Survival Of The Fittest

((Continued from Ratio Decidendi))

Kathy charged out of the jungle, shaken. She wanted to vomit, but couldn't, having nothing left to vomit. She wanted to sleep, but couldn't, the images etched in her mind and keeping her awake. She wanted to escape, but couldn't, because Danya refused to let them.

She couldn't do anything she wanted. Because she'd witnessed a murder.

She staggered into the colourful, vibrant field, the rain pitter-pattering on the flowers and clovers. She leaned on the umbrella, catching her breath and her balance.

"Becky?" she cried feebly. Her traveling partner had fallen behind - probably the injuries - and Kathy had lost track of her.

"Becky?"

The images were scarred into her mind. They had gotten to the cliffs to get Becky's bag, and saw the boy standing in front of...Kathy thought it was Cara Scholte, who she knew somewhat, but the damage the boy had done to her was extreme and she was near unrecognisable...and then he...he pushed her...and laughed...he pushed her over the...and the thud...the cliff...the rocks below...Becky gasping...they ran...the rocks...

Kathy collapsed to the ground.

"Becky?"

((Continued from Ratio Decidendi))

The jungle was a blur around Becky was her legs furiously pumped, carrying her further and further from the horror that she and Kathy had witnessed on the cliffs. She didn't know how long she'd been sprinting, but she couldn't stop. She couldn't obey the screaming pain in her thighs and lungs; it was as though she'd surrendered all control of her body to a mad fear.

The boy had laughed. She could hear nothing else over the desprate pounding of her heart, and the quick, wheezing breaths she took.

And then there were no more trees. Becky met the ground with a loud, ugly grunt.

"Ungh!"

She had not noticed Kathy kneeling in the field of technocolour petals before she ran right into the girl, throwing them both more or less face-first into the earth.

It was a few moments before Becky became aware that Kathy was under her. She rolled off of the girl and began feebly picking the flowers out of her blonde ponytail, ignoring the plants that had been jammed into the waistline of her own jeans from the force of the tumble. Becky couldn't speak, she could only choke on the deep breaths she laboured to take.

Kathy wasn't prepared for Becky to coming bowling out of the jungle and in to her, so the collision took her by surprise, winding her. The air escaped from her lungs and she wheezed, tears forming in her eyes. It was all too much, and Kathy just lay there, breathing shortly and sharply.

Becky picked herself up from on top of Kathy, and Kathy was able to breathe a little deeper. After regaining her breath, she sighed and looked at Becky. She didn't feel like saying anything, but Kathy felt like she had to to break this painful silence.

"So."

Kathy breathed in.

"What now?"

Becky wanted to address her friend's question, but her breathing was still too violent to accomodate speaking. So she said nothing, and stared blankly at the damp petals on the backs of her hands. She began distractedly scooping the flowers and grass out of her jeans.

They had not seen Ryan on the way to the cliffs. Where was he? How would she find him? She hoped feverently that he was not hurt. He might have gone back to the caves, and they'd missed him. Or he was...

No. That kind of thinking was not allowed.

As far as what was next...there were three things that Becky wanted to do. One: cry. A lot. But moreso she wanted to recover her weapon and find her boyfriend.

"Do you...what do you think...Ryan...where is he?" Stupid question to ask, but it was all she could manage to say right then. Looking intently into Kathy's intelligent brown eyes, she hoped that maybe the girl would have some kind of insight on the situation.

"Do you...what do you think...Ryan...where is he?"

Kathy held Becky's gaze. Kathy had no idea. Ryan had gone off to get something - Kathy couldn't even remember what it was - and they had left the caves. In hindsight, it wasn't a great idea - Ryan would have no idea where they were, and, as Becky had just pointed out, they had no idea either.

Kathy looked away into the trees.

"I...I would assume he's alright. I mean, he's a good guy, right? He's not going to get himself in any trouble or do anything that could endanger himself. I don't know where he is, but I'm sure he's safe."

Well, as safe as you can be on this island.

Kathy continued staring into the trees. She'd also been one to come up with a plan, to be at the ready with a sharp and intelligent answer to any question - she was part of the reason her family had held off Astle and his cronies for so long. But for the first time ever, Kathy was stumped. Silent. Without options or answers.

Mum...Dad...what do I do?

