Survival Of The Fittest

((Reiko Ishida continued from Out Of The Darkness And Into The Light))

Reiko Ishida didn't sleep. She couldn't have even if she wanted to. Sleeping would mean letting her guard down, and letting her guard down would be bad, especially after... that incident. She no doubt made some enemies from that simple act. The small girl didn't care. She wasn't going to just roll over and die because it was the morally right thing to do. She was a survivor. There would be time for regrets later. Right now, she needed to find Reika, Sarah, or one of her friends. Someone she could trust, and would trust her. But first, she needed to find somewhere to camp out for the night.

Reiko was eating a small piece she broke off her bread when the PA system crackled to life. She listened intently as Danya listed off the names of the dead. And then, it happened.

"Fifth wasted was, uh... hold on, let me make sure I get this one right. Reika Ishida..."

Reiko dropped the bread. She didn't hear that right, did she? No, Reika was still alive. She had to be. Her fears were confirmed shortly after that as Danya said her name again, even mocking her slightly. Reiko's hands trembled, but she kept her composure. The announcement wasn't over. She didn't want to miss and vital information. The announcement continued, and Reiko listened with an eerie calm. Paige and Amber were also mentioned, but their deaths were of minor importance to Reiko.

The announcement finished, and Reiko stood up. Reika was dead. Her sister, who had always made sure that she stayed out of trouble. And yet, when the time came for Reiko to finally be able to return the favour, she had failed. She had failed and now she was dead. Reiko needed to focus though. There would be time for tears later. The last thing she needed was to wallow in self pity over the death of her sister and have someone kill her.

She knew what she needed to do. One name resonated in her mind from the announcement. Kris Hartmann. Reiko was going to find her, and she was going to end her. There was no inner moral dilemma, no second thoughts. The bitch was going to pay for what she did, and it was doing to come by her hands. Reiko looked down at her hands, which had stopped trembling. Her mind was made.

"Sorry Sarah, you'll just have to wait."

[Tobias Elwin continued from When the Bite Just Isn't Sharp Enough]]

On this day, I see clearly,
everything has come to life...

Tobias had not slept the night before. How could he sleep knowing that he was defenseless? No, it wasn't possible to sleep, not when there were hundreds of murderers loose on the island, ready to kill anyone that stood in their way. He hadn't been prepared for this game before he'd met Rob, and it cost him his weapon. Now he was prepared to do anything it took to survive.

The mountain paths had plenty of cover and room to maneuver as Tobias made his way upwards. He liked to stick in the brush, moving slowly and silently as he hoped to find some unlucky traveler that happened to pass him by. So far he'd had no such luck, but that wasn't enough to discourage him. Failure was not an option.

Bitter place, and a broken dream
And we'll leave it all behind...

Suddenly, the ominous sound of clapping filled the air as the PA system crackled to life. "Kids, I have to say that I'm truly impressed with your first day showing. Blood! Tragedy! Explosions! Mayhem! You've utterly smashed the record for first day kills; it makes an old man proud to see you all taking his instructions so thoroughly to heart! Congratulations to those of you that are still alive, because you've already outlasted 19 of your classmates."

That voice was familiar. Tobias remembered that voice; it was the voice of the man who addressed them yesterday. The fat one... Danya is what he said his name was. He seemed to take great pleasure in teasing his audience with his little announcement, though the news that 19 students had already met their demise only served to reinforce the idea that everyone was willing to play the game in Tobias' mind.

Two kills stuck out amidst the announcements that followed.

"... Everett Taylor was our next victim, he died at the hands of Janet Binachi after a healthy dose of hockey stick."

"That fucking bitch..." Tobias muttered under his breath. It was the girl with the Hockey stick, the girl that he'd saved only to be abandoned in return when he needed help. Apparently he'd saved a killer. The news only served to anger him more. But before he could dwell on the thought for very long, another familiar name popped up on the list.

"...Fourteenth was a true tragedy as our resident Nazi, Rob Jenkins, broke up a happy lovers' reunion by shooting Paige Strand... which I guess is what her boyfriend is now!"

Rob Jenkins, the man who stole his gun and left him to die, had murdered someone as well. With HIS gun, no less. For all his previous talk of just wanting to survive, Rob was sure quick to start playing the game. There was only one thing that Rob had ever truthfully said since having gone from 'just wanting to survive' to cold blooded killer in the frame of a day: Never Trust Anyone. That was the only thing anyone could do to survive this ordeal, and the announcements only served to reinforce this idea in Tobias' mind.

