不安心

[CondorTalon]

((Nancy Kyle continued from If It Bleeds, It Leads.))

Nancy had hidden in the asylum for the rest of the fourth day. There were close calls, of course. She didn't want to deal with people. Not after what happened with Jennifer and Leslie. Her face still hurt. So she silently stalked the building like a phantom, avoiding people whenever possible.

She tried to recall who the biggest killer in previous versions was, and how many kills they'd gotten. She could have sworn she'd heard about it once before... somewhere. But of course, memory is a fickle thing, and four days of poor sleep didn't help matters.

They really didn't help matters.

And so Nancy found herself behind a shelf at the very back of the library, her head swaying forward. She strained herself to keep her eyes open.

She blinked a few times, before rubbing her eyes. She couldn't fall asleep now. If someone came and found her...

She vaguely registered the announcements coming on, vaguely registered her name being announced again. She vaguely registered the announcements.

She didn't register herself tipping to the side, as the four days on the island finally took their toll.

[Deamon]

((Kimiko Kao continued from Seediq Bale))

The rest of the day had been uneventful and eventually Kimiko had holed up in the cavernous library, picking a small corner to eventually fall asleep in. She had probably managed an hour or two before her dreams forced her awake, sweating. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times, getting reacquainted with her unfamiliar surroundings. It seemed to be early dawn based on the light level, so she still had a few hours until the announcement was due. It was going to be important for her to pay attention to it, to at least try and get an idea of who was doing what and if possible who had a gun she could potentially get.

She had fully committed to her plan and all she needed to do was carry it out. But she intended to be smart, making rash decisions had gotten her nowhere. She rolled her injured shoulder, a reminder of what her lack of planning had done. Her shoulder injury combined with the wound on her leg severely weakened her, walking and moving her arm was a matter of painful effort. It was good though, the pain would keep her focused and serve as a lesson to be careful.

On the subject of being careful; she hadn't cleaned or redressed her wounds since she had bled all over the staff lounge. Dying to an infection once she got the end of the game would have rendered everything pointless so to avoid that Kimiko rooted around in her bag to retrieve a bottle of water and the first aid kit. It put everything in her daily life in a stark contrast. She had taken for granted being able to wake up, have a shower, walk downstairs and have breakfast. On the island she couldn't sleep due to nightmares, her shower was pouring water on her wounds and breakfast was a protein bar. The food was starting to get to her. Nothing but bread, crackers and protein bars wasn't what she wanted to eat for five days straight and while Kimiko knew full well that the terrorists would have given them enough to survive off it was clear that the longer everything went the more in demand food and water was going to become. The pizza she had been given after the first day had also become more of a curse than a reward. It had helped her avoid the reality of the food situation for a day meaning her return to reality had been a hard one.

Kimiko patted the bandages around her leg as she finished applying the fresh ones, leaving the bloody used ones on the floor. Just another item that would become a relic of their time, like the spent bullet casings or the weapons people no longer had any use for. Servings as signs of their struggle that would remain long after them. Kimiko thought about where Cristo's spear could have been, would they have left it in Bradley? Or thought it too valuable to leave behind and Bradley's body become another victim of the cynical pragmatism they needed to survive?

She ate the rest of her breakfast.

The announcement played. Three people had killed with a gun, she made a mental note of who they were. Of course one had been Nancy. That hadn't been a surprise. Alvaro had killed again, Kimiko thought that meant he had as many kills as she did but she couldn't be sure. That left Will McKinley, if she was remembering the right person he was big and potentially strong meaning he wasn't a good target. She removed his name from her mental list.

That was when she heard a thump from a different part of the large what she had thought empty room. Another stupid mistake. Quietly Kimiko rose to her feet and swung her pack over her shoulder along with the nodachi. The tantō unsheathed and held tight in her hand. It had tasted blood now and she knew it would have to taste more if she was to make it out alive. She stalked through the room, scanning the shadows until eventually she found a figure on the floor.

It was Nancy.

Maybe she wasn't bound to hell just yet.

[CondorTalon]

The gun was up even before she was fully awake. She'd hit the ground with a thump, but she didn't open her eyes again until the sound of footsteps rang in her ears.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, but suddenly someone was there and the gun went up on instinct.

"Who..." she started, before looking up.

It was Kimiko, looking down at her, holding a sword in her hand.

She was fully awake now.

Nancy scooted backward, her head hitting the shelf behind her. Her free hand went up, as she held it in pain. The gun was still up, though, still pointed at the other girl.

But Kimiko was close. Too close.

"Wait..." she said.

