Survival Of The Fittest

Owen nodded at Naomi, smiled at Aileen. Things appeared to be looking up for him. Cammy and Aileen had both helped him back into the whole escape plan thing, managing to convince him that they weren't going to give up on their friends. And although it had no doubt been unintentional, Naomi had given him the drive to carry on, to show he hadn't given up, that he was going keep fighting to escape from this island until he could fight no longer. Theirs was not to be a happy partnership, most likely, but leaving the group because of Naomi's attitude would be petty and stupid.

At least Cammy and Aileen would be here. He'd certainly misjudged Aileen back in the hotel, and he felt slightly horrible inside for having done so. She clearly cared for people aside from herself. Owen only hoped the incident with Lauren would be just a blip, an anomaly. He briefly wondered whether, if he had left, would Aileen have followed him? Either way, it would have been a dumb idea. Safety and strength in numbers, after all.

When Cammy stated she wanted to speak with Naomi alone, however, a hint of concern and uncertainty crept into Owen's mind. What exactly could Cammy want to say that required such privacy? It didn't exactly signal a good start to this alliance, if they were keeping secrets and shit from each other. Owen bit his lip when Cammy asked if they could go wait by the garden gates. He toyed with the idea of ignoring Cammy's request.

Finally, he nodded once more, turned, and walked to stand next to Aileen. Cammy wasn't the type to plan anything nefarious. At least, she hadn't been. Owen hadn't expected to threaten a classmate with a scalpel in his lifetime, and that had happened today. A million thoughts entered Owen's already crowded mind, none of them good. Betrayal, abandonment, backstabbing, and everything in-between. Still, he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt right now. He just couldn't quite get his head round the thought of Cammy trying to do something like abandon them. Plus, he was on shaky ground with Naomi already. Doing the same with Cammy was tantamount to suicide. Still, he was intrigued as to what they were saying, so he leaned in towards Aileen and whispered to her.

"Wh-what, ah-" Owen paused to swallow, his throat feeling uncomfortably dry, before continuing to whisper to Aileen. "What do you think they're talking about?"

Cammy waited as the other two left them on their own. Her nerves were getting high, unsure about how her friend would react to what she had to say. Hopefully she wouldn't take it too badly. Cammy reasoned with herself that Naomi would prefer to hear it coming from her rather than Owen or Aileen. That didn't stop her from worrying about the extent to which Naomi would take it if she didn't like what she heard. If she didn't like it, hopefully she would just brush her off or something like that. Best case scenario though, she would take her words to consideration.

"Look Naomi, the way you acted with Owen and the words you said were very much out of line and unnecessary." Cammy started once she was sure that the others were out of earshot. Chewing her lip softly, she paced forwards and backwards, trying to come up with words that wouldn't aggravate her. She clutched her crossbow tightly, the weapon becoming a symbol of safety for her. She knew it was wrong for her to feel that way, but she couldn't help it. The situation they were in meant that she had to develop new habits and opinions that would normally be alien to her.

"He was scared Naomi and uncertain about how to proceed. He was worried about his friends, just like we're worried about our friends. I had the situation under control and then you just had to sucker punch him with those harsh words. Just because we're in this situation doesn't mean we have to act in a way that alienates people. That just isn't right." She paused for a moment to let Naomi think about her words before continuing.

"The game is getting to you badly Naomi. You're falling into a spiral. Your paranoia and strong desire to find a way to escape is alienating and harming the people around you. First you shot at Travis and then you heavily criticized Owen. This isn't helping anyone. Gabby ran away because she was scared of you Naomi. Can't you see what you're doing? Your actions are causing people to lose trust in you and that is so important in this game. Heck, having the ability to trust someone will probably keep us alive and if we don't have trust, it could just as easily lead to betrayal." Cammy looked up at Naomi's face, trying to make out any sign of emotion or response to her warnings. She couldn't stop now.

