Welcome to Your Life

[Cactus]

He'd been making his way off the beaten path and through a wooded area when the speakers crackled to life, startling and causing Connor to throw himself down to the ground by instinct. It wasn't exactly a good look for George Hunter High School's prom king, and if any of the football team had been watching they'd have probably had material to make fun of him for years to come.

But that was the point that he'd make perfectly clear to anyone who brought it up. If you trusted your instincts, you'd have those years and that wasn't exactly a given for George Hunter's senior class of 2018.

So looking up at the sky and the trees, Connor Lorenzen listened to the first daily announcement.

((Connor Lorenzen continued from Dead Moon))

A part of it was morbid curiosity more than anything else, but even if Connor was able to keep himself and his socializing to a minimum over the next few days, it would be a good idea to know who to strictly stay away from, and if any of his close friends had lost their lives. As the names passed by, Connor's face fell a little bit. Many of them were people whom he wasn't close to, that he hadn't known at all. The first name on the list stung a little. Abel Zelenovic was on the baseball team, and most of the athletes were at the same functions, the same banquets, and all tried to support one another.

Abel wasn't a bad guy, and Connor was surprised that he'd been the first to die.

Of course, that was the whole thing behind Survival of the Fittest. The strong survived, and the weak — which often meant the innocent and pure — died. A small smile crept upon his face as the announcement finished, awarding someone named Blaise a prize for gunning down Dante Valerio. Between Toby and Dante both getting killed on the first day, Connor couldn't help but notice that the track team was down a few crucial members.

The football team, of course, remained intact.

Who would have been here, anyway? Wyatt and Bret, of course. Connor had been pleased not to hear their names over the loudspeaker as either victims or evildoers. That would have fallen right into the reputation that they had around school as brusque, violent, evil people. They weren't evil, Connor honestly thought the opposite. They were more... misunderstood. Not to mention, they were his friends. They were violent on the football field, yes. But to think that one or both of them would immediately resort to murder when given the chance was laughable at best.

Even though at prom, he'd wondered how long they'd have fought had he not intervened.

As he lay among the bushes, hidden from view, Connor wondered why he was suddenly so introspective. Was it perhaps a disappointment in his class, that they'd taken so little time to start killing one another? He'd expected to hear a few names, but that many? He was chagrined not to have heard any of the names of the folks he'd managed to lose in the jungle. Good for them. Maybe they'd be made of sterner stuff than he'd given them credit for.

He sat up, reality starting to pick at him a little bit. How long would it be until someone he did care about joined those other, more nondescript classmates on the morning announcements? Madison had been on the bus. His heart dropped, wiping the casual smile off his face. What kind of hell was Madison currently living through? He'd made a point of not thinking about her the whole first day, but now, it seemed... he couldn't get her out of his head.

Climbing to his feet, Connor took a moment, staring at the ground as he pictured the face of his occasionally-difficult girlfriend. He would be leaving her behind, here. In no reality was there a chance that after having his own freedom purchased, he could bring her with him. Madison was doomed to die here, with all the rest. Everyone he'd ever known was here, ready to be taken down by those who'd lost all hope.

Another face popped into mind and gave him pause. Tyrell Lahti had killed twice. After what he'd heard from the boys, he wasn't surprised. Connor wondered if he'd even contemplated doing anything else before he started cutting a swath through the class. Some people were born losers, and that guy wasn't going anywhere good. Maybe he'd landed in the right spot, after all. The thought put a sour feeling into the pit of his stomach, and he reflexively spit onto the ground.

"One down, one to go. C'mon, Connor. Y'all got this."

Shaking his head and moving a bit more cautiously than he had before, Connor continued on through the forest. No longer were his thoughts entirely all about what he'd do when he got out, what was going to happen when he returned to Chattanooga. For the first time since he'd awoken here, his thoughts were prescient. He thought about them all, and the people who'd miss them. Ace, Sierra, even Jeff and Ivy.

They were all doomed, except for one.

And him... right?

Yeah.

One or two more days, that was all he needed.

Right.

((Connor Lorenzen continued in a thug changes and love changes and best friends become strangers))