Survival Of The Fittest

She went silent as the girl posed the question. Taking the time to change her CD while she was thinking about how she would answer.

So far, I haven't met anyone ready to kill... so I haven't faced what others have....

"Well," Marie said as she placed her burned mix in the player, "It's there, in my mind, somewhere. I haven't really run into anyone playing yet, though I know they're out there. I'm just hoping...you know? Maybe we'll be luckier than we've been and not run into them."

She sat up a moment, fixing her thermal, then laid back down again. It wasn't fear as much as being nervous. But fear would come soon, and she hated the paranoia that would inevitably ensue.

Glenn nodded, chewing lightly against his bottom lip as his thoughts went off again. "Maybe we will be... maybe not. Knowing this, it's just a matter of time before the number of players grow. People will turn against thier friends in hopes of getting off this island, the sick idea that you have to kill to keep your own life will finally push them over the edge."

Leaning back in his spot some, he sighed lightly. "I'm not going to let that happen to me, I'm not going to let this game beat me."

Chi went to the edge of the cliff and sat down, her legs dangling off. She strained her eyes to find the slightest dot of black that could be Wednesday. She was so frustrated she felt like crying. Chi stood up and said to the two, "Look guys, I have to go find Wednesday." Chi sighed and closed her eyes. "I can't just stay and wait here. I have to find her before I or she.." Chi held back a sob, "is killed. Either of you are welcome to come."

Watching Chi's movements, he lightly smiled at her words picking himself up from where he had been sitting and moving over toward her some. "I understand what you're going through, you love this Wednesday girl dearly and you should be looking for instead of sitting around. But, I have to stay in this area if my brother comes."

Lifting his hand out somewhat, hoping to at least get a handshake out of her. "You're a very nice person Chi, you deserve to find what you're looking for and I hope you do."

Instead of taking his hand, Chi put her arms around Glenn, squeezed him tightly and kissed him lightly on the cheek. When she let go she said, "I'm not a nice person. I never have been. But I'm glad there are still people like you in the world. If I was straight I would date you." She winked and then laughed. "I hope you win."
She looked to Marie. Although she knew she would say no it would be polite to ask anyway. "Would you like to come, or would you rather stay?"

Marie laughed a little at her request, but not offensively, "And be a third wheel when you find Wednesday?" She said it assured, as if to say she knew Chi would find her.

"You go on, don't keep her waiting."

"Take it from me, kiddos...being a third wheel is ALWAYS a pain in the ass."

The gruff voice, obviously intended to startle all three of the parties currently seated at the cliff, came from directly behind them. Eddie Serjeantson had been wandering the island for hours upon hours on end, trying to stay in an objective frame of mind. He'd been awake since the early hours of the game, wandering from place to place, taking in all of the sights and sounds of the island, all the while using every single bit of knowledge that he had at his disposal to attempt to take the collar around his neck off. He had tried several different methods on a few corpses that he had come across - his stomach churning as he realized that he did indeed know a few of them, and none of them had seemed to work. With the latest body he had been experimenting on, he had actually figured out how to unhook the safety latch that held the collar on, the problem was that it would explode as soon as that latch was lifted, the collar would be set off, leaving very little time to actually reach around and unclick the mechanism to remove the collar itself. Eddie had to admit - this was a damned fine operation. He almost had a bit of respect towards Mr. Danya and his cronies, as this mass kidnapping and enforced murder was planned and delivered - as far as Eddie could see, flawlessly. He hadn't come across anyone really thusfar, although he had been hiding in the dark caves when he had seen Cillian disembowel and kill Arturo Villamor and Devi Satome. Using every single ounce of training in his body, he had fought to keep deathly still. He was lucky in that he was far back inside of the cave, unaware to Cillian and anyone else who had stopped by, but the gore that the psychotic boy had unleashed was far too much for Eddie to bear. Sure, he had his military-issue Beretta, one of the good fortunes that he'd been issued thusfar, but suppose he missed? It WAS a dark cave, and there'd be know guarantee that he'd hit anything. He had resigned himself to silence, having a nagging on his conscience that he COULD have stopped the murders that ended up taking place.

