God Help the Outcasts

[Sansa]

B027 - OSKAR PEARCE: START

In all honesty, Oskar Pearce couldn't have pictured a better place to wake up.

Sure, the area had plenty of downsides; it hadn't been the easiest awakening – his head was throbbing with one of the worst headaches he'd ever encountered, even half an hour after he'd first opened his eyes. He deeply regretted wearing long trousers the moment he saw the assortment of scratches that pockmarked his bare legs – the result of awaking in a large patch of nettles. A part of him knew he should apply disinfectant and bandage his legs up, but when it was so difficult to even latch onto a singular thought, focusing on an actual task seemed borderline impossible.

He'd managed to drag himself and his belongings out of the thicket of brambles and onto firmer (and more comfortable) ground, even if it meant staining his vibrant clothing with streaks of dirt. Ordinarily, he would've immediately fussed over it – dampening a washcloth and repairing the damage as best he could – but for once in his life, probably the first time in his life, he found he didn't care about what he looked like.

There wasn't a single soul in sight whose opinion he'd have to worry about, and although he could feel pangs of loneliness already setting in, part of him was almost glad. He had a moment to decide what he was going to be. If he was going to be the bubbly, happy Oskar he'd always been, or if he was going to be what he needed to be to survive. Survival. That was a concept that seemed almost... off to him. Everything he'd dedicated his life towards – making people love him – could be found on this island with him. If he survived this place, none of that dedication would've been worth it.

In a way, that idea was scarier than dying.

He didn't know what he wanted to be.

He didn't know what he wanted to do.

There was a vibrant patch of daisies to his left. It was something familiar, something comforting to do, until someone arrived and forced him to make up his mind, forced him to answer the questions to which he was struggling to respond.

"Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do..."

[Emprexx Plush]

((G011: Caedyn Miller DEBUT))

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was the smell. It got to her before the realization of where she was, why she was here, even caught up. All she knew was that she was awake, and the smell was permeating her nose. She rose with a look of confused disgust on her face, trying to shake away the cobwebs and figure out where it was coming from so she could get away from it.

After the smell came the feeling, cold and crusty along her legs. Her disgusted look twisted into horror as she realized the smell was coming from her, that she had, that it was...oh god. Oh fucking god. Mr. Graham. The footage. The speech. It was all too much, she'd been crying, and screaming, and then...

She'd seen it too clearly. You expected blood, you knew there would be blood, but it wasn't just the blood, there were chunks, she could have sworn she'd seen chunks and she could still smell the blood over the shit even though that was impossible, it was too far away, she was too far away but she could still smell it and and and-

Her body knew what was happening before her mind did. She doubled over and hurled so hard it made her body spasm. Most of it made it onto the overgrowth below her, but in her retching she managed to splatter plenty along her sarong and into the tips of her dreads. Some of it was still running down her face, dripping down over her top and she couldn't care because even right over that puddle of bile the smell still wouldn't leave her nose.

Caedyn collapsed back on the ground across from the pool and curled up in the dirt. In the background, she could faintly hear a voice singing...or maybe she was just going crazy. Maybe this was just a delusion, or at least a dream. Either way, she squeezed herself together tighter and began to sob.

[Rorick Skyve†]

[[Jane Madison - G054: Start]]

Shit. Shit, shit and more shit, that was all she could think about. Almost hilariously inappropriate, given she was currently in a place that looked like it was at least trying to be pleasing to the eye. Yeah, no thanks. She'd been out hiking through the wilderness more times than she could, this place was looking way worse, not even wild in an enjoyable way. Not esthetic, not at all. Goddamn it, what was she even doing, thinking about unimportant shit like that? She was in the middle of nowhere, no one by her fucking side and for all she knew, some psycho with an axe or anything could come around a corner and end her any second. Fuck.

Jane took her head in both her hands, covering her face. She groaned, from exhaustion, from desperation and pain - yeah, wherever she had been lying, it had been pure cancer for her limbs. Just fucking perfect.

All of a sudden, an overwhelming feeling washed over her, like she was only now really realizing what that whole situation meant for her. Death, she was going to fucking die. Fucking killed or be killed, that was how it went, what that fucking assface of a man had told them on the bus. He could choke on a bloody turd of his own making for all she cared. Just, fuck.

She didn't feel like crying. She had gotten sort of close just now, but only close, nothing more. She was angry more than anything. Yeah, scared too, but anger really just felt so much better than that. Still didn't feel good or anything, but it just made her feel less helpless.

