The Long Walk

Once driven over by army vehicles while crossing the island, the tire marks and ruts are still there, but the trail is quite overgrown. It winds left and right, north and south, and traverses the entire island.
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Mimi
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The Long Walk

#1

Post by Mimi »

(Private!)

(Marnie Yaguchi continued from Silent Waters)

Ever since she had left the lagoon, Marnie had felt somewhat sad inside. Her ache to find Dorian was becoming stronger and stronger, but with that her hope of finding him was dwindling fast. Fear and stress levels were also becoming quite the problem. Since she had left the lagoon, Marnie had heard that distinct rustling sound, but every time she turned around nothing was there. It was probably just paranoia getting to her, but her fear would not let up.

As Marnie forced her way out of the jungle, she came across a dirt trail. Sure, it wasn't a decent place to hide out in, but she wasn't here to hide. Dorian was her first priority and she'd find him, even if she had to stay awake, without a break for the remainder of the sick game.

The yari and the duffel bag were taking their toll on her, but she just couldn't spare the time to stop. After weighing her options, Marnie had decided it was best to stick to the trail and see what would happen from there.

A part of Marnie regretted not going with Ivan and Jake to the tower and waiting there for Dorian to find her, but she just always had to be the one to do the crazy things. She was the risk taking, do-anything-once kind of girl, as opposed to Dorian's calm, take-things-as-they-come personality. In the end, though, he'd just have to appreciate what she did.

Where could he be? Seriously?!
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#2

Post by Slayer* »

OOC: Dante Cooper also continued from Silent Waters. Someone locked the topic before I could actually post him leaving, though, so can we just assume he snuck out or something? This was originally longer, but my computer was giving me shit and eventually I just lost patience. I did NOT intend to take so long with this, I just got caught up, and when Meg started working on the announcement I had an idea of a good way to work it into the scene.
IC:

Just how long had he been tailing Marnie? After he'd seen Marnie Yaguchi gather up the corpses' supplies and leave the lagoon, Dante Cooper had been following her in the hope that he could find a way to get them from her. He didn't really care about the spear she'd taken; he preferred his roundel because it was lighter, easier to conceal, and more useful in tight quarters. Still, he had realized that he wouldn't be able to get to the lagoon to fill his water bottles without being spotted, and he needed the extra food and water she had taken. He could feel himself getting thirstier and hungrier as he walked, and as his throat dried he felt his head start to throb a bit from the dehydration. He'd only rarely stopped to drink or eat anything, in his attempt to shadow Marnie he only stopped when she did, stalking quickly but quietly through the treeline and doing things like drinking sap from cut vines or killing birds and snakes for quick meals when needed.

Come on, will you just stop for a second? How long can you possibly walk?

As they walked, Dante occasionally ducking behind cover when Marnie turned around to see if anyone was behind her. Fortunately, he hadn't been spotted yet, and she seemed to think it was just her mind playing tricks. However, eventually Dante's patience started to wear thin, as he became tired and annoyed at the girl's pace. It was a wonder the sound of his pack on his shoulder didn't give him away, but it was a small mercy he was grateful for. Still, he wished she'd at least stop for more than a few seconds. Someone with her slight frame would have to rest eventually.

Have to end this. I need those supplies! I need water, and bread, and I don't want to spend the rest of my game eating snakes, birds, and monkeys if I can help it.

Fortunately, following her became much easier when she hit the trail, as while she walked on the excuse for a road he stayed in the treeline to the sides of it. It was simple to track her and predict her movements this way, and he capitalized on that. He knew he would probably have to directly intervene in order to stop her, and it would be easier to do that if he knew exactly where she was. Eventually, when he had a good idea of the paths she was taking, he elected to move ahead of her some and wait at the side of the road in the bushes, holding himself ready until she got close enough.

When Marnie did show up as planned, however, the announcement blared to life, Danya's voice recalling the deaths of the previous day almost gleefully, though nobody he cared about was on the list (despite the fact that he had a nagging feeling he had slept with at least a couple of the girls on the list before, probably nothing though, he'd scored enough that they kind of blurred together after a while) and then dropping an even worse surprise on them. SADD, apparently a group bent on escaping, had been destroying cameras under the leadership of Neil Sinclair ("didn't think that kid would have the balls", Dante had muttered), and Danya retaliated by detonating the collars of four girls over the PA, forcing the entire island to listen to their dying screams. Grimacing, Dante could not help the chill that ran down his spine as the announcement ended, leaving only the screaming to echo from the lifeless speakers.

