Survival Of The Fittest

All his life, John had been constantly dumped on. It had gotten to the point where he thrived on it. He couldn't be comfortable without someone degrading him. If there wasn't anyone around to do it, he would do it to himself. Sometimes he wondered just how much he could take before it broke him.

Apparently, this was it.

There was a boy pointing a shotgun, while not technically at him, too close to him for comfort. That boy was capable of shrugging off the pleading, negotiations, and inappropriate banter of three other people. Shotgun Boy wanted to be alone. John just wanted to stay alive. Then the talk went to hunting down Darnell. Whether or not they intended to kill him, it didn't seem like a very friendly gesture to John.

Then, John heard someone's voice come from outside. The way Shotgun Boy reacted to the voice seemed to say that this was who he was waiting for. He said not to move.

I guess he wants our company now...good for us.

In any "normal" situation, John would have readily complied. But the small portion of his brain that was currently still functioning formed a sobering thought:

Wait, he's pointing the gun at the guy outside. I'm not his target, I'm just standing in front of it...In front of a gun. That shoots bullets...

Then, he could almost hear an audible crack inside his skull. He now only had one conscious thought:

IWANNALIVEIWANNALIVEIWANNALIVEIWANNLIVE

And so on.

He had previously considered himself to be a dead man walking. Just someone who's mediocre life had been ended by a terrible bit of luck. It was easy to think this way in an academic sense. Being directly confronted with death was another thing entirely. He glanced at his bag, sitting next to his feet. His only hope of taking control of quickly deteriorating situation was in that bag. He had a chance too slim to be calculated by any modern means of reaching the bag before Shotgun Boy could pull the trigger but it was time to break his maxim and take a chance.

Then, Darnell appeared in the doorway. It was only for a brief moment, but John noticed how Shotgun Boy focused on the quickly moving figure.

I'll take a chance. Now.

John threw himself to the ground, ripped open the bag and pulled out the Uzi. He really didn't know a thing about it except that it was loaded and the safety was not on. He was genre savvy enough not to fall for those tricks. And, of course, that it could make whoever you pointed it at die.

He pointed the gun at Shotgun Boy from where he was lying. He summoned as much bravado as he could, though its impact was lessened by the tears freely streaming down his face, and shouted:

"Just-just stop! All we wanted was to get out of the rain and be safe from this stupid game and you just threaten everyone! Well, you're not the only guy with a gun now! Put it down!" His courage was spent by that point. His voice became a low mutter, but he didn't lower his aim. "I don't wanna die...I used to, but not any more...not now..."

It all happened so quickly, and yet time didn't seem to move at all.

Darnell had absolutely no idea what he had been walking in to, and had jumped from the doorway about as quickly as he'd started to walk in, taken off-guard by the fact that one of his closest friends was pointing a shotgun at him. Seconds later, he'd heard Darnell unleash a verbal tirade upon him - as though he had no idea why Keith was pointing a gun at him.

As if the three people that you murdered wasn't enough reason, man. Come on, how can I trust you anymore?

Darnell was screaming out, and as he finished his verbal barrage, as if upon cue, the speakers crackled to life and the disgusting voice of their captor, Mr. Danya, filled the air like a bad smell. Keith said nothing as he listened to the latest list of casualties, his stomach turning as he heard names that he recognized - people that he knew; some of whom were his damned friends. And then...

"Guy..."

Keith's jaw dropped when he heard Guy's name over the announcements. Guy had been alive the day before, when they'd been seperated...and now? Now Guy was dead, murdered by some girl that he'd gone off and gotten pregnant? What the fuck is that shit?! The hell did that come from!?

Of course, that wasn't all. Seconds later, Danya came on and taunted certain people - Neil Sinclair, that sad guy or whatever. He said something about an escape plot, and that Neil and his group had been destroying cameras left, right, and center. So Danya decided that he would kill people by detonating their collars...left, right, and center. This wasn't right - this was beyond fucked up. Anyone could die, because some fucking kid thought it'd be smart to destroy cameras in what was essentially a glorified reality television show?! How fucking stupid could they possibly be!? Keith was dumbfounded. Things weren't making sense, not even a bit. As he tried listening to the danger zones, he found himself relieved that the jailhouse was not one of them.

Thank God for small favours, eh?

That, of course, was when everything started moving in slow-motion.

