Survival Of The Fittest

Desiree gagged at the fruit thing Sean held out. She threw her palms at him, begging him to seal it away again.

Lucas said he didn't have anything on him either. They really were Fucked with a capital F. At least Thomas had a real weapon, and the other boys knew what they got; for all Desiree knew she could've had a knife or a Slap Chop or something. Not knowing what what really stung her, especially if it meant that bitch got her hands on something worthwhile.

Thomas mentioned the goat. Desiree shivered at the thought of that thing licking her. But also if it wasn't for him she would've been killed. She wondered how it was doing.

Thomas threw out the notion of holeing up somewhere and try to make weapons. Rather he gave the notion to them, like he was telling them to fuck off. But Desiree wasn't just gonna let someone with a gun fuck off.

She waited for Thomas to finish before giving her input matter-of-factly. "I don't care what we do but we should stick together. People are already playing. Teresa and Reuben both tried to kill me."

Sean smiled as he put the fruit back in his bag. They had given some good reactions to his weapon. You had to take the small things with this, otherwise you might as well give up.

Besides, it wasn't like they were all basically unnarmed on death island after all.

Oh wait...

Thomas was muttering some nonsense about leaving to go find some or make some weapons and he "could" follow them if they wanted since he had a gun. It sounded alarmingly like a "nice" way of telling them to go off on their own. Or he could just be that awkward. He'd figure out the difference soon.

Desiree wasn't going to have that. Smart girl. Stating that they should stick together and that people were already playing. "She's right y'know." He said quickly as he stood back up and looked at her with a frown on his face. "Shit, those two? Were they teaming up on you?" His face shifted a bit in concrern. He couldn't see anything on her like blood or something like that, but you never know. "You sure you're alright?"

"Nah, sticking together feels like a better idea to me than getting an infected cut from some metal somewhere."

You won't get rid of me that easily, Tom-Boy.

"Maybe we should wait a bit for Reuben and Teresa to clear out from where your bag is and then go back for it," Lucas said, "makes more sense to me than just leaving it there. Thomas has a gun, so we're not one hundred percent fucked."

He didn't know either of the people that Desiree mentioned. Teresa was more of a party crowd person, and Reuben was more of an uninteresting type personality. Still, that meant absolutely jack about how they'd be acting on island. Some people got an Uzi and decided that they would rather be a motivational speaker for a few days, after all. Others tried to act threatening with a shopping cart. Game took all fucking kinds, it seemed. Whatever kind of person they were, it'd be worthwhile to know...

"What sort of weapons did they have?" he asked, "Anything with some range to it?"

Well, the votes were in and it seemed that the matter was settled. Any plans of wasting away alone would have to be put off for the time being, since it seemed he was to stick with this group for at least a bit longer.

Letting them decide for you?

However, the story about Reuben and Teresa was upsetting, if unsurprising. It was proof that some of the kids were definitely already succumbing to the pressures of the game, turning on one another for whatever slight advantage they might gain. He clenched his fist and let out a deep sigh.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that. Were they… friends of yours? Before?” He asked, echoing the concerns of Sean and Lucas.

Then Lucas made his suggestion to head back to where Reuben and Teresa had attacked the girl… in order to pick up her bag.

“What? Why… Why wouldn’t they have just taken the bag or its contents and just, like, left?” He asked, perhaps a bit more harshly than he’d intended.

Right now these might be the closest things to friends you meet out here. Control yourself.

“Look, if it’s on the way or whatever, stopping to check can’t hurt, but there probably just- there probably isn’t there, and I’m not here to hunt down two attempted murderers on an island possibly filled with them.” Thomas went on to elaborate, this time making sure to maintain a calm tone.

“I’m fine to stick with you guys and help out with getting you weapons of your own and stuff, but I’m not here to be a vigilante. Plus, there is, like, a time factor here. If the- If killings do start than killers will continue to make up a greater, uh… portion of the our remaining peers, making it harder to get around.” This all seemed to be basic stuff to Thomas, but Lucas’s suggestion had really rubbed him the wrong way.

