Survival Of The Fittest

((Cody Patton continued from Rebellion))

Cody, Rose and Mike had been able to slowly make their way across the island without killing each other over the course of a day and two whole nights. It offered little humor, but Cody considered that something of a feat. He and Rose hadn't willingly interacted since... well, even now they weren't really willingly interacting so much as they were dumped in the same location. But they were getting along under a decent amount of pressure, so he supposed that counted. Mike was a central and neutral anchor in the trio, offering his piece if Cody and Rose differed.

That sort of thing didn't come up a lot, because there was little discussion as they traveled an unbeaten path from the greenhouse. There hardly seemed to be anything over here, which pegged Cody as safe and dangerous all at once. Such a rural location could easily house those who could attack them, while also serving as an unlikely home for anybody to start with.

Everything as it stood was just pointless planning without experience. Night had fallen not too long after the group left the area (identified as the 'Homestead' on the map one of them had bothered to check). That first night was miserable, unexpected and with little preparation for them to handle it. The only saving's graces were that it didn't rain, and that they weren't eaten by a bear or something stupid like that. The day after it saw them traveling a little slower, Cody suggesting they grab branches or the like to prepare a temporary shelter. He had seen kids make a lean-to n the park once, some sort of survivalist project. He had never made one himself.

He still hadn't made one, as they used the wood they had gathered to fuel a fire instead. Firemaking wasn't exactly second nature, but it was something Cody had marginal experience with thanks to time spent with his father. Dad was always into the roughneck stuff more than his city mother (or sister, for that matter). Leaves made good tinder, sticks served as kindling and the branches were good fuel once snapped over a knee. Cody's knee was a tad bit bruised from the repeated pressure of snapping branches over it to fit the fire pit, but he could still walk none-worse for wear. They were all able to at least sleep with some warmth.

The fire pit was long behind them deep in the woods. Strange noises and general paranoia had wrested them from their sleep early in the morning, before the sky was truly lit. It was the peak of dawn when they had entered an area that the map called the northern coast. The other way would have contained some sort of amusement park. Cody didn't feel amused.

The morning was bright and full when he found it.

Cody Patton stared down at the corpse of what was once one of his classmates. His name, when he was still a person, was Luca. Kind of a weird kid, but a good one. They played baseball together. Sometimes, if anybody would hear the guy out, he'd spout some weird theories about the government or terrorists or stuff. Now, he did nothing more than lay on the ground in a terribly unnatural position, eyes open. His bag as with him, a few feet away with the strap snapped. It was an awful thought, but the thought of looting him for this things flashed through Cody's mind.

He said nothing, but only stared as the full reality of the situation seeped into his bones. Who had killed Luca? When? When those damn 'announcements' played, Cody had paid the fullest attention to see if any of his friends or his sister were listed. He figured he would remember Luca. Maybe. Was he there?

He'd wait for Mike to say something. Mike would know what to say. Mike would know what to do.

((Rose Matheson continued from Rebellion))

Will you just fucking talk to him already?

Rose kept asking herself this question during the awkward day or so camping in the woods with Cody and Michael. Technically, she was talking to Cody. They had exchanged a line or two of small talk from time to time, with Rose asking Cody if he needed any help and Cody refusing, with Rose intuiting that since he had the gun, he could carry the three of them all by himself. So Rose spent much of the camping time feeling like dead, expendable weight. She'd talked to Michael a bit more, but nothing significant occurred in that conversation. Really, what the fuck could she say in this situation?

A part of her really wanted to talk to Cody again about just what went wrong with them, and what they could possibly have done differently. Hell, Rose barely knew how they got interested in each other to begin with. The arguments they shared squatted in her memory, not letting anything else edge out her attention.

Just as she was getting sick of her emotions and decided to bite the bullet and ask Cody some potentially aggravating questions about what the fuck they were doing with their lives before they knew they'd die so soon, Cody found someone else. Or should she say, a former someone else. Rose didn't recognize the guy, but on a wild guess based on his body type she assumed he was another athletic student.

She walked up to Cody, looking pained, apprehensive and uncomfortable like some asshole tied a knot in her small intestine. "Is it... is it anyone we know?" she asked him. There had been so many deaths on the announcements that she was starting to lose track of them all.

