Survival Of The Fittest

Melina fired the shotgun in blind rage at the tall boy. She didn't care if she killed him or not. She just wanted to make the pain stop… she wanted to release her anger! He dove behind Herman, using his corpse as a shield from the buckshot. He grabbed Herman's daypack as well, then sprinted off into the surrounding foliage. That pissed Melina off. If she had been in a more practical and contemplative mindset, the fact that the boy had also stolen the remaining ammunition for the Remington would have hit her like a ton of bricks. However, Melina was in far too much pain and mental trauma to even realize.

She was just angry that she couldn't take her anger out on him anymore.

She snarled with an animalistic rage, and turned her attentions to her next opponent. The little bitch who stole her prey. Madison Conner. The little bitch was going to pay for what she did to her. That gun… It was her fucking bullets that caused Melina's pain… that caused the ever growing burning and itching feeling that assaulted her once beautiful face. Melina was going to make that little bitch suffer. It was her fault… her fault that all she could see from her right eye was darkness!

Melina felt the salty tears slide down her face… and it stung. It burned as it slid down her fresh burns… the cold rain pouring down upon her kept the fact that she was crying hidden… but she knew… she knew how those tears stung…

Oh did she know… Crying was for children… she was no child… she couldn't cry… Because… It hurt…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Melina was exited. Today was the day she and William had decided to finally bring their relationship to the next level! Melina had always heard from the girls in school about how their boyfriends would romantically seduce them. It always sounded like it was so nice… to have someone love you so much that they would do anything to be with you. Will had always told her how beautiful she was, and how much he loved being with her… but he'd never said those three words to her.

Heather told her that it was because she was being too much of a prude. To get people to love you, you had to give them what they wanted. Melina remembered the how the men spoke about their girlfriends when she was under protection. They always let her play cards with them, and sometimes she'd sneak back to listen to their conversations when she was bored. They always said how the girls would seductively kiss them… touch them… let the men do anything they wanted to them. The men always sounded so happy when they talked about it.

Maybe that was why Will didn't say he loved her…

Heather was right… Lance always said he loved Heather… Melina had to do it. It didn't matter if she was scared. She had to make Will love her. She couldn't let him leave her… she needed him, and she'd give him anything he wanted to keep him… anything for him to love her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"MELINA!!!" Patricia Frost screamed as she entered the room. Her daughter turned to her with a look of surprise mixed with fright. Patricia had decided to come home early today and surprise her daughter by taking her out to dinner. Patricia's job made it hard for her to be around for her daughter, so when her boss told her to head home early she jumped at the opportunity.

She had never expected this though…

She entered her daughter's room to find her on her bed, in only her panties, her legs spread open. The worst part though, was the shirtless teen boy between said legs. His pants were undone and sliding down his hips, his hands were groping her breasts and his tongue was deep in her mouth. When Melina saw her mother, she yelped and pushed the boy off of her. Her mother screamed in uncontrollable rage, and almost literally threw the boy out of the house.

Melina begged her mother to calm down, but it was to no avail. Her mother forbade her to leave the house. She grounded her daughter and refused to even LOOK at the girl. Melina cried and begged her mother to talk to her. She yelled that she loved him, and that she was only trying to make him love her back… Her mother ignored her. She refused to listen to the insane babbling coming from the daughter she thought she knew.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~**~*

At school the next day, Heather told Melina that there was no hope now… She failed at love. He didn't love her. Melina looked for Will in the halls. He avoided her like the plague. She finally was able to corner him after school, but he laughed at her. She said that she loved him, she begged him not to leave her. He sneered at her.

"I never loved you, idiot. I just wanted to be the one who popped that sweet little cherry. Too bad… you looked like you'd be tight." He said to her, grinning all the while.

Melina broke apart. Her heart shattered into a million pieces. She cried… she couldn't control it. It was impossible to stop. Her love was denied… He hated her… She failed. Heather was right… She didn't give him what he wanted… what he NEEDED from her…

He couldn't love her…

No more crying… Make people love you…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Melina shattered when the doctor shunned her the next day… She gave him what he wanted… didn't he love her?! That's what Heather said! People love you when you give them what they want! He was a liar… he used her… he was supposed to love her! He was supposed to be the one to make her feel good! He was supposed to love her after she gave herself to him!

