Survival Of The Fittest

Gray seemed pleasant enough. He sounded like he still had it together, and he wasn't making any movements towards a hidden anything. Things seemed like they'd be okay...

Shit. Matt hadn't noticed the figure at the back of the room. That could have been his life, right there. Should have been, probably. Having Finn around was proving useful in more ways than one, at least.

The slamming door was reassurance that he wasn't losing his life. Still, he couldn't make mistakes like that. One of them would kill him.

Matt nodded when Gray said it was Sean. Hadn't Sean already killed someone? Still, if he was acting like this, he probably wasn't out for blood. Unstable probably wasn't much better at this point, though. Maybe he could get a sense of where exactly Sean's head was.

"Hey Sean, it's Matt. I'm with Finn. Neither of us are looking for trouble; we just want a place to crash."

With no reply, the person hiding in the other room slammed the door shut as soon as Finn called out to him. By this response, Finn gathered that this was not supposed to be an ambush, or if it was then it wasn't a very good one.

Finn turned back to Gray with an irritated look on his face. He was about to ask again who the person in the room was, but before Finn had time to ask, Gray had already revealed that it was Sean. Finn was sure that he had head Sean's name on the announcement before. If Sean had killed someone then he could stay in that room for all he cared. He wasn't going anywhere near him.

Gray then tried to reassure them that neither of them were aggressive. In response, Finn shot Gray a skeptical look. Finn definitely wasn't going to believe that nonsense. Last time he checked, killing people equalled aggressive behaviour.

"If he isn't aggressive then how come he's killed someone?" Finn replied in a patronising tone.

They were at the door. They were coming after him. Sean heard Matt call out to him first, telling him they just wanted to stay the night. He didn't hear from Gray anymore, and taking what Matt was saying as gospel was a risk he just wasn't willing to take right now. They knew he had killed somebody; Finn brought it up, forcing Sean to recall his failures all over again. It was fine... not like he had spent any of this time forgetting, as hard as he may have tried.

The bed was pushed up against the door, and the dresser was tipped atop it. It took nearly every ounce of Sean's quickly-draining energy to do but he managed to finish his makeshift barricade and took a quick, frantic look around the room. There were two windows, a closet... one was good for short-term hiding but was a dead end if they managed to actually get in here.

The other was his ticket out of town.

"C-Cool, just stay out there then," Sean stammered, making his way to the window and fiddling with it. A few moments of horror passed where he thought the window might have been sealed shut but seams between it and the wall told him otherwise. There must have been a lock on it somewhere that he could flip.

He needed to hurry though, or else they'd get in before he had a chance to escape.

"Thanks for the input." Gray said meeting Finn's eyes. "No need to be an asshole though." Everything was going downhill. Finn had clearly shown he wasn't going to listen to anything Gray actually said so there was no point bothering. What it did mean though was that if Sean had hear Finn he was most likely going to panic more that it sounded like he already was. That wasn't good. He'd been calm when it was just the two of them. Quiet and depressed but calm all the same and that was better than a panicking Sean.

A panicking Sean had the ability to do damage and you couldn't really figure out what he was going to do. The amount of different turns he had taken on the deck of the ship had been scary enough. He didn't need to deal with that again while strangers who didn't know Sean well were around.

"Matt's telling the truth Sean. They don't want to hurt us."

Now Gray had to wait and see if Sean was actually going to listen or if he had already flipped out. He was hoping for the first option. That would make things easier for everyone.

Finn wasn't helping the situation. Matt understood where the aggression came from, but if Sean really was unhinged, making him freak out wasn't he best course of action. Or maybe it was.

Matt could hear the unmistakeable sound of furniture being pushed around, and he could hear the desperate panic in Sean's voice as he called back out. What could his endgame be? Just barricading himself in the room? If he was afraid that he and Finn were going to harm him, he'd realize that the barricade could only last so long. Matt knew Sean was smart. Smart just like Theo was, and sounding similar. And just like Theo...

Shit.

"Gray, does that room lead anywhere else, or does it have a window?" Matt kept his voice down, but his town was as assertive as he could make it without sounding aggressive. "We may have a problem."

