Survival Of The Fittest

As the girl lowered her grenade launcher, Rick found himself breathing easier. That was one stand off he didn't need. Then the small girl took off, running towards the lookout tower. Rick looked at her direction, but didn't care. Yeah, he hoped she would be safe and taken care of, but he had a mission. He had seen the other Survival Of The Fittest "Seasons". He knew that those who stayed in large groups and tried to band together always died. Not that he didn't want that, he would love that. Though, he was a marine. Or, almost marine. Since escape was impossible, and killing innocent people was out of the question, Rick needed something to drive him.

That was killing the players. The students who chose to commit illegal acts against their fellow students. If Rick couldn't be a guardian to a group, he would make sure he protected the groups from players like Josh. Someone Rick helped kill only hours earlier with Jim. Now he found himself traveling with Dawson, a new student he really didn't know much about. He doubted that the boy knew the full extent of what he was signing up for. Rick would tell him soon, and give him the chance to back out if he wanted.

Eddie was concerned about the small girl, and wanted to go after her. Rick only looked at Eddie and said, "She'll be fine. If you want to go after her, go for it. I got an agenda though."

No sooner did Rick finish that sentence than four loud shots rang out.

Crouching immediately, Rick's eyes scanned around, seeing nobody new, nothing unusual. His gun was at the ready, and he did a mental check of his body. He wasn't hit, meaning whoever was shooting wasn't aiming at him or was a bad shot.

"Who was that? Is everyone ok?"

"Who cares?" mumbled 'Dawson' under 'his' breath. "It's not like she's gonna bring the cavalry from behind the hill. Figure let her go wherever the hell she wants," Dacey couldn't really care less about where Kimmy was going: she wasn't a threat and chasing her down would be pointless, regardless of whether they managed to catch her or not. What purpose would it serve?

Dacey was about to say as much when repeated gunshots rang out - causing her to instinctively duck, despite knowing that it would be far too late to dodge. Fortunately it seemed that whoever the shooter was, they had a rather poor eye, as Dacey went unwounded, and as far as she could see, nobody else had been hurt either.

"Bastard," Dacey hissed, facing the treeline, but catching no sight of whoever the person who had shot at them was. "What Rick said. Anyone hurt?"

Eddie looked from person to person, disbelief clearly written across his features. Nobody was willing to help that girl? Of course, seven days into the game, very few of the students wouldn't be willing to stick their neck out for another person, Eddie knew that. But, expecting the response and actually receiving the response weren't the same thing. For the first time, the timid boy knew, not feared, that the game really was stripping his peers of their humanity.

Shots rang out, sending Eddie diving for the ground. The sneak attack only served to punctuate the revelation. People were being replaced by players, and players didn't have room in them for petty things like mercy or compassion or honor. As the gunfire came to a halt, Eddie came to a second realization: the people around him were going to play, one way or another.

For whatever reason, with whatever justification, they were going to become players. It wasn't so blatant that they could kill without hesitation or remorse. Not yet. But, it wouldn't be long before it came down to that. It was a small step from refusing to help someone in need, to actually delivering the killing blow yourself, and Edward wasn't willing to take that step.

Finally convinced more shots weren't forthcoming, he slowly made his way to his knees. Looking at the tree line, he cursed himself. Careless, Eddie. Very careless. How can you protect other people if you're not watching for players? Keep sharp.

When Ashcroft and Holeman asked about wounds, Eddie shook his head. "I'm not hurt, but I'm pretty far from ok." Forcing himself to his feet, the dejected boy glanced at the people around him. They'd play. It was only a matter of time. "I'm g-going after K-Kimmy. I know you guys th-think it's probably a st-stupid idea, but it's something I n-need to do. You said you've g-got an ag-genda, so I hope you understand." Giving a sad smile Eddie shrugged. "B-besides, if I hung around w-with you, I'd just s-slow you d-down. This is p-probably b-better, in the long run. At least I m-might be able t-to help her."

Not being able to think of anything else, Eddie gave the same smile, shrugged again, grabbed his pack and ran towards the tower.

Gunshots.

