Survival Of The Fittest

Rene could tell that she and Sam had one thing in common: Neither of them had a goddamn clue what they were supposed to do.  So to recap, she had no plan, nobody she had spoken to had a plan, and there was still the matter of the mysterious third person in the vicinity who may or may not be a serial killer, complete with creepy mask and theme music that announces their arrival.  In other words, she had made no progress at all aside from realizing that she should have just faked sick and watched YouTube all day instead of going on the science trip.

From this point came an uncomfortable silence, a time when nobody knows what to say, either due to awkwardness or dumbfoundedness, and just lets the ambient sounds of the area take over.  Unfortunately, the ambient sound in the hallway now included a creaking door, and it caught the attention of both teens in the hall.

What happened next was almost indescribable.  Someone leaned out of the doorway.  Not too weird, at least not until one mentions the fact that they were wearing a freaking Richard Nixon mask.  Then, as if they wanted to deliberately make matters worse, they threw up a peace sign.  Rene didn't know what to say.  Hell, she didn't know what she could say to that.

She gripped the strap of her bag tightly and stared straight at the abberation.  Every synapse in her brain was telling her to run, but her feet were too busy trying to get over the shock of whatever the hell was happening at the moment.  For now she could only watch as madness stared at her from down the hall.

Damn it, I was only joking when I told myself there might be a serial killer here.

Caleb let out a breath he'd been holding in and smiled. Of course, the smile was hidden behind his grotesque Nixon mask. If he was the type to laugh, he might have laughed now. They were totally scared shitless, which was hilarious.

Caleb stood up, still keeping most of his body behind the door frame due to the presence of the crossbow. He knew them both vaguely, more so Rene who liked video games, but not the ones he liked. Still, he'd see her around sometimes.

He lifted the mask, wiped his eyes clumsily with the back of his hand and took a drag of his cigarette. He let the smoke out shakily, still smiling just a tiny bit, mostly in relief now.

"Hi," he exhaled, along with more smoke.

Richard Nixon stood up and revealed his real identity. Admittedly, Samuel liked this guy as much as he liked Nixon. Like most people from school, Samuel had never held a real conversation with Caleb, but he had that dickish vibe about him. He just rubbed Samuel the wrong way during their time at school.

But things were different here. Here they were expected to kill each other, and somebody was going to kill someone eventually. Samuel eyed Caleb from down the hall. Was he a threat?

Well, he didn't look like one.

Caleb greeted the two and kept his distance. Seemed like he was as wary as Samuel was. And unless Caleb had brought that mask onto the bus with him for some reason, it was probably the weapon he'd been given. Samuel felt sorry for him, but he was also relieved to see that he wasn't armed. All in all, he seemed to be as much of a threat as Rene was, possibly even less so.

So nobody was going to attack him, or at least right now. Samuel relaxed, responding with a "Hey," and a casual wave.

Thankfully, Nixon pulled off his mask, sparing the world from his horrible plastic visage for the time being. The man behind the mask, Caleb, wasn't exactly someone that Rene was a huge fan of, but it could be worse. At least he had a sense of humor. Plus, he was definitely a better possibility than the serial killer that she had been expecting. However, she was deeply disappointed that he did not announce his presence by stating that he was not a crook.

She crossed her arms and smirked at the new arrival. "So we've got a dick in a Tricky Dick mask. That's a new one." She chuckled at her own joke. "Got lost on the way to the Oval Office?"

Before Rene could continue her impromptu routine, the sound of a bell ringing came through the hallways. Rene looked up and angled her eyes in the direction she was pretty sure she heard the sound coming from. Rene wasn't sure whether it had come from one of her classmates or the terrorists, but whoever it was, it certainly gave her a lot to think about. She looked back at the two guys in the hall and pointed her thumb in the direction she had just been staring.

"So... you guys just heard that, right?"

Caleb cracked a half smile at Rene's wordplay. It was actually pretty funny, funnier than he would have thought she could be. He almost made a crack about trying to find an intern, but that was the wrong president.

"I take offense to being called 'tricky.'"

He looked all around at the sound of the bell that resonated around them suddenly.

"We'd have to be deaf not to hear it," he said, somewhat grumbly.

