Black Math
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:12 am
{{continued from Hatred}}
Laeil stared out from the brush at the barracks, the first thing she noticed being the three fresh bodies lying right in front of her. Two looked like they were shot in the face, while the other had his throat slit. Come to think of it, hadn't she heard about something like this happening in today's announcements.
Well, looks like our dear friend Jacks has been keeping busy. She made a mental note to stay far away from Bobby if she could help it, at least until she finally got her hands on some better weaponry. Starting to walk through the collection of corpses, she stopped, eyeing their daypacks. Setting down her's down, she collected the others, opening them up and replenishing her supplies from them. And the rest? Well, there's not much sense leaving anything for the enemy. Opening up the leftover rations, she scattered them along the ground, the rain leaving them damp and useless. Finding the first aid kit with the most remaining supplies, she packed it full of as many bandages and other disposables from the others as she could, and the things she didn't need two of she simply tossed aside, grabbing a nearby rock and mangling them beyond practical use.
"That ought to do it." She said to herself. Too bad they didn't have any weapons on them, though I guess Jacks would've taken them if they were any good.
Getting back up, looking towards the buildings in the area. I guess now's as good a time as any to change. She thought to herself. Her clothes were soaked completely through by now, the wet fabric clinging to her skin. Besides it being really uncomfortable, she was sure to get sick if she kept walking around like this. Going around to check each of the buildings first, in case someone was still around, she finally settled on one, finding nothing but two long rows of cots. Setting her daypack down on one of the cots closest to the door, so as to keep a watch out for anyone approaching.
"All right. Now..." Pulling out a fresh change of clothes from her daypack and setting them aside, she started removing her clothes she was wearing, laying them out on yet another cot. After a minute of two, Laeil had stripped down entirely. If someone were to walk in just now, they'd find a rather pitiful sight. Laeil had always been pretty thin, never having had much of an appetite. She many just ate enough to keep from looking like skin and bones. Her seven days on the island with little food, though, had left her a bit on the emaciated side. She sighed as she looked down at herself. I really should eat while I'm here. She thought to herself.
She stood there in silence for a moment. She had once again found herself a moment of peace inside a building offering protection from the neverending torrents of rain. She found herself wishing she could just stay like this for a while longer, maybe crash on one of the cots and get some actual decent sleep for once. But she was very reluctant to allow herself that luxury. Someone could show up at any minute, also seeking shelter, or looking for someone that they could add to their kill count. Maybe I'll set this place up later to keep people from getting in easily. Then I can get some sleep for a bit.
It was then that her eyes started to drift across the room, looking for things she could use to help build a barricade. Finally settling on something that she hadn't initially noticed was there.
A camera.
Laeil let out a small "Heh." For a while, she had forgotten that this whole thing was a TV show. That this parade of carnage and death was being broadcast all over the US. No, all over the entire world. Most girls her age would probably feel at least a twinge of embarrassment about being completely naked on international TV, but at this point she just didn't care. If the viewers at home wanted to jack off to a battered, bruised and bloody twig of a girl, then they can just go right the fuck ahead.
She mulled the reality show aspect of the game around in her head for a moment. "I wonder if they're watching..."
----------
Lyn made her way quickly through the school hallway. It was long after school had ended for the day, and she knew Maggie was staying late, so she did so as well. She knew she would get in trouble for staying out so late, but she didn't care.
She had to see her. She had something she had to tell her.
It came as a shock to her, when Maggie told Lyn that her family was moving out of the state by the end of the year. To say she was devastated was an understatement. Maggie was her best friend, her ONLY friend, and now she'd probably never see her again. And seeing how her life had gone thus far, she doubted if she'd ever have another.
With this news, though, came an opportunity. She always worried what would happen to their friendship if she told her the secret she'd been hiding, and so she kept quiet about it. With the big move arriving within a month, though, she found that she simply HAD to tell her. She knew that it wouldn't amount to anything, since she'd likely never see her again anyway, but that didn't matter. She simply had to tell Maggie how she truely felt about her.
"Maggie!" She shouted out to the girl as she stood just outside the front entrance, waiting for her boyfriend to come pick her up.
"L-Lyn? What are you doing here so late?"
Lyn walked right up to Maggie, looking around the area for a moment. There was no around, it was just Maggie and her.
There wouldn't be a better opportunity.
"Maggie, there's something I have to tell you. Something I've been hiding for a long time. I never told you, because I was afraid of how you might react but...with you moving away and all, I just have to say it."
Maggie started to look a little worried. "Lyn, what is it? What are you talking about?"
