Roses and Whiskey

[Namira]

Piper joined the two of them indoors and decided that she could put down the antler for now. If either of them jumped on her, she'd be better off using her hands than an awkward improvised club. Piper didn't know if it was even worth keeping the thing. Definitely not both of them. These bad boys weighed a ton and she'd burn through energy real fast hauling them around everywhere. She propped the antler she was holding against the, she thought it was some kind of audio desk? It had some headsets, but she honestly hadn't seen anything quite like it before.

She glanced around the room real quick, noting that she'd been right about seeing a window from outside, and that yep, it was pretty much all the way blocked by snow. Otherwise, wasn't much to write home about. This building was definitely an aside to the larger one, something to do with that bigass antenna out on the roof. Maybe it was for listening to signals or something like that. The tower picked them up and then people used the headsets to listen in. Piper didn't know how that was supposed to work. While Fey spoke, Piper picked up one of the headsets and raised it to her ear, leaving half an inch or so gap so that she wasn't smearing dust all over her head. As expected, nothing. She replaced the headset.

Fey wondered if they were fucked. Piper shrugged. Possibly. Probably. Everyone had heard about SOTF, even if it was only a vague thing of knowing that was the reason for certain safety checks on trips and flights and whatever. Lot of good that'd done. Back at school there was even that group that was always talking about SOTF. Everyone had heard of SOTF, and so they knew that these things had a bad survival rate. Real bad. Sometimes people got out, just didn't happen often, and not for a long time.

Piper turned up blank for anything else she knew about SOTF. Hadn't gone out of her way to learn about it, yeah? Was way too busy to be looking up depressing junk like that.

She turned to Calvin, frowned hard at him. "They set one off in front of us. That look fake to you?"

[D/N]

Piper had... an antler or something as a weapon, which was pretty goddamn funny actually when you thought about it.

Okay, hey, rescue and escape. Or vice versa them.

That was a thing.

Fey briefly wondered if it could be the thing. The thing she was realizing she was gonna desperately need here.

Calvin was talking about getting the collars off. That could work. Or about stopping the signals. That could work.

Piper poured some cold water maybe on the collars thing. Okay. Maybe that couldn't work.

Or maybe it could.

Fuck if Fey knew.

She should say something at least.

"Yeah. Or uh, maybe we try to do a signal for a rescue or something instead of hiding."

That was a thing. That could work.

[RC~]

"Yeah, I don't know, maybe that one wasn't fake, but who knows..."

Damn, why did Piper have to point that out. Calvin hated being called out.

Calvin turned to Fey.

"You mean how? Like, creating a fire? At this weather?"

[Namira]

Piper tapped her boots on the floor, clearing off some snow and scattering it onto the boards.

If you could make one bomb collar you could make more than one bomb collar. Piper didn't feel like being the person who tested if it was a bluff. How were the dangerzones supposed to work if the collars were fake? Second somebody tried to lay down and give up or just got caught off guard and stuck there, they'd find out they weren't leashed after all. Then they'd go round telling everyone else and the whole house of cards would fall down. If the collars weren't legit, the assholes running the show had to have some other way of taking out anyone who stepped out of line. Which was honestly an even worse and more nervewracking thing to have in her head.

This sucked to think about and Piper was gonna stop.

What were they talking about now? Signals? Alright. Different enough.

"Could try I spose. It'd be pretty clear what you're doing though."

[D/N]

Uh oh, they were actually considering that signal thing. Or questioning it.

Either way.

...

"Uh..."

Fuck.

"I dunno?"

Bravo. Bravo. Far into the future, scholars would surely be studying this as the moment when the revolution truly began. I dunfuckingno.

Fey shrugged.

"Maybe we just sit on our ass then."

She sat down.

[RC~]

Wow yeah, that kinda sucked. Calvin wasn't that optimistic about that removing collar thing either, just spitballing, brainstorming. Make an obvious signal? How?

Calvin's ass followed Fey's and also sat on the floor. Cool, it was almost a circle.

"Yeah, I guess we have no choice but to wait for...the end, I guess?"

Calvin looked around the room, searching for nothing in particular. That was the end of their ideas, wasn't it? Now all they could do was sit and wait for the time to pass. Well, if removing the collars wasn't an option, the only option was going to be like...trying to live the other way.

"Well."

Calvin looked at the girls again.

"We only have to kill one dude or dudette, right? Not become a mass murderer or anything. Well, I don't want to kill anybody personally, but, you know, if you had to choose one person from class who would be your one kill, who'd it be? Anyone who was a total bitch to you or a mean bully or like, I dunno, a total asshole? I do have some guys in mind, but you start first. Pipez, who'd you pick?"

Huzzah, this was the perfect time to play the party game "Fuck, marry, kill", except it was just "kill".

[Namira]

Fey sat down, then Calvin. Piper didn't.

She didn't want to just give up and die, she was just pointing a couple things out was all. It wasn't going to be so easy as calling a straightforward bluff or throwing up a distress beacon. If they were bad at this, how'd they do it eight times? Exactly, they weren't bad at it, so simple solutions weren't going to cut it. Now, yeah, maybe, probably actually figuring something out was over Piper's paygrade, but that didn't mean she was going to just sit here.

