Someone Get Me Off This Merry-Go-Round Called Life

[Ryuki]

(Ned Jackson, continued from Watch Your Step)

Ned’s journey had led him back and forth from the village. It had taken him all day yesterday to travel back and forth from the lookout. In that time, he’d seen another fight had broken out, as well as come across the aftermath of a fellow classmate’s death. He couldn’t help but wonder, if he had been a bit quicker, maybe he could have done something to keep the students from fighting and prevent the death of Cammy. He couldn’t help but feel guilty over something he, quite frankly, didn’t have control over.

In the time he took traveling back towards the village, it had started to rain. The quiet forest had become flooded with the sounds of raindrops making contact with the leaves of plants and trees. With Tanisha in tow, they made their way to the village s quickly as their legs could carry them. They managed to find shelter in one of the east houses, where they dried off and waited out the storm. Dusk had already settled by the time they finished, so they made themselves as comfortable as possible and drifted off into slumber.

___________________________________________________

The following morning, Ned was awakened by the announcements. He prepared himself for the worst as he listened to the ramblings of a sadist. The first name that he noticed was Quinn Albert, who’d killed Violet, had also killed Danny Chamnanma. So she was playing the game as the terrorists intended. Then, sure enough, Cammy was named as one of the victims of yesterday’s events.

Before Ned could dwell any further on Cammy, the next name that caught Ned’s attention was Kyle Harrison. He was shot by Violet Schmidt. Kyle was such a sweet kid. He had a level of kindness that Ned wished he could reach. But now, poor boy was lying dead somewhere, another unfortunate victim of this sick game. Ned didn’t want to blame Violet S. for what she did. Unlike with Quinn, he wasn’t certain why she’d kill Kyle. He was willing to at least give Violet the benefit of the doubt.

Next, there was Ron Kiser. Ned and Ron used to be friends before high school. They’d watch, play, and talk about anime and video games. But before they became freshmen, Ron decided to disassociate himself with anime and become part of the popular kids. This caused a rift in their friendship and they went their separate ways. Ned wished he could have at least talk to Ron one last time, to say he held no grudges against him. But now he’d never get that chance. Tirzah, who had threatened Ned’s life on the first day, had gotten to him first.

Lastly, there was Jeremiah Anderson, who Ned met on the first day. It was just uncomfortably surreal. Ned had met Jeremiah not too long ago, and now he’s gone. Maybe if he’d stuck around with the others in the infirmary on the first day, he’d still be okay. Why did he have to go off alone?

After the announcements subsided, Ned looked over at Tanisha. He was very concerned with how she’d taken the news.

“Hey, you okay?”

[Laurels]

((Tanisha Abbey continued from Watch Your Step))

Tanisha sat against a wall, her legs crossed and her hand covering her mouth. The announcement had played a little while back, and it only reinforced how fucked up everything was. Mikki was dead, apparently taking two other people with her. She was a cool chick and a badass musician. Now who was going to bring the party to Chattanooga?

It was worse as it progressed. It turns out Lorenzo did kill someone before approaching them on the cliff. Tanisha wasn't entirely sure who Sapphire Waters was, but it turned out they were right to be suspicious of him. He really was dangerous, and not only did he kill one person, someone else had to die because of him. Well, not officially. It sounded like the terrorists were going to count Cammy's death as purely accidental, meaning Jeff and Arjen were cleared. Tanisha knew damn well both boys might be carrying the guilt for her death with them for the rest of their lives, so it wasn't like they were completely at ease.

Once the announcements ended, Tanisha let out a long sigh. She pushed her glasses up and rubbed her eyes. She hadn't been getting much sleep. She should have gotten a lot considering how much walking she did yesterday. But the unease of everything was still there, as was the sight of Cammy going over the edge playing in her mind. Joanne and Adele were still okay, so Tanisha could take comfort in that. Even with how bad things got, it was at least good to know Jeff was okay too.

She readjusted her glasses as soon as Ned asked her if she was okay. She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm still together. Somehow," she said.

Ned was a nice guy, and a good housemate as well. She was a bit upset Arjen didn't follow, but at least she still had one ally in all of this with one deceased and another lost.

She pushed herself off the ground and stood up.

"So, what are we doing today?" she asked. "I doubt we can go far in this rain, but maybe we should look around the village for supplies or people."

[Ryuki]

“Yeah, maybe,” Ned said, “Hopefully, we can find someone still stable.”

Ned looked out the window. The rain was still coming down, though not as strongly as yesterday. But, if they weren’t careful, they’d slip on some mud. A minor problem, considering the worst that could happen here was dying.

