Survival Of The Fittest

Close to the entrance of the cave, slightly illuminated by what little light came through, laid a bag flopped down on the ground. It was coloured black, roughly large enough to cover the upper three-quarters of one’s back. It laid face down — straps facing up to the ceiling of the cave — and disordered, as if the thing had been dropped off and left there without a second thought. Its zipper was partially opened, and although the bag looked hollow, slightly flattened by gravity and time, it seemed as if there were things inside — what looked like a bra, its straps loosely falling outside of the bag, enough other things to prop its back off of the ground. The name of whoever had seemingly dropped it — the number on the front — had been covered by the ground. If one wished to know whose it was, they would’ve had to walk up to it, turn it around. Squint to see the number, given the darkness that surrounded it.

Nobody did though, so far. The bag remained on the ground, unmoving, as the light around the cave’s entrance changed angle and the sound of the waterfall pounded on and on. There was, for a brief moment, a sound that could’ve been a giggle, but that had been muted quickly, covered by the sounds that permeated the cave. The bag laid against the ground, the waterfall produced what sounded like rainfall, and there was nothing more than that.

(Reuben Walters continued from LMAO they made Fortnite into a real thing)

Reuben had been very exact about setting this scene. Perhaps meticulously so, but Teresa seemed like she had fun putting it all together, so he didn't feel like it had been too much.

The key was framing. The cave was slightly visible as one walked past the waterfall and, depending on the time of day, shafts of light managed to make their way into the mouth of the cave. Therefore, it was essential to place it in a location where people would be walking past and have it catch the corner of their vision. Teresa had been good at that, dropping it down in such a spot where the sunlight glinted off the zipper. That would be just the ticket.

The other concern was making it believable, and this was Reuben's idea primarily. An abandoned bag wouldn't attract folks if they thought that it was too good to be true, so he'd had it emptied halfway, but with some items visible at the top. In addition, rather than dropping it right in front of the entrance where it would be screaming "TRAP!", he'd had it shifted to where it was visible but seemingly dumped to the side, giving it a real looted feel, but offering hope that perhaps, just perhaps, its robber had left something behind to scavenge. Uncertainty and hope were great tools in the hands of a schemer.

Crouching in a blind spot by the entrance, watching his and Teresa's creation intently, Reuben considered that this was a stroke of fortune in general. They were out of the sun, they could rest their feet, and as long as they kept their eyes open, they could camp out in this location for hours without someone taking potshots at them. Yeah, this was...

The sound of giggling drew Reuben's attention, and he raised a finger with a light "Shh!". It was great that Teresa was enjoying herself, but they couldn't give away the game too early.

There was the sound of something scraping against the ground, silence, then nothing more.

...

There was the sound of something scraping against the ground, silence, then nothing more.

...

There was the sound of something scraping against the ground, then-

“So, uh,” the voice was low, but the echo amplified it enough so that it was audible, coherent, even across the cave. “What happens if nobody comes?”

Reuben winced at the noise and was about to reprimand the voice again when he stopped, poked his head out the entrance, and realized that the coast was completely clear. Seemed like, for the time being, they could spare a few bits of conversation.

"Well," he whispered, pausing to think about what he was going to say next, "we've got an extra supply of food and water, and this is a nice shady spot, so...maybe we just do nothing for a bit?"

Obviously they couldn't camp out here forever. The more proactive kids were out there, grabbing weapons as he spoke. But for the time being, this was a good defensible location where they didn't have to constantly sleep with their eyes open.

But by the same token, he wondered, how long would it be until other people realized the exact same thing? If they attracted a crowd of three or four kids, this ambush of theirs was going to box them in pretty badly. If anyone had been given grenades...he shuddered. No time to be thinking about that. If he assumed that everything was going to go against them, then he might as well just give up now.

((Jessica Rennes continued from Love & Money))

When Jessica came to a stop and realized that not only had she lost Christine and Oliver, but Stephanie and Diego as well, she began to cry.

