Survival Of The Fittest

Stacy's eyes were fixed on Kat as she rose from her seat. Her legs began to feel weak as Kat taunted and moved closer to Stacy with her knife raised threateningly. In only a few more steps, that knife would be right at Stacy's throat. She had to stay strong and not allow Kat to know how terrified she was.  

Stacy released Rachael's arm and brought her own shaking hand underneath the gun. She raised the shotgun so it was pointing at Kat. Hopefully this would halt Kat's progression towards them. She felt like she was back at the beach again. The scene mirrored almost exactly how it was a few days ago when she was trying to protect Miles, only this time, she was protecting herself and Rachael.

"I'm not afraid of you Kat." Stacy said sternly in response to Kat's taunts. Her eyes quickly switched to Miranda, who seemed to be getting more and more anxious by the second. With any luck, she might be sensible and try and cool the situation down between the two girls.

"I'm sorry for what happened at the beach Kat, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't just stand there and watch you kill my friend."

As the conversation between Kat and Stacy continued, everything clicked into place for Miranda.

Stacy had been with Miles when Kat tried to stab him. It sounded a bit like Stacy had tried to stop her, but obviously she escaped. It wasn't a part of the story she recalled Kat mentioning, but it really did sound something like that. Which meant that Stacy had every reason to attack them.

Miranda continued to search for an exit, a hiding spot, anything. She hated how Stacy and Rachael continued to block the door. They needed to get out of there. In fact, it was becoming apparent that they needed to leave, period. Stacy had that shotgun, and it wasn't something she wanted to deal with.

The knife was currently pointed at Stacy, and the gun back at Kat. Miranda had to do something or else she and Kat would die.

Her eyes finally rested on the vase sitting on the table.

It was a nice vase; ceramic, with a floral pattern. It must had been for flowers and such. Miranda almost hated to do what she had to do, but she slid Kyoko to her left hand, and picked it up with her other.

Sorry Stacy.

Miranda lifted her arm back and threw the vase as hard as she could.

After throwing it, she began to stomp towards Stacy and Rachel, spear pointed in their direction. She was going to get them out by force if she had to, damn it, make no mistake about that.

Miranda was definitely not going to try and calm the situation down. Stacy yelped as the vase came hurtling towards her and Rachael. She flung herself against the wall just in time as the vase skimmed across her back and smashed onto the floor behind her. She wasn't expecting that from Miranda, perhaps Kat had made up some lie and told her that Stacy was dangerous. Although, Stacy shouldn't have been so naïve, Miranda had already killed one person and there was no reason why she wouldn't kill again.

By the time Stacy had recovered, she saw the spear wielding Miranda heading towards her. Stacy froze for a split second. This was it. Miranda was coming to kill her and Rachael, and if Stacy didn't do anything, they'd both be dead in a matter of seconds.

Stacy didn't know what to do. The only thought that came into Stacy's head was "shoot". In a blind panic, Stacy gasped sharply, brought up her shotgun and pulled the trigger.

Miranda decided the best thing to do was to throw a vase at Stacy and Rachael. It almost hit them, but Miranda was already on her way to Stacy, spear at the ready. None of this bothered Kat much.

What did bother Kat was when Stacy brought the shotgun up, finger on the trigger. Kat ran for Miranda, to get her out of the way and

BOOM

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Kat flopped down on the bed and sighed, content. Beside her, Miranda unzipped her bag and fished through it. Kat closed her eyes as a mechanical whirring went through her ears, followed by the sound of the door being opened. The door closed and Stacey Mordetsky put her suitcase on the ground with a relieved sigh.

"Stacey!" Miranda greeted.

"Miranda!" Stacey turned her head to the bed Kat was on. "Oh Kat!  You're here, too!"

"Hey, Stacey." Kat replied.

"Enjoying Disneyland?" Miranda asked as she pulled out her iPod.

"Oh, yeah." Kat giggled as her head sank into the holy shit this is a fluffy pillow.

"Do you even have to ask?  This place is awesome!" Stacey smiled.

"I know, right?" Miranda agreed.

"Seriously, with all the rides, food and this hotel, how could I not love it here?" Stacey admitted

"Uh, waterpark? Don't forget the waterpark," Kat pointed out.

"Oh, I didn't.  Why do you think I went shopping for a new bikini last week?" Stacey stated.

"Oh man, I got a new red swimsuit that I need to show off soon." Miranda added.