Immediately following the announcement, one of the kids who Keith'd been holding at gunpoint had apparently snapped. Throwing himself to the ground, he ripped open his pack and out came something Keith didn't expect to see - an Uzi. Pointed directly at him. The boy started to say something, but Keith wasn't even listening. Instead, alarm bells were ringing in his head, and all he could see was the barrel of the Uzi pointed squarely at him. It was a dumb move on the kid's part, and Keith had no choice at all aside from following his reflexes. Backpedalling a step, he reached out with his left arm and knocked Kallie to a sitting position, stepping in front of her, and aiming the gun directly at the kid with the Uzi. At that moment, nothing went through his head. Not Darnell, Guy, Kallie, or Boxer. Nobody, not even the kid who was holding the gun. All he saw was his own bloody corpse on the floor, riddled with bullet holes. All he saw was his own death. Aiming the shotgun, he growled out, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Not now, chief! I'm in the fucking zone!"

Keith didn't have a clue what it meant, nor did he pay it much heed. He didn't think much of it because he'd just discharged the shotgun, aimed squarely at the boy holding the Uzi. Self-preservation made people act strangely, and Keith knew that now, the shit was inching ever-so-slowly towards the rotating blades of fate.

((Sorry for posting utter shite but unlike some people I can't go through walls of text without spending an entire day on a response that at least keeps up. That and it's been so long since I posted with Boxer that I need to "get used to it" again.))

The sound of Darnell's voice reflexively set Boxer into alert mode. The very sight of the man reflexively caused him to clench his fists. Here was Darnell Butler, literally right next to him, and yet untouchable being in the way of a shotgun's firing line.

Keith's reply to his pleas didn't exactly open up any opportunities either, as it reminded how close these two teammates were. They were like brothers, but unlike Darnell, Boxer did not suspect that Keith was trying to lure Darnell in for a hot buckshot injection. His naïvete was his flaw as well as his blessing, that he believed what people said as easily as he honestly believed what he said was true. If this was whom Keith was going to side with, then Boxer hoped it was simply between these two and not the whole team...though perhaps siding with one of their most frequent victims didn't make him hold his breath for the former.

Still, Boxer could sense that Darnell was lying through his teeth when it came to his other kills. He may have been knocked out during the announcement proper, but he had witnessed Eduardo dying at Darnell's hands and he may as well have assumed that the other bodies he soon found himself unconsciously on the ground with were also fresh kills as well.

The red mist was descending, and although the titan wasn't paying enough attention to the names mentioned on today's announcement, he couldn't help but notice their screams. Some were female. Some were male. And it was perhaps the fact that Eddie's death was still fresh in his mind that gave him the impression that the screams were in his head rather than a live recording of what was going on. It distracted him from figuring out who was going to stand with him, but not in time for him to try to pursue Darnell as he tried to enter the building only to be forced back out to the opposite side of the doorway where they now stood.

His survival instincts kicked in quicker than the screams when the gunshot fired.

"Darnell! Funny, I was asking where you were just now!" he shouted over more expected gunfire. "Didn't think you'd finished me off where you murdered Eddie, did you? Is that why you came looking for me?" His currently derailed of thought was putting things together anyway it could. Not that a single punch from Darnell would have <i>killed</i> Boxer as quickly as a sword through the chest.

Even as John heard the gunshot and felt it rip through his stomach, he refused to believe it actually happened. It was only when he touched the wound with his free hand that it became a concrete reality. He immediately dropped the Uzi and placed both hands over his profusely bleeding abdomen, in an attempt to literally hold himself together.

Good job John. You finally took a chance.

John knew he was shortly going to be dead. He had known since the moment he had decided to grab the gun. The only way he could have ever pulled the trigger would have been if he was holding a gun to his own head. He craned his neck in order to look into Shotgun Boy's eyes. He wanted to say some memorable final words that would remain etched into his killer's mind for the rest of his life, but he couldn't form anything resembling actual words around the blood that was now streaming from his mouth. John decided that if he couldn't have any last words, he could at least have a last action.

With the remains of his quickly waning strength, John flipped himself onto his stomach. He swung an arm out at the Uzi by his side. It slid through the ever widening red puddle he was becoming and left a trail of red all the way to the doorway where it stopped.

I don't hate you Shotgun Boy...even though you were a dick...but you're not gonna put the gun down. Take the chance Darnell...There's no way you can do any worse...than I did...

That was his last conscious thought. He took a few more gasping breaths, then did nothing much of interest, much like he had done while living.

