Ten Shades of Gray

[Badb†]

((B067, Warren Brown.))

Warren Brown, now known to the people watching at home as B067, woke up in a flowerbed, sneezing his ass off.

Tears were streaming down his face, not from sadness, but from his severe hayfrever. He'd suffered from it ever since he was about eight, and every year it seemed to get worse and worse. Unfortunately for Warren, this year had been the worst yet for pollen, and he didn't remember taking any tablets for a long time, or even packing any on the trip with him.

Warren tried to open his stinging eyes, but everything was a painful blur, a mass of bright colours mixing together in the sky. Warren shut his eyes again, deciding it'd be better to keep them closed after finding it was slightly less painful.

Trying to keep them firmly shut, he rolled onto his side, only to find that he was closer to the edge of the flowerbed in than he thought, rolling off of it and crashing facefirst into the concrete pavement.

"Ugh," Warren pushed himself up to his feet, blinking several times until his vision cleared up enough for him to actually see. "Th- That one hurt."

He felt a sharp pain in his cheek, and put his hand up to his face, knocking something on his neck in the process. He looked down at his hand, and saw the red marks of blood on it.

"Fuck," He muttered under his breath, taking a tissue out of a small pack he kept in his jean pocket and pressing it on his cut.

It was around this time he realised just where he was, and how he'd managed to wind up in a flowerbed. He remembered passing out on the bus, waking up in the room with the rest of the class and the tape with that Riz guy stabbing the girl and shooting her, being gassed again, and then waking up with no recollection of how he got there.

Drawing a reasonable conclusion that these events weren't the result of him downing a couple of bottles of whiskey before the trip, Warren felt his neck. Confirming his suspicions, he found he was now wearing some kind of collar.

Warren looked around for his pack, before spotting a black duffel bag with B067 stencilled on the side on the pavement, on the other side of the flowerbed. Warren guessed he must've thrashed about before he woke up and kicked it off without realising. He walked over to it and sat down, placing it on his lap. He took a deep breath before unzipping it, and pulled out what he could only assume was his weapon.

Warren had never shot a gun before, but he knew enough about them to recognise the maker of the one he was holding in his hand. It was a Berreta, but Warren couldn't figure out what model.

He put it on the flowerbed next to him, and zipped his pack up, putting it on over his shoulder.

[GameMaker†]

(B043 Start, Omar Burton)

Omar had been walking around for awhile now, looking for other people. He had been one of the few in the bus not shocked by the video they'd shown... he'd seen every version of Survival Of The Fittest, and he had seen that specific scene several times. The Riz was one of the most popular characters in Version 3 on the fan sites that Omar went to, right behind Edward Sullivan, and, of course, Adam Dodd.

Adam Dodd and Bryan Calvert, the revered 'heroes'. What made them heroes, exactly? They were both mass murderers, plain and simple. Were they heroes simply because the people they killed were considered villains? That was bullshit. People should know by now that there was no such thing as heroism, not in this game.

There were the heroes who tried to escape- that never ended well. Either Danya just used the collars to kill them, or a player would come by, kill some of them and fuck the whole thing up. The other heroes- the ones who wouldn't kill until the end- they were even worse. That's not a hero, that's someone waiting to have the right moral justification for murder. All they were doing was biding their time, waiting for other people to kill off the people they needed to die, and then attacking themselves once there was few left and they could avoid guilt.

It was a coward's way to do it, and as much as Omar was a coward, he couldn't sink that low. Plus, the game was made for active people- if you wanted to get something done, you needed to be active. Every second you spent sitting around waiting was another second that the things you wanted to protect, wanted to defend, could be being attacked. Omar had only had one name running through his head as he had been on the island: Sierra Manning.

She was beautiful, she was funny, she was adorable, cute, nice, smart... she was everything that Omar wanted. She was the girl he loved. And she was the only one in that whole fucking shithole of a school who actually cared about him. The rest of them, if they did talk to Omar or about him, they talked down about them. They talked about what a freak he was, what a geek, what a nerd, what a fucking loser. So fuck them. He was going to make sure Sierra won this game, and if they got in his way... he'd kill them.

Of course he had qualms about it. Of course voices inside of him spoke up, protesting against this, telling him that it was wrong. From the day he was born, Omar had been taught that murder was wrong, that it was awful. But he didn't have time to discuss the moral problems of what he was doing, of whether or not it was justified. He needed to act quickly, and knowing that his actions were to protect Sierra was enough for him. He'd need a better weapon though- he'd checked the one he had, some sort of stone. He needed a fucking gun, not that piece of shit.