"Just wait 'til you girls see mine.  Yellow is in this year, and I'm gonna prove it." Stacey bragged.

"I don't know. Isn't that so blinding that you'd need shades to look at it?" Kat smirked.

"Really now?  We'll see who's laughing once we go to the water park." Stacey shot a mocking look of irritation to Kat

"What about you, Kat?" Miranda queried.

"Purple. Only way to go." Kat answered, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Purple. Very nice." Miranda smiled as she sat down on the edge of the opposite bed.

"Purple, huh?  You've got style, Kat." Stacey gave an approving nod and walked over to sit next to Miranda. Kat, for her part, returned the nod and raised herself so she was sitting on the bed.

"Hey, uh, Stacey? I just remembered I saw you at prom with Webster." Miranda revealed.

"Yeah?  What about him?" Stacey asked.

Miranda got to the point. "How was he?"

"I'd bet twenty that he tried to put the moves on you." Kat had to stifle a giggle from that.

Stacey just gave a sly smile. "Well, he might have put the moves on me, but he had the stuff to back it up, if you know what I mean." She winked.

"The STDs?"

"Sperm count?"

Stacey rolled her eyes at those answers.  "Oh, ha ha ha.  You guys are so funny."

"At least there were a lot of cute outfits at prom, though?" Miranda changed the subject. At heart, she and Kat didn't care about what it was specifically that Travis had.

"Well, duh. Did you see some of the guys?" Kat asked.

"Oh yeah.  We had some real winners, didn't we?" Stacey laughed.

Miranda smiled awkwardly "Uh..."

"Oh come on, Miranda.  You looked cute at prom, too." Stacey grinned playfully.

"Film noir, huh? That's how you described it?" Kat recalled.

"Yeah, femme fatale. Sexy, dangerous woman," Miranda replied.

"If that's what you were going for, then mission accomplished," Stacey said.

"Thank you!" Miranda said.

"Well, what about you? You're the go-to for going out," Kat told Stacey.

"Oh, I could sit here all day talking about all the outfits at prom, but that's not much of a way to spend a vacation, is it?" Stacey asked.

"No, it is not," Kat said.

"What about cute outfits you saw on the plane, then?" Miranda asked.

"Depends, can I talk about what we were wearing?" Stacey laughed.

"Uh, yeah," Kat remarked, once again, as if it were obvious.

"In that case, we looked hotter than Hell and outshined everyone else on the plane." Stacey admitted. This got a jovial laugh from Kat and an outstretched hand from Miranda. Stacey smirked at the compliments as she returned the high five. "What's so funny? I was just telling the truth, wasn't I?"

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FEMALE STUDENT #32 - KATARIN TOLSTOFF: ELIMINATED

82 STUDENTS REMAIN

Rachael's arm was freed as Stacy raised her gun at Katarin. Rachael pulled her arms close to her body and stepped back. It looked like there really wasn't going to be any peaceful negotiating here. She was ready to run, but she wasn't ready to leave Stacy behind. Stacy's gun meant they could at least keep the others at a distance and get back to Miles as soon as possible.

Just then, Miranda chucked a vase at them. Rachael immediately crouched to the ground, covering her head with her hands in order to avoid the vase. She let out a small cry as the vase smashed against the ground. Just as she looked up, she heard a loud banging sound. She cried out again, losing her balance and falling on her behind.

Rachael turned to look at her companion. Stacy's gun had gone off, smoke emerging from the barrel of her gun. She turned and looked back in the room where Miranda and Katarin were. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked, her mouth falling agape. Stacy's aim was on point, and Katarin had taken the bullet. Rachael looked in horror at the blood that emerged from Katarin's wound as her body fell to the ground.

All she could do was scream. She had never screamed so loud before in her life.

((GMing approved))

"Kat?"

One second Miranda was charging towards Stacy and Rachael. The next, a crack rang out, and Kat was on the floor, bleeding from the side of her body. It took her another few to realize what had happened. She didn't want to know, but there it was, staring her in the face.

Stacy had tried to shoot her, but Kat... stopped it.

Miranda knelt down, desperately shaking her. She didn't respond.

Of course she didn't. She... was gone. It was clear from the wound that she wasn't... you know. But she had to touch her, just to see if it was true.

She didn't believe it.

It wasn't just that she was dead. It was that she died in an attempt to... save her? No, that couldn't have been it! There was no need to, why would someone care if she... but Kat...