B87-JOHN COX: DECEASED

What's... going on?

That seemed to be the million dollar question for Kallie Majors at the moment. Everything had happened so fast. One moment, she'd been in the process of barricading herself into the jailhouse with Keith, and the next, she'd stopped what she was doing completely as Darnell had been declared a murderer on the announcements. Since then, everything that had happened around her had been a blur. SOTF, this "competition", as it were, had been affecting Kallie far more than she'd ever admit, and hearing the name of one of her closest friends blaring over the announcement? It was affecting her drastically. That was probably why she barely even noticed as John Rizzolo came barreling in, only to leave moments later.

It barely registered when Boxer came in. Even when Evan and John showed up, Kallie barely noticed, or barely even cared. Over the past few days, her life had been drawn into a proverbial twister. Everything she knew had been flipped on its head in a matter of days, and even though Kallie would've never admitted it, it was taking its toll on her. People don't just "adjust" to something like Survival of the Fittest. They don't "get used" to hearing their friends names blaring over announcements every morning, declaring them murderers or dead. And yet, that was what she, and everyone else on the island, had been subjected to over the course of the past week.

She could vaguely hear Keith's voice demanding that the three newcomers get out of the building as her head continued swimming with thoughts. Still, she was almost completely detached from the standoff that ensued, instead standing behind Keith like some lifeless puppet awaiting orders. Finally, another voice echoed out from the exterior of the building, and even over the booming rain, Kallie could clearly distinguish that voice. Darnell Butler. According to the announcement, he was a cold-blooded killer. But... was he really? It was something Kallie couldn't quite wrap her head around. Darnell had killed three people. That was an indisputable fact. But... had it been out of malice or self defense.

I just... I... I don't understand...

Watching Keith point the barrel of his shotgun toward the doorway as he called for Darnell to enter was almost too much for Kallie to take. Part of her was ready to wheel Keith around and slap him in the face for his actions. At the same time, Darnell had killed three people. There was no other way to look at it. It had happened, regardless of the circumstances, and that meant that they had a reason to be leery of him, more so than anybody else that had surrounded them inside the jailhouse. Kallie's eyes closed tightly for a moment as the boys' argument was interrupted by the morning announcements. Unfortunately, the sniveling voice of Danya's lackey didn't echo out across the island. No, this time, it was Danya himself.

He seemed jovial when he announced the deaths of so many students over the course of one day. His happy tone of voice simply made Kallie sick. How could someone be so inhuman that they made fun of people that had died? People that had been murdered by their peers. How could someone be so sick and demented? And that was when it hit. Guy Rapide. They had just seen him yesterday, and somehow, some way, he had died. "Shell shocked" wasn't quite the word for how Kallie felt as that name repeated itself over and over again in her head.

Her body went numb. Her mind went blank. Even as John Cox pointed an Uzi toward them and Keith shoved her to the ground in some attempt at protecting her, she simply stared blankly ahead, watching as Keith shot John. Everything going on around her felt surreal, as if it was moving in slow motion. She found herself blankly rising to her feet and dusting herself off now that the threat was gone, but she couldn't get Danya's voice out of her head. Over and over it repeated itself, as if trying to beat into her mind that one of her best friends was dead. If they'd stayed with him, if they hadn't gotten separated, Mary wouldn't have killed him, and he would've still been alive.

Mary... why... why'd you do it?

Mary McKay was pregnant with Guy's child. Calling it a "startling" revelation just didn't seem to cover it.

You never told me... you never said anything. And then you went and got yourself killed, you arrogant little asshole... stupid... so... so stupid... and now Alice... that poor girl... she's out there all alone... you were supposed to protect her, Guy! You were supposed to be there until we found you again... how could you... how could you die on me you bastard? Why...

The barely noticed the red-hot tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. When she realized they were there, she quickly blinked them back. Kallie had never been the sort of person to cry, especially in public, but given the circumstances, she was finding it nearly impossible to hold back the tears. Everything around her seemed to be going down in flames. Keith had just shot somebody, Darnell was being accused of being a murderer, Guy was dead. Overall, it seemed like an overwhelmingly impossible situation.

Forget it... forget the hiding spot... forget all these people... I just want to go... just... want to get away.

"Keith..." Kallie spoke up quietly, her voice cracking slightly, "... Stop, okay? There's... there's no need for this."

People... people keep dying... and... there's nothing I can do... nothing at all.