After that, Eddie had moved on. He had already been a witness towards a multiple homicide, and he had heard the announcements, listening as Danya listed off classmates and friends of his that had died. It was sick, really. But Eddie did have a plan. He had a feeling that the cameras in most areas were down because of the rain, as he had noticed that none of them seemed to move, aside from a few certain areas. Earlier on, too, he had been wandering down the Eastern shore when he had come across a destroyed camera, it looked to have been shot by a bullet. Perhaps it was a stray bullet from a gunfight? The thought had crossed his mind but he had eventually decided that the destruction, well, it looked intentional.

Fuck, they've really got this place locked down tight...be a damn shame when I get off and make 'em all look bad.

The way that Eddie looked at, most kids might have given up hope already, looking for false hopes in trying to get off the island. Some may have snapped and were simply looking to kill people they had grudges against. Eddie knew of several for himself, and planned on staying far away from those people. Of course, others might have been gone from the very beginning, figuring that the best way to win was to play. Still others might have just said 'the hell with it' and decided to try and hide out somewhere. But no, not Eddie. Like always, he had a plan, and like always, there was someone trying to hold him back.

But like always, he looked at the situation, and knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that now, like every other time -

The Sarge is in charge.

Approaching the group of three had been something he had almost decided not to do, but the hours without any conversation was getting to him, and at least SOMEBODY else had to have some idea about getting off the island. These three looked relatively harmless, and as he stepped down the hill closer to them, he held his Beretta at waist length. God, he didn't want to shoot anyone - he wanted to get out, but if they made him - well, he probably wouldn't have any other choice. In this game, surviving meant making a few moral concessions, and those were some that Eddie was more than ready to make.

"Well..." He began jovially in his gruff voice. "...It's true, most times that I've ever noticed, being a third wheel is a bitch. Eddie Serjeantson, at your service. Most people call me the Sarge. It makes sense. Now what're all of you up to on this fine day?"

His voice held a sense of almost joviality to it, and Eddie hoped that these three, like many had before them, wouldn't take him the wrong way. He wasn't a psychotic, nor was he crazy. He was simply resourceful, and rather than optimistic, was objective. He was, however, certainly very jolly. He just hoped that these three didn't take the gun, his muscular body, and his gruff voice, and misinterperted it for a crazy man.

God, I hope not...

Glenn had to admit he was more than a little surprised when a new voice broke through the area, he turning away from where he currently faced Chi to meet the figure of a somewhat familiar figure. He didn’t seem dangerous by the way he came up on them commenting on the conversation they where currently in…

Pressing thoughts deeper, where he had noticed the boy from finally clicked, not only had he been in the same grade as Glenn at Barry Coleson. But he had remembered seeing him at a number of hockey games he had attended with his family to watch his older twin brother play, he being another member of the team.

Biting against his lip once more, he found his attention trailing from young man’s face to the gun held against his side. To which Glenn wondered if this person, Eddie as he had confirmed, had come here simply for small talk, or be like Marie looking for a group to be with, or like some of the others that had already snapped had came here to add to his kill count.

And all them without a weapon, though known where good. His 2x4 currently lying some feet away against his bag, he could run fast... yes, but he didn't think he had the speed to out run a bullet.

At the mention of a fine day, he glanced up still noting the ever so cloudy sky and rain that had now slowed smirking some as he returned his eyes forward. “Ah, we where actually just bidding this person here goodbye.” He said, taking a sideways look at Chi. “She’s off to look for someone important to her…”

Chi looked at Glenn and whispered in his ear, hoping the other guy wouldn't notice, "I'm not leaving now. This guy could be out to kill you and it would only be easier if there were only two of you."
Although she needed Wednesday, she couldn't just abandon Glenn, the first boy that didn't treat her like a piece of meat.

She looked at the "sarge" with her head to the side and one eyebrow up, the way she questioned everything. He did seem totally insane, but maybe not homicidal insane. Chi looked to the gun he was holding, But maybe I could get his gun...that would make him useful.

Eddie glanced at the uneasiness that he had caused in the small group. He couldn't help but chuckle under his breath. He found he took a lot of people aback like that. He knew he was an imposing fellow, and yet still, tried to go through life with an almost jaunty-outlook on situations. This was no different.

"Well, I suppose if you're going to take off, feel free. I'm not stopping 'ya. I guess there aren't any players among the bunch of ya, hm?"

