- Ashlyn (Under New Management) -
After the great group experiment of ’21 fizzled out, complete with cringey overdramatic self-flagellating by Juanita and hollow gestures from Crystal, Ash hadn’t gone far. She’d waited around a blind corner, watching on the radar as the little green blips scattered in all directions. It looked like the Big Bang, as rendered on a Game & Watch. Once they were far enough apart, she picked a direction that none of them had gone in and started walking. She'd spotted an empty looking house before too long, and figured that there was no point in wasting more effort than necessary.
When the snow started, she made her way indoors and hunkered down. She didn’t move much, except to change the bandage on her bullet wound, and to bottle some snow. She tucked the bottle into her armpit, pulling it out periodically to check its progress. Eventually the solid white mass turned to slush, and the slush into slurry, and the slurry into a few isolated chunks of ice floating in mostly clear water.
The morning announcements told her that Donovan was dead. Good. Served him right.
The announcements also told her that the rest of the group were still alive, in some fashion. Somehow they’d all avoided the epidemic of falling on rocks and dying. Also good. Probably. Kind of surprising, in Juanita’s case.
Ash didn’t respect the legion’s de facto Caesar any less for removing her laurel and hobbling off into the sunset. If anything, Ash respected her for having the temerity to finally face reality head-on. Only a wide-eyed idealist would’ve even tried the squad strategy. Anybody else would’ve realized immediately that a group of people who prioritized survival above their friends’ lives would also prioritize their own survival over the group’s. It was always going to end in tears and gunpowder, one way or another.
It’d been a while since Kitty had shown up on the announcements too. There were a lot of possible reasons for that, none of which Ash wanted to think too deeply about. She hoped that she'd gotten out of the snow and found somewhere safe to keep warm.
She pulled out the bottle again and looked at it. It was mostly water now. A few stray pine needles bobbed at the bottom. She drank it, mindful to keep her teeth closed. One of the needles tapped against her gums as the water flowed to a trickle. She tipped out the needles, and went outside to refill the bottle, along with a few others. Drinking more water meant that she could eat less. The extra food they’d looted from John had done a bit, but there was only so far the supplies would stretch. Ash hadn’t really bothered with rationing – what was the point? She was gonna die at some point anyway, might as well go out on a full stomach and deprive her murderer of a few meals.
While she drank, a new green blip showed up, unnoticed, on the collar radar.
My Hopes Were So Much Higher
Day 7, PM for Entry
My Hopes Were So Much Higher
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 blip had a name.
Not that many people seemed to remember it...
[[Enter Jezzie Stark, trudging through the snow to a house, gun in one hand.]]
That wasn't true, because by now people had to know her name. She'd been in the announcements four times. The only person mentioned more was Kitty, because she wanted to kill fucking everybody or something. Point was people knew her name.
But why did so few people know her?
Seriously, there were like four people who knew her when they first saw her, and she hadn't seen that many people, but why only them? Medea was easy she was an angel, she probably knew everyone names and birthdays and got them customized gift for every occasion. D too, she wasn't exactly in Heaven now, but she was in the same boat as herself with having a weird name, they were pretty aware of each other. June might've known her just because she was Medea's friend, and Juanita was Gary's daughter, so a connection there.
Why were the people who knew her the bare minimum? She'd known most of them since middle school at least, maybe even further back, they should know her fucking name!
It pissed her off. A lot. Enough that she put her last human interaction in the back of her mind. Yeah, shitty, but at least one of them might've recognized her if she hadn't...
Anyway, people were assholes that didn't seem to realize who they were talking to most of the time.
Maybe Salem had known, he didn't say she was a stranger. But he was also a psycho, killing two people after somehow getting his hands on a gun. Like Juanita, but more dangerous, at least in her own opinion.
Letitia probably, but again no confirmation. Fuck, that was maybe the one time she would've liked someone to not know her. Of all the fucking times, of all the people on this island, it just had to be her, right then, like some fucked up dark comedy bullshit.
A part of her just want to sit outside and wait. Let the snow fall until she felt numb all over. No alcohol was around, as far as she knew, and it was the only way she could think to dull the [del]pain[/del] annoyance she felt.
But this coat had suffered enough, she wasn't adding grass stains. And she worried about who else was left among them, because if she sat for too long someone could just use her for target practice. And she still wanted to try finding people with better weapons, the gun was nice but she wondered if there were things that could be even better, because at this point it was clear some people got shit while others got actually useful stuff like guns and whatever kept Amy alive when she should've died, and at this point she was ready to take whatever she co-oh fuck a person.
