Waking From One Nightmare into Another

[Ryuki]

B018: Ned Jackson-Start!

In the corner of the storeroom, Ned had his knees to his face. Holding his quivering legs, he let out quiet sobs of despair. His mind was heavy, his cheeks decorated with streams of tears.

How could this happen? Why did this have to happen to him and his classmates? To Ned, Survival of the Fittest was one of those things that seemed to happen to other people, but you wouldn’t expect to happen to you or anyone else near you. Surely, that must have been the perspective of other students of the classes unfortunate enough to be forced into playing this sick game.

The worst part to Ned was wondering how worried his family might be. His mom and dad must be devastated, wondering what has happened to their child. And his brother, who he was so close to and had a hopeful future in animation, who would help him with his projects? The people he had known his entire life, Ned would more than likely never see him again. Another wave of tears began to flow down his face at these thoughts.

In the corner of Ned’s eye was a duffel bag. In white paint was a string of characters: B018. Ned stared at the bag for half a minute before his curiosity had overtaken him. He reached over and dragged the bag closer to him. Slowly, he unzipped the bag and peaked inside. His heart stopped.

Inside the duffel bag was a rifle, along with food, water, and a first aid kit. This was a nightmare. A nightmare Ned couldn’t wake up from.

[Primrosette]

((G006 - Violet Quinn - Start))

Violet didn't want to be here. She wanted to be at home with her family right now and she found herself wandering around the reception area of the building with her two bags on hand. Well, she was carrying one of the bag slung over her shoulder and the dufflebag was being held by her right hand. She knew that she had to be more or less cautious. If she ran into something and made them panic with a dangerous weapon on hand.... Then she would be in danger.

It wasn't like she didn't trust her classmates or friends. She was just trying to look at things more realistic. Just like that girl turning on her friend in that video.... Violet shook her head a little. She couldn't distrust everyone. She wasn't normally that type of person who had those trust issues and she was not going to start now. So she was going to do something that she knew would not be smart, but she had to try it out. She didn't want to scare anyone unintentionally.

She took a deep breath. Inhaled. Exhaled.

"Hey! Is anybody here...?!" She called out in a loud, calm-like voice and she glanced from side to side, waiting to see if she was truly alone there.

[Pippi]

There was a loud crashing sound, rippling from the large sleeping area in the middle of the infirmary.

It hadn’t been Aurelien’s original plan, upon first waking up on one of the hospital beds, eyes slowly cracking open, the last vestiges of sleep escaping him far too fast for there to be any of those blissful, clueless moments where he wondered why his bed had suddenly shrank two sizes. His original plan had been…

Well. He hadn’t had one. Not even the slightest inkling of one.

It wasn’t that his mind had been blank. Quite the opposite. It had been crammed full of thoughts and emotions and wants and needs and fears, anger, denial, hope and hopelessness all crashing into each other in his head. It was all morphing into white noise, piercing through him, a keening, whining sound like a power drill inside of his head.

Fear kept on popping up, but it wasn’t all directed at the island, of the wicked spiked mace in his hands, at the knowledge that everyone around him could die within an hour, or even at the fact that he could be the one with a bullet lodged in him.

Aurelien could feel his heart pounding above every other sensation wracking his body, feeling the familiar sensation of blood rushing to his head and adrenaline pumping into his veins, and that, more than anything, terrified him.

AURELIEN VALTER – SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST – START

It was starting to overwhelm him now, the fear morphing into excitement, the anger shifting into reckless abandon. He could use this, most of the time. Use it to make the match saving tackle, use it to fling himself out of planes and off the side of bridges attached to nothing but a piece of elastic. Use it to do stuff he didn’t think he was capable of doing otherwise.

Or he could let it take over him and make him start a fight in the middle of the soccer pitch. Or make him misjudge a cycling run and send him head over heels down a steep gravel hill.

Or make him do stuff he didn’t think he was capable of doing otherwise. Like kill his classmates.