Regardless, Thomas scooped up his bags and looked over the others. “I guess I’m ready to go whenever, then.”

Desiree immediately regretted that last part as all 3 of the boys piled on each other in a cacophony like there wasn't plenty of her to go around. They did agree to stick together at least, so the least she could do was give them the deets.

"I'm... I'm fine. They found me and threatened me with a big knife and some sort of whip, right when I woke up. Terra showed up too, but they got distracted by her so I just grabbed this bag and ran."

Desiree turned her head away from the boys. Her crossed arms quaked as she tried to pin back the return of that feeling of fear again. "...I didn't really know either of them... before..."

"...Why me?"

Lucas proposed going back for the bag, but Thomas was right about it being futile. That bag was theirs now, not to mention if she even remembered how to get back to the clearing again. He kept going off on Lucas, but Desiree didn't say anything to stop him. It really was a stupid thing to suggest.

Thomas started gathering his things. "So, uhm..." she drifted off lost in thought, both to the group and to no one in particular. "...what's the plan? Stay low and stay out of the way?"

So it was unanimous. Staying together was better than wanderin' around seperated. Good, shouldn't take a genius to figure that out.

Of course, then came what they should do. Lucas wanted to go back for her bags, Sean stayed quiet as Thomas told him why that would be stupid and dangerous. Well, not in those terms, but you get the drift. He kept going and going on about it that he had blocked it out by midway point. He was more listening to Desiree as she spoke of what happened to her. She was far from being alright. They had spooked her pretty bad and Sean didn't really know what to say about it.

Neither did he speak up about any plan. Truth was he didn't have any, he haven't had the time to figure what he should do here. Find friends that he can trust? He knew he wanted to find his friends, who didn't in this place? But they could have lost it like Reuben and Teresa did. He wished he could have faith that they wouldn't do that...

Try for a way home or play the game? None of those thoughts had occurred to him and he still didn't want to think about that.

He grabbed his bag and put it around his shoulder and said. "That sounds good to me."

Lucas shrugged. "I mean, I guess they could've split the stuff between their bags. I dunno, just spit-balling."

Seemed like what everyone wanted to do was either sit around on the beach or sneak around somewhere else and get some stuff to hit people with? Lucas wasn't entirely sure, but that didn't really feel like it fit with him. Honestly, with Thomas' gun, he would have taken his chances with the whip and the knife, because both of those sounded easy as fuck to circumvent with some range. A heroic death was one he could be fine with, anyway. He didn't really have any principles to die for, but it'd look cool.

His attention was drawn again to the shoes. Maybe if he tied them together by the laces he could have some kind of monkey fist thingy? Or like, he could fill them with rocks and sling them at people. That was a weapon, right there. Problem was, they were wet and gross. If they were sticking around, then maybe he'd throw the idea out there, just for the others to chew on. Somebody had to have the bad ideas in the group, and it was looking like it'd be Lucas.

Why was he so comfortable with being in this group, all of a sudden? Whatever. Safety in numbers momentarily overpowering safety in not-caring-about-being-safe. Chalk one more up to the antidepressants. Tsk tsk. Maybe it'd be more convenient if he had those right now. The headache kinda sucked! He sniffled at some stuff-age he hadn't realized was clogging his nose 'till now. He wasn't the most healthy kid, but he had never really been sickly like this.

Was it withdrawal? Lucas knew that could happen with his medication, but he hadn't expected this, anyway. He suddenly wanted somewhere to lie down, sorta. Somewhere that wasn't right here, in the sand.

"So are we chilling here on the beach, or moving on somewhere else?" he asked. "Some of the abandoned buildings on the map looked like cool shelters, but they're probably pretty likely to have drawn other people too."

“Yeah. Stay low and stuff. Makes sense.” Thomas replied to the girl, in agreement with Sean. At least the group seemed unanimous, if he could really call them a unified group.

It was also clear that the girl was still a bit shaken up over her experience with Reuben and Teresa.

Note to self: Do not ask for her name right now. Just stick with Girl in the Group internally. Or maybe First Girl...