Maybe she would've felt fine if she immediately recognized the girl. Even better if she didn't at all. But instead, the girl was familiar, only for her mind to come to a blank for names. She could do what she herself had done, saying the first name to come to mind, and she could believe it, and that worried her in a way she found difficult to describe. There were people she didn't want to mess with here, and while she knew some face, it wasn't all of them.
And thanks to that fear, Jezzie only stood there, gun moved to be held in both hands, staring at the girl, trying to pair that face with a name, not even thinking about being seen at the moment.
Not that many people seemed to remember it...
[[Enter Jezzie Stark, trudging through the snow to a house, gun in one hand.]]
That wasn't true, because by now people had to know her name. She'd been in the announcements four times. The only person mentioned more was Kitty, because she wanted to kill fucking everybody or something. Point was people knew her name.
But why did so few people know her?
Seriously, there were like four people who knew her when they first saw her, and she hadn't seen that many people, but why only them? Medea was easy she was an angel, she probably knew everyone names and birthdays and got them customized gift for every occasion. D too, she wasn't exactly in Heaven now, but she was in the same boat as herself with having a weird name, they were pretty aware of each other. June might've known her just because she was Medea's friend, and Juanita was Gary's daughter, so a connection there.
Why were the people who knew her the bare minimum? She'd known most of them since middle school at least, maybe even further back, they should know her fucking name!
It pissed her off. A lot. Enough that she put her last human interaction in the back of her mind. Yeah, shitty, but at least one of them might've recognized her if she hadn't...
Anyway, people were assholes that didn't seem to realize who they were talking to most of the time.
Maybe Salem had known, he didn't say she was a stranger. But he was also a psycho, killing two people after somehow getting his hands on a gun. Like Juanita, but more dangerous, at least in her own opinion.
Letitia probably, but again no confirmation. Fuck, that was maybe the one time she would've liked someone to not know her. Of all the fucking times, of all the people on this island, it just had to be her, right then, like some fucked up dark comedy bullshit.
A part of her just want to sit outside and wait. Let the snow fall until she felt numb all over. No alcohol was around, as far as she knew, and it was the only way she could think to dull the [del]pain[/del] annoyance she felt.
But this coat had suffered enough, she wasn't adding grass stains. And she worried about who else was left among them, because if she sat for too long someone could just use her for target practice. And she still wanted to try finding people with better weapons, the gun was nice but she wondered if there were things that could be even better, because at this point it was clear some people got shit while others got actually useful stuff like guns and whatever kept Amy alive when she should've died, and at this point she was ready to take whatever she co-oh fuck a person.
Maybe she would've felt fine if she immediately recognized the girl. Even better if she didn't at all. But instead, the girl was familiar, only for her mind to come to a blank for names. She could do what she herself had done, saying the first name to come to mind, and she could believe it, and that worried her in a way she found difficult to describe. There were people she didn't want to mess with here, and while she knew some face, it wasn't all of them.
And thanks to that fear, Jezzie only stood there, gun moved to be held in both hands, staring at the girl, trying to pair that face with a name, not even thinking about being seen at the moment.
She was still mid-sip when she turned and saw the shadows converge into the outline of a girl. But what came into sharper focus was the gun she was holding in both hands.
Well.
Had to love the irony. Her "weapon" was only useful because it could warn her if someone was coming, and she could avoid... well, this exact scenario. Turned out the radar only worked if you actually looked at it once in a while. Go figure.
Ash raised her eyebrows, and then her hands. One of them kept hold of the water bottle, though, because she hadn't spent all that time playing armpit Easy-Bake Oven just to splash the end result all over the floor.
She couldn't have named the girl or picked her out of a police lineup. Which actually made this whole thing more disappointing. In horror movies, the final girl always had some important connection to the killer. Daughter of someone who'd bullied the loner outcast kid until The Incident turned him into a chainsaw-wielding maniac, or new bride of the Casanova who turned out to be heir to a blood-drinking cannibal cult and wanted to sacrifice her at the full moon. Even if it was tenuous, the connection was still there. The final girl had to survive because of who she was. The cannon fodder, though? The ones who never made it past the opening credits? They never had any real connection to the killer. Just bodies on the pile, kids who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and got offed by someone they didn't know for some past trauma they had no real connection to. Shitty way to go out.
