Survival Of The Fittest

And then Cisco crawled over to Katelyn- or rather, what was left of her- and started picking something up nearby her, acting like he just found something extremely precious to him. Josée went to investigate, and after a few seconds Cisco piped up with "Guys?! It's okay! I got my music back!"

As Remy went to take a closer look, he could see Cisco waving around what appeared to be an album sleeve with a shiny, bloody object of some kind sticking out of it. That... was the object that had been thrown at them? Really? This was like some bad Japanese cartoon, he swore to god. An album. He managed to kill someone with an album. Remy didn't even know that was possible. Or maybe it was something else, like that thing Xena Warrior Princess would throw at people, whatever that was.

He still felt anger towards Cisco, though. God damn it, no matter what happened, one thing was clear; he killed Katelyn. Remy tried his best to keep his eyes off her. And he knew that she still laid there, her last moments in pain. Even now, her screams echoed in his mind. He was just another murderer here. Really, he was lucky Josée was there to stop him from stabbing him

Was he...?

Speaking of which, Josée proceeded to bitch at him some more. Saying that killing him wouldn't be worth it. Saying that he was out of his mind. Well, it seemed that she finally realized just how out of it Cisco was right now. Saying to be calm and to avoid the people who really matter, such as those whose names had shown up multiple times-

... She was really trying to appeal to him, wasn't she? Josée heard the announcements too, so she would know what had happened. Remy's face contorted at the mention of the multiple time killers, then relaxed. Really, his odd facial expression said it all.

Josée had interrupted herself, and made a comment about her bags. Wait, hold on, someone took her things?! Holy shit, their things were gone! Not just Katelyn's either, but the twins' bags had made a disappearing act as well! Someone had taken advantage of their being distracted and started taking things away while they weren't looking! What's more is, they had taken from the dead! That was uncalled for! Really uncalled for!

Josée, as always, started playing the "in control" act by talking to Cisco and asking him about who he was working with and which way they went. And then suddenly, Remy remembered. Two voices. One was Cisco's, right? Who was the other? Presumably whoever Cisco considered "Death", then. So a player? Why else would they be called "Death"? Maybe Josée was actually right about him being manipulated in his... current mental state by someone.

Perhaps it was the person who had taken their things. Perhaps that's where they had headed after Remy had ran towards him. He still thought he was insane for the "she's taking my music" thing. Josée seemed to think that he had seen someone nearby when he was saying that, however.

Remy looked around him frantically as Josée talked to Cisco. Really, the thief could have gone off by now, going off to steal more shit, he bet. Seriously, who the hell did they think they were?!

"Guys, I'm going to check if someone is still here. Don't worry, I won't attack if they won't attack", he said to the two in a quiet voice.

Okay, that was kind of, sort of, a lie in some respects. But mostly, if he found the thief, and they just backed away and put the things down, he wouldn't have to attempt using the knife again. But for now, find out who the thief was.

He looked around again, and went over to some nearby bushes to see if anyone was there. Would they hide after getting their loot? He doubted it.

((Skipping post order to avoid inactivity.))

Josée didn't know what to do; it seemed like Remy was finally starting to see some sense and Cisco was making some sense but Josée wanted her stuff back, all she had was her blackjack which she had taken with her when she ran after Remy, but that wasn't a very good choice for providing food and medical attention, so she needed to get it back.

"Guys, I'm going to check if someone is still here. Don't worry, I won't attack if they won't attack"

This came from Remy, thank goodness he was finally starting to pull his weight, although Josée didn't completely believe his promise to not hurt anyone prematurely, but frankly she was so absorbed in her missing bag that she wasn't really thinking about it. She focused on Cisco, sitting down beside him.

"I'm sure you'll be in safe hands with us around... Well, at least, as long as I'm around, you'll be safe from my dimwit brother, I promise. So perhaps you could tell me a bit about this 'Death' person..." Josée enquired politly, not knowing how else she could start a conversation.

