Survival Of The Fittest

Gabby could've retched when Travis showed up, if she was capable of such over the top reactions.

She was familiar with Travis through Joe, though only on an impersonal level. She'd heard enough about him from both her friend and from around the school to judge exactly what sort of person he was; she didn't care for people with a layer of skeeze so thick that it would take a scouring pad to clean it off. Constantly reeking of weed (or what she assumed weed reeked like, having never been near it herself) and apparently always being on the road to trouble meant that Gabby would have, under normal circumstances, steered clear of him as much as possible.

She had no intention of leaving, however, and settled instead for turning her back on him and focusing her attention back on Naomi, who was seemingly as uneasy with his presence as she was. Had Naomi been the sort of person that Gabby could agree with, it would've been a breath of fresh air in the otherwise tense moment. As it was, however, their mutual dislike of Travis did nothing whatsoever to improve Naomi's appeal.

Naomi's paranoia about weapons rubbed her the wrong way too. Maybe it was smart to be cautious at the moment, but it was also unnecessary: if people wanted to kil– if people had dangerous weapons, then they'd have charged in with them. If they didn't, then they weren't a problem. Maybe she was trying to find problems with Naomi's logic because she didn't actually like her, it turned out, but she wasn't wrong. Her opinion on Naomi's methods made itself clear in her face, as her eyes rolled at her insistence.

As much as she didn't want to be alone in this trying time, Naomi was starting to try her patience. She'd been right when she'd considered her too austere for her tastes, and the current exchange was doing little to remedy it. It could well have simply been because Naomi was in charge and she wasn't, but that wasn't the point: what mattered is that she was being rubbed the wrong way by Naomi's attitude, and she didn't care for people who rubbed her the wrong way on the best days.

But she still didn't want to be alone.

Travis simply smiled the most innocent of smiles at them.

"No, no. It's no problem!", he responded to Cammy. If he wanted to gain their trust, he couldn't be acting stingy.

"But to answer your question, Naomi, I didn't really get a weapon. I got a roll of duct tape. Luck of the draw, indeed. Fuckin' douchebags...."

He laughed audibly and just shook his head. Then he got a serious look on his face.

"What about you guys?"

He pointed at Gabby.

"She got some sort of ball-and-chain weapon...."

He pointed to the other two in the sand.

"... And you two got....?"

This was the deciding moment. If they got something good, he would stick with the plan and try to steal it. If they all got joke-weapons like he did, he'd go collect the ball-and-chain and leave these three to their pathetic planning. How did they not get it? Escaping wasn't an option. Sure, he supposed trying to escape was better than just accepting their fate, but... still! There was no way it could be done! Travis was not inclined to spend all of his remaining time trying to find some sort of flaw in the system, and even if he was, the terrorists had prepared themselves for FOUR years. Travis and these girls were a bunch of Highschoolers.

As far as he saw it, hoping to outsmart the terrorists was complete and utter folly. Waiting for someone to rescue them? Ever worse.

Of course, he didn't say any of this to them. Travis Webster was no fool after all.

"Duct tape? ...Interesting." That sounded potentially very useful. Lots of things could be done with duct tape. Of course a complete plebeian like Travis would complain about it. He didn't know the luck he had.

In response to Travis' query, Naomi just gestured at the hedge trimmer lying beside her and at the crossbow Cammy was still holding. "You can see for yourself, can't you? No-one will be shot unless they decide to take their chances first, though. Isn't that right, Cammy?"

She looked between the map she was holding and her diagram in the sand. Sketching out a very quick, clumsy representation of the map in the empty square, she laid the map beside it, trying not to muss up her stick figures, and started marking out potential locations for investigation on the sand version of the map. Nuclear power plant, the shopping center, anywhere with a high view... "Well, if either of you--" She glanced back at Gabby and Travis. "--are coming with us, we're going to look for allies. Any friends you're looking for, we'll keep an eye out for but we can't exclusively look for them, it'll take up--"

And then Naomi paused. Because until that moment, it'd never quite hit her that Miles was on the island, too. Her hand twitched violently, wiping her crude representation of the power plant away by accident.

