The Girl Who Owned an Island

[D/N]

(Kaitlyn Greene continued from Dysthemia Morte)

Day six. Felt nice.

Apparently the library had burned down. Too bad. She'd liked it there. Plus she'd left her shield there. So Kaitlyn guessed that was gone, which kinda sucked. She'd had the admittedly silly idea that at some point she'd need it for whatever reason and be able to head back there and retrieve it in a moment in need.

Ah well. Being the best fucking planner and the most forward-thinking person here didn't mean every idea would pan out.

She sat on the rocky floor and it felt nice against her ass and she took the crossbow out of her bag and aimed it off at the horizon. Felt kinda like pulling the string and seeing just how far one of those bolts could fly but... nah, had to conserve her ammunition.

But yeah. Just some of them, eh?

In any case, it was now late morning and Kaitlyn guessed the floor might be getting damp soon enough. So it was about time to prep for that and get her bag to some higher ground. This was a big day. And no one was around to share it with her yet, which sucked, but hey, gotta keep hoping, right? She'd had the chance before but didn't take it. Of course, she hadn't had a gun then. It was...

Kaitlyn furrowed her brow and thought. Irene. That was it. Irene was dead now, of course. It'd been Irene, Hannah Kendrickstone, and someone else, Kaitlyn couldn't remember and didn't give that much of a shit to try. Of course, fat lot of good Irene's shotgun had ending up doing her. Kaitlyn should've just grabbed it then.

Huh, speaking of grabbing guns, hadn't she left Mia right outside the library? ...Fuck her corpse was probably like half-charred now or something. That... was weirdly unnerving, and Kaitlyn didn't know why. Maybe she should've taken the time to bury her. Maybe she was kinda still worried about Mia rising up all zombie-style and seeking revenge, and her being all burned up would make that even freakier.

Yeah, no. She had to get the zombies and invasions out of her head, Christ. There were so many better post-apocalyptico scenarios. Like the one she'd just read. Like the one she was in now.

Kaitlyn grinned at that and looked out at the ocean, crossbow dangling in one hand.

[Laurels]

((Alba Reyes continued from Santa Sangre))

"Okay, why don't we check out the cove?" Alba said. "Maybe there's...something..."

Alba turned around. Brendan and Fiyori weren't there. She stood frozen, an awkward smile on her face. How had this happened? When they had left the asylum, they were going to look for Jonathan and Bryony. Alba thought they would check the area around the asylum first and had suggested they follow her. They must not have heard her, or maybe she walked too fast for them to catch up. Whatever the reason, Alba had to deal with the fact that she was now alone for the first time since Day 2.

Alba shook her head.

"They're probably close by," she told herself. "Just find a nice place to wait and they'll catch up."

The cove offered shelter and a place to sit, so it looked the most appealing place right now. If Brendan and Fiyori were nearby, they'd probably go somewhere like that. Alba hoisted her bag over her shoulder, keeping the rifle to her side, and started to walk to the cove. She tried to think more about where everyone could be. Maybe Jonathan or Bryony or someone else were already in the cove and they'd be able to make their group larger.

Alba approached the edge of the cave when she thought she noticed someone nearby. She first saw a crossbow and thought it might be Jae again. However, she soon noticed it was someone else. It was a girl, a familiar one at that. Alba was a bit taken aback, knowing who this girl was and how she was rewarded a few days ago for killing someone.

Alba pushed the suspicious thoughts out of her head. She had made the same assumptions about Brendan, and he had proven to be a worthwhile companion. Maybe she would be too. Besides, this girl had only killed once in six days. They were roller derby sisters, so that still had to matter here.

"Kaitlyn?" Alba called out, a large smile forming on her face.

Thank god she found a friend and not someone really dangerous.

[D/N]

Kaitlyn turned around, crossbow still dangling low in one hand. 'Cause she could totally recognize that voice.

"Alba?"

She smiled. Remembered the last time this had happened and her smile faltered a bit. Of course, she'd always liked Alba. Alba was no Vanessa.

"Holy shit. I... Hey. How you doing?"

Alba was the Red Queen. Or the Reina Rose, whatever. Kaitlyn'd always thought it was a shitty derby name, but she'd only teased Alba about that once or twice.

And oh yeah.

"...Nice gun."

She glanced to the entrance to the cove. Alba would be perfect.

[Laurels]

"Oh, uh, thanks," Alba said, looking at the rifle. "It's heavier than it looks. Heh heh."

