Mending

[LadyMakaze†]

It was apparent that Galen was somewhat irritated at Keith for making that sort of implication that Nadine, his most precious thing, would be capable of doing such an act. He would defend the honour of his love! Even if it meant his own death! Not so much anybody else's. As much as he was the one waving around the spear gun, Galen wasn't sure if he had it in him to kill.

By accident though? That could be up to debate.

His attention was diverted completely as the announcements were suddenly on. Galen's eyes widened as the deaths were counted, recalled, to each and every detail. Each and every name. He held his breath, face turning slightly pale. So many people dead already... Was Nadine....?

When the end of the announcements came, Galen let out a sigh of relief, the colour returning to his face.

"...Thank God....she's still alive...."

She could be hurt. She could be dying. She could be frightened, or in danger, or hiding right now. But no matter what, Galen would find her and save her before it happened.

Galen's mind trailed back to the current situation he was in.

Say...Keith. Izzy. Trey. Weren't those the names that were just mentioned...?

He backed away quickly. "Woah, woah, WOAH, you guys are- .... O_O!!" Had he stumbled into a nest of killers? The speargun twitched slightly in his hand. He had NO intention of dying anytime soon, and he couldn't imagine that these three...his own schoolmates of all people, would try to do something as vile as...

And then they started to explain themselves...

...It was as he thought. It...it couldn't be true, could it? They couldn't be killers. He couldn't believe it.

"...Yeah...you're right," He nodded, somewhat shakily, looking towards Keith. He tried to smile a bit. "It's all a lie, isn't it? There's gotta be some sort of mistake. Just an accident or something. There's gotta be some sort of explanation for it all. You guys can't be killers. I don't believe it."

He lowered his spear-gun completely this time.

"You guys can't be bad guys. I just can't believe it. I can't believe that anyone in this school would end up a killer. And self-defense...well, you can't get arrested for that, can you?"

Galen looked towards the group, suddenly clenching his fist in a sudden burst of resolution. "Hey...we can beat them right? We can win this. We don't have to kill anybody. We can find everybody we know, get together, like, and we'll think of something together. People have done it before, tried to escape. I know they never made it, but who says we can't be the first, huh?"

[Theseus†]

Trey let himself relax when Galen lowered his spear gun completely and said that they couldn't be killers. That was one nasty situation they just avoided, and Trey even let a smile cross his face when Galen talked about escape. He seemed enthusiastic about it, and made it seem like escape could happen. Trey had thought about escape, as most kids probably have by this time, but he had just assumed it would end in his death. What if it didn't though? What if Galen was right, what if they could get a group together and find a way out?

What if there was already groups forming working on plans? So many variables and ways this could turn out. Though the reality of the situation slowly started to dawn on Trey as he was reminded of their constant captivity by seeing the collar on Galen's neck.

Trey shook his head and said, "Yeah, I wouldn't mind escaping. Maybe there's a way?"

Trey couldn't think of a way, and deep down he figured he was going to die on this island. Though the mention of escape did spark a thin thread of hope inside of him. A hope that maybe he wouldn't be resigned to the fate of 99% of the students on this island.

Then again, he didn't want to get his hopes up.

[Cactus]

The situation was manic. Keith could see that. In fact, his head was spinning. At one point, things had been tense, and then, Danya had gone ahead and basically lied about what had happened in his little announcement. And now? Now, everyone seemed relaxed and amicable. It was making his head spin. Ever-so-hesitantly, Keith lowered the shotgun, though still held it at the ready, only pointed at the ground. Happy feelings and embarrassement could be put on as well as any facade, and Keith was hesitant to trust anyone outside of his friends from school, Trey, and Izzy. They'd earned his trust with their actions, and he had a hard time believing that they'd do anything like stab him in the back.

As far as escape went, Keith had his own opinion on that.

"It's the collars, guys. That's the key to this whole damn thing. Y'get the collars off, and it don't matter what you wanna' do after that. They can't see what you're up to, and for all they know, you'll be halfway back to L.A. by the time they realize that it's not goin' the way they want."

Keith paused, and looked around.

"Problem is, we try and tamper with these things and they blow up, y'know? An' I don't know about all of you, but I'm not the best at tinkerin' with electronics an' shit. I like video games, but that's about as far as I go. I'm not about to play with some electronic device that's got explosives 'n shit all over it."

