Survival Of The Fittest

((So, we're suddenly a DZ and we really need to get moving, so I'm gonna go ahead and skip and get stuff rolling, too. Apologies.))

Oh. Oh no, he didn't. He could not actually be that stupid. No way.

And yet, the guy had really done it. He'd just identified himself as Rob Jenkins. Aaron hadn't paid great attention to the announcements, but he had a pretty good memory. He could certainly call to mind names he had heard before, and Rob Jenkins was one of them. If he was still here, still alive, that meant...

A killer. They were talking with a murderer. A murderer who was insulting him. Who was questioning his ability to lead. Who was trying to break the group up. Trying to scatter them, to pick them off one at a time. He was telling Aaron to leave. Was saying Aaron had no control over him. Was complaining that Aaron was using his weapon too much, while doing the same himself. It was way, way too easy. So simple to shut this moron down, to dismantle his position entirely. There was something wrong, though. Something twisted, bad. Why was he being so calm? So insulting? He had to have an angle. There was something here Aaron was missing.

Aileen was trying to defuse things. Trying to justify Aaron's behavior. Like it needed justification. Like he needed any reason to defend himself against a murderer. Aileen just didn't get it. Didn't understand. From his safe spot behind the tree, Aaron began to speak.

"Aileen, don't waste your breath. That guy's a killer. Rob Jenkins, first day. He's trying to split us and pick us off. Rob, you say I have no control over you? What do you call a gun? What do—"

As he spoke, Aaron was looking around. Watching his back. Something was wrong. There was some other angle here. Some reason for this hostility. Rob had admitted he wanted no part in the escape plan, yet he was here, not leaving, facing down a superior group. And, as Aaron turned, as he saw the figure behind him, it all made sense.

"Jacquard."

Oh. Oh, so that was what they were playing at, was it? It was a trap. It was a perfectly calculated trap. The one person who had hated Aaron more than anyone else, the one person who had had it out for him before all of this, before they'd even left school, before there'd been any reason. Insane, murderous, evil, vindictive Jacquard Broughten.

Well, she'd messed up. Tipped her hand early, like always. And now, he would make her pay.

"Well. A team, is it? Two murderers for the price of one? Tell me, Jacquard, how's the leg? That the only reason you only have one kill to your name so far?"

Was she answering him? Didn't matter. Aaron's focus was narrowed. He was pinned, between Jacquard and Rob. Two killers. He was still alive. That meant Jacquard didn't have a gun. That meant Rob was the primary threat. A dozen possibilities for dealing with the situation spun through his head, but he rejected most of them out of hand. The only two that made sense were to take Jacquard as a hostage and make Rob let him go, or to kill Rob. And, since Rob was a killer, he might not care about his ally being snatched.

Too much to plan. Too much to consider. More possibilities sprang up, more ideas, more hopes, more openings for his teammates, and finally, Aaron just couldn't take any more of it. He was not getting into a standoff here. Was not risking his, no, everyone's lives on these two psychopaths. They had to escape. Sometimes, sacrifices had to be made. In this case, for the group's protection, Aaron realized he could take a little publicity hit on the next announcements.

"Fuck you, Jacquard," he said, his voice rising. "Fuck all of you, all you players. You think that's the way off? I could have helped you. I could have saved you. And you repay me with this? You think that I—"

And, with a grin, Aaron spun around the tree mid-sentence, paused half a beat to point his pistol at Rob's chest, squeezed the trigger twice, ducked back into cover, and took off running, perpendicular to the killers, keeping low and fast, minimizing his target area.

It would probably have been best to shout back for his allies, but right now, he didn't care. They'd catch up. They'd catch up, and if they didn't, well, they'd keep Jacquard busy. After all, what was important was that the majority of their class escaped. It didn't have to be these specific people.

((Aaron Hughes continued in Could Have Been Worse))

((Breaking post order to GTFO myself. Man that's depressing timing.))

She hadn't said a word. Frankly if she really had been all there, she wouldn't have had the energy to speak. Actually, she wouldn't have even had the energy to get where she was pitifully clinging anyways, but that was beyond the point. Aaron and his friends for the most part initially seemed absolutely oblivious to her existence. She was just kind of standing there and didn't know why. Aaron had it in his head that she had it out for him. Just because she had beaten him in Chess that one time. Just because she tried to help out a beginner against Mr. Plan over here.

No, she wanted nothing to do with his little group. Yet her body's control had not been rendered to her since the young voice had heard the group...

"Jacquard."

Well, there it is. He finally noticed her. The kid Aaron had been facing down was flashing a gun, and she was less than surprised to see one on Aaron's person as well.

"Well, that explains how he got a group like this following him. That or promises of some grand plan."

As much as she wanted to yell at the voice before it decided to become more argumentative, using her as an anonymity mask, it was completely right. Those probably were the two factors that led these people to follow Aaron. He probably laid claim to some master plan, which cared little about anyone but him. That and the gun was giving him power. Not the kind when you point the gun at someone and give them an order. No, it gave the aura of power, the perception of power. People did it on a psychological level all the time. Someone who looks powerful is powerful, that's the logic. Only Jackie new better.

