Survival Of The Fittest

((Madeleine Smith continued from Friends Departed))

It had been nearly a day since her fateful meeting with Violet, and Maddy was still calm. She would have thought that after killing someone close to her she would be freaking out about it, but aside from the fact her hands wouldn't stop shaking, she felt nothing. Not sadness, or anger, or even happiness. She just felt empty. She was all alone now. Or maybe she had always been alone.

Maddy wasn't even fully aware of where she was. She had just been walking, passing through the residential district, and kept walking. She was only vaguely aware of the wooden planks beneath her feet, of the sound of the waves lapping up onto the shore. She wasn't sure how or when exactly she got there, but she didn't really care.

The girl reached the end of the dock, looking out into the vast ocean. Part of her just wanted to jump into the water and swim away, away from this island and all it's horrors. To never look back. At what she had done. Her feet remained in place, at the end of that dock, knowing that only certain death met her out in that water. She didn't expect to survive, but at least the island would give her a chance. So she would stay, for now.

((Ericka Bradley continued from Camping Out))

If it wasn't for the fact that anyone who might've been in that house would probably head there too, Ericka would probably be at the town center by now. Whatever. The docks were fine too. Except for the corpse-y smell, how was she not used to that yet?

Out of the corner of her eye, Ericka noticed movement in the distance. She moved into a nearby shack to hide and watch. It was a person, a girl. The same girl she had met back in the center of town. The girl from before walked out to the end of the dock.

It was unlikely that this could become an amicable meeting, and if this was gonna end in bloodshed Ericka didn't want it to be her own. It would be best to make the first move, then.

If Ericka was a bad enough shot to miss from across the street, it was unlikely that she would be able to hit her from this distance. She would need to draw the girl closer and ambush her. Since the ambush might lead to a closer range than what would be optimal for a gunfight, Ericka went through her bag and grabbed her knife. Looking around she noticed a rock on the ground. She picked it up and threw it at another nearby shack, trying to keep herself hidden. Then she readied herself and waited.

Maddy's head immediately turned at the sound behind her. She wasn't alone. This wasn't exactly news to her. She was never alone. Any time she thought she was, someone was there. Someone who was aggressive. Someone who wanted to hurt her. Someone who would betray her. Someone who would invariably leave her in the exact same position as before. Alone.

She gripped her weapon, ready to use it if she needed to. Each step down the dock and back to the shore was accompanied by a low creak of the weather-beaten wood. Logically she should be staying at the end of that dock. No one would be able to sneak up on her. But another part of her compelled her to go. To find the cause of that noise. To find the person or thing that made it.

She reached the end of the dock, stepping onto the beach. Each step here was soft and muffled, accompanied by the sound of the sand as her foot shifted it. Her eyes took in the surroundings as she walked, trying to determine if anything was out of the ordinary. She couldn't see anything of note. With any luck, whatever had made the noise would show themselves. And them Maddy would....

Would what?

Shoot them?

Yes.

((GMing approved by Rocky.))

Staying hidden, Ericka watched closely as the girl stepped off of the dock. She clutched her knife as the girl walked past her toward the spot where the rock landed. She got up and crept behind the girl, her knife raised up high, ready to strike. When she got close she swung her arm down towards her prey.

The girl moved to the side and the attack missed. Ericka swung her arm again, but suddenly her arm stopped. The other girl had turned and caught her arm before the knife could make contact. Then Ericka's 'prey' used her other arm to reach down to Ericka's holster and stole her gun. The mix of surprise and terror was readily visible on Ericka's face.

Ericka leaned back and then rammed against the other girl to knock her off-balance, then again, and again. That third time left her opponent's grip loose enough that she managed to break free. She ran away, stumbling on occasion, but regaining her balance. Was that a gunshot she heard, or was she imagining things out of panic?

She turned a corner and tried to use that moment to think. Ericka did have another gun, but that was in her bag and her bag was in the shack. She would have to sneak back there and get the other gun.

