Survival Of The Fittest

"Well at least it looks like a nice place."

B007 - Gray Emerson: Start

The comment did nothing to help relieve the tension Gray was feeling. It had been worth a try.

Outwardly at least he looked perfectly calm. But inside he was freaking out. Gray had always been the more relaxed and calm one out of his friends, he was just good at keeping his emotions on the inside. It was proving harder to do give his current situation though. They had been dumped on an island and told to kill all their classmates and friends. They had even given Gray the perfect thing to do it with.

A gun. A Walther P99 to be exact, at least that's what the piece of paper, told him. Gray didn't know if it was right or not but he doubted they were lying considering the way they'd introduced themselves. He shuddered at the memory. This was really SOTF. Everyone had assumed it was gone for good.

As it turned it out it wasn't and the collar around Gray's neck was just further proof of that fact. The thing was solid metal and had no give at all. Not that he wanted to test that too much; Gray had heard stories about kids pulling their collars when they didn't want to carry on playing the game. Knowing that made Gray slightly nervous to touch the thing, he was fine bypassing his brains fear of pain but the fear of death was something else entirely.

Waking up had been a weird feeling as well, he'd almost head-butted his pack; according to the pack he was B007, which must have stood for Boy 7. It was a long way off from what Gray considered his lucky number to be but he hadn't dwelled on that. They had taken his phone and iPod, he didn't care about the phone too much because it had been old and dying but he would've loved to have music to listen to. They had even taken his headphones, at least he still had his beanie so thank god for small miracles. He took it off quickly to give it a quick check, brushing off some pieces of dirt and grass that had gotten stuck to it while he had been out cold. The stuff he had been given was pretty basic.

Some food, a flashlight, a map, compass and a first aid kit. Oh and the gun. The gun had been in there too, Gray packed everything else away but left the gun out, and he didn't quite know what to do with it. After all he had never actually held a gun before. Picking it up Gray bounced it in his hand; it was heavier than he thought it would be. He put it back down on top of his pack and stood up to take a look around. As he did so he felt his left leg lock into place.

"Ah...that's bad." Gray stumbled slightly as his body reacted to the lack of movement in his leg. It was probably caused by the fact he had been so still for so long, after all it had gone when he'd gotten off the bus and it would've locked in if he'd had the chance to get off the plane, so it made sense. "Hopefully this doesn't keep happening." He grunted as he pushed on the back of his knee to unlock his leg.

After lifting his knee up a few times to work out the stiffness Gray looked around properly. He was in a park that much was obvious; the gazebo with Christmas lights and a 'Just Married' sign was ominous though, as was the fountain and statue that he could make out. Everything was overgrown as well, the place was abandoned that much was clear.

Gray picked up the gun again and shrugged before stuffing down the back of his jeans like he'd seen people do in movies. He could only think of one other thing to do apart from that.

"Hey! Anyone else here?"

(G009, Cassidy Kant, Start.)

She'd woken up to the sound of his approach. She hadn't even had time to realize the gravity of her situation. By the time she'd realized she was asleep on a gazebo bench AND in a fight to the death, she'd had to relocate to a hiding spot.

Cassidy gripped her knees and choked down the sobs she so desperately needed to let out. She pressed her back hard against the large statue to keep herself as out of sight as possible. The voice sounded like Gray Emerson. He was a nice kid, very hard to dislike. Definitely not somebody whom she feared.

She looked up to consider all of her options. She could reveal herself, or stay hidden. She looked to the bench she'd been passed out on. There was a black duffel bag underneath. Yes, and there was food and a weapon inside. She could even try to sneak away or attack if she wanted.

That wasn't her. She had the option, but it wasn't mentally or emotionally doable. The fact she'd even considered it as an option scared her. She pressed her fist harder against her lips to keep down her sobs.

It's Grey. He won't hurt you. You need to stop hiding before somebody who MIGHT comes along.

She let go of the sorrowed yelp. "I'm here." Another sob. "One second." She started to stand and came from behind the statue, hands slightly raised at her sides to show she wasn't going to try anything.

"I…I just woke up and remembered… a few minutes ago." She wanted to ask how he was, she wanted to talk about the situation, she wanted to find out if he spelled his name with an "a" or an "e", but she just needed a few minutes to feel bad for herself.

She fanned herself to show she was trying to calm down. It was working too, but mostly due to denial. She used her palms and wrists to wipe her face and then wiped them on the back of her pants to dry them off.
"Let's talk," she let out the slightest laugh at the situation. "I'm glad I'm not alone, and I'm glad it's just you."