"Luca."

Mike felt like he should know what to say, what to do. He'd thought he would, in all that time tramping through the woods with Cody and Rose, almost able to forget they were on murder island and not on some camping trip where everyone was super stressed and not sure what the hell they were doing. He'd told himself how Tom would handle the situation, tried to think like him and Dad, tried to keep a cool head, going over what they could do in his mind. He'd tried to look at it like a boxing match, he does X and I do Y, until I find an opening for the knockout punch.

He'd looked at it that way for a while, but then he saw Luca, riddled with holes at the bottom of the zipline. At first he couldn't even look, squeezing his eyes shut a moment and tuning out the forest around him, the lump of flesh before him that had once been human. He hadn't known Luca super well, but aside from his conspiracy ramblings the baseball player had always seemed to be good people.

Mike used to question the kid's taste in sports. Hell of a thing to remember about someone, but at least he did remember. If you remembered the dead were people, not just names, not just featureless lumps of flesh, then the bastards couldn't win.

Never, ever let the bastards win, Mike. He was sure that's what Dad would say, and he couldn't help agreeing. But he still wasn't sure what to say or what to do, so he walked over, each leaf or blade of grass crunched underfoot sounding like a gunshot, took a knee and closed Luca's eyes. It seemed like the thing to do, even if the smell forced him to hold his breath for a second.

"It's shitty, but we'll have to look through his pack and see what we can use. He doesn't need it any more, and we do - he'd forgive us if he were still here."

He hoped to God that was true.

"Yeah, I..." Cody ran his fingers over the top of his head, gripping tightly at his scalp. Barring a funeral he went to as a young child, he had never seen a dead body before. This was nothing like that time in the funeral home, crying over grandma. She almost looked to be sleeping, but Luca... Luca was nothing like that. He looked broken and twisted, almost as though he could be crying for help. His eyes were open in a half-lidded and dead stare.

The eyes, Cody decided, were what bothered him the most. He had to look away, turn past Mike and Rose and simply look away.

"That makes sense," Cody responded to Mike's request. "See what he's got on him." He tried to keep his voice impersonal, cold. He didn't dare look at Rose to confirm just how miserable he was failing at the moment. The stress from two days ago hadn't gone away. If anything, spending time on this rock, trapped against his own will in this sick 'game' was a one-way street as far as his stress level was concerned.

He left Mike to do whatever searching needed to be done. The pack was still nearby, so there was a very good chance that Luca had left them some food and water to help them survive, and possibly even a spare weapon that Mike or Rose could hold. They could gear up to survive. Survive to what end? If only one of them was getting out of this alive, what was the point of building up a big and strong group again? The more Cody thought about it, the more everything unraveled. He chose simply not to think about it.

Cody turned to say something to Rose. Something that could distract her just as much as it could distract himself, maybe something a little angry sounding with the way his day was going. He never got to say it when a piercing screech of audio equipment sounded, accompanied by a voice.

It was the announcements, and they proceeded to play to a captive audience. Cody simply looked up and listened in silence.

((Cooper Komorowski continued from Steadier Footing))

Cooper trudged along, wrapped up in his own thoughts and misery.  He had been alone since leaving Oscar and Zoe behind with Andi and Gray.  At first it hadn't been noticeable difference since neither one of them had been much of a talker, but the silence slowly wore on him.  At one point, he had almost turned back but there was no way he was going to creep back to any group with that bitch Andi it in so she could gloat and dis him some more.

Even if being alone for two nights and day made him twitchy and exhausted. And jump at almost every noise.  And cry a little bit since no one was around to see or hear him.  He rolled his neck in an effort to give himself some relief from the aches and pains plaguing him.  

Last night had seemed like an eternity, not terribly cold but uncomfortable in both body and spirit.  His initial hopes of a quick rescue had been dashed as the reality of their situation set in.  Cooper that thought that some people would kill, buy into the scenario that they had all been forced into.  But he had never expected so many people to embrace it like they obviously had.  Their third morning here and already there were almost two dozen dead.  

All that was required was one a day.  Instead, they were averaging something like ten a day.