Finn reacted to Gray calling him an asshole by gritting his teeth. He wanted to retaliate by saying something back just as rude, to swear back at him, but Finn knew that if he did then he'd end up making the situation worse. Finn instead responded with a sarcastic smile. However, he couldn't help but add in a small jab.

"Not my fault you can't control your mental friend."

Walking past Gray, Finn made his way into the lounge and slumped onto the sofa. He rolled his eyes as Matt asked Gray a question. It was kind of an obvious answer. What kind of room wouldn't have a window in it?

"Obviously it has a window." Finn replied.

Finn didn't see what the big deal was. Who cared if Sean stayed in his room, or if he tried to escape as Matt seemed to be suggesting? In fact, Finn would be glad if he escaped. It would mean Sean would no longer be his problem and someone else could deal with him.

He thought he heard Gray's voice calling out to him. That nobody was going to hurt him, or hurt them. Okay, okay... so that meant Gray was still alive. That, or one of the other two was a fantastic ventriloquist. Given that he couldn't think of anybody from Aurora with that as a hobby, Sean allowed himself to think of it as the former, but it didn't halt all his fears.

There was still the matter of Matt and Finn, and he didn't hold any value to their word, not right now. People he thought he knew, everything about everybody had changed since school. Nobody was anybody, nobody was anyone. Even if he could trust Gray, that Gray would always try to keep him safe... try. He couldn't bring himself to trust the other two, even less with what he heard on the other side of the door.

They wanted to come in so they could extinguish a killer, because of what he did to Aria. He bet they knew, somehow, he didn't know how but they HAD to know, Sara's death was all his fault. He let his entire crew down and now they were trying to make him pay the price. Of course, that's why they didn't kill Gray yet. He wasn't the one they were after. But he still couldn't leave him alone. He couldn't leave the only person that he could still safely call a friend right now.

"Gray, I'm not coming out..." Sean said, backing away from the window but keeping his eyes locked on it. "Not... not coming out. Just, stay out there. I'll be fine if I'm alone. Can't hurt anything if I'm alone, can't be hurt... wish I had my music."

"I dunno. Haven't been in it. I'd guess it has a window though." Gray didn't respond to Matt's statement of their being a problem. If he didn't realise he and Finn were the problem Gray wasn't going to tell them. It would just make everything more difficult. Gray ignored Finn's comment. He didn't need to deal with it; Finn was just going to be a problem no matter what.

When he moved around and fell onto the sofa, Gray just stepped away and went over to the door. He wasn't sure if Matt and Finn were meaning to be as invasive as they were being but regardless it wasn't smart. The part where they were treating Sean as a threat despite him only responding to aggression on their part was the weirdest of all.

Sean for his part was panicking. It was understandable. Gray couldn't defend him killing someone, but Sean didn't seem dangerous or in the right mind. He just seemed broken. He'd only be dangerous if he was backed into a corner, something that Matt and Finn were doing without realising it.

Sean was adamant about not leaving the room, and Gray didn't want to argue with him. If he felt safest in there that was fine.

"It's cool Sean. Just do whatever makes you feel best."

Gray rubbed the back of his neck as he looked between Matt and Finn.

"Look, he's not a threat anymore. But honestly you guys aren't helping. So could you go to one of the other houses? Just so that everyone feels safer."

Gray didn't honestly care about whether they thought he was being fair or not or if was he was an idiot. The truth was it was better for everyone if they left the house because their presence was setting Sean off and that wasn't good for anyone.

Sean said he wasn't coming out. Matt wasn't so sure. He'd killed once, after all, and he sounded panicked. Panicked enough to do something stupid. Matt wasn't going to take that risk, at all.

When Gray suggested that they leave the house, Matt was completely okay with that. He was probably going to suggest it himself, anyways. This situation was getting tense, and he wanted to avoid it blowing up. Staying out of conflict was still crucial, even as the numbers on the island were winding down.

"Gladly."

((Matt Vartoogian continued elsewhere))

Finn shrugged his shoulders in response to Sean saying he wasn't going to come out. Problem solved. Sean could stay in his room and the rest of them could stay in the other parts of the house. As long as Sean stayed put, Finn wouldn't mind sharing a house with him and Gray for a while – although, he still would have much preferred it if Sean had escaped through the window.