Right after he had asked Keith if it was alright to enter the jail, he had heard one of the people inside start screaming and pull something out of their bag. Yelling at Keith for pointing his gun at them, at Darnell. Then Keith shouted something about being in "the fuckin' zone" which Darnell took as meaning not to come in yet, before there was a loud blast from Keith's shotgun. Shocked, Darnell couldn't help but cover his ears and huddle over some as the gunfire sounded out, for a second almost thinking he was the one being shot at.

Right at that time, he heard Boxer Carvalho yelling at him to his right and looked over, surprised that the giant was even there. The last time they had seen each other was when Darnell knocked Boxer out at the airfield, (ugh...the airfield. Darnell would prefer it if he never had to think about that again) and when Darnell had arrived at the jail he was so excited to have found Keith and Kallie that he ran past Boxer without even seeing him. Their eyes meeting, Darnell could see the anger in Boxer, but couldn't think of a response at first. Eventually, though, he just shook his head and said the first thing that came to mind, raising his voice a bit to be heard over the gunshot but not yelling.

"Shut up and keep your head down, Dan! Stay behind that wall until I figure out what the hell's going on, we can talk about this later! If I don't make it, run and don't stop until you find someone else from the team!"

Why was he trying to help someone who had attacked him before and probably wanted to kill him? Darnell wasn't really sure, but Boxer was part of the team, and as far as Darnell was concerned Boxer was his friend, even if it wasn't as close a friendship as the one between Keith and Darnell. Whatever happened, if someone was going to get caught in crossfire he'd rather it be him than one of his teammates or friends.

After that, there was a few seconds of silence as Darnell waited, before the sound of something sliding across the floor was heard, and a micro-Uzi suddenly appeared in the doorway. Raising an eyebrow at this, as it made him wonder even more what the hell was going on, he slowly, almost unconsciously, reached his hand towards the handle of the submachine gun, carefully picking it up and bringing it back to him while holding it almost like he thought it was going to explode. Fortunately, it didn't, and his hand wasn't greeted with buckshot in the few seconds it appeared in the doorway. This allowed him to quickly examine the gun, noting the grip safety that meant the gun wouldn't fire unless he was holding said safety, and the fact that the current magazine was full.

That doesn't answer the question I really give a damn about though, mainly what the fuck is going on in there.

Steadily rising to his feet with the pack on his shoulders, the sword in its sheath, and the Uzi held loosely, he started to make a slow pace into the jail, briefly using the door frame to support himself once. It was weird, ever since Guy's death was announced, and the announcement itself, he felt like he was in a fog. Distant, detached, the maelstrom of emotions boiling inside him present, but faint, like it wasn't even worth the effort to come out. He knew about the thing with Mary, but wasn't sure if he was surprised that Guy turned out to be her child's father (oddly, Danya described her death as being more or less identical to Heather's on day one, it said something for Darnell's current state that he only thought that was weird instead of outrageous). Was just like Guy to do something stupid like that and get himself killed after he split off.

All Darnell could think about in terms of Guy was reasons why his death was Darnell's fault. If only he hadn't let Guy leave the cottage, if only he hadn't gotten him to come to that party, if only he had talked Guy out of joining that drinking contest (which Darnell lost too, a bit after Guy, since he wasn't much of a drinker. Ended up in bed with some girl he didn't even remember talking to at the party, much to the amusement of the others. It was fortunate he'd apparently had the presence of mind to use a condom), if only Darnell had been a better friend, Guy would be alive now, he thought. Still, as he entered the jailhouse his expression was completely neutral, his gait calm and deliberate if at the same time a bit off. It wasn't that he was taking it well, or that he just didn't care, it was just that he reverted to being, for whatever reason, completely at peace. A psychologist might suggest that he'd been temporarily overwhelmed by all the stress in the past six days and reverted to a perfectly calm state instead of exploding, but nobody on the island was a psychologist.

Of course, once he actually came inside, gesturing slightly to Keith with the Uzi not to aim it at him, but to show him the gun's safety was activated and he couldn't fire even if he wanted to, he saw some of what happened. There was a corpse on the ground, face down, clearly male, with a huge pool of blood growing under him and a blood trail leading from his hand to the doorway. It was easy to piece together an assumption of what happened from that, though he wasn't sure if it was true. It looked like this person, whoever it was, the name "John Cox" seemed to ring out in the back of his head, but he wasn't sure, had drawn the Uzi at Keith and Kallie, and Keith had shot him. Which would've made sliding the Uzi to the door in the hopes that Darnell would take it to shoot Keith the last thing he did.