It wasn't that Keith was a stupid guy - he wasn't, he was in fact likely of an above-average intelligence. It was just that he didn't really ever take the time to become that technologically involved. He could hook up a VCR, knew how to install mods in World of Warcraft, and could handle himself with most basic computer programs, but that was it. Explosive collars? There was no way.

"But if they put this shit on us, there's gotta' be some way to take 'em off, right? There's gotta be someone in school who'd have the know-how to figure this shit out. Any bright ideas, folks? My buddies aren't exactly known for their keen intelligence and hacking abilities, if ya know what I mean. Any of you know anyone who might be able to help us out...?"

There's a big if, here, too...

"If that's the way we decide to roll?"

[riserugu†]

Though it seemed the whole situation was getting... better? She wasn't sure if that a completely correct term seeing as Keith and herself where pretty much labeled along with the rest of those players on the island, and had thus—more or less expect for friends, though she found herself worried about even them—turned the island against them in terms of trust, and though the group in itself seemed to be calm for the most part she felt as though she was on the verge of a panic attack. Unsure if it was because the pain that continued to blossom from the bullet wound in her shoulder, or because of her lack of sleep, rest, and food was putting her on the edge of her nerves.

Either way, for the most part anyway, it was all making it hard too concentrate on just what was being said around her, she found herself scared that another grenade-wielder would pop out of the underbrush and blow them to kingdom-come and that would be it. But she couldn't do this, she really just needed to remain calm—easier said than done though—but most importantly she couldn't allow herself to be any trouble for the others, and anyway, with her nerves on edge she wasn't feeling as sleepy as she figured she'd be, and she supposed that she could always eat something as they walked.

Speaking of though, it didn't seem that just walking was the topic on everyone's mind—instead it was that of escape once again.

Listening between Galen and Trey it was pretty clear they had their minds set on trying to find some way to escape; Keith also seemed to have an idea concerning the subject at hand and a pretty good one at that. She hadn't given too much thought of the collars encircling their necks, and found her hand reaching up without too much thought... though Izzy found herself quickly stopping, biting her lip, and terribly afraid that even touching the collar would result in it exploding. Simply returning instead to listening to Keith as spoke, nodding a bit in agreement at his statement, she was pretty savvy when it came to electronics... she could learn to do a few things by simple trail and error.

Unfortunately trail and error was not something they had the chance with, if they wanted to get these collars off they had to do it the right way the first time or that was it, because if they made even the slightest mistake it meant they lost their heads. Swallowing hard at the sight that presented itself in her head, before simply trying to focus once more on the words coming from the group instead of those coming up in her mind, Keith's words getting her thinking if any of her friends—hell anyone she might know might be able to figure something out that could help them in getting these collars off. Though in the end she couldn't think of anyone she knew personally or otherwise...

"I can't say I know anyone that would be of any help... but I think if we want to do this—to actually try and escape getting our collars off... but..." She trailed off somewhat, taking a moment to shake her head and clear her thoughts and giving a small smile. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but perhaps we should find somewhere to talk that isn't so... well, in the open. And well, I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not feeling to hot, and kind of exhausted."

[LadyMakaze†]

Galen's cheerfulness and enthusiasm faltered slightly when Keith reminded him of the collars. He frowned slightly, tugging at the thing around his neck, as though it didn't occur to him that it would be dangerous...possibly deadly, to tamper with it in such a manner.

"Oh right....the collars..." He remarked quietly, as though he'd forgotten completely about it. He tried to recover his initial optimism, though it was faltering slightly. "I forgot about that. Um, I don't know anybody who's into that hacky stuffs. But...I'm sure we'll be able to get them off somehow! We just have to get some people together and think, right?"

He smiled abit, rubbing the back of his head. "So...all we need to do is get more people, right? Find another group maybe? Get together with everyone? ...I don't know about the ones who have started killing though...maybe we could..."

.... He grinned awkwardly. "Er, maybe we could talk to them? Just try reasoning with them? Or something? ^^;;"

"Anyways...I think we should get going too... I really need to look for Nadine. I'm sure she's found some people too by now." He frowned in concern at Izzy. "Oy, are you okay? Oh....you're injured! What happened? Did someone else do that?"

[Theseus†]

Trey's day on the island put the collars on the subconscious of his mind. When they were brought up, his hopes sunk a little. He thought about it. The collars. There had to be a way to get them off. They couldn't just start messing with them though. What if they found a dead body? And tampered with his collar? Trey was no electronics expert, he was just a jock who knew how to do a mean double leg take down.