Alba smiled and brushed some hair back. It was nice to find a friend here and to be able to share a laugh. A laugh was something she sorely needed. She hadn't really had any fun moments in a while aside from random chattering with Brendan. That thought finally reminded her of what she needed to be saying. Taking to Katy Buried would be fine, but she had some pertinent questions to ask.

"In all seriousness, I've been fine, but I got lost from my group in the last few hours or so," Alba said. "You wouldn't have happened to see Brendan and Fiyori in this area, have you?"

Alba scratched the side of her temple.

"I've been with them a while now, and I'd really like to find them ASAP."

[D/N]

Fiyori? Really?

God, Alba could have shitty taste in friends. Present company... included.

"I haven't seen anyone like recently. I've just been, you know, chilling here a bit, trying to relax. Trying to... deal, I guess."

Kaitlyn studied Alba's face for a second. Open, sure. That was Alba.

It felt a lot lot Mia, and Kaitlyn bit her lip.

Then shoved that feeling deep and snapped herself back to reality here. Yeah. It was like Mia. Better than Mia. There'd be no more doubts, least of all from her.

Although Alba was already talking about friends and getting back to them. Yeah, and like Mia, Alba was just gonna dance merrily into a goddamn hole of Trust Yer Friends and let it swallow her alive in the end, wasn't she? Maybe if Kaitlyn knew that Alba had more than that, had more than the base physical-strength here but... like it wasn't even like the girl was trying a Vanessa-style lie, here either, Kaitlyn could fucking tell that. She could read Alba like a book.

Hey.

"But yeah, I dunno. Good to see you too, though. Really. Like, a friend."

She ambled a few steps over to where her bag lay, zipper open, and pulled out a tattered paperback.

The Girl Who Owned a City

"Been reading, haha; got this book from the library, uh before it burned down I guess. That sounded kinda crazy. It was actually my favorite book as a kid. You ever read it?"

[Laurels]

Alba kept a smile on her face as Kaitlyn spoke. Kaitlyn hadn't seen Brendan or Fiyori. Now that she thought about it, it was unlikely she saw them. That would mean they had somehow walked ahead of Alba as they made their way to the cove, and Alba would have probably noticed them when that happened. Oh well, it still resulted in her finding a friend. Like Brendan, Kaitlyn probably had a reason for killing that girl the other day and she could probably explain that.

But that would have to wait. Kaitlyn had a book she got before the library burned down and asked Alba about it.

"Sorry, I haven't read that one," she explained. "Most children's lit I've been reading lately are picture books for my younger siblings. I don't think I would have read that book when I was younger."

"But still, the library burned down. That's pretty crazy. Do you know what happened there?"

[D/N]

"Yeah, my dad, actually he read it back in the 70's as a kid and kinda passed it on to me. It was about this like plague, kills off everyone over the age of 14 or so and this one girl really ends up taking charge. Standing up. I dunno if it was great writing; I'm not a big reader or anything, but it really like stuck with me."

Of course Alba hadn't read it. Of course she couldn't understand.

She dropped the book back on top of her bag.

"But don't know what happened at the library, I haven't been there for a few days and..."

Well, she'd walked into that, all right. But that was actually fine. That was better, really. Gave her a chance to throw it out there for Alba and see what happened first.

"Yeah. It was a decent place. Shit went down, though. I was with Alan Banks. He... was a bit nuts."

[Laurels]

Alba nodded along as Kaitlyn described the book. It sounded kind of neat. If she managed to survive and got home, she would definitely check it out. It seemed like such a novelty to think of books to read or other things to look forward to at home. But if anything, Alba was prepared to finally do things she always wanted to do if given the chance to go back. That would even include doing the really the strange ideas she had, like going BASE jumping or eating alligator. She couldn't miss out on those opportunities ever again.

Kaitlyn mentioned being with Alan at the library a few days ago and that he was nuts.

"Oh, that's too bad," Alba said. "I guess a lot of people are going nuts, with only a few sane people left. I saw Jae yesterday and he shot at us with a crossbow because he was pissed Brendan was alive. I didn't get the whole story, but Brendan's existence was enough for him to attempt murder.

"I mean, has that happened to you? I know you were on the announcements, but have people tried to kill you for that despite whatever reasons you had?"

[D/N]

Kaitlyn tensed her neck muscles.

"I..."

And yep, here came the questions. And oh, there went any doubt that might've been still lingering.

