Hands Up, Guns Out

Dark, dank, and dreary, the caves snake across the island, leading deep down into the depths and surfacing in multiple locations. Some areas have been declared hazardous, while others are just downright scary. Forty years ago, the soldiers used to tell ghost stories about these caves, saying you could hear children crying if you ventured far enough into their depths. Of course, they'd always make good shelter, but you'd better not venture too far underground lest you never return.
landlocked*
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Hands Up, Guns Out

#1

Post by landlocked* »

((Emma Babineaux continued from A Short History of Almost Something))

((This is a private thread, we gots some srs bzns planned, so please don't enter it unless you have permission.))

Emma was finding herself more and more grateful for putting her trust in Shameeca. Despite having at least put enough food in her stomach to keep her standing, Emma had still hardly been satisfied, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that Shameeca had a solid knowledge of what to eat to survive outdoors. She made sure to write down everything she had learned from her - fortunately there was no shortage of wild fruit and mushrooms growing on the island. They weren't particularly delicious, sure, but Emma was feeling far more refreshed than she had been at the showers, and her rations would last her much longer now. How much longer she would last, on the other hand...

No. She couldn't think like that. She had avoided death once, and that was before she had found people she could put her confidence in not to kill her. Who's to say she couldn't do it again? Judging by the last announcement she had outlived a large number of her classmates... maybe if her group kept getting bigger, they could make it to the end, be the only survivors left, and then...

And then what? Wait for Danya to detonate all of their collars, or for one of them to crack under pressure and go on a killing spree?

Emma decided not to think about it at the moment. She was in good company and safe for the time being. That was all that mattered. ...Right?

As she continued, the jungle eventually gave way to rockier terrain, and Emma realized that she was now standing just outside the entrance to a cave. She also realized that she had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she had left the others behind.

Nice job, she berated herself again, You lost the only people around you can trust and now you're alone next to a pitch black cave where anyone could jump out and shoot you in the head and...

Emma gripped her falchion tighter. Hopefully one of them would catch up to her soon.
Lexi*
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#2

Post by Lexi* »

((Shameeca continued from A Short History Of Almost Something))

Shameeca moved quickly but Emma now energised by the food made more headland than she had. It was suprising but also proved to be troublesome when the red-head soon vanished into the distance. It was a bad thing as now the black girl was on her own, prey to any players that dare to come their way. Of course this wasn't as bad as it could be and Shamee wasn't going to go down without a fight, with 5 bullets left and her two melee weapons doing fine, being pretty healthy in the conditions and being out of any danger zones, the 18 year old was in a pretty good place to stay alive another few hours. Emma on the other hand, may not unless Shameeca could find her.

Running with her breath coming out in ragged gasps as she moved through the wooded area as she headed to where they had been heading on the woods, Shameeca hoped that she could find the right place before anything happened. Unlike herself, Emma didn't look like she had killed anyone and didn't seem likely that she would unless she was pushed to the edge. For the red-head had the look of someone too nice to do any harm to anyone, more like a punchbag than anything else.

If something happened to her like what had happened to Heath and James, then she would never forgive herself for being too slow. Bobby hadn't been slow or weak, he had been strong and smart, and Shamee hoped that she would see him soon. However, the brown eyed girl didn't know that the man who she had thought about frequently, hoped to see, and had some unrequited feelings of attraction for, her hero in this game, the one who could help her, had died. And when she found out, the results wouldn't be pretty. She didn't hear Ryan behind her anymore, but assumed that he would catch up. He had a gun, he was safer than Emma was with her sword.

Suddenly, the terrain changed and in the distance Shamee could see that familiar red-head in the distance. Slowing to a jog and then a walk, she announced her arrival with a small cough.

"Emma, you ok? I think Ryan was left behind, but he will be fine, I mean hes got a gun. Whats in that cave?"
landlocked*
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#3

Post by landlocked* »

((Guess we can keep going while we wait.))

Emma's grip on the falchion loosened a bit when Shameeca arrived. It registered as a bit strange that Emma found herself feeling relieved when she saw Shameeca now - it had only been what, a day, a day and a half? But the sense of security she had when Shameeca was around was one that she hadn't truly felt throughout her entire stay on the island, and she wasn't about to question it anymore. Shameeca reminded her a bit of Bridget, though Emma couldn't quite put her finger on why. Maybe it was just the fact that she couldn't stop thinking about her old friend from home. She'd have to introduce the two of them after this game was ov-

Oh. Right. That... seemed pretty unlikely.

