((Aaron Hughes continued from When My Fist Clenches, Crack It Open))
Aaron hadn't gone far. It had been some time since the incident in the forest, though. It had been getting on towards night then, and there had since been two announcements, two unscheduled announcements, and they had Aaron's blood boiling. Someone had done something to their collar, had disabled it somehow. Danya was in a towering rage over it. This wasn't good, though, not at all. One person had been saved from immediate explosion. One. Nice job there. How totally useful to the rest of them. Whatever gap had been exploited, it had almost certainly been closed by now. Aaron just had to hope it wasn't the same trick he'd thought of. If someone had stolen his plan, had messed up their one shot at salvation, he would... he would...
He would try again. He would find a new hole. More than one way to skin a cat, and all that.
He thought he might have lost the others, at least, the ones he was trying to lose. It was hard to keep track of people in a forest, but that worked to the advantage of the person fleeing. He was sure, simply sure, that he'd nailed Rob. Equally sure he'd still heard the boy behind him. What the hell? Was he unstoppable? Did bullets mean nothing to him? He should have been bleeding to death or something.
Right now, though, that was all irrelevant. It was time to make a plan, to bring the situation back under control. Now was not the time for Aaron to go losing his cool. His time line had been moved up quite a bit, now that Danya was dangling the threat of collar explosions over them at random. The priorities now were simple. First off, regroup. Grab everyone reliable. Next, deal with the collars. Nuking the cameras was completely out. Aaron was pretty sure he understood Danya now. If all the cameras went down, it'd be curtains for the whole island. Boom. After all, what other purpose could that beep each collar had given have had? Danya was reminding them. He wouldn't lose. He wouldn't let them go. Never.
After dealing with the collars (or heck, even perhaps before, if his first plan didn't pan out) Aaron had to find Liz Polanski.
Because, screw up or not, poor planning or not, she had something he needed. She had the technical expertise to make a difference, to get those little things that were just a bit beyond Aaron's grasp. At least, he assumed that was the case; how else would she have gotten herself into a position where Danya couldn't blow her up? Yes, Liz would be a fine addition to the team.
Panting, a stitch in his side, Aaron paused for a moment, slumped backwards, leaning his weight against a tree. He couldn't sit down. Not yet. Not if he was going to keep moving. No, he had to do something else, though. Had to fill in more of his plan. Just in case. In case something happened. In case Rob caught him. In case Jacquard was still lurking out there.
Quickly, he checked that no cameras could see what he was doing, and started scribbling as quickly as he could, momentarily oblivious to his surroundings.
Could Have Been Worse
-
MurderWeasel
- Posts: 2566
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:37 am
((Aileen Borden continued from When My Fist Clenches, Crack It Open))
Okay, where was Aaron?
She needed to have a word with him. Now.
Aileen's breath came in hoarse gasps as she searched for him. Seriously, she was angry, scared, and worrying her butt off. Jesus Christ almighty, he was demonstrating to her more and more what it was like to be a babysitter each and every single minute. And what's more, once again he had ran away from the fucking group, being chased from behind by that Jacquard person and god knew what else. Seriously, was he trying to get them all killed back there? Was he trying to die? Fuck, and he shot at that guy. Rob Jenkins was a murderer, correct? What if it didn't hit him? What if he was following them? And what if Aaron had shot him? Oh god, a number of horrible things could happen!
And as if it couldn't get any oh-so-better?
Those announcements.
Was that really him? But... they would have done something to him by now. Aileen hadn't really thought about the teachers ever since the beginning. But Kwong was alive. Kwong was being held hostage. Apparently, he was now a bargaining chip for the terrorists.
Liz something-or-other. That was her name. According to the announcements, she had managed to get her collar off. How did she do that? She had no clue that was even that possible! And then they... they... made him kill someone. Daisuke Nagasawa? Three more were killed, as well.
Kwong wasn't a bad teacher. He was strict, but he genuinely cared about his students. He... he didn't deserve this! He didn't deserve to be forced to kill someone! Or tell people not to escape! Or be imprisoned like that! It wasn't fair... it wasn't fair...
And suddenly, she could see Aaron. Her blood began to boil again when she saw what he was doing. Sitting on the ground, writing in his notebook. As usual.
God damn it.
Aileen immediately dropped her things, and started stomping over.
"AARON!" she yelled. "Don't ever scare me like that again! Got it?"
She was furious. Oh god, he really needed to stop running ahead of the group! People were going to get lost! And he just ran away after shooting his gun at someone. Oh man, this was really starting to annoy her.
Okay, where was Aaron?
She needed to have a word with him. Now.
Aileen's breath came in hoarse gasps as she searched for him. Seriously, she was angry, scared, and worrying her butt off. Jesus Christ almighty, he was demonstrating to her more and more what it was like to be a babysitter each and every single minute. And what's more, once again he had ran away from the fucking group, being chased from behind by that Jacquard person and god knew what else. Seriously, was he trying to get them all killed back there? Was he trying to die? Fuck, and he shot at that guy. Rob Jenkins was a murderer, correct? What if it didn't hit him? What if he was following them? And what if Aaron had shot him? Oh god, a number of horrible things could happen!
And as if it couldn't get any oh-so-better?
Those announcements.
Was that really him? But... they would have done something to him by now. Aileen hadn't really thought about the teachers ever since the beginning. But Kwong was alive. Kwong was being held hostage. Apparently, he was now a bargaining chip for the terrorists.
Liz something-or-other. That was her name. According to the announcements, she had managed to get her collar off. How did she do that? She had no clue that was even that possible! And then they... they... made him kill someone. Daisuke Nagasawa? Three more were killed, as well.
Kwong wasn't a bad teacher. He was strict, but he genuinely cared about his students. He... he didn't deserve this! He didn't deserve to be forced to kill someone! Or tell people not to escape! Or be imprisoned like that! It wasn't fair... it wasn't fair...
And suddenly, she could see Aaron. Her blood began to boil again when she saw what he was doing. Sitting on the ground, writing in his notebook. As usual.
God damn it.
Aileen immediately dropped her things, and started stomping over.
"AARON!" she yelled. "Don't ever scare me like that again! Got it?"
She was furious. Oh god, he really needed to stop running ahead of the group! People were going to get lost! And he just ran away after shooting his gun at someone. Oh man, this was really starting to annoy her.
-
MurderWeasel
- Posts: 2566
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:37 am
Shouting snapped Aaron's attention away from his notebook, jolted him into awareness. He didn't reach for the gun, because his hands were full. Anyways, no need to worry. It was just Aileen, all upset and ranting. Yeah, no real surprise or change there. Ranting was pretty much Aileen's role in this operation, along with being annoyingly contrary. Still, she got points for being competent enough to keep up. Maybe she'd even managed to drag Richard or Lily along. And yet... her tone wasn't really befitting a subordinate in a serious organization. She was tossing out an order awfully confidently.
"We had to get moving," Aaron said. "Rob was a killer. Jacquard too. The best bet was to make a quick surprise move, neutralize any resistance preemptively. He was clearly trying to split us and kill us. If we'd just left, he could have started shooting. You saw how he was hanging on to that gun. Instead, with any luck, we now have one less player around, since I'm pretty sure I got him."
Yeah, hey, that was a good point. Aaron was going to be on that happy morning radio show. That was a pretty bad thing to have happen, but at least Rob was a familiar name, a murderer. That meant things weren't too dire. Aaron would just have to be careful to play things a little cooler in the future, choke back the aggression just a bit. Okay, if that's what it took to get them off, he could do it. He hoped the announcements didn't scare Bounce off. Will and Alice, too. They weren't likely to be happy, but they knew him, right? They'd trust him.
He'd told Bounce they'd be at the sawmill after a few days. As long as he kept that appointment, things should roll along just fine. Of course, he'd have to be careful with the approach, now. Good chance that, knowledgeable or no, someone would get hold of Bounce and pump her for information. Yeah... best to be very careful indeed. Maybe show up a day late.
Aaron glanced around, hoping to see Lily or Richard coming along, hoping to be spared the sight of Jacquard and Rob. Still, it was a girl with a bum leg and a guy who was probably bleeding to death. How hard could they possibly be to ditch?
"We had to get moving," Aaron said. "Rob was a killer. Jacquard too. The best bet was to make a quick surprise move, neutralize any resistance preemptively. He was clearly trying to split us and kill us. If we'd just left, he could have started shooting. You saw how he was hanging on to that gun. Instead, with any luck, we now have one less player around, since I'm pretty sure I got him."
