Survival Of The Fittest

In all honesty, Darnell wasn't sure what to do when he heard Eduardo simply tell him to kill him and get it over with. He knew he had to do something about Eduardo, to protect himself and make sure the boy couldn't kill anyone else, but he couldn't do anything. It was like Eduardo's words had frozen him, almost. He held Eduardo Trinidad-Villa's life in his hands, but he couldn't even move. His hands shook for some reason as he stared at the back of Eduardo's head, grinding his teeth a bit in frustration. Eduardo had to pay for what he had done, but...he just couldn't do it.

Even though Eduardo had tried to kill him, had insulted him and tried to drive him insane with rage, he just couldn't summon up the strength to push the blade through and end the boy's life. He found himself lessening the pressure on the spot on his neck where the blade rested as he felt his resolve weaken. He shook his head silently, disappointed at himself. This wasn't him, this was the pressure of the game. There was no other excuse for him having been ready to end a man's life not two seconds prior. Killing was wrong, and he couldn't stoop to the terrorists' level by playing their game.

No, I can't kill him. I won't.

Fortunately, before he could regain the killer intent he had possessed earlier, the familiar booming voice of Daniel "Boxer" Carvalho sounded out as he demanded to know what was going on. Darnell had to admit that, as he had not expected it and had indeed been focusing entirely on Eduardo, he was a bit startled for a second, and had jumped slightly, though not very noticeably. Still, as he looked towards the entranceway to see the biggest student in Southridge and the Rebels' most dedicated linebacker in his messed up jogging suit, a look of visible relief washed over his face. Now he knew that at least some of his teammates were still alive. Things might not be so bad after all. Boxer wasn't exactly the brightest of guys, but Darnell believed he was a good person under it all, and he'd be a big (no pun intended) help in taking the game down.

Trying to keep both Daniel (Darnell rarely if ever referred to him by his nickname, "Boxer". It just didn't seem right.) and Eduardo in his peripheral vision, he lowered the sword from its position at Eddie's neck and took a few steps back, giving Eduardo some breathing room while holding the sword ready in case he attacked again. He would never trust Eduardo Trinidad-Villa again. He had so many questions to ask Dan Carvalho; where he'd been, if he was alright, if he'd seen the others, if he knew where Kallie was...but those would have to wait. Dan deserved to know what had happened, and dodging the question would probably only anger him. Still trying to keep Eduardo in the corner of his eye, he looked to Dan.

"Eduardo's playing the game, Dan, he's already killed Tanya Bonneville. He attacked me, so I had to disarm him in self defense. I didn't want to fight, but he couldn't be reasoned with."

A simple, perhaps a bit bare-bones, explanation, but it was the truth in its most essential form. Eduardo had attacked him, so he had defended himself. He wasn't dumbing anything down for Daniel, he never did, simply skipping right to the essentials of the matter. He could only hope Dan would believe him even though he was holding Eduardo's blood stained sword in his hand. After all, if he had been playing the game, he would've simply killed Eduardo, instead of holding him up.

Eduardo slowly twisted around and slumped against the side of the counter, catching his breath. He could see Boxer staring worriedly at him, no doubt in response to Darnell's words. The hedgeclippers were between Darnell and Boxer, and there was no way in hell that Darnell was going to let Eddie go for them unless he made an extra-risky life-or-death football slide that sent him into Boxer's path. And even then there wasn't a guarantee that Boxer would spare Eddie either. His death could just as well be doubly-painful from both of them.

"He's lying to you, Boxer!" Eduardo growled and seethed, "Darnell killed Tanya with that sword. He was about to kill me too when you came in..." From the way Boxer seemed fatigued, Eduardo could at least tell that he'd been asleep since before the announcement. That - or so Eddie believed - did not make him any less gullible as he normally was. If there was one person whose word Eddie knew Boxer could trust as much as the jocks', it was Eddie's own words.

And perhaps that's what brought Boxer down to his knees, also gasping for breath, and with his free hand around his collar. He didn't know whom to trust more, and balancing out both their pleas in his head was pushing it beyond his own mental capacity. After all, he was the type of person who only trusted the orders given to him, plain and simple, like from a coach or drill sergeant.

