Survival Of The Fittest

((coming from 'There's Always Hope' @ the Dark Caves))

As soon as the dark caves had been declared as a danger zone, Cassie knew exactly where to go. Back to where it all started, back to the place that had been her haven for the large part of the game. And it was here that she had ended up, running across the familiar sands of the eastern shore.

She wasn't sure if the other three would be able to keep up with her; she had been the first to run off and she hadn't even looked to see if they were indeed, but worryingly she didn't care. It was getting to the point where she'd stopped caring about Ryan, as well. She just wanted it all to stop, to go away.

As she reached her destination, she slowed her pace down to a jog. Apart from a new corpse littering the beach, this place hadn't changed much. The former corpses were still lying (or floating in Sophie's case) nearby, the tide still crept in and out rhythmically... everything was the same. This place wouldn't change, no matter what happened in the world.

It was this thought that calmed Cassie down the most. As she approached the cluster of rocks that had formerly acted as her shelter, she felt oddly like she was coming home. Here, no one had seen her, no one had attacked her, she had been safe and naive. But ever since Ryan had stumbled upon her... ever since she had left the comfort of this shelter, everything had changed. She had been forced to make important decisions of life and death. She had been forced to abandon her friends for her own safety. She had been forced to talk people out of murder.

And she wished for nothing more for it all to stop. If only she could just go back to before, if only she'd just stayed here... maybe everything would be different. If only.

Sitting down on the rock, she hugged herself tightly, her baton still in her hand.

((Coming From There's Always Hope))

Nevera Came in with a pant, hoping that Scott was shortly behind her. She fell to her knees and then looked at Cassie. Her brown and stawberry blonde locks blew in the breeze. The waves of the water made the air cool and damp.

"Are we gonna be ok?" She said with a shiver as she huddled her knees to her body. Her Bo-Staff dropped as she did so.

Her chesnut eyes sparkled in the sun as she looked out to the sea. She tried to think of how nice it would be to swim off the island, but it would never work.

((Continued from: There's Always Hope))

Let Drew tell you, having a gun shoved in your pants makes running uncomfortable. Not to mention rather scary, as you have to worry if you're going to accidentally shoot your own ...foot... off because the safety got clicked off. It didn't help if one was slightly paranoid about said things. Still, he was alive, and he'd ran all the way, just behind Cassie. He was quite slow, but he'd actually gone fast this time; he guessed it was the stress.

He stopped in front of the rock, breathing just a bit heavily, looking at Cassie. She didn't seem okay, and that was bad for this kind of thing. If you weren't feeling good, then you were one step away from snapping. And snapping involved death, either yourself or anothers. So, yeah, bad. Just a tad.

"Cassie...h-how're ya doing?" He felt vaguely like some guy from a war movie, asking his squadmates how they felt after one of their number had just gotten shot in the head a foot away from their faces.
In other words, he felt a tad bad asking the question. As if it was the question you couldn't help but answer 'How the fuck do you THINK I'm doing?!'
...he wouldn;t be surprised if that was her answer. <<;

((Continued from: There's Always Hope))

He spent the most of his time in a slow jog, conserving his ever so precious energy, but as they approached the beach He decided to catch and and suddenly burst out into a sprint, those legs like blurs in the wind.

He had finally caught up and they were just sat around, awkwardly, Well who wouldent be in this situation. They just met and had to run from a friggen danger zone, and there meeting wasnt the greatest anyway.

He heard drew speak but chose to ignore his words, they were for cassie and it seemed he knew her best out of the group, let him deal with her. Instead he stumbled his way over to nev, a heavy pant suddenly stopped as he managed to splutter out a question. "Nev...Are you ok?" He would cough and a chunk of phlegm was hocked up and spat into the sand, His shoe would quickly cover that yellow spit in sand.

He arms were slowly wrapped around nev in a protective hug, Her head just reaching his chest, She was short, but strong hearted, always a god thing to have here.

Cassie looked up. Nevera had been the first to arrive out of their group and as she asked her question, Cassie felt the familiar sense of being in charge. It was beginning to annoy her slightly- why couldn't these people look after themselves? She'd managed it for nigh on five days... but on the other hand, everyone was scared and frightened. Maybe she had to be the leader here. It was only right.