Yeah, hey, that was a good point. Aaron was going to be on that happy morning radio show. That was a pretty bad thing to have happen, but at least Rob was a familiar name, a murderer. That meant things weren't too dire. Aaron would just have to be careful to play things a little cooler in the future, choke back the aggression just a bit. Okay, if that's what it took to get them off, he could do it. He hoped the announcements didn't scare Bounce off. Will and Alice, too. They weren't likely to be happy, but they knew him, right? They'd trust him.
He'd told Bounce they'd be at the sawmill after a few days. As long as he kept that appointment, things should roll along just fine. Of course, he'd have to be careful with the approach, now. Good chance that, knowledgeable or no, someone would get hold of Bounce and pump her for information. Yeah... best to be very careful indeed. Maybe show up a day late.
Aaron glanced around, hoping to see Lily or Richard coming along, hoping to be spared the sight of Jacquard and Rob. Still, it was a girl with a bum leg and a guy who was probably bleeding to death. How hard could they possibly be to ditch?
((Narrow inactivity dodge. Milo Taylor continued from When My Fist Clenches, Crack It Open)).
Milo had been running and following Aaron. When a man like that looks like he knows his shit, it's typically a good idea to follow him, and as dumb as Milo was he keyed into that.
Then, shouting. One of Aaron's companions apparently didn't want to be scared or something like that.
"Shut the fuck up!" Milo yelled at the chick who was whining. He then turned to Aaron.
"What now, leader-bro?" he asked, affecting a very ridiculous attempt at confidence. He briefly considered shooting himself as soon as he found a gun to atone for saying that.
Milo had been running and following Aaron. When a man like that looks like he knows his shit, it's typically a good idea to follow him, and as dumb as Milo was he keyed into that.
Then, shouting. One of Aaron's companions apparently didn't want to be scared or something like that.
"Shut the fuck up!" Milo yelled at the chick who was whining. He then turned to Aaron.
"What now, leader-bro?" he asked, affecting a very ridiculous attempt at confidence. He briefly considered shooting himself as soon as he found a gun to atone for saying that.
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler Sean. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
((Jacquard Broughten continued from When My Fist Clenches, Crack it Open.))
Her leg was absolutely killing her. After Aaron had fired his weapon and ran off, Li had decided it would be a good idea to follow and give him a piece of her mind. Over the course of the trip, the pain she felt became worse and worse. At first Li didn't seem fazed, as if her section of her mind (wow, she really did sound insane) was the only one comprehensive of pain. After what felt like hours, her vision faded, darkened, and eventually became black. Apparently however this didn't affect Li all that much, because when she finally came to at the twilight of either the evening or the morning, she was in a completely different spot. By this point, Li had apparently began to feel the effects of their injury. Her leg throbbing like a heated sun was contained within it's sinew, Li had began to limp.
Good. That could be Aaron's chance to get away. Apparently Li wasn't logic incarnate like she had originally thought once control of her body was relinquished. That really gave someone a lot of time to think when their leg wasn't throbbing in pain, the fire surrounding her mind and choking her thoughts.
Either way. If they were slowing down, Aaron and his crew probably hadn't. And if that were the case, then she would probably never see him again. For the best.
They seemed to be lost in some... woods. Just like before. But she could tell it was different. The pain in her leg was like an odometer, marking that she had traveled so far while she was unconscious. Thought struggled to come, and she could hear the labored breath echoing through the trees as she was forced in some direction to some destination. There was a little bit of chatter behind her, some that she couldn't quite decipher. How did these others know how all this worked already when she herself didn't? Wouldn't it stand to reason that they only had the knowledge she did, at the very least starting at their time of inception?
Instinctively from the pain, she did what she would always do. Reach down to to rub the throbbing limb. However while her head didn't actually move, and her arm didn't either, she still felt her palm contact her thigh. Not a phantom feeling, she actually felt real contact. Time for a little experiment. Just thinking and remembering the muscle motions required, she took a step back. And another. It was almost as if she was on some strange treadmill, trapped in her own mind. She closed her eyes, and spun on her heel.
---
Somewhere out in the woods, Li was lost. Sure, she had followed that cocky little freak for quite some time, but she couldn't coop all the pain in that idiot Jackie's portion of the mindscape for that long. The dull ache that she felt that had finally spilled over was more than enough to make her slow down. Just enough for Aaron and Aileen to get away. Li wanted nothing more than to destroy whatever little plan he had going. Aaron was a planner, and if he had followers, that would spell trouble later when he inevitably became a player and used his little peons to fight his way out of here. She had to destroy him and everything he stood for fast, before he had that chance.
If only this damn leg would stop hurting for a few hours.
She had been going in what was probably circles for the better part of two hours by now. Near the tail end of it, she had heard the hosts's thoughts slowly beginning to pop back up.
"Wait, I feel it. What the hell? Hang on, if I... Okay, that worked..."
The lack of concentration paying attention to her antics brought Li almost brought her face to face with a tree trunk. She skidded short, almost falling, her mouth letting out an involuntary "Eep!", the pitch cutting through the silence. There were no landmarks to speak of, and without a watch or Jackie's cell phone, she had no idea what side of the sky the Moon was supposed to be in. So bearings were non-existant. But if she were to ever find Aaron she couldn't stop now, he'd get away and the island was just plain too large to let that happen.
After another fifteen or so minutes of aimless wandering, a voice was heard. Nothing but a stroke of luck, a miracle of sorts.
"Shut the fuck up!"
Heh, bingo.
---
Suddenly, Jackie was no longer seeing through her own eyes. A little bit of a disconcerting thought, but what she saw took her breath away. Suddenly, before her stood a beautiful, vast landscape, one that she didn't yet realize was of her mind's own creation. A small lake in the center gave way to five small, quaint houses. Two small ones on either side, and one grander one which reminded her quite a bit of her own home. The land looked as if it were a large farmland, neatly trimmed grass with the occasional tree dotting the landscape.
"We wondered how long it would take you to figure it out."
The voice seemed snarky, but most importantly, it was disembodied. Her eyes went wide, darting to and fro trying to locate the source.
"Right here, you idiot."
The last place she had expected the voice to come from, especially after looking there as she emerged from whatever viewing plate on which she stood, was directly in front of her. A boy, who couldn't be more than 15 was standing in front of her, red hair cut short, freckles adorning his pale face.
"I'm shocked you've lived this long. Not that happy either. Look around, if you die, you'll be stuck here for the rest of your days. Would that really be that bad? You'd be doing the world a favor too."
"W-Where is this even?"
This was something far greater than she could rationalize on a whim as she once used to. Combine that with the fact that her leg was distracting her full potential, and she was relegated to doing nothing but asking questions, something she hated to do, and always had.
"It's the mindscape. You didn't think we didn't have a home, did you? Look, there's even one for you."
Suddenly and without warning, a beautiful older woman with shining golden hair, and a pair of feathered wings began to emerge from the lake in the middle of the landscape she had been taking the entire time to behold; ignoring this pasty little chump in favor of the bigger picture. Nekane had an annoyed look on his face, but Cassarrah's was one of welcoming.
Jackie's feet almost directed her own movement, although this lack of control was familiar unlike Li's. There was an entire place she could escape from the world... Lock the door and never have to deal with the realities of Survival of the Fittest, leave her guilt behind...
---
Li was panting, but she had found the source of the voices. Indeed, it was Aaron, although he hadn't been the idiot to scream like that. Aileen, Aaron, and Milo. The group had been cut down quite a bit from before. Apparently having heard a pair of killer's names on the announcements was all that was really needed to break up this apparently thinly allied group.
"What now, leader-bro?"
She was only a few trees away, just barely able to see the rustling and moving of human forms in the distance, crouching, she stifled a groan of agony as her leg protested it's current abuse.
"If only Jackie remembered to take some fucking advil on this trip..."
It was almost infuriating knowing that she really had no say on her induction into this world. While she shared her memories and experiences with Jackie, she still hadn't had the say, or even the mind to argue with any of her packing decisions.
Either way, she crouched, ignoring the dull ache that was quickly beginning to fire up, waiting and watching to see what the trio would do before moving forward to use the greatest weapon she had; something that idiot Jackie abandoned upon committing the only logical act on this island. Her logic, and intelligence.
She was going to rip Aaron apart in a battle of wits, and leave him mentally battered and broken. Just like he deserved.
