Survival Of The Fittest

((Maria Cucinotta continued from A Chef's Nightmare))

Why the fuck was she coming back here?

Maria was making her way back up the stairs to the roof. She didn't know why she made the decision to go back. Maybe she just didn't find ready to go outside yet. Or maybe she just wanted to see if Wayne was still there. She was feeling very indecisive about what she was doing with herself. She still wanted to survive. Of course she did.

Her footsteps were echoing on the stairs. She was now slowly opening up the door and she was now back on the rooftop. She blinked a few times as she glanced around. She couldn't see Wayne anywhere. Damn. Had he already left? She had left him on his own for a while. She shouldn't really be caring. Right? Right.....

"Hey! Are you still here?!" She called out loudly and she waited to hear a response. Just in case he did answer.

.....

Silence.

She let out an exhausted sigh.

She made her way forward until she was close to the edge of the building. She felt her stomach turning as she took a quick peek over the side. Why would she do that? She didn't know why. She needed a break. She couldn't continue to act like she was. She still needed to get rid of the compitition so that she would get back home safe and sound.

She sat down on the edge of the roof, her legs were dangling over the side lightly. She stared down at her sword that was on her lap and then she looked up at the sky. She really needed a better plan. Maybe she should try to get someone on her side. An ally? She didn't think that she would see Caleb for a while.

"This is all so fucking stupid...."

(( Michael Crowe continued from Devil's Choir ))

This whole fuckin' thing was getting way out of hand. It's like every motherfucker gets a free talk shit without gettin' hit card because they got lucky with their bags. Shit really needed to be done about it. The fuckin' irony of this island being a funny farm. The inmates run the asylum now, and they've forgotten the way things work.

All the scum suckers got the good shit. Guns, swords, groups. Shit, at this point it seemed like there were more freaks than normal people around here. Like how many of them were left now? Seventy or eighty? Like ten of them have been going around murdering everyone, so that meant like a seventh or an eighth were murderers. Those ain't good odds for anyone.

Yet HE was the bad guy. Fuck Min Jae, fuck his self righteous bullshit. Motherfucker think's it's better to kill people for their weapons than it is to avenge someone. Fucking whack job. Why the hell is everyone crazy? Nancy's crazy, Alex's crazy, Min jae's crazy... Goddamn, when the fucking human peacock greaser is the most sane S.O.B on the island, you know something fucked up somewhere.

Michael kicked the door open to the rooftop. It was becoming a habit of his at that point. There was Maria on the other side of the roof sitting on the edge, looking down at something. She didn't really pay attention to his door stomp, so he went his own way, sitting by the doorway, and pulling out his first aid kit. He figured he might as well change the bandages on his hand while he could, make sure it didn't get infected and all that jazz.

He removed the bandages an-woah, he almost lost his lunch. The stump had become a mass of black and red scabbing, with pinkish white skin here and there. He gagged a bit as he pulled out the hand sanitizer, dumping a painful glob on it to keep it clean. He was not gonna catch some flesh eating bacteria here, no sir, none of that lock jaw shit for him! He hissed as it did it's burny cleany magic, before grabbing a clean roll of bandages to wrap up his hand.

He finished up when Maria spoke up about this whole situation.

He agreed with her, it WAS fucking stupid! Michael found himself chuckling a bit, before speaking up.

"Hey, you're telling me! Everyone's gone fuckin' apeshit, can't talk to nobody anymore, haha!" He pointed towards the bandaged hand, laughing.

Maria had heard the door being banged open behind her. It had scared the crap out of her. She almost jumped out of her skin. But she managed to control her urge to gasp and bolt forward in shock and surprise. Besides, she would have just fallen to her death. It would have been such a stupid and a meaningless death as well. The terrorists would possibly have been laughing their asses' off at that one. She couldn't afford to look like such a fool. She also ignored who was on the roof with her for a few minutes. She doubted that it was Wayne. They weren't even doing anything to really bother her anyway.

