Survival Of The Fittest

((Continued from Bullseye))

Bang!

The intial sound of the steel door opening echoed through the abandoned factory. It was so eerily silent that one could hear a pin drop from the other side of the room, disturbed only by Seth's unsubtle entrance. The echo died into another creeping silence, disrupted only by Seth's footsteps, producing echoes of their own. Neither the silence nor the way he affected it perturbed Seth, who made only the sound of walking himself, and when he stopped the vacuum of sound overcame the entire building once again.

There were no thoughts, no words for the situation. The only thing Seth felt was himself blending into the environment, he couldn't see either end of the factory from where he was standing, but he could make out chains hanging from complex pulleys on the roof, dangling nearly to the ground feet away from him. Cardboard boxes were in a haphazard pile nearby, and against distant windows in the darkness he could make out the various extensions of machinery. None of it moved, and even with Seth, the building was completely empty.

When he was younger, Seth remembered getting the urge to scream when sound ceased around him, as a means of feeling alive, of standing out against the absence of feeling. There was no such urge now - this solemn building was a reflection of his internal feeling, and he felt perfectly at home.

"I wonder." He said aloud, quietly, in a way that only tested the absolute nothingness. Should he scream? Would it have the same effect without the desire to do it driving him to action? He decided he would test it. Not intending a word, but just as loud a noise as possible, Seth shattered the atmopshere.

"HaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everything seemed to collapse around him, his scream bounced off the walls and machinery and chains and came back at him far more distorted then the original yell, the silence around him was completely shattered, and he thought he felt something. Panic. Confusion. Things he had words for but did not understand, and so he knew he was not truly feeling them as he was interpreting the effects he had on his enviroment.

He did not once consider, that maybe his enviroment was still reflecting him.

Once again, almost in synch with his own thoughts, the building was silenced. Seth sat. He felt unsatisfied, in a way that reminisced of hunger after a small meal. But what had he expected? He was glad to be above whatever turmoil this island caused it's other inhabitants.

The only thing this place had for them was fear.

[[ Coming from the Farmhouse; When I Get Home... ]]

In the time since Gregg had left the comfort of the farmhouse, as well as who seemed a pretty decent girl in Tori he had simply found himself wondering in whatever direction seemed to appeal to him – though since he had left, time seemed to have flown from the hours of the early afternoon to that of the settling oncoming darkness of what was to be their first night on this hell. Digging through his pack, searching for something he had remembered seeing when he had first went through it, Gregg went about removing his flashlight from the daypack. Twisting the top till a semi-bright ray of light shined out, illuminating the entrance into something that seemed far more industrial than that of the resident distract he had been heading toward.

Greggory's eyes scanned the area, this flashlight bringing to light anything he wasn't able to see from where he stood – the air here was thick with something he couldn't pin, from what he could tell there only seemed to be two buildings in the general area that he could tell, flashing the light about the building closet, finding what seemed to be a plate of sorts bolted onto the side of the metal building told him that before – whenever it was people where last here that this was a slaughterhouse, and by that alone put Gregg's mind on taking his happy self elsewhere besides a building that was rather fitting of what this island was going to become in the coming days.

Stepping away, moving toward the other large building, shining his light about it – least toward windows – it seemed that the other seemed to be just a simple factory, least from what he could tell. Though as he stood focused on what he could see through the large factory windows, something caused not only thought, but body as well to grow further still in place as he fumbled to turn the flashlight off, cursing to himself silently, how could he be this stupid – true he wouldn't be able to see hardly three feet ahead of him, but these flashlights could sooner give his position away to someone, tisking lightly he glanced off toward where the sound had echoed from, it sounded oddly familiar in a manner, almost light listening to a garage door or something to that nature being thrown open.