And then he spotted it, lying in a flowerbed in the town square. Standing next to it was a boy- Omar recognized him, had seen him in the hallways from time to time, but had no idea what his name was, or who he was really at all. He seemed to be preoccupied with his bag, and that was good. Omar quickly made his way towards him, only speaking when he was within a few feet of him, not stopping his walk.

"Hey, dude, are you alright?" An awkward, cool guy voice, not one Omar normally used. But he thought it would put this kid at ease. "Do you know if any-" Then Omar stopped speaking, and made a quick sprint towards the flowerbed, and reached for the gun. Sierra, this is all for you... all to protect you. If he could die for Sierra- and he knew that he could- he could definitely kill for her. And he would.

He quickly stepped backwards after grabbing the gun, fumbling to find the safety. He had only a working knowledge, but working it with his hands he was able to find the safety quickly. Turning it off, he pointed the gun at the boy in front of him, and fired. All for you, Sierra.

[Badb†]

Warren rummaged through the pack, looking for anything that'd be of more use for a guy with a broken wrist than a gun. He wasn't planning on going all out murderer, but he figured getting something to defend himself with would be a good idea.

Lunchbox? Like I can use that. Torch? It's pretty heavy but no. Compass? I wis-

Suddenly, Warren saw a somewhat familiar face. Well, he expected them to be, given that it was his school that got thrown in. He couldn't quite attach a name to them, but he'd definitely seen him in the hallways.

"Huh?" Warren answered. He couldn't quite catch what the other guy said, he was sort've far away, "Yeah, I'm fine, wh-?"

The other guy dashed for the gun. Warren tried to grab for it, but he responded too late. Warren got up and grabbed his pack with his good hand, when the other guy pulled the trigger before Warren could turn and run away.

At such a close range, the bullet hit him square in the chest, piercing his ribs and going straight into the heart, sending Warren crumpling to the floor and killing him in a matter of seconds.

MALE STUDENT NO. 67 - WARREN BROWN - DECEASED

[Ciel†]

(G030 - Jessica Pentangeli START)

The first thing that popped into Jessica Pentangeli's mind was that her cheek burned. She opened her heavy eyes slowly, almost drunkenly. She felt her cheek with the back of her palm. Blood rushed through her body as she woke up. Jessica bit down on her lip as she struggled to sit up. Her body felt so dead. She clenched her fists together as she shook herself off. Jessica thought she was still dreaming. No, she didn't think, she KNEW. Jessica rubbed her head as she zipped open the bag and fished for her bottle of Advil. She didn't found her Ipod but no bottle of Advil. She did find something that made her blood turn cold.

Jessica Pentangeli held the Pneu-Dart equipment Model 176B CO2 Powered Rifle (if it weren't for the darts, Jessica would have confused it with an actual gun!) close to her chest, her eyes half-open. As the full reality of her situation settled in, she wished she had just died while she was asleep. But it wasn't like she had a choice in the matter. She hadn't had a choice in a lot of things. The only reason she came on this stupid trip was because Alex, Josie and Meredith Hemmings. Meredith Hemmings for Christ sake. She didn't participate in anything. If she went on this trip then why couldn't Jessica? There wouldn't be any harm in it. It would be fun. Yeah right.

No. That wasn't why she came. Sure all three girls were her friends, but when she really thought about it, she came because Nick LeMonde was going.

Jessica kept her mouth shut. She didn't say anything. In the distance, she could see a figure walking around. The drugs in her system were making her trip so she couldn't tell who it was exactly.

Her thoughts went to Nick LeMonde for reasons she could not say.

Now was not the time to think about him.

Jessica looked down sadly. She didn't say anything. Jessica was just a nice quiet girl from Minnesota. To be honest she didn't like many of the kids in her school, downright hated a good few of them but that was normal right? Everyone could say that. Jessica was just a normal kid. Yeah, sure, it would be a lie to say that she had never wanted to kill anyone, but she had never said that in the literal sense. She had never wanted to take a shotgun and blow someone's head off! Only deranged people ever actually considered doing that!

Jessica's thoughts turned grim. Where was Nick? Oh no. Could something had happened to him?

She heard the gunshot and she sprang up suddenly. She held the rifle close as she fumbled for the darts. She loaded the dart gun as quickly as an amateur could and twisted around to look towards the figure. Apparently the two boys had not noticed her from far away and had gone about their business on their own. Jessica was deeply scared now and she held the gun as tight as she could. Her head was still groggy. She could only make an outline of one person but not much else.

