was here. She just had to power through the day with the little sleep she got and the wildly different diet she had to subsist on. It certainly wasn't ideal, but then again, what was? She had her ass handed to her yesterday when she tried to steal Micah's bag. The whole situation was darkly absurd to a comedic degree, and just thinking of the incident made Lara grin. What a spectacular failure! It was a failure she never thought she'd experience, because who in their right mind would? 'Oh no, I may not succeed in taking this guy's survival bag off him' was not a thought Lara thought she would have, but here she was.

Wiping the grin off her face, Lara picked up her bag with her right arm and began another trek to who knows where. She could budget what little time she had left during the walk. It was the one comfort that no terrorist or tyrant could take away from her.