Andi Victorino barely registered her surroundings as she trudged aimlessly through the Central Park. Her bag was slung over her shoulder and digging into the bare flesh, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Not about that or the sweat running down her face or the collar wrapped tightly around her neck. She couldn't care about any of it when she knew that back home her daughter was waiting for Mommy to come home. Andi hadn't even said goodbye. It was early when she left and she didn't want to wake Fiona. She didn't want her to be cranky. And she didn't want to have to feel guilty leaving when she knew for a fact Fiona would be upset if she saw her going. This was supposed to be her last hurrah, she thought, the last time she could be a kid before having to settle into motherhood. Fiona would see her in a week, she thought, she'd be fine for a week.

So stupid.

She was an idiot.

If she could take back all the times she'd forgone time with Fiona, she would have in a heartbeat. She would have been so different. She would have been a good mom, the kind that doesn't take their kid for granted. That selfish girl would have changed and been so different.

Andi clenched her fists tightly. She was being dumb. There was no way she wasn't getting home, it wasn't a choice.

A voice calling out broke Andi from her thoughts. It seemed friendly enough, if not a little desperate, but she clutched the hammer in her hand all the same as she searched for the owner. Keeping to the cobbled path, she soon found Gray Emerson and Cassidy Kant and had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She decided when she woke up that the only people she could or, rather, wanted to trust were the girls on the Softball team. While Gray was someone she had history with, it wasn't necessarily the best history. Cassidy, on the other hand, was everything she hated in a girl. She watched as she fanned herself like some melodramatic soap star and cry.

It pissed her off.

What did she have to cry about? Andi had so much more to lose and there wasn't a tear in her eye, so why the fuck was Cassidy Kant crying?

Her face twisted in what could only be called disgust, but she shelved her pride as she approached the duo. She may have been scraping the bottom of the barrel, but safety in numbers and all that. They'd be useful at least until she could find some of the girls from the softball team.

Picking up a rock as she approached, Andi softly tossed it at Gray's feet and forced a smile, "Mind picking that up?"

She hoped the rock weighed enough to break the ice.

((B051: Gavin Hunter - Start))

Gavin felt terrible. It was the gas, that unknown chemical that had forcibly rendered him unconscious several times in a row. Whatever it's precise scientific designation, it didn't agree with Gavin at all. His stomach was churning like an industrial mixing vat, his muscles were burning and his head felt as if somebody had whacked it with the lead pipe he'd apparently been assigned as a weapon.

Yet in an odd way, Gavin was grateful that he felt so awful. The physical pain helped stave off the emotional turmoil he knew would hit with all the force of a speeding freight train if he allowed himself to think about his situation in more than the most immediate aspects for more than a second.

So instead he concentrated on being angry. Not at his situation, but at Greynolds. Greynolds, Greynolds, fucking GREYNOLDS; the man he'd watched shoot a man first in the leg, then in the head. That hadn't been his cardinal sin, however. No, Gavin didn't hate Greynolds for the murder, Greynolds held a special place in Gavin's own personal hell for what he'd done next.

He shot into a crowded room. The fucking retarded sack of shit shot into a crowded room filled with his own men and the cargo that he'd just spent fucking months planning to abduct. If I ever find out where he learned to shoot, I'll fucking burn the place to the ground. At least he was using a pretty low-calibre pistol, probably a .22 or .38 by the sound of it and the wounds I saw it inflict. Still, the ricochet could've killed somebody – most likely his own fucking men. SOTF must have the best fucking dental plan in the universe.

It was an irreverent train of thought to be pursuing in a situation like this, but concentrating on it was all that was keeping Gavin sane. He was trembling like a leaf, but it wasn't from the after-effects of the gassing. His world had been shattered by the abduction; every solid concept that he used to anchor his psyche had been swept away with contemptuous ease by the terrorists.

Gavin was not afraid to die. Death as a concept had never frightened him. The cessation of life was something that simply did not worry him on any level, for reasons that he'd never quite been able to put down into words. What had always haunted Gavin was the prospect of losing control; giving into the vicious, unquenchable emotions that he'd kept locked away since the earliest days of youth.

Those emotions won't turn me into a killer, but they will turn me into an idiot. I will not allow that to happen.

It was clichéd in a way; the class loner fighting to keep his darker side at bay. The concept actually made Gavin giggle, a rather strained sound made through dry lips. Apparently the inability to generate saliva was another 'delightful' after-effect of the terrorist gas. He vaguely remembered there being a water bottle in his day pack, so he rummaged inside until he found the container and removed the cap, bringing it to his lips.