She didn't know what compelled her to turn, but she was thankful that she did. Maddy just barely managed to move out of the way of the incoming strike, and before she could even think about what she was doing her hand shot out and grabbed the girl's wrist. Unfortunately instinct had taken over and she had done so with her dominant, hand, which meant she was no longer holding onto her gun, which now hung by it's strap on her shoulder. Her mind went into overdrive at that moment, trying to figure out what to do.

It was then her eyes fell upon her answer. The other girl's weapon was right there for the taking. Using her free hand she reached out and grabbed the handle of the weapon, pulling it out of the holster. Her opponent was quick to react to this though, driving her shoulder into Maddy's chest. The pistol tumbled out of her hand as she was winded by this blow, but she still managed to hang on. The second blow didn't hurt quite as much, but that might have had something to do with there not being any more air in her lungs to force out. The third blow was too much for her to handle, and she let go.

Much to her surprise, the other girl didn't take the chance to finish her off right then in her moment of weakness as she tried to catch her breath. Instead she ran away, allowing Maddy a chance to scramble for the gun she dropped and pick it up. She fired it blindly as she held it in both hands, but the shot didn't go anywhere near the intended target. There was no returning fire, so Maddy took the chance to duck into the shed beside her, gaining some cover.

Ericka recapped her situation to herself trying to think of a solution, her primary gun rest in her enemy's hands, and her primary close quarters weapon vanished in her panic. She wasn't completely weaponless, but her secondary weapons were in her bag and much closer to her opponent then she was. If she could get to her secondaries maybe she could turn this around, retrieve all her weapons plus any that the other girl had on her, and be well armed for what was to come.

But first Ericka needed to draw the other person out again, and throwing a rock was unlikely to work again. She peered nervously around the corner. Not seeing anything she moved back from the corner, accidentally backing into a pile of rusty tools and scrap. They fell over with a loud clatter. Briefly, Ericka wondered if that would draw the girl's attention, before deciding that she didn't have the time to worry about it, and with the sea behind her she had limits on what she could do.

Staying close to the buildings she moved closer toward the place where she kept her bag.

Maddy didn't dare to move from her current position. She didn't know what the other girl was hiding on her, and it was much safer for her to stay where she was and let the opponent come to her. Even the sound of clanging metal didn't do much to make her move, though she did peak her head out the corner. She saw that her assailant was moving, but she wouldn't have a clear shot without exposing herself.

She didn't know what to do at that moment. As it stood right now her position was better than the other girl, who hadn't returned fire yet for some reason. Maybe because she was hidden so there was no point. Or maybe she didn't have any weapons left. Though, at this stage that would just be plain dumb. Though she herself had only had one weapon up to this point, so maybe others hadn't been able to find any yet either. In any case, she wasn't about to give herself away and get shot or something.

She reached the shack she hid inside earlier and peaked in the window. It didn't look like the other girl was inside. She was likely nearby however, so it would be a good idea to get inside quickly. Since she wasn't getting shot at here, and it was conceivable that she could get shot at while trying to go through the door, it might be best to try to climb through the window... maybe... hopefully.

Quickly but clumsily, Ericka climbed through the window and tumbles into the shack suffering a few minor scrapes and bruises. After picking herself up, Ericka opened her bag and looked through it for her secondary weapons. She found the switchblade first and hid it in her sleeve. When she found her other gun she put some extra ammo in her other sleeve and checked to make sure the safety was off.

She exited the shack and double-checked the safety by firing a round at a nearby shed.

Maddy didn't even know what had happened at first. She felt something slug her hard in the shoulder, but there was no pain to go with the feeling. It wasn't until she looked down to see the hole in her shoulder that she realized just what happened. She could help but smile at this turn of events. Looked like things weren't going to end very nicely for her after all. Not like she really, truly deserved to survive. Not after what she had done. So maybe this was for the best.

One thing was for sure though, and that was the fact that she wasn't planning on just rolling over and dying. She needed to move, and quickly. Maybe if she could get to the end of the dock she could jump into the water and make it harder for her to be hit. Somewhere in her mind she knew this was a terrible idea. She would have to expose herself to do this, but if she could pull this off, maybe she just might be able to survive this little ordeal after all. Or at least take her assailant down with her.