Though as he ventured forward, placing the flashlight along one of the cargo pocket of his pants, removing the baton in it's place, making sure to hold it somewhat out before him as he continued to move toward where the noise had originated from… blue eyes narrowing ever so slightly in an attempt to see better in the blanket of darkness that seemed to grow ever darker as the island was further casted into night. In the time after the banging had echoed out about the area, everything had taken an almost… sickening silence, the type of silence where thoughts of what could be waiting around the next corner, or who could be watching you; ran rampant through one's thoughts, or at least it did in Greggory's. Call it paranoia, but it was for damn good measure.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he found himself wondering how long his sanity was going to last here – he had never taken well in being thrown into situations, then again he had never been in a situation where the slightest error could mean your death. This wasn't some test that determined if you passed the class or not, this wasn't a baseball game that meant going to finals or not, no – this was a… game as they called it, that was playing with something everyone held most dear – your very own life, and in some cases, the lives of people they cared terribly much about.

As he neared what seemed to be an open door leading into the factory, Gregg lifted the baton slightly more – though as he came up on it, a scream from the nearby inner working on the factory tore through the air, sending Gregg stepping back in a quick pace in an attempt to move away from whatever had been the reason that scream had been summoned, his back and most of his weight colliding with the metal side of the factory, causing a crash from hitting it and vibration of echos to be drummed forth.

How long could the echo of his scream have lasted? It seemed to have renewed itself as he sat down. Yet, the echo of his voice did not have the sound of something colliding with metal. Could his scream truly have affected the building such that it would cause solid objects to collide?

Of course not.

Even Seth could feel himself come out of a sort of reverie, the state of mind that had caused such a rare moment of insight into himself and his world. Something other than him had made noise, broken the silence. Was someone else in this building with him? Had he alerted them to his presence? He stood up in a motion so fast that he may as well have levitated, straining his ears to follow the echo, his eyes moving rapidly to detect any movements. There was nothing around him, still. The sound died  after a second or two of his hearing it, the weak clang of metal coming from  the opposite direction he had entered from.

The echo dies after the original sound. The sound originated from the doorway, because the echo was going back towards it's source.

Is that how it works?

Seth cast away the doubt. Time for action, not thought. He dropped his pack on the ground and unzipped it, and rummaged for his darts. He found the pouch they were kept in, alongside the rulebook for scoring in a game of darts that did him little good. He took only two, deciding on using them for their melee abilities. He could not throw, he did not see where the dart he ahd thrown earlier has landed on his target and was confident it was blocked by whatever object she was holding. He briefly considered the flashlight, but decided against giving himself away, the darkness was his ally, the factory was nearly pitch black, but he had adjusted.

Preperations completed within seconds, Seth took off as fast as he could while maintaining relative quiet, but his feet still made soft noises against the floor. It did not seem to matter, however, as he saw the door he came through, the light from the moon and stars giving way to a soft beam of light inside the building. Seth strayed from the beam, staying off to the side of the doorway. He caught only the slightest glimpse of a silhouette against the door. He picked up his speed, no longer caring if he made noise.

Seth jumped into the light from the shadow, slamming his left hand against the wall, causing another loud metallic sound. He would use the sound to frighten off whomever had found their way to this building, or at least surprise them long enough for him to discern their intentions.

The outside world looking positively bright in comparison to the pitch black of the factory's interior. Against the night the boy -No, the man, as he was bigger than Seth- was illuminated. Seth simply stared, darts held between his right fingers, unblinking, waiting for attack or explanation.

Gregg stayed pressed against the metal he had clattered against; trying to still his heartbeat, to say the loud scream hadn't scared him would be quite the lie. Though still, he could only wonder what had been the cause of someone screaming like that… then again, in a situation like this one could truly only guess. Whoever, or whomever, was inside could have simply been spooked by something in the darkness overcoming the area, it probably even worse inside these buildings without any means of light as most would probably opt not to use their flashlights in fear of giving away their locations to others.

Then again, perhaps the reason for the screaming had been because someone had been spooked… but by something other than stand-alone machines, instead it was an attacker that had managed to attack someone and that scream wasn't one of the type of fear he figured it to might be.