He needed to do something. Needed to stop himself before he went and did something truly stupid. Needed to do something, needed to do something, needed something, something something something something

Aurelien raised the mace in his hands again, lifting the spiked head from the center of the broken bed, tattered scraps of linen lifting up with it and drifting down to the floor. He held it high above his head for a moment, frozen in time and space.

Then it came crashing down again, earsplitting sound of metal crunching through metal ringing through the infirmary as the bedframe crumpled.

[Emprexx Plush]

((B073, Jeremiah Anderson Start))

Bed was too fuckin' small. Knew that right from the jump. Back ached. Neck ached. Shoulders ached. Knees ached, all danglin' like. Coulda just put him on the floor. Somebody thought they was a fuckin' comedian.

Prolly not the same fella who blew Ms. Garcia's brains out 'round the front. Didn't much care for that. Wouldn'ta liked her so much without Regina going to bat, but she said the gal just cared too much. Like every other excitable folk in teach he'd had his share a' run ins with her, but once they'd understood each other they'd got on alright. Weren't close. Prolly wouldn'ta flown home for her funeral or nothin'. Didn't deserve to die though. Not for this.

What'd she died for really? Fancy trip for idiots doin' what they woulda done back home anyhow? He weren't any better, but he didn't wanna go. Weren't his idea or his fault.

Now she was dead. They were all gonna die. Weren't fair.

Jeremiah'd got real familiar with unfair over the years. Weren't nothin' new. Stuck in his craw though. Things were good. Not perfect, but good. Felt like he knew what he was doin' finally. He had somethin', even if he didn't know what it was just yet. Weren't gonna make nothin' of himself now.

Didn't realize how long he'd been sittin' up. Also weren't real sure how long he'd been screamin' at the top of his lungs.

Who knows? Some mighty fine lungs, after all.

[Ryuki]

A voice! Someone was still alive. Ned did not want to be alone right now.

Zipping his duffel bag back up, Ned found the storeroom’s exit door and hastily made his way to leave. He reached for the door handle when he stopped for a split second and remembered where he was. In a situation like this, you can’t just throw yourself at someone. What if they were armed? They could end your life without meaning to. So, Ned turned the doorknob slowly and poked his head out the door.

“Hello?,” Ned said, as he used the calmest voice he can muster, “It’s Ned. Ned Jackson. I’m coming over, so... please don’t shoot.”

Ned slowly made his was to the reception area. Methodically putting one foot in front of the other, he stayed alert. So far, so—

Suddenly the sound of metal crashing coming from one of the rooms. Ned felt a jolt of fear and quickly hastened his pace. He found a girl in the reception area.

“Hey,” Ned said in between panicked breaths, “You heard that too!?”

[Primrosette]

Violet turned her body around as she heard a boy's voice calling out to her and saying who he was. Ned Jackson. She didn't really know him that well. But she did not think that he was the killing type. So she should be safe with him. At least she hoped that she was not making a bad judge of character. Shooting him was not one of her goals right now. She just needed to find people that she could trust, then find Princess and they could go to a place that was safe for them to plan what to do next about this messed-up 'game'.

"Oh, I don't have a gun and I wouldn't have shot you, Ned. It's me, Violet." She paused for a few seconds, thinking about where to go from there. "Violet Quinn. Are you-"

She suddenly heard the horrid noises from a room not that far from her and she felt herself freezing up a little on the inside. Then she suddenly saw a guy appear out of nowhere. This must have been Ned. So she let out a sigh of relief upon seeing him and she raised a hand to her chest to help calm her fast-beating heart.

"Yes. I think it might be-"

She then heard someone screaming instantly.

"Oh god...." She murmured in disbelief. Was she now in a horror movie or something like that?

[Pippi]

One more time, the mace was raised. One more time, it came swinging down overhead in a wild arc. One more time, it slammed into the broken remains of the bed, crunching through the metallic frame and cracking the floor tiles underneath. Aurelien left it there, staring down at the twisted, buckled metal and shredded sheets, panting heavily, sweat rolling down his forehead.