"Miles. Where's Miles?" she said, her voice hitting an octave higher than normal again as she looked around the zen garden, as if she expected Miles to jump out from behind a bench or one of those strangely shaped trees. "Have... have any of you seen him?" Suddenly she was very afraid. And her brain raced to try and rationalize it.

Miles is intelligent. He's got talent for leadership, you ran the student council together. He won't do anything stupid. He'll survive until you can find him.

And a horrible, treacherous little voice in her mind whispered 'you can't know that,' as all the options--all the potential players she knew were out there--came rushing into her mind. And for a moment, she completely forgot about her plans and her rational approach about not searching specific people. Because she needed to find her cousin before a player did.

Travis got really unlucky with the draw of weapons; Cammy couldn't help but feel sorry for him. After all, out of everyone in the room, Cammy probably got the luckiest draw with the crossbow. Naomi had a hedge trimmer and Gabby got a ball and chain. In comparison, her weapon appeared to be the most deadly. However, duct tape did have its uses. To be fair, it probably wouldn't directly lead to a weapon, but it could be used to make a weapon, as well as a whole bunch of other things. Maybe she underestimated the effectiveness of duct tape.

"Yeah, I'd rather not use this, but the situation really calls for it... I guess..." Cammy told Travis, her voice losing confidence as the thought of hurting her classmates started to swarm in again. She didn't want to hurt them and she didn't want to believe her classmates were capable of committing such acts. Naomi's justification though was strong and she now found herself at an impasse between what her brain was telling her and what her heart was telling her. Could she ever hurt a classmate if the situation called for it?

A sudden increase in pitch brought Cammy back into the real world. Naomi was now asking about Miles, which confused her at first until she realized that Miles was Naomi's cousin. She gave her friend a comforting smile as an attempt to make her feel at least a little bit better. She couldn't imagine how hard it would be to have a family member being part of this game. It made her glad that Suzie was older than her. If she was in the game, Cammy could not think about what she would do. She wouldn't think about that. The pain was too much.

"Don't worry Naomi, we'll find Miles. Promise." Cammy encouraged. She was at a bit of a loss at what else she could say. She didn't know where Miles was, Naomi was the first human being she encountered on the island. She also highly doubted that the other two had seen him either. She was estimating that they woke up at approximately the same time. Hence, they would have woken up relatively close to the location they were now. If Miles was here, Cammy predicted that he would've come to their location, but he didn't.

"He's a smart kid, I know he'll stay alive. Trust me, I'm sure he's coming up with a plan right now as we speak." Cammy confidently declared, hoping her confidence would rub off onto Naomi. Right now, this was the only thing she could do. Naomi needed help, and she was glad to give it.

Gabby's opinion of Naomi took a turn.

Her brief, but notable, mention that looking for anyone in particular wasn't an option was in stark contrast to her own intentions. She most certainly intended to find Cho at some point, even if she hadn't realised it until just then. It wouldn't have hurt to find a few other people she could trust, and who'd be at a loss without her, either. Maybe it wasn't the priority at that exact moment, but following Naomi was still looking less and less like something she'd want to be a part of.

However, her following topic of Miles brought her hypocrisy to plain view. Given that Miles Strickland was Gabby's next door neighbour, and thus she was aware of his and Naomi's status as cousins, it only took her a moment to realise which Miles she was referring to.

Suddenly, her insistence of not looking for anyone in particular had lost all weight. Naomi was worried about her family, and that was understandable. Gabby was also worried about people who were close to her as family, so she could at least relate, perhaps even sympathise. Whilst she didn't even consider what it would be like to have someone in her close family on the island with her, she was still concerned for her pseudo-family, and growing more so by the moment.

Regardless, she could only shake her head at Naomi's question, regardless of whether she would have liked to have been able to help or not. If she met Miles, then she'd probably tell him that Naomi was looking for him. However, if Naomi was going to look for her specific person, then she was going to look for hers.

By then it was more or less certain that she was not teaming up with these people.

A crossbow and a chainsaw, huh?

Things could be worse. Granted, neither would be particularly stealthy... but when it came to being lethal, it would definitely do. Travis scoffed at the idea that Cammy could ever hurt him. She didn't have what it took to fire that crossbow at a fellow classmate. Anyone could see that.

But in his case, this was nothing but a good thing.