Well sorry mate, but I ain't shooting my best friend or a girl I think I'm in love with, so you can go screw yourself, wherever you ended up.

Tucking the gun in the waistband of his pants in a position where the grip safety wouldn't be pressed down, he noticed that instead of his black shirt, he saw skin when he looked down. After a few seconds' worth of double take, he realized the implication of this. He had forgotten to put his shirt back on. It was probably dry now anyway, but he was glad for his dark skin at the moment, because otherwise he might've turned a noticeable shade of red. Quickly dropping his pack, he opened it and dug through it until he found the shirt, which he pulled over himself. Closing it, he debated whether or not to put the gun in there, but he supposed it would be smart to keep it on him just in case. Looking up to his two friends again, he noticed they were taking things harder than he was by far. Even if Keith couldn't really be read, it was easy to see the tears in Kallie's eyes.

Oh, great, why do I get the feeling God's guilt tripping me or something?

"Holy shit. Are...are you guys okay?"

It was a lame way to break the ice, but it was also the only thing he could really think of at that exact second, and the concern that briefly lit up his face showed just how much he had been worrying about them in the past few days. A small smile appeared on his face. Alright or not, at least they were alive.

((Continued from It's On))


As though she'd opened a door that lead from nowhere, Alice suddenly appeared, small figure standing at the center of the doorway of the jailhouse.

She seemed strangely alone and solitary at the moment...given the absence of a certain person who was a usual sight beside her since she came to the island.

As always, she was quiet, plain, and sullen, though instead of cringing away at the sight of people, she regarded Kallie, Keith, and Darnell with a certain amount of calmness as she looked towards them.

It probably had to do with the fact that she had met Kallie and Keith somewhat earlier...but then again, who could tell.

"....Hello...."

She announced her presence in a rather faint, breathy voice that seemed more a whisper than anything.

"....Don't mind me....I'm just....going to rest for a bit...inside..." she said simply. "...It's safer inside....with people....I think."

Not quite minding if they approved her presence or not, Alice smiled faintly as she wandered inside. Surely they wouldn't mind....she was Alice after all, invisible and harmless. After a few minutes, they'd go on with whatever they were conversing about and forget that she even existed.

She was carrying her daypack with her, though the way she shifted her shoulder uncomfortably appeared as though the bag were a tad bit too heavy for her...

Oddly enough...the fabric at bottom of the daypack appeared to be a bit moist and dark. Soaked, even, with a dark red liquid that fell drip by drip as Alice made her way into the jailhouse.

Very demurely, she made her way into one of the open cells, unlocked, and empty. She sat down on the bed for a moment to rest her feet, though not before setting the bag down upon the bed, slowly and gently, with a rather unorthodox amount of care for something as a daypack.

Boxer heard every word Darnell did, and responded accordingly...he gulped and stayed silent despite that nagging voice in his head telling him to use the opportunity to pound Darnell into a pulp as much as possible before he received a hot buckshot injection. It was a self-defense measure honed to reflexive response from years of literally being face-to-face with danger on every playing field, much more than just team camaraderie. The events of the past 24-or-so hours had told Boxer the deadly secret of his blind loyalty, and yet it still would not trump his survival instinct as he slumped downward.

There was some shouting, but the gunfight seemed to end as quickly as it began. The first thing Boxer heard after the dust began to settle was someone crying inside. His height allowed him to stand back up, lean in a bit and see who it was. And the sight of her seemed to defuse at least some of his rage. The girl was crying out of the horror of just watching a person die right in front of her eyes. Definitely something even someone with Boxer's mental capacity could identify with. And something someone with Boxer's bizarre moral ethic would use to calm him down.

It wouldn't give him an idea of what to do next. With everyone dying, Boxer had only seemed to find one last purpose in life with Super Bowl glory vanishing in the wind and drowning in the pools of blood.

No. I'm not going to avenge you in front of her. She's seen enough already. The thought finally seeped out, although in a somber mutter loud enough for people nearby to hear...

"...Not here."

Unfortunately, he was too lost in thought (it was quite an effort as it was) to notice that Darnell had just picked up the gun that had belonged to the guy Keith just offed. And that would mean Boxer would stand zero chance against a guy with a gun and (Eddie's) sword. He couldn't run either to "fetch the rest of the team," that would give that murderous pendejo and his buddy the pleasure of shooting someone in the back.