"I...the thing is...I...I've always..." She grew frustrated as she found herself tripping over her own words. Dammit, why is this so hard!? You've waited all this time, now just say it!
Lyn took a deep breath.
"I love you."
Maggie stood there in silence, unsure of how to take this, unsure that she even heard what Lyn said right. "You...you what?"
"I love you. You...you came to me when I didn't have anybody. Anybody I could rely on. Anybody I could consider a friend." Lyn couldn't stop herself at this point even if she wanted to. "And then, after I while, I realized, I cared about you. I cared about you as more than a friend..."
"A-are you sure about this?" Maggie said, looking a bit flustered. "I mean, you said that I was the only friend you had in a long time. Are you sure you aren't just confused abo-"
"No! No, I'm not confused!" Lyn responded insistently. "I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life!" She stopped for a moment to try and calm herself down. "I...I love you."
Silence. An awkward, uncomfortable silence that seemed to last for an eternity. "You...you can say something now." Lyn finally spoke up. "Please...say something. I mean, I just bared my soul to you just now."
Suddenly, a beat-up, black Toyota sedan drove up, the driver's-side window rolling down. "Hey, Maggie! Sorry I'm late and all that, get in!" Lyn looked at the driver, Maggie's current boyfriend, with an expression of annoyance.
"I-I'm sorry..." Maggie started to say, heading towards the car.
"Maggie, please-"
"I have to go..."
"Maggie, just tell me-"
"I have to go." Maggie repeated as she opened up the passenger's side door and got into the car, which then drove off.
"MAGGIE, WAIT!" Lyn took a few steps to chase after the car, but stopped as reality set in and reminded her that there was no way she could catch up to it. She was left there alone outside the school, with the feeling that she had just made a big mistake.
"Maggie...please, just tell me we're still friends."
----------
"I wonder if they're watching..." Laeil said out loud, making her way towards the camera. "Aunt Meryl...Uncle Joesph...I wonder if you're watching this. Right now." She scoffed. "Probably not. You probably would've stopped after your beloved son got killed. Or maybe you didn't. Maybe you kept watching to see if the one who killed him would meet her end." She stared into the camera for a moment. "I wonder if you were there, watching as he died." She laughed a bit. "He went out like a little bitch, didn't he? One minute he was so high and mighty, just jumping at the opportunity to play the game just so he could get out alive, and the next he was bawling his eyes out, begging for mercy, just like a little BITCH!" She spat out that last word, her tone going from casual indifference to anger in an instant. "That was exactly what an egotistical shit like him deserved! That was exactly what YOU deserved! You gave Anthony everything he could want and you let it all go to his head. You let him think he was top shit, that he could push around anyone he felt like because he was SO much better than them. And then when I come along you just treat me like garbage! Like I'm just a liability! Cause you're too busy feeding Anthony's bloated ego! Well, guess where it got him! DEAD! He's just a corpse now, dead and rotting! Just food for whatever wants to feed on what's left of him! He's dead! He's dead! He's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead, HE'S DEAD!!"
Laeil took a deep breath, trying to calm down for a few moments before looking up at the camera. "Maggie..." She finally said. "I wonder if you're watching this, too. You went to school with all these people, after all. Some of them were your friends, and I'm sure a few of your former boyfriends made it here, too." She shook her head. "It's not fair...you should be here, too. You should be here, suffering all of this alongside us. Having to kill people you spent four long years with. Especially after what you did..." She begin to tremble with anger. "I told it to you...I told you my biggest secret. I didn't really expect you to feel the same way I did. But what you did...what you did, was FUCKING UNFORGIVABLE! You knew how much I valued my privacy. My anonymity. And yet you told them my secret anyway! All of a sudden, I can't walk down the halls without people noticing me, people who didn't even have a REASON to notice me! And the bullies...and the fucking bullies..." She tried to stop and calm down again, but she just couldn't stop herself. "And you...you couldn't even look me in the fucking eye afterwards! Who was it? Who was it that you told? It was that boyfriend you had at the time, wasn't it? Well, look how well that turned out for you! He turned out to be an insufferable asshole, too!" All the anger, all the indignation she had felt over the years that she had bottled up inside. All the sadness, the pain, the dashed hopes, the feelings of betrayal, the hate...the HATE. The pressure just kept building and building and building, and now that it was starting to be released there was nothing for it but to just let it all out.