"...H-Hello? What's going on?"

[GameMaker†]

Omar had felt the gun kick back with considerable force, and had been very glad he had been gripping it with two hands. With one hand, he would have most likely broken his wrist. But even in that grip, with all of Omar's strength, he had almost dropped it- the recoil was hard. As it was, his hands merely stung and shook from the shock. He didn't even realize this when he fired the gun- almost all of his attention was focused on the boy in front of him.

Omar watched him fall, and was not surprised that the only thing he really felt, watching the bullet pierce through his chest and his heart, was a faint sense of disgust. Call it desensitization, call it the effects of stress on this island fucking with his mind, but all there was was only a vague feeling of unease in the back of his head, a faint whisper of regret and unease. Omar had already begun to subconsciously push it backwards, and that was good. He wasn't here to weep for this boy- he barely knew him, and he had done this out of neccesity. Besides, on this island, sooner or later, someone would kill the boy. A quick, almost instantaneous death like the one Omar had given him was much preferable to some of the fates that people had fallen to on this island- really, when it came down to it it was a mercy kill.

It had been done out of logic, of course. If Omar was to defend himself, or more importantly Sierra, he needed a weapon. The handgun- a Beretta 93R, a semi automatic pistol, at least that's what the manual said- looked like it would prove to be rather useful. As the thoughts went through his hand, his arms worked mechanically, searching through the bag he had pulled away from the boy's corpse. The kid had had at least 20 pounds on Omar, and Omar couldn't risk him attacking him and taking the gun back. So, of course, he had to shoot him. The simplest and easiest way to resolve the situation with the least harm and risk to Omar.

As he shoved the bullets, the food, and most of the waters- only opening one of Warren's bottles to drink himself- into his own bag, he thought about it. That wasn't exactly correct- it wasn't harm to him, or him dying, that he was worried about. Well, not directly. She was so kind, so sweet- she would never hurt anyone to try to survive. But people would take advantage of that, and they'd try to hurt her. And Omar could not, and would not, let that happen. Perhaps he wasn't the traditional knight in shining armor, the brave action hero, any cliche like that, strong, tall, and handsome, but he had the chance to save the woman he loved, and he would take it. No matter what that meant.

Omar took a swig of the water bottle, and then, out of the corner of his eye, saw a rustle of movement in one of the flowerbeds. Capping the water bottle, he turned to face it, gun in hand. He saw a girl struggling to load a dart gun, but she didn't look panicked, just flustered and stressed out.
Omar briefly wondered if she could be a threat, if she was someone he should kill, but decided against it. She looked like she didn't know where she was, much less like someone who was going to kill others. He walked towards her, and when she looked up, her face still unfocused, raising her dart gun at him, asking him some pointless question, Omar recognized her. One of Sierra's friends, albeit not a close one. Jessica Pentangeli, was her name. Omar was very good with names.

"Jessica, its me, Omar." He said, in a calm voice. He picked the water bottle up off the ground. "You should put that dart gun away- you're gonna scare anybody else who comes here. And here," He tossed the water lightly to her in an underhand throw, hoping she'd catch it. "You look like you're pretty thirsty. And I bet you could use this more than me."

Omar slid the pack onto his shoulder, and began to walk slowly out towards the exit. "Jessica- I'd love to stay, I know I'd want someone watching my back- but I have to go see about a girl I love. I have to make sure she's okay, and I don't want anyone following me there." Omar kept walking, before turning around one last time to look at Jessica. "But... please, for me, be careful. It would break Sierra's heart if she knew I wasn't with you and something happened to you." He gave Jessica a small smile, and then continued on his way. On to Sierra.

((Omar Burton continued in instinct•algorithm))

[Arscapi†]

((Alex Jackson start))

Alex Jackson shot to her feet at the sound of a gunshot in the distance. That couldn't be a good sign. She was still shaking off the effects of whatever had knocked them out and people were already using weapons. Alex had to admit that she'd been caught up in SOTF the last time it had aired, but she didn't remember the violence happening quite so early in the game.

She turned a corner and froze. This was some sick game, some sick fight to the death game and her whole senior class was here, the whole senior class including her brother. Roman, where was Roman. She hadn't seen him earlier, when they were getting the rundown on what was in their packs.

Speaking of which she hadn't even checked to see what her weapon was, she continued forward cautiously as she began to dig in her pack. Her eyes widened slightly as her hands came into contact with the cold steel at the bottom of her bag. That made her feel slightly better even if she had no idea how to use it, at least she had it and not someone else.