Fucking sick...but now's my chance!

Banking on the hope that the announcement would give her pause, Dante launched all of his strength into exploding out of the treeline in a charge at Marnie, ducking down as he rushed. Spreading his arms out, they would try to wrap around and grab her legs as his shoulder impacted into her gut area and he surged upwards and then forwards suddenly, producing the effect of lifting her off the ground and slamming her down on her back. A textbook double leg takedown, one of the most basic of MMA grapples, he hoped his sudden charge could catch Marnie off guard and allow him to perform the takedown on her. Otherwise, she could easily impale him on her spear, and even failing that it'd be possible to just move out of the way.

However, if it did work, Dante would quickly move up into a mount as had been drilled into him during his MMA training, his left hand moving to pin her right wrist to the ground (to keep her from reaching for the spear if she had dropped it, and attacking overall regardless of whether she kept it) as his own right hand darted into his hoodie pocket and pulled the dagger out, plunging it down at Marnie but stopping just at her throat, the very tip of the blade only barely touching the skin of her neck, but in a position where he could instantly react to an attack by stabbing down and severing the vital arteries in the throat.

Heh, wonder if I'm the first person to be on top of this little hottie like this. Definitely the first to have a dagger to her neck.

His scowl deepening, he forced the sudden lecherous thoughts down as he lowered his face down to hers and started to speak.

"Don't move a muscle, Marnie, I don't want to do anything I'd regret. Look, I'm not going to kill you, or hurt you, or rape you, or anything like that. I don't intend on doing anything like that, so if you just cooperate, I'll let you leave totally unharmed. I need supplies, I'm low on food and almost completely out of water, and I saw you stocking up at the Lagoon, so I know you have plenty of the supplies I need. Give 'em over if you don't want a makeshift tracheotomy."
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Mimi
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#3

Post by Mimi »

Marnie's heart dropped as the speakers over the island came alive. It was something she had been dreading for awhile now, but also something she was waiting for. It could either shatter any hope she had for finding Dorian or give her the push she needed to move on. With her mind racing, she slowed down to a trot as Danya's voice echoed throughout the jungle.

As the list of killers and the victims grew, Marnie could help but become slight panicked. She'd have to learn of her best friend's death by guy who had found death amusing and would most likely ridicule and take away any shed of respect Dorian had left with.

Marnie was alleviated, however, when the announcement finally came to an end. Dorian was safe and that meant she still had a chance of find him.

Her spirits were instantly trampled when the voice of Trinity Sparks replaced Danya's. Things were just going downhill and she didn't like it. Marnie could feel her mouth drop open in shock as the beeping began. He wouldn't…. he couldn't! He wasn't that sick was he? Her questions were answered as Trinity's collar exploded and Jazzalyn screamed her friends name, only to be answered with an explosion of her own.

Wednesday Ryan and Melissa Diaz were next, but their collar explosions were just as shocking as the first two. She felt like crying, but she had to be strong. For Dorian. For her family. They needed her to be strong and that's what she was going to do.

It happened quick. First the strong arms wrapping around her legs, then the sharp pain in her gut, followed quickly by the pain in the back of her head as she banged off the hard ground. A hand wrapped around her wrist tightly and a dagger was at her throat.

Shock was the second thing Marnie felt, first being the pain. In a matter of seconds she had found herself on the ground, her spear was a few feet away, a dagger was at her neck, and on top of her was Dante Cooper.

Blech. Pig. She really didn't want him on top of her. She had no idea where he had been and she sure as hell didn't want to catch whatever kind of STDs the sicko had. But there was really nothing she could do about it now, was there?

"Don't move a muscle, Marnie, I don't want to do anything I'd regret. Look, I'm not going to kill you, or hurt you, or rape you, or anything like that. I don't intend on doing anything like that, so if you just cooperate, I'll let you leave totally unharmed. I need supplies, I'm low on food and almost completely out of water, and I saw you stocking up at the Lagoon, so I know you have plenty of the supplies I need. Give 'em over if you don't want a makeshift tracheotomy."