Ned ribbed his chin. He could feel the stubble of facial hair begin to surface. He then rubbed his cheek and could feel a slight bump. He squeezed it, and with a small pop, he had gotten rid of the blemish. Shaving and applying acne cream was something he didn’t have time for on death island. Only now did he realize how much of a luxury that was.

“So,” said Ned as he grabbed a piece of bread from his bag, “Did you have anyone in particular to look for?”

[Laurels]

"Yeah, a few people," Tanisha told Ned. "Joanne, Adele, most of the dance team girls."

Tanisha gathered up her stuff and slung it over her shoulder.

"I guess we can do a once-around the village," Tanisha said. "It's raining, so some people might be looking for shelter."

Tanisha picked up the shotgun.

"But let's make it quick. Just so we don't come back and find any squatters here."

[Ryuki]

“Hmm, alright,” Ned nodded, “I wanted to find Princess for Violet Q’s sake. Also friends like Bert, Lucas, Marco, pretty much anyone in anime club.”

Ned took a bite of the bread. It tasted kinda stale, and it was hard to chew. Ned reached into his bag for some water and washed the bread down.

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea,” Ned said in response to Tanisha, “then maybe we can come up with a way to get outta here.”

Ned took a few more bites of the bread, then washed it down with more water. He slung his bag over his shoulder. He opened the door to the outside slowly, poking his head out, in search of any immediate threats. He turned back to Tanisha.

“Whatever happens, I got your back,” Ned said reassuringly. He exited the house and into the rainy village.

[MK Kilmarnock]

'Chill, guys. We're not going to die. Wanna know why?'

What a laugh.

((Justin Greene, continued from Excursion))

HE wasn't going to die. Because HE was going to take the initiative of getting things done. Doing what he knew had to be done from the get-go before everybody made him unsure. If Benedict hadn't died from his injuries, Justin imagined he might not be doing this right now, but that didn't make it wrong. Didn't make it right, either, but it didn't make it wrong. Inaction and hesitation were for the dead and dying and he wanted to be neither.

The bodies of the dead and missing kids were never recovered. Now he remembered for sure.

Yet another night passed, another miserable night with almost no sleep. Justin took small comfort in finding shelter through the night in one of the shacks that dotted the community he stumbled upon, and considered it a far cry better than the woods. But such things couldn't last; he would need to keep moving. Curling up in a ball and hiding somewhere sounded appealing, but he'd eventually run out of supplies, not to mention if anybody found his hiding place, he was liable to be outgunned by... an actual gun, something that his trusty tire iron just wouldn't be able to compare to. And besides, the terrorists had already taken that into account too, and hiding spots were liable to get smoked out by those danger zone things.

Justin clutched the tire iron, his only reliable partner in this ordeal, as he left his shelter. It may not have been a gun after all, but it had treated him well this far. It was the only thing that truly kept him safe. Fat lot of good it could do against the rain, though. Aliya and Tony, bless them, he hoped they could find a way out of this weather. Maybe coming outside wasn't such a good idea...

Just when he thought going back inside might have been the smart thing to do while maneuvering between derelict hovels, the worst thing that could have possibly happened, happened, and a door to one of the shacks opened. Justin's feet skipped just like his heartbeat when he ducked around the corner, hoping that whoever it was hadn't seen him.

Because, unfortunately, they had to die.

[Laurels]

"Good," Tanisha said in response to Ned's promise of protection. "But don't worry, I've got your back too."

Tanisha raised the shotgun up, keeping the barrel pointed towards the side.

"After all, I think this bastard will help scare off anyone who thinks otherwise."

Tanisha followed Ned outside and then walked alongside him. She kept her head a bit low so the rain wouldn't mess up her glasses. This should be a simple walk around the village, and then back inside to eat more lousy bread and maybe play charades or something.

Tanisha looked up and around. It didn't look like many people were going to be outside in this weather, so maybe they'd just have an easy time walking around.

[Ryuki]

The continued to pour down as Ned surveyed the area. He couldn’t see anyone around immediately. The other houses looked like they hadn’t been inhabited in years. The village was quiet, save for the sound of raindrops making contact with the ground and rooftops. Everything was eerily still.

Ned held his bag over his head and headed out into the rain to get a closer look. If they couldn’t find anyone, they could go back inside and wait out the storm. Just then, Ned heard something approach from him. He turned thinking it was Tanisha.

But...

[MK Kilmarnock]

The first order of business was to steady his own breath.