As moisture returned to his lips, Gavin cast his eyes around the area he had awoken in. A faintly psychedelic haze had rested over his senses ever since he'd returned to them, so up till now he had registered nothing but the barest details of his surroundings. He didn't even remember how he'd found and identified his day-pack either, those memories were all fuzzy and indistinct.

He was standing (or half-crouched, his body still hadn't shaken off the gas effects enough to make standing an easy proposition) in a park, seedy and overgrown. It looked to have been abandoned for years. Gavin could see a few fragments of coloured glass scattered among the weeds, and after adjusting his gaze horizon-wards he saw that a large gazebo was only about a hundred feet away from him.

A gazebo... that rang a bell. Hadn't he been in a gazebo, not too long ago? Gavin was just pondering this when suddenly a voice rang in his ears. It sounded familiar, at least to the degree that it belonged to another teenager. It also sounded surprisingly normal, all things considered.

I could do with a dose of normality right now. Gavin thought. The last thing he wanted was to run into some panicky cheerleader screaming her head off at being dumped into SOTF. He wasn't in much of a position to offer emotional support to anyone.

By now Gavin felt better. He was still a little shaky, but his complexion had returned to normal and he could stand without experiencing a pressing urge to void his bowels. Now that would be an embarrassing way to start SOTF. He pushed himself to his full height, and then squared his shoulders. His joints made several somewhat alarming clicking noises, but everything seemed to be in working order.

Now that he had achieved an upright position without anything important falling off, Gavin took full stock of his situation. He was still in the same clothes that he had been wearing, but all of his tools were gone. That didn't matter too much; he'd left his important equipment at home anyway. Groaning slightly, Gavin bent down and replaced the water bottle he'd been drinking from in his day-pack, then hoisted it over his right shoulder by the carrying strap. He debated taking the lead pipe as well, then finally grabbed the thing and rested the heavy length against his other shoulder.

His load as comfortable as it could be, Gavin began to advance on the gazebo at a slow pace. He couldn't really manage anything faster at the moment, and he didn't want to alarm the two people he could already see standing among the ruins. He hadn't been very near the gazebo when he'd first awoken, and it was only the call that had made him really notice it in the first place. It was so overgrown that had his attention not been drawn to it, he would probably have wandered off in the opposite direction.

He weaved his way through the overgrown paths and past the statues until he could see the two other teenagers more clearly. They were both small compared to him, and he faintly recognised the male by virtue of him being one of the very few in Aurora he knew to be less than 5'8 in height. It was Grey something or other. The other one he recognised as... a cheerleader. Fan-fucking-tastic!

But just as Gavin was about to call out to the two in the gazebo, he saw a third figure approaching from another direction. She was noticeably taller than the two other occupants of the gazebo, though still considerably shorter than Gavin himself. He wasn't close enough to read her expression, but by her posture he could tell she wasn't happy.

For a moment Gavin considered turning and walking away. But then he realised that with so many other kids of the island, he was more or less certain to run into some of the more annoying ones sooner or later. He sighed and trudged onwards, adjusting his pace slightly to give the newcomer a lead on him.

He timed his arrival well, all three teenagers had their attention more or less focused solely upon each-other by the time he was close enough to hear their conversation at normal volume. He saw the new girl, whose name he could now place as 'Andrea' or something along those lines; throw something at Grey's feet – a stone, from what Gavin could see.

Deciding to make both his presence and intentions clear at the same time, Gavin took the last few steps towards the trio and raised his voice to attract their attention, "Hey, sorry to disturb the three of you, but do any of you have a gun?"

Nice to see you've got your priorities straight there, oh great white Hunter.

Shut up.

Gray heard the yelp before he saw the person. Cassidy then stepped out from behind the statue. Gray had never had that much interaction with Cassidy if he'd had any at all. He knew she was a cheerleader though so that was a start; someone who did cheer-leading must have had decent fitness at the least. She also had her hands raised to make it clear she wasn't carrying any weapons; not that Gray had been expecting her too if the way she had called out was anything to go by. The way she started fanning herself was slightly weird though, although if that was how she was trying to calm herself down who was Gray to comment, he wasn't calm himself. He was just very good at looking relaxed.

She wanted to talk though, which was as good an idea as any. Gray could take a guess about the thing she wanted to talk about, probably some kind of partnership. It made sense, two people were safer than one and while Gray didn't know what Cassidy's weapon was he knew he had a gun and in most circumstances guns won fights. Not that Gray had any idea how to shoot straight or aim, but the presence of the gun itself would deter most attackers at the very least.