Kimmy picked up pace as the booming gunshots sounded over the area. She didn't dare look back to see the shooter, out of fear that she wouldn't like what she saw. For all she knew, Rick could have snapped and killed everyone in the clearing. She didn't particularly care if the other students were killed, but not when she was close enough to be in danger.

The muscles in her legs were on fire, but Kimmy pushed it to the back of her mind. Stopping wasn't an option, as the space between the tower and she was closing in. She'd be in the safety of the tower's walls soon enough.

In the back of her mind, Kimmy silently criticized herself. She was sure she probably looked like the biggest wimp ever for running away from a fight, but there was no way she could have won. Two out of the four other people there had guns and all Kimmy had was a damn flag.

Kimmy's eyes were trained on the tower, hope and desperation abundant in her. She wanted to be safe. Her heart fell into her chest, however, as she felt herself stumble after stepping into a small ditch. Kimmy's legs buckled and she collapsed to the ground. Not good.

She couldn't die now. Not now. Not when she was so close to safety.

Rick watched as Eddie left for the girl. The boy was brave, that was for sure. He had a good heart, and in a game like Survival Of The Fittest a good heart was important. Rick wouldn't mind going with Eddie. Barricading themselves into the lookout tower and holding off until the final days. Then they would either succumb to outside forces or have to destroy each other from the inside. That was the nature of this game after all. Only one winner. No matter what you do, play the game or hide, only one can win.

So why would Rick spend his time protecting only one group, when he could be spending his time protecting everyone on the island. After all, he was a marine. Well, about to become a marine. He would protect his friends, protect the innocent. Sitting around wasn't Rick Holeman's thing, and he wasn't about to do that.

He made his decision.

He would rather die hunting down those who were playing than spending his days hiding. If he had to, he would do this alone. Dawson, a kid Rick knew almost nothing about, probably wasn't sure what Rick had in mind. Jim was obviously gone, so Rick was on his own unless Dawson or anyone else joined him.

"Dawson look. I'm not telling you what to do, and you really have two options here. You can go with Eddie and the girl to the lookout tower, or come with me. Before you decide, let me tell you that you'll probably be safer with Eddie. I plan on finding those kids who tortured our friends and classmates. I plan on finding them and killing them. Fast and easy. It will be dangerous, and I have every intention of this plan being the death of me. Though I'd rather die trying to take out as many of those bastards as I can than die sitting around waiting for a lucky bullet. So what do you say Dawson, you in or you out?"

This… this wasn't fair.

This wasn't ri—right.

Aimlessly for the length of their time here she had been wondering through this jungle without any real location in mind, that and the jungle seemed to be the safest of places to remain if one didn't want to be found. Still though, slowly her already painfully slow pace to a complete stop Bree allowed herself to cast a small look around her surroundings. She hadn't seen much of anyone for the past day or so, which depending on the person could very well be a good thing. She had heard a number of people, no doubt about that—heard screams, gunfire, and explosions too… whatever the case she made sure to keep her distance from whatever it could possibly be. Though days without content with at least someone was taking its toll on the small girl, day after day of the only voice speaking to her—in an odd sort of way of looking at it—was the man that was behind all of this and had forced them onto this island. Day after day of looking forward to nothing but the continuing add-on to the list of names she knew from school… now just a list of the dead.

Frankly she wasn't too sure how she felt about it, for the first few days she had been sickened to her stomach by the fact that this was actually happening. That her fellow classmates were actually going as far as to actually fall to the level of killing people they had walked the same halls as, been in classes together… now though Bree was trying to keep herself from being too upset over the names blaring over the intercom every new morning and instead focusing on the fact that at least he wasn't dead yet. That thought alone was able to bring a small grace of a smile to the forlorn girl's darkened features. Rubbing her fingers lightly against the ring bound about her left ring finger and sighing faintly as her mind drifted to the one person who mattered the most at the moment, "James…" It was hard, very hard to even think that she had managed this long without her fiancée, this long alone wondering through the jungles of this island… mostly lost—because the map seemed of little help once they one was actually in the jungle—and most importantly trying to stay away from people.

Even though the idea was good to some degree, running away from everyone wouldn't help her find James any faster either.