Frankly, Kaitlyn would've respected Alba more if her derby buddy had at least shown the guts to come up and, hell she didn't know. Scream at her. Demand answers. Threaten to hunt her down or fuck, shoot first and ask questions later like Min-Jae apparently had. If Kaitlyn ran into Min-Jae later, she'd have to give the moody fuck a nod of appreciation.

"...Not like 100%, but Vanessa Stone the other day. She was pissed; it might've gotten violent but I took off. Been alone mostly the last day."

Sure. It could've been like that.

"The whole thing shouldn't have happened, you know? Alan, he strung me along, it was stupid of me, and... fuck. It's the past now."

Kaitlyn smiled. Tried to make it a sad one. She could feel that old feeling finally coming back in the pit of her guts, and oh god it was welcoming now.

She turned to look out at the ocean for a bit.

"Anyway, you should get back to look for them. I'll take off soon. I'm just... hey just take a look out there with me for a minute, will ya Alba? I mean, nothing else there's no view like that in Kingman."

[Laurels]

Alba listened patiently. Kaitlyn hadn't had her share of run-ins like Brendan had, and her murder seemed to come from pressure from Alan. Alba would have to make note that Alan was someone they needed to be careful around if they ran into him. Granted, she didn't know who Alan was, but maybe Brendan and Fiyori did.

Kaitlyn was about to push Alba out to find the others, but suggested she look at the sea. At first, Alba had a naive belief that she could look out and the view would be the entire U.S. navy descending upon the island to save them all. But no, it was just to admire the sea. Alba had to admit, it was a really nice view. This may be the only time she'd ever get to see the ocean, and she had to enjoy it.

"Yeah, it is actually nice," Alba said. "Thank you for sharing it with me."

Alba smiled. Kaitlyn was going to go her own way, but Alba would have to try her best to convince her to come along. After all, it was rare to find pleasant company in this game, so she'd have to hold onto it as long as possible.

[D/N]

"Welcome."

She levelled the crossbow at Alba.

"Hey."

Waited for her to turn around.

"Stay cool. Toss your gun that way. Don't want it getting wet."

Toll Booth was back in session.

[Laurels]

((All GMing from this point approved by all involved))

Alba turned her head to face her friend, but then froze. Kaitlyn was pointing her crossbow at her. Alba's eyes widened. She quickly moved so she was facing Kaitlyn. It was Jae all over again, but now it was her friend from school threatening her. Alba felt her breathing start to increase.

"Kate? What?" Alba stuttered out. "What are you doing?"

Alba gulped. This couldn't turn south so quickly. The rifle started to feel heavy in her hand.

[D/N]

"Don't worry."

God, that sounded dumb even to Kaitlyn.

"I'm just trading with you. I'm not gonna shoot you unless you try something dumb and no offence I don't think you can shoot that thing. So drop the gun. And your bag. Up there by mine. I got another gun in my bag. It's yours."

Do it Alba, cause it would so much of a fucking waste if you didn't and Kaitlyn had to end this before it reached the next level.

[Laurels]

Kaitlyn reiterated her point, to which Alba broke her gaze from Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn was right that she probably couldn't use the rifle. If she couldn't even shoot a can of cat food with it, how could she possibly gun down her friend? Kaitlyn would kill her first, so Alba knew she would lose anyways. She decided to go along with what Kaitlyn said.

"Okay," Alba said. "Okay. Whatever you want."

Alba walked slowly to where Kaitlyn had placed her bag. She kept her gaze on Kaitlyn, her rifle hand shaking. She wanted nothing more than to just bolt from the area, but she felt her legs starting to shake along with her rifle hand. Maybe Brendan could appear and stop Kaitlyn, or maybe the navy could actually show up.

Alba arrived at the bag and slowly slid the bag off her shoulder, setting it gently next to Kaitlyn's. She then removed the rifle and lay it on top of her bag. Once she did, she raised both her hands up, holding them flat in front of her shoulders.

"There. I dropped them. Now what?"

Alba bit her lip. She prayed that was all Kaitlyn wanted her to do.

[D/N]

A couple beads of sweat formed above her eyes and the feeling kept growing.

"Thanks. Thanks."

Alba was perfect for this. Too perfect, really; cause once she dropped the gun Kaitlyn knew there was no way she could leave it at Toll Booth.

"Now just in my bag, there's a gun on top. It's this micro-uzi thing. Not as sweet as yours, but uhhhh, lighter. Take it out, it's yours."

Cause there always had to be a sporting chance.

"By the barrel, Alba. Don't let your hands get near that trigger."

Or at least the illusion of one.