Didn't mean that what she was thinking was about getting out, either, but that's why she was stopping to think it over.

She paid half an ear to Calvin as he resumed talking, and began to frown. That was dark. He asked who she'd kill.

"You, for calling me Pipez," she said immediately.

.

Oh god that wasn't how she meant that to sound.

Oh god she was banned from making a joke ever again.

[RC~]

Wow, rude. Calvin tried to smile, but it came out in an awkward way. "Hah, well, fair enough."

Calvin quickly turned to Fey, in order to avoid eye contact with Piper.

"What about you, Fey?"

[D/N]

Calvin sat down. Good on him.

Piper didn't sit down. Boo on her. Fey thought Piper was kinda looking at the two of them like they had an extra head or something. And it wasn't like Fey was giving up on any ideas here. She just didn't have any. Right now. But she would.

She still needed that thing, after all.

Speaking of ideas, Calvin had a completely fucking stupid one, and then Piper threatened to kill him.

Oh my god.

That was actually fucking hilarious. Good on you Piper. She looked completely mortified like she'd accidentally flashed her tits at him, and Calvin was totally uncomfortable and that all made it even more hilarious.

Fey burst out in laughter, then stopped when Calvin -- oh shit -- put her on the spot to deflect the whole thing. Goddamnit, now she needed to answer something stupid, she'd just open her mouth without thinking and say the first name that came to mind---

"Uh, I'd say Natasha but guess she doesn't count cause she's not here," she said, then laughed briefly again.

"Oh shit did I just say that?"

Way to go Fey. Make things spicy for those watching in Salem by announcing your intention to perform a bloody coup on the leader of the glorious Vanguard who wasn't even on the island. Okay, it wasn't like she was being SERIOUS with that, but still, dumbest choice possible.

"No, but, uh, I guess... DeMarcus. Total asshole."

That was safer.

"Calvin?"

[RC~]

DeMarcus, huh? Well, that was a good choice, Calvin had to admit, very annoying and stupid guy. Calvin had his doubts he wouldn't get himself in trouble on this island. Who'd even partner up with him anyway?

When the question was returned to him, Calvin rubbed his chin.

"Well, I can't think of anybody. I wouldn't want to kill anybody, you know? Can't name anyone...but the fact that you two could name people makes you pretty sus, don't you think?"

Calvin shrugged and smiled smugly.

"Just sayin'."

[Namira]

Piper continued to die inside up until Calvin said something that sounded a whole lot like an accusation.

"You brought it up. Screw you."

Miss her with that. Going all holier than thou over a question he asked. Dick.

[D/N]

"Ah ha ha ha ha."

Wait, Calvin got her with that one too.

Asshole.

"Fuck off. I'm not actually killing anyone, duh. Fight the fascist terrorists, yo. Resist."

Now granted, there was no actually fighting the terrorists. Not actually on the island at least. Except by like, shooting the shit like they were doing now. And Christ was the shittiest kind of passive resistance Fey could think of..

"You should have the balls the give an answer. Honestly not looking forward to sitting around for the next week dying with you two, but whatever."

[RC~]

Calvin put up his arms and shook his head, eyes pointing up in the upper left corner.

"Alright, alright! You got me, I'll uh, pick, uh, I dunno." Calvin had to think for a bit. Which douche should he pick? Fey already picked DeMarcus, so that would be a cheap answer. Robin? Robin was a douche, but not like in a DeMarcus way, there definitely was a charme in him DeMarcus didn't have.

Calvin looked down to think pressing his palms against his temple. Quick, quick, think of a name. Calvin didn't do well under pressure.

Corbin? Shawn? Ah, no, never Shawn, he actually respected him a lot, he was a cool douche. He didn't want to see Shawn get hurt. It would actually make him very sad, if Shawn would be like, you know, dead.

Calvin liked assholes too much, he supposed. Plus, Calvin was a douche and troll himself. His school didn't have any bullying he was aware of, so there wasn't like a choice based on that. He was from a cool school, y'know?

Maybe use a different criteria to decide on a choice, hm, hm.

Ah, fuck it.

"Hm. Well, uh..."

What was her name anyway?

"... the wheelchair girl, I guess?"

Her name was Billie, right? Like Eilish? Immediately defending his choice he quickly added.

"It's not like she has a realistic chance to survive out here, right?"

Aw fuck, good luck defending your position, Calvin.

[Namira]

"Bruh."

[D/N]

"Jesus Christ!"

...

She almost laughed again. No, no.

"I mean... yeah, but Jesus Christ Calvin are you just fucking us here bro?"

Yeah. Wheelchair girl is fucked, Calvin's fucked, Piper's fucked, we're all fucked, what's that word to follow?

Fey kicked a chair from position on the floor. It skidded away, squeaky and jittery, on rollers that hadn't rolled in decades, leaving a trail of dust.

"Ah motherfuck."