Survival Of The Fittest

((OOC: So the post order, from here on out, should be Ciel, faceinabook, chibi, KingKamor, Me. Right?)

"There's some fuckin' psycho there, I say we get the fuck outta here NOW!"

Oh God. Oh God.

Of all the things that could've happened, this was pretty close to the worst case scenario. People were getting hysterical. Rena was getting hysterical. Again. She took another breath. Snap out of it. The kid with a gun, hadn't he said Raine? As in Ridley's Raine?


"My name's Ridley! Some of you have to had seen me around school, right? I'm not going to hurt anyone! And neither is Rena!"

Good. This was good. Ridley was diffusing the situation. Soon the guns would be put away, and people would be reunited, and there would be a plan, and everything would be okay. Right? Unless they're playing. Unless they want to win. Unless you're standing in their way. Unless... Rena squeezed her eyes shut.

God. Damn. This. No. This was it. Rena wasn't a killer. She was scared of blood for God's sake! She wasn't going to go crazy, she wasn't going to kill anyone, and she most certainly wasn't a psycho.

And she wasn't going to die here. Not like this.

"WAIT! Everyone calm down! No one is a psycho, no one is going to hurt anyone, so stop yelling, put down your weapons, and be calm." Rena didn't have the mindset to find it ironic that she, the one screaming at the top of her lungs at a breaking point in her psyche, was telling everyone to calm down. "You said Raine, right? We're looking for her. Please just put down the gun and talk to us." Tears were flowing from her face, again. The amount of times she'd cried, the people with guns she'd met; she was just setting all sorts of personal records, wasn't she? "Please...just calm down."

She was perfectly aware that the last part of that statement had been aimed towards herself.

(Permission given by Ciel to post out of order due to silly circumstances XD)

"My name's Ridley! Some of you have to had seen me around school, right? I'm not going to hurt anyone! And neither is Rena!"

"Ridley!?"

Raine's eyes widened and she looked in the direction of his voice. Her heart was fluttering in her chest and it felt like the sun was rising on a cold dreary day. "Ridley, I'm here an-!!"

Thea! Take Raine and Jason. Get out of here, I'll catch up!"

"Wha--" Before Raine could say anything, Jason was tugging her arm and dragging her away from the scene. She barely had time to scoop up the speargun as she ran to keep up with him. `Her head turned back and she shouted back to Ridley, `Follow us! Come on!" She urged him.

Please follow us...Oh God...Please...

((Raine Schwarz continued elsewhere...))

((Sorry guys that I had to split the order up. I'll be handling Winnie for Face since she's been busy, I got her permission and everything.))

James was thankful that he had stayed and listened. The gun in his hand grew heavier by the minute. He just stared at Ridley. It was true, he knew him from school. However he didn't know him well enough to just write him off as harmless. That was when Rena ran in and started jabbering, stuttering that they were fine. They weren't going to harm them.

James felt his hand shake. He clicked the safety off.

"Okay," he repeated, "Okay, I'm willing to believe you. You... You know Raine? Yeah, she's with us... Y-You two are friends of hers I'm guessing. "

He certainly did not mind them coming along , but that also raised another question he couldn't answer. Did he want the group getting too big? He wasn't the leader, Thea had that under control. What would she say about- oh right. She would hold her hands to her hips and just pout at him. That usually got him to cave in. Thea had the cutest little pout. She would puff her cheeks out, stick her lip out and give him the most hypnotic little glare in all of mankind. James smiled just thinking about it. Thea wouldn't be happy but what sge didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"I don't know what happened over there," James admitted, "b-but you're fine. We weren't looking to kill you, at least I wasn't tryi-"

Wait. Wait just a darn second. Didn't Ricky run out of here with his tail between his legs? He told everyone that-

"That son of a bitch."

James looked down at the ground, gritting his teeth. He rarely cursed. It wasn't in his nature, but right now he wanted to curse so loud that everyone on the island couod hear him. Ricky had screamed murder for no real reason, crying about some psycho who turned out to be on the level. Why would someone do that? He might have been spooked. No, that was crazy, a guy like Ricky getting scared? That was ridiculous. So there was no other logical explanation for what he did.