As feathers from the pillows and scraps of linen from the blankets floated down around his head, the white noise slowly started to fade, and the adrenaline ebbed from his body. A headache had been brewing, but it seemed like it had been put on hold for now. That had been… fuck, that had been so goddamn cathartic. This was… this was okay. He would be okay.

He had a solution.

He looked down at the mace, stuck in the floor and wedged against metal poles. Now that he wasn’t running on fury and fear and excitement, he could feel just how heavy the thing was. He’d been sorely tempted to just leave it lying next to his bed, after he’d woken up. He was sure it’d bring him nothing but trouble, and it wasn’t like he was just giving a free weapon to a potential killer; most of his classmates probably couldn’t even lift it.

But now, it was vital. Now he didn’t need to worry about the adrenaline or blood rush to take over him. So long as he had something destructible, something non-living, something he could take all of that desire to fling himself into the fray out on, he’d be okay. He could make it through this just fine.

The white noise had gone, but it still took a moment for Aurelien to register the sound that had replaced it. Screaming. Not from him, from someone else in the room with him. He spun to see the figure sitting bolt upright in bed, screaming his lungs out. It was hard not to recognise Jeremiah Anderson. The poor blue guy looked like he’d been practically folded in half in order to fit on the bed, but he didn’t look in any rush to get up. He just kept screaming and wailing and-

“Oh, shit!”

Aurelien jolted backwards from the mace, letting go of the handle, the weapon tilting slightly more horizontally as he did so. Christ, what a way to wake up, huh? Being dumped onto the terrorists’ island of choice for this occurrence of Survival of the Fittest wasn’t bad enough, the first thing Jeremiah must have seen was some guy with a heavy spiked mace going to town on the first thing he saw. Aurelien raised his hands frantically, making even more space between him and the carnage.

“Yo, dude, shit, sorry, I’m not gonna do anything to you! I’m not gonna use that on you, it’s cool, it’s cool!”

[Emprexx Plush]

Somebody talkin' to him. Hard to hear. Apologizin'. Hafta turn 'round to see who. Hard. Body didn't wanna move right. Worse than a bad night in the woods. Worse than the trailer floor. Not good. Turned real slow. Mouth closed, screamin' stopped, stared at the fella hollerin'.

Somethin' cold against his chest. Dyin', prolly. Dyin' or metal. 'Spose he preferred the latter. Hammer was clutched tight to his chest. Didn't notice it, or the half empty bottle of water by the bed. Musta been up 'fore now. Left hand holdin' it dropped to his side, right came up in a fist to his chest and rolled in a few quick circles. Took a gander at the hunk a' metal in his hand and the frame he'd been tearin' up. Still starin' when it caught up fella prolly had no clue what he was doin'.

"Sorry. Upset."

His voice weren't all that loud. Musta sounded like a whisper after all the racket. Still lookin' back and forth 'tween the mace and the wreckage.

"Try?"

[Ryuki]

The screaming stopped. That’s good right? Normally, yes, but in a death game that could mean a one of two things. Either whoever it was calmed down or...

Ned could hear two people talking. One sounded like they tried to calm the screaming person down. Ned turned to Violet.

“I’ll go, uh, check it out,” Ned said nervously.

Ned slowly approached the door to the room where all the noise originated. He kept his duffel bag close to his side. He really hoped he wouldn’t have to use the rifle, not that he was sure he could wield it properly.

He peeked inside to see a strange sight. Thankfully there was no blood, but the smashed up bed was concerning. On the bed was the tall, blue skinned Jeremiah Anderson, while the one with the scar on his nose stood next to the bed’s remains. Perhaps he was the one who assaulted it.

Ned knocked lightly on the door.

“Hey, is everything okay in there?”

[Primrosette]

Violet didn't want Ned to go by himself and she waited a few moments before following after him. She didn't know why she had done it but he was the first person that she had seen and she didn't want him to walk into either a trap and a murder scene. Although, the screaming had thankfully stopped and it sounded like two people were possibly in one of the rooms.

