Survival Of The Fittest

((Reiko Ishida continued from The Kindness Of Strangers))

She didn't know how long it had been since she left the once-forest behind. It had been a long while, judging from the fact that the sun had set, and she had slept somewhat fitfully between a log and a stump. She woke up stiff from head to toe, but after a couple minutes and some stretches, her muscles relaxed. The small girl's wounds had come a long way in healing, and her face was almost normal again. Her ribs still hurt from time to time though.

After waking up, she kept walking, not in any particular direction, but away from any dangerzones. It wouldn't do her any good to go and get herself exploded. Reiko eventually found the ground changing form, her feet sinking slightly into the ground with every step. Once again, Reiko was extremely happy for her boots, preventing any of the moisture from getting through to her feet.

Her adventure continued this way, deeper and deeper into the swamp, testing the ground cautiously with each step. Thankfully she hadn't stepped into anything particularly deep for the moment, though the process was tiring. After a few hours of this, Reiko found a large rock protruding out of the ground. Sitting down on the ground, she assessed her situation. She was running low on supplies. A quarter of stale, molding bread and a half bottle of water was what greeted her for breakfast that day. Taking a sip from the water, she pulled the bread out.

It wasn't so bad. The mould had only just begun, so just by breaking off a piece of that, she was okay. Tossing the mouldy section into the swamp, she chewed on the remaining part, trying her best to keep the stale food down. Reiko watched as some insects began to crawl along the piece she had thrown down, wondering for a moment if any of them were edible. At this rate, she might have to find out soon. Finishing her food, she took another sip of her water before capping it and putting it back into her bag.

A thump.

"Reiko."

((Sarah Xu continued from And Knowledge Itself, is Power.))

"Reiko." The word had no sooner left her mouth than the butterflies in her stomach multiplied by several factors of 10. She kept the rifle trained on her girlfriend's chest, her body feeling tenser than it had in her entire life. A moment ago this had seemed like the smartest course of action, but she was already having her doubts.

She'd gotten to this point without much thinking. She hadn't alerted Bridget, she hadn't stopped to have second thoughts. She needed to know, to see what would happen. Her subconscious seemed to think this was it, one way or the other. If she were going to run, dropping her bag on the ground beside her hadn't been the most logical choice.

She'd planned to read Reiko's thoughts in her face, in her stance, in her reaction to her voice. What she hadn't expected was for Reiko to point a gun straight back at her. Her resolve wavered as fear flashed through her mind, her heart catching in her chest as if attacked by vertigo. For some strange reason this was the last thing she'd expected.

Swallowing hard, she tried to retain her composure, keeping her rifle level despite the mix of terror and helplessness she felt. Barely managing to suppress her tears, she kept her eyes locked with Reiko's. She couldn't think what else to do right then but to keep her guard up, honestly, she wasn't even thinking about that, she was just doing it, her mind was too busy flipping out at the absurd near-death she was experiencing. Regardless, she kept her stance, though the constant shivering wasn't helping.

Reiko needed to say something. No words were coming. What was there to say in this situation? Oh hey Sarah, nice to see you, that's a pretty nice gun, where'd you get it? Oh me, you know, killed a bunch of people, cried a bit, had other people try to kill me because I killed a bunch of people. It was almost as stupid in her head as it would have been out loud.

So instead she said nothing, simply staring into the eyes of her girlfriend. She would not move until she lowered her gun. As much as she wished that it didn't come to this, that she could just run into Sarah's arms and forget the world around her, it just wasn't an option right now.

She gave that up when she woke up.

((Bridget Connolly continued from And Knowledge Itself, is Power))

It took Bridget quite a while to catch up to her companion after she took off for God knows what reason. The redhead couldn't quite keep up with the taller Sarah, falling behind. The fact that her hands were otherwise occupied with holding her new "weapon" didn't help matters.

After burying Mia and paying their respects, Bridget and Sarah spent some time preparing in the infirmary, before deciding to move out to another location. Bridget spent a good portion of that time prying out the nails she had hammered into her wooden board, before re-nailing the board so that the dozen or so nails she had created a circular pattern around one end. Pulling a pair of white tape, she used the entire roll in wrapping up the other end of the board, fashioning a crude sort of spiked club. It wasn't the most sophisticated weapon, but it would do.

Bridget slowed down once the situation became apparent to her. Sarah was holding someone at gunpoint, who was pointing a gun right back. No, not just someone. It was Reiko Ishida. Sarah's girlfriend. Raina's killer. Bridget's target.