"You need to get in control of yourself Naomi. I don't want to lose you to the game. I'm scared if you keep acting the way you do, you'll do something you'd regret for the rest of your life. I also don't want you to lash out at everyone. We can't risk losing their trust and hurting them to the point where they just leave us. We need to stick together to survive and if you keep acting the way you do, we'll never be able to find a way out. After all, you are only a single person and this is a gigantic island. There is going to be even tougher security due to what happened in the previous version. You cannot do this alone Naomi, it's just impossible. You need us."

Her voice was filled with concern and she held the crossbow close to her chest. She waited for a response. Cammy wasn't sure how Naomi would take it. She had to warn her. She didn't want her to be another victim to the game due to her actions. She was risking getting herself killed by distancing herself to everyone else in an attempt to escape. However, Cammy was more worried about how the game would get to her if this continued over a long period of time. She was worried that it would get to the point where she would do the thing that the makers of the game wanted them to do.

She prayed that that would never happen.

The moment Cammy said she was out of line, Naomi crossed her arms and her eyes narrowed. She thought this might be about Cammy questioning her methods, but... to claim she was spiraling out of control? Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

The first words that came out of Naomi's mouth were less than polite.

"Are you stu--" Naomi shut her mouth almost immediately, though the damage had likely been done. She instead shut her eyes for a moment, uncrossing one of her arms and pressing her fingers to her forehead, rubbing her forehead and trying to think her way through the pile of stupid, naive and just plain wrong meadow dressing that Cammy had just flung at her. "Look, the incident with Travis was an accident. And I'm so very sorry that I didn't have my calm completely collected within the first fifteen minutes of being dropped into a terrorist act." Her voice was not calm. She wasn't shouting, but her voice kept cracking from the effort of holding it all back. She was just furious again, because she was sick of explaining what should have been obvious to anyone with half a brain.

"I stand by everything I said. Searching for friends wastes time we don't have, and prioritizing friends over escape so he can see them one last time, as I said, is tantamount to giving up. If he can't take reality because I didn't bother to sugarcoat it, he'd be more useful to the escape effort hiding under a rock, because he's certainly not going to hold it together when we come across a player or a corpse of a classmate or friend if he can't take some harsh comments. Besides, he seems to be taking it well enough at the moment, so what does it matter? If we're going to talk about fostering trust, don't you realise that pulling me aside to talk in private's going to do the exact opposite?

"Also, in case you've forgotten, blindly trusting anyone who isn't immediately hostile will get us killed. We didn't keep a good enough eye on Travis and he ran off with my weapon, likely with an intent to use it. Aileen and Owen might not have done anything yet, but we've been talking to them for a few minutes at most. There's plenty of time for that to change. Don't tell me I'm on a 'downwards spiral' because I'm acknowledging the reality of the situation. The game isn't 'getting to me,' Cammy. I'm just adapting. And I'll do what it takes to get as many people off this island as possible, and for the record, that might include doing something 'regretful,' since by your definition being forward with people crosses that line, because if I don't there won't be a 'rest of my life' to feel regret in."

Naomi hesitated for a moment here. But she couldn't have weakness here. On her end... or on Cammy's. Cammy just kept questioning and couldn't seem to grasp that kindness would get her killed. She was a friend back at Aurora, that was true... but here there was no room for friends. Only allies. So Naomi fixed as steely a gaze as she could manage on Cammy and ended her tirade in a much calmer, but harder, voice.

"And yes, I do need people. But people who put not hurting someone's delicate feelings over more important matters are worse than useless. ...So either harden up, or find yourself a cuddlier alliance."

Without waiting for a reply, she walked back to Aileen and Owen.

"Just so you two are aware, that was only an argument over our methods of getting objectives done. It was not a plot to betray either of you," she said briskly. "Ready to go, then?"

Aileen's feet were teetering the ground and she hummed the Fire Emblem theme when Owen asked what Aileen thought about that semi-clandestine conversation.

"I feel like they are plotting something that may not be in out favor."

