((Shauna continued from The Shauna Your Shauna Could Play Like))
Shauna had been tired before, but not this kind of tired. This was tired to the bone, tired so deep that it felt like the fatigue could roll off of her in a visible haze. Or maybe that was just how awful her contacts felt after she slept in them after a full day of wear. They were not designed for that. Her eyes hurt.
She was scared to take them out, though, and they weren't actually the worst she'd ever felt them. That'd been when she was at the tail-end of an all-nighter spent DMing Nona—wait no not Nona—about... well, Shauna actually forgot, but it was several miles down a very strange wikiwalk that definitely didn't have anything to do with the fic research Shauna had actually been doing. Her eyes had been burning then, the contacts feeling so tacky that it literally felt like a shell across the eyeballs and honestly had made her think her retina was gonna pull off when she pinched the lens out. Not Nona, though, but Marco, and that was, that was difficult to unpack, even a day after the fact of hearing it. S ... He'd said things to Shauna on a couple of occasions that had made her think twice about her friend, but there'd always been the brush off when it came to those kinds of queer themes. Shauna had sent him her favourite fic with a trans guy before and she'd got an uncomfortable silence in response and then a very lukewarm comment like four days after the fact.
So yeah. She didn't know whether to feel guilty for not knowing or vindicated for kind of knowing or just like, what the fuck over the fact that yeah amazing that he'd come out, but he'd come out killing someone and...
Fuck, this was such a disaster. An awful freaking disaster. She'd cried like five times this morning and the tears hadn't ever really properly stopped, still trickling from her eyes and down her cheeks. Cheri and Rhonda were both dead. Cheri with a stupid, stupid accident of all things and Rhonda murdered by Quinn, their teammate. Their teammate who'd spared Shauna but not Rhonda and she just, she—
Why? Why was Shauna worth sparing but Rhonda had to die? What'd Rhonda done to deserve that?
Her friends were dying and here she was robbing corpses, acting like she had it together because she had a stolen gun.
Shauna stopped in the middle of the path, trying not to rub her eyes as they welled up yet again.
I'm Here
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Emprexx Plush
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((Nikki Nelson-Kelly continued from Death and Artaxes))
Nikki's bag was heavier than it was when she woke up now, which felt kinda good? Lowkey she was starting to get worried from what she'd stress eaten hiding out in the village, so the resupply from her unseen and possibly unwilling Good Samaritan was appreciated. The paper in the bag had not had a great time submerged for how knows long even with the bag protecting it, but it was kinda legible still and if it dried out maybe she could make something of it? It had something to do with one of the flashlights in the bag, and hers hadn't come with any instructions so maybe there was more to it. Time to figure that out later! There'd been enough space for everything useful in her own bag, so the dirty one was left behind on her trek through the woods.
Things looked bright behind her. Ahead, though, was a person. The first one she'd seen since, uh, she wasn't even gonna try to figure it out right now, it'd been awhile unless you counted Mr. and/or Mrs. trigger happy back in the village. A lump grew in her throat. The lie at the top of the announcement still echoed in her head, and she hadn't wrapped her head around it yet. It was super possible she'd misunderstood what they'd meant about Terra shooting her, but the line about her shooting Phillip was pretty clear. Plenty of people would be willing to shoot first and ask questions later whether they were sure she should be up and walking or not.
The girl down the path was vaguely familiar though. Hadn't she....yeah she was the one with the hanging and the falling and her rope! She knew Phillip was okay when they Strategically Scattered! This was great, Nikki was so glad to see...Shirley? Sean? Shoshana? Some kinda shh, which suited how the quiet awkwardness Nikki usually got off of her around school. Ugh, it'd come right to her days ago. She was on the basketball team maybe? Oh, yeah, that lined up, she remembered!
Cheri!
Wait.
No.
Air out the fog, where was that name coming from? She jumped to it because she' d just heard it. On the announcements. Cuz Cheri was supposed to be dead too. That opened up a couple of options: 1) All of the deaths were fake, this whole thing was a lie, and she and Cheri were the smoking gun. 2) Nikki didn't know her classmates as well as she'd like to and was about to make a horrible mistake. It was possible that Nikki had made several mistakes over the last few days, and maybe she should play this on the safe side? Yeah. Okay. "Heeeeeeey you," she called out with smooth noncommittal. "Are you" Okay? No. Fine? No. Hungry? What? "Hurt?" There it is, got there eventually!
Nikki's bag was heavier than it was when she woke up now, which felt kinda good? Lowkey she was starting to get worried from what she'd stress eaten hiding out in the village, so the resupply from her unseen and possibly unwilling Good Samaritan was appreciated. The paper in the bag had not had a great time submerged for how knows long even with the bag protecting it, but it was kinda legible still and if it dried out maybe she could make something of it? It had something to do with one of the flashlights in the bag, and hers hadn't come with any instructions so maybe there was more to it. Time to figure that out later! There'd been enough space for everything useful in her own bag, so the dirty one was left behind on her trek through the woods.