Ash tensed up as the footsteps got closer. The situation had turned against her, but it was not totally unsalvageable. She didn't know what Remy had as a weapon, but it most likely wasn't a firearm. If that was true, she could still get out of this alive. She looked down at the bags she had taken.

Risking her life for these supplies was a truly dumb idea, but desperation had forced her hand. What to do now? She wasn't as good as sneaking around as she wanted to be, and the boy was walking close to her. In a minute or two, he would be able to see her.

The brush would surely crunch no matter how she stepped around. The ambient sound of the forest wouldn't be enough to cover it up. A plan... She had a plan, but it was both risky and unlikely to work. Still, it would distract Remy at the very least. Ash peeked out of her cover briefly, her blonde hair pushing the leaves aside as she looked past the bushes.

He was not looking in her direction. Reluctantly, she took the lightest of the three bags she had taken and tossed it deeper into the forest, making sure that the bag didn't enter his line of sight. At the same time, she crawled a few feet in the opposite direction and stopped when the sound of the backpack crashing into a tree petered out. The stress of the situation started to take effect as her hands shook and sweat stained her dirt covered sweater, but she forced herself to calm down.

I have to prepare the next distraction. Don't falter, Ash.

Getting out of here unseen was her top priority, although she was prepared to make a break for it if she absolutely had to. Even if they did see her face, running into them again later was unlikely.

((Bout time. q: Also, that is still a gleaming circular sawblade that he actually threw.))

Cisco's little moment of celebration had apparently caught the attention of the girl that had saved him from being prematurely reaped by Remy Pierce. And from the way she approached him with the clear intention not to kill him herself, that was a good thing.

"Hi... Cisco, you're name's Cisco right. Josée Trembley by the way, great to meet you."
Oh, that was her name. Well, at least unlike her psycho brother with a different last name, she sounded nice. She reached out a hand to shake his, and as he got up to a kneeling position he shook it with his knuckles facing up like a dog placing its paw in its master's palm, his other hand cradling the sleeve. His supply bag was, well, wherever he had left it back there near Remy.

"Guys, I'm going to check if someone is still here. Don't worry, I won't attack if they won't attack," Remy said, before wondering off. The green-haired freak worriedly watched him leave, his hand still interlocked with Josee's.

"I'm sure you'll be in safe hands with us around... Well, at least, as long as I'm around, you'll be safe from my dimwit brother, I promise. So perhaps you could tell me a bit about this 'Death' person..."

"Death?" Cisco began, looking to the side in an awkwardly childish manner, "Oh, you mean Joe! Or at least I think he's in Joe's form...I don't know..." His voice trailed off as he leaned over to the side, looking behind her and wondering where the fuck Joe went while he retrieved his so-called music from Katelyn's throat. "...where he went..."

Maybe he was just invisible. Or maybe he defied Joe's orders so badly that Joe had simply given up on him and left. Or maybe he was invisible, and that Joe was probably planning to sneak up on him and reap him where he stood in as much an overly dramatic manner as Cisco having sliced someone's throat with a frisbee-like throw of a circular sawblade. Which somehow meant that he had to do something to redeem himself, and think of how he would do that before the latter happened.

It certainly beat the thought of thinking about exactly how Joe would reap him...well, you get the idea.

"You guys looking for something?" While he was off fetching his favorite toy, someone had apparently taken the liberty of snatching the other two's bags. "I think I could help..." he added, slowly lifting the bloodstained circular sawblade from its sleeve and exposing its serrated glory for her to notice.

The thought that it might still have kept some of its deathly tracking powers encouraged Cisco, although he'd really only thought of it now. And getting the guy that was going to kill him on his side...well, that was incentive in itself. Now if only he didn't do anything to cause her to turn on him...

