Fuck the Game

B21 Start

It used to be the island's housing district... at least, it used to be. It wasn't much to begin with, maybe ten or twelve houses lined up in a row where the soldiers' families lived. When a large storm hit the island years ago, all the houses were practically destroyed and the water stagnated on the flat ground, giving way to the festering marsh that sits here now.
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Cyco†
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Fuck the Game

#1

Post by Cyco† »

Nigel Gillespie was determined not to panic. He'd awoken slumped against a gnarled blackish tree, his head swimming. A few seconds had passed as if this were all part of some awful nightmare, and he'd slapped himself once or twice in a vain attempt to wake up.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath, still sitting with his designated weapon clutched in his hands. It was a blowgun, which had come with twelve plumed darts that he of course hadn't dared test for poison. One was loaded in there, the rest were in a bag beside him. 'What are the odds? So much for going to university...' It was ironic; the decision to remain in Highland Beach had been so difficult before, and now it didn't even remotely matter. One, because it was unlikely he would survive, and two, because even if by the off-chance he did make it home the only reason he'd wanted to stay would be gone.

'Danya, you jive-ass sonofabitch,' he thought, clenching the blowgun tightly, 'if you think for one second I'm going to play your game you have another thing coming.'

This decision had been quite easy. He didn't care if he was afraid, the only thing that was keeping him from heading straight toward some cliff and throwing himself down was the sense of duty to do everything he could to try and stop his friends from killing eachother. Maybe even try to find a way out. It was a longshot, in fact the longest shot in the spectrum, but he had to try. After all, what kind of person could he be if he didn't try?

"Fuck the game," he whispered to himself, and it was comforting to know that he was indeed the kind of person he wanted to be.
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Chase†
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#2

Post by Chase† »

It was silent, like those old movies, but in color like High Definition. Braden stepped through a brightly lit hallway against sterile tiles, doors on either side of him. The door he walked through was opened wide, and he could see the curtains move slightly from a breeze from an open window, a shadow of a body lying on a stretcher barely a foot from him.

Braden wrung his hands as he stepped closer, not sure why he was compelled to see what was hidden by the sheet that covered the corpse. The lights went out suddenly as he reached towards the sheet, about to pull it back to view what was underneath. Pitch black and silent, he tried to blink to adjust his sight when he could feel something grasp his throat. But he couldn't scream.


"Hhukk," Braden heaved, he sucked in some muddy water from where he lay when he awoke shaking. Lifting himself onto his elbows, in an awkward push up position, he squeezed his eyes open and shut to get a look at where he was. The murky water and mud, vegetation as far as he could see.

"This isn't... what is... what the...?"

It rushed back to him like a kick to the head, and hurt just about as much. As he reached towards his temple he felt the cold metal against his neck. And all he could think about was how much he hadn't done, and what he did to deserve to be kidnapped and placed into the program.

He bit his lip and got onto his feet, lucky to not have been tossed on his other side, which may have hurt his knee. The mud was caked on half of him and he tried to wipe what he could off of his arm and face. The taste of the water still in his mouth, he picked up the pack that rested in the mud and began walking.

Not about half a mile, he was scanning the area and jumping at every sound, did he finally hear a voice.

Fuck the game.

Braden, taking this as a sign of non-violence, spit out a response to the boy against the rotting tree.

"You read my mind," he sighed, slightly tensed as he let his hands rest in the air, "Don't think we met in school... I'm Braden."
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Cyco†
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#3

Post by Cyco† »

Nigel turned quickly to see who'd just snuck up on him, a bit startled. He hadn't known remotely what to expect. Of course, the guy standing beside him was unarmed and didn't seem to mean him any harm. Nigel wasn't naive at all, but he was determined not to be paranoid.

"Nigel," he responded, getting to his feet. He would've smiled, but given the situation he found it difficult. "...Pardon my French."
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Chase†
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#4

Post by Chase† »

"Given the situation, I can't blame you dude."

He let his hands drop to his sides, not really knowing what else to say, and it showed on his face.

"Umm, so... what's your plan?"
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Cyco†
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#5

Post by Cyco† »

Nigel was glad to hear that they were apparently on the same page. He adjusted the straps on his daypack and exhaled for a near five seconds. He was still trying to pull something together.