Violet was standing slightly to the side of Ned and she had to sneak a quick peek into the room where the voices had been coming from. Well, it looked like there had been a murder scene, but instead of a person being the victim. It had been a bed. Violet felt kind of relieved about that. Kind of. That poor bed never stood a chance.

She noticed that one of them was Jeremiah and the other was Aurelien. Aurelien seemed like he had been the culprit who smashed the bed up so that case was closed.

"...."

She didn't say anything. Her eyes were more focused on what Aurelien was doing. Even if it looked like he was good now. She had a weird feeling in her gut about him. Aurelien's weapon was pretty dangerous and she didn't want anyone to get hurt. However, she didn't want to alienate Aurelien from them. That would be the wrong thing to do. The best thing that they could do was work together as a group without turning on each other.

[Ruggahissy]

((Tirzah Foss: Start))

Tirzah awoke in a chair with a duffle bag in her lap. Her immediate reaction was that of panic. She remembered the video and their teacher. She glanced wildly around and then tried to stand, but the floor slipped and she fell backwards back into the chair. Tirzah quickly looked down and realized she was sitting in a wheelchair. She looked around quickly, whipping her hair back and forth. There didn't seem to be anyone immediately nearby. She was just outside of a building that looked like it was where her chair had come from.

Tirzah felt exposed outside. Tirzah quickly ripped open the duffle bag, jammed her hand inside and pulled out a very hefty gun. It was long and silver. Tirzah placed it in her lap. She heard noises coming from inside the building. After a moment of deliberation, she nudged the foot rests into place and pushed the wheels of the chair forward, wheeling herself into the infirmary to go see.

[Pippi]

Almost as soon as Aurelien had registered it starting, Jeremiah’s screaming fit stopped dead, like somebody had just flipped a switch to turn the sound off, and he was just left standing there, hands awkwardly raised, a sign of peace that Jerry had seemingly already accepted before even receiving it. He slowly lowered his arms, releasing the breath he’d been holding, rubbing his right arm with his left hand.

It simplified things, at the very least.

He studied Jeremiah as the big blue guy sat on the bed, rotating his wrist. Looked like he’d also been handed a bludgeon as his weapon. A hammer was nowhere near as threatening as the mace currently embedded in the floor, but definitely nothing to sniff at. A big metal weight was a big metal weight. Jeremiah was hard to get a read on, and Aurelien wasn’t stupid enough to think that this relative calm and peace would last forever. Their class could be a tinderbox at the best of times. Stress could be the book of matches that set everything off.

It had happened six times already, after all.

Luckily, it didn’t look like Jeremiah was in much of the mood to do anything volatile right now. Aurelien gave him a wry smile, moving back to untangle the mace from the bed.

“Yeah, you and me both, frënd.”

He levered the mace up, pulling it out of the dent he’d left in the floor, another tile coming loose and cracking in half as he did.

“You… try? You mean with this?”

He patted the handle of the mace.

“Sure, uh, go ahead. It’s pretty heavy, but real cathartic, and-”

The knock on the door cut through the air, and Aurelien spun again - Christ, not a good idea when his stomach still didn’t know which way was up yet - to see the two newcomers, and a proper smile spread across his face. Ned and Violet were the sort of people who’d be more likely to get hurt by the fly than vice-versa. They were good people, both of them. No chance of danger here.

“Yeah, we’re good, we’re good!” Aurelien said, finally pulling the mace out from the debris of the bed, accompanied by a final screeching of metal. “Well, like… good as we can be, current situation and stuff. Just taking out some frustration, pretending this thing was that Tracen prick’s face. You wanna have a go?”