When Naomi began panicking and asking about Miles, Travis saw his chance. He held back his malicious grin as well as he could, and stepped over to the other two. He put his hand on Naomi's shoulder, looked her into the eyes and said:

"Don't worry. We'll find him, alright?"

Travis couldn't believe his luck. He was now in perfect position to nick a weapon. But what should he take?

Cammy was holding onto that crossbow pretty tightly, whilst the chainsaw was merely lying there. Yet the crossbow had range.

He sat down next to them.... next to the chainsaw. If he grabbed it now, he would be able to just run to the exit.

"So just... calm down, and get back to the plan, huh?"

Naomi was busy with her angst, Cammy was trying to support her, and Gabby was too far away to do anything. Now would be the time.

He didn't even wait to hear her response. Hopefully he had slowed her down a second or two more with that statement. With a huge grin on his face, he quickly grabbed the chainsaw and RAN.

(GMing approved.)

"Yes, I... I know that, Miles isn't stupid," Naomi muttered outloud, directed at both Cammy and Travis. A tiny bit of her rationality floated back. They were both right, of course (as much as it pained her to even think that about Travis.) Miles would probably be manufacturing his own plans and gathering his own allies. And being calm was certainly more helpful.

"Yes, calm... calm is defi--hey!"

He didn't.

He didn't just...

He just stole from her! Her weapon, nonetheless! And sure, it was an unwieldy weapon which looked more impressive than it actually was, but it was hers!

And the wave of anger that Naomi had restrained after the tantrum she'd thrown at the cameras... the anger at the terrorists for ruining everything, for not receiving a weapon that was useful, the anger at Cammy's ridiculous naivete, and now this... the thin barrier that was holding it all back broke and all that anger rushed to the surface.

She didn't think about diplomacy. She just snatched Cammy's crossbow from her friend's hands and pointed it at Travis' retreating back.

"Webster, you take one more execrable step," she screamed at him. "And I will consider it a reason to--"

Unfortunately, in her haste to scream and demand that he stop, not to mention her rush to grab the weapon without figuring out how to use it, she hadn't paid attention to the fact that it was loaded. Or how to wave it around without accidentally setting it off.

A small clunk issued from the crossbow as she waved it at him and the crossbow bolt went flying in Travis' direction.

Cammy was surprised at how kind Travis was being towards Naomi. Maybe he realized that she really was stressed out by the events that had occurred and was offering a helping hand. She gave him a warm smile, a sign of appreciation. If people were like this, Cammy felt that there was a chance that no murders would occur. After all, they all seemed to be peaceful and not trying to kill each other. If they held out, maybe they could wear Danya down to the point where he would just give up and let them go. Maybe, just maybe there was a way out without fighting.

Then it happened. It was all so fast, Cammy had no time to react to it. Travis stole Naomi's weapon and ran for it. He didn't even look back and Cammy could only watch him with her mouth agape, trying to make sense of the situation. Was the whole nice act just a farce? Did he really just do that? Was he going to play the game? Cammy couldn't understand. At that moment, she was completely lost.

The next thing she knew, she felt her crossbow ripped from her hands. Whipping her head sideways, Cammy watched in horror as Naomi took her weapon from her and aimed at Travis. Was there really going to be a fight happening right now? They had only just woke up and now Naomi was aiming a crossbow at Travis. She was now screaming at him and Cammy didn't even know what to do. Travis was stealing a weapon to play the game and Naomi was furious at him with a loaded weapon. Wait, did she know it was loaded?

"Naomi, no!" Cammy yelled as her friend accidentally fired a weapon that went flying right towards Travis. Why was this happening? This couldn't be happening. How could things spiral out of control this quickly? Was there anything she could do? She felt absolutely worthless as she watched the shot, witnessing what she could only predict was the start of many shots. Was this the way things were going to be?

A feeling of dread spread through her and she could feel tears forming in her eyes. She didn't want to attack her classmates and she didn't want to hurt them. At the same time, would these classmates not be afraid of attacking her and her friends? If Travis's behavior was anything to go by, it was almost a certainty that she would have to hurt her friends. Why did this have to happen to her class? Cammy began to cry as the feelings of misery and despair went into her. How was this fair? How was this just? She couldn't believe she used to watch this. She didn't understand why people watched it? Why did they come up with this game? Why? Why? Why?