Forcing herself to smile, she nodded at Nev. "Yeah, I think so. There doesn't seem to be anyone else here, we should be OK."

She glanced at Scott and Drew, both of whom had also caught up and were now standing above her. As Drew too asked her a question, she pushed herself to her feet.

"I'm OK... I guess I'm just a little confused," she said, shurgging. "And tired, I haven't ran like that in ages." Pushing her hair back off her face, she nodded at Scott. It was nice that he was looking out for Nev. Too bad she had no one looking out for her like that... but then again, she wanted to be alone. Too bad SOTF wasn't the kind of situation that let you get what you wanted.

Putting her hands on her hips, she took a deep breath.

"Anyone got any plans for our next move? Something that doesn't involve dying would be pretty good about now..."

Nevera felt Scott's arms come around her. She looked at him and smiled. She gave a nod to Cassie as a respond. She liked the feeling of that hug, it weas a nice warm feeling, she never got from anyone, but her family and close friends. She hugged him back adn buried her face in his chest.

"We must all get through this together!" She smiled softly.

After hearing Cassie ask for suggestions, Nev thought for a moment. "I really wanted to find our friend, Jeremy." She looked at Scott, then at Cassie and Drew. "He was separated from us when we split ways from the Small House."

Scott did feel kind of awkward, When they back in school he didnt make the biggest effort to get to know these people, Shit, he was probally the guy spreading the rumours behind there backs, But even though he could barely recognize there faces, he was out here, fighting the game, trying to survive.
What was he going to say?
Hey, sorry for ignoring you in school and all that but could you do me a favour and rescue me a couple times a day?

Well yes, he could do that but it wouldent really be the greatest thing to say. He would have to regain soem trust with the two, Just like he had to do with jeremy and nev. Where was jeremy now? Dead? or wondering the island in search for the odd couple? God damn it if he's dead, Scott hadnt been through all that shit with him for nothing. Yes, he felt the same as nev, they needed to find jeremy, he was strong and he knew exactly what he was doing, But would drew and cassie feel the same way? Its possible that they had there own friends to look for.

"Nev's right, jeremys a cool guy, i dont know if you've seen him around but he helped me out alot." He spoke out proud and true words of his friend.

His eyes wondered over to that broken up boat on the other side of the beach. Where he had started, his first shelter from the game, Really it was his comfort blanket for a time, But he had to grow up and leave it behind.

((Swoosh, Asano... you guys really need to post...))

Nevera picked up her staff and clutched to her chest. She looked at Scott one last time, following his gaze to the boat. "How'd that get here?" She asked, looking back at him.

((I was going to wait for asano, but if he hasn't posted by tomorrow I'll post.))

[SORRY! SORRY! X___x;;;]

Drew chuckled with a hollow tone as she spoke. It was the same for him; running didn't come well for him, and running when life depended on your legs was worse. Then again, what fuel for running was better than the threat of a bullet in your head? It was sick, but true. You could do so much more...if you were being threatened.

In response to what Cassie said, he swallowed. He wanted to suggest doing something positive, something proactive in relation to the situation at hand. But the words failed to come, not yet, and he remained speechless. Until Scott and Nev spoke. He looked at them, mouth open at one point...the shut. He couldn't think of what to say.

Finally.
"Was there...a shooting back there?" Unlike Toby's theories, Drew was none too keen on staying anywhere near a place that had seen bloodshed.

[*feels bad for taking so long* ;-;]

((All good things come to those who wait!))

"Jeremy, huh?" Cassie bit her lip thoughtfully. She knew his name; his reputation as a wrestler made him pretty well known at Barry Coleson. While it would be a good idea to team up with him- goodness knows his strength and his reputation would be useful in a sticky situation- there was something bugging her.

How could she trust Jeremy... no, scrub that. She was now in the company of three people, one of which she had never even met before, two of which she had never spoken to on previous occassions. While she was fairly certain that Nev and Scott were OK kids, she still couldn't be too careless in a situation like this. And Drew seemed to be pretty kosher, but who knew if that was an act? Who knew if all three of them secretly had a plan to stab her in the back?

Running her hands through her hair distractedly, she looked around at all three of them.