He agreed with Galen on two counts though. A) They needed to start moving now. Sitting around here in the jungle didn't seem like the smartest of moves. Finding another group could have its benefits, especially if they were nerds or something, or at least were working on an escape. Then again, finding another group could be disastrous.

Trey just said, "Well, I'm still up for escape if you guys are. I mean, really, what are our options? It's not like we can all go home if we play the rules. Besides, I like cheating. I was never a fun guy to play Monopoly with. So I say we give a big two finger salute to Mr. Danya and start making our own rules."

Trey looked around, a slight paranoia that someone else would come and interrupt their little party. He then said, "As for the collars, I'm no electronic guru either, but what if we found someone who was...err...dead? I mean, what does it matter if we tinkered with their collar."

[Cactus]

Considering Trey's point, Keith nodded in agreement. Finding corpses would be a good idea, provided that they could find any at all (not a lot of people had died yet, judging from Danya's announcement) and that their stomachs allowed them to tinker with the corpses collars. Keith couldn't say for certain that he'd be able to pick up the neck of someone he'd gone to school with who was already dead and hold them upright while someone else fiddled with the explosive charges around their neck. It just wasn't...

...he pushed the thought from his mind. There were far more important things to be doing at the moment, the most of which was what Izzy had suggested - finding somewhere to rest up that wasn't so out in the open.

"Fuck, guys. I dunno if I'd be able to look at a corpse, let alone play 'round with it an' stuff. But that's somethin' we gotta decide when we actually run into one, not now while we're standin' out in the open like sitin' ducks...Izzy, you said it. We need t'get the fuck outta here."

Putting his pack down, Keith pulled the map out of his pack, and opened it up on a flat rock to his left, so that everyone could see it.

"If we look at this thing, we've got a couple'a choices, yeah? We want to find some sort of cover so we can rest - take shifts keepin' guard and that sorta thing. I'm sayin' that our best bets're probably the barracks, and storehouse, an' maybe the jail. Only problem is..."

Keith trailed off, and looked up at his allies.

"I'd put money on the little issue that we probably aren't the only ones lookin' for a place to stay. An' anyone who's playin' this game's gotta think that we're gonna be wantin' to do that. So we've gotta be ready, or we're gonna get our asses kicked before we even know what's goin' on. I think we might wanna try an' head to the jail...at the very worst we can lock ourselves in, yeah?"

As he looked up at his allies, Keith cocked an eyebrow. It was odd, how groups ended up forming. Izzy and Trey he trusted; probably as much as you could trust a stranger, but Galen? No matter what, he'd be wary of Galen. The boy seemed like a loose cannon, and Keith knew that someone like that wouldn't necessarily be the most reliable ally. Still...as long as he was benevolent, Keith'd do his best to make sure that the kid didn't go out and get himself killed.

But fuck, runnin' around with classmates is all well and good, but what I wouldn't do for some of my buddies right about now...Darnell, Kallie...hell, even small little 'French Guy'. But if it's meant to be...well, then it'll happen. Until then, I just have to try and keep myself and my people alive...if they don't think I've gone crazy and started playin'. Wouldn't that be a fuckin' joke?

Sighing ever-so-slightly, Keith waited for someone else to offer up something. Unless anyone else had a better idea, he was going to suggest heading to the jail. It seemed like the place to go. Keith just hoped that his judgement wouldn't turn out to be fatal. If it was...he'd regret it for as long as he had left.

[riserugu†]

Izzy flashed a small smile at Galen's words, nodding lightly as she glanced to the bandages wrapped about her shoulder with a small sound, "Yeah... that's what I get for trusting someone who turned out to be a bitch and shoots me, huh?" She said with a small sigh, glancing up somewhat with a small look toward Trey as he spoke, going over his words with a bit of a tilted frown. A great idea in theory because it meant not risking their neck, she just couldn't help worrying that something would probably go wrong even if this—though this made her even more concerned with herself, why the hell was she being such a god damn downer about all of this?

Even though the chance of escape seemed so farfetched in what they had been thrown into... but at least it was something wasn't? Glancing over to Keith and nodding her head at his words, just really agreeing all around.

"I know it'll be hard, but it's our best chance at the moment... though we should still be careful even if they're just—corpses. Because their collars might still be activated, and the last thing we all need is someone's hands getting blown off, 'ya know?"

