Survival Of The Fittest

((I think getting moving may be the best move here, actually. We can timeskip between threads))

Situation under control. The people causing trouble hit the road, after being all sullen and threatening. Aaron didn't even flinch as the boy pointed the gun at him and brandished the sword (a nice sword, Aaron realized he wanted a sword), no matter how much he was inclined to to. No, he had to maintain his composure, had to stay unshakable, and this guy would never shoot him, not with this size of group around. Nobody outside the group could know that Aaron had the only gun in it.

Gunslinger boy scratched something into the ground, but Aaron was just so sick of this stuff that he ignored it completely. Aileen turned up, noting that the area seemed to be rather poor in terms of security. Wow, what a totally astute observation. No way Aaron could have guessed that from the half dozen sideshow freaks crawling out of the vents, the hordes of dangerous and questionable people on their way here from everywhere, emerging from the sewers, the back alleys, and seemingly even spontaneous generation.

Aileen was suggesting another house, or helping Bounce. No, that wouldn't do. Aaron was sick of this little town, sick of everything here, sick of these surprises. He'd feel better out in the wilderness again. Better once there was some space between him and everything going down here.

There were a couple little things he still had to do before moving out, though. Then he'd be ready to kiss this place farewell forever. They'd be clear of this island in a few days' time. No problem.

"Agreed, Aileen," he said. "We'll get out of here in a sec. Just got one last thing I need, if my plan's going to pan out."

Richard came up, asking where Tom was. Great. Aaron was not going into that little sob story again, no way, not with the tension thick in the air, not with everything seemingly ready to explode at any second. So good thing Lily was handling it. Anyways, if she was willing to give Tom the detail he needed, to repeat the important parts of Aaron's story, that would lend the whole thing some awesome authenticity. Hear something from one person, it's rumor or biased information. Hear it from two, and it starts to sound an awful lot like fact.

Bounce was absolutely set on going off to her meeting. She still hadn't named the person she was linking up with, but that was fine. Aaron figured it would be Alice. Then again, she'd likely have just said that. Aaron knew Alice, knew she could... well, okay, of Aaron's friends, he'd probably trust her least, all things considered. Nothing personal, just her sort. Always the quiet ones.

Irrelevant. What mattered now was that Bounce had made a request and a suggestion. She'd be bringing more people to the group. that was a very good thing. Also, having her along would improve their chances greatly. Once they got their collars off, she'd be their mastermind, teaching them how the terrorists thought, what the students in past versions had done to beat them (because didn't they throw a couple terrorists onto the island each season or something? That was just what Aaron needed right now).

It was time to get things done here. Time to get moving.

"I think we're going to head into the woods for a bit, Bounce," Aaron said. "I've got a few ideas I want to check the viability of. After that, I think we'll hit the sawmill, see if there's anything there left to dig up. Should be a day or two, if you want to hook up again there. Let Will and Alice know if you see them, okay?"

And then, surprising himself, he added, "And hey, watch out. I know you know your way around here, but make sure to stay safe, okay? Don't let anyone get the drop on you. We need you."

That handled, Aaron turned back to his team and said, "Hang on a sec, guys. I've got one little thing to take care of still."

Ducking into the house, Aaron went to the opposite side from the stairs, gun kept out, watching carefully to make sure he was in the clear. He gave the kitchen a cursory glance, then slipped in, rummaging the drawers as quickly as he could. Had to be here somewhere. Somewhere. Yes.

Two pairs of rubber gloves, the sort used for washing dishes. Awesome. Just one more thing, then.

A scan of the kitchen revealed that anything at all like a knife had been taken. There was, however, a nice stainless steel salad spoon, about the length of Aaron's forearm. He grabbed it, leaned down near a power outlet, gave the area another glance, and then knocked a hole in the thin drywall, making a fist-sized opening. Perfect. The power to the island had been cut, so he'd be perfectly safe with what he was about to do.

Reaching in, Aaron grabbed a handful of wire, then yanked as hard as he could, and started wrapping it around the huge spoon. Once he had about ten feet each of the five or so wires in the clump (a process which tore up the wall even more) he pulled them to the refrigerator, a nice, heavily built model. He hooked the bundle through the gap between fridge and door, so the wires were caught in the hinges at a thin point. Another moment found a stiff enough fork to brace in the hinge.