However, this didn't seem to be enough for Gray, as soon after this he asked Finn and Matt to leave. Finn stared at Gray through narrowed eyes. Even though Finn wouldn't mind going to a different house, he didn't like being told what to do and he didn't like that Gray thought it was their fault Sean was acting how he was. Despite the fact it more than likely was as a result of their presence Sean was hiding in his room, Finn preferred to think it was because Sean was some sort of nutcase.

As Matt began to leave, Finn's mouth parted and his eyes flicked between his two classmates. He didn't want to just give in like that. After a few seconds, Finn let out a grunt and with his bag in hand, he slowly got up from the sofa, making sure not to put too much pressure on his leg.

"Fine, I didn't want to stay in here with that psycho anyway." Finn replied in a brattish tone as he walked past Gray and followed Matt out of the door.

((Finn Grant continued in A Human Work))

((Hansel Williams, Lucena Position))

Hansel ran.

The extra bag was still on his shoulder, the Winchester still banging away at his back, FAMAS still gripped in his hand. The gash on his face was a cocktail of sweat and grime and blood, exertion and adrenaline flowing through him.

A gunshot was such a violent sound - a crack that rended the air and caused such a simple reaction. Daniel had collapsed like a marionette sans strings, Mallory had ceased flailing, Kyle and Logan and Rebecca had simply stopped moving and slumped to the floor. It was easy, quick, to pull a trigger and watch the lights flicker off.

But it had been chancy. Stupid, almost. Marcus had been in the open, seemingly alone, playing on a swingset after he had murdered a girl. Apparently, after winning her trust. The situation had been wrong, off, bad.

He'd had no choice. He'd already let enough threats keep roaming around. Leaving Marcus alive could've only had come back to bite him.

And he still felt sick. Why now? Why after six other murders did he now feel like throwing up?

He slowed his pace, slamming his back against one of the houses in the gated community. The place where Rebecca and Logan had met their end. He'd travelled through here yesterday - the day that he and Joe had met up - and given it a wide berth when he saw two boys leaving the premises, looking angry. One of them had shouted something - something about a psycho - and he'd lain down until they left.

Hansel eyed that same house, braced himself against the wall, watched.

No movement.

He glanced over his shoulder, back the way he came. There was bound to have been someone who had heard that shot. He couldn't stay out in the open. And if there was a threat in that house, he would've rather faced it sooner than later.

Sprinting out of his meager cover, Hansel vaulted over a fallen mailbox, stumbled towards the steps of the building, and crashed through the front door, the rotting doortrim splintering and caving inwards as he lost his balance. The FAMAS skid from his hands in one direction, Marcus' bag in the other as he slipped to his back, landing in the middle of the room with a loud thud as the Winchester and the bag filled with stuff slammed into his spine, winding him.

He was vaguely aware of someone else in the room with him as he rolled onto his front, trying to draw breath.

((Skipping because approaching inactivity.))

They both left. Finn had to launch another verbal jab to soothe his own ego but Gray just ignored him. He was a child, he wasn't going to last very long if he got separated from Matt. It was almost insulting to Gray that so many of his friends had died while Finn had survived. It was almost enough to make him angry. Almost. Gray breathed a sigh of relief when he sure they were gone though.

Only then did he turn and fall back onto the sofa. Things seemed to be on a downward spiral, almost everyone left had killed at least once and a good amount of those people had killed multiple times. Luck was for losers huh? Gray had proven that motto wrong multiple times over, his life right now seemed to be based around luck and being in the right place at the right time.

"They're gone Sean." Gray didn't add anything more; Sean could do whatever made him feel safest. A Sean that felt safe was a Sean who wasn't dangerous. Panic him like Matt and Finn had been doing and well there would have most likely been bodies. Gray re-positioned his hat on his head and then went back to lying down on the sofa. They probably weren't safe in the house anymore if people could easily just walk in and out like Matt and Finn had. They'd need to move.

Before he could put any of his thoughts and concern into action though Gray had found himself drifting off to sleep once again.