"You should be here. You should be here! You should be here, with your family watching you, just like all the others! Watching them bleed and suffer and die! Watching as their sons and daughters and brothers and sisters get their heads split open and exploded, their bodies disembowled, their arms cut off and then RAPED with it, AND ALL THEY CAN DO IS WATCH!" She couldn't stop trembling, tears streaming down her cheeks and she didn't even know why. "Fuck you...fuck you....fuck Maggie, fuck Anthony, fuck Meryl, fuck Joesph, fuck Southridge, fuck everyone on this island, fuck Danya, FUCK YOU! FUCK EVERYBODY! FUCK EVERYTHING!!"
Laeil suddenly reached for her gladius, and swung it right at the camera. Instead of destroying it, though, the sword swing knocked the camera upwards, pointing it right at the ceiling. She stood in silence for a few moments after that, trying to catch her breath, her rant having left her utterly drained. Little did she know that the cameras were down, that her message would never reach it's intended recipients. If she were told that at that moment, she'd just laugh; a hollow, empty laugh, and shake her head. "Story of my fucking life." She'd say.
Finally, she just fell back against a nearby cot, staring off into the space. She remembered Danya saying that he'll explode a random collar for every camera that was destroyed, and the two that had died recently proved that that rule didn't just apply to SADD. She looked up, noticing that the camera wasn't broken, just knocked out of place. But at this point, it wouldn't have mattered if it had been destroyed.
She just didn't care.
She was surprised that the few little words she meant to have with the audience had spiraled so far out of control. Having let out all that pent-up hatred and frustration, she also felt strangely peaceful. It was still a dumb thing to do, though. She probably alerted anyone who might have been in the area to her presence, and some of the nasty things she had said probably wouldn't help convince anyone that she wasn't hostile. Well, she'd just add that to the list of dumb things she'd done recently.
She shook her head. I'd better get my stuff on, then. She thought, getting up and starting to walk over to her fresh change of clothes, gladius in hand.
Most everyone on this island, they had friends, family, lovers, people who were waiting anxiously for them. People who would embrace them, crying tears of joy at their safe return. They had goals. Futures. Something to look forward to when tommorrow came. But not her. She had nothing. Everything that the others took for granted she could only wish she had. She'd do her part in this game, though. She'd take it all from them. Erase their futures, crush their hopes and dreams, ensure that the people they cared about would never see them alive again. She was going to die, and she would do whatever it took to drag everyone down with her.
Laeil stared out from the brush at the barracks, the first thing she noticed being the three fresh bodies lying right in front of her. Two looked like they were shot in the face, while the other had his throat slit. Come to think of it, hadn't she heard about something like this happening in today's announcements.
Well, looks like our dear friend Jacks has been keeping busy. She made a mental note to stay far away from Bobby if she could help it, at least until she finally got her hands on some better weaponry. Starting to walk through the collection of corpses, she stopped, eyeing their daypacks. Setting down her's down, she collected the others, opening them up and replenishing her supplies from them. And the rest? Well, there's not much sense leaving anything for the enemy. Opening up the leftover rations, she scattered them along the ground, the rain leaving them damp and useless. Finding the first aid kit with the most remaining supplies, she packed it full of as many bandages and other disposables from the others as she could, and the things she didn't need two of she simply tossed aside, grabbing a nearby rock and mangling them beyond practical use.
"That ought to do it." She said to herself. Too bad they didn't have any weapons on them, though I guess Jacks would've taken them if they were any good.
Getting back up, looking towards the buildings in the area. I guess now's as good a time as any to change. She thought to herself. Her clothes were soaked completely through by now, the wet fabric clinging to her skin. Besides it being really uncomfortable, she was sure to get sick if she kept walking around like this. Going around to check each of the buildings first, in case someone was still around, she finally settled on one, finding nothing but two long rows of cots. Setting her daypack down on one of the cots closest to the door, so as to keep a watch out for anyone approaching.
"All right. Now..." Pulling out a fresh change of clothes from her daypack and setting them aside, she started removing her clothes she was wearing, laying them out on yet another cot. After a minute of two, Laeil had stripped down entirely. If someone were to walk in just now, they'd find a rather pitiful sight. Laeil had always been pretty thin, never having had much of an appetite. She many just ate enough to keep from looking like skin and bones. Her seven days on the island with little food, though, had left her a bit on the emaciated side. She sighed as she looked down at herself. I really should eat while I'm here. She thought to herself.
