Where The Sidewalk Ends

Day Four, Private (you know why~)

Cutting a path through the trees at the base of the mountain, the old road was the only usable link for vehicles wishing to travel between the mining town and the research station. This meant it was kept in relatively good condition almost year-round, although it was prone to blockages from mountain debris. In the years since the island was abandoned, no one has been present to clear these blockages, and the tarmac has started to crack and break apart from years of freezing and thawing. Despite this, it is still the most easily traversable path on the island, even with the edges of the forest starting to encroach upon it.

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Where The Sidewalk Ends

#1

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The old road had seen better days. Days where it had been essential to all, and gotten the treatment it deserved for it. Years after being abandoned had taken its toll, however. Any vehicle that tried to traverse it now would surely suffer from an unpleasant trip.

Still, even in a time where blood would come to invade its cracked and damaged tarmac, it still was appreciated by those around it. Those who walked its ground to traverse the land easier. Those who wanted some level of familiarity in the world around them. Those who would rather sit on the man made stone rather than somewhere less well known, less likely to be found.

The girl sitting on the road's side fit the last category, presumably.

After running from the corpse of one her classmates, she hadn't returned to the allies she had made the first day.

In her panic, it seemed she had forgotten their existence.

So instead, she had ran.

And ran.

And ran.

She had taken refuge in a house when night fell, but as day broke once more, she walked to the road silent and somber, gaze never leaving the ground in front of her.

Even now, with her knees pulled to her chest, arms hugging them as close to herself as possible, she did not look up from the ground.

She did not say a word.

She simply seemed to wait.
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#2

Post by Ruggahissy »

He had spent the last day alone but safe. Being alone was a terrible way to spend the time; it was quite boring.

((Josh James continued from It's A Kind Alot ))

Footsteps crunched down the gravel and snow, becoming louder as they came closer. At first it was just a shape in the distance, but it was a shape that was a different color from the rocks and snow. As he drew closer, he saw the girl just sort of sitting on the ground and approached with curiosity.

She looked down at the dirt and he looked down at her. His peacoat was buttoned up, and his scarf was wrapped around his neck.

"Excuse me," he said, trying to get her attention. His hand ran down the length of the assault rifle as if stroking it.

"Are you okay? Are you... out here all alone?" he asked.
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#3

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The girl didn't move much, even as the sound of snow crunching underfoot became closer and closer.

Only once they stopped, and a voice filled the air, did she move, and even then only slightly, tilting her head upwards.

It was a boy. One she hadn't seen on the island before. And the voice didn't match to the one who stomped on the coffin at the start of all this.

It took a moment for her to respond, but she did.

"Yeah, I'm...pretty much alone, now."

A sigh.

"Not that I really want to be, I just...don't know where my friends are, right now."

Her tone was as sad as the look on her face. A kind of longing that she appeared to struggle vocalizing.

Her gaze shifted downwards once more, focusing on the boy's kneecaps rather than his face.

"I really wish I did."
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#4

Post by Ruggahissy »

“O-Oh. Well, me too. Alone,” Josh responded. He was a little miffed that she wasn’t looking up at him, but he wouldn’t press the issue.

He wanted to feel out the situation more and understand what sort of person was in front of him. He liked the trust in her voice and that sad lilt to her words.

“I don’t have a lot of friends. I guess I have a few,” he said, thinking back and tilting he head up and back to look at the sky.

The bag hung off his left shoulder, heavy. He let go of the gun with his left hand.

“If wishes were fishes we’d all swim in riches,” he mumbled and seemed embarrassed immediately after about having said that.

“Erm, I mean, which friends?”
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#5

Post by AnimeNerd »

A breath in. A breath out.

A look of contemplation crossed her face. Brows furrowed, eyes shifting for a moment.

Then, arms moved. Hands placed against knees. Legs straightened. A waist left the snow covered ground.

The two of them were around the same height, or close to it.