"Nothing's on paper yet but I wouldn't mind finding a group of people I can trust. There's gotta be a way off this island." He paused, and then added, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about electronics, would you?"
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Theseus†
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#6

Post by Theseus† »

((Continued from If there's no one beside you...))

Neil had stumbled through the darkness for what seemed like ever. He had went slow making sure Ric and Evan were behind him through the ordeal, and it was an ordeal. There's nothing like trekking through a jungle knowing other kids want to kill you at night to really make you question other hardships in your life.

He had no idea where he was going, only that he was going. Then he heard the voices. It sounded like two people talking, did he recognize any of them? Were they friends? Neil crouched, putting his hand up for Ric and Evan to stop too. He peered into the darkness trying to see who it was. He couldn't make out who they were in the darkness, but did he hear something about a way off the island?

Perfect. Neil and his group at been talking about escape, and Neil knew, or thought at least that Ric and Evan were as determined as he was to beat this system. So there were others like them. Others willing to risk everything to take on Danya. Neil smiled, he would have to take a risk by confronting the two students. He wouldn't risk Ric and Evan's life though, so he whispered to them "Just keep quiet, I'll confront them. If they turn out to be ok, show yourselves."

Neil stepped forward, and looked at the students. One was Nigel Gillespie. Neil knew him, he was a fellow guitar player. Though he played bass, well Neil wouldn't hold that against him. The other was Braden Marsh. He didn't know much about Braden, but from what he's heard he's not a bad kid.

Neil raised his hands up, his stick he found at the shore in his right hand, but he held it out to show he wasn't playing. He looked at them and only managed to say one thing.

"Hey."
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RePeate†
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#7

Post by RePeate† »

((Evan from If there's no one beside you...))

Thank God he said it... I certainly didn't want to. Neil you crazy bastard... you're going to get you head blown off next time you trust people blindly like that!

Evan stepped out behind Neil, his hands up with palms out to show he had nothing but the daypack slung around his shoulder. "Hey Nigel... hey Braden... it's Evan. I'm here with them." Evan had a standard relationship with Nigel and braden. He couldn't realy fault one or the other. They'd been in most of the same classes, and had hung out on recesses and lunch breaks on more than one occasion. In his mind, they didn't seem like likely candidates to put a bullet in his head.

"I'm glad we found you guys. We're putting together a nice little group here, to stay safe and fuck Danya and whatnot... sound appealing, or should we just keep moving?" Wow, as if I just said that... it's like something from a movie. What if they say no? That little speech of yours is going to backfire on you. They know you're not playing now. You've shown all the cards in your hand. They even know you don't have a weapon! They could kill you RIGHT NOW! Ok, relax Evan, these aren't psychopaths... it's just Nigel and Braden... remember them? You played some videogames together when you were younger. You shared your Lunchables with them a couple times... they're cool... they're normal. Go with it. "Yeah, so uh... did you, like, want to team up, or what?"
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Cyco†
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#8

Post by Cyco† »

Third and fourth parties arrived, both of which he recognized. Neil and Evan. He became a little tense, as it was getting crowded and consequently more dangerous, but he choked it down easily enough. No need to get antsy; neither seemed to be playing.

Besides, how could he possibly hope to pull a group together and escape if he let the game's--Danya's--fear control him? He'd have to get used to the idea that he might die any second. This was just that kind of situation.

"Listen," Nigel replied to Evan, "if neither of you are playing and you want to team up then I want to know you're committed to getting everyone we can out of here." He crossed his arms, glancing at Braden to establish that this was directed at everyone. "That might mean we all die. You think you can handle that?"
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#9

Post by Theseus† »

Neil stood there listening to Nigel. Neil knew Nigel and Braden, and while he wasn't best buddies with them in school, he talked to them numerous times, and even tried to get Nigel to pass off a bunch of fliers for Neil's upcoming concert. It seemed Nigel was as determined as Neil when it came to getting off the island. Neil smiled when he mentioned dying. At this point in time, what did it matter? Neil would rather die trying to get off this island then die sitting around.