[Changing the post order has been okay'd by Slamexo]

Naomi was screaming behind him. He didn't listen. Gabby was not in his way. Just a few feet more, and he'd be free of them... with a dangerous weapon as well! He begun laughing as he was nearing the exit.

That was when he heard it.... A small clunk behind him. He didn't realize what Naomi had done, even as the crossbow fired. Suddenly, pain flared up in his left arm.

Ow. OW. FUCKING.... OW.

He stopped. Turned around.

"NAOMI, YOU CRAZY FUCKING WHORE! JUST WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!? YOU FUCKING SHOT ME!"

He looked down, wild and manic. At least no arrow was sticking out of him. Yes, he was bleeding. No, it was not serious. But then, it wasn't exactly like she'd planned to graze him. She could've shot him straight in the back for all she knew. He ought to pay her back for it. Blood for blood.

Then he stopped. Calmed down. They had fired their weapon. It took time to reload it. Maybe he'd picked the better weapon anyway.

".... That. Fucking. Hurt."

He could easily kill all of the girls present. Though he was well aware of how stupid that would be. Kill THREE people on your first day? Every single one of their friends would gun for him... And Miles... He would get a crew, just like Naomi was. And they'd want him dead too. Painting a giant target on his back would be more subtle than killing these girls.

It made more sense to leave them alive. As such, he cracked his neck, smiled a menacing smile at them, chuckled and.... left through the exit at a rapid pace.

He'd need to patch himself up. God fucking damnit... Someone had already drawn his blood, and it hadn't even been more than an hour. He'd been too reckless... Again.

[Travis Webster continued in Stagecoach, and Other Vehicles...]

Gabriella could only watch as the situation unfolded in front of her, happening as suddenly as it did. When Travis had made his dive for Naomi's weapon, she couldn't claim she'd expected it (though from someone like Travis, she really should have), but when Naomi turned around and opened fire, that had gone beyond any reasonable expectations whatsoever.

She was stunned, her mouth agape, frozen, at Naomi. Even as Travis bore his teeth and fled, her focus remained on her. Yes, she had been rubbing her the wrong way, but she hadn't thought she'd ever start shooting at people, especially so out of the blue. She may not have found Naomi intimidating on a normal day, but today was not a normal day. Today was a day that Naomi had shot someone with a fucking crossbow!

She couldn't form words, as much as she tried to say something. She had no idea what she wanted to say, but she had never been one to just not say anything. The smell of Travis' blood was fresh in the air, however, choking the words right out of her throat as she could only look at her in horror.

"You fucking psycho!" she finally screamed, taking a step back as if it made any difference, as if it would make her any safer. But no, being around Naomi just wasn't safe right now. She was still holding that crossbow, the one she'd fired at Travis just because he'd grabbed something, and as far as she knew, she might have fired it straight at her. Even if she wouldn't have, who would want to be anywhere near a person like that?

So she turned around and made her own run for it. She prayed that Naomi wouldn't open fire on herself when her back was turned, overlooking the lengthy time it took to load a crossbow, but her prayers were answered none the less. She had never liked running, nor had she ever been good at it, but if there was ever a time in her life when she needed to run, this was it.

Even if she couldn't accept her fate as a victim of Survival of the Fittest, it was getting more and more ready to accept her.

Naomi had not meant to shoot. Threaten? Maybe. Make Travis give her weapon back? Definitely. But she hadn't meant to shoot. That was counter-productive to everything she needed to do. But the crossbow had gone off. And she'd still been angry, but suddenly she'd also been confused and a little bit scared because that wasn't meant to happen!

When the crossbow went off, she almost dropped it. She fumbled with it, trying not to drop it and break it or set it off again or anything else that was unplanned. And she let out a small shriek when she saw red. She thought for a moment she'd shot him. That she'd murdered before she'd even begun to find an escape, and ruined her chances of escape before they'd even started. As well as murdered someone, which was obviously wrong, but--

But Travis was fine. He called her crazy. So did Gabriella. Both of them ran off. Naomi didn't attempt to reload or attack or even to convince them that it had been an accident. She was still stunned. She stayed still, just blinking stupidly, as everyone but Cammy ran away.