OOC: Continued from Desperation (bloody finally...).
IC:

After the incident at the trail, Adam had been alone for however many hours he'd been travelling, taking care of the cut on his head, resting, eating, and all the rest of the bullshit actually keeping himself alive and healthy (he'd even done pushups and the like a few times, once using a branch as an improvised chinup bar, though he stopped when it felt like it was about to break) on a death island entailed. This was not a good thing, as it meant he had time to think. Time to let everything really settle in his mind, and his mind didn't like it. How could he have gotten so carried away? Part of him felt sick at himself, for what he had been doing back there. You didn't just...rape a girl to survive. He should've left Maxie alone after she wasn't a threat.

And Kathleen...better shot than I give myself credit for. Must've got her right in the heart, because I killed her with that first bullet. One shot, one of the hottest and craziest girls in school drops dead. Saw her corpse...oh God, I'm a murderer!

Everything had happened too fast at the trail, so it had been a while before Adam caught up to the concept that he had actually killed Kathleen, helped by the fact that he'd only seen her body for a split second or so while leaving and was too preoccupied with getting the hell out to go "wait, why is that person lying on the ground? Didn't I shoot at someone over there?". However, instead of the mind-shattering freakout he expected he just felt...numb, shocked almost. For a bit it was like he didn't care. Not just about the kill, but about anything. He'd gotten like that a few times before, but not as strong as it had been for a few hours after realizing he had shot and killed Kathleen Martin. He didn't even get sick like some others did. There was guilt, yeah, but eventually he just moved on.

Amazing how easily you justify things to yourself when you're on an island being forced to kill your schoolmates or be killed by them and almost everyone you know has turned into a murderer or a corpse. That mindset, that you do what you have to do to survive because death frankly sucks even worse than life does, really took the credit for a lot of the more awesome things people could do under stress. Maybe there was some malice to it, but Adam certainly wasn't happy about the killing, he was just trying to get used to the fact that it was what he had to do, and when faced with Kathleen's death, a girl who he really only knew as a girl he'd have liked to get in the pants of if she wasn't a psychotic bitch, he quite literally felt nothing. It was almost a sense of fatigue, one of those things that makes you think "You know, the world is a terrible place" and feel so tired not even sleeping for a year would make you feel rested.

As he approached a break in the treeline, Adam covered up a yawn with his free hand (he had figured out what to do with the sword by putting the gun in his waistband and holding the sword on the opposite shoulder of his pack, the idea being he could put the sword down when he needed to use the gun and vice versa if the sword was needed) and mused that it may have just been literal fatigue he was thinking about. It was early morning, probably almost dawn, but the storm had not yet abated from so many days earlier, and he felt justifiably miserable at this. Everything in the day only served to tire him more, no matter how many quick "power naps" he took, but at the same time he was afraid to outright go to sleep lest someone find him and slit his throat or shoot him in the head.

Whoa there, stop!

Absentmindedly breaking through the trees into the field of flowers caused him to come to a sudden, startled, halt. He'd been here before, admired the fact that it was a good looking field, if one where there was no cover and you'd be a sitting duck if someone saw you there. The whole place just screamed 'location of final fight in a badass kung fu flick' or something. That wasn't what startled him, though, neither was the corpse of Shawn Waits which he couldn't really see from where he was standing. What startled him, causing him to take several rapid steps back into the treeline and put his pack and sword down, pulling his gun out, where the two girls standing around chatting.

Just what I fucking need...ain't even that pretty...

Truth be told, after spending most of the day alone Adam had gotten used to it, and the things that'd happened at the trail had made it so that Adam was also in the mood to stay alone. Especially since he was pretty fairly convinced anyone he could see could see him, and anyone who could see him would try to kill him. Therefore, by a bit of convoulted logic, if nobody was around nobody could kill him. He didn't entirely recognize the two girls or hear exactly what they were chatting about, but as the gun was almost subconsciously raised he tried to push it out of his mind, forming the proper two handed grip on the weapon as he aimed. He had to fight to survive, the girls were just obstacles. It was him or them, and Kathleen and Maxie had made his choice for him in a way.

I don't wanna die...I dont wanna die...