For the first time in a while, tears threatened to push out. She didn't even try to stop herself, only closing her eyes briefly. It was an odd experience for her, as if she hadn't felt something in a long time.

Everything seemed to bubble up at that one moment. Waking up at the beach, arguing with Veronica, killing Kaitlyn, getting shot at, fighting with Baxter, being scolded by Mara, the nuclear power plant, and now... this. She could barely deal with all that, but this?

Her eyes turned to Stacy, and a new emotion came up for her:

Hatred.

Sure, she killed Kaitlyn, but that was because she panicked. She never liked Baxter, but she never felt something like this for him. But at that moment, every fiber of her being was feeling that raw emotion for Stacy right now.

Lifting herself off the ground, Miranda felt the anger burning in her eyes, the tears running down her cheeks. Stacy seemed to have fallen over backwards, she didn't care how. Miranda gritted her teeth as she glared at her.

The only thing to do was to do Kat right.

Her feet swiftly stomped towards Stacy. For a brief second she registered that she had a frightened look on her face, but that didn't stop her.

Miranda tackled Stacy, her knuckles hitting her in the chin. Miranda went for a second punch, her eyes blazing. Stacy struggled underneath her, and an elbow knocked Kyoko out of her other hand. Feeling the breath coming rapidly from her mouth, she wrapped a hand around Stacy's neck, squeezing tightly. Once more she slammed her other fist into her face.

Stacy's struggling, however, didn't allow her grip to be for too long. Another flailing elbow pushed her arm out of the way, pulling her hand away from Stacy's neck. Miranda felt her jaw tighten further as Stacy made a motion seemingly to push her off. Her hand finally slid back onto the spear's shaft, having been lying not too far away.

Miranda sobbed with both hatred and grief, holding the spear close against her body.

Stacy wasn't quite prepared for the recall of the gun. The shotgun had managed to tear its way out of Stacy's gasp and went flying behind her before skidding down the hall. Stacy was knocked back by the force of the blast and found herself crashing to the floor. She landed with a hard thud and shrieked as the broken pieces of the vase dug into her back and arms.

Whilst Rachael's ear-splitting scream filled the room, Stacy sat herself up. She brought her arms in front of her face and saw that the majority of her forearms where covered in blood due to the cuts she sustained from the vase. As she whimpered in pain, Stacy lowed her arms and gazed into the room where she'd just shot her gun into. Miranda was still standing, although she was no longer storming towards Stacy and Rachael. Instead, she was knelt down over a bleeding Kat.

What had she done? Kat must have dived in front of Miranda when Stacy tried to shoot her. She saved her friend. What had Stacy been thinking? She didn't need to shoot, but she panicked. Everything could have been fine if Stacy hadn't of raised her shotgun at Kat, if they just talked and tried to calm the situation down everything would have been fine. But she didn't. She was stupid and now she was a murderer, just like Miranda and the rest of the good-for-nothing killers on the island.

With her eyes lingering on Kat's body, Stacy could feel her tears running down her cheeks. Then Miranda turned to Stacy, and she could see the pure hatred on her face.

"Miranda, I'm so sor-" Stacy didn't have enough time to apologise for what she had done. Within a matter of second, Miranda had leaped up off the floor and charged at Stacy.

The impact of Miranda's body as she slammed into her knocked Stacy over again. Once again, Stacy felt the sharp ceramic fragments of the vase dig into her back. As Stacy struggled beneath Miranda, she managed to knock the spear out of her hands. Stacy momentarily felt a sense of relief as she got rid of Miranda's only way of killing her. This feeling however, was only short lived as Miranda tightly clasped Stacy's throat.

Stacy coughed and spluttered as Miranda's grip got tighter. Miranda was going to kill her. The harder Stacy thrashed below Miranda, the deeper the ceramic shards dug into her back. Another fist pounded into Stacy's face, causing her head to bash against the floor. As hard as she could, Stacy flung her arm against the arm Miranda was using to choke her with. She took a large gulp of air as she was liberated from Miranda's hold. Stacy thrust one of her hands up into Miranda's chest in an attempt to get the girl off of her. With her spare hand, Stacy reached behind her and frantically searched for her shotgun, but it was too far out of grasp.

"Stop! Please!" Stacy spluttered as Miranda reached for her spear again.

As the spear was brought back into the fight, Stacy gripped hold of its handle tightly with both hands and attempted to rip it away from Miranda. As the struggle for control of the spear continued, Stacy turned her head and looked at Rachael with pleading eyes.