Things looked bright behind her. Ahead, though, was a person. The first one she'd seen since, uh, she wasn't even gonna try to figure it out right now, it'd been awhile unless you counted Mr. and/or Mrs. trigger happy back in the village. A lump grew in her throat. The lie at the top of the announcement still echoed in her head, and she hadn't wrapped her head around it yet. It was super possible she'd misunderstood what they'd meant about Terra shooting her, but the line about her shooting Phillip was pretty clear. Plenty of people would be willing to shoot first and ask questions later whether they were sure she should be up and walking or not.
The girl down the path was vaguely familiar though. Hadn't she....yeah she was the one with the hanging and the falling and her rope! She knew Phillip was okay when they Strategically Scattered! This was great, Nikki was so glad to see...Shirley? Sean? Shoshana? Some kinda shh, which suited how the quiet awkwardness Nikki usually got off of her around school. Ugh, it'd come right to her days ago. She was on the basketball team maybe? Oh, yeah, that lined up, she remembered!
Cheri!
Wait.
No.
Air out the fog, where was that name coming from? She jumped to it because she' d just heard it. On the announcements. Cuz Cheri was supposed to be dead too. That opened up a couple of options: 1) All of the deaths were fake, this whole thing was a lie, and she and Cheri were the smoking gun. 2) Nikki didn't know her classmates as well as she'd like to and was about to make a horrible mistake. It was possible that Nikki had made several mistakes over the last few days, and maybe she should play this on the safe side? Yeah. Okay. "Heeeeeeey you," she called out with smooth noncommittal. "Are you" Okay? No. Fine? No. Hungry? What? "Hurt?" There it is, got there eventually!
Someone snapped her out of her tearful daze by calling out from behind her, and Shauna did the only sensible thing.
She yelped in alarm, nearly dropped the shotgun, then twisted around. Which would have been just fine as a way of seeing who and what was up if—well if she wasn't her, probably, cause she promptly overbalanced, still compensating for the gun slipping, stumbled back a step, then fell on her ass.
And it turned out that it was the girl who had sort of helped her when she'd been upside-the-heck-down and then sort of not by just leaving when she fell from her spot and totalled Danny. That took the sting of blind panic and alarm out of the interaction, but replaced it with a dull ache, settling deep on her chest. Shauna still missed Danny. She hadn't known him for long, which was such an awful thing to say about someone you went to school with for actual years, but he'd tried his hardest to look after her in spite of being a fuckup loser who apparently qualified for an extra special fuck you from the terrorists.
Phillip had tried helping her too. He was dead now as well. She kinda—what with everything else that had happened, that hadn't really sank in at the time, but seeing the girl again reminded her. Phillip...maybe if Shauna had been less, Shauna, they could have stuck together, they could all four of them be alive, and maybe they could have pulled together others, found Rhonda and Cheri before things—found Marco before he—
The girl had asked her something, Shauna realised after a few seconds of sitting there.
There was an even longer pause.
"M'fine!"
Her cheeks were very hot indeed. Tears still streaked them.
She yelped in alarm, nearly dropped the shotgun, then twisted around. Which would have been just fine as a way of seeing who and what was up if—well if she wasn't her, probably, cause she promptly overbalanced, still compensating for the gun slipping, stumbled back a step, then fell on her ass.
And it turned out that it was the girl who had sort of helped her when she'd been upside-the-heck-down and then sort of not by just leaving when she fell from her spot and totalled Danny. That took the sting of blind panic and alarm out of the interaction, but replaced it with a dull ache, settling deep on her chest. Shauna still missed Danny. She hadn't known him for long, which was such an awful thing to say about someone you went to school with for actual years, but he'd tried his hardest to look after her in spite of being a fuckup loser who apparently qualified for an extra special fuck you from the terrorists.
Phillip had tried helping her too. He was dead now as well. She kinda—what with everything else that had happened, that hadn't really sank in at the time, but seeing the girl again reminded her. Phillip...maybe if Shauna had been less, Shauna, they could have stuck together, they could all four of them be alive, and maybe they could have pulled together others, found Rhonda and Cheri before things—found Marco before he—
The girl had asked her something, Shauna realised after a few seconds of sitting there.
There was an even longer pause.
"M'fine!"
Her cheeks were very hot indeed. Tears still streaked them.