"Damn straight. Oh, and Jackie, sweetie. Call me Li."

D-Did that voice just introduce itself?! She still hadn't quite comprehended what was going on, but she had at best thought it to be an identity crisis of sorts, something in the back of her mind with every different direction she could go on the island after murder arguing and vying for power in what happened next. In reality she was right, but she just didn't know how right she was.

"Well. A team, is it? Two murderers for the price of one? Tell me, Jacquard, how's the leg? That the only reason you only have one kill to your name so far?"

There was no time to argue with some imaginary girl in her head. He was really dumb enough to think that the two of them were a team. And he was dumb enough to think that if she was in a team with anyone, that she wouldn't be the bait. Especially where Aaron was involved.

"Fuck you, Jacquard, Fuck all of you, all you players. You think that's the way off? I could have helped you. I could have saved you. And you repay me with this? You think that I—"

And Li was poised to say this, before he made a movement that she was sure she had seen somewhere on the Special Olympics before. However there was a gun involved. And there were a pair of very, very loud bangs. Her body didn't move, even while in the back of her own head she winced. No pain rushed to the forefront, not that she was even sure if she would feel the pain while she wasn't in control like this. Then again, she still felt her leg. So that probably answered that. Their head dipped over to Rob, and then back to Aaron as he... the only way she could describe it was a hobo run away from the scene.

And much to her chagrin, as well as every other bystander watching from behind shocked, brown eyes, that voice manifested into reality. For anyone who knew Jackie, it just plain wouldn't sound right. At all. It was higher pitched, girlier than anything she had ever said. There was a slight vietnameese accent behind it as well, however slight it was.

"Oh hell no you don't." As well as a battered and beaten body can, the form of Jackie stalked off right after Aaron, that hacksaw dangling from her hip. Her hands showed no sign of reaching for it, nor did her eyes show murder. Not that anyone else would know such a loner well enough to tell any of that at all.

In the back of Jackie's mind, everything she had hoped that this new Li girl wouldn't get her killed.

((Jacquard Broughten continued elsewhere...))

((Skipping to get out.))

Rob had started to act like a douche again. This made Milo a bit uncomfortable, particularly since the dickery was in the guise of defending him; however, Aaron, the leader of the group, had thrown a shitfit and fired two shots at Rob.

Milo didn't exactly know why he'd fired shots, other than something about a murderer, but this was a very pleasing development. If there was anything Milo liked other than himself, it was seeing people who pissed him off get a bit of punishment for it.

I'm gonna follow this guy. He seems pretty badass, Milo thought as the "Great Leader" ran like hell with that crazy girl, Jacquard or whatever, limping after him.

Operating under the assumption that the others would know where to go, Milo followed the leader.

((Milo Taylor continued elsewhere))

Suddenly, Aaron spoke up again.

He said that Rob was a known murderer according to the announcements, and that she shouldn't even bother. Oh shit, really? They were not only dealing with some angry athletic guy with a gun, but an angry athletic guy who had killed. That was far from good news. Seriously, how did Aileen miss the name "Rob Jenkins" on the announcements? She had been listening to them and attempting to keep track of who was killed and who were the ones killing! How did she not make that connection? It should have clicked with her!

And to make matters worse, there was someone else there. Aileen turned to head to see a girl. She looked vaguely familiar. Was she in one of her classes? Actually, it seemed like she had seen her for two seconds or something at one point. Something starting with "J". She remembered something about pens, as well. God, her memory was foggy.

But, judging by Aaron's reaction, she was also bad news. He seemed to think that this "Jacquard" person was working with Rob, and that they were trying to pick them off one by one. And suddenly, it hit her; what if they had already gotten Richard? What if they did? Those fuckheads! If they killed Richard she was going to rip their heads off! It would have been cruel of them to just kill someone like him without remorse! He probably did nothing to them! They had no reason to gang up on him, and... and...

Aileen's facial expression contorted even more as Aaron continued to talk, saying that they lost their chance and he could have helped him.

And suddenly, gunshots.

Aileen simply stood in shock as she heard the cracking noises and Aaron began running away. What just happened? Oh god, what just happened? Someone fired their weapon, who was it? Aileen looked around, seeing that the Jacquard girl was running after Aaron.

Wait, was Aaron the one who fired the weapon?

God damn it! He was acting even more impulsive than her right now! And being quite the coward, to boot. Sure, running away was really the best thing he could have done, but in all honesty. Did he really just fire his weapon at them?

In which case, should she follow him?

On one hand, Aaron just attacked someone. On the other...

"AARON, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" she yelled, quickly grabbing her things and moving as fast as she could even with all the factors making her slower.

Aileen.... was, of course, being Aileen.