About she had spoken, she heard the person speaking back to her. She gave a inward groan in despair. Michael fucking Crowe. Someone she did not really approve of. She didn't think that she would run into him at all. He hadn't actually done anything to her yet. It seemed that he was not looking for a fight. Otherwise, he would have kicked her off the roof to her death.

Maybe she could ask him to be her ally. Partner. Even if she didn't want to. She needed someone to have her back until they were no longer useful to her.

Maria moved herself cautiously away from the edge of the roof. Then she got up to her feet, making sure that her sword was pointed down at her side. This time she didn't want to come off as threatening as she had tried to be with Wayne beforehand. She could have a potential ally if she played her cards right.

She twirled around to look at Michael face to face. She was stunned by what she saw....

Holy shit. Michael actually looked like well.... shit.

"Wow.... You look like crap, Michael."

Maria winced when she said that. Really? Did she really have to say the obvious in such a rude way? Why couldn't she had said it more nicely?

"Sorry...."

"Shit, you mean my hair's that bad? Damn, well Aqua Net and Dapper Dan combos only get you so far, shit's only meant to hold for a day or two..." Michael played stupid for comedic value. He knew Maria was talking about the combination of bruises obtained from Jerry's practice fight, and the fact he was missing a digit. He'd wait to acknowledge it, if she couldn't get a joke, he'd leave. Plus he was pretty self conscious, if he wasn't allowed to joke about it, it'd just make him feel worse. Coping mechanisms and shit.

He brushed his hand across his face, feeling the small specks of facial hair starting to pop in. Any longer without a good trim and he'd start looking like Shaggy Doo. "Goddamn, I needa' shave this shit." His hand left his face, and he looked at the bandages along it. "Oh..."

He pointed towards his hand. "You mean this shit right?" He tilted his head and grinned. Maria apologized. Why? She was telling the truth. After three days of getting shit on, of course he'd look like shit. Hell, it was harder to find people who weren't.

"Nah, you ain't gotta apologize, you're pretty much telling the truth, blame the shit-heels around here. I can't get a fuckin' break, y'know?" He stood up, patting down his pants. "Outside of literally one other person, I haven't found anyone who wasn't a dick, so, eh, I had a fun weekend I guess." He remembered how the church shitters wouldn't even let him get a drink before leaving, so he reached into his bag and pulled out one of the water bottles. He took a swig, and decided to warn Maria about them.

"If you leave the asylum, don't go to the people at the chapel, they're fucking cock-monglers, I really hope they catch dysentery or cholera or some shit."

He pointed the bottle at her, questioning her. "Soooo, what's the story with you? You don't look half as bad as I do, you been sneaking around the island dodging everyone, or did'ya just get lucky and not bump into anyone?"

"Hah...."

Maria felt herself laugh a little. Honestly as much as she didn't really like Michael. A joke coming from him was making her feel a little better. Only a little. They were still in a shitty situation but at least Michael still had his sense of humour. Even if his jokes weren't her favourites. She needed a partner who would make things easier for her.

She rubbed a hand over her chin and she was staring at him thoughtfully as he continued to speak to her. She was planning on asking him to team up with her after they had spoken a bit more. She didn't have to rush and she didn't want to push him in case it drove him away.

"That sucks, you know. Everyone can be pretty judgemental, you know." She nodded her head as if she was understanding his situation and then she frowned as he mentioned the chapel. "Ah, I got you. I will make sure to stay away from there. It's a promise."

Maria chuckled lightly at his next questions. She really had been more lucky than him. That was very true. She didn't really want to tell him that much. Not yet.

"I was just really lucky. Although I did run into some people. One of them was Sandy Bricks. He was a bit of an ass. But I can't believe that that Nancy bitch actually killed him. It feels so unreal. I didn't want to believe it but.... Fuck...."

"Shit, you saw Sandy? Me and Jerry too, problem was it was somewhat post-mortem, err well, mid-mortem or some shit. See, he wasn't dead when we walked in there, but he was in the process of it, Nancy put a damn screwdriver through his head."