Marnie didn't know what a tracheotomy was, but she didn't need an idiot to spell it out to her that he was threatening her life. Her disgusts for him flared and she had a sudden urge to spit in his face.

"…Yeah, whatever. Just take it," Marnie mumbled, trying her hardest not to move her neck as she spoke.
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#4

Post by Slayer* »

Oddly, Marnie complied almost as soon as Dante finished talking, not offering even token resistance other than the disgusted tone of her voice. He'd expected a bit more of a protest, in all honesty, but it was good that she was smart enough to know that the dagger to her throat made resistance suicide. Easing the pressure of the dagger against her neck after blinking for a second, he shrugged a little.

"Huh, that was easy. Thanks for co-operating, I guess. Haven't used this thing on anyone yet, and don't quite feel like starting any time soon. I'll be sure to leave you some, I mean, it's not like I can take all of it."

After he said this, Dante released his grip on Marnie's wrist, waiting a few seconds to make sure she didn't attack before finally taking the dagger completely away from her neck and steadily rising to his feet. Regardless of if it felt good or not, mounting someone that much smaller than him felt awkward, and he was somewhat glad to be on his feet again, heading to the bags she had left off to the side.

Still, he wasn't sure if she wouldn't just charge him from behind, even though it wouldn't do her any good he still wasn't keen on being attacked today, so he was sure to position himself so that he could keep at least one eye on her while getting to the bags. After all, he was basically mugging her, he wouldn't be surprised if she tried something, and it was smart to be careful.

Discretion is the better part of valour, as they say.

Reaching Marnie's bags, he was quick to open them along with his own, looking inside for any food and the like. He still had a first aid kit, so he didn't need the couple he found, nor did he need Marnie's changes of clothes or anything like that, so he just left those in the bag. Luckily, she took enough bottles of water and cracker tins and bread loaves that he was able to find them easily, quickly storing them in the bag after taking a long swig from one of the bottles. True to his word, though, he was sure to leave a few bottles of water and tins of crackers in her bags before closing them up and doing the same with his own.

"Normally, I wouldn't have resorted to that, hell I've been hoping to avoid encountering anyone, so I don't have to kill or see anyone die," he said to Marnie when he was done, sitting down and looking at her, "but I really was running out of food and water. Was desperately in need of supplies, and couldn't find any. You had some, and I'd rather a bit of highway robbery on my record than death by starvation or dehydration or heat stroke. I hear those are very unpleasant ways to go."

A small grin would be cracked at the girl as he said this, but his grip was tight on the dagger just in case.
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Mimi
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#5

Post by Mimi »

As Dante dismounted her, Marnie could help but breathe a sigh of relief. The extra thirty pounds or so that Dante had forced onto her was enough to have Marnie pinned to the ground and gasping for air. It was an almost refreshing feeling when Dante let up and air swam back into her lungs. Not to mention the release of the knife to her throat.

Did he really haveta sit on me? I mean, seriously, I shouldn't be that hard to take down. Wimp.

Marnie rolled her eyes as she lifted herself into sitting position and watched as Dante rifled through her daypack. Sure, she was upset that he was stealing her rations, but in all honesty, she was more worried about him seeing her underwear than anything. She knew Dante was a pervert and would probably get a cheap thrill out of her undergarments. It perplexed her, really. Why would girls flock to that when there were so many better guys in school. All the attention gave him a pretty big ego…

Bingo!

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was getting a bit too heavy for me to carry, anyway." Marnie fibbed in the cutesiest, girlish voice she could muster up.

Why didn't she think of it sooner? This guy was one of the cockiest jerks in school who just happened to have a weak spot for a pretty face and Marnie could use that to her advantage. A meat shield, if you will. Of course she didn't want him to die, but she'd need his strength to protect her. At least until she got to Dorian. Then she could wish the wrestler a bon voyage and get on with her life.

Marnie nearly cracked a grin as the plan hatched in her head. It was full-proof.

"Say, Dante… you mind helping a girl out? I mean, I could use a strong guy like you to look out for me. How ‘bout it?"
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#6

Post by Slayer* »

OOC: I know this isn't much, but I'm already sick of writing this post, and I'm just not in the mood to do anything today, so I don't really care anymore. I just put something up so I'd stop slowing you down. Since the rain hasn't been mentioned as having stopped, this post assumes it's still raining.