Gun Girl wasn't saying anything, so it seemed like Ash was gonna have to break the ice. Kind of a big moment. Needed gravitas. Not many people get to choose the first thing they say to the person who's probably about to murder them. She should probably make it profound.
She looked the other girl dead in the eyes. Cleared her throat. And said, "If you're looking for the bathroom, it's the second door on the left."
Well.
Had to love the irony. Her "weapon" was only useful because it could warn her if someone was coming, and she could avoid... well, this exact scenario. Turned out the radar only worked if you actually looked at it once in a while. Go figure.
Ash raised her eyebrows, and then her hands. One of them kept hold of the water bottle, though, because she hadn't spent all that time playing armpit Easy-Bake Oven just to splash the end result all over the floor.
She couldn't have named the girl or picked her out of a police lineup. Which actually made this whole thing more disappointing. In horror movies, the final girl always had some important connection to the killer. Daughter of someone who'd bullied the loner outcast kid until The Incident turned him into a chainsaw-wielding maniac, or new bride of the Casanova who turned out to be heir to a blood-drinking cannibal cult and wanted to sacrifice her at the full moon. Even if it was tenuous, the connection was still there. The final girl had to survive because of who she was. The cannon fodder, though? The ones who never made it past the opening credits? They never had any real connection to the killer. Just bodies on the pile, kids who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and got offed by someone they didn't know for some past trauma they had no real connection to. Shitty way to go out.
Gun Girl wasn't saying anything, so it seemed like Ash was gonna have to break the ice. Kind of a big moment. Needed gravitas. Not many people get to choose the first thing they say to the person who's probably about to murder them. She should probably make it profound.
She looked the other girl dead in the eyes. Cleared her throat. And said, "If you're looking for the bathroom, it's the second door on the left."
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 knew this girl. She knew this girl. But she couldn't find the name, what was her fucking name!?
God, was this what everyone else was going through when seeing her? This feeling of knowing, but not completely? How had none of them gotten annoyed at this yet, it was pissing her off and she didn't even care about this girl!
Fuck it, she could figure it out whenever the announcements came next, then she would be one step closer to ending this, one step closer home, and one step closer to being the loudest mental health advocate actress anyone has ever met-
Wait, what was that?
Before she even steeled herself to raise the gun and aim for the girl, Jezzie lowered it further, brow furrowed at the question.
"What? No, I went-"
God, was this what everyone else was going through when seeing her? This feeling of knowing, but not completely? How had none of them gotten annoyed at this yet, it was pissing her off and she didn't even care about this girl!
Fuck it, she could figure it out whenever the announcements came next, then she would be one step closer to ending this, one step closer home, and one step closer to being the loudest mental health advocate actress anyone has ever met-
Wait, what was that?
Before she even steeled herself to raise the gun and aim for the girl, Jezzie lowered it further, brow furrowed at the question.
"What? No, I went-"
Ash whipped the bottle at the intruder's face, twisting it by the neck to give it a little extra torque. The bottle was basically empty and had all the stopping power of... well, an empty plastic bottle, but it'd buy her a half second of distraction. That was more than enough time to close the distance between herself and the intruder. She was already up and pushing off the wall by the time the bottle hit something - she wasn't sure what - with a distinctive "Thwock!" and went ricocheting off somewhere else.
She struck out at the hand holding the gun, intending to shove the girl back, get her off balance. If she could get her down to the ground, the fight would be over before it even really got started.
She struck out at the hand holding the gun, intending to shove the girl back, get her off balance. If she could get her down to the ground, the fight would be over before it even really got started.
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
Stupid, stupid, stupid! It was such an obvious trap, and she still fell for it! How could she have done something so dumb?!?
It didn't matter if the bottle was empty and didn't even hurt when it hit Jezzie. By some stroke of luck or the other girl having amazing aim for throwing nearly empty water bottles, the thing hit in the center of Jezzie's forehead, and she couldn't help but flinch at the impact for a second.
A second she could have used to fire at the other girl, or step away from her, or do anything but fucking stand there.
But she didn't, and look where that got her.
The mystery girl's luck streak continued for a moment, as the gun was knocked from her hands and into the snow, maybe a foot or two away.
Then Jezzie's body moved.