"Oh God...they're killing everyone..." the giant muttered, on the verge of sobbing.

Son of a bitch...

"Damn it, Dan," Darnell said, nearly shouting before he caught himself and lowered his voice, the sword still held in a relaxed but ready posture, "have I ever lied to you? Even once? Don't listen to Eduardo, man, he's trying to trick you! Think about it; if I was going to kill him, wouldn't I have done it already?"

His annoyance at Eduardo's lie and the emotional stress it appeared to inflict on Boxer put a bit of a strain on the purely logical tone Darnell took on, but he hoped his reasoning would get through to Daniel. His questions had been purely rhetorical; a man who prided himself on his honesty, Darnell had not once lied to Daniel or anyone else on the team, and when he put his mind to doing something he always went about doing it without hesitation. Daniel still seemed very conflicted about the clashing reports from Eduardo and Darnell, but he thought Dan was smart enough, and that Dan trusted him enough, that Ed's lie would be obvious. Especially since, while Darnell was calm, Eduardo was practically foaming at the mouth.

After shooting a quick glare at Eduardo and quickly going back to get his pack and sling it over his shoulder, he was confident enough to step forward, towards Dan. It was vital not only to his chances of making it out of the building but to his very plan of escape that he get Boxer on his side. To do this, and to prevent himself from being attacked by Boxer, he would have to convince the leviathan that he was right, ignoring the harsh reminder in Eduardo's statement of how close he had come to killing him. If Dan hadn't intervened, Darnell didn't know if he would have ever been able to wash the blood from his hands.

Switching the sword to his left hand once he got close enough, kicking the hedgeclippers to his side so that they were further away from Ed in the event that he decided to make a go for them, he extended his right to Boxer. Once the linebacker took his hand, he would step back while leaning a bit and pulling back to add momentum to his own impressive strength as he would literally pull Daniel to his feet. He knew the kind gesture would cement his credibility and back up his claim of not playing, as he made eye contact with Dan the entire time. He kept his ears out for any sudden movements by Ed, though, so he'd hear him if he made a move for the hedgeclippers to ambush him.

If he did that, of course, he was fucked; if Darnell survived the attack he knew he wouldn't be able to restrain himself, and he had enough trust in Daniel to think the leviathan would back him up. Darnell would let Eduardo keep the clippers if he wanted, but if the boy was as smart on the island as he was in class he'd wait until both football players had left the building to grab his means of self defense. Darnell just hoped Ed wasn't able to kill anyone with such a substandard weapon. From Darnell's own experience, the hedgeclippers were decent enough in defense, but would hopefully be almost useless offensively.

"Come on, Dan, let's go. We can beat this game if we try, I know it and I'm sure you know it, but we need to find the others first. If we work at this as a team, we can take the program down just as easily as the Northside defensive line."

A grin would be cracked at this little joke, both because of the humour of it and as a fitting last "fuck you" to the Patriots if he didn't get off the island.

OOC: Sorry for the uninspired effort, still working out how to balance punctuality with length.

"He's trying to...manipulate you!" Eduardo said, trying to prop himself up against the counter again. "Don't you realize it, Boxer? Your own teammates have manipulated you since you came to Southridge!"

Ed started limping for the hedgeclippers before he felt a sharp pain in his shin where Darnell's leg had impacted, causing him to fall to the ground writhing again. No doubt that had caught Boxer's attention as he himself was helped up, the titan watching little Eduardo squirming toward the hedgeclippers like a mangled soulless mess. Eddie had managed to reach out and grab the tools, pulling it close to him, but his leg acted up again, meaning he wasn't going anywhere for the time being.

Of course, even if his leg were healed - and despite the myriad ways Eduardo churned in his head to inflict some rather gruesome and painful injuries with a mere pair of hedgeclippers, it didn't his spirits, let alone his leg, that Boxer was buying Darnell's sincere tone (and not necessarily the words attached to it). If he attacked now, the resulting backlash would be doubly painful, death included. All in all, it just wasn't the smartest thing for someone like him to do.