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Emprexx Plush
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Okay so, big secret? No, no, for real, huge scandalous drama bomb? Get in close. Closer. Closer. No jokes, this is a clandestine exchange. Real for your eyes only sort of thing. Take it serious. Are you reading this in a library? Dude, no. Cut that out. Get on your phone in a bathroom or something, somewhere nobody's peeking. Not you, you're not allowed to read this one, you've got supports to grind first. That's right, walk away. Are they gone? Okay back to business, you dipped from the public eye yet? Good, good. Make sure you're sitting down for this one. It's a Revelation. No really, this is gonna recontextualize everything you've just seen and it's not clear you're treating it with the gravity it deserves. Just...okay. Sitting down. Private space. Maybe grab a bottle of water? Flip through your contacts and get somebody you trust dialed in to debrief? Just saying, you've been warned and if your foundations crack under the weight of this one because you didn't prepare appropriately, you've got nobody to blame but yourself! There is no legal responsibility for any mental, emotional, ontological, or societal damages on anyone involved in expressing the truth of this matter! Are we all in agreement? Okay. Here it is:
Nikki was maybe not in the healthiest place to be judging whether other people are okay.
Stay calm.
Breathe.
Breathe damn you.
We are all getting through this moment of upheaval together and we cannot afford any weak links. Okay? Okay. Let it marinate. Drink your water. Take a walk, use your phone a friend, whatever. Put this down and have a little you time to properly adjust to what you've just learned. Nobody needs to be a hero today.
Hey!
Seriously!
That wasn't nearly long enough, take care of yourself, think of the children!
Okay that's better. We resume, but prepare yourself for it to be said again. You're ready now.
Nikki was maybe not in the healthiest place to be judging whether other people are okay. A solid two days or so in isolation, time distortion, paranoia, and frame jobs did a number on your ability to process and if she was being totally honest with herself she was still pretty messed up. Two factors to consider though: 1) Shauna-Shauna! That was it! Score another! Shauna could have been in the dictionary next to "not-fine" if there was some kind of dictionary that gave you the definition of two word phrases instead of words which would be really interesting to read but also like so impractical who would even fund something like that? 2) Nikki wasn't being totally honest with herself, and she could be honest about that, so it all evened out in the end! "Okay, cool, I'm fine too," she said, like a liar, "it's been a minute! Do you want to maybe sit down and catch up about how fine we are?"
Nikki was maybe not in the healthiest place to be judging whether other people are okay.
Stay calm.
Breathe.
Breathe damn you.
We are all getting through this moment of upheaval together and we cannot afford any weak links. Okay? Okay. Let it marinate. Drink your water. Take a walk, use your phone a friend, whatever. Put this down and have a little you time to properly adjust to what you've just learned. Nobody needs to be a hero today.
Hey!
Seriously!
That wasn't nearly long enough, take care of yourself, think of the children!
Okay that's better. We resume, but prepare yourself for it to be said again. You're ready now.
Nikki was maybe not in the healthiest place to be judging whether other people are okay. A solid two days or so in isolation, time distortion, paranoia, and frame jobs did a number on your ability to process and if she was being totally honest with herself she was still pretty messed up. Two factors to consider though: 1) Shauna-Shauna! That was it! Score another! Shauna could have been in the dictionary next to "not-fine" if there was some kind of dictionary that gave you the definition of two word phrases instead of words which would be really interesting to read but also like so impractical who would even fund something like that? 2) Nikki wasn't being totally honest with herself, and she could be honest about that, so it all evened out in the end! "Okay, cool, I'm fine too," she said, like a liar, "it's been a minute! Do you want to maybe sit down and catch up about how fine we are?"
Shauna slowly straightened up from her spot on the ground, though she didn't rise, since she halfway thought that would look threatening and halfway just felt kind of embarrassed. She was already wearing clownshoes, no need to go through the whole bit by leaping up and going all slip and slide and humourously taking another pratfall, firing the gun by accident annnnnd she was officially outy on this train of thought.
The girl was still going about catching up, which sounded like a whole ton of fun that Shauna wasn't really equipped for. She'd only just got done flipping out at every noise, finally convincing herself that chances were that a murderous classmate couldn't be sitting behind literally all the trees in this jungle. Also Shauna was really starting to get worried about slipping on the trigger. She wasn't good with this thing, it was heavy and unwieldy and yeah sure she'd read like four wikipedia pages on guns, but they were like, handguns and a couple of machineguns and that was only so she could describe them correctly when she wrote. That didn't prepare her for doing gun-fu with a shotgun!
"I...sure," she said at length, realising that the silence had started to stretch uncomfortably long.
Another pause.
"Sorry but I um, I don't know your name."
The girl was still going about catching up, which sounded like a whole ton of fun that Shauna wasn't really equipped for. She'd only just got done flipping out at every noise, finally convincing herself that chances were that a murderous classmate couldn't be sitting behind literally all the trees in this jungle. Also Shauna was really starting to get worried about slipping on the trigger. She wasn't good with this thing, it was heavy and unwieldy and yeah sure she'd read like four wikipedia pages on guns, but they were like, handguns and a couple of machineguns and that was only so she could describe them correctly when she wrote. That didn't prepare her for doing gun-fu with a shotgun!
"I...sure," she said at length, realising that the silence had started to stretch uncomfortably long.
Another pause.
"Sorry but I um, I don't know your name."