She'd never been in such an unsafe place before - all her life, she'd been afforded some sense of security, from her dad having such a good job to having such a great network of friends who supported her even when she went through the terrifying prospect of having to come out to them, and not just for her but for Stephanie and Christina as well. But none of it even existed here - she trusted her family and her girlfriend, and anyone in the same sphere, but outside of that...she wanted to believe the best in people, but she really didn't know. She couldn't even fathom the prospect of someone being dead already, the thought made her queasy.

All she could really think about was what was going through her head when she burst through the green trying to catch up with the two that left - it could easily be the last time that she saw them, and she didn't want that to be in such a way. Jessica knew she was way more touchy-feely and nicey-nice than a lot of her friends and especially her family, but she couldn't help it, no more than she could help being born pretty or having that security which kept her with such a blissful life. But in this instance she knew it was a weakness, not a strength - unless there was a rescue going on, it wasn't going to save her, and even then she wouldn't know when the rescue would be. And who would it even be? Would it let her make them wait until she made sure the two most important people in her life were there with them?

But in her rush to make sure she tied up one little loose end that made her feel bad, she ended up making it even worse. Not only was there a good chance she'd never see Oliver or Christine again, there was now a perfectly good chance she'd never see Diego or her girlfriend again. In her rush to try and make sure everything was the best case scenario, she'd fallen straight into the worst.

She'd stopped to cry, but at some point she'd kept on walking as she cried. She knew that she had a way to get out of this, a way simple when said in words - she just had to find out where they were, and never let them go again. She'd turned herself around so many times, Jessica could have sworn she'd run into the same log and scraped bark onto her leg twice, but she didn't want to stop and check - if she kept moving, she would find who she was looking for, and that was that.

Jessica hadn't even thought to stop and get her map out, that's how determined she was to just keep moving. When she finally did, she realized that the huge waterfall crashing away was one of the many locations marked on her map, so, that was great. If it was marked on the map, that meant other classmates would end up there, right? If she just stayed there in a safe place, asked them if they'd seen who she was looking for when they showed up, and either went off looking for them or stayed where she was, hopefully so that she could widen her chances. For a moment, looking in the direction of the top of the waterfall, watching it crash down below, she wondered if anyone else had been through exactly what she'd been through.

But as she looked, she saw that there was an opening in the side of a rockwall. And sitting that opening, just barely lit up enough by the outside light, was a bag on the ground. Jessica looked at the bag, looked around at her surroundings, before calling out to nobody in particular, but in reality everybody in particular.

"Hello?"

She called out to the inside of the dark cave, dark only because the light could only get so far. Hearing no answer, Jessica tried again.

"Did anyone leave their bag here? Hello?"

But still, nobody responded. Waiting a few more seconds just in case someone was hard of hearing, or couldn't alert her, she stepped inside to inspect. It was one of the bags that everyone seemed to have, one she nudged comfortably close to her body as it hung over her shoulder. Brushing past the ferns for a better look, it was as though someone had dropped it there, like they were in a rush to leave or something. Taking another look around the small path into the cave, she realized she was blocking the light.

Idly curious, Jessica squatted down, and turned the bag over on the ground to see if she could get a better look at the contents.

“Works with me,” the voice called. There was then silence, footsteps from above and-

“Someone’s coming, keep quiet!”

…

...

No more noise after that. Jessica appeared, and the scene went through its script. She walked into the cave, poked at the bag, and then a shape rushed out of the darkness, plowing into her.

When Teresa told Reuben that someone was coming, he had trouble believing it at first. He was so certain that they'd be sitting there in a cave, waiting for hours for a patsy who'd never come, or worse, for someone to arrive, see through the ruse, and fill them with lead. But no, here were the footsteps, followed by a voice, sounded like a woman, shouting for someone to claim the bag.

Reuben didn't respond, didn't even dare to breath. The footsteps were growing closer...closer! A figure was blocking the light, framing herself within the opening of the cave. Who was it? He couldn't see, and he couldn't peek over without blowing his cover. The stranger was bending down, examining the bag. Reuben braced himself against the wall, ready to spring out, knife drawn like the highway robbers of old.