Unless he wanted to break up the group so he could pick them off one-by-one.

That was insane though. Who would do such a think. Ricky would never do that. No.

... maybe. Possible. Could be the answer. Might-

"I," James started. He hesitated, giving a shake of his head. "Damn it, I don't have time for this. Not now. I have to... Winnie, she-"

James looked back hesitantly to see that Winnie wasn't there. Wait. Had she gone ahead? James hoped she went in the right direction. It didn't feel that right to let Winnie walk herself, but it was clear she wanted some space. James felt relieved that she at least listened to him.

Then he froze up when he remembered he had let the rest of the group go ahead of him. He was alone.

"I... uhh..."

James looked back at Ridley and Rena, two kids he barely knew.

"Sorry. I have to..."

James turned and ran. Frankly he didn't care if they followed him or not. He just didn't want to lose the group. James really didn't want to be left alone.

(James Mulzet continued in Sorry, Mom. Sorry, God.)

All of the yelling confused Ridley to no end, to the point that he thought that it would have been a good idea to draw his gun and fire it into the air. NO! He caught himself, Bad bad baaaaaad idea! Don't even think about it! As he peeked around the tree to see what the hell else was going on, his ears picked up exactly what he wanted, yet at the same time exactly what he did not want.

Her head turned back and she shouted back to Ridley, "Follow us! Come on!"

His eyes homed in on Raine's figure as she was pulled away from the area and into the trees with the rest of his peers. "Raine! What the fuck? Where are you guys taking her?" He stopped himself once he saw that there was one more person left, who was facing him. He knew the kid, too: James something or another, one of the smartest kids in school. Ridley knew it, and so did everyone else, especially after everyone got tests back in any given class. He was taller than Ridley, though that was not very hard to do, but what Ridley focused on the most was the gun in the other guy's hands. Nevertheless, he reached for his gun, though he did not draw it. Ridley only hoped that James was still smart enough to know that shooting their guns off would not have helped the situation.

"Okay," he repeated, "Okay, I'm willing to believe you. You... You know Raine? Yeah, she's with us... Y-You two are friends of hers I'm guessing."

Ridley's shoulders relaxed, and his hands fell limp at his sides. "Thanks. Yeah, Raine and I have been going out for awhile. I've been looking for her, but-- who...?" He grumbled to himself for a few seconds before he said, "Who the hell was the guy who called me a psycho? He--"

"I... uhh..." James looked back at Ridley and Rena, two kids he barely knew.

Ridley paused. He wasn't able to tell what was going through the other boy's head in the slightest, but he clearly wanted to get out of there. I should ask to go with him so that I can see Raine again. That thought, however, came too late.

"Sorry. I have to..."

And then James ran off. "Wait! Can't you take us with you to--?" But he was gone. "That... fucking idiot! Why is everyone in such a goddamn hurry? FUCK!!" Just before he took off after James, he turned to check on Rena, who had been sobbing for awhile by that point. "Shit, uh..." He crept up to her and tried to smile. "Hey, come on, things have quieted down now, okay? Everything's fine, see?" He had lied to his parents before, but he never recalled ever having to lie to one of his peers. Not to mention that he had not ever told any lies to bald-faced and simple.

"Follow us, come on!" Someone who Rena did not recognize was shouting as she streaked through the trees.

"Raine! What the fuck? Where are you guys taking her?" Ridley was shouting. So that was the Raine they were looking for? The Raine they had trekked through the forest for? The stranger that Rena agreed to help the other stranger find? And once they had found her, which Rena figured was highly improbable luck, she was gone with barely a warning? All this for nothing?


"Sorry. I have to..." And now the third gun-wielder she'd met on this island was turning tail and running too. What the hell? Why is everyone in this game so fast moving? Does no one understand that running around blindly is only more like to get you... She bit the thought off violently. They were running because they were scared. Of course. It wasn't easy to trust anyone in this game, Rena knew that. But she also knew that it felt a lot better to be the one who wasn't trusting someone that the one who wasn't being trusted.