"Rachael, help me!" Stacy begged.

Rachael felt her tears start to well up as she turned back from Stacy to Katarin. This was it. This was the game, and this is what it did to people. Stacy was friends with Miranda and possibly Katarin, and now they had turned on each other. It was what made Hansel kill Daniel, what made Summer kill Naomi, and also got Arthur and Aria killed. She had finally witnessed the awful truth of the island, and it was just as terrifying as she thought.

She turned back to Stacy. She wanted to tell her to run. They had to get back to Miles. She wasn't able to talk in time, because Miranda had attacked Stacy. Rachael cried out again.

She watched in terror as Miranda began to punch Stacy. Both girls had dropped their weapons and were beating each other.

"Please! Stop!" Rachael cried out to no avail.

Miranda grabbed the large spear and was prepared to fight back with it. Stacy managed to hold it back, but now the girls were in a clash to see if they could raise or lower the spear. Stacy cried out to Rachael to help. Rachael froze. There wasn't any way she could fight Miranda back, she wasn't strong enough.

Her eyes darted to the floor, where Stacy's gun lay. She could use it. She could pick it up, point it at Miranda, and fire. She could easily kill Miranda right there. Just hold it up, point, and pull the trigger. She'd save Stacy.

But that would mean that she'd kill Miranda. She wouldn't be better than the killers on the island. People would probably try to kill her as a result.

No, there's another way.

Rachael reached for the shotgun, grabbing it in her hands. She stood off the ground and studied it. She was sure she just needed to pull the trigger and she'd get the effect she wanted. Just a warning shot, to show she was serious. She could get Miranda to stand down and get Stacy out of there. She had to try it.

Rachael held the gun up, pointing it at the ceiling, away from the three of them, and pulled the trigger. The gun let off a loud bang as a shot went into the ceiling. She screamed again, dropping the gun as she was pushed back from the recoil. Her ears were ringing from the sound of the gunshot. She hoped she didn't make a big mistake with this action.

A cascade of plaster, wood and dust fell onto Stacy and Miranda after Rachael fired her warning shot into the ceiling. Rachael's attempt at helping Stacy didn't do much; Miranda continued to try and stab Stacy with the spear. Why couldn't of Rachael just shot her, or at the very least push Miranda off of her? She was probably one of the most incompetent allies someone could have.

As the two girls continued to brawl on the floor, Stacy noticed that Rachael had dropped the shotgun a considerable length closer to Stacy than it was before. Well, at least Rachael wasn't completely useless.

Letting go of the spear with her right hand, Stacy outstretched her arm and clasped the shotgun. With all her might, Stacy swung the shotgun against the side of Miranda's head. Stacy was relieved of Miranda's weight as the girl collapsed next to her. She hastily sat up and brought the shotgun in front of her, pointing it directly at Miranda. There was no point reasoning with Miranda now, she would fight to the death if she had to after what Stacy had done to Kat. Stacy knew what she had to do.

Stacy's eyes momentarily met with Miranda's. She felt a twang of sadness as she stared deep into her old classmate's eyes. She didn't want to kill Miranda, but there was no other choice. Gripping the shotgun tightly, Stacy squeezed the trigger.

Miranda's teeth continued to tightly grit as Stacy gripped on the spear. It was one person pushing and the other pushing against them. Miranda pushed harder, ignoring the screams of help coming from the girl underneath her or the one watching helplessly.

Another cracking noise, and suddenly the two were being covered in drywall and plaster. Miranda's eyes stung with the dust, making it harder to see. Breathing wasn't easy, either, and she was sure her ears were ringing. She heard herself cry out, this time in surprise along with everything else.

The spear continued its push despite everything. It was just one more push.

Miranda tried her hardest to stop Stacy from gripping the spear, but fortunately she had slipped her hand off the shaft. Unfortunately, though, she had something new to defend herself with.

Once more, Miranda felt something hard hitting her face. This time it was a cry of pain, followed by her being pushed off. Once she was pushed away, landing on her rear, she looked up to see something to widen her eyes.

Stacy had the gun again.

Miranda reached behind her, staring back into Stacy's eyes as she felt for Kyoko. Her fingers just touched the shaft. It was a gun versus a spear again, and she knew that she wouldn't hesitate.

Of course she wouldn't.

Before Miranda could do anything else, Stacy fired. Miranda felt a sharp pain in her chest as she fell on her side from the blow. Her hands slowly reached up, feeling a warm, red liquid rapidly spreading and staining her top. At that moment, Miranda realized she was still crying. The sobs came out ragged, almost like a scream.