Once again, Emma's mind strayed to the end of the game... could she really survive that long? Would she ever see Bridget again? Could she apologize to her mother for what she had said before leaving? Were they watching her now, praying for her to return to them alive? Was anybody?

Stop it!

She couldn't keep doing this... she had to think of what was happening now. Whatever would come in the future, she'd take care of it then. Even if that meant facing...

She couldn't bear to finish the thought., and she didn't have to, fortunately, as Shameeca took that moment to inform her that Ryan wasn't with them. Emma frowned a bit. "Well... maybe he's just lagging behind or something. We might as well just wait here, it's almost dawn." She'd be damned if she missed another announcement - she had to find out whether Maxie or J.R. were still alive. As Shameeca asked about the cave, Emma cast another glance towards it. "I... I don't know if there's anything in there, actually. Do you think we should check? Or keep moving? I don't want to get even more separated..."
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Crash*
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#4

Post by Crash* »

As far as she was concerned her path had been set in stone the second she'd been forced into Survival of the Fittest. It wasn't an ideal situation, sure, but ever since she was born she felt like she'd been destined for greatness, and this was her chance to prove herself. Her heart raced as fast as her feet, her slender form practically gliding across the rocky trail as she bounded across the island.

Originally she'd planned on heading straight for the coastline, but upon closer examination of her map she realized that she'd first run into a rocky cave formation that opened into one side of the island. She wasn't too bothered by the detour, despite the fact that the terrain would be difficult to navigate. She knew who she had to watch out for after hearing the announcements every day for almost a week and a half, but aside from the obvious players she felt obligated to find as many people as possible. She had to do everything she could to help.

Her long, flowing brown hair swaying in the early morning breeze, she came to a quick halt just as the treeline began to fade and the scent of coppery death slowly gave way to that of salty ocean air. She puffed and wheezed, taking a gulp from her already opened water bottle and draining it of its final contents before casually discarding it on the side of the trail. She was running out of time, but she wouldn't be satisfied until her job was complete. Heaving in a heavy breath, the tall girl continued her trek.

Moments later she happened upon the rock formation leading to the caves. Her eyes scanned the horizon, though since the sun hadn't yet risen it was still fairly hard to see. The night was always darkest just before the dawn, her father had told her. It was sage advice, both in a literal and metaphorical sense, and she thought she now fully understood its meaning. Her reflection immediately ceased as the silence around her was broken by the familiar voices of two of her classmates.

"Emma! Shameeca!" She called, catching her breath and leaping over one of the larger rocks before casually and carefully making her way across the jagged stones. The lactic acid buildup in her legs was killing her, but she could finally breathe a little easier. Her heart-shaped lips formed a completely genuine smile.

"I've got great news..." She started, nodding her head towards the laptop in her left hand before turning towards the girls again, the grin never fading. "...We're getting out of here."

G62, Andrea Vanlandingham, had many reasons to smile...the most prominent of which being that she was collarless.
Lexi*
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#5

Post by Lexi* »

Looking into the cave with Emma, the pitch black making it hard for their eyes to even penetrate the gloom for more than a few feet, the black teenager known as Shameeca felt a long cold shiver run up her spine. Something about the cavern just felt bad, like when you could see an accident waiting to happen. And just like in those accidents, Shameeca did not want to be the unfortunate victim. Using her free hand to wipe some hair off her face, she gazed forwards, taking a step with her gun raised high as if to shoot something in the depths that she couldn't see.

Even as a small girl, with the few memories that she had of her old family, Shameeca had hated the dark under her bed, so much so that every night she would have to leap from the floor into the mattress with a run. But even when she had grown up and knew that there was nothing, no beastie or monster to grab her leg as she climbed into the covers, there was still that fear of the dark, a primal one that everyone carried to some degree. It was a well adjusted fear, used to keep those who weren't strong enough to fight out of the dark and safe from the harms of the night. The same thing was established here. The dark shadows of the rocky walls meant only trouble for those involved. How many had been killed and dumped into the darkness? Would she and Emma join them if they stepped inside?