Alex stopped and peered around the corner to find Jessica standing alone in the town center, holding some kind of gun. There was a kid lying on the ground next to her. What the? Alex thought. There was no way Jessica had done that, not the Jessica she'd known at school. Although maybe she'd changed here on the island.

Alex stood still rocking from one foot to another torn with indecision, something that was almost completely foreign to her. Where's Roman when I need him, she thought. With that Roman was once again forefront in her mind. Where was her brother? Was he okay? She had to find him. He might not always be her favorite person, but he was her brother. Her father's voice floated through her head, reminding her of the importance of family.

Okay, first thing then, find Roman, Alex decided. Right, okay right after I figure out what went on here with Jessica, then find Roman. Roman will be okay, he's a Jackson. His model, puzzle ability might actually help him. Shocking. So, not helping, your brother is missing and you're still criticizing him. FOCUS!

Alex shook her head and took the last bit of her own advice. She needed to focus. Focusing would keep her alive, hopefully. Sighing she stepped forward cautiously and hailed her friend. "Jessica," she called her hand resting lightly on the weapon inside her bag.

[ZombiexCreame†]

((Start of G080: Fiona Sparki))

Fiona Sparki awoke to a pleasant light that teased her eyelids into opening. She felt groggy, confused, and slow, but she didn't yet attribute that to earlier events. For now, she was merely surveying her environment. She was leaning against a house in a very pretty location, and she could hear voices, but they felt far away. Stretching out her legs in an attempt to wake up her body and disperse the sleeping gas, Fiona's eyes fell upon her provided black daypack. She immediately reached up for her neck, her fingers meeting cool metal. A damn collar... She couldn't believe it! She felt as if she were in complete shock.

Tears sprung to her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she thought about how betrayed she felt. She was supposed to be going on a camping trip with the rest of her senior class! Oh, how much she looked forward to it! This wasn't fair. Not fair at all. Drying off her tears on the back of her hand, Fiona slowly stood up and peered around the edge of the house that she was currently behind. She could see a girl standing a short ways away with... a rifle?! Oh lord! People were already serious! She could also spy a boy walking away from the girl. Perhaps they had some sort of altercation? She could imagine the boy begging for mercy as the girl shoved her rifle in his face... He begged for his life, and she agreed for some...reason.

That's silly. This was just the drugs talking. That girl was obviously Jessica, and Jessica would never hurt a fly. Although Fiona didn't know Jessica very well, she'd seen her around once or twice. Being a cheerleader meant that Fiona knew almost everyone, but it also meant that there was a slight stigma to her name. But Fiona wasn't a typical cheerleader. She wasn't blonde, busty, and beautiful. Okay, well she was blonde underneath all the dye and maybe a little busty, but beautiful was something that Fiona could not own up to. She was rocking the rocker chic.

Fiona reminded herself that she could gather her things and move out. It wasn't a wise idea to stay in one place, crying and feeling sorry for herself. But... she could always approach Jessica. Perhaps they could group together or something? Jessica was probably just as scared as Fiona. She didn't want to go in unarmed though, so she took this moment to peer into her bag for her designated weapon of surprise: A felling axe. It was a fairly large weapon with a sharp blade and a long handle. Although it wasn't as menacing as a gun, it definitely looked threatening.

Fiona liked it.

Grabbing it by the handle, she zipped up her daypack and looped the strap around her shoulder. It was now or never. She just prayed that Jessica didn't try to shoot her with that scary rifle of hers. Perhaps Fiona should put the axe away. But before she headed over to the girl, another girl came into view. It was another girl that Fiona wasn't entirely familiar with, but she recognized her from school. Didn't she have a brother? Fiona waited for a moment and watched as the girl approached Jessica and called her name. Jessica didn't seem like she was about to rip Alex to shreds, so Fiona stepped away from the safety of the house's backyard and slowly walked towards the two girls.

When she came within a close distance, she waved and said quietly, "...Hey there. I, uh, I don't know if you two know me, but I'm Fi-Fiona! I saw you two from over there," Fiona pointed to the house behind her, "and I thought I'd come over and..." There was another pause as Fiona collected her thoughts. She had yet to notice the dead body of Warren Brown. "It's just good to see other people..."