Then Lucas made another suggestion that just seemed bizarre. He seemed to suggest that the group should actually stay on the beach for some reason.

“What? I was saying that you gu- that we should go to the buildings because there you could find some weapon-type things. You know, shards of glass, table legs, that sort of thing. It wouldn’t be, like, guns but it’d be better than… a foam sword or a fruit.” He shrugged, frustrated.

Was this kid actually doing okay? Comes in and shouts nonsense and then keeps making these strange plans?

“And that… crazy fuck Danya, he said that they weren’t gonna let us take long-term shelter. They’re gonna have, uh… no-go zones or whatever. That’s why we should go there before those buildings become zones too.” Thomas continued, looking out towards the wilderness beyond the beach.

Why try to convince them not to give up? Haven’t you decided to do that already?

Thomas didn’t know what he’d decided.

“Um… alright, look. I’m set to go investigate the buildings as long as, like, any of you are. Lucas, if you, like, want to do other shit, I don’t care. You can do that.” He said finally, throwing up his hands.

Looked like it was decided then.

...Oh Jesus, there was already fighting. She shared a look with Sean as Thomas kept berating Lucas, which was fine at first but he was going a little too hard even for her. She had enough.

She waited for Thomas to finish before butting in immediately. "I agree with looking for a building. At least that way we aren't just standing out here like idiots; finding shelter is one of the big rules of Minecraft."

Then she turned to Lucas, not looking directly at his eyes but at least in the face region. "Stay with us. We need you for...."

She breathed in and expelled a heavy sigh through clenched teeth before continuing the thought.

"...the clout gang."

Now that that was settled, the next step was to actually decide on a place to go. "Uhm... are there any buildings close by? Anyone know?"

They had to wait as Thomas finished yelling at Lucas before Desiree agreed to the plan of finding a building or shelter and despite the fact that they had a gun, Thomas hasn't exactly given Sean confidence with this.

At least now they had a plan. Find Shelter or a building to shelter at least. A somewhat good plan, it was better than standing at the beach hoping for the ocean to swallow them.

They'll just have to deal with the fact that Thomas clearly didn't like Lucas. The dude was giving him weird vibes with his random ass plans and... were they seriously talking about Minecraft?

Were they the clout gang now?

Dear lord.

"Let's just get the hell out of here. The faster, the better."

Lucas started to panic. His words, badly mangled in the minds of others, were twisted before his very ears. Was his meaning really that unclear? He was asking if they intended to stay on the beach, or if they were going somewhere else; he didn't want to stay, just the opposite.

He thought about what it would be like if he tried to interject as Thomas spoke. It would be an attempt to clear up the misunderstanding, but it didn't seem like it'd take, in all honesty. This guy obviously didn't like him, and Lucas would have to find a way to deal with that if he was going to stay in the group. It was unideal, of fucking course, not just because he was packing heat but because in general feeling hated was on the bottom of Lucas' priority list, despite how often he wound up checking and rechecking it off many, many times in his seventeen short years.

He sighed, giving up before he even started. It was pointless anyway. They were moving on anyway

"You don't need to call the group, 'the clout gang', guys," Lucas explained, "I was just trying to think of something to say to get your attention, and 'hey' seemed kind of overplayed, heh."

Things were starting to taper off. God, what was even thinking, coming over here? His feet sort of hurt.

"We could hit up the infirmary," he suggested, "might be left over scalpels or surgical blades that we could use."

Shortly after he’d finished making his points, Thomas could tell that an awkwardness had washed over this little beach group and Lucas was clearly a bit freaked out. Perhaps the others were too

Are you the asshole here? Lucas is the one spouting nonsense…

Thomas nervously rubbed his hand over his mouth, not paying much attention to what Sean or First Girl said.

Lucas was saying stupid shit. It’s not your job to coddle him, particularly when you’re fucking going through the emotional ringer. It was patently ridiculous. You should have just told all of them to fuck off. Leave you to rot in peace.

He looked at Lucas again. What did that kid see when he looked back? Frustration? Contempt? Fear?