"Short girl, Chinese, pretty blue skirt and friendly."

She paused. Eyes glanced down again.

The bag that had been next to her when she sat.

She bent down, a hand grasping at its strap.

"Prii is taller, but still shorter than me. Plugs in their ear lobes, pink sweater vest and blue lip gloss. Couldn't miss them."
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#6

Post by Ruggahissy »

Josh idly unzipped his bag with his free hand and awkwardly maneuvered a bottle of water out, unscrewing the top with his teeth and taking a drink that drained the bottle.

While he did this, he listened.

But at the description of her first friend, he froze, looked at her, then finished swallowing the water in his mouth. Josh threw the empty bottle back into his bag.

He licked his lips and couldn’t help the corners of his lips drawing up before trying hard to erase the grin. He put a hand up to his mouth as if in thought to hide the expression.

Someone looking for two friends.

This girl matching the description he was given before.

That girl matching the description given now.

He felt the mischievous delight of knowing something that someone else didn’t. This must have been what gossiping felt like. Of being told something, holding that in your brain, then seeing the person you knew something about, snickering.

And what fun was it to know something someone else didn’t know but wanted to know if you didn’t hold it over them just a little?

No one really told him things before. If he did learn a piece of gossip, it was just something he overheard from the other guys. He wouldn’t really ever actually be in a position to talk to the person he’d learned about.

He could try teasing someone.

"They sound nice," he said, having regained some control of his expression. His fingers slipped over the scarf he wore, pulling the end. His heart started to pound. He looked down at the thread as his fingers pulled at the stitches.

"I'm not sure if I've seen them. Was Amy wearing anything else?" he asked quietly. He looked down at Mariya as she reached for her bag, smiling just a little.
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#7

Post by AnimeNerd »

"Her parka was like, five different...colors..."

The sentence trailed off as the girl stood straight again.

Green eyes gazed into hazel.

Then, for a moment, the stare broke.

She looked down, ever so slightly.

A cream and brown scarf was around the boy's neck.

Back to looking him in the eyes.

When did a hand enter the bag?
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#8

Post by Ruggahissy »

The two stood on the road with its cracked pavement. Beyond them and behind them was clear and empty. On either side, lines of trees leaned in to hear the conversation.

"Was it?"

They stared into each other's eyes.

He noticed movement in his peripheral vision and his hand dropped from Amy's scarf to the gun so that he held it with both hands. Josh could tell she was getting upset.

"I'm -- " he giggled, then started over.

"I'm Josh. Want me to help you look?"
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#9

Post by AnimeNerd »

For a few moments, all the girl did was stare.

Stare at the boy that introduced himself.

Stare at the scarf.

Stare at the gun.

Stare into those hazel eyes.

The cameras weren't close enough to see a look of recognition in her own pools of green.

But the boy who called himself Josh was.

She took a breath.

Finally, a flash of movement.

Silicone met skin.

Her weapon was drawn forth.

Slapped against his face.
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#10

Post by Ruggahissy »

Josh saw something emerge from the bag and was stopped in his tracks at first, trying to figure out exactly what was headed towards him.

It had a gold hilt like a weapon, but both the hilt and blade (?) were distinctly non-metalic looking, had unusual designs carved into them, and moved strangely.

The action seemed to happen in slow motion as he first panicked at something about to strike him, then became confused about what it even was. The….. tip was rounded instead of pointed and it wobbled and rippled as it traveled through the air as if it wasn’t designed to be waved around.

So confused was he that he didn’t move out of the way and instead was hit directly on the side of the face by the appendage.

TWHACK

Birds flew up from the trees.

Josh closed an eye in time and felt the turgid rubber phallus WHAP against his closed eye, against his nose, all the way down to his chin. He felt bouncy veins on his lips.

It wasn’t a blade, but it actually hurt more than he thought being hit with a false penis on a sword handle would have — not that he had ever thought of such a thing before.

