Survival Of The Fittest

((Ivan Kuznetsov continued from Maria Grahams' series of unfortunate events))

They had finally left the ghost town behind them, hopefully never to return. Too many memories found themselves lodged within the walls of those cookie-cutter abodes, none of which seemed to be positive. Clio had found them there for their final showdown, Maria had died right in Tabi's arms and broke the girl's heart, and Imraan dragged every nightmare kicking and screaming to the surface of Ivan's mind. He was done with that place.

He and Tabi hadn't stopped running until the suburban landscape gave away to the familiar darkened woods, shading the ground below the canopy and offering an ambience that tried to at least be a little soothing. However, the woods that the two ran through were a far cry from the forest they had camped out in a few days before. They probably hadn't even run for a full minute after entering the woods before Ivan noticed the density of trees getting thinner. Rather, the density of uncut trees.

When they stopped running, they were no longer in an actual living forest. Heaving in a pitiful attempt to catch his breath and slow his heartbeat, Ivan turned himself around and saw nothing but stumps and some stacked logs. Before he could so much as comment on this, the pain in the higher regions of his stomach forced their way up his throat, causing him to double over and gag.

This accomplished nothing more than a few painful sessions of dry heaving, after which Ivan groaned and collapsed onto a large stump, reaching to the bag that he had dropped just a foot away. "Gotta... get some water in us or something... I think we lost them."

What they had lost, of course, was six feet and eight inches of terribly misguided 'justice': Imraan Al-Hariq. It became clear he wasn't going to leave them alone by choice, but IVan was a fast runner. Tabi, luckily, had proven to be just as quick... that's why she was still alive right now.

She was why they were both still alive right now, and he could not let himself forget that.

"Where... where the fuck did that come from?" Ivan asked as he pulled out a canteen of water. "Back there... you know."

((Tabi Gweneth continued from Maria Graham's Series of Unfortunate Events))

Tabi's chest was still rapidly pounding as her heart struggled to slow itself to a respectable pace. There were many times in St.Paul where she would welcome this sensation with open arms. It had meant that she had gone of a very long skate, or she had danced to her heart's content while on her beloved roller blades. However, as far as she knew they were thousands of miles away from her. There were more important things to worry about anyways, such as the distance between Imraan and where they were now.

It was a dreary place, an area that clearly was once forest. A disturbingly quiet place, with no peeps from any birds nearby, if there were any left on this island anyways. Branches and logs were strewn apart as if a tornado had passed through the area with little regard or remorse for what it had taken away. Finding a balanced place to stand was a struggle as the uneven ground was loose and the debris resembled an obstacle course that she had to navigate.

She took a seat on the carcass of a barkless oak tree and after a few seconds of wheezing, found stale air passing into her lungs. She placed her arms onto her lap and leaned forward, staring down at the ground watching beads of sweat seep over her nose and fall to the ground. Strands of wet hair dangled in the air like string blowing in the wind.

Her entire face felt hot with sticky sweat that had dried over the course of several days. The last time she had bathed was when she soiled herself back on day one, back when she had first met Ivan. Even now with what had happened, she was still embarrassed about it, she blamed it on the cameras. If only she could bathe.

Ivan was holding out as well as she was when Tabi finally lifted her head to look at him. He was gasping as much as Tabi was right now and she could only imagine that his legs were feeling the same tingling sensation that she was feeling right now. His glasses were fogged up with breath and his shirt clung tightly to his chest, causing Tabi to glance down at her own and blush at the same drenched shirt.

"Gotta... get some water in us or something... I think we lost them."

Tabi frowned as Ivan turned to dig into his pack for water. It was true, that when she turned around for the first time when they made it to the woods, Imraan was still nowhere to be found. There was a fear though, that any minute now, Imraan would come out from the trees and attempt to finish what he had started back in the cottage. Was it unlikely? Probably, but that still didn't stop her from choosing to sit facing the woods where the giant would come out of if he was. Ivan has his back to the forest, something that worried Tabi greatly, but for the moment she stayed silent and grabbed her own canteen from her backpack.

"Where... where the fuck did that come from? Back there... you know."

Tabi found herself staring intently at the bottle, taking the opportunity to screw the cap off and on repeatedly.

"Well, he was going to- he was going to kill you. And I mean you've saved me so many times I-"

Her gaze lifted back up to Ivan. Despite her attempts to find better answers, nothing else came to her. Ivan didn't deserve to die, plain and simple and in her haste to stop it, she was able to rescue him.

She opened up the cap one more time and sipped from the bottle. She had wanted to just dump the contents of the container all over her to remove the icky feeling that coated her, but she needed this water it was starting to run low. She sighed and closed the container stuffing it into her backpack.