She resumed teetering and humming as she watched, and partly listened to the pair of young women. She could not hear exactly what the topic was about, but Aileen understood that both parties were a bit worked up. In fact, it did not look like they were exactly plotting to use Owen and Aileen, and more as if they had some problems with each other. Which surprised Aileen, as she thought that they were friends, at least. Then again, if someone like Naomi, a person Aileen always perceived as more levelheaded, got upset, there was even more reason to be cautious.

...and a bit proud, as Aileen considered herself to be the only sane person at that moment. A cocky smile appeared on her face as she figured that under these circumstances, she would be the most fitting person to lead this tiny group. The disadvantage was that she would be the first one to die if things go south. Of course, she thought, due to the faults of the other students. Not her.

She noticed Naomi approaching and Aileen's smile turned into something more friendly. Naomi mentioned that they were merely discussing their methods and not any plots to betray Aileen and Owen...

"Hm...."

This sounded suspicious. Such a denial did not set well with Aileen, and she decided that, yes, Naomi had to be considered dangerous and someone had to keep an eye on her. Not that this was any reason to turn away from that group. Aileen was convinced of her own abilities in the high art of being Revolver Ocelot.

[ol]
[li]"Very well, let us go."[/li]
[/ol]

Owen really wished he hadn't asked Aileen about her suspicions, because all they did was serve to further increase his own suspicions and paranoia. The idea that Cammy and Naomi were plotting something just would not be driven from his mind, it seemed. Owen didn't want to think that way, but it just would not go away, not matter what he told himself, that it was too early for them to have planned something like this, or anything like that. In the back of his mind, was a tiny voice telling him that Cammy and Naomi were planning on betraying him and Aileen.

He needed some way to distract himself. Aileen's sudden humming of the Fire Emblem theme seemed, at first, to do the trick. Owen hadn't expected to ever hear it again, and most certainly not from Aileen. All of a sudden, Owen realised how much he missed those games. It was silly, missing material possessions at a time like this, wishing he'd managed to beat Thracia 776 at some point in the past. But these simple, mundane things were part of ordinary life, and if that wasn't something to miss and cling on to, then Owen didn't know what was.

As with everything that happened on the island so far, these thoughts suddenly turned sour. Owen thought of home. Not just his home in Seattle, with his parents having to deal with the loss of their son and his brother, the guy Owen had spent far too long arguing with rather than being friendly towards. He thought of his old home in England. If only they had all stayed there. Survival of the Fittest would just be another tragedy on the news. It would be terrible, but, and Owen knew it was selfish to think this way, at least he wouldn't be in the centre of it. If only they'd known...

Owen pushed his glasses up, and covered his eyes and nose with his hand, pressing down hard. These thoughts were just as bad, if not worse. He wanted to let his mind go blank, think of nothing more than escaping with the three girls, but that was an impossible task right now. Instead he looked up at Naomi and Cammy, who seemed to be coming to the end of... whatever it was they were talking about. Both of them seemed agitated. About what, Owen couldn't guess. If it meant that one of the two didn't agree with the other, and Aileen's suspicions were correct... well, that was surely for the best, right?

Naomi walked over first, making it perfectly clear that she and Cammy had just been arguing over their clearly varying methods of getting shit done. Owen could have looked at that suspiciously. No one had accused Naomi of anything, and here she was getting defensive instantaneously.

But if Owen decided to be suspicious of that, then he might as well be suspicious of everything that everyone said, and if he couldn't trust his friends even a little bit, then he was already lost. Asides from all that, even if he had only just met Naomi, he needed to trust her. She claimed to be forming an escape plan, and Owen wanted nothing more than to escape, to live.

"Y-yeah... ready if you are..."

Cammy was withholding her anger when Naomi began to speak. She knew she was angry at her and frankly, she didn't care. She thought that Naomi was wrong. The way that she acted and the words that she said were wrong. To be honest, Cammy was shocked at her friend's reply. It was hard to believe that she was the same person she was back in Aurora High School. The way she described how Owen would be better off hiding under a rock just because he wanted to find his friends was horrible in her eyes and Cammy was starting to wonder what she really thought of her classmates on the island.

