Survival Of The Fittest

((Damn, this was a nice beach.))

Toby was done with fuming over what had happened in the jungle. Hel was so convinced people were going to be psychos, and maybe she was right. But fuck her. What kind of attitude was that? If she was right, she'd be dead soon anyway, and it wouldn't matter. And if she was wrong, well, he'd been right to be mad at her, right?

Whatever. He didn't care about her or Ashlynn. They weren't his problem. Toby crossed his arms, staring out into the sea. He wasn't big on oceans, honestly. Girls in bikinis, sure, but there definitely weren't any here. He could try for that, maybe. get a bunch of people out here for a beach party. Either they'd have fun before they died, or they'd avoid wasting time being miserable before they got rescued.

Sure, one of those. Wasn't his problem which happened.

The gun was back in his pocket. He hadn't bothered reloading it yet, but he had time. Nobody was around, after all. He had the whole place to himself. Kinda lonely, but what're you gonna do? Toby was here. Wasn't that enough for him?

He tried a smile on. It wasn't a great fit.

(( Yes, it was a nice beach. ))

The soft sand of the beach muffled footfalls. There was perhaps a small thud from the dropping of a duffle bag onto the white powder, but it was washed over in the white noise of the persistent tide. The water came in. The water went out.

Toby felt a hand snake around from behind his head and cover his eyes. The skin was soft and pale. The hand didn't do its job very well, allowing him to see stripes of the beach through the fingers. A high, girlish voice with a slightly raspy undertone came from somewhere behind.

"Guess who?"

Toby flinched, but only briefly.

He recognized the voice, the touch of her hands. "Hey, Tirzah." He smiled, and gently put his right hand onto her's. They'd gone to prom together, had a great night (and, you know, a 'great night' if you know what he means). She was good people. Didn't take things too seriously, didn't get upset about pointless stuff. He could use someone like that around.

And the fact that she was hot didn't hurt.

"Too bad we don't have some drinks and a boombox or something." He said, lighthearted. "Maybe we can have some airdropped in." He lowered his hand and crossed his arms.

"Or at least go for a swim. I have a change of clothes, what about you?"

Tirzah gave an unseen, bitter half-smile.

"Yeah," she said, blinking rapidly. Tiny droplets clung to her lashes. "We don't need swim suits though, right?"

Her voice became harsh and stuck towards the end.

Toby was a good-times guy if there ever was one. Friendly, easy-going: she was grateful for that. He'd been a reliable person to be distracted with, and she appreciated it. She didn't love anyone, but she did like him a lot. This was going to make things harder for her in the immediate future, but it was something she was willing to do for him. Toby would never know suffering here. She doubled he ever knew it, and he would be a good-times guy forever.

Tirzah took her hand away letting it caress the side of his face before returning to her. She pulled the gun out of her skirt waist, pointed it to the back of his head with both hands, and gave him a kiss at the corner of his eye. A tear rolled down and hit the point of contact between them.


"You know, someday--"

BANG

"Nah, we can just go in as-is." He smirked. "Or, if you don't mind the cameras..."

Jokes aside, Tirzah seemed a little upset. He couldn't blame her, he supposed. This was kind of shit. Still, he hoped maybe they could enjoy themselves for a bit. It wasn't like either of them could do anything about the situation. Might as well take control over what they did have, right? And that was themselves.

She was sweet. Was she crying? Poor gal. He was about to do something about that, turn to look at her, return the kiss. You know, that kind of thing.

And then Toby's head exploded.

B037 Toby Underwood: Deceased
156 students remaining

Tirzah saw him fall backwards, back of his head blown out, bone and brain exposed.

She blinked and a tear fell from each eye, rolling down her face. She started to cry more. Tirzah's face scrunched up and her shoulders hunched. She stood on the beach, crying openly, but silently. She didn't think that she was going to cry, even though she kind of felt like she might since she woke up.

Tirzah wiped her face messily. Her legs folded and she landed in the sand, sitting next to Toby.

"I don't like this," she said quietly. It was barely audible above the waves. She held on to his warm hand, sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, and didn't know what she was crying.

"I don't..."

At first she was depressed because she was alone. Not here on the island, just generally. She let out a breath and it felt like she was breathing out smoke.

But she knew what she did was right, even though other people probably would not understand. That had never bothered her before. He didn't know pain, and she didn't have to worry about him anymore.

She didn't have to worry about anyone except herself, which is how it should be and how it always was. She took the gun off him and tossed it with her stuff.

Tirzah stood up, still holding on to Toby, and dragged him by the hand to the water. She wadded up to her thighs and gave him to the ocean.

((Tirzah Foss continued elsewhere...))