Jezzie may have been going down, but an iron grip on one sleeve, the other hand clamping like a vice on mystery girl's hair, and adrenaline pumping through her veins meant she wasn't going down alone.
It didn't matter if the bottle was empty and didn't even hurt when it hit Jezzie. By some stroke of luck or the other girl having amazing aim for throwing nearly empty water bottles, the thing hit in the center of Jezzie's forehead, and she couldn't help but flinch at the impact for a second.
A second she could have used to fire at the other girl, or step away from her, or do anything but fucking stand there.
But she didn't, and look where that got her.
The mystery girl's luck streak continued for a moment, as the gun was knocked from her hands and into the snow, maybe a foot or two away.
Then Jezzie's body moved.
Jezzie may have been going down, but an iron grip on one sleeve, the other hand clamping like a vice on mystery girl's hair, and adrenaline pumping through her veins meant she wasn't going down alone.
A less composed person might have screamed and called the girl a bitch for going for the hair immediately - that was a bitch move, no two ways about it - but Ash wasn't going to be one of those cringey girls who screams their way through fights. She acknowledged the pain with a grunt of something approaching approval, and pumped her leg into the floor to drive the two of them to the ground, hard, with Ash on top. Could've been hot, in other circumstances.
Now she just had to pick a next move. Choking her seemed like the logical move here, but with one arm locked up she settled for drawing her fist back for a good old-fashioned sock to the jaw. Hit Nature's snooze button hard enough, and it'll end any good scrap. People don't stick around when their fillings are jiggling loose.
Now she just had to pick a next move. Choking her seemed like the logical move here, but with one arm locked up she settled for drawing her fist back for a good old-fashioned sock to the jaw. Hit Nature's snooze button hard enough, and it'll end any good scrap. People don't stick around when their fillings are jiggling loose.
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 didn't care if going for the hair first was bitchy, she actually considered leaving this girl alone and finding someone else to kill, only for her to attack her - fuck whatever this girl would want!
And yeah, said consideration was really just thinking about it for two seconds, and really only if the other girl told her her name and she really recognized it, but that's not the point! Mystery Girl struck first, so she was definitively the asshole here!
The fight choreography probably looked like shit, and the height difference was not helping in the slightest. How was she expected to get out of this? This is what she gets for forgetting who's who in this cast...
Jezzie let out a grunt of acknowledgement when she hit the ground. Shit hurt, but there wasn't time to focus. Improvising a fight scene was a bitch, but she could do it, and thank random ass Google searches when she was congratulated for it.
Jezzie turned her head just right for the punch coming her way. The fist met her cheek bone instead of her jaw, and while it still hurt like a bitch when she felt the bandages tearing at the still healing scratches, it wasn't enough to knock her out. Not yet anyway.
The vice on Mystery Girl's hair remained, and pulled more in fact. Jezzie freed the other hand, and contemplated going for the eye for a second - no, that opened the possibility for Mystery Girl doing the same to her - before forming a fist.
The temple was the thinnest part of the skull, right? Jezzie really hoped it was, putting all her strength into sending her front two knuckles into the side of the other girl's head.
And yeah, said consideration was really just thinking about it for two seconds, and really only if the other girl told her her name and she really recognized it, but that's not the point! Mystery Girl struck first, so she was definitively the asshole here!
The fight choreography probably looked like shit, and the height difference was not helping in the slightest. How was she expected to get out of this? This is what she gets for forgetting who's who in this cast...
Jezzie let out a grunt of acknowledgement when she hit the ground. Shit hurt, but there wasn't time to focus. Improvising a fight scene was a bitch, but she could do it, and thank random ass Google searches when she was congratulated for it.
Jezzie turned her head just right for the punch coming her way. The fist met her cheek bone instead of her jaw, and while it still hurt like a bitch when she felt the bandages tearing at the still healing scratches, it wasn't enough to knock her out. Not yet anyway.
The vice on Mystery Girl's hair remained, and pulled more in fact. Jezzie freed the other hand, and contemplated going for the eye for a second - no, that opened the possibility for Mystery Girl doing the same to her - before forming a fist.
The temple was the thinnest part of the skull, right? Jezzie really hoped it was, putting all her strength into sending her front two knuckles into the side of the other girl's head.
"Gah! Let go, bi-"
The fist hit her, too fast to dodge. But, nah, she wasn't out yet. Missed the snooze button, though. Hit the clock radio, played some smooth electro-pop. The "pop" was the sound of Miss Uncongeniality's fist striking her in the temple. The "electro" bit was the dazzling display of fireworks that the blow kicked up across her field of vision. So, nah, she wasn't out yet.