Cooper shook his head, feeling slightly nauseous at the thought.  He still hadn't found Paulo or any of his regular group of friends, but on the plus side, none of them had been killed either.  So they were still out there, maybe in the same boat as him.

He had been following the zipline up the mountain as best he could.  He didn't know why, but it seemed like it was a good place to head for.  As he neared the top, he spotted a group of people.  Maybe it was Paulo, Kyran, or someone else he knew.  Cooper picked up his pace as he neared them.  "Hey guy," he called out, announcing his presence.  "Is it cool if I come hang out for a little while?"

He hung back a reasonable distance.  No sense getting too close or bum rushing anybody since they were looking about as strung out as he felt.  It was in everyone's best interest to keep things as chill as possible.

((Eliza Patton continued from Leap of Faith))

Eliza cursed her stupidity as she trudged back through the forest to the zipline platform. Why couldn't she have zipped up her bag before running off? Now she had to go back and try to find what spilled out. She sighed as she walked, pausing occasionally to pick up a protein bar or a bottle of water.

After several minutes of walking, she arrived at the platform itself. Squinting against the bright sunlight, she could make out a group of people standing around. As she got closer, she started to make out their faces. Damn it.

Cody was there, with some of his asshole friends. His ex girlfriend was there too. What, were they trying to get back together again?

Eliza sighed. She couldn't turn back now. They had likely already seen her, so she had might as well go in, get the rest of her stuff and leave before things got too ugly. Reflexively clutching her rifle, she moved toward the tower, walking slowly to avoid attracting too much notice. It's not like they knew that she was killing yet, right?

As she had reached the base of the tower, a noise distracted her. It was the crackle of a loudspeaker.

Shit.

Luca, his name was. Rose thought she'd heard of him before, though she couldn't remember actually meeting him. He was a guy who played baseball and had a reputation for rattling off old conspiracies. Not much for Rose to go on in terms of a personality. Maybe she should have talked to him while she still had the chance.

Now he just sat there, rotting and unnerving the living people around him. Cody refused to make eye contact with anyone and Mike had to rationalize taking the dead guy's supplies. Of course they could take his stuff. He's dead. He couldn't possibly need it, and he'd want people who could actually use it to use it. Unless he was an asshole when he was alive, and if that was the case, who gave a fuck what he thought? So she stepped aside to let him get to work, only getting in the way to close Luca's eyes. No wonder Cody was creeped out with them staring at him like that.

Just as it looked like Cody was about to break the ice between them for her, she heard the sound of feedback, heralding the announcements. Two days down, however more to go. She felt ever so exuberant. Lucky her. She sighed and listened to the names on the announcements, not really paying attention, but then she saw new people. One was this guy she met once or twice who was rumored to be a hell of a polka player, for what little that was worth. But the other? None other than Cody's sister and a mostly awesome chick, Eliza!

"Oh hey!" she said to Eliza, briefly perking up. "You're still alive! Cool!" Was that really the best thing she could say to Eliza? She sure as hell didn't look happy to see any of the people here, not even Rose. They'd had a good social meeting or two together, though Rose thought she considered Eliza a friend more than Eliza considered Rose a friend. Eliza was too hip and with it to get attached to her, apparently.

Rose hoped that aloofness hadn't translated into Eliza considering her expendable. Her smile cracked a bit.

So there he was, picking through Luca's things like an oversized vulture so their little group would have enough to keep living just a bit longer, when someone came crashing through the trees. He'd barely had a second to recognise the figure, Eliza the annoying-as-shit sister, when the world was mechanical squealing and Danya's voice again to remind them of the fact they were all going to die. That everyone could be a killer.

...That Eliza Patton was the reason a conspiracy theorist baseball player who'd never hurt anyone in his life was very dead. She had a gun and she'd already decided the best way to deal with this was to become exactly the kind of animal these people wanted her to be. Well, shit.

He couldn't get them out of this one just by punching really hard, could he? Michael kept his palms facing Eliza, no threat, as he rose from his knees, packs half-filled.

"Hey, we were just looking for you."

The sounds of the announcements had Cody's attention elsewhere. When his 'partners' said something, if that word were even loosely applicable in this situation, it took a few seconds to figure out they weren't talking to him. His eyes snapped down to the face of... no, the face didn't matter. There was a person that Cody hadn't spotted and it made him jump out of his skin. He needed to be more aware, or else he could end up...

