This Ain't No Make Believe

B029 Start

Shadowing the coastal city, the woods take up the bulk of the island. The majority of the trees are deciduous in nature and reach breathtaking heights. The elevation of the area varies, supporting both soft hills and steep cliffs. With very little sunlight peeking through the thick leaves, combined with few landmarks, it’s quite easy to get lost here.
Aura
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This Ain't No Make Believe

#1

Post by Aura »

((B029- Matt Masters: START))

Matt was standing in front of a house.  It looked just like every other house in the neighborhood, but there was something different about it, something wrong.  As he looked at it, he felt a terrible feeling come over him, like something terrible was either about to happen, or was happening at that moment.

At that moment, a scream rang out through the air.  Matt wasn't sure if it was real or only in his head, but he knew that he had heard it coming from inside the house.  It was a scream he recognized, but he couldn't quite put his finger on who it was.  The only clue he had was that it was clearly a female voice.  Without a second thought, he pushed open the door and rushed in.

Inside the house was a lot more telling than the outside.  The walls were faded, and the furniture looked broken and worn-out.  Bottles of liquor, both empty and partially full, lay all over the kitchen area.  He heard the scream again, and he could swear that it was calling his name.  As he continued to walk around the house, the screams became more common, and he began to get a better handle on who they were coming from.  As he was looking into a particularly filthy closet, it came to him who the screaming girl was.

Angel!

Matt rushed up the creaking staircase and ran down the hallway to the door that the screams appeared to be originating from.  He pushed through the door and ran in to the room shouting.  "Angel, I'm coming!"

He came to a dead stop once he entered the room, and was greeted by the most horrible sight he had ever seen.  Angel was lying on a bed, while her father was kneeling on her chest with his arms wrapped around her neck, squeezing as hard as he could.  Angel's face was turning blue, and her eyes were bulging, but her gaze was fixed on Matt.  As he looked on in horror, she said something to him. Despite her predicament, it came out perfectly clear.  It was her soft, gentle voice asking him one thing, and one thing only.

"Why didn't you save me?"

Matt woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily after the horrors of his dream.  He sat up from his sleeping position and wiped some sweat from his forehead.  His recurring nightmare had come back again.  He looked at the ground and repeated a mantra over and over again.  It's just a dream.  It's just a dream

He looked around and realized that something was wrong.  Very, very wrong.  They were supposed to be at Disneyworld, or at least at the airport about to get on the bus to Disneyworld.  He was sitting in the middle of a forest with a duffel bag by his side.  He looked at the bag to see if he could garner a clue as to what was going on.  The only notable thing about the bag was the "B029" emblazoned on the side.  It was that that made Matt remember what was going on.  He remembered the news reports from a few years ago, and he remembered the men with the gas masks, and this guy, what was his name...?

... Danya.

Matt knew what was going on now.  He knew why he was in the forest, he knew why they weren't at Disneyland, and he knew why he was all alone with nothing but a duffel bag for company.  Matt had awoken from one nightmare and entered another.

He was on Survival of the Fittest.
Outfoxd
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#2

Post by Outfoxd »

((G055 Leona Van Kamp-Start))

They had taken her deck of playing cards.  Her folding flower trick, too, the one that flipped out of her jacket sleeve with a flourish was no longer nestled next to her wrist.  What would she have done, given someone a heart attack with a little magic?

Thankfully, they had left Leona the four or five quarters she had taken along with her.  Since she had found herself awake, she had been deftly walking them back and forth across the fingers of both hands.  Her face had been carefully passive as she tried to find some way out of this forest, but the speed at which the coins moved back and forth across her knuckles belied her expression.

She had to admit, kidnapping a whole classroom of students in this day and age, when security in schools and everywhere was tight as it possibly could be?  That was a good trick.  One that she wish she could have asked them about.

A trick.  That's what the whole thing felt like.  Maybe they'd paid their teacher and rigged him up with some great special effects or something and that blood splatter was something FX had rigged up.  Made it easier to swallow.  She had to give it to them.  That Greynolds guy had a flair for the theatrical that she could admire.

Her bag was uninteresting.  Some supplies.  A chinese finger trap.  She was amused by that one.  It now stuck out from her left index finger, extending it by another few inches and looking abjectly ridiculous.  She enjoyed having it there.

The quarters made multiple orbits before she palmed them all and made them disappear.  With another flourish, they came back clutched between the last knuckles of each finger.  