The very mention of Nancy's name caused Michael to cringe. All because of her, shit got fucked, and it got fucked fast. Everything that sucked that happened to him or Jerry happened because of her. He continued his story.

"Y'know, we almost killed the bitch. Me and Jerry. She got caught red handed and rushed us. Jerry kicked her like a friggen' Worldstar video right? We had this shit in the bag! We outmanned and out armed her too, my axe was bigger than hers, Jerry had this wicked spear I made for him. We went in there, and-"

Michael snapped his fingers.

"Brendan Harte went in and fucked everything up like the lil' petty motherfucker he is. He killed Jerry, rest his fuckin' soul, and then it was two on one again, me the one. I still fought 'em off, they were scared of me an' shit. They ran like hell."

Michael shook his head. "Like shit, it just got worse from there, Alex had a buddy with a gun, they took my finger, fuckin' Min Jae and his group are dicks- he killed a dude for their crossbow by the way, that ain't his!- You're literally the only one I've actually had a normal fucking talk with by the way, since like, Jerry was here."

He stared off into space for a moment, looking at the island below him.

"It's probably a lot worse for everyone else, the same fuckin' people keep poppin' up on the announcements. Like damn, I get it, you only need one kill to make it out of here and people want to live, but why in the fuck do they keep going at it? Fuckin' Isabel went Hostel on Mistah Class President, I don't even wanna know what happened to Danny, the fuckin' mute's going ham, Alex's has gone full bonkers, dude thinks he's Hannibal now, and that blue haired weeb is a fuckin' whack job, pretendin' that killin' people will mean she's famous or something, like damn... Can you believe that shit?! Y-y'know it's at the fuckin' point where I don't even give a fuck who wins, just as long as it ain't those bastards!"

He took his shades off and sighed, he hadn't breathed during his tirade, and many of his words slurred together. If he kept going, he'd become as incomprehensible as Will 'EEHHMM, EEEERRHHM I'M FREM FOOKIN' LIVERPUEL, M8!' McKinley...

"Sorry for venting an' shit, but three days of pent up bullshit would make anyone crazy."

Maria was silent as she let Michael speak his mind. Why shouldn't he? He went through more worse things than she had. She knew that he had a right to let out his thoughts. Even if he was swearing a lot. Just hearing him tell her what happened was an experience that she needed to learn. She was starting to think that the ones who had murdered other people were less deserving of going home. But what could she do about it? Should she try to go after the killers instead of innocent people? It did sound like the better opinion. But then would other people who were friends of the killers come after her and try to avenge them? It would be like going around in circles again and again. Shit....

What should she do? Be some hero or turn into a villain? She needed to think about it for a while. She couldn't just randomly decide so quickly. She needed to make sure to make the right choice.

She thought about some of the killers who had been on the announcements and that were still alive. She thought that Brendan Harte wouldn't have harmed a fly, but he had killed someone who had been a friend of Michael. She didn't think that he would but now she had to watch her back and hope that he would suddenly stab her in the fucking back. Isabel Ramirez. Maria had been right not to trust that bitch. If she ran into her.... She had to do something to stop that girl's madness before more people died because of Isabel. Nancy Kyle was just bad news as well. She knew that that girl was going to lose it sooner or later. Nancy had to be stopped as well as Isabel. Alex.... Well, he needed to be put down too. All of them should deserve to rot on this island.

Maria had made up her mind. She nodded to herself before looking at Michael's face with a determined expression on her face. She couldn't take back what she was about to say. She had finally made her decision.

"It is really shitty that you went through all that hell, Michael. I think it sucks that you had to deal with all that bullshit...." Maria cleared her throat a little. She needed a sip of her water after this. She was a bit thirsty. "You're right. Those assholes don't deserve to go home. You're not wrong about that. I would think that it is unfair to let any of those unworthy bastards go home a so-called winner. Someone else should deserve to go home. Someone who is more innocent than those creeps. I don't think it will be you or me, Michael. Heck, we might die tomorrow or the next day. Who fucking knows? The best thing that we can do is wipe out those assholes before they can create more bloodshed. It might not be the best plan but we had to do something to stop them before it gets a lot more worse."