With apprehension swelling up, she almost made a move into the darkness of the cave when suddenly a voice called out behind them. It was one that everyone knew, from the school and around, that rang with student authority and belief. Unfortunatly, that voice belonged to a dead girl.

Spinning around immediatly, Shamee raised her gun at the approcahing figure, not willing to trust until she could see the girl better. Everyone who was alive on the island heard the annoucements, hell there was to be one soon, and they all knew who was dead or alive. And in the mass deluge of names that Danya had said a few days ago, Andrea Vanlandingham had been one of the most noticable. But what she saw was about to make her jaw drop. Andrea had beaten the game. Her collar was off.

"But how... Danya said you were dead!! I heard it with my own ears! And how did you get the collar off without your head exploding? Going home?... You mean the goverment found us or something?" she asked, a torrent of questions for the suddenly alive class mate.
landlocked*
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#6

Post by landlocked* »

Emma found herself tensing up once again as Shameeca eyed the cave nearby with apprehension. In all honesty, she was half-hoping that the girls might find another student - now that she had allies, her confidence was slightly renewed, and she was a bit anxious to prove herself to them. Throwing a tantrum and collapsing on the floor did not make for a very good track record. When she heard another voice, Emma was also quick to turn around, ready to defend herself this time, not entirely registering what it had said or who it was.

Emma was not the most practical girl in her class, and she knew that full well. Bridget was always telling her that, reminding her to stay focused while they were on the volleyball team together - Emma had lost count of all the serves she had missed because she was thinking about her knitting, or daydreaming about John, or something equally frivolous. This had carried over to the island, too - Emma still wasn't entirely sure how many students had died due to her inattention. Had Shameeca not been with her, she probably would not have realized that Andrea had been announced dead days ago - in fact, she probably wouldn't have noticed that Andrea wasn't wearing a collar, either, at least not at first. But when she heard her friend's astonished reaction, Emma could only stop and gape. It was at that moment, after Shameeca started asking questions, that it registered just what Andrea had said to the girls.

"We're getting out of here."

For all the effort Emma had put into shutting out the thoughts of her home, her family, her friends, they were now the only things on her mind. It was much easier to consider the future now that she had one.

Shameeca seemed to have a thousand questions, but in her hopeful awe, Emma was only able to utter one.

"You... you're serious?"
Cyco*
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#7

Post by Cyco* »

((continued from One Step Forward...))

The adrenaline still pumping wildly from his previous encounter, Harry found himself quite shaken. The motion of every step he took was more jarring than the last. He went about the complicated process of reloading the Jackhammer in a rather disgruntled and dizzy manner. He was tired. What time was it? The sun was up. When had he last slept? How much had he eaten?

"Emma! Shameeca!"

He withdrew the GPS from around his neck and eyed it over, his galloping heart-rate picking up still as he spotted another group of dots stacked on top of eachother (it looked like two, but there had to be three given that one had just called out to two others). This was obviously a different trio than the one he'd just met; there were three girls in this group, not to mention there was no way those punks at the lagoon could have circled around him that butt-fucking fast.

Harry kept low as he closed in on their location, the intensity of his approach building on the adrenaline high he already had going. Finally he released his grip on the device, and it swung back down around his neck while his free hand moved back to the barrelguard of the shotgun. This time it'd go right.

Harry fired the moment he detected a figure through the thick brush, storming ahead with his trigger finger poised to continue the attack.
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Crash*
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#8

Post by Crash* »

Part of her had been anticipating the girls' stupified amazement as they realized the full scope of their new situation, and Andrea couldn't help but revel in the glory of helping two of her classmates - no, her friends - finally escape from the hellish prison they'd been subjected to for almost two weeks now. Another clashing part of her was regretful that she couldn't have acted faster...that she couldn't have saved more of them, but at this point in time she would take what she could get. Emma and Shameeca both deserved to get off the island, and together the three girls would do just that.

"Sure am!" She jubilantly responded to Emma's stunned inquiry, flashing her award-winning smile for the first time in days. Her eyes then turned to Shameeca, and unsure of exactly where to begin she started by answering the questions she could remember.