Hearing the grim tales of his fellow student's demises only spurred Tobias onward towards achieving his goals. First, he would find a good weapon and take it by any means necessary. Then, he would go into hiding and wait for the senior class of Bayview Secondary to take each other out of the equation. Then, once they were tired and weak and injured, he would come out of hiding and decimate anyone who remained with ruthless efficiency. And finally, once he was the very last survivor, he would go home to his proud father and live out the rest of his life like he deserved. Yes. That was how it would happen. There was no other option. He would do everything in his power to live through this ordeal.

On this day, its so real to me
Everything has come to life...

Tobias hadn't realized he had been quietly humming to himself as he made his way further up the path. Being deprived of sleep was starting to get to him. What if someone had heard him mindlessly humming Edge's entrance theme to himself and got the drop on him? No, that couldn't happen. It wouldn't happen. Tobias rubbed his eyes to try and wake up a little bit more before heading further up the path. However, with his vision slightly clearer, he noticed movement up ahead.

In a clearing about 25 yards away stood a solitary girl, staring resolutely into the distance. Tobais didn't know who she was, or what she was armed with. All he knew was one thing: She was a target.

Bingo. Tobias thought to himself as a sly grin crept upon his face. She was small. She looked weak. She was alone. Anything that she had could be instrumental to Tobias' survival. All of the planets had aligned and given Tobias the perfect possible prey.

Anxious to get closer to his prey, the hunter pressed forward with reckless abandon, snapping branches and twigs that were in his way to get to the clearing. It didn't matter how much noise he made or what weapon she had. He had a plan. He would live. Even if it meant that she would have to die.

'Nother chance, to chase a dream
'Nother chance to feel,
chance to feel alive...

Reiko's head snapped quickly to her left, her attention drawn by the rapid snapping of twigs. Apparently she just couldn't catch a break. Someone had spotted her, and any chance she had of talking her way out of a fight was probably gone thanks to the announcement, which made her sound like a ruthless killer. Which was fine, she was there to make friends. Anyone who was going to stand in the way of her mission would find that they chose the wrong person to mess with.

Reiko bent down, perhaps a bit too quickly as she felt a twinge of pain in her ribs. Once again, her habit of ignoring injuries had come into play, and she had actually forgotten her ribs had been bruised in her encounter with Cyrille. She had the sense at some point to cover her head wound, though it was shallow enough to not be a major issue. Fighting through the pain, Reiko unzipped her pack, removing her last remaining weapon from the bag.

Holding the sai in her dominant hand, Reiko turned to face the direction of the noise. She could see movement from a large figure rapidly approaching her. It was apparent that they had seen her, and were deliberately moving towards her. They chose the wrong time to run into her.

"If you like your eyes where they are, I suggest you find someone else to bother." Reiko yelled at the incoming figure.

Tobias' sadistic grin widened as the girl bent over and pulled out a delicious looking weapon: a sai. Something deadly in the right hands, and it would soon be his. It should be fairly simple to take the weapon away with the right approach. She looked somewhat stiff, maybe in a little bit of pain. He could work with that.

"If you like your eyes where they are, I suggest you find someone else to bother." the girl yelled at him as he drew closer. 20 yards, 15 yards, 10 yards closed in without breaking his steady pace. There was no point in talking now, no need for a half baked retort to her threats. He'd been all talk earlier, and it had been his downfall. Now there was only one thing on his mind.

Attack.

Disarm.

Maim.

Murder.

Tobias knew what he had to do to survive on this island. He was focused on the task at hand. At 5 yards away from the girl, Tobias dropped his duffel bag and paused for a moment. A grim look of determination was etched onto his face as he stared menacingly at the girl, simply trying to throw the girl off her game with his imposing bulky 6'0" frame. She looked just as prepared to fight as he was. Tobias grinned. She would be a worthy opponent, making his victory that much sweater.

Sinew tensed in every muscle in his body as he stood across from the girl, waiting for his moment to strike. She would eventually give him an opening if she tried to attack him, or even if she opened her mouth to speak. Even if she tried to run, Tobias would simply hunt her down and eventually overtake her. In his mind, he had already won the fight. That sai she was wielding against him would be his eventually.

"..."

Tobias didn't even bother to hear what was said. The second the girl opened her mouth to speak, Tobias had already sprung forth and bolted straight at his opponent. This was it. His time was now. As he closed the distance in a flash, he threw himself at the girl, expecting his momentum to disarm her as he crashed into her ribs. It was a picture perfect Spear, executed from memory from the thousands of times Tobias had seen it on TV...