Was this what "adapting" to the game meant? Shifting your viewpoint about your classmates, the people you spent a lot of your life with? Naomi said she was going to get as many people off the island, not friends or anything else like that. In fact, she didn't make any mention of friends or any other relationships apart from Miles for obvious reasons. Did she even care about her friends, or were they just "people" to her? Right now, Cammy was coming to the horrible conclusion that her friend, one that she had been pretty close to, was refusing to see her classmates as people with personalities and fears. Only tools for her disposal.

Her last words hit the final nail into the coffin. A cuddlier alliance? What sort of nonsense was that? Her suspicions were confirmed and Cammy realized that she couldn't stay with Naomi. She was wrong, wrong in every way and it went against how she thought the game needed to be approached from. The words that sprouted from Naomi's mouth just built up her anger to boiling point and then she had the nerve to just walk off without waiting for her to say anything. Cammy briskly followed her, trying to smile to contain her anger. Then, she said that they only were arguing about "our methods of getting objectives done". At that point, she couldn't hold back any longer.

"Methods? Objectives? Is that all you can think about?" Cammy belted, losing all the niceties as her fury needed to be unleashed. "How dare you say Owen would be better off hiding underneath a rock, just because he wanted to find his friends. You don't even care about anything else, do you? You don't care about how we feel or anything like that. All you care about is "finding a way off the island". If Owen didn't consent to your opinion, you'd probably just leave him out to die, wouldn't you? It doesn't matter if he's scared, you'd probably just leave him for dead just because he didn't agree with you!"

"You see us as tools at your disposal, keeping only the "useful" ones and leaving the others for dead. You see our classmates as statistics and numbers, not caring about your friends' safety. You'd probably even leave Miles behind if he got in the way of your goals. You say that protecting someone's feelings are meaningless and that people who prioritize that are "worse than useless". Do you even listen to yourself? Can't you hear what you say? What you say disgusts me and to be honest, I am sick of it."

Cammy glared at Naomi with daggers, the anger overwhelming her to the point that she couldn't hold it back. She had never felt this angry before, let alone at a friend. This Naomi was not her friend, far from it. She was disgusting and cruel and she did not want to have any part in her plans. If she found an escape, good for her, but Cammy didn't want to find an escape if it came at the cost of hurting her classmates and friends and leaving them for dead. She didn't even let Naomi get in a reply as she walked towards the exit. Once at the exit, she turned around and screeched loudly.

"You were the student council president back in Aurora High School, but right now your leadership sucks! You don't think about the welfare of anyone, only yourself and you only look out for the people that are "useful" or help towards your goals. You don't even care about who escapes, only the number of people. All you see are the statistics, the numbers and you don't even think that these "numbers" are people with lives and feelings and emotions. Your alliance, in your eyes, are filled with tools that aid towards your escape and nothing else!"

"Well let me tell you something Naomi. I am not a tool. I am a human being with feelings and emotions. I am not a fucking statistic!" Cammy screamed, immediately turning her back to Naomi and stomping out of the garden. She was sick of her and while she didn't know where she would go, she knew that anywhere was better than being here.

((Cammy Davidson continued in The Bitter Truth))

"You took the rock thing entirely out of context!" Naomi yelled after Cammy, for lack of anything better to say.

She considered going after Cammy for a moment and trying to talk her around. But no. She'd delivered the ultimatum. She couldn't go back on it now, and Cammy clearly wasn't in a mood to listen. Fine. FINE. Who needed Cammy, anyway? All she was good for was her stupid crossbow. She'd be the statistic in the end, just one more dead student who made the decision to prioritize the wrong things. That was her choice, and Naomi wouldn't be held accountable for it. Better for Cammy to leave now than to mess things up further down the line, and if she came crawling back, crying because she'd started an alliance of hugs and comfort and then they'd all gotten murdered because she trusted everyone and one of those people turned out to be a player waiting for their chance... well, she could just go die in a--

No, she didn't want Cammy to die. That wouldn't help anyone. Cammy had a crossbow. She'd hopefully survive long enough for Naomi to find a way out. Then she'd apologise and all that anger would be swept under the rug.