Luca's face. That was never getting out of his mind, was it? He stared on, and tried to replace that face with the newcomer's. Cooper's. It didn't work, but it was nice to see a friendly face. Cody took a few steps towards him, holding off a response until the announcements stopped.

That's when Rose walked towards somebody else that came into view. Cody turned to look, and this time he immediately recognized who she was.

"Eliza?" His sister was alive. His sister was alive. There were no particularly poignant feelings of relief or joy or excitement attached to the words yet, just a fact and nothing more. They had, however, done worlds to eliminate the creeping feeling in his gut that maybe, during one of these days of hell, somebody had found the time in their schedule to kill his older sister.

Cody's attention fell completely off of Cooper as he went to say something to his sister. Maybe they didn't get along a whole bunch, but they were family. He wanted to look out for her.

That's when he heard her name, and it wasn't Rose saying it.

"... off a small hill and Eliza Patton shot Luca Johanssen who then plummeted..."

The feeling, the fear was back, and in a new gut-wrenching flavor. The emotions held in Eliza's face took on a whole new feeling for him, having lost control of his own expression in the haze of it all. If only he could pretend he hadn't heard it right, could play it off as a lie. Something about this... about all of this was wrong. Just plain wrong, and any attempt to wrap his head around the whole thing dropped a wall between his thoughts and the mental road.

He had to ask, as dumb a question as it was. As terrifying as his sister's face seemed right now, as horrible as the constant flashes to Luca's where.

"Sis... what the hell did you do?"

If things had been tense before, Cooper didn't even know how to describe the levels of stress around these people as the announcement concluded.  Cody's sister Eliza had killed someone.  Eliza was standing right there and was apparently bff with the chick in Cody's group, based on the other girl's reaction.  Cody was watching his sister in an intense way that seemed to scream danger, and Mike...

Cooper blinked as he looked at Mike.  Mike was as chill as a motherfucker, going through the dead guy's stuff and talking to Eliza like they were all standing around, shooting the shit between classes.  He knew Mike from his time hanging out with the MMA crowd.  The only time that dude was that chill was right before he smashed a fool in a sparring fight.  

Shit was about to go down, that much was certain. Serious shit since Mike wasn't known for backing down and Eliza had shown that she wasn't afraid to use that piece she was hauling to defend herself.  For the first time since this whole thing started, Cooper was honestly and truly afraid of what was going to happen.  He didn't know which way things would fall out and who, if anyone, he should try and ally himself with.  Was Cody with Mike or with Eliza?  What was the play here?  Who was backing up whom?

He tried to swallow but his mouth was suddenly very dry.  Licking his lips, Cooper managed to croak out, "I feel like I missed something.  Could someone fill me in?"  Grandma had always said knowledge was power, and right now, he felt very, very powerless.

Eliza took a deep breath as she held her weapon tightly. So now they knew. She scratched her head as she scanned over their shocked faces. Cody's was the worst of all. What was he thinking? Did he actually find it a shock that she would be able to survive here? That would be just like him, always underestimating people. Exhaling sharply, she aimed her words at her brother, trying to mask the fear in her voice with a tone of indignation.

"What do you think I did? There was a fight and I won. Did you expect me to just lay down and die? Sorry to disappoint you, little brother, but I like being alive, and I'd prefer to stay that way."

She sighed. She kind of regretted having to be so rough with him, but there was likely no way to get the message through his thick skull otherwise. The last thing she wanted right now was to have to fight him, or any of the others, really. It was enough that she had to kill to survive, but killing her own brother was not something she wanted to do anytime soon. Eliza could feel the knot forming in her stomach. She turned to the others.

"I know what you're all thinking, and you can judge me all that you like. I don't really care. I'm definitely not about to let myself die here, and if you don't feel the same, then that's no fault of mine."

She briefly considered moving backwards, but quickly decided against it. She had learned on the streets that any show of weakness could ruin everything for a person. You had to show everyone that you wouldn't back down, at any cost. Otherwise they'd roll right over you. Eliza adjusted the straps on her bag as she took turns staring into the eyes of each person in front of her. There was no turning back now.

