Survival Of The Fittest

((Ericka Bradley continued from Tempting Fate))


Okay...
Okay...
Okay...
So, ...
Okay... So, the rescuers weren't going to be able to make another pickup.... That wasn't so bad, except for the whole "probably gonna die" thing. Heck, I probably wouldn't have been allowed on the second pickup either. The claim that the escapees were killed was probably bullshit too, but the terrorists are clearly regaining their ability to run this thing so it was back to business as usual, Danya was probably busy leading the counterattack or something. Actually, that brings up a good point, if the rescuers have lost their control over the collars, faced with any further rescue attempts or a potential loss of those controls then they'll probably blow the collars... that... that's not good. I can't risk that happening.


Ericka wandered, deep in thought and occasionally yawning, toward the nearest building she could actually manage to locate. She was still sleepy, and after being awoken from that nap she needed to make sure she found a hiding place before her next one.

She approached the building to the north of the fair, the hall of mirrors according to the map. Something told Ericka that it wasn't the best place for a nap; Maybe it was the smell of death, or maybe it was all the broken glass, or it could have been the fact that it looked like it would fall over in the face of a strong breeze. Whatever it was, Ericka decided that it would be best to give this building a wide berth... and possibly a eulogy, either way she wasn't about to consider going inside.

She circled the building again to make sure she assessed it correctly. Glancing away from the building at a particularly opportune time, she fell back in shock. She had almost walked directly into a hole in the ground. Grabbing her flashlight and positioning herself in order to distribute her weight, Ericka crawled forward to peer into the cavern. It appeared to be part of the tunnel system, and oddly familiar. If it was part of the tunnel complex, then falling down there would be a death sentence, and if it wasn't then falling down there would be inescapable except through death. She crawled back from the edge and put her flashlight away.

((Meredith Hemmings continued from A way a lone a last))

The journey to find Gracie (or what was left of her) was proving to be a rather difficult one, and at times, Meredith wondered if it was an impossible one. Regardless, she decided she would keep her eyes peeled, and if she never came upon Gracie again, it wouldn't be such a loss. It wasn't like she had too many notes written in the Book of Life, and it couldn't be too difficult to secure another notebook. Surely one of the houses in the residential area contained a notebook and some pens or something. Meredith decided to keep that idea as a backup plan, but for now, she would continue to search out Gracie... and make her pay for stealing her precious Book of Life.

But before she continued to search for the girl, Meredith decided to restock a little. Her things were still left behind at the hall of mirrors, and it had been quite a few days since she had last been there. Hopefully her stuff was still there, but in the off-chance that it wasn't, that was okay too. She had left nothing too essential, just some clothing and her personal bag.

Breathing a sigh of relief as the hall came into view, Meredith quickened her pace but stopped short when she realized how drastically things had changed. Numerous bodies littered the front of the yard, and the hall of mirrors looked absolutely destroyed, shattered glass everywhere. It was as if an explosion had occurred, and in the circumstances of Survival of the Fittest, Meredith honestly didn't doubt that there had been an explosion.

Taking a deep breath and holding it as she walked past the bodies (breathing in front of them seemed almost disrespectful, didn't it?) Meredith was mere inches from the hall of mirrors when she heard a sound - soft, pattering footsteps. At first, she wasn't too sure if the sound was coming from the hall itself or the circumference of the building, but upon listening a little closer, Meredith realized that it was coming from the rear of the building. Someone was definitely there, and she was split between walking into the destroyed mirror-house to search for her things, or... make sure the person skulking around the hall wasn't too dangerous. She didn't exactly want to engage in a gunfight with only her staff-thingy as a weapon.

Making her way to the back of the building, she paused as she noticed another girl who seemed quite occupied with something. She didn't look scared or inquisitive, merely... She was definitely looking at something. Was it a body or... Perhaps it was a sign from the Beast himself? Regardless of what it was, Meredith sorta wanted to see herself. So she strode over and pushed past Ericka, staring down at the hole.