Her leg was absolutely killing her. After Aaron had fired his weapon and ran off, Li had decided it would be a good idea to follow and give him a piece of her mind. Over the course of the trip, the pain she felt became worse and worse. At first Li didn't seem fazed, as if her section of her mind (wow, she really did sound insane) was the only one comprehensive of pain. After what felt like hours, her vision faded, darkened, and eventually became black. Apparently however this didn't affect Li all that much, because when she finally came to at the twilight of either the evening or the morning, she was in a completely different spot. By this point, Li had apparently began to feel the effects of their injury. Her leg throbbing like a heated sun was contained within it's sinew, Li had began to limp.
Good. That could be Aaron's chance to get away. Apparently Li wasn't logic incarnate like she had originally thought once control of her body was relinquished. That really gave someone a lot of time to think when their leg wasn't throbbing in pain, the fire surrounding her mind and choking her thoughts.
Either way. If they were slowing down, Aaron and his crew probably hadn't. And if that were the case, then she would probably never see him again. For the best.
They seemed to be lost in some... woods. Just like before. But she could tell it was different. The pain in her leg was like an odometer, marking that she had traveled so far while she was unconscious. Thought struggled to come, and she could hear the labored breath echoing through the trees as she was forced in some direction to some destination. There was a little bit of chatter behind her, some that she couldn't quite decipher. How did these others know how all this worked already when she herself didn't? Wouldn't it stand to reason that they only had the knowledge she did, at the very least starting at their time of inception?
Instinctively from the pain, she did what she would always do. Reach down to to rub the throbbing limb. However while her head didn't actually move, and her arm didn't either, she still felt her palm contact her thigh. Not a phantom feeling, she actually felt real contact. Time for a little experiment. Just thinking and remembering the muscle motions required, she took a step back. And another. It was almost as if she was on some strange treadmill, trapped in her own mind. She closed her eyes, and spun on her heel.
---
Somewhere out in the woods, Li was lost. Sure, she had followed that cocky little freak for quite some time, but she couldn't coop all the pain in that idiot Jackie's portion of the mindscape for that long. The dull ache that she felt that had finally spilled over was more than enough to make her slow down. Just enough for Aaron and Aileen to get away. Li wanted nothing more than to destroy whatever little plan he had going. Aaron was a planner, and if he had followers, that would spell trouble later when he inevitably became a player and used his little peons to fight his way out of here. She had to destroy him and everything he stood for fast, before he had that chance.
If only this damn leg would stop hurting for a few hours.
She had been going in what was probably circles for the better part of two hours by now. Near the tail end of it, she had heard the hosts's thoughts slowly beginning to pop back up.
"Wait, I feel it. What the hell? Hang on, if I... Okay, that worked..."
The lack of concentration paying attention to her antics brought Li almost brought her face to face with a tree trunk. She skidded short, almost falling, her mouth letting out an involuntary "Eep!", the pitch cutting through the silence. There were no landmarks to speak of, and without a watch or Jackie's cell phone, she had no idea what side of the sky the Moon was supposed to be in. So bearings were non-existant. But if she were to ever find Aaron she couldn't stop now, he'd get away and the island was just plain too large to let that happen.
After another fifteen or so minutes of aimless wandering, a voice was heard. Nothing but a stroke of luck, a miracle of sorts.
"Shut the fuck up!"
Heh, bingo.
---
Suddenly, Jackie was no longer seeing through her own eyes. A little bit of a disconcerting thought, but what she saw took her breath away. Suddenly, before her stood a beautiful, vast landscape, one that she didn't yet realize was of her mind's own creation. A small lake in the center gave way to five small, quaint houses. Two small ones on either side, and one grander one which reminded her quite a bit of her own home. The land looked as if it were a large farmland, neatly trimmed grass with the occasional tree dotting the landscape.
"We wondered how long it would take you to figure it out."
The voice seemed snarky, but most importantly, it was disembodied. Her eyes went wide, darting to and fro trying to locate the source.
"Right here, you idiot."
The last place she had expected the voice to come from, especially after looking there as she emerged from whatever viewing plate on which she stood, was directly in front of her. A boy, who couldn't be more than 15 was standing in front of her, red hair cut short, freckles adorning his pale face.
"I'm shocked you've lived this long. Not that happy either. Look around, if you die, you'll be stuck here for the rest of your days. Would that really be that bad? You'd be doing the world a favor too."
"W-Where is this even?"
This was something far greater than she could rationalize on a whim as she once used to. Combine that with the fact that her leg was distracting her full potential, and she was relegated to doing nothing but asking questions, something she hated to do, and always had.
"It's the mindscape. You didn't think we didn't have a home, did you? Look, there's even one for you."
Suddenly and without warning, a beautiful older woman with shining golden hair, and a pair of feathered wings began to emerge from the lake in the middle of the landscape she had been taking the entire time to behold; ignoring this pasty little chump in favor of the bigger picture. Nekane had an annoyed look on his face, but Cassarrah's was one of welcoming.
Jackie's feet almost directed her own movement, although this lack of control was familiar unlike Li's. There was an entire place she could escape from the world... Lock the door and never have to deal with the realities of Survival of the Fittest, leave her guilt behind...
---
Li was panting, but she had found the source of the voices. Indeed, it was Aaron, although he hadn't been the idiot to scream like that. Aileen, Aaron, and Milo. The group had been cut down quite a bit from before. Apparently having heard a pair of killer's names on the announcements was all that was really needed to break up this apparently thinly allied group.
"What now, leader-bro?"
She was only a few trees away, just barely able to see the rustling and moving of human forms in the distance, crouching, she stifled a groan of agony as her leg protested it's current abuse.
"If only Jackie remembered to take some fucking advil on this trip..."
It was almost infuriating knowing that she really had no say on her induction into this world. While she shared her memories and experiences with Jackie, she still hadn't had the say, or even the mind to argue with any of her packing decisions.
Either way, she crouched, ignoring the dull ache that was quickly beginning to fire up, waiting and watching to see what the trio would do before moving forward to use the greatest weapon she had; something that idiot Jackie abandoned upon committing the only logical act on this island. Her logic, and intelligence.
She was going to rip Aaron apart in a battle of wits, and leave him mentally battered and broken. Just like he deserved.
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler T-Fox. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
And Aaron responded, going on about how there were killers afoot and they had to do something, anything, to get them out of their way.
And oh look, that Milo guy tagged along, valiantly defending her position and reminding Aaron not to run off and scare everyone like that. Oh wait, that wasn't what happened, he just yelled at her to shut up like she was a dog who had been barking for nine hours straight.
Aileen's fists clenched as she scowled. Yes, Aaron had a point. Yes, they were murderers. Yes, they were probably plotting something. But... you know, the best way to get on anyone's side was to shoot at people and run off in a panic. Obviously. Seriously, what number of things could go wrong? It wasn't like anyone could die, or that the killers now have more of a reason to hunt you down if they weren't shot, or that yet again, people could get lost.
"Aaron..." she shouted. "That doesn't mean you can scare my ass to the moon and back by doing what you did! That girl, whatever the FUCK her name was? She was RUNNING AFTER YOU damn it! You were lucky that her leg seemed hurt! Otherwise... otherwise..."
No more words came to her mind. She wasn't happy, to say the least.
Also, where was Lily? That... that wasn't good. Did they get her, too? Shit, shit shit shit. She didn't want her to die... what if Lily never made it out? What if Rob or What's-Her-Face got her? They might have gotten Richard as well. What if they did? What if they...
Aileen was going to cram that hammer down their throats if they hurt any member of their team. Seriously, they did nothing that horrible to them up until Aaron went trigger happy on everyone. Disgusting! Aileen was hoping to spend a while longer not dealing with killers and such, people who thought that the only way off was by playing by Danya's rules and kill what was once their classmates. And not only that, but were happy to do so. No one on their team, like Tom, deserved someone going psycho and killing them just because they thought that was how they were going to survive.
And then she took a deep breath, still having lost a fair amount of energy from just a few seconds ago shouting. Suddenly she reached her hands up and rubbed her temples with her fingers. Damn... damn this place to hell...
And oh look, that Milo guy tagged along, valiantly defending her position and reminding Aaron not to run off and scare everyone like that. Oh wait, that wasn't what happened, he just yelled at her to shut up like she was a dog who had been barking for nine hours straight.
Aileen's fists clenched as she scowled. Yes, Aaron had a point. Yes, they were murderers. Yes, they were probably plotting something. But... you know, the best way to get on anyone's side was to shoot at people and run off in a panic. Obviously. Seriously, what number of things could go wrong? It wasn't like anyone could die, or that the killers now have more of a reason to hunt you down if they weren't shot, or that yet again, people could get lost.