She'd make him pay… she'd make them both pay…

They were supposed to love her…

No crying… Crying is for children…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That's what she did… she gave herself over and over… But…

They never loved her… not once…

Why? Heather said they loved you when you gave them what they wanted…

Maybe they wanted MORE…

Don't cry… Give them what they want… Make them love you… You're not a child… Crying is for children…

Even when it hurts… Don't cry…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Melina smiled wickedly at Madison. That's right… Make people love you… give them what they want… People want her to kill… so she'd kill… She'd kill every last one of them to make sure she was loved. She'd go home… and everyone would love her…

No more crying… She had work to do…

Madison lifted the same laser gun she'd used on Melina back at the cottage. Melina scowled. How many times did she think that would work on her? She raised the shotgun, but suddenly, Madison turned her gun, and shot it to her left. Melina spun and watched as the laser hit Lyn Burbank smack in the eyes. The gril yelped, and Melina swung her shotgun at the girl, smacking her in the face and knocking her to the ground. Melina looked at Madison curtly. Interesting.

She quickly hopped over Lyn's body and ran toward Renee and Jessa. Her supposed "backup" had seemingly been stupid enough to hurt each other. Such fools. She sighed and pointed the gun lazily at the girls.

"Lets go… We'll fix you up somewhere else… I need to get fixed up too… I'm tired of this place already…" She closed her eyes in an attempt to dull the pain on her face, then smiled at the girls.

"Come now my darling angels… we have work to do…" And I have love to gain… Make them all love me… be the best…

With that Melina sprinted towards the treeline, not knowing where she was going, but knowing that wherever she did go, she'd make the people watching love her…

She had to.

No more crying…



((Continued: Elsewhere))

The students attacking Melina had payed little mind to the other girls, which was unbelievably fortunate because they'd become temporary sitting ducks. Jessa hissed and moaned as she went about getting the painful arrow out, punctuating the final tug with a loud "Fuck!"

Renee looked like she'd been hit pretty hard by something, probably that small explosion that had rang out just before Jessa had hit the dirt. Melina quickly approached the pair, and Jessa winced in revulsion at her face. Under any other circumstance the whole thing would've been nothing short of fantastic and hilarious, but in this light Mel's scarred burnt visage was downright horrifying.

Jessa's shoulder throbbed heavily with pain, and she put some pressure on it as she helped Renee slowly up. The act was solely for the sake of getting out of there and subsequently out of danger; Renee would fucking regret being a careless stupid cunt. And as increasingly unsettling as Mel was acting (and looking), so would she for letting someone she'd made an idiot out of anywhere near her.

"Come now my darling angels...we have work to do."

'Jesus Christ.'

((continued in A Moments Hesitation/The Pedestrian))

For a second there, Madison had thought that Melina was going to shoot at her too. Now it seems the Melina had accepted her just because she helped her to escape. Whether this was a foolish thing to do was beyond Madison: at some point she was going to break away from these angels and possibly kill one or two of them. That was how life was. Everyone in this game is a means to an end and once you find that you have no use for someone you throw them away. This is what Madison had learned. It wasn't a pretty thought and Madison wished she could blindly follow Melina and the rest to the ends of the earth... but she couldn't. She'll get drowned by one of them soon enough.

Madison looked back at Jessa and Renee. Apparently Renee must've shot an arrow into Jessa's arm, and this would have made Madison roll her eyes in frustration. Doing that now though was nearly impossible.

"Idiots..."

She turned to follow Jessa and Melina out, placing her laser dazzler back into her dufflebag for safekeeping. As she started walking forward she spotted a large puddle on the way. She looked down at it for no real reason at all. Madison looked very tired, dirty and above all else... different. It was all in the eyes too. Nothing else was different about her other than her eyes, nothing glaring at least. They were... colder. Much colder.

As cold as ice.

...

Madison was very prone to violent outbursts. Anyone watching the game could see that, but there was more to it. There was always more to it. She was also very depressed most of the other times, never really smiling unless she was forced to. Madison had a very beautiful smile nonetheless but all the same it was rarely seen by anyone. She was always so sad, so depressed. Maybe her sadness was the reason why Madison attempted suicide when she was twelve. Maybe she felt that if she couldn't feel happy like everyone else, then life wasn't worth living. Or maybe it was something else. No one could ever know why she tried to kill herself because she herself didn't know either.

Her psychologist called it bipolar disorder. He was a nice man... Madison liked him. She listened to everything he said and... took the pills he gave her. He called them antidepressants but she just called them pills. She was fine for awhile. She felt like a normal kid for the first time in years and she started to make friends. Until Sam killed herself. That was when things began to spiral down.

That was also when the pills seemed to be wearing off. She didn't have bouts of mania but she was always depressed, rarely smiling. She kept to herself during her days at Southridge even when kids frequently came up to her. She was lonely, much more so than her days at Sacramento.

...

Then this trip happened.

Madison didn't have her pills. She had left them at home. This explained alot of her bipolar nature during the past few days. This was also why it had took her so long to get within a group. Or maybe that was it at all. Maybe Madison had changed over the past week into a completely different being. She didn't feel depressed... she didn't feel much at all. In fact it was if emotions had never existed in her at all. The only emotions left was that of anger and joy. Anger... she certainly wasn't angry now. Was she happy? Hell no. She was just... neutral. Her lips were flat and as straight as they could be. Her eyes showed no spark, no life.