Talking of helpless, who the fuck had even packed her bag? Whiskey, freaking seriously? Like, she could have appreciated it in literally any other situation, especially seeing how that booze was looking like it was worth a bit more than just ordinary whiskey, what with the vintage look and all. Still, it was useless to her now. Could take a sip to calm her down. No, that was a really shitty idea.

Jane was still sitting in the middle of a path of dirt and some undergrowth. Yeah, sitting, she hadn't bothered getting up yet. But maybe she should. Staying there wasn't gonna help her out in any way. She could eat some of those rations in her bag, but no, too early. Wasn't even goddamn hungry, not like she was one of those anxiety eaters. Ugh, getting herself going really was the best she could do.

She got to her feet, tightly holding onto her bag and a grim expression on her face. Had to go and find someone, some other poor fucking soul who was with her in all of this. Shouldn't have been too hard, at least she hoped so.

Wait, was that some noise coming from somewhere near? Thought it was a bird or something at once, but no, no fucking bird sounded like that, maybe except a frickin' parrot.

Noises, a voice even. In other words, someone was there. She already knew what she was going to do, didn't even have a doubt in her mind for one second. Starting to walk towards where whomever she had heard was being, or where she thought they were being, Jane raised her voice to calll out for them, let them know she was here as well.

"Hey! Hey, if anyone's there, don't run away!"

[Sansa]

Through the almost painful silence that permeated the area burst a cacophony of sounds. Though they'd ordinarily not have drawn his attention in the densely populated places he favoured back home, the stark silence they cut through made them all the louder. A soft sobbing nearby was struck through with a desperate cry from a familiar voice for anyone in the area not to run away.

It was this eruption of noise that uprooted Oskar from the task with which he'd immersed himself for the past while. A long daisy chain spilled from his lap and onto the ground beside him, steadily growing with every passing minute. He'd removed his gloves – a newly bought, studded pair from a local secondhand store – and stuffed them into his back pocket to make the intricate art of weaving the flowers together an easier one.

He didn't allow himself a moment to ponder how he ought to react to the girl. Instead, he let instinct take over.

"I'm here," he called out in response, trying not to let an ounce of fear leak into his words. "It's Oskar!"

The voice that flew from his lips was just as chirpy and effervescent as he'd always made it be. Throughout the trepidation and uncertainty that plagued him, his ability to flip that switch and become the happy-go-lucky boy he wanted everybody to think he was hadn't yet been lost to him.

He smiled.

Oskar pulled his cardigan closer to his chest, and contemplated gathering his belongings together and going in search of company. But after awhile, he decided to stay put for the moment and let them come to him. He didn't want to be an unwelcome addition to any group, after all.

[Emprexx Plush]

People. So many people. There were...just people, too many people, more than one and they were close, they were maybe coming this way and they would see her like this and no one could see her like this, not Lily or Jeremy or Josh or even Jazz so certainly not anyone else, no, no, no-

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY!"

The words tore out of her in a ragged scream without much thought of the consequences. The voices were getting closer and nothing about that was okay, they needed to get out of here, she had to clean herself up, calm herself down, find someone, talk to someone, explain that this was a mistake, that she couldn't be here, she wasn't here, she was...

Deep breath. Not really, through all the sobbing, but deeper than she'd managed so far. It was okay. She could breathe, and get up, and clean herself off, and figure out what was going on. Her hands found the ground and started to push her up.

A spray of blood and bits of bone splashed across her mind's eye. New sobs wracked her body as she sunk back into the ground. There was no plan of action, no comforting gesture or centering desire that could wipe the chaos away from her mind. All she could do was curl up and stop trying to interact with the world. Maybe if she shut it out hard enough, it would go away.

[Rorick Skyve†]

There, someone answered. No, not someone, it was Oskar, that puny pushover, or so she saw him. Well, great. First person she'd come across and he was probably not going to be of much use. Unless he had a bazooka or anything that was actually useful with him. Not like here damn whiskey bottle. Best thing she could do with that was smash someone over the head. And she would, if anyone was gonna threaten her or something like it. Even Oskar.

"Stay there, I'm comin' over!"

Maybe yelling so much wasn't a good idea. Could attract others to them, someone like Caedyn or Bradley, or someone with an even bigger chip on their shoulder. God, she hoped not.

The voice came from a direction that required her to leave the path she walking on to move towards it. Though you could hardly call it a path, what with all those bushes and brambles and- ugh, this was terrible. She didn't mind nature, not at all, but this was seriously starting to get on her nerves. Oh well, complaining wasn't going to do her much good. Maybe later.

Carefully, she stepped into the muddy dirt, took one step, then another and another. She'd reach Oskar soon enough, no reason to hurry and risk slipping and falling on the fucking ground. That was the last thing she could use, although her dress was already pretty much ruined. Ugh, fuck it.