Gray was going to reply to Cassidy when he saw something out of the corner of his eye, before he could turn though a rock landed at his feet. It was quickly followed by a voice.

"Mind picking that up?"

Gray recognised the voice instantly, even though he hadn't heard it in a while.

It was Andi.

For some reason a smile crept across Gray's face.

"That was better aim than last time." He said as he bent down to pick up the rock, he turned it over in his hands a few time as he looked across to where Andi was standing. It was funny actually, that one of the first people he met on the island was Andi, and apparently she had noticed as well. Gray was well aware of how stupid the exchange was but it was a nice distraction from what was actually going on. For the whole of ten seconds.

Again Gray was going to say something when someone else walked over, a check once over told him it was Gavin Hunter...who immediately asked if anyone had a gun.

Never mind a greeting at all, just waltz right in with the heavy stuff. Any sense of calm Gray had managed to gain was destroyed by Gavin's appearance. He had heard the stories of Gavin being weird, because obviously who hadn't. It also didn't help that Gavin had decided that to go to Disneyland in the summer he needed a leather jacket and fingerless gloves. It was the kind of get-up you wore if you wanted people to pay attention to how 'different' you were. Gray wasn't one for social groups or standing but he knew how social interaction worked.

Gavin however did not. Gray knowing he himself had a gun just blinked a few times. He scratched the back of his neck as he thought through his response. He was thinking through his response because he knew what could potentially happen. In the end he decided that honesty was the best way to move forward. If he lied about the gun now it would just make it harder for them to trust him later.

Gray adjusted his beanie before giving Gavin a slight nod.

"I do."

Cassidy took a few more deep breaths to regain control of her emotions. She'd woken up in hell alone just ten minutes ago, and all seemed lost. Now people were starting to find others and talk. Things hadn't gone to shit just yet, nobody was dead yet. Now that she thought of prom and the last few weeks of school, she couldn't even imagine the class turning against one another.

Deep breaths. Things were bad, but she had others now. Not everyone was trying to kill her, that was nice. Gray was hard to read, not very expressive. He seemed glad to have found somebody. He seemed even happier when Andi came, but she didn't take it personally. She didn't know exactly what their relationship was, but the potential of becoming a third wheel was now present. Bigger numbers were bigger numbers, but being the odd girl out was something else. She'd see where this went.

As they conversed, she looked around uncomfortably. It seemed they had some kind of history, which was more than she did with either. Whatever was happening, she wasn't a part of. She glanced around the gazebo, hoping to see somebody she knew better. There was Gavin Hunter.

Looking scary as ever, the kid was walking towards them. He didn't look dangerous, but she didn't want any surprises. He called out, asking if anybody had a gun.

Apparently Grey did. And Gavin probably didn't since he was asking. Did she have a gun? She hadn't even looked in her bag yet. She held a finger up towards him and went over to check her own G009 bag. She pulled it out from under the bench and dropped it on top. Pulling the zipper, she rummaged. First aid kit, energy bar, energy bar, energy bar, paper?

She pulled out the paper and turned it over.

Toy Boat.

She narrowed her eyebrows and went back to the bag, feeling something hard and plastic. She pulled it out and her fears were confirmed. At least she didn't have anything dangerous to tempt her into doing the unthinkable.

She turned to Gavin and held up the bath toy. It's color had faded from water damage and use. This toy was well loved by it's owner. "No gun here." She dropped it back into the bag and removed one of the bars before zipping it closed.

"Here," She tossed the bar his way before she started walking towards him. "Split this with me. You're not looking so good."

Andi's otherwise forced smile softened slightly following Gray's replied, twisting into something somewhat more genuine. While she couldn't consider him a friend, it had been the first they'd spoken since the incident at the track and she couldn't deny that there was something comforting about running into a familiar face, despite their colorful past. It didn't hurt that she knew for a stone cold fact that he was about as dangerous as an infant.

"I've been practicing," She said, offering a shrug before affixing her gaze on Cassidy. While they'd never really spoken in depth, Andi couldn't exactly say she was fond of the girl. Maybe it was petty, especially in a murder game, but she couldn't help being annoyed by her, despite what little she knew about her. She'd heard about the dramatics between her and Owen Veveris and her melt-down and while she was normally highly entertained by drama of any kind, after awhile it just gets embarrassing. Maybe there was just a personality clash, maybe she just didn't like her because she was thin and pretty, but no matter what it was, Andi hoped she wouldn't have to deal with her for long. There were holes all over the island she was sure Cassidy could run and crawl in.