Three good slams of the door drove the handle of the fork into the thin wires, weakening them to the point that Aaron could break them by hand.

He had moved quickly. The whole process had taken no more than four minutes. Stashing the wrapped spoon and the gloves, Aaron headed back outside, moving quickly, still paranoid that the guy from before would come crashing through a window, guns blazing. He glanced around. As far as he could tell, no one had died in his absence.

"Got it. Let's get going. I'll fill you in once we're away from here."

And with that, it was time to move again, time to put this cursed, chaotic city block behind him. Far better to pull this trick where nobody would expect it. In the city, there was a chance the terrorists would see it coming. In the middle of a forest? No way. After all, to the best of Aaron's knowledge, he was about to try something no one in the history of SOTF had ever done.

Which, given the simplicity, didn't speak too well for those of the past, but hey, Aaron wasn't about to complain.

He started walking, gesturing to the others to follow.

((Aaron Hughes continued in When My Fist Clenches, Crack It Open))

David looked out through the trapdoor after a few minutes had passed, his heart still pounding in his chest. His wouldbe murderer had nearly found him, but god was on his side and had sent a distraction. He had sat for a minute, not moving, the gun clutched in sweating hands, trained on the open trapdoor, just waiting for someone to stick their head through. But no one did. Still, the message was clear.

The trapdoor was the only way in and out. But clearly the murderers had begun to move in bands. They had been all over the house, looking for more victims no doubt, but by a stroke of luck, they had missed him. His head began to ache from the blood rushing to it, he pulled his head back inside, reaching down to pull the trapdoor shut.

He considered the room. It was a bottleneck. That would serve to his favor, until he ran out of bullets and needed a reload. But as soon as that happened, he was fucked. If he had shot the person who'd opened the trapdoor, his friends downstairs would come. How many were there. It sounded like hundreds down there, all tromping about.

The trapdoor didn't have half as much resistance as he thought it would. It slammed shut, the sound filling the house for a second. He prayed for it to be overlooked as a random sound. He put his hand over his mouth, trying to silence his breathing.

((David Matson continues in Burn the Louvre.))

Aaron had agreed, saying that it was a good idea to get out of the area. So where to, then? Before Aileen could make a suggestion or Aaron could make one, Richard popped up again, and asked where Tom was.

Oh, he had got to be fucking kidding.

Aileen clenched her fist. Did he not hear the announcement? Was he so busy with his "I'm a ninja warrior who kicks ass" routine that he missed it? Seriously, how could he fucking miss it? It was being blared throughout the island! Tom Guthrie was beaten to death by some guy named Nick Reid! It was right there!

Everything that was on her mind was about to spill out like some sort of tidal wave. Was she going to explain to him where exactly Tom was? You bet. Oh, you bet.

But, thankfully Lily stepped in from looking for her map before she could say anything inappropriate. Really, if she hadn't said that Aileen would have yelled at him for hours on end, now that she thought of it.

This Bounce person really wanted to find her friends, didn't she? Aaron said that they were going to meet up someplace in the woods. And then... the sawmill? God, Aileen needed to check her map again. Where was this sawmill? Well, Aaron apparently knew.

Aaron stepped inside the house, saying he needed to do something. Like what? Get his bags and things?

Oh, right. Her things were still in there, too.

Aileen started to step in once Aaron had completely stepped inside, doing god knows what. As she opened the door, she saw to her satisfaction that her things were left right beside the door, just where she left them. She lifted the bags, noticing from the sounds that Aaron was off moving things around off in the kitchen, she was guessing. A thudding noise came from above. What was that? Oh god, she hoped that there wasn't more people upstairs. Otherwise, she didn't think too much about the noises, being focused on getting her things.

Aileen stepped back outside without thinking to check what Aaron was up to. The last thing she heard as she left was another thudding noise, though this time different in nature. That better be coming from Aaron, or the person who made that noise was toast.

As she placed her things on the ground and placed her hammer back into the bag after what seemed to be a minute, Aaron popped back out from whatever the hell he was doing.

So now it was time to leave,

Aileen nodded, and followed Aaron.