It was a hole. At first, Meredith almost wanted to laugh because a hole was nothing to get too excited over, but after realizing what a hole could represent, she wanted to explode with new hopes and ideas! This hole could be the gateway to Hades! Look too long and the arms could drag you down into its depths... Totally scary.

"What do you think this is?" Meredith asked Ericka, paying no mind that she hadn't introduced herself or anything of the sort. She was pretty tired of introducing herself anyway, tired of the eye rolls she received when she announced her name as Pandora Black. No one would understand!

Ericka's displeasure was readily visible. Every time she stopped to do something someone sneaked up on her. She wondered if she was really as unperceptive as she seemed. Of course, that wouldn't matter if everyone who crept up behind her always announced themselves, but she couldn't count on that trend holding up forever.

Ericka rose to her feet, wearing an obviously fake smile. "I have no idea what it is," She lied, "...Do you want to take a look?" Ericka then stepped aside to allow the girl to pass if she wanted to.

Ericka suddenly felt afraid... Going by her previous encounters this would be about the point that someone else showed up. She turned around and eyed the landscape. She saw no one, but she refused to accept that.

"Is there someone there!?" she yelled "Show yourself!"

((Thea Kairos continued from Confiscate the Crown ))

Thea had slowed considerably by the time that the Hall of Mirrors came into sight. She'd started out at a pretty good pace, managed to get herself away from Hayley. It seemed to be a day of memories for her. First where she'd last seen James, and now where she first realized he was gone. Maybe after she cleaned herself she'd go back to the gazebo where she'd run into Charlie. Maybe, she thought to herself. Right now, it was time to stop. Every step she took sent pain shooting through her. She glanced down and frowned at the blood that now covered the shirt she'd just put on a day ago. She focused on the ground in front of her, tuning everything else out. She let out a little gasp of surprise and stopped short when the ground suddenly disappeared.

"Guess this is the spot," Thea mumbled to herself. She dropped her bag on the ground and then with a groan bent down to look for the first aid kit that she knew it contained.

Someone came out of the woods and sat by the hole. Ericka couldn't tell if this new girl heard her yelling or if the timing was coincidence, but she didn't seem to react.

Ericka walked up behind the newcomer and, without a sound, examined her. She seemed to be applying First Aid to herself... In front of a pit that she could easily fall down, and even if she survived her head would blow up because the tunnels are a danger zone.
On the other hand, Ericka wasn't absolutely certain that those were the tunnels down there, there was an easy way to find out, though. Just a little nudge and this bloodsport would be one step closer to ending...

The hands on Thea's back were a surprise and before Thea knew what was happening she found herself falling forwards into the hole in front of her.

((Thea Kairos concluded in The Ultimate Party))

Meredith gave Ericka a sideways glance from the corner of her eye, walking slightly more forward and peering deeper into the hole. It was quite impressive, she had to admit. It wasn't just your average run-of-the-mill hole, or something that a wild animal dug. It really seemed to lead somewhere, and Meredith just knew that it probably lead down into the tunnels where she had been previously. Wow! Very interesting. "It's so dark down there," she commented, staring down at the dark entrance at her feet.

Having had her fill of staring down at dark holes, Meredith took a step back and tried to focus on other things, for example, what to ask Ericka. She would need to ask if the other girl had seen Gracie, but... Ericka was peering behind them, asking if someone was there. Now that Meredith thought about it a bit, the air did seem rather tense, as if it held something slightly menacing, bad energies. Something bad was going to happen, and Meredith wasn't sure if she wanted to stick around and see.

That's when a girl came into view, and Meredith recognized her as Thea. She was ridiculously close to the hole but hadn't quite noticed them yet, mostly paying attention to the first-aid kit that she had grasped in her clutches. It was around this time that Meredith realized she had seen Thea before... and all of her anger came flooding back.

Before Meredith went searching for Gracie, she had been searching for Thea! Thea and her bitch-friend kicked her clothes in the river and said some terrible, terrible things! Oh, Meredith had a few choice words for Thea, why...

