Survival Of The Fittest

"I couldn't find much in her bag," Amaryllis said. "Just some extra gear, like maps and compasses. The stuff I let you borrow. And I couldn't find her weapon, either."

Amaryllis stood and looked down the road at Liya's grave. Then, at Piper's body. It dawned on her then that she had misinterpreted Lily's comment.

"Oh," she said.

"We can bury her too. We'll set them up side by side. So that they have each other for company."

She wiped the blooming tears from her eyes.

"After that, we'll head back."

---

It was with some shame that Amaryllis realized Piper's grave was better arranged than Liya's. They were much less tired this time, and they could see, and they had practice. Part of the way through, she went back to Liya's grave and shaped things up. The snow was getting drippy, so she added more twigs and stones. The most important thing was to make sure both of their eyes were closed. If only Amaryllis had some coins, to lay over them, that would do better. Rocks were not a substitute. She got as close as the stench of death would let her and closed them herself, slowly dragging her fingers down Liya and Piper's faces.

After the burial—really, the covering—was complete, Amaryllis stood away from the bodies and sighed.

"We have to get going," Amaryllis said, "it's almost noon. Dick and Iris must think we've been injured, or got lost, or ditched them."

She yawned. Then, she slapped her cheeks lightly with her gloved hands.

"Need to find shelter. Somewhere we can rest. Inside."

That was what she muttered to herself as she started walking down the path.

[Amaryllis Peszek-Byrne continued in Bec de Corbin.]

Lillian wiped her brow as they finished with Piper's burial, rubbing her hands together to try and warm them after gathering up so much snow.

There was a small part of her that mentally berated herself for wasting so much time, especially for someone she wasn't exactly friends with. It wasn't like they could realistically give everyone on the island the same treatment, especially as the days went by and the body count continued rising.

And yet, she knew she couldn't just leave Piper like that. Not after everything they did for Liya. It just wouldn't be fair to go through all that trouble for one of her fallen classmates and not do the same for another, even someone she didn't know all that well like Piper. If anything she regretted not getting to know her better, or many of the other names mentioned in the announcement. Tana, Liya, Piper... She dreaded to think which of her friends were going to be next.

Were things really that hopeless? Was there really nothing she could do but wander around, her friends dying one by one, their deaths bantered off by their uncaring overseer? Doomed to just drift from one place to another, trying to seek out her friends just so that they could... What, huddle together somewhere warm and wait it out? Try to escape despite nobody managing to pull it off for over a decade? Dickie at least seemed to have some idea in mind, seeking out Chloe and trying to unite the island under the student council, or something to that effect. Would that amount to much in the end? Did she have any better ideas?

In any case, Amaryllis' point regarding Dickie and Iris remained true. They had ended up venturing away from camp for far longer than they'd promised, and with the sun starting to rise there was a fair chance they might not make it back before Dickie and Iris decided to head elsewhere. Despite her earlier concerns about the town being a hotspot, she didn't want to spend another night out in the unrelenting cold.

But before they could find shelter, they needed to try and catch up the others before they decided to move on. Their group was fractured enough as it was with Liya gone, and Dickie actually seemed to have some semblance of a plan in mind. Better than anything she could come up with, anyway.

Besides, they had just learned the hard way why it was important to stick together.

((Lillian Larsen continued in bec de corbin))