Survival Of The Fittest

[Aileen Aurora Abdallah, continued
from The Things We Lost In The Fire]

Many, grandious words could be used to describe the many hours that passed since Aileen and Owen encountered Claire, Hansel and Sharon. And how they all left again.

Many, equally grandious words could be used to describe Aileen's feelings and thoughts. Her opinions and her goals.

But one word would be enough.



After Owen and Aileen spend the night in the club house, they had to leave in order to escape the impending danger zone. There was litte direction to where exactly they went. They knew what they needed - Food, Water, Weapons - but how they were supposed to get any of that was a bit unclear.

Aileen proposed searching for corpses who still had their bags. Notthat she would listen to a "No" anyway, but for the first time since a felt eternity, her voice carried a definite amount of doubt. Self-doubt.

It was a strange feeling. An unpleasant one. Like a massive boulder which someone - Hansel - put on all that she was.

However, there was someone who helped her carry that boulder. And that was enough, at least for the moment.

"We should check here."

Aileen pointed her walking stick at the entrance of the haunted mansion.

"Look at the window. Damaged, properly by a fight. Maybe we'll find someone's stuff in the dark."

She looked at Owen. Waited.

((Owen Kay continued from The Things We Lost in the Fire))

The club house had been the perfect safe haven from all that was going on outside. It had provided warmth and shelter, a chance to deal with Aileen and Claire's injuries and what was probably the most important thing, a chance for some actual rest. An uneasy rest, it had to be said, what with everything that had happened the day before, but rest nonetheless.

Rest, like so many things on the island, was fleeting. After what felt like only an hour of sleep, the familiar sound of the announcements carried through the club house and following shortly after it, the list of danger zones including the one Owen, Aileen, Sharon and Claire had currently been residing in.

They had left in a hurry, Sharon and Claire going their own ways in the confusion, taking their supplies with them. Owen and Aileen were left with no-one but each other for company once again. Owen couldn't hate the other two for taking their own stuff, not in the slightest; survival was the most important thing on the island. Which was the exact problem, now, seeing as he still had nothing but a table leg and the clothes on his back.

Owen hadn't argued with the idea of looting stuff from corpses. Even if it was from people he once knew, people who mere days ago he'd been talking to on a regular basis, he couldn't argue with the idea. Not when it was his life on the line if he disagreed.

He had hardly reacted to the announcements, either. Maybe they hadn't sunken in yet. Maybe, after five days of nothing but death and disorientation around him, he'd gotten... maybe not accustomed to it all, but hardened by it, more prepared. Another part of Owen as though he was still reliving the events of the previous day, of how close he and Aileen had come to getting killed.

They were both still alive, though. They were still alive, and Owen was going to do anything he could to keep things that way. That was the most important thing, the thought that overwhelmed almost every other one in his mind.

"Hopefully, yeah..."

Owen peered in through the window of the haunted house, squinting to try and see through the gloom and dust. The entrance had a decent amount of light, thanks to the door and the few windows that weren't boarded up, but would the rest of the house be the same?

"Someone's definitely been here, yeah. And I mean... we don't have much of a choice otherwise, right? Gotta take some risks to... to survive, right?"

Owen nervously smiled at Aileen. Hopefully there'd be something in there, some useful supplies. They could only hope, right? Stepping forwards, Owen pushed the door open with the hand holding the table leg before cautiously making his way inside, the floorboards creaking, his heart resuming its normal pounding, waiting for Aileen to join him.

Aileen quickly followed Owen into the house. That was a mild mistake, because it made her leg hurt. She muttered a silent "fuck" before mentally cursing Hansel's name again for inflicting this pain on her.

But he'll have to pay later. First, Aileen refocused on the dark corridor in front of her and Owen on her side. She gave him a quick side glance and then continued with scanning the floor and walls. The decorations, she'd call them cheesy. Nothing that would Aileen scare too much usually. Usually.

Knowing that real danger was out and in there made the Haunted House just a tiny bit unsettling. Barely seeing anything made it worse.

"Well, then... let's go."

Aileen went forward, carefully using her stick to check the area in front of her. Occasionally, she would feel a wall, or a slight bump, but these would pose no greater problems. The decorations only got some minimal amounts of attention from Aileen. She had to focus completely on what was before her. Even with Owen nearby, she would be very displeased by suddenly tripping and falling down.

That thought angered her briefly, and the next move with her stick was a bit more powerful.

She hit something soft. Actually, no. That object also had some hard parts. And then there was this odd smell, which...

