Survival Of The Fittest

((Matt continued from Picking it Clean))

Garrett had told Matt to meet up at the duck pond, so Matt had spent the day just bumming around. He didn't run into anyone, which was good. He liked the alone time. It meant surviving.

Matt had managed to sleep relatively peacefully. Nobody came to bother him, which was still good. He didn't want to get shot by some killer while he couldn't even respond. Sleeping was a risk, though, and Matt didn't like how many of those he was choosing to take.

Nonetheless, it was now the morning of the fifth day. The blaring sound of the loudspeakers resonated against the water, and the oh so pleasant voice of Danya was going to announce the latest batch of victims, both killer and killed.

"Oh, joy."

Hopefully Garrett would be able to take notes. Matt opened an energy bar to celebrate his success.

((Garrett Wilde Continued from Young and Beautiful))

Reaching the rendezvous point had been a challenge. Sneaking around was even harder with two people. It'd been the first time he had to think about anyone else staying with him since he'd separated from Meera and Joey.

'Separated.' That put an interesting spin on things. It sounded less like conscious abandonment and more like an accident. The sort of language he used to distance himself from his guilt was oddly fascinating.

These sort of self-aware musings were coming more frequently now that he had Bella in tow. He felt sharper now that concerns for her safety weren't constantly trying to tug his attention away. His focus was now purely on the plan. Very little else mattered. It was almost strange to him that he hadn't really caught up with Bella yet. Five days was the longest they'd gone without talking in...ages. Neither of them had much to say, though. They didn't want to talk about what happened. Not yet, at least.

He held her hand gently as he led her towards the pond on the map. He could see someone in the distance. "That's Matt," he whispered back to her. "He's part of this. He'll have some things I need." As they drew closer, he used his free hand to wave up at him. "Do you have the paper?"

There was a pause after he called out. A cursory glance around the pond indicated that they were alone.

"Where are the others?"

More announcements, more deaths. Matt didn't pay attention; he had a group he could rely on for that, and he was hoping to blend into the background of that group. It wasn't too long after that Garrett showed up with Mirabella. Matt didn't know her too well, but Garrett wanted her in the group, and she didn't look like she would cause problems.

"Uh yeah, got the paper," Matt said. He'd stopped by at the school and found it with relative ease. He pulled out a moderately large stack from his bag and handed it to Garrett. He'd grabbed probably over 100 pages. "I kind of went overboard. You should have more than enough to work with."

Garrett asked about the others, and Matt hadn't seen them since the previous day.

"I have no idea where they are. I'm sure they'll get here soon enough."

((Mirabella Strong continued from Young and Beautiful))

Mirabella hadn't spoken much since she and Garrett had left the town.

It was odd. She would've thought they'd have had a neverending stream of things to talk about, like back in Seattle. But instead they'd walked in near silence, hands intertwined as they moved towards their destination. She'd opened her mouth with the intention of saying something far too many times to count, only to clasp it shut again as words words failed her once more. She couldn't help but feel that it could've been much worse, though - internally chiding herself for letting optimism find its way back into her system. Bella knew that if it weren't for Garrett, then she probably would've remained in the town, unmoving; ready pray for any of the killers.

With conversing lost between them, she'd been forced to focus on other things in order to avoid getting too introspective again. That wasn't too difficult, given the sharp burning that'd burrowed its way into her legs. Even standing up had been a challenge, and was only the boost her reunion with Garrett had given her that was keeping her going - though even that was beginning to falter.

Thankfully, they'd eventually reached the duck pond before exhaustion bore down on her, and she was able to catch her breath - for awhile, at least. The area's sole occupant was Matt Vartoogian, a boy whom she hadn't known that well back at school. They were friendly with one another, and she'd eaten lunch at his table once or twice, but aside from that they were mere acquaintances. Bella didn't feel particularly good about that; it meant they stood a risk - however small it might've been - of becoming attached. She would've rather met up with someone she was already close to, instead of risking becoming closer to someone who'd inevitably betray her or get her or get killed or any one of a myriad of horrible things.

It was a dark thought, and Bella knew it was probably unreasonable - though it might've been perfectly reasonable, for all she knew. It was getting harder and harder to discern between what was logical and what wasn't.

Garrett greeted Matt and Matt responded in kind, before handing Garrett a hefty leaf of paper. Bella remained silent throughout their interaction, hands folded over her chest as she attempted to regulate her breath - still shaking with exhaustion and lingering tinges of panic. Garrett hadn't fully disclosed exactly what his plans were, which was something of a double-edged sword. On one hand, there was no chance for her to doubt and internally pick it apart, but on the other, she was still rather unsure over the whole thing.

She just had to wait and see and hope against everything that Garrett was right.

"We can't afford to wait. I chose this place because it was open and we could see each other coming, but if they're not here, they're not here."

Garrett grabbed a piece of paper and hastily scrawled a note across it.

Cammy, Kyran, Deanna.

Meet us at the large glass domes between the hospital and the harbor.

Stay safe.

Garrett.

He looked around the green park. It was a mess. There was a large mound of dirt that looked like it'd been dug up and replanted, and a gash of scattered earth, like there'd been some small explosion. It was like a war-zone.

A few days ago, he never would have considered a place like this remotely "safe." Now, it was almost peaceful.

They still needed to move on. As calm as it felt now...he turned back to Matt. "We're too exposed here. It's not safe to work, plus I need somewhere that I'm not worried about wind. I'm leaving this for them. They can catch up if they want to."

The note was left wedged under a rock on the blood-stained bench. The tint hardly stood out to him. It was simply the most noticeable location.

"Let's go."

He took Bella's hand once more and gave her a slight smile. "It's okay. I'll explain what's happening on the way. We're going to be alright now."

Their eyes didn't meet as they spoke. He pretended to need to look elsewhere. He couldn't face her while he was lying. Not yet.

Maybe that was a good sign.

((Garrett Wilde Continued in Internecine))

Garrett didn't want to stick around. It was probably a smart choice; the location wasn't very defensible, and both Garrett and Bella had the same interest he did in not dying.

Garrett left the note wedged under the rock. The others would find it and meet up with them. There wasn't really a risk of someone else finding it; none of them were being hunted, and the note would effectively tell a killer, "there are people in a place for you to kill."

Matt followed Garrett and Bella, knife still tucked neatly in his belt. Hopefully he could make things fall into place around him to get out of this mess.

((Matt Vartoogian continued in Internecine))

Bella crossed and uncrossed her arms as Matt and Garrett spoke and she loitered on the sidelines, still hesitant to interject for fear of messing up what they were planning. All the same, standing silently with her lip firmly between her teeth caused her to think too much, caused all her fears and doubts to slowly seep through. She tried to distract herself, rereading the signs that flanked the edge of the pond and adjusting her sweater and skirt.

It helped a little, but she couldn't wait to get moving again. This area was a lot more secluded than the streets had been, but it still felt far too exposed and open for anybody to just stride in. She felt infinitely more safer with her Garrett, but that didn't stop her chest from rising at every little noise that echoed around them, didn't stop her from jumping whenever she thought she saw movement from behind the bushes scattered about the park.

That's why Bella was so relieved when Garrett and Matt finally stopped talking. It felt like their talk had lasted for hours, though she knew it could've only been a few minutes. She smiled as Garrett reached out and took her hand, readjusting her bags over her shoulder as they began to walk once more.

((Mirabella Strong continued in Internecine))