[Ares]

((B050 - Start))

Kronwall has a penalty shot here folks. This entire XCEL Energy Center is on their feet as #55 for the Wild stands at centre ice. This is the moment that kids dream about from the time they first lace up their skates. Niklas Kronwall has a penalty shot, in overtime, in Game 7, to win the Stanley Cup. The referee has indicated that they are ready for the shot, and here we go. Kronwall, Game 7, for the win. He picks up the puck at centre, coming across the blueline with speed, Kronwall in, he dekes, he shoots, he--

---

The sound of a gunshot cause Nik to sit straight up in a panic. Breathing heavily his eyes searched all around for the source but found nothing. His view was impeded by a large house. It appeared as though he was placed in the backyard with a duffle-bag next to him. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to remember how he arrived at this strange location. This was not the campground, that much he could figure out.

"What the hell is going on? Is this some weird t.v. show?" Nik muttered in his native Swedish tongue.

Slowly Nik rose to his feet. He was still mindful of keeping an eye out for a possible gunman. Figuring his best bet was to seek cover, just in case, Nik made his way to the back door of the house. Luckily the door was unlocked, so Nik made his way inside.

"Hello?" He said cautiously.

He received no answer, which he took as a chance to open up his dufflebag and find out what was going on.

"Oh my God, it's real." Nik gasped.

He had still been extremely groggy during the panic that ensued in the classroom. He'd thought it was just a prank that the counselors had played before he went back to sleep.

Nik rummaged through the bag some more, finding a map and the survival guide. He placed them gently on the table next to him. He stuck his hand back in the bag again and felt a chill go up his spine as his hand found something cold and steely. Nik pulled the handgun from his pack. He knew it well. Mr. Killop, his billet, owned the exact same model. A Colt M1911, .45 caliber. Nik knew how to use it too. It had been a requirement to carry a sidearm when Mr. Killop had taken the Kronwall boys bear hunting in Northern Michigan, and Paul's Colt 45 had been Nik's sidearm.

"No. I can't use this. These are my friends. They've been so good to me since I arrived in America."

Nik hastily threw everything back in his bag and made his way to the front room of the house. He looked out the window in time to see a small gathering of people in the centre of town near some flowerbeds. He recognized a couple of people. Fiona Sparki being one person who he'd spoken many times after being introduced by Evelyn.

Evelyn...

Nik felt tears well up in his eyes as he wondered if Evie was okay and where she could be.

The other people looked like Jessica from his English class and Alex Jackson from his US History class. All three of whom he'd never had a problem with. Then again, outside of Fiona, he'd rarely spoken to them. Oh well, better to try with them now.

Nik opened the front door of the house and slowly made his way towards the group. As he closed the distance to the group, he noticed there was someone on the ground. A pool of red flowing from underneath the body.

Nik gulped as he wondered whether or not one of these girls was to blame for the body. Was he about to be Charlie's Angel'd?

"Umm, hello there. It's Nik. Is everyone doing okay?"

[Ciel†]

"Omar?" Jessica gasped, her vision slowly returning to her. "Omar, is that you?"

Jessica was still very confused. Where the heck was she? The blur in front of her, it looked vaguely like Omar but she wasn't all that sure. She had heard from Josie that he knew Sierra, but she didn't know all that much about him. She felt something hit her in the arm and she scrambled to grab it. A water bottle. Omar was being so nice to her but... why?

"Oh, um, thanks?" Jessica replied, scratching the side of her head with the end of the bottle. Omar told her to take care and Jessica smiled sadly at him. "Uhh, you be careful too Omar. Really."

Jessica opened the cap to the bottle Omar gave her and drank from it, her bottom lip still numb. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand. Jessica coughed into her hand, tightening the cap back on the bottle. Jessica let out a sigh as she rested on the ground, her knees digging into the dirt beneath her. Guess I'll have to get up, she concluded. Now or never...

Jessica rose to her feet and brushed the dirt off her knees. She left her daypack and the opened bottle of water on the ground, and stretched her arms out, her tanktop riding up past her bellybutton. The drugs were wearing down now, and Jessica found herself... calming down. Funny. She looked around. It looked like she was in a town somewhere. Otherwise she really couldn't tell exactly. There was this big building, with a fountain nearby containing a figure of a naked woman. And then there was - wait, what was that? Jessica squinted her eyes. She started walking over to the figure on the floor with the rifle in her hands. It looked human... but there was a huge hole in it's chest? And all the red on the -

There was a corpse on the floor. The blood was still flowing, forming a large puddle that hurt Jessica's eyes just looking at it. The pool pushed against the side of her shoe.

Jessica turned her whole body away, her hand clasped over her mouth. The bile in the back of her throat seemed endless. This was disgusting sight and she couldn't stand to look at it. Who could have done something like - wait. Didn't Omar have a gun... wait... what?