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Emprexx Plush
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Was, was she joking? Really badly? Jeff Dunham badly? She didn't know Nikki's name? Give her a break! Hey, hey, wipe that look of your face, this is totally different. Nikki risked an awful lot for, for, uh, Shauna! She gave up her only means of defending herself, and did she complain about it? Not audibly, thank you very much. It was a selfless act of heroism that saved Shauna's life almost as much as the human pillow who broke her fall when she messed the whole thing up. They weren't pals or anything, but if anybody had bothered to save Nikki's life these last few days, she'd sure remember them! Buuuuut no, nobody came around to save Nikki, she just got ditched. And shot at! And framed for murder! She was just about ready to tell Shauna off when that last thought crossed her mind.
Oh no!
Shauna didn't know she'd been framed for Phillips murder! Like, nobody did, but she didn't know the girl in front of her was the Nikki they said shot him and Terra and she couldn't remember who else! And maybe died! She still hadn't figured that part out! Whatever! That's why she wasn't flipping out! That's why the big scary shotgun Nikki was suddenly very aware Shauna was hefting wasn't pointed at her right now! If she did it probably wouldn't be pointed at her either because there would be a big hole in her somewhere she really didn't like and Shauna would be going through her stuff conscience clear!
Oh no!
Okay. Improvisation was a powerful tool. It'd been used for good and ill for as long as there were two people who could communicate, nobody could prove otherwise so Nikki was choosing to believe that was true. "That's okay Shauna," oh now was not the time to be petty, why did she say her name, "we didn't hang out much! But my name," she could say literally anything but Nikki and it'd be fine, "well the funny thing about that is," no, no, no funny thing, normal thing, Jane, Jessica, Sarah, Kimmie, Malcom, Malcom? Malcom, Clarice, Lily, Izzy, Mary! "nobody's used it much since freshman year, there's this nickname I got stuck with, it really started with these girls in middle school who used to call me," A back story???? Okay, sure, whatever! Pick something around here! What could she see? Leaf, Sky, Shauna's Shotgun, Rain, Sunny, Lace, Big Scary Shotgun, Moonbeam, Dewdrop, Branch, Thiccet, Stick, Mud, Shoe, Terrible Looming Itchy Trigger Finger Shotgun Shotgun Shotgun Shotgun Shotgun "Shottie!"
What?
Nikki's smile froze. There could totally be sweat dripping down her forehead but she wasn't acknowledging it. She'd dug herself into this with aggressive normalcy and she was going to keep going straight down. "Cuz I'm, I was always by their side! You know...like...shotgun, in a..." Well. That settled it. This was how she was going to die.
Nikki's expression crumbled into an ugly sob.
Oh no!
Shauna didn't know she'd been framed for Phillips murder! Like, nobody did, but she didn't know the girl in front of her was the Nikki they said shot him and Terra and she couldn't remember who else! And maybe died! She still hadn't figured that part out! Whatever! That's why she wasn't flipping out! That's why the big scary shotgun Nikki was suddenly very aware Shauna was hefting wasn't pointed at her right now! If she did it probably wouldn't be pointed at her either because there would be a big hole in her somewhere she really didn't like and Shauna would be going through her stuff conscience clear!
Oh no!
Okay. Improvisation was a powerful tool. It'd been used for good and ill for as long as there were two people who could communicate, nobody could prove otherwise so Nikki was choosing to believe that was true. "That's okay Shauna," oh now was not the time to be petty, why did she say her name, "we didn't hang out much! But my name," she could say literally anything but Nikki and it'd be fine, "well the funny thing about that is," no, no, no funny thing, normal thing, Jane, Jessica, Sarah, Kimmie, Malcom, Malcom? Malcom, Clarice, Lily, Izzy, Mary! "nobody's used it much since freshman year, there's this nickname I got stuck with, it really started with these girls in middle school who used to call me," A back story???? Okay, sure, whatever! Pick something around here! What could she see? Leaf, Sky, Shauna's Shotgun, Rain, Sunny, Lace, Big Scary Shotgun, Moonbeam, Dewdrop, Branch, Thiccet, Stick, Mud, Shoe, Terrible Looming Itchy Trigger Finger Shotgun Shotgun Shotgun Shotgun Shotgun "Shottie!"
What?
Nikki's smile froze. There could totally be sweat dripping down her forehead but she wasn't acknowledging it. She'd dug herself into this with aggressive normalcy and she was going to keep going straight down. "Cuz I'm, I was always by their side! You know...like...shotgun, in a..." Well. That settled it. This was how she was going to die.
Nikki's expression crumbled into an ugly sob.
That was the most awkward thing ever, wasn't it? When someone know your name and you just couldn't for the life of you remember theirs? In her defence Shauna felt like she had extenuating circumstances in that in their last meeting she'd been busy blubbering and yelling and generally trying not to puke her whole self out of her eyeballs (and her stomach still rolled over, a shudder still ran through her as she recalled the sickening sensation of being suspended up in the air like that). Also like, Shauna kind of kept to herself a lot, didn't have that many friends, definitely wasn't anything much of a social butterfly. Social snail, really.