The truth was, Miranda understood what was happening, and she was scared. It wasn't a new emotion for her. Almost every waking hour of her time on the island was fear. Even when she was sleeping, it was fear. Many times she would see Kaitlyn or someone in her dreams. Fear wasn't something abnormal at this point.

Fear was going to be something she would experience in her last moments.

Hatred, grief, fear, pain. Everything that she was going to experience last.

It was something odd. Miranda never thought about how she was going to die, but now it was too late to wonder.


Her sobs slowly weakened, her vision dimming as the blood continued to drain.

Eventually, they stopped. In a moment, her eyes no longer looked frightened. In that same moment, her hands loosened. For the first time in a while, she looked calm, even peaceful. As if she had finally woken up from a nightmare.


Kyoko laid just a few inches away, still at the ready. But it was something that Miranda would no longer have any need for.


Female Student G019 Miranda Millers- ELIMINATED

Rachael leaned against the wall, trying to recover from the recoil. Her ears were still ringing, and the kickback felt like she was hit by a car. She turned back towards the girls on the floor. She hoped they would stop fighting, but that wasn't the case. She watched as Stacy hit Miranda in the face with the gun. The girls were covered in drywall and plaster from the shot at the ceiling, and Stacy had taken the upper hand. Before Rachael could say anything, Stacy had fired again, hitting Miranda in the chest. Rachael kept her focus on Miranda as the girl bled out and passed away.

It was silent in the mansion. All Rachael could hear was the ringing in her ears, the sound of ear cells dying. It was a terrible sound. She could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes. They were just supposed to check the house and go back to Miles. Why did they have to look through this mansion? They could have avoided it.

She should have protested. She should have been more assertive. She should have said "no."

Rachael gritted her teeth and shut her eyes, her head turning towards the ground. Tears were starting to fall. She balled her hand into a fist and slammed it against the wall, her fingernails digging into her palm. She could feel herself shaking.

"We need to go!" she loudly demanded, her voice wavering. "We're going back to Miles right now, and we're getting as far away from here as possible!"

Stacy stared vacantly at the bleeding girl on the floor. She didn't know how to feel; there were all sorts of emotions fighting to break through. As she continued to gaze at the corpse, Miranda's lifeless eyes stared back at her. She looked completely different to how she did only a few seconds ago, no more anger or hatred, just total blankness.

Stacy heard Rachael say something about going back to Miles, but she wasn't listening; her eyes were fixated on Miranda's body.

"Rachael." Stacy said in a quiet and detached voice. "Go check their bags and see if they had any supplies on them. I'll take care of the weapons."

After Rachael went into the other room, Stacy remained in place for several moments. Finally, Stacy got on her hands and knees, avoiding the broken pieces of vase, and cautiously leant over Miranda's corpse. She gripped the spear and dragged it across the body. Using the spear as support, Stacy pulled herself up.

Sluggishly, Stacy made her way over to Kat's body and bent down to pick up the knife that was still in her hand. She tugged on the knife, but it wouldn't come loose from Kat's grasp. Even in death she was still fighting. With a second shaking hand, Stacy prized open Kat's fingers and slid out the knife. It was strange how she was now in possession of the weapon that almost killed Miles.

Once Rachael had looted the girl's bags, the two of them decided to leave. Rachael went first, and Stacy trailed behind her without saying a single word until they got back to Miles.

((Stacy Ramsey continued in Affluenza))

Stacy asked Rachael to get the bags. Rachael felt sick. They strolled in and killed Katarin and Miranda, and now they were looting them. Rachael could understand the necessity. They were running low on the food and water they received when they woke up, and the dead girls wouldn't need them any more. She had to do it.

"Okay," Rachael muttered, walking into the room, past the two corpses.

Rachael found the bags in the room and scooped them up. She didn't feel like looking through them right now. She just wanted to get as far away from the mansion. She put the bags over her shoulders and walked out of the room.

Rachael walked past Stacy, who was collecting the spear and the knife from the dead girls.

"Let's get the hell out of here," she blurted out.

Rachael made her way out of the mansion, with Stacy close behind her. She wanted to get back to Miles, to get away from the house with the dead girls. Most of all, she didn't want to feel so hopeless. Unfortunately, it was really hard to feel anything.

((Rachael Langdon continued in Affluenza))