Dante had gone back to his bag to get one of the water bottles and drink it, the dagger back in the hoodie pocket, as he was starting to get increasingly parched even thinking about water, when Marnie spoke up. Having not expected the sudden cute and girly tone she took, he couldn't help but look up curiously at her and where she was sitting. Looking her over quickly, he had to admit he almost regretted that the way she was sitting meant he was unable to look up her dress, but he'd tried to sneak a quick peek earlier when he was rummaging through her things anyway so it wasn't like it mattered much, and it'd be easier to get on Marnie's good side if he kept eye contact.

He knew how girls worked better than most so-called "playboys". Just treat them with respect and act like you cared about them, and most of them were open and ready for the taking. No need for fancy pickup lines when a simple "hey, what's up?" sufficed. Not that the same tactics he used to get into girls' pants would do much good in a death game like SOTF, but maybe the girl could be useful somehow, and he could use his experience to his advantage to get something from her other than combat help (he could tell just by looking that she'd be positively useless at that, as she was probably the smallest person in the class).

Regardless, this caused him to keep eye contact as he offered a simple shrug at Marnie's comment about how the bag was getting a bit too heavy for her, sounding strangely grateful despite the fact that he'd slammed her to the ground and mugged her at knifepoint. Something told him that he should just turn around and walk away, leaving her with what little food and water he'd left, as she obviously meant no good, but he'd found himself shoving that aside. She looked really pretty in that dress, and the way she spoke made it oddly hard to resist.

Never could resist a good looking chick...I swear, I have to stop thinking with my dick when it comes to the pretty ones, or it's going to get me killed. She's obviously up to something.

"Well, ah, I guess it all works out, then. I hope I didn't hurt you too much." he said with a slight chuckle, regardless of whether or not Marnie was telling the truth. It was just amusingly convenient.

He hadn't been lying, he had tried to take her down earlier without really injuring her, so aside from the inevitable pain from the hard impact he hoped she wasn't too hurt. That's when she really started to layer on the charm though, asking him to stick around and help her out. He gulped a little at this perfectly aimed strike. Girls had always been an Achilles' Heel of his, especially one like Marnie. He just couldn't resist a pretty lady in need, regardless of how hard he was to stop in the ring, and it occured to him that if some player with bad intentions came across Marnie, who was so small and armed with just a spear almost bigger than she was, that she'd be completely fucked. Really, she wasn't even five feet tall, couldn't be anywhere near heavy enough or strong enough to stand up to anyone in a fight. With a pang of guilt suddenly hitting him over taking so much of her supplies, he let out a small sigh.

"Well..."

Come on, Dante, think about this. Why would she suddenly want you to tag along with her after you robbed her? You were perfectly willing to stab her in the throat if she tried to resist you, and she trusts you enough to ask you to tag along with her? You KNOW there's something fishy about this. And even if there weren't, Marnie Yaguchi's useless! She's weak, probably doesn't know much about survival or anything, definitely won't sleep with you, what can she possibly contribute other than making your conscience a bit less sore? She'd probably spear you the second you went to sleep.

"Ah, what the hell. I'm in this for myself, first and foremost, hoping to try to win this game by laying low and just outlasting the others. Survival of the fittest, not survival of whoever kills the most, y'know? But I can't just leave you here, I guess. I mean, wouldn't be any harm in travelling with you for a while. Could use some company, the jungle's a lonely place."

After saying this he fished through his pack again, looking for the vodka bottle he had placed back in there much earlier. Finding it, he brought it out and gestured towards Marnie with it, offering the half-empty bottle of alcohol to her while trying to keep himself from wincing at the memory of how intense the hangover the half he drank caused.

"Here, want some? The alcohol will make you feel warmer in this rain. Strong stuff, though."
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Mimi
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#7

Post by Mimi »

Marnie's temper flared when Dante took a drink of the water. Her water. The water she had to scavenge for. She had to see those nasty dead bodies to get that water, which probably would have traumatized had she not pushed them to the back of her mind. With a roll of her eyes, Marnie glanced back at Dante.

Quit looking at me like that.

The so-called playboy had a disgusting, almost lecherous look as he stared at her. It grossed her out beyond all means, but she still had to play along. Her personal feelings about Dante didn't matter anymore. She'd have to put up with him until she found Dorian.