Before getting the chance to inquire about their plans or the like, a fourth person made his appearance known and Andi couldn't help but wonder if God had forsaken her all together.

Gavin Hunter was not someone she was comfortable being around, especially with the very likely possibility that her classmates would be playing the game. Even back in Aurora, he was very much the cookie cutter ideal for a school shooter, walking around in his dumb as fuck trench coats with his greasy ass hair constantly talking about guns and making creepy passes on girls. Evidently Murder Island had not changed him, exposing all of his zero social tact as he greeted them with an inquiry about their weapon designations while hoisting a huge pipe over his shoulder. She couldn't see anything but red flags.

Gray responded in the affirmative, which surprised even Andi whom had just been given a hammer, whilst Cassidy, bless her heart, moved to check her bag for the very first time since waking up. Andi, on the other hand, said nothing as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest as the bore into Gavin. She didn't trust him, not in Aurora and definitely not here. Quickly, she shot Gray a cautioning glance, as if to tell him to expect something while Cassidy returned to the conversation with a gem of stupidity; offering Gavin food and essentially telling him she was unarmed.

In one motion, Andi smacked the energy bar Cassidy tossed to the ground and shot her an irritated glare.

"Are you an idiot?" She spat, a look a disbelief passing over her features, "You don't give a stray food or else they'll never leave."

Cassidy was free to do whatever she wanted, she could run off and get mauled by a bear for all she cared, but she wasn't going to let her idiocy take Andi down with her. She didn't know about Cassidy, nor did she really care to know, but Andi had something waiting for her back home and there was no way she was going to let some reject like Gavin be the death of her. Not when she had so much to lose.

Focusing her attention once more on Gavin, Andi let her hands drop to her side, making sure Gavin took note of the hammer in her hand. It was small, but if worse came to worse, it was no different than swinging a bat, right?

"I think I saw one at the other side of the island, Gavin, so why don't you beat it and go check there?"

Shooting somebody with a gun was an act that Gavin found utterly abhorrent. It was irresponsible, cowardly, and simply unsporting. Bashing somebody over the head with a lead pipe, on the other hand...

No, he wasn't going to go down that road. This wasn't Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Andrea wasn't Princess Peach, despite the more than passing resemblance. Instead, Gavin brought his lead pipe slowly down off his shoulders and used the end to flick the energy bar towards him, and then knelt and scooped it off the floor with his free hand.

"Thank you very much." He said sincerely to Cassidy while tearing the wrapper open. The bar was like a brick, so dense that it took him a second to break it in half. The smell almost made him feel delirious, and with a start he realised just how hungry he was.

Makes sense. He thought, closing the wrapper around the spare half and tossing it back to Cassidy before biting into his own half. I'll bet the terrorists never bothered to feed us for the days that we were unconscious. After all, why waste resources on walking corpses?

While he chewed, Gavin debated how best to deal with Andrea. He'd already pegged Grey as essentially harmless, and Cassidy was clearly a nice person who was in no way a threat. Andrea, however, was trouble. In other circumstances her attitude would've annoyed him, but his internal logic told him that responding in kind would just cause an argument.

Subsuming his irritation, Gavin instead drew on the reserves of tranquillity that a decade and a half in the school system had built up in him. He drew a deep breath then turned his gaze on Andrea.

"I'm not here to start a fight; you don't need to be so aggressive. I know you're frightened and angry, but you aren't going to get any kind of relief by trying to provoke me. I'm just trying to stay sane and in control, I hope you can respect that desire."

Before giving Andrea a chance to answer, Gavin quickly turned his attentions towards Grey. "Since I can't see a holster on you, I'm guessing you've got that gun tucked down the back of your pants, probably with the safety catch off and a round in the chamber knowing how stupid these terrorists are when it comes to handling firearms. I know you don't have much reason to trust me yet, but if you let me inspect it I promise to give it back, maybe even give you a few tips on how to use it without suffering Vanishing Buttocks syndrome if you like."

Cassidy immediately offered Gavin an energy bar.

It took Gray a few seconds to try and figure out her line of reasoning. He had been distracted by the fact she'd had a toy boat in her bag. It must have been her weapon, in which case that was some bad luck. So she didn't have a gun, but that didn't stop her offering Gavin the energy bar.

It was such a strange leap of logic. Gavin had his own bag, which meant he had his own food. So why did Cassidy think he needed some of hers? Maybe she thought it would help her gain an ally.