Except for Tobias Elwin, there would be no 3 count to follow.

The figure that was approaching finally reached a point where Reiko could see him. It was unmistakably male, and he had a look that spelled evil intentions. He didn't say anything, just stopped and stared. Reiko looked back, or rather looked as far as she could without straining her neck. The man practically towered over the smaller girl. Not that that was anything new to her. The anticipation got Reiko's adrenaline flowing again, and the pain in her ribs faded to a dull buzz.

"Did you not he-" Reiko's sentence was brutally cut off as the boy charged her, and for the second time in as many days, Reiko found herself on the receiving end of a rather painful tackle. Her back painfully hit the ground, the wind escaping from her lungs in a gasp. Through some miracle she was able to keep a grip on her sai.

What happened next was Reiko's survival instincts kicking in. In the brief moment after Reiko landed on the ground, her arm with the sai swung in an arc towards the nearest body part she could find. The point of the weapon found it's home, and Reiko felt the splatter of the man's blood on her face.

*Sknit*

A sharp pain emanated from Tobias' neck as he came down on the girl as the metal sai embedded itself into his neck. THROUGH his neck. Blood poured forth from each end of the wound, draining the contents of veins and arteries into his lungs. Shocked, he wrenched himself off of the girl, taking with him the sai currently stuck in his windpipe.

I... I can't breathe.

Panic set in on the boy's body as he desperately tried to gasp for air, the relenting torrent of blood and the unforgiving metal of the sai completely denying new oxygen from entering his lungs. He gurgled in terror as he crawled away from the girl, wildly clawing at the sai within his neck with shaking hands.

I can't breathe!

He desperately tried to clear his restricted airway, hands slippery with blood clinging to the hilt of the sai before violently ripping it out though the hole in his neck it had formed. The removal of the metal implement in his neck brought no relief. He clutched violently at his neck with both hands, hopelessly trying to draw breath amidst a torrent of blood.

I. CAN'T. BREATHE!

He was drowning. Drowning in his own blood. He writhed on the floor as pain swept throughout his body. His body was crying out for oxygen, telling him to breathe, hopelessly asking for refreshed blood from his heart and lungs that would never come. He struggled to hold onto consciousness as he felt the pressure of the liquid sloshing in his lungs forcefully expanded them. His heart beat constantly sped up as he mentally begged it to slow down as his chest rose and fell in a ghastly mockery of breathing.

"Hugrubglruglbulrg... Hurgbrbggbrll..."

He tried to gurgle out a last word, one last testament to his life before the world blacked out around him. No, he wouldn't even be granted that last courtesy. He had tried to survive, tried to make it home, and he had failed. Now he was trapped, a choking prisoner in his own body as death quickly embraced him. His eyes rolling painfully into the back of his head as he struggled violently for one final breath. It was the last sensation he would ever feel.

TOBIAS ELWIN, B-049: DECEASED

Reiko watched with something between amusement and disgust as the boy feebly struggled in the last moments of his life, before finally falling to the ground dead. Reiko stared at the body, the blood leaking out of his lifeless form. She didn't know what she felt about the fact she had just taken his life. Quite frankly she didn't really care he was dead. She was more concerned about the fact that she had been attacked again. This didn't do very much to help her mood.

"God fucking dammit why don't you assholes just leave me alone." Reiko yelled at the corpse in front of her. Standing up, Reiko walked over to the body. "If you would just.... fucking... listen..." the last three words were punctuated by the small girl kicking the lifeless form. "You might still be alive right now!"

Punctuating her point with one final kick, Reiko looked around her for her weapon, which was lying on the ground a just off to the right. The sai was completely soaked in blood, and Reiko gingerly picked up up between two fingers. Turning back to the body, she wiped the handle off as best she could with the boy's shirt, before working on the blade. "At least you're of some use." she said quietly as she worked.

THIS POST IS A MONUMENT TO GENO'S IMPUNCTUALITY.

((Raina Morales Continued from Bump in the Night))

Raina stumbled up the mountain side, she'd woken up early, leaving the carnival, now far behind, about an hour before dawn broke. It felt so mysterious being there at night, and she'd had the feeling hanging around there during the day would have robbed it of some of its magic.