Maddy threw the weapon she had retrieved from the other girl into her bag, then gripped her own weapon tightly in her hand. She moved outside of the shack, firing the gun blindly in the general direction of the other girl. Chances are none of them were going to hit, but they didn't need to. The gun emptied with a click, and Maddy turned and continued to move as fast as she could, approaching the dock as fast as she could.

So this gun did work and the safety was indeed off, good. Ericka looked around for where her prey was hiding, and soon got her answer when the girl started shooting back from the shed that Ericka had shot at. Ericka quickly ran into the shack to avoid the bullets. She peered out and saw the girl moving in the direction of the dock.

The girl was clearly up to something, but there weren't many options to deal with it and all of those options were shitty. Ericka decided to follow the girl, maybe she could finish her off before she could do whatever she was plotting.

The fact that she had been shot at came as something of a surprised to Maddy. She had no way of defending herself, and given her situation she could afford to reload. Her feet met the dock, and she found herself continuing to move along it. She didn't even know what she was planning on doing there. Thinking things through wasn't exactly a thing that was on her mind. All she knew was she wanted to be at the end of that dock, and so she had made her move.

Near the end of the dock, her legs gave out. She must have been more injured than she realized from that gun shot. Maddy didn't even dare look at the wound, lest she lose what little nerve she had left. Turning so that she was facing the shore, the girl fumbled with her gun, eventually ejecting the magazine with a dull clatter. Her second magazine was in her pocket, but it was difficult to get out from her current position. Still, she needed to try. The adrenaline was starting to wane, as proven by the dull throbbing in her shoulder. She found herself biting her lip in an attempt to divert her attention from the pain, While still fumbling with her ammo.

"Come on...." she said quietly to herself, not even particularly paying attention to anything around her. For her at that moment, nothing else in the world mattered than reloading her weapon.

A little later than hoped, but still in time, Ericka ran onto the dock, following the girl. The dock's creaking announced her arrival to her prey, who looked like she was trying to reload. Better yet, it also appeared that Ericka's blind shot had hit her, luck had proven to be a really important attribute in this game so far.

It was time to end this. Ericka raised her gun towards her opponent and squeezed the trigger twice.

Maddy managed to get her gun reloaded just as she heard the first steps of the other girl on the dock. She struggled to get up to her feet, but by the time she did, it was already too late. She realized her fatal mistake a moment before it actually happened. Well, that wasn't true. She knew that what she did was a bad choice. She wasn't sure if she cared at this point. Nothing mattered any more. Even if she had managed to make it home, nothing would be the same. She was a murderer. Nothing she could do would change that.

The girl didn't even get a chance to lift her gun before the shots hit her. Both of them hit her in the chest, the force causing her to stumble back. Of course, there was nothing behind her, so she fell into the ocean, the water engulfing her body. There was less pain than Maddy expected, given that she had just been shot. The water certainly wouldn't have helped that either. Even so, the water was rather soothing for her, as if nature itself wanted to give her a moment of peace before she died.

Madeleine Smith wasn't perfect. She didn't have many friends, wasn't popular. She made mistakes, ones that had cost the lives of three people at her own hands. The last two weeks of her life had been complete and utter hell, but even despite all that, despite the bullet holes in her chest and arm, despite the fact that she was quickly fading, despite the fact that she was never going to see her family again, a smile crossed her face.

G093, Madeleine Smith-deceased

9 students remaining.

The girl tumbled backwards into the water. Ericka's relief at having finally ended this particular battle quickly subsided as she realized the Pyrrhic nature of the victory. Her gun was either on the girl or in her bag and they had all gone into the damn ocean.

Ericka stared in dismay at the ocean. There was no way she would get that gun back. And it was gonna be hard to find her combat knife with all the scrap around, especially when she didn't know where she dropped it in the first place.

At least she still had the gun she just used, and the switchblade she had taken from Josée's brother. That... that should be enough... right?

---

After going to retrieve her bag again, she had managed to fall asleep. Luckily the announcement woke her up. Her intuition had proved correct, the town center was going to be the site of the final showdown.

Well, time to get moving.


((Ericka Bradley continued in V4's Endgame: Everybody Loses.))