Omar had killed someone. Omar had shot someone right in front of her, and she had just realized this. What the fuck?!?

"Look around. Danya had said. "Look at your classmates. How many of them do you truly know? How many would you trust with your life?"

Jessica wanted to scream. Jesus christ. This wasn't a game, this really happened! Jessica couldn't write this off! She couldn't just pretend that this was a dream anymore! Her breathing grew jagged though. It was almost painful to breath now. Her eyes were wide, her hands tightly wrapped around her gun. That was when she heard the voice break the silence, calling out her name. Jessica spun around on her heel and pointed her rifle at the figure in the distance. Recognition came quickly though, and Jessica lowered the rifle.

"Alex?" Jessica gasped. "Alex!"

She rushed over to her friend and with both arms outstretched she hugged Alex for dear life. She wasn't even worried about what kind of weapon Alex had or if she would ever use it. After what she had just seen, she didn't care if Alex was pointing a shotgun at her head! She gripped the sides of Alex's shirt tight, tears of fear and confusion running down her cheeks.

"Alex! Oh my god! I saw Omar Burton! I think Omar killed this guy!" It hurt Jessica to say that, but it had to be true. There wasn't anyone else around with a gun that she knew of. "No, he killed him! I'm sure of that H-He killed him Alex! Everything was so blurry but he came up to me with a gun in his hand a-a-and he told me to be careful! And he was smiling! Omar had a gun! Oh my god! Alex, what the hell is going on?! Someone like Omar, I-I heard that plenty of people didn't like him, that he avoided making friends in class but I didn't expect him to do this! How could he kill someone Alex?! Why?"

This begged the question. Why didn't Omar kill her? He had the opportunity. She had a weapon that he could have used. If he killed one kid then why the hell didn't he kill her too?! It made no sense! What did she do to deserve to live and this kid didn't? Was it because she knew Sierra and Josie? Why would he care?! She had never done anything for him! Why would he be so nice after killing someone in cold blood?! Why?!!

"Ahh..." Jessica's head was pounding. The drugs in her system were wearing down. She felt tired all of a sudden. Probably from all the yelling. She let go of Alex, stumbling away and bowing her head apologetically. "S-Sorry..."

Fiona came walking over and Jessica turned to look at her. She bit her lip, feeling a little wobbly in her legs. "Hi..." She left her mouth open, as though she were about to say something else, but she didn't say anything else. She would just let Alex do all the talking for now. She didn't feel like talking that much.

Niklas Kronwall was simply trying to be open in a very delicate situation. Jessica overreacted immensely but could you blame her? Jessica lifted her rifle off the ground, surprised by Nik's sudden appearance. She wasn't going to fire it, oh certainly not, but it almost looked like she was going to. She lowered it quickly though when she realized who it was. Nik was nice, though like most of her classmates she had never really spoken to him outside of the classroom. With one quick move she brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"Hey Nik." She said. "I'm -" She panted, holding her head. "... fine. " She looked at Nik, her hands trembling against the dart gun in her hand. She motioned to his gun with the barrel of her rifle. "I see that... you're lucky."

Jessica wanted to force a smile. She couldn't bring herself to do it. She wasn't in the mood.

[Arscapi†]

Alex let out a grunt as Jessica practically tackled her in a hug. She swayed slightly and then regained her balance. Letting her pack swing on her shoulder, she wrapped her arms around Jessica, feeling her tears wetting her shirt.

"Alex! Oh my god! I saw Omar Burton! I think Omar killed this guy! No, he killed him! I'm sure of that H-He killed him Alex! Everything was so blurry but he came up to me with a gun in his hand a-a-and he told me to be careful! And he was smiling! Omar had a gun! Oh my god! Alex, what the hell is going on?! Someone like Omar, I-I heard that plenty of people didn't like him, that he avoided making friends in class but I didn't expect him to do this! How could he kill someone Alex?! Why?"

Well that answers one question, but why, why would Omar do something like that? Alex patted Jessica's back hoping to calm her down some. "Easy, easy Jess," she soothed. "He's gone for now at least and hopefully that means that we're safe." Although that could change any minute, Alex thought and she wasn't exactly ready to defend herself. In spite of this thought, she instinctively reached out to steady Jessica when she stumbled away from her. "Easy, deep breaths," she said parroting the TV crime shows she occasionally caught.

