Survival Of The Fittest

((Just stayed up all night for watch - don't think I'll wake up before the deadline. Also, GMing Acacia Salinger to get her out of the DZ))

Things were getting tense. First Acacia had a gun pointed at Ricky, then Charlie decided to point her gun at Ricky, and then Thea spoke up:

"I agree with Charlie." She then spoke to Ricky "For the time being. Why don't you just continue on your way. Just because I'm not firing now, doesn't mean I won't change my mind. Especially if you try to disrespect James' memory or more importantly us." Thea pulled her hand out of her bag to reveal yet another gun.

Shit, how many guns are on this island? Ricky just lurched forward.

"Hey, girls, I don't know what you're talkin' about. You wanna talk to James about disrespect or whatever, come tell him, y'know? But, I don't get why you've gotta be so fuckin' rude to a ... a buddy just tryin' to let you know what's up, you know? He paused as he stepped towards them, still. "I mean, come on, Charlene. Don't you wanna see Aaron?"

Ricky just wasn't getting it. He had somehow managed to believe that he was at some party, and that everything was just fine. She was thinking of what to do when Thea took action.

"You know what Ricky, you're right. What was I thinking? Of course I want to see James." Thea walked past Ricky and turned around. "C'mon ladies, aren't you in a hurry to see them?" Thea nodded towards the entrance. Charlene just lowered her gun and looked at Thea for a second as Thea continued.

"Thanks for the message Ricky, but you understand how it would look if we showed up with a boy in our midst. We'll take it from here." And with that, Thea walked away. Charlie looked at Acacia and then back to Ricky.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I'll go see what Aaron's up to." Charlie followed Thea out of the tunnel system, with Acacia close behind her.

Someone had better tell me what's going on

((Charlene Norris and Acacia Salinger continued in The Use of Common Sense is Authorized.))

The girls left. Ricky wasn't quite sure what to make of it. They'd still seemed unconvinced, but, hey, at least their talk and warnings and shit had all just been fuckin' bluster. There wasn't really anything to worry about after all. Now all he had to do was go back to the party and just make sure everything was good and stuff, make sure everyone was having fun, maybe meet up with Jamie again and hang out. She was a cool girl. They were all cool, all of 'em.

But instead, for some reason, Ricky just sat down by the tunnel wall and stared at his hands. He shook the bottle in them. Still half full. He took another swig. It tasted like shit. Of course it did. Why was he expecting anything else?

He closed his eyes, just for a second. Just taking a breather. It had... he felt like it had been a busy time, somehow, like he was more tired than he had any right to be. He couldn't even make sense of everything. He closed his eyes for a little. He just had to remember what he was doing in these fuckin' tunnels.

He drifted off to sleep.

When he awoke, something was making this awful beeping noise. He blinked a few times. Great. Just the right thing for a hangover. He didn't feel hungover. He considered that, and took a swig from the nearby bottle, then nearly spat it out. It was worse now, somehow. It smelled acidic.

The beeping was intensifying. He stood up and looked around, but he couldn't see anything in the dark. The sound was coming from somewhere nearby, though, somewhere very nearby. He blinked a few more times. Still the beeping continued, faster and faster.

And then, all of a sudden, it stopped, and so did Ricky's muddled thoughts.

B006, Ricky Fortino: DECEASED