"Aaron..." she shouted. "That doesn't mean you can scare my ass to the moon and back by doing what you did! That girl, whatever the FUCK her name was? She was RUNNING AFTER YOU damn it! You were lucky that her leg seemed hurt! Otherwise... otherwise..."
No more words came to her mind. She wasn't happy, to say the least.
Also, where was Lily? That... that wasn't good. Did they get her, too? Shit, shit shit shit. She didn't want her to die... what if Lily never made it out? What if Rob or What's-Her-Face got her? They might have gotten Richard as well. What if they did? What if they...
Aileen was going to cram that hammer down their throats if they hurt any member of their team. Seriously, they did nothing that horrible to them up until Aaron went trigger happy on everyone. Disgusting! Aileen was hoping to spend a while longer not dealing with killers and such, people who thought that the only way off was by playing by Danya's rules and kill what was once their classmates. And not only that, but were happy to do so. No one on their team, like Tom, deserved someone going psycho and killing them just because they thought that was how they were going to survive.
And then she took a deep breath, still having lost a fair amount of energy from just a few seconds ago shouting. Suddenly she reached her hands up and rubbed her temples with her fingers. Damn... damn this place to hell...
-
MurderWeasel
- Posts: 2566
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:37 am
Milo had Aaron's back, it seemed. Granted, this was at best a dubious vote of confidence, since Milo seemed rather lacking in the intellect department, but that was quite alright. Aaron could use an enforcer, someone who'd keep away the troublemakers and dive in front of bullets if need be. In a way, he was probably doing Milo a favor, anyways. Poor guy would have just wandered around aimlessly had he not stumbled upon the group. Heck, Rob would likely have killed him. He'd been more than ready to talk everyone else into doing it. Yeah, and here, Milo could serve a useful purpose, could be, in his own way, a bit of a hero. Especially if he bailed out someone important with his death.
Aileen was ranting at Aaron now, too. Going on about how lucky he was to escape. Blah blah blah. As if he hadn't planned things. As if he'd just set off on a lark, abandoned his team to their fates without making every effort to give them the best shot at surviving. Typical. So much ingratitude. It was rather frustrating.
"Aileen," he said, "luck had nothing to do with it. I know Jacquard. She was unstable before this mess. Then she killed someone. She's also a gimp. Used to carry a cane around in school. When I saw she didn't have it, I knew we could outrun her, and with Rob stalled, or dead, or whatever, we could easily effect our escape."
Framed that way, the whole thing came across not only as reasonable, but as rather brilliant. Some days, fate was kind to Aaron. It seemed he wouldn't look too bad after all. Sure, things would be a lot better if Lily turned up. Richard, too, even if he didn't exactly have anything to contribute to their little squad. Still, he'd cope. Even if they both got murdered by Nick Reid or something, he'd cope. Find Bounce again, and Alice and Will. Then he'd have actually competent followers, people he could rely on to watch his back without that tiny niggling fear that they were waiting for the right moment to put a knife in it (or a hammer in the back of his head).
Turning back to Milo, Aaron said, "What we do now is pull back together. Our next move is going to be complicated, and potentially very dangerous. We'll need to look around some, find an appropriate place, do a little reconnaissance. Maybe get hold of some people who can double check things. No point walking into a trap."
That was probably good enough to keep Milo happy, but vague enough to keep the terrorists and any spies nearby unsure of what exactly he was talking about. Aileen had seen enough of the plan to know he wasn't just blowing smoke. They'd stick around a bit longer, hold out just a little while for the others, then split. Follow the woods north, maybe check the swamp and try the tricky bits under cover of the vegetation assuredly growing there. Then, on to the sawmill, to link up with Bounce.
It was a plan indeed, and a darn good one.
Aileen was ranting at Aaron now, too. Going on about how lucky he was to escape. Blah blah blah. As if he hadn't planned things. As if he'd just set off on a lark, abandoned his team to their fates without making every effort to give them the best shot at surviving. Typical. So much ingratitude. It was rather frustrating.
"Aileen," he said, "luck had nothing to do with it. I know Jacquard. She was unstable before this mess. Then she killed someone. She's also a gimp. Used to carry a cane around in school. When I saw she didn't have it, I knew we could outrun her, and with Rob stalled, or dead, or whatever, we could easily effect our escape."
Framed that way, the whole thing came across not only as reasonable, but as rather brilliant. Some days, fate was kind to Aaron. It seemed he wouldn't look too bad after all. Sure, things would be a lot better if Lily turned up. Richard, too, even if he didn't exactly have anything to contribute to their little squad. Still, he'd cope. Even if they both got murdered by Nick Reid or something, he'd cope. Find Bounce again, and Alice and Will. Then he'd have actually competent followers, people he could rely on to watch his back without that tiny niggling fear that they were waiting for the right moment to put a knife in it (or a hammer in the back of his head).
Turning back to Milo, Aaron said, "What we do now is pull back together. Our next move is going to be complicated, and potentially very dangerous. We'll need to look around some, find an appropriate place, do a little reconnaissance. Maybe get hold of some people who can double check things. No point walking into a trap."
That was probably good enough to keep Milo happy, but vague enough to keep the terrorists and any spies nearby unsure of what exactly he was talking about. Aileen had seen enough of the plan to know he wasn't just blowing smoke. They'd stick around a bit longer, hold out just a little while for the others, then split. Follow the woods north, maybe check the swamp and try the tricky bits under cover of the vegetation assuredly growing there. Then, on to the sawmill, to link up with Bounce.
It was a plan indeed, and a darn good one.
((Sorry for the delay.))
Milo was pleased by this answer. Even if Milo still had no clue what the fuck Aaron was doing, at least Aaron clearly knew, and Milo was (unsurprisingly) willing to trust just about anyone that wasn't shooting at him. Aaron certainly fit that description.
In addition, Aaron seemed to be happy to have Milo in the group. Although this was something of a foreign concept to Milo, who had believed for quite a while that he was the only person who appreciated his greatness, he was glad to find a cohort in his self-exaltation.
He also seemed to be confident that they'd lost Rob and the girl, who Milo now knew was named Jacquard. Interesting name for a cripple, he thought. Usually cripples had names like Derpy Mcdurrhurr. His small cluster of neurons fired, and after a few seconds of deep thought, Milo suddenly howled with laughter, almost completely apropos of nothing.
"Hey guys, I think I'm gonna start calling that Jacquard chick Jac-tard! Because she's a crippled retard!" he said very loudly, barely managing to recover from his laughing fit. This death-filled island of death and more death was turning out to be quite fun for someone with no real moral compass, a bizarre fetish for himself, and a general lack of intelligence after all.
Milo was pleased by this answer. Even if Milo still had no clue what the fuck Aaron was doing, at least Aaron clearly knew, and Milo was (unsurprisingly) willing to trust just about anyone that wasn't shooting at him. Aaron certainly fit that description.
In addition, Aaron seemed to be happy to have Milo in the group. Although this was something of a foreign concept to Milo, who had believed for quite a while that he was the only person who appreciated his greatness, he was glad to find a cohort in his self-exaltation.
He also seemed to be confident that they'd lost Rob and the girl, who Milo now knew was named Jacquard. Interesting name for a cripple, he thought. Usually cripples had names like Derpy Mcdurrhurr. His small cluster of neurons fired, and after a few seconds of deep thought, Milo suddenly howled with laughter, almost completely apropos of nothing.
"Hey guys, I think I'm gonna start calling that Jacquard chick Jac-tard! Because she's a crippled retard!" he said very loudly, barely managing to recover from his laughing fit. This death-filled island of death and more death was turning out to be quite fun for someone with no real moral compass, a bizarre fetish for himself, and a general lack of intelligence after all.
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler Sean. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
Li was completely unsupervised in what could be considered a player's playground, but a sane girl's nightmare. Aaron, Aileen, and Milo were only 50 feet in front of her, and even though when watching Jackie was still powerless with her rudimentary understanding of what was really happening in her inner turmoil, Li was still completely and utterly unsupervised.
Thankfully, the girl who had been born four days before, a figment, the small, Vietnamese girl with pigtails in her own mind and heart, apparently didn't share Jackie's tolerance or acclimation to the pain of a crippled leg.
Sitting against a tree, rubbing that cursed leg, she sat. She listened to every single word, drinking in the information that they so happily and readily fed her. Assess the situation. There was obviously turmoil inside their group. Aileen was not happy with Aaron for his stunt a few hours ago. That and the group had considerably shrunk, so she could infer that his cowardly tactics had actually managed to lose him some followers.