[Deamon]

That...that was not how Kimiko wanted things to go. Now she had the new problem of being held at gunpoint by one of the top killers in the game. Kimiko expected Nancy's immediate reaction to be an attempt to shoot her. When no gunshot occurred she relaxed slightly but was still careful to stay on guard. It also meant she could attempt to get away without any need for violence as she was sure in her current state and given Nancy's possession of a gun, a fight would only end up going one way, unless she got extremely lucky.

So she took a step back and slowly raised her hands, she kept her grip on the tantō tight though, ensuring she would be able to defend herself if Nancy did decide to attack. The beat of her heart was fast and keeping its pace. One wrong move and she knew she would be taking a bullet.

An idea of how she could play things off appeared through the fog of Kimiko's mind and while it would only help her avoid getting immediately shot it was better than having no plan of action at all. She would have to try and come up with an exit strategy if she survived the next few moments.

After what felt like an eternity without any movement Kimiko moved her free hand to tap the back of her ear and then pointed at Nancy. She hoped the meaning was a clear 'I heard you' but there was no way to guarantee that.

Yet again she was left to wait in the hope that her meaning was understood. If she was understood, then she could figure out her next move.

[CondorTalon]

For a while, neither of them moved. Kimiko was on the back foot, but she was still dangerous. Nancy knew that. So when... eventually, Kimiko tapped at her ear, Nancy fidgeted. There was no movement for a few seconds more, until slowly, Nancy slid up the wall, getting into a standing position.

"What..." she said, before swallowing a wad of saliva, "What do you want?"

It took a few seconds for Nancy to realize that Kimiko couldn't tell her. Of course. She'd forgotten all about her muteness.

In her defense, she was tired.

"Why are you here?" she asked, more forcefully this time.

Her throat was ragged.

[Deamon]

Nancy was getting agitated. That would only be bad for her. Kimiko took a quick step back and kept her hands raised. She didn't want to fight but she didn't want Nancy to think she had the upper-hand too much either because she had killed multiple times and Kimiko didn't want a repeat of what had happened with Isabel.

Again Nancy asked her a question. Kimiko had repeat what she had originally tried to say to her, which wasn't something she liked doing at the best of times. People not understanding her was something she hated, she understood it was difficult but some people didn't try and then treated it like it was her problem. Kimiko bit her lip as she thought about what to do but the answer found her quickly. Yet again she was going to be forced to play charades.

She pointed at herself while mouthing the words. "I."

Tapped her ear. "Heard."

Pointed at Nancy. "You."

Slapped on hand onto the other in a falling motion. "Fall."

"I heard you fall."

Nothing aggressive or anything that could be taken as a slight and it would take too long to explain to Nancy that the fact it was her specifically meant nothing. It meant something now that Kimiko knew it was her though. It had meant that she had a chance to get a gun, although the chances of that were looking slim now that she had discovered Nancy was conscious. Conscious and cornered. The most dangerous place for an animal to be, and Kimiko wasn't deceiving herself. Nancy was an animal, just like Isabel. So she needed to be careful in her interactions and movements. She needed to defuse the situation.

[CondorTalon]

Alright, Nancy got it this time. She lowered the gun slightly, but still kept it at the ready.

"S-So... so what?" was all she said.

Nancy could have just shot Kimiko, of course. At this distance, there was no way to miss.

But then again, at this distance, Kimiko could just as easily slash at her and everything. She had to... find a way to make her loosen her grip on that weapon.

"I'm guessing you're not here to make friends, are you?"

It was a stupid question, but if she could keep Kimiko's focus away from the sword, maybe she could get out of this situation.

"So what is it? You're here now, so what do you want?" she continued, "I don't think I have to say this, but if you try to kill me, I'll do the same to you."

[Deamon]

Nancy was right, she wasn't here to make friends. But as long as Nancy didn't know that she could use it to her advantage. Nancy did give her an idea however, a way to defuse the situation and give her something she could work with.

She nodded at Nancy's assertion that could kill each other fairly easily, Nancy even moreso. Kimiko kept her hands up where Nancy could see them before shrugging the nodachi off her shoulder. It would have been useless anyway. The tantō she kept in her hand but kept it held up, of no real use if Nancy decided to shoot her.

Kimiko lowered her other hand slightly and wobbled it while mouthing the word friends. She pointed to herself and then Nancy, mouthing another word.

"Truce."

Kimiko waited and resisted the urge to wipe the sweat away from her forehead. She was only going to get one chance to pull her plan off and she needed to make sure that she did everything right.

So now all she needed to do was do everything right.

[CondorTalon]

Nancy said nothing as Kimiko dropped the other sword, the one slung around her shoulder. The shorter in her hand stayed.

There was a silence afterward, as Nancy tried to figure out what, exactly, Kimiko wanted. The game of charades had been easy when Kimiko had motions to back it up, but this one was a bit harder.

Nancy hadn't been able to catch the first word that well. Fr... something.