"That... fucking idiot! Why is everyone in such a goddamn hurry? FUCK!!" It was an odd comfort to know that Ridley was at least thinking the same thing she was.

Of course, Rena needed more comfort than that. She was sobbing, still hysterical in the face of danger. Poor wittle Rena. Crybaby! Crybaby! Crybaby! The taunting voice of Jake screamed through her mind. No. She wasn't going to go back to that day. She wasn't going to relive the pain of hitting her face on the sandbox, or the blood that poured out of her head that made her sick for weeks, or Jake's taunting cries. Now wasn't the time.

"Hey, come on, things have quieted down now, okay? Everything's fine, see?"

"Liar." The word came out as a pathetic mix between a sob and laughter. She had to give Ridley credit; for a stranger, he was an oddly caring person. He helped her leg, he calmed her down, and now, when he really should have been running full speed ahead after his beloved girlfriend, he was making sure Rena was okay. She shook her head. He deserved better than the winy, hysterical, crybaby she was. He deserved someone who could help him. She would be that person.

She blinked the rest of her tears away, clearing her throat as she did so. Slowly, she reached into her daypack, pulling out some rations and water, gulping it all down in one swift movement. She looked down at the giant club that still rested in the bag. She understood, deep down, that she would never actually use it...but no one else knew that. It was the only plus side of being so invisible in high school; no one would be able to remember if she was someone who'd play the game. She took the club out, resting it in her hands, before looking up in the direction that the others had gone.

"Thanks Ridley...for everything. I told you I'd find your girlfriend, so I'm going to find her. No matter what happens." Even if it kills me. I'll be that person. "They went that way, right? They couldn't have gotten too far, and Raine wants us to follow her...so there shouldn't be much trouble. Let's go."

She couldn't look Ridley in the eye, not after everything that had happened. Not after her breakdowns, and her hysterics. She just had to trust that he would follow her, and that he would help her figure out where they needed to go. She had to trust him.

It was the least he deserved.

And with that, Rena started out of the woods.

((Rena Peters continued in Watch Your Step))

As he was putting together another line or two to use to calm Rena down, she surprised him by wiping away her tears. He had judged her by her past behavior and thought that she would have continued to cry if he didn't do something about it, but he was clearly being presumptuous, and he mentally hit himself for that.

"Thanks Ridley...for everything. I told you I'd find your girlfriend, so I'm going to find her. No matter what happens." Even if it kills me. I'll be that person. "They went that way, right? They couldn't have gotten too far, and Raine wants us to follow her...so there shouldn't be much trouble. Let's go."

Watching her walk away, Ridley had no idea why the girl in front of him was willing to risk her life just to make his own final hours better than they would have been. From his perspective, she had nothing to gain from such a dangerous endeavor. "You seem... more than sure about this. It's kind of amazing." He said without thinking. He wanted to thank her, but she had already gone on ahead of him. It was all he could do to catch up with her and hope that they were going in the right direction.

(Ridley Landon, continued in Watch Your Step)

((I know it's closed, just wrapping up Winnie so there's no inactivity))

Winnie had no idea what was going on.

She'd been balanced with some difficulty, still light-headed, just before everything had erupted into total chaos. There had been people appearing out of nowhere, and shouting, and suddenly James had been waving a gun around and she'd rather considered fainting again, just so that when she inevitably finally died of shame or a bullet wound she would already be lying down. But the screaming was escalating and no one was making any sense and the second she saw everyone's attention was focused elsewhere, she clutched Thea's shirt around her and ran.

Stumbling through branches and thickets, tearing her skin on thorns, tears of exhaustion and panic clouding her eyes, Winsome Clarke ran for life, not knowing the direction, and no longer caring. All that mattered was getting away, come hell or high water, and she ran on, feet pounding the ground, deeper and deeper into the woods.

((Winsome Clarke continued in Day of the Dove))