On the other hand, it was his being lost in thought that made him notice someone walk into what was just a battle zone a few moments ago. Despite his height, Boxer was probably the only one to notice the girl's supply bag, and the way she carried it so hauntingly, like it had some kind of severed organ in it. He would probably not have been far off if he assumed that given that the bottom was dripping with blood.

"...What's in there?" he asked right before she slipped out of view, his innocent tone now tainted with creeping seriousness.

Alice looked at him for a silent, unhurried moment before giving him a reasonable smile.

"...It's a secret." she replied simply.

Ka-pow.

The kick of the shotgun battered Keith's shoulder, reminding him of his own mortality as his 'attacker' was littered full of buckshot from the muzzle of the large gun. The adrenaline was running so quickly through his veins that he barely had time to register the fact that John (was that his name?) had swung the machine-pistol back towards the doorway. As Darnell walked in, cautiously with the Uzi, Keith saw that his friend was playing it like he wasn't going to shoot them. That was fine, because Keith didn't want to shoot Darnell, either.

Guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite if I damn him for killing three people. I mean, shit...I've almost caught up to 'im.

Kallie behind him was crying - things had obviously overwhelmed her - much like they had Keith. Unlike Keith though, her emotions were spilling out, where Keith just sat in shock at everything. He felt numb, and he realized that he couldn't possibly be mad at Darnell anymore. Even if Darnell were playing - he was basically in the same boat as Keith was. They were doing what they had to in order to live.

He was about to say something in response to both Kallie and Darnell, when Alice Jones reappeared, looking faint and lugging around her daypack as though it had a ton of fragile glass inside of it. Instantly, all eyes in the room seemed to veer towards the small girl, who'd been likely the last person to be with their friend; with Guy, before his death.

It was Dan Carvalho who broke the silence, his angry look and eyes betrayed by the curiousity that had come over the room. At this moment, none of them were at odds; they were all on the same team now, and the big question that hung in the room was the one that Dan had innocently asked of Alice, who had refused to answer. Lowering the shotgun, Keith's attention turned to the small girl.

"Alice...yeah, what'cha got in there? It ain't a bomb or anythin' like that, yeah?"

Keith's interest was piqued, but he was alarmed by what Dan's eyes were intently glaring at, which was the bottom of the pack, which was a dark crimson colour, with a liquid dripping slowly from the bottom of it onto the cement flooring of the jailhouse.

The hell IS in that bag? Dunno If I wanna know the answer...

Alice didn't seem to keen on sharing the contents of the bag with the rest of the group...whatever they were, and instead held the bag protectively.

"It's...it's something really important." She tried to explain to them, not noticing that the reddish liquid at the bottom of the bag was smearing against her lap of her skirt as she held it tightly.

((Continued from Punishment))

Edging closer to the door, Edward Sullivan kept his back tightly pressed against the hard, stone exterior of the jailhouse. Shivering not entirely from the cold, the boy inched closer to the opening.

The fist sized rock clenched white-kuckle tight in his right hand did little to assuage his nervous tension. A shitty improvised weapon, but beggers couldn't be choosers, so the small chunck of granite would have to do. His pack had been useless; who the fuck thought a pirate hat would be of any use at all?! He sighed, trying to calm hilmself, but found it wasn't easy. At least the hat had kept the rain mostly out of his face since he'd put it on after leaving the graveyard.

Edward wanted to scream. So many people were already dead, with another one added to the list, judging by the crack of gunfire he'd heard on his approach. There was a killer just inside the door. His shivering worsened. Alright, calm down Eddie. Don't get worked up. Heroes don't get worked up. Just stay calm.

Of course, Edward Sullivan wasn't a hero, no matter how badly he wanted to be. He was just a kid out of his depth. A boy who'd seen too much in too short a time to be normal again. A young man with a need to see justice done, if only to say that he did something worthwhile in his life.

Edward did his best to avoid the fact that this was what he'd wanted for so long. Something to happen that made his dull, boring life more exciting. More like a comic book or trashy sci-fi novel. Careful what you wish for and all that.

Now, people were dead and, in all likelyhood, Edward would probably join them. But not before killing Wade. That much he promised himself.

Closer and closer to the edge of the door, Eddie finally managed to get within acceptable hearing range. Pressed against the wall, Edward listened as he had so many times before.

