Survival Of The Fittest

((Russell ‘Fitz’ Fitzroy continued from Like A Glove ))

The announcements had come and gone.

Fitz had started with a grimance the moment that the terrorists declared it business as normal. It had tailed off into something more pensive when Kitty was mentioned as dead. And followed by a quiet ‘dammit’ at the danger zones, as he cast a look at the bag next to him.

Ellis had not been listed.

Fitz had come back with Ellis’ supplies and just left them by Kaede’s belongings without saying anything as to how he got them.

It’d been a while since the announcements went off, and Fitz had spent most of it staring out the window. He eyed the water that lined town, then opened his map to look at what was still open to him.

“I think we should leave,” he said, first words all day.

((Kaede Tsurumi continued from The Sound of Bugles))

Nothing. The explosions mounted to nothing. Kaede didn't know which was worse: when she thought she was screwed from the get go, or now, when it was confirmed that they were screwed. Kitty was dead, so that was ... good? Kaede looked at the odd bag by them. It wasn't either of theirs, and it was there when they came in. FItz did not look happy at that. So it was now a matter of looking out and making sure that nobody came to them.

She looked up at FItz's words.

"Are you sure? Maybe nobody will come."

“Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know if being alone is worse or better.”

Fitz looked back out the open window, then put a hand on the windowsill and leaned out. He stuck his head out just a little to get a better look down each end of the street.

“If help isn’t coming, then it is what it is. But the longer we sit here, the more the terrorists are cramming us tighter together anyway. Either way, we should look for anything useful, or figure out where’s safe or where isn’t.”

He pulled himself back in and sat down on the chair he’d been using most of the night, and looked instead at the bag that contained Alex’s head.

“And I want some string or a rope or something, and that collar radar. Who knows who has the radar now… but if they’re vicious, and they sense we’re up here… if we don’t know jack about the area, we won’t know where to go.”

He was jiggling one foot as he spoke, clearly somewhat antsy. He was looking anywhere but at Kaede, or the supplies he’d left by her bag.

“We keep sitting here, and all that’s going to happen is we’ll… just keep sitting here,” Fitz finished lamely.

Kaede bit her lip. She'd been going back and forth on this idea of standing up for herself, or whether to do what others said. Now, it was mainly because there wasn't any real difference in what they did. If they left, they'd likely come across someone who would very likely kill them. If they stayed where they were ... they would probably die because someone dangerous came to them.

"Well, okay. Where would we go? If we get attacked, do you think we can survive it for a little longer? I mean, this is pretty defensible." Kaede was at least willing to hear out the argument, but at least she was playing a Devil's Advocate.

“If we had a better gun, maybe.” Fitz gave the rifle a pat. “This isn’t a bad gun, but I can only aim it from a distance. They have to be either fifty feet away or a few inches from me.And I think it’s more built for outdoors, you know? I’d have to shoot without caring who they were if I wanted to use it right. Once I know they’re a danger, it’s too late. And this district is full of bodies. I found a lot of them while looking around.”

He leaned a little out the window again and pointed.

“Besides, check that out.”

Not far down the road was the hunting lodge. The front of it visibly collapsed.

“If there’s weapons around that can do that, I’d rather have an exit. But they’re hemming us in anyway. I wanted to try dunking Alex’s head in the lake… but they’ve zoned it off. Same thing with the mines before that. The most useful things I’ve found so far, I’ve found by exploring. But there’s a time limit on it. As for where we’d go...”

He thought about it for a moment

“I guess… look for what’s off. See if anyone else has noticed something we haven’t. If there’s a group that has figured out what the explosion meant, or… called for a truce, at least, or something. On the plus side, Kitty’s gone, and--”

Fitz looked down at where he’d left his list after noting down the announcements.

“There’s not… as many killers as you’d think, especially now that Katelyn and Jezzie are out. I count… seven.” He paused, then added, “Eight. Right. Though I guess that not being many depends on who’s left. But Adam’s list said there were 134. And that’s out of thirty-eight—no, nine, no fuck… forty killers? I think?” He looked down, then started counting up the tally marks. “That’s… thirty-two killers, minus forty… no, wait, some of the tallies are killers, too...” He tailed off into mumbling.

Fitz was starting to ramble. Kaede almost rolled her eyes at him. It'd probably be better to go along with him.

"Fine. I have some pepper spray anyway. If we're careful with anyone else we meet, we can at least get away." She looked around at the place.

"Where do you think we should go?" It didn't really matter, anyway. The only distinction on the map was between "forbidden" and "not forbidden."

((Kaede Tsurumi continued in If you want blood, I’ll give you some.))

Fitz grimaced a little at the mention of pepper spray. “Hopefully we won’t get close enough to a threat for that to be necessary. Don’t spray it into the wind.”

Fitz scooped up his belongings. Even with the food he’d taken from others, he was running low by now. It didn’t take long to dump it all in the bag. He slung the strap over his shoulder, then did the same with the bag that had Alex inside. He shifted both bags to make sure his balance was right, then picked up the rifle last. After some consideration, he made sure it was loaded.

“The sheriff’s office. Last shelter that might have something to offer. And if I were trying to find people who’re chill, it’s where I’d go. But keep an eye out for somewhere better. Anything that looks odd. We keep low and to the walls.”

((Russell ‘Fitz’ Fitzroy continued in If you want blood, I'll give you some.))