As Dante bull-shitted about how he didn't want to hurt her, Marnie just smiled. She had a pretty, charming smile, if she did say so herself. Dante would certainly think so, but in all honesty, Dante wasn't picky. He'd probably screw a table if it was wearing a skirt.

"Hehe. No, I'm fine. Thanks for taking it easy on me, I really do appreciated it." She said in the same girly voice with a small giggle.

Take the bait, big guy. You know you wanna. Take it, take it, take it.

She could tell he thinking about the pros and cons, which scared her, frankly. She really didn't have a whole lot going for her besides her looks. He knew how easy she was to take down and she feared that he'd go on his way. But she needed him. Now, especially, that she knew people out there were ready to kill. She knew she'd be easy pickings, but she was determined to find Dorian. It was the only thing keeping her alive at that point.

"Ah, what the hell. I'm in this for myself, first and foremost, hoping to try to win this game by laying low and just outlasting the others. Survival of the fittest, not survival of whoever kills the most, y'know? But I can't just leave you here, I guess. I mean, wouldn't be any harm in travelling with you for a while. Could use some company, the jungle's a lonely place."

Mixed emotions overwhelmed Marnie. She was thrilled that her plan had worked, but everything else Dante said scared her. He was ready to play if the game called for it. And Marnie knew she wouldn't be able to hold Dante off if he decided that he was ready to play.

"..Yeah, it is," She half-heartedly replied.

She had Dante, now. A nice little bodyguard who, given he doesn't up and decide to play the game, could honestly and truly protect her. It was refreshing to feel even the tiniest bit safe and Marnie appreciated the feeling.

"I don't think we should hang around here any longer," Marnie said. She had to find Dorian as soon as possible and lingering there would just delay that.

Marnie stood up and retrieved her duffel bag and spear. Before she left, she checked behind her to make sure Dante was following and then made her way back into the jungle.

(Marnie Yaguchi continued elsewhere)
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#8

Post by Slayer* »

OOC: I really don't have anything left to say other than moving Dante, so I'm just gonna do that.
IC:

"Yeah, that's a good point. Never know when someone's gonna ambush you, so it's not smart to stick around in one place too long."

Having said this in agreement to Marnie's statement that they should start moving again, he put everything back in his bag except the dagger (which went in his front pocket as usual) and got up to follow her, his now filled bag slung over his shoulder. Someone uninvolved observing the situation might find it funny how he towered over Marnie while following her, but he found himself chuckling a bit for entirely different reasons. This was definitely not how he'd planned his Senior Trip to go.

Man, I was on top of the world, and now look at me, following around some useless Japanese chick who probably isn't even a good lay on an island in the middle of fucking nowhere where we're supposed to kill each other.

Really, Dante had no idea where his life had gone so wrong. Who had he pissed off up there, to end up in SOTF? He was supposed to have it made. Sure, he was just an amateur MMA fighter, nowhere near the level of some of the big names and only where he was through sheer grit, but he was good at it. He was good at baseball too, played a mean left field and was intimidating as fuck when at bat. Yeah, neglecting pretty much everything in his life except for MMA, Baseball, and studying had taken its toll sometimes, but he had been going into the Senior Trip with the world practically at his fingertips. He was strong, popular, charming and good-looking enough to pretty much have almost any girl in the school he wanted (by his reckoning, anyway), a good fighter, and almost as good a ball player. How could anything possibly go wrong when he had spent so much time working to make it all go right? Then SOTF came around and it all crashed to the ground.

I coulda been a normal kid, instead of focusing my whole life on fighting. Would've been just as popular and happy, I reckon.

"Y'know, I only went into MMA to make a name for myself, to see 'Dante Cooper' up in lights," he said with a sigh, "being somebody was so important to me that I pretty much threw everything else away. Ah well."

Marnie was most likely not listening, but Dante didn't really care, especially since as they walked he was making an effort to avoid staring at her arse and just keeping his eyes ahead, he'd just been thinking out loud. Shrugging his shoulders, he followed Marnie to wherever they were going. Maybe having some company wouldn't be too bad.

I would've been a contender, too...

OOC: Yeah, that's all I got, wanna fight about it? Continued in Ratio Deciendi.
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