A few voices. Not Wade then. No way would Wade be able to hole up with other people. Not when he'd so obviously gone off the deep end.

From the sound of it there were two guys and a girl. The girl...had.... A bomb?! Heart hammering in chest, Eddie slowly mustered the courage to peek into the building. Come on. Don't be afraid, it's just a quick look. Just tilt your head and take a peek. Come on, stop shaking and look. Stop being such a coward and just DO IT!

Carefully, cautiously, Edward peeked into the jailhouse door.

Five. Two girls and three boys...oh Jesus. It should have been four boys, but the spreading crimson puddle was proof enough that the body on the floor was no longer a boy. It was a corpse.

No. That's not just a body, it's a human being! How can people be doing this?!

Guns. The boy's had guns and were, apparently, willing to use them. Ok, calm down. Find out who they are. Who's all here?

Scanning the room, Eddie mentally checked off the principles: Kallie Majors, Alice Jones, Keith Jackson, "Boxer" Carvalho, and Darnell Butler. He didn't recognize the poor guy on the ground. Maybe that was for the best.

He knew Majors because, well, she was somebody that a person at Southridge would have to know. More than pretty, she was gorgeous and everyone, including her, knew it. Looks had a funny way of making people very popular. Eddie found that odd. Or maybe just unfair.

Next down the line was Alice Jones. Edward knew her because he'd always found her kind of attractive in a very odd, very wrong sense of the word. The appeal of the child-like teenager brought up all sorts of weird implications about Edward that the boy didn't even want to think about. He shook his head and continued down the line.

Jackson, Carvalho, and Butler. All three big guys, all three on the football team. Probably never even knew that someone like Edward existed. Spying the weapons, Eddie knew that one of the jocks had killed the guy on the floor.

Pressing flat against the wall once more, he weighed the pros and cons of both running away and staying to listen more. It wasn't long before he came to his conclusion:

Just a few minutes. I'll listen for only a few minutes more.

The same voyueristic sensation of his normal eavesdropping washed over him but....so much more potent. Life and death were so close they could spit on each other. The importance of every word was not lost on Edward as he strained his ears to hear over the rain and wind.

Just a few minutes.

((Gonna give the finger to post order because I'm impatient. You got a problem with that, you can eat my socks. ))

Alice's eyes darted fearfully back and forth between the other 'mates' that were hanging around in the jail cell. Guy said they were friends, weren't they? Kallie...Keith... She didn't know about the other two... but regardless, the way they stared at her now sent chills down her spine.

Why were they all looking at her...?

They would NEVER look at her before...

They never talked to her, paid any attention, or even acknowledged the fact that she existed...

So why now...?

They were up to something...she knew. Her knees were shaking as she stared at them, eyes wide and hollow, teeth slightly clenched, fingers twitching uncontrollably.

She didn't care if they were friends of Guy.

Who knows what they were thinking. Especially the way they were looking at her, all of a sudden. Only now do they acknowledge her presence, and this was more than enough reason to set Alice's paranoia on the delicate edge.

Guy was the only one she trusted.

And these people were strange...unfamiliar...alien...they were other. And they were not Guy...

For a moment, she said nothing...waiting for them to speak first, feeling all the more apprehensive the longer the silence stretched, feeling the discernment of their scrutiny, and much discomfort at being the center of attention...

There was not a single sound that could be louder than the silence right now-

SHORYUKEN
...went the loudspeaker.

Alice thought her ears would explode. The voice of thunder sent Alice levitating for a split second into the air. She was startled out of silence, letting out a yelp as her daypack was knocked from her lap...

"...Ah!"

The exclaimation fell from her lips, just as the severed head of Guy Rapide toppled out of the open lid of the daypack, bouncing slightly as it hit the ground, rolling along the floor, leaving a red line of a stain along the cement in its wake....

((I agree to the fucking of the post order. S'cuse the shortness, but oh well.))

The tears had broken through for a few moments, but Kallie had quickly managed to regain her composure. In fact, by now, she was kicking herself internally for acting like such a complete mess. Despite the fact that it was warranted, despite the fact that everybody else probably felt like crying too, she was far too strong an individual to allow herself to act that way. Wiping the faint black makeup lines from her eyes, Kallie rose to her feet, only to notice that Alice had just wandered in.

Poor girl... she was probably with him when it happened.