[Emprexx Plush]

That was a go. Didn't care much for whoever was comin' in, 'less they wanted to start somethin'. Aurelien had the talkin' under control. Jeremiah had somethin' to work out. Set his hammer on the floor. Rolled up off the bed, knees and hips cracklin' up to his full height. Didn't dwarf the other fella as much as most, but havin' half a foot on the second scariest shootin' guard in Tennessee weren't nothin' to spit at. 'specially when more than half that height again stretched out in lanky grey-blue limbs, barely moving from the spot he stood up in 'fore his willowy fingers curled 'round the mace. If you stared real close, paid all the attention you could afford, weren't gonna seem all that quick on it's face. Might pass as lazy if you was feelin' judgmental. That arm moved methodical like a river windin' through a canyon it'd spent more years carvin' than there'd been folks to gawk at it. Skin and sinew went taut to heft it up though, and you could get a taste of somethin' like sour metal in the back of your throat, same as any critter do when them darkest clouds start rollin' in. Didn't need no words to understand the message, but if you was inclined to interpret it might go somethin' like this:

Flood's comin'.

Run.

Jeremiah measured Aurelien's position careful like, felt the weight a' the hunk of metal in his hands, glanced back to the frame that'd did him so rugged. Sharp inhale and them digits turnin' to hooks were the only warnin' he gave 'fore his arms snapped back handed towards the bed. Shock rang from his wrists down to his toes up to gritted teeth. Didn't make a sound, just soaked in the warped metal below. First thing he'd broke on purpose. Didn't seem right to indulge 'fore now, but fuck did restraint matter anymore? Holdin' himself back, stayin' quiet, keepin' his head down, doin' the right thing, where'd it land him? Muscles flexed for another round. Water line was risin'. Weren't no tellin' where it'd stop.

He exhaled. Tugged the mace free of the wreck, offered it back towards Aurelien. "Good. Thank you. Wanna trade, lemme know."

Deep breaths, slow thoughts. Had him a couple moments, now he was gonna cool down and think. Might as well bash his own brains in if he didn't. Neck craned across his shoulder towards the folks in a doorway. Nodded. "Good. Try?"

[Ryuki]

“No, thanks,” Ned responded, “I’m good.”

Looks like Aurelian and Jeremiah were blowing off steam with that mace. Better them than the bed, he supposed. Still, Ned didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that thing, so he needed to tread carefully with his words. Ned needed a game plan.

“So, what now?,” asked Ned, “Should we try to search for other students or hunker down here?”

Ned wasn’t entirely sure of either of those options. If they tried looking for other students, there’s a possibility they would run into someone with killing intent. But if all goes well, they could form some kind of protest group. On the other hand, they could make the infirmary a temporary living space. The only thing to worry about was that, according to the rules, the area could become a danger zone.

“I’d be happy to hear any ideas you guys might have.”

Just then, he could hear the sounds of squeaking wheels coming from near the entrance. Please don’t let this situation go full horror film just yet.

[Primrosette]

"I don't think I need to do that either, guys." Violet said softly with a shake of her head and she was still looking at the two boys in the room with a sense of unease. "I don't feel angry right now. So I'm going to pass on your polite offer."

Was she sounding a bit harsh? Aurelien and Jeremiah has a right to let off some steam and pented-up rage. They were all in a bad place right now and everyone was dealing with things in different ways. She shouldn't judge them for how they were doing it as long as they weren't hurting or killing another one. Yes, Violet knew that she had to get Princess. That was her main goal right now. She had to be quick about it. Plus being around people with weapons was a bonus if things got out of hand. Now that she thought about it. Her own weapon. She did not know what it was. But she could check it out later on.

Violet turned her attention to Ned who was talking beside her and she knew what she was going to say and do. "I can't stay here. My girlfriend.... Princess. Princess is out there somewhere and I need to find her. I'm scared that something will happen if I don't go out there and I don't want to sat around here without doing anything about it." Violet said in a louder than normal tone of voice and she was glancing around at all of the boys with a determined look on her face. "I'm sure that you guys want to look for other people, right? If so, you can come with me. Or if you feel safer here, you can stay."

As soon as she stopped speaking, she heard a squeaking sound herself and she frowned a little. Maybe they were really in a horror movie. Normally she would have thought that was cool but not when it was real life.