Just like many arguments they had before at home, or at school, or whenever they ran into each other at the mall, Eliza said something so incredibly brazen that it left him lost in the conversation with no path to take to continue it. She had basically just confessed to murder. Self defense, she said, but that did little to alleviate the gravity of the situation that came about from her killing somebody. So Cody was torn between pressing further or letting it go.

The decision was easier to make than he had initially led himself to believe. When he reviewed his priorities internally, before being a member of the football team or an ex-boyfriend or anybody's safety escort, he was a brother. Eliza had a shit way of showing it, but she must have loved her brother just as much as he loved her back. If Eliza said she was attacked in self-defense, she was attacked in self-defense and... maybe what was done had to be done. Cody realized he didn't want to get out of this 'game' minus one sister.

He swallowed the lump in his throat; the tension had dried it out, caused his muscles to ache. He took a step towards Eliza.

But Mike took more than a step. Before Cody knew what was going on, Mike was practically on top of her, grabbing her, shaking her.

"Mike, dude, stop!" The cry was on deaf ears, because he wasn't stopping. Cody stepped forward again. Things were getting blurry. Could have sworn Luca was still staring at him from the corner of his eye. "I said fucking stop!"

((Okay, I *think* this is how this is supposed to go but I'm pushing deadline.  If this needs changes, let me know and I'll edit it.))

Cooper yelped in surprised as Michael snatched up Eliza and tried to give her Shaken Baby Syndrome.  While Eliza's cold-blooded admission scared him, nothing justified randomly attacking people.  Especially by people who knew how to put a hurting on others.  

He surged toward the battling duo, drawing his knife from his waistband.  "Mike, what the fuck, bro?!  Get your fucking hands off her, dawg!"  He awkwardly brandished the knife, holding it so tightly that his knuckles turned white.  Pulling up short at the edge of Micheal's reach, Cooper rocked back and forth, unsure what to do next.  He froze when he noticed Cody's movement.  

Cody would get Mike under control.  Cody knew what to do.

The building ache in his hand caught his attention and Cooper looked down in confusion.  His eyes widened in shock as he spotted the knife.  When had that happened?  He didn't even recall drawing the blade.  And what in the hell was he doing, pulling a knife on his....

Well, okay, Mike wasn't *exactly* his best friend, but he was someone Cooper knew.  You don't go around pulling knives on people you know.  That is how people got hurt.

Staring at the knife in bewilderment, Cooper failed to pay attention to the drama unfolding around him.

Eliza let out a yelp of surprise as Mike rushed at her. Even before she could raise her gun, she felt it slapped out of her hands by the huge figure who proceeded to grab her by the shoulders. She squirmed to break free as his crushing grip became ever tighter. Her vision blurred as her assailant began shaking her, shouting obscenities that she could barely understand. What was his problem? As her knee flew up to meet his stomach, she was momentarily met with welcome feeling of relief as Mike let go of her. 

Unfortunately, this reprieve was short lived. The world rushed by in a blur as Mike pushed her to the ground. As she pulled herself to her feet, she heard Rose scream, followed by the shouts of her male companions. As she turned to face the screams, Eliza was met with a sight that made her eyes widen with fear.

Holy shit.

Mike was standing right in front of her, panting like a wild animal as his hand clenched around the handle of a bloody knife.

No you don't. No you fucking don't.

The red of blood was the trigger Cody needed. Whatever was holding his body in a frozen stupor until this time let go, and he allowed himself to step forward. Rose had slumped back, a pained gasp escaping her as she clutched her stomach. He wanted to help her, to set her down or something like that, but the knife was still in Mike's hand. One hand held the knife, and the other held Eliza.

After having seen one corpse today, Cody decided one was more than enough. He didn't want to see any more.

Before he knew it, his hands had grasped the front and middle of the rifle. The wooden stock swung down and when it struck the back of Mike's head, there was a loud crack that wasn't too much unlike the sound of a bat hitting a ball.

When Mike fell to the ground, motionless, Cody looked back up to Eliza for a moment, enough to make sure that she was alive and mostly unharmed, then stepped back a few feet before turning and kneeling down to Rose where she had reclined.

"I don't even know what just happened but... everybody's okay, right? A fucking scratch, right?"