Another yank to hair shocked her back to the moment, and she rallied, raising a foot to stomp Whatserface's toes, trying to get her off balance, then stepped forwards, planted her hand on the other girl's chest and gave her a full-on shove. Any luck, she'd open up some distance, then close in and really give her the gears. Clean and efficient strickes. Hit her in the stitches, the weak spots, the face. Tear her hair out by the roots. Who gave a fuck? This was a fight. At no point did "make sure your opponent is enjoying themselves" enter the list of objectives. Do what you had to. Get her down, get it done. She wasn't losing this fight.
The fist hit her, too fast to dodge. But, nah, she wasn't out yet. Missed the snooze button, though. Hit the clock radio, played some smooth electro-pop. The "pop" was the sound of Miss Uncongeniality's fist striking her in the temple. The "electro" bit was the dazzling display of fireworks that the blow kicked up across her field of vision. So, nah, she wasn't out yet.
Another yank to hair shocked her back to the moment, and she rallied, raising a foot to stomp Whatserface's toes, trying to get her off balance, then stepped forwards, planted her hand on the other girl's chest and gave her a full-on shove. Any luck, she'd open up some distance, then close in and really give her the gears. Clean and efficient strickes. Hit her in the stitches, the weak spots, the face. Tear her hair out by the roots. Who gave a fuck? This was a fight. At no point did "make sure your opponent is enjoying themselves" enter the list of objectives. Do what you had to. Get her down, get it done. She wasn't losing this fight.
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
"FUCK YOU!"
God, she was going to bury this bitch.
The toe stomping was easy to ignore, after a night stupidly spent under that shitty blanket in the snow her toes were starting to go numb. Not enough that Jezzie wouldn't be limping later, but enough that it only got a small, insignificant whimper of pain.
And if Mystery Girl said it was any louder than that, then she was full of shit.
Jezzie's defense was still shit, so the shove was effective, but at this point Jezzie's nails were digging into her palm from how hard she was gripping Mystery Girl's hair, so either she was getting a nice new bald spot on her head or she was still staying just down as Jezzie.
Fuck, she needed to end this, like now. Even if she still wasn't dead yet, she only had so much time before she really was overpowered - damn whatever genetics this girl had that made her so tall, that is such bullshit!
You know what, Mystery Girl tried to knock her out too, right? That's something that jaw punches do in movies, isn't it? Well, turnabout is fair play, all's fair in love and war, and every other phrase that meant she could pull the same moves on this girl!
It may not have been the best form - like she knew any proper forms, really - but Jezzie was putting her all behind that that punch.
Please, just let it get this girl off her. That's all she's asking for right now.
God, she was going to bury this bitch.
The toe stomping was easy to ignore, after a night stupidly spent under that shitty blanket in the snow her toes were starting to go numb. Not enough that Jezzie wouldn't be limping later, but enough that it only got a small, insignificant whimper of pain.
And if Mystery Girl said it was any louder than that, then she was full of shit.
Jezzie's defense was still shit, so the shove was effective, but at this point Jezzie's nails were digging into her palm from how hard she was gripping Mystery Girl's hair, so either she was getting a nice new bald spot on her head or she was still staying just down as Jezzie.
Fuck, she needed to end this, like now. Even if she still wasn't dead yet, she only had so much time before she really was overpowered - damn whatever genetics this girl had that made her so tall, that is such bullshit!
You know what, Mystery Girl tried to knock her out too, right? That's something that jaw punches do in movies, isn't it? Well, turnabout is fair play, all's fair in love and war, and every other phrase that meant she could pull the same moves on this girl!
It may not have been the best form - like she knew any proper forms, really - but Jezzie was putting her all behind that that punch.
Please, just let it get this girl off her. That's all she's asking for right now.
Yeah. Turned out that shoving the girl backwards didn't get her to release her death grip on Ash's hair. Hindsight was 20/20 and laced with jagged sparks of pain. Mistakes were made, we are always striving to improve, etcetera. At least there was some satisfaction to be had in the loud whimper of pain that her stomp had elicited from the other girl.
Any further thoughts Ash had on the matter were suddenly and abruptly replaced by a loud white noise as the other girl's fist hit her like a freight train.