Besides, she had a motherfucking sunrise to watch, and the higher she got the better it'd be. Well not high high, not like she'd ever... she could guess what it was like and maybe she could "get high off nature" but it was more an... altitude thing and... you know what, never mind.

Unfortunately, it seemed like it was already a lot brighter a lot sooner than she'd hoped for, the mauve shifting to a sort of pale peachy-blue as she looked up the mountainside.

She hadn't expected the hazyness and the fog to obstruct her view so much. Now that she was a bit higher up it was starting to clear a little, but the sun was already well on it's way to rising and she hadn't managed to get a good vantage point through the trees. It was a shame really.

Maybe I could see the sunset instead?

She turned her head down again to continue her trek

And maybe just take this hike for what it's worth.



The speaker system suddenly crackled and echoed across the mountain side, momentarily breaking her contemplations. She didn't pay any attention to the announcement itself, people were going to die, and the good ones would go to Heaven or Shangri-La or get reincarnated or something because karma worked like that. She just had to keep her head up and make the most of what time was left. It was the most any of them could do. Besides, she was way too busy thinking about spreading the good karma to pay much attention to how people miles away were juggling theirs.

She came to a slightly clearer patch and stopped to turn and look out across the island. She wasn't far up the mountain but the view of their deathtrap already looked so pretty. The wind bit through her jeans and hoodie, but the sun felt warm against her face as it rose.

Sounds of a struggle, not far away, snapped her out of her revery. Before she could really think about it she was running towards the sound, dodging trees as she went, until she came to a clearing, and a pair of people, one standing over the other.

She sprinted towards the two, determined to get between them and any more fighting. She had a hunch the person lying down was injured. As she closed the distance she swiped Reiko away with one of her paws, more forcefully than she knew. She would have apologised but right now she had to get a better look at the one on the ground. The person she now leant over.

Who seemed rather...

Dead.

"DUDE, WHAT THE FU-" Her sentence was cut short by a hiking boot colliding with her face.

Reiko didn't know what had hit her at first. All she knew was that for the God knows how many times in the last day, she found herself staring into the sky. Whatever had hit her reopened the wound on her head, and the small girl could vaguely feel the sensation of the blood trickling out of the bandage.

"Fuck..." Reiko whispered, wincing slightly as she sat up, her ribs reminding her of her past encounters. She had lost her grip on her weapon, though she couldn't tell where it went from her vantage point. What she could see was what she assumed was her attacker, a rather large woman she had seen around school. Somewhere in her subconscious her name came to the surface, but Reiko didn't care.

Standing up, Reiko took a quick running start, and mustering all the force she could in her legs, let loose a fierce kick, her booted foot connecting with the other girl's face as she turned to say something. Even if whatever she was going to say was important, Reiko didn't care. She had finally had enough. She was tired of not being able to protect her friends. She was fed up with constantly being attacked. She just wanted to be left alone, but she barely got a moment to herself.

"Fucking bitch!"Reiko continued to wildly kick Raina, each blow filled with every ounce of anger, grief, sadness, rage, every emotion she felt. Every hit reminding her that she was a failure as a friend, and as a sister. She had nothing left. Even if she was to find the rest of her friends, even if she found Sarah, it would be pointless. They were all going to die. Reiko wouldn't be able to protect them. All she had left now was revenge. She would not rest until justice was served, and she would remove any obstacle in her way. Starting with the bitch on the ground who had attacked her.

Raina yelped as she hit the ground and kick after kick crammed into her body. The first blow had completely disoriented her, and the ones that came after rendered her more and more senseless. She held her arms out in front of her face, palms outstretched, somewhere between defence and appeasement; pulling them back in with a squeal as another kick sprained her fingers. The ones following connecting with her head, her arms, her stomach.

"STOP IT, Stt-Stop i-i-iit." She was sobbing now, her pleas catching in her throat as she tried to breathe. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know why Reiko was attacking her. And in her state, she couldn't recognise that she could do anything about it.

She grasped desperately at Reiko's leg, trying to get a hold on the cloth and keep the kicks at bay, though to no avail as the free leg stabbed at her throat. Choking, she shrieked, then whimpered. She knew what was coming. I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die.

