Survival Of The Fittest

Fred swallowed his mouthful, and swallowed again before he even got the chance to take another bite. This time it was a nervous gulp in reaction to DeMarcus threatening to abandon him. He couldn’t tell if the threat was genuine or not- it didn’t sound all that convincing- so he tried to laugh it off with an awkward chuckle. Feeling his cheeks flushing red from embarrassment, he stared down at his feet, probably only drawing more attention to his injury. He silently cursed his recklessness that had put him in this situation. He should have just hung back like he always did, since he was only going to let his team and his school and his dad down anyway. Instead, he chose to go for glory for once in his life. He hadn’t gotten any. All he got now was mockery from DeMarcus and pity from Dominiqua.

He briefly made eye contact with her, muttered a grateful “…Thanks” and looked away, hiding his shame. The conversation moved on.

Fred wasn’t sure whether to weigh in on the town proposal. He really didn’t want to go; like Dom said, it’d be crawling already, and that’s if they even survived another trek across the freezing wilderness. All he wanted to do right now was stay here in the warmth with the gun pointed at the door, and wait it out. He almost suggested that, but waited to finish his chewing first this time, and had lost the confidence to speak up by the time he was done. DeMarcus had already implied he’d leave Fred behind if needs be. Trying to convince him to stick together here in the infirmary when he wanted to leave was a pipe dream. No point disagreeing with the guy if it wouldn’t achieve anything; better to agree as enthusiastically as he could, for as long as he could, to earn as much good will as possible.

“We can go town…”

As enthusiastically as possible didn’t mean enthusiastic. Fred still wasn’t a good liar.

"Killers could be fuckin' anywhere, you want the possibility you might run into one be the reason you don't hunt for something like a better weapon or a better vantage point?" DeMarcus said. "Can't go through life not taking risks."

It sounded convincing enough, to his ears anyway. Part of him would like nothing more to stay in the infirmary and just fire through the door every time someone new darkened it. But he had put himself into a situation where he had to exert control, to show command was his. And who knew, maybe they really would find another weapon. Maybe he could arm these two up and they'd take someone down for him before they inevitably perished.

And the gimpy dude agreed with him. At least one of the other two was willing to admit DeMarcus knew what he was doing.

"I'm just sayiing, I don't have all the bullets in the world. And all y'all got is good intentions."

DeMarcus, much to Dominiqua’s chagrin, had a good point. Dominiqua and Fred didn’t have any means to defend themselves, plus DeMarcus had a finite amount of bullets for his gun. If they could find something to defend themselves, they might stand a better chance against those who mean to do harm.

“You’re right I guess,” Dominiqua said, “We could use something to defend ourselves. Plus it’s not like this place will be safe forever. It could become a danger zone tomorrow.”

Dominiqua relented, persuaded it seemed when DeMarcus suggested they could find more weapons out there. If all three of them were armed, there’d certainly be a more even power balance. Maybe Fred could prove himself useful after all, or at least have a better chance staying alive if he couldn’t. That fact combined with the relief from the other two finally agreeing on something went part way to convincing him the town was the right place to go after all.

"Should we go then?"

Having sat back down to eat his bread, Fred now lifted an inch off the mattress. He hovered there- he was obviously never going to be the first one out- but he felt ready for when one of the others took the lead.

((Fred Hobbes continued elsewhere.))

DeMarcus nodded, pleased that the two were listening to him now. It was a small deference, but it was enough to appease him. He finished another bite of his food and replaced it in his bag.

Fred asked the real question, the one DeMarcus had really wanted to get to. DeMarcus looked from Fred, then to Dominiqua, his eyes silently repeating the question.

"I'm ready to pull my thumb out my ass. How about you?"

“Sure,” said Dominiqua, “Let’s do it.”

Dominiqua picked up her bag and walked over to the door, hand at the doorknob, ready to open. She looked over to Fred and DeMarcus.

“I’m ready when you guys are,” she said.

(Dominiqua Ashmore, continued elsewhere…)

DeMarcus nodded. Now it felt like they were getting down to it. Now it felt like they were actually going to accomplish something. At least something other than waiting to get popped.

"I been ready." He said, and stoof.

(DeMarcus Miller, continued elsewhere...)