That made her debate whether or not she really needed to speak up to make Aaron's 'plan' fall apart.
However, Milo sounded like nothing but a loyal lapdog, a hired gun, a mindless mook to Aaron's scheme. While she doubted that logic could pander to the bumbling fool, she probably could win Milo's loyalty by spreading paranoia and fear born from convincing Aileen that staying with Aaron wasn't in her best interests.
Unfortunately though, it looks like Aaron had seated it in his group's mind that she was a player, a pre-existing killer. Whether or not that was true (and that fact was seriously up for debate), it was a bad thing to have that reputation roaming the island here. She needed allies, she needed a lap dog to order and help her. With this cursed leg, she couldn't win. She knew she couldn't win. She needed to outsmart everyone else, not out-gun them. Although a little of both wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.
There were some gentle grumblings in the back of her head that she couldn't quite make out. Jackie's presence was gone, so she had probably just discovered the mindscape. That meant Li probably had a few hours of a window where she could do and say as she wanted with no supervision, no help, no scoldings. Like a little giddy fifteen year old schoolgirl who had found her first cigarette, she grinned. Her opportunity was now, she just needed to get up.
Wait.
Didn't the first aid kit have some asprin?
She rifled as quietly as she could through her bag, however the occasional clank or rustle made itself known. The first aid kit opened surprisingly quickly, and within a moment the aspirin were downed.
Okay. Just a few minutes... Just a few minutes. Then it's time.
Thankfully, the girl who had been born four days before, a figment, the small, Vietnamese girl with pigtails in her own mind and heart, apparently didn't share Jackie's tolerance or acclimation to the pain of a crippled leg.
Sitting against a tree, rubbing that cursed leg, she sat. She listened to every single word, drinking in the information that they so happily and readily fed her. Assess the situation. There was obviously turmoil inside their group. Aileen was not happy with Aaron for his stunt a few hours ago. That and the group had considerably shrunk, so she could infer that his cowardly tactics had actually managed to lose him some followers.
That made her debate whether or not she really needed to speak up to make Aaron's 'plan' fall apart.
However, Milo sounded like nothing but a loyal lapdog, a hired gun, a mindless mook to Aaron's scheme. While she doubted that logic could pander to the bumbling fool, she probably could win Milo's loyalty by spreading paranoia and fear born from convincing Aileen that staying with Aaron wasn't in her best interests.
Unfortunately though, it looks like Aaron had seated it in his group's mind that she was a player, a pre-existing killer. Whether or not that was true (and that fact was seriously up for debate), it was a bad thing to have that reputation roaming the island here. She needed allies, she needed a lap dog to order and help her. With this cursed leg, she couldn't win. She knew she couldn't win. She needed to outsmart everyone else, not out-gun them. Although a little of both wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.
There were some gentle grumblings in the back of her head that she couldn't quite make out. Jackie's presence was gone, so she had probably just discovered the mindscape. That meant Li probably had a few hours of a window where she could do and say as she wanted with no supervision, no help, no scoldings. Like a little giddy fifteen year old schoolgirl who had found her first cigarette, she grinned. Her opportunity was now, she just needed to get up.
Wait.
Didn't the first aid kit have some asprin?
She rifled as quietly as she could through her bag, however the occasional clank or rustle made itself known. The first aid kit opened surprisingly quickly, and within a moment the aspirin were downed.
Okay. Just a few minutes... Just a few minutes. Then it's time.
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler T-Fox. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
So wait, the girl was a cripple AND crazy, right from the start? And was another person who had killed?
Aileen... didn't know what to make of that.
So apparently, this "Jacquard" girl knew Aaron, and he felt that she was messed up in the membrane and had a personal vendetta against him. Well then. So he did that because he had personal experience with her issues before as well as the fact that he remembered that she and Rob had killed.
Okay, so that didn't completely justify what he did back there. But at least she knew what was going on up there in Aaron's mind. God, this kid was confusing. All the kids at school usually confused her in some way or another, but Aaron had pretty much set a new record for what-the-fuck moments.
But to be honest, now that she thought of it, she probably would have done something similar if she had the gun.
But hey. Aaron immediately changed the subject, saying what they needed to do was scout out the areas, and act out their plan, which was potentially very dangerous. What plan? She guessed it had something to do with the power generator he had mentioned before... well, before the killers decided that their little spot was the best hang-out on the island.
But Milo replied with the most intelligent and sensitive of comments... namely, bursting into laughter and making fun of their pursuer's name and disability. Charming.
"Yes. What a good name for her. How about we call you Mil-ron as well?" Aileen replied back, not even looking at him.
Well, at least she had simmered down enough in the past few minutes. Seriously, as long Aaron didn't randomly shoot at people or run ahead of the group again, she was going to be fine.
Anyways, so whatever Aaron had planned, he was about to enact it. Well, at least it was an improvement over the dilly-dallying they had been doing over the past few days. Heck, they could even find some other people to help them. Weren't there three others back at the gazebo? That girl with the soap, whatever her name was, Other Lily, and... uh... damn, she didn't know that guy's name either. What was his name? Ragga? Rocko? The Rock? And it didn't help she didn't know Soap Girl's name either. Damn, this was possibly the worst time for her fabulous ability to forget names. Anyways, even if Other Lily and Rocko (for lack of a better thing to call him) were out of their gourd like they had first suspected or just didn't want to be part of the group, perhaps they would end up telling them something they didn't know before if they ran into them again. Same went with soap girl. And hey! They were supposed to meet up with Aaron's lady friend and her buddies as well, right? When were they supposed to do that, again? And then... Polanski.
Aileen walked over to her things and unzipped one of the bags, pulling out a water bottle. Damn, she was almost out. Sure, she had tried to be conservative with her water use, but with all the exercise Aaron was putting her through plus the heat... yeah. It was surprising that even just now she was running low. Making sure to take the hammer with her (she wasn't taking any chances after THAT bit of chaos back there), she went back with her water, placing herself on the ground and taking a sip of what was left. Well, at least it felt nice actually sitting for once.
"Anyways... scouting. Right. I've been trying to keep track of how many cameras there are in each place we go to, but I keep forgetting to count. Been distracted" she said once the bottle had been pried from her lips. "So, I guess I'll try doing that again. Meanwhile, hiding spots... no more houses."
It pained her to say it. But there it was. Aileen, like many American teens, had grown accustomed to having a roof over her head. But...
"Remember last time, Aaron? People swarmed the place. It's the first place people will try to go for shelter. We could try something natural instead of man-made here."
There. Her thoughts for now. Hopefully Aaron wouldn't ignore her thoughts, or worse yet, follow her thoughts to the exact letter and do something stupid with them.
Aileen... didn't know what to make of that.
So apparently, this "Jacquard" girl knew Aaron, and he felt that she was messed up in the membrane and had a personal vendetta against him. Well then. So he did that because he had personal experience with her issues before as well as the fact that he remembered that she and Rob had killed.
Okay, so that didn't completely justify what he did back there. But at least she knew what was going on up there in Aaron's mind. God, this kid was confusing. All the kids at school usually confused her in some way or another, but Aaron had pretty much set a new record for what-the-fuck moments.
But to be honest, now that she thought of it, she probably would have done something similar if she had the gun.
But hey. Aaron immediately changed the subject, saying what they needed to do was scout out the areas, and act out their plan, which was potentially very dangerous. What plan? She guessed it had something to do with the power generator he had mentioned before... well, before the killers decided that their little spot was the best hang-out on the island.
But Milo replied with the most intelligent and sensitive of comments... namely, bursting into laughter and making fun of their pursuer's name and disability. Charming.
"Yes. What a good name for her. How about we call you Mil-ron as well?" Aileen replied back, not even looking at him.
Well, at least she had simmered down enough in the past few minutes. Seriously, as long Aaron didn't randomly shoot at people or run ahead of the group again, she was going to be fine.
Anyways, so whatever Aaron had planned, he was about to enact it. Well, at least it was an improvement over the dilly-dallying they had been doing over the past few days. Heck, they could even find some other people to help them. Weren't there three others back at the gazebo? That girl with the soap, whatever her name was, Other Lily, and... uh... damn, she didn't know that guy's name either. What was his name? Ragga? Rocko? The Rock? And it didn't help she didn't know Soap Girl's name either. Damn, this was possibly the worst time for her fabulous ability to forget names. Anyways, even if Other Lily and Rocko (for lack of a better thing to call him) were out of their gourd like they had first suspected or just didn't want to be part of the group, perhaps they would end up telling them something they didn't know before if they ran into them again. Same went with soap girl. And hey! They were supposed to meet up with Aaron's lady friend and her buddies as well, right? When were they supposed to do that, again? And then... Polanski.