He'd better had actually come up with something. Or else she was going to shove that hammer in a place where it would hurt. Okay, not literally, but still.

((Aileen Borden continued elsewhere))

"...Tom's dead, Rich,"

"..."

Richard's ellipses said it all. He was more than a little put off by the news, but after a moment of staring at Lily, looking slightly confused and just a little bit distressed, he accepted it. Like he had all the others that preceded him.

"Ah."

"..."

"Sorry."

We've all got to go some time I guess...

He fell more sullen than before, Tom's was just another death, sure, but this one was close. Other friends and acquaintances had died already, and would again, but Tom had been a part of their group, one of his comrades in arms. Whatever it was, he now understood why his earlier comments had fallen on unwelcoming ears.

As the others spoke, he listened, following a couple of them back inside to get his bag, still slumped in a corner of the living room from when they'd first arrived and he'd declared his intention to explore. Aaron was making a ruckus in the kitchen, but he didn't feel like investigating this time, instead choosing just to sit outside and contemplate things.

What? He wasn't sure. Life probably, less so than death. Death was a singular event, beyond which was whatever you put your faith into. But life had a story, a progression, something to think about.

I wonder how his family's doing... Or mine.

Aaron soon came out, carrying materiale and promising plans. Richard didn't feel like being sceptical, admittedly he'd been pursuing an attitude of nothing more being loseable than what he'd already lost. But that wasn't true. Lost already or not, there didn't seem any point in dying earlier than he had too. Life was kind of fun, death might be too, but why rush?

He really hoped Aaron's plan was a good one. He got back to his feet, and followed the leader.

Wherever we might go.


((Richard Continued In When My Fist Clenches, Crack It Open.)

Alright. Time to get moving.

God, it was getting dark out. That delay earlier... Bounce had been here for too long. She sincerely hoped that Victoria hadn't moved on, but after all of this time... she was clutched with a terror that her travelling companion would be gone. It was such a long time for Bounce to expect somebody to wait for. Too long a time.

Victoria wasn't going to be there, Alice found or not. Bounce would make it to where they agreed to meet up and... nothing. Anybody would get cold feet hanging around for hours, waiting for somebody that they didn't even know was going to arrive.

Jesus Christ. She was fucked.

Whilst the others were bustling with their group preparations, Bounce charged out of the building, fear fueling her footsteps.

((Bounce --> Stay Frosty))

Lily breathed a sigh of relief. All of the newcomers had left, which meant that there would be no outbreaks of violence to threaten any member of their pack. Then she frowned, and wondered about those other students. Could they have been friendly and joined up with them, if Aaron had dropped his gun? Were they going to be okay? Would Lily ever see them again?

Would Lily ever see Bounce again? The girl promised to meet up with Aaron later, but would she be able to keep that promise? A lot of things could happen between now and then; she could have an accident, or another student could ambush and kill her on her way over. She watched Bounce leave, knowing that she couldn't do anything to make her chances any easier. If anything, Bounce was more capable than Lily was. Aaron said she knew everything she could know about this game, didn't he? Lily would only slow her down.

She hoped she wasn't slowing this group down, either. Richard was probably doing more of that than she was. She really hated to say anything bad about him, but there was no denying it. Richard wasn't taking any of this as seriously as he should be, which boggled Lily's mind. How the hell was he not a changed man after days in this wasteland? What would it take to get it through his head? Seeing someone die in front of him? Lily hoped it wouldn't come to that, but she wasn't seeing much alternative.

But she had to admit, Aaron gave her a lot more reason to be impressed. It seemed like he had something in mind, and when he walked back into the house and started doing God knows what to the wires, she admitted to being intrigued. He didn't share anything to do with his plan yet, probably because he couldn't risk the bad guys knowing about it, so the group had to have faith in him. And Lily was nothing if not faithful.

She took off with the rest of them, so occupied with trying to decipher Aaron's intentions with those wires he broke off that the matter of her brother slipped out of her mind completely. As fate would have it, Roland would pass within one hundred feet of the house Lily left the next day, and neither of them would know how close they came to a reunion.

((Lillian Hayes continued in When My Fist Clenches, Crack it Open))

((Thread over))