The girl then, uh...
See this was the part whee the awkwardness was either laughed off or turned into a point of offended contention, and while Shauna knew that the real world wasn't a fic, she'd read enough meet cutes in her time that she knew that it couldn't all be fictionalised. No smoke without fire, no written interactions without some grounding.
How the girl answered? Decidedly not that. In fact so much not that it was flying through the air on a jetpack somewhere.
"Shottie?" Shauna blurted incredulously.
The girl—no she was not going to call her shottie in her head even though she'd already started kind of calling her shottie in her head—let out a sob.
"I... nice... nickname?"
They had nicknames on the basketball team and all. Didn't usually use them, but they were there, maybe Sho—e, maybe she had one too.
A very unlikely coincidental one.
The girl then, uh...
See this was the part whee the awkwardness was either laughed off or turned into a point of offended contention, and while Shauna knew that the real world wasn't a fic, she'd read enough meet cutes in her time that she knew that it couldn't all be fictionalised. No smoke without fire, no written interactions without some grounding.
How the girl answered? Decidedly not that. In fact so much not that it was flying through the air on a jetpack somewhere.
"Shottie?" Shauna blurted incredulously.
The girl—no she was not going to call her shottie in her head even though she'd already started kind of calling her shottie in her head—let out a sob.
"I... nice... nickname?"
They had nicknames on the basketball team and all. Didn't usually use them, but they were there, maybe Sho—e, maybe she had one too.
A very unlikely coincidental one.
((Tanisha Abbey continued from When you hurt me, you hurt yourself))
What a lousy night Tanisha had.
After leaving the pier, she stayed clear of the town. The best she could hope for was taking cover under a tree in the lower wilderness. It provided some relief from the rain, but not a lot. Tanisha had to deal with it and try not to be distracted from anything that could come her way to ruin her life even further. She hadn't spent a lot of time in the wild areas of the island, so she wasn't sure how easy it would be to find others or not, but she had to hope it was as hard as a needle in a haystack.
After sleeping against a tree, Tanisha awoke to the announcements. While she listened and was distressed to learn the names of more people who died, what really stood out was Ned's killer. It was Quinn Abert. That girl was racking up a big body count, including Rhonda Lawson and Stepney Cruz. Now Tanisha knew she couldn't trust the bitch and would have to be careful around her. Quinn was out for blood, and Tanisha was likely to die if she wasn't careful around her.
Arjen was also gone now. Now she wished she had tried harder to take him away from the cliff after Cammy died. Granted, bringing him with her would have also put him in the path of Quinn, so Tanisha couldn't decide which option was better. She just had to remember that Marco Volker was the killer and was someone else to avoid. Tanisha liked to believe she liked most of her class, or at least could handle the ones she disliked, but now it was getting harder to separate high school evil from real world evil.
Tanisha had walked a bit and then heard some talking. She hid behind a tree and peered out. It looked like there were two girls talking. Tanisha recognized them. One was Shauna, a basketball girl who Tanisha remembered for being a bit passive back at school. The other was Nikki, another BBW from GHHS. Tanisha could sigh in relief. Neither girl was a killer, and they both seemed pretty chill enough to approach. At least, for the most part. From what she could hear, they were talking about shotguns at the side and nicknames. Tanisha had to look down at her own shotgun.
"Hmm. Guess I should have a nickname for you too," she thought to herself.
Tanisha sighed. Well, they seemed like girls she could approach. No use acting like a creeper now.
Tanisha stepped out from behind her tree, keeping her shotgun by her side.
"You know, that's an apt nickname," Tanisha said, smiling at the girls. "I mean, I've been keeping a shotgun by my side for half a week now, so I get it."
God, she hoped they were in the mood for jokes.
What a lousy night Tanisha had.
After leaving the pier, she stayed clear of the town. The best she could hope for was taking cover under a tree in the lower wilderness. It provided some relief from the rain, but not a lot. Tanisha had to deal with it and try not to be distracted from anything that could come her way to ruin her life even further. She hadn't spent a lot of time in the wild areas of the island, so she wasn't sure how easy it would be to find others or not, but she had to hope it was as hard as a needle in a haystack.
After sleeping against a tree, Tanisha awoke to the announcements. While she listened and was distressed to learn the names of more people who died, what really stood out was Ned's killer. It was Quinn Abert. That girl was racking up a big body count, including Rhonda Lawson and Stepney Cruz. Now Tanisha knew she couldn't trust the bitch and would have to be careful around her. Quinn was out for blood, and Tanisha was likely to die if she wasn't careful around her.