Taking in a deep breath (bit of encouragement on her part) Bree took a steady grip on her weapon, the curved sword of sorts that she couldn't even pronounce the proper name for, before starting to walk again. Where though she was unsure, the map wouldn't be too much help until she found a land mark to place herself near, hopefully though the grace of whatever god or gods were listening above her wouldn't lead her astray and into say, a danger zone. Swallowing the fear down she pushed forward, using the weapon to knock down some of the bushes and overgrowth in her path as she continued along. No more than some twenty minutes later was when she saw something odd in the distance, hard to tell due to the humidity and haze of light rain over the area made it hard for Bree's already strained and tried eyes to tell just what she was seeing. Nevertheless though she continued forward, knowing if she could figure out just what it was she was looking at then she could compare it to her map and hopefully get her bearings straight for where she was…. After that—

After that she wasn't sure. She didn't have the faintest clue where to start looking… biting her lip somewhat she forced herself to stop even before she had a moment to start thinking about crying again. She spent a good two days at the start of this doing that, and she wasn't going to let it happen again. Finding that she was breathing in deeply again and trying to calm down before pressing forward, slowly the image before her getting a little clearer as she fumbled for a moment to unzip her pack and remove her map and give it a good glance over. By what she was seeing, and what was on the map this was the lookout tower, continuing to walk until she stood at the edge of the jungle and where it opened up into the lot of land that the lookout tower had been built in. Blinking somewhat and glancing about before taking in another breath and stepping foot out of the jungle she had been all this time… scared almost now that she had lost her de-facto protection, a quick way to hide and to lose before that where following you in… now though she was exposed to anyone who just wanted to come along and add her name to their list.

Bree continuing on slowly until she faintly heard something, tilting her head a little and for some reason beyond what she had been doing instead of turning around and running in another direction she instead began toward the voices. Knowing that if she wanted any chance in finding James she needed someone to help… someone that could hopefully protect her, biting her lip at the thought she pushed it from her mind as the sight of two boys slowly came into view. Listening lightly to the conversation with a curious look, "Do—do you think you could actually do that?" Bree found herself saying without a whole lot of thought. "Killing the others… well the others that had already killed—" She continued slowly, she knew Rick well enough… compared to most of the jocks he was a sweetheart who could be missing an arm and still be more concerned if you managed to scrap your knee or something. Frowning a sadly for a moment she allowed herself a chance to smile, at least happy the first she'd seen in days was someone nice.

"B-but, it-it's good to see you Rick… I um, you-you um, haven't seen James have you?"

Before Dawson could respond to Rick's new plans, a new voice reached his ears. Turning around, he saw that it was Briana North, or as everyone called her, Bree. She was a small girl, and posed no immediate threat to Rick, though he still aimed his Desert Eagle at her, looking her over. The stress on the past seven days was evident in her appearance, just like everyone else.

Her first words were asking him if he could do it. If he could really hunt down and kill the players. To be truthful, Rick had always assumed he could, he never thought about the possibility that he couldn't do it. It was what he would be doing in the Marines, though of course there were obvious differences.

"Yeah, I can do it. Me and Jim already killed a player back at the cliffs. I have to do it. People are dying and they need help."

He hadn't seen James during his stay on the island, though he wish he had. The boy and girl were obviously very much in love and to be separated when you knew death was right around the corner must have been horrible.

"I'm sorry Bree, I haven't seen him. I'm sure he's safe though. Jame's is a tough guy, he's probably holding out somewhere with some friends looking for you."

Following behind Kimmy, Eddie tried to keep his breathing even. Not used to extended physical exertion, the boy was finding it difficult to maintain a sprint. Maybe I should have taken up a sport like Mom wanted. Chasing after the smaller girl, a thought occurred. If he wanted to, Holeman could have shot him in the back. Shuddering, the boy pushed the thought aside.

He didn't think that anyone there would really kill an innocent person…but then again he hadn't expected Wade to do what he did. What did he really know about any of the students here?