He wouldn't though start jeopardizing whatever plan they came up with now by showing their hand to Danya. Neil looked back at Evan, where was Ric? Neil then turned back to Nigel and Braden and said words that he didn't mean at all.

"Screw trying to escape man. That's not going to happen, we all know it. We just want some people to stick with. It's getting pretty dark, and we'd have a better chance of seeing the sun if we stuck together. Don't go trying to drag me into your pathetic escape attempts, but if you want to unleash your anger in some way, besides getting yourself killed, read this song we wrote about Danya."

It was then Neil dropped his duffel bag on the ground. He grimaced when he realized his guitar was still in it. He unzipped it, and first he took out his guitar and slung the strap over his shoulder. He didn't trust it being in his bag anymore. Then he took out his notebook that he, Evan and Ric had all used.

Taking out the pencil from the spiral he flipped to a blank page and wrote hastily.

We're in. We already have some ideas on how to escape. We have to assume everything we say is being recorded though, so everything pertaining to escape has to be written down. We don't have any serious plans yet, but we need more people we can trust. Also we need a place where we can set up shop, where we can plan and defend from. Our main concern is these collars. We need a way to stop the signal so they can't track us or blow us to bits. Besides that, we figure the cameras are a good bet. If we start to destroy cameras that won't be good for their ratings. They'll have to send people in to fix the cameras. If we are organized enough we could kill them, take others hostage. We could force Danya's hand, or at least get them to remove our collars. From there we have their boat or whatever they used to get on the island. It's all just ideas now.

Neil looked at his new group. He thought for a moment. If they were really going to do this, they needed something to pull them together. Some common bond so they didn't turn on each other. Something that will boost their morale when times get tough, and Neil knew they would. He then knew what they needed.

A name.

They needed a team name. Searching his mind, he thought of different things. Then it hit him, a name of a club that used to run at their school.

S.A.D.D club. It stood for Students Against Destructive Decisions. Rather ironic when you thought of it. It was pronounced just like the word 'sad'. Neil quickly wrote one last thing on the paper.

We need a name. How about S.A.D.D group? You know, like the club at our school. Oh, and Nigel, I'm willing to die to get off this island to answer your question.

Neil showed the notebook to everyone else, awaiting their opinions.
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Namira
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#10

Post by Namira »

((Ric Chee continued from:If there's no one beside you...))

Ric was slow to catch up with the others, and by the time he arrived, it looked as if Evan and Neil had already encountered some others and coversation had ensued. Ric didn't want to interrupt anything, and as nobody seemed to be attacking each other, he was content to stand by and keep quiet.
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Cyco†
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#11

Post by Cyco† »

Nigel gave Neil a bemused look as he not only rejected the idea but flat out insulted it. He became suddenly intrigued when the other boy brought out his notebook though. A song? Yeah right, a song. Something was definitely up.

Reading the message, Nigel smiled and decided he certainly hadn't given Neil enough credit. His plan certainly had a lot of potential. Something he hadn't even thought of, too, was that Danya could hear everything they spoke to eachother. They'd be much better off keeping even the notion of an escape plan entirely secret.

"That's pretty funny," Nigel commented with a chuckle, glancing again at Braden and then at Evan to see their reactions. "I especially like the bit about his sexual inadequacies. Look, I got carried away with the whole escape plan bit, sorry about that. Let's just find somewhere to hole up for a while." He made eye contact with Neil and gave him a subtle nod.
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RePeate†
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#12

Post by RePeate† »


*ring*

*ring*

*click*

"Hi, you've reached Gabe. I can't answer your call right now. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you."

*BEEP*

"Gabe... it's Evan. It's five o'clock and I'm waiting in the parking lot outside the school. And guess who's not here to pick me up like he said he would? Hurry up man, I don't know if you're on your way or not, but it's getting cold out here. And for God sake's man, answer your phone! I called a dozen times. Please hurry. I'll see you soon I hope."

*click*


Evan gave Nigel a thumbs up and a smile. Alright! More people to help out. While he was sure he was excited that they'd lucked out and stumbled onto more students willing not to fight and to escape, he was also subconciously a little more comfortable with having an entourage around. Sure, they were a bit lower-class for his tastes, but if it meant one of them taking a bullet instead of him, he was all for it. These thoughts never surfaced to his concious mind though, but they did put him at ease. He couldn't help feeling better; being selfish was just in Evan's nature.