She stood there in silence for a moment. She had once again found herself a moment of peace inside a building offering protection from the neverending torrents of rain. She found herself wishing she could just stay like this for a while longer, maybe crash on one of the cots and get some actual decent sleep for once. But she was very reluctant to allow herself that luxury. Someone could show up at any minute, also seeking shelter, or looking for someone that they could add to their kill count. Maybe I'll set this place up later to keep people from getting in easily. Then I can get some sleep for a bit.
It was then that her eyes started to drift across the room, looking for things she could use to help build a barricade. Finally settling on something that she hadn't initially noticed was there.
A camera.
Laeil let out a small "Heh." For a while, she had forgotten that this whole thing was a TV show. That this parade of carnage and death was being broadcast all over the US. No, all over the entire world. Most girls her age would probably feel at least a twinge of embarrassment about being completely naked on international TV, but at this point she just didn't care. If the viewers at home wanted to jack off to a battered, bruised and bloody twig of a girl, then they can just go right the fuck ahead.
She mulled the reality show aspect of the game around in her head for a moment. "I wonder if they're watching..."
----------
Lyn made her way quickly through the school hallway. It was long after school had ended for the day, and she knew Maggie was staying late, so she did so as well. She knew she would get in trouble for staying out so late, but she didn't care.
She had to see her. She had something she had to tell her.
It came as a shock to her, when Maggie told Lyn that her family was moving out of the state by the end of the year. To say she was devastated was an understatement. Maggie was her best friend, her ONLY friend, and now she'd probably never see her again. And seeing how her life had gone thus far, she doubted if she'd ever have another.
With this news, though, came an opportunity. She always worried what would happen to their friendship if she told her the secret she'd been hiding, and so she kept quiet about it. With the big move arriving within a month, though, she found that she simply HAD to tell her. She knew that it wouldn't amount to anything, since she'd likely never see her again anyway, but that didn't matter. She simply had to tell Maggie how she truely felt about her.
"Maggie!" She shouted out to the girl as she stood just outside the front entrance, waiting for her boyfriend to come pick her up.
"L-Lyn? What are you doing here so late?"
Lyn walked right up to Maggie, looking around the area for a moment. There was no around, it was just Maggie and her.
There wouldn't be a better opportunity.
"Maggie, there's something I have to tell you. Something I've been hiding for a long time. I never told you, because I was afraid of how you might react but...with you moving away and all, I just have to say it."
Maggie started to look a little worried. "Lyn, what is it? What are you talking about?"
"I...the thing is...I...I've always..." She grew frustrated as she found herself tripping over her own words. Dammit, why is this so hard!? You've waited all this time, now just say it!
Lyn took a deep breath.
"I love you."
Maggie stood there in silence, unsure of how to take this, unsure that she even heard what Lyn said right. "You...you what?"
"I love you. You...you came to me when I didn't have anybody. Anybody I could rely on. Anybody I could consider a friend." Lyn couldn't stop herself at this point even if she wanted to. "And then, after I while, I realized, I cared about you. I cared about you as more than a friend..."
"A-are you sure about this?" Maggie said, looking a bit flustered. "I mean, you said that I was the only friend you had in a long time. Are you sure you aren't just confused abo-"
"No! No, I'm not confused!" Lyn responded insistently. "I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life!" She stopped for a moment to try and calm herself down. "I...I love you."
Silence. An awkward, uncomfortable silence that seemed to last for an eternity. "You...you can say something now." Lyn finally spoke up. "Please...say something. I mean, I just bared my soul to you just now."
Suddenly, a beat-up, black Toyota sedan drove up, the driver's-side window rolling down. "Hey, Maggie! Sorry I'm late and all that, get in!" Lyn looked at the driver, Maggie's current boyfriend, with an expression of annoyance.
"I-I'm sorry..." Maggie started to say, heading towards the car.
"Maggie, please-"
"I have to go..."
"Maggie, just tell me-"
"I have to go." Maggie repeated as she opened up the passenger's side door and got into the car, which then drove off.
"MAGGIE, WAIT!" Lyn took a few steps to chase after the car, but stopped as reality set in and reminded her that there was no way she could catch up to it. She was left there alone outside the school, with the feeling that she had just made a big mistake.
"Maggie...please, just tell me we're still friends."