He opened his eyes wide, stunned by impact, shocked that he was just hit with a whimsical rubber dick, and eyes watering from it hitting his previously injured nose.

"D-did you just c-cock slap me?" he mumbled in a daze. His face, neck, ears were all completely beet red. "Th-That's evil."



Then he felt the gun get yanked from him. Reality flooded back, as did the panic. He only just recovered enough to keep a partial hold of it, hand gripping the gun with white fingers.
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#11

Post by AnimeNerd »

The girl had grabbed the gun once the phallic imitation of a weapon fell from her hands and into the snow.

"Working with what I got."

A jerk to the left.

A swing to the right.

"Now let go or I'm using Prince Albert again!"

A leg came up, her knee making contact with the boy.

It was hard to say where it made contact, though.
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#12

Post by Ruggahissy »

She grabbed hold of the other side of the gun, the barrel pointing off to the side.

It was a contest of strength and Josh was simultaneously annoyed and thrilled. The adrenaline was pumping and he glowered. He could feel the grooves of the weapon impress into his skin and his biceps tense.

"Can't take a joke, huh? Figures," he grunted as he tried to pull the gun back.

She was the one that took this too far, like last time. She couldn't handle that he knew something that she didn't and that he had the upper hand, so she'd jumped the proverbial and literal gun.

"YOU let go," he spat back, not even bothering to question whatever prince she was referring to. Maybe she was hoping one would ride up on a white horse and save her.

Then her knee came up and knocked the wind out of him, hitting him in the stomach and causing his diaphragm to spasm. Josh gasped and let go of the gun.

He couldn't speak.

Can't take someone else having the leverage. Childish. Think you're better, huh? Think you know. You go ahead and think that.
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#13

Post by AnimeNerd »

The girl stumbled as the boy let go of the gun.

One step.

Two.

A third before her feet were stable again.

She took a breath.

Her eyes were wide, before they narrowed.

She wasn't looking at the boy.

Her eyes were boring into the gun in her hands.

"Amy."

It came out more like growling than speaking.

"What...the FUCK did you do to A-"
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#14

Post by Ruggahissy »

It was happening again. He could feel impulse take over, stretch out through his limbs and grab his veins.

She'd won, but winning didn't matter when you play with someone who can cheat. Josh never cheated, even at Uno or Candy Land. His brothers would always catch out anyone trying and give the offender an arm burn.

What was cheating in the real world but simply taking advantage of what you had at your disposal?

"C-Congrats," he coughed out.

He plunged his hand into his bag, pulled out the shotgun, braced it against his shoulder and pulled the trigger while she was still studying her new prize.

The sound was startlingly loud, ripping through the crisp air. The gun kicked back into his shoulder like he'd been punched, but it didn't move from its spot.

His hearing was slightly muffled for a few seconds, but he heard her question just before the roar. Impulse answered, furious that she didn't listen, enraged that she challenged him, and determined to punish to the last.

"I got her drunk... and I killed her."
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#15

Post by AnimeNerd »

She had a fraction of a second to look up before, suddenly, the girl was blown off her feet.

Literally. It may have only been for a moment, but the blast of the shotgun made her lose contact with the ground.

Then, she was returned to the Earth.

Snow crunched as her back made contact.

Red stained the white of her clothes as much as it did the ground beneath her.

For a few moments, like a fish out of water, she struggled to breathe.

Blood left her lips as she rasped and coughed out several breaths.

Her legs moved, lightly kicking. Trying to make contact with something, anything.

One hand reached inward, making contact with the wound. As if it wanted to apply pressure. Treat it.

Another reached outward, the direction the gun had gone when it had flown from her hands. Grasping. Struggling to find it.

It wouldn't matter.

Only a few more gurgles left her lips.

Her green eyes glazed over, lacking the energy to close.

Legs stilled, the energy left for them depleted.

The movement of her hands stopped, their attempts having proved pointless.

All that was left was a corpse.

The girl known as Mariya White was gone.
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