Naomi let out a huffy sigh before looking at the other two. She was at a loss on how to fix the damage that Cammy had likely just done. And her anger was now seething at Cammy once again for going to all that effort to be private and then just bellowing out the worst of her views anyway.

But she'd stay calm on the outside. She wouldn't lose control again. All that would do is prove Cammy right.

Sometimes, Aileen wondered how she got her reputation back at Aurora High. At that moment, she actually felt pretty calm. A bit surprised, maybe. She'd expected to leave this place somewhat peacefully after Owen gave his consent, so Cammy's sudden outburst shocked her.

Aileen also was not enterly sure how that fitted into the schemings of Naomi. First, there was the fact that Cammy indeed complained loudly about the methods and priorities of Naomi. Maybe an indication that they both did only argue about methods and such. Or maybe it was just a farce to lure Aileen and Owen into a false sense of safety. However, there was one thing that alerted Aileen.

Cammy mentioned how Naomi saw everyone as tools that shall be discarded once useless. And then suddenly, a perfect image of what happened formed in Aileen's head.

She was convinced that Naomi was planning to use whoever crossed their parts from the beginning on. She told Cammy, her friend, what she planned, and the latter agreed at first. Travis was just a tiny blip that did not matter on the grand scale, because he was a bastard who only cared about himself. However, when Cammy saw Aileen and Owen, she must have gotten doubts, and protested. Naomi got upset because she was in danger to have her plans revealed. Yes, everything made sense in her head. But she would play along. Because nobody was allowed to even think of backstabbing Aileen Aurora Abdallah, the Magnificent.

And then Cammy left. That made Aileen angry, because all things considered, Cammy still was the one with the most potent weapon.

"Hey, stay here! You shall not survive without the aid of my person... and the aid of your fellow students!"

...

"Fuck you! At least leave the crossbow with us."

Aileen considered running after her, but she decided that she'd just get to the crossbow when Cammy was dead. Who knows, maybe Aileen would have another good weapon by then anyway. Also, she had to see the positive things. For one, she knew that Cammy could not be trusted. Second, she and Owen could easily overwhelm Naomi whenever they wanted. Of course, for now she was more useful as a leader who gathered resources.

"Naomi, you lead the way. Owen and I shall follow you... closely."

They were about to leave, so of course all hell broke loose. Out of absolutely nowhere, Cammy started ranting at Naomi, angrier than Owen had ever seen her in his life. For his part, Owen could only stand, dumbstruck, mouth slightly open.

He would've wondered what had made Cammy so angry, but it was fairly explicit in her words. Owen wasn't generally a fan of people talking about him as if he wasn't there, but this time, it was necessary. Apparently, Naomi had suggested he hide under a rock if he wanted to find his friends, would be beneficial to her if he was left to die. Owen's gaze turned to Naomi as Cammy continued ranting about using people as numbers and other generally unpleasant things.

The worst part was Naomi's feeble attempt at a defence, if it could even be called such a thing. She didn't even try. Owen yelled "Cammy, wait!" after the retreating girl, but either she didn't hear or she didn't care. Cammy kept on walking. Owen screwed his eyes shut, and again, pressed against them with his non-scalpel-holding hand. His head hurt. He had no idea what was going on, what to do. Was Cammy correct, by guesswork or deduction? Was she making up lies to implicate her own friend? Or was she simply frazzled by everything that had happened so far? Owen had absolutely no clue.

First Owen had thought Aileen was trying to manipulate him back at the hospital, trying to get him to be a meatshield, bodyguard, nothing more. Then Naomi had insulted him, his ideals, claiming that he'd given up due to his compassion. Now Cammy had effectively split the group up, the one person Owen had assumed would stay sane, and at the same time labelled Naomi as a manipulate backstabber.