" I had to do something. So I just did it, you know?"

Even though it was just a simple answer, and the one that Ivan had come to expect from her, he was still very glad to have heard it. His body felt like it was running on empty after having to struggle for his life once more, and in more ways than one. He was hungry and still somewhat thirsty even after having that water, but his tank of willpower had started to run low as well.

At least, it was, until Tabi filled it up like this as she was apt to do. It was for her, after all, that Ivan kept putting himself through hell and facing freaks like Clio and Imraan when one bullet to his own head could've ended this charade days ago. Even so, as he had recently discovered, there was more to this - what the two of them had - than just his unkillable drive to keep Tabi safe.

As he looked back at the girl who sat across from him, he took in just how much of a different person he was looking at now. Maybe she didn't know it, and maybe he didn't quite have the bravery to say it yet, but she was so much stronger than he was at times. He took a longer look at her, noting her form. He knew next to nothing about who Tabi Gweneth was before all of this, but she might've been an athlete of some sort. As slight as her build was, it still had some nice tone, wonderful shape, and the way her shirt stuck to her chest like that-

What the fuck am I doing!?

His gaze had rested for just a little too long there, so Ivan quickly picked up his eyes to Tabi's and prayed his glasses had done enough of a job obscuring them. "U-uh... hey, Tabi..." he started, trying to break some awkward silence. "Tell me... you play any sports back home? Anything?"

If I learn more about you, I can forget this hell for a little while.

The weapon that he still clutched in his hand had been heated by his tight grip on it, but even then it wasn't hard to imagine the former coldness of the metal. He had a gun, but Tabi did not. She might not like it, but she would need something to protect herself in the event they had no other choice. If he were to be incapacitated again, it would be up to her to save him yet again. He hated to have to put Tabi through killing somebody, but if they were going to see this spectacle through to the end, well...

They'd have to do some things they wouldn't like.

"Hey..." Ivan added, rummaging through the daypack. "You're not going to like this, but hang onto..." He pulled out the other of Clio's guns, not daring to look Tabi in the eye as he did so. He didn't want to see the expression on her face, lest he not arm her at all. And he needed to.
"This. Just... hang onto it in case anything happens, okay?" He held it out.

(Imraan Al-Hariq continued from Maria Graham's Series of Unfortunate Events)

He was in pursuit.

He had not rushed after Ivan and Tabi, hadn't sprinted after them in a total rage. No, Imraan had paced himself, moved steadily after them, not tired himself out.

That did not mean Imraan had been slow. 'Slow' wasn't the right word. 'Unhurried' didn't quite work either. Perhaps 'deliberate' fit the situation best. He had moved deliberately, confident that his strength, his endurance, and his long stride would catch up with Ivan and Tabitha in due time. And if he didn't? He would refocus, and turn his attention to the next killers that crossed his sight.

For the first time since awakening, Imraan was feeling an actual sense of peace about himself. Here he was, in this situation, finally doing the absolute best he could to do the right thing. His moment to prove himself would come, sooner or later, and he would do just that, he was sure of it.

There they were.

He raised the shotgun and fired, once, from a distance.

Tabi Gweneth leaned back, waiting for Ivan to respond. Words filled her head, clamouring for her to speak them, but never making their way out in the open. She found herself opening and closing her mouth over and over as he stared at his shoes. Ivan looked back up and her lips became sealed.

When she thought about it, Tabi couldn't help but feel like she still owed something to him. He seemed grateful for the fact that she had saved his life, yet it paled in comparisson to what he had done for her. How many times had she almost died? Four times? Five? She had lost count. Every time though, Ivan saved the day. Life went on.

Until the next time she got in trouble. Then it would start all over again.

"U-uh... hey, Tabi..."

Tabi shook her head, clearing away the thoughts that had locked her in catatonia. Ivan was flushed. Why was he flushed? Had he caught her frowning? Was it something else? She couldn't see behind the glasses.

"Tell me... you play any sports back home? Anything?"

Such an odd question. A question that yielded a smile. They never really talked about life at home while on the island. Well, at least her life. She knew that Ivan had a brother, but she had never said anything about her own life. There was never any time.

She folded her hands together and sighed. Home, what was home like for her Mom and Dad right now? Back home they always watched TV together. They would catch the Sunday movie, watch some primetime shows. She had a feeling that they were still watching that TV now. But these days, she doubted that they were watching Grease.

Tabi knew it was better to not worry about what they had thought about what she had done, but it was hard. In the span of ten days she had wet herself, watched Ivan murder Keith, stripped naked (albiet hiding away from Ivan when she did it, which meant one less person out of a million others), been shot at, killed someone, fallen in love with Ivan, watched Maria die in her arms and now save the man she loved from Imraan. In her mind she was a terrible person, she had been a load on Ivan, and when she tried to help others, they died. Even now, Ivan had just barely gotten away, he was almost killed because of her.