Whoa.

There was another voice suddenly speaking up, no, yelling out. It sounded like its owner was even closer than Oskar was, ahead of her. Maybe right on her way towards him. Definitely sounded like a girl's voice, thought it was a bit hard to tell, what with the voice having been all contorted. Whoever had yelled was clearly not being happy. Though that was obvious, judging from what they had yelled. Fucking rude.

Jane continued to pave her way through the mostly dead wasteland that lay to her feet, slowly getting used to it. Her steps were getting faster and more frequent, she held her bag tightly grasped, her eyes focusing on what was ahead of her. And then she saw it, saw someone.

Someone on the ground, maybe fifty feet away, rolled up into a ball. Jane jumped for a second, thinking the person in question was dead. No, they were probably the one who had yelled out earlier. Didn't look like Oskar, had to be them. Still couldn't recognize them, so she had to step closer.

Just her luck though, another person she met and it seemed like it was another mostly useless one, panicking like that. Well, couldn't help it, letting her lie on the ground wasn't going to help either.

"Hey you! You there, I don't think hugging the ground is going to help you much. Don't you want to get up?"

[Sansa]

Oskar hurriedly gave himself a once over as the voice he now identified as Jane's replied to his declaration. She wasn't a particularly close friend of his – though there were few who shared that title, in all honesty, as it required a degree of openness from him that he could rarely afford. Regardless, he was just happy that he'd soon have some company and with it, a distraction from his thoughts.

But before she could make her way to him, an ungodly shriek blasted through the air. His entire body tensed, goosebumps suddenly flaring upon his skin, and he instinctively threw his daisy chain to the side in favour of clutching his bag to him. His heart almost sank as he recognised the other girl's voice. Caedyn Miller: a girl who stuck him as such a wildcard – who knew what would happen with her around?

He pricked an ear to listen in on Jane's discussion with Caedyn, resisting the urge to wince at what she said. Coaxing someone to get up off the ground who'd literally just screamed to be left alone didn't seem like the wisest choice in the world to Oskar, especially in a death game like this. He was glad he was still a ways away from the potentially volatile combination, but couldn't help but feel a little dejected that nobody had gone to him first. He found himself caught in a precarious position – stay where he was for who knew how long, or venture right into a situation he'd just identified as a dangerous one.

So he went back to threading his daisies together, trying to push the feelings of loneliness out of his mind.

[Emprexx Plush]

Jane. Of all the people to find her first, it had to be someone like Jane. She was probably loving this, angry, insensitive little twat. Maybe this was it. This was how she died, right here. At least it'd be over. "W-what's the point," she grumbled. "There's nothing to help. We're dead. We're all f-fucking dead." It was a certainty. Sure, she'd heard of some people escaping, but almost everybody died. Last time she was pretty sure everybody did.

'Help?' What a joke. None of them could help each other here. She managed to look up at Jane from her curled up position with nothing but spite in her eyes. "That's what we're here for, right? You gonna kill me now, Jane? Or just pretend to 'help' for a few days before blowing my head off?" They'd both seen the videos. She wasn't that fucking naive. Not Jane. Jane was dumb, but she was also an emotional trainwreck. That's what always made her so fun to wind up. Here, it made her exactly the sort of person Caedyn had to be worried about.

So this was probably it. She didn't have anything to fight with. Her body was still weak and tense and roiling with disgust. Jane would put her down here and that would be the end of it.

What a fucking pathetic way to go.

It didn't suit her.

Ja, what was she doing down here? She was better than this. She was stronger than this. She just...just needed a little time. If Jane could just go fuck up someone else...

Two pieces clicked together. That was an idea worth exploring.

[Rorick Skyve†]

What the fuck. No, c'mon, this couldn't be right. What the fuck.

Of all the people, all the douches and morons and losers and the decent people walking around, she had to run into her, into this goddamn bitch. Even now, even when she knew they were both in a completely fucked up situation like this and as good as dead, she still couldn't help but feel repulsed just looking at Caedyn. Why her, why did she have to wake up here? It just wasn't fair.

At least she was crawling on the ground in front of her, humiliated, like the dirt she was. Jane felt a very strong urge rise in her, to just kick her and leave. Tempting, but no, she wasn't going to do that. No way she'd stoop down to Caedyn's level.

Ugh. Her words, five words out of her mouth and she already felt pissed off. She didn't need to listen to her, she could just go away, leave that hateful piece of garbage to herself. But it was just...what she was saying, she couldn't just ignore that, walk away without talking back at her. The hell was she implying? That Jane was going to kill her? That Caedyn was the victim in this, a poor soul about to be slaughtered by her, the evil wench. Jeez, she couldn't have made up a worse script if she had tried.