"I think that finding Jeremy- or anyone who isn't playing, for that matter- is a good idea, but I need to know that I can trust you guys first. I don't want to put my life in your hands only to have you stab me in the back. I'm being honest here- if any one of you had any inclinations to kill me, I couldn't actually stop you." She waved her baton pathetically. How wise a move it was, letting the others know her vunerable position, was unsure, but Cassie hoped it would help them to trust her and in turn be more open. "I'm not big on trust- people have let me down before and it's messed me up."

They're only going to leave you...

Cassie closed her eyes to stop the nagging voice, and continued. "If any of you give me the slightest reason not to trust you..." She trailed off, hoping she had made herself clear. Of course, it would have been a lot more of an effective speech had she threatened them at the end of it, but with a weapon like hers it wouldn't have installed much fear or respect.

Looking at Drew, she shrugged lightly.

"Sure, some kids met their end staring down the barrel of the gun here- and if we wanna avoid being just a name on the rolecall, I suggest we come up with a plan and keep moving. If Jeremy is as solid as you say," she said, turning to Scott, "finding him seems like a workable plan right about now..."

Nevera averted her eyes to the ground and clutched her staff. As she skillfully slammed her staff into the sand, some sand shot up and came down like rain over her.

"I only fight to protect, never to kill, unless I have no one to protect, or I am in a death situation." She smiled and twirled the staff about her figure as she thrust the bottom end into the sand, not making a mess this time.

She turned to Scott with a small smile and a bit of a gleam.

He would listen on to the speeches that were being spoken to him and his new group. Not one for speeches but he had to contribute, build up the confidence, which right now it seem, they were running out of.

Yes, jeremy was good fighter, he found that out first hand, and his ideals were those of a hero, Like those marvel cartoon characters, each one had a heroic saying which got them through the day.
He would just watch on and back off when that small sandstorm came about, watching the technique that nev had with the bo staff was quite remarkable, Guess its a good thing he didnt take the bo, He'd probally of killed himself.
It seemed nev had caught on to jeremys morals, and in this place they were the best to have. Yeah you could go around picking people off but then what? you've built your reputation, no one to trust you, no one to help you out in a sticky situation. Thats why its best to fight to the rules as much as possible. ironic, the killers are the only ones playing by the rules.

"Right, we keep moving, keep looking, for anyone, Hopefully that anyone would be a trustworthy student and not a fucking maniac"

Drew nodded lightly at what the other said. He couldn't form that complicated of a plan, or even an opinion, because simply...he didn't know anyone. And none of them knew him. This was a serious problem when it came down to trust, but then again, it could also be a bonus; no reputations to overcome. But he didn't know the reps of others...for all he knew, he was standing in a circle of psychopathic, chain-smoking, gang-bangin', pot-using hippies.
...okay, that was a bit extreme. But you get the point.

As Nev played around the bo, it became rather clear to Drew how one could kill someone with that kind of thing. ">>

All in all, he was going through the situation blind. He didn't know these people, nor the others, so he had to rely on his own judgment and gut sense...and, most frighteningly of all, others. Relying on others in this situation...
Shit.

"All right...I'll follow you guys." Well, now it's not an issue of trust or not. By folllowing them, you have to trust them...or you'll tear yourself apart through paranoia. Drew was not in a favorable situation, sadly.

((Continued in: Clockworks))

Cassie smiled to herself as Nev slammed her bo stick into the sand.

"Good, because I feel the same." She nodded at Nev but avoided eye contact.

That wasn't an entirely true statement, but how would they react if she told them that she was going to abstain from killing all together? It wasn't much of a promising strategy, game-wise, to admit that she wasn't going to resist any kind of attack... but that was her game, and she'd see it through to the end, regardless of cost. Given this situation, the cost would most likely leave her in debt.

Looking at Nev in the eyes this time, she spoke again. "You said you last saw Jeremy at the Small House?" She paused and her face creased in concentration. "Chances are he's moved on from there... now they've added more danger zones it should be easier to find him." At least that was one small blessing about this whole atrocity.

With only 36 left, they shouldn't run into too much trouble. Hopefully Ryan had dealt with Cody (and hopefully they could pick him up along the way...) Taking a deep breath, she nodded around to the rest of her new group.

"Well then, let's go, yeah?"

((continued somewhere else... someone else make the first post, please... *is dead* x___X))