Aileen walked over to her things and unzipped one of the bags, pulling out a water bottle. Damn, she was almost out. Sure, she had tried to be conservative with her water use, but with all the exercise Aaron was putting her through plus the heat... yeah. It was surprising that even just now she was running low. Making sure to take the hammer with her (she wasn't taking any chances after THAT bit of chaos back there), she went back with her water, placing herself on the ground and taking a sip of what was left. Well, at least it felt nice actually sitting for once.
"Anyways... scouting. Right. I've been trying to keep track of how many cameras there are in each place we go to, but I keep forgetting to count. Been distracted" she said once the bottle had been pried from her lips. "So, I guess I'll try doing that again. Meanwhile, hiding spots... no more houses."
It pained her to say it. But there it was. Aileen, like many American teens, had grown accustomed to having a roof over her head. But...
"Remember last time, Aaron? People swarmed the place. It's the first place people will try to go for shelter. We could try something natural instead of man-made here."
There. Her thoughts for now. Hopefully Aaron wouldn't ignore her thoughts, or worse yet, follow her thoughts to the exact letter and do something stupid with them.
-
MurderWeasel
- Posts: 2566
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:37 am
Milo and Aaron were at least in agreement on the fact that Jacquard was terminally idiotic. It was good to have some common ground, even if the volume at which Milo was sharing his views was somewhat problematic. Aaron just casually shifted a little bit away, hoping that anyone who decided to come in firing would start their run on the most obvious target.
Aileen fired back with an insult of her own. Having a group turned against itself was all well and good if they were the sort of people to stab you in the back, but Aaron couldn't even begin to imagine Milo running a coup, and, skeptical though he was about Aileen's continued worth to the team, he couldn't well ditch her, not with Lily and Richard missing and possibly dead, or worse. Yeah, come to think of it, how much did Lily know about the plan? That was... potentially going to be very, very unpleasant, if she got grabbed by Lombardi or someone of the sort. The last thing Aaron needed was to run into an ambush laid by killers who had tortured the info out of one of his subordinates. He'd have to make sure to wait things out at least a day, to get a better read on the situation at hand.
Aileen went over to her bag, and started rifling through it. As she did so, Aaron could have sworn he heard some other noise nearby, something artificial in the general natural stillness of the forest. He waited, but didn't catch it again, not over Aileen messing with her stuff. Had it just been his imagination? He tried to concentrate, but it wasn't any good. Now that he'd started down the path of suspicion, every little whistle of the wind sounded like a muffled footstep. He settled for causally checking his gun. Still in his pocket. Safety off. Excellent.
Aileen was making suggestions. At the start, she was being pretty helpful. Counting cameras was a great idea, especially given the recent announcements. Cameras were suddenly important again, more than just a trivial annoyance. The whole thing also reminded Aaron that he was on stage, was performing, not only for his allies, but for the viewing population back home. He wasn't sure how his actions would be portrayed, but, well, he knew enough to suspect things maybe didn't look so good from an outsider's perspective. That was the problem with his plan, though. By its very nature, it required hiding things away, concealing secrets from anyone watching. Would any observers be able to tell that he had something up his sleeve?
Several somethings, at that. After all, Aaron always had a plan, and while he was pretty sure he could get everyone off this island, he wasn't going to stake everything on it. Not now, with over a third of the class dead.
Of course, he wasn't going to share any of that particular train of thought.
Aileen had shifted from helpful to unreasonably needy and demanding, but Aaron could live with it. She didn't want to go back to town. Yeah, sure, fine. It wasn't like Aaron wanted to go back to town anyways. There were, as Aileen said, too many people. He had what he'd needed, in the form of a bundle of wires stuffed into his pack. When he had some time, he'd strip the ends.
He pretty much ignored Aileen's spiel, responding with, "Yeah, the town seems like a bad idea. Too many spots to shoot from, anyways. I'd be surprised if some killer hasn't set up a choke point at one of the entrances yet."
In fact, had he not seen her, had he not been assured that she lacked a gun, that's where Aaron would have expected Jacquard to be. She'd always been the sort to play the long game. She wasn't half as smart as she thought, but she was strange now. Something was wrong. She'd only had one kill. She's teamed up with Rob, another small-timer. All the big names were people Aaron didn't really know or care about. Maxwell Lombardi was a blustering fool, someone who had likely gotten lucky and skimmed by on bravado instead of skill. Reiko Ishida was driven by vengeance, presumably. Clio Gabriella... wasn't she religious or something? It sounded appropriate for a divinely inspired bout of psychopathy.
The only other ones Aaron cared about at the moment were Nick Reid, who was public enemy number one, and Hayley Kelly. Hayley, she was one who bother him. Headhunter. No doubt about it. She'd been in the bad crowd, he thought. Maybe ran with Alice's girlfriend, the one whose name he couldn't quite recall. She was bad news. He was sure of it.
Right now, Kelly, Ishida, Gabriella, and Lombardi made up Aaron's kill-on-sight list. They were all dangerous, and they were all making too much progress. The reason, of course, was simple: people didn't know how to shut up and take care of business. Aaron had been able to handle Rob because he understood the psychology of idiots, understood the sot of person, like Rob, who tried to play mind games and didn't know when to quit. The key was to hit a planner before they could see it coming, and with such overwhelming force that they couldn't recover. Likely, some of the killers knew that. The only way in that case was to fight fire with fire.
Time for the rest of those plans later. Aaron checked his gun again, then said, "Well, then. It seems like we're in agreement. Find somewhere nice and isolated for a bit, stay away from people. Find out where the others went, and recover them. Get a bit more manpower, then get moving. Right?"
Of course it was right. Everything was under control.
Aileen fired back with an insult of her own. Having a group turned against itself was all well and good if they were the sort of people to stab you in the back, but Aaron couldn't even begin to imagine Milo running a coup, and, skeptical though he was about Aileen's continued worth to the team, he couldn't well ditch her, not with Lily and Richard missing and possibly dead, or worse. Yeah, come to think of it, how much did Lily know about the plan? That was... potentially going to be very, very unpleasant, if she got grabbed by Lombardi or someone of the sort. The last thing Aaron needed was to run into an ambush laid by killers who had tortured the info out of one of his subordinates. He'd have to make sure to wait things out at least a day, to get a better read on the situation at hand.
Aileen went over to her bag, and started rifling through it. As she did so, Aaron could have sworn he heard some other noise nearby, something artificial in the general natural stillness of the forest. He waited, but didn't catch it again, not over Aileen messing with her stuff. Had it just been his imagination? He tried to concentrate, but it wasn't any good. Now that he'd started down the path of suspicion, every little whistle of the wind sounded like a muffled footstep. He settled for causally checking his gun. Still in his pocket. Safety off. Excellent.
Aileen was making suggestions. At the start, she was being pretty helpful. Counting cameras was a great idea, especially given the recent announcements. Cameras were suddenly important again, more than just a trivial annoyance. The whole thing also reminded Aaron that he was on stage, was performing, not only for his allies, but for the viewing population back home. He wasn't sure how his actions would be portrayed, but, well, he knew enough to suspect things maybe didn't look so good from an outsider's perspective. That was the problem with his plan, though. By its very nature, it required hiding things away, concealing secrets from anyone watching. Would any observers be able to tell that he had something up his sleeve?
Several somethings, at that. After all, Aaron always had a plan, and while he was pretty sure he could get everyone off this island, he wasn't going to stake everything on it. Not now, with over a third of the class dead.
Of course, he wasn't going to share any of that particular train of thought.
Aileen had shifted from helpful to unreasonably needy and demanding, but Aaron could live with it. She didn't want to go back to town. Yeah, sure, fine. It wasn't like Aaron wanted to go back to town anyways. There were, as Aileen said, too many people. He had what he'd needed, in the form of a bundle of wires stuffed into his pack. When he had some time, he'd strip the ends.
He pretty much ignored Aileen's spiel, responding with, "Yeah, the town seems like a bad idea. Too many spots to shoot from, anyways. I'd be surprised if some killer hasn't set up a choke point at one of the entrances yet."
In fact, had he not seen her, had he not been assured that she lacked a gun, that's where Aaron would have expected Jacquard to be. She'd always been the sort to play the long game. She wasn't half as smart as she thought, but she was strange now. Something was wrong. She'd only had one kill. She's teamed up with Rob, another small-timer. All the big names were people Aaron didn't really know or care about. Maxwell Lombardi was a blustering fool, someone who had likely gotten lucky and skimmed by on bravado instead of skill. Reiko Ishida was driven by vengeance, presumably. Clio Gabriella... wasn't she religious or something? It sounded appropriate for a divinely inspired bout of psychopathy.