Rick Holeman was a decent guy with good grades and was a member of the Southridge football team. But, that was just fringe stuff. First and foremost, Holeman was a military buff. Actually wanted to go into the service after high school, which Eddie couldn't wrap his mind around. Why would you want to go and potentially get yourself killed? It didn't matter. As far as Eddie could tell from Holeman's plan was that the guy was really into the whole protect and serve part of the deal. Wait, was that police or the army? Whatever.

Amanda Redder looked the part of the stereotypical tomboy and, from what Eddie had gathered, her look suited her personality. Very active, very athletic, by all accounts a nice enough girl. Thinking on the matter, Eddie realized that he knew relatively little about Amanda, compared to what he knew about everyone else. Maybe she'd just fallen through the cracks and never caught the eavesdropper's attention.

Now, "Dawson" Ashcroft, there was someone that Eddie knew a bit about. Ashcroft would have shocked quite a few people if she'd actually revealed her gender. The strange girl had fooled just about everyone at school. When he first saw "Dawson," he simply assumed that he was a boy. In fact, he completely overlooked when, in Pre-Calculus, the teacher almost referred to her as Dacey before being quickly corrected.

It wasn't very long before Eddie managed to overhear a few rumors. The eavesdropper always liked rumors. Gossip and loose talk were the sources of a great deal of entertaining information. A great many of the tidbits were deliberately fabricated, but half of the fun was trying to separate truth from falsehood.

When first hearing the possibility of Ashcroft being a girl, Eddie had scoffed at the idea. Why would anyone bother to hide their gender? But, even dismissing the notion out of hand, the boy couldn't help but pick up on a few peculiarities. If pressed, Eddie couldn't say what it was that made him gave the idea any credence. It wasn't anything especially glaring. Perhaps a slip in body language, the way she worded her sentences, or some other minute detail.

Whatever it had been, it piqued Eddie's interest in the transfer student. Some people might have called his actions stalking, but the curious teenager preferred to think of it as "extended surveillance." He didn't have any romantic or violent inclinations towards Ashcroft, he was just intrigued. Other people, particularly secretive people, fascinated him.

Keeping a careful eye on the always ambiguous student, it took Edward the best part of the year to be fairly certain that Ashcroft really was a girl. He still had no concrete proof, only the accumulated small hints that she'd accidentally dropped here and there. Despite that, though, the odd boy was almost completely assured that he was right. Not that it mattered anymore.

Finally there was the girl he was chasing, Kimberly Redmond. She was another odd student that Ed had cursory knowledge of (watching Ashcroft had taken up quite a bit of his time). What he'd managed to gather was that Kimmy had a dubious social record. More than a few students would attest to the small girl as being an insufferable bitch, but Ed had never personally seen anything to suggest that. Truth be told, Eddie respected her. She was damn good with a violin. He'd always wanted to try his hand at the violin.

A fair distance up the slope, Kimmy's foot slipped on the wet grass, sending her to the ground with a dull thud. "Shit." Finally catching up to her, Eddie took a knee next to the fallen girl. He reached out, his shaking hand hanging inches from her shoulder for a moment. Drawing his hand back, he opened his mouth to ask if she was alright.

Dacey gave Eddie a mute shrug as if to say 'go ahead'. She didn't care where he decided to go, or what danger exactly he thought Kimmy was in, aside from of course that which was already present in their situation, in which case both she, Rick, and Eddie himself were in exactly the same position as far as that peril went.

Dacey took her time answering Rick, but truthfully she already knew what she was going to do. She'd decided earlier she just hadn't... well, told him. Hunting down the players? That sounded like a plan to her, better, at least, than hanging around waiting for some enterprising soul wanting to make a name for themselves to come along and shot her down.

She ignored the new arrival, because what really could she do to help? Not a threat? Yes. Asset? No. Therefore nothing to be concerned about nor spend time on. Time wasn't a commodity they had to burn, not in SotF. There were better things to be doing than wasting it on unimportant matters. This girl? Well... she was one of them.

"Tch. Suppose I've nothing better to do," 'Dawson' told Rick, after a few moments, deliberately playing the nonchalence card. But then, that was what 'Dawson' was like, essentially, just a mask when it came down to it. Perhaps Dacey herself became the mask a little. Then again... if nobody ever saw your real face, then did the false become reality?