She watched lightly as the Keith went about opening his pack and pulled his map out, Izzy wondering over to where he laid it out against the rock—looking over all the locations with purse of her lips, glancing over toward the boy as he spoke and sifting a bit on her feet before allowing herself to speak, "But you also have to take into account that maybe the other groups, and people are thinking like us... maybe they're staying away from buildings because they're worried that there's a chance they'd find someone." She said thoughtfully,

"Though you're right too that people are probably seeking out shelter and trying to keep themselves safe, at the same time there's also the worry about players seeking out people hoarding themselves up in shelters."

Biting her lip somewhat, she shook her head. "Then there's the fact because of that fat bastard that Keith and me probably won't be the most welcomed even amongst non-players."

Sighing she itched at her chin, overlooking the map and eyeing each of the places that had been mentioned... thinking over each of them, remembering Keith's words concerning the jail. "I suppose you're right with the jail, though with it and the storehouse it's just one building and not a lot of places to go in case a player does show up... but with the barracks it's more than one building, so if a player or... whomever shows up, there's more of a chance we'll be able to get away if someone does show up." She said shrugging her good shoulder a bit, "But they're all chances no matter what but... we need to rest and it's better to do it inside than outside in the open like this."

Even still she really would prefer nothing more than to find her friends... but she knew that she wasn't in the best condition to being doing so, wondering around tried from no sleep, barely anything to eat and sporting a gunshot wound, not to mention still there was that whole made to be a player speech that everyone had heard. Sighing again, she glanced back toward the other two and gave another small smile,

"But what about you two, what do you think?"

[LadyMakaze†]

Galen frowned somewhat at Izzy's comment. "Huh? Really? Somewhat fucking shot you?" The surprise in his voice was unmistakable, it as though even though they were in SOTF, he couldn't imagine that any of their schoolmates would try to shoot eachother like that. "That's... that's awful, it's gotta be some sort of mistake right? I can't believe that they were trying to kill you guys." His lips twisted in concern. "I think we should really find a place to stay indoors. You...your name, it was Izzy, wasn't it? Yeah, you don't look so well right now..."

Galen crouched near the rock where Keith had set the map upon, looking over at it. As he looked over the various locations depicted upon it, his mind raced. Of all the places listed...where the hell could Nadine be? Galen just hoped that she'd found someplace safe to stay until he found her... He knew Nadine pretty well, she could never hurt anyone! Likely she was scared and ran off into hiding...likely she was indoors somewhere...

He nodded. "The jail sounds fine but....I don't know, didn't one or two people get killed near or inside the Barracks?" Personally he loathed the idea of seeing, let alone handling, the dead body of one of his classmates, and shuddered at the thought. "...It's too bad the Showers are a Danger Zone now. That Karl guy...his collar exploded? ...I know it's not exactly pleasant, but maybe we can get ahold of a collar that's already exploded?

[Theseus†]

Trey felt hope rising more and more in him with the talk of escape. Or at least tinkering with the collars of the dead. Though it was a morbid thought, and something that wasn't glamorous and that he really didn't want to do, it could be their only way to find the systems flaw. There had to be one.

Trey shook his head and said, "I'm all up for the jailhouse too. Really, wherever you guys want to go is great, I totally support getting indoors. No offence Galen, but running into you was enough for me out in the jungle here. Next guy to come runnin' at us with a spear gun probably won't be so friendly."

Trey looked around then said, "I'm in with you guys. I also support the working on someone's collar, though I know next to nothing about electronics so that could be a problem."

Trey smiled and said, "Though I'm not useless." He swung his nunchucks around pretending he was bruce lee or some martial artist, and he only succeded in one of the ends coming back and hitting him in his arm. He laughed and said, "Well, at least I'm a state qualifier wrestler."

[SOTF_Help]

((Continued from "Those Who Stray...". Randy Flagg has gone inactive and has rolled this random location to attack. I'll be handling him via SOTF_Help 'cause... it's just easier than using my own account. As of right now, no one has exclusive rights to his death so... try to kill him, if you dare! ))

Voices.

He could hear them, echoing quietly through the dense foliage that he had been traversing since he'd left the jailhouse. They talked of shelter and escape, attacks and betrayals. Randy felt the smile that was quickly spreading across his features and allowed it to linger there. Quietly, stealthily, he moved closer and closer to the group until he could just barely see them standing in a small clearing.