"But...what about Ed? Are we just gonna leave him here?" Boxer asked as he leaned against the doorway to stay up, holding his shield close to his chest. He trusted Darnell now, but he just couldn't get Eduardo as a killer as quickly as Boxer did.

Turning around to see Eduardo as the boy's voice rang out after he was done talking to Boxer, who appeared to believe him, the first thought that went through Darnell's head was how pathetic he looked. The second was an admonishment to himself for thinking that way. Still, as he saw Eduardo struggle to prop himself up while shouting accusations that Darnell was manipulating Boxer just like all of his teammates had done since Boxer started attending Southridge, and then was sent to the floor by his leg buckling under him after he had tried to make a go for the hedgeclippers, Darnell had to admit that he felt the first stirrings of pity for the boy. Even when he fell, Eduardo didn't give up, crawling and squirming to reach the clippers. Watching Eduardo pull the clippers close to him, Darnell let out a remorseful sigh.

I did this to him...his leg's fucked up because of me.

Darnell hadn't meant to hurt Eduardo's leg as he apparently had, he had just wanted to stun him temporarily in order to get the sword away from him. Instead he had done some apparently severe damage to the leg, which kept Eduardo from walking. There was a part of him that said that the boy deserved it for attacking him, for killing Tanya, but Darnell tried to ignore it. After all, if he could justify (for all he knew) crippling a kid, what was stopping him from justifying just going "fuck it" and killing everyone he saw? It just wasn't right. He knew it wasn't right. No matter what he had done, killing or permanently maiming Eduardo just wasn't right. It would never be.

This is all so messed up. How could Danya do this to us? WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?! We're just high school kids! We shouldn't be forced to make life-or-death decisions like this? "Kill your best friends or die"? What the fuck kind of choice is that?!

Dan asked what to do with Ed, and for a second Darnell had no idea. On the one hand, Eduardo had admitted to playing the game, and had just tried to kill Darnell. It would be stupid to take him with them. He'd probably slice their throats as they slept, or at least run off the second he got the chance. He just couldn't be trusted. It would be too dangerous to bring him along, and he'd just be dead weight anyway if he couldn't even walk.

On the other, it wasn't right to just leave him here. The boy couldn't even stand, he wouldn't have a chance if Darnell and Dan just left him behind. The kid was fucked the first time some ambitious player strolled through, or the Mess Hall was made a dangerzone. Could he live with himself, if that happened? No, he couldn't. That'd be like killing him himself, for all the good it did. What harm could he be if he couldn't even stand up, anyway? If they kept an eye on him...

This is stupid. Why am I even debating this?

He rubbed his eyes with his left hand (he had transferred the sword back to his right already), before sighing a bit and nodding his head. Dan was right, they couldn't just leave him.

"Yeah, we'll take him with us. Get him outside, it doesn't look like he can walk. Don't worry, I'll be right behind you, I just don't want to be in a position where I can't keep both eyes on the little weasel."

Darnell, you're an idiot. Grade A.

Boxer nodded as Darnell requested him to pick up the seething, writhing little mess on the floor. It was a rather simple compromise that his mind seemed to accept. Darnell would get his orders fulfilled, Eddie wouldn't die. At least for the time being that he tried to accept that he was in this bizarre game of life-and-death as he walked over to Eddie and held out his arm.

"It's okay, Eddie. I can help you." he said in a low, simple tone as he bowed over and reached out a hand to help him up.
For a few seconds, Eddie just seemed to stare helplessly up at the almost stupidly-kind smile on Boxer's face, holding the hedgeclippers close to him like a stuffed toy with one arm with the other hand clutching his leg.

Were they actually sparing him? They weren't going to kill him there and/or leave him for the vultures? They were going to take him with them after his leg was healed?

Perfect...if only I could heal a little quicker...

Of course, Eddie really was suffering from that pain, and all he could do was lift a hand up at his current master.

Despite Boxer's weary condition, he seemed to almost effortlessly lift Eduardo onto his feet (per se) and let the smaller boy cling to his pillar-like arm with one hand, the hedgeclippers dangling from Eddie's other. Eddie, of course, did not look or seem grateful, neither did he look like he was going to suddenly turn around and impale anyone with those blades. In fact, Eduardo almost certainly seemed resigned to his current situation - and quite possibly his fate. Both jocks had him in their "custody" like a wanted criminal, and might just as well be fattening him up for the slaughter.