"The collar...? Oh, right, the collar!" She decreed suddenly. Having been freed from her burden for a considerable amount of time seemingly made her forget that it had existed in the first place. "It took some work, I'll tell you that. Here..." she motioned, moving to put the laptop back into her daypack.

As soon as she zipped up the bag, however, the explosive blast of a shotgun shell rang through the quiet, salty air. Andrea's face quickly molded from one of pleasure into one of panic, and almost instantly she drew her attention back up to the girls.

"Run! I'll meet you at the shoreline, I promise!" She started, snatching up her bag in both her hands. The pleading looks on their faces worried her, but she insisted. "Just go!"

Without turning around to check whether or not they obeyed her she stiffened as the figure of Harry Tsai burst from the jungle foliage, and she reflexively held her laptop-burdened daypack in front of her as a makeshift shield from the heavy weapon.

"Stop it, Harry!" She warned in her now well-practiced commanding tone, her lip quivering in fear but her gaze hardening on him as she froze in place. She couldn't outrun him, she knew that - but she could at least buy the others some time. Hopefully she could even convince him to stop playing and help them get away...hopefully.
landlocked*
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#9

Post by landlocked* »

((Aaand I'm boning post order again. I apologize profusely >_< but I really have to get her out of here.))

The smile Andrea gave Emma sealed the deal for her. It was full of confidence and completely sincere, and after the desperate and fleeting smiles Emma was used to seeing these past eleven days, it inspired a confidence in her she wasn't even sure she was capable of feeling anymore. As Andrea turned to address Shameeca, Emma took a moment to think about just how blessed the last two days had been for her. She had put herself in danger so many times - left herself open to attack back at the barracks, fallen asleep for god only knew how long, lost track of the announcements - and yet she had barely suffered for it at all, only gained allies. Shameeca, Ryan, and now Andrea, possibly the best ally she could have encountered. Together, they could beat the system, they could get the collars off and es-

Suddenly it all went to hell.

Emma had never actually faced an enemy wielding a gun yet. Though it was impossible to traverse the island without hearing gunfire in the distance, none had happened anywhere close to her. Emma started so badly that she nearly fell over, the sound shocking her to the core, and she quickly ducked before looking back up at Andrea. The confidence had disappeared from her face as quickly as it had come, and she told the two of them to run, meet them at the northern coast.

She had spent the last few days cowering and she desperately wanted to make up for it, to prove she wasn't useless. The brave thing to do would have been to have refused, to stand by her friends, to defend them, and Emma knew it.

But she didn't. The fact was, someone was shooting at them, and Emma was terrified out of her mind. She immediately clutched her sword, grabbed her pack and fled, barely checking behind her to see if Shameeca was following.

((Emma Babineaux continued in The Answer))
Lexi*
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#10

Post by Lexi* »

Shameeca was too shocked by the apperance of the girl and her own frantic torrent of questions to even notice that Emma had asked a question. She listened to the first few things that the other girl had said, but soon it was made redundant when the sound of gunfire rang out from nowhere and all three girls suddenly realised that it wasn't going to be a pleasent meeting. Shameeca couldn't even figure out where the gunfire was from, but hearing the other girls words, the black teenager decided to follow her orders. This girl was the type that could handle herself. A little bit of self-preservation made her mind choose the easy option out, to follow what had been said and run as fast as she could. The shoreline wouldn't be that hard to make it too and then she could be free of the collar.

Without the collars, then Danya and his lot would have a lot harder time to kill them and then they may have a chance at getting what ever was left of their class off the island. Hopefully, they would all make it. Shamee still hoped that Bobby was alive, the announcement would begin soon. Giving a nod to the brave looking game, Shamee grabbed her bag and weapons and fled away, after the swiftly distancing Emma, leaving the other two alone to face each other.

((Shamee continued in All Down Hill From Here))
dinah_shore*
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#11

Post by dinah_shore* »

((Denise Dupuis continued from THE AFTERLIFELULZ!))

Denise took the most direct route she could physically follow to the coastline, hoping that at the very least she could catch Andrea there (and alive, please).

