Survival Of The Fittest

The situation was escalating in a way she, well, honestly expected, even if she didn't exactly like it. It only now registered to her that it was Jack, too. Instinctively, Jenny sized up her opponent, even as she kept herself at bay. She didn't want this to end in a fight, because if it did, one of them was guaranteed to get wounded, or worse, with Donovan's gun still loaded.

She couldn't exactly say that she didn't understand how Jack felt, but Jenny knew Donovan wasn't going to just kill anyone on first sight... she trusted that.

She had to defuse this. First a robbery, then a murder immediately after she left. She could stop this before... before it gets worse.

"Can we all just calm down for a sec!?" Jenny shouted, a little more loudly than she wanted, but her ears were ringing. "Seriously, is everyone just going to jump at people the first chance they get on this island!?"

Jenny was never good at calming people down in high-stress situations. She was good at being more competitive, encouraging her team, that kind of stuff. There was never any need to calm your opponent down, so this was new to her, but she didn't want anyone to die. That being said, she was still gripping her spear in self-defense. Worst comes to worse...

...she didn't want worse to come to worse. She hoped they would listen.

Donovan let out a long sigh through halted, shaken breaths. The gun lowered a little, and he rubbed the wetness out of his eyes. They still hurt, and it was tough, but soon, they opened up again. And, man, he'd never been happier to see sunlight. His breathing slowed down, and though he felt awful—hurting all over and out of breath—he was alive.

He was alive.

It was all some stupid misunderstanding. Jack saw him turn the corner and just flipped his lid. He would've gotten pissed if it just wasn't so damn ironic. Just his fucking luck, right? The one time he wasn't trying to rob or cheat someone, it came back around to bite him anyway. A week of awful deeds, and it was trying to get a breather that did him in.

Call it karma.

"Jesus Christ, man," Donovan murmured, "I just wanted some fresh air. No fucking clue you were around the corner." He wiped the sweat from his brow. "Shit, I thought you were about to merk me. I turn the corner, gun in my pocket, and suddenly, I'm blind, and everything hurts, and someone's running up on me. My whole life started flashing before my eyes."

He stood back up again, still uncomfortable on his feet. His vision was still murky, and he had to keep blinking the pain away. It probably wouldn't be back to normal for a while. Then again, he'd never been pepper-sprayed before, so that was just a guess. First time for everything, huh? All of that for no reason, absolutely no reason at all. Senseless.

"Fuck," he groaned. "You could've just told me to back off." Then, he took a deep breath and sighed again. In one, two, three steps, he was back by Jenny. Good to know she would come in where it counted. If she'd just left him to die, he would've been fucked, especially if it was someone with actual intent to kill. "Say, what's your time on the island been like?"

"Fuck," he groaned. "You could've just told me to back off."

"Sorry, I'm a bit jumpy." No shit. They'd both shot first, after a fashion - Jack just didn't have anything lethal and, since Donovan had been blinded, it came out closer to Three Stooges comedy than the latest edition of High Schoolers Kill The Darnedest Things.

"Say, what's your time on the island been like?"

Jack shrugged. "Oh, a romantic dinner and a spa day. And you? Before...well..." He gestured around, slipping the mace back in his pocket.

Beat.

"We should...probably be getting back to town? There's a group of us that are getting together and at least planning...not to kill one another?"

Kaede nodded at Jack's statement.

"Yeah. We've got a lot of people. Maybe all of us working together can work something out? M-maybe we can at least make it so that one of us goes through. Maybe more?"

Those last two words were a bit optimistic, but who knew? Maybe it could happen ... again.

((Kaede Tsurumi continued in Honor Amongst Thieves))

Seeing Donovan calm down made Jenny calm down as well. She wanted to deescalate the situation initially, and for a moment, she feared the worst. But of course she would. Nothing good has happened so far. She was expecting a bloodbath here, but for once, something good happened. They stopped and talked.

Jenny sighed and lowered her weapon. "Okay, so... we're cool? We're going back to town?" she asked, glancing at Donovan for confirmation. At this point, she figured these two could be allies, or at least, not enemies. "'Cause it'll be safer traveling in a group of four than a group of two."

Now that she thought about it, Jenny was wrong. Something good did happen before. She met Donovan again. A friend.

Maybe her luck was starting to go up for once.

((Jennifer Farrow continued elsewhere))

Donovan raised an eyebrow at their plan. In the end, wasn't it supposed to be that only one of them could get home? What, did they start making exceptions? News to him. As skeptical as he was, though, Jenny seemed to want the company. He didn't trust it but doubted that Jenny would back down. Worst case scenario, maybe they could slip away later.

And, maybe, just maybe, with some extra loot in their packs. Just a sneaky little thought.

Still, with a nod and some doubts set aside, Donovan slipped the pistol back into his pocket. Then, he breathed in, out, in, out, again and again, happy that he still could breathe. That wasn't exactly a given on this island, especially with his latest near-death experience. After everything that'd happened here, he was glad to get away and get out of this room.

If he never saw those four walls again, it'd be too damn soon.

S043: DONOVAN LAUER — CONTINUED IN "Honor Amongst Thieves"

"Cause it'll be safer traveling in a group of four than a group of two."

Group of four? Sure. Group of four.

Here's hoping Donovan can put this behind him.

Jack nodded, and went out with the group, heading back to town.

[Jack Anderson continued in Honor Amongst Thieves.]