The baton in his left hand was clenched tighter and what he could guess was the sounds of movement from within the building, soon enough those sounds of simple small movements and changed into what sounded like the soft sounds of running feet, he knew that able running would be in his best interest but he couldn't bring himself to move – what if this person, if they where a threat had a gun? He certainly couldn't stand up to someone with one with a simple electro shock baton.

But what if not, what if they where like Tori and where simply lost and confused about what was happening. There was also a chance they could be from Bathurst… and maybe could be a bit more than helpful in helping him find Ali.

It was a chance he was willing to take, and lost in his thoughts as to who could be about in there was brought up again as the foot patter returned, louder than before against the dead air about the factory and slaughter house resting some feet back, the baton lifted further up in the air as figure found the trigger close ready to use the thing if need be, or run.  Though as the footsteps grew louder he was caught off guard by another loud crash similar to the one that he had heard earlier and the one that he had caused moments going, causing him to jump slightly, and step back further in an attempt to put distance between whatever was causing the noise.

Though in his slight exposed fear from the loud noise that had rattled him, Gregg hadn't noticed the smaller boy that had jumped out from the shadows of the inside of the building and into the moon-lighted world, Gregg grip on the baton gripping and then ungripping slightly as he didn't know how to respond, this boy… he looked at least about two years younger than him, and the uniform he wore brought the image of a the local private academy of Gilroy to mind, remembering the number of completions in the academics that had taken place there in the past, and that he almost transferred to in his tenth grade year, but declined.

So that made what? Three local schools from the same area…

Noting something what seemed small blades? Darts, maybe? In this light it was hard to tell, lowering his baton down somewhat, he lifted his other hand… "Err, listen I'm not here to hurt anyone… I – I'm looking for someone." He muttered, perhaps proving he wasn't here for harm and simply passing through along his way to find Ali, "The… the scream startled me, I was concerned that perhaps someone… was in trouble. Then again in something like that, a lot of that will be happening."

He hadn't a clue if talking would even help his matter… but perhaps that's all it was, maybe this kid was the same as him. Just scared and rather unsure of what was to happen, maybe wanting to find friends or even someone familiar. Then again, what if this kid would be like what happened in version 1 of this act, the ones that told themselves the only way off the island would be to kill and kill until they where the only ones left standing. Gregg couldn't help but lightly gulp at this thought, the baton in his left hand which now resting along his side gripped ever so tighter.

Seth failed to notice the tension he'd created. The stranger certaintly been startled, in line with Seth's intention. The split second of tension between the two went unnoticed as he began taking in the older boy. He had not even two inches of height on Seth, in fact was a little bit bigger in every aspect. His right arm held what Seth identified as some sort of incapacitating baton, and the weapon's presence put Seth immediately on his guard, readying his dart hand to defend himself, but only briefly. The boy spoke, and Seth watched, his gaze never breaking.

"Err, listen I'm not here to hurt anyone… I – I'm looking for someone."

He declared his intentions, the second person Seth had met who was looking for someone else. He spoke more than his words, though. He was quiet, uncertain. To Seth, that spoke of fear, or nervousness, which made him unthreatening.

Just a moment ago I revelled in silence. Am I afraid?

Seth was not disturbed by how easily he dismissed that question when he came to the realization the answer had the potential to ruin him. He kept his attention on the older boy, blinking hardly at all as he continued.

"The… the scream startled me, I was concerned that perhaps someone… was in trouble. Then again in something like that, a lot of that will be happening."

He was right, of course. There was every reason to believe a scream indicated trouble, but what did that matter to him? Was he claiming altruism? He wouldn't live long, running to help anyone who was threatened and throwing himself into the line of fire every time. Not when everyone was inevitably going to die before this was over. Seth responded out of obligation, not content to just stare and let him control the situation.

"There is no one else here." He said. Seth wondered if he should explain the scream. It was an odd impulse that Seth could no longer remember his motive for doing, let alone explain it. "And I am in no danger." He finally settled on adding. "Is there anything else you'd like?"