"Hey..."

Tabi raised her head up to Ivan's.

"You're not going to like this, but hang onto..."

It was then that Tabi remembered the pistol in Ivan's hands. Its metalic sheen was dull now lacking that brightness that she had always seen in the movies. Was this the gun she had used before? She couldn't remember.

"This. Just... hang onto it in case anything happens, okay?"

Tabi hesitated. She had already fired a gun once, and she didn't want to do it again. What she had already done was terrible and now she was labeled as a killer. She didn't want to be labeled again.

But, she thought about what Ivan had just done. It was a sign of trust, faith in her to keep herself safe, to keep them both safe. She gulped and streached out her arm.

She still owed Ivan...

Taking the gun in her hands, she could feel the sticky sweat on the handle. It felt like an adhesive as she gripped the handle. It was light. She remembered it being heavier once. Or was that her memories playing up on her?

After a few silent minutes of staring she found herself smiling. As if the loadstone around her neck had been lifted. She wouldn't be a damsel in distress now. The two of them could mutually protect each other.

"I uh, didn't join any spo-"

Bang

Ten days on the island had told her what that sound was. It was a gunshot. She didn't feel like she had been hit and thankfully it didn't look like Ivan had either. She stood up and looked straight towards the trees.

Tabi was right. She didn't want to be right.

Appearing from the forrest was the lanky Imraan Al-Hariqq, shotgun in hand. He was moving closer towards them. He was coming into range. They had to get away from him, get away from that gun.

"Run!"

Tabi took Ivan's hand and pulled him up to his feet. She then turned away and ran, trying to find the easiest path to travel amongst the debris of the forest. They had to lose him.

She was smiling. These days, that was the best Ivan could hope for at times. It came as a relief that she smiled after he handed her the gun, something that he would have expected to extinguish any happiness in her face rather than spark it. Now, though... now it seemed they were finally on the same page. He would keep her alive like he had been doing, and she would keep him alive.

At least until it came time for one of them to die so the other could live.

If it's just the two of us...

No, he shouldn't have thought about that. Now was not the time for thinking about that; his strategy had been simply to live day to day, and he only had to modify that slightly when Tabi stopped being his meatshield and became his girlfriend. Actually having a girlfriend... it sounded so weird when he repeated it to himself in his head, that he was now basically 'going out' with Tabi. He would have never dated anybody in Bayview, let alone the spunky skater who likely would've annoyed him back then. Back then when he was somebody else.

Ivan was musing to himself about how poor of a choice the island would be for a date when Tabi began to speak up about sports. She had time to respond in the negative before yet another explosion tore through their day, and Ivan's mind became lost in the storm. At first, his hand flew up to his chest, feeling expectantly for the spatter of blood as proof that somebody had finally claimed him. Out of carelessness, he had let himself be killed, and Tabi would be next to pay the price for his failure.

Ivan looked down to the hand that he turned palm-up. No blood.

"RUN!" Ivan heard Tabi scream, and he didn't need to be told twice. His gun remained clenched in his left hand, and his right hurriedly fetched the bag at his side and threw it over his shoulder. He winced in pain when the weight set just a bit too hurriedly... another thing to worry about later when there wasn't the imminent threat of being murdered. Survival mode was kicking in again: Lungs went into overdrive, the adrenaline surged through his muscles, and his brain resumed screaming the signal to 'GO GO GO!'

During the first few steps of his takeoff, Ivan looked behind him to see who their pursuer was, and couldn't believe what he saw. There was just... no way.

"No fucking way..." he uttered, then repeated the phrase louder in exasperation. When was Imraan going to quit?

Don't answer that, Ivan. Just... don't.

Ivan stayed on Tabi's tail, praying that they could shake the man's conviction before somebody had to die.

(I am extremely sorry. Please go ahead and post for Ivan and Tabi, you can GM Imraan however you choose)

Tabi found herself glancing behind her for only a second, but to her relief Ivan was following he footsteps. There was no direction to her movements. Just a desire to be anywhere else but here.

Despite her attempts to avoid it, Tabi found herself getting caught by the debris on the ground below her. The cuts stung, but the pain was nothing in comparisson to the sheer complaint coming from her legs. Her legs were straining to keep her going after who knew how many miles.

But there was no way she could stop herself now.

Tabi looked ahead of her and saw that they were climbing up a small hill, on top of it a fallen log. Another glance behind her saw that Ivan was keeping pace. But Imraan wasn't far behind them, his shotgun still in his hands. Turning her head back, she urged herself up the hill and leapt over the fallen oak, momentum being the only thing that propelled her down the small incline.