It took Aileen five seconds to realize what she just poked.

"I found a body. I'll check if there is a bag on it."

Thus she lowered herself, put the stick aside and began to check the cold corpse with her sleeve-covered hands.

Owen looked at Aileen with concern as soon as she stepped into the house. Her swearing seemed to be drawn from her leg injury, but that had been the only sign she'd made that it was bothering her, and she still seemed ready to search the house. When Owen had broken his foot, he'd barely been able to walk without pain shooting through his entire body, and he could only guess at how bad being shot was. Even with her stick for support, he wasn't sure how Aileen was managing it.

Hell, she was the one leading the way, right into the darkness and the unknown. After a second's hesitation, Owen followed after her. Sticking together felt like a much better plan than splitting up. Even if they were in a Scooby Doo style haunted house.

They had to walk slowly, checking the walls in the dark to make sure they weren't about to walk into anything or trip over any decorations. This would have been a much easier task with their torches, but hopefully, if they found... somebody, and their supplies, it would be worth it. The return journey would be a lot easier too.

Owen wasn't sure whether he was still following Aileen. He paused, just for a moment, to try and gauge where her footsteps were coming from. Absent-mindedly, he reached up to scratch his neck, forgetting about the collar surrounding it. Instead, his fingers brushed fabric. That was right. He'd put his buff around his neck the previous night for warmth. It wasn't raining anymore, but Owen still wore it. It managed to hide the collar, and in some small way, that helped. A distraction, a cover for all that Survival of the Fittest represented. It seemed to be working, focusing on the task at hand, about himself and about Aileen, rather than everything else. There would surely come a time when he couldn't keep everything hidden away, when everything about Amy, about Hansel, the deaths, the announcements and the fact that there would be no rescue attempt resurfaced, but for now, it was working. He was scared, no doubt about that, but he was still pushing forwards.

Aileen's voice broke Owen out of his reverie from nearby. Turned out she hadn't gone far at all. On the one hand, there was the possibility of good news, that supplies were nearby. On the other, it was another dead classmate, another person they'd talked to and walked past a week ago. The dark made them almost impossible to identify. Added to that, if there was a corpse, that also meant there was possibly somebody else still in the house. Owen took a couple deep breaths before speaking.

"Can... can you tell who it is? And... and, uh, whether, um... they've been here... a while?"

A shower of slight disgust went through Aileen. Sven, the other corpse she touched, was less chilling. Perhaps because he was definitely a fresher corpse than the one she checked at that moment. Or perhaps because Aileen could see Sven, while she was nearly totally blind in the dark.

"...a female. I think these are bullet holes, and... the body is one or two days old, I think?"

She slowly drew near to where the face was. There was only a very dim light, but Aileen's eyes adjusted to the dark. Not enough to see clearly, but enough to recognize the facial structures.

Then she remembered a tidbit from the announcements and realized whom she was looking at.

Aileen did not smile.

"Lauren. Alas, her bag is not on her body."

Aileen grabbed her stick and carefully stood up. Another wave of disgust came when she looked at her sleeves. Only now did the consequences of what she just has done appeared in her thought process.

Well, she'll just had to remember not to place her hand near her face in the next time.

"...maybe it's here, somewhere. But I doubt it."

Owen stood still in the darkness as Aileen examined the body, saying nothing, breathing under control, the perfect image of patience. Inside, he felt nervous, praying that whatever had transpired here hadn't been recent, hands gripping his makeshift weapons tightly, ready to swing at a moment's notice.

Lauren. The body belonged to Lauren, and Owen felt a lurch in his stomach as he remembered their first day on the island, and how he'd ended up pointing a scalpel at the girl. Lauren had died on the third day. R.J. had been the one who'd killed her. Owen remembered the announcements like they were etched onto his brain. Danya hadn't mentioned whether it had been an accident or not. Lauren's appearance at the hospital and Lauren's death here were completely unconnected.

Yet Owen couldn't help but feel guilty as he stared down at Lauren's lifeless body.

There hadn't been a bag, either, at least not in the general vicinity of Lauren. Owen had gone into this with the knowledge that, more likely than not, their search would be entirely fruitless. Supplies were a lifeline on the island. R.J. would have been stupid not to have taken the bag. But they had to hope that somebody, somewhere, had left the supplies with their owner. That was the only choice they had right now.

"Yeah... I do too..." Owen slowly responded, looking around the room. Pretty much pointless; his eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness, and he probably could have seen more with them closed.