Caleb walked back to his cell and looked out the window. In between the bars he could make out a gothic-style bell tower. "Well, if anyone's still out that'll wake them up."

Caleb was suddenly struck with a thought and went to the next door, opening it cautiously. No one there. He did the same with a few other doors, all similarly empty.

"I don't think there's anyone else in here. I mean, I don't know about the rest of the building but at least not like, right here where we are."

He was calming down every uneasy moment, but he still had no idea what to do. He dropped his mostly spent cigarette and crushed it under his heel. "So now what?"

Christ, that bell was loud. Samuel figured that it had to be right on top of them to make that loud of a noise. "It's a hard sound to miss," Samuel replied flatly, turning to Rene. He followed her gaze up towards the ceiling as Caleb said something and checked the other rooms.

It had to be one of their classmates. Unless the terrorists were on this island with them, only a kid would've been able to do that. Maybe it was an accident or done for shits and giggles; Samuel couldn't blame them for trying to enjoy themselves in the face of imminent death. Hell, maybe they were trying to be poetic - "the bell tolls for thee" and all that crap. That last one would make an interesting scene in a novel, but it didn't translate well to real life.

Caleb came back and confirmed that they were the only ones in this part of the asylum. However, Samuel thought that wouldn't be the case soon. Whoever rang that bell just painted a target on themselves, or maybe they were trying to lure others towards them. Either way, people were going to flock to the bell tower like bees to honey.

And the last thing Samuel wanted was to be around other people.

"I dunno about you guys, but I'm headed..." Samuel trailed off. Besides that bell tower, he had no idea what laid outside the asylum walls. "...somewhere. Somewhere else. Anywhere but near that bell tower."

Sam and Caleb's reactions immediately assured Rene that a bell had in fact just rang, and she was not experiencing vivid auditory hallucinations. Now that she knew her sanity checked out, her next plan of action involved figuring out just what it was she wanted to do next. Ironic, considering that Caleb had just inquired into that specific topic. Funny how these sorts of things work out sometimes.

For his part, Sam voiced that he was of the opinion that the best course of action for him is to get the hell out of their current location. Rene couldn't disagree. A dirty hallway branching off into a bunch of rooms with barred windows didn't exactly seem like the friendliest of environments, nor was it a place that she imagined herself wanting to stay for any appreciable period of time. She was actually quite happy to hear Sam say that, because now she could say essentially the same thing and not have to worry about any backlash.

"Yeah, I'm thinking that Sam here's got the right idea." Rene said. "And considering that the area's already creepy enough without ominous bells ringing through the halls... yeah..." She made two finger-guns with her hands and pointed them down the hall behind her. "... I think I'm gonna go."

She slowly walked backwards down the hall, still pointing while looking back at Sam and Caleb. It was after a few steps that she realized she probably looked ridiculous, and did a quick mock-salute before turning and walking around the corner normally.

All things considered, I suppose that could've gone worse.

((Rene Wolfe continued elsewhere...))

Caleb blinked and watched Rene ramble and slowly back out of the hallway they were standing in. He looked to Sam. He wondered if they should go after her. It seemed like a remarkably poor idea to wander out alone unless she was in fact planning on killing people. Either way, she wasn't his responsibility.

"Well..." he started. It was awkward, there was no doubt. He'd seen Sam before and knew who he was a little. Maybe they'd exchanged a few words over the years, but they hadn't had anything close to a deep or extended conversation.

"Guess it's just us?" he ventured nervously, but trying to maintain his hard exterior. He steeled himself for rejection just in case.

"Um....if you want to....go"

((Caleb Diamond continued in Among These Hallowed Halls))

Samuel was glad Rene hadn't insisted on sticking together. He half-heartedly returned her mock salute before she left. Now it was just him and Caleb, who thankfully didn't seem like the clingy type either.

"Yeah, I'm gonna head off, too," Samuel replied, shouldering his bag. His usual parting words would've been "See ya around," but that wouldn't be the case. This was probably the last time he'd see Caleb or Rene alive. It didn't bother him too much; they were strangers at school, and that didn't change here. Waking up together in a hellhole like this didn't create spontaneous friendships.

Instead, Samuel settled on saying "Good luck," before turning around and heading in the opposite direction Rene had gone.

He didn't look back.

((Samuel Howard continued in Room of Relaxation))