Alex turned them both so that they were facing away from Warren, for the time being. They shouldn't just leave him like that however. Maybe she'd broach the subject when Jessica was a little stronger. When she looked up she saw one of the cheerleaders head over to her. She didn't mix with the cheerleaders much, but she recognized this one because she was the exact opposite of the rest of the squad. Alex admired that she still dared to be different.

She gave Fiona her best smile after the girl introduced herself. "Hey Fiona, nice to see you. Welcome to our little group." Before she could say more Nik Kronwall appeared on the scene as well. "Hey Nik, I think we're all doing as well as to be expected. Jessica's a little shaken, but then she saw what happened to poor Warren. How about you two," she asked. "You okay?"

[ZombiexCreame†]

Hearing another voice outside of the two other girls in front of her, Fiona turned around and came face to face with Nik. He had spoken to Nik quite a few times since Evelyn was basically dating him and all. Speaking of Evelyn, Fiona wondered where her fellow cheerleader was and how she was doing. She hoped everyone from the squad was alright... They were like her sisters! Lowering her axe a little, Fiona grinned slightly at Nik and greeted him. "Oh, Nik! I think we're all doing okay." At this point, she realized that Jessica was panicking and clutching onto Alex... She was blabbering about Omar Burton killing someone. Wait, what was going on? Fiona hadn't seen Omar, but...

Man, Jessica was really freaking the hell out. Fiona was still on the confused side, seeing as she had yet to see the body just yet. Survival of the Fittest still wasn't a complete reality to the teenager.

When Jessica gave Fiona a short 'hi' and said nothing else, Fiona felt a bit awkward. Well, of course, they were strangers, but... Maybe Jessica disliked her or something? She honestly wasn't sure. She seemed to be a bit more talkative with Alex and Nik, so perhaps she knew them a lot better than Fiona? Regardless, Fiona stayed quiet until Alex greeted her with a very bright smile. Fiona returned the smile and shook her head. "Nice to see you too! I'm doing just fine, but... Warren?"

What happened to Warren? Fiona felt out of the loop. There was a part of her that wanted to stay oblivious, but another part of her that was electrified with morbid curiosity. Without being able to help herself, Fiona looked around for anything that looked vaguely like a corpse or the remains of Warren Brown. Her eye caught something in the flower bed, a mere lump with blood blossomed on his front. Her breath died for a moment as she took a step back. She couldn't avert her eyes. She wouldn't react as Jessica had, for Fiona wasn't the one who had witnessed the murder or the offender, but... It was still very shocking for her. In most cases, she would have been able to convince herself that her classmates were still good. Her classmates would never turn against each other and kill! Absolutely, positively never. But here was the proof, right in the open. It made Fiona sick.

"Warren... I-I can't believe it. Why would someone do that? I just can't believe there are people actually trying to play this twisted game! Seriously!" Fiona stomped her foot.

[Ares]

Nik listened to the replies to his greeting. The girls seemed a bit shaken up over Warren's death but on the whole they were okay. This came as a relief to Nik. Though it was always his first instinct to help those in need, this was a completely different situation. This was murder conducted by the people they knew best. If there were more Omar Burton's out there, they were in trouble.

"I'm doing fine, and yeah, lucky draw I guess." Nik said in reply to the comment about his gun.

Next thing he knew Fiona was stomping the ground in utter frustration. Nik quickly stepped over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders so that she was looking him in the face.

"Listen to me," He said quietly, "Not everyone here is going to be like Omar. We can prove that there are good people here. We can find Evelyn and Staffan and all of our friends. We can make sure that they don't have to die. I don't know how, but we'll find a way damn it."

Nik tried his best to give a look of strength for Fiona and for the other girls around him. It wasn't something macho or arrogant, but he was a natural leader. He wanted to be the pillar, he wanted to help.

"Okay girls," He said as he released Fiona and turned back to the group, "First things first. Did Omar say where he was going? Did he say anything about anyone that we may be able to help, because that is what I intend to do. There are people that I care about, people that I love stuck in this, this, hell hole. I'm sure you can say the same thing. We need to help them. We are decently armed for a small group so we will have intimidation on our side. What do you say?"

[Ciel†]

Alex was trying to calm Jessica down and for all intent and purposes it was working. Jessica shuddered and tried her best not to look back at the corpse that used to be Warren Brown when Fiona started talking about him. She couldn't help it though. She looked back, feeling the muscles in her throat tighten up. She was thirsty again and she looked back at the bag in the flowerbed she found herself in. She looked back at Nik, trying something, anything to focus on other than Warren.

Yet, they weren't going to understand unless she explained everything. Jessica tried to recall everything that happened previously.