She decided to pay the floor a visit, since it seemed to be beckoning her. The other girl still had her hair in a vice grip so she didn't make it all the way, but at least there was an attempt.
Just give her a few seconds to reboot, get the room to stop spinning, and then she'd kick this girl's ass. Any second now.
Any further thoughts Ash had on the matter were suddenly and abruptly replaced by a loud white noise as the other girl's fist hit her like a freight train.
She decided to pay the floor a visit, since it seemed to be beckoning her. The other girl still had her hair in a vice grip so she didn't make it all the way, but at least there was an attempt.
Just give her a few seconds to reboot, get the room to stop spinning, and then she'd kick this girl's ass. Any second now.
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
Finally - finally - the other girl didn't hit back. Finally something worked. Finally she had a moment to move without consequences.
And you could bet your ass she was using it for all it was worth.
Jezzie pulled as hard as she could on Mystery Girl's hair while letting go. Not even close to the same effect as throwing someone, but the closest she was going to get to putting more distance between them.
Diving for the gun may've been dramatic, and would probably leave a bruise or two on her elbows, but better too much than not enough, right?
She should've aimed carefully, though. Made sure the bullet went into Mystery Girl's skull, or her heart, or just somewhere that would've meant she was absolutely fucked because seriously, where the Hell would she get proper medical attention here that could save her life, if it was in the general midsection she'd basically be fucked within a few hours - wait, off-topic, fucking focus.
Point is, adrenaline was still pumping through her veins like a freight train, and her brain could NOT focus on where to aim.
So Jezzie just pulled the trigger, praying the bullet would hit meat.
And you could bet your ass she was using it for all it was worth.
Jezzie pulled as hard as she could on Mystery Girl's hair while letting go. Not even close to the same effect as throwing someone, but the closest she was going to get to putting more distance between them.
Diving for the gun may've been dramatic, and would probably leave a bruise or two on her elbows, but better too much than not enough, right?
She should've aimed carefully, though. Made sure the bullet went into Mystery Girl's skull, or her heart, or just somewhere that would've meant she was absolutely fucked because seriously, where the Hell would she get proper medical attention here that could save her life, if it was in the general midsection she'd basically be fucked within a few hours - wait, off-topic, fucking focus.
Point is, adrenaline was still pumping through her veins like a freight train, and her brain could NOT focus on where to aim.
So Jezzie just pulled the trigger, praying the bullet would hit meat.
It hit meat, all right.
It wasn't the first time she'd been shot this week, but this time had a bit more oomph to it. The first time it'd been more of a graze, Crystal's errant shot taking a little bit of flank to remember her by. Now it was more solid, a punch to her right side below the ribcage. The bullet's path drew a red-hot worm, burrowing and burning inside her.
One on the left, one on the right. The holes in her sweater were gonna be roughly symmetrical. It was stupid thing to think, but the mind goes funny places in times of crisis.
She looked up at the bitch who'd shot her. Would've said something but she didn't have the energy. Passed out instead.
Damn it.
It wasn't the first time she'd been shot this week, but this time had a bit more oomph to it. The first time it'd been more of a graze, Crystal's errant shot taking a little bit of flank to remember her by. Now it was more solid, a punch to her right side below the ribcage. The bullet's path drew a red-hot worm, burrowing and burning inside her.
One on the left, one on the right. The holes in her sweater were gonna be roughly symmetrical. It was stupid thing to think, but the mind goes funny places in times of crisis.
She looked up at the bitch who'd shot her. Would've said something but she didn't have the energy. Passed out instead.
Damn it.
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
For a moment, Jezzie only stared.
At Mystery Girl.
The blood.
Where the bullet landed.
Then her whole body, tensed one moment, just slumped. Hands and gun landing on her stomach, finger leaving the trigger, head falling back into the snow, and the breath held in was released.
She did it. She won. Mystery Girl was dead. Maybe not yet, but eventually it was going to happen. No one here had a medical degree, and that meant that bullet was staying where it went, and the damage was going to be left alone, if not made worse by other people trying and failing to fix it.
Another body for the pile, and it wasn't going to be her.
A few seconds passed before Jezzie got to her feet, letting out a groan as her palms pressed against her knees when pushing herself up. God, everything hurt now that the adrenaline was leaving. Should she down some pain killers? She had plenty at this point, thanks to Prii and Bill and her own. Maybe later. Whenever she feels confident she can count them well enough that she doesn't immediately become addicted. That is the absolute last thing she needs, here or back home.