Gray noticed Andi give him a look, and then in one quick motion she knocked the bar out of Cassidy's hand and glared at her. Gray was slightly surprised but he didn't show it. He could follow Andi's reasoning, Gavin walking straight up and asking about a gun was suspicious. Especially when his reputation at Aurora was taken into account, granted she was being harsh about it but it wasn't like that was anything new for Andi as far as Gray was concerned. It was clear that Andi didn't want anything to do with Gavin though.

Gavin on the other hand was being very polite and peaceful about the whole thing. If anything it was too polite. The language far too formal and measured. Before he had even really finished speaking Gavin turned to Gray and started speaking again. The he talked was weird, simultaneously too friendly and condescending. Gray had the strong suspicion Gavin was trying to make himself sound smart by the way he figured out where Gray was keeping the pistol. It wasn't that impressive, when you considered Gray's pack had in fact come with a manual for using said gun that'd he had a quick read over. So he knew his gun was loaded and he knew the safety was on. Plus it didn't take a genius to work on that the safety actually read off and on. So if anything it was a little insulting.

Then he asked if Gray would actually give him the gun. Gray couldn't help smiling at the bluntness of it. There was no way he was giving Gavin the gun. The guy dressed like he was in the Matrix. There was no fool me once in Survival of the Fittest either; you couldn't take a chance like that. Gray would struggle to justify it if it was just him and Gavin, but with the chance two others could get caught up in the bloodshed if Gavin just decided to turn the gun on them, no way Gray was not going to take that risk.

Gray passed the rock over to his left hand and withdrew the gun with his right, being careful to hold it so that his fingers weren't on the trigger.

"I think I got it under control," He said as he turned it so Gavin could see the safety was on, before putting it back. "And don't take this the wrong way but I am not giving you the gun."

Smack. Slide. Grab. Snap. Munch. Pass.

Cassidy accepted the bar back, and tucked it into her pocket. She wasn't that hungry, and the last thing she need to do now was stuff her face so she couldn't speak. Everybody was putting everybody down emotionally. Elsewhere on the island they may have been putting each other down for the count.

The tension was so thick she could cut it with a toy boat.

Andi was in bitch mode. Stuff had gone to hell, but her behavior was not helping anything. She could have disagreed with Cassidy's generosity without calling anybody an idiot or an animal. Her words were logical but her demeanor was annoying. She sounded like Regina George before she got hit by the bus. If Andi didn't want to stay with them, she was welcome to leave.

Cassidy hadn't quite collected herself to come up with any kind of response, but at least Gavin had thick enough skin to dismiss the insult. He seemed to know about guns too. Even if he didn't have one, any combat, firearm, or survival knowledge was immeasurably valuable here. Social skills and general communication left much to be desired, but Gavin was a much better ally than an enemy. Hopefully the food she'd given him would make him feel better physically and in trusting her.

Gavin was calm. Gray was calm. Cassidy was nearly calm. Andi was pushing everybody, she might as well have grabbed Gray's arm and walked away with him.

"We can just put the gun away for now. It's making me anxious and we don't need it." She looked to Gavin again. "I'm sure he'll let you see it once you prove he can trust you. Until then let's just call truce and figure out what we're doing."

The word "we" didn't quite suit this randomized group. They all did need to figure out what they were doing, but it wasn't specified whether or not they would be deciding or acting on that decision together.

The word "truce" didn't seem to fit either It seemed more appropriate for use in games like tag or duck, duck, goose. Don't get me and I won't get you. Keep your hammer to yourself and I won't put a bullet in your face. The kids who grew up together in Seattle were playing their last game together.

Andi had to fight the urge to stomp on Gavin's hand as he moved to retrieve the bar from the ground. Clearly, he wasn't getting the picture and, aside from making a banner with big block letters telling him to get the fuck away, she wasn't sure how else she could make her point any clearer. His assertions of trying to stay sane and in control only furthered him on her shit list, because last she checked, staying sane wasn't that much of a chore. Unfortunately, it seemed she was the only one to catch his slip up, with Gray busying himself trying to keep Gavin away from his gun and Cassidy with her head so far up her ass that she couldn't hear anything in general. That said, she figured it best not to bring it up, not with how bent out of shape Cassidy and Gavin were getting. Anything out of her mouth would just poke the bear and she wasn't sure what they were capable of, especially Gavin.