((Guys, we should wrap this one up. It's gone on too long, and it's a dangerzone. XD))

As he approached the bush, he could continue to hear Josée and Cisco talking. She continued to insult him behind his back, but asked Cisco again about "Death". She was still on this? She really wanted to know, didn't she?

Cisco rambled on, answering that "Death" was apparently named "Joe" or at least in the form of someone named Joe. But, he had no clue where Death/Joe went.

Suddenly, he could hear Cisco offering to help them, and as Remy turned his head towards, everything started to make sense.

Cisco had removed the "record" from its sleeve, but it was definitely not a record like he first thought when he first saw something in the sleeve. Was that a fucking sawblade? Jesus. Christ. He didn't know that was even possible. At least it made more sense than a record.

"Shit..." he mumbled, staring at the record.

Thud!

Remy suddenly turned his head.

Someone was nearby. They dropped something? Or maybe they fell to the ground?

It came from the bush.

Remy looked back at the other two, put his finger to his lips to indicate silence, and then peeked over the bush.

Would he find someone? Something did make a noise here. But what? Maybe it was the bag thief or both. Or maybe, as he thought, they were one and the same. Or maybe it was someone or something else? The announcements did say something about bears, after all.

Suddenly, he ran.

He ran deeper into the woods, his heart racing.

Come on, show yourselves!

But suddenly, Remy was tossed to the ground, landing face first. Oh god, he tripped on something! What was it? A quick look behind them and... was that someone's bag? He lifted it up. Huh. That must have been one of theirs. Lifting himself off the ground, he looked around frantically as he lifted the bag over his shoulder.

And without telling the others, went searching for the bag thief again. After a while, Remy had wandered off, to the point where he was fairly far off from Cisco and Josée.

((Remy Kim continued in Alex In Sunderland))

"Death? Oh, you mean Joe! Or at least I think he's in Joe's form...I don't know... where he went...""

Well at least this Cisco person wasn't completely mad; at least, that's what Josée hoped. Dealing with Remy was one thing, but at least he was sane enough to listen to her when she ordered him. Speaking of which where was he? He could have sworn that he had gone off to look for the bags. Which direction did he go? Josée wasn't really paying attention. Josée began to get worried, it was just like Remy to get himself wound up in some dangerous situation. He had already flipped out once, what was stopping him from doing it again. She would have to go after him. But she didn't know which way he had gone.

"Come on Cisco, let's go find the nut. He couldn't have gone far." Josée smiled at him as she got to her feet, holding out her hand once again to help him up. Then, without admitting to Cisco that she was taking a complete guess as to where Remy had got to, began to walk onwards in the complete opposite direction to the direction that Remy had taken.

((Josée Trembley continued in The Moment of Truth.))

Ash looked at the departing figure, amazed that her plan had managed to distract him. She leaned against a tree. This was the best result for her. She couldn't get careless after this, though. The 'game' was still on, and there were still too many actively 'playing' students around.

She clutched the bags close to her chest. The contents were her property now. Hopefully, the supplies inside would let her go a day or two without having to go on another raid. She didn't want to risk her life any more than it was necessary,

Now I need a safe place to hide.

She carefully got up and sneaked off, dragging the bags as she did. Sooner or later, she would have to discard them. Deadweight was something she didn't need.

((Ash Morrison continued in Darken Your Clothes and Strike a Violent Pose))

Josee also looked around at the mention of Joe, perhaps she had some connection with him because he figured her to be looking around for wherever Death went.

"Come on Cisco, let's go find the nut. He couldn't have gone far."

"Yeah...uh...let's find him." the green-haired freak replied with a canine-like nod. The irony was that Cisco did notice they started heading in the opposite direction from Remy, but he didn't think that was a bad thing, mainly because he thought they were going to hunt for Joe. Tucking his 'music' back into its sleeve, he hurried along after her, anxiously scanning the inland woods in the fading light for any odd-looking shadows.

It would also be quite some time before he realized Remy had taken his bag as well.

((Cisco Vasquez continued elsewhere))