Reiko's boot pounded on the side of her head, again and again. First came pain on the periphery as her head was crushed between foot and ground, her skull feeling like it was about to burst. Then deeply, suddenly, she felt an acute, biting pain behind her left eye, like the worst ice-cream headache she'd ever had. Oh my god oh my god oh-

And then the pressure was gone. All the pain of Reiko's assault, of the past day and a bit, of the past 18 years vanished. She wasn't scared. She wasn't anything. She didn't exist anymore, nor did the words to describe her particular state of non-existence. She couldn't tell where she ended and everything else began, it all seemed to blend into one beautiful mish-mash of shapes and colours and energies. All she felt was an awe and a euphoria beyond anything she'd imagined possible. She wasn't just connected to it all, she was everything. "She" was a meaningless concept, and though once she would have feared this state, it was, surprisingly, the most wonderful, incredible thing that had happened in her life. It didn't seem to matter that "she" was dying, her body was just a tiny part of the picture. With her body and language beyond her control she could do nothing more than take it all in.

What was left of her language centres could only manage to bring one word to mind, one of the first words she'd learnt.

Pretty...






She lost consciousness as the haemorrhage worsened and her brain gave in.

Raina released her grip, her hand falling limply to her side, splayed across the grass.

At home, her mother tightly closed her eyes, biting her clenched hands to stop herself screaming.

G094, Raina Morales - DECEASED

Reiko was deaf to Raina's plea for her to stop, blind to the girl's feeble attempts at defense. She just kept attacking, every blow that landed bringing her victim closer to their demise. The fact that Raina wasn't even really fighting back, or even stopped moving for that matter, registered in Reiko's mind. Her assault continued until she finally collapsed to her knees, her breath coming out of her lungs in short gasps.

Reiko looked at what was now the corpse of Raina. Her face was bloody and misshapen, and it appeared that at some point one of her eyes had ruptured, adding to the gory sight. It took the small girl a few moments to register that the larger girl wouldn't be getting up. She was dead. And Reiko was the reason why.

Up to this point, Reiko had only been doing what it took to survive. Every other confrontation she had dealt with, the other person had instigated it. She was just doing what it took to defend herself. At least, that is what she told herself. Up until now, it had worked. She was able to push aside the fact she had killed someone. Many someones. They started the fight. She just ended them. After all, that was the name of the game. Survival of the Fittest. Kill or be Killed.

Now.... now she was a murderer. She was no worse than the people who had tried to finish her. Raina hadn't really done anything to Reiko other than push her away from a dead body, and yet she attacked her with no remorse. Kicked her skull in until she was dead. There was no self defense involved. Just pure, remorseless anger. Anger that wasn't even directed at her. The entire time her mind had been elsewhere, imagining the girl was someone else. Someone who she was no better than any more.

Almost as if the rest of her time on the island picked that exact moment to catch up with her, Reiko's eyes began to water. This girl made number four. Four lives that had been cut drastically short. Four lives that she had taken. Four human beings, with mothers, fathers, siblings, friends, and other loved ones that would never be able to enjoy the presense of those four. Yes, she had lost her sister. She had also lost two of her closest friends. That didn't justify her actions though. It didn't justify that there were countless others going through the same experience of losing a loved one because of her. Tears flowed silently down Reiko's face as she continued to look at Raina, who looked rather peaceful despite the appearance of her face.

Survival of the Fittest was known for many things. People change when put into high pressure situations. When you say to someone "kill or be killed", some will take that ball and run with it. Reiko would have never in a million years see herself as that kind of person. And then... and then she had run into Cyrille. She hadn't really known much about her, and truthfully, didn't even know her name until the announcement gave her that little bit of information. She was just a scared little girl trapped in a strange place, told to fight for her life. Fight for the life that Reiko had taken. Sally was no different, despite their history. Sally may have taken a bit more inititive in defending her life than Cyrille, but the fact still remained that Reiko had ended her life too.

Then there was that boy. His name was unknown to the small girl, but that didn't change the fact that his life had also been taken by her. In just over 24 hours, Reiko Ishida had gone from a normal, every day high school graduate, into.... into a murderer. There was no two ways to put it. She had changed and the change scared her. In the end, she wasn't going back to what she used to be. No doubt she already had a huge target on her back, and it was only going to get bigger from here. There was nothing she could do about that now. By this time tomorrow everyone left on the island was going to know her name, and no one was going to trust her. Even if she claimed self defense, or something to that effect, she doubted anyone would want to be within ten feet of her. From this point on, she would be alone. Reiko began to recompose herself, dragging herself to her belongings and throwing them over her shoulder. Finally, she took her weapon, placing it back into the day pack before stumbling away from the scene of her latest crime. With any luck, she wouldn't have to deal with any other people.

She wasn't holding her breath.

((Reiko Ishida continued in Walk The Line))