Instead, she finally adjusted the strap of her duffel bag, relieving her shoulder of the ache, before crossing her hands once more over her chest and scanning the group. Gray wasn't giving up his gun, thankfully, and it seemed he had the same reservations toward Gavin as she did. It was sort've funny how quickly things turn around. If you'd told her a month ago that she'd consider Gray Emerson the most trustworthy person in a group, she'd have smacked you down hard and told you all about the time he ruined her shit by proxy. She didn't hate him back in in Aurora, not in the least, but she would have been hard pressed to say she respected him. He'd been just some quiet kid on the track taking all the shit people were serving without dishing anything back. In fact, she couldn't help but be somewhat impressed with him shutting Gavin down. Maybe she didn't give him enough credit back home.

Her eyes found themselves in the back of her head once Cassidy started referring to them as 'we' and 'us', like they were some kind of Murder Island boy band ready to stick with one another through thick and thin. She ached to speak and let her opinion be known on that subject, because last she checked, she hadn't signed up for any of that, but she stilled her tongue, instead resorting to grinding the heel of her foot into the cracked pathway below.

There was no arguing with stupid.

"Alright, well, in that case why don't we split up and start looking around for somewhere safe to hole up?" She offered, her voice steady but unamused "Cassidy can go with Gavin since she's so adamant about involving him and I'll go with Gray and we can all meet back here in, what, fifteen minutes?"

She didn't give anyone a chance to agree or disagree before turning and marching down the path, keeping her strides strong and confident, but slow enough that Gray could catch up if he saw fit.

Gavin wasn't entirely sure how he felt when Grey told him he wasn't going to hand over his gun. He could see it was a good weapon; a Walther P99, both sturdy and dependable. It seemed like Grey knew enough to put the safety on as well, most teenagers didn't even realise they existed. Of course it might just have come with instructions for use, but that didn't seem like the terrorists' style.

For a moment he almost felt like trying to snatch the gun away from Grey. At this range it would be trivially easy to hold all three of them off without risking himself. With the Walther P99 in his hands, he would be as safe as if he were tucked up in bed at home.

The moment passed, and Gavin winced as he realised that he'd contemplated such a thought. It was plain bad etiquette, and he mentally chastised himself for letting his principles slip even for a moment. Instead he just looked over the P99, ascertained that the weapon was in perfect working order, and then nodded his approval.

"Not bad. I'm not going to try and force it away from you if you want to keep it, just be careful, okay? It's not like you see in the movies."

He would dearly have liked to say more, but he guessed that it was pointless. As much as he hated to see an untrained user wandering around without any practical experience, it was more trouble than it was worth trying to educate Grey under the circumstances. Besides, there was no profit in educating a potential killer.

Have I really been reduced to this already, refraining from offering help on the basis that my advice might lead to my own downfall?

He pushed that thought aside with a shudder, emerging from his internal recriminations just in time to catch Andi's little speech about breaking up. She was gone before he had a chance to reply, not that it bothered him very much. Gavin watched her retreating back and sighed.

"I'm afraid that I'm not planning to stick around here." He said to the remaining two students. "I have plans of my own, chief among them being to find the shopping centre on this island and secure some supplies. If you'd like to come with me, I'd enjoy the company, but I can't stay here."

Gavin was already starting to turn as he said those last words. His strength had returned with the infusion of energy provided by the ration bar, and although he was grateful to Cassidy, he knew that he had to keep a move on. To linger around the gazebo all day was a stupid move, but a shopping centre provided him with options. If a gun wasn't readily available, Gavin could think of several other things to equip himself with that would help in the short term. As soon as he was far enough away from the gazebo, he would take out the map in his daypack and figure out what his options were.

((Gavin Hunter continued in Ultimately, We Just Want to Be Happy))

Gray shrugged. He wasn't giving Gavin his gun ever. But there was no need to say that out loud, it would just make the mood even more tense than it was, because honestly who just asked someone to give them a gun. It did nothing but make everyone paranoid about whether it was to genuinely help or just a trick to allow the person to get a gun and kill them. It was counter-productive to the whole staying calm thing Gray was trying.

Gavin meanwhile managed to continue to be patronising when it came to the gun, assuming Gray didn't know that using a gun wasn't like in the movies. Gray filed that little piece of information away under obvious. Having Gavin talk to you was like having a parent explain to a child that a stove was hot. It was obvious advice explained in a way that made it easy to understand, which was fine if you were explaining it to a child, but Gray was eighteen and he assumed he had picked up enough life experience to realise that he knew the difference between movies and real life.

Cassidy asked him to put the gun away like they were actually a group, which was far from the truth.  A group was way more cohesive then they were and each member of a group at least tolerated the other, which was not the case with their group. Gray was basing the assumption off his old group of friends that he spent most of his time with in Seattle. They had all known each other for a long time and all got on well together; it was a proper example of a group especially when compared to what Cassidy was considering a group.