(Sorry for the craptastic post.)

Kimmy's heart pounded against her chest. She could hear soft footsteps making their way up the sloping hill, which in turn caused her mind to race. Ideas flooded the small girls mind. Her first instinct was to run, but her body felt as if it was frozen.

Kimmy could feel the presence behind her. Her body shook, fear enveloping every inch of her. There was only one thing she could do. Go down with a fight.

Bolting to standing position, Kimmy shot a poorly aimed open palm at her 'attacker'. She didn't even bother to check where his or her face was. All she wanted was to be left alone.

Eddie barely had time to notice the flash of movement. Whipping around with desperation fueled speed, Kimmy violently lashed out. An open palmed strike stung the boy's cheek, slapping the kind words from his mouth and sending him backwards. The burst of momentum carried him into a roll down the hill, his head bouncing off a large rock embedded in the soil. Coming to rest sprawled on his stomach, he tried to blink the bright flashes of color from his eyes.

Shaking his head, Eddie was surprised when he felt a warm liquid running down the right side of his face. Carefully probing at his eyebrow, the boy hissed when his inspection yielded a sharp slash of pain. Creeping scarlet seeped into his vision, forcing him to clamp his right eye shut. Shit. I must have scared her more than I thought. Way to be a big help, Eddie. Don't change a thing. Stupid.

Sluggishly rising to his feet, he swayed a moment before making his way back up the hill. His head was pounding and he could smell his own blood. He tried not to be angry, but it was a difficult thing to suppress. All he'd wanted to do was help her. And he wasn't a scary person, was he? No, no. Of course you're not scary; you only get your kicks out of eavesdropping and stalking. A completely stand-up, non-creep inducing guy.

He grimaced at the thought and stopped. Not wanting to frighten the little girl any further, he called out from a fair distance away and held his hands up. "It's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you. I…I wanna h-help you. Sorry about sc-scaring you...again. I really should have been c-clearer with my intentions. You're n-not h-hurt are you?"

He paused a moment, rubbing at the back of his head and looked away. "I know I'm p-probably not the easiest guy to t-trust, but I'm t-telling the t-truth. I j-just want to help someone." A lump formed in his throat as he remembered the results of sitting and hiding. When he spoke, his voice cracked, as he strained to keep back the tears. "I need to help somebody."

Kimmy was shocked when her open palm slammed against Eddie's cheek. She hadn't been expecting to actually hit something. As she watched Eddie roll down the hill, Kimmy felt a strong sense of satisfaction roll over her. She had successfully protected herself, something she thought she'd never be able to do.

Winning wasn't so far out of the picture now. Of course she knew she was going to try to play the game, but Kimmy now had the assurance that she could win. She wasn't fighting in vain anymore.

Eddie struggled to his feet and Kimmy clearly saw the deep red liquid running down the boys face. Initially she was in awe that she could do that much damage to someone, but the idea warmed up to her. She felt... powerful. Like she could take on anyone or anything.

Maybe then- maybe then her parents would be proud. Proud of how hard she fought for her life. Surely it would show them how strong the little girl could be, even in the hardest times. Someone they could depend on. Someone they could finally love.

The wobbly Eddie started making his way up the slopping hill, stuttering something about wanting to protect her. Was he crazy? She had just pushed him down a hill and yet he still though he could protect her? It amused her to an extent, but she really just wanted the boy out of her hair. She didn't need anyone to protect her; especially not some wimp who just had his ass handed to him.

With a small sigh, Kimmy focused two glaring blue eyes on the boy. "Just stop right there, Ed. Maybe there's some scared girl out there waiting to put her life in your incapable hands and end up dying for it, but that girl isn't me. I mean, seriously. You expect me to trust you with my life when you can't even protect yourself?" Kimmy seethed, a strange mix of disgust and enjoyment very apparent in her girly voice, "You're useless to me, Ed. Completely and utterly worthless."