"Now you see them..."  They resumed their stroll across her fingers, and she resumed her stroll through the woods.

She was so distracted she almost missed the rather large classmate sitting up.  She was behind him, so she couldn't see how pained he seemed to be.

If she remembered correctly, there weren't too many kids in her classroom of this one's size.  She wasn't sure if this one of the nice ones.  The football players might not have been a safe bet.  She wished she could see this one's face.

Leona took cover behind a tree, and grasped one of the quarters between her middle finger and thumb.  Like she'd done dozens of times before, practicing at home or using it to get Rebecca's attention, she took aim, and snapped it.

The quarter flew from Leona's hand to hopefully hit the large kid somewhere in his back and get his attention.
Aura
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#3

Post by Aura »

Matt tried to shake off what had happened, but he couldn't.  Being thrust into SOTF after a nightmare about what he considered to be his biggest failure was just to much to bear.  There wasn't much of anything he could do.  There was nobody around him, and even if there was, what reasons would they have to not try to take him out immediately?  He was helpless, completely and utterly helpless.

It was at that moment that something hit Matt in the back.  He flinched in response, given his uneasy state.  He scratched his back where he felt the hit and turned around to look at the ground behind him in an attempt to find what had hit him.  After a few moments of looking around, he found a quarter on the ground.  He picked it up and held it between his thumb and index finger as he examined it.

Did I just get hit by a quarter?

He didn't see anyone, but someone had to be there, or else he wouldn't have been hit by a random flying quarter.  He called out to whoever was there, if they were still there at all.

"Hello?  Anyone there?  Someone just lost a quarter.  Or, um... more like threw it away, I guess."
Outfoxd
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#4

Post by Outfoxd »

Sounded nice enough.  Leona snuck a peek around the tree and saw him face.

A little while back, Leona had done some community service at the behest of her dad, as resume padding.  She and Rebecca had done a little magic show at a local battered women's center, just to cheer some people up and everything.

That's where she knew this kid from, other than school.  Masters, she thought the nametag read.  She didn't know how he felt about the performance, but he hadn't said much so she figured she'd take it as "pretty alright."

Anyone doing volunteer work had to be ok, right?

Leona stepped out from behind the tree, as smoothly as she was entering center stage from the wing.

"That would be mine.  I apologize, sir.  I just wanted to see who you were before I committed to revealing myself."  She said.  The remaining quarters had restarted their path around her fingers.

"I don't believe sitting in the middle of the forest is your best option, considering our circumstances."
Aura
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#5

Post by Aura »

Not even ten seconds after Matt called out into the woods, a female figure stepped into view.  Matt recognized her as someone who came to the shelter once.  She had done some sort of magic show for the residents. It was all right.  He was happy that he had come across some that he at least sort of knew, rather than a near-total stranger.  Apparently, she had thrown the quarter at him because she wanted to see if he was friendly or not before confronting him.  Matt wasn't too sure if throwing change was the best way to check how friendly someone is, but he decided not to question that logic.

She then told him that sitting in the middle of the woods probably wasn't the best plan for survival.  Matt nervously chuckled in response.

"Well, I sort of just woke up a minute ago.  You're the first person I've seen out here."
Outfoxd
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#6

Post by Outfoxd »

"Likewise."  Leona strode closer, feeling more comfortable with the boy.  He hadn't pulled out a weapon or anything.

She tapped her chin with the tip of the chinese finger trap attached to her left index.

"You might want to check your bag, see what goodies our hosts have provided you."

She stooped down and picked up the quarter from where it fell.  It joined its brothers in flight around her fingers.
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randomness
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#7

Post by randomness »

(G047 Grace Faraday - START)

In the short couple hours since she had woken up that morning, Grace Faraday had already succeeded in going through the five stages of grief several times over. Given that she had been told, by terrorist no less, that she had to kill her friends or die, this didn't come as very surprising.

Far more surprising was the simple fact that the terrorists even existed. They were supposed to be dead. Dissolved or something. Not out here in the middle of nowhere having fun watching kids die.

Between the knockout gas and the hour long trek in the forest, she was beginning to find herself rather miserable. Not to mention, that they had taken her phone and her iPod. Obviously they couldn't let her try to make contact with anyone, but it still felt so horrible to have her things taken from her.

The woods were silent, the only sounds being her own footsteps and the occasional faraway bird. No signs that anyone had ever been here. It was ridiculous being in SOTF. Everyone knew that they had stopped years back. They had no reason to put on some deserted island anymore.