If this had happened a day or so before this meeting, Bridget would have already acted. Despite the other girl holding a gun, she would have gone right up to her and attacked her. This was the moment she was waiting for. Finally, she had found her best friend's killer, the one person who she had been pushing herself to find for the last God knows how long.

Things change though. After Mia, Bridget didn't want to kill anyone else. Everything she had been planning until this moment was for nothing. She couldn't bring herself to do anything but stand behind Sarah and watch, despite the seething anger she felt boiling within herself. She would be ready to act if it was needed, but for now, there was nothing she could do.

It was in Sarah's hands now.

Sarah was oblivious to Bridget's presence, her full attention was on the girl in front of her, the one pointing a gun at her, Reiko. She looked terrible, and Sarah couldn't seem to get past that. Any thoughts of blame or justice were quickly slipping from her mind as she started to consider how much the one she loved had suffered.

Regardless of the announcements, regardless of the fact she was aiming a pistol at her, she couldn't see her as a murderer. All she saw was her Reiko, beaten, bruised, hurt, chewed up by 8 days on this fucking island. She wanted her to be happy. That was all she wanted, maybe it was just desperation, clinging to one of the few remnants of her past, wanting so badly to just go back, for none of this to have happened. Maybe she was being stupid, but she didn't fucking care about what had happened. She could forget. God how much she wanted to forget.

She lowered her rifle as she stood crying, its muzzle soon resting against the ground. She couldn't pull the trigger. It wouldn't have made a difference if she had, she'd left the safety on from the beginning.

And if she shoots you? A half-noticed thought asked.

Then none of it meant anything.

Reiko's expression was unchanging except for a brief flick of her eyes to look at the newcomer, who made no motions to do anything. She must have been travelling with Sarah, given that her girlfriend didn't react to her presence. She brought Sarah back into focus, her eyes finding the other girl's again. She looked conflicted.... and sad.

As Sarah lowered her gun, Reiko's hand slowly lowered as well. Finally her expression softened when she saw her love crying. Everything else didn't matter in that moment. The other girl didn't matter. The last eight days didn't matter. All that mattered to her was that Sarah was crying, and she needed to make her feel better.

Reiko took a tentative step towards her girlfriend, looking to see if the red haired girl made any moves. Though she remained watchful, she made no moves to stop her. The small girl took a few more steps towards Sarah, her pistol tumbling out of her hands and landing on the ground between them. Her hands reached out, her once immaculate gloves covered in dirt and blood and grime, torn in various places. No matter how much damage they took, she refused to take them off. They were the last thing she had left of home. These gloves, and this girl in front of her.

The gloved hands found their home on top of Sarah's still holding the rifle. Standing directly in front of the taller girl, Reiko leaned forward, until her forehead was resting on Sarah's chin. It was a pose that they had taken many times before, a funny little reminder of the time they first met. That momentary meeting of those two body parts started off a chain reaction of events that lead them to end up together.

In this moment, it meant so much more to Reiko. It was a reminder of a time of normalcy. When the biggest concern in her life was dealing with yet another concussion. Or sprained ankle. Or her sister's constant scolding her about being more careful. When the most she worried about was Sarah getting upset at her for distracting her from her studies.

In that moment, reunited with her girlfriend, the last loved one she had left in this hellish game, Reiko was content.

With her eyes shut, Sarah tensed for a moment at Reiko's touch, as if it came unexpectedly. But it was the best she could have hoped for, and the reaction passed as quickly as it came. Somehow, being treated compassionately always made her cry more, and so she found herself weeping into Reiko's hair even as a warm smile quickly formed on her face.

Letting the rifle hang loosely from her shoulder, she wrapped her arms around her lover's waist. Holding Reiko close, she felt warm, and that warmth seemed to spread throughout Sarah's body. She'd spent so much time trying to come to terms with having lost her, trying to put their relationship behind her, but now that she'd found her again she never wanted to let go.

She kissed the smaller girl on her forehead, her arm finding its way to Reiko's shoulder as she cuddled her tightly, breathing in the scent of her hair. The familiar smell of citrus was faded, masked by 8 days in the wilderness, but it was still there. Somehow, she found the familiar smell reassuring.

She couldn't believe she'd found her again.

Reiko's mind was a swirl of emotions. All she knew for certain was that she never wanted the moment to end. Wrapped in her girlfriend's arms, her lips on her forehead. Reiko's arms reached out, embracing Sarah as much as she could. After the last week of hell, this was exactly what she needed. Tears welled up on her eyes, and she didn't try to hold them back, letting them make streaks down her face through the dirt and blood and who knows what else besmirching her face.