The moment could have lasted for a heartbeat or stretched on into hours. A silence that held a weight to it that Eddie could feel in his chest. Heat filled his face as he waited for Kimmy to say something. He felt every inch the fool for actually saying something so pathetic. Embarrassed, he fixed his limited gaze at the grass beneath his feet. When the petite girl sighed, he flicked his eye back to her, only to find a glare that froze his blood and made his breath catch in his throat.

"Just stop right there, Ed. Maybe there's some scared girl out there waiting to put her life in your incapable hands and end up dying for it, but that girl isn't me." Her words were solid, slamming into his gut. He wanted to speak up, to tell her that he really could help, but found his voice had betrayed him. The words refused to come, leaving him at the mercy of the small girl's cutting remarks.

"I mean, seriously." She continued, words chipped out of ice. "You expect me to trust you with my life when you can't even protect yourself? You're useless to me, Ed. Completely and utterly worthless."

The world seemed to break apart at its seems. He tried to tell himself she was wrong. He wanted to believe she didn't know what she was talking about. He didn't want to think he was so inept that he couldn't even help such a small girl. But that wasn't the truth. Everyone knew that he was worthless, didn't they? Even Darnell had told him he wasn't needed. He'd been able to see that Eddie was a waste of space too.

What have you accomplished so far? It would nice to say ‘nothing,' wouldn't it? But, you know that's not right. You've done plenty. You watched as five people died. It takes a lot to be an accessory to five murders. Gritting his teeth, Eddie was ashamed as tears burned his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. He told himself he wouldn't cry. Just one more failure.

Turning and sprinting for the tree line, Eddie neglected to even pick up his daypack.

((Edward Sullivan continued in Running Free))

((Continued from Slow Chemical))

It's like fucking Othello, and some sort of metaphysical fuck-up is Iago. I try to do good, and it all gets thrown in my face. At least somebody believes me. That's worth something.

Dorian was trying to remain positive through this ordeal, but it wasn't easy. Everyone who he thought would see the sense of his argument, bar one, had ignored his pleas and gone on futile people hunts or had attacked him. His only decent means of defense had been emptied by that Waits prick, so he was going to be dealing in close combat if somebody decided to take advantage of him or Stephanie. And the nasty graze he had received in the marsh was starting to sting.

Slicing through vines in the suffocating forest with his butcher's knife, Dorian was relieved when they came into a clearing.

"Stephanie, over here! We made it!"

He stumbled out of the forest and looked around. The clearing and the tower weren't much, but oh Jesus fuck, what the hell?

Dorian nearly tripped over Corbin Arlen's dead body, cut to hell and high heaven. Dorian knew Corbin through the indie filmmaking scene in Highland Beach, and he was shocked to see that such a sharp talent was dead. First Anna, now Corbin - I better not be fucking next.

He shuddered, and then looked back at Stephanie.

"You go that way, I'll go this way. We'll meet on the other side. If you see people, avoid them. If you find a tower, tell me quietly. K?"

The feeling was intoxicating. The sense of superiority, of being better than someone. She had just crushed the boy and in all honesty; she felt great. She felt as though she could take on the world and come out victorious. No one could stop her. It was a feeling that she hoped would be part of her forever. It was something she never felt the full extent of before, but being in the game had really showed her how amazing it felt. So long as she stayed on the top.

Kimmy watched as the dejected boy fought back tears. A snarl appeared on the girl's lips. It made her sick. Even though her life had been complete hell before the Redmond's adopted her, she never cried. But that pansy cried the minute someone told him off? He didn't know what true sadness was. He didn't know what it felt like when someone just gave you up when they didn't want you. He didn't know a damn thing and he could just die for all she cared. He was just wasting space anyway.

She wasn't surprised in the least when Eddie ran off- it's what weak people always did. But what if she were to get rid of him once and for all? She'd be doing him a favor. Put him out of his misery, to use a cliche. Weak people needed to die, it was Survival of the Fittest, after all.

The sneer turned into a tiny smile as Kimmy came to a conclusion. It was settled. She'd kill Eddie Sullivan.

Leaving any plans she had about lying low in the lookout tower behind, Kimmy ran after Eddie.

(Kimmy Redmond continued in Running Free)