'You are now breathing manually.' Justin recalled the meme he once saw, that one closely related to 'today is tongue awareness today'. Perhaps more accurately, he was reminded of the effect it had on him so utterly and completely that he could not return his breathing to an 'automatic' state of thoughtlessness for what seemed like hours, but may just have been the space of a few minutes stretched into hyperbole over time. Such a funny and inconsequential thing to recall, all because he was trying to keep from panting. Holding his breath wasn't the solution, though. That would just cause him to hyperventilate once he did eventually breathe in; the sharp, quick, loud gasps for air that would inevitably result from that would alert whoever to his presence. And he couldn't just breathe freely or however hard his body wanted. His heart beat against his rib cage, making his lungs scream for release. That'd just be more loud gulping for air. He needed to take slow, deliberate breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

Second, he listened to get a feel for the situation. He couldn't hear most of the mutterings before getting his concentration straight, and sound didn't like to cleanly cut across corners, and this fucking rain wasn't helping matters any, but he calmed himself a little by remembering that worked both ways, and the cover of rainfall might help him as well as it could hurt him. Whatever the case, he did NOT hear such classic phrases as 'Who was that?' and 'Did you see that?' and 'Let's investigate!'. The footsteps, what he could hear of them, were starting to get less distinct. They were moving away, and not facing him.

Now or never. If he thought about it, he wouldn't do it. It needed to be like before.

Don't think. Thinking never helped you in the past and it won't help now.

Justin rounded the corner into an almost lightly skipping jog, picking his feet up high and trying to keep them from scraping across the ground. Two people. One boy, one girl. The guy had his hands full trying to keep the rain off his head. A cold raindrop landed on Justin's ear, causing him to flinch. He could sympathize. The girl had something in her hands. Justin needed that, but right now he mostly needed it out of the picture. He veered toward her as his jog broke out into a full run.

Both feet left the ground for a moment in his run-jog-skipping baseball swing, hoping he hadn't forgotten how to swing this thing.

[Laurels]

Tanisha continued to look around the area as she and Ned made their way down the path. She held the shotgun tightly. She had spent some of the down time reading how to use it, although she hadn't actually tried to use it. Gunshots were loud and capable of killing people by accident. Tanisha had seen enough of accidental deaths for one lifetime, so she was fine for now. Besides, she only had so much ammo to use, especially if she was to protect her friends and allies over the next few days.

However, it was suddenly clear that Tanisha would have to be on the defense much sooner than expected. As Tanisha and Ned walked, something moved out of the corner of her eye. Tanisha didn't have time to react, and the next thing she knew, something was knocking against the shotgun. The shock caused Tanisha to release her grip on the gun, sending it clattering to the ground.

"Ned!" she cried out.

Tanisha didn't have time to do much else, as the attacker, with his metal rod, swung back at her. Tanisha fell to the ground. As she looked up at the assailant, Tanisha suddenly wish she stayed in the house.

[Ryuki]

The next thing Ned knew, he saw a metallic rod coming at Tanisha. Before he could let out a sound, the rod made contact, knocking the gun out of her hands. Then she was sent toppling towards the ground. Ned threw his duffel bag to the side, into a mud puddle, dirtying the already soaked bag.

Ned put himself between the assailant and Tanisha, spreading his arms out. Looking at them, he recognized it was Justin Greene, whom he had heard from the first day’s announcements. What were the chances he’d be here too?

“What are you doing!?”, shouted Ned.

[MK Kilmarnock]

The first swing was a little low. Or maybe it was on target. It was... almost funny, being thankful that the first swing had only hit the shotgun and achieved the intended effect of knocking it loose. Like 'oh thank goodness, I didn't hit her, I only have the intention of killing her.' He didn't want to cause pain for pain's sake or anything like that, but performing niceties with his ultimate goal in mind... pointless. Almost as pointless as Ned's gesture by the time Tanisha had already been knocked to the ground.

Ned. Tanisha. Justin knew them, or at least knew of them, not as the closest of friends but as faces and names in class and in the halls, like how most people knew most of their classmates. Knowing them even that much was too much. Even bringing the pipe down on a random stranger felt alien, like it wasn't him moving his arms, because he told himself he had to do it while knowing that he shouldn't, that he didn't want to.

But he had to. He definitely, totally, completely, had to kill them both. If Justin didn't do it, somebody else would, and they would take their things, and they would have more supplies to kill other people. Eventually somebody would have an armament that he didn't have the ability to deal with, and by that point it didn't matter how much he'd come around to wanting to kill. Because they'd be the one doing the killing, and he'd be dead in a ditch somewhere. He'd get a lovely couple of square inches on an ornate marble memorial dedicated to a carving of his name, and that was it.