Arjen was also gone now. Now she wished she had tried harder to take him away from the cliff after Cammy died. Granted, bringing him with her would have also put him in the path of Quinn, so Tanisha couldn't decide which option was better. She just had to remember that Marco Volker was the killer and was someone else to avoid. Tanisha liked to believe she liked most of her class, or at least could handle the ones she disliked, but now it was getting harder to separate high school evil from real world evil.
Tanisha had walked a bit and then heard some talking. She hid behind a tree and peered out. It looked like there were two girls talking. Tanisha recognized them. One was Shauna, a basketball girl who Tanisha remembered for being a bit passive back at school. The other was Nikki, another BBW from GHHS. Tanisha could sigh in relief. Neither girl was a killer, and they both seemed pretty chill enough to approach. At least, for the most part. From what she could hear, they were talking about shotguns at the side and nicknames. Tanisha had to look down at her own shotgun.
"Hmm. Guess I should have a nickname for you too," she thought to herself.
Tanisha sighed. Well, they seemed like girls she could approach. No use acting like a creeper now.
Tanisha stepped out from behind her tree, keeping her shotgun by her side.
"You know, that's an apt nickname," Tanisha said, smiling at the girls. "I mean, I've been keeping a shotgun by my side for half a week now, so I get it."
God, she hoped they were in the mood for jokes.
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Emprexx Plush
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Either Shauna was dragging this execution out eight levels more sadistically than Nikki would have expected, or she actually bought it? Nikki hadn't expected to look up from her hands, but here they were! Still trying to make this work! The smart and ethical thing to do would be to move on and hope she didn't ask anymore questions. Zip up and don't complicate things any further. Maybe switch topics, like, do you have anybody you miss? Are you aware one of your friends is a very crazy murderer? Hey what happened with Danny? Did you know I definitely didn't shoot Philip but I can't prove that? All great conversations topics! Super! Maybe save them for a rainy(er) day though and try something that wouldn't get her shot?
Those options looked a lot slimmer when Tanisha rocked up on them carrying another shotgun? What the heck! When it was just power drills and stuff one-upping her measly rope(that she barely got to use thanks to a certain someone who still hadn't said thank you!), it didn't feel great but she got it. But apparently whoever packed their bags was just like, you get a shotgun, you get a shotgun, you get a shotgun, everybody but Nikki gets a shotgun! She didn't know enough about Gun Sounds to be sure but whoever shot up the village yesterday probably had a shotgun too at this rate, it was ridiculous. They probably said she killed Phillip with a shotgun too, which was a real jerk move when when she had to scrounge for a table leg and what was probably like, an extra bright flashlight to protect herself. Ugh! She'd be furious if she wasn't busy being the meat in a potential lead sandwich!
Oh yeah that was important.
Nikki wiped her face. "H-hey Tanisha..." Did she buy the story too? Nikki felt kind of bad about that, they knew each other so the name fakeout would be dumb. Maybe she'd missed the announcements, or somebody like that Zach kid they said survived had started spilling beans. Yeah, that was possible! Totally! It made the smile on her face less fake. "Just three shotties having a normal one, huh?"
There was a glob of snot in her left nostril she kept trying to sniff back in, but it was a fighter. She'd cried so much over the last couple of days she'd forgot how gross it was when people were watching, like she could just blow it out but she didn't have anything to put it in and she wasn't going to risk it flying around willy nilly, she wasn't a psycho. So, you know. Snrt. Snrk. Snnnnfff. Casual snot control. Super casual. Shauna and Tanisha probably didn't notice.
Those options looked a lot slimmer when Tanisha rocked up on them carrying another shotgun? What the heck! When it was just power drills and stuff one-upping her measly rope(that she barely got to use thanks to a certain someone who still hadn't said thank you!), it didn't feel great but she got it. But apparently whoever packed their bags was just like, you get a shotgun, you get a shotgun, you get a shotgun, everybody but Nikki gets a shotgun! She didn't know enough about Gun Sounds to be sure but whoever shot up the village yesterday probably had a shotgun too at this rate, it was ridiculous. They probably said she killed Phillip with a shotgun too, which was a real jerk move when when she had to scrounge for a table leg and what was probably like, an extra bright flashlight to protect herself. Ugh! She'd be furious if she wasn't busy being the meat in a potential lead sandwich!
Oh yeah that was important.
Nikki wiped her face. "H-hey Tanisha..." Did she buy the story too? Nikki felt kind of bad about that, they knew each other so the name fakeout would be dumb. Maybe she'd missed the announcements, or somebody like that Zach kid they said survived had started spilling beans. Yeah, that was possible! Totally! It made the smile on her face less fake. "Just three shotties having a normal one, huh?"
There was a glob of snot in her left nostril she kept trying to sniff back in, but it was a fighter. She'd cried so much over the last couple of days she'd forgot how gross it was when people were watching, like she could just blow it out but she didn't have anything to put it in and she wasn't going to risk it flying around willy nilly, she wasn't a psycho. So, you know. Snrt. Snrk. Snnnnfff. Casual snot control. Super casual. Shauna and Tanisha probably didn't notice.