And this time, rescue wouldn't come easy. Someone had come to save them because the government was prepared. This time, no one would have seen this coming. It would take forever for them to be found.

She would have to survive by herself. She had been given a pistol, a weapon that she had hastily stuffed into the side pocket of her bag. She had managed to load it, with help from an instruction book that about as confusing as one from IKEA. Guns had been a common sight while with her father, but she had never been interested in learning how to use one. And now she was going to have to use one to-

She gripped her bag, coming to a sudden realisation. She hadn't seen or heard anyone the entire time. Not even a glimpse of a hint. This wasn't normal, was it? Had something gone wrong? Had they put her on the wrong island? What if she was the only one that was stuck here in the forest?

"Hello? Is anyone here? " Grace shouted nervously, picking up her pace. When no reply came, she simply panicked, breaking out into a run.

However, she hadn't run very far before she heard it, the sound of conversation not so far away. She stumbled to a unsteady halt, stopping near the two figures. She would have laughed in relief had she not been panting to hard to do so.

"Oh my god! People!" she shouted, a little too tired to care if they were playing. "You won't believe how happy I am to see you!"
Aura
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#8

Post by Aura »

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

Matt went over to his bag and unzipped it.  He hoped that he had gotten something like a shield, or maybe a police baton.  He wanted something that would help him fight off anyone who would want to attack him, but wouldn't kill them.  He had heard about the kids who escaped before on the news, so he knew that there was a chance that he could get off the island without killing anyone.

Matt opened up his bag and was faced with quite possibly the absolute last thing he wanted to see:  A big gun.  More specifically, its barrel made it look like some sort of old-timey machine gun.  He flinched in shock and quickly backed away from the bag.  Unpleasant memories were coming back to him.  He heard gunshots and screaming.  He remembered hiding behind a truck and waiting for it all to stop.  He heard the police arresting the shooter, who refused to go down without a fight.  Such horrible things coming from one gun.

He looked at the magician girl and relayed what he had just discovered to her, his voice noticeably shaking.

"There's a gun in there.  A big one."
Outfoxd
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#9

Post by Outfoxd »

Leona didn't have time to be confused at Matt's apparent fear of his own weapon, or even to verify he was telling the truth.  Another girl had run in, one she didn't recognize.  She slipped the coins back into her coat pockets, figuring she'd return to them later.

She raised her hand, palm out to Grace in a calming gesture.

"You may want to take a breath.  Looks like you just ran a marathon.  While on fire."

Leona's tone was bored, almost disinterested.  Her eyes, however, showed the light of the alert.  She took comfort in the fact the girl had gassed herself finding them.

Leona looked back over her shoulder at Matt.  "A gun, you said?  That might be a lucky draw for all of us.  You going to take it up?"
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umop-ap!sdn†
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#10

Post by umop-ap!sdn† »

((Jaquilyn Locke continued from Who's Afraid of the Big Bag Wolf?))

Jaquilyn Locke slowed her pace. She'd slowly accelerated into a run since she reached the forest's edge. She couldn't remember starting to run, she didn't even know if Joachim was right behind her or not. All she knew was she had to get herself and her bag of sweets through the woods, ideally before dark. She hadn't seen anybody new yet, and it didn't seem like anybody had seen her.

"-going to take it up?"

She thought the lyrics to a very obscene Blink 182 song and froze.

She couldn't tell what direction the voice had come from. She didn't recognize it's owner either, but it seemed to be that of a female addressing another person. It wasn't Bianca's voice, so it couldn't have been anybody she was terribly close to.

Hopefully Joachim was close, having a shooting knife contraption nearby would be reassuring. They could identify those speaking and decide what to do from there. He didn't seem to be the type to have many girl friends, but it would be wrong to assume he didn't have any. Jaq was not in favor of aligning with anybody whinny, but given that he had the weapon and she had the skittles, she might have to compromise her standards to stay protected.

She bent her knees to crouch slightly. Though she had started out trying to run quietly, she'd slowly gotten faster and louder after having seen nobody. She'd have to wait and see if they'd noticed. She slowed her breath, knowing now was the time to recover if she had to take off again.
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randomness
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#11

Post by randomness »

Grace paused for a moment, confused by the girl's hand gesture. Quickly realising what she was saying, Grace nodded and tried to calm her breathing, but simply ended up sputtering for a second. It was times like this where she regretted her lack of excercise.