No more. No less. No memory once his folks moved on.

He swung the other way not long after knocking the shotgun out of her hands and it sent Tanisha to the ground. With her down and the gun out of reach, it was him with a weapon, the two of them without. Ned would have to be next, before she could back up to her feet and become a problem.

"Wuh-what does..." Justin swallowed. Why was he wasting his breath talking? His hands shook as they held the pipe. What did it look like? "I'm truh... uh-ying to kill you!" Dumbass Ned trying to play the hero. He'd end up just like Benny. Like everybody else treating this as science camp and just skipping around, 'oh, we can wait it out'. Anybody who thought like that was as good as dead. Justin tried to tell himself he was doing them a favor, and that would make it easier to finish them off.

He hesitated too long. Not too long to think himself out of doing it, but he saw something on the other side of the old abandoned square.

Anybody else, and it might have just been a third victim, assuming he could swing the pipe fast enough. Or at least he'd take care of business and scurry away.

But that looked like a gun, and you couldn't outrun those.

Justin froze up with the pipe in his hands, staring past Ned while taking a single step back.

[Namira]

((Quinn continued from "...we must try until it kills us"))

Quinn's mood had only darkened since she killed Rhonda. Idiot Rhonda. Idiot, stupid Rhonda, getting in the way and causing what would be sure to develop into a colossal headache. Spending any time around the team was always liable to be more trouble than it was worth, more obstacles to block Quinn from doing what she actually wanted to do. Killing Rhonda dragged her further from that goal, not closer.

Such it was that, as she skulked further through the increasingly muddy town streets and she saw three figures struggling in the rain, fighting one another, Quinn's frustration spiked. Why. Couldn't. This. Be. Easy.

There was always another person. There was always the threat of a group, or too much noise, or they wriggled clear somehow, or it was someone she couldn't or shouldn't target—every. Fucking. Time.

Quinn raised the rifle and fired right into the centre of the trio.

[Laurels]

Tanisha looked up at the attacker. Her eyes were wide open, trying to see past her rain-stained glasses. She quickly tried to wipe them as Ned intervened. She needed to get her gun back. She had no idea if Ned could actually hold this guy off, so she needed to move quick. She didn't know if this guy was going to take the time to converse or keep on swinging. She needed to get the big scary gun back in her hands to get him to stop. At the very least, she needed to get that rod out of his hands. Whatever it took to save them.

While the two boys chatted, Tanisha rolled onto her side and pushed herself up onto her knees. She could see the shotgun close by. She just had to get it and swing it at the guy before he realized what she was doing. She had to be ready for whatever he did next. For that, she'd need to keep her gaze on the attacker to make sure he wasn't paying attention to her.

He wasn't. Tanisha looked up at him as she reached for the gun and could see he was staring at something past her and Ned. Tanisha finally clasped the gun and tried to turn back to see what he was looking at.

As she turned, she heard the gunshot. Tanisha gasped.

[Ryuki]

“Why!?”, Ned shouted at Justin, “You don’t have to do this! We haven’t done anything to you!”

Ned was physically and mentally preparing himself for a struggle. He could tell Justin was ready to commit another case of blunt force trauma. If Ned could stall him long enough, Tanisha could grab her gun and chase him off. The rain came down as Ned prepared for the worst.

Just then, he noticed Justin’s gaze was directed past Ned. What was he looking at? Ned glanced back at Tanisha, who looked like she had stopped reaching for her gun to look at whatever Justin noticed. Then Ned glanced up towards the distance, and he saw it too.

The girl in the distance looked familiar and so did her gun. Ned didn’t have time to wonder where he’d seen her, as he could tell the girl had killing intent. Ned’s first impulse was to turn around and put his hands in front of him. He opened his mouth as he shouted as loud as he could.

“WAIT! DON’T—“

An explosion rang through the air. Ned felt a small but poignant blow to his abdomen. His eyes widened as he glanced down and noticed the large, expanding stain of red going down his shirt. His mouth began to leak the same red liquid and he began to tremble. His right leg gave out first as he held his stomach. His entire right side toppled to the muddy ground. The raindrops felt much colder as they tapped his skin. His eyelids felt heavy. His entire body was cold.

His consciousness fading, a stream of tears rolled down his eyes, masked by the falling rain. His thoughts went back towards his family, how he’ll never see them one last time. And then, his thoughts went towards Tanisha, who still had to deal with two maniacs. Ned at least wanted to protect his friend. He wanted to do something right before leaving this mortal plane.

B018: Ned Jackson-Deceased