Then Kimiko pointed to herself, then to Nancy.

Tr... Truth?

No... Truce?

Nancy's adrenaline was wearing off the longing they stood there, eyeing each other, and her anxiety slowly gave way to tired confusion.

A truce? Between them?

"Why?"

[Deamon]

Kimiko didn't enjoy the fact she was being asked so many questions. It meant she had to figure out how to communicate each time. In the end she settled for a mixture between the charades and the way she had communicated with Enzo for words that couldn't easily be summed up in a quick action. It left her tone clipped and sentences short and disjointed but it was better than nothing.

"Tired from fighting. No benefit."

She carefully watched Nancy as she spelt out the words. This wasn't like Enzo who was happy to give her as long as she needed. What Kimiko wouldn't have given for a piece of paper and a pen. The second part of her little speech was the part most likely to get her in trouble and provoke a reaction, but it was also the key part of her plan. If Nancy reacted positively and relaxed then it meant she could continue. If not...if she didn't react well Kimiko would cut her losses and run.

"Better to work together or leave each other be."

[CondorTalon]

Nancy had to really try to understand what Kimiko meant next. It didn't help that Nancy was tired. In more ways than one. In that sense, Kimiko was right.

She was wrong about there being no benefit, though. Maybe for Kimiko, but for Nancy...

There was something she could agree with Kimiko on, though. She didn't want to fight Kimiko. She didn't want to fight anyone right now.

The gun went down, pointing to the ground.

"I don't know about working together, but..." she says, "You're right. There's no point in us fighting."

[Deamon]

Finally Nancy lowered the gun, meaning Kimiko could finally relax and lower her hands. She tucked the tantō into her pocket and rubbed her eyebrow with the back of her other hand. Nancy seemed unsure about working together which didn't bother Kimiko any. If the announcements were to be believed Nancy didn't tend to think and acted on impulse anyway, she wouldn't have been a good partner.

It was time for part two of the plan. She had to get Nancy talking and relaxed. Her agreement to go along with the truce helped. Both of them could act in the knowledge that they were in no danger, unless someone else entered the library. But Kimiko assumed that unless the person who entered was extremely quiet they would be able to her them.

So Kimiko felt safe enough to continue with the conversation.

"Been thinking a lot about why I've done what I have." She started, waiting to see what Nancy's reaction would be. When there was no dissent she continued. "Then I thought about why others would choose to take the same path as me."

Still no immediately negative response.

"So why did you start killing?"

[CondorTalon]

"Why? Because..." Nancy started. She coughed as she felt a scratching at the back of her throat.

She tried again.

"Well, before anything else, Scarlett was..."

An accident? Well, no. Not quite. An accident would be something stupid, like if she'd tripped and accidentally caught her with the axe blade. No, what happened with Scarlett wasn't an accident. But Nancy wasn't really thinking straight at the time, either. The smell of blood back then... Nancy could swear she could smell it even now.

"I panicked," is what Nancy settled for in the end. "I panicked and lashed out, and that was it."

But that's probably not what Kimiko wanted to hear.

"But... like... if I'm going to die, I don't want to be forgotten. To those watching, I wanted to make sure they knew who I was. That's why," she continued, "Because they say my name every day. Then, when I die, whether it's tomorrow or a week from now, they'll remember who I was."

Nancy let a tiny smile creep into her face, but it soon disappeared.

"Is that good enough?"

[Deamon]

No, it wasn't good enough.

Kimiko had wanted to be remembered before she had ended up on the island but that felt like a different life. She had wanted to be remembered for doing something good but any chance she had of that happening. She looked at Nancy and then looked away wobbling her hand and shrugging. Playing up to the question and keeping the girls focus distracted while she dropped her other hand into her pocket and took hold of the tantō once more.

Truthfully Kimiko had been asking an honest question when she had asked Nancy her reason for killing She supposed she didn't have any moral high ground to judge the other girl. Not that it mattered at that point anyway.

Stepping forward and pulling the tantō free Kimiko stabbed twice with it. Just below the ribs, just like with Cristo.

Nancy's reason hadn't been good enough, but she could help her be remembered at least.

[CondorTalon]

Oh, Nancy thought, as Kimiko quickly moved forward with her sword.

Oh, she thought, as she lifted the gun up and fired multiple times, the bullets hitting nothing as Kimiko was already past her minimum range.

Oh, she thought, as she felt the blade enter her body, surely ripping apart something important as it came in then out again.

Nancy pushed Kimiko away as she stumbled backward, her back hitting the wall. She felt a discomfort radiating from her stomach, which soon became more and more intense as the blood began to pour out. She stifled a grunt of pain as she held her hands to the wound, ineffectually trying to stymie the flow of blood.

She... she needed that.

Nancy slumped to the floor.

"Y... Y..."