She wasn't just going to take that. She had the opportunity to put that bitch back in her place now, now was the best of times. No one around her to judge, no one to tell her to cool it or something. So what if it was being broadcasted? Hell if she cared. Nobody would interrupt her now.

She took a step closer towards Caedyn, starting to perceive a foul smell in the air. God, it smelled like actual shit. Maybe it was from all the bullshit that Caedyn was spewing.

"What the actual fuck are you talking about? Me, kill you?" She couldn't resist, she raised a hand to point at the girl in front of her with her index finger. Overly dramatic, but who gave a toss?

"Don't act like you're scared or anything, spare me your games. You just want to look like the good guy in front of all these cameras here, right? Boo hoo, poor Caedyn, poor poor Caedyn." Jane wiped away an imaginary tear with one fist.
"Give me a break! You can go and pull that anywhere else, be my fucking guest. But not with me, got it? I don't wanna be here with you, same boat or not. I'm not gonna offer you help or anything, screw that. You don't need my help and I don't need yours, we both freakin' know that."

Her chest started to hurt. She took heavy breaths; wanted to place a hand over her own heart, try to calm herself. No, that would have made her look foolish. Weak. Not in front of Caedyn.

"I'm gonna walk the other way now and I couldn't care less what you'll be doing. So have fun drowning in your self-pity, guess that'll count as suicide or something." That was good. Made her feel content with herself.

Jane turned away, looking into the direction that she had originally walked towards. Someone else was there, waiting for her. Someone who wasn't Caedyn. Even goddamn Bradley was fine with her at this point.

[Sansa]

As Jane continued her tirade at Caedyn, Oskar steadily began to regret his decision to stay put. He'd initially pegged Caedyn as being the more dangerous of the two, but the ease with which Jane launched into one of her typical rants – the likes of which he'd been the occasional bystander to back home – was unnerving, to say the least. He could understand where Jane was coming from, but wouldn't faking it for the cameras be more preferable to blowing up at the slightest provocation as she had done?

He shifted in his seat, the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing on end in anticipation as Jane finished her chastisement and proceeded to march towards him. Part of him was saddened that Jane had effectively nuked any chances of the three of them allying within the space of thirty seconds, but part of him was glad. Caedyn was wildly unpredictable in her behaviour – he had to admit, snivelling mess was not the first image that came to mind when he thought of Caedyn in this scenario. But Jane was just being typical Jane – a headstrong ticking timebomb; exactly as he imagined her.

Back home, predictability and playing by the rules was how he survived. He'd take notice of how certain people responded to certain cues, and shape his behaviour around them accordingly. If he conveyed an image people liked, then they'd like him. If they were a threat, then he'd steel himself against them as best he could.

He slowly raised to his feet as Jane came closer, instinctively dusting himself off as he did so.

"Before you ask what weapon I got, it's these."

He pulled his studded gloves from the back pocket of his shorts and waved them lightly in front of her.

"Not a threat, I promise."

[Emprexx Plush]

This.

Oh this.

This was fucking adorable.

Between Jane's outburst and Oskar's cutesy innocent routine, she couldn't help herself. What was left of her sobs turned to choking, then sputtering, then outright hysterical laughter. They were just so far up their own asses, trying to act all noble and confident when they were all going to die. As she laughed, she pushed herself up off of the ground and stared daggers at Jane. "That's a great speech Jane. It's really good to see you getting that anger worked up already. Hey, Oskar," she said with a glance in his direction, "How long do you give her before she snaps? A couple days? Couple hours? Maybe a couple minutes?"

What a joke. Did she think she was better than her? That somehow being an angry bitch every day of her life gave her some kind of moral high ground? "Just listen to yourself! Maybe you won't kill anybody," she babbled with clenched fists,"maybe one of the other f-fucking lunatics that's sick of your bullshit will get to you first. Do you have any idea what people said about you? What they thought about the pissy little no talent hypocrite? No, because you never fucking listen!"

She was letting her own anger get the best of her. She had no idea what anyone said about Jane, because it wasn't worth paying attention to. There had to be rumors though. People had to hate her. Just look at her.

[Rorick Skyve†]

Goddammit, she was glad to see Oskar. More like she was just happy to see literally anyone besides fucking Caedyn. Fuck, she'd have welcomed Min Jae with open arms before she'd spend another ten seconds with that putrid bitch behind her, really, how could one person be that hateful and just...shitty? God.