A loud cry from behind her almost cause her to lose her balance as she stopped. Whiping her head back she saw Ivan laying there on the top of the hill. Tabi's body went cold. Had he been shot? There was no sound of gunfire? Did she miss it?

He was moving still, but was struggling to get on his feet. Tabi heard another boom in the distance, Imraan must have tried to shoot him again.

Tabi's lips curled down, her right hand squeezing the handle of her gun. She turned to her hand and looked at the weapon in her hand and then back to Ivan.

Without a word, she bolted up the hill and up to Ivan's body. He was alive, but Imraan was now closing in to the hill. Gritting her teeth, she pointed her gun out towards him. She just needed to create some distance between them.

She pulled the trigger multiple times. Hearing three little pops that nearly deafened her.

The moment moved fast. Imraan had dived to hide behind another fallen stump. She didn't hit him, and for that she was thankful.

Tabi quickly crouched down, hiding herself from Imraan's view. She turned to Ivan and extended out a hand, which he accepted.

"Come on. We have to get out of here!"

What did he fall on?

He had been so dazed from the fall, filled with the incredible and animalistic drive to get away from Imraan, and preoccupied by the need tp keep Tabi in his sights that nothing felt wrong until he felt his chin dig into the earth.

Here's right behind me... get up! GET UP!

Panic had wormed its way into Ivan's mind, and now his mind had been drowned in it. His arms scrambled to pull him up, but the weight of the daypack that had landed on top of him was too much to move with his uncoordinated and flailing attempts to get to his feet. Imraan would be coming any second, just waiting to get in range.

Images of the shotgun flashed through Ivan's mind, followed by a recollection of what happened. There was a log that Tabi cleared. It was right over the top of the hill, he hadn't seen it and now because of his folly, both he and Tabi were in more danger than ever.

Just as Ivan finally managed to tuck an arm underneath of him, both arms clamped over his head when three deafening shots rang out just over his head. Almost as immediately as his right arm had done this, a hiss escaped his lips and it tucked under his body again. This time, though, it was not to support him... instead, it was to try and cope with the burning pain that suddenly re-emerged along his upper arm. Was it the same cut from before, or had he been shot again? He knew that he needed to clear his mind and face, unless he wanted to wind up dead.

Get up. Don't die. Where the hell is...

A hand had reached down in front of him and before he knew it, he was grabbing on with his right hand, his left still clutching the gun. One of his only lifelines, and thus a chance for survival, was in that hand; he couldn't risk losing something like that. But as Tabi pulled him off the ground, Ivan was reminded that the most important thing keeping each of them alive was the other. Even if they were supposed to-

"Come on! We have to get out of here!" Ivan couldn't think of a more satisfying time to hear that voice.

"No shit!" he instinctively replied, his words less sweetened by his gratitude at the stupid... but brave thing Tabi just did, and more bittered by the searing pain that stewed in his arm. Nonetheless, he gave an affirming squeeze of her hand before letting go, stumbling a few steps down the hill until he hastened into a run. "Let's go, let's go!!"

As he and Tabi ran, Ivan allowed her to run ahead once more and slowed his pace, craning his neck and shoulder to spray a few rounds over the hill that they came over. He couldn't even see Imraan, let alone hit him, but maybe it would give them the few seconds of suppression they needed to get the hell out of here.

"

Tabi nodded in response. She popped her head above the hill for just a second. Imraan was getting on his feet. Their eyes locked upon each other for just a second. The look in Imraan's eyes chilled her with the sheer determination in them. His will silently screamed out to her. He was the predator.

They were prey.

Tabi stepped backwards, lip curling. Without a word, she scrambled down the hill. Ivan already had a head start on her and was already starting to shrink in the distance. Like the beacon he had become, Tabi chased after him.

She found herself ignoring the very logs that had tripped her love up. Tripping over logs, stumbling over small rocks, she was able to maintain her balance, but with each mistep her heart skipped. There was a lack of air in her lungs. She was heaving, pleading for just a small drop so that she could run another five steps.

Tabi was sure she was hearing gunshots from behind her, but it may as well have been white noise to her now. She hadn't been shot, and that was enough for her to reach a second wind. She looked up and saw that she was gaining on Ivan. Her head turned back and she saw that Imraan was still following them, but at a distance. She wanted to smile, they had gotten away again, but there was a fear.

Those eyes...

Tabi's gaze returned to Ivan and to where they were headed. It seemed fimiliar...

She had been there before...

((Tabi Gweneth and Ivan Kuznetsov continued elsewhere))

[Placeholder ahoy!]

Imraan took off after them

(Imraan Al-Hariq continued in Panic Attack)