Andi started speaking and Gray assumed she'd voice what he had just thought but instead she offered up the plan of splitting up to look for shelter of some kind, it was a good plan in all honesty, two groups would be able to cover more ground than one and if anyone attacked either of the groups Gavin was a giant armed with a lead pipe and Gray had a gun. Gray didn't know if he'd be able to use the gun if it ever came down to it but it would make anyone rethink attacking them at the least and that was enough for him. Andi didn't even wait for a response before turning and walking off, which Gray had expected.

Gavin however had a plan of his own, which was to go and find a shopping centre and then find some supplies, it sounded solid enough, except judging by the way the park seemed to be ruined things weren't looking good for the condition of the shopping centre. He offered Gray and Cassidy the chance to go with him, an offer Gray immediately turned down. In terms of safety Andi was the much safer choice than Gavin because Gray knew where he stood with Andi, he had no idea that if he went with Gavin he would actually attack him with his pipe once they were out of sight of the others.

Gavin, like Andi didn't wait for a response before turning and walking away, Gray just looked at Cassidy and shrugged.

"I'm gonna go with Andi, so good luck if you decide to go with Gavin." He said before picking his bag up and swinging it over his shoulder as he started walking after Andi, adjusting his beanie as he reached her.

...are you KIDDING ME?

Cassidy's head dropped to look down as the "group" split up. It was like a bad horror movie, a terrible teen slasher where splitting up meant sure death. And now Grey, who had originally seemed to be the most same of the group, was wishing her luck?

Luckily for her, the whore always died first. If danger were to present itself, Andi would be one of Aurora's most wanted. She'd already had a fucking baby.

Cassidy was familiar with basic biology. "Survival of the Fittest" referred to those who were able to survive as thrive long enough to reproduce. By those standards, Andi didn't even have a fucking right to be alive in this game. They could both go fuck themselves, or each other if they felt so inclined.

She stared hard at Grey. "Whatever. The whore always goes first, you're the one who needs the luck."

Cassidy on the other hand not only did not have children, but she had no biological family at all. Her DNA was all that was left of her parents, and if anybody was entitled to survive and pass on their genetic sequences, it was her.

She turned back towards Gavin, the only genuine person of the lot she's found herself surrounded by. She walked towards the strange boy, who despite his oddities, seemed to know what he was doing.

She moved away from the tension, away from the Gazebo, and away from the line in the sand. This exchange of hate was just a drop in the bucket of what they were all in for. Now it was time to raise the stakes.

((Cassidy Kant continued in Ultimately, We Just Want To Be Happy))

Andi kept a brisk pace as she headed toward what she assumed was the exit to the park, not bothering to check and see if Gray was following. In the end, it was his decision who he'd stick with, if any of them, and she wasn't about to beg him to come with her. If he wanted to test his luck with Cassidy and Gavin, that was on him and him alone. She was a big girl who was more than capable of taking care of herself. It didn't matter if she had to spend the rest of her time on the island alone, she'd do whatever it took to survive and get home.

That said, she couldn't fight the wave of relief once she heard the familiar patter of footsteps behind her. Although she'd never admit it, Andi was happy for the company. Gray had proved himself, without a doubt, and she couldn't help but appreciate how sane he was in comparison to the Tweedles. She'd underestimated him back in Aurora. It was just one more thing she'd put on her list of the things she'd change if she had a do-over.

"Good choice," Andi said, her voice lacking the venomous tone she'd been synonymous with for a long time. Instead, her voice was soft, almost reassuring in the way a mother would tell a child that everything would be okay.

"Because they're completely boned," She added, quickly chasing away any chance of things getting mushy before her voice once again took on a grave tone as she turned back toward Gray, "This is only temporary, though. Once I find Sven or my teammates, this is done. You go your way, I go mine. Maybe one of us will make it home."

She couldn't afford to get attached, not here of all places.

If she wasn't already decided not to meet back up with the Tweedles, Cassidy's comments cemented her resolution. They were meant to hurt her, tear her down, but Andi had heard much worse for far more clever people that it fell upon deaf ears. She'd heard it all before. You're a slut, you're a whore, you have no morals. It was nothing new.

If anything, it only reassured her that her judgement was spot on when she decided she couldn't trust Cassidy. She'd done nothing but prove what a lunatic she was. It was almost satisfying, like when you got to tell someone that you told them so.

"We're so not coming back for them," Andi said, slowing her pace so that Gray could catch up.

She was glad he came.

It just sucked that they both couldn't make it out.