What a contrast Oskar was to that. Sitting down there, waving his gloves around like he was holding a white flag. She didn't know him, not that well, but she couldn't help but find him sort of adorable. Or maybe she was just trying to force positive thoughts into her brain, anything to distract her from her. She'd suggest the two of them get away from her, that was the absolutely best thing she could do.

"Hey Oskar, look, how about-" She was immediately interrupted. God, there that bitch went again. Couldn't she just keep her damn whore mouth shut, just one fucking second?

Oh, she was trying to provoke her wasn't she? Talking about her, Jane, snapping? Her? Stupid cunt didn't know a thing about anything, she was just saying shit to mess with her. She couldn't let herself be provoked, she wouldn't get to her, no matter wha-

The fuck. What'd she call her? She was being a hypocrite? Called that by Caedyn of all people. Oh, fuck her, fuck her and her entire shtick and her whole family and - Jesus fucking Christ, how she wished she could have just smashed that bottle over her head, make her eat her own words and some glass shards at that. No, of course she wasn't going to do that. But it was a nice mental image to hold onto.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Jane didn't even turn around, she just stood there, fists clenched and staring at the dry ground and dead plants in front of her. She had to get away from there, before she did something she regretted.

"Oskar, let's get out of here, alright? Nothing good will come of that...of her being around us."

[Sansa]

As glad as he was for the attention Caedyn and Jane were giving him, Oskar hated the position they'd placed him in. He usually tried to maintain a position of neutrality, one where he could remain on good terms with all parties involved; here, it didn't seem like such a usual stance would reap the results he wanted. With two such fiery combatants, trying to toe the line in-between the two might end up just making everything worse.

On one hand, Jane had explicitly asked to join with him, but on the other, he couldn't help but agree with Caedyn's assessment. It felt good to be wanted, but if such an alliance drove others away, was it really worth it? And as perpetually unpredictable as Caedyn may have been, there was no denying that she was smart.

Looking for a way to assuage them both, Oskar slid over to stand beside Caedyn, and a placed a finger on his lip, lightly brushing against the cool metal of his spiderbites. He inwardly sighed as he realised he'd need to figure out a way of avoiding infection.

"Jane, you do hiking, right? Figure you know a bit of first-aid, then. I got my legs a tad scratched up on the nettles over there–" he waved gently towards the thicket he'd crossed through earlier "–and I was wondering if you could help?"

He offered Caedyn a subtle wink. He would've whispered his thoughts, given her a bit less ambiguity, but she stood over a foot taller than him; as flexible as he was, forcing himself to stretch up that far wasn't on his list of priorities for the moment.

There were more pressing matters at hand.

[Emprexx Plush]

Either Oskar was flirting with her or he was up to something. She couldn't decide which would be groddier right now. Did he think they were in some kind of pact just because Jane's crazy? What was his goal here? What was weirder is that he thought Jane wouldn't catch on to it.

Maybe she wouldn't. She was pretty stupid. Fuck it.

Caedyn decided to keep quiet and let this play out for now. Oskar wanted to do something, and he wasn't fucking with her, so she didn't care anymore. Let the two of them rip each other apart for all she cared.

[Rorick Skyve†]

Ugh, why her? Was it really asked too much for her to get a lucky break for once; this whole thing just screamed 'rigged' in her face. Of course she had been the one to wake up next to Caedyn. Not only that, but now she also had to deal with Oskar's goddamn ouchie, forcing her to stay near that bitch for brains even longer.

Jane inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself down. Fuck, she had to pull herself together. Had to ignore Caedyn trying to push all of her buttons. She had to be strong now, fucking cliché as that sounded. Even with how horrible all of this shit was and with how much she didn't want to admit to herself how scared she was, she had to try and stay confident. Somehow. And the best way to do that, was to demonstrate she was above those taunts. That she could keep a cool head. Keep calm and take care of Oskar, that was what she had to do. He deserved as much.

She looked down at his leg, stepping closer to him. It didn't look dangerous or anything, but it prolly didn't feel very good. Yeah, that shit had to sting. She had been there herself, knew how much that sucked. Back then, when she had been bawling her eyes out over it, her grandpa had always taken care of it for her. Then eventually taught her how to treat it herself. And now she could finally put that to good use on someone else.

"Yeah, let's see what I can do here." Jane nodded, then looked back over her shoulder for a short moment to make sure Caedyn wasn't trying to pull any funny moves. Nope, just sitting there in the dirt where she belonged. Satisfied, she turned her attention towards Oskar again, giving him a slightly inquiring look.

"Don't mean to sound like a jerk, but you don't mind if I use the stuff from your med kit for this, right? I mean, I figure we all got one with us in our bags and I might still need mine for myself later on, so...you get that, right?"