"At least this means there's... probably no-one else in here... You think it's worth looking upstairs? See if there's... if there's anyone else's stuff?"

One second of silence. Two seconds. A third and fourth, too. Then came number five.

"...yeah, it's worth a look."

Aileen doubted her own words. There was something about this whole affair that filled her mind with despair. They were assaulted by Hansel and still continued. Robbed of all possesions, robbed of a safe haven... still continued. Ventured into a dark, unfamiliar territory. Braving their feelings of dread, not knowing what dangers were ahead of them. Yet Fortuna emerged again to show her cruelest side.

All this spirit all for naught.


Aileen closed her eyes and audibly breathed in and out, slow and careful.

It was enough to remind her of one thing. She was Aileen Aurora Abdallah. Despair was only a weakness. A weakness that was just another hindrance on her path to the greatness she was destinied to be. A weakness, that like so many other things, had to be destroyed.

She pulled the sleeve back and reached out her left hand towards Owen.

"I don't want to fall down on any stairs, so... - please - give me your hand."

So they were going to explore a little bit upstairs. Really, it was the obvious choice. It was like he'd been thinking earlier, after all. There was a high chance, a 90% chance maybe, that they'd find nothing but more bodies up there, all possessions and personal belongings looted, anything remotely useful ripped away from them. But nothing was ever certain, and if they didn't look, then they'd never know. They had to take risks and they had to have hope.

Aileen then asked for Owen to take her hand. Ah, yeah, stairs. With her injury, and with the darkness of the house, trying to walk up them unassisted would be suicidal. Owen nodded, before quickly leaning his golf club against the wall. He'd have to remember he'd left it there when they came back downstairs. Wouldn't do to lose any advantage they might have, small as it might be.

"Oh, um, yeah. I got you, don't worry..."

With that, Owen took hold of Aileen's hand, firm but not painfully so. Carefully, slowly, he began to take the first few stairs, left hand pressed against the dusty walls for support.

"You... holding out okay?"

Fortunately, Owen fulfilled her request and took her hand. Not that Aileen expected a different result, but nonetheless she felt glad and relieved. He held her hand firmly, careful to keep her connected to him. It gave Aileen a feeling of security, as tiny as it may be.

They carefully stepped on the stairs, descending them slowly, alert to every step, and every potential mistake, which might set them back even more. Aileen fixated her eyes on the steps below her, Owen's legs only registering in her periphery vision.

Walking on stairs hurt. Walking hurt already, but she got used to the pain in the few hours. However, now that she went upstairs, there was a rise in the amount of pain she felt. Not a big one, but still notable.

Owen asked whether she was holding out.

"Yeah... this isn't too much of a problem. Just - just don't let go."

Aileen tightened the grip a little, but in a way that wouldn't hurt Owen. It was just a way of stabilizing that little sense of security she had.

"Course I won't. There's not too many steps left..."

Owen felt Aileen's grip on his hand tighten slightly as they carried on in their slow, laborious climb. After everything Aileen had done to help him on the island, it was the least he could do, really. He had lied a little bit, though; he didn't actually have a clue as to how much of the staircase was left. He was moving his hand along the wall for balance, an exercise made trickier with the table leg in his hand, and pressing his feet against each step in order to stay upright; through that, he was simply guessing that they'd passed the half-way point at least.

A couple more steps, Owen keeping hold of Aileen's hand all the while. Eventually, he shuffled his right foot forwards and this time there was no edge of a step to block it.

"Right, there we go..."

Owen waited until Aileen made it onto the second floor before releasing his hand from hers, making sure she was steady. Taking a look around his vicinity, he saw there was a little more light in this area than there was downstairs, thanks to a poorly boarded up window. Aside from that, however, there was nothing that would be of any use, aside from a few more mannequins and decorations. The only place left to look was down the corridors shrouded in darkness. Owen turned back to Aileen, the light falling just so and allowing him to see her face.

"Guess we've got a bit more searching to do..." he murmured. "Once, um, we're done here... you think we ought to check your bandages again? I kinda did a rush job, and, uh... better safe than sorry..."

Aileen snarled once they safely reached the upper areas. Definitely not at Owen, she was incredibly grateful for his presence. However, even though there was more light, Aileen failed to see any useful stuff for them to simply pick up.

Walking down again was a thought she'd rather postpone for a bit, if only a few minutes. A dark staircase. Days before just a few simple meters to cross, but now a great obstacle that required Aileen to ask others for help. She liked Owen, liked him very much, but the shameful thoughts that circled within her mind did not cease.