"I couldn't see much," Jessica spoke earnestly. "My eyesight wasn't all that great, I-I had just woken up. I could see a body and someone hovering over it. Had to be Omar now that I think about it. He had a gun in his hand, I remember that and-" her face grew pale, almost disgusted. "What I remember most about our conversation was that he was... smiling. He killed someone in cold blood and he threw a bottle at me, told me to take care of myself and walked off. He was smiling the whole time, and I bought it! It wasn't until a minute later when I..."

Jessica took a deep breath. It wasn't going to help her case if she freaked out. Calm down, like Alex told her. Deep breaths.

"To be honest I wouldn't have a clue where he would go... He went that way." She pointed past Fiona and down the street. "And anyone he would be looking for? Well, Omar mentioned Sierra Manning. I don't know her all that well, but she's a friend of Josie Vernon. That might be why he didn't bother killing me, because I knew Sierra." She looked back at Alex. "Josie told me that she's going out with Omar, I think. If that's the truth then..." Jessica went quiet for a moment. She really didn't want to think badly of anyone. She gulped. "Then... I don't know. Maybe he's playing for her? I don't know..."

She held her head in her hands. This was too much to take in. It made Jessie's head very numb, too much information, too much bullshit to process. She kept quiet for the next minute, switching between looking at Fiona and Nik. Nik was suggesting that they get into a group. Jessie forced a smile. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Groups made her nervous in real life, but here they sounded... smart. Jessica could get behind Nik's reasoning. He sounded like a good leader and it was true, they had good weapons. Really good weapons. That could be a great advantage to them.

"I like it." Jessica left her thoughts at that as she looked back at Alex. "What do you think Alex?"

[Arscapi†]

Alex shook her head at the senselessness of Omar's actions, as Nik said they all had people they cared about on the island. She agreed with Nik's assessment of the situation, for now at least it was best to stick together. Besides the more eyes there were, the more likely the chance that they'd spot Roman or at least find information about where he was. Besides they all seemed to be in agreement about playing the game by keeping people safe.

"I think that's a great idea," she said. "I'd be grateful for a few more eyes looking for Roman. Besides I think we should let anyone else we meet know about Omar. Even if he is worried about Sierra, there's no reason to kill poor Warren. Speaking of which shouldn't we do something besides leave him lying there?"

[Super Llama†]

{{continued from Wood and Wire}}

Maria managed to catch up with Dustin pretty quickly after they left the Logging Happy Grand Time Adventure (or whatever it was called,) and as the two of them and Cass walked along, she fought back the silence with all kinds of important, one-sided discussions. Like how many ten year-olds Teddy Roosevelt could take in a fight, or whether Coke was better than Pepsi (it totally was,) or, best of all, that was she was thankful that she already had her period before the trip, so she wouldn't have to deal with it now among everything else. It seemed like her brain was just going everywhere at once, and...well, it was. The more distractions there were, the less she had to think about her present situation. Probably not the best thing, but it worked for her. She didn't give a damn about the game, or that she was expected to kill people. All she really cared about right now was gathering the rest of her friends, Duncan, Warren and Max. She'd figure out what to do then after that.

Finally, she saw a building off in the distance. "Oh, I'll go check it out." She said, running off for the building before her two companions could stop her. Fortunately, she knew to stop a good distance away when she saw people nearby.

"Hey!" She said, waving her arms as she approached in case the sudden 'Hey!' wasn't enough for some reason. "Are you guys playing? Cause it'd be really nice if we could run into somebody else who isn't playing, cause there's some people I'm looking for." Finally getting close enough, she realized that she recognized some of these people.

There was Fiona Sparki, the cheerleader, and another member of the rock scene, even if just a spectator. Though others would consider her fat, Maria found that that extra weight made her strangely huggable. Like Andy Richter.

And there was Alex Jackson, the wrench monkey and Roman Jackson's brother. She'd heard about how she'd fixed up a Ford Mustang all on her own, and thought that was pretty damn cool. She wished she could do something like that, but she couldn't even tell the difference between a spark belt and a fender stick. Hell, she didn't even know if those things were real car parts!

And there was Jessica Pentangeli. ...she didn't really know anything about her, actually.

And there was Nik Kronwall, the practically-pro hockey player. She had to admit, even though she had been dating Zach for much of the time Nik had been at school, she actually found him to be pretty hot. If there had ever been the option of a threeso-...Maria quickly decided to ditch that train of thought.

And there was Warren Brown, lying on the ground, covered in his own blood.

...

"Huh?"