----------
"I wonder if they're watching..." Laeil said out loud, making her way towards the camera. "Aunt Meryl...Uncle Joesph...I wonder if you're watching this. Right now." She scoffed. "Probably not. You probably would've stopped after your beloved son got killed. Or maybe you didn't. Maybe you kept watching to see if the one who killed him would meet her end." She stared into the camera for a moment. "I wonder if you were there, watching as he died." She laughed a bit. "He went out like a little bitch, didn't he? One minute he was so high and mighty, just jumping at the opportunity to play the game just so he could get out alive, and the next he was bawling his eyes out, begging for mercy, just like a little BITCH!" She spat out that last word, her tone going from casual indifference to anger in an instant. "That was exactly what an egotistical shit like him deserved! That was exactly what YOU deserved! You gave Anthony everything he could want and you let it all go to his head. You let him think he was top shit, that he could push around anyone he felt like because he was SO much better than them. And then when I come along you just treat me like garbage! Like I'm just a liability! Cause you're too busy feeding Anthony's bloated ego! Well, guess where it got him! DEAD! He's just a corpse now, dead and rotting! Just food for whatever wants to feed on what's left of him! He's dead! He's dead! He's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead, HE'S DEAD!!"
Laeil took a deep breath, trying to calm down for a few moments before looking up at the camera. "Maggie..." She finally said. "I wonder if you're watching this, too. You went to school with all these people, after all. Some of them were your friends, and I'm sure a few of your former boyfriends made it here, too." She shook her head. "It's not fair...you should be here, too. You should be here, suffering all of this alongside us. Having to kill people you spent four long years with. Especially after what you did..." She begin to tremble with anger. "I told it to you...I told you my biggest secret. I didn't really expect you to feel the same way I did. But what you did...what you did, was FUCKING UNFORGIVABLE! You knew how much I valued my privacy. My anonymity. And yet you told them my secret anyway! All of a sudden, I can't walk down the halls without people noticing me, people who didn't even have a REASON to notice me! And the bullies...and the fucking bullies..." She tried to stop and calm down again, but she just couldn't stop herself. "And you...you couldn't even look me in the fucking eye afterwards! Who was it? Who was it that you told? It was that boyfriend you had at the time, wasn't it? Well, look how well that turned out for you! He turned out to be an insufferable asshole, too!" All the anger, all the indignation she had felt over the years that she had bottled up inside. All the sadness, the pain, the dashed hopes, the feelings of betrayal, the hate...the HATE. The pressure just kept building and building and building, and now that it was starting to be released there was nothing for it but to just let it all out.
"You should be here. You should be here! You should be here, with your family watching you, just like all the others! Watching them bleed and suffer and die! Watching as their sons and daughters and brothers and sisters get their heads split open and exploded, their bodies disembowled, their arms cut off and then RAPED with it, AND ALL THEY CAN DO IS WATCH!" She couldn't stop trembling, tears streaming down her cheeks and she didn't even know why. "Fuck you...fuck you....fuck Maggie, fuck Anthony, fuck Meryl, fuck Joesph, fuck Southridge, fuck everyone on this island, fuck Danya, FUCK YOU! FUCK EVERYBODY! FUCK EVERYTHING!!"
Laeil suddenly reached for her gladius, and swung it right at the camera. Instead of destroying it, though, the sword swing knocked the camera upwards, pointing it right at the ceiling. She stood in silence for a few moments after that, trying to catch her breath, her rant having left her utterly drained. Little did she know that the cameras were down, that her message would never reach it's intended recipients. If she were told that at that moment, she'd just laugh; a hollow, empty laugh, and shake her head. "Story of my fucking life." She'd say.
Finally, she just fell back against a nearby cot, staring off into the space. She remembered Danya saying that he'll explode a random collar for every camera that was destroyed, and the two that had died recently proved that that rule didn't just apply to SADD. She looked up, noticing that the camera wasn't broken, just knocked out of place. But at this point, it wouldn't have mattered if it had been destroyed.
She just didn't care.
She was surprised that the few little words she meant to have with the audience had spiraled so far out of control. Having let out all that pent-up hatred and frustration, she also felt strangely peaceful. It was still a dumb thing to do, though. She probably alerted anyone who might have been in the area to her presence, and some of the nasty things she had said probably wouldn't help convince anyone that she wasn't hostile. Well, she'd just add that to the list of dumb things she'd done recently.
She shook her head. I'd better get my stuff on, then. She thought, getting up and starting to walk over to her fresh change of clothes, gladius in hand.
Most everyone on this island, they had friends, family, lovers, people who were waiting anxiously for them. People who would embrace them, crying tears of joy at their safe return. They had goals. Futures. Something to look forward to when tommorrow came. But not her. She had nothing. Everything that the others took for granted she could only wish she had. She'd do her part in this game, though. She'd take it all from them. Erase their futures, crush their hopes and dreams, ensure that the people they cared about would never see them alive again. She was going to die, and she would do whatever it took to drag everyone down with her.