"Come on, Eddie. You can do this," Boxer replied, in a reassuring, encouraging and kind tone that reminded him of when Eddie was giving him math lessons (i.e. "forced to tutor him) in the library.

"I...left my supplies in the far corner if we could get those...thanks..." Eddie muttered, forcing himself to sound grateful for that last word. He seethed in between words, but that was to be expected with his leg still strained.

"Sure," Boxer replied, "Just...don't go too fast, you'll hurt yourself."

The two walked past Darnell - the other athlete had asked to stay behind so as to make sure Eddie never left his sight - and out into the main kitchen area. Both of them squinted against the daylight pouring through the windows as they made their way to Eddie's bag, with Boxer picking it up and slinging it beside his own. The 7-footer's body was already starting to wake up with his mind, so his stride slowly lost its own limp as he moved, though he still walked slowly so Eddie could keep the pace.

"It's gonna be okay, Eddie. You're gonna be all right," Boxer replied as they headed toward the door. "C'mon, Darnell..." he added, in a slightly louder tone.
"Yeah...I guess I am..." Eddie replied, his seemingly-eternal glumness seeming to take a hold of him once again.

Eventually...

((Boxer and Eddie continued in Summer Can't Last too Long))

To Darnell's relief, Dan heeded his "order" without question, walking over to the fallen Eduardo and offering one of his massive arms to him. When Eduardo got a grip, Dan pulled him to his feet with ease. Moving slowly to provide support for Eduardo, Dan started to lead him out of the kitchen, Darnell stepping out of their way as they moved past, Eduardo asking Dan to stop at the far corner so he could get his supplies. Considering he had been the one who bullied Eduardo most often in school (from what Darnell could tell, the relationship between Dan and Eduardo was one of the strangest in the school), it was surprising to Darnell that Dan took on a gentle, encouraging tone as he spoke to the boy. He seemed oddly concerned, but Darnell wouldn't bring this up for now.

Of course, at the same time Darnell realized that Eduardo was technically using the biggest kid in school as a crutch, and as he fell in behind them when they moved through the kitchen doorway he restrained himself from chuckling at this. Adjusting the sword so that neither of his newfound companions would be hit by it in the narrow lunch line, he followed closely, keeping an eye on their backs. Eduardo was apparently too hurt to really pull anything, but Darnell just couldn't feel safe unless he had Eduardo in his sights. For now, anyway.

It doesn't look like he'll try anything, or even like he can, but I can't take my eye off him. The kid tried to kill me, after all.

Like Dan and Eduardo, the flow of sunlight from the windows caused Darnell to wince for a second when they entered the main mess hall area. They hadn't been here long, maybe a few minutes at most, but the sun was still bright. Fortunately, there didn't appear to be anyone else inside, something that made Darnell relax a bit. A shield, a sword, and a pair of hedgeclippers just wouldn't be able to stand up to a gun, no matter how big Dan was or how much skill Darnell had.

And Eduardo's gonna be useless in a fight until his leg heals, anyway.

That was the grim truth, Darnell supposed as Dan picked up Eduardo's pack for him and started to head for the exit, calling out to him (Darnell) as if to make sure he was still there. If they ran into a heavily armed player, they were probably dead. It was almost enough to make him wish he didn't encounter anybody for the rest of the day, despite the fact that he was currently ready to scour the island to find a handful of people.

"Yeah, right behind you, Dan."

After saying this and nodding in affirmation, Darnell headed out the door after Dan and Eduardo, taking a second to look around and take in his surroundings again. The foliage was dense, there was a huge amount of ground to cover, and one wrong step would turn them into gibs if there were more landmines than that one from the other night about, but he couldn't let that get in the way. Closing in with Dan and Eduardo as they broke through the treeline, he uttered one last thing before they made their trip to wherever the paths took them.

"Let's try not to stray too far apart, guys. It's way too easy to get lost in that jungle."

OOC: One day, I'll get rid of this writer's block. Anyway, Darnell will be continue elsewhere.

((Continued in Day by Day))