The two people she had found herself with seemed nice enough though. She knew the two of them, somewhat at least, Matt from his volunteering and Leona from her magic. It would be safe enough wih the two of them.

But as her breathing returned to nornal, she noticed that Matt was still hunched over his pack, staring at it with a fear that seemed completely incongrous with his large build.

She peered over and quickly decided that the problem was the rather large gun that was in the pack.

"Um... You feeling okay there?" she asked, some of his nervousness spilling over to her.
Aura
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#12

Post by Aura »

Matt took a moment to calm down.  It wasn't easy to come face-to-face with one's greatest fears right after waking up, after all.  As he was recovering, he saw another person come into view Grace Faraday.  He didn't know her too well, but she seemed nice enough, although she looked pretty exhausted at the moment.

Both Grace and the magician seemed to be confused by Matt's reaction, and indeed, he understood why.  Most people would be overjoyed to have gotten a gun.  Then again, most people aren't terrified of the things.  He tried to figure out a way to answer them, and just softly uttered a few words.

"I... I'm just not good around guns, okay?"
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Riki
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#13

Post by Riki »

[Joachim Lovelace, continued from Who's Afraid of the Big Wolf?]

Running never was Joachim's favorite, but right at that moment, he really regreted barely working on his stamina. It was no surprise when Jaquilyn was much further ahead than Joachim. Still, it frustrated Joachim a bit. Not to mention how exhausting this was. However, it helped Joachim when he focused on the nature around him. It appeared to be serene, or beautyful. Not like a place to die. He still registered Jaquilyn by the sounds she made, and was a bit confused when the sounds stopped. Joachim looked around as he was running, but only noticed her in the moment he crashed in her back.

Fortunately, Joachim pointed the knife backwards at that time, so Jaquilyn was in no danger of being hurt. Additionally, he also did not let go off the knife, and just tightened his grip. He was now, after making a short yelp, laying on the ground next to Jaquilyn. Not a convenient position.

"S..my apologies."
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O B014 Joachim Lovelace - Ballistic Knife, MP 18, Obsidian Knife - "It doesn't matter. They lost, he lost, I'll lose. That's the nature of the game."
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Outfoxd
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#14

Post by Outfoxd »

Some noise to the side drew Leona's eye for a second, but she couldn't see anything.  She made a mental note to be more cautious.  Vigilance, with an eye for the details.  That was what would carry her far in this whole show.  

"You might want to get over that, considering."  Leona said.  

She moved closer to him and took a look in the bag.  It was definitely a gun.  And it was large.  That was about where her knowledge of guns started and ended.  Indeed, she had wanted to try to make a bullet catch trick once, but her parents drew the line at firearms.  She just considered it an opportunity for another day.

"If you're not comfortable with it, I'm sure one of us could take it off your hands."  She said matter-of-factly.  She fiddled with the finger trap attached to her hand as she watched Matt.
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umop-ap!sdn†
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#15

Post by umop-ap!sdn† »

Jaq was frustrated. She'd just had the wind knocked out of her by her own partner, and now she couldn't even release her frustration in any way that would generate sound.

She whispered her swears to show her displeasure, "Fucking A." Slowly rolling over, she pushed herself up off the ground and placed her feet back underneath her trunk. She slowly rose, stopping at a mid crouch. The voices didn't seem to be closer than several yards, but every threat deserved to be evaluated. The male voice sounded somewhat familiar, and at least two other people, both female, were also present. She looked down at her partner, still gripping his knife. He could have killed her. Any chance of her helping him up was now gone, hopefully he'd recover quietly. She really should have torn the weapon out of his hand and taken off.

She'd brought Joachim along because there was safety in numbers and because he had a knife. Both of those advantages almost came back to stab her in the ass. She coated her whispered words with impatience to show him he wasn't off the hook.

"There's people. I don't know who, but there's at least three of them, and something about guns." She didn't feel like explaining she'd only heard a select few words before she was tackled, he would have to figure that out.

After his little yelp and crash, it would be best to wait a minute before trying to see who was there. If they'd been heard, the other group would be looking for them, and they'd need to lay low. She brushed her hair behind her ear and squinted her eyes in the direction of the voices. All she could see was trees. She'd wait for Joachim to be ready before trying to approach, and if they were found first, she'd be running again, and maybe he'd be right behind her. She wasn't so sure if she cared anymore.
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