However, her anger was short-lived and was quickly replaced by fear as Ericka came up behind Thea and pushed her down the curious hole. Meredith quickly forgot the hatred she felt towards Thea and looked from the hole to Ericka, back to the hole and up at Ericka, fear and surprise obvious in her eyes.

"Wh-What did you do that for?!" she exclaimed, running to the edge of the hole. She thought better of this action (realizing that Ericka may push her too), so she backed up a few steps and listened carefully. "Th-Thea?! Can you hear us?" But all Meredith could hear was a distinct beeping, low and quiet from way beneath the earth. Oh god. The tunnels were a danger zone, and this hole surely lead directly there.

"Why the hell would you do that? Why did you push Thea into Hades? Did the Beast instruct you to do such a thing?" Meredith accused, lips pursed and eyes narrowed.

This kill didn't feel the same as the others, something was off...

The other girl started panicking as Ericka rose to her feet.

"Why did I do it?" Ericka responded, her voice was deceptively calm but it wasn't difficult to read her look of unease. "Because I don't want to-... " She stopped and tried to collect her thoughts, but it wasn't proving easy. "It doesn't matter, by now you've probably figured out that I'm 'playing' and that reduces our options."

Ericka drew her gun from it's holster and pointed it at the other girl.

"Goodbye."

((All godmodding approved))

Meredith stared at Ericka as if she were speaking an entirely different language. "Because you don't... want to do what?" she asked, watching the other girl carefully. She was calculating a proper response, Meredith could tell, but did she really care much about what this psycho killer had to say? It was a good idea to just leave now. Simply turn away and leave. But she didn't. Her feet felt frozen, and she found herself wanting to hear what Ericka had to say. She wanted to hear an explanation. That death was so.. so sudden!

Meredith could view herself pushing Thea down that hole, yeah, she wasn't exactly fond of that girl, but Ericka...? Had they had a past too? "Playing along with the Beast's game? Typical. Probably think you're something special, but the Beast doesn't fancy you anymore than the other pawns. You'll be dead soon enough.. You think you're a clever killer. Not so clever at all, really. Do you even have a weapon? Holes don't conveniently appear, ya know. You can't just push people into them whenever you waaaaa- That's a gun."

Meredith's voice died in her throat, and she felt her hands raise up. "Alright, you do have a gun. Well, uh... I know you're playing the game and stuff, but there isn't much of a reason to kill me. I'm more of a messenger.. Just going about my business and collecting notes from the students to send back home to their loved ones... If you killed me, your loved ones would never get your message. You wouldn't want that, right?"

Jesus Christ! It happened so quickly. Meredith saw Ericka pull the trigger, and there was a deafening bang. She didn't remember the details, everything happening in almost a blur, but before she knew it, she was sprawled out on the grass. She checked her body and ran a hand across her arms and legs, but there were no scrapes or bullet holes. It had missed her. Thank the holy spirits.

Meredith took this as her cue to leave, or lest be shot at again. Gathering her things, she passed a puzzled face in Ericka's direction and ran off into the distance. She definitely didn't want to be shot at again, her heart had almost stopped the first time!

((Meredith Hemmings continued in The Golden Treehouse))

The other girl went on and on about how Ericka must think she's special or whatever. Ericka had heard similar arguments among the few scenes of past games she'd actually watched, the argument was desperate and one-sided. Ericka didn't think she was special, she just turned the argument around. The fact that everyone on the island was equal isn't a reason to stop playing, it's a motivator, in fact the set up requires it.

Ericka pulled the trigger and her opponent fell back. More dumb luck? Ericka moved around the hole to pick up her bag and was surprised when the girl got up and ran past her. Ericka was to much of an amateur to hit a moving target without time to aim, heck, she was lucky to hit some of her stationary targets.

Ericka still needed to find somewhere where she'd remain undisturbed for a long enough time to get some sleep.

((Ericka Bradley continued in Don't Let The Bedbugs Bite))