She felt like she should say something. Anything. And out of all the things she wanted to say, all she could get out was a quiet "I'm sorry."

The mess didn't bother Sarah as she looked down into Reiko's eyes. She was so used to being the one apologising that she wasn't sure what to say. She sniffled for a moment as she decided on a response, settling on a stuttered "It's okay" and a comforting smile. A couple of seconds passed as she stood there in silence. Wanting to say more but unable to find the right words, she just kissed her instead.

Bridget stood a little way away from the happy reunion, watching as the two girls made up for lost time. She couldn't help but smile, despite the fact that one of them was responsible for so much pain. With all her planning for revenge, all this time hating her, she had forgotten that in the end, she was just a scared high-school girl who just wanted to go home. The idea that the person in front of her had lost something much more precious than anyone else on this island had seemed impossible to even consider a few days earlier.

But now it was the only thing that made sense.


------

Sarah opened her eyes slowly, the first thing that filtered into her consciousness was the numbness of her arm and Reiko's sleeping form lying against her, explaining her inability to feel her arm. She attempted to get her arm out from underneath the sleeping form of her girlfriend, causing the girl to stir slightly, but remain asleep. She sighed, laying her head against the stacked clothes she'd used as a makeshift pillow, it seemed like she wasn't getting her limb back for a while.

Groggily, she looked around, for all the good it did, her shitty eyesight letting her percieve little more than a vague, coloured, sunlit haze. Her free arm groped the space above her head, looking for her glasses. She was pretty sure she'd put them up there as her hand searched about. Finally finding them, she haphazardly put them on, bringing the haze into focus.

The world now seeable again, Sarah's next concern was regaining use of her arm. Unfortunately for her, Reiko was pretty deep in slumber. Sarah had the feeling she'd barely slept since their kidnapping... Thinking about it was quickly leading to thoughts of friends she'd lost, though. She tried to distract herself from them through action, shaking Reiko's shoulder with her free hand as she softly murmured her name, as comfortable as the mossy earth felt right now, she could sleep again when they reached shelter.

"Xiǎo Rìběn, okiro..."


___

Reiko stirred again, this time opening her eyes lazily and looking up at Sarah. She wanted to go back to sleep, but when she was aware enough to think about it, she knew rest just wasn't an option right now. So instead she sat up, stretching her arms out and letting out a small yawn.

"Ohayou" Reiko said in a quiet voice, leaning over and kissing the now semi-upright Sarah quickly on the lips.

"Madainn mhath" Bridget added. She sat a few feet away, cradling the rifle in her lap. As the last one to take watch, she'd already been awake for a few hours by then. While her two companions busied themselves with waking up, she went back to watching the area, making sure no one showed up without warning.

The girls finished getting ready, Sarah dolling out barely adequate bits of bread and each drinking a decent amount of water. It was hard to believe that nine days had already passed since they ended up on this island, though the rationing was a solid reminder. And judging by the last announcement, their numbers were getting smaller by the minute.

After eating, the three girls tried to figure out where they should go next. Their original plan had been to keep moving through the swamp and go northwards to the key, to see if they could find anything of use there. However, that was before they'd run into Reiko. Now, Sarah's main concern was to find shelter, maybe somewhere where they could camp out for a bit.

Bridget pulled out her map. It was torn and tattered, but it still served it's purpose. Spreading it out on top of her bag, the girls, mostly Sarah and Bridget, looked it over, trying to determine where to go next.

"Umm, there's the ranger station not too far south... the topology might be a pain though"
"Also, it's just one house, we'd be pretty easy to find. Which would be bad." Reiko looked away as Bridget said this, she couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt at inconveniencing the others.
"So... umm... hmm... maybe just go back to the residential area? There wasn't anything house-like at the sawmill was there? So I guess we hav... we should go back to resi."
"I think that would be best."

Between Sarah's uncertain reaffirmation and Bridget's straightforward agreement, it seemed they'd come to a decision. Back to the residential area, back to warm shelter. Bridget returned the rifle to Sarah, picking up her nail board as she got up to start moving. Reiko's gun was stored in her back pocket, where she planned on keeping it, just in case Reiko began to act up. She may have decided to forgive her, but that didn't mean she was taking any chances.

((Bridget Connolly, Reiko Ishida, and Sarah Xu continued in Revolution))