Then Owen asked her about the bandages, which did help a bit.

"Hm... it will do, I checked it myself earlier  and frankly, it's not that we could change the bandages anyway."

Aileen mustered Owen's face, shrouded in darkness, for a while longer, appreciating the person it belonged to before she moved on and continued their search.

Owen nodded, trying to keep up his appearance of calm with a reassuring smile. The hurried, rapid movements of his head gave the opposite impression. Every second they stayed in this house, he was getting more and more nervous. They hadn't fully searched the ground floor; there could still be someone there, or somebody like Katarina or Theo making their way towards the only entrance and exit of the house, or somebody hidden in the dark up here.

Yeah, thinking about this wasn't helping at all. Owen stopped nodding.

"I guess you're right... could use scraps of clothes, but... we're kinda low on those too... but if you checked ‘em already, then, uh, we should be okay..."

Owen began his search of the top floor, sticking close to Aileen all the while. Searching, however, was kind of an overstatement for what they were doing. They'd probably have as much luck searching with their eyes shut, given how little light there was, and all the little nooks and crannies stuff could have been hidden in, and the growing feeling that this was completely pointless and

"Fucking HELL!"

Owen lashed out at the closest wall with his foot, feeling it reverberate, the pain instantly hitting his toes. All that fear and all that frustration had to go somewhere, he supposed. He'd never been good at keeping his feelings hidden inside, after all. Owen closed his eyes, and after a pause, took a breath and let out a deep sigh, before he faced Aileen.

"Sorry... I just... kinda, um... sorry. Frustrated..."

Owen agreed with Aileen, and if she saw correctly, he also nodded in a very hurried manner. He was nervous, obviously, just as she was. The haunted mansion proved to be without any use, and even worse, it also was a dangerous place. There wasn't much light, only one exit and countless objects to trip over.

Probably the same thoughts Owen had. And he was not as good as hiding his feelings as Aileen was.

Fucking HELL!

See?

Frankly, the fact that Aileen hasn't turned into a glowing ball of self-righteous fury was puzzling her, all things considered. Still, Owen's little scream and his apology put a smile on her lips. It was another sign that their fates were bound, another sign that in the few days they really knew each other a bond formed, stronger than anything Aileen had before.

The most odd thing, however, was the fact that Owen's scream had a cathartic effect. Usually, Aileen felt the need to express anger herself in order to release all the tension within her. But for some reason, Owen alone was enough to do that.

"No problem. This is a shit situation. Just try not to break your feet, yes?"

Aileen closed her eyes for a second before continuing.

"Anyway... let's return, we're not going to find anything here."

Owen turned to look at Aileen, and somehow, a small smile managed to find its way onto his face. Aileen was still there with him, had been every step of the way, and he hoped she'd be there for every step forwards. Yet again, she was stopping his own mind from eating him alive, stopping him from letting the dark thoughts in his head drag him down into despair. Those weren't words Owen, or really anybody else, had thought he'd say about Aileen once upon a time, but now he was incredibly gratefully that he was able to.

"I'll... I'll do my best... already know how much that sucks..."

Owen closed his eyes, and breathed, heavy and slow, in, out, in, out, in, out. There wasn't anything else up here; Aileen was right. This whole thing had been a waste of time, a wild goose chase. It wasn't as if they could have predicted it, though, and even though he felt down heartened, there was nothing they could do but just press on forwards. Walking slowly back to the top of the stairs, Owen held his hand out for Aileen to take.

"All okay?"

[GMing approved; Permission active for the duration of pippin's away]

"Yes."

Aileen took Owen's hand.

Descending was, just as Aileen expected, causing pain. Again, not too much, but still a stinging sensation in her leg. And something that turned every step into a small challenge. This time, however, she wasn't afraid of tripping and falling. In fact, it was almost positive. Perhaps not pleasant, which would be a most unfitting feeling, but as long as Owen was holding her hand, she felt comfortable. Or at least as if she was in safety.

---

There were standing before the entrance of the Haunted House. Aileen with her aiding stick, Owen with the table leg and the golf club. Her eyes lingered on the walls of the house, as if she would detect some usefull stuff if she just looked at the wooden planks long enough.

It wasn't a complete waste, she figured as they began to walk away. They might not have found something to heal their bodies, but certainly something that helped their minds to stay healthy.

[Aileen Aurora Abdallah & Owen Kay, continued in Today I'm Dirty]