She better follow him. He might do something dumb and impulsive again, and god knows what else next time. And god knows she didn't want that to happen, at all. Fuck, they had already had Tom killed off, and a bunch of their group run off. The last thing they needed was for him to do something that could get him or others killed. Sure, he was most likely scared. But this was straight out of nowhere!

And plus, she didn't want this Jacquard person to stab his ass or something.

So Aileen ran.

((Aileen Borden continued elsewhere))

((Skippity skip for the reasons mentioned by others))

Rob was used to the situation on the court changing from one minute to another, but even he wasn't prepared for all of the things that happened seconds after he finished delivering his speech.

It all started quite as he expected, when the girl he spoke to decided to calm down the situation, but immediately after that, the nerdy guy turned out to be the first one ever to actually pay enough attention to the announcement, and remember Rob's past deed back in day 1. But as Rob expected him to just retort, he suddenly spoked to someone completely else, and started deducing a trap for some reason.

Rob turned his head toward the second person the nerd talked about, and it turned out to be the biggest mistake he had made on the island so far. As he stared at the at the newcomer - the brown haired girl, he heard two loud bangs, and before he could react in any way, two sudden impacts in his chest made him fall down to the ground on his back.

Unable to breath for a few seconds, Rob opened his mouth like a frog a few times to catch some air, and started hitting himself in the chest frantically to make his body work properly again.

Finally, after a few excruciatingly painful moments, the redhead regained the control of his lungs, and a loud wheezing sound escaped his mouth. Basketball player started inhaling the fresh air greedily before going into sitting position. Obviously, the first thing he looked at was his own chest. His Minnesota Timberwolves shirt was now sporting two fashionable holes, revealing the kevlar vest underneath, which apparently just saved his life. Then, he looked in the distance to see the nerd cowardly escaping, and several other people following them. Without thinking too much, Rob stood up, took all his things, and went after them.

"Oh no... You won't have it your way, you fuckh- *COUGH COUGH*"

Needless to say, Rob was still far away from full recovery. But it didn't matter. He will find this guy no matter what, even if he'll have to go to hell and back to do so.

This guy is so dead...

((Rob Jenkins continued in You Don't Have to Do This))

((I'm going to skip over Geno... again... in order to get Lily out of here.

When Lily told Rob that his joke was in poor taste, her voice barely audible (or so she thought), he looked at her and and stared daggers into her eyes. Anything else she wanted to say died in her throat, and she could have sword her heart skipped a beat. There was hatred in that glare, seething, burning hatred wholly out of proportion with what Lily said to him. Such a reaction from an armed man worried her.

Once she knew that Rob Jenkins was a murderer, it only got worse. Aaron confirmed the fact, and Lily tried to connect the dots just after it would have made a difference. She knew his name sounded familiar somehow; she'd probably heard it on the announcements. Only killers and victims made it on there, and since Rob was dead, it limited his options.

Did she ever talk to Rob during school? He was probably an athlete, but she didn't remember ever seeing him work. Did he play hockey, basketball, soccer? Was he this angry at school. It couldn't be. She didn't want to believe that. It was the game. The game was making everyone crazy.

Her eyes turned to Aaron; she wasn't sure he didn't go a little crazy, either. He refused to back down from Rob, his mind surely racing to figure out how to get out of this. "A-Aaron," she said, "can we go? They're not interested in joining-" She caught herself in the act of hypocrisy before she finished the sentence. At the house from before, Lily wished that the crowd of people could have joined them in their quest to escape, that Aaron hadn't played hardball with them. Now she wanted to get away from more people just because one scared her half to death?

It was probably something she'd blown out of proportion, but it only served to highlight how truly unprepared for this game she was. This compromise would only be the first of many, and when she got out with everyone else, it would take years, decades maybe, for her to reconcile the old world with the new. She didn't know what worried her more, the possibility that she wouldn't make sense of it all, or that she might never get the chance to.

She wanted to be anywhere else right now. She wanted to meet with GodSpeed again, all of them, dead and living. Even if it meant seeing Rachel again, she'd take the opportunity in a heartbeat. She wanted to help Roland with his homework, and get help from him in return. She wanted to see a movie with her dad, go to the park with her mom, practice her gymnastics routine like nothing had ever happened.

Aaron didn't listen. He was too concerned with his version of the events, a paranoid fantasy in any world but this. A rustle in the bush gave him a new tangent to follow, introduced another face only he knew, the face of another murderer. "Aaron, please," she said, trying to get his attention as he threw baseless conjecture around like dried rice. "Aaron, you don't-"

And then the shots rang out. "AARON!" she shrieked, looking forward again to see the bullets impact Rob square in the chest.

She looked back, and Aaron, was running, followed by a furious Aileen. She had no choice but to try and catch up with them, try and make sense of Aaron's actions. She was sure that she'd still follow him as long as he had his plan, but that didn't make being around him any easier.

She just didn't want anyone else to die.

((Lillian Hayes concluded in You Don't Have to Do This))

Richard made like the tree he was hiding behind and left.

((Richard Han continued in Cliff Richard))