Just as the deal had been settled with Nigel, and Evan was looking over at Braden for confirmation, Danya's voice echoed across the island, letting the kids know just how many of their friends had been killed by their other friends that very morning. Evan remained silent throughout the entire speech, actively listening for people he knew. A few names came up, but since Evan wasn't very close with any of them, he barely gave it a second thought. Some would say he was heartless that way, but Evan only cared when it mattered. And this was no time to lose his head.

He grabbed a pen from his pack, and jotted down the danger zones, as well as a short list of killers and people killed on the back of his map. Best to know. Don't want a traitor among us. I can't grow eyes in the back of my head. And with these chodes, God knows who they'd trust at the drop of a hat. "Braden, are you with us?" he said, acting as though the horrible news they'd all heard hadn't even phased him. In reality, it barely did.
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Theseus†
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#13

Post by Theseus† »

The announcements.

Neil stood there, listening to them. Danya's voice seemed to boom everywhere, and for a second he considered destroying the speakers too, but there would be no point in that. They needed the information Danya provided, but the cameras were a whole different story. Neil listened to the names of the dead and the killers. Each name struck a different chord with him, some of the dead he knew well, some of the killers he knew as well. None of this was right, why would you kill your classmates, your friends? Neil listened to the best kill, and wondered if it would be in his groups best interest to ambush the student and get his new fancy toy.

He rejected the idea as too dangerous as of now, especially with their collective weapons being pretty useless. Right now they needed to find shelter, a place to hold up in. Neil saw Evan marking his map with the danger zones, and he realized he should do that too. Taking out his map he crossed out the three zones. Where should they go next? Neil then noticed Evan was writing down the names of the kids who killed. Smart idea.

Neil leaned over Evan to read the names, and started to copy them on the back of his own map. When he was done, he looked back at his group, glad Nigel was with them. He looked at Ric and nodded to him just to say hi. Neil turned back to the group and said, "Ok, we got to move. I say we go to the cottage. It should be small enough where we can defend it easily in case of attack, and we can make an escape easily enough if we need to."

Neil wrote some more words in his notebook.

It will also be a good place to work on our escape plan. If we have a place we can sit down and draw plans and talk about it, then we can get more serious about this.

Neil showed the notebook to the group. He then felt compelled to add something. This next line was spoken though, for it would mean absolutely nothing to Danya and wouldn't give up their escape plans, but to Neil and his group, what he was going to speak next symbolized their entire escape, it symbolized them.

So Neil pumped his fist into the air and said with energy, "Sadd! Let's move out!"
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Cyco†
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#14

Post by Cyco† »

Nigel listened to the announcements, feeling little wounds being inflicted on his heart at each name he recognized. Which was near all of them. Indeed, this was the worst sensation he'd ever felt, knowing several people he'd seen at school just the other day were now dead...not to mention knowing the details of their gruesome demise.

"Shit," he commented with a shudder as Danya carried on, "this is all kinds of fucked up." Finally the dangerzones came up, and like the others Nigel was quickly compelled to write them down on the back of his map.

Neil suggested the cottage, which wasn't far from there. Nigel replied, "Yeah," and set off with them. He couldn't get the faces of the dead out of his mind.

((continued in Fade Into You))
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#15

Post by Theseus† »

Neil watched as Nigel started to leave. Neil looked at the rest of his group and said, "Alright. Come on Sadd, lets move out." Neil adjusted the straps of his duffel bag and guitar on his shoulder and went off, taking the lead in front of Nigel towards the small cottage, feeling a burst of energy as light started to flood all around him, letting him know he survived the darkness of the day.

It was almost symbolic, he managed to survive until the morning, and now there was light. Something that gave him hope, sight, flooded his senses with images of escape and hope. He felt like this could work, first he had to get to the small cottage though. So that's where he set out and headed.

Moving quickly through the marsh into the jungle he led S.A.D.D towards the cottage to see what fate awaited them.

((continued at Fade Into You))
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