Arriving at the caves, Denise's heart leaped as she recognized Andrea and two other girls. One of them was Emma Babineaux. She barely remembered what she had vented at her several days ago on that wet, pathetic day after the Barracks. Fucking Bobby Jacks. Fucking Shane Rafferty!! Recalling the hollow noise of Shane's THC-riddled cranium being cracked over and over again on the dirty floor only made her furrow her eyebrows and bite the side of her lip. She had to curb her passions or else- Oh no.

The last cigarette in her pack drooped lazily to the side. It dared her.

Smoke.

"You fucker," she whispered as she snapped the pack closed and jammed it in the back pocket of her pants.

Quitter!

Denise did her best to ignore her craving and worked on the best way to approach the group non-threateningly after having called Emma something like a cunt a few days ago.

Things were very quickly simplified as a gunshot rang out only a few feet away from where she'd been standing.

Oh, Fuck...No...

Denise lost no time dashing further back into the woods. The cigarette she'd refused was quickly lit and she began to trace her way back to the others where she would deliver the terrible news.
Cyco*
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#12

Post by Cyco* »

Harry emerged like a shot from the foliage into the small clearing just as the second of the three girls disappeared in another direction. He recognized the one that remained, Andrea Vanlandingham, student council prez, holding a laptop computer in front of her like an extremely poor man's shield and either too stupid or paralyzed with fear to run off with the others. He sensed a considerable amount of fear about her, although the piercing gaze and commanding tone she gave him in spite of it caught him off guard and actually caused him to hesitate for a moment.

What was it about her right then that seemed somehow very wrong?

With the slightest shake of his head Harry finally snapped out of it and smirked at Andrea. He squeezed the trigger without a second thought.
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Crash*
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#13

Post by Crash* »

Her warning seemingly ignored, Andrea could do nothing except slam her eyes shut as the titanic blast of Harry's shotgun ripped through the air, burying itself into her makeshift metal shield. The computer ceased its low humming and dropped out of Andrea's hands, smashing against the jagged rocks beneath her. Her eyes widened slowly as she realized the full extent of her injuries, buckshot having ripped across various parts of her arms and legs, and at least one shell pegging her in the stomach, as evidenced by the deep crimson stain of her formerly polished white shirt.

Her hands moved down to her stomach to put pressure on the wound, and all at once a primal scream erupted from Andrea's lips as the shock wore off. She fell backwards onto her ass, eyes clenching shut once more as her newly bloodied hands desperately tried to suppress her bleeding.

"You...IDIOT!" She gasped harshly, a sharp moan of pain accenting her fury. "Are you deaf? Are you BLIND!?" She wailed, hot tears brimming her eyes as the pain coarsed her body.

"I could've helped you get out of here..." she concluded almost inaudibly, her hands and body shaking uncontrollably as she attempted miserably to distract herself from the pain.
Cyco*
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#14

Post by Cyco* »

Andrea's makeshift shield was just as useless as had been anticipated. She went down shortly after the demolished laptop, stains of deep crimson speckling her front where she'd been hit. Harry's smirk widened and curled into a more repulsive expression, the perfect line surfacing in his head to remind all the viewers at home how witty and clever he was.

"The president has been shot!" He exclaimed, his mock horror belaying a sick amusement. Andrea sat there in shock for a moment, but Harry was unpleasantly surprised to find after it wore off that the girl now became twice as infuriatingly defiant.

"You...IDIOT! Are you deaf? Are you BLIND!?"

Harry's smile vanished. He shut up for a second and watched her mumble quietly to herself as she trembled from the pain. Suddenly he closed the short distance between him and the girl with a generous amount of flustered speed and intensity, grasping her wrist with his free hand and pulling it sharply up.

"I'm neither, you silly bitch. I heard what you fucking said...Which shore is it? Where are they going??"
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Crash*
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#15

Post by Crash* »

Andrea writhed in Harry's grip, but try as she might she couldn't wrench herself free. Her wound was causing her massive amounts of pain, and combining that with the sheer difference in strength between the two of them made for a poor and pathetic outcome on her part.

"What, can't read a map?" she spat back furiously, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Harry. He might have had the advantage on her, but there was no way she was letting all of her hard work go to waste; especially for the sake of some over-zealous jerk like Harry Tsai.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she insisted stubbornly.
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