He woke with a start. He was still alive, that was lucky. He took a drink from his water to soothe his dry throat. He didn't know if Sean was awake or not. He thought about checking but stopped himself, there was no point. Instead he made his way over to the front door, he felt like getting some fresh air. He had gotten to the doorway when the front door itself was smashed in.

The person who had crashed through it managed to get a decent way into the room before ending up flying into the air and landing flat on their back. The hat was a giveaway. Hansel Williams had literally just fallen into the house Gray was hiding out in.

Luck is for losers. It looked a lot more like a winner needed some luck from where Gray was standing. The machine gun that Hansel had been carrying had flown out of his hand and slid along the floor until it reached Gray's feet. Luck is for losers huh? Gray put one of his feet on top of the gun and watched Hansel roll over.

He didn't draw his pistol. He wouldn't need it.

Luck was a funny concept sometimes. Karma on the other hand seemed to be fairly set in stone. You could only get so far away.

"Sup."

Gray'd had lucks number ever since he'd survived being hit by the car.

((Sorry for delays, folks.))

Sean had his hand on the doorknob.

All that time spent moving the barricade after being curled up against the wall, unable to sleep because he was afraid somebody might come through the windows. Maybe they'd make up a reason for killing him, or maybe they could think of a pretty fair one. But he did not want to die yet. 'I don't want to die', he had repeated to himself softly, only a hair louder than a whisper. The mantra edged him into realizing he wasn't ready to give up the ghost. Not just yet. There were people who might take him in back home, people who might forgive him. It was that or death, and he was too much of a coward to face death.

So he was ready to open that door and come out, coaxed with the honey attached to Gray's words that said the other two were gone. If it was just the two of them, maybe he'd choose outside to nap while Gray took watch. Or maybe they'd both sleep. Either way, Sean decided he felt safer with somebody else around, somebody he considered a true friend.

That was until he heard the crashing of the front door. The first thought he conjured was one of escape, of running to live yet another day. The second was of Gray. Sean cracked the door open an inch to take in the view of what was going on and was greeted with a boy down on the floor, a cowboy hat-

Hansel?

Gray seemed to be in control of the situation, not yet hurt. So Sean watched.

Through shaky, wheezing breaths, Hansel glanced up enough to see that sneaker, cradling the FAMAS - his FAMAS - in such a way that he wouldn't be able to grab it back. Biding his time, he shook off the Winchester, having it fall with a clunk to the floor, laying one hand on its stock. The other shoulder shook violently until his bag hit the floor, too, the muffled flap nearly too loud in the quiet of the room.

Somewhere, a door creaked minutely. Hansel didn't look over - just slowly straightened to all fours, finally looking up to take in whoever had claimed the FAMAS with their foot.

Gray Emerson. The kid who had the foodfight back in Aurora.

Felt like years ago, now.

He leaned back on his haunches, adjusting his grip on the Winchester so that he held the barrel, tipping the stetson lower over his eyes.

"Not much," he murmured absently, gripping the barrel tighter, shifting it so the butt of the gun pressed against the floorboards. Utilizing it as a walking stick, he hauled himself to his feet with a sharp intake of breath,  his shoulder wound and face bleeding again, reminding him of their presence.

"Mind lifting up yuh-your fuh-hoot?"

Hansel was a killer. That was the short version. The long version was that Hansel the biggest killer on the island and yet here he was, having dropped one of his guns at Gray's feet and asking for it back. Like on the boat when Sean had pointed the pistol at him Gray knew he should have been scared, but he didn't feel scared. Instead he just felt comfortable with what was happening; he was calm.

Hansel picked himself up off the floor and asked for his gun back. Gray glanced down at the machine gun he was standing on. How many people had Hansel killed with it? How many of his classmates had died at the hands of one of their own using the machine gun he was standing on? How many of them had been innocent and posed no threat to Hansel?

Gray didn't want to know the answers to any of those questions. It wasn't that he didn't care; he just had an idea of what the answers and didn't want to hear it confirmed. He looked at Hansel, he had another gun.

Adrenaline was starting to flow around his body getting him ready for staying or running. Here he was in a standoff with a killer but unlike Sean, this one wasn't his friend to begin with. He felt the danger much more, but he still wasn't scared of Hansel. He was just aware of the stakes.

"It's fine where it is." He said locking eyes with Hansel.