She opened and shut her mouth a few times, at a loss for words. Then she looked at Cammy, who looked... well, terrified. Understandably.

"Accident!" she blurted out suddenly.

The other two were starting to leave, shouting out "psycho" and "crazy" to describe her close friend. She couldn't believe that had happened. Her close friend Naomi shot at Travis Webster. He may have been a prick and he did steal her weapon, but was that really his fault? The game made them act in strange ways, and she never felt like her classmates would normally resort to such drastic measures. She wanted to believe that they were good. They had to be good, they spent years together, learning and laughing along the way. The fact that they might start killing each other scared Cammy.

At the same time though, the confrontation acted as a wake-up call for her. It gave her definitive evidence that people were going to play the game and that people were going to kill their friends. She felt foolish for believing otherwise, but now she couldn't escape it. She couldn't run away or hide from the horrible truth that she would have to kill or die. The thought alone made Cammy sick.

The change in Naomi was also a very startling thing. She wasn't like she was before. She became paranoid and reacted instinctively instead of thinking, which lead to the disaster that happened just now. Even her insistence that it was an accident didn't shake Cammy's thoughts that Naomi could easily kill as well. Her own close friend, killing people. It was all so much and Cammy continued to cry as the harsh inevitability crashed into her like a falling anvil. What could she do? Was there anything she could do?

No. There had to be something she could do. There had to be something she could do. There had to be a way off the island without having to kill. There just had to be. She refused to kill. She vehemently refused to kill any of her classmates. They were not murderers and killers by choice, the situation made it so. She was not going to kill if she didn't have to. She was going to find a way to survive with everyone else. She had to believe that there was a way.

"W-what now?" Cammy asked after a moment of silence, wiping away her tears and trying to steel her emotions. There was no way they were going to find a way to escape by just sitting around and crying. She gave her friend a weak smile and a nod, indicating that she wasn't going to leave her just yet. Naomi was not a bad person, she wholeheartedly believed that. After all, she assured it was an accident. There was no reason to believe otherwise.

"Argh, um... uhhhhh..."

Naomi had lost all her thoughts. She was still angry, as well as mortified that she'd lost her compusure and fired a weapon accidentally. Part of her wanted to run after Travis and shoot him properly for causing it. But that wouldn't help her in the long run.

"Uggh, uh... give me a few minutes," Naomi muttered. She placed the crossbow down carefully before returning to the bench she'd been sitting on. She crossed her legs and shut her eyes, getting back into the position for yoga meditation.

She just needed to be calm. Properly calm. Maybe that was impossible right now, but she at least needed to look like it.

She couldn't keep her mind blank or peaceful. But once she started with her breathing exercises it became easier to sort through everything.

Inhale. ...Exhale.

Panicking about Miles won't fix anything. Nor will shunning the escape plan to find him. There's no use finding him if there's no way to escape.

Inhale. ...Exhale.

The best way to find him would be to carry on with escape. After all, surely he'd have a similar goal. If I pursue locations that might have useful commodities towards that end, then he will be more likely to find me.

Inhale. ...Exhale.

No escape plan yet. But that's to be expected. I've only just started. Speed is of the essence, but can't expect miracles. What's important is to find a plan before the entire island is annihilated.

Inhale. ...Exhale.

After a few minutes of sitting on the bench, breathing in and out, Naomi opened her eyes, climbed off the bench and walked back to Cammy and the sketches in the sand.

"I apologize. I lost my calm and I never intended to fire your crossbow. It won't happen again," Naomi said quietly. She looked down at where her hedge trimmers had been before frowning. "We see Travis again... and we just leave. That will probably be the best thing to do. I don't expect to be able to reason with him, and the fact that he thought he needed hedge trimmers... there's no use for those except harming people or trimming the plants, and I doubt he has the latter in mind."

Naomi pointed at the copy of the map she'd carved into the sand.

"No plans yet. But I say we visit some locations that might have useful commodities. The hospital is closest. I would also suggest the shopping center and perhaps the nuclear power plant. Anywhere with a high view would also be excellent, but I can't tell where that is just from looking at this map.

"We can look for people on the way, but we... we still can't dedicate the bulk of our attention to it. Any objections or ideas, Cammy?"