The only other ones Aaron cared about at the moment were Nick Reid, who was public enemy number one, and Hayley Kelly. Hayley, she was one who bother him. Headhunter. No doubt about it. She'd been in the bad crowd, he thought. Maybe ran with Alice's girlfriend, the one whose name he couldn't quite recall. She was bad news. He was sure of it.
Right now, Kelly, Ishida, Gabriella, and Lombardi made up Aaron's kill-on-sight list. They were all dangerous, and they were all making too much progress. The reason, of course, was simple: people didn't know how to shut up and take care of business. Aaron had been able to handle Rob because he understood the psychology of idiots, understood the sot of person, like Rob, who tried to play mind games and didn't know when to quit. The key was to hit a planner before they could see it coming, and with such overwhelming force that they couldn't recover. Likely, some of the killers knew that. The only way in that case was to fight fire with fire.
Time for the rest of those plans later. Aaron checked his gun again, then said, "Well, then. It seems like we're in agreement. Find somewhere nice and isolated for a bit, stay away from people. Find out where the others went, and recover them. Get a bit more manpower, then get moving. Right?"
Of course it was right. Everything was under control.
((Charlie DuClare continued from House of the Rising Sun))
Charlie. Charlie. Where did you go. Where did you run off to. We looked all over for you. We were scared to death for you. We thought something might have happened to you. And we missed you.
We missed you. We missed you.
Too much to hope for, yes? Yes. It was- okay, maybe she was being unrealistic. Maybe it had been a dumb idea for her to wait a little ways outside the house for five minutes eyes peeled ears cocked because yes they would come right after her right? Yes. Maybe it had been dumb for her to call out a name- Dave! Izzy! Helen! Winnie!- every time a little noise made her jump made her turn made her hope. So much hope. So much hope that she'd see them again she'd see them again, right?
She'd see someone again. Right?
Anyone and it doesn't matter who. Okay, anyone and it matters that they're not going to kill her. Okay, anyone and it matters that they're not going to kill her and also none of those fucking assholes like Retard Cowboy or Blanderson. Okay, anyone and it matters that she like them because her old friends are gone and her old friends are in that house ready to die waiting to explode. Some new friends. A new friend. One would be good. One would work.
Could these ones do? The one seems pretty shouty. Like maybe making fun of that one over there. This is okay, right? This is like when Charlie and the others were protecting Winnie from that asshole. This is just like that so this means they're on the same page and they can be friends. And then that one girl over here is saying something, can't quite make out what it is- maybe she's thanking the boy? For sticking up for her? That would be sweet. That would be nice.
Someday soon, everyone here will be about to go to sleep, and Charlie will whisper to the laughing boy. She will say that before she showed up, she saw that he was standing up for the other girl. She will tell him it was kind it was brave he was kind he was brave.
That is not yet. That is some time from now. She hasn't even said hello yet, has she? She should do that. She is so tired right now because you can't really sleep when you're waiting for you friends to arrive, but she should do that. Left foot right foot keep going just get close enough for her to say a little hello.
A little, "Hello?"
And a very nervous very tired face. And a bit of trembling in her knees.
Making friends is so hard.
Charlie. Charlie. Where did you go. Where did you run off to. We looked all over for you. We were scared to death for you. We thought something might have happened to you. And we missed you.
We missed you. We missed you.
Too much to hope for, yes? Yes. It was- okay, maybe she was being unrealistic. Maybe it had been a dumb idea for her to wait a little ways outside the house for five minutes eyes peeled ears cocked because yes they would come right after her right? Yes. Maybe it had been dumb for her to call out a name- Dave! Izzy! Helen! Winnie!- every time a little noise made her jump made her turn made her hope. So much hope. So much hope that she'd see them again she'd see them again, right?
She'd see someone again. Right?
Anyone and it doesn't matter who. Okay, anyone and it matters that they're not going to kill her. Okay, anyone and it matters that they're not going to kill her and also none of those fucking assholes like Retard Cowboy or Blanderson. Okay, anyone and it matters that she like them because her old friends are gone and her old friends are in that house ready to die waiting to explode. Some new friends. A new friend. One would be good. One would work.
Could these ones do? The one seems pretty shouty. Like maybe making fun of that one over there. This is okay, right? This is like when Charlie and the others were protecting Winnie from that asshole. This is just like that so this means they're on the same page and they can be friends. And then that one girl over here is saying something, can't quite make out what it is- maybe she's thanking the boy? For sticking up for her? That would be sweet. That would be nice.
Someday soon, everyone here will be about to go to sleep, and Charlie will whisper to the laughing boy. She will say that before she showed up, she saw that he was standing up for the other girl. She will tell him it was kind it was brave he was kind he was brave.
That is not yet. That is some time from now. She hasn't even said hello yet, has she? She should do that. She is so tired right now because you can't really sleep when you're waiting for you friends to arrive, but she should do that. Left foot right foot keep going just get close enough for her to say a little hello.
A little, "Hello?"
And a very nervous very tired face. And a bit of trembling in her knees.
Making friends is so hard.
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler Jonny. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
Milo ignored Aaron and glared daggers at the girl. He wasn't sure what her name was, and frankly he didn't care. It was a total non-issue.
The fact of the matter was, she'd nicknamed him "Mil-ron." Like L. Ron Hubbard. Or Ron Weasley. Milo didn't like either of those two, L. Ron Hubbard was a smelly dead space lizard who ate babies and led a bunch of Satanic zombie worshippers, and Ron Weasley had a habit of hiding in his closet and scaring him with air horns. Therefore, the comparison was kind of a sticking point for the idiot.
"But I'm not a Ron! I'm better than you... uh..." Milo fumbled a bit and tapped his forehead. He cursed the lack of foresight that caused him to not know the girl's name.
"Wilhelmina, is it?" He took a shot in the dark at the girl's name, and deep in his heart he knew this to be correct. "Yeah, Wilhelmina, I'm not the Ron! You're Ron! Hold on, I'll prove it!"
He cleared his throat.
"Hey, Jac-tard! Come here, you fucking man-cunt! I'll skullfuck you with a rake!" Milo screamed in a high falsetto. "Oh Jaaaac-tard! I just wanna stick my man hammer in your sweet eye-pussy so badly!"
He coughed a bit. That voice was not comfortable for him to do in the slightest and he immediately regretted it.
He looked at Wilhelmina again.
"See, you Kraut whore? I'm not Ron! You are!" he shouted triumphantly.
The fact of the matter was, she'd nicknamed him "Mil-ron." Like L. Ron Hubbard. Or Ron Weasley. Milo didn't like either of those two, L. Ron Hubbard was a smelly dead space lizard who ate babies and led a bunch of Satanic zombie worshippers, and Ron Weasley had a habit of hiding in his closet and scaring him with air horns. Therefore, the comparison was kind of a sticking point for the idiot.
"But I'm not a Ron! I'm better than you... uh..." Milo fumbled a bit and tapped his forehead. He cursed the lack of foresight that caused him to not know the girl's name.
"Wilhelmina, is it?" He took a shot in the dark at the girl's name, and deep in his heart he knew this to be correct. "Yeah, Wilhelmina, I'm not the Ron! You're Ron! Hold on, I'll prove it!"
He cleared his throat.
"Hey, Jac-tard! Come here, you fucking man-cunt! I'll skullfuck you with a rake!" Milo screamed in a high falsetto. "Oh Jaaaac-tard! I just wanna stick my man hammer in your sweet eye-pussy so badly!"
He coughed a bit. That voice was not comfortable for him to do in the slightest and he immediately regretted it.
He looked at Wilhelmina again.
"See, you Kraut whore? I'm not Ron! You are!" he shouted triumphantly.
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler Sean. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
((Aileen's about five steps away from going inactive. D:))
Aha! Aaron agreed with her! Too many choke points, too many spots where a sniper could pick them off. She didn't even think of that. Sure, she doubted that someone would have the foresight to do something like that, but you never know. So it was settled. No more houses. Find somewhere isolated, and do their business there. And then they could find the others and anyone else that could help them, and then start things up.
Easy.
Unfortunately though... Milo was, shall we say, being silly. Actually, that was an understatement.
