Survival Of The Fittest

((Letitia May continued from Mantra))

Letitia may stared out at the great expanse of the snowfield. It was strange being back here after she began her game here. She didn't expect to feel nostalgic for any place on the island while she was here. Hell, she didn't think she'd feel nostalgia for the island at all. But here she was, looking at all that white again.

Letitia had decided to leave the town for today. She knew with the number of students dwindling down and the number of locations withdrawing as well that shelters would be searched and seized. She could let them fight it out while she spent the day carefully moving through the wilderness area. All she had to do was circle back to the remaining shelters before the sun set and she'll have made it to another day. Surely there'd be a place cleared out once she returned.

For now, she continue to move through the field, keeping her rifle at the ready. She was still an obvious spot of color against the white field, so anyone could surely see her. But on the other hand, she'd see them too, so she remained vigilant as she walked.

She didn't know the girl.

She moved forwards to her anyways. This was how it was. This was how it's always been. Stupid decisions with no clear goal in mind. She tried to go against her nature- look how well that turned out.

Amy trudged, wind whipping through her hair, body beint dragged by the spirit within. She was tired. So, so tired. And she didn't think she would make it to this point. Not that she thought she'd die- that was a different matter entirely. Just that this particular slice of the future (the present, now) was inconceivable several days ago. The feeling was a little hard for her to articulate.

Her shoes crushed snow into uniform, treaded marks.

Letitia continued to trudge through the snow. She had to be near the forest soon so she could find a clear root to sit on and to try and get snow out of her shoes. It was quite an annoying trek, and she knew she had to keep her feet dry if she could. Foot fungus was bad enough, but frostbite was worse.

As she walked, she continued to look around, taking moments she stopped to do a 360 and see what else was in the field. At one particular spin, she noticed there was someone else in the field, and it looked like they were heading towards her.

"Ok, we're doing this again," she said to herself.

Letitia quickly dropped her bags to the ground and crouched to one knee. She raised the rifle up, trying to line it up with the person approaching.

"That's far enough!" she shouted.

"I COME IN PEACE," Amy said, loud enough for her voice to hurt. "PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME!"

She emphatically put her hands up in the air. They were trembling.

Maybe this girl would pull the trigger anyways, and she was kind of accepting it anyways, the same way that a child would before a flu shot- it would sting, but it would happen, as inevitable as erosion and tomorrows.

If not a tomorrow with her, than a tomorrow without. It moves on. It was only a little bit scary to think about that.

Letitia squinted her eyes to get a better look at the girl, and it wasn't just because all the white snow everywhere was starting to hurt them. She could see this was one of the nerdy bitches from back at school. Not that she really knew or cared who this girl was, but she definitely didn't look like anyone worth a damn to Letitia.

Still, a good thing about being a nerd was that this girl was smart mentally and socially enough to know to not fuck with Letitia May. Hands were raised and promises of coming in peace were spoken.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Peace is definitely why nearly 100 people have died in the last week," Letitia said.

"Still, I want a show of peace besides just empty hands."

Letitia gestured the rifle to the space in front of the girl.

"Empty your pockets and toss whatever you have in front of you."

(Wendy Kennedy, continued from We Can All Agree Snow Kinda Sucks, Right?)

After everyone had left the cabin, Wendy was left alone while the announcements played. At first she felt it was nice to have the cabin to herself. She wouldn’t have to deal with Karin’s half truths and outright lies anymore. However, it dawned on her that if she were to stay at the cabin by herself, she’d be a sitting duck for any of the big time killers out there. Why wait for the killers to come to her? She needed to keep moving.

There weren’t that many students left on the island right? How many days has it been since everyone was left here to die and kill one another? Eight? No, nine days? Surely, a hundred kids were on the school trip to begin with. Nine days later, less than half should remain. Wendy considered herself lucky to be alive at this point. But, in the slim chance she were the only one left alive, she wouldn’t be free. The only way to go home is if she had killed at least one person.

This thought continued to peck at her in the back of her mind. Would she have what it takes to take someone’s life? A person with hopes and dreams? Wendy had hopes and dreams too. Her most prominent being getting back home and to her family again.