Suddenly, movement. Reuben only had time to recognize that Teresa had risen from her corner before she blew past him, charging towards their prey.

"Teresa, wait!" he shouted, but it was already too late. He couldn't flash his knife now without hitting her instead, and all he could do was step in right behind her, hoping that he could somehow provide support in this cramped opening.

They really should have talked this part over first.

It occured to Jessica as she turned the bag over that she couldn't really see what was written on it. She assumed it had to be the same as hers, only different, but the fact she was blocking her own light meant she couldn't read it unless she suddenly developed night vision, in which case she'd probably need to walk around covering her eyes all day so she didn't go blind. But before she could figure out whose bag it was, she heard sudden footsteps from within the cave and her stomach dropped, because they were loud, quick and fast approaching, and before she had time to process exactly what it meant other than realizing that they were there, Jessica was thrown to the ground by an unseen force.

In the panic, Jessica was terrified that she'd smash into the wall like a broken plate, but she instead went groundward, scraping open skin on her legs as the dry cave floor disagreed with her skin. She gasped in pain from the scrapes more than anything, but even that couldn't overcome her letting out a shocked yell from the fact that, hey, she'd been attacked. She was currently being attacked right now, and she couldn't see who they were, how many of them they were, or if they were armed and going to kill her. And Jessica was naive, but she wasn't naive enough to think that there was any noble intentions in what was happening.

Legs stinging, pulse throbbing, Jessica, despite the weight on her from the force that pushed her over, attempted to scramble to her feet.

Another voice called through the cave as Jessica hit the ground. It came closer to the two of them, and...

Uh...

Shit. Right. Her bad.

The girl attempted to move off from on top of Jessica as Jessica tried to move out from below her. The movement on the girl’s part wasn’t graceful, but it was successful. She was on the ground in front of Jessica, looking at Reuben as he approached.

Reuben had to admit, Teresa's method was effective. In the blink of an eye, she had the intruder on her back and now they could freely...

Wait, why was she moving?

As Reuben tried to maneuver around in order to provide support, he watched with confusion as Teresa shuffled backwards off of their target, forcing him to quickly sidestep in order to not step on her. What the heck was she...Oh no, did she seriously think he was asking for the first hit or something?

So what to do? He couldn't strike with the knife without getting down to the ground, and he didn't have any confidence in his wrestling. Jessica was already scrambling around and would be on her feet in no time. He had to do something fast, something incredibly daring.

And by daring, he meant stupid.

Raising his leg, Reuben stomped it down towards Jessica's...well, basically anything. This clownshow had escalated too far for him to be worried about finesse.

Jessica felt some sort of metaphorical and physical weight being lifted off her as she scrambled to break free of the grip of the mysterious assailants. The fact she could move more than she could before meant something worked, so she really wanted to follow through with it.

That stopped with the crushing heel from above.

She felt herself flung back to earth in both previous senses, and it all felt just as dangerous again, even before her back hit the rocks beneath Jessica's body and caused immediate pain. She screamed out almost instantly, short and sharp, as the panic returned and she was ruled by only the fear stuck within. Jessica couldn't tell if anything broke the moment she was kicked into the ground, but all she wanted to do was protect herself. It all hurt.

"S-stop!"

Her voice was already weak and hollow, and it came out through her voice. She hadn't felt this way in a long time. She'd never been hurt like this before, especially by other people. She just wanted it all to stop.

But the pain didn't stop her from trying to get up again. Jessica Rennes may have been in a bad situation, but she knew not to roll over and let it happen.

Reuben couldn't describe what it felt like to smash his foot down into someone's stomach. He gasped in shock at Jessica's reaction, recoiling in guilt as his own gut rose up in his chest. He wanted to apologize, say that he didn't mean to do that, ask if she was okay. He'd taken a swipe at someone before, but that was at the end of a blade. This was much more personal, and it wasn't right. It shouldn't have ever happened.