She barely acknowledged the people standing around her, simply muttering that she was going to rest for a while before heading into a cell. As Kallie watched her, she couldn't help but feel like something wasn't quite right with the other girl. For starters, she was actually talking, at least more than usual, and then there was the bag. She was carrying it around as though some precious cargo was contained within.

Perhaps most disturbingly of all, it looked like it was... dripping.

Boxer spoke up before the rest of them could, inquiring as to what Alice had in the bag. The girl smiled somewhat, simply declaring that it was a secret. Keith spoke up too, his eyes clearly fixated on the dark liquid dripping from the bottom of her bag. Kallie found herself slowly moving closer to Keith, almost anticipating something horrible.

Even when Keith asked, Alice refused to answer, simply stating that it was something "important". Kallie's eyes focused on the girl's skirt, which was starting to stain a dark crimson color... a color that looked a lot like blood. What was going on? What on earth did Alice have in the bag? Kallie was starting to get nervous. Had Alice gone off the deep end?

Her questions were suddenly answered as a look "Shoryuken!" burst out inexplicably from the loudspeaker, causing Kallie to jump somewhat and causing a startled Alice to yelp and drop her daypack. Kallie's eyes widened in horror as the severed head of none other than Guy Rapide rolled out onto the ground for all to see. Her eyes immediately shot back to Alice and, for a moment, she couldn't even find the words to speak.

"What in the... A-alice? Did... did you do this? Why do you... I..."

Her stomach was churning from the sight of Guy's head, and she wanted to vomit. Seeing her deceased friend's body (well, part of it) wasn't helping the already fresh wound his death had made either, and Kallie was finding herself quite unable to make heads or tails of the situation. Guy was dead, Alice was, for some reason, carrying around his severed head... what on earth was going on?

((Since two of my seniors have decided to go along with fucking the post order, I hope that means I am allowed to do the same.))

Ears straining to listen to the hushed conversation inside the walls of the jailhouse, Eddie did his best to keep his breathing low. Focusing his attention, the eavesdropper licked his lips as the conversation on the other side of the wall continued.

"It's...it's something really important."

Eddie cocked an eyebrow. Important? What could be so important that she couldn't show anyone? Maybe it was part of a plan to get off the island! If that was the case, though, did that mean Alice didn't trust the others? What if the others killed her and only tried to save themselves?!

His heart hammering loudly at the prospect, Edward quickly reigned in his fear. Don't get ahead of yourself. It could be something else entirely. For all you know, it's...it's someone's severed head.

The boy almost laughed at the thought. A head? In Alice Jones' bag? That was funny. The girl was about as dangerous as a downy pillow. Although...hadn't her bag been...dripping? No, that was your imagination. There's no way-

SHORYUKEN!!

Leaping up at the sudden voice booming from the announcement speakers, Eddie almost fell into the doorway. What the fuck was that?! Taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Edward identified the noise as a sound bite from a video game. An odd announcement, sure, but Eddie wasn't entirely taken aback by it. After everything that had already happened, Danya couldn't weird him out with a little bit of pop culture trivia.

"What in the... A-alice? Did... did you do this? Why do you... I..."

Kallie sounded freaked. Was she that shocked at Danya's little prank? Wait, wait, wait...Alice? Why would Kallie assume Alice had caused the noise? Maybe somthing to do with the bag?

That must be it! Alice has found a way to hack into Danya's computers! That's gotta be her "secret!"

Deciding it best to try and join the small group, Eddie made his move. Peaking around the doorframe once more, the boy planned on calling out to the gathered students and announcing his presence. What he saw caught his breath in his throat.

A head. A severed head. Oh, Jesus, was that Guy Rapide's head?! Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit! Alice Jones cut off her boyfriend's fucking head?!

Plastering himself against the outside wall again, Edward did his best not to be sick. How could such a quiet, unassuming girl DO something like that?! He couldn't wrap his mind around it. Images of a blood soaked Alice gleefully sawing through Rapide's neck forced their way into Eddie's thoughts.

No...wait, wait. Danya announced that Rapide got killed by McKay, right? Yeah, something about removing Rapide's testicles. That means...that means Alice couldn't have killed him!

Calming down, the boy breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that Alice hadn't killed Rapide didn't make the idea that she was carrying around his severed head any less stomach turning, but at least she wasn't a murderer. Yet.

Swallowing hard, Edward regained his composure and resumed his listening, eager to hear how the others would respond to the development.