He immediately shouted at her about how he wasn't a "Ron". What the fuck was a "Ron", and why was it so bad? It took Aileen a couple of seconds to realize that when she called him "Mil-ron", it apparently somehow registered to him that he was being insulted, but he had no clue how he was being insulted. Apparently her insult was preferable over being called a "Ron". Was that an insulting slang term she didn't know yet or something?
Oh, also, her name was Wilhelmina now. She wasn't sure if she ever got to introduce herself to him, but if she did, it was a question of "How the fuck did you get Wilhelmina out of Aileen Borden?". But apparently, that was the name that came up to him when he looked at her. She would be a hypocrite if she commented on his ability to forget names, but not if she commented on what he did next.
Which was call out to this Jacquard girl and taunt her.
God, what an idiot! He was going to attract all sorts of people! Not just Jacquard or Rob, either. Heck, Reika's sister, Lombardi, Reid, Hartmann or someone like that could just so happen to be nearby and act. Sure, just because she yelled earlier didn't mean he was allowed to do so too! God damn, this was stupid!
As he screamed out to Jacquard, Aileen looked towards Aaron, the expression on her face summing things up quite nicely; confusion, shock, and frustration towards Milo.
And to finish it off, Milo turned to her again and acted as if he had "proved" something to her beyond being an idiot that taunts killers who already had a bone to pick with at least one person in the group.
Okay? He really needed to learn not to do that. Now.
"Look. If you want to have wild passionate kinky sex with the killers, go on right ahead. Just keep in mind that they're, you know, homicidal maniacs? I hear those aren't the best lovers. Seriously, though, don't. Taunt. Them. Unless you want to die. Okay?"
Sighing deeply, she placed one hand to her forehead, gently massaging it with eyes closed and glasses slightly pushed up. God damn.
"Aaron..." she started out, but refrained from what she had the urge to say next. She had seen a lot of idiots at school, sure. But her mom always told her not to react to them. Right? Right.
A few noises. A small voice? Footsteps? Eh, must be imagining something. Hopefully, if Milo didn't attract someone.
"Anyways. Aaron, we're supposed to meet up with that girl of yours, right? Bounce, was that it?" Aileen was now trying her best to stay on topic, rather than dealing with Milo's... issues, shall we say. "And... do you know anyone else that could help? What about the other people we ran into right at the start? Like, at the gazebo? I'm pretty sure there were other people there. Do you know any of them personally?"
Looking back on the first day, soap girl seemed enthusiastic about helping. And heck, while Other Lily and Rocko seemed like the unreliable types at the time, in hindsight they could turn out to be ridiculously helpful in the long run.
Aha! Aaron agreed with her! Too many choke points, too many spots where a sniper could pick them off. She didn't even think of that. Sure, she doubted that someone would have the foresight to do something like that, but you never know. So it was settled. No more houses. Find somewhere isolated, and do their business there. And then they could find the others and anyone else that could help them, and then start things up.
Easy.
Unfortunately though... Milo was, shall we say, being silly. Actually, that was an understatement.
He immediately shouted at her about how he wasn't a "Ron". What the fuck was a "Ron", and why was it so bad? It took Aileen a couple of seconds to realize that when she called him "Mil-ron", it apparently somehow registered to him that he was being insulted, but he had no clue how he was being insulted. Apparently her insult was preferable over being called a "Ron". Was that an insulting slang term she didn't know yet or something?
Oh, also, her name was Wilhelmina now. She wasn't sure if she ever got to introduce herself to him, but if she did, it was a question of "How the fuck did you get Wilhelmina out of Aileen Borden?". But apparently, that was the name that came up to him when he looked at her. She would be a hypocrite if she commented on his ability to forget names, but not if she commented on what he did next.
Which was call out to this Jacquard girl and taunt her.
God, what an idiot! He was going to attract all sorts of people! Not just Jacquard or Rob, either. Heck, Reika's sister, Lombardi, Reid, Hartmann or someone like that could just so happen to be nearby and act. Sure, just because she yelled earlier didn't mean he was allowed to do so too! God damn, this was stupid!
As he screamed out to Jacquard, Aileen looked towards Aaron, the expression on her face summing things up quite nicely; confusion, shock, and frustration towards Milo.
And to finish it off, Milo turned to her again and acted as if he had "proved" something to her beyond being an idiot that taunts killers who already had a bone to pick with at least one person in the group.
Okay? He really needed to learn not to do that. Now.
"Look. If you want to have wild passionate kinky sex with the killers, go on right ahead. Just keep in mind that they're, you know, homicidal maniacs? I hear those aren't the best lovers. Seriously, though, don't. Taunt. Them. Unless you want to die. Okay?"
Sighing deeply, she placed one hand to her forehead, gently massaging it with eyes closed and glasses slightly pushed up. God damn.
"Aaron..." she started out, but refrained from what she had the urge to say next. She had seen a lot of idiots at school, sure. But her mom always told her not to react to them. Right? Right.
A few noises. A small voice? Footsteps? Eh, must be imagining something. Hopefully, if Milo didn't attract someone.
"Anyways. Aaron, we're supposed to meet up with that girl of yours, right? Bounce, was that it?" Aileen was now trying her best to stay on topic, rather than dealing with Milo's... issues, shall we say. "And... do you know anyone else that could help? What about the other people we ran into right at the start? Like, at the gazebo? I'm pretty sure there were other people there. Do you know any of them personally?"
Looking back on the first day, soap girl seemed enthusiastic about helping. And heck, while Other Lily and Rocko seemed like the unreliable types at the time, in hindsight they could turn out to be ridiculously helpful in the long run.
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MurderWeasel
- Posts: 2566
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:37 am
Things certainly went downhill quickly. The alacrity with which Milo rose to Aileen's baiting was nothing short of impressive. It was also fiendishly loud. Milo started screaming out for Jacquard, too, just in case they're position wasn't unstable enough already. It was really getting to be too much. Aaron had tried. Man, he'd tried so hard to put up with this nonsense. He'd had a team at one point, had some semblance of cohesion and unity and sanity. Now, that was gone. Everyone useful was lost or being neutralized. His remaining allies seemed to clash in such a way as to negate each other's assets, leaving only problems.
He was tempted to fire the pistol into the air once or twice, just to shut everyone else up. It wasn't like the noise could possibly make things worse. If anything, it might make Aileen freak out and move them along.
It seemed she was ready to go anyways, though. She mentioned finding Bounce. Good. Someone remembered the plan. She also mentioned the others, from way back at the start. Hm. No. Absolutely not. Aaron knew who was worth grouping up with and who wasn't. Rekka and Lily were traitors to the cause. He'd told them they could leave with no hard feelings, but that didn't mean he'd ever trust them again. They had opted out. They'd probably die soon, if they weren't dead already. Francine was dead, burned up or something. He'd noted it.
"I think they made their choice clear," Aaron said. "We don't want to force anyone along. And yes, let's find Bounce."
And then he realized that someone else had stumbled into the scene, had greeted him. He glanced at her. Some popular girl or something. He didn't know her name. Right now, he didn't care. She wasn't Aileen. She wasn't Milo. Good enough for him.
He nodded politely in her direction, and said, "Hello. You seem to have caught us at a bit of a... stressful time. Things are usually more organized."
He gestured to his allies, then let his hand fall next to his pocket, within reach of the gun. Better safe than sorry.
"I don't suppose you'd be interested in helping us get out of here?"
He was tempted to fire the pistol into the air once or twice, just to shut everyone else up. It wasn't like the noise could possibly make things worse. If anything, it might make Aileen freak out and move them along.
It seemed she was ready to go anyways, though. She mentioned finding Bounce. Good. Someone remembered the plan. She also mentioned the others, from way back at the start. Hm. No. Absolutely not. Aaron knew who was worth grouping up with and who wasn't. Rekka and Lily were traitors to the cause. He'd told them they could leave with no hard feelings, but that didn't mean he'd ever trust them again. They had opted out. They'd probably die soon, if they weren't dead already. Francine was dead, burned up or something. He'd noted it.
"I think they made their choice clear," Aaron said. "We don't want to force anyone along. And yes, let's find Bounce."
And then he realized that someone else had stumbled into the scene, had greeted him. He glanced at her. Some popular girl or something. He didn't know her name. Right now, he didn't care. She wasn't Aileen. She wasn't Milo. Good enough for him.
He nodded politely in her direction, and said, "Hello. You seem to have caught us at a bit of a... stressful time. Things are usually more organized."
He gestured to his allies, then let his hand fall next to his pocket, within reach of the gun. Better safe than sorry.
"I don't suppose you'd be interested in helping us get out of here?"