Survival Of The Fittest

Rosemary was silent for a moment. Whatever she said now could mean life or death depending on how much of a sore loser Joachim turned out to be.

"... I'm sorry, but that isn't the answer. I was looking for "a clock."" She replied.

Would she have to run? Could she do that with the gun before he had the chance to shoot her? It was too far away from the slope to get any covering, and he could be faster than her.

She continued to look at Joachim, tightening the grip on the butterfly knife that was in her front pocket.

Please don't get angry. Please, please, please...

"I believe this means I'm the winner."

"...ha...haha... A clock, of course."

In hindsight, it was obviously obvious. But something Joachim overlooked in the heat of the... battle. Oh dear, Jaq is so going to chew him out for this. But a deal is a deal, and to be honest, that game was definitely enjoyable enough. Made sense, not only the body was stimulated in SotF, but also the mind. Even if in a way that the creators did not intent, probably.

"Congrats, that was a nice one. Just promise me that you won't shoot me in the back, okay?"

Joachim went back to his belongings, pulled out his ration of the food and somehow stored it with the gun and the knife on his arms. He turned around to look at Rosemary one last time. It was nice to have solved matters so... civilized. Yeah, that was what he prided himself on all the time, no? He, Joachim, more refined, more civilized than most of the world's population. And even in a death game he proved himself to be a gentleman.

A magnificent feeling. A feeling of triumph. An emotional high that Joachim wished he could never let go.

"Seeya!"

[Joachim Lovelace, continued in I believe people can change, but only for the worse]

Rosemary was still in shock as Joachim collected his share.

"Promise." She replied. He had threatened to kill her, but with the gun won there was no reason to try and agitate the boy. There was something off about how happy he was, even with his loss. When Joachim turned around to face her, she was almost sure that he would raise his blade and eject it into her chest. But he did not.

All he did was give a light farewell and was off on his way.

As soon as he was out of sight, Rosemary fell to her knees, hugging herself and taking deep breaths. That was too close a call for comfort. When she got back to Meera and Paulo, she would have to be more careful about meeting killers head on. Once she took a moment to collect herself, she quickly crawled over to the prize box, taking out the gun and reading the front of the manual that came with it.

"'TOZ-194, twelve gage pump-action shotgun.'" She whispered out loud, before looking around, then back at the weapon in her arms.

"I have a shotgun." Rosemary said weakly, before going back to the chest and collection the food portion. The smell from the sausage made her stomach groan, but she needed to save it until she got back to the safety of the high school and the others. Zipping up her hoodie in order to store the food, manual, and ammo for the shotgun, she struggled to her feet without dropping anything, making the move to leave until a thought stopped her.

Maximilian throughout all the time her and Joachim played had never arrived. That had cost him the weapon sure, but he would still get the food. He would still be rewarded for drowning Amy and shooting Ilya and Lydia, but it all boiled back down to him first shooting Becca back on the second day.

Even if she had the gun, Maximilian already had another that he knew how to use.

Rosemary did not realize she had set down the gun and taken out her knife until the blade flipped open and she opened the chest once more. She picked up the remaining sausage and cut it apart into pieces, letting each of the parts drop to the filthy ground before picking up the ice cream. She stabbed and slit an opening into the bottom of container and let the ice cream plop down to join the sausage in an unappetizing mess. She tossed the ripped container back into the box, setting the cover in place as if it had never been disturbed.

Rosemary cleaned the gunk off her knife before storing it, picking up her prize and making her way out of the Overpass as the sky turned a darker gray.

(Rosemary Michaels continued to Repeat)