There were four, three men and one girl. Randy's pearly white teeth gleamed as he continued to watch the group curiously. The ripped blonde boy, he was holding a shotgun. How beautiful it would look in Randy's arms. The asian boy, he held a speargun. It seemed to be a perfectly painful weapon and would surely cause the other students on the island to suffer gruesomely painful deaths.

He must have them.

But, how does one go about attacking a group so large? Surely the shotgun-wielding boy wouldn't be foolish enough to fire at him in such close quarters. The way they were all huddled together now, firing surely meant death for one of his other colleagues. He continued to watch them intently... listening... plotting.

From their words, he couldn't quite determine who the "leader" of the group was. How unfortunate. A typical strategy in war is to attack the leader. Once they're down, their squadron falls into chaos. It was truly a pity that he couldn't witness something so extraordinary as that.

In terms of force, the shotgun-wielding boy -- Jackson, wasn't it? -- he seemed to have the most powerful weapon, by far. In retrospect, the girl with them -- he had English with her, her name was Izzy Cheung -- she was quite visibly wounded. Randy suddenly found himself in quite the dilemma. Like a lion, he could pick off the weakest link first and move his way up the chain.

But in the same breath, picking off the strongest first and moving down to the weaker members of the group seemed less likely to get him slaughtered in the process. That seemed to be the way to go. But he wouldn't attack right away. He would play it smooth, approach the group, pick a prime location... and attack.

"Looking to get the collars off, are you?" he called out loudly as he stepped out of the foliage, a wide and charming smile forming across his features, "I think I can help you all with that."

He moved around the group, watching them carefully. His pickaxe hung loosely in his hand. The weapon's look deceived it, however. Although it wasn't being held threateningly, it would be no problem to swing the object and implant it in someone's chest... or perhaps... in the back of their skull. Randy finished his circle around the group, assuming a standing position next to Keith.

"Trey Leyton," Randy smiled harmlessly as he slowly slid the weapon behind his back, "You're quite right. You should learn to be more careful. After all, not everyone who happens to be wandering through this jungle is quite as peaceful as your lovely little group seems to be."

That was his cue. Randy continued to smile harmlessly before taking a wild swing with the pickaxe. His target? Keith Jackson's head. It was a risky maneuver, and the other boy could easily get out of the way in time if they warned him. Hopefully, they'd all be too dumbfounded by his actions to utter a word, though. With Jackson down, the rest of the group would fall like dominos.

And then all their treasures will belong to me.

[Cactus]

As Randy Flagg made his way towards the group and basically interjected in their discussion about collars, Keith instantly felt anxious. The kid hadn't been within viewing distance anymore than maybe fifteen seconds - and if he'd known what they'd been talking about a couple minutes ago...?

Somethin' just ain't right here...

As Randy made his way towards the circle of people, settling in right next to Keith himself, Keith shifted himself to put a slight bit of space between him and the boy who was basically nudging shoulders with him.

"Yeah, we're thinkin' that gettin' collars off is th-"

As he started to speak, he shifted his right foot a bit, and stepped on a stick, which broke with a loud crack. Instinctively, Keith looked down a bit and stumbled slightly as his footing was slightly put off by the sudden change in ground consistancy.

This saved his life.

As he looked down, Keith saw what could only be described as a split-second blur of motion before a white-hot flash of pain richocheted down the top of his shoulder and throughout his arm, spreading pins and needles through, right into the tips of his fingers. Screaming in shocked surprise, Keith looked as the end of Randy's pickaxe was wedged about an inch into his shoulderblade. The pain was almost unbearable, but luckily for Keith, his assailant was very close. Before Randy had a chance to yank the pickaxe out for another shot, Keith twirled towards Randy, grabbing ahold of his shotgun and aiming it directly at Randy's upper torso, neck, and face. As he depressed the trigger and the kick of the weapon impacted his other shoulder, Keith knew that from this distance, the chance of missing was almost impossible.

Fuckin' asshole!

[SOTF_Help]

Randy's eyes grew wide when the larger boy scooted further away from him, staggering slightly in the attempt just as he swung his pickaxe at the back of his head. He tisked to himself in annoyance when the blade didn't pierce the boy's skull but instead ripped into his shoulder blade. Flagg smiled sadistically at the sound of ripping flesh and the scream of pain that erupted from Keith's lips.

And then, he swore inwardly.