Another voice came from nearby and Shauna instinctively shrank back from it, twisting from her seated position to scoot away a little. She still didn't get up from seated position. Joining them was, OH GREAT ANOTHER SHOTGUN. SUPER.
She managed not to squeak in alarm, but now she was twice as antsy, which, as high a level as antsy that she was at already, represented a major increase in overall anxiety levels. Critical anxiety mass was approaching, a singularity of distilled 'aaaaaaaah'.
Shauna was used to that. The tolerance levels of anxiety were, okay they weren't good,m but at least she knew what to expect. With the current mass pressing onto her chest and the double bow that her stomach was knotting into, she gave it between five and thirty seconds before she just fainted.
Except no, except she couldn't do that. She had to be better, she needed to be better. She needed to be better than Shauna.
She needed Shauna to be better.
That was Tanisha just arriving, Shauna realised after a short delay. The other girl was outgoing and gregarious, rocked that body positivity that left her...not exactly envious, but Shauna wound up feeling bad she wasn't able to demonstrate the same levels of self consciousness. She'd always been nice to Shauna though. Did that count for something here? Shauna hoped that it did.
...'Shottie' was being a nervous wreck. A powerful mood.
Shauna looked between Tanisha and the other girl, then again.
She needed to be better.
"So we're just...here, huh? I hope we can, you know, all be nice."
Oh come on, 'nice'? That was the best she could come up with?
Ugh, okay. Work in progress.
She managed not to squeak in alarm, but now she was twice as antsy, which, as high a level as antsy that she was at already, represented a major increase in overall anxiety levels. Critical anxiety mass was approaching, a singularity of distilled 'aaaaaaaah'.
Shauna was used to that. The tolerance levels of anxiety were, okay they weren't good,m but at least she knew what to expect. With the current mass pressing onto her chest and the double bow that her stomach was knotting into, she gave it between five and thirty seconds before she just fainted.
Except no, except she couldn't do that. She had to be better, she needed to be better. She needed to be better than Shauna.
She needed Shauna to be better.
That was Tanisha just arriving, Shauna realised after a short delay. The other girl was outgoing and gregarious, rocked that body positivity that left her...not exactly envious, but Shauna wound up feeling bad she wasn't able to demonstrate the same levels of self consciousness. She'd always been nice to Shauna though. Did that count for something here? Shauna hoped that it did.
...'Shottie' was being a nervous wreck. A powerful mood.
Shauna looked between Tanisha and the other girl, then again.
She needed to be better.
"So we're just...here, huh? I hope we can, you know, all be nice."
Oh come on, 'nice'? That was the best she could come up with?
Ugh, okay. Work in progress.
Tanisha nodded at the girls. She was fine being a Shottie if it meant they could be friendly with one another.
"Yeah, believe me, I don't want to start any shit," Tanisha said. "I'm all for having one day where I meet people and it doesn't escalate into madness."
She looked over the girls, then back to her shotgun, then back to them.
"I mean, if anything, this shotgun has been more ornamental than anything. Gives people the idea to leave me alone, but they chose to fuck with other people instead."
She let out a sigh.
"But, um, have you guys seen Adele or Joanne?"
"Yeah, believe me, I don't want to start any shit," Tanisha said. "I'm all for having one day where I meet people and it doesn't escalate into madness."
She looked over the girls, then back to her shotgun, then back to them.
"I mean, if anything, this shotgun has been more ornamental than anything. Gives people the idea to leave me alone, but they chose to fuck with other people instead."
She let out a sigh.
"But, um, have you guys seen Adele or Joanne?"
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Adele or Joanne...role call! Nikki had seen Shauna. Twice! Plus Danny and Philip, only once no matter what the announcements said! There there was Mike, Bert, Camilla, Henry's voice, and, uh...yep, that was it. Adele and Joanne not present or accounted for, probably? There were a couple Faceless Presences like the shots back in the village; she hadn't heard their names on the announcement though so she could pretty safely assume they didn't pop and/or get popped? Or maybe she couldn't, since they were full of lies, who knew! Was nobody else weirded out by this? Neither of the girls had mentioned, hey, they said she killed somebody and also hey, they said she died, and that was wild! If she hadn't heard it with her own very reliable ears she wouldn't believe it, but if you can't trust yourself who can you trust? Nobody. That was a Nikki Pro Survival Guide tip, jot it down.
She wasn't about to call attention to it though. "Nah, sorry. I've been hiding out mostly...I mean, I had a group and we figured some things out, mostly I figured some things out, but then they all ditched me and some of them are dead so like...yeah." Yeah.
Wow.