Seth thought he was being polite in asking, he had nothing else to say but there was a responsibility to help carry a conversation, or else it would never end productively. Productively, being that this boy would reveal something critically important? Unlikely. Seth wasn't sure what to expect, but relaxed his posture when he found himself in an almost feral, prowling stance. He placed his darts in his pocket, realizing they would make him uncomfortable if he forgot about them. He felt it necessary as a show of peace, to avoid a fight with the boy he was staring at emptily, waiting for something but expecting nothing.

Gregg watched the other boy lightly, if hardly at all, glancing about the general area about for signs of anyone else. Though by the looks of it they where still the only ones about, but, it seemed that the night was starting to give way to a brighter morning, Gregg blinking at this as he hadn't figured to have been wondering for that long -- he didn't even feel tried perhaps because he was running on sheer worked-up fear, fear for himself and a number of other people on this island. Sleeping, truly, had been very far from his mind since he had woken up the afternoon before -- finding himself dumped in a field and given the mission of ending the lives of his classmates, and by the looks of it, even more.

Though as the other finished, stating that there was no one else there and that he was outwardly fine. Gregg nodded, "Right, I was just worried it might have been Ali."

Nodding again, he sighed, "Well -- mm. I suppose I'll take my leave then, I really do need to find her." He muttered though as he turned to leave both the area and the boy that was also occupying the area, a slight sound of crackling caught his attention, he blinking at this as he listened on - after a moment an oddly familiar voice began to speak, drowning out all his former thoughts and forcing him to focus on what was begin said about the day before on the island.

It was harsh to listen to... listening to how many where dead, some familiar, others not -- meaning that they're where more kids than he had originally figured back at the farm house he had woken up near the afternoon before.

Though as he listened as Danya went through the names, softly sighing to himself as he heard that Ali's name had not been on there, before Danya moved onto calling out the forbidden zones of the island, he remembering reading in that handbook of sorts as to what happened if you wondered into one of those -- that was one of the reasons for these collars. A hand out of reflex reaching up and touching the object encircled about his neck, rubbing the skin under raw and red, something he hadn't paid much heed too.

As Danya finished his talk, and shut off the intercom system, Greggory found himself once again lost his thoughts of what he needed, and first more, could even do. He'd been so worked up with finding Ali he hadn't thought about what to do once he had found the girl. Was there even a chance that they could get off this island, and if so how? Kids had, had laptops on the island in the last game and they all ended up dead in the end, the thought ever-so attempting in his mind and his pondered it over.

But as the first signs of light began to peak over the area he stood in, he found himself sighing once again, as he sifted his pack and turned away from the other and began walking away. He didn't figure a goodbye was in order as one could only guess when they would die on this island, a horrid guessing game where the prize was your own life. That you could lose, or keep, depending on what you did and how well you fought for it.

Thinking over his map that he had partly memorized over in his head on the way to this place allowed him to choose at least a location to start heading toward, remembering to remain out of the areas that housed danger zones or where even near danger zones for that matter.

[[ Continued in TBA ]]

The first word from the organization that was running Survival of the Fittest had very little relevant information. As Seth watched Gregg leave he took note of the places that he could no longer enter. The area he was in was not named, and so Seth had no reason to move. Names were listed, of killers and their victims, names that Seth had largely not recognized and that did not concern him.

Seth went back inside after Gregg disappeared from view, sunlight reaching through the windows of the building, illuminating it. He made his way back to his backpack and sat down, again.

All he really had to do was wait, after all. Eventually, if the voice that had awakened the island was telling the truth, the students would eliminate each other, and Seth would be ready for when he needed to confront someone.

There was no second thoughts about needing to kill to leave this island. Seth did not consider that perhaps he could not do it. They would still be weak, after all of this was over. They would still be afraid.

Not like Seth. Fear was a handicap for others, it was not something he knew.

((Continued in A scientist at heart.))