I guess... this game's bound to change you.

Madison forced a smile.

"Work? There's no such thing in this game."

(continued elsewhere...)

(OOC: Sorry about posting before everyone's left, but I really want to get Laeil's exit post in before the next announcement, and I already had to rewrite this once after Madison left. I'll just assume that Renee has already left.)

Laeil stumbled as her grab for the shotgun missed, Melina lifting the barrel up out of reach at the last second. Dammit! She moved to rush right at Melina, trying to stay too close for her to use the shotgun effectively on her, but then a red light hit her in her one good eye. W-what the? She didn't have time to try and block the light, and instead closed her eye and opened the other one, trying to see through the blood. All she managed to see, though, was Melina swinging the shotgun at her, and then a sudden explosion of light as the barrel hit her right in the face.

----------

"Oh, hi. I didn't realize that there was anyone here. But...what are you doing just sitting around in the bathroom for?"

Lyn looked up from the comic book she was reading from inside one of the stalls. The bathroom she was in was rarely ever frequented by the other students, so it was a good place to go when she didn't want to be around people (which was pretty much all the time.) She went back to reading, thinking, Maybe if I just ignore her she'll go away...

"Well, I hope you don't mind if I hide out here for a while too." The other girl continued, trying to sound as friendly as possible. "I just found out my boyfriend's been cheating on me, and he keeps coming up to me every chance he gets and trying to apologize and saying he'll never do it again, and I just...I just don't want anything to do with him anymore."

Lyn let out a sigh, too faint for the girl to hear, and simply nodded as it became apparent that she wasn't going to leave anytime soon. She looked up again at her. Maggie Lloyd, a girl on the more popular end of the spectrum. "I can never seem to find a good boyfriend. They all just turn out to be complete jerks." Maggie sighed, leaning against the wall, and after a few minutes spoke up again, as if trying to break the awkward silence. "So..." She said. "What's your name?" Lyn could practically feel Maggie staring at her expectantly. Knowing that this was just going to keep up if she stayed silent, she finally spoke up herself. "It's Lyn." She said simply.

"Lyn? Well, that's a nice name. I don't think I've seen you around before." Lyn started to look a little annoyed. Dammit, why are you bothering me? It's obvious you're just trying to make small talk so you don't have to stand around in silen-

"Hey! Is that Batman?" Maggie said suddenly, pointing at the comic book Lyn was reading. Despite Anthony's warnings, Lyn had eventually snuck into his room and found a collection of comic books, her cousin's secret shame. Noticing that the collection was a rather disorganized mess, she started sneaking off with a few of them on a regular basis and putting them back when she was finished, figuring that he wouldn't notice.

"Uh...yeah."

"Oh, I love Batman!" Maggie smiled as she stepped closer, trying to get a better look at what issue it was, causing Lyn to shrink back in surprise. "My brother's a big fan, so I guess I kind of caught onto it too. I mean, other superheroes always have some kind of superpower, but Batman's just a normal guy. I mean, a normal, extremely rich guy, but..."

Maggie blinked, and quickly stepped back out of the stall as she realized that she was invading Lyn's personal space. "Oh, sorry about that. I'm a total geek about that kind of stuff. It's kind of embarrassing, so I don't let a lot of people know about it."

Lyn couldn't help but stare. She certainly wasn't expecting this. She had seen Maggie around a couple of times, and had assumed she was just one of those stereotypical guy-obsessed bimbos, what with all the boyfriends she had went through in high school.

"So, you said your name is Lyn, right?"

"Uh...yeah. Lyn Burbank."

"I'm Maggie. Maggie Lloyd. Nice to meet you."

----------

As her vision returned Laeil found herself lying on the ground, staring upward at the cloud-covered sky, or what little she could see of it, since night had fallen. She winced as the right side of her face throbbed painfully. What am I doing here...? She found herself thinking, her mind in a haze, offering her a moment of peace before everything came rushing back to her.

"Shit!" She bolted upright, looking frantically about for Melina, only to find that she (and everybody else apparently) had already left. "No, no, no, no, no No No NO NO NO!!" She quickly got up, grabbing hold of her sword. Her hands clenched tightly, causing her to wince in pain again from her burned left hand. I was so close...dammit, I was so close! I could've dodged that last hit if it wasn't for that light! Where the hell did that light come from? It must've been from that person who shot at me… She remembered it coming from the same direction as the bullets did. She was surprised that Melina or any of the members of her group hadn't finished her off while she was unconcious.