He’s in the same space as you, dipshit. All of them are. Still need to work on that empathy a bit, huh champ?

Thomas was frustrated at himself now more than anything. He ran a hand through his own curls and began to nervously pull at the knots and tangles therein. Now, Lucas had even brought up a pretty good idea which only served to worsen the boy’s sense that he’d made a fool of himself. Finally, though, he did speak up.

“Alright. Let’s… Let’s do Lucas’s infirmary plan, then. Alright? Come on.” He said, giving a curt nod before beginning on his way off of the beach, desperately wanting to just get going and not discuss things further and hoping the others would simply follow suit.

Maybe you should just give up talking altogether. Once a sperg, always a sperg and this place is just going to make things worse.

((Thomas Buckley continued in Why? I don't like you.))

Whew. A thousand pound weight lifted off of Desiree after Lucas confirmed they weren't really going to be the clout gang. Maybe she was too mean with him before. Or maybe it was just because in this lighting and in her hunger-induced state he looked kinda like Parker. In any case, she was glad Thomas didn't run him off.

Just a little.

Speaking of Parker, she hoped he was doing okay. No, not "hoped"; she knew he was doing okay. Same with Violet—the witch one, not the goth one.

Anyway, Sean was ready to get out of this place, and Lucas and Thomas finally agreed on something with the infirmary plan... wherever that was. Hopefully not too far; her legs were already feeling like jelly. But she shouldn't complain. She can't complain.

She took a couple of steps to follow Thomas, but stopped and turned to Lucas, biting her lips a bit before saying one last thing. "By the way, I... uhm.... I like your sword."

((She followed Thomas out, one foot in front of the other.))

Oh thank god! He thought to himself during the conversation at hand. They were not the clout gang.

Anyway, with a plan to find the infirmary, they finally got things moving. It didn't matter they didn't really know where it was, it was a goal and something that could distract them from fighting with each other. Wouldn't be a bad idea to get the map out for this.

As Sean fished out for the map in his bag, he saw that Thomas had started moving ahead and jogged a bit to catch up. They needed to stay close to him whether they liked it or not. Sean certainly didn't, but that choice was gone for the moment.

Now, where is that infirmary?

...

"Anyone here good at reading maps?"

((Sean Leibowitz continued in Why? I don't like you.))

"Oh, um, thanks," Lucas said, caught off guard by Desiree's compliment, "I, uh, yeah, it's cool."

Lucas wanted to sit back and just watch as the others left the beach, take some time to himself to catch some sun rays and sulk, and then catch up with them later. He could trade in the shitty sandals he was wearing—look, he hadn't exactly expected to have been walking on the day he was coming home from a school trip—for some waterlogged but far more functional shoes if he so wished. Hell, maybe someone left something cool in a shoe for some reason. That could be a neat find.

But the clout gang—because that's what his brain had decided to call them, from now on, regardless of his mouth's wishes otherwise—needed him for something. None of these guys had any experience in abandoned places. They didn't know what was and was not worth looking into, as far as potentially dangerous and decaying rooms went. For the time being, he found a way to be useful to others. That was, essentially, the bare minimum that he needed to keep chugging along until he got shot or slashed or stabbed or poisoned or Cartered or something.

So he followed closely after, not even lingering for a moment. If he started to hesitate, or started to feel like the outsider to their in group, an orbiter of sorts, then he'd never shake the feeling, so he held it at arm's length. He could afford to do that, keep the mask up a little bit longer. Maybe he'd work up the courage to open up to the camera or something. Give Ophelia back home a message, if she even actually cared about him still. Back when the news was reporting on the last one of these, and his brother got worked up into a bit of a mini frenzy over it, absorbing information and going down an internet rabbit hole, he heard that they aired the game on a delay from when it actually happened. So, what, a month from now, Ophelia would be watching?

Because he wouldn't be home.

Not a chance.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked with the rest of the group, mostly silent for the duration of the trip to the Infirmary. Losing clout with the gang by opening up about personal shit too early was the last thing he wanted to do.

[Lucas Diaz continued in Why? I don't like you..]