Mystery Girl's stuff provided the expected. More medical supplies, clothes she wouldn't use, food she was tempted to take now that she was down to one of her original bread loaves and officially out of crackers, a weirdly familiar knife that she would leave behind because she had enough blades already thank you, a flashlight and a map and a compass - nothing that really surprised her.
The screen was a new one, though.
From what she could tell, it was a tracker. It pointed out where Mystery Girl was laying on the floor of the house, and the dot in the center moved away when Jezzie placed it down and took a few steps away from it. She could probably find out more about how it worked if she looked at the manual, but at this point she just wanted get out go this place. The gunshot might've gotten attention, and she needed to rest before dealing with other people right now. She'd take any place that she could hide in and sleep at the same time, even an open grave.
One last look was sent Mystery Girl's way. She wondered what her name was. She would find out eventually, like Bill before her, but there would still be a bit of time where Jezzie have a face with no name for a murder victim. It was probably awful. She might've been awful. But it was what she had to do to live, and she was sure others would understand once she was out of here alive. The other option was to die, and she wasn't going to die before becoming a star. She had more plans for her life, before she turned to ash.
[[Exit, Jezzie Sta
Wait.
Grave.
Ash.
Graves...
Ash...
Jezzie looked back at the Mystery Girl, trying to put the puzzle pieces together as quickly as possible, because it couldn't, she couldn't have, she did not just-
"Oh, fuck."
She killed Kitty's sister.
Oh, she was so FUCKED-
[[Exit, Jezzie Stark, gun in one hand, collar tracker in the other, kicking up snow as she sprints offscreen.]]
At Mystery Girl.
The blood.
Where the bullet landed.
Then her whole body, tensed one moment, just slumped. Hands and gun landing on her stomach, finger leaving the trigger, head falling back into the snow, and the breath held in was released.
She did it. She won. Mystery Girl was dead. Maybe not yet, but eventually it was going to happen. No one here had a medical degree, and that meant that bullet was staying where it went, and the damage was going to be left alone, if not made worse by other people trying and failing to fix it.
Another body for the pile, and it wasn't going to be her.
A few seconds passed before Jezzie got to her feet, letting out a groan as her palms pressed against her knees when pushing herself up. God, everything hurt now that the adrenaline was leaving. Should she down some pain killers? She had plenty at this point, thanks to Prii and Bill and her own. Maybe later. Whenever she feels confident she can count them well enough that she doesn't immediately become addicted. That is the absolute last thing she needs, here or back home.
Mystery Girl's stuff provided the expected. More medical supplies, clothes she wouldn't use, food she was tempted to take now that she was down to one of her original bread loaves and officially out of crackers, a weirdly familiar knife that she would leave behind because she had enough blades already thank you, a flashlight and a map and a compass - nothing that really surprised her.
The screen was a new one, though.
From what she could tell, it was a tracker. It pointed out where Mystery Girl was laying on the floor of the house, and the dot in the center moved away when Jezzie placed it down and took a few steps away from it. She could probably find out more about how it worked if she looked at the manual, but at this point she just wanted get out go this place. The gunshot might've gotten attention, and she needed to rest before dealing with other people right now. She'd take any place that she could hide in and sleep at the same time, even an open grave.
One last look was sent Mystery Girl's way. She wondered what her name was. She would find out eventually, like Bill before her, but there would still be a bit of time where Jezzie have a face with no name for a murder victim. It was probably awful. She might've been awful. But it was what she had to do to live, and she was sure others would understand once she was out of here alive. The other option was to die, and she wasn't going to die before becoming a star. She had more plans for her life, before she turned to ash.
[[Exit, Jezzie Sta
Wait.
Grave.
Ash.
Graves...
Ash...
Jezzie looked back at the Mystery Girl, trying to put the puzzle pieces together as quickly as possible, because it couldn't, she couldn't have, she did not just-
"Oh, fuck."
She killed Kitty's sister.
Oh, she was so FUCKED-
[[Exit, Jezzie Stark, gun in one hand, collar tracker in the other, kicking up snow as she sprints offscreen.]]
Ash wasn't really aware of the other girl leaving or anything else.
((Ashlyn Graves continued in Look What The Cat Dragged Out))
((Ashlyn Graves continued in Look What The Cat Dragged Out))
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