Naomi looked at Cammy. After the colossal wreck that had been her losing her composure, Cammy was the only ally she had left. Hopefully this wouldn't be the case for long, but... there were much worse people to be allied with.

[Aileen Aurora Abdallah, continued from This is a message from Lord Nergal. "I await you on the Dread Isle."]

The sunshine was very refreshing. So refreshing, that Aileen started humming a joyful melody as they walked around. It nearly felt like she was just strolling around like she did on many good sundays. Not, as if she was on an island where death could come sooner than expected. Or exactly when expected. Sometimes even after. Either way, death was present, and although Aileen did not see any corpses along her way, she knew that the streets won't be that peaceful for long. And damn her if she was one of the corpses.

Eventually, they reached the Zen garden, a quite ironic place for Aileen, who was not necessarily known for her composure. Nevertheless, Aileen liked the place and thus decided to make a pause here. Maybe sit down somewhere, drink something, eat something. Maybe even formulate a specific plan. Although Aileen was not enterly sure what to plan with so few informations avaible.

Well, maybe she would get some from the two girls who were already occupying the Zen garden. Or she would get attacked. Which was unlikely. Sure, that girl back in the hospital attacked her and Owen, but this time, Aileen knew who these people were. She was not sure if she could get much use out of them, but it was worth a try.

First, Naomi Bell. Everyone at school should have known her. She was known for being something that Aileen is not. Namely, a person who knows how to keep her calm. Additionally, Naomi was not the strongest one out there, and Aileen figured that she could easily overwhelm her. Then there was Cammy... or so. Aileen, for whatever reason, was never sure whether she remembered her name correctly. Anyway, Cammy did not seem to think too negatively about Aileen, which was a plus. Again, she may be a fast sprinter, but if it came down to it, Aileen thought that she or Owen could overwhelm her. Somehow.

It was time to walk with confidence. Aileen approached the both girls, so that they could see her. She hoped Owen backed her up in case on off them, or both, attacked.

"Greetings, Naomi and... Cammy!"

((Owen Kay continued from This is a message from Lord Nergal. "I await you on the Dread Isle."))

In contrast to Aileen, Owen kept quiet and solemn as they left the hospital. It was quite a new experience for him, if he'd cared to think about it. Normally when he was walking with a friend, he'd be chatting away, or even singing incredibly poorly depending on who it was. Not trudging along aimlessly with his head down and a scalpel in his hand. Owen wished he could appear as light-hearted as Aileen. It would at least distract him from the thoughts and doubts that threatened to constantly overwhelm his mind.

There had been some semblance of a path leading away from the hospital, so their journey hadn't been entirely rambling around aimlessly. It had felt a lot longer than it had actually taken, however, partially due to the thoughts constantly buzzing around Owen's head. Sometimes they'd flit back to the constant, ever present air of death that lingered everywhere, and he felt as though he was about to fall to the floor again.

Somehow he'd persevered. And somehow they'd both found their way to the Zen Garden. Even in his current doubtful state, Owen had to admit there was something peaceful about the place. In stark contrast to the ransacked, dirty hospital, everything seemed fairly neat and tidy here. Coupled with the clear sky, and Owen began to felt a little more relaxed. A little more secure.

Owen could hear voices from further within the garden. He would have suggested caution, possibly listening in to what they had to say before doing anything. Aileen, however, walked confidently into their vision, and a few seconds later, Owen crept in behind her, scalpel clutched in his grip.

Naomi Bell and Cammy Davidson. Owen's growing security was bolstered at the sight of the two girls. He wasn't super close with either of them, but Cammy he knew to be one of the most persistently friendly and cheerful people in the year. As for Naomi, well, she was a natural leader, for a start. She was president of the student council, after all. Someone with leadership skills would definitely be useful, because...

Well, Owen wanted to trust in Aileen's leadership. For the most part, he did. But there was just a tiny, niggling doubt in the back of his mind about her intentions. He was sure it was nothing, almost totally sure. And yet, why was he having these doubts?

Owen shook his head, aware of how odd it might look to the two girls. The important thing right now was that he'd found them, and that they were both potentially allies. Of course, he'd thought that about Lauren, so-

"Hey Naomi. Cammy. Everything alright?"

Owen spoke up partially so he'd stop thinking. At least the trembling had left his voice for now.