Survival Of The Fittest

(Rosemary Michaels continued from Kill All Motherfuckers)

Rosemary awoke to the feeling of her nose running, and a strange bundle of heat near her face. The girl violently move her body forward, dropping the shot gun in her arms and hitting her head against the wall.

"F-fu-owww..." she groaned, holding her head for a moment to try and get her bearings. It was then the events of yesterday all came back to her- the announcements, Alda's reaction, her flee, Meera...

Oh, god. Meera. Meera was gone. Even though Danya hadn't made his announcements yet, she knew the other girl was. She couldn't help the guilt that pervaded her after remembering the event. All she had done was run away, and that... that was low. No matter if it was Meera who told her to run, Rosemary was the one who truly provoked Alda. It was Rosemary's fault, just like it had been with Joey's death.

They knew what they were doing, and you didn't know Alda would react like that. Her mind offered as a rebuttal to her self-loathing.

But Alda... why the fuck did she do that? She had let her emotions get the better of her just like everyone else. But what if they had not let them go? What if the softball team had taken their weapons, their food, and left them to-

A small sound came a feet or so away from her. It had been the bundle, which turned out to be a ball of fur, the color of it tawny brown. A cat.

When she came into the office, she hadn't noticed any cats. Only broken furniture and what appeared to be a body lying down on the dock outside, before she collapsed. It must have come in through the window, looking for something warm in the cold of the night.

The cat had awakened with the sounds of her surprise, and looked up at her with large yellow eyes. She used her wrist to rub away the wet snot coming out of her nose and blinked. Her eyes hurt too, but whether it from crying, or had she found out that including to pollen and dust, she could add animal dander to that list she did not know.

She stared at it for a few moments, and it stared back at her, before climbing over the long barrel of her gun to push its head against her knee and rub it's ears on the side of her pant leg.

"U-uh." that was all she could reply. Rosemary did not know how to react. She never had any pets bigger than a goldfish in her life, and the apartment banned pets. Hesitantly, she brought her hand down, patting the cat's head. The small animal closed its eyes in content, a small noise burring out of its throat. It was a purr.

So, while Rosemary tried to tape her fractured self back together mentally, she continued to pet the cat. It climbed into her lap and she continued to stroke it's head and back while it purred at the attention. Her nose ran faster, and her hands were starting to feel itchy, but all those physical signs of an allergic reaction could go to hell for the moment. She had discovered the healing powers that a small creature in your arms could give.

Rosemary sniffled, but there were no more tears. She needed to stop thinking about the 'what ifs'. She would not cry anymore. It just made her more tired and upset. All her friends here were gone, and now she was alone. What would she do? Still hold on to the hope of finding Garrett, hoping his plan was working? Maybe.

But then the announcements came on, the cat hissed at the loud noise and shot from her lap; the magic was over.

Garrett had killed someone, and then he died not long after. Kat killed again, efficiently taking the places of Theodore and Maximilian as among the killing ranks. Joachim had killed another person too, but it did not sound like the other two. Then again, she would not expect something better out of Joachim. She already knew how he was.

But then the end came. Even though she was expecting it, knew there was no other explanation, Meera's name hit her hard in the gut.

And now there was nobody left. She had not heard about Bella, but she didn't want to think about how bad her teammate had it. Meera's death and Garrett's death, and losing the possibility of another plan was enough hurt.

Rosemary balled her hands into fists, before going into her first aid kit, finding a packaged wipe and running it along her fingers to try and stop the itching, which due to the cat fleeing at the announcements was quietly dimming down. Her hands were only a little red now, and any splotchiness had subsided.

Maybe this was why, even in her old house, her parents had never let her have a cat.

This thought brought her back to the reason she had kept going so far. That's right- her parents. Ryan. But now, that reason was growing dimmer and dimmer with every hour she remained on the island.

She stood up, looking at the tattered office, then up at the ceilings where the wallpaper had started to peal off due to exposure to sun and sea. And that's where she saw it.

A camera.

She wished that she could do this sitting down, but moving the device from it's place would be too risky. She took out another sanitary wipe and some tissue, dabbing her nose a cleaning the stickiness off her cheeks, before going back to facing the camera. Looking at it in it's one, big, glassy eye.

"I just want to say... mom and dad, I'm guessing you've been watching what's been going on so far," she began. "But, - but now I'm asking you to stop. This will sound stupid... but from now on I can't think about you guys, whether you're watching me, or how you feel when something happens to me here... or if I make something happen to someone else."

So I'm asking you now- stop watching this broadcast. I love you both, v-very much." she tried to give them a smile, to pretend it was her mom and dad she was speaking to, and not some omnipresent photolense. But, she felt like she wanted to say some more, and any possible moisture from her eyes dried up.

She would not cry.

"And to those- those of you watching who are in power of the United States government- I want you to keep watching. I want you to watch every minute of what happens here and know that you are at fault. You. The senior class of Aurora High is half-gone because you made us believe it was safe. You made us all believe that- that Survival of the Fittest was just a bad dream, or even a joke to some..."

Rosemary was angry, she was furious. "But it's not. We're living this- this nightmare. And we're dying too, so I don't want you to apologize, or try to explain yourselves- I want you to do something to make sure this never happens ever, ever again. And if you were here, right now, and told me that you did do everything to make sure this didn't happen? ... Go fuck yourselves."

All the anger and pain was let out of her with those words. She felt lighter, no longer having to carry the weight of her parent's emotions, or her own that were crushing her down. Now all that was left was her.

"Now all that's left... is me." She mumbled to herself, getting ready to depart.

Now she needed to find out who this "me" really was.

(Rosemary Michaels continued to Schwarze Rosen)