Frozen up as he was, he didn't realize that Jessica was rising to her feet before she'd already gotten most of the way there. His knife-wielding hand had been hanging limply at his side. He stiffly jabbed it out, brandishing it towards her as he tried to strike some kind of a menacing pose. It only looked as robotic as his hand motions.

"H-hey, hold it right...right there!" he stammered out. "You're not leaving until...give me the bag!"

You could make all the plans you want, go through the details over and over, but once you've actually hurt someone, it becomes very, very real. His legs were jelly, his arms were wobbling noodles. But he had to do this. He had to survive!

Somehow, Jessica managed to become bipedal once again, getting to her feet like she always intended. For a moment, all she could see was the hole in the cave wall, the water falling in above them down to the lake below. She whipped around, desperate not to keep her back to the two people (was it two people? It had to be two people - they were too quick to be one) who had inflicted harm on her.

Her bag at some point had fallen from her shoulder to the cave floor, so she yanked the straps towards herself and bundled it to her chest. She could feel the rigid metal of the bear trap inside poke at her ribs, nestled among her own belongings and the food she was given.

And in front of her stood two of her classmates, one with a large knife in his hands. Jessica's eyes widened and her mouth rounded as she saw what was being aimed at her, her of all people. And of people who could have been attempting to hurt her, it was Reuben and Teresa. Reuben, someone she nearly didn't recognize without the owl costume, and Teresa, a girl that Jessica could have sworn she had been friends with at one point during their many years of school, or at very least had appeared in her circle. From the knife her eyes went to the two faces, and then back to the knife, and then to the command from Reuben's lips.

"I...what...what?!"

Jessica just couldn't understand it at all.

"Why are you doing this?! I only have food and a..."

Jessica took a noticable pause when trying to fill in the blank for her weapon. She didn't know what they were after, but her bear trap was still a weapon. She'd never seen a real person get caught in one, but if Reuben and Teresa were the types of people to lay a trap for people like Jessica, then the chances were this could be something they wanted.

"...a...water gun!"

As Jessica took a step backwards, she realized just how badly her lie landed. She didn't have time to dwell on how she could have done better though, because she tripped over an awkward rock on the ground, stumbling backwards onto her ass. She felt the pain in her torso reverberate as she hit the ground, but she got back up just as quickly, moving her bag to her shoulder.

The water crashing behind her disappeared from her mind as she looked hurriedly around the cave, trying to figure out how to get away.

The girl stood back, stood still as everything in the room happened in front of her. Her heel was off the ground, her whip was now in her hands, but she stayed where she was, seemed to watch as Reuben held Jessica in place. Jessica spoke, and-

...

The girl blinked. Took her left hand off the whip to make a grab at something in her pocket.

“Ah...”

She brought a thing out. Let it do a dangle a little bit. Girl could sorta see now that she couldn’t see shit, but whatever. Reub prolly didn’t need her anyway.

Reuben didn't know what Jessica had in her bag. If it was a gun of some kind, she would have already brought it to bear against them. They'd given her enough of an opening to fill them with lead ten times over. It could have been something utility, something useless, or something really hard to use.

But what it absolutely couldn't be was a water gun. And just to put the nail in the coffin, Teresa was now dangling their water pistol in front of Jessica's face. Even as his heart was threatening to explode out of his chest, Reuben couldn't help but give a small smile at that.

"Y-You want to know why?" He replied, stiffly closing the gap once more as Jessica began to back out of the cave. "We're doing this to..." To live? No, they had plenty of food already. To knock out the competition? Also no, their victims so far had barely fought back, and they were effectively little more than bullies on that front. Under the circumstances, there was only one real answer.

"...to win." Gathering weapons, gathering supplies, it was all in favor of their long-term goal. They were going the distance, and so everything they did was to facilitate that goal. As far as he was concerned, nothing else mattered.

"Now...give it!" He lunged forward with his free hand, grasping for the strap of the bag. She was going to hand it over, one way or another.