Maria took a small breath. Then she held out her free hand towards Michael in a welcoming gesture. She didn't want him to turn her down. She needed to at least have his trust for now. She was trusting him not to suddenly attack her without a reason.

"So what do you say, Michael? Do you want to be my partner in this?"

Michael was rather surprised, hell he was excited to hear Maria had much of the same thought process he did! Why should THEY get to go home anyways? All they're going to do once they get back is cry and pretend to be a victim, and the dumbass media and talk shows would eat it up. Oh, you massacred ten people? That's okay, you were a victim, they hurt your feelings, there was no other choice...

Fuck that shit. Back in America, there's a thing called capital punishment. Hell, back in civilization, even the most third world ones have the same idea. You kill a bunch of people, you get killed. Even if you're a dictator, you might get away with it for a while, but your people are gonna eat you alive eventually.

This island would be no exception. You killed a person? Coulda' been self defense, it's not the end of the world, you had to if you wanted off anyways.

Tortured a person, however... Kill three people? Well... That's a different ball game. We know you don't have three cases of 'self defense', and you can't torture someone in self defense either, so there's only one route for you to go.

The Route 666. Straight to hell.

Yo Jerry? You up there? You watchin' me? I hope so. I hope you and Scarlett are okay up there. If you can't rest yet, don't worry, you will soon. Things were gonna change real soon, lemme tell you. Those names that keep popping up, they'll all pop up one last time, and not in the way they want it to.

Michael stepped forwards, and extended his arm to handshake Maria. This was the plan then. It wouldn't be like last time. This time he was ready.

"Hell yeah, let's send these fuckers back home, eh?"

Michael looked towards the other side of the island. A blanket of rain was making it's way here.

Huh... Guess Jerry was watching after all...

Maria was feeling relieved when Michael shook her hand. Now she finally made an ally. She wasn't going to lose him like she lost track of Caleb. She was just hopeful that Caleb had found Kimiko and then they sorted things out. She was praying that Caleb wasn't dead and that she and Michael could run into him at some stage.

"Good to have you on my side, partner."

She nodded towards him. She placed her sword down on the ground beside her carefully. Then she took out one of her bottles from her bag and she unscrewed the top. Then she took a huge gulp of water. Ah. That was a lot better now. Her throat wasn't feeling itchy anymore. She really needed to take good care of herself. She didn't want to become a liability to Michael. Especially not before they started their plan.

Maria screwed the top back onto her bottle and she placed it back inside her bag. Then she picked up the sword again. She then glanced at Michael who was staring off into the distance. She wondered if he was looking to see if he could see anyone. It would be hard to see.

"So.... Should we get going? We have to start hunting those bastards down. Maybe we can look around until we can find one and then take them out of the picture." Maria asked, waiting for him patiently. She had noticed the rain coming as well.

They had this, this would work, this wouldn't fail, this- oh God this hurts like hell, ow, ow, ow OW OW OW OW OW OW AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHNNNNNNNNN-

"O-ow..."

Michael should not have tried handshaking with the four digit hand.

"Yeah. Alright yeah, let's move, maybe we'll find someone else who agrees with our ideas."

After finishing the handshake, Michael waited until Maria was looking away, before shaking the pain out of his hand.

"Or... Maybe, just maybe, we might find someone who 'disagrees' with us."

Michael shouldered his axe and turned back to the door.

"Let's ice these freaks."

((Michael Crowe continued elsewhere))

Maria realized that she possibly shouldn't have shook Michael's bad hand. But it was too late for that now. He seemed to be taking it well anyway. Next time she will make sure to shake a hand that had all five fingers. She had to keep that in mind.

She was hoping that they would get the latter. Because she would like to get the killers out of the picture. And then what were they supposed to do? She shouldn't think about it. She could think about it later on. Their plan was more important right now.

She was nodding in agreement with Michael.

"Yeah, let's get those psychos."

((Maria Cucinotta continued in 70's Horror Movies 2: New Wave Massacre))