Who was the bad guy in all of this? Well, no one, not really. Claiming that a scared, paranoid kid being dropped into SOTF was evil was ludicrous, especially when none of them had actually hurt anyone yet. A better question to ask would be who the fuck could he trust? Owen wanted to trust all three girls, but none of them seemed to trust each other in the slightest.

Owen could have run after Cammy, but he had no idea where she'd gone, and if he couldn't find her, then he was back at square one. Out in the open, on his own, with a tiny knife to protect him. Was staying with Aileen and Naomi any better, though? Naomi had made absolutely no attempt to deflect Cammy's accusations, and that, alongside her earlier comments towards Owen, meant he just couldn't shake an uneasy feeling about her.

Aileen already seemed to have made the decision for him, though, claiming that they'd both be following her. And really, this was the only decision he could make. The idea of escape was connected to Naomi, even if it was by a thread, and Owen wanted nothing more than to grab it. And if it didn't work out, not in the slightest, if Naomi really was manipulating them? They were bound to run into more people, people with nobler intentions. Naomi couldn't exactly stop him joining them when she had no weapon.

"Yeah. I'll be here." Owen turned and looked straight at Naomi. "For now."

No use in sugarcoating his words. Naomi didn't, after all.

((Permission to move out Aileen was given by Bikriki.))

There was clearly distrust. But they were being honest about it, which Naomi considered a good sign. It meant they were letting her know and giving her a chance to rebuild a good impression. Better some mild distrust until she proved herself again than them abandoning her. Or them still wholeheartedly trusting her, because that would indicate that they were morons, due to how Cammy had worded her little rant.

"Understood."

If Owen wanted to leave once he found a sign of his friends, there wasn't much Naomi could do about that. As long as he wasn't a liability in the meantime it wouldn't matter, and the same went for Aileen. This could work. For now.

"We're going to travel towards the cluster of buildings on the other side of the island, provided there are no objects. Let's go," she said shortly, before leaving the garden through the exit that Gabriella had appeared from. She heard quick footsteps behind her. Likely Aileen keeping her promise of following 'closely.'

She kept her eyes open and alert as she followed the path that led from the garden. She didn't have time to look through the surrounding landscape to see where Gabriella had left her weapon. Luckily, it turned out she'd discarded it close to the road. Naomi spotted it when she saw the sun glinting off it, and quickly walked over and picked it up.

"Just for safety," she said briefly, before shoving it in her bag. It was heavy. Perhaps there was a way to remove one of the weights. That was something she could think about later. If no-one hostile appeared, she wouldn't have to think about it at all. But better safe and thinking about it than being a red smudge on the road.

She would not be a statistic in this game. No matter what the cost.

((Naomi Bell and Aileen Aurora Abdallah continued in Big Stick Ideology.))

Owen didn't have any time to object or respond to Naomi's plan of advance before she had left through the sole exit to the garden. It wasn't as though he had any other ideas, though. The only plans Owen had were staying alive, escaping and, if possible, meeting up with his friends. Before it was too late and... something happened...

Owen bit the inside of his cheek, trying to get the pain to blot out his thoughts. It worked back in Seattle, during seemingly innocuous conversations that led to Owen's thoughts suddenly jumping to the idea of death. Not here, though. All it did was create a mild pang in his cheek. If he could just keep his mind focused on escape, on the fact that Naomi apparently had a plan, he might just be okay. Wouldn't pathetically break down and start crying, at least.

Naomi was putting something in her bag when Owen left the garden. He couldn't see what it was thanks to the slight distance but if it was bad news, then Aileen would surely have said something. Naomi hadn't responded to Owen's last few words, which could only be a good sign. They weren't seeing eye to eye, but they were working together, and that was more than many of his friends on the island had, Owen was horribly certain.

Owen still wasn't sure what the future held for him, or Aileen and Naomi. He had no idea what he'd be doing this time tomorrow. But he had the barest essence of a plan at least, and a group of allies, even with Cammy's departure. Things might not be looking up just yet, but they were certainly getting there.

He was certainly not giving up yet.

((Owen Kay continued in Big Stick Ideology))