Laeil shivered a bit. All that time she spent out in the rain had finally left her soaked to the bone. Not even the jacket she brought along could provide any protection. She was cold, and wet, and miserable, and she was pissed off. Pissed off at Melina for getting away, pissed off at herself for getting taken out so easily, pissed off at whoever the hell had shone that light in her eyes.

She tried her best to wipe the blood from her left eye, which had already started to coagulate. She'd have to get that cut treated soon so that it wouldn't get infected. The last thing she needed was a nasty infection on top of everything else.

Laeil sighed and went over to where she had left her pack, surprised that it was still there, and that its contents were still relatively dry. Slinging the pack over her shoulder, she took one more look at where her battle with Melina had taken place before setting off. She had no idea where Melina had gone, so it didn't matter where she went at this point.

No, that wasn't true. She'd have to find someplace to take shelter again long enough for her to put on a new change of clothes, and treat her injuries. If she kept walking around like she was now, clothes completely soaked through, she'd get sick, and that was another thing she didn't need.

As she left, she remembered the recent fight. Anthony had been a total pushover, and she had expected the same thing from Melina. The angry bruise on the right side of her face, though, along with the deep cut over her left eye and the burns on her left hand, reminded her that that was definitely not the case. Melina had left her mark, but she had done the same. Though Madison and Herman also had a hand in it, that disfiguring burn on the side of Melina's face wouldn't have gotten there at all without her. It was her mark; A mark meaning that Melina belonged to her. She would to be the one to kill her. Her, and nobody else. Anybody who even thought about taking her out…well, they wouldn't even live long enough to regret it.

You'd better not die before I kill you... She thought as she disappeared into the brush.

{{continued elsewhere}}

After being startled by the outburst from the speaker, Jimmy strained his ears for any sounds coming from the jungle. He heard a few more indistinct shouts and gunshots and then silence. He waited a few more minutes and then stood up, grabbing his rifle, bag and cane. Jimmy ventured out from the safe haven of the tree, anxious to scavenge whatever he could off the pile of dead bodies he expected to find. As he inspected the ground, prodding it with his cane and sweeping his feet to feel for anything that might have been hidden in the overgrowth, his anxiousness quickly turned to anger.

What the hell! All those bullets and targets and no one's dead? I could have done better if I came out here myself!

Then, his foot brushed up against the body of Herman Johnson. Jimmy looked closer at the body and saw the axe protruding from his chest. Despite the fact that he had been purposely searching for dead bodies, actually seeing one still shocked Jimmy. He crouched down next to the body and looked it in the eyes.

"You're not the one I was hoping to find out here. As far as I know, you didn't do anything to deserve this. I hope you rest in peace, or whatever. It's a bad eulogy, I know, but it's the best I got. Oh, and, uh, sorry for this."

As Jimmy ended his brief speech, he stood up and placed one foot on the chest of the corpse. He clenched both hands around the handle of the axe and took a deep breath. He pulled with as much strength as could summon after six days with little food and water. There was a loud cracking sound as his foot broke the corpse's sternum, then a wet sliding sound as the blade was pulled free. Jimmy wiped the bloody axe on Herman's pants and looked at his new weapon.

Fuck. Three failed plans and all I got out of them was one fewer competitor and an axe. I'm a pretty shitty chessmaster. Oh well, I've still got my health.

Jimmy placed his rifle in his bag. With his eyesight, it was only good for intimidation.

Jimmy sighed. He began walking sluggishly. Getting out of the jungle was his only plan, winning the game was his only hope.

((Continued in Blood, Sweat, and Tears))

Renee's vision and hand-eye coordination were woozy as she tried to stand back up on her own two feet, still reeling from the explosion and fatigue. Melina advanced past them, no doubt on the retreat from having been injured by the Molotov's freak explosion that apparently now was not the right time to fight. Oddly enough, Renee didn't seem to get a good idea of exactly how badly Melina was disfigured...which was probably for the better given her state as Jessa helped her up despite the injury Renee had inflicted on her. She pulled up her slingbag and quiver - 4 arrows left - if her mental count was still functioning at all - and took a deep breath.

Yet when it came to "seeing things," Renee wasn't seeing Jessa as she started to trudge away, the supplies seeming to weigh twice as much as they actually were. As she turned her face to gaze at Jessa, Renee was seeing Kristey Burrowell, the blonde testosterone-fueled psycho who tried to challenge her hierarchy back in her previous alma mater. "Kristey" apparently didn't seem to notice her, nor did the redhead get the expression on her face. She shook her head, eyes squinted shut. It's just the explosion...I'm seeing things... When she opened her eyes, it was Jessa helping her get out of the zone, slingbag, arrows and all. Everything was relatively fine for the time being.

They were going to get her, sooner or later. Only now she was figuring out how to get them first.

((Renee Valenti continued elsewhere))