After bracing himself for the recoil and beating his ears were about to take, Adam squeezed the trigger, firing off a few shots first at one girl, and then the other. If it killed them, it'd be great, but it'd also be good if he just wounded them or if they ran off. Adam just wanted to take away any chance of them being a threat.

Kathy's last word was punctuated by amunition burying itelf into the earth around Becky's knees, causing her to jump and yelp in surprise. A searing pain cut across her right shoulder as it was clipped by a bullet. Blood leaked steadily down her arm from the wound, leaking out from between her fingers as she clutched her injury.

Whimpering, she looked to Kathy, desprately afraid that she'd been killed.

Blam. Blam. Blam. Blam.

Kathy was taken aback by the sudden sound of gunfire on the edge of the field, and she reacted quickly despite her fatigued state, diving to the ground and breathing slowly, quietly. She looked back at Becky, who...

"Oh heck no," she breathed.

While Kathy had not been shot, remarkably, Becky's right shoulder had been clipped by a bullet, and the blood wasn't exactly coagulating. Kathy moved her finger to her lips, and clumsily felt for her umbrella with her other hand. Her hand grabbed a hold of something solid. The umbrella handle.

Got it.

In her time on the island, Kathy had taken to trying to whittle down the top of the umbrella into some sort of sharp point. The rocks hadn't helped a lot, but the very tip was sharp enough to at least penetrate the surface layer of skin, if no further. It was a weapon for shock purposes - open it up and stab at them with it, then run.

It was a plan Kathy decided would have to work if the unknown assailant wasn't going to leave.

Kathy lay very still.

Why don't you just go away, you monster? We've done nothing to you.

((continued from Rinse, Repeat))

Harry approached this large clearing in the woods cautiously, seeing as there were a few blips in the area and gunshots piercing the air. Of course he was decidedly far enough away and well-covered by the foliage that he wasn't in any immediate danger, but Harry's (most) recent brush with death had intensified his paranoia slightly. At this point he wasn't even sure if he could relax if he were locked in a concrete windowless room with a blip outside packing a bugle.

'Still, this is no time to lose your nerve, Harry.'

Reluctantly he ventured past the treeline, ducking low as he made out someone on the other end of the large field of flowers. He gripped the Jackhammer tightly in one hand, keeping an eye on the other players with the GPS and waiting to see if any opportunities arose out of the mayhem.

Empty!

After firing the six shots left in the first magazine, Adam had ducked back behind the tree instead of looking to see the results of his ambush, grabbing another mag from out of his pack and quickly reloading the weapon. He heard them on the other side, but that wasn't anything he could judge the success of his attack on. Fortunately though, there wasn't any return fire, which had to be a good sign. Either dead or at least no guns. Still, he had to at least scare them off, there was no other way to be sure they weren't a threat.

Besides, firing at someone with the intent to kill them is kind of crossing the Rubicon.

Adrenaline as it was, he didn't even notice the lack of the announcement, or the rising sun, or really anything but the noise of a fresh mag being placed in the gun and his own breathing. There wasn't time for any of that, it was kill or be killed. Fight and live, or hide and die. Bringing the gun up, he turned the corner of the tree again, aiming it at where he remembered the two to be.

Huh?

Oddly enough, only one of them was still there, though she was kneeling on the ground. The other had disappeared. He hadn't heard anyone running, though. Had he killed her? The one standing up looked wounded in the arm, but there was no trace of the other. Still, there wasn't time to spare. Forcing down the weight it put on his conscience, he aimed at the remaining girl again and squeezed off a shot.

---
(OOC: Dante continued from Ratio Decidendi.)

Dante had been wandering through the jungle when he heard the gunshots, oblivious to what had been going on in the field only a matter of metres away from him until gunfire rang out. This aroused his suspicions, as he had been on edge ever since he'd left the caves way back when and there'd been no announcement, so he clenched his roundel tightly in a fist, put away the water he had been drinking (he'd made a point of trying to conserve his water supply, ample as it was, for when he really needed it, but he was really fucking thirsty), and headed off with packs over one shoulder and weapon in the other hand.

Becky, at last, we see each other plain...what the hell? Why's that song stuck in my head now of all times?

Shaking the odd thought and song out of his head, Dante was still slightly surprised to see Becky from the cave kneeling in the middle of the field. From the angle he was standing at, he couldn't see her assailant, but it looked like at least one of the gunshots had hit her, though he wasn't entirely sure. Before he could get a better look though, the next volley of shots rang out, causing Dante to wince and duck back into the treeline.