He narrowed his eyes at the three of them, and couldn't help but take a glance at his pistol. None of them seemed as if they'd be dangerous, undoubtedly he figured that if they were players, he'd be able to handle them with the help of his gun, but the way that they tensed up and reacted to his arrival, well...them playing wasn't bloody likely.

"As much as I'm partial to the rain - today is a day that personally, I think blows. It blows. You don't know how much it really sucks until you've seen someone eviscerated. In front of your eyes. It's the kind of thing that really ruins a day like this. Wouldn't you say?"

Eddie lowered his gun, confident that if any of them tried anything, he'd still be able to get it up in time.

"But I suppose that we aren't intended to have a good day in this little game. In fact, I think we're all intended to die. And THAT really puts a damper on my day, you hear what I'm saying?" He glanced down at the collar around his neck, attempting to send a subtle signal to the others. Danya and his cronies were ALWAYS listening, and if they got wind of Eddie's escape plan...well, thinks wouldn't be looking up very much.

He figured that he needed to tell them that he wasn't a threat without using words, something that would be quite difficult to do.

Chi reached up to scratch her head, only to feel the bandage that she had forgotten about.
Oh crap, there's no way I look sexy with a damn bandage on my head!
She unraveled it, which took a longer amount of time than she wanted it to. Then Chi reached into her bag and took one of the water bottles she had filled at the river and poured it over her hair. She flipped her head back so drops of bloody water splashed on the ground neara her and gave a little innocent smile to the so called sarge.
Chi walked up to him, figuring that had he wanted to kill them he would have already done it. When she was face to face with him she said "Is that your only weapon?" Hoping maybe he would be distracted by her ridiculously low shirt.

Marie pressed her hands on the grass to sit up and take a better look at the new prescence. His gruff exterior, paired with the scrufy voice, would've probably done well in making her think she was going to die. His weapon almost made it seem impossible to think otherwise.

But what he said, as she froze for a moment looking slightly terrified, didn't sound like he was going to kill. It sounded like he was bitter about this game.

"Hey, hey, hey," Marie called to him, "take it easy with the gun for a sec, you know? Probably won't shoot us, but hell, it's a gun."

She listened to her song from Blindside's self-titled album, and stared at the guy as he began to talk some more. What caught her attention was his nod toward the collar on his neck. That couldn't be unintentional.

"Such a damper is unfortunate," Marie said, doing the same with her neck. If this is the way this guy wanted to communicate, so be it.

Catching Chi's little act, Marie knew this girl wasn't trustworthy. "Wait, I thought you said you were a lesbian, Chi?"

If there was one thing that the Sarge wasn't, that was stupid. As the one girl came closer to him, he stepped back and kept his gun pointed out, this time pointing it at the girl. As the other girl (who up until now he hadn't seen) mentioned something about her being a lesbian, Sarge's eyes narrowed.

"You can drop the act. Yeah, this is the only weapon I've got, but it'll do. Now, if you wouldn't mind, step back. Now look, I'm not out to kill you all. Not at all. Fact of the matter is, I'm a bit of a pacifict, actually. Don't let that fool you though, if you try and attack me, I WILL kill you."

He glanced over at Glenn.

"And fer' fuck sakes, stop staring at me like I'm a madman!"

He broke out into a large smile, hoping to ease the tension a little. He had to be sure, before he lowered his gun, that none of these three would try and kill him.

"You guys have names, or do I need to label you Girl 1, Girl 2, and Boy 2? I'm Boy 1, you see."

He grinned.

She stood up. Probably the dumbest thing she could do. The guy had his gun drawn, ready to shoot, probably already paranoid to death of the group. And she stood up! She walked over to him, put out her hand, and said, "Marie's the name, Sarge. Put the gun down, it's not like we could fight you if we wanted to."

Eddie relaxed noticably as Marie stood up and offered him her hand. He took it, and shook her hand with a firm grip, yet not too hard at all. He then took another look over the group and lowered the gun.

"Sorry, you just can't be too careful out here. Getting killed isn't an experience I was expecting to have on this trip, I was hoping for more swimming and relaxing. Then again, maybe that's just me. Did I, did I get on the wrong bus?"

His attempt at cracking a joke probably fell flat, but the Sarge didn't care. This group didn't seem to be all that dangerous, and so he would likely not have to worry about getting killed just yet.

"You guys get shitty weapons? I guess it's almost the luck of the draw out here. Maybe I got lucky, if there's such a thing out here."