What had gone wrong? How had he miscalculated it? He'd completely disguarded something that had been so blatantly obvious earlier. He hadn't placed himself in the middle of the group. He'd left himself completely open to a reciprocated attack by Jackson. As his eyes looked down at the barrel of the shotgun, Flagg fully realized what a fatal error he had made.

The sound the shotgun made as Keith depressed the trigger was both heavenly and horrifying at the same time. The object that Randy had so desired, the object he had yearned for... it had just killed him. The bullets ripped through his flesh, piercing his arms, chest, and stomach. The impacts sent Randy stumbling backwards and his grip on the pickaxe tightened, causing him to inadvertantly rip the object from Keith's shoulder as he stumbled backward.

His entire body felt like it was aflame. It was such a strange sensation, but Flagg, being the sadomasochist that he was, enjoyed pain. Pain to himself. Pain to others. It was always something that had excited him. Even now, in his final moments, it was exciting. His eyes widened, a crazed gleam emitting from them. Had he been strong enough, he'd have thrown the pickaxe at Keith in a last-ditch effort to send the other student to hell along with him.

Instead, it fell limply to the ground.

"Lucky....bastard," Flagg choked out toward Keith before a series of violent coughs racked his body and he fell to the ground, the same crazy gleam still in his quickly glossing-over eyes.

Blood oozed from his wounds and pooled around his body, soaking into his clothing and the ground below. His eyes met with Keith's and he smiled that same charismatic smile he'd always had. His stomach might've looked like swiss cheese, but damned if he wasn't going down smiling.

"Whaddaya know, Jackson... ya really did... manage to kill somebody... t-this time."

Randy grinned tauntingly before his vision faded into darkness, the image of the group around him being burned into his mind as his last memory. Despite the fact that he was dying, Randy couldn't help but feel happy. He'd never been one to feel sad, even in death. His eyes remained wide open and the smile never left his face as he bled to death.

MALE STUDENT NO. 44 - RANDY FLAGG - DECEASED

[Theseus†]

Trey Leyton was tired of this. He was tired of people trying to kill them. When Randy Flagg appeared Trey became cautious of the student. He wouldn't possibly attack would he? He was outnumbered, and maybe out gunned. Did he have a gun? The boy wasn't around long enough though for any serious questions to arise. For as soon as Randy Flagg appeared and said his few words, he took a swing at Keith with his pickaxe.

Trey watched as it made contact with Keith's shoulder. Trey would have been tackling Randy to the ground in an instant and beating the kid with his fists if he didn't already know what Keith would do next.

Like clockwork, like before, Trey watched as Keith fired his shotgun at the boy. Randy had no chance.

Trey listened to the sound of the shotgun fire, and the sound of Randy's body hitting the ground. Trey watched as, even as he died, the boy still smiled.

What a creep.

Trey ran towards Keith and said, "Sit man sit." Trey unzipped his duffel bag and went through it, taking out the first aid kit and said, "When will they learn they can't mess with Keith Jackson?" Trey gave the jock a smile and then said, "I don't know much about wounds and medicine but I'm sure Izzy and Galen can help me out with this."

[LadyMakaze†]

At the aftermath of it all, Galen's eyes widened, and he stared in shock.

He'd never really liked Randy Flagg, that much. For one thing he was always having an eye on Nadine Willowbrook, and the looks that he kept giving her were more than enough to set Galen on edge. But never did Galen ever think that Randy would try to attack anyone as he'd done just now.

Nor would Galen ever wish for a death by shotgun on the other student.

By this time he was up on his feet, and he stared at the still grinning corpse of Randy Flagg lying in the pool of blood that grew from his open wounds and soaked into the jungle floor.

He suddenly felt dizzy, a cold sweat breaking out as he stared at Keith, who'd killed him.

"This..." he murmured, gulping slightly. "This shit's real, isn't it? ...You killed him, man. I can't believe you actually killed him like that..."

His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered Nadine. What if one of them found her first? One of the students who were playing this game? Surely she wouldnt' be able to defend herself if it happened, would she? Galen's heart raced. He had to find her...he had to protect her, and keep her safe. And here he was, just hanging around like this. He had to find her.

Galen looked towards the group, shaking his head. "I...I gotta split guys. I'm sorry, I just can't....I have to find Nadine. If it had been her Randy had found instead of us..." He bit his lip. "I can't let something like that happen. I have to look for her."

With that, he picked up his speargun, turned tail, and disappeared into the vegetation.

((Continued at ))The Sea Cliffs