C'mon, Dante, do something. You call yourself a man, hiding here like some coward? You're no man, you're a mouse!

Every logical part of his brain told Dante to just run, leave Becky to be cut down by the shots and get out of there. Play to survive, play to win, damn everyone else. Still, even after having shoved her to the ground back in the caves some part of his conscience wouldn't let him just abandon her, even if she was probably gonna be cut down by the bullets anyway. Was it that he was actually a decent person under the asshole front? Maybe, maybe not. Fucked if he knew. Maybe he was just bored. What he did know was that he found himself dropping the packs to the ground and crouching, picking up a large rock with his non-weapon wielding hand as he ran out to the field.

"OI! Girl from the caves! You wanna get out of here alive or what?!"

The rock was tossed to further get the girl's attention, and another shot rang out, somehow missing Dante. Startled, Dante allowed himself to fall to the ground amid the flowers, crouching low and looking around while gripping the dagger, hoping to get a glimpse of who was firing. Now just to figure out where the shots were coming from, he'd already done something foolish, may as well pay for it.

"If ya can walk, make for the trees! Ten bucks says this asshole's focusing more on me at the moment!"

Another bullet struck the ground next to his hand, causing Dante to immediately shut up. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to bet on who was trying to kill who.

((OOC: Becky has been kneeling on the ground, not standing. She would still be visible to Dante and Adam, in a less moronic-seeming way. I'm not sure if that changes anything for you, Kyle, so I'll leave this post just as OOC until tomorrow))

OOC: Thank you, I should've asked, sorry, I was in a rush. Edited.

Stuff happened. Becky wasn't sure exactly what it all was, but she recognized Dante's voice telling her to make for the tree. She threw herself to the ground, taking large handfuls of flowers and dirt in her hands. Her eyes and nose watered. It took all of her concentration to retain some semblance of composure.

Actually, "semblance" of composure was giving her a bit too much credit. Becky wheezed noisily, taking in huge, panicked breaths. Clumps of dirt stuck to her wet face and left streaks where she tried to wipe them away with the back of her hand. A low whine escaped her throat.

"We need to get out of here!" she cried into the grass.

"We need to go!" There was delerium in her voice. A sudden mad rush to the trees...that would be her solution. The fear of being gunned down was overshadowed by the necessity of leaving the area.

Wildly, Becky reached for Kathy's arm.

"We have to go, right now!"

((continued elsewhere))

Too much was happening for Kathy to truly fathom what the heck was going down. People were diverging on the field from left, right and centre, a maniac was shooting at them, Becky was injured - and then the last voice Kathy wanted to hear echoed through the clearing.

"OI! Girl from the caves! You wanna get out of here alive or what?! If ya can walk, make for the trees! Ten bucks says this asshole's focusing more on me at the moment!"

Kathy looked in the direction of the yelling. Oh great, that troglodyte. But why is he helping us?

However, Kathy didn't have time to think this question through, because, as the fire began concentrating on Dante, the wounded Becky reached out and grabbed her hand, and yelled at her, "We need to get out of here! We need to go! We have to go, right now!"

Kathy and Becky hauled themselves up, let go of each others' hands, and, pure adrenaline running through Kathy's body, she bolted for the trees. She only hoped Becky would be following.

((Kathy continued elsewhere))

Harry had the screen of his GPS zoomed into the immediate area, just wide enough to catch four other blips along with his. He was beginning to rethink approaching any of them; while the Jackhammer packed quite a hefty punch, to his (fairly limited) knowledge of firearms it was a short range weapon and wouldn't do well against a handgun in a huge clearing like this.

Another round of gunshots and two of the blips bolted.

'Yeah, you know what? Fuck this. I'll stick to the jungle and play smart...better get out of here before they see me.'

Harry backed off and eventually turned away into the thick brush, his confidence growing with every step that he'd made the right choice.

'I have to put on a good show for the cameras, but the name of the game is still survival. Right now I should look for a place to rest and get my shoulder bandaged up. Shouldn't be hard to hold down a spot with my arsenal anyway.'

Now, where was a good place to hide?

((continued in One Step Forward))