“I COME IN PEACE! PLEASE DON’T SHOOT ME!”

Wendy heard shouting from a distance. Through her slightly smudged glasses, she could make out two human shaped figures in the distance. Wendy, curious, made her way closer to the two figures.

"If I put my hands into my pockets, you'll think I have a gun or something and then you'd shoot me."

She did so anyways, pulling out a half eaten snack and barely anything else. She was hungry. She didn't want to let the snack go.

"Can I finish this?"

"Maybe you do," Letitia replied to Amy's comment on having a weapon, "but I think I've become a quick draw after days of being here, so you're free to try that out."

Of course that was a lie. Letitia had barely fired her rifle since she woke up here. Still, Amy didn't need to know that. She just needed to know Letitia had a finger on the trigger.

Amy showed off a snack and asked to finish.

"This isn't mukbang," Letitia began, "I'm not interested in watching you eat. Just place it on the ground for now."

As Wendy came closer, the two shapes became more recognizable, and the situation became much clearer. One girl was holding a gun, and she was aiming it at the other girl, who appeared unarmed. Wendy was not looking to involve herself in this kind of mess. Last time she came to the snowfield, she watched someone die. It looked like she was about to witness another death. That is, unless she did something.

She was still far away from the girls, so what could she do? She could yell out and distract the girl with the gun, and maybe buy the other girl enough time to run. But that might end up getting herself aimed and shot at. Could she really afford to play hero? All she had was the shield/gauntlet thing she woke up with to defend herself. Unless it could deflect bullets, she wasn't sure.

"But it'll get soggy," she whined, taking another bite before putting it gingerly on the ground. The wrapper was warm from her body heat.

"Do you want me to take my coat off? Like at the TSA? It's really cold, though."

Maybe she could work this into some comedic storytelling- a tense standoff in the middle of a snowy field, ruined by an annoyingly uncooperative victim. Something that fits the acolytes of The One That Turns, maybe Marish the Undone. But neither have the right location for that, given how they all lived in the warmer forests.

Amy didn't want to think about the gun.

Letitia watched as the girl took a bite before setting it down. She was a bit annoyed that the girl wouldn't put it down first, but whatever. Letitia could just focus on anything besides the girl's chewing mouth.

The girl asked if she had to take her coat off.

"I don't need your coat," Letitia said. "Just prove there's nothing in the pockets."

Letitia could swear she was starting to hear something around them, but she focused on the girl in front of her.

From what Wendy could hear, the girl being held at gun point was being asked to take off her coat. Why? Was the girl with the gun going to take from her? If she did that, she'll freeze out here. Some of the students have died due to exposure. Condemning someone to freeze to death is just cruel.

Wendy wanted to do something, yet in the back of her mind, she knew it was dangerous too get involved. But if she could help the girl being held at gun point, they could become allies. On the other hand, Wendy might get them herself or both of them killed. Then again, if Wendy does nothing, the girl with the gun could just kill them both anyway.

"H-hey!," Wendy shouted.

Underneath her coat was her hoodie, and underneath her hoodie was her vest. It made her feel secure, having layers on. She always knew that her prudishness was sort of silly for someone who was basically an adult anyways, but...

Well, she got distracted.

She yelled, but only a little bit.

Letitia waited for Amy to reveal what was in her coat pockets, but before she could find out their mysterious contents, she heard a voice call out.

"Fuck!" Letitia blurted.

Letitia quickly turned in the direction of the shouter and pulled the trigger. Everything was white around her, making it hard to tell if she was aiming correctly. But now there were at least two people here with her, and now Letitia had to ensure they wouldn't team up to put her down.

A shot rang out.


Wendy let out a yelp, covered her face with her palms, and ducked to her knees.

Was she going to die? She was going to die! She was going to die! She was dead! She was...

...

Fine?

Wendy didn't feel any pain. She didn't see any blood on her clothes. Had the gun girl missed?

For now, Wendy decided to stay down. Maybe the shooter will think she's dead and leave her alone.