Unlike most things, Nikki was not great at this. She went to wipe her face, then paused. Nope. Too gross. There had to be a better way. "Hey, I'm, I'm gonna go clean up a little, I'm kinda...yeah. Be right back." Nikki walked back down the path behind some trees so the other girls couldn't see her draining her snot. Her hand froze on the zipper of her bag, looking back the way she came then out to what was by all appearances a shotgun free view ahead of her.
Hmmm.
Nikki made the tactical decision to keep walking.
((Nikki Nelson-Kelly Continued In NIKKI NELSON-KELLY STARRING IN BAY 1: THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY!!!))
She wasn't about to call attention to it though. "Nah, sorry. I've been hiding out mostly...I mean, I had a group and we figured some things out, mostly I figured some things out, but then they all ditched me and some of them are dead so like...yeah." Yeah.
Wow.
Unlike most things, Nikki was not great at this. She went to wipe her face, then paused. Nope. Too gross. There had to be a better way. "Hey, I'm, I'm gonna go clean up a little, I'm kinda...yeah. Be right back." Nikki walked back down the path behind some trees so the other girls couldn't see her draining her snot. Her hand froze on the zipper of her bag, looking back the way she came then out to what was by all appearances a shotgun free view ahead of her.
Hmmm.
Nikki made the tactical decision to keep walking.
((Nikki Nelson-Kelly Continued In NIKKI NELSON-KELLY STARRING IN BAY 1: THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY!!!))
'Be right back' was completely and 100% code for the other girl walking off again, but Shauna wasn't going to make a big thing of that. Maybe 'Shottie' was feeling some kind of bad for walking out on her when she obviously needed help, maybe she'd recognised the return of Shauna the walking disaster area and didn't want any part of that. Shauna was torn between hypothetically being upset and hypothetically not being able to blame her.
Simulating conversations in your head was where it was at. Shauna only sometimes lost fake arguments with other people.
Speaking of, Tanisha was still here. Still with her shotgun. And Shauna had opened the speaking in the first place, and it'd mostly been going okay, and she needed to maintain it. Better started with being able to actually talk to another person.
"Neither of them, sorry." She paused. "Um. I'd ask about the rest of the team but christ, they're..." half dead. And one of Shauna's only friends out there was a killer too. "Arizona and Garnet. Have you seen either?"
If so what would she do? Was that the plan now, to find her teammates?
They might need her help. The help she wasn't there to give Rhonda or Cheri.
Simulating conversations in your head was where it was at. Shauna only sometimes lost fake arguments with other people.
Speaking of, Tanisha was still here. Still with her shotgun. And Shauna had opened the speaking in the first place, and it'd mostly been going okay, and she needed to maintain it. Better started with being able to actually talk to another person.
"Neither of them, sorry." She paused. "Um. I'd ask about the rest of the team but christ, they're..." half dead. And one of Shauna's only friends out there was a killer too. "Arizona and Garnet. Have you seen either?"
If so what would she do? Was that the plan now, to find her teammates?
They might need her help. The help she wasn't there to give Rhonda or Cheri.
Nikki walked away, which Tanisha was a bit upset by. She had hoped to at least keep Shauna and Nikki with her and hope that she could have a partnership that lasted longer than a day, but now it looks like they were down one person. Still, that at least gave Tanisha a chance to work things out with Shauna and try to form an alliance there.
"Sorry, I haven't seen Garnet nor Arizona," Tanisha said.
Tanisha sighed.
"Hey, do you wanna see where Nikki went? Maybe get out of the forest?"
"Sorry, I haven't seen Garnet nor Arizona," Tanisha said.
Tanisha sighed.
"Hey, do you wanna see where Nikki went? Maybe get out of the forest?"
Nikki. That was her name? Her abandon-er now had a name that wasn't the actually-silly 'nickname' which Shauna felt confident nobody had ever called her in the world ever.. Damn you Nikki for leaving her hanging.
That was a pun and she kind of hated that she suddenly smiled a little bit.
That actually didn't sound so bad. Although Shauna still wasn't forgiving Nikki. And even if Shauna's thoughts kept chasing themselves around to insist that she was impossibly unsafe with Tanisha because she was armed, because if Marco could go off at the deep end then really, who couldn't start getting all murder happy?
But like, Danny hadn't, and Danny hadn't even had any reason to help her other than just being a good person. Phillip had found a reason not to help. Nikki too.
She missed him.
"Yeah, all right," said Shauna, picking herself up. "Ready when you are."
That was a pun and she kind of hated that she suddenly smiled a little bit.
That actually didn't sound so bad. Although Shauna still wasn't forgiving Nikki. And even if Shauna's thoughts kept chasing themselves around to insist that she was impossibly unsafe with Tanisha because she was armed, because if Marco could go off at the deep end then really, who couldn't start getting all murder happy?
But like, Danny hadn't, and Danny hadn't even had any reason to help her other than just being a good person. Phillip